Mary Helene Hall, AL.com

'He just shines': Another rare yellow cardinal spotted in Alabama Yellow cardinals have a rare genetic mutation that makes their normally red feathers bright yellow instead.

Mobile City Council is planning an investigation into allegations from former police chief Paul Prine about the city. This will be separate from the investigation from the mayor’s office that has already been conducted.

Mobile City Council plans investigation of former police chief's allegations A meeting Tuesday was spent deciding the scope of that investigation, who will conduct it and how soon it can occur.

The intersection of Highway 98 and County Road 64 in Daphne (aka where Chick-fil-A and Target are located) is infamous for safety issues and tricky traffic. A new road that is currently under construction could help prevent accidents and alleviate traffic.

Lavender Lane makes headway to improve traffic risks at Hwy 98 and CR 64 intersection Mayor Robin LeJeune said the city aims to complete Lavender Lane by Sept. 1.

Getting a s*xual assault kit performed in Baldwin County isn't easy, leaving many survivors of assault discouraged to report the crime.

Thomas Hospital says that they're working on a program that aims to fix that.

https://buff.ly/3Qun2zd

(To learn more, read the original story I wrote about the s*xual assault nurse examiners in the county last year: https://buff.ly/4aYrZIR)

Infirmary Health in final stages of creating s*xual assault nurse examiner program in Baldwin County Currently, it is nearly impossible to get a s*xual assault kit in the county.

I am super excited to speak at another League of Women Voters of Baldwin County event in just a few weeks! Come learn a bit more about my job and the process of reporting on issues like low accessibility of s*xual assault kits in our area, which LWVBC is advocating to improve.

Read more about Baldwin's problems with getting these kits performed here: https://buff.ly/4aYrZIR

The Univ of South Alabama's newest Fulbright Scholar on being the first Black recipient at the university:

“I found that kind of hard to believe because Alabama has such a large African-American population,” he said. “But what I hope is that the type of humanistic and historiographical research that I do in Brazil will be of benefit to the Afro-Brazilian community in Brazil and the Black community in Alabama as well. So I’m honored, and I don’t want to be the last.”

South Alabama’s first Black Fulbright Scholar to research Afro-Brazilian culture abroad The Detroit native’s interests have long been in Black culture and its manifestations in Latin America.

It's full speed ahead for construction on the shiny new Gulf Shores High School. They'll be open for business, officials say, by Fall 2025.

New Gulf Shores HS breaks ground: ‘We will build not just a school, but a legacy’ The event marks the beginning of a 2-year construction schedule.

USA just announced that one of their assistant professors was chosen as a 2024-2025 Fulbright scholar — he is the university's first Black scholar.

“I want to make an impact there through my research and discovery of what enslaved Black men and boys thought of themselves as men, rather than others defining what that means for them,” he said of his studies.

South Alabama professor becomes university’s first Black Fulbright scholar He will conduct archival research at the Brazilian National Archive and the National Library of Brazil.

New Gulf Shores HS breaks ground: ‘We will build not just a school, but a legacy’ The event marks the beginning of a 2-year construction schedule.

Take my news quiz!! Let's see if you kept up with the news this week ;)

Quiz yourself on this week’s Alabama Gulf Coast news Take our quiz to test your current-events knowledge.

https://www.al.com/news/mobile/2024/04/envisage-art-market-in-fairhope-returns-this-weekend-after-unprecedented-success.html

Envisage art market in Fairhope returns Saturday after ‘unprecedented’ success The first market, which took place Jan. 27 at Fairhope H**p, smashed all expectations.

One attendee brought her 10-year-old grandson to read passages from a book for teens to show what she believes is obscenity.

After several minutes of back and forth between her and Councilmember Corey Martin, the boy read various passages containing vulgar language and descriptions of s*x which the boy self-censored by using the first letter of certain words, before Martin cut him off.

The book, she noted, has an AR reading level of 3.9, meaning a student who is around 3rd to 4th grade could understand the language used in the book. However, the interest level of the book is UG, or “Upper Grade,” denoting it is intended for grades 9-12. Both levels are noted in the library’s online catalog.

‘Hissing, booing, yelling and screaming’: Adults argue over Fairhope library books "I think they’re swinging and missing on this issue," one councilman told AL.com.

The “boogie woogie” map had been live on the medicaid.gov page where state Medicaid agencies can be searched at least since Oct. 15, 2022, according to archives from the Wayback Machine.
https://www.al.com/news/2024/04/medicaid-website-lists-alabama-boogie-woogie-in-absurd-error.html

Medicaid website lists “Alabama boogie woogie” in absurd error The “boogie woogie” map had been live on the site since at least Oct. 15, 2022.

Dauphin Island has been dredging for several years to extend the shoreline and protect infrastructure. What they didn't plan was a significant scientific discovery for Alabama.

Read more about the state's fossil records and some elementary school girls who get paid in Peeps to find pieces of history:

Finding fossils was a happy accident after Dauphin Island beach renourishment The identified species lived during the Pliocene Epoch, which lasted between 2.6 and 5.3 million years ago.

Have you ever heard of carbon capture and storage? I certainly hadn't before reporting on this. Read my latest from al.com Press-Register and learn more about this method to reduce greenhouse gas emissions — which is coming to Mobile County:

Capturing carbon: Mobile County embraces Nebraska-based project to decrease CO2 emissions “Tenaska is a game changing partner for the effort to help our industries meet ambitious environmental sustainability goals."

I got to pretend to be a big kid last night! Many thanks to League of Women Voters of Baldwin County Alabama for inviting me to speak alongside Rob Holbert and Lynn Henderson Oldshue, who were both a pleasure to meet.