Search Results for King
Protesters Show Solidarity for Hunger-Striking Etowah County Detainees
Protesters in Birmingham today clanged forks and spoons against empty plates and marched in a show of solidarity for the 40 detainees currently on a hunger strike at a U.S. Immigration and Customs detention center in Etowah County.
Trinity Medical Center Moving and Taking on a New Name
This weekend Trinity Medical Center will become Grandview Medical Center as it moves from Birmingham’s east side to the busy Highway 280 corridor. It’s a move that’s been more than 10 years in the making and one that developers expect to bear fruit beyond just a new hospital. We talk about it in this week’s Magic City Marketplace.
Mental Health Commissioner Jim Perdue On State’s Shrinking Mental Health System
State legislators still haven’t figured out how to fix a $200 million budget deficit for the upcoming year – and time is running out. Many in Alabama who work in mental health worry that public services could be on the chopping block again, after years of cuts and the closure of three state psychiatric hospitals. Perhaps most concerned is Alabama’s new Mental Health Commissioner, Jim Perdue, who was sworn in this summer. He says with more budget cuts, mentally ill Alabamians may end up in jail rather then getting the help they need.
Is Birmingham Headed For A Parking Crisis?
There's an attitude in Birmingham that you don't have to pay parking tickets. Is the current system of street side parking sustainable or is Birmingham headed for a parking crisis? For more we talk Nick Patterson, editor of the weekly newspaper WELD.
Birmingham’s Broken Parking Meters
Depending on where you are in Birmingham, you could pay around two dollars to park for two hours on a city street. Or – you may not pay at all. Birmingham has more than 5,000 parking meters. With more restaurants, businesses and residents returning to the city center once again, those steel gray meters with an appetite for quarters are stirring concerns among those who live and work downtown.
Do Birmingham and Alabama’s Rankings On Listicles Matter?
You probably see a new one each time you go online. A "listicle" -- that's the name for the article-list hybrid shared so often on social media. The methodology of listicles can vary dramatically depending on who's making the list. As Nick Patterson, editor of the weekly newspaper WELD, tells WBHM's Rachel Osier Lindley, these rankings can change the way people see the place they live.
Birmingham Fashion Truck: Making The Magic City Rethink Fashion
Food trucks have become ubiquitous in many cities. Entrepreneurs have taken the same concept of retail on wheels and applied them to apparel. That trend has now come to Birmingham. WBHM's intern Morgan Smith has more.
Alabama Gets National Attention, Working Across Political Lines
Today on Morning Edition, NPR's Steve Inskeep talks with Alabama State Sentator Cam Ward and attorney Maria Morris of the Southern Poverty Law Center. The theme of the story - working across political lines to reduce overcrowding and other critical issues in Alabama's Prisons.
Kyle Whitmire: Who Is Looking Out For JeffCo Ratepayers?
This week Jefferson County successfully defended its bankruptcy plan from four objectors in federal court. Bankruptcy Judge Thomas Bennett said the objectors did not have standing to object to the county's plan because they were not creditors. Kyle Whitmire explains what this week's hearing means for ratepayers in Jefferson County.
Kyle Whitmire: Who Is Looking Out For JeffCo Ratepayers?
This week Jefferson County successfully defended its bankruptcy plan from four objectors in federal court. Bankruptcy Judge Thomas Bennett said the objectors did not have standing to object to the county's plan because they were not creditors. Kyle Whitmire explains what this week's hearing means for ratepayers in Jefferson County.
Controversial Student Training Includes Taking On Gunmen
Jonesboro, Columbine, Virginia Tech. Those names and others have become tragic shorthand for school shootings. Today, when there’s a threat, the typical lockdown plan that most schools follow is sound the alarm, call police, lock doors, and stay put. But a growing number of schools are adopting controversial training that includes how to fight back against a gunman. WBHM's Southern Education Desk reporter Dan Carsen has the story.
BREAKING: Birmingham BOE Conducts Civil, Productive Meeting
The Birmingham School Board conducted a civil and efficient meeting Tuesday night, perhaps cowed by a judge's ruling that the state does have authority over the district and that Superintendent Craig Witherspoon will keep his job during the takeover. Our Southern Education Desk reporter Dan Carsen has this surprising web-exclusive.
State Taking Over Birmingham Schools
In developments that many saw coming, the state education department is seizing control of Birmingham City Schools. Southern Education Desk reporter Dan Carsen has this late-breaking web-exclusive.
Part 3: Walking School Bus
What has bright colors, traffic signs, dozens of feet, and provides exercise, companionship, and a safe way to school? It's a new community-oriented health and safety strategy called a "walking school bus." In the last of a three-part series on school transportation, Dan Carsen has more from the Southern Education Desk at WBHM:
Alabama Making Progress in Child Well Being, But Still Lags Behind
Alabama ranks 48th in child well-being. That's according to the annual Kids Count report, released this week by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. The reports measures well-being through a number of benchmarks--from babies with low birthweight to the number of children in single parent families.
Making Do: Vanishing Pages
So you're tired of all the grim economic news. You want to relax, sit on the couch and flip through a good magazine. Only trouble is that favorite magazine may not be there any more. Magazines across the country have folded in recent months, including titles in Birmingham. As we conclude our series "Making Do: Alabama's Economy," WBHM's Andrew Yeager takes a look at an industry not just reeling from the recession, but dealing with a change in the medium itself.
Making Do: School Lunch
Want to know if times are tough? Look at the number of kids eating school lunch. Birmingham area schools report that since the economic crunch, fewer children are brown bagging it. School nutritionists say for the price, you can't beat school lunch. But is cheaper better?
Making Do: Elder Care
26,000 Alabamians live in nursing homes. Many of them depend heavily on financial support from relatives. But as the economy stumbles, families have to make tough choices about how to care for aging relatives. Les Lovoy prepared this report for our series 'Making Do: Alabama's Economy'.
Making Do: The McCoys’ Housing Dilemma
The economy continues to weaken and Moody's credit rating company reports nearly 10 million homeowners are having trouble making their mortgage payments. People who track the housing industry say another wave of foreclosures is on its way. All the while, some homeowners are treading water, trying to stay afloat. WBHM's Tanya Ott has one Hoover family's story.
On The Line: Making Do
The economy continues to dominates news headlines. Ten million homeowners are having trouble making their mortgage payments. People who track the housing industry say another wave of foreclosures is on its way. Alabama's bankruptcy rate is among the highest in the country. Gas prices have stabilized, but high food prices continue to strain family budgets. Tonight at 6:30 on WBHM we discuss all this and more during On The Line: Making Do .
Willie King Remembered
Fans remember Alabama bluesman Willie King, who died of a heart attack at his home in Pickens County on Sunday. Before his death, King talked with WBHM's Greg Bass about his life and music.
Bunking in Bartow
More than 12,000 people are making Alabama their temporary home today, fleeing the destruction of Hurricane Gustav. That doesn't count those who may be staying with relatives or in hotels, outside the official numbers of the state's shelters. One of those shelters is UAB's Bartow Arena. WBHM's Andrew Yeager spoke to evacuees bunking at Bartow. He heard plenty of frustration, anxiety, and anger. As well as plenty of talk about a hurricane other than Gutav.
Banking Woes
It's been a sour housing market of late with rising mortgage defaults and consumer debt. And big banks have been feeling the hurt too. Birmingham's Regions Financial reported second quarter profits are down by more than 50% and cut their dividends by an even higher percentage. Charlotte, N.C.-based Wachovia had losses approaching $9 billion and is cutting more than 6,300 jobs nationwide, including some jobs in Alabama.
Alabama Obesity Ranking
Alabama has once again been ranked as one of the most obese states in the country. The latest survey from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that Mississippi was the most obese state, followed closely by Alabama.
Smoking ban legislation
A final push to ban cigarette smoking in many public areas and workplaces is set for Monday, the last day of the regular session of the Alabama Legislature. We hear from both sides of the debate: public health and restaurants who say it unfairly targets them.
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.
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.
Mockingbird
She was a tomboy who would grow up to write one of the seminal novels of the 20th Century. Published in 1960, Harper Lee's 'To Kill a Mockingbird' catapulted her into fame -- a fame from which she made a hasty retreat. There's a new biography out about Lee and the creation of her only novel. WBHM's Rosemary Pennington spoke with the author, Charles J. Shields.
Making Sense of Mental Health: Rebecca’s Story
Women with Turner's Syndrome live with symptoms including infertility, depression and health problems, such as brittle bones and heart ailments. Rebecca Shaney wasn't diagnosed with Turner's until she was 28, and ever since she's had a hard time finding a job. She shares her experience through an audio diary...
Making Sense of Mental Health: On the Line
Underlying many of Alabama's societal challenges, from homelessness to prison overcrowding to school failure to unemployment, is undiagnosed or mistreated mental illness. The National Institute of Mental Health reports that only one-third of Americans with mental health problems get care. Monday, March 13th, WBHM will conclude our year-long special project Making Sense of Mental Health with a live call-in program. We'll talk to mental health experts and consumers, and we'll take your phone calls.
Hurricane Banking Troubles
NPR News and Classical Music for North Central Alabama
The new film ‘Tatami’ reveals an Iranian judoka’s fight beyond the mat
In the first feature film co-directed by an Israeli and an Iranian, Tatami, an Iranian judoka must choose between her country and a run for the gold at the World Judo Championships.
