Afternoon update: Chase suspect still at large
Here’s the news that we’ve chased down for Thursday, February 2…
Robbery suspect still at large. A police chase which led to a brief lockdown at Mortimer Jordan High School is still ongoing at this hour, with the suspect still at large. Around lunchtime. Warrior police were notified of someone possibly stealing all-terrain vehicles from a local residence. When police responded, they found someone loading the ATVs onto a truck. The suspect fled in the truck, but stopped in the Bone Dry Road area and fled on foot. The school locked exterior doors and did not allow anyone in or out until the chase moved out of that area. Gardendale and Trafford police, along with the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department, we called to help with the chase.
Play ball at Regions Field. Instead of breaking ground, dignitaries from the city of Birmingham, Regions Bank and the Birmingham Barons threw out ceremonial first pitches at the site of the Barons’ new downtown park, which will be called Regions Field. The park will be built next to Railroad Park, and will mark the return of the Barons to their original hometown since they left for Hoover Metropolitain Stadium (now Regions Park) in 1988. The new park is scheduled to open in time for the 2013 Barons season. No word on how the new sponsorship deal affects the Barons’ current home, which will still be home to the SEC Baseball Tournament, the NCAA College Cup Division I men’s soccer championship, and Hoover High football.
Newt, you’re fired. Developer and television personality Donald Trump has endorsed former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney for the Republican presidential nomination. The omnipresent Trump, who toyed several times with jumping into the race himself as a Republican or independent, chose Romney over former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. Trump made his annoucement at a press conference this afternoon in Las Vegas. Meanwhile, Romney has pulled ahead of Gingrich again in a national tracking poll by the Gallup organization. The new poll, which was released before Trump’s endorsement, shows Roomney favored by 31 percent of the 1,164 registered GOP voters surveyed. Gingrich was second with 25 percent, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum third at 17 percent, and Texas Rep. Ron Paul fourth at 12 percent. Gingrich narrowly leads the RealClearPolitics.com average of major polls by less than a percentage point.
Sports: Tide’s recruiting class rated best. National Signing Day has come and gone, and most recruiting poll ratings have Alabama coming out on top of the 2012 class, barely ahead of Florida State. In the ESPN ranking, SEC schools dominated the top 25, with Florida fourth, Georgia fifth, LSU 14th, new conference member Texas A&M 15th, South Carolina 16th, Auburn 17th and Tennessee 21st. Ohio State made a big jump, all the way up to sixth — and welcome to you too, Urban Meyer.
Weather: Rain returns. It’s a gorgeous afternoon, but clouds and scattered rain return to the area Friday. Highs will remain in the 60s to near 70, with noghttime lows in the 50s. Clouds clear out and temperatures dip a bit early next week.