NJN/am for Wednesday, July 25

Published 4:57 am Wednesday, July 25, 2012

It’s Wednesday, and time to grab an icy glass of sweet tea…

Weather: Maybe some relief — on Friday. It’s more typical hot-and-humid for today, with highs around 97 and nighttime lows in the middle 70s. It’ll be much the same tomorrow. Friday sees a front coming in from north Alabama, with a good chance of scattered storms and slightly cooler temperatures.

Layoffs for Birmingham schools. State Superintendent Tommy Bice overruled a vote of the Birmingham Board of Education, and ordered 200 workers to be laid off. Bice, who now controls the system thanks to a state takeover, cut the positions because the system will get $6 million less in state money because fewer students are enrolled.

Researchers studied Aurora shooter’s brain. James Holmes received a federal grant of more than $26,000 to be part of a study of neuroscience, or how the brain works, the Associated Press reports. Holmes was a student at the University of Colorado at Denver; officials there wouldn’t say whether they had any indication of mental issues that might have led to the shooting at a movie theater in which 12 were killed and dozens more injured.

George Jefferson moves on up, for good. Sherman Hemsley, who played the lead character on the Norman Lear sitcom “The Jeffersons,” died at age 74 at his home in El Paso, Texas. Hemsley’s most famous character started out as the black neighbor to Archie Bunker on “All in the Family,” the spun off to his own show for 10 seasons in the 1970s and 1980s. He also played the lead character in the sitcom “Amen.”

Sports: You can go now. The improbable scenario of a Nick Saban or Urban Meyer prowling around State College, Pa. to recruit Penn State football players may become reality. After handing down massive penalties to the Nittany Lions program in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky sexual-abuse scandal and cover-up, the NCAA has basically given players free reign to go wherever they like, and mace it much easier for other schools to try to lure them away. Penn State has been banned from post-season play for four seasons, and will lose 40 scholarships over that period. Players who move will retain all of their eligibility…. Olympics: The USA men’s basketball team defeated Spain — a team they may well face in the gold medal game — by a 100-78 score in Barcelona. Carmelo Anthony led the Americans with 27 points…. Baseball: Jason Heyward’s RBI single in the seventh broke a 3-3 tie as the Braves held on to beat Miami 4-3. Tim Hudson had early trouble, but retired his last 16 Marlins in a row.