Only the middle cross remains standing at Alabama church after Sunday’s severe weather — ‘He lives!’
The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has been a trying time for people across the nation, and Alabamians were further put to the test on Easter Sunday when severe weather ripped through several southern states.
However, after the storms passed, one incredible photo of the aftermath is now lifting up people all over the world — giving them hope and strengthening their faith.
As posted on Facebook by Renae Mobley Clark of Sumiton, Lawler Baptist Church in Dora had put up three large crosses for Holy Week.
After a tornado tore through the rural area near the Jefferson County and Walker County line, only one cross remained standing: the middle one.
Victor Massey, lead pastor at the nearby Sumiton Church of God, wrote Sunday on Facebook, “In the midst of this Coronavirus crisis a tornado came through our community tonight causing pretty extensive damage. Lawler Baptist, a church down the street from ours, had three crosses on display for Easter. Notice the crosses on each side were taken down by the storm but the cross in the middle still stands. When we put our faith and trust in the One who went to the cross and resurrected from the grave we can make it through any storm. His name is JESUS! HE LIVES!”
ABC 33/40 reported that the church itself sustained roof damage.
Sean Ross is the editor of Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn
Roby: Remembering our troops this Christmas season
While the holiday season brings family and friends together, it serves as a time to remember our military families and troops overseas. This year especially brings new challenges as we continue to navigate the holidays during a global pandemic. Data from the Alabama Department of Health shows that numbers are sharply rising across the state, and we are setting consecutive new records for daily number of new cases of the Coronavirus (COVID-19). The virus may alter how we spend this Christmas season, as well as the direct and indirect effects for our men and women in uniform serving around the world.
Each year, Members of Congress participate in the American Red Cross’ Holiday for Heroes program. This annual event provides an opportunity to express our gratitude and pass along holiday greetings and wishes to servicemembers, their families, and veterans. Like many other events this year, we were unable to gather and convey our appreciation in writing.
The Red Cross instead organized a virtual initiative for Members of Congress to send video messages wishing our servicemembers a happy holiday. I am grateful for the opportunity to send a special message to our deployed troops, and I encourage you this Christmas season to find a way to extend your appreciation to our military men and women for their daily sacrifices to preserve our freedom.
I am honored to serve a district that many active duty military families and veterans call home. Our servicemembers go to great lengths to defend this nation and everything it stands for, especially during these challenging times. I want to give a special thank you to all members of the military and their families, as well as our veterans. I hope you all stay healthy and safe this holiday season. From the Roby family to yours, thank you for your service, and Merry Christmas!
Martha Roby represents Alabama’s Second Congressional District. She lives in Montgomery, Alabama, with her husband Riley and their two children.
Auburn unveils student center named in honor of Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice Harold Melton
Harold Melton was humbled and thankful during his remarks at the dedication ceremony for the Harold D. Melton Student Center on the Auburn University campus.
Melton – the chief justice of the Georgia Supreme Court and first Black president of the Auburn Student Government Association (SGA) – was joined by his wife, Kimberly, parents, Augustus and Carole, and other family members at the half-hour ceremony. Melton – a 1988 Auburn graduate who studied international business and Spanish – was appreciative while giving remarks in front of the building, which is in the heart of campus near Jordan-Hare Stadium and Haley Center.
“Auburn University owes me nothing, it really doesn’t, and already it has given me all I could ever hope or ask for,” said Melton, who became Auburn SGA president in 1987. “It is a privilege to hear so many great things said about me, many of which I don’t feel like I can even begin to deserve. Thank you to Dr. (AU President Jay) Gogue for his continued leadership of this institution and the members of the Board of Trustees, and special thanks also goes to the Student Government Association itself because this was a student-led initiative.
“When you show up to school, you don’t know what you’re getting into, you don’t know what’s in store and you hope you made the right decision. I never thought I’d get involved with the SGA or certainly become SGA president, never thought I’d be on the supreme court and never imagined this kind of moment. I thank the Lord for leading me to this place, because it was exactly what I needed for spiritual, educational and social growth, and I’m grateful every day this is where I went.”
Melton, from Marietta, Georgia, went on to graduate from the University of Georgia School of Law in 1991, began serving on the Georgia Supreme Court in 2005 and became its chief justice in 2018. He is a board member of Atlanta Youth Academies and on the national, local and collegiate boards for Young Life Ministries.
“This is a really, really, really great day in the life of Auburn University,” Gogue said. “In 1987, this young kid comes here, gets the whole student body excited, they elect him as student body president and head of the Student Government Association. Then we come to today, and we make real history today. I simply want to say to Chief Justice Melton, you actually honor Auburn by allowing us to honor you today.”
Others attending the ceremony included Alabama state Sen. Vivian Figures, chairwoman of the Alabama Legislative Black Caucus; state Sen. Bobby Singleton, minority leader of the Alabama Senate; state Rep. Anthony Daniels, minority leader of the Alabama House of Representatives; state Sen. Tom Whatley; state Rep. Joe Lovvorn; and state Rep. Jeremy Gray.
“Today, we celebrate the accomplishments of this esteemed trailblazer who has represented Auburn with such distinction and who has led meaningful change toward progress in the way of diversity and equality,” Huntley said. “The naming will forever serve to remind all Auburn students – past, current and future – that with perseverance through adversity and hard work, anything is possible. On behalf of the Auburn University Board of Trustees and as a proud mother, I personally want to thank Chief Justice Melton for continuing to cultivate the next generation of leaders and for setting a foundation that allows our children to not only dream, but to achieve.
“It’s a privilege to be on this stage with you, and it’s an honor to be part of this moment in time.”
Her daughter, Ada Ruth Huntley, earlier this year became the first Black female to earn the title of SGA president.
“The student center is a cornerstone of the experience of your everyday Auburn student and serves as a safe space for all to gather,” Ada Ruth Huntley said. “This is where student leaders gather to develop their leadership and (work to) leave Auburn better than they found it. You walked so that I could run, and I am incredibly grateful for your contributions to our university.
“I cannot think of any building more fitting to carry the name of Chief Justice Harold D. Melton.”
Constructed in 2008, the three-level Harold D. Melton Student Center is a favorite gathering spot for Auburn’s more than 30,000 students, complete with dining facilities that include a Chick-fil-A and Starbucks, study areas and the James E. Foy Information Desk. With more than 5,000 visitors each day, the 184,000-square-foot center provides student resources, structured activities and a variety of amenities, and houses Student Affairs, The Auburn Plainsman, Greek Life and Auburn Cares offices.
Bobby Woodard, senior vice president for Student Affairs, said naming the building for a former student is the perfect fit.
“It’s hard to imagine a more worthy name for Auburn’s student center than Chief Justice Melton’s,” said Woodard. “Chief Justice Melton is a walking, talking, living, breathing embodiment of the Auburn Creed, an Auburn man through and through, and I can think of no better way to recognize him than by naming this building in his honor. This beautiful building finally has a name on it, and I am proud to work at the Harold D. Melton Student Center.
“It will be a lasting testament to all that he has accomplished and all there is to come.”
Melton, who was born in Washington, D.C., offered some sage advice for Auburn’s current student body.
“I would say, first and foremost, get involved, but do more than just get involved,” said Melton, who ended his speech by leading everyone in a War Eagle cheer. “You really have to leave your mark. If you face adversity in any form, push through anyway and don’t get knocked off course. This university has too much to offer for you to not allow yourself to enjoy it all because of a little adversity.
“Come with the mission to get and to give and be committed to that.”
Naming the student center in Melton’s honor is the first step in the university’s long-term inclusive effort that is headed by Trustees Elizabeth Huntley and James Pratt and the Presidential Task Force for Opportunity and Equity. In addition, the Auburn board in July endorsed a student-led initiative to create a plaza recognizing the legacy of Black Greek organizations and African American culture. The National Pan-Hellenic Council Legacy Plaza will be erected in front of the new Academic Classroom and Laboratory Complex.
“Today’s naming also speaks to the long-term, deliberative work Auburn has committed to in advancing a culture of inclusivity that will serve to further unite our Auburn family,” trustee Huntley said. “We continue to make great strides in our family for celebrating people for their character and not the color of their skin. As I look to the future and all this naming represents, I see a bright horizon of hope – a signal to all in the Auburn family, especially our students, that at Auburn we truly are a family united in purpose and devoted to the ideals of the Auburn Creed.”
Alabama’s revenge is complete as they embarrass defending champion LSU 55-17
Death Valley, allegedly “where opposing teams’ dreams die,” might need a new nickname after Saturday night.
The Alabama Crimson Tide’s dreams are very much still alive, and even thriving, after their trip to Baton Rouge. LSU is clearly struggling this year. Yet, after the Tigers’ win last year and post-game locker room talk by head coach Ed Orgeron, Bama wasn’t going to let them out of there without a beat down.
The stars aligned for this blowout to take place. Nick Saban was back on the sideline after missing his first ever football game as the Tide’s coach, the rivalry has grown stronger than ever and one team is great this year while the other is below average.
Saban opened up his post-game interview saying, “Obviously this team has done a great job all year and won the [SEC] West today, which I’m very proud of them and their efforts all year to be able to do that.”
Afterwards, Saban discussed how some of the assistant coaches that were out due to COVID-19 affected the team and the game plan: “We were down four coaches today… everybody in the organization stepped up and did a really good job. So, we really didn’t skip a beat today.”
If anything, Alabama might have even hit more notes than usual in an absolutely dominant performance. The stars shined brightly on the night for the Crimson Tide, including the “big three” of Mac Jones, Najee Harris and DeVonta Smith.
The star running back for the Tide, Harris, had another 100-plus yard night. He carried the ball 21 times for 145 yards and three touchdowns.
Jones notched another amazing night to go towards his Heisman portfolio. The Alabama quarterback was 20-28 passing the ball for a total of 385 yards and four touchdowns. Those numbers are starting to become so regular that people are getting numb to them.
Both of these young men profited off of arguably the best offensive line in the nation.
The big nasties up front for Bama were a terror in the trenches for the Bayou Bengals all night long. Multiple times, Harris didn’t even get touched by a defender until he was ten yards down the field thanks to the gaping holes left by the line.
Saban said he thought his team played a little better in the second half than the first, but the numbers in the first half are hard to argue with. For points alone, the Tide outscored LSU 21-0 in just the first quarter.
Of course, Saban was likely referring to the defense in the first half. While the Alabama offense scored 45 points in the first half, the defense gave up 14 of LSU’s 17 points all in the second quarter. Either way, Alabama had the win locked up the entire game and put together a complete four-quarter performance.
When most coaches win by 38 points over a rival there isn’t much to complain about, but Saban is building a culture at Alabama and a standard that needs to be upheld no matter the score.
“I don’t get to see every player play in the country. I love Smitty, I think he is an outstanding player for our team, and he has probably done as much this year for our team as any player we’ve ever had,” Saban replied when asked if he thought Smith was the best player in the country.
Without a doubt Smith stood out above everyone else for Alabama on Saturday. The Tide receiver caught eight passes for 231 yards and three touchdowns. “Smitty” averaged nearly 30 yards per reception. He now has over 1,000 yards receiving and 12 touchdowns on the season.
“I don’t think there is any player in the country that has done for their team than what Smitty has done for our team,” Saban added.
According to Saban, his team has gotten very resilient this year because of all of the abnormal events that come along with a season during the coronavirus pandemic. This includes Saban being quarantined last week, and then some assistants being out this week. Even on Saturday at the hotel, his team had a weird experience.
“The electricity went off in our hotel today… a half hour before our pre-game meal, and we had to eat our pre-game meal in the dark,” Saban shared. “It’s like, you know, stuff happens. Everybody just kind of keeps on keeping on.”
Resiliency is necessary in a season like no other. However, the Crimson Tide are not planning to let anything phase them.
That includes the Arkansas Razorbacks, who Alabama will matchup with next. The Tide will travel to Fayetteville in an attempt to go undefeated through the regular season. The game will be on December 12 for the SEC “make-up week” at a time that has not been announced yet.
Hayden Crigler is a contributing college football writer for Yellowhammer News. You can contact him through email: hayden@yellowhammernews.com or on Twitter: @hayden_crigler.
How one woman’s resilience through ovarian cancer treatment motivates others
When watching Debby Davis mow her lawn, cook big meals and go to work, it would be tough for anyone to tell the 67-year-old is actively going through chemotherapy treatments. Since 2015, Davis has been battling ovarian cancer and juggling her work, family and chemotherapy regimens at the University of Alabama at Birmingham with unparalleled strength.
Her cancer story began when Davis was mowing her lawn one morning and felt an excruciating pain in her groin area on the left side. She ignored it, only to experience it again when she was at work. She brushed it off as a pulled muscle, but her co-workers knew that something was not right and encouraged her to go see a doctor.
Their skepticism proved to be true when the pain Davis was experiencing was diagnosed as ovarian cancer, after it was discovered by oncologists from UAB’s Division of Gynecologic Oncology. A 20-centimeter tumor was positioned on her left ovary, roughly the size of a volleyball. While symptoms such as bloating or loss of appetite are often linked to ovarian cancer, Davis had experienced nothing of the kind.
“I have never been sick a day of my life. I am a go, go, go person; I never slow down,” Davis said. “When I was told that I needed to see a gynecologic oncologist, I could not believe what I was hearing. I drove to work, but felt like I was driving in slow motion. When I got there, I just fell apart.”
Gynecologic cancers are considered particularly rare — particularly ovarian cancer — as there are currently no effective screening tests for ovarian cancer.
For patients who visit UAB for gynecologic cancer care through the Division of Gynecologic Oncology and O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center, researchers and physicians are actively involved in paradigm-changing research for patients with different types of gynecologic cancers, including ovarian, endometrial and cervical cancers.
“The Division of Gynecologic Oncology here at UAB has an extremely strong track record of enrolling patients in clinical trials, and these trials are helping to shape the future standard of care for women with these cancers,” said Michael Straughn Jr., M.D., professor of medicine in UAB’s Division of Gynecologic Oncology and Davis’ primary oncologist. “In addition to the paradigm-shifting trials for current therapies, we are involved in early investigations of novel therapies that may become future standard treatments. Clinical trials may offer patients access to therapies they otherwise would not be able to receive and may allow them to receive tomorrow’s treatments today, right here at UAB.”
Davis’ treatment plan began with a surgery to remove her tumor, followed with rounds of chemotherapy and additional surgeries. All the while, Davis continued to fulfill her responsibilities as an employee, mother and grandmother.
Although she received standard care therapy including post-operative chemotherapy, her cancer unfortunately recurred and she received several additional types of chemotherapy. Despite these treatments, her cancer continued to grow.
Following a review of molecular testing on her cancer, she was found to be a candidate for the TAPUR trial, a large, multi-institutional trial that utilizes molecular information from the patient’s tumor to guide treatment decisions, rather than information about where the tumor started. As a result — although her cancer is an ovarian cancer — she was started on a chemotherapy that is approved for treating a type of kidney cancer.
“She has been receiving this therapy for nearly three years, with stabilization of her cancer, and has not experienced significant growth,” Straughn explained. “She continues on this life-extending clinical trial therapy to this day.”
Access to trials and specialized treatments like Davis’ are not possible at all hospitals, but UAB’s O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center enables constant research and the latest offerings for patients of all cancer backgrounds.
Now, five years after her initial diagnosis, Davis is still seeking treatment, but it is continuing to extend her life expectancy and viability. Davis has come to UAB every single Wednesday since October 2015, missing only two Wednesdays in five years.
For Davis, going through cancer has not been easy; but having strong support from family who moved with her from across the country and her resilience have made all the difference.
“I never paid attention to what chemo drugs could do to my body; I knew they would affect all of my organs. But I had my faith in God and Dr. Straughn,” Davis said.
For anyone battling any life-threatening disease, Davis recommends leisure activities that stop the mind from wandering to places that would lead to negative thoughts.
“Do I get upset sometimes? Sure, I do. Do I get tired of it all? Of course, I do. Cancer is a scary thing; but if you stay positive, stay active and are not afraid to ask for help, you can beat it,” she said. “With the help of the phenomenal medical staff who have directed my health care, the support of my family and fellow patients at UAB who told me that I have inspired them to stay positive is what keeps me going.”
Texas A&M came to Jordan-Hare Stadium and ended a three game losing streak against Auburn, prevailing today 31-20.
From the first drive of the game, the Aggies set the tone, driving straight down the field and taking a 7-0 lead. Auburn would actually manage to take a lead that got to as many as six points in the third quarter, although that seemed to come completely against the flow of play. The Tigers were up 20-14 with 4:16 left in the third quarter after kicker Anders Carlson made a 24-yard field goal.
However, Texas A&M would outscore Auburn 17-0 in the 4th quarter, which led to the eventual 31-20 victory for the Aggies. The eleven point margin of victory for A&M was actually probably a little bit closer than the contest actually was. The Auburn defense never came close to stopping A&M, and the Tigers’ offense underwhelmed on the day as well. Overall, it was a well-deserved loss for Auburn.
Take a below at the three factors that ultimately led to Texas A&M’s 31-20 win over the Tigers.
A&M Offensive line dominates
The Texas A&M offense line was by far the best unit on the field today. The Aggies O-Line cleared the way for backs to rush for 313 yards on 6.7 yards per carry and only allowed one sack on 23 pass attempts. There were multiple run plays where Aggie linemen opened tractor-trailer sized holes for backs to exploit.
Auburn’s defensive front did not come close to stalemating the Aggies on many individual plays, much less on the whole for the day. The reality that A&M could line up and run straight over, around, and through the Tigers’ defense gave very little hope for Auburn to earn a win today.
Auburn’s defensive front was expected to take a step back from last year’s stellar group, but they were the limiting factor in Auburn’s loss against the Aggies.
No answer for Jalen Wydermeyer
Aggies’ sophomore tight end Jalen Wydermeyer was a matchup nightmare for Auburn today. The 6-5, 255-pound phenom was an effective blocker in the Aggies’ big day on the ground and was also their primary target in the passing game. Wydermeyer caught a 10-yard touchdown pass to start the scoring for the A&M and also scored on a tipped pass that put the Aggies ahead 21-20 in the fourth quarter.
Even aside from the touchdowns, Wydermeyer was able to consistently get open against linebackers and safeties to pick up critical catches to keep drives alive all day. There is no easy answer for how to defend a man that big and athletic, but Auburn certainly didn’t provide one today until it was too late.
Wydermeyer is a great example of how big a mismatch a good tight end can be, and hopefully the Tigers took some notes for how to use them effectively in the future.
The big break that wasn’t
The Auburn defense struggled to stop Texas A&M all day. It was apparent from the first drive that the Aggies were able to get positive yardage every time they ran the ball and were planning on giving quarterback Kellen Mond easy, low-risk pass attempts. That plan and formula were extremely effective all day.
That is why what happened with 13:31 remaining in the fourth quarter was so painful. Following a third down conversion for A&M down to the Auburn 20 yard-line (which may have actually been an incompletion but was never reviewed), Kellen Mond finally made the bad decision that Auburn was looking for all day.
Mond tried to force a pass down the seam to Jalen Wydermeyer, only for Tigers’ linebacker Zakoby McClain to step right in front of the ball for a surefire interception. Improbably, McClain merely deflected the ball instead of an interception, and it careened straight into the hands of Wydermeyer for a touchdown.
There is no way to know what would have happened had McClain held on for the interception, but it would have taken seven points off the board for the Aggies and could have led to more points for the Tigers.
Everyone who watches football knows that the oblong-shaped ball takes strange bounces, and today it went in the Aggies’ favor with just over 13 minutes left in the fourth quarter.
Zack Shaw is a contributing writer for Yellowhammer News and former walk-on for the Auburn Tigers. You can contact him by email: zack@yellowhammernews.com or on Twitter @z_m_shaw
