Category Archives: Alabama

It’s not a third-world country. It’s Talladega.

The big story making the Internet rounds now implies that some folks up in Washington consider NASCAR fans a health risk. Congressional staffers sent to Talladega Superspeedway last weekend and again to Lowe’s Motor Speedway this weekend were encouraged to catch up on their vaccinations for hep A and B, flu, diphtheria and tetanus before the fact-finding trip. Seems the guys from the Homeland Security Commission where at the race to study mass gatherings. Well, they also toured some local health facilities and claim that is the reason for the shots but that doesn’t make for good jokes and controversy.

You may think this story is completely without merit but there are some health risks from being around NASCAR fans. For example, we suggest you find out who the person’s favorite driver is before you make an offhand comment about Jeff Gordon or Jimmie Johnson. It could be consider fightin’ words. And never ever make fun of Dale Earnhardt or Litte E anywhere on the grounds of Talladega. Trust us.

There’s lots of places to read more about this, but we like this post on Autoblog.com. To be honest, we’ve got friends there.

A look back: October 12

1810:

The first Birmingham Oktoberfest was held. This year’s festival begins this evening at the German Club building on 2nd Avenue North between 23rd and 24th Streets, North. Click here to view their MySpace profile.

1902:

Zion Lutheran Church‘s sanctuary at 2nd and 19th was dedicated.

Courtesy: Bhamwiki.com logo

Election ’07: Langford extends olive branch to County Commission

Larry Langford returned to the County Commission today in triumph with a warm-and-fuzzy moment with fellow commissioners, who celebrated his decisive win in Tuesday’s mayoral election.

As Birmingham’s mayor-elect, Langford immediately extended an olive branch across the table to his colleagues, saying he would need their help to carry out initiatives that will move the city and region forward.

“Everybody knows that as Birmingham goes, so goes the region,” he said “For Birmingham to move forward, I need the help of this commission. I know we have a history of not agreeing on everything in the past, and we don’t have to agree on everything now. But I think there are some things we can agree on and work together.”

Commission President Bettye Fine Collins and the other commissioners reciprocated with a resolution pledging to work cooperatively with Langford. They unanimously passed the resolution during Thursday’s special session.

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Take a moment: Michael Prichard tribute tonight

For those of you that haven’t has the chance to check our Timetable calendar entries on a regular basis recently, we wanted to make sure that you were aware of a particular event this evening. Rojo is hosting a photo exhibit this evening titled, Things that Mike P. Would Have Liked to pay tribute to and help the family of Michael Prichard, who died unexpectedly on September 14 at the age of 40. Here is a link to the death announcement that we posted over on Timetable’s blog.

The exhibit consists of photos provided exclusively by members of the local filmmaking community. All proceeds from sales will go to Michael’s family. The show opens tonight at 6 p.m. at Rojo and it’s free to get in. It will remain up until November 9.

Click here to look at the Timetable calendar entry for the event from last week. Stop on by if you’ve got a moment.

Travelogue: Seattle seems to like Wild Sweet Orange

Wild Sweet Orange

Kevin Cole of 90.3 FM KEXP in Seattle do at least. The staff normally takes turns choosing the Song of the Day for the University of Washington owned station. Cole took his turn to pick our own Wild Sweet Orange in part because of their scheduled appearance on the station’s CMJ Broadcast next week from New York City. Our readers in New York need to click on that link and sign up to get in for the sessions (especially since it is free).

Click on over to their blog and listen to the mp3 for their single 10 Dead Dogs. You may also want to plan to tune your browsers over to KEXP on October 19 as they perform live. Or head on over to Timetable to watch the video of the Birmingham/Homewood-based band performing the song at a former great live performance venue.

Random Shots: A facelift for an Ensley landmark

Bank of Ensley under renovation

Photo credit: André Natta

The former Bank of Ensley building on the city’s westside is currently undergoing an extensive, long-term renovation project by its owner, Monumental Contracting Service. The company moved into the building, most recently used as storage for the city’s library system during the renovation of two area branches, early last year.

Here you see scaffolding up in this image from last weekend as windows are replaced in this historic building, placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984. The downtown Ensley area will soon surveyed for purposes of it receiving landmark district status.

Click here to read the post that announced the federal grant awarded to help pay for the project.

We’ll take a look at additional projects taking place on the city’s West Side in the coming weeks.

Election ’07: The other race on Tuesday made history

Howard Bayless photoWith all of the attention focused on Tuesday’s mayoral election results, very few people have been talking about the other race that occurred that evening – the one for the vacant city board of education seat in District 3.

When Howard Bayless won the seat on Tuesday evening, defeating Earnest Lumpkin (click here to view the unofficial vote totals), he became the first openly gay male to win an elected office in the state of Alabama. The Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund currently has this story on the front page of its website. The news is appearing on other sites throughout the country, including this post on PageOneQ.

As Danny said yesterday, this is not your father’s Alabama anymore.