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Birmingham Schools: Takeover To Today, Part 2
In any big institution, good things are usually happening even when problems get the attention. This week WBHM is airing a three-part "status update" on Birmingham City Schools, from the state takeover to today. Yesterday, Part One explored some reasons why the state intervened and the district could lose accreditation. Today in Part Two, our Southern Education Desk reporter Dan Carsen talks with teachers, parents, and students to get a different view -- a view from the ground level.
State Seeks Dismissal Of Suit Against Birmingham Takeover
BREAKING: Lawyers representing the Alabama State Department of Education late Wednesday filed a brief asking a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit against the state's 2012 intervention in Birmingham City Schools.
Hops for Honeys
Some might open a bottle of wine for Thanksgiving dinner or crack open a cold one for the football game. If that drink is a craft beer, there's a good chance the person enjoying it is a woman. Recent surveys have shown a major driver of Alabama's growing craft beer market is women in their 20's and 30's. As WBHM intern Hollie Parrish reports, one Birmingham group is tapping into this growing interest among female beer drinkers.
Restoring the Lyric
As officials work to restore the Lyric Theatre in downtown Birmingham, some obstacles could be expected -- funding the project, removing lead paint and plumbing issues. But there are tougher, less obvious challenges too. When the Lyric opened in 1914, Birmingham was a city with lines of segregation and the theatre reflects that. So how do you faithfully restore a historic building still physically marked by the city's racist past?
Jefferson County Bankruptcy Round-Up
After multiple corruption trials, years of hand wringing and intense negotiations with creditors, Jefferson County has been cleared to exit municipal bankruptcy The $4.2 billion bankruptcy was the largest in U.S. history until Detroit's filing earlier this year. This is the collection of WBHM's stories to date.
Judge Approves Jefferson County’s Plan to Exit Bankruptcy
Federal bankruptcy judge Thomas Bennett has confirmed Jefferson County's bankruptcy plan, paving the way for the county to exit its $4.2 billion bankruptcy in December. Most of that debt was linked to corruption, mismanagement and bad deals around the county sewer system. Thursday's ruling ends two years under municipal bankruptcy, the second largest in U.S. history after Detroit's filing earlier this year. County leaders say the confirmation allows Jefferson County move past its fiscal turmoil.
Birmingham Author’s JFK Assassination Book Inspires Play
Next Friday, November 22, marks the 50th Anniversary of the assignation of President John F. Kennedy. It's a story James Douglas of Birmingham knows well. He's the author of the 2008 book "JFK and the Unspeakable: Why He Died and Why It Matters." It’s a detailed account of his research into President Kennedy's work for peace and his assignation. The book has been adapted into a play, entitled "Noah’s Ark," by Pittsburgh playwright Ginny Cunningham. The Birmingham Festival Theatre will present a staged reading of the play this Sunday, November 17, at 2 p.m. As Douglas and Cunningham describe in this interview, there were many challenges involved in turning Douglas's 500-plus page book into a 90 minute play. The version presented in Birmingham this weekend is three years and 20 drafts in the making.
Birmingham City Council President Maxine Parker Dies
Birmingham City Council President Maxine Parker has died. She was 69. No word yet on the cause of death. The three-term councilwoman spent more than four decades working at Talladega College. She also served as president of the Collegeville Neighborhood Association in Birmingham. Vivian Starks succeeded Parker in that position. Starks tells WBHM's Andrew Yeager her memories of Maxine Parker.
Healing Body and Soul in Alabama’s Black Belt
While Birmingham is a city with large hospitals and many medical professionals, there are relatively few physicians in Alabama's Black Belt. It's an impoverished region already facing high rates of obesity, diabetes and cancer deaths. One doctor has made it her mission to provide medical care to residents of Pine Apple, a town of just 130 people in Wilcox County. She also happens to be a Roman Catholic nun.
Not quite “Mission Accomplished” for Jefferson County bankruptcy
Jefferson County commissioners are out talking to investors, pushing a revised plan which would allow the county to exit bankruptcy by the end of the year. It's a major accomplishment given that rising interest rates made a previous plan unworkable. But Alabama Media Group columnist John Archibald says its too early to say "mission accomplished."
Birmingham Ghost Tours: Revealing the Unseen
Walk around downtown Birmingham and you see many old, vacant buildings. But Wolfgang Poe argues just because you can't see someone in one of those old buildings doesn't mean nobody's there.
Alabama Immigration Law Settlement
Civil and immigration rights groups in Alabama are cheering after the state agreed Tuesday to settle three lawsuits challenging HB 56, the state's controversial illegal immigration law. The move caps two years of legal battles and comes after the U.S. Supreme Court denied Alabama's appeal to restore parts of the law.
Auburn Developing New “VaporWake” Bomb Dogs
Three years ago, after spending almost nineteen billion dollars on hi-tech research, the Pentagon found the best bomb-detection devices in existence are actually dogs' noses. And researchers at Auburn University are trying to make them even better. They've developed a new type of bomb-sniffing K-9 called a "VaporWake" dog. WBHM's Southern Education Desk reporter Dan Carsen has more on this new tool in the anti-terrorism arsenal.
Jefferson County’s New Public Defenders Office
It use to be if you're accused of a crime in Jefferson County, Alabama, and are too poor to afford a lawyer, the court would appoint a private attorney to represent you. Starting Monday that changes. Jefferson County now has a single, dedicated public defenders office to handle such cases. WBHM's Andrew Yeager reports.
Kyle Whitmire: Birmingham’s New Budget
This week city officials finally approved a 2014 budget for Birmingham. Plus, Republican Representative Spencer Bachus announced he will not be seeking another term in Congress. Kyle Whitmire with Al.com and the Birmingham News joins us to discuss this week’s news in Alabama politics.
Money Tight, Scientists Turn To Crowdfunding
In the past decade, it's gotten much harder for scientists to get the federal grants that fund most American research. This year's sequester has made it even more difficult, and the government shutdown is likely to slow things down even further. So scientists are looking for new ways to pay for their work, including "crowdfunding." But going online and asking the public for money has real drawbacks. Even so, as WBHM's Southern Education Desk reporter Dan Carsen tells us, some think it could "open up" science in a good way.
Congressman Bachus won’t run for Re-election
Political leaders from Birmingham to Capitol Hill are reacting to news today that long-time Alabama Congressman Spencer Bachus will not run for re-election. The Republican has represented Alabama's sixth congressional district since 1993. While the announcement caught many by surprise, some see it as a part of a shifting political landscape in Alabama.
Commentary: Courage in Unlikely Places
With the new school year in full swing, students and families are back into their routines. But for some, accessing educational opportunities is anything but routine. Commentator Larry Lee tells the story of one mother and the effort she’s making to ensure her children make it in school.
INTERVIEW: Tanner Colby, Some of My Best Friends are Black
As Barack Obama campaigned his way to the presidency, self-described lily-white writer Tanner Colby began pondering exactly why he and so many other white people basically had no black friends. The reasons are complex, ranging from school policy to real estate practices to media image-making to church politics, but the former Vestavia Hills resident dives right in from the springboard of his own life, recognizing his ignorance the whole way. The result: 'Some of My Best Friends are Black: The Strange Story of Integration in America.' Our Southern Education Desk reporter Dan Carsen caught up with Colby soon after the author appeared on MSNBC to discuss America's persistent racial separation.
Four Spirits Statue, Memorial to 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing Victims, Unveiled
City and civil rights leaders unveiled the “Four Spirits” statue in Kelly Ingram Park Saturday memorializing the victims of the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing, one day before the 50th anniversary of that tragedy. Other than a plaque on the side of the church, it's the first permanent memorial to the victims.
Grooming The Next Cyber-Warriors
Eric Snowden. NSA code-cracking. Chinese government hackers. It’s hard to avoid cybersecurity issues in the news. And many experts think the United States is simply not up to the threats. That’s mainly because there aren't enough good guys with the skills to do battle in this expanding arena. But there’s a unique partnership in an Alabama school district that’s working to change the scenario. WBHM’s Southern Education desk reporter Dan Carsen has more, with previously unpublished photos.
Black Women Don’t Exercise
Have you heard the stereotype that black women don't exercise? African-American women are at an increased risk of obesity and more likely to die from cardiovascular disease than white women. While WBHM Race and Diversity Blogger Javacia Harris Bowser is big on fitness, she's also making sure her mother doesn't become a statistic.
Residents Upset by Plan for I-20/59 Redesign through Downtown Birmingham
Every day, about 160,000 drivers make their way along Interstate 20/59 through downtown Birmingham. It’s one of the most heavily traveled stretches of highway in the state, but it’s also accident prone and crumbling from age. The Alabama Department of Transportation is developing a plan to repair and expand the highway. But as WBHM intern Hollie Parrish reports, that plan has drawn a critical response from some residents.
Saying Goodbye To Marty’s
Regulars at Marty’s in Birmingham’s Southside neighborhood will have to find a new bar to call home after August 31st. The institution is calling it quits after two decades of drinks, music, and the passing of the bar’s owner, Marty Eagle, earlier this year. Marty’s was a second home for many but also a home for jazz in Birmingham. WBHM’s Sarah Delia stopped by during the bar’s final week as staff, musicians and regulars say goodbye.
Rivers: A Debut Novel
Eight years ago today Hurricane Katrina roared out of the Gulf of Mexico leaving more than 18-hundred people dead with an estimated 125 billion dollars in damage. Now imagine a series of storms of that intensity parked over the Gulf all the time and you have the setting for a first novel by a young Mississippi author.WBHM’s Greg Bass spoke with Michael Farras Smith about his debut novel Rivers
A Turnaround at Birmingham-Southern College
Classes start at Birmingham-Southern College Wednesday and for students returning to the school there’s a very different atmosphere than just a few years ago. In 2010, the college faced a financial crisis, leading to deep budget cuts and layoffs. But now the campus is on the rebound. As WBHM intern Pooja Gajare reports much of the credit is being given to the school’s president.
Public Radio WBHM 90.3 FM Hires News Director
Public Radio WBHM 90.3 FM has hired Rachel Osier Lindley as its news director. Lindley will oversee the activities of the WBHM news team while giving voice to the North Central Alabama community the station serves. She will work extensively with on-air and online content, local, regional, and national content partners, and evolving technology.
What do Birmingham Voters Want?
Birmingham voters go to the polls next Tuesday to pick a mayor, city council and school board members. The election comes at a time when the city is garnering positive headlines for a new downtown baseball stadium and entertainment district. But Birmingham’s schools also face the threat of losing accreditation due to a dysfunctional board. WBHM’s Andrew Yeager went to a recent candidates forum to hear what issues voters say are most important to them.
What does Trinity’s move mean for Birmingham’s Eastside?
Construction crews will soon be scurrying about Trinity Medical Center’s new building on Highway 280, preparing for the hospital to move to that location in 2016. Work on the new hospital, recently named Grandview Medical Center, comes after a four-year legal battle. While Trinity officials say the move is long-overdue, some residents of the eastside Birmingham neighborhood the hospital is vacating worry what the change means for their community.
Alabama’s Mental Health Shift
Like many states, budget cuts have forced Alabama officials to take a good hard look at how the state cares for people with mental illness. Since 2008, the Department of Mental Health has lost $40 million in state funds. So they've opted for a less expensive form of treatment -- community-based mental health centers and apartment communities. Les Lovoy reports on the challenges of that options.
Susan Werner: A Musician With Big Ideas on Farm to Table Food
Folk singer-songwriter Susan Werner knows food. She grew up on a family farm in Iowa. She has strong opinions about what we should eat and where that food should come from. So she says it was a no brainer when she was commissioned to write a concept album about farming. Werner brings that music to Birmingham tomorrow night.
Kyle Whitmire: The Real Powers of an Elected Local Official
Local elections are taking place next month. Candidates are getting their platforms ready and thinking about what they want to accomplish while in office. But before they start making promises to voters, they may want to take a closer look at what power they actually have when elected. Kyle Whitmire with Al.com and The Birmingham News says, local officials are often surprised by what they can and cannot do once they get into office.
