Tag Archives: Birmingham

Farewell to the Haunted House

Posted on April 29, 2010 | 3 comments

Driving through Birmingham’s Lakeview district today you may notice construction equipment demolishing what was once an annual tradition for many locals come Halloween.

The structure that used to house the Birmingham Jaycees‘ Haunted House is in the process of being leveled. The home last hosted the organization’s annual fundraiser in 2004, though attempts were made to hold one there in 2006.

The city’s oldest young professional organization, responsible for things including the design of the city’s flag, is celebrating its 90^th anniversary this year (making it the 3rd oldest chapter in the United States). It’s looking forward to marking the occasion with events this fall.

Photo: Farewell to the Haunted House. acnatta/Flickr

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Posted in The City

Tagged AL, Alabama, anniversary, B'ham, Birmingham, demolition, destruction, haunted house, Jaycees, Lakeview

Creative collaborative community – that’s the plan

Posted on April 19, 2010 | Leave a comment

Today I’m starting to test the waters virtually to determine whether or not we’ll open our own office later this summer. The space would double as a coworking community for some of the city’s creatives and a physical home for us to host events related to content on the site.

There’s a new section in the process of being built out that currently has a post explaining what’s on my mind (at least, the first of many that will explain) as well as a survey that will help us determine if we can responsibly move forward with the process. The new section will also be used this spring and summer to help folks get a better understanding about just what coworking is and take a look at some of the other coworking communities taking shape in Birmingham.

The hope for the short term is that those of you that are freelancers and solopreneurs (and potential sponsors) will consider filling out the survey and passing the link on to as many people as possible.

We’ll keep you updated on what’s going on.

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Posted in From the Stationmaster, The Terminal

Tagged AL, Alabama, announcement, B'ham, Birmingham, conceptual, coworking, hub, information, office, space, survey

UPDATE: A busy summer ahead for local media

Posted on April 19, 2010 | 1 comment

Things are getting interesting all over Birmingham, AL (particularly in the world of local media) as we enjoy a beautiful spring day.

Kyle Whitmire has shared via Facebook that John Archibald has written a column about the buyouts at The Birmingham News though it hasn’t been published as of yet.

UPDATE: Kyle has decided to post the unpublished column as a note to his Facebook profile. He’s also shared via Twitter that he will be on The Matt Murphy Show tomorrow (Tuesday) morning at 7:30 a.m.

UPDATE 2: John Archibald’s column returned to the pages of The Birmingham News on Wednesday morning. It was not the “unpublished” one that has been circulated via social networks and local bloggers, but a follow up to his April 14 column about Alabama oddity.

The News started offering buyouts in November 2008; they were extended in late 2009 and again earlier this year (February).

We’ll keep an eye on what’s going on over there for you. You may also want to check out the recent posts over on Media of Birmingham.

We’ve got a favor to ask of you ourselves; we’ll explain shortly…

Photo: acnatta/Flickr

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Posted in Media

Tagged AL, Birmingham, Birmingham News, column, information, John Archibald, Kyle Whitmire

Welcome aboard Witherspoon

Posted on March 30, 2010 | Leave a comment

Call it an initiation rite. Birmingham’s new school superintendent, Craig Witherspoon, sat quietly through his first school board meeting Tuesday. Mostly, he just watched. He watched as board members Virginia Volker and Emanuel Ford grilled the child nutrition director on a $57,702 bid for sliced meat. Ford requested that the meats be housed in a variety of breads. You know, something other than the standard bun. Spencer Taylor, the child nutrition director, agreed. There would be wraps and flatbreads, he said. Volker had another concern. “Can we go easy on the salami?”

Taylor assured her that the board has historically used turkey salami. Volker’s face lit up, clearly surprised. The item passed.

Recent articles by The Birmingham News have noted that no school district in the state has shelled out as much dough as the Birmingham system–$1.5 million last year–on legal fees. The board retains two law firms, and let’s just say that at the board meetings, attorneys take up substantial real estate near the dais.

Board member April Williams said that while there may be a small army of lawyers in attendance at each meeting, the board pays for only one attorney from one firm each meeting. The board meets twice a month. Tom Stewart, of the firm Waldrep, Stewart & Kendrick, said that his firm, one of the two representing the board, doesn’t attend committee meetings unless asked by the board. Then only the firm that was invited bills the board. As for the new superintendent’s welcome reception last night, where revelers grumbled that the attorneys present were getting paid, Stewart corrected, “We did not get paid.” They attended, he said, because they wanted to.

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Posted in Education, The City

Tagged AL, Alabama, B'ham, Birmingham, Craig Witherspoon, first meeting, lawyers, salami, superintendent

Yes, John’s column is still on the site

Posted on March 21, 2010 | 1 comment

John Morse headshot No, you didn’t imagine it yesterday… you did see a John Morse post in this section yesterday. This morning the commentary, My recent brushes with wild speculation, was moved over to our my Birmingham section (just so you know where to send folks to go check it out).

Some of you may remember John from The Terminal’s early days as the curator of our daily A Look Back series that referenced our city’s incredible wiki Bhamwiki (which he started four years ago this month). His new column will appear occasionally (but with some frequency) on my Birmingham – the start of what will hopefully become a collection of the city’s voices. We’re definitely looking forward to it and glad to have him back on board.

By the way – if you want to add your voice to that collection, please feel free to contact me via email or Twitter.

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Posted in Timetable

Tagged AL, Alabama, announcement, B'ham, Birmingham, column, editorial, John Morse, The Terminal

No fake mustaches in church? Really?

Posted on March 16, 2010 | Leave a comment

A Fake Moustache Warning. bovinity/Flickr The fact that Birmingham, AL ranked as the country’s 30^th craziest city in a recent list shouldn’t be what throws you for a loop. It should be the ability to be reminded about just how crazy some of the laws on the books in the state of Alabama are.

Among them, the fact that it’s illegal to wear a fake mustache that causes folks to laugh at church. Really…

So where is the weirdest city in the U.S. according to the list created by The Daily Beast based on the number of psychiatrists per capita, stress levels, eccentricity and drinking levels (our numbers are 9, 31, 36 and 38 respectively)? Cincinnati, OH.

Check out the full list of crazy cities on The Daily Beast’s website. Of course, you can always sign a virtual petition to change the law…

Photo: A Fake Moustache Warning. bovinity/Flickr

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Posted in Quirky

Tagged Alabama, Birmingham, church, city, crazy, fake mustaches, information, ranking