Latest news with #UniversityofSouthAlabama
Yahoo
25-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Micah Messer announces candidacy for District 38 Alabama House seat
SMITHS STATION, Ala. () — A small business owner and law enforcement officer has announced his candidacy for the District 38 seat in the Alabama House of Representatives. Micah Messer, a University of South Alabama grad and U.S. Army veteran, says he is running on a platform of transparency, accountability and common-sense governance. 'District 38 is my home, and I want it to continue to be a wonderful place to live, work, and raisea family.' Messer said. 'The people of this district deserve a representative who reflects theirvalues and work ethic—from farmers and industrial workers to firefighters and teachers.' Messer's campaign priorities include election integrity, lowering taxes, stopping government waste and fighting crime by ensuring law enforcement has the training and resources it needs. He also strongly opposes the expansion of casino interests into District 38 and stands firmly for family values. District 38 is currently represented by Incumbent Debbie Hamby Wood (R), who announced her resignation from the seat, officially taking effect on July 31. Wood previously defeated Messer in the Republican primary for District 38 in May of 2022. District 38 was redistricted on November 9, 2022. The current map can be found here: Alabama House of Representatives District 38 Map Messer has invited the residents of District 38 to contact him directly at (334) 219-0321 to sharetheir concerns and ideas. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
23-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
High school students put broadcast skills to the test at statewide competition in Mobile
MOBILE, Ala. (WKRG) — Students from across Alabama met up at the University of South Alabama on Tuesday morning for the Alabama State Leadership and Skills Conference, putting their broadcast news skills to the test. 2 people escape house fire in Toulminville From the classroom to the control room, these students are got a taste of what it's like to be in a real broadcast newsroom. 'My role was director slash technical director. I was like swapping cameras, I was running graphics, B-roll, stuff like that, keeping the whole technical side of the show together,' Owen Bentrup, a junior at Pelham High School, said. Each team had only 90 minutes to brainstorm, write scripts and edit a full newscast before it was time for the live show. But this is more than just a competition. For many students, it's a chance to see what a future in journalism might actually look like. 'Being here in an actual production studio besides our own at school really just inspired me to go forward in this type of career,' MaKenzie Lewis, a junior at PHS, said. But beyond the cameras and control rooms, students have the opportunity to walk away with what might be one of the greatest skills of all — confidence. 'It's really like kind of surreal, honestly,' Lewis said. 'It really kind of opened up confidence in me and I really just enjoyed it.' 'I got to direct a really nice show. It was a really smooth show,' Bentrup said. 'My team did absolutely amazing. I'm really thankful for my team for just really locking in today and going crazy.' Atmore police offer safety presentation to help protect children online The competition's winners will be announced on Wednesday. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
2025 NFL Draft: Revisiting some Senior Bowl draft conclusions two months later
A little over two months ago, I spent Senior Bowl week in Mobile. Watching practices, talking to prospects, meeting with agents, having fun discussions with fellow draft media members, hobnobbing with some NFL-employed scouts and coaches along the way. It's always a great unofficial kickoff to "draft season". This week, I'm back in Mobile as we explore college options for my daughter. Driving past Hancock Whitney Stadium at the University of South Alabama, where practices are held, it got me to thinking about some of those discussions back in late January. What draft notions that were floating around back then have persisted through the final stretch of draft season? Which ones have changed? The rise of Jaxson Dart One of the bigger emerging trends that came out of Senior Bowl week was the rise of Ole Miss QB Jaxson Dart as the consensus No. 3 QB in the class. Between his strong week and a relatively rough go of things for Alabama's Jalen Milroe, Dart gained momentum. Advertisement He's largely kept that up, at least in the eyes of draft media. Dart has been a frequent first-round projection in many a mock draft of late. He hasn't threatened Cam Ward as the consensus QB1 and still typically lags well behind Shedeur Sanders for QB2, but Dart being a first-round pick isn't an atypical thought anymore. It most certainly was back in Senior Bowl week. Shemar Stewart in the top 10? Here's what I wrote about Stewart after the Texas A&M defensive lineman's week in January, Stewart is my answer to the annual question, "which Senior Bowler will be the first to get drafted?" Simply put, he dominated enough that it was perfectly understandable that Stewart left after Wednesday's practice. His size, strength, quickness and flexible lower body make him a high-end prospect who should be a top-20 pick, perhaps top-10. Stewart was indeed that special in Mobile. With a little over two weeks until the draft kicks off in Green Bay, I still don't have a great feel for where Shemar Stewart will be drafted. I don't think anyone does; he's been projected in recent mock drafts anywhere between No. 5 and No. 33, and either end of the range seems eminently plausible. That's what happens when a world-class athletic specimen doesn't have the football production, but also wasn't exactly helped by his collegiate defensive scheme and usage, either. Call this one a push? The fall of Jalen Milroe Consider this the flip side of the Jaxson Dart coin from Senior Bowl week. Milroe was not good in Mobile and everyone there knew it, too, It was a rough week for Alabama's signal-caller. His continued propensity to make receivers work too hard on what should be simple passes frustrated onlookers. That his timing and accuracy got worse, not better, as the week went on and he got more reps with the heretofore unfamiliar receivers is problematic. Outside of deep throws down the sidelines (where he thrived), Milroe looked a lot more like a Day 3 project than a potential top-40 pick. Advertisement The tide has turned once again for Milroe. He threw better at the NFL Scouting Combine in early March, though "better" is a relative term. Milroe bounced up with a fantastic athletic workout and pro day at Alabama. We've seen Milroe crack the top 40 in a predominance of recent mock drafts, including some first-round projections. The linkage to the AFC North rivals, Pittsburgh and Cleveland, remains quite strong for Milroe. It seems now like the question for Milroe is if he's closer to No. 25 or No. 50 off the board instead of 100 overall or beyond. Again, it's just a perception of the draft stock market fluctuating without any actual football being played. Welcome to draft season, y'all.... Grey Zabel should be a first-round pick This near-consensus conclusion from Senior Bowl week has aged very well. It's difficult to find any prominent draftnik or beat writer mock draft without Zabel going in the top 25 or so; the North Dakota State offensive lineman went No. 17 to the Bengals in our latest Wire Editor mock. Zabel is a very popular projection to Seattle at 18, Tampa Bay at 19 and Baltimore at 27 in the current mock draft-o-sphere. It's hard to remember, but it wasn't like that before the Senior Bowl. Zabel definitely had some buzz, but he was a left tackle from an FCS school transitioning into a guard/center while also making a pretty big jump in overall level of competition. In mock drafts back in late January, it wasn't terribly uncommon for Zabel to be on the board into the top of the third round. That seems laughable now. This article originally appeared on Draft Wire: 2025 draft: Senior Bowl conclusions revisited two months later
USA Today
08-04-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
2025 NFL Draft: Revisiting some Senior Bowl draft conclusions two months later
2025 NFL Draft: Revisiting some Senior Bowl draft conclusions two months later 2025 NFL Draft: Revisiting some Senior Bowl draft conclusions on players like Jaxson Dart, Grey Zabel and Shemar Stewart two months later A little over two months ago, I spent Senior Bowl week in Mobile. Watching practices, talking to prospects, meeting with agents, having fun discussions with fellow draft media members, hobnobbing with some NFL-employed scouts and coaches along the way. It's always a great unofficial kickoff to "draft season". This week, I'm back in Mobile as we explore college options for my daughter. Driving past Hancock Whitney Stadium at the University of South Alabama, where practices are held, it got me to thinking about some of those discussions back in late January. What draft notions that were floating around back then have persisted through the final stretch of draft season? Which ones have changed? The rise of Jaxson Dart One of the bigger emerging trends that came out of Senior Bowl week was the rise of Ole Miss QB Jaxson Dart as the consensus No. 3 QB in the class. Between his strong week and a relatively rough go of things for Alabama's Jalen Milroe, Dart gained momentum. He's largely kept that up, at least in the eyes of draft media. Dart has been a frequent first-round projection in many a mock draft of late. He hasn't threatened Cam Ward as the consensus QB1 and still typically lags well behind Shedeur Sanders for QB2, but Dart being a first-round pick isn't an atypical thought anymore. It most certainly was back in Senior Bowl week. Shemar Stewart in the top 10? Here's what I wrote about Stewart after the Texas A&M defensive lineman's week in January, Stewart is my answer to the annual question, "which Senior Bowler will be the first to get drafted?" Simply put, he dominated enough that it was perfectly understandable that Stewart left after Wednesday's practice. His size, strength, quickness and flexible lower body make him a high-end prospect who should be a top-20 pick, perhaps top-10. Stewart was indeed that special in Mobile. With a little over two weeks until the draft kicks off in Green Bay, I still don't have a great feel for where Shemar Stewart will be drafted. I don't think anyone does; he's been projected in recent mock drafts anywhere between No. 5 and No. 33, and either end of the range seems eminently plausible. That's what happens when a world-class athletic specimen doesn't have the football production, but also wasn't exactly helped by his collegiate defensive scheme and usage, either. Call this one a push? The fall of Jalen Milroe Consider this the flip side of the Jaxson Dart coin from Senior Bowl week. Milroe was not good in Mobile and everyone there knew it, too, It was a rough week for Alabama's signal-caller. His continued propensity to make receivers work too hard on what should be simple passes frustrated onlookers. That his timing and accuracy got worse, not better, as the week went on and he got more reps with the heretofore unfamiliar receivers is problematic. Outside of deep throws down the sidelines (where he thrived), Milroe looked a lot more like a Day 3 project than a potential top-40 pick. The tide has turned once again for Milroe. He threw better at the NFL Scouting Combine in early March, though "better" is a relative term. Milroe bounced up with a fantastic athletic workout and pro day at Alabama. We've seen Milroe crack the top 40 in a predominance of recent mock drafts, including some first-round projections. The linkage to the AFC North rivals, Pittsburgh and Cleveland, remains quite strong for Milroe. It seems now like the question for Milroe is if he's closer to No. 25 or No. 50 off the board instead of 100 overall or beyond. Again, it's just a perception of the draft stock market fluctuating without any actual football being played. Welcome to draft season, y'all.... Grey Zabel should be a first-round pick This near-consensus conclusion from Senior Bowl week has aged very well. It's difficult to find any prominent draftnik or beat writer mock draft without Zabel going in the top 25 or so; the North Dakota State offensive lineman went No. 17 to the Bengals in our latest Wire Editor mock. Zabel is a very popular projection to Seattle at 18, Tampa Bay at 19 and Baltimore at 27 in the current mock draft-o-sphere. It's hard to remember, but it wasn't like that before the Senior Bowl. Zabel definitely had some buzz, but he was a left tackle from an FCS school transitioning into a guard/center while also making a pretty big jump in overall level of competition. In mock drafts back in late January, it wasn't terribly uncommon for Zabel to be on the board into the top of the third round. That seems laughable now.
Yahoo
20-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Cold War veteran believes his life was spared due to love
MOBILE, Ala. (WKRG) – Robert Van Barrow said he owes his life today to the woman he married. Barrow was an enlisted man in the Air Force, stationed in Germany when he told his superiors of his intention to marry the German woman who would become Margot Barrow. Keeping the memory of the 'Buffalo Soldiers' alive 'I had put in for a flight – a special TDY flight to Adana, Turkey – which was a dangerous undertaking,' said Barrow. It was the height of the Cold War in 1958; Barrow was sent to Cornell University to learn the Russian language but he was later switched to the Czech language. He and fellow airmen were charged with listening in on Russian communications – working primarily for the National Security Agency. 'They needed to know how many and what their capabilities were,' continued Barrow. Because of the sensitivity of their mission – and Barrow's intention to marry a woman who had one time lived in East Germany – Barrow was taken off of that flight. 'That plane was shot down with 17 men aboard,' said Barrow. There were no survivors. In essence, Barrow believes his life was spared because of his love for Margot – and being taken off of that tragic flight. 'She was a beautiful girl and I loved her for who she was. She lost her father at the age of four during World War II in 1943.' With his new wife, Barrow left the Air Force and returned to his home state of Florida – earning a degree and his PHD at Florida State. Soon after, he was hired at the upstart University of South Alabama in Mobile, where he became chairman of the department of Political Science and Criminal Justice. 'My first – my first true occupation I suppose was at the University of South Alabama. I was one of the first professors they hired there,' he continued. It was 1966 – incidentally, the same year the Coast Guard's Aviation Training Center opened in Mobile. It's the same year the Coast Guard became interested in Barrow as well because he was developing the Criminal Justice program at USA. 'What I was developing was a program that served them well. And then I had a number of their agents, most of them recruiters, come to my classes. And one's that came in and said 'you should belong to us',' said Barrow. The Coast Guard offered Barrow a direct commission and he became an officer in the Coast Guard Reserve – eventually rising to the rank of Captain while continuing his career as a university professor. Former Alabama Veterans Affairs Commissioner served in 2 military branches Along the way, He and Margot had two children – son Frank and daughter Audrey. His beloved wife passed away in 2020. This past January, Bob Barrow turned 89 years young. We're proud to honor Dr. Robert Van Barrow for Serving Those Who Serve. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
