News
New Lab Opening
In just a few months UAB will unveil a state-of-the art satellite imaging lab. Public health researchers will use it to better understand the way environment affects the spread of disease. And, as WBHM's Rosemary Pennington reports, the lab's created an unlikely partnership.
Twice as Good: Condoleezza Rice and Her Path to Power
From the Titusville neighborhood to the West Wing of the White House, it seems Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has made it past nearly every obstacle put in front of her. But according to the author of a new book, her upbringing in the segregated South had a lot to do with how she looked at those obstacles - and whether they even mattered at all.
Code Red
The Birmingham metropolitan area was placed under an air quality alert once again Wednesday for particle pollution, a code red for what officials say was a particularly dangerous situation: smoke coming from wildfires burning in Georgia and Florida. Winds have shifted and the smoke has moved out of the area -- for now.
Alabama lures steelmaker
German steelmaker ThyssenKrupp has chosen Alabama for a $ 3.7 (B) billion dollar steel mill that, at full capacity, is expected to employ more than 2,700 workers. The company says the plant will be built in northern Mobile County, near Mount Vernon. Completion of the project is expected in 2010.
Olde Tyme Healing
There are a lot of old books in UAB's Reynolds Historical Library -- some 13-thousand in all. One, though, stands out a bit more than the others. Only five original copies of "The English Physician" are in existence and UAB has one of them. It's a book that, as WBHM's Rosemary Pennington found out, helped shape what would one day become the United States of America.
Small Banks
As mega banks merge with other mega banks to form super mega banks, there's a counter-trend that may be somewhat surprising. Increasingly, career banking professionals are leaving the big guys to start their own community banks. Les Lovoy reports on how this phenomenon is changing the face of banking in Birmingham.
Dr. John Lennox
In the debate over evolution, one alternative to Darwin's theory that gets tossed around a lot is intelligent design. The idea that some grand designer is behind everything we see in the universe, including ourselves. One of intelligent design's most vocal U.K. proponents is in Birmingham.
Sleep Apnea
Many of us enjoy a full, restful sleep each night and wake up the next morning feeling like a million bucks. But, there are many who would pay a million bucks for a good, uninterrupted night's sleep. They suffer from sleep disorders and often feel more exhausted in the morning than they do when their heads hit the pillow at night. Sleep deprivation costs businesses millions of dollars and can put you at risk, even if you don't have a sleep disorder. But as Les Lovoy reports science is gaining ground on a main cause of sleep deprivation, obstructive sleep apnea.
Chilton County Cold Snap
Farmers across the southeast are assessing damage from a weekend cold snap that caused temperatures to dip in the mid 20s in some areas. The fruit was further along in development because of an unseasonably warm weather March - and that means it was more susceptible to the cold. Many growers in Blount County say they suffered a complete loss. In Chilton County - home to Alabama's peach industry - the losses ranged from 30 to 80 percent of the orchards. WBHM's Tanya Ott spent some time in Clanton this weekend and filed this report.
Community College Controversy
Scandal is rocking Alabama's two-year college system. The problems first surfaced in 2004, when Former Governor Don Siegelman was tried on bribery charges alleging he funneled more than a half-million dollars through the state Fire College. Last year, the system's chancellor was dismissed for alleged mismanagement and nepotism. This week, suspicion spread to state lawmakers. WBHM's TAnya Ott reports.
A Safe Haven; A Safe Home
Nearly 4,800 Alabamians are homeless on any given night and there's not enough room in the state's shelters for all of them. More than 1,400 sleep on the streets. The nomadic nature of homelessness complicates life for anyone experiencing it, but for those with a mental illness having no permanent shelter can be even more devastating. No fixed bed typically means no regular counseling or medications. A shelter in downtown Birmingham is working to change that reality for some chronically homeless women in the city. WBHM's Rosemary Pennington has more.
Healing Gardens
Many in the healthcare industry are touting the therapeutic value of healing gardens. The American Horticulture Therapy Association says that these specialized gardens are becoming increasingly common around the U.S. Among their benefits: stimulating memory and alleviating depression. Those are pluses that are especially helpful for a group of senior adults living at the Princeton Towers in Birmingham's Arlington-West End neighborhood. Gigi Douban has the story.
Gadsden Auction Houses
When a city loses its main employer there's often a period of mourning, then an attempt to recover. In Northeast Alabama, one small city that used to be known for steel is making a name for itself in a business with a completely different image. WBHM's Tanya Ott reports.
Chevalier Burning Bright
Author Tracy Chevalier rocketed to fame after the publication of her slim, stark novel "Girl with a Pearl Earring". The book was about the creation of the Vermeer painting of the same name. It went on to become an Oscar winning movie. Chevalier's newest novel, Burning Bright , also deals with the creation of a work of art. But this time the artist is more obscure.
Steel Deal
At a time when U-S manufacturers are moving overseas for cheap labor and lax environmental codes, a giant German steelmaker plans to build the largest steel mill project the United States has seen in nearly two decades. ThyssenKrupp says it's narrowed the choice to a site in Mobile and another one near New Orleans. Both Alabama and Louisiana offer incentive packages believed to be worth more than one billion dollars, as WBHM's Tanya Ott reports.
Prison Arts and Education
The vast majority of people who are in prison will get out. Legally. And chances are, those inmates who were locked up won't be rehabilitated or prepared for re-entry into society. But some lockup programs are trying to tackle prison recidivism through education and the arts. Studies show that they?re working. WBHM's Steve Chiotakis looks at one particular program in Alabama that offers inmates the opportunity to learn while paying their debt to society. But it still has yet to win over some victims.
March Storms
March roared in like a lion across the Southeast and Midwest, bringing with it a band of bad weather. The system spawned several deadly storms that left a total of twenty people dead in Georgia, Missouri and Alabama -- including eight high school students in Coffee County.
Physician Suicide
Many jobs come with risks. But for doctors, especially female physicians - there's one particular occupational hazard that until recently has not received much attention. Reporter Stacey Torch explores the issue of physician suicide and how hospitals and universities like the University of Alabama at Birmingham are addressing it.
Short Stature Kids
For years, growth hormone therapy has been used to treat children at the lowest end of the growth chart. But new research indicates that excessive levels of growth hormone could have long-term health risks. Reporter Brigid Galloway has this first-hand account on the tough decisions parents must make when trying to help their children reach their full potential.
Cut It Out
According to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence 1-in-4 American women will be abused by a partner at some point in their lives. Many of them will never report the abuse, often because they don't know where to go. A national intervention program is hoping to change that and it's using hair stylists to do so. WBHM's Rosemary Pennington reports.
Second Careers
Retirement isn't what it used to be. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that by the year 2020 people age 55 and older will make up nearly a quarter of the workforce. Reporter Stacey Torch examines the reasons behind this trend as she talks with one Alabama couple who traded in retirement for an organic herb farm.
VA Missing Hard Drive
Officials at the Department of Veterans Affairs and the FBI continue their investigation into a missing hard drive with more than 1.8 million patient and doctor names and sensitive information that went missing from the Birmingham VA Medical Center. The VA says it's notifying those who may be included in the records, is updating its security policy and - according to the Associated Press - is eliminating its research enhancement awards programs in Birmingham and other sites until tighter security standards are met. But criticism continues about the length of time it took the department to disclose the disappearance and the security issues. WBHM's Steve Chiotakis reports.
God, Darwin and Dixie Part 3: Solution?
When it comes to the evolution debate it seems like, as with so many other cultural discussions, the most vocal extremes get the most attention. Many are left with the impression that to be able to buy into evolution you have to give up God -- that there's no middle ground. WBHM's Rosemary Pennington introduces us today to three men who say there is a solution to the God versus Darwin paradox -- that, even with all the vitriol surrounding the debate, there is a middle ground.
God, Darwin and Dixie Part 2: Stickers
The battle over evolution in American society almost never fails to make news. Whether it's a Pennsylvania court's ruling that intelligent design cannot be taught in science classrooms because it's not science or the opening of a museum in Ohio dedicated solely to creationist theory -- if it involves evolution or intelligent design you're going to hear about it. Here in Alabama the fight over the theory has involved, most famously, an insert in high school biology textbooks. The sticker highlights how important words are in the debate over evolution. We see those words applied as WBHM's Rosemary Pennington explores the now infamous evolution stickers.
God, Darwin and Dixie Part 1: Semantics
Evolution -- the idea that life descended from a common ancestor. There are few terms in the English language that create the verbal firestorm that one word can. And, ever since the Scopes Monkey Trial, the American discussion of Charles Darwin's theory has raged on, growing hotter by the year. In a special series, "God, Darwin and Dixie", WBHM's Rosemary Pennington explores the debate over evolution here in Alabama. She'll examine the now infamous textbook disclaimers; also how to move the conversation forward. But first she explores the semantics of the debate.
Taking Mental Health to the Streets
For thousands of people with serious mental illnesses, daily living is an excruciating experience. They have no support system to remind them to take their meds, or make and keep appointments. No one is there to help them shop for essentials, or provide them with a safe place to live and enough food to eat. Consequently, they often live on the street and drift in and out of the city's hospitals and jails. But, as Les Lovoy reports, there's a team of psychiatric professionals here in Birmingham, who are determined to give these troubled individuals a fighting chance.
Nature Deficit Disorder
You've heard of ADD and ADHD. Well, one researcher is lobbying to have NDD added to the scientific lexicon and he says your momma's sage advice to just to outside and play could be the prescription. Dale Short explains.
Tyson Foods Lawsuit
Attorneys will meet with a judge next week in Tennessee to set a trial date for a class action lawsuit against the world's largest meat producer. Plaintiffs allege that Tyson Foods knowingly hired illegal immigrants at meat processing plants in six states, including Alabama. WBHM's Tanya Ott reports.
WBHM 30th Anniversary
In celebration of WBHM's 30th anniversary year, meet some of the people who were there during the station's early years. WBHM officially signed on at Sunday, December 5, 1976 at 1 p.m. In this interview Michael Krall talks to Les Myers, WBHM's first Music Director...
Consent Decree Lifted
For almost two decades Alabama DHR's child welfare system has been under the close watch of a federal monitor. No longer. A federal judge lifted the consent decree that put that monitor in place.
The Harp Ladies
Music is about more than what a composer puts down on paper and, then, what you hear later. There's the whole Mozart effect thing ... where listening to the prodigy's compositions supposedly improves a person's math skills. Then there are the lullabies, songs designed solely to soothe. It's that soothing that occupies the lives of two Birmingham chaplains. They're licensed music practitioners through the Music for Healing and Transition Program.
Tuskegee Doubts
America's first black fighter pilots - the Tuskegee Airmen - are credited with shooting down more than 100 enemy aircraft during World War II. But perhaps their biggest claim to fame was having never lost to enemy fire an American bomber that they were escorting. That's been the story for more than a half-century, but now a former airman and historian says he's uncovered records that disprove that claim. The assertion is causing a firestorm, as Tanya Ott reports.
