Jan 16, 2025

Today is National Religious Freedom Day, something that U.S. presidents have proclaimed almost every year beginning in 1993. It commemorates the 1786 Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, written by Thomas Jefferson and a precursor to the establishment clause of the First Amendment.

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Alabama's two Republican U.S. senators took different tacks this week on California wildfire aid, at least in rhetoric, reports AL.com's Howard Koplowitz.

Tommy Tuberville was as firm as any of his GOP colleagues who called for conditions to be placed on the aid. President-elect Donald Trump and others have blamed the fire disaster in the Los Angeles area on California environmental policies.

Tuberville, in an interview with pro-Trump Newsmax, was asked a leading question about whether the U.S. should be sending money to California for electing the wrong people.

Tuberville took that open-court bounce pass: “I don’t mind sending them some money, but unless they show that they’re gonna change their ways and get back to building dams and stormwater, doing the maintenance with the brush and the trees – everything that everybody else does in the country, and they refuse to do it – they don’t deserve anything, to be honest with you.”

Sen. Katie Britt chose not to call for putting conditions on the aid during a conversation with Politico. While she said the feds aren't going to just write a blank check, “I think what we need to be doing right now is standing firmly with the people of California, letting them know they have our prayers, they have our support and that we stand ready to be thoughtful about ways that we can help in making sure that they have the resources they need.”

Ten years is enough for Stuart R. Bell as University of Alabama president, reports AL.com's Williesha Morris.

Bell, who stepped into the job in 2015, will step down this summer, he announced via email.

He's seen big growth in enrollment during his tenure, with the school now claiming more than 40,000 students. He also started a fundraising campaign dubbed "Rising Tide" that reached a $1.5 billion goal.

Bell said he'll be returning to the faculty, where he previously worked for 16 years.

UA will open up a national search for its next university president.

Also, the school's first Black faculty member has passed away. Archie Wade joined UA in 1970 and worked there for three decades in the College of Education.

His name's been on the university's Archie Wade Hall since 2021.

According to UA, Wade was born in 1939.

Using charges related to a 2018 state law, authorities say a man has been arrested for refusing to remove the boat, reports AL.com's Patrick Darrington.

He's accused of violating the Abandoned and Derelict Vessel Law. That law says that when you receive a request -- spoken or written -- to move your vessel, you have 24 hours to move it.

According to the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, the boat was wrecked Aug. 12. The man was arrested by Marine Patrol officers Jan. 8. The Department of Conservation and Natural Resources has removed the boat.

Nick Saban was an easy choice for the College Football Hall of Fame's Class of '25, just a year after he retired from coaching. His coaching career spanned 28 seasons, six national championships, 11 SEC titles, 297 wins (if you count the ones against the University of Florida), four Heisman Trophy winners and 52 first-round NFL Draft picks.

Joining Saban in the Class of '25 will be former Auburn linebacker Gregg Carr. He was a Woodlawn High product who was a consensus All-American for the Tigers in 1984. He's still second on Auburn's all-time tackles list. He's Dr. Carr these days, by the way. After four years in the NFL he went to UAB and became a surgeon.

Another Alabama connection going into the College Football Hall of Fame: longtime Troy football coach Larry Blakeney. He hung a shingle in Pike County way back when it was still called "Troy State."

Blakeney coached the Trojans for 24 seasons ending in 2014. He won 174 games and eight conference titles during that time. Many still remember that he played and later coached at Auburn under Doug Barfield and Pat Dye.

The inductees will be honored Dec. 9 in Las Vegas.

In 1910, fighter pilot and Medal of Honor recipient U.S. Navy Capt. David McCampbell, who spent much of his childhood in Bessemer before his family moved to south Florida. He's credited with putting down 34 Japanese planes during World War II -- nine in a single mission.

In 1928, microtonal composer Ezra Sims of Birmingham.

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