Wednesday, hump day, let’s get going…

Weather: Rain lingers. Showers will continue off and on through the afternoon hours, and then we will finally see an end to the rain. Highs today will be in the lower 50s, with lows tonight in the middle 30s. Thursday will be sunny and a little warmer.

Teenager dies in crash. A 16-year-old student at Mortimer Jordan High School was killed late Monday afternoon when his pickup truck ran off the road and hit a tree on Warrior-Kimberly Road, about a mile from North Jefferson Middle School. Joshua Fredrick was a member of the track and field team and the Blue Devils football team, according the Shayne Carnes, who taught Fredrick in driver’s education class. Visitation for friends and visitors will be from 5 to 8 p.m. at North Highland Baptist in Warrior, with funeral services at 11 a.m. Thursday.

Obama veers left in State of the Union. President Obama seemed in no mood to compromise with Republicans, outlining an agenda in Tuesday’s annual address to Congress that is heavy on programs favored by his liberal support base. Among his proposals: a hike in the minimum wage of $1.75 per hour to $9, laws targeting climate change/global warming, and spending on infrastructure projects. The GOP had two responses: the official one from Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, who retorted, “More government isn’t going to help you get ahead. It’s going to hold you back”; and a response on behalf of Tea Party activists from Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, who ripped Obama on a number of issues such as gun control. “We will not let the liberals tread on the Second Amendment,” Paul said.

Sports: Torches girls done. Tabernacle Christian could not contain rival Tuscaloosa Christian in the fourth quarter, as the Warriors scored 22 points — more than they had scored in the first three periods — on their way to a 43-27 win in the Alabama Christian Education Association sub-state playoff round. The Torches finish with a 12-9 record… College football: Nick Saban has suspended the four Crimson Tide players arrested Monday on various criminal charges, including robbery and credit-card fraud. Eddie Williams, D.J. Pettway and Tyler Hayes were charged with second-degree robbery of two UA students, while Brent Calloway is charged with fraudulent use of a credit card. Hayes and Williams have confessed to their crimes, according to the arrest warrant by Tuscaloosa police. Williams had been arrested less than 24 beforehand on a separate gun charge; Calloway had been arrested in 2011 on a marijuana possession charge. All four are free on bond.