What's going on in Alabama
We've reached the end of our week. Enjoy your weekend and hope to see you back here Monday. Until then, here's some more news ... Ike Morgan |
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Despite a recent Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, wood-pellet maker Enviva says it's moving ahead on the $374 million mill being built in Sumter County, reports AL.com's Dennis Pillion. That would be good news on the jobs front for Sumter County. The biomass-energy company has previously indicated it'd be bringing around 350 high-paying jobs to the plant. A number of overseas nations, including the European Union, are now subsidizing the conversion of coal plants to run on wood pellets. Enviva makes its pellets from trees and scrap wood. Opponents of wood-pellet subsidies argue that these facilities also produce carbon emissions and affect climate change. Advocates, however, point out that the wood and trees being burned emit carbon that was in the atmosphere fairly recently and has been trapped since the trees were planted. Compare that with fossil fuels, which hold carbon that has been trapped underground for millions of years. |
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The fastest-growing county in Alabama, Madison County, is now the state's second-most-populous, reports AL.com's Hannah Denham. The new U.S. Census Bureau estimates have Madison County -- the home of most of Hunstville, Madison, New Hope and of course Moontown -- with a population of 412,600 residents. That passes Mobile County and now trails only Jefferson's 662,895. The estimates have Madison County adding about 25 people a day last year, the most anywhere. If you go by relative growth, then the state's fastest grower is one county to the west -- Limestone, which grew at a 3.4-percent clip in just the one year. |
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There appear to be more bull sharks in Mobile Bay than there were 20 years ago, reports AL.com's Warren Kulo. Researchers used data from sharks that were tagged by the Alabama Department of Conservation & Natural Resources between 2003 and 2020. Shark enthusiasts get mad at you if you use words like "bad" or "dangerous" to describe them. I understand and agree with them. So let me just say that bull sharks are one of the least un-dangerous species of shark that come calling on our coast. They are known as an aggressive species and, frankly, they're the guys who give the others a bad name. The researchers noted that their increase in numbers mean they're not turned off by coastal development that's taken place over the past couple decades. They also noted that an increase in juvenile bull sharks in the bay has happened alongside an increase in average sea-surface temperatures of more than a degree during that time. In 2020 the average temp was 73.4 degrees. Also -- totally unrelated to the bull sharks study -- we'd like to welcome all Spring Breakers to the northern Gulf Coast beaches this weekend. Enjoy yourselves, buy local, and get you a new swimsuit while you're here. Maybe not a sparkly one, but it's up to you. |
And while we're on the coast, and although I've always thought it made for bad mojo to pick on another media outlet, but I mention this because you might notice that the Flora-Bama Lounge was named Alabama's best dive bar by Southern Living. However, as AL.com's Lawrence Specker points out, the Flora-Bama -- like Lynyrd Skynyrd's sweet home -- actually is located in the state of Florida. Granted, the Flora-Bama was built a mere mullet's toss from the state line to benefit from long-ago differences in liquor laws. As for Southern Living, it also included the Flora-Bama in its listing of the best dive bars from Florida, so they were likely just using the close-enough rule. |
A horse is seen trotting in morning rush-hour traffic Thursday in Alabaster. The horse reportedly fall out of a fifth-wheel trailer and ran into the woods. (Photo courtesy of AJ Nixon) |
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