Happy Monday, everybody.
Today is an Alabama state holiday to acknowledge the birthday of Confederate States President Jefferson Davis.
Davis was born on Friday, June 3. Yet his birthday is being acknowledged in Alabama on Monday, June 2.
Hey, at least we’re closer than Mississippi, which acknowledges Davis’s birthday along with Memorial Day.
Today’s report, with the answer key to Friday’s quiz, is below.
Vaping in Alabama
Alabama’s new vaping law is now in effect, reports AL.com’s Howard Koplowitz.
Convenience stores in Alabama can sell only the 34 tobacco- and menthol-flavored e-cigarette products that have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. The other flavors are only allowed to be sold in vape shops that require patrons to be at least 21 years old.
It also bans nicotine alternatives from being sold in vaping machines.
It authorizes retailers to obtain licenses to sell alternative nicotine products.
It requires all vape products to be manufactured in the U.S.
And it calls on the State Board of Education to create a vaping education and prevention program for schools.
Permit holders are supposed to be receiving emails with information on how licenses are issued.
Weather notes
Sunday marked an important date on meteorologists’ calendars.
First, it was the first day of meteorological summer. It’s different from astronomical summer, which arrives with the summer solstice, or the longest day of the year, which is June 20 this year.
AL.com weather reporter Leigh Morgan tells us that meteorological summer includes the full months of June, July and August. Dividing the year into four three-month seasons that all begin on the first of a month allows meteorologists to easily keep statistics and measure trends across multiple years.
June 1 also marked the beginning of the Atlantic hurricane season. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is predicting above-average activity in the tropics this year. Forecasters at Colorado State University, who do a popular hurricane-season forecast, are also calling for a busy year.
Which all means that, if you’re in a hurricane zone, now’s the time to make sure your insurance is up-to-date and you have an evacuation plan.
And while we’re on weather, much of the state finally had a couple of rain-free, mostly sunny days over the weekend … that featured gray skies.
That wasn’t due to Saharan dust or overcast conditions. That was smoke from wildfires in central and western Canada, riding high-level winds down here with the cooler air that followed this past Thursday’s front.
Save a mail carrier; mind your dogs
“Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.”
A couple things about that.
First, it’s not an official motto or mantra or creed of the U.S. Postal Service. But the phrase was once displayed at a New York post office.
Second, it doesn’t say anything about dogs. If the mail carrier can’t safely deliver, he or she might not deliver at all.
This is a heads-up for you, Birmingham.
AL.com’s Howard Koplowitz reports that in 2024 Birmingham was tied for 20th in the nation for dog-bite incidents involving postal workers with 15, according to the Postal Service.
St. Petersburg, Fla., and Fort Worth, Texas, also had 15 each.
Tops in the nation was Los Angeles with 77 dog-bitten mail carriers. That may sound like a lot, but relative the cities’ populations, Birmingham was way ahead of LA.
The Postal Service released the stats as it begins its 2025 USPS National Dog Bite Awareness Campaign.
If you can’t keep your dogs from going after postal workers, you could end up needing to use a P.O. Box to get your mail.
Closing
Sarris Cafe, a cafeteria-style restaurant in Pelham, announced it is closing after 20 years in business.
Alabama News Quiz answers/results
Overall results:
- Five out of five: 26.8%
- Four out of five: 40.2%
- Three out of five: 20.4%
- Two out of five: 9.1%
- One out of five: 2.4%
- None out of five: 0.9%
Alabama Democratic Party Chairman Randy Kelley said he’ll go to court over this.
- Tommy Tuberville’s residency (CORRECT) 90.2%
- Steve Marshall’s illegal-immigration policies 8.2%
- Kay Ivey’s age 0.9%
- Charles Barkley’s commentary 0.6%
Who just announced that he or she would be leaving the Alabama Public Service Commission?
- Twinkle Cavanagh (CORRECT) 93.0%
- Jeremy Oden 3.7%
- Rick Pate 3.0%
- Julio Jones 0.3%
Three parties from The Shoals area have filed a lawsuit over these unannounced visitors on their properties.
- Game wardens (CORRECT) 67.9%
- Property surveyors 15.9%
- Work-release inmates 13.8%
- Trash Pandas 2.4%
The Alabama Aerospace and Aviation High School is located in this city.
- Bessemer (CORRECT) 44.8%
- Tuskegee 35.7%
- Ozark 10.7%
- Demopolis 8.8%
What’s currently making its way toward the Southeast from across the Atlantic Ocean
- Saharan dust (CORRECT) 81.7%
- First hurricane of the year 2025 9.8%
- Africanized honey bees 5.8%
- Columbus voyage re-enactment 2.8%
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