Jun 08, 2023

Warning: Today we're going to talk about smoke above us and bacteria in the ground below us. But fear not, folks. The odds are still in our favor.

Ike Morgan

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The National Weather Service says that some of that haze from the Canada wildfires started moving into Alabama yesterday.

Don't expect us to see anything like what you've been seeing in images from the Northeastern cities. Obviously they're having a rough time, but we'll have enough haze to ding our air-quality index a few points. So, if you're in central or northern Alabama, and especially if you have asthma or another lung condition, you might try to limit the amount of time you're outdoors and avoid strenuous activities if the air quality is slow to improve. Air quality was expected to be in the moderate range today in Huntsville and Birmingham.

If it comes to it, I realize it might be difficult to talk your young'ns into staying inside and playing video games for an afternoon, but it's good to exercise tough love.

Mobile is managing to avoid the air-quality concerns with a "good" forecast for today. So don't say we don't share positive news.

On an unrelated note, the CDC has announced a new deadly bacteria that's endemic to the Gulf Coast. (We practice geographical equity in our health-scare news here at Down in Alabama, folks.)

The Mississippi Department of Health has discovered the Burkholderia pseudomallei bacteria (which causes melioidosis) in the environment on the Gulf Coast for the first time ever.

All other previous U.S. cases were the result of international travel. But after three cases were discovered since 2020, researchers took soil and water samples and found the bacteria.

Now, before you pack up and move to Green Bay, note that statistic where I said "three cases since 2020." And none of those cases were fatal.

Still, health officials have said that infections are possible from Texas to Florida, and if you have a map handy you'll see that includes the Alabama Gulf Coast.

Many folks who get the disease will develop antibodies, but at-risk patients could be, well, at-risk. The CDC puts the mortality rate of those who develop melioidosis at somewhere between 10 and 50 percent.

Alabama's congressional delegation received some pretty key support Wednesday regarding the placement of the U.S. Space Command headquarters, according to a couple of the delegation's members.

U.S. Sen. Katie Britt said that U.S. Space Command commanding Gen. James Dickinson said in a meeting that “the headquarters of U.S. Space Command belongs on Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama.”

A recent NBC News report has added to fears in Alabama that the Biden Administration would force a reversal of the decision to place SpaceCom in Huntsville.

Congressman Dale Strong, a Huntsville Republican, was also at that meeting. “I was assured by him that he couldn’t envision any circumstance where he wouldn’t recommend Huntsville as the permanent SPACECOM HQ.”

Reports on the potential reversal have pointed toward SpaceCom staying permanently at what had been its temporary home in Colorado Springs. And some sources have said the government doesn't want to move to Alabama because of our abortion ban.

Well, we know that Colorado lawmakers have pushed the White House to reconsider moving to Alabama. But also this week the Colorado Republican Party sent a letter to the White House asking Biden to go ahead and move to Alabama, quote, “if the main driving force to keep Space Command is Colorado’s unfettered abortion laws.”

“I’m for players being able to be compensated for their hard work in athletics as well as academics. We have to come to some kind of agreement where we can help the NCAA make improvements to this runaway NIL situation that we’re in as we speak.”

U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville, who called the NIL rules "a disaster." Lawmakers and coaches met about the subject on Wednesday.

$10.1 billion

That's how much money was invested into capital projects last year in 2022, easily a record year. Area Development, a national publication, acknowledged the investments by choosing Alabama for one of its Silver Shovel Awards for attracting big projects expected to create jobs. The publication also named the Novelis project in Bay Minette its Manufacturing Project of the Year.

In 1943, Willie Davenport of Troy, won the gold in the 110-meter hurdles during the 1968 Olympics.

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