This afternoon Sidewalk supporters received a note via email written by AIMA President Alan Hunter formally announcing the departure of Catherine Pfitzer as executive director of Sidewalk and the launch of a national search for a new executive director. We’d tell you more, but we thought you might like to read the note yourself (it’s in PDF format). Of course, you could also check out the job description too.
Tag Archives: Birmingham
New Sidewalk director search begins
Chris and Frank are at it again
One day I’ll actually make their acquaintance and feel like I can use their first names (their last names are Hastings and Stitt in case you were wondering). This marks the second year in a row that both Birmingham, AL based chefs have made it to at least the semi-finalist round (here’s the list of contenders) of The James Beard Foundation Awards. Stitt (of Highlands Bar & Grill) is a potential contender for the nation’s best chef while Hastings (Hot & Hot Fish Club) is hoping to be a finalist in the category of best chef in the South.
The finalists will be named on March 23, with the winners announced on May 3 via a media event and the awards’ official website.
Posted in food
Tagged 2009, 2nd time, AL, Alabama, Birmingham, Chris Hastings, Frank Stitt, Highlands, Hot and Hot Fish Club, James Beard Foundation Awards
Imagicon fills a void
Fans of last year’s OmegaCcon conference here in downtown Birmingham can breathe a sigh of relief…
That first year science fiction conference has been replaced by a new first year sci-fi conference, Imagicon. The conference will be a little later than last year’s, taking place March 27-29 at the Sheraton Birmingham at the BJCC.
Their website appears to be receiving constant updates and it sounds like something that wants to be a part of the local scene for some time to come. It’s already got some folks excited, like Nicki.
Image: Courtesy of ImagiCon website.
Posted in Events
Tagged AL, Alabama, announcement, Birmingham, ImagiCon, information, Nicki Faulk, Omegacon, sci-fi, science fiction
Langford to suggest support for zoo expansion
This morning during Mayor Langford‘s comments to the Birmingham City Council, he announced plans to present a proposed redevelopment agreement to councilors next week that would allow the Birmingham Zoo to begin work on its long planned expansion called Trails of Africa.
The mayor reported that the zoo, which is currently the state of Alabama’s #1 tourist attraction, has already raised more than $6 million for the 14-acre expansion but needs additional financial support to make it a reality. A report in The Birmingham News from September 2007 had zoo officials estimating the overall cost of the project at $15 million.
The City of Birmingham owns the zoo, but the property is operated by an independent 501©3 organization.
Image: Courtesy of Birmingham Zoo website
Posted in On the agenda
Tagged AL, Alabama, announcement, attraction, Birmingham, Birmingham Zoo, City Council, Citywide, expansion, Larry Langford, News, redevelopment agreement, tourism, update, zoo
McCafe is coming to Birmingham
Driving down 1st Avenue North in Woodlawn away from downtown and looking off to your left just before you drive under I 20/59 will have you checking out the recently rebuilt McDonald’s (it’s been a while too since it re-opened, so don’t feel too bad if you didn’t notice it before).
What you may not have noticed was the signage on the building announcing that it would soon become one of the metro area locations for McDonald’s latest foray into staying relevant in the fast food world – McCafé. We’re not sure how many more locations are preparing to open in metro Birmingham, but just the fact that we’ve got one is pretty cool. If you do know of others, add their locations to the comments section.
Photo: bhamterminal.com
Posted in food
Tagged AL, Alabama, Birmingham, food, location, McCafe, McDonald's Woodlawn, neighborhood, opening, restaurant
The train knocked out the cable… seriously
This morning we noticed a bunch of tweets from folks talking about the loss of their Charter services since last (Sunday) night, meaning some pretty upset folks if they were trying to watch Shaq and Kobe reunite during the NBA All Star Game or Kenseth finally win at Daytona.
While we thought it was rather weird timing considering they’d just announced that they’d be filing for bankruptcy protection in the coming weeks, we hoped it was a much simpler reason. Well, according to this report by the Birmingham Business Journal, it was simpler (though a lot more nerve wracking than we thought it was going to be for those folks down in Montevallo).
Posted in Quirky
Tagged AL, Alabama, Birmingham, cable, cause, Charter, collision, disruption, internet, metro, Montevallo, reason, service, train
Election ’09: City Council elections to be held in August
A media advisory just sent out this afternoon is sure to influence when additional candidates for Birmingham’s City Council elections announce. We’ve uploaded a PDF of the advisory as we received it earlier this afternoon from Mayor Langford’s director of communication, April Odom. The simple version is this year’s city council elections will most likely be held on August 25 instead of October 13. The change is to make sure that the elections are held in accordance with the Help America Vote Act of 2002. If a runoff is necessary in any council district, it would be held on October 6.
So far, Anthony Barnes and Howard Bayless have formally announced their candidacy.
Posted in Election '09
Tagged AL, Alabama, August 2009, August 25, Birmingham, City Council, elections, media advisory, moved, moving, October 2009
