Golly Hole, school enrollment, RIP Bill Battle: Down in Alabama

On this day in 1972, The Golly Hole opened near Calera. This is a sinkhole, also known as the “December Giant,” considered by some geologists to be the largest in the U.S. at about 400 feet in diameter. The collapse was reportedly heard but not seen until hunters came across the large pit a few days later.

Today’s report follows. Thanks for reading,

Ike

More students…for now

According to a report in the Alabama Daily News, Alabama was one of only 10 states where public school enrollment increased last year.

K-12 enrollment increased just 0.3% this school year, but that gain of about 2,500 students represents the state’s highest level in eight years, AL.com’s Rebecca Griesbach reports.

Much of the increase is driven by population growth in places like Limestone County and Baldwin County.

The rise in these places, Birmingham and others, is tempered by falling numbers in many rural areas, where concerns about school closures and consolidations remain.

State Superintendent Eric Mackey said there have been improvements in public school offerings and in parental trust in schools.

Nevertheless, more competition is emerging. Homeschool and private school enrollment surged during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the state will expand its school voucher program, which aims to give more students the opportunity to attend private schools.

Death of the player

Alabama A&M linebacker Medrick Burnette Jr. died last week after suffering a head injury in the Magic City Classic against Alabama State in October, AL.com’s Mike Cason reports.

This was the player whose death had been announced prematurely and withdrawn for a while. He died at UAB Hospital.

Burnette was a California native who transferred to A&M from Grambling State. He played in seven games for the Bulldogs this season.

Medrick Burnette Jr. was 20 years old.

In the charts

Mike McClure Jr. of Birmingham’s Rock City Church contributed to an album that topped the latest Billboard gospel charts, AL.com’s Sarah Whites-Koditschek reports.

The album is “Undefeated Champion” by Transformation Worship. McClure, who records under the name “Pastor Mike Jr.”, wrote and is featured on the song “Crazy Faith.”

McClure has released three albums, including “Live Free,” which won Rap-Hip-Hop-Gospel Album of the Year at the 2020 Stellar Awards.

RIP Bill Battle

Former Alabama player and athletics director Bill Battle has died, AL.com’s Nick Kelly reports.

Oddly enough, he is the third former Crimson Tide AD to die this year, following Steve Sloan and Hootie Ingram last spring.

Battle was a Birmingham native who played for Bear Bryant teams from 1960-62, including the 1961 national championship team.

He returned to Tuscaloosa as AD during the Nick Saban era. During Battle’s four years, beginning in 2013, Alabama’s sports teams won three national championships and 10 SEC titles, while individuals won 15 national championships.

In between, Battle had a career as a football coach that included a stint as Tennessee’s head coach in the 1970s, and he was the founder and CEO of Collegiate Licensing Company.

Bill Battle was 82 years old.

Quote

“In the south, our Christmas is completely different from the old Nordic feeling.”

Singer-songwriter Robert Earl Keen from Houston and explains why his “Lights, Camera, Christmas!” — which stops in Mobile and Decatur — isn’t so much “Christmas” in the traditional, snowy sense.

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