Wake up, it’s Wednesday…

Weather: Isaac goes for a spin. The hurricane slowed its forward movement to nearly a crawl, pretty much stalling out over New Orleans. The Crescent City was experiencing heavy rain and sustained winds of 60 miles per hour, gusting to 75 at times. The path forecast by the National Hurricane Center shows the eye of Isaac moving slowly northward through Louisiana, with the eye about 35 miles northeast of Shreveport by Thursday night, but this forecast is not very definite, considering the slow movement of the hurricane overnight.

In Central Alabama, Isaac’s effects are largely dependent on when — or if — it starts moving again, and if so, which direction. For now, current models give us a 60 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms today and Thursday, with highs in the middle 80s and lows in the lower 70s.

City elections: Phillips, Lowery re-elected. Voters in Gardendale and Fultondale sent their incumbent mayors back into office for four more years. Othell Phillips turned back a challenge from former councilman Billy Flippo, and Lowery defeated businessman John Douglas in a race that had its roots in a grudge by Douglas against Lowery and the city over his bar and restaurant, which was heavily damaged in the 2011 tornado. Elsewhere, incumbent Hayden Mayor Thelma Smith was beaten by challenger Larry Armstrong by a 3-to-1 margin. Open mayoral seats were won by Joe Pylant in Morris and Johnny Ragland in Warrior. Trafford will see a runoff on October 9 between incumbent Robert Niblett and Terry Little.

Council races: The upset of the night came in Gardendale District 2, where incumbent Gary Morris was narrowly defeated by 19-year-old Blake Guinn, who will become the youngest council member in the city’s history. Greg Colvert also beat incumbent District 4 councilwoman Faith Harper; Stan Hogeland easily won the open seat in District 5, Alvin Currington was re-elected in District 3, and incumbent Peggy Tumlin will go through a runoff in District 1 against Allen Jerkins…. Warrior: Chuck Mosley narrowly ousted incumbent Theodore Hines, as did challenger Belva Hamilton over incumbent Brad Fuller; Jimmy Jett and Jerry Bailey won re-election; Jackie Wesson, daughter of retiring mayor Rena Hudson, won election to the seat Ragland previously held… Fultondale: Joshua Bryant retained his Place 1 seat over two challengers; Place 3 incumbent Darrell Hubbert will face a runoff against Jimmie Lay; Thomas “Tip” Blizard and Greg Morris survived a 5-way race for Place 5 and will go into a runoff for a seat Morris held until last year, when he was forced out by law for missing meetings for 90 days… Morris: John Dillard won the only contested council seat.

Sports: Melden shines for Braves. Since Atlanta moved pitcher Kris Melden out of the bullpen and into the starting rotation, he has been on fire. He didn’t cool off Tuesday, hurling eight scoreless innings and running his scoreless streak to 28-1/3 innings as the Braves blanked San Diego 2-0. The win ended the Padres eight-game win streak. Dan Uggla slammed a towering homer into the Western Metal Supply building down the left field line; it was his 1,000th hit…. Football: Texas A&M’s season opener on Thursday at Louisiana Tech has been postponed because of Hurricane Isaac. The Aggies will now begin the season with their first-ever Southeastern Conference game, hosting No. 23 Florida a week from Saturday.