Welcome to Thursday, and we almost went a full day without another development in the Gardendale Schools separation – almost…

Weather: Off-and-on rain. Scattered showers today, mainly after lunchtime, with highs in the lower 70s and rain chances of 50 percent. A 30 percent chance of more rain tonight, with lows in the middle 50s. Another batch of showers on Friday, ending by nightfall, with highs in the lower70s and lows near 50. Rain chances will continue through the weekend.

Hold it right there. A federal judge has ruled that the Gardendale City Schools has to put a hold on its lawsuit against the Jefferson County Schools, at least until next Tuesday. U.S. District Judge Madeline Haikala issued an injunction late Wednesday afternoon that puts a hold on the suit, which was filed in Jefferson Circuit Court on Tuesday, in which the new Gardendale system asked the lower court to force JefCoEd to stop delaying the separation process between the systems. Haikala, who currently presides over the decades old Stout v. JefCoEd desegregation case, has set a hearing for Tuesday to consider a report from JefCoEd which claims that Gardendale’s breakaway might harm their efforts to provide adequate facilities and educational opportunities for students of all races – a crucial part of the county’s ongoing effort to get out from the federal court’s supervision that dates back to the 1960s.

Sports: A crowded area. Here’s something that hasn’t happened in a long time, if ever: All four teams in Class 5A Area 11 are ranked in the Alabama Sports Writers Association statewide top-10 rankings. Springville is on top, Hayden is second, Moody enters the rankings in the ninth spot and Mortimer Jordan remains in tenth place. And Corner is still in the mix as well, ranked fifth. On the baseball side, Gardendale moves up to eighth in Class 6A, and Jordan stays at fifth in 5A. Today in softball, first plays second as Springville travels to Hayden. Last night, Jordan defeated Pinson Valley 6-2 in softball, scoring four runs in the fifth inning off two errors and a two-run hit by Alyssa Lang. Destinee Cole had a solo homer and an RBI double for the Indians. And in Wednesday baseball, Jordan split a doubleheader against Moody, winning the first game 8-2 and losing the second game 9-7, thanks to a five-run outburst by Moody in the seventh inning… Soccer: Mortimer Jordan lost a 2-0 decision at Helena in the Metro Soccer Tournament. Alexa Williams scored both goals for the Huskies.