MILLBROOK, AL (WSFA) - The Alabama Nature Center in Millbrook will be hosting the Crappie Masters Youth Fishing Rodeo on October 1st.

The tournament will feature free catch and release fishing to children under the age of 15, who must be accompanied by an adult.  Participants must supply their own bait and poles, suitable for catfish.  Check in begins at 8:00 a.m. and fishing is from 9:00 until 11:00 a.m.  Door prizes will be awarded.

The mission of the tournament is to support future generations of sportsmen.

The Alabama Nature Center includes five miles of nature trails and boardwalks that traverse a variety of forests, fields, streams, wetlands, and ponds, is just a few miles north of Montgomery and less than two miles from Interstate 65 at Lanark.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is opening an office in the Elmore County Courthouse 2nd floor Conference Room, Thursday, May 26, at 8:00 a.m. for citizens affected by the April 15 or April 27 tornados to register and give Consent for Right of Entry for debris removal on private property.

A determination will be made as to whether the debris presents a public safety hazard or a health hazard. 

In order for the USACE to remove storm debris from the April 15 or April 27 tornado events from private property, they must have property owner consent. 

Citizens needing debris from the April storm events removed from their property are encouraged to register with the USACE in the Elmore County Courthouse.

The USACE office will be open from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. seven days a week beginning Thursday, May 26. 

The office will be open Saturdays, Sundays and Memorial Day.

If you see a coyote on or near your property or in a location where you have never seen one before – don’t be surprised! Such a sighting does not require reporting and should not be cause for concern or panic. In fact, coyotes are found all over Alabama – including in urban areas - and frequent neighborhoods more often than you may realize. Just as humans tend to congregate, settle and reproduce in areas where our needs for resources are met, coyotes can become abundant in areas where they find their survival requirements satisfied.

Since the coyote’s insulating coat protects it from the harshest of Alabama winters, food procurement is its primary hardship. Our state’s coyotes usually have little problem gleaning provisions from the healthy populations of its prey items. Its diet is exceptionally varied and includes furred items such as rats, mice and voles in addition to larger mammals such as rabbits and fawns.