May. 21, 2025

Hope you made it through last night's weather unscathed. Some school schedules were affected today in the wake of the storms. Click here to check for updates.

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If you were running for public office, how much would a vote be worth to you? How much would a vote be worth in time behind bars?

Here's a PSA for anybody who's feeling a little too much desperation at landing a spot on a county commission.

A former county commission candidate pleaded guilty to voter fraud, reports AL.com's Carol Robinson.

Terry Heflin, a Clay County Democrat, had been arrested on seven counts of unlawful use of absentee ballots. He was accused of applying for absentee ballots for other people and then using those ballots to vote for himself.

He pled guilty to one count and had the others dismissed.

The sentence was a year and a day in prison, split to serve 15 days in jail, and a $2,500 fine.

Bill Lewis has replaced Jay Mitchell on the Alabama Supreme Court, reports AL.com's Mike Cason.

Gov. Kay Ivey announced the decision Tuesday. Justice Lewis previously served on the Alabama Court of Civil Appeals, a position to which Ivey appointed him.

Lewis is the fourth Black justice on the state's high court, but he's the first in more than 20 years and the first Black Republican on the nine-member court.

Nick Saban is now an Emmy-winning member of the media.

The Emmys awarded Saban the Sports Emmy for outstanding personality/emerging on-air talent, reports AL.com's Matt Stahl. Of course, Saban's notable broadcasting work came on ESPN's GameDay college football program.

Before Tuesday's announcement, he was asked about his nomination and said it “Must have been not a good year for people in the Emmys.”

And speaking of GameDay, Lee Corso, who's been with the show since its beginning in the 1980s, will step down after the first Saturday of the coming season.

A tradition on the show happens every Saturday when the panel picks the winner of the featured game. Corso reveals his pick last by putting on the headgear of the team he's picking.

For example, he might pick Slippery Rock University to beat the University of Florida by donning the green mascot head of Rocky the lion.

Saban went on The Rick Burgess Show last week and was asked whether he might inherit Corso's assignment of donning the headgear. And, I'm sorry to say, Saban indicated that was unlikely to happen.

Here's an update for anyone who chose to start a new life in Huntsville three years ago because U.S. News & World Report ranked the Rocket City the best place to live in America.

And this is the update: You're now No. 85, reports AL.com's Scott Turner.

Before you up sell your new-ish home while the market is still outpacing most of the state, note that U.S. News & World Report now evaluates more than 850 cities rather than the 150 it's done in the past. So Huntsville may be down a little, but it's not really fallen off the map. The entire top 10 this year weren't even included in past data.

The highest-ranked Alabama city on the list is now Hoover at No. 25. Also in the top 250 are Decatur at 130, Daphne at 182 and Dothan at 190.

The publication's No. 1 best place to live in America was Johns Creek, Georgia, an Atlanta suburb.

Big Bob Gibson Bar-B-Q out of Decatur recently won its 13th pork shoulder championship at the World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest, reports AL.com's Bob Carlton. The Big Bob Gibson team also placed second in the overall Grand Champion category and second in the Kingsford Tour of Champions, which was voted on by people who attended the Memphis event.

Quality barbecue, by the way, should be a major criteria on that U.S. News & World Report best-places-to-live list.

$591 million

That's how much spending is in Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin's proposed budget. It would be a record, up $9 million from the current fiscal year's budget.

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