Jun 03, 2024

Thanks for coming back. I'm going to take a break from the office for a few days, but my colleagues will keep this newsletter going until I'm back.

We have the answers and results of Friday's quiz near the bottom.

Y'all have a happy Monday.

Ike Morgan

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Birmingham-Southern's baseball season finally came to an end on Sunday, but it outlasted the existence of the school by two days.

This is going to go down as one of the coolest sports stories of the year -- a team that made a surprising run through the Division III playoffs just as a 160-year-old college closed up shop after years of financial mismanagement.

You know, baseball famously is supposed to be a game you play on an even keel, trying not to get too high or too low. It's a long season that rewards patience and consistency.

Tell that to a bunch of Panthers riding high all the way to the Division III College World Series.

BSC dusted itself off after an early exit from the Southern Athletic Conference Tournament to win three games as an underdog to win the regional tournament, then upset Denison twice in the Super Regionals, then extend their stay at the World Series with a dramatic walk-off win over Randolph-Macon in an elimination game.

Meanwhile, Topps even announced that it's printing a limited edition baseball card of these guys.

But baseball, being a game of averages, ended for the Panthers Sunday with -- what else? -- a dramatic 11-10 walk-off loss to Wisconsin-Whitewater, reports AL.com's Joseph Goodman.

Alabama's new law targeting house squatters is now in effect, reports AL.com's Margaret Kates.

State Rep. Craig Lipscomb, a Gadsden Republican, introduced the bill that carried bipartisan support and was signed into law by Gov. Kay Ivey early last month. Lipscomb acknowledged that squatting isn't a major problem in Alabama but said he wanted to head off an issue that has reportedly cropped up in some other states.

What the law says is that if you own a home and provide a sworn affidavit, you can have someone staying in the home removed by law enforcement after 24 hours.

Note the exceptions: This doesn't apply to tenants, someone with whom you have pending litigation, or members of your immediate family who you'd like to see move on.

Gadsden Police were rounding up people with failure-to-appear warrants when they came across one of those houses overrun by dogs, reports AL.com's Carol Robinson.

This one sounds pretty extreme: Police say they found 84 dogs living in less-than-humane conditions.

Eighty four.

A resident has been charged with animal cruelty, and police said more charges are pending for other residents of the home.

The Humane Society Pet Rescue and Adoption Center in Gadsden has taken charge of the dogs and has been evaluating them medically and whether they can be adopted.

Another Alabama product has won a big title in the food-and-drink world. And this one's not barbecue.

The folks who put Bushwacker in a bottle won Best in Class in "Ready to Drink" at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition, reports AL.com's Bob Carlton.

For four years now, Michael Smith and Carter Echols, who both grew up in Linden, have been selling Bushwacker Coconut Rum Cream, a bottled version of the popular Gulf Coast liqueur.

It's been a hit. They starting bottling during the pandemic, and by the end of 2020 they were in 300 stores. They say that now it's sold in 17 states and Puerto Rico.

And now they have a Best in Class to pitch to the rest of the country.

4,300

That's how many acres are on a tract of Baldwin County land that just sold for $11 million.

In 1918, Jazz and blues double-bassist Carl Pruitt of Birmingham.

Here are the results and how readers did on Friday's quiz:

What is believed to be Alabama’s oldest reinforced concrete hydroelectric dam will be removed from this river in Alabama.

Pea River (CORRECT) 55.3%

Tombigbee River 21.2%

Black Warrior River 18.2%

Whiskey River 5.3%

The FDA and DEA have proposed changes at the federal level that would change the classification of the drug in marijuana. In what way might this likely affect Alabama?

It might decriminalize but not legalize the possession of small amount for personal consumption. 66.5%

It might bring tax benefits for businesses in the medical-marijuana field. (CORRECT) 19.4%

It might protect harassing legal actions against future medical-marijuana dispensaries. 14.1%

We might see PSAs featuring Homer Simpson explaining that he's seen no ill effects from use of the drug. 0.0%

Which of these factors are NOT cited as a cause for the heightened hurricane predictions for this coming season?

Unstable air over Northwest Africa (CORRECT) 37.1%

Weaker trade winds 28.2%

La Niña 25.9%

Warmer-than-usual Atlantic waters 8.8%

The Auburn men's golf team recently won the national championship, and freshman Jackson Koivun won this award, considered the "Heisman Trophy" of men's college golf.

Fred Haskins Award (CORRECT) 50.6%

Ben Crenshaw Award 42.4%

Derk Dorf Award 4.1%

Justin Leonard Award 2.9%

It was recently announced that Birmingham would be home to this awareness-raising competitive-sports event in July that is expected to bring competitors from all 50s states and beyond.

The Transplant Games (CORRECT) 74.1%

The Blood Donation Ironman 12.9%

The Colorectal Screening Games 8.2%

The Rabies Awareness Fun Run Race for the Cure 4.7%

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