More Pizza In Northport + Tuscaloosa Unemployment Update

Good Morning Tuscaloosa! Here's everything you need to know before you get out the door on this Thursday morning.

In today's Daily, we have these stories and more ...

• More pizza for Northport.
• Tuscaloosa looks for ways to boost safety in entertainment districts.
• Fourth of July plans for Tuscaloosa County.

First, today's weather:

Tuscaloosa can expect showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 10 a.m., with a high near 86°

Patch Pick

The Chamber of Commerce of West Alabama hosted an official ribbon-cutting for Homewood Suites on Tuesday to ring in the opening of Tuscaloosa's newest hotel. The Chamber also hosted its June Business After Hours at the new downtown hotel.

Today's Tuscaloosa Daily from Patch is brought to you by our friends at Ring, the home security company. Ring does a lot more than doorbells: check out their full suite of smart home products at Ring.com. And thank you Ring for helping to make local news happen in Tuscaloosa!

Here are the top 5 stories today in Tuscaloosa

1. Here's a look at a new pilot concept — dubbed Summer in the Square — as the City of Tuscaloosa looks to better understand pedestrian foot traffic in the city's entertainment district after a rash of violence in recent weeks. (More on Patch)

2. The newest Domino's pizza franchise is now open in Northport at the intersection of Highway 43 and Mitt Lary Road. Read more about it here! (More on Patch)

3. It was a big day on the baseball diamond for one Stillman Tiger, freshman Kelvin Reese, who made the most of his opportunity in the HBCU All-Star Game Tuesday and was voted the game's Most Valuable Player. (More on Patch)

4. Tuscaloosa County's unemployment rate was 3.1% in April, which was down from 3.5% in March. That reflected significant improvement from April 2020, when the unemployment rate for the county stood at 17%. (More on Patch)

5. Pickens County will soon receive a $300,000 grant from Gov. Kay Ivey to fund the construction of a new building for the Pickens County Emergency Management Agency. (WVUA 23 News)

Check it out!

Volunteers with the University of Alabama's Leaders Exploring Academic Possibilities (LEAP) program spent Tuesday morning clearing off the bird watching trail at Palmore Park for Tuscaloosa County Park & Recreation Authority (PARA).

Tuscaloosa Patch Notebook

- Both lanes on a portion of Highway 171 near the 10 mile marker were temporarily closed Wednesday due to a downed power line and eventually reopened to traffic early in the afternoon. (More on Patch)

- The latest vaccine data shows only 29.4% of Alabama residents — roughly 1.4 million people — are fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, while approximately 36% of the state's population has received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine. (More on Patch)

- A York woman and two children were killed in a single-vehicle crash on Sumter County Road 25 Tuesday evening. Two others were also injured in the crash and transported to a local hospital for treatment. (More on Patch)

- The City of Tuscaloosa and Tuscaloosa County Park & Recreation Authority announced plans for the Fourth of July at the Tuscaloosa Amphitheater. Check them out here! (More on Patch)

- The University of West Alabama Athletic Department on Wednesday announced the addition of North American University to its 2021 football schedule. The non-conference competition extends the schedule to an 11-game season with six games at home. (More)

- Crestmont Elementary School was named this week as one of five Alabama schools chosen to receive the Imagine Nation Beacon School Award. (More)

- The Tuscaloosa Public Library will host an in-person Story Time Thursday at 10 a.m. and is also offering sign-ups for its Summer Reading Program. (More)

- Baseball players ages 6-17 are invited to Shelton State Community College's annual baseball camp from June 21-24 or July 12-15 from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. The cost is $100. (More)

- Shelton State will also offer a boys basketball camp for those 6-18 years old from June 14-17 or July 12-15. (More)

- The Alabama Department of Revenue reported this week that sales for March and April 2021 jumped almost 41% in Alabama from what was collected for the state in the same 2020 months. (More)

Now you're in the loop and ready to get out the door and running today. But don't miss out during the rest of the week! Be sure to follow me on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content every day of the week.

I'll see you around!

- Ryan

Have a news tip or suggestion on how I can improve Tuscaloosa Patch? Maybe you're interested in having your business become one of the latest sponsors for Tuscaloosa Patch? Email all inquiries to me at ryan.phillips@patch.com.