Alabama
Miss Alabama USA 2024: Miss Southern Plains wins the crown
Diane Westhoven, a student at Auburn University, is the new Miss Alabama USA.
Westhoven, who competed as Miss Southern Plains, was crowned Saturday night during a ceremony at the Gogue Performing Arts Center in Auburn. She’ll move on to compete in the Miss USA pageant later this year.
Westhoven was one of 34 women vying for the title of Miss Alabama USA 2024. She participated in interview, swimsuit and evening gown segments during preliminaries, and moved on to the finals Saturday night.
READ: Miss Alabama USA 2024: Meet 34 women competing for the crown
Sophie Burzynski, Miss Alabama USA 2023, crowned her successor at the pageant, which was streamed online via PageantsLive.
Westhoven, from Vestavia Hills, is a member of Alpha Gamma Delta sorority at Auburn. Her goal is to become a physician’s assistant focusing on “the total health of young women,” according to the Miss Alabama USA pageant. Westhoven previously competed for Miss Alabama USA 2023, and took third place last year as Miss Southern Plains.
Ashlyn Powers, who competed as Miss Fairhope, was named first runner-up on Saturday. Allyssa Weyant, Miss Lake Jordan, took third place. Olivia Burchfield, Miss Magic City, came in fourth. Halle Sullivan, Miss Northport, rounded out the top five.
Anna DuVall, who competed as Miss North Alabama, won the People’s Choice Award on Saturday. That meant she raised more money than the other contestants before the pageant began, via $1 online votes. Samantha Huver, who competed as Miss Samantha, won the Congeniality Award. Olivia Burchfield, Miss Magic City, won the Photogenic Award.
Ava LeBlanc is the new Miss Alabama Teen USA. She competed in the 2024 pageant as Miss Shelby County Teen.(Courtesy of RPM Productions)
The Miss Alabama Teen USA pageant also was held this weekend at the Gogue Center. Ava LeBlanc, who competed as Miss Shelby County Teen, won that competition, besting 32 other contestants. She’ll move on to compete for Miss Teen USA 2024. Kensey Collins, Miss Alabama Teen USA 2023, crowned LeBlanc as her successor on Saturday.
READ: Miss Alabama Teen USA 2024: Meet 33 girls competing for the title
Georgia Busby, who competed as Miss Queen City Teen, was named first runner-up on Saturday. Presley Kauffman, Miss Thompson Teen, took third place. Britain Fuller, Miss North Mobile Teen, came in fourth. Andie Pfannkuch, Miss Auburn Teen, rounded out the top five in the teen group.
Alyssa Peak, who competed as Miss West Blocton Teen, won the People’s Choice Award among the teen group. Cammie Rivers, Miss Saraland Teen, won the Photogenic Award. Lauren Sutherland, Miss Tennessee Valley Teen, won the Congeniality Award.
Alabama
Quilts of Valor brings comfort to Alabama veterans
Alabama
Alabama Trending Towards Securing Commitment from Elite Recruit
Nothing is set in stone just yet, but it’s looking like Alabama is going to build on its trenches.
According to On3 / Rivals’ National Recruiting Reporter Sam Spiegelman, the Crimson Tide are trending toward receiving a commitment from four-star 2027 interior offensive lineman Ismael Camara.
Should Alabama nab the talented recruit out of Gilmer, TX, it would be the second high-ranked interior lineman of the 2027 class.
Earlier this season, the Crimson Tide had secured a commitment from Jatori Williams, the four-star lineman out of Phenix City, AL, and one who is the fifth ranked player at his position in the country.
Camara spoke with Spiegelman and revealed that he, along with 20 other recruits will be in Tuscaloosa for the LSU game – a game that holds such importance.
Not only that, he spoke on the relationship that he holds with offensive line coach Chris Kapilovic, and how that relationship resonates with him.
“Coach Kap told me two things when we first talked — he has the best job in the world and that all the things he wants from his players are passion, a good attitude, maximum effort, being a good teammate, being prepared and available, and being coachable. That requires zero talent.”
He then went on to say how much the persistence in maintaining that relationship is something that he will always hold onto.
“I appreciate him investing in me like that, and I am trying to get better to live up to the standard at ‘Bama.”
The “Standard” is a real thing, and it’s not something that the brass take lightly. Nick Saban spent 17 seasons implementing a culture of greatness and players that have the dog in them to be great.
So Kalen DeBoer and his staff don’t want to lose sight of it. It may have been in question for a little, but for the time being, what you’re seeing is what you’re getting.
But the “Standard” is something that means a lot to Camara too, and it’s what has set apart Alabama from other schools.
“When we got into the facility and saw all the nattys, the SEC championships and Heisman Trophies, I really had the butterflies,” Camara said. “The way they treated each other and the way they treated me — it was not just an honor for me to be there, it was an honor for them to be there. They practiced like that. They operated like that. They hung together like that. That was when I really started to understand what makes Alabama ‘Bama,’”
Aside from it being a big game on the schedule, it’s a big game for the coaches take make sure the people they’re bringing in for the future know that the staff’s future is just the beginning for these young men.
Alabama
Alabama man charged with threatening synagogues, mosques
A Needham, Alabama man has been charged by federal prosecutors with making threats to rabbis and imams across the South.
Jeremy Wayne Shoemaker faces a charge of an interstate communications threat after investigators say he made multiple threatening calls and messages to Jewish and Muslim religious leaders.
The threats were made to rabbis in Alabama and Louisiana, an imam in Georgia, a church in North Carolina and more.
According to court documents, agents discovered multiple firearms in Shoemaker’s home as well as a suitcase containing ammunition and papers listing the names, addresses and phone numbers of religious leaders and other prominent figures.
Shoemaker told agents he did not intend to carry out an attack, but engage in “psychological warfare.”
An FBI agent attested that Shoemaker came to the department’s attention after making a series of threats including to a Mountain Brook rabbi earlier this month.
“I want you to die because you want the death of us,” Shoemaker said during one call. “You want the West to die off.”
The FBI agent also noted a 2024 threat from Shoemaker to an Islamic center in Louisiana, and a threatening message to a Georgia imam earlier this year.
U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville, R-Alabama — and frontrunner for Alabama’s next governor — has recently drawn attention to the Muslim community, calling “radical Islam and Sharia Law … the greatest national security threat facing the United States.”
He also called Islam “fundamentally incompatible with our Western values.”
“So, wake up America. The Quran instructs Islamists to fight Jews and Christians, along with anyone else who doesn’t believe in Allah,” Tuberville said. “Simply put, Radical Islam teaches that it is righteous to kill Christians—[that] it’s righteous. There is no peaceful coexistence with this type of people. None.”
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