Design Review Committee disapproves replacement "Sign"
Preserve Jazz Festival announces sabbatical for 2015
It’s been a topic on my mind for several weeks now, especially while I was out of town.
I’d actually known about the existence of the CVB’s new “IN” Birmingham campaign for some time and thought that it was a really cool concept. The idea of getting people to be proud of their community and what they have in their community is paramount to bringing an area back based on personal experiences. Apparently, I’m not alone in having those thoughts.
While I am aware that some may not necessarily agree with that last statement, I’ll see if you’ll agree that other things always stands out. Personality and individuality. Both of those things are extremely important as it lets you know. I grew up in a town where the mayor has always been a personality that embodies the city. While living in Savannah I can tell you that the stories found in Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil were not nearly as good as the ones I got to hear from the individuals that made the city and my experience what it was.
We have many of those kinds of individuals and stories tucked away here in Birmingham. Some are already recognized both regionally and nationally for what they’ve contributed. There are many however that have not had a spotlight focused on them, or at least not one bright enough for more people to know about them and there are many of us that are not aware of anyone from either set.
So we’re going to look to an old slogan for the city for some inspiration for a new series of submissions about The Magic City. The 1961 “It’s Nice to Have You in Birmingham” campaign is one that still rings in the ears of residents in the region both young and old. We’d like for you to take a new look at that statement – to really think about who you like to see every day in Birmingham and why. We’re hoping that it will help us develop a mosaic of careers, backgrounds, personalities and missions that best exemplify the best thing about Birmingham – its people.
I’m asking you to let us know who you’re happy to see in Birmingham – hopefully by writing a piece for publication on this site. Think of it as NPR’s “This I Believe” series only Birmingham-centric! We’ll even record you reading your submission or perhaps do a quick audio interview with the person that you nominate to be featured. We want to make this into a continuing campaign on The Terminal, for the people are the city.
Let’s show them just who they are.
If you’re interested in submitting a nomination/entry to this series, please send in your comments to info@bhamterminal.com. If you really want to be one of the first ones, send in your responses by close of business next Friday, February 29. You can also reach us using any of the methods listed on our contact page.
Free the Hops and the Gourmet Beer Bills
UPDATE: 5.14.2009 – This afternoon, the Alabama State Senate passed HB 373 – The Free the Hops bill. Click here for more info.
The following piece was written and submitted by current Free the Hops president Stuart Carter. Both bills mentioned in the piece are scheduled to go before the state House tomorrow.
Free the Hops, for those of you who have never heard of us, is a grassroots pressure group trying to reform the beer law in Alabama.
We have two bills in front of the Alabama House and Senate (HB196 and SB116) which will change the definition of “beer” to allow up to 13.9% ABV beers instead of the current maximum of 6% ABV. This will allow a huge number of previously unknown beers into the state, but will not change any of those currently sold here – so don’t worry about your favorites! We also have a bill in front of the Senate to reform home brewing (SB355).
“Why does the beer law need to be reformed? Surely there are enough beers already?”
This is a very common question. Let me phrase the question this way: “Why do you want a Toyota? Surely there are enough Fords for sale?”
To add to the absurdity of the position regarding beer sales in Alabama, you can buy a 169 oz. Heineken mini-keg in a grocery store, and you can buy pure grain alcohol at 95% ABV in a store owned and operated by the state of Alabama – but you can’t buy any beer made by Trappist monks, nor can you buy Sweetwater IPA.
“Wait a minute!” you cry. “I used to drink Sweetwater IPA! It just hasn’t been on the shelves for a while!” That is because the state of Alabama discovered that Sweetwater had changed the recipe so that it now has an ABV of 6.5%, making it illegal to even possess a bottle of this beer in Alabama.
The gourmet beer bills and misinformation
The Gourmet Beer Bills are one of the key steps towards freeing the hops. By allowing higher alcohol levels, these bills open up a world of flavors and business opportunities. The kind of person who is interested in these gourmet beers is the kind of person who would gravitate to the downtown Birmingham business and entertainment district – exactly the kind of person the city wants in to the downtown area! A conservative estimate would put the current losses to the metropolitan Birmingham area at in excess of $250,000 a year in sales alone.
47 states currently allow these higher alcohol beers to be sold. There is no link between higher alcohol beers and higher rates of either drunk-driving or underage drinking. In fact, according to Mothers Against Drink Driving (MADD), Alabama is in the worst half of the drunk-driving rates, along with Mississippi and West Virginia, who are the other two states with these restrictions!
Continue reading →
6 Comments
Posted in Alabama, Birmingham, Commentary
Tagged AL, Alabama, argument for bill passage, Birmingham, Free the Hops, Gourmet Beer bill, statewide