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Politics of libraries and migrants, and the quiz: Down in Alabama

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Politics of libraries and migrants, and the quiz: Down in Alabama


Library leadership

The Alabama Public Library Service’s board of directors elected state GOP chair John Wahl as its head, reports AL.com’s Howard Koplowitz. The governor appoints a board member from each of the seven congressional districts. Wahl has been on the library board since 2022.

There have been times in our history I’m sure when a library board election has gone fairly unnoticed and not drawn criticism, but Wahl’s promotion comes at a time when public libraries have become a front in the culture wars.

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There are groups such as Clean Up Alabama that say they’re trying to prevent children from having access to sexually explicit material in the libraries. Others, such as the group Read Freely Alabama, accuse the more conservative groups of targeting libraries for books with LGBTQ or racial-justice themes.

Read Freely Alabama released a statement calling Wahl an “anti-library extremist” for aligning with Clean Up Alabama and Moms for Liberty.

Back in January, the library service board voted to split from the American Library Association over how it categorizes sexually explicit material.

Migrant anxieties

Concern over migrant workers from Haiti, who have moved into many places in the country on a temporary federal work program, continue to roil small towns in Alabama.

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AL.com’s Mike Cason reports that a couple of local officials in Enterprise tried to tamp down anxieties there through statements similar to that from majors and council members in other cities: They weren’t given personal information about the newcomers, they’ve seen no increase in reported crime, and they have seen misinformation on social media.

Mayor William Cooper acknowledged the possibility for unintended consequences of an influx of people and said he’s communicating with law enforcement, the healthcare community, local school systems and other cities in a similar situation to monitor for problems.

There was a meeting billed as “open to the public” last night at a church in Enterprise to discuss the migrants, although people there told one of our reporters to leave. A flyer advertising the event said it would have a former Trump advisor as a speaker.

Environmental settlement

Warrior Met Coal has agreed to fix a coal slurry impoundment, stop wastewater from polluting a Tuscaloosa County waterway, and pay $250,000 per a settlement with Black Warrior Riverkeeper, reports AL.com’s Margaret Kates.

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The wastewater has been leaking into a tributary of Texas Creek, which flows into the Black Warrior River. The environmental group filed a lawsuit in 2022 over 21 leaks it had documented since 2021.

The deal also calls for Warrior Met Coal to place the impoundment in the Alabama Dam Safety Program. That means it’ll face more monitoring and regulation by the local EMA.

The company is reimbursing Black Water Riverkeeper $28,000 in legal fees. The $250,000 is going to the Freshwater Land Trust for a project in that river system.

By the numbers

415

That’s how many citations and warnings Mobile police issued Tuesday and Wednesday as part of a “Red Light Blitz” focused on traffic-light violations.

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Alabama

Southern 88-85 Alabama A&M (Mar 5, 2026) Game Recap – ESPN

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Southern 88-85 Alabama A&M (Mar 5, 2026) Game Recap – ESPN


HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — — Terrance Dixon Jr.’s 19 points helped Southern defeat Alabama A&M 88-85 on Thursday.

Dixon shot 7 of 10 from the field and 5 of 6 from the free-throw line for the Jaguars (15-16, 11-7 Southwestern Athletic Conference). Michael Jacobs scored 15 points while going 4 of 11 and 7 of 9 from the free-throw line, and added five rebounds. AJ Barnes shot 3 for 7 (1 for 3 from 3-point range) and 7 of 8 from the free-throw line to finish with 14 points, while adding six rebounds.

Koron Davis finished with 23 points for the Bulldogs (17-14, 10-8). James Graham added 19 points, 12 rebounds, four assists and two steals for Alabama A&M. Kintavious Dozier also had 12 points.

The Jaguars led by 10 points with 59 seconds to go, before the Bulldogs executed a three-point play from Bilal Abdur-Rahim then got a 3-pointer from Dozier in the span of nine seconds, cutting the deficit to four. A free throw battle closed out the result for the Jaguars.

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——

The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.



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Top-30 overall recruit Jaxon Richardson commits to Alabama

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Top-30 overall recruit Jaxon Richardson commits to Alabama


Jaxon Richardson, the No. 27 overall recruit in the 2026 class per the Rivals Industry Ranking, has committed to Alabama.

The 6-foot-6 four-star small forward out of Southeastern Prep (FL) ultimately chose the Crimson Tide over USC, Creighton, and Ole Miss. He also received offers from Miami, Cincinnati, Michigan, Florida, Villanova, and others.

Richardson, a McDonald’s All-American, becomes the Crimson Tide’s third commitment of the 2026 cycle. He joins four-star shooting guard Qayden Samuels (No. 28 NATL) and four-star small forward Tarris Bouie (No. 54 NATL).

He’s the son of NBA veteran and two-time NBA Dunk Contest champion Jason Richardson. His older brother, Jase, played for Michigan State last season before being selected 25th overall in the 2025 NBA Draft by the Orlando Magic.

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More on Richardson

Rivals’ National Recruiting Analyst Jamie Shaw says Richardson is one of the most explosive players in the 2026 class:

Jaxon Richardson is able to combine fluid athleticism with explosive burst in a way no other player in this class can. He uses his athleticism to his advantage on the floor. He fills the outside channels with a purpose in transition, he is aggressive in the passing lanes, and he plays as a vertical floor spacer in the dunker spots and lob plays. Last summer, playing with the Florida Rebels on Nike’s EYBL Circuit, the 6-foot-6 wing averaged 12.8 points on 54.0 percent shooting and 10.5 attempts per game. Last high school season, he averaged 12.9 points on 61.0 percent shooting on 8.9 attempts per game. He is a highly efficient player, as 84.4 percent of his makes last high school season were at the rim.



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Alabama Baseball Ties Stolen Base Record In Win Over Hornets

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Alabama Baseball Ties Stolen Base Record In Win Over Hornets


Alabama baseball cruised to a win over Alabama State on Wednesday night, beating the Hornets 13-4 to complete the season sweep. The Crimson Tide tied a program record with nine stolen bases in one of the stranger contests that will be played this season.

The tone was set for a tumultuous night on the basepaths in the opening minutes of the game. Leadoff batter Bryce Fowler, who exited Tuesday’s game after getting beaned in the head, was walked, and promptly took second base. He advanced to third on a wild pitch in Justin Lebron’s at-bat, paving the way for Lebron to steal second when he was ultimately walked as well.

The successful baserunning instantly paid off, as Brady Neal drove both in with a double to left-center field before John Lemm walked two at-bats later. Both runners stole their respective bases on the same pitch in Jason Torres’ plate appearance, meaning that four of the first five batters of the game stole a base.

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Alabama has been exceptional on the basepaths, sitting at 30-for-30 on the season. Lebron, who swiped two bags on Wednesday, leads the team with 12. The junior had an up-and-down night, hitting his eighth home run of the season, but also committing an error at shortstop for the fourth consecutive game.

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“Get those things out of there now, baby. The dude is unbelievable,” an unconcerned Rob Vaughn said on Tuesday of Lebron’s errors. “We’re going to look up at the end of the year, and that guy is going to have five or six errors, which one he’s got right now, and we’ll be like, ‘Man, that guy is the best of all time to do it.’”

Wednesday’s game was a very prototypical midweek contest with no shortage of quirks and oddities throughout its nearly four-hour runtime. Fifteen Alabama batters were walked, falling just one shy of the program record, and the hit by pitch record was tied as seven batters were plunked.

The game was never competitive from an on-field standpoint. After barely escaping with a 2-1 win in the first matchup with the Hornets two weeks ago, this was a far more accurate representation of what these games typically look like, as Alabama now leads the all-time series 15-0.

Freshman Joe Chiarodo made his first career start, allowing two hits and one walk over two scoreless innings. He was named the winning pitcher. Luke Smyers, Connor Lehman, Anthony Pesci and Tate Robertson were the other pitchers to take the mound. Lehman allowed a three-run blast in the sixth inning, and those were the only runs until the incredibly-named Skywalker Mann drove in a run off Robertson in the ninth.

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Perhaps the most shocking figure from the game was that Alabama had 19 runners left on base. The Crimson Tide left the bases loaded in four different innings. As stated, this was just a bizarre baseball game across the board. With the midweeks out of the way, the Crimson Tide gets to prepare for its final weekend tune-up before SEC play as North Florida heads into Tuscaloosa on Friday.



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