Apr 19, 2024

We made it to Friday. The big event in Alabama this weekend is the Geico 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. On the podcast I talk with Bran Strickland about that race and some NASCAR culture. So I invite you to check that out.

Meantime, here's some news and then y'all have a great weekend.

Ike Morgan

Looking for the podcast? Click here or check other options below.

Surviving family members of five men who died in Alabama prisons are claiming that autopsies performed by UAB resulted in the medical center's taking organs without permission, reports AL.com's Ivana Hrynkiw.

The families are suing the Alabama Department of Corrections, UAB Medical Center and other parties.

A UAB statement said its protocols require documented consent for disposition of organs that are removed during autopsies and that its inmate autopsies are done only after the Alabama Department of Corrections certifies that legal representatives of the late inmates have authorized the autopsies.

The lawsuit claims that none of the families gave UAB permission to keep organs.

This story first made news when the family of Brandon Clay Dotson filed suit in December, claiming his body was returned without his heart.

The state is buying the Foley Beach Express Bridge in Orange Beach, reports AL.com's John Sharp. As soon as the deal goes through, expected to be next month, then the toll will immediately go away.

For now it will continue to be a two-way road. Eventually, after the new Intracoastal Waterway Bridge is completed, the Foley Beach Express Bridge will carry folks away from the beach, while the new bridge will carry folks to the beach.

The roadway will be State Route 161 all the way to I-10.

The goals are to improve traffic flow and eliminate tolls. The purchase price -- including some road work, is $60 million.

Montgomery Police Chief Darryl Albert resigned Thursday, about a week after he was placed on leave, reports AL.com's Carol Robinson.

There's still no reason being given.

Earlier this year former Montgomery police officer Rene Helton filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, claiming she was discriminated against because she would not have an affair with Chief Albert.

There has been no connection made between the complaint and the resignation.

In an unrelated situation, the police chief of another major Alabama city, Mobile's Paul Prine, is still on administrative leave as the city awaits a report on use-of-force issues.

The Internet has taught me that people love giraffe stories, so we'll share the following. Even if they're always looking down on the other animals.

The Birmingham Zoo announced its first brand-new baby giraffe in a decade, reports AL.com's Greg Garrison.

The reticulated giraffe calf was born just after midnight Wednesday to 4-year-old first-time mom, Ruby. If you're familiar with the Birmingham Zoo you've seen the dad, Jalil, who's been at the zoo since 2007. Their pairing had been recommended by a giraffe management program to develop a healthy herd in Association of Zoos and Aquariums affiliates.

Two sets of parents at Huntsville Hospital at the same time discovered they had a unique connection through the names of their brand-new young'ns.

Johnny and Nicole Davis had named their son "Johnny Cash Davis." Meanwhile, Carter and Sophie Clark had named their daughter "June Carter Clark," reports AL.com's Howard Koplowitz.

Johnny Cash and June Carter, of course, were the husband-and-wife couple who both played major roles in American music history. But while certainly these aren't their first namesakes, it sure seems like a longshot to happen more than 20 years after Johnny and June passed, in the same Alabama hospital at the same time without realizing it.

Johnny Cash Davis was named "Johnny" after his dad, and his folks said they plan to call him "Cash." June Carter Clark got her middle name from her dad, and her folks just loved the name June.

Today we talk Talladega and NASCAR with auto racing reporter Bran Strickland, who happened to grow up near the track.

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