🌱 Stillman Partnership + New Plans For Motel + COVID Update

Ryan Phillips
Updated ·4 min read

Rise and shine, Tuscaloosa! Let's get you started this Thursday with everything you need to know going on around town today.

In today's Daily, we have these stories and more ...

  • Tuscaloosa tops grim COVID-19 milestone.

  • Legendary hoops coach mourned.

  • New plans for McFarland Boulevard motel.

First, today's weather: Increasing clouds and milder. High: 60 Low: 38.

🗣Patch Shout Out 🗣

Our Shout Out for this Thursday morning goes to the Walker Elementary Robotics Teams, who competed Wednesday in LaGrange, Georgia against 41 teams from around the country. The school's Team Blue (top picture) won 3rd place, while Team Navy won 4th place, along with the Judge's Award.

Walker Elementary
Walker Elementary

🗞 Here are the top 5 stories in Tuscaloosa today 🗞

  1. The Tuscaloosa Academy community is in mourning following news of the death of longtime boys basketball coach Scott Brenizer on Tuesday. During his three decades with the Knights, he won 13 AISA titles and more than 600 games. (Tuscaloosa Patch)

  2. New COVID-19 hospitalizations continue to climb at DCH Regional Medical Center in Tuscaloosa, with the health care provider logging 28 new inpatients on Wednesday, bringing its overall total to 175. This comes as Tuscaloosa County this week topped 50,000 cumulative COVID-19 cases since the onset of the pandemic. (Tuscaloosa Patch)

  3. The new owner of the Master’s Inn Motel on McFarland Boulevard hopes to renovate the buildings and turn the location into short-term studio apartments. (Jabaree Prewitt, WVUA 23)

  4. A Tuscaloosa man has been arrested and charged for possession of child pornography investigators recovered from on a phone he'd hidden in a toilet. (Stephen Dethrage, Tuscaloosa Thread)

  5. Stillman College and Southern Illinois University Carbondale On Wednesday signed a memorandum of understanding aimed at helping students enroll and earn a degree from the SIU School of Law. (Tuscaloosa Patch)

From our sponsor:

Hey Tuscaloosa, are you looking to buy a house, refinance or just explore your options? Check out the new Patch Mortgage Center for all your home financing needs!

🗓 Today in Tuscaloosa 🗓

  • Jerry Robbins @ The Lookout Rooftop Bar (More)

  • Meet and Greet @ Duncanville Baptist Church (More)

🏆 Winner of the Day 🏆

Congratulations to Ally Winningham, a registered nurse in the Cardiac Surgical ICU at DCH Regional Medical Center. DCH announced Winningham as the latest recipient of The DAISY Award, which honored "compassionate care and clinical excellence nurses bring to their patients every day."

DCH Regional Medical Center
DCH Regional Medical Center

✏️ Tuscaloosa Patch Notebook ✏️

A suspect in a 2020 drug and weapons case has been sentenced to more than 10 years in prison, the Tuscaloosa Police Department announced on Wednesday. (Tuscaloosa Patch)

ICYMI: Stillman College this week unveiled new logos, updated colors and word marks for its eight athletic programs. (Tuscaloosa Patch)

The City of Tuscaloosa is looking to hire a Chief Operations Officer, Utility Services Director, Arts & Entertainment Director, Legal Assistant, Equipment Operator and more. Check out the position here. (More)

In the face of a nationwide nursing shortage, DCH Health System is hosting a nurses' recruitment event on Thursday, Feb. 17, from 6 p.m. until 9 p.m. at the Lewis & Faye Manderson Cancer Center. (More)

👨‍💻 Other stories I'm reading today 👨‍💻

- Northport seeks additional measures to combat crime (Annie Mapp, ABC 33/40)

- Alabama’s COVID hospitalizations near record high (Eddie Burkhalter, Alabama Political Reporter)

- Northport enjoys building boom (Bryan Henry, WBRC Fox 6 News)

- State Auditor Jim Zeigler running for Alabama secretary of state (Mike Cason, AL.com)

- Federal appeals court blocks execution of Alabama inmate (Associated Press)

- 'There were puppies on the scene that were almost dead’: Birmingham Humane Society caring for dozens of dogs rescued in abuse case (Chloe Vincente, CBS 42 News)

- Merrill seeking clarification on qualifying deadline (Mary Sell, Alabama Daily News)

- Highly-touted athlete re-offered by Alabama (Andrew Bone, BamaInsider)

- Tide QB Ty Simpson earns fifth star from 247Sports (Hank South, BamaOnline)

More from our sponsors — thanks for supporting local news!

Featured businesses:

For sale:

Loving the Tuscaloosa Daily? Here are all the ways you can get more involved:

You're officially in the loop for today! I'll see you around.

— RP

This article originally appeared on the Tuscaloosa Patch