A hometown company will design a massive bridge that's being planned across the Mobile River on Alabama's coast.
The state transportation agency says Thompson Engineering will develop plans for a new Interstate 10 bridge across the river. The existing bridge across Mobile Bay will also be widened.
Some work will begin almost immediately while details of the contract are being completed.
The project's goal is to ease traffic snarls that occur regularly in Mobile.
A nearly 3-mile-long bridge would be built near downtown Mobile under preliminary plans. I-10 would be widened to eight lanes across Mobile Bay to reduce congestion.
The value of the Thompson Engineering contract hasn't been determined, but the entire project is expected to cost some $850 million.
A forum on the dangers of heroin and other drugs will take place today at the Huntsville Public Library.
The event is sponsored by the Partnership for a Drug-Free Community. The group’s mission is to educate the public on the drug trends impacting young people.
Deborah Soule is executive director of the partnership. She says the forum is open to all who want to learn...
“We want parents, we want high school kids, we want elementary school, we want them all, because there’s something for everybody. And it’s just important that you understand what’s going on. There’s a lot of denial. It’s usually, ‘It’s not my kid. My kid doesn’t do things like that.’ But it could be your kid.”
Soule says representatives from local law enforcement, and the Department of Public Health will be on the panel to provide information to those in attendance. The event runs from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. and is free.
In case you didn’t know it, today is National Hot Dog Day. Alabama is known for barbeque.
But, there is a spot in Montgomery known for its dogs. Chris’ Hot Dogs has been open for ninety eight years. Its list of customers includes Franklin Delano Roosevelt and country singer Hank Williams.
Restaurant owner Theo Katechis* says he doesn’t know why his father got into the hot dog business. But, he says almost six generations of customers have been coming back…
“We do several things that are different; we steam our buns for one thing and we also have a special sauce that we make. We make everything and we don’t make anything until someone orders it, nothing is ever made up ahead of time.”
Katechis adds that the restaurant will most likely use some of its earnings from today and donate them to a good cause.