Alabama
Maternal mortality, The Voice, drone arrest: Down in Alabama
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Saving moms
The folks at the Alabama Department of Health are looking for more insight into maternal mortality in the state, and they’re hoping that’s what they’ll get by taking an autopsy program statewide, reports AL.com’s Amy Yurkanin.
The program provides cost-free autopsies on women who died during pregnancy or within a year after giving birth. It’s been in place since December in Baldwin, Jefferson, Madison, Marshall, Mobile, Montgomery, Shelby and Walker counties.
Alabama has one of the nation’s highest maternal mortality rates. AL.com’s Anna Claire Vollers did reporting back in 2019 that showed there were issues with the state’s tracking of expectant or new mothers who had died. The state then put a half million dollars into investigating the high mortality rate.
Also, a maternal mortality review committee found that 15 of the 24 pregnancy-related deaths in Alabama in 2018 and 2019 were preventable. Infections, heart problems and hemorrhage accounted for the highest number of deaths.
However, the ADPH says that autopsies are performed on only about half the pregnant and new-mom deaths. Enter this free-autopsy program, which is now being rolled out statewide over the coming months. Complete autopsies will be done at UAB and the University of South Alabama.
An Alabama Voice
Alabamians are having a big week on reality television.
Yesterday we had the story of a 12-year-old who won Gordon Ramsey’s MasterChef Junior competition.
Then, last night, Asher HaVon became the first Alabama native to win a season on NBC’s The Voice, reports AL.com’s Mary Colurso.
His win in the finals wasn’t a shock. The soul singer, who’s originally from Selma, has been a frontrunner this season and was strongly championed by his team coach, Reba McEntire.
A recording contract comes along with the title.
Flying violations
You can’t say that the Hangout Festival environment isn’t keeping up with the latest trends in illegal activity.
Firing one up in the Port-a-Potty is archaic. AL.com’s Warren Kulo reports that a man was arrested at this year’s event after his drone buzzed a police drone, Gulf Shores Det. Carl Wittstruck said, “like in Top Gun.”
Police say the man launched on the first two days of Hangout. They figured out where it came from after the first day, so they were ready for it on the second day.
There are federal laws regulating drones, but local rules can be spotty. Gulf Shores prohibits them from being flown over public beaches without a permit from the city and the Federal Aviation Administration. If you break that one, you could face up to a $500 fine and six months in jail.
Katie Britt to talk child care, and you’re invited
If you’ve tried to put a kid in day care lately, you know how tough it can be to find a spot, then be able to afford it. It’s barely even a joke anymore when people say you really need to put a child on a waiting list before he or she is born.
Policy wrangling on the issue is something that you might see play out over the coming months. So I wanted to let y’all know about a virtual event co-hosted by AL.com’s Alabama Education Lab that’ll feature U.S. Senators Katie Britt of Alabama and Patty Murray of Washington. Our Trisha Powell Crain will be one of the moderators, and it’ll be at 2:30 p.m. Alabama time today. You can see it on AL.com’s Facebook page or YouTube Channel.
If you follow this Facebook event, you’ll get an alert when they go live.
Quoting
“The practice of filing lawsuits and requests for stay of execution at the last minute where the facts were known well in advance is ineffective, unworkable, and must stop.”
Chief U.S. District Judge Emily Marks of Montgomery, in a decision rejecting a request to stay Jamie Ray Mills’ scheduled May 30 execution.
By the Numbers
That’s how many days in jail you can get just for being a spectator for illegal exhibition driving or street racing in Birmingham, according to a new ordinance.
More Alabama News
Born on This Date
In 1914, the late jazz pianist Sun Ra of Birmingham.
In 1959, humorist, author and speaker Andy Andrews of Birmingham and Dothan.
The podcast
Veteran food reporter Bob Carlton is on the show to talk about food in Alabama.
You can find “Down in Alabama” wherever you get your podcasts, including these places:
An Alabama state lawmaker — and outspoken gun rights advocate — is thanking “God” after one of his young sons accidentally shot his older brother in the back with the dad’s rifle.
Rep. Ernie Yarbrough, a Republican and father of four, told the Alabama Daily News that his 13-year-old son was making a speedy recovery after the harrowing incident at their Lawrence County home Saturday nearly took the teen’s life.
“Thanks be to God, all is well. A flesh wound only. He has been playing basketball with me tonight,” Yarbrough said.
A child, who was later identified as Yarbrough’s 6-year-old son, accidentally shot his older brother in the back of the shoulder at the residence, Lawrence County Chief Deputy Brian Covington told the TimesDaily.
It is unclear how the little boy was able to retrieve his dad’s .556-caliber AR-style rifle from a bedroom while Yarbrough and his wife were home, the outlet reported.
It’s also unclear if Yarbrough’s two other children witnessed the shooting.
The Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office notified the Alabama Department of Human Resources, which is a requirement whenever kids are involved in a shooting, AL.com reported.
The Lawrence County District Attorney’s Office has launched a probe into the shooting.
Yarbrough, a first-term lawmaker in the Alabama statehouse, is a staunch supporter of the Second Amendment, according to his campaign website.
In 2023, he sponsored a bill that prohibits the enforcement of any “red flag” laws, which are intended to prevent mentally and emotionally unstable people from gaining legal access to firearms.
The unsuccessful bill, dubbed the “Anti-Red Flag Gun Seizure Act,” stipulated that any state or local law enforcement officer found abiding by a red flag law would be subject to a $50,000 civil penalty.
The act also laid out a judicial relief process for anyone who could prove they were “injured” when they were subject to a red flag law.
The same bill failed to pass the state legislature again last year.
Previously, Yarbrough touted an endorsement from the National Association of Gun Rights, AL.com reported.
The NAGR mirrors the National Rifle Association — save for its hardline on “absolutely NO COMPROMISE on gun rights issues,” according to its website.
The Post reached out to Yarbrough for comment.
A Vanderbilt football goal post that was escorted down Broadway by an enthusiastic band of Commodores fans before being heaved into the Cumberland River on the night of Oct. 5, 2024 helped make graduate transfer receiver Cole Adams a believer that Nashville might be the place for him.
Adams, you see, was on that No. 1-ranked Alabama team. He had a front-row seat to what some consider the beginning of the rebirth of a program that had long been the laughingstock of the SEC.
Adams made two catches for 17 yards during that 40-35 loss. He also made it a point to pay attention to what was going on around him and the Diego Pavia-led Commodores.
“There were more Alabama fans in the stands than there were Vanderbilt,” Adams said March 24 after a spring practice. “And they whooped our butt. They whooped our butt.
“Not only was I in awe, but I was like, ‘Look at these guys.’ It was pretty cool from the opposite side of the field to see the relatedness and the brotherhood. … That was the first time I really looked at Vanderbilt, and I was like, ‘These guys have something good going on.’ “
How Tim Beck, Clark Lea helped bring Cole Adams to Vanderbilt football
Adams, who had 13 catches for 176 yards and one touchdown in 24 games spanning three seasons with the Crimson Tide, is expected to play a bigger role with his new team.
It’s a team that will have a new quarterback − freshman Jared Curtis seems most likely − with 2025 Heisman Trophy runner-up Pavia gone chasing his NFL dreams.
A team that will have a bigger target on its back.
A team Adams joined thanks in large part to offensive coordinator Tim Beck, who recruited Adams when he played for Owasso High School in Oklahoma and Beck was coaching at TCU.
“We created a really close relationship really quickly,” said the 5-foot-10, 183-pound Adams, who also was Alabama’s primary punt returner. “Even back then, I felt like we related to each other a lot. He talked to my parents a ton, and they loved him as well.”
Clark Lea also made quite the impression on Adams during his official visit.
“When he came on campus and met with us, I was blown away with his engagement, his personality and just had the feeling that he was a fit for us,” Lea said. “He’s brought confidence. He’s brought that snap experience.
“He’s also a misfit. He’s a chip-on-the-shoulder guy, which I appreciate. It fits with our environment.”
Vanderbilt football replacing leadership with Diego Pavia’s departure
Which is a void the Commodores must fill in the absence of Pavia, whose leadership skills were lauded by many to be as, if not more, impressive as his abilities on the field.
Pavia quickly became a vocal leader. Wore a C on his chest. Led both vocally and by example.
Adams still considers himself the new kid on the block, but his pedigree and his past, not to mention his new coach, suggest that also will be part of his role.
Even if doesn’t fully feel prepared for that just yet.
“First I have to show on the field that I’m capable, showing the guys I can do the right things at all times before you’re vocal,” Adams said. “There’s a time and place to be a leader. You need to gain trust and respect before you can … help them out.
“I still feel young, but I guess I’m kind of an old head now. I guess you could say I’ve been through it. I’ve had some peers I looked up to and learned from. So now I’m just implementing that in my game.”
Paul Skrbina is a sports enterprise reporter covering the Predators, Titans, Nashville SC, local colleges and local sports for The Tennessean. Reach him at pskrbina@tennessean.com and on the X platform (formerly known as Twitter) @paulskrbina.
An Alabama mother who was set to give birth to her second child was gunned down by a cowardly stalker — who later turned the gun on himself while being hunted by authorities.
Shelby Amidon, 29, was fatally shot by Ricky O’Neil Beck Jr., at her home in the city of Warrior early Thursday morning, the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency said.
Amidon, who was married and pregnant with her second child, identified Beck as her stalker when she phoned 911 after being shot, AL.com reported. The creep had apparently been stalking the victim for some time, according to reports.
It’s unclear how the pair knew one another.
Beck, 43, took off from Amidon’s home in his Chevrolet Z71 with a silver toolbox, according to an alert issued by local police.
Senior ALEA Trooper Brandon Bailey said he saw Beck pull out a gun while ramming a responding Blount County sheriff deputy’s patrol vehicle, the outlet reported.
The deputy opened fire, but Beck was able to get away — sparking a manhunt.
Beck’s body was found in a wooded area later that same day, where he appeared to have shot himself, Bailey told the outlet.
The Alabama State Bureau of Investigation is still investigating.
Amidon was married to Nick Amidon, a data analyst at a local bank. The two share one young son, according to a GoFundMe organized by Nick’s mother.
“Shelby was a beautiful soul who brought love, warmth, and light to those around her. She will be deeply missed by all who knew her,” she wrote.
“No family should ever have to endure this kind of pain.”
The GoFundMe was close to clearing the $12,000 mark as of Tuesday evening.
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