Welcome to the FOX 54 Week in Review streaming Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays on the FOX 54 Plus app. I’m Stoney Meadows. As always, we’re compressing A week’s worth of stories about North Alabama, at its best, into a locally focused half hour. In the minutes ahead, you’ll learn about a surprising
Trend related to traffic in relation to Huntsville’s rapid growth. Smoke, but no fire will explain what this machinery is telling Athens city leaders, and we’ll take a look at artificial intelligence and the ways it’s already used in your everyday life, including the grocery store. And we’ll visit some Rockin and
Rollin Derby girls who call. In Madison County, their home turf. But we’ll start with back to school news. It’s getting closer and closer, and as parents make those last minute preparations, health officials hope that includes those all important immunizations. We are literally two weeks from many kids returning to the classroom.
One important thing to remember is making sure your kids are up to date on vaccinations. Our Jasmine Bird shares some helpful tips. Going back to school, I think it might be, you know, really interesting, Sparkman High School freshman Isaac Kyler says this is what he’s most looking forward to. This school year,
I’ll be looking forward to the band because I play percussion. As students prepare to head back into the classrooms, ADPH. Medical officer Dr. West Double Field has a word of advice. The The CDC, through its Advisory Council on Immunization Practice, recommends vaccines for for all people in the United States.
Sparkman High School junior Isaiah Kyler says he hasn’t really given vaccinations too much thought for this school year as of yet. I’ve already got vaccine twice, but I feel like it is something important, like something you should do, especially with how things might change to school year. Doctor Stubblefield believes summertime
Is always a great time to have a visit with your healthcare provider, especially if you haven’t had. It’s sort of that normal, what we would call the checkup in the last year, no matter the child’s age, whether they’re going into kindergarten or pre-K or all the way to a senior in high
School or even to going into college. According to Alabama Public Health, doctors recommend that ages six months and up have the COVID shot, ages 9 and up have an HPV shot, and that all ages have a flu shot. Together, I would do it again, don’t worry.
If we all help, it won’t take long. But tomorrow when we come back out here, find your little footprint. Get in your footprint, Mallet mouthed Instruments. I tried to mark it as best I could. My chicken scratches back. Celebrate. One and two and three and four and five and six 7-8.
Today was a day of fun in the sun for Decatur City Schools parents and administrators. Parents were able to meet and greet administrators and program directors at Dcs’s Family Academy held an event called Parents in the Park. Our Jasmine Byrd takes us there. This will go here, right? Yeah,
A mother’s love. Just take this out meet I’m not Chavez Bowl. I’m actually very happy that they have this program because it gets the kids out of the house. And best of all, it’s all Handson for Chavez Bowl. Hands on. Learning is key. Handson is very important that it’s a
Very good way to learning. For Eastwood Elementary School 3rd grader Edgar Bowl, this day has filled his heart with great joy. It makes me feel happy, very happy. I’m very thankful that everyone could be here, Decatur City Schools Community Outreach Coordinator Bruce Jones says. This event is all about connecting
And building relationships, kids coming from a different environment now. They don’t see a lot of respect, so they’re not going to respect you until you build some type of relationship, some type of connection with them. So this is what we’re trying to do. Social service representative Latoya Brown agrees that This is
Why the Decatur City Schools Family Academy is so important in this is what The Academy Is all about. Our Family Academy was developed to provide information to parents on how they can connect with their their children. And be a part of their education. We want
To get ahead of any issues that may be and we want to develop a rapport with our families. I would definitely like to say thank you to the school district for getting this program going because it’s definitely important for all these kids to have again, things to do out of the out
Of the house besides. Being under toilets, the next parents in the park will be held on Monday, July 24th at Wilson Morgan Park from 11 to 1 Indicator Jasmine Bird Fox 54 News. All right, thank you Jasmine. Speaking of schools, this weekend is Alabama’s annual back to school sales tax holiday
That starts tomorrow. Through Sunday. State waves its 4% sales tax on school related supplies and clothing. For details on what’s tax free, head over to our website. Well, on July 16th of last year the National Suicide Hotline changed from a 10 digit number, so much easier to remember 3 digit number
988. Our Nixon Norman spoke with two local outreach organizations about 988 and Nixon. What have you learned? Well Kenisha, I learned a lot and I spoke with Bearded Warriors and Asha Kiran, both outreach organizations with one focusing on veterans and the other focusing on domestic violence victims and bridging the gap among
Culturally diverse community. Communities, both of them, shared the importance of this hotline resource. The 988 Lifeline provides 24/7 support for people in a suicidal crisis or emotional distress. The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline launched back in January of 2005 and since its inception it has received over 20 million phone calls,
Going from a 10 digit number to a three digit number. Somebody’s in crisis, whether it’s a veteran or a family member. A friend or just somebody that you know, if something’s happening in the community and somebody comes up on somebody that’s, you know, in a crisis or whatnot. When someone’s in crisis,
The last thing you want them to try to remember is this whole long number. And a lot of times what happens is. When you’re in the in the midst of trauma, in the midst of a crisis, you just aren’t thinking clearly. You don’t know what’s going to happen,
So, which is why things like 911 and 211 have been so successful. Not only is this service free, it’s anonymous, which is important for those who don’t know whom to turn to or fear of judgment from loved ones. You know, they may not be comfortable talking to somebody that they work with
Or that they see on a regular basis, because that could change their mindset that that person has of them. You know, even though we shouldn’t judge people for anything that they’re having going on with mental health, beyond anonymity there’s also confidentiality. Those who call can rest assured that
Their business will not be aired out by those who answer the phone. It’s hard to know who to go talk to and confidentiality as well. When you call and you’re looking for help, the one of the biggest concerns is do these people know me? If they do,
Are they going to keep it confidential? So the fact that there’s no way to be tracked in a way is actually a good thing for those that may need the support, that may be embarrassed that they’re going through a hard time. When you struggle with your mental health,
You may not know where or how to get help. That’s why Grateful Recovery, a nonprofit organization, brought mental health organizations across Alabama together for their first ever mental health fair today, meant to connect individuals with the resources they may need. Sometimes when you’re struggling with your mental health, you may feel alone.
But these tents sitting along the Butler Green lawn at Campus 805 are filled with kind eyes and listening ears, ready to provide you with the help you may need. We know that there are people out here who are afraid to admit that they need the help.
They’re also afraid to go seek the help, this being the first ever Mending the Mind Mental Health Fair in Huntsville. An event put on by the nonprofit Grateful Recovery meant to emphasize some of the mental health resources that are available here in the state. Grateful Recovery is a nonprofit organization centered
Around helping those in need for substance use, addiction, grief, counseling on domestic violence. And so we offer a number of services, but our main service is counseling for those who are in need of it. Grateful Recovery also partners with other organizations in the court system to connect with those.
Who’s in need of guidance? We have seen a number of people graduate from the addiction counseling that we’ve provided. You know, the court system gives us clients to help, to go through classes, to go through training, so just get coping skills and life skills. Magnolia Ranch Recovery, a rehabilitation center,
Focuses heavily on clinical work where clients work closely with therapists. We also want to make sure that they are healthy. They have regiment and schedules. They have chores. They basically are organized and set up to be acclimated back into life. But it’s all about taking that first step. If you’re struggling and you’re
Kind of wondering what to do, the hardest thing is taking that first step, you know, and there’s a lot of people out there that love and care about you. The 652 Foundation, located in Gadsden, provides prevention, education for communicable diseases. We’re also getting ready to open A. Clinic with nontraditional hours for
Reproductive and sexual health issues. So we do a lot of curriculum development. We try to involve the community and doing prevention, and then we involve the community and how we do the clinic. These resources want to listen and unite individuals to the programs that’ll help them live a healthy life.
I hope they walk away with an empowerment to change their own lives and control their own health. But more than that. I want them to leave with knowledge that will also influence their friends lives. And so I want everybody to leave with the ability to live a healthy, happy life. Artificial intelligence,
A term we’ve all been hearing a lot lately. But what exactly is a I and how does it present itself in our everyday lives? Our Sedona Meadows joins us now in Sedona. You spoke with an A I expert. What can you tell us? Kenisha From what I’ve learned, artificial intelligence can present
Itself in many different forms, and AI technology has really progressed over the last decade. Artificial intelligence can be difficult to define, according to Dr. Thomas Gilray, an assistant professor within the UAB Department of Computer Science, because what would have been considered AI a few decades ago might not be considered AI anymore.
AI kind of evolves and. AI is sort of almost by definition, what’s at the forefront of automation, and I would say the the emphasis would be on the idea of something that’s as fully automatic as possible, where even a human being might not fully understand what it’s doing.
A lot of modern AI is based around extracting patterns from data. It’s really about automatically learning. From an enormous corpus of data that maybe is partially curated, but maybe is also just, you know, everything that can be found on many websites, right? So what are some of the ways we interact with artificial
Intelligence on a daily basis AI could be? An algorithm that is intelligently converting your speech to text and then turns that into, you know, an understanding of that text enough to do a search on the web or something like search engines have been doing for more than a decade now and all that.
That really is like Siri and Alexa ChatGPT being one of the most recent AI language processing models, has been a big topic of conversation, as it can be seen, like other AI technology, as both a tool and something to be aware of if you go and. Talk to, say, ChatGPT or something.
You might find in some cases extremely helpful, but other times it gives you information that’s just plain wrong. Dr. Gilray believes advancement in AI technology could allow for creativity in both the workplace and within education, but it’s important not to fully rely on these systems. Students who. Haven’t mastered, you know,
Their communication skills. Maybe taking essays from ChatGPT and then just modifying them a little bit. I really think that’s too much of A crutch. You’re not really learning to communicate yourself, he says. He sees a lot of potential for how people will use this technology in the future.
I think that in the next five years or so, we’re going to really see an explosion of human and AI creativity. And Dr. Gilray says there have been privacy concerns when it comes to artificial intelligence, so he emphasizes the importance of being aware of the personal information you’re sharing Online.
Grocery prices have made the shopping experience a little challenging lately, and on top of that, coming up with meal ideas can get exhausting. Well, before you repeat another meal, our Ken McCoy did a little shopping with a little help from AI and has this story. Grocery shopping can be a pain.
Especially when it comes to sticking to a budget. But what if I told you AI could help you get what you need and maybe even save you a few bucks in the end? There’s an increasing number of AI options claiming to generate a weekly meal plan and grocery list to fit
Your budget and specific family needs. And with inflation and rising food prices, getting that help could make a big difference. So I took the BuzzFeed to get started. For my budget, I chose $125.00. I did that for one person using Walmart as my store of. For dietary restrictions, I typed nothing.
For items I currently have, I typed eggs and veggies and then it only took a few seconds to generate results. He gave me a seven day meal plan idea, including grocery lists. Now I checked another source. ChatGPT, but this time I asked to total the cost of each item.
It gave me a grocery list total and even meal plan ideas. The list came out to $77.50, which is $47.50 cheaper. Talk about savings, but let’s check two items on Walmart before we get too excited. I searched for chicken breast. The price was $7.80. So a little more than 750.
I also search for my favorite yogurt. The price was $3.54 for three ounce tub, so again, a little bit more than quoted, but it looks like this may be a good option for those who need to stay on budget. Now it’s important to remember that prices may vary depending on many factors,
So it’s always good to double check with your store choice before making their shopping trip. For more on this story, head over to fox54.com. For Fox 54 News, I’m Ken McCoy. Get Fox 54 plus. For Roku and Fire TV. Watch local newscast live or on your schedule, plus exclusive
Specials like We can review a recap of the week’s top stories. Fox 54 Plus Live, Local and Always On. A multibuilding industrial park is heading to town. Freedom Real Estate and Capital broke ground on Freedom Industrial Park today. This is also the first project Freedom Real Estate construction organization
Is building on their own and the first building is expected to be completed in about 6 months or so. In this park will have multiple buildings. The first building that we’re groundbreaking today is 104,000 square feet. As you look at this, this, this planned industrial park is going
To be a catalyst. Maybe a spark plug is what you would call it, but it’s a spark plug for development all the way across N Huntsville. Planned industrial park is located across from Toyota Motor Manufacturing as one small fence for man. Today marks 54 years since the Apollo
11 mission made the historic first landing on the moon on July 20th, 1969. Astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins made history. That’s what Neil Armstrong described as the beginning of a new age. the US Space and Rocket Center is celebrating those historic achievements for National Moon Day. The interactive educational activities
Highlighted each Apollo crude mission, which NASA engineer Ron Creole got to experience first hand. We got a week of administrative leave to go down at the Apollo 11 launch. We got down there for the actual launch itself. Turns out the people at Kennedy Space Center, they got to be much closer.
They put the Marshall Space Flight Center people further away and we had to fight the Mosquitoes. We’re celebrating something that occurred over 50 years ago. So it’s something that they can connect with their grandparents with, because the now generation is the Artemis generation. So the children that are now
Exploring are soon to see again. Astronauts walk on the surface of the moon in Athens residents, If you happen to see smoke rising from the ground manholes or storm water drains this week, don’t be alarmed. Athens Utilities is smoke testing to test sewer lines and to assess the overall current city of Athens
Wastewater collection system condition. Our Jasmine bird takes us there to learn more. If you’re an Athens resident, you may have noticed something like this rising from the ground or your roof lately. And it’s not smoke, it’s actually a mist. But Athens Utilities Asset Management and Logistics manager Mark Corbile
Says it’s nothing to worry about. All research has showed that it’s just an inert mist. So it look, it presents itself as smoke, but it’s a it’s just an odorless, non-toxic. Inert mist. So how does this work? This program is a smoke testing project that will test all of
Our sewer lines for any kind of leaks or any kind of breaks where we could get groundwater, any kind of rainwater into our system. So why is smoke testing necessary? The issue we’re having is we’re having some rain derived I and I which is inflow and infiltration into our system.
So we’re it’s it’s driving up energy costs, it’s driving up costs for our staff and our crews to to remediate the issues that I and I is causing. When you have any kind of breaks and you’re have to remediate issues that I and I the inflow or the rainwater
Groundwaters caused into your system, it drives up costs. And those costs are directly, you know, it impacts the customers and the citizens that are using the water. So the good signs, the smoke coming from the the vents of the house outside on the top of the
Houses is a is a sign of good plumbing. So there’s no issues there as long as it’s not coming up inside the house and the not so good. And the smoke on the ground coming up from the surface in the ground just shows you where you may have
Any kind of faults in your system and then potential breaks or any kind of joints that have come apart and system in a in a in part of that. So the if you have any compromised plumbing inside your house you may have some smoke come up inside the
House which is you know we sent out notifications for everyone to you know to put water inside their Peach traps and to run their sinks for a few seconds to kind of fill up all the Peach traps. I think that it’s getting a bit hectic lately. Huntsville resident
Colin Stewart is a bit concerned about traffic with the Rocket City’s continuous growth, like different accidents, and that’s definitely a big thing, especially on the Interstate and highways. HPD Officer and traffic Homicide Investigator, David Broom believes with the city steady growth, Rick, statistically you’re going to go up
With the higher population that we have. But the good news is so far you to date our fatalities have gone down from this point from last year to this year. So we have seen a decrease in the fatalities. So what are some of the more common causes, almost half of our fatalities.
Speed is a major factor. Involved with the fatality, we do also see distracted driving home intoxication. We do see some that are medical conditions that cause the fatality. Usually the larger, larger roads that have higher speed limits and more lanes are There is where we see higher issues with wrecks that involve
Fatalities and high injuries. And when driving around the city from day-to-day, Broom leaves a word of advice. Pay attention to what’s around you. You can be doing everything right, but it’s what the other person. Is doing that is causing our fatalities? An injured veteran received quite the gift today.
Driven to Serve program is an initiative between Freedom Alliance and U.S. bank that pairs available vehicles with service members in need. This is the 61st vehicle donated under the program since 2018 and the 38th vehicle to be presented with Freedom Alliance. Tracy served in Afghanistan, had the kinds of injuries that make
It difficult for him to work and that require extensive rehabilitation. My friends and family. Having a reliable vehicle will allow the family to get to and from doctor appointments and to care for their growing family. Congratulations to the Porter family. As a kid, you just want to be accepted.
Well, imagine a place where you’re safe to be your complete self, grow as a person, and be celebrated for your uniqueness. What if this place isn’t too far? It’s just a skate away, just up this way you’ll find mayhem, but not what you might expect. A good kind of chaos
With chaos in a way that it’s encouraged to kind of freak out and be a mess, but in a you can control it into something. Mad mayhem to be exact. Definitely helped me come out of my shell a lot. I was super shy kid and now I’m definitely not.
It’s not just a team. They become more like family. Matt Mayhem, the only junior roller Derby team in North Alabama, playing in their first game since COVID, a group of kids age 8 to 17. A lot of us are not really a lot alike, but we all bond and come together
Who share a love for skating. For some, this passion came easy. My grandparents got me roller skates as a gift and I put the pawn and I just started skating and never gave up for others. It arrived unexpectedly. I was literally the last person anyone who would expect to become a roller
Derby girl when I was a little kid. I cried every time I roller skating because I was so horrible at it. But either way, everyone is accepted. You get beat up, you fall down. You kind of make a fool of yourself tumbling over your own skates, but it doesn’t really matter because.
Eventually you’ll get it. We’re all really comfortable with each other. Nothing to be a very stuff. We’re all like family. It’s really changed me as a person. I was like, so happy to be here. This game comes after a year and a half of practicing. I come into practice three times a week.
It’s like, it’s not work to me. It’s like, oh, I get to. It’s a 2 hour hangout with my best friend with the goal of winning, hoping we win. Fingers crossed. But even if we don’t, that’s OK. They’re having fun. Having fun. They did. And they also won. But really, they walk
Away with the pride of being a team, the comfort to being a family, and the celebration of their originality To any kids who feel like they’re definitely outcasts of a sort, for lack of a better word, definitely come hang out with us. We’re all like the biggest band of weirdos
Ever. This week, the FOX 54 Sports team came to you live from SEC Media Days in Nashville while they covered Auburn and the Crimson Tide as the teams and their coaches discussed preseason change ups. And strategy on and off the field. Our Mo Carter, Nick Kuzma and Simon
Williams have lots of highlights to share and you can watch all their reports right now on fox54.com and our station YouTube page That puts a bow on another edition of the week in review. Remember, we’re here every weekend on Fox 54 Plus where you can find digital only specials like the unzip to
Zip road trip in the Valley’s top teacher Class of 2223. Download the app today on your Roku Fire TV and. TV devices. For now, I’m Sona Meadows. Thanks for watching. See you next time.
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