Classes are cancelled today in Headland, Alabama after storms dropped more than 5 inches over the area yesterday.
Henry County Superintendent Lesa Knowles said high winds and strong storms passed through the area early Sunday morning and peeled the roof off the Headland High School auditorium. The storms also caused leaks at Headland’s elementary school, and power outages throughout town due to felled trees. School was cancelled today, and the school board has called an emergency meeting for later today.
The National Weather Service says all of southwest Alabama was hit hard by storms. Weather stations recorded 5.5 inches of rain in Geneva County, 3.9 inches in Henry County, and nearly 5 inches in Houston County.
Alabama red snapper fishermen say they’re feeling caught between state and federal regulators.
New numbers from Washington for the amount of snapper caught this year differs from the total from the state. The Federal Marine Recreational Information Program says Alabama anglers caught just over two million pounds of red snapper. Alabama regulators put that number at just over a million pounds.
Captain Shane Cantrell is the executive director of the Charter Fisherman’s Association. He questions why a new regulatory board at the state level may be formed to take over the counting next year.
“It’s just so frustrating to be able to try and make a living on the water and provide a service to the American public when people that are sitting on a council supposed to be representing the fishermen from their state just take it upon themselves to push a private agenda.”
Captain Cantrell says state control is pushing charter and commercial fishermen out of business. He is concerned that people in the new council are keeping real solutions from being found.
Residents of Tuscaloosa may soon be able to use ride sharing services like Uber and Lyft. APR’s Pat Duggins reports.
Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox is in talks to bring Uber and Lyft back to the home of the University of Alabama.
The Tuscaloosa News reports city hall resume discussions with Uber after shutting the service down last year. This move follows comments by Maddox at a five city summit last month.
The Mayor says he was open to further negotiations with ride sharing companies, assuming they agreed to certain conditions from the city. Maddox expressed concerns that Uber and Lyft drivers weren’t required to register with the city and carried no additional insurance.
The city of Birmingham appears very interested in bringing Uber to their town, with service expected to start next year.
We all know now that smoking is bad for your health, but in smoking-allowed restaurants, it’s also an occupational hazard.
A new air quality study says workers in Florence restaurants that allow smoking are exposed to a greater amount of harmful air particles than those working in non-smoking environments.
The study says workers in smoking-allowed restaurants are exposed to a 66 percent higher rate of air pollution than other restaurant workers. It was performed by Roswell Park Cancer Institute earlier this year and released by the Partnership for a Tobacco-Free Shoals and Smoke-Free Shoals.
Air quality was tested in six smoke-free restaurants and six restaurants that allow smoking. An official from the Partnership for a Tobacco-Free Shoals says the level of harmful air particles measured in bars and restaurants that allow smoking was even higher than the level typically found in forest fires.