Sections
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.
The Bodon Family Secret
During World War II no one fought the Nazis longer than the Czechs. Even after Czechoslovakia was taken over by Hitler's Germany, the Czech's fought on; the resistance moving from havens in Poland to France and, eventually, to Britain. One UAB filmmaker's father was one of those fighters. The whole time he fought the Nazis, and for the rest of his life afterward, he was keeping an enormous secret.
Justin Brown
On November 17-18, guitarist David Starobin played contemporary music with the Alabama Symphony Orchestra. One of the works is Paganini Variations by Poul Ruders. David Starobin spoke with WBHM's Michael Krall about the work.
The Secrets of Amarna
For more than eighty years King Tutankhamun (or Tut) has been the superstar of ancient Egypt. Tut's reign was only a short one, the pharaoh died while still a teeanger, but the glittering treasure found in his tomb captured imaginations the world over. All that gold has, for years, outshone one of the more astonishing bits of Egyptian history -- the Amarna heresy, which was sparked by none other than King Tut's father.
Campaign 2006: The Results
Election Day dawned on Alabama gray and rainy but, later, the skies cleared. The mixed bag of weather seemed to fortell the evening ahead for politicos across Alabama as Governor Bob Riley's 'big coattails' didn't appear to be quite long enough for a GOP sweep in the state.
Rethinking Violence: Is it a Disease?
The homicide rate in Birmingham is on the rise. A recent study ranked the Magic City as the 6th most dangerous city in the country. A group based in San Francisco is working to fight violence by taking a public health approach and treating it as a disease; they're bringing their message to Birmingham.
Race for Alabama Governor
Alabama voters cast ballots in a number of of local and statewide races Tuesday -- not the least of which is the governor's race. Incumbent Republican Governor Bob Riley finds himself in a face-off with current Lieutenant Governor Democrat Lucy Baxley.
On the Line: Mass Transit
On buses in Birmingham, getting from point to A to point B means mostly obstacles and frustration. Leaders have talked aboout mass transit for years, but putting it to work and funding it has been the real speed bump, despite calls to the contrary. On November 6th, WBHM broadcast a special two-hour discussion on the future of mass transit in the Birmingham area.
Street Smart
Rush hour in the Birmingham-metro area now averages 6 hours per day. You've no doubt been caught in the gridlock either on 280 or I-65 or U.S. 31. From 1992 to 2002, the delay per traveler increased from 11 hours per year to 26 hours per year! But Gabriel Roth says there's a solution. He's the editor of a new book called 'Street Smart' that advocates 'privatizing' roads. You get your electricity and telephone service from private companies - why not transit? Roth explained the concept to WBHM's Tanya Ott.
Organ Donation
Today, thanks to medical advances, most kidney transplants are successful. But people continue to die every day because of organ shortages. A recent survey indicates that as many as 40% of potential kidney donors decide not to donate because of financial concerns. But one UAB doctor is proposing a system that he says could help solve the shortage problem.
Elder Exploitation
Each year in the U.S., an estimated 5 million older adults become victims of financial abuse. In 2004, older consumers reported 152 million dollars in fraud-related losses. But most of these crimes - particularly those committed by family members - go unreported. Brigid Galloway reports on how UAB doctors and the Department of Senior Services are finding unique ways to address the complex issue of financial exploitation.
General Wesley Clark
State and local Democrats have been spending time over the remaining weeks of this election cycle trying to bolster the party's image as being tough when it comes to national defense and offsetting attacks by Republicans - including President Bush - who say they are nothing but a party of 'Cut and Run' when it comes to Iraq. Helping in that effort was retired General Wesley Clark - NATO's Former Supreme Commander and a former presidential candidate - who was in Alabama over the weekend speaking on behalf of Democratic candidates.
Paying for Progress
It is a difficult place to be, in between fertile and fading. Urban areas - parts of Birmingham included -- that were once 'hot spots' are now 'not-so-much-spots'. Businesses have a hard time staying afloat because people have left or are shopping someplace else. But increasingly, developers see green in those places as local governments pony up to lure business back. As WBHM's Steve Chiotakis reports, tax incentives and infrastructure improvements are carrots in a new kind of economic development model.
North Korea Nukes
The U.S. and its allies have confirmed that North Korea has tested a nuclear weapon in the northern part of the country. Calling it a defense against invasion, the rest of the world looks warily on believing a nuclear North Korea puts other nations -- particularly those geographically close -- at risk. One Asian expert and UAB history professor, Dr. John Van Sant, tells WBHM's Steve Chiotakis that what complicates a diplomatic resolution is the history of bad blood - not only with the U.S., but with North Korea's neighbors.
Green Tea and DNA
It seems almost everywhere you look these days -- in magazines, newspapers or grocery store aisles -- you're assaulted by the message that tea is good for you. Studies have shown the leaf may prevent ovarian and breast cancers as well as skin cancer. Now a study out of UAB shows that green tea may actually repair DNA damaged by UVB radiation. WBHM's Rosemary Pennington has details.
Selling Geology’s Gems
The rise in oil prices is fueling a tremendous demand for oil industry workers. Among the beneficiaries: geology graduates trained to find new drilling sites. There's just one problem: geology is a tough sell to the college crowd. But officials at the University of Alabama recently launched a program to try to chisel away at geology's one-dimensional image.
Katrina: One year later
One year ago, Hurricane Katrina roared ashore the central gulf coast, killing hundreds, causing billions of dollars in damage and displacing more than a million people from New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast. More than 3-thousand headed for the Birmingham area. Coordinators of one project went out and talked to those who fled, and WBHM's Steve Chiotakis talked to them about the project.
On the Line – education
Standardized testing... school overcrowding... teacher pay. WBHM's listener call-in program 'On the Line' tackled The State of Education in Alabama.
The New, New Normal
Security measures in Britain and the US -- already tightened after the September 11 terrorist attacks -- were made even more stringent after British authorities announced that they'd foiled a terror plot to blow up U.S.-bound aircraft. Twenty-four suspects are in custody; more are being sought. The men were allegedly planning to use liquid explosives on board the planes to bring them down over the Atlantic. U.S. Department of Homeland Security officials placed the air transportation system on high alert and travelers all over the country were affected.
