Down in Alabama: Katie Britt’s look and the Week in Review

However you want to review the past week in Alabama news, we have it here.First, watch any podcast episode from the past week. That’s followed below by superlatives from the week and then the answers to Friday’s Alabama News Quiz. Click here to get access to it all in the future through the Down in Alabama newsletter.Happy scrolling.SUPERLATIVES OF THE WEEKLeast Love Lost of the WeekWinner: Tommy Tuberville and bridge tolls.Tuberville told Mobile’s FM Talk 106.5 that he despises tolls and that it makes him sick that financing for the future Mobile River Bridge will be paid for via tolls. “I hate them because we have to pay all these taxes,” he told show host Jeff Poor. ”Why should we have to pay tolls?”The obvious answer to that, of course, is because it’s a really expensive project that is bigger than the state’s transportation budget and has not been fully covered by anybody’s budget. Somebody has to pay for the thing. After all, this ain’t Congress.Tuberville may feel our pain honestly: One of the quickest routes from the Destin-Fort Walton Beach Airport to his longtime beach home in the Florida Panhandle crosses the Choctawhatchee Bay via the Mid-Bay Bridge — where there is a toll booth.Love Connection of the WeekMobile Mayor Spiro Cheriogotis and trolleysThe mayor is all-in on replacing the city’s bus fleet with rubber-tire trolleys. As part of the city’s rebranded “Second Line Transit” launch, last week the mayor accompanied area news media on a ride-along in the city’s first such vehicle, purchased with $100,000 in leftover city revenue.Cheriogotis has said he loves trolleys. He’s said he’s obsessed with them. He’s said he wants to see 10 to 12 trucking down Mobile streets in the next four years with local and federal dollars.Said Cheriogotis: “I realize these are not rail-based trolleys, but it’s a historical look. It’s the history we had here up until 1950. It brings a piece of nostalgia with them. I think people, in many ways, yearn for simpler times — whether it was actually simple or not — I think they like the trolleys.”Turnaround of the WeekBirmingham vs. murderThe year’s third quarter ended this past week with Birmingham police having investigated 34 homicides that happened this year. As awful as every one may be, that compares favorably with the 61 during the first three quarters of 2025 and a horrifying 129 during the first three quarters of 2024.Late bloomer of the WeekAtlantic hurricane seasonSo far, no hurricanes yet in the Atlantic basin (which includes the Gulf and the Caribbean). But forecasters are eyeing a low-pressure system in the southwestern Gulf that could develop into ... something ... this week.Labor Shortage of the WeekHuntsville police officersHuntsville Police Chief Kirk Giles shared stats this week that shows there are 285 officers on a staff of 373 authorized positions. Math majors in the audience already know that means there are 88 vacancies.Gig of the WeekHomewood Patriot Marching BandIt’s played Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parades, Rose Parades, the Lord Mayor’s Show in London and the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Dublin.Next September, the Homewood Patriot Marching Band will become the first American band to perform at the Corso Zundert Parade in the Netherlands.The Corso Zundert Parade is Europe’s largest flower parade and held annually for 90 years.Whopper of the WeekPresident Trump’s Mobile River Bridge accountingAt his rally in Mobile on Friday, the president said the project was “all made possible by $3 billion in funding from the Trump administration.”Not quite.A big chunk of the financing is through a federal loan that is expected to be repaid with toll revenue. The largest federal grant involved was for only $550 million (I can’t believe I just said “only” but this is the Whopper of the Week so ...), and that grant came through an infrastructure law signed by former President Biden.So, thank you ... autopen?Look of the WeekKatie BrittThe Republican U.S. senator from Enterprise was at the Senate Judiciary Committee as Republicans grilled Special Counsel Jack Smith for his investigation into Trump’s alleged efforts to overthrow the 2020 election and his handling of government documents.When Sen. Eric Schmitt of Missouri thought he’d caught Smith in a lie, made quite a production out of it with purported proof that he was at an Atlanta Hawks game despite saying he had not been in Atlanta on a specific date, then watched it all come unraveled as everyone realized the special counsel had been at an Iowa Hawkeyes games, not an Atlanta Hawks game.An MSNOW camera zoomed in on Britt’s stunned face at that moment. It went viral. Even her husband, Wesley Britt, posted the image on social media and wrote, “My wife watching me sleepwalking and crushing leftovers.”One might assume Britt’s reaction was disbelief that preparation for a Beltway dog-and-pony show can be so mediocre. But she’s been there for nearly four years now, so surely she knew that by now.QUIZ ANSWERS/RESULTSWhich Alabama school is part of the new “America’s Corps of Cadets” program?Auburn University at Montgomery 12%Tuskegee University (CORRECT) 77%University of South Alabama 10%Cahaba College 2%In preparation for future winters, the Mobile City Council is expected to vote on whether to spend $73,372 on what?Snowplow attachments (CORRECT) 89%Mobile Mysticks tickets 2%MoonPie Over Mobile repairs 8%Flights to St. Somewhere 1%The station manager at WBHM, a public-radio station controlled by UAB, said it was being coerced to use what phrase in their newscasts?Super intelligence 12%Gulf of America (CORRECT) 87%War Eagle 0%Might could 0%The first phase of this project was completed this week.I-10 Mobile River and Bayway 34%New Alabama State House 5%Northern Beltline (CORRECT) 57%New I-65 replica rocket 4%The largest number of Alabamians have ...Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama coverage. (CORRECT) 85%Medicare coverage. 3%no medical insurance coverage. 10%not received an MMR vaccine. 2%SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST