Authorities are launching an investigation into the circumstances surrounding a sailboat race that ended with three boaters dead and three more missing on the Alabama coast.
A storm with near hurricane-force winds struck Saturday afternoon as dozens of sailboats were completing the 57th annual Dauphin Island Regatta in Mobile Bay.
Forecasters issued weather alerts before and during the race, but sailors have said they didn't know the storms would be so strong.
The Coast Guard has posted an online questionnaire for the hundreds of people who participate in the race. It includes a question about whether they heard alerts about deteriorating weather conditions before the storm occurred.
Cleanup continues at all of the Blue Bell Creameries production plants in three states, including Alabama. The ice cream company shut down operations briefly and recalled all of its products nationwide after cases of listeria were found in the dessert.
Jenny Van-Dorf** is a spokesperson for Blue Bell. She says closing the Sylacauga plant is a preventative measure despite no trace of listeria of the product produced there…
“We’ve closed down all of our facilities temporarily while we work to get them cleaned up and I guess we’re implementing some new procedures and we just kind of want to start fresh and start over and then we can begin producing ice cream.”
Van Dorf says Blue Bell is working an expert microbiologist to help with the cleanup and training employees to give specifics about the process. Plants in Texas and Oklahoma as well as the one in Sylacauga until at least next week.
After Voters rejected a tax hike proposal last month, the Baldwin County commission and school board are looking for more input.
There will be a joint public meeting today to begin the process of moving forward from the referendum that would have helped pay for a 10-year, $350 million capital construction project.
Charles Gruber is the chairman of the Baldwin County Commission. He believes the referendum was shot down by voters because the public was not able to voice any concerns about the tax…
“To start this thing over right, it would be good to have a public forum and let the public speak and listen to what they have to say. Because that’s what they were saying, ‘Nobody listened to us. Nobody wanted our input.’ You can see what that impact that tax meant because they felt like they weren’t being listened to.”
The money would have gone to building more classrooms to accommodate Baldwin County’s growing student population. The public meeting will be at the Central Annex Building in Robertsdale tonight at seven p.m.