The Salt Line
Real local news, unserious takes. We read the actual headlines from around the coast so you don't have to feel anything complicated about them — then we say the quiet part loud. Everything here really happened; the commentary is free and worth exactly what you paid.
The Salt Line, Vol. 99: A Storm Decal Retires From Its Second Career
A hurricane re-entry sticker exists for the worst week of the year. Gulf Shores let it moonlight as a beach parking pass the rest of the time. The city is right to end the arrangement, and should say so on a sign.
The Salt Line, Vol. 98: The Coast Finally Funds the People Who Fix It
Every condo tower on this coast is a machine for corroding, and salt air does not accept a communications degree as payment. Alabama just put $12.5 million behind the people who actually fix things.
The Salt Line, Vol. 97: Traffic Lights That Learn to Yield, School Buses Waiting on Drivers, and a Library Closed on Account of Its Floor
Nobody cuts a ribbon on a traffic light. Pensacola is getting an upgrade whose entire success is that nothing happens, which is exactly why it deserves the applause it will not get.
The Salt Line, Vol. 96: The Stormwater Upgrade That Needed a Stormwater Upgrade
Pensacola renovated Palafox, upgraded the storm drains, then watched nearly two inches of rain do as it pleased — so the fix for the new system is, naturally, a bigger one downstream.
The Salt Line, Vol. 95: The Rare Grant Nobody Had to Beg the State For
Thirteen nonprofits will each get $101,000 this fall — funded by neighbors writing $1,000 checks and voting on the winners. It's the rare grant on this coast nobody had to beg the state for.
The Salt Line, Vol. 94: A Coast That Builds Reefs by Sinking Them, a Budget Written for a Town That Keeps Outgrowing It, and a 91-Year-Old Fair Under New Command
There's something honest about a coast that builds its best fishing by sinking $1.1 million in concrete out of sight — no ribbon-cutting, no appeal, just better real estate for the snapper.
The Salt Line, Vol. 93: Storm Money Spent Before the Storm, a Data Center Regulated Before Anyone Proposes One, and a Bay That Made Its Own Foam
The least photogenic money a government can spend is the money that saves it — and Baldwin County just put twelve million into drainage and pipes, bracing for the next storm instead of the last.
The Salt Line, Vol. 92: A City That Answers the Footage Faster Than the Water Drains
A hard half-hour of September rain beat Pensacola's storm drains, and City Hall's fastest response was to the videos, not the water — which tells you how a coast decides what to pay attention to.
The Salt Line, Vol. 91: The Index — Nineteen Runs Given Away the Night After Three Home Runs, a Pilot Rewarded for Landing on the Interstate, and a School District Politely 'Right-Sizing' Itself
On Friday the Blue Wahoos hit three homers and won. On Saturday they lost 19-1 by walking twelve guys. Also: a pilot got a Blue Angel joyride for landing on I-10, and Escambia County is 'right-sizing.'
The Salt Line, Vol. 90: Field Notes — 24 Losses Undone in One Friday, a Ban Placed on Something Already Banned, and a Scoreboard That Landed on 4
Somebody scored four points Friday night. Not a touchdown. Four. Also on the record this week: a commission declining to ban what its own code already bans, and a losing streak that outlived two graduating classes.
The Salt Line, Vol. 89: An Airport Getting Its Second Gate, Two Unbeaten Teams Sent to Mobile to Settle It, and a County Politely Requesting Your Dead Batteries
Gulf Shores is adding a second airport gate and an outdoor patio, Orange Beach and LeFlore are both 3-0 with one spot to share, and Baldwin County wants the batteries in your kitchen drawer.
The Salt Line, Vol. 88: An F-14 Leaves Pensacola at Highway Speed, One Day of $2 Gas If You Brought the Card, and Bent Signposts Reassigned to the Fish
An F-14 Tomcat that used to do Mach 2 left NAS Pensacola on a truck. Also: $2 gas in Foley for one day if you have the membership card, and Escambia's bent signposts have been reassigned to the fish.
The Salt Line, Vol. 87: Downtown Parking Stops Being Free at Up to $1.75 an Hour, a 15-7 Ballgame Filed Under 'Preview,' and a License-Photo Backdrop That No Longer Hangs From the Ceiling
Free downtown parking ends October 5 at up to $1.75 an hour, the Wahoos scored nine runs in one inning and called it a preview, and Molino took the license-photo backdrop off the ceiling. Reader mail, answered.
The Salt Line, Vol. 86: A Toll Booth Outlives Its Job, a Waterspout Punches In at 7 A.M., and $3.2 Billion to Make I-10 Behave
A waterspout clocked in at 7 a.m. off Pensacola Beach, Highway 59 was backed up before checkout ended, and Escambia is tearing down a toll booth the same week Alabama goes hunting $3.2 billion for a bridge.
The Salt Line, Vol. 85: A Herd That Paid $3.91 a Gallon to Spend Half a Billion Dollars, a County Voting to Rake 'Biological Debris,' and a Scam That Learned Zoning
Visitors spent $500 million more in Gulf Shores and Orange Beach last year than the year before, and they paid $3.91 a gallon to get here. Notes from a dune at the state line on a coast now being studied by its own county.
The Salt Line, Vol. 84: The Docket — Five Home Runs and One Win From Clinching, a Football Final of 6 to 3, and a Food Drive That Requires an Architect
Friday night a football game ended 6 to 3, which is a baseball score. Saturday night the Blue Wahoos hit five home runs. Somebody around here mixed up the equipment.
The Salt Line, Vol. 83: Orange Beach Ruins a No. 2 Ranking by Two Points, Foley Lands a Beach Volleyball Championship Without a Beach, and the Jellyfish Arrive in Units Called 'Blooms'
Foley — a town with no Gulf frontage — just won the right to host a beach volleyball championship. Orange Beach knocked off the state's No. 2 by two points. And the jellyfish are organizing.
The Salt Line, Vol. 82: A Ballpark That Lost Power Before It Lost the Game, a Football Schedule With Thursday's Final Already In It, and Gumbo Judged Competitively
The Blue Wahoos waited out a stadium power outage Thursday night and then lost 4-1 anyway. Also: a football schedule containing scores, a brand-new stadium in Baldwin County, and gumbo as a contact sport.
The Salt Line, Vol. 81: 107,640 Pounds of August, a Mullet Festival Turning 40 Without a Midlife Crisis, and a Playground That Earned Its Own Ribbon
Pensacola bagged 107,640 pounds of August and called it a neighborhood cleanup. Also this week: a mullet festival turns 40, Silverhill starts digging peanuts, and a kids park in Perdido gets a ribbon-cutting in front of the one audience that can't sit still for one.
The Salt Line, Vol. 80: A Radio Station in the Final Five Twice, a Fish That Lost to a Peach by One Run, and $50,000 to Ask Mobile Whether It Would Like a Dock
A Pensacola radio station is one of five finalists in the entire country, twice. The Blue Wahoos lost to a peach by one run. And Mobile, a port since 1702, is paying $50,000 to find out if water is useful. Notes from the coast.
The Salt Line, Vol. 79: The Minutes — A Boardwalk Authorized by a Binder From 2018, a National Search That Found One Guy Already in Town, and 80 Yards of Immediate Answer
A national search for a college president ended with one finalist, who already lived here. A Baldwin County senior turned a five-yard out route into 80. And a document nobody has opened since 2018 is still quietly running Navarre Beach.
The Salt Line, Vol. 78: A Four-Month-Old Lab Joins the Weather Department, a Sidewalk Named for the Two Highways It Touches, and Four Road Wins That Moved the Number Zero
A four-month-old Labrador is now part of Pensacola's weather coverage, Garden Street is getting sidewalks described entirely by the highways at either end, and the Wahoos won four of six in Montgomery and came home with exactly the number they left with.
The Salt Line, Vol. 77: A Fishing Pier Gives Back Everything It Ever Snagged, an Interstate Resurfaced Entirely in 'East Of,' and a Magic Number Down to Six
Divers went under the Fort Pickens pier to collect decades of 'I think I'm on the bottom.' Also: I-10 is being resurfaced 'east of' two things, Orange Beach scored 56, and the Wahoos' magic number is six.
The Salt Line, Vol. 76: The Correspondence — A Fire Department Now Certified in Corn, 4.4 New Miles of Somewhere to Ride Besides the Shoulder of Fort Morgan Road, and a Friday Night Final That Belongs on a Baseball Card
Escambia County firefighters are now trained to pull you out of a grain bin. Gulf State Park added 4.4 miles of trail. Foley approved a proposal to develop a plan. And somewhere Friday night, two football teams combined for eight points.
The Salt Line, Vol. 75: The Index — One Football Game With Two Final Scores, a Lane Named Springsteen That Stopped Running, and Six Months of Foley Not Thinking About the Cloud
The same TV station reported two different final scores for UWF's first-ever Division I win. Both had the Argos winning by three. Also: Foley wants six months to think about server farms, and a road named Springsteen is not running.
The Salt Line, Vol. 74: Field Notes — A Species Asked to Stop Posting Its Own Migration, a Library Now Housing the Loudest Animal in Florida, and Humans Who Paid to Swim in Alabama in September
The Wahoos gave Montgomery ten runs and eight walks, UWF finally plays a real DI football game tonight, and the Navy would like the species to stop posting where it's headed. Field Notes from a quiet week on the coast.
The Salt Line, Vol. 73: Forty-Five Christmases Without a Raise, a Boat Ramp Charged With Being Parking, and Five Straight Wins in Biscuit Country
Foley is spending $8,535 to replace parade reindeer that have worked 45 straight Christmases without a raise, and Gulf Shores discovered a boat ramp was 'underutilized' right up until the public showed up. Minutes inside.
The Salt Line, Vol. 72: Pensacola Joins the Hunt for Amelia Earhart, a Sausage Festival Changes Hands, and a Wawa Closes an Acceleration Lane
Two Pensacola archaeologists are off to find Amelia Earhart's plane this fall, which puts a plane lost in 1937 slightly ahead of the Creosote cleanup on the schedule. Also: a sausage festival changes hands, and a Wawa closes a lane.
The Salt Line, Vol. 71: The Correspondence — Football Delayed 1,400 Years, a $9 Million Handshake, and an Answer to a Letter From 2020
UWF went to build a football stadium and dug up artifacts from 600 A.D. — somebody has been claiming this coast for fourteen centuries. Also in the mail: a home run robbery and a lemonade-stand investor.
The Salt Line, Vol. 70: The Index — Two Police Dogs With No Job Description, a Town Government Hosting a Meet-and-Greet, and a Lightning Detector Assigned to Friday Night Football
Pensacola hired two police dogs and admits it hasn't decided what they're for. Escambia schools bought a lightning detector for football. The Wahoos won 4-3 the hard way. The numbers, ranked for whiplash.
The Salt Line, Vol. 69: One Boom With a Twelve-Hour Arrival Window, a Condo Tower Asks Permission to Keep Not Existing, and Four Runs That Outwaited the Sky
The Air Force scheduled a single boom for 'sometime between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m.,' which is also how the cable company schedules things. Notes from a coast that heard it coming.
The Salt Line, Vol. 68: The Docket — Foley Invents Bowling for Bulldozers, a 'Perpetual' Trophy Comes Home After 53 Years, and the Argonauts Take the Field Pre-Represented
Foley's hosting a heavy-equipment 'Roadeo' where a skid steer bowls, a trophy called 'perpetual' just returned after 53 years away, and UWF's athletes now enter the stadium with legal counsel sewn on.
The Salt Line, Vol. 67: Democracy to Two Decimal Places, Football Under Whatever the Radar Allows, and a Recount for Best Brunch
Escambia counted its primary to two decimal places — 27.23% showed up. The brunch election got recounts. And football kicks off tonight, radar permitting. Coastal priorities remain fully intact.
The Salt Line, Vol. 66: The Correspondence — Nine Runs Before the Rain, a Referendum on Holding Referendums, and a Loggerhead Who Did Three Months for Somebody Else's Hook
Knoxville scored nine runs before the first beer was finished, then it rained and the game just... stopped. Also: Escambia voted to vote more, Gulf Shores packed a room over a boat ramp, and a loggerhead named Skipper is back in the Gulf.
The Salt Line, Vol. 65: The Index — 900 Boxes of History Leave for Georgia, the Feels-Like Hits 112, and a Hockey Team Announces Ice Anyway
NAS Pensacola shipped 900-plus boxes of local history to Georgia the same week the heat index hit 112 and a hockey team announced its first game. The numbers are real. The commentary is ours.
The Salt Line, Vol. 64: Field Notes — a Phone That Is Never Allowed to Sleep, a Street Traded for Applause, and Six Straight Nights of Biloxi Regretting the Schedule
Pensacola Beach wants every rental to name a human who picks up at 2 a.m. Robertsdale closed a street for a concert that doesn't exist yet. And the Wahoos took six straight off Biloxi on 83 pitches.
The Salt Line, Vol. 63: Four Rescues, Ninety-Three Ballots, and a Fish That Kept Coming Back
Perdido Key's seasonal lifeguards closed the books at four water rescues and more than 9,000 conversations. Century cast 93 early ballots. The Wahoos, somehow, made five in a row look like a plan.
The Salt Line, Vol. 62: The Alligator Had the Right of Way
A Pensacola alligator closed Graffiti Bridge at 4:15 p.m. and took no questions. Perdido Key showed up with evidence. The Wahoos, somehow, made winning look ordinary.
The Salt Line, Vol. 61: The Correspondence — Lifeguards on the Winter Payroll, a Fire Fee Put to a Vote, and a Horse Arena Priced Like a Timeshare
Gulf Shores lifeguards just signed up for winter — because the beach doesn't have an off-season and neither, apparently, do the rip currents. Plus: a fire fee you'll get to vote on, arena math, and a baseball team that took 'hold on' personally.
The Salt Line, Vol. 60: The Index — One Pig, Three Escapes, Two Thousand Shipyard Jobs, and a Bay Sitting the Week Out
Pensacola police are three calls deep on the pig beat and the going rate for surrender is a sleeve of Oreos. Florida bought 2,000 shipbuilding jobs for $9 million, and dragon boats are invading Stockton. All true. We did the math.
The Salt Line, Vol. 59: Field Notes — a $15,000 Nose Reports for Duty, Shake Shack Migrates South, and the Wahoos Win by an Even Dozen
The airport just acquired a $15,000 nose, Shake Shack is migrating to Foley, and the Wahoos won 12-0 — a score that suggests the other team simply left.
The Salt Line, Vol. 58: A TV Network Discovers Our Beach, a Report Card Worth Defending, and a Baseball Score That Belongs to a Different Sport
Fox Weather is broadcasting from Gulf Shores for exactly one morning, the Wahoos surrendered 19 runs to a team named after breakfast, and a building will be demolished so a Chick-fil-A may rise.
The Salt Line, Vol. 57: A Bayou Losing an Argument With Old Plumbing, Farmers Objecting to a Map of the Future, and a Welcome Party for the Only People Who Know What's Coming
Farmers, mayors, and commissioners who don't have the job yet all turned out on a weeknight to object to one zoning document. Plus: a bayou versus 1970s septic tanks, and a ballot about how to hold ballots.
The Salt Line, Vol. 56: The Correspondence — a Festival Taking a Gap Year, a Horse Losing Ground to an Orthopedist, and a Tax Holiday That Outlasts the First Day of School
Volume 56 opens the mailbag: a Gulf Shores festival taking a sabbatical to find itself, horses losing a turf war to a medical office, and a $20 million library with a room for your feelings.
The Salt Line, Vol. 55: An 1877 Tall Ship Parked Downtown, a 21-Year-Old Who Used the Interstate as a Runway, and a Concert Legally Required to Reach Eleven
Volume 55 of The Salt Line arranges the week by the numbers — a 105 heat index, a 149-year-old boat, a 24-run pillow fight, and one very important 11 — and lets the whiplash do the comedy.
The Salt Line, Vol. 54: Broadcasting Live From the Dune Line — a Sea Turtle That Outran the Whole Beach, a County That Voted the Robots Off the Island, and a No-Hitter Undone by a Single Out
Volume 54 of The Salt Line goes full nature documentary: one hatchling beats an entire beach to the water, Escambia evicts the data centers, and a no-hitter dies one out from history.
The Salt Line, Vol. 53: The Standing Committee Rules — an Airport That Reads the TSA Line for You, a University Investigating Its Own Homework, and a Dig That Found the Last Locals Who Managed Without Any of It
Volume 53 convenes the Standing Committee to rule on a phone that now grieves the security line for you, a truck waging foggy war on Beulah, and a pottery dig older than the agenda itself.
The Salt Line, Vol. 52: Teachers Beat the Kids Back to School, a Ballgame Finished a Month After It Started, and a Ribbon Cut on the One Door Built to Keep People In
Volume 52 of The Salt Line finds a July baseball game limping across the finish line in August, a courthouse throwing a party for its new jail door, and a ball club that has already scheduled October.
The Salt Line, Vol. 51: The Mailbag — a Road Fixed Before Lunch, a Flight Suit With New Tailors, and a Library Cutting Its Ribbon at Ten Sharp
Volume 51 is a mailbag, which means I made up the letters and the news made up itself — a drainage pipe fixed in under a day, a $24 million road, new tailors for the Blue Angels, and a library with a schedule.
The Salt Line, Vol. 50: By the Numbers — a Water Park Measured in Acres, a Flight Suit Contract Older Than the Jets, and a Return-to-School Date the Kids Can Already Smell
Volume 50, and this week the news came pre-loaded with digits — five acres, forty-three years, twenty-six thousand dark houses — so we counted them out loud instead of writing sentences about them.
The Salt Line, Vol. 49: The Local Ecosystem Report — a Pollinator Garden That Finished on Time, a Teenager Doing Barrel Rolls, and a Ball Club That Forgot How to Lose
Volume 49 of The Salt Line goes full nature documentary — observing bees that beat every road crew on the coast, a red light under investigation, and 13 miles of highway about to get a fresh coat, all in their natural habitat.
The Salt Line, Vol. 48: The Minutes — 4.76 Miles of Fresh Road, a $10 Water Slide for Heroes, and a Man Who Refuses to Wait for the Second Pitch
Volume 48 convenes the coast's imaginary civic body to rule on a road measured to the hundredth of a mile, a dirt path briefly demoted to a trench, and one ballplayer who declined to form a subcommittee.
The Salt Line, Vol. 47: A Hockey Schedule Printed During a Heat Wave, a Home Run Record That Won't Sit Still, and a $24 Million Bridge for People Who Refuse to Drive
Volume 47 convenes the imaginary committee that runs the Gulf Coast: someone scheduled ice hockey, Pensacola wants a third professional sport, and a man named Compton keeps rewriting the record book on his own time.
The Salt Line, Vol. 46: A Heat Index of 115, a Viral German Who Picked Fairhope, and a Ballot That Needs Your Vote
Volume 46 of The Salt Line braves a 115-degree feels-like, a German tourist who saw all of America and chose Fairhope, a ballot begging for clicks, and a baseball team that lost the game in the first inning.
The Salt Line, Vol. 45: A Fat Tuesday Rescheduled to Saturday, Six Jets for One Mail Plane, and $74 Million in Geothermal Whatevers
Volume 45 opens the mailbag in a heat index that could poach an egg on a bumper — Mardi Gras eyeing the weekend, a Navy plane getting a hero's escort for hauling the mail, and a factory whose name I had to read three times.
The Salt Line, Vol. 44: The Index — a $3.96 Gallon, a 1–0 Championship, and a Fire Station Two Years Too Young to Have Mold
Volume 44 of The Salt Line does the math: a $3.96 gallon, a national title won by a single goal, a two-year-old firehouse already growing mold, and the coast's finest cooling center that also happens to sell popcorn.
The Salt Line, Vol. 43: Field Notes — a Cone That Refuses to Migrate, an Apex Predator Named Compton, and a Rooftop Bar Arriving in the Year 2028
Volume 43 of The Salt Line goes full nature documentary, observing the local ecosystem in late July: the orange cone in its habitat, a ballclub's final hunt, a returning songbird, and a species being politely repelled.
The Salt Line, Vol. 42: The Meeting Will Come to Order — Free Kittens, a Room for Being Quiet, and a 4–0 Game Played in Both Directions
Volume 42 convenes the county's least official committee to rule on real news: a county that found its one legal spot and closed it, a ball team that lost and won by the exact same score, and free pets with a fifteen-dollar catch.
The Salt Line, Vol. 41: Five Cannonballs Through Airport Security, a Highway That Ends at Buc-ee's, and a Machine Asked to Prove It Can Count
Volume 41 of The Salt Line: a souvenir run that reached artillery, an interstate whose finish line is a gas station, a fall deadline nobody's shocked about, and monster trucks.
The Salt Line, Vol. 40: Dear Salt Line — Five Letters, One About a Bridge That's Been Closed Since the First Grade
Volume 40 of The Salt Line opens the mailbag, where readers write in about hoarding, a six-and-a-half-year detour, vinyl records, Mardi Gras in the wrong month, and an Australian restaurant that crossed an entire ocean to reach Pensacola.
The Salt Line, Vol. 39: The Receipt — a Road Project With a Rolling Release Date, Surfers on a Leash, and a Sales Tax Old Enough to Rent a Car
Volume 39 of The Salt Line itemizes the week: $4.6 million of road work, one deadline quietly walking away, a leashed surfer, and a storm that ruined everything without ever showing up.
The Salt Line, Vol. 38: The Wildlife Documentary — a One-Year-Old Airport That Already Needs a Bigger One, a Demolition Derby That Counts as Back-to-School, and a Midnight Watch Over Turtle Eggs
Volume 38 crouches in the sea oats and narrates: a storm files for a postponement, a $15 million terminal, volunteers standing over eggs in the dark, and pottery that outlasted everybody who's ever complained about the humidity.
The Salt Line, Vol. 37: The Emergency Session — $370 Million in Road Projects, Free Sand by the Truckload, and a Marlin Champion Named 'A Work of Art'
Volume 37 gavels in an emergency session as a tropical storm circles: the state hands out $370 million, the county hands out free sand, and a boat named 'A Work of Art' quietly wins everything again.
The Salt Line, Vol. 36: The Quiet After the Jets — a Monday Deadline, Cones in Bloom, and One Long Sunday at the Ballpark
Volume 36 of The Salt Line surveys the morning after air show weekend: a Monday voter deadline, a sixteenth helping of orange cones, and a Sunday at the ballpark that got long in a hurry.
The Salt Line, Vol. 35: The Correspondence — Flannel in July, Sixteen Runs, and an $8,022,410 Question
Volume 35 opens the mailbag: readers write in about vibrating condos, haunted left turns, and whether flannel is legal in Alabama in July, and the week's real news answers every one of them.
The Salt Line, Vol. 34: By the Numbers — Five of Six Jets, a $30 Boat Past the Traffic, and a Ban on Buildings That Don't Exist
Volume 34 runs the week through the adding machine: five of six jets accounted for, thirty dollars to skip the worst traffic of the year, and one county banning buildings nobody has proposed.
The Salt Line, Vol. 33: A Sold-Out Rehearsal, a $2.1 Million Fish, and a Two-Year-Old With a Badge
Volume 33 observes the Gulf Coast in peak July: thousands attend a practice, 75 boats chase one very expensive fish, and Orange Beach puts a two-year-old named Gator on the payroll.
The Salt Line, Vol. 32: The Docket — the Navy v. Everyone's Hats, a Lifeguard Penthouse, and a Twenty-Year Ask That Got Zero
Volume 32 convenes the court: a jet allegedly relocated several hats, Orange Beach built a lifeguard penthouse, and a developer asked Pensacola for twenty years of tax breaks and settled for none.
The Salt Line, Vol. 31: A Plane's Semester Abroad, a 20-Year Homework Assignment, and Fog at Sunset
Volume 31 of The Salt Line waves goodbye to a beloved cargo plane, fills out Gulf Shores' 20-year questionnaire, and reports live from the mosquito front, where the county has scheduled a mission.
The Salt Line, Vol. 30: Reader Mail — a Grounded Drone, Three-Digit Parking, and a Library in Boxes
Volume 30 opens the mailbag: a drone owner learns the sky has a guest list, parking hits triple digits, Foley's library packs itself into boxes, and Pensacola finds a team that wins.
The Salt Line, Vol. 29: The Index — a Ballgame Frozen at 2–2, Ten Million Dollars of Tomatoes, and a Recruiting Class From the Future
Volume 29 runs the week entirely by the numbers: one baseball game sealed at 2–2 until August, a $10 million farmers market, two counties of cones, and college recruiters shopping in 2027.
The Salt Line, Vol. 28: Field Notes — a Specimen Drafted, 18 Ballots Sighted, and $65,000 Loose in the Ecosystem
Volume 28 goes full nature documentary: a rare local specimen migrates to Pittsburgh, exactly eighteen mail ballots emerge from the wild, and a paper mill prepares to shed $65,000.
The Salt Line, Vol. 27: Minutes From the Committee — Mermaids Confirmed, the Beach Declared Full, and a Meeting Rated 'Significant'
Volume 27 of The Salt Line convenes official proceedings on a mermaid LLC, a $100 million groundbreaking, an 11-1 baseball incident, and a road meeting that rated itself.
The Salt Line, Vol. 26: Bees Under an Umbrella, Jets Over the Beach, and Foley Declares It December
Volume 26 of The Salt Line finds honeybees claiming beachfront property, a baseball team addicted to drama, a county saying no to server farms, and one Alabama town canceling July entirely.
The Salt Line, Vol. 25: Dear Salt Line — Saharan Dust, a 30-Year Bridge, and Back-to-School in July
Volume 25 opens the mailbag: readers write in about hazy sunsets, unfinished projects, and quitting swim lessons, and the real news of the Gulf Coast answers every single one of them.
The Salt Line, Vol. 24: 800 Acres, Two Cities Pumping the Brakes, and One Slightly Longer Minute
Volume 24 of The Salt Line runs the week through a calculator: 800 opted-out acres, one growth plan on life support, two cities pausing apartments, and radio's most honest rebrand.
The Salt Line, Vol. 23: A Near-Perfect Game, a Sunken Casino, and the Week Foley Decided to Finish Everything
Volume 23 of The Salt Line brings you a pitcher flirting with perfection, scuba divers touring a casino boat, dragon boats invading the Delta, and Foley completing a sidewalk with genuine emotion.
The Salt Line, Vol. 22: A Near-Perfect Game, Four Ejections, and a Boardwalk Taking a Personal Week
Volume 22 of The Salt Line brings you a pitcher flirting with perfection while everyone got thrown out around him, a beach access on sabbatical, and a road project that — I'm serious — actually finished.
The Salt Line, Vol. 21: Trash Pandas, a Robot Named Penny, and a $131 Million High School
Volume 21 of The Salt Line surveys the post-Fourth wreckage: the Blue Angels went to New York, a baseball team lost to raccoons, and Pensacola hired a robot receptionist.
The Salt Line, Vol. 20: A Bigger Barge, a Robot Named Penny, and 47 Million Reasons to Practice Free Throws
Volume 20 of The Salt Line arrives on America's 250th birthday with an oversized fireworks barge, a $131 million high school, an AI phone operator, and a baseball team losing to raccoons.
The Salt Line, Vol. 19: Panthers, Trash Pandas, and a Casino Boat That Finally Lost It All
Volume 19 of The Salt Line brings you a casino boat sleeping with the fishes on purpose, a robot answering Pensacola's phones, paid parking arriving right on schedule, and a panther who did not ask permission.
The Salt Line, Vol. 18: Straight A's, a Sunken Casino, and a Ball Team on a Mood Swing
Volume 18 of The Salt Line brings you a whole county of report-card overachievers, a casino boat living out its final dream on the seafloor, a baseball team that cannot decide who it is, and paid parking arriving just in time to ruin your Saturday.
The Salt Line, Vol. 17: A Fish Team's Revenge Arc, a Team Puppy, and Parking You Now Pay For
Volume 17 of The Salt Line finds the Blue Wahoos winning for once, adopting a puppy for good measure, Gulf Shores turning your parking spot into a subscription, and the sky attempting to cook us all alive.
The Salt Line, Vol. 16: A Casino Boat Becomes a Fish Hotel, and Dolly Parton Walks Away From an RV Park
Volume 16 of The Salt Line is here, and this week we sank a riverboat on purpose, watched a pirate dinner theater sail off, threw a redemption party for one very abused baseball team, and learned the entire state of Alabama is just moving to Baldwin County.
The Salt Line, Vol. 15: The Wahoos Got Their Revenge and a Snake Crashed the Flora-Bama
Volume 15 of The Salt Line is here, and this week the Wahoos turned the tables, gas prices did the opposite of what the headline promised, four sea turtles bought beachfront, and Geoffrey the Giraffe rose from the dead.
The Salt Line, Vol. 14: A Snake, A Sunken Boat, and Geoffrey the Giraffe's Triumphant Return
Volume 14 of The Salt Line brings a baseball team that has discovered the comeback, a snake auditioning at the Flora-Bama, a casino boat headed to the bottom of the Gulf, and a beloved giraffe rising from bankruptcy.
The Salt Line, Vol. 13: A Comeback, a Giraffe, and a Casino Boat Sleeping With the Fishes
Volume 13 of The Salt Line: the Blue Wahoos rise from the dead, Geoffrey the Giraffe returns to Baldwin County, a casino boat gets sunk on purpose, and a man named Tater wins in court.
The Salt Line, Vol. 12: Ships, Skeeters, and a Baseball Team That Is Simply Being Bullied
Volume 12 of The Salt Line is here, and this week the Gulf Coast served up mosquitoes, a parking crisis, a fish getting beaten up repeatedly, and the promise of 2,000 jobs that will absolutely require a $76 million permission slip first.
The Salt Line, Vol. 11: Ships, Bikes, and a Man Who Has Outlived Your Excuses
Volume 11 of The Salt Line arrives like a June thunderstorm: briefly terrifying, over in fifteen minutes, and somehow the e-bikes are still the problem.
The Salt Line, Vol. 10: A Fish, A Pool, And A County That Said No To Robots
Volume 10 of The Salt Line arrives like a Gulf summer storm — loud, a little absurd, and leaving you slightly sticky with questions about aquatics infrastructure.
The Salt Line, Vol. 9: Heat Indexes, Hero Dogs, and the Pier's Two-Hour Prayer Retreat
Volume 9 of The Salt Line is here, and this week the coast delivered: a puppy named Skipper crashed local TV, fishermen got a curfew, and Gulf Shores football is already emotionally peaked in June.
The Salt Line, Vol. 8: Closed Waters, Open Wounds, and a Fish That Finally Caught a Break
Volume 8 of The Salt Line arrives like a double-red flag on a Sunday — technically you shouldn't be out here, but here we are anyway, and someone's getting a fine.
The Salt Line, Vol. 7: Wet, Painted, and Slightly Fermented
Volume 7 of The Salt Line is here, and this week the coast got a giant whale mural, a delayed swimming pool, and approximately twelve craft beers worth of local news.
The Salt Line, Vol. 6: Whales, Ales, and a Pool With Conditions
Volume 6 of The Salt Line arrives like a summer squall — loud, slightly damp, and absolutely nobody asked for it, but here we are anyway.
The Salt Line, Vol. 5: Birds, Barons, and the Internet That Took a Beach Day
Volume 5 of The Salt Line is here, and we've got a hummingbird commuting to Alaska, a contractor who accidentally cut the internet, and a fish reef that started as a homework assignment.
The Salt Line, Vol. 4: Birds, Barons, and a Department of Transportation Having a Lie-Down
Vol. 4 of The Salt Line is here, and this week a hummingbird showed more ambition than an entire Florida state agency — and roughly the same road-planning instincts.
The Salt Line, Vol. 3: Sun, Sand, Servers, and a Fish Painting
Volume 3 of The Salt Line is here, and this week the Gulf Coast banned data centers, cleared a swimming hole, and let a whale painter into town — all before lunch.
The Salt Line, Vol. 2: Thirty-Five Million Dollars of Sand and Other Local Achievements
Volume 2 of The Salt Line is here, and this week the Gulf Coast spent $35 million on dirt, argued about a peach, and a fish tournament named itself after a beer — a perfectly normal seven days.
The Salt Line, Vol. 1: real news, unserious takes
Introducing The Salt Line — the only news roundup on the coast that reads the same headlines you did and refuses to take any of them seriously. This week: a beach that needed more beach, birds with a speed limit, and a rodeo with zero horses.
Want the straight news instead? That's Local News. Everything else we write lives in The Drift.