Tuscaloosa

The rock group Toto won the Grammy for record of the year in 1982 for their hit song Rosanna. That was the same year Alabama Public Radio first went on the air. The APR news team is observing this fortieth anniversary with encore airings of the best of our stories. That includes this one from 2020. It’s college football season. APR student intern Jamie Jefferson examined the economic impact of football on the Tuscaloosa area during the COVID-19 pandemic. Here’s that story from the APR archives.

Before the Civil War, the state of Alabama was home to an estimated thirty three thousand slave holders. Local historians say one of them was John Welch Prewitt. He set aside two acres that became known as the Old Prewitt Slave Cemetery. The site may hold up to two hundred unmarked graves. Former World Heavyweight Boxing Champion Deontay Wilder lives next door.

Progress may be coming at a cost for one family in Marengo County. State planners have been working on what’s called the West Alabama Corridor for almost thirty years. It’s a four-lane highway to cut time on the drive between Tuscaloosa and Mobile. The upside is that the highway may bring connectivity and development to the rural counties of the Black Belt. Then, there’s the apparent downside. Parts of the highway may be built on private property taken by the State. APR Gulf coast correspondent Lynn Oldshue spoke with the Moore family who’s fighting to save their homes in the town of Dixons Mills.

A Montgomery federal judge lifted an injunction against Alabama’s 2019 Human Life Protection Act, officially making abortions a felony in the state. Judge Myron Thompson order states that the legal argument against Alabama’s ban no longer exists following action by the U.S. Supreme Court to strike down the Roe Versus Wade decision that gave constitutional protections to women seeking end their pregnancies.

The COVID-19 pandemic has hit nearly every industry in Alabama. One of the hardest hit appears to be tourism. That includes attractions connected to…

Tuscaloosa is having to spend $1.5 million to $4 million to repair damage to water and sewer pipes after Tropical Storm Claudette caused flash flooding…

The Crimson Tide’s A-Day Game is back this Spring after being canceled last year due to COVID-19.The famous scrimmage game takes place after the Crimson…

Some Tuscaloosa voters found something extra in their mail boxes recently. The brightly colored fliers are from the website anybodybutwalt.com. One side…

A former member of the Crimson Tide will soon be wearing a Super Bowl ring. Wide Receiver O.J. Howard is with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers who beat the Kansas…

Tuscaloosa City Council approved $350,000 in funds to purchase 12 lots of Tuscaloosa’s highest-crime areas.The Tuscaloosa Police Department responded to…