Welcome to Tuesday, the day where college football came to an end – until August, anyway…

Weather: Dreary. Cloudy skies today, with highs in the middle 40s and lows in the middle 30s. Wednesday will be much the same, with maybe a little sun breaking through at times.

Pipe bomb at a park? Uh, no. When someone saw what looked like a pipe bomb stuck in a tree at the Fultondale Children’s Park on Monday, the area and surrounding roads were blocked off while the Jefferson County Bomb Squad was brought in to dismantle the device. When the squad destroyed the object, they found papers with lists of names outside. It wasn’t a bomb – it was a geocache, one of those containers that people leave for others to find using GPS coordinates and some clues. (We have a smaller one right by the NJN office in Gardendale.)

Some help for after-school traffic. The Kimberly City Council heard of plans to train its paid firefighters, who man the station during daytime hours, to help direct traffic outside local school in the afternoon. The city’s police force has been stretched thin as they try to alleviate the traffic issues, and Chief Bill Isbell said this new idea would help his officers return to patrol duty, where they can keep an eye on streets elsewhere.

Sports: Bucks bash Ducks. Ezekiel Elliott ran for 246 yards and four touchdowns, as Ohio State throttled Oregon 42-20 in the first-ever College Football Playoff championship game in Arlington, Texas. Quarterback Cardale Jones threw for one touchdown and ran for another, as the Buckeyes won their sixth national championship in program history. Coach Urban Meyer earned his third title, second among active coaches behind Alabama’s Nick Saban.