Daily: New Fast Food Chain In T-Town; Ground Search In Pickens

Good Morning Tuscaloosa!

In today's Daily, we have the latest on an Alabama basketball star who was injured in the Crimson Tide's Friday matchup against Mississippi State, a schedule of weekend events and all of the other stories I'm following and chasing.

First, today's weather:

Mostly cloudy in Tuscaloosa, with a high of 83 degrees and a low around 55.

BOLO: Make sure you catch a special story I'll be publishing later today that includes numerous high-profile voices a year removed from Tuscaloosa identifying its first local coronavirus case.

Here are the top 5 stories today in Tuscaloosa

1. Arkansas-based chicken finger chain Slim Chickens will soon open two Tuscaloosa-area locations, according to a report from Tessa Worley, with one on Skyland Boulevard and the other on McFarland Boulevard. (Tuscaloosa Thread)

2. Alabama men's basketball guard Josh Primo went down with a left knee injury in the second half of the Crimson Tide's SEC Men's Basketball Tournament game against Mississippi State Friday, according to a report from Daniella Medina. The status of the freshman's injury has not been released as of the publication of this story, but he did not return to action against the Bulldogs in Alabama's 85-48 win. The Tide will take on No. 4-seed Tennessee today at noon on ESPN (Tuscaloosa News)

3. Coronavirus vaccines in Alabama will be available March 22 to anyone age 55 and older, Dennis Pillion reports, along with anyone over 16 with certain health conditions, including heart disease, kidney disease, cancer, obesity, diabetes. (AL.com)

4. The Tuscaloosa Farmers Market will soon offer its pop-up markets in the beginning of April, with each spot open from 3 p.m. until 6 p.m., Monday through Friday. (WVUA 23)

5. More than 20 volunteers converged for a ground search on Friday for a missing Pickens County man last seen Feb. 15 in Reform. Tim Reid was on the scene Friday as the large-scale effort commenced in the area of Lum Fife Road to find 30-year-old Preston Chase Peeks. (CBS 42 News)

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Today in Tuscaloosa

- The Tuscaloosa Farmers Market kicked off last week and will be open from 7 a.m. until noon at the Tuscaloosa River Market.

- The Spring Pop-Up Vendors Market will be held at the Old Time Fireman's Lodge on Highway 171 in Northport from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m.

- Alabama baseball vs. Stetson at Sewell Thomas Stadium. First pitch is set for 2 p.m.

- Children's Hands-On Museum will host Shamrock Saturday from 9:30 a.m. until 4 p.m.

- The Second Saturday Outdoor Music Series will be held at the Buddy Powell Pavillion at 4205 Northridge Road, beginning at 1 p.m. Performers: 1 p.m. KST (Kenny Smitherman, Steve Jones, Tommy Gardner); 2 p.m. MHC and the Biscuit Cannons (Jerrell Bowden, Soapy Jones, Mark Hughes Cobb), and 3 p.m., Mark Ultra's Thought Police.

- Daniel Neihoff will perform Americana, blues and country tunes at Egan's Bar beginning at 10 p.m.

- Nocturnal Tavern will host some of the best comedy acts in the region, along with headliner Scott Eason, who is a featured comedian on Comedy Centrals’ Roast Battle at Stand-Up Live in Huntsville and Sirius XM. Admission is $10 with doors opening at 7 p.m. and the show beginning at 8 p.m.

Tuscaloosa Patch Notebook

- Westlawn Middle School students Akeylah Mims, Magdalena Sebastian Gaspar and Ka’Raya Edwards were recently named the winners of the school's WMS Reading Challenge, with Ka’Raya snagging the $50 bonus eighth grade prize.

- The Town of Woodstock announced this week it will host the Woodstock Music Festival on May 8 at Holiday Raceway.

- TPD's Deputy Chief of Community Policing Sebo Sanders visited his hometown of Marion Friday to donate handheld radios to the Marion Police Department.

- The Town of Lakeview had its Town Council meeting Thursday night. Click here to watch the full public meeting.

- A Students vs. Faculty basketball game was held at Collins-Riverside Middle School Friday, with the older group securing a 27-17 win over the students.

- The University of Alabama’s Museum of Natural History will conduct a Junior Naturalist Camp virtually over the spring break holiday, from March 15-19. Click here for more.

- The Northport City Council will hold its regular meeting Monday at 5:30 p.m. Click here to access the full agenda.

From the cheap seats

- No. 1 seed Alabama men's basketball (22-6, 16-2 SEC) will take on No. 4 seed Tennessee (18-7, 10-7 SEC) at noon today in the SEC Men's Basketball Tournament.

- The number two seed Crimson Tide men’s wheelchair basketball team defeated Auburn 76-50 in the Stran-Hardin Arena Friday to advance to the championship game of the 2021 Toyota NWBA Collegiate Wheelchair Basketball National Championships. The Tide was led by sophomore Ignacio Ortega from Madrid, Spain, who finished atop the list of all scorers with 37 points. The championship game will be played today at 4:45 p.m.

- The Alabama women’s wheelchair basketball team also took a big step on its way to another national title, defeating UT-Arlington 62-42 in the first game of the best-of-three-game series. The two teams will play again Saturday at 12:15 p.m. and 7 p.m. as Alabama looks to claim its seventh women's national title.

- Tuscaloosa County High School forward and Alabama-Huntsville signee Bryson Hall got some scoring in during the 2021 Alabama/Mississippi All-Star Game in Montgomery Friday night. Mississippi defeated Alabama in the boy's game, with the nail-biter coming down to a 93-91 final, while the Alabama girls won 102-70.

- No. 4 Alabama softball defeated the No. 22 Auburn Tigers 6-0 in a game that saw Bailey Hemphill hit a home run to push her over 200 RBI for her career, joining Charlotte Morgan and Kaila Hunt as the only Alabama players to accomplish the feat.

- Alabama baseball dropped a 4-2 home loss to Stetson Friday night.

- The Stillman College men's basketball team will take on Keiser (Florida) today in Montgomery at 5 p.m. in the second round of the NAIA Men's Basketball Tournament.

- The Shelton State Community College Lady Bucs stomped Snead State 79-38 in women's junior college basketball action Friday night.

- The Shelton State baseball team swept a doubleheader Thursday against Southern Union State in Tuscaloosa, winning 2-1 and 7-3.

- The University of West Alabama men's and women's tennis teams remain ranked in the latest ITA National Division II Top 25, with the women moving up five spots to No. 16, while the men fell two positions to No. 22.

- Northridge High School shut out Shelby County 8-0 in Friday night baseball action.

- The Northside Rams softball team defeated the Gordo Greenwave 4-2 on Thursday.

Now you're all caught up to start your weekend. Don't miss out during the rest of the day, though! Be sure to follow me on Tuscaloosa Patch and its social media platforms for more.

I'll see you around!

- Ryan

About me: I grew up in Tuscaloosa. I'm graduate of the University of Alabama and the founder of Tuscaloosa Patch. You can find me at public meetings, events in the local arts community and wherever live music is played!