Search Results for King
Fight Continues over Shepherd Bend Mine
The Birmingham area has a long, intertwined history with coal. Coal fueled the steel plants which built the city. Coal mines still dot the Alabama landscape. But a planned strip mine along the Black Warrior River in Walker County has generated strong public opposition. WBHM intern Shelby Mauck has this look at the long simmering controversy over the Shepherd Bend Mine.
Alabama Author’s Family Connection to the Titanic
One hundred years ago, a young missionary couple boarded a new luxury liner that was making its maiden voyage from England to America. Alabama author Julie Hedgepeth Williams recounts the stories her great-uncle Albert told about his family's remarkable story of surviving the Titanic.
Witherspoon Is Still B’ham Schools Chief
UPDATED LATE THURSDAY: Despite repeated efforts by some at the Birmingham Board of Education meeting Tuesday night, Craig Witherspoon is still the school system's superintendent, and will remain so during a new state-level investigation of the local school board. Our Southern Education Desk reporter Dan Carsen was at the charged meeting and filed this extensive web-exclusive report. Click on the story to read Witherspoon's statement in response to the investigation, the state board's official April 12 resolution initiating it, and more.
Carsen, Ott on All Things Alabama Education
These are interesting times for Birmingham City Schools. Standardized testing is underway just as there’s a standoff over the future of superintendent Craig Witherspoon. The Board of Education could vote this afternoon to terminate his contract. Check the station website, Facebook page, and Twitter feed for the latest developments. There’s been some drama on the state and national levels too, with a congressional committee looking into the Alabama Education Association. WBHM’s Tanya Ott interviews reporter Dan Carsen on that and more in this week’s education chat.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Alabama’s Prison Problem
Alabama faces a potential $400 million shortfall in the general fund budget this year. And that could leave the state’s already-strapped prison system at a tipping point -- so overcrowded Alabama could face the possibility of a federal lawsuit. As WBHM’s Andrew Yeager reports lawmakers are searching for ways to fix a system bursting at the seams.
Interview with Education Reformer Michelle Rhee
Michelle Rhee is an education reformer known for making controversial moves. After closing schools in Washington D.C., she was featured on the cover of Time magazine holding a broom. Her group StudentsFirst is in Alabama pushing for charter schools and new ways to evaluate teachers, among other things. She spoke with Southern Education Desk reporter Dan Carsen, who asked her about what her group's goals mean for people around here.
Legislature Considers Immigration Law Tweaks
The Alabama Legislature begins its regular session today and one of the big issues lawmakers will consider is changing the state’s immigration law. That law, HB56, is considered the nation’s toughest crackdown on illegal immigrants. When it passed last year it got very little attention from Alabama’s business community, but as WBHM's Tanya Ott reports, business leaders are driving the latest efforts to modify the law.
The January 2012 Tornado
Residents along the north side of Birmingham are digging out after a line of storms rumbled across the state early Monday morning. A tornado killed at least two people in Jefferson County. And as WBHM’s Andrew Yeager reports, the damage is a reminder of the killer tornados which struck the state just last spring.
Charter Schools: None in Alabama, but May Change Soon
In a national ranking on charter schools, Alabama did not even come in last. That's because the state is one of only nine that doesn't have charter schools, but that could change, and soon. Dan Carsen has more for the Southern Education Desk at WBHM:
Bards of Birmingham
When schools cut their budgets, arts and theater programs are often the first to go. But in Birmingham, a youth acting group is still teaching lessons to any kid with the chops to get on stage. It's also pushing boundaries in a way that might make some theater traditionalists and parents uncomfortable. From the Southern Education Desk at WBHM, Dan Carsen reports.
Home Energy Efficiency
It's cold outside... and maybe inside, if your house isn't properly insulated. Home energy efficiency is a big issue and a new study gives Alabama high marks - and low marks - for how the state handles it. WBHM's Tanya Ott has our story.
Farm Guest Workers
Alabama farmers are wondering where they'll find workers for next year's growing season. They say the state’s tough immigration law has driven away much of the migrant labor they rely on. One option is for farmers to hire foreign guest workers. And as WBHM’s Andrew Yeager reports, a number of private companies stand to benefit.
Officers Pepper-Spraying Birmingham Students
Depending on the details, recent images of police pepper-spraying protesters have triggered varying levels of outrage. But here in Birmingham, police are regularly pepper-spraying students while they're in school. Dan Carsen has more from the Southern Education Desk at W-B-H-M.
Despite Successful Fundraising, Imagination Library Still On Hold
Though the United Way of Central Alabama surpassed its 2011 fundraising goal, a popular early literacy program is still on hold in Jefferson County. Dan Carsen has more from the Southern Education Desk in this web-exclusive report.
Imagination Library Cut in JeffCo
A literacy program that brought free books to young Jefferson County children has been suspended due to lack of funds. Dan Carsen has more in this web-exclusive report from the Southern Education Desk.
The Reconstruction of Asa Carter
In 1976, The Education of Little Tree was published as the autobiography of a little known southern author, Forest Carter. Carter's earlier novel, Josey Wales, had been turned into a successful film by actor Clint Eastwood. Little Tree was the story of Carter's childhood as an Indian boy who grew up on a reservation. He was orphaned, then taken away from his grandparents and raised by missionary types. He got through it, though, and got through it well. But the Education of Little Tree wasn't what it seemed. It wasn't even an autobiography, but a work of fiction, by one of the Alabama's most notorious Klan leaders.
Icelanders in the Magic City
A new report shows more than 700,000 foreign students are studying at American universities this year. About 6,300 are in Birmingham. Some students may be fleeing political oppression. Others are simply looking for better opportunities. But for one group of Icelandic students in Birmingham, their attraction to Magic City is soccer - as WBHM intern Kenan Le Parc reports.
Bring Your Own Parts
AAA estimates more than 42 million people will travel this Thanksgiving holiday, with most of them taking cars. Of course before you hit the road, you'll want to make sure the car's working properly. A new shop in Birmingham is offering an unusual way to fix your vehicle. You bring your own parts. WBHM’s Andrew Yeager takes a look at the potential for this business model.
The Private Eye Program
What's common to all academic subjects? Well..thinking. "Critical thinking" is a buzzword for a reason, regardless of whether educators think today's students do it well enough: it's basic to what students are meant to do in school. But can you actually teach thinking? From the Southern Education Desk at WBHM, Dan Carsen reports on an innovative program trying to do just that.
Reaction to Jefferson County Bankruptcy
Jefferson County residents are trying to figure out what's next, now that county leaders have filed the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history. The county's $4.1 billion filing is seen as closure by some. Others say the bankruptcy is an economic black eye for the entire state.
Strange Rebuffs DOJ Again
In the latest chapter of a blunt back-and-forth over Alabama's immigration law, state Attorney General Luther Strange on Friday again rebuffed the U.S. Department of Justice over access to student information. Dan Carsen has more in this web-exclusive report.
Max’s Delicatessen & the Immigration Law
Alabama's new immigration law has been in the news a lot lately. There've been stories about police setting up road blocks outside immigrant neighborhoods and how schools are losing students. But this month one businessman has found himself at the center of the controversy - in a spotlight he never anticipated - or wanted. WBHM's Tanya Ott reports.
Religious Exemptions to School Vaccine Requirements on Rise
Today's students and most of their parents are too young to remember a time when epidemics crippled and killed millions. And there's a reason we've forgotten: vaccines. Even so, a small but growing number of Alabama students are getting religious exemptions to school immunization requirements. The reasons are sometimes religious, sometimes philosophical, and sometimes health-based. Dan Carsen has more from the Southern Education Desk at WBHM.
Fantasy Football: International Edition
It's football season. College football. NFL football. And Fantasy football. And now, an international Fantasy football league based here in Birmingham (Alabama, not England).
Immigration Law and Schools: Trying to Calm Fears
Across Alabama, people have been marching to spotlight children affected by the state's strict new immigration law. The measure requires schools to record the immigration status of newly enrolled students. After more than 2,000 Hispanic students were absent from Alabama schools early last week, activists and educators are reaching out to families worried about what the law will mean for them. Dan Carsen has more from the Southern Education Desk at WBHM.
