Get ready for plenty of company on Alabama’s roadways. The holiday driving period is expected to drag on until after New Year’s and Triple-A Alabama says this year set a record. Triple-A predicted ninety nine million people nationwide would drive at least fifty miles from home this year. That’s a four percent hike over 2013. AAA spokesman Clay Ingram says the growing number of holiday drivers is part of an ongoing trend…
“It’s going to be one of the busier days, no question. We’ll have people coming home from Christmas holidays, we’ll have another group heading out for New Year’s holidays. And just some people just moving back and forth from one family home to the next.”
Ingram says Triple-A typically sees eighty two to eighty four percent of people travelling would travel by automobile. This year, it’s reported as ninety percent.
Alabama consumers are still waiting for a database to track so called payday loans. The system is on hold because of a court fight. The database is aimed at improving enforcement of a five hundred dollar limit on the amount of payday loans a person can have. But payday lenders sued Alabama's Banking Department to block creation of the system last year. A judge in Montgomery ruled against the industry in August and the industry appealed. The state signed a contract with a Florida company to build the database.
All eyes are on New Orleans as the Alabama and Ohio State gear up for Friday’s Sugar Bowl. Both teams are vying for a slot in the first ever college football championship game. The winner of the Sugar bowl will face either Oregon or FSU who are playing in the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. The Buckeyes have a reputation for physical football similar to LSU. Defensive back Landon Collins says the Tide needs to be ready for whatever comes…
“Ohio State is an excellent team. They do what they do well. They play fast, they play extremely well, and they’re a great team overall. So, we’re going to play our A game and give them our best shot.”
Alabama was in the Sugar Bowl last year when the team lost to Oklahoma forty five to thirty one. We had production assistance from WVUA-TV on this story.
What would you rank as the biggest story in Alabama this year. The Associated Press is taking a crack at it. AP says the indictment of House Speaker Mike Hubbard is Alabama's top news story of 2014. The Alabama power broker was charged in October with twenty three felony counts of using his office for personal gain. Hubbard says the charges are part of a political witch hunt, but the case will move ahead in 2015. The domestic violence case against U.S. District Judge Mark Fuller of Montgomery was number two. This year’s winter storm that shut down much of central Alabama was also listed.
