UA professor receives grant to develop flood prediction system
CBS 42 (Birmingham) – Aug. 25
One University of Alabama geography professor is keeping a close eye on the historic flooding in Baton Rouge. Dr. Sagy Cohen specializes in Global Hydrology. His research unit has recently received a grant to develop a flood inundation map using remote satellite images. This grant will allow him to develop a new flood prediction system that can alert people sooner and give them crucial time to get to safety. The flooding killed 13 people and damaged 40,000 homes.

Clinton slams Trump’s ‘racist ideology’ that ushers hate groups into mainstream
The Guardian – Aug. 25
Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton today disparaged her Republican rival as a tool of the racist, radical right, a man who foments “paranoia and prejudice” and ushers hate groups into the mainstream. Donald Trump is “a man with a long history of racial discrimination”, Clinton said during a Thursday rally in the flag-festooned student center at Truckee Meadows Community College. . . . Those inside and outside the alt-right were equally surprised at Clinton’s choice of topic. And they wondered what she had to gain by wading into an arcane world filled with sour slurs and angry, anonymous chatrooms. “In order to have this speech make any sense, she’s going to have to explain what the alt-right is – anime Nazis and frog memes … and undercurrents of white supremacy,” said George Hawley, assistant professor of political science at the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, and author of the book Right Wing Critics of American Conservatism.

Public invited to see Saturn, Mars Friday night
Tuscaloosa News – Aug. 25
The public is invited to look at the stars in a series of free telescope viewings held by the University of Alabama’s Department of Physics and Astronomy. The series begins Friday night, when observers will be able to view Saturn and Mars from 8 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. at the Gallalee Hall Observatory on the UA campus.

Also making headlines…

THE PORT RAIL: Coups have long history as shortcut to power – Aug. 20 – Larry Clayton

How Donald Trump’s rollicking rally in Mobile still resonates a year later – Aug. 21 – William Stewart

Campaigners creep closer to the polls in Alabama than in most states – Aug. 25 – William Stewart