Connect with us

Alabama

Maternal mortality, The Voice, drone arrest: Down in Alabama

Published

on

Maternal mortality, The Voice, drone arrest: Down in Alabama


Below is the podcast player followed by the newsletter. Sign up to get it in your inbox each day here.

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.

Advertisement

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

Advertisement

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.

Advertisement

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.

Advertisement

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

Advertisement

“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

Advertisement

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.

Advertisement

You can find “Down in Alabama” wherever you get your podcasts, including these places:



Source link

Continue Reading
Advertisement
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Alabama

Class of 2025 Punter Commits to Alabama Football

Published

on

Class of 2025 Punter Commits to Alabama Football


The Alabama Crimson Tide continues its momentum on the recruiting trail by accepting the commitment of specialist Alex Asparuhov.

Asparuhov, considered the No. 3 punter in the Class of 2025 by specialist expert Jamie Kohl, announced his commitment on his social media on Saturday while taking an official visit to Tuscaloosa.

He becomes the Crimson Tide’s first specialist in the class and brings Alabama to 15 total commits in its No. 3 ranked Class of 2025. The 6-foot-3, 190-pound kicker and punter is out of San Joaquin Memorial in Fresno, Calif.

Kohl describes Asparuhov as the most fundamentally sound punter in the class grading out as a 5-star punter at his camps. He had scholarship offers from Oklahoma and Florida in addition to Alabama.

Advertisement

As a junior, he appeared in 10 games making 32 punts for 1,392 total yards averaging 43.5 yards per punt with a long of 68-yards, downing 14 inside the 20-yard line. He also had 21 touchbacks off the kicking tee on 34 kickoffs. He made 15 of 17 extra point attempts and converted six of nine field goal tries with a long of 42 yards.



Source link

Continue Reading

Alabama

Alabama Golf Signs 2024 Scottish Open Men’s Champion: Roll Call, June 15, 2024

Published

on

Alabama Golf Signs 2024 Scottish Open Men’s Champion: Roll Call, June 15, 2024


The Alabama men’s golf team added the 2024 Scottish Open Men’s Champion out of the transfer portal. Head coach Jay Seawell announced on Friday that Dominic Clemons will transfer from Stetson to Alabama to join the Alabama program.

The rising junior joins signees Michael Crocker, Nick Gross and William Jennings as Alabama’s 2024-25 signing class.

“We are excited to add Dominic to our program. He has proven at each level that he is a great player. He will help us contend for championships and I can’t wait to get him on campus,” said Seawell.

Clemons won the 2024 Scottish Men’s Open Championship at Muirfield by 17-shots and will compete in tThe Amateur Championship in Britain starting on June 17. He earned unanimous First Team All-ASUN this past year at Stetson and won ASUN Golfer of the Week three times.

Advertisement

No events scheduled

No results

77 days

June 15, 1892: Wallace Wade, who won three national championships as Alabama’s head coach from 1923-30, was born in Trenton, Tenn.

June 15, 1981: Saleem Rasheed was born in Birmingham.

Advertisement

“You go by that and they’ll have to fire us all.”—Auburn coach Shug Jordan on learning that LSU coach Charlie McLendon had been fired for not being able to defeat Paul W. “Bear” Bryant.

Check us out on:



Source link

Continue Reading

Alabama

Alabama wins Silver Shovel Award for economic development

Published

on

Alabama wins Silver Shovel Award for economic development


Alabama has been awarded a Silver Shovel Award from national business publication Area Development, honoring another billion-dollar year of economic development project announcements in 2023.

Alabama qualified for a Silver Shovel award in the category of states with populations between 5 million and 8 million, taking into account the number of jobs, the amount of investment, and other factors. Tennessee and Indiana also received Silver Shovels.

Gov. Kay Ivey said the award is a “strong testament to Alabama’s pro-business environment and to the capabilities of our workers, who can rise to meet any challenge.”

The annual awards recognize states that see project announcements with significant job creation, infrastructure improvements and strategies that attract new employers and investments.

Advertisement

Alabama also was recognized for one of the magazine’s “Projects of the Year,” for German appliance maker Miele’s decision to locate its first U.S. plant in Opelika.

Area Development also recognized other projects.

“The state lists a wide range of impressive projects, including an investment at Hyundai Motor Manufacturing to retool for the next generation of the Santa Fe as well as a big investment at Nemak, a maker of auto components,” the publication stated. “Nucor is building a state-of-the-art transmission tower production plant in Decatur, next to the company’s sheet steel mill, and Ultra Safe Nuclear Corp. picked Gadsden for a highly automated facility to make non-radiological modules for its microreactors.”

Cable maker Southwire’s expansion in Florence was also mentioned.

“At its core, economic development is about creating job opportunities for citizens and injecting vitality into communities so they can prosper over the long term,” Ellen McNair, Secretary of the Alabama Department of Commerce, said.

Advertisement

“That’s why we do the job — and why we’ll keep doing it.”

Companies last year announced projects for Alabama involving $6.4 billion in capital investment, with nearly 9,000 direct jobs to be created.

Area Development has honored Alabama with Gold Shovel Awards in 2006, 2013, 2019 and 2021, and Silver Shovel Awards for 2007–2012, 2014–2018, and 2022.



Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Trending