Biz Updates On The Strip; Vintage Market Today In Northport

1. Cecil Hurt gives his expert analysis following No.5 Alabama men’s basketball closing out regular season play with a 89-79 road win against the Georgia Bulldogs Saturday in Athens. (Tuscaloosa News)

2. The Benjamin Barnes YMCA recently hosted the finale of Tuscaloosa’s Gospel Best Singing Competition at Cornerstone Baptist Church. Indya Joyner won the junior competition and Kristian Simmons took home the title of Tuscaloosa’s Gospel Best. (Karris Harmon, WVUA 23)

3. PJ’s Coffee will open for business Monday on The Strip in the building that previously housed Expeditions, which closed last summer. (Meg Summers, Tuscaloosa Thread)

4. Twelve25 — a restaurant and sports bar on University Boulevard along The Strip — is now reportedly accepting Dining Dollars from University of Alabama students. (Isabel Hope, Crimson White)

5. Shelton State Community College says it will begin offering evening nursing classes this summer after increased interest in health care careers due to the coronavirus pandemic. (Kelvin Reynolds, WBRC Fox 6 News)

Today and this week

– Sunday, March 7: 5th Street Vintage Market will hold one of its five annual events, featuring numerous vendors. The market will be from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m., with free admission and concessions available. There will be vendors from around the region who specialize in vintage and handmade items, artworks and vinyl records. Click here to learn more.

– Tuesday, March 9: Alabama Crimson Tide baseball takes on South Alabama in Tuscaloosa. First pitch at 6 p.m. Tuesday, before playing Jacksonville State on Wednesday at 6 p.m.

– Thursday, March 11: Live Music On The Rooftop at Hotel Indigo with Soapy & Andrew from 6 p.m. – 9 p.m.

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Weekend Notebook

– The City of Northport will resume its police department fingerprinting services Tuesday after temporarily suspending the offering due to the coronavirus pandemic. Read my prior coverage here.

– Jackson Halcomb, a Northridge Middle School seventh grader, recently finished first in the district middle school division of The Governor’s App Challenge. His award-winning program included creating an app to help people manage their utilities, while saving both energy and money. Watch a video of Halcomb here.

– The University of Alabama System on Friday announced that no new positive coronavirus cases had been identified at the University of Alabama in Huntsville over the last week, with only a small number of positives at The University of Alabama (16 students and 5 faculty/staff) and the University of Alabama at Birmingham (5 students and 1 faculty/staff).

– The Tuscaloosa Police Athletic League this week announced its first PAL Spring Baseball League, with an eight-week season set to begin in April. It is open to all children 3-12 and the Tuscaloosa Police Department hopes to offer the league for free, but is in need of sponsors to make it possible. Click here for more.

– Tuscaloosa County Public Works closed Hannah Hill on Saturday between Highway 216 and Mountain View Circle, which will remained closed for approximately a week while a pipe replacement takes place. The detour will be through Phyllis Drive and Blue Gill Lane.

– Hillcrest High School was recently selected as a 2020 CLAS School of Distinction for its Character Education program. The honor recognizes schools or programs that serve as outstanding educational models for other schools in Alabama. Read more about it here.