Alabama

Session roundup, record highs: Down in Alabama

Published

1 year ago

April 4, 2025

Press Room

Session roundup, record highs: Down in Alabama

It’s Friday, so first the quiz. Today’s report follows below.

Gambling bill, revealed

The gambling bill we’ve been hearing about for several days was made public on Thursday, reports AL.com’s Mike Cason and John Sharp.

The plan is from state Sen. Greg Albritton, an Atmore Republican. The proposal is for a state lottery, electronic gambling at former greyhound tracks and other sites, legal sports betting, a compact with the Poarch Band of Creek Indians for four casinos and the creation of the Alabama Gaming Commission.

Also, it calls for a 24% tax on net revenue from electronic gambling and sports betting, an excise tax on each gambling machine, and a sports wagering tax on each bet.

As with all gambling bills — they come up every year, and they fail every year — there is a companion bill that includes a constitutional amendment for the people to vote on. If the package were to pass, that amendment would be on the ballot for a Sept. 16 referendum.

Does it stand a snowball’s chance in Alabama? Doesn’t sound like it yet.

Albritton admitted he’s short of the 21 votes needed in the Senate.

Senate President Pro Tem Garlan Gudger, a Cullman Republican, did not sound enthused: “With 12 meeting days remaining in the session, both budgets still awaiting approval, and other important bills and measures demanding focus and attention, the comprehensive gaming bill released today is simply too little, too late, and has too few votes to pass.”

Capitol roundup

The General Fund budget, which includes funding for non-education agencies, was passed by the full House of Representatives. Keep an eye on it in the Senate. As we mentioned yesterday, state Sen. Rodger Smitherman, a Birmingham Democrat, has vowed to fight what he sees as anti-diversity cuts to the Birmingham Civil Rights Museum, the Magic City Classic, the Jazz Hall of Fame and others.

A Baldwin County issue over the distribution of a percentage point of the county sales tax led to conflict in the Senate. A bill was introduced that would prohibit county sales-tax money to be used for county school-board projects in areas that are served by a city school system. It pits those representing fairly new city school systems against those representing other areas of Baldwin County, and on Thursday it pitted Sen. Chris Elliott against Sen. Greg Albritton. Discussion was fiery enough that Sen. Linda Coleman-Madison, a Birmingham Democrat, told her two colleague to “take it back home.”

And the House passed a bill that would prohibit K-12 students from using cellphones and other such devices during class. It also calls for the State Department of Education to provide training on the risks of social media.

Hot and cold

If you feel like it’s been a little warm lately, it’s not just you.

Muscle Shoals, Tuscaloosa and Montgomery all tied or broke record highs Thursday. Those cities all hit 87 degrees.

AL.com’s Leigh Morgan reports that pattern’s expected to stay with us today and tomorrow. We might even have a few places flirt with 90.

However, don’t put away your jacket yet. A cold front is going to come into the state over the weekend. We could see storms and possibly even severe weather later Saturday, then it’s going to be cool for several days.

Quoting

“When we were doing our first read-through, I said to myself ‘Michael, you better step it up here or he’s going to walk all over you.‘”

Actor and Anniston native Michael Biehn, on playing Johnny Ringo, a nemesis of Val Kilmer’s Doc Holliday in 1993’s “Tombstone,” to CBS42. Kilmer died this week after years of health problems.

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Alabama

By The Numbers, Alabama A-Day 2026

Published

10 hours ago

April 12, 2026

Press Room

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alabama football scrimmaged inside Bryant-Denny Stadium for its annual A-Day spring football finale on Saturday. The Crimson Tide spent two hours with the offense and defense fighting for dominance in the April sun.

The afternoon wasn’t exactly a game, but looked more like real football than the 2025 A-Day and therefore gave fans and pundits quality content to evaluate.

“I thought the guys competed again,” Kalen DeBoer said. “It’s a unique situation with our practices, two of them still being next week, so we’re not done yet. Get back to work Tuesday and Thursday, still got a lot of opportunities to get better, a lot of situational that we can get to. But it was a good back and forth, much like many of the other scrimmages; you can see how we orchestrate it with the ball where we spot it. There’s some advantages the offense gets towards the end. We’ve got to get that red zone work in, but there’s a lot of things to learn, a lot of situational stuff that we can get better at.”

Disclaimer: These statistics were taken by hand and therefore not official

Passing

Keelon Russell: 21-33, 242 yards, 4 TD, 1 INT
Austin Mack: 6-12, 101 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT
Jett Thomalla: 4-5, 44 yards
Tayden-Evan Kaawaa: 4-5, 37 yards

Rushing

Kevin Riley: 10 carries, 12 yards
Daniel Hill: 10 carries, 31 yards
AK Dear: 4 carries, 2 yards
Trae’Shawn Brown: 6 carries, 19 yards
Khalifa Keith: 1 carry

Receiving

Derek Meadows: 9 Targets, 5 receptions, 69 yards, 1 TD
Cederian Morgan: 3 targets, 3 receptions, 76 yards, 1 TD
Ryan Williams: 3 targets, 3 receptions 60 yards
Trae’Shawn Brown: 6 targets, 5 receptions, 50 yards
Lotzeir Brooks: 4 targets, 3 receptions, 15 yards, 2 TDs
Marshall Pritchett: 2 targets, 2 receptions, 8 yards, 1 TD
Tyler Henderson: 3 targets, 3 receptions, 38 yards
Rico Scott: 3 targets, 2 receptions, 30 yards
Jay Lindsey: 2 targets, 1 reception, 5 yards
AK Dear: 2 targets, 2 receptions, 16 yards
Kevin Riley: 1 target, 1 reception, 5 yards
Kaleb Edwards: 2 targets, 2 receptions, 27 yards
Maurice Mathis Jr.: 1 target, 1 reception, 5 yards
Mack Sutter: 1 target, 1 reception, 10 yards
Daniel Hill: 1 target, 1 reception, 10 yards
Noah Rogers: 2 targets
Josh Ford: 1 target

Defense

Ivan Taylor: 6 tackles
Luke Metz: 4 tackles, sack, 2 TFL
Red Morgan: 4 tackles, 1 PBU
Caleb Woodson: 4 tackles
Justin Hill: 4 tackles, 2 TFL
Carmelo O’Neal: 4 tackles
Cayden Jones: 3 tackles
Jorden Edmunds: 3 tackles, 2 PBU
Keon Sabb: 3 tackles
Dijon Lee: 3 tackles, 1 INT
Zavier Mincey: 3 tackles
Duke Johnson: 3 tackles, 1 TFL
Jireh Edwards: 2 tackles, 1 PBU
Kendrick Bingley-Jones: 2 tackles, 2 TFL
Mahri Johnson: 2 tackles, sack
Abduall Sanders: 2 tackles
Terrence Green: 2 tackles, 1 PBU
Brody McCutcheon: 2 tackles, sack
Jake Ivie: 2 tackles
Yhonzae Pierre: 1 tackle
Devan Thompkins: 1 tackle
Xavier Griffin: 1 tackle
Dre Kirkpatrick Jr.: 1 tackle, 1 INT
Walter Sansing: 1 tackle
Zay Hall: 1 tackle
Jamarion Matthews: 1 tackle
Grant Johnson: 1 tackle
Griffin Hanson: 1 tackle

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Alabama’s Willy Wilcox returns to Masters in new role after overcoming addiction

Published

22 hours ago

April 11, 2026

Press Room

Alabama’s Willy Wilcox returns to Masters in new role after overcoming addiction

(Willy Wilcox/Instagram)

The story of Willy Wilcox begins with his mom. Kim Wilcox won over 50 tournaments as a junior golfer, was a four-year letter winner at Auburn, and finished runner-up in the 1988 Alabama State Women’s Amateur Championship. She had aspirations of joining the LPGA Tour, but life intervened. In the late 1980s, she had Willy, and by 1991, she became the club manager and golf pro at the now-defunct Pine Harbor Golf and Racquet Club in Pell City, Alabama.

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Prattville 19 year old creates Alabama Children’s Theatre

Published

1 day ago

April 11, 2026

Press Room

Prattville 19 year old creates Alabama Children’s Theatre

PRATTVILLE, Ala. (WSFA) – Maggie Kervin has a passion for the theater. She started as a little girl and loved it ever since.

“I went to Prattville Christian Academy and got my start in theater there,” said Kervin.

After graduating from high school, she got a job, but noticed something was missing in her community. So, she started the Alabama Children’s Theatre. Keep in mind she’s just 19 years old.

At 19 years old, Prattville native Maggie Kervin found a unique way to give back. She started the Alabama Children’s Theatre.(WSFA)

“There’s just not a lot of opportunities for kids in theater. I really wanted to provide that opportunity.”

Two years ago, she had $50 in her pocket and a dream. Now things are picking up steam and she’s enjoying the ride. This is for kids between the ages of five and 18. Right now, they’re working on Annie Jr.

“We’ve had so many kids why are shy and timid the first time they are one stage. When it’s their third or fourth time, they are very different.”

It’s different for her too. She’s used to being the one up on stage. Now she’s behind the computer, with them for every word, in every song.

At 19 years old, Prattville native Maggie Kervin found a unique way to give back. She started... — At 19 years old, Prattville native Maggie Kervin found a unique way to give back. She started the Alabama Children’s Theatre.(WSFA)

“I didn’t think I’d ever be in the position of running my own theater.”

The reward for Maggie, getting to see her always improving stars, continue to shine.

“It’s just so exciting to see them put the hard work into something and watch it blossom. They are so excited and so dedicated.”

You can check out Annie Jr. this month. The shows are at the Pine Level Community Center.

She’s hoping you come see them for yourself, at the Pine Level Community Center. Here’s a link to show times and ticket prices for the end of the month. Her next goal is to find a facility of their own one day. Visit the Facebook page if you’d like to help make that happen.

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