Good morning, and can we interest you in a festival?…
Weather: Rain lingers. Rain played havoc with area softball tournaments on Thursday, but the showers will taper off today, with only a few scattered pockets of rain. Highs will reach 83, with lows in the mid-60s. More of the same is in store for the weekend, though slightly warmer.
Traffic: ALDOT has scheduled another rolling roadblock on I-65 through the Corridor X construction zone this afternoon. It’s for the northbound lane only, and will begin at the I-20/59 interchange downtown around 1:30 p.m. U.S. 31 will also be closed in the same area about that time. They’ll do this on Monday, too.
Magnolia Festival begins. The annual festival in Gardendale starts its two-day run today at and adjacent to the Civic Center. There’s music galore and a fireworks display tonight, with rides and booths open Saturday morning. Admission is free, though there’s a charge for rides.
Zuckerberg’s status update: About to become really, really rich. Facebook announced its plans for an initial public offering of stock. The social networking giant will offer more than 334 million shares of stock for somewhere between $28 and $35 each, Bloomberg News reports. The offering will make co-founder Mark Zuckerberg one of the richest men in the world, with a net worth somewhere around $17 million.
Sports: Mud-ball. High school softball area tournaments battled the rain Thursday, but three local teams secured berths in the regional tournaments next week at Liberty Park. Fultondale came from behind to beat Vincent 5-4 in eight innings in their Class 2A final. Sarah Day’s triple drove in Danielle Cobb for the winning run. In Class 6A, Gardendale easily wrapped up an area championship over Minor, winning 15-0 in three innings. Chelsey Deloney and Sara Beth Williamson each hit a home run and a double in the second inning; Deloney’s moon shot cleared the scoreboard in left-center field. And in Class 4A, Corner finished second to Haleyville. The Class 5A Area 11 games at Mortimer Jordan were rained out and will be played this afternoon, with Jordan playing Curry at 4:30 and Hayden vs. Walker to follow.
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