Jul 03, 2023

Welcome to Monday in a somewhat cooler Alabama.

For the second consecutive Monday, we're experimenting with putting a quiz in this newsletter. You'll find it below, down near the bottom. If we stick with it, we'll need a better name than "Down in Alabama Quiz" so if you have any ideas, reply to this email and let us know what you think. (If you're the guy who named the Trash Pandas, please disclose that up front).

Ike Morgan

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Area residents in Steele are pushing back against Alabama Power's proposed plan to build a lake on Chandler Mountain as a power storage facility, reports AL.com's Dennis Pillion.

Alabama Power stressed how early in the decision-making process it's in, but the plan at this point would involve two reservoirs at different elevations that would have five dams and an underground pump station.

Such a project would seem to mean people having to leave their homes, either by being bought out or through eminent domain. That's what has residents concerned.

Two sports stories of note from Birmingham over the weekend.

AL.com's Mark Inabinett reports that the Birmingham Stallions have won their second straight USFL championship after a 28-12 win over the Pittsburgh Maulers.

That's two championships in the rebooted league's two seasons.

Also, Evan Dudley reports that UAB has officially joined the American Athletic Conference as a full member. The Blazers join six other former Conference-USA teams in the league.

We have a new Miss Alabama, reports AL.com's Mary Colurso, and it's 25-year-old Brianna Burrell.

Burrell competed as Miss Baldwin County, she's originally from Mobile, and she's a University of South Alabama graduate.

This year's competition was different in that they added a health & fitness segment. There's been an evolution since Miss Alabama eliminated its swimsuit competition back in 2019.

(Swimwear enthusiasts did have the option of seeing the Miss Firecracker event Saturday at the Flora-Bama. Not exactly the same thing, I realize.)

There were some pretty wild animal stories that have cropped up the past few days.

First, according to a WAFF-48 report, a man said a really big gator recently took his dog. It's not a unique story, although this one happened in Huntsville -- in the Hays Farm area near Grissom High School. There have been increasing reports of gator sightings in the Huntsville area over the past few years.

Then on Saturday, during one of the thunderstorms that rolled through the state, 31 cattle were killed by a lightning strike in Cullman County, reports WVTM-13. The cattle were huddled together near a tree that was struck in Berlin, Alabama. That's just east of the city of Cullman.

Also, AL.com's Mike Cason reports that the Alabama Department of Agriculture & Industries is permitting livestock producers to kill three black vultures this year.

In 2021 the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service started the black vulture livestock protection program since there's reportedly been a growing problem with the birds attacking newborn calves and some other livestock.

The black vulture has a black head and is different from the turkey vulture, which is the bird most of us in Alabama call a buzzard.

(Honestly, many of us usually call a black vulture a buzzard, too. Hopefully they don't hold it against us.)

“If I’m having an issue in my life, (Nick Saban is) one of the first people I would probably call because of how much his words mean to me because he isn’t always going to tell you what you want to hear. He’s going to tell you what he really thinks."

ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit to the Crimson Tide Sports Network, about his personal relationship with Nick Saban.

Last week's quiz was popular among readers, so we brought you another one. It's a quick five-question multiple-choice quiz on Alabama knowledge and current events, mostly pulled from the past week's news or historical anniversaries.

In other words, if you read all your "Down in Alabama" newsletters, you've probably seen something related to all the questions.

We appreciate you for taking the time to read today. Hope you're able to check back soon. Meantime, reply to this email with any suggestions you might have.

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