Sections
Citizens Rally for Craig Witherspoon
About 150 people gathered in Birmingham's Linn Park today to show their support for embattled schools chief Craig Witherspoon. The superintendent's job security has been in doubt over the last two days especially, after the Board of Education on Thursday suddenly called a special meeting for the very next day on the topic of his contract, knowing two staunch Witherspoon supporters would be out of town. Dan Carsen has this web-exclusive follow-up story.
Craig Witherspoon Controversy
Birmingham School Superintendent Craig Witherspoon could very suddenly lose his job just after 5 p.m. today. In this web-exclusive report, Southern Education Desk reporter Dan Carsen explains how this surprising situation came about. UPDATED 3:18 P.M. FRIDAY: SPECIAL BOARD MEETING CANCELLED, PRO-WITHERSPOON RALLY TO GO AHEAD AS PLANNED AT 4 P.M. IN LINN PARK.
Local Government with John Archibald
Jefferson County's bankruptcy talks about the unlikely possibility of dissolving the county government and down in Shelby County the sheriff's battle over jail food funding points out problems with a state law. (AUDIO NOT AVAILABLE)
Cash Mobs
If you’re out shopping this weekend and the store is suddenly inundated with customers, don’t be surprised. Birmingham is the latest city to experience a phenomenon called a “cash mob” As WBHM’s Andrew Yeager reports, supporters of the concept hope it’ll have people buying local.
Faith Leaders Launch New Campaign Against HB 56
A coalition of Alabama faith leaders is launching a new television advertising campaign aimed at pressuring state lawmakers into changing the state's toughest-in-the-nation immigration law.
Carsen & Ott: Weekly Interviews on Education in Alabama
Carsen & Ott Talk Explosions and Explosive Issues Several Alabama school communities are reeling after incidents last week shook things up. E.P.I.C. Elementary School in Birmingham had to be evacuated Friday after a propane tank exploded. No one was hurt, but down in Mobile County, a teacher was taken to the hospital after an incident with a student. Nice, tame topics like charter-school propaganda, same-sex prom dates, and Louis Farrakhan round out this week's interview, which ends on a positive note.
Magic City Marketplace
Developers eye properties around Birmingham's new downtown baseball stadium, two new housing developments are on the way and companies spent less on lobbying last year.
Living in Limbo: Lesbian Families in the Deep South
An Alabama museum long focused on civil rights is introducing a new topic: Lesbian awareness in the South. The Birmingham Civil Rights Institute opens the exhibit tonight. It depicts some women arm-in-arm or embracing, their faces fully visible. Others who weren't comfortable being identified publicly are pictured with their backs to the camera.
John Archibald
This week, members of the Birmingham City Council donned hooded sweatshirts in an act of solidarity with Trayvon Martin, the Florida teenager shot to death by a neighborhood watch volunteer. John Archibald says the incident points out real problems in our own backyard.
Local Government with John Archibald
Birmingham City Council's sends a public message about Trayvon Martin's death and John says the case points to serious problems in Birmingham.
Carsen and Ott EduChat
Is the state legislature pitting business incentives against school funding? And why are some Republicans balking at the charter school bill? At least a situation that's literally toxic -- the mercury spill at Putnam Middle in Birmingham -- has been cleaned up.
Sam Frazier
The Blues run through the blood of Birmingham musician Sam Frazier Jr. He grew up in Edgewater, the son a coal miner who brought home stories that would eventually inspire Frazier's songwriting. His family would host local barbeques and shows at his mom’s house. Performing next to big name artists such as Howl'n Wolf and Jimmy Reed was a typical thing in Frazier's life. Frazier’s latest album is The Long Lonesome Blues.
Local Government with John Archibald
John discusses Cooper-Green Mercy Hospital's financial troubles, the opening of a satellite court house in Center Point, and small town politics in Graysville.
Wilkerson Middle Defies the Odds
It's easy to focus on what's wrong with education. And it's no secret that Birmingham Schools, like other urban districts around the nation, face serious problems. But there are schools here that are achieving success regardless. From the Southern Education Desk at WBHM, Dan Carsen has much more.
Magic City Marketplace
New data suggests the hospital industry in bouncing back from the recession in a big way. The nine major hospitals in the Birmingham metro area netted more than $154 million during fiscal year 2010. That’s more than seven times the amount they netted the previous year.
Local Government with John Archibald
John dissects this week's primary election and what it might mean for the future of the Democratic party in Alabama.
WBHM 90.3 FM Wins Six Alabama AP Awards
Public Radio WBHM 90.3 FM’s Southern Education Desk Reporter Dan Carsen is the recipient of three awards for excellence in broadcast journalism for his reporting on education issues in Alabama.
Carsen and Ott EduChat
This week's chat touches on the positive, the negative, and the in-between, or at least the in the eye of the beholder: politics once again makes an appearance.
Local Government with John Archibald
John explains why, despite yesterday's acquittals, the gambling corruption case may not be over. Also, hist takes on the Birmingham Water Works board members for spending $70,000 on travel last year.
Carsen and Ott EduChat
Severe thunderstorms, hail, and multiple tornadoes raked Alabama last week. Were any schools hit? And are there figurative storms on the horizon for the state's Education Trust Fund? In this fifth installment of a weekly series, WBHM's Tanya Ott starts the interview by asking about storm damage and an incredible recovery. The education budget may not be so lucky.
Magic City Marketplace
A Birmingham construction company jumps into the lucrative health care sector and there may be a lot more graduates to fill Alabama's tech jobs.
Local Government with John Archibald
John explains why Jefferson County Commission president David Carrington has called for some county employees to undergo lie detectors tests after someon leaked an embarrassing internal memo to the Birmingham News.
Carsen and Ott EduChat
Alabama legislators have their hands full with a variety of education bills at various stages of development, including ones that would authorize charter schools and offer credit for creationism classes for public high-schoolers. But for this week’s chat with Southern Education Desk reporter Dan Carsen, we move outside of Montgomery for some interesting education news. Carsen tells WBHM’s Tanya Ott that some of it is positive, some of it not – beginning right here in Birmingham.
Birmingham-Southern’s Basketball Team Still on Top
March madness is right around the corner, which means college basketball players are gearing up to make their mark on the postseason hardwood. It’s a particularly exciting time for the Birmingham-Southern College men’s basketball team. They’re poised for a strong tournament run. But as WBHM intern Kenan Le Parc reports, the team’s success comes in spite of several big challenges.
Gin Phillips
The Los Angeles times called Birmingham author Gin Phillips's first book The Well and The Mine an astonishing new novel. It's been compared to To Kill a Mockingbird and earned Phillips the Barnes and Noble Discover Award. So when Phillips started shopping her next novel, Come In and Cover Me , she admits there was a bit of pressure. Come In and Cover Me follows the story of Ren Taylor -- an archeologist who's on a mission to understand an ancient community, but ends up discovering some things about herself.
African American Leaders Question Charter Schools
Charter schools are being hotly debated in Alabama and in Mississippi, where opponents including African-American community leaders say charters will cause greater inequality in education and increased segregation in a state with a history of racial division.
Local Government with John Archibald
Analysis of how proposed 25% state budget cuts would affect local health care and law enforcement and how Jefferson County ended up deciding to lay off tax collectors to save money, but lost money in the process.
Dan Carsen Speaks with Education Icon Diane Ravitch
Diane Ravitch has been a key figure in American education for decades. The prolific author and outspoken advocate was Assistant Secretary of Education and Counselor to the Secretary of Education under the first President Bush. She was a pioneer in the accountability movement, but has since made friends and enemies by changing some of her views. She spoke with Southern Education Desk reporter Dan Carsen, who asked her about issues hot in Alabama right now, including charter schools, charter advocate Michelle Rhee, and much more.
Carsen and Ott EduChat
When it comes to education in Alabama, it's safe to say there's enough going on to keep a journalist busy. In our third installment of a new weekly series, Southern Education Desk reporter Dan Carsen sits down with WBHM News Director Tanya Ott to break down some of it. The interview starts with a recap of recent reports on religion in public schools.
A Constitutional Law Scholar on Ala. Religion in Schools Bill
A bill in the Alabama House would allow public school students to get elective credit for religious instruction. Southern Education Desk reporter Dan Carsen recently interviewed Blaine Galliher, the bill’s sponsor and a proponent of such “release time” programs. The programs would have to be approved by local school boards and would not cost the schools any money. And, Galliher said, students would not be coerced in any way. But a day later, Dan discussed the bill with legal scholar and religious liberty advocate Douglas Laycock...
Local Government with John Archibald
Details on an emergency bankruptcy hearing, looming Jefferson County layoffs, a proposal to term limit the Birmingham mayor and a packed room at a public hearing on a smoking ban.
Interview with Blaine Galliher on Religion in Public Schools
The First Amendment says “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” But does that mean public schools can give credit to students for creationism classes? What if they’re off campus and privately funded? A bill in the state Legislature would authorize school boards to set up such “release time” programs. Dan Carsen speaks with its sponsor, House Rules Committee Chairman Blaine Galliher.
