SUMMARY: Amtrak returned to Mobile, Alabama, after 20 years with its Mardi Gras Service from New Orleans, sparking a festive celebration on Water Street. Amtrak President Rodger Harris highlighted the decade-long effort to restore passenger rail on the Gulf Coast, praising the enthusiastic community response. The train offers Coach and Business class seats, traveling about 79 mph with four stops in Mississippi, completing the trip in roughly four hours. Tickets start at $15 one way. Congressman Shamori Figures expressed hopes for service expansion and federal support to ensure its success. Commercial passenger service begins Monday, reconnecting communities along the Gulf Coast.

A homecoming 20 years in the making, as city and state leaders gathered in downtown Mobile Saturday to welcome Amtrak’s special arrival.

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SUMMARY: Bishop Calvin Woods Sr., a prominent civil rights leader in Birmingham, passed away surrounded by loved ones. A former Southern Christian Leadership Conference president and March on Washington organizer, Woods fought alongside figures like Martin Luther King Jr. and Fred Shuttlesworth for equality, enduring beatings, jail time, and fines. His son, Christopher Woods, reflects on his father’s faith, dedication, and lifelong fight for unconditional love and justice, despite dangerous times marked by assassinations and unrest. Woods continued inspiring others until his final days. His legacy of faith, courage, and community-building lives on through his family and those he mentored. He would have been 92.

‘The world was transformed:’ Bishop Calvin Woods Sr.’s son reflects on his life and legacy

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SUMMARY: Chief meteorologist Ed Bodsworth reports that Hurricane Aaron is rapidly intensifying, with sustained winds reaching 155 mph and a minimum pressure of 923 millibars as of 10 AM CT on August 16, 2025. The storm is moving west at 17 mph, featuring a six-mile-wide eye. Forecasts predict Aaron will become a Category 5 hurricane by midday, then undergo an eyewall replacement cycle, expanding its windfield. It is expected to pass north of Puerto Rico, near Turks and Caicos as a strong Category 4, and bypass Bermuda while remaining a major hurricane. The storm will cause large surf and rip currents along the US East Coast.

Hurricane Erin continues to rapidly strengthen and is now expected to reach category 5 hurricane status as it passes north of Bermuda.

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