The Oscar Mayer Wienermobile rolled into Tuscaloosa on Monday with University of Alabama graduate Zach Chatham, aka Zach N Cheese, co-piloting alongside his fellow Hotdogger Katie Ferguson, aka Ketchup Katie.
Yes, Hotdogger is a gig that pays real dough, with all bun-puns and wiener-fits included, handling the largest 3D billboard outside the Goodyear blimp, dealing out hot dog whistles, spreading the Oscar Mayer brand love as ambassadors, and, on this trip at least, helping to find next year s teams.
Hotdogger Team 33 will be in and around the UA campus for just over a week. College seniors about to graduate are encouraged to get in touch via Instagram, @zachncheesin, or @ketchinupwithkatie, to learn about Hotdogger life. There ll be a mandatory meeting to explain what s needed driver s license, ability to talk with anyone, dependability next Tuesday, March 2.
A group of Tuscaloosa area residents came together this week to collect donations that will help families in Texas affected by a devastating winter storm.
Darrin Griffin, the catalyst behind the collection of donated items, is a former Texan with family members who live in the Lone Star state. He was going home to help his family with recovery efforts, but he said he learned that they had what they needed. He decided to refocus his efforts to help others less fortunate than his family.
“I was planning to go to Austin to help my family, and when I realized they found aid, I then thought, I have a truck and trailer, maybe we can quickly fill it with donated supplies,” Griffin said.
Northport Mayor Bobby Herndon was on hand Friday morning at the Alabama State Fire College as a temporary drive-through clinic kicked off with the expectation of vaccinating 2,000 people through the weekend in Tuscaloosa.
Herndon and his wife both survived bouts with COVID-19 and both are still undergoing treatment for the effects of the virus. There s still people that think this a bad version of the flu. Some people think it is a hoax. But I ve had friends that have passed away from it. My wife has been out of the hospital for 10 weeks and she is having to be on oxygen for 10 hours day. Me, I had the blood clot part of it. You ve just to take it seriously, Herndon said.
Here s what we know:
Preliminary survey indicates EF-2 Tornado slammed Fultondale
According to a preliminary investigation, the National Weather Service in Birmingham has designated the tornado that devastated the Birmingham suburb as a High-End EF-2 Tornado.
The storm whipped up winds around 135 mph, according to the NWS. Like a bomb had been dropped
Melvin Weldon was just about asleep with his wife when the tornado sirens triggered near his Lykes Boulevard home northeast of Fultondale. We went to turn the TV on to find out where the tornado warnings were or what was going on. then we heard that noise, Weldon said. We went downstairs, got our son down the stairs and about time we got to the bottom of the stairs is when it hit.