Miss Alabama Competes Sunday for the Miss America Crown
This Sunday is the big day for Miss Alabama Hayley Barber as she competes for the Miss America crown. The Pelham native and UAB senior won the top state honor earlier this year and says that actually takes some pressure off competing at the national level.
“At the end of the day, even if I don’t win, I get to go back and still be Miss Alabama,” says Barber. “[It] is the greatest job in the world to me and something I always wanted to be was Miss Alabama and represent my state.”
On Tuesday, Barber won the Quality of Life Award which is given for impact in community service and volunteering. Barber’s platform is called “Sight for Small Eyes” and promotes eye exams for children. She says it stems from the fact she never had her eyes checked until she was 16, when she wanted a driver’s license.
“So I knew other people my age and younger than me were neglecting to speak up about their vision impairments because I did,” says Barber.
The UAB senior plans to study optometry with a goal of opening her own pediatric optometry practice.
See Barber’s tap dancing in the preliminary talent competition:
Viral global TikToks: A twist on soccer, Tanzania’s Charlie Chaplin, hope in Gaza
TikToks are everywhere (well, except countries like Australia and India, where they've been banned.) We talk to the creators of some of the year's most popular reels from the Global South.
This painting is missing. Do you have it?
An important work from a rediscovered artist has been absent from public view since the 1970s. A New York curator is hunting for it.
Memory loss: As AI gobbles up chips, prices for devices may rise
Demand for memory chips currently exceeds supply and there's very little chance of that changing any time soon. More chips for AI means less available for other products such as computers and phones and that could drive up those prices too.
Brigitte Bardot, sex goddess of cinema, has died
Legendary screen siren and animal rights activist Brigitte Bardot has died at age 91. The alluring former model starred in numerous movies, often playing the highly sexualized love interest.
For Ukrainians, a nuclear missile museum is a bitter reminder of what the country gave up
The Museum of Strategic Missile Forces tells the story of how Ukraine dismantled its nuclear weapons arsenal after independence in 1991. Today many Ukrainians believe that decision to give up nukes was a mistake.
Jeffrey R. Holland, next in line to lead Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, dies at 85
Jeffrey R. Holland led the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, a key governing body. He was next in line to become the church's president.

