Read the newsletter below. Sign up to get it in your inbox each day here.

Made in Alabama

Alabama’s businesses again broke the record for exported goods in 2023, reports AL.com’s William Thornton.

Companies shipped out $27.4 billion worth of vehicles, aerospace parts, minerals, metals and more to 190 countries last year. That’s a 6% increase over their 2022 exports. Vehicles led the way at $11.5 billion.

The top destination for Made in Alabama goods last year was Germany, which imported $5.1 billion worth from our companies. Germany was followed by Canada, China and Mexico, all with more than $3 billion worth.

Catching the bus

A school bus was reported stolen from near West Jefferson Town Hall, reports AL.com’s Carol Robinson.

If you’re not familiar with the location of the town of West Jefferson, I can help: It’s on the western edge of Jefferson County.

Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office’s Lt. Joni Money said the bus was parked by Town Hall on Friday afternoon. But when the bus driver showed up Monday morning, it was gone.

Money said the bus was found Monday afternoon in — as some of you might’ve expected — Walker County.

Wetlands forever

A collaboration among conservation groups has resulted in the preservation of 8,000 acres of Mobile-Tensaw Delta known as the Land Between the Rivers, reports AL.com’s Dennis Pillion.

The Nature Conservancy, along with Patagonia’s Holdfast Collective and an undisclosed donor, closed a deal worth more than $15 million — they’re not giving specifics. The Land Between the Rivers is located in Clark County and includes area between the Tombigbee and Alabama Rivers where they meet to form the Delta. It’s part of what they call America’s Amazon — an area containing an incredible volume of the nation’s biodiversity and wildlife.

No break for the bomber

Olympic Park and abortion-clinic bomber Eric Rudolph’s request for a new sentence was denied by an appeals court, reports The Associated Press.

Rudolph’s request was in response to a 2019 Supreme Court ruling that found a statute on “crime of violence” penalties wasn’t clear. He’s serving life after admitting to four bombings, including the Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta during the 1996 Summer Games.

Here in Alabama he set a bomb at an abortion clinic in Birmingham that killed a police officer and injured a nurse at the clinic.

The judge wrote in the opinion that when Rudolph negotiated to avoid the death penalty, he committed to the terms of his sentence.

More Alabama news

Quiz results

Yesterday’s Week in Review quiz was clearly way too easy. We even had our first 100% question — every single person who took the quiz through midnight yesterday got it right.

We shouldn’t be shocked it was about Nick Saban.

Here are the answers and how well we did on each question:

The crawfish harvest this year is well below typical levels, according to sources from southern Louisiana. A reason for this is:

• Drought conditions this past summer and fall dried mud under and around many ponds. (CORRECT) 76.8%
• Storm surge from past tropical storms have increased salinity of bayou waters. 10.1%
• Crawfish poachers from Arkansas have put a dent in the population. 0.7%
• Oyster-drill snails have moved inland in search of a better food supply. 12.3%

An Alabama-based spinoff reportedly in the plans to follow the Rick & Bubba Show is:

• The Rick Burgess Show (CORRECT) 86.2%
• The Bubba Bussey Show 5.8%
• Outdoor Weekend with Rick & Bubba 7.2%
• The Rick & Bubba Fitness Challenge 0.7%

It’s been announced that Nick Saban will be:

• Joining the ESPN GameDay panel. (CORRECT) 100.0%
• Running for governor in 2026. 0.0%
• The new GM for the Detroit Lions. 0.0%
• On the upcoming season of Dancing With the Stars. 0.0%

A new law cut the state’s sales tax on groceries from 4% to 3% this past September and tied further cuts to growth in the state’s tax revenues. Beginning this coming September the rate will be:

• 0% … 8.0%
• 1% … 5.1%
• 2% … 25.4%
• 3% (CORRECT) … 61.6%

Thieves reportedly stole this unlikely object.

• A radio tower (CORRECT) 90.6%
• A refrigerator 2.2%
• A brick pizza oven 3.6%
• A football goal post 3.6%

The podcast