Tag Archives: Birmingham

The latest on the USFL and Birmingham? We’ll find out tonight

Posted on July 16, 2012 | Leave a comment

USFL July 2012 logoWith so much focus in recent weeks on one group’s hopes of landing an NBA franchise for Birmingham, we’ve been ignoring talk of plans to bring football back to the Magic City this spring.

As mentioned on the site and others back in May, the USFL has been looking at Birmingham as a possible location for one of eight franchises as the league is reimagined in 2013. A Birmingham News article filed on July 3 cites league president and CEO Jaime Cuadra as stating that there had not been significant talks with city officials as of yet.

This brings us to this evening, when Cuadra will join Steve West on 101.1 FM at approximately 7:15 p.m. (according to the league’s brand page on Facebook) to discuss “potential” plans for a team in Birmingham, AL. The league did release a new logo last Friday (seen to your left) along with unveiling a new website. They’ve also been touring cities long considered options for franchises in recent weeks.

Incidentally, another thing to keep in mind as all of this talk moves forward is NBC Sports reporting that the UFL (the league that tried to enter the Birmingham market back in 2007) may announce plans for a comeback with four team later this week. Their official website makes it look like it could be all but certain…

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Posted in Sports

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A nice week for Motus Motorcycles

Posted on July 12, 2012 | Leave a comment

3 words... via Motus Motorcycles. The folks at Motus Motorcycles probably weren’t worried for a moment yesterday, though it could have been a crazier day if the outcome at Monday afternoon’s Budget and Finance committee meeting at Birmingham City Hall had been different.

The business has spent the last 3 ½ years at Innovation Depot and is preparing to “graduate” from the nationally recognized business incubator. They enjoyed a pretty nice morning at the city’s Design Review Committee at the Auburn Urban Studio. (NOTE: Magic City Post has a full rundown of yesterday’s meeting.) That’s where a proposal by Barber Properties to make improvements to property located at 500 28th Street South – the former home to the Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum – to facilitate serving as the company’s new home was unanimously approved.

This scene could have been a little awkward if the City Council committee hadn’t voted to recommend approval of $75,000 in financial incentives for the motorcycle manufacturer by the full council as reported by Joseph Bryant that evening on al.com. The vote was unanimous, though there was apparently an exchange between councilor Lashunda Scales and Jarvis Patton from the mayor’s office.  They’ll be looking to grow their staff by as much as six times as a result of this week’s events.

Photo: 3 words…Blue Ridge Parkway. Courtesy Motus Motorcycles brand page on Facebook.

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Posted in 35233, Development

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UPDATE: A petition supporting area food trucks appears

Posted on July 11, 2012 | Leave a comment

Food Truck. Courtesy of Operation New Birmingham

See updates below | It’s been a long time since anyone’s talked about the issue of food trucks here in Birmingham, AL – relatively speaking. It’s been nearly two years since an episode that eventually led to ONB announcing and then changing its stance on them.

It’s not hard to find folks supportive of their existence based on the crowds that gathered for two different events built around them in the metro area held on the same day back on May 12. If nothing else, folks are more aware of just how many options they have.

Some residents are wanting to make sure that members of Birmingham’s City Council are aware of how many people enjoy the options currently available to folks who work, live, and visit our fair city. They’ve already garnered about 75 virtual signatures as of 10 a.m. this morning on a Change.org petition asking our municipal legislative body to establish policies that support them when possible (and they’ll probably reach their goal of 100 well before lunchtime).

Early Wednesday evening, July 11, the owner of Spoonfed Grill shared an update from a Birmingham City Council meeting where new regulations were being discussed.

[blackbirdpie url=”https://twitter.com/SpoonFedGrill/status/223184528913596416″]

It’s been interesting to look at the conversation taking place on the petition’s page, particularly when you look at what some who aren’t signing the petition are saying about whether or not other issues facing the area need the same level of opinion.

UPDATE 3 p.m.: According to a post this afternoon on Magic City Post, the total number of signatures being sought has been raised to 500 – and its nearly reached that goal as well.

UPDATE 5:27 p.m.: The Birmingham News is now reporting that the new goal for Naomi Anderegg’s effort  is 1,000; it’s currently at 617.

UPDATE 7/15, 8:50 a.m.: A quick check of the petition currently shows the new goal as being 1,500 signatures with more than 1,160 already collected.

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Posted in Business, food, Online

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Bettola’s Lewis involved in new Aspen concept restaurant

Posted on June 20, 2012 | Leave a comment

chefs-club interior. courtesy of their websiteLast week the St. Regis Aspen opened a new concept restaurant. Why should this culinary event in Colorado mean something to Birmingham residents? It matters because James Lewis, the chef at Bettola in Pepper Place, will be among the first of the chefs to be involved in the project.

The 2011 winner of Food & Wine magazine’s New Chef award is one of four past recipients chosen to collaborate on the initial menu offerings for the new Chefs Club by Food & Wine. Lewis will join George Mendes of ALDEA in New York City; Alex Seidel of Fruition in Denver, CO; and Susan Zemanick of Gautreau’s Restaurant in New Orleans, LA. Plans call for the chefs to make appearances at the restaurant during their involvement and work with Food & Wine editors to determine and/or create the restaurant’s wine and cocktail offerings. Plans also call for the venue’s artwork to be changed out twice a year to showcase local artists.

Photo: Interior of the restaurant. Courtesy of its website.

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Posted in food, Travelogue

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Are 3,000 Twitter followers (& growing) enough for the NBA?

Posted on June 19, 2012 | Leave a comment

older skyline photo of BirminghamFive days ago a Twitter account was born – and with it rekindled hopes of Birmingham, AL landing a professional sports franchise. Last night’s push to garner 3,000 followers for @NBABirmingham on the social network seems to have worked. This morning’s column by Kevin Scarbinsky in The Birmingham News should push it well over that mark by lunchtime.

The folks cheering for its success (this site included) aren’t the only ones wanting to hear positive news from NBA commissioner David Stern. Ever since news of the potential sales of the New Orleans Hornets (a recently completed sale keeps them in NOLA with talk of a name change being floated) and the Sacramento Kings (a team technically still in play due to talks for a new arena taking several twists and turns – and Stern’s recent comments about their once proposed move to Anaheim) were floated, Anaheim, CA; Columbus, OH (a recent entrant); Kansas City, MO; and Las Vegas, NV (they’re already hosting the NBA Summer League) have made pitches to be the next home for an NBA franchise. That’s a pretty impressive list – especially when you haven’t included the folks in Seattle, WA who still want a replacement for their Sonics (who incidentally are in the NBA Finals this year as the Oklahoma City Thunder).

Despite the long odds, the enthusiasm of the account’s operator, 15 year old George Chamoun, can be infectious:

[blackbirdpie url=”https://twitter.com/NBABirmingham/status/215063624530665473″]

Then there’s the fact that Stern doesn’t seem himself as commissioner past 2018, based on comments made at the end of the interview he participated in during halftime of Game 3 of this year’s NBA Finals. It could be the opening many fans are hoping gives us a better chance. You could argue they’re just laying the groundwork for when it’s finally time.

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Posted in Sports

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Sister Cities Commission recognized as Best Overall Program

Posted on May 3, 2012 | 1 comment

Bham Sister City Commission logoTuesday, May 1, saw the Birmingham Sister City Commission win Sister Cities International’s 2011 Best Overall Program Award for a city with a population between 100,001 and 300,000. The press release from Sister Cities states the award “recognizes sister city programs that demonstrate outstanding accomplishments in advancing the goals and mission of the sister cities movement.”

Efforts included establishing an E-Pal program with Rosh Ha’ayin, Israel that now includes two schools there and four in Birmingham, enabling more than 300 students to communicate each week via email and video conference. It also included several art exchanges with sister cities Guadiawaye, Senegal; Hitachi, Japan (where they helped organize disaster relief following last year’s earthquake and tsunami and sent two local college graduates to serve as English teachers for two years); Karak, Jordan; and Plzen, Czech Republic.

Representatives of the commission, established in 1982, will have the honor of attending a ceremony recognizing the honor with other winners in Jacksonville, Florida (currently scheduled for July 14).

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Posted in The City

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Visited the new Birmingham City Council site yet?

Posted on May 3, 2012 | Leave a comment

Birmingham City Council's new websiteIt’s been a little more than a month since the Birmingham City Council launched its own website – one that was determined to make it easier for residents with digital access to be better informed about what was happening on the third floor of City Hall.

While there is still not a link to the new site from the city’s main website as of this post going live, the new online home for all things involving the City of Birmingham (a product of  CivicPlus) is also introducing us to additional ways to connect with the Council. These include a fan page on Facebook and a Twitter account, CC_Birmingham. There was activity on all of these platforms through April 18, though it seemed to have temporarily stopped since then. They’ve also provided a link to a landing page for video archives of council meetings (ones currently posted are from February).

Time will tell how this resource will be used by the council and the people they represent…

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Posted in Online, The City

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