Category Archives: Alabama

A quiet problem no more

Syphilis as a major issue has been affecting Jefferson County since 2002.  In 2006, there were 238 reported cases in Jefferson County alone.  At first, you could pin point the specific areas in Jefferson County that were affected, but now it’s county wide.  Alabama is currently ranked fifth in the nation with cases of syphilis, gonorrhea, and Chlamydia.  Jefferson County has the tenth highest number of recorded cases of syphilis in the country.

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An opportunity for area photographers

We got an earlier this afternoon about an opportunity for photographers. (We would have gotten it up then, but as you can probably tell if you’re reading us on the front page, we were a little busy Smile).

Apparently a client of o2 ideas is looking for a photograph to be used as a poster backdrop for a cultural training meeting. The image needs to “capture” Alabama and Georgia because that is where these specific employees work and live. For this particular project they want a “nature” image that encapsulates the “Southern Experience”. Pictures can be from any season and do not need to include people or animals.

Submission guidelines after the jump…

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An update on the Birmingham Bud Boycott

It seems that some area bars, most notably The J. Clyde, have decided that they’re more than willing to participate in what’s being called the Birmingham Bud Boycott. It also appears that your notes, letters and phone calls to Anheuser-Busch has had an effect. The following is a message from Free The Hops president Stuart Carter sent out the following note late yesterday to FTH members and supporters:

Our lobbyist is still in hot communication with AB corporate, and has asked if you would mind holding off phone calls to AB Corporate until after close of business tomorrow, Tuesday 29 January, to allow him to finish the conversation.

Thank you all for your patience, and I promise you that once I know more, you will know too!

Free the Hops boycotting Birmingham Budweiser

Of the world’s Top 100 beers, only two are available here. Alabama has some of the most restrictive liquor laws in the nation still on the books years after Prohibition. Free the Hops (FTH) is a grassroots, citizen-driven organization trying to change that. For the second legislative session, the group will try to get state lawmakers to literally free the hops by increasing the limit on alcohol content allowed in beer. But first they have to battle with Birmingham Budweiser.

Free the Hops logoFTH has asked its members and supporters to join a formal boycott of Birmingham Budweiser products. In an e-mail sent late Tuesday night, new FTH president Stuart Carter says the leadership at the local beer distributor is “still working against the interests of both Anheuser Busch (who, in addition to Bud, brews dozens of beers that are currently illegal under Alabama law) and Alabama consumers. They have indicated that they will again work to prevent our bill, freeing the hops, from passing in the Alabama state legislature.”

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UA vs. USA Olympic Softball team, Liberty Park

Details are still to come on this one. We know the game will be at the Liberty Park softball fields but we don’t know time and ticket information. We’ll update when that is decided. What we do have is a quote from UA’s coach: “One of the biggest dates on the season is the game with the Olympic team, which only a few teams from around the nation have the opportunity to play,” Patrick Murphy said. “It will be even more special this time around, because this may be the last go-around for softball in the Olympics. It could be an historic event.” Here’s a link to the UA softball page.

Thicket hits shelves in January

Thicket Magazine logoThicket will be the newest magazine about Alabama to hit area newsstands and bookstores when it arrives early January. If you want to know how and why Todd and Julie Keith (formerly of Portico Magazine) settled on that name for the new publication, check out this entry (and then all of the other ones) on the magazine’s blog.

The magazine will thrive to focus and celebrate the good that exists here in Alabama. Here’s to hoping that they succeed.

We’re about to embark on a new journey ourselves – one closer to what was originally intended when we got started. The wake up call came when I took a look at an old email…

UPDATED: The First 100: The Times joins in on the act

The Birmingham Times that is – in the public discourse taking place throughout the media regarding Mayor Langford’s proposed tax increases. Johnnie Wyatt adds his voice to the conversation (and don’t assume you automatically know what that voice is saying, either) and even invites you to contact him about your thoughts at the end of his piece in this week’s Birmingham Times.

We’d just love it if you’d share a few of those thoughts with us as well (after you check out his piece).

UPDATE – 10:05 p.m., 11.30.2007; links changed to direct readers to current location of story.