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So long, Winn-Dixie This story has been unfolding piece by piece as Winn-Dixie stores have been converted to Aldis or sold by parent company Southeastern Grocers. AL.com’s William Thornton reports that the grocery-store chain will completely pull out of Alabama by next year. It’s part of a rebranding and reorganization by Southeastern Grocers. It will now be known as The Winn-Dixie Co. and narrow the chain to its locations in Florida, the parent company’s home state, and a few stores in South Georgia. Southeastern Grocers currently has 20 Winn-Dixies in Alabama. It announced earlier this month it’s selling three of those locations to Food City, which has said it’ll retain most of the stores’ employees. By sometime next year, The Winn Dixie Co. expects to be operating around 130 grocery stores and 140 liquor stores in Florida and Georgia. Locked out and handcuffed A veteran Tuscaloosa County commissioner had a run-in with Tuscaloosa police on Tuesday, reports AL.com’s Carol Robinson. Reginald Murray has been on the commission for 29 years. Police say he arrived at Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School after a student awards program had begun. Per school policy, external doors are locked once a program begins. Police say that Murray knocked on a locked auditorium door and was told he couldn’t enter. Police say Murray continued to knock on a window, and, when an officer tried to remove him from the property, he resisted the officer. An officer ended up handcuffing the commissioner -- and even pulled a Taser but didn’t deploy it. Murray was, however, not arrested. He declined to comment on Tuesday but indicated he may at a later time. Library wars Dozens of people spoke at a three-hour hearing at the Alabama Public Library Service over a proposed rule on a transgender issue, reports AL.com’s Mike Cason. The rule would require libraries to keep literature on transgender ideology out of children’s sections. One count estimated 34 people speaking in favor of the rule and 25 against it. The board has also received more than 8,000 written responses to the rule, with 80% in favor. Note that number could be packed a bit because of a call-out for supportive responses in a Republican Party newsletter. The meeting came at the end of a period of the board’s hearing public comment on the proposed change. RIP Quitman Mitchell Bessemer’s mayor during the ’90s, Quitman Mitchell, has passed away, reports AL.com’s Joseph D. Bryant. Mitchell was mayor of the city from 1990 until 2002. He’d previously held a position that at one time perhaps made you the most informed man in a small town: Barber. He won a seat on the city council in 1986 before becoming Bessemer’s first Black mayor. Jefferson County Commission President Jimmie Stephens remembered Mitchell’s service as mayor, his answering a 2 a.m. call to help people who’d lost their home in a fire, and his volunteer work with the Red Cross after he’d left office. Said Stephens: “Mitch served the city well during his term as councilman and mayor, but I like to remember him better as a man who served his community.” Quitman Mitchell was 85 years old. Quoting “We’re on pace to have record year if everything stays where it is now. Even with the government shutdown, we’re still running in really good shape. We have not seen a big drop-off.” Huntsville International Airport CEO Butch Roberts, on business amid the shutdown in an area with a heavy federal presence. By the Numbers $10 million That’s how much the Montgomery County Commission approved for struggling Jackson Hospital. Still, commissioners worried that won’t be enough to save the hospital. More Alabama News Ex-Blount County jailer sentenced to 10 years for kicking inmate’s teeth out Death Row inmate asks Gov. Kay Ivey to meet before execution Longtime head of Mobile’s Catholic high school to retire Firefighter’s family sues neighbor they say wrongfully killed him and their dog Huntsville getting new site for outdoor concerts Born on This Date In 1968, Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Shelby Lynne of Mobile. The podcast
