Pulitzer Prize-winning Civil Rights Columnist Dies
Patterson One of America’s Most Highly Regarded Journalists
Newspaper editor and columnist Eugene Patterson, who helped fellow Southern whites understand the civil rights movement, has died of complications from cancer. A family spokesman says he died Saturday night, surrounded by family and friends at his Florida home. Patterson was 89.
Patterson’s famous column about the 1963 bombing of Birmingham’s 16th Street Baptist Church was considered so moving that Walter Cronkite asked him to read it nationally on the “CBS Evening News.” Here’s a link to the full column: Flower for the Graves.
Patterson was editor of the Atlanta Journal (now the Atlanta Journal-Constitution) when he won a Pulitzer Prize in 1967 for editorial writing. He also served as the managing editor of The Washington Post before coming the St. Petersburg Times (now the Tampa Bay Times) in 1972. Under his leadership, the Times won two Pulitzer Prizes and became known as one of the top newspapers in the country.
Listen to NPR’s remembrance of Patterson.
Alabama makes the College Football Playoff
Michigan, Washington, Texas and Alabama were selected Sunday and Florida State became the first unbeaten Power Five conference champion to be excluded from the field.
LGBTQ community finds a home in Birmingham’s punk scene
Plenty of people are familiar with the sound and look of punk. But not as many are familiar with the importance of compassion when it comes to being a punk. That's meant the punk scene has become a refuge for some LGTBQ individuals.
She owed $7K due to a water leak. Her utility saw the signs but didn’t tell her
Birmingham Water Works flagged Claire Ahalt’s account for unusually high water use, but she did not find out until asking a utility worker weeks later.
City OK’s $5 million to help keep Birmingham-Southern College open
BSC President Daniel Coleman said in a statement that next he’ll ask Jefferson County to meet the city’s commitment, focus on private donors and reengage with state leaders to work on getting more funding.
A year after the Moody landfill fire: “We need just as much help now”
Around Thanksgiving a year ago a landfill near Moody caught fire blanketing the surrounding area with smoke. The fire burned for months before the Environmental Protection Agency covered the landfill with dirt to extinguish the flames, but there have been flare ups since. To understand what things are like now, we heard from one nearby resident.
Why trees are an environmental and health Swiss army knife
Cool Green Trees plants trees in under-resourced communities in the Birmingham area to help mitigate climate change and advance environmental justice initiatives.
