The leap from sports to politics
Former Alabama quarterback AJ McCarron has decided against running for lieutenant governor after all, reports AL.com’s John Sharp.
After this and similar testing of the political waters by ESPN sports analyst Paul Finebaum and former Auburn men’s basketball coach Bruce Pearl, we might remember the coming midterm for all the sports figures that decided against running.
McCarron might’ve taken “political outsider” to a whole new level: He hadn’t even registered to vote until he was getting into the race.
That leaves a lieutenant governor GOP primary field of current Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen, current Agriculture Commissioner Rick Pate, Opelika pastor Dean Odle and commercial realtor Nicole Wadsworth.
So the big statewide sports-related candidate remains current U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville, who’s running for governor. He’s established himself in recent weeks as stoutly anti-muslim and warning of an “Islamic takeover of our country.” He lent his voice to a chorus of those who ultimately stopped a Muslim school from seeking to move into Hoover after three decades in Homewood.
AL.com’s Howard Koplowitz reports that, this week, Tuberville went on influencer Benny Johnson’s podcast and expressed his certainty that Brown University shooting victim Ella Cook was targeted because she was a Republican student leader.
Said Tuberville: “She was a Republican leader in the Republican Party at Brown University. You can’t tell me she wasn’t targeted. I would hate to miss that opportunity to say that because the consequences here are very, very fishy.”
Local investigators and school officials in Providence, R.I., where Brown is located, have not released any information regarding a motive and do not have anyone in custody for the shooting, which resulted in two deaths and nine other injuries.
Tuberville’s communications director posted on social media last month that “This race is already over,” but at the risk of being overly democratic (lowercase “d”), we’ll mention that so far he’s facing Ken McFeeters of Pelham in the GOP primary as other Republicans have cleared the way for Tuberville.
Former U.S. Sen. Doug Jones, who lost to Tuberville big in the ’20 senate race, is the favorite to emerge from the Democratic primary.
A forest for the future
The nonprofit Conservation Fund has bought more than 10,000 acres in Alabama and Georgia and turned it over to the states for permanent wildlife protection, reports AL.com’s Margaret Kates.
The Stateline Forest project involves a stretch of longleaf pine forest in the “Dugdown Mountain Corridor” that connects the Talladega National Forest with the Paulding Forest west of Atlanta.
The protected area includes nearly 45 miles of waterway.
The Conservation Fund started buying up land for the Stateline Forest in 2019. Funds largely came from the Richard King Mellon Foundation of Pennsylvania, the Alabama Forever Wild program and the Georgia Outdoor Stewardship program.
The homeless issue
The City of Birmingham had another homeless camp torn down on Tuesday, drawing some public criticism, reports AL.com’s Sarah Whites-Koditschek.
Workers with a crane took apart an encampment on a lot in West End. The city also announced a $1 million contribution to a new homeless shelter for Jimmie Hale Mission.
This comes after last week’s clearing of homeless camp in downtown Birmingham’s Linn Park. Still, city spokesperson Marie Sutton said the work is not part of a broad, citywide project: “When these encampments are reported and determined to be a threat to public safety and/or public health we work to get the unhoused individual resources and then we clean the area.”
After the Linn Park teardown drew criticism, Mayor Randall Woodfin made an appearance at the park to offer help to the homeless people there.
Looking good in the outdoors
As preppy outdoorspeople everywhere know, the L.L. Bean brand has been around more than a hundred years.
That’s not a knock. Preppy outdoorspeople know it, and they own it.
During the rut, they wear their Bean Boots into their climate-controlled shooting house. They have their button-up with the extra-padded shoulder so their Holland & Holland recoil doesn’t leave a bruise. And they’re not about to spill Beanie Weenie sauce on their ribbed crewneck.
If you look good, then you outdoor good.
Well, heads-up, Huntsville. You can soon drop by an L.L. Bean brick-and-mortar for your next pair of briar britches that you could also wear to Sunday service in a pinch.
Alabama’s first L.L. Bean store will open in April at Bridge Street Town Centre in Huntsville, reports AL.com’s Heather Gann.
It’s moving into a nearly 16,000-square-foot space.
By the Numbers
$61 million
That’s how much the City of Mobile paid to rent its space at Government Plaza since 1995.
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