Welcome to Friday, and spring break has arrived for many of us – even though it doesn’t feel like spring today…

Weather: Return of the chill. Colder today and breezy, with a 20 percent chance of afternoon showers and highs in the middle 50s. Winds could gust up to 25 miles per hour. Skies will clear tonight and it will be cold, with a freeze warning for Blount County (but not Jefferson) and lows near 32. Saturday will be even colder, with highs only in the upper 40s and lows again near freezing. Warmer on Sunday, with highs in the lower 60s and lows in the middle 50s.

JefCoEd makes big cuts. Thursday’s Jefferson County Board of Education became rather testy at times, with pointed exchanges between President Dean Taylor and his predecessor, Jennifer Parsons, as well as Supt. Craig Pouncey. But in the end, the board voted 3-2 to implement Pouncey’s plan to save $12.6 million per year in spending, a move which will result in a net loss of 162 jobs. Seventy of those lost positions will come in teaching positions, and are expected to mainly come through attrition rather than layoffs. Not so for assistant principal and office staff positions, though. The plan is intended to remedy the district’s problem in the past few years of spending $10 million more than it has received in revenue. Taylor and board member Jacqueline Smith voted against, while Oscar Mann, Martha Bouyer and Parsons voted in favor.

Sports: Battle of the Dales. Fultondale got first-half goals from Enrique Aguilar and Lorenzo Beltran, while Gardendale responded late with a goal from Nick Bagwell from a rebound off the goalpost, as the Wildcats defeated the Rockets 2-1 Thursday night in a wind-swept boys soccer match. The girls match was more lopsided as the Rockets prevailed 9-0, with Alexa Kauffman scoring two goals… Softball: Top-ranked Hayden scored a 3-0 shutout on the road at Oneonta on Thursday, with Sharley Miller pitching a one-hitter. Elsewhere, Mortimer Jordan fell 6-3 to Etowah, Corner beat Pleasant Grove 8-1, Locust Fork edged J.B. Pennington 3-2, and Pinson Valley lost to McAdory 5-2… Baseball: Nathan Stover threw right strikeouts as Mortimer Jordan won 9-2 in the opening game of a doubleheader at Hayden. A seven-run rally in the final inning gave the Blue Devils an 11-1 win in six innings in the nightcap. Elsewhere, Bradley Matthews was 3-for-3 and drove in three runs as Fultondale whipped Indian Springs 15-4 in five innings.