Scary discovery at a dam

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May. 14, 2026

CURATED BY

Ike Morgan

Welcome back, and happy National Buttermilk Biscuit Day (more on that below).

🎙️ Ready for today's podcast episode? Click here.

Explosive discovered and detonated

Divers found an explosive device at Mobile's Converse Reservoir dam, reports AL.com's Patrick Darrington.

According to the Mobile Area Water and Sewer System, repair work was being done at the dam when the grenade-style device was seen. Officials called the Mobile County Sheriff's Office, and the Gulf Coast Regional Maritime Response and Render-Safe Team retrieved and detonated the device.

The next question will be "What was an IED doing at a Mobile dam?" It obviously presents a threat to drinking water as well as people.

Mobile water officials said that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security was notified and that it will work with law enforcement to increase security around the reservoir.

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He's in, he's out, he's in again

Cliff Sims, who has also tried his luck at being a singer-sonwriter, is back in the Trump Administration years after falling out with Trump. (Photo courtesy of Kenslie McGuire)

Alabamian Cliff Sims is on his way back to the White House, reports AL.com's Howard Koplowitz.

You remember that Sims was the Yellowhammer News founder who worked extensively in the first Trump administration and, upon leaving, wrote the tell-all book "Team of Vipers."

President Trump was angry enough about the book to pretend he didn't know who Sims was. They both sued each other during the fallout.

Apparently, the relationship improved as Sims co-hosted a Mountain Brook fundraiser that brought in a reported seven figures for the Trump campaign.

Politico is now reporting that Sims will work as national security advisor to Vice President JD Vance.

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BY THE NUMBERS

77,600

That's how many Huntsville hotel rooms were filled by sports tourism last year, according to the Huntsville Sports Commission.

Shutdown pay and the U.S. Senate

Members of the United States Senate voted to end debate and advance a resolution denying themselves pay during a federal-government shutdown, reports AL.com's Kayode Crown.

The procedural vote was unanimous. Next, the full Senate will likely give the resolution final passage. It doesn't need the House or the President to act on it. Once the Senate passes it, then it'll be set to become policy after the midterm elections.

Sen. John Kennedy, a Louisiana Republican, previously wrote: “When federal workers, our troops, and border agents don’t get paid during a government shutdown, U.S. Senators shouldn’t be any different.”

I realize a lot of you are concerned over the senators' financial well-being when they make such a sacrifice. Just note that U.S. senators shouldn't be paycheck-to-paycheck people unless they have a Jacksonian understanding of finance.

Also note that they will receive back pay when the shutdowns end. So it really amounts to having the Secretary of the Senate hold their money for them while they work out a deal on Capitol Hill. Which is still an incentive to hustle up and agree.

But it could be that bruises caused by patting each other on the back will sting worse than the resolution will.

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BORN ON THIS DATE

In 1954, current Congressman Gary Palmer of Hackleburg.

PICTURE THAT

Glenwood's Hudson Campbell (3) celebrates with teammates after hitting a home run during an AHSAA playoff baseball series against Lee-Scott Academy on Wednesday. Click here for more from the high school state baseball playoffs. (Photo by Stew Milne for AL.com)

National Buttermilk Biscuit Day

Of course, we should all know that May 14 is National Buttermilk Biscuit Day.

Y'all know what to do.

I'll steal a story from the late newspaperman Lewis Grizzard. He once wrote that, when he worked for the Chicago Sun-Times, a co-worker had heard about great southern breakfasts and wanted Grizzard to make him one. He showed up at Grizzard's apartment, saw Grizzard mixing biscuit dough in a bowl and said, "So that's grits!"

The moral of the story is we should all make our yankee friends biscuits and/or grits whenever we can. It's breakfast evangelism, and America needs it.

PODCAST 🎧

Down in Alabama

Start your morning with the latest news and stories from Alabama. Also, hear the stories behind the stories as Ike Morgan is joined by voices from the AL.com newsroom and beyond for deep dives on pressing topics, news quizzes and a lot more. Available Alexa, Amazon, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube, and other favorite platforms.

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Thanks for reading,

Ike

Ike Morgan is host of the Alabama news-updates podcast "Down in Alabama with Ike Morgan" for AL.com. He is a 30-year journalist who has worked in several digital-media production roles and newspaper editing jobs, including senior editor and sports editor (of an APSE-award-winning staff) at the Tallahassee Democrat.

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Scary discovery at a dam

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