Bama Softball Handed First Loss; Return Of Kentuck Arts Festival

Good Morning Tuscaloosa!

In today's Daily, we have more from Alabama softball falling to an in-state school for its first loss of the 2021 season, an in-depth look at the return of the Kentuck Festival of the Arts, and all of the other stories we will be watching to begin the week.

First, today's weather:

Warming up! Sunny, with a high near 72 degrees and a nighttime low around 41. Chance of rain near 0%.

Here are the top 5 stories today in Tuscaloosa

1. Third-ranked Alabama softball suffered its first loss on the season 1-0 to unranked South Alabama Sunday in a showcase of pitching on both sides at Rhoads Stadium.

2. The official 2021 SEC Men's Basketball Tournament bracket has been released after No. 5 Alabama secured the regular season championship. (Tyler Martin, Bama Central)

3. The coronavirus pandemic dealt an additional blow to the area arts community with the cancellation of the Kentuck Festival of the Arts in 2020, but the festival plans to come back this year and offer a sense of normalcy. Read an in-depth look here that appeared on the top fold of the Tuscaloosa News print edition on Sunday. (Mark Hughes Cobb, Tuscaloosa News)

4. Stillman College senior guard Trey Petty was recently named Southern States Athletic Conference Player of The Year as he leads the top-seed Tigers to the NAIA Tournament in Montgomery later this month. He recently spoke at length with a local radio station to discuss the experience. (Dre Day, 92.9 WTUG)

5. Rock guitar virtuoso Tom Morello (Rage Against The Machine, Audioslave) recorded a video message for 6,000 warehouse workers at an Amazon facility in Bessemer who are currently voting on potential union representation. Watch the video below.

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Tuscaloosa Patch Notebook

- The Tuscaloosa County Board of Education will hold its regular meeting Monday night at 5 p.m. Click here to view the meeting's agenda and here to watch the meeting live when it begins.

- The Northport Water Office lobby will reopen on Monday and return to its normal in-person hours, from 8 a.m. until 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.

- The Tuscaloosa City Council will hold its regular meeting on Tuesday. Click here to view the different committee agendas and agenda for full City Council meeting.

- Tuscaloosa City Schools will close pre-K registration today at 11 a.m. The application process can be started here. The city school board will also hold its regular meeting on Tuesday, with the agenda available for viewing here.

- The University of Alabama announced its Student Health Center will merge its medical services and administrative operations with the University Medical Center, in an effort to expand and improve operations.

- Several CVS Pharmacy locations in west Alabama are now offering the coronavirus vaccine, including one location in Tuscaloosa. However, all appointments at the locations are booked at this time. To view a running update from the company to show availability, click here.

Now you're all caught up to start your week, which promises to be a busy one for us, so 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, am a University of Alabama graduate 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!