It’s Good Friday…

Weather: Damp. We’re already seeing light rain this morning, and that will continue off and on until early afternoon, with more light rain chances this evening. Highs today will be near 60, with nighttime lows in the upper 40s; rain chances are 70 percent for the rest of the morning and 30 percent tonight. Saturday will be partly cloudy with highs in the lower 70s, and Easter Sunday will be mostly with highs in the upper 70s, Rain chances return on Monday.

You have three minutes. A standing-room-only crowd at the Hayden Community Center heard political candidates give a condensed version of their “stump speech” Thursday night. The forum included five of the seven candidates for the Sixth Congressional District seat, as well as all seven of those running for State Senate District 17 and a slew of Blount County offices. The congressional candidates will square off again on Monday morning in a debate at Hoover High School, which will be carried on a delayed basis that evening on 105.5 FM WERC radio.

Sports: Wildcats on a roll. Katie Parr, well known for swinging a big bat, had one of her best outings ever in the pitching circle as she struck out nine and held Mortimer Jordan to just two hits, as second-ranked Hayden beat the No. 4 Blue Devils 5-1 on Thursday. The win gives the Cats the upper hand in the Class 5A Area 12 race and home-field advantage for the area tournament. Elsewhere, Gardendale scored an important win in 6A Area 12 play, as they whipped Huffman 16-0 in three innings. Cris Gant threw an abbreviated no-hitter, putting all nine outs down on strikes; a lone base on balls separated her from a perfect game. The win ties the Rockets with Hewitt-Trussville for the regular-season area championship. In their second game Thursday, the Rockets beat Clay-Chalkville 6-2, as Gant recorded another 15 strikeouts. And at Cleveland, Anna Hood was swinging for the fences, smashing three home runs and driving home eight runs as Locust Fork beat the Panthers 19-9… Baseball: Weather permitting, the first round of the AHSAA playoffs begins today with doubleheaders in the best-of-three series. The big local matchup features Pinson Valley at Mortimer Jordan, while Gardendale travels to Mountain Brook, Fultondale goes to Randolph County and Locust Fork is at Cleburne County. The if-necessary games will be played Saturday.

Shameless plug. NJN Associate Editor Robert Carter is back on the radio on Sunday, as he fills in for hosts Bob Lochamy and Andrea Lindenberg on “Sports ‘n’ Stuff,” heard from 3 to 6 p.m. on 97.7 FM The Peach and online at www.977thepeach.com.