Tag Archives: information

This year, we bike FROM work!

Posted on May 9, 2012 | Leave a comment

Bike From Work 2012 RouteIt stands to reason that you’ll still have to bike TO work in order to participate in this year’s Bike from Work Day being organized by the Regional Planning Commission of Greater Birmingham (RPCGB) and the CommuteSmart initiative. It’s the ninth year that an event has been held though it’s the first time it’ll take place in the evening.

This year’s ride will once again start at the parking lot adjacent to the Young and Vann Building on 1st Ave. N. & 18th St. N. (home to both the RPCGB & CommuteSmart) but it will start at 5:30 p.m. If you want to take a closer look at this year’s route, click on the map to view the PDF or you can always download it from the page on CommuteSmart’s website that hosts additional information about the event.

It’s supposed to be a pretty comfortable day tomorrow (current forecast calls for a high of 77° and a low of 53° when we last checked – perfect cycling weather), so you may want to consider taking part if at all possible.

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Posted in Events, transportation

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Filming of “42” set to close some downtown streets next week

Posted on May 9, 2012 | Leave a comment

Jackie Robinson's 42 at Citi Field June 10, 2009. David Berkowitz/Flickr.The filming of the Jackie Robinson biopic “42” will be taking over some of downtown Birmingham’s streets next week. The closures will serve as bookends for the crew’s stay – it’s been previously reported that they’ll be filming next week at historic Rickwood Field. Incidentally, there’s still a chance to sign up to watch filming at the ballpark as well as a chance to be an extra.

We’ve been trying to make some sense of the maps that we’ve been forwarded to us. Birmingham Police will be on hand to direct both vehicular and pedestrian traffic. You never know what could happen if fans of Chadwick Boseman (portraying Robinson) and Harrison Ford (portraying Dodgers GM Branch Rickey) even think they’ve caught a glimpse of them…

The closures will begin this coming Sunday, May 13 (PDF of closure map) in the area surrounding the Tutwiler Hotel. Park Place will be closed between Short 20th St. N. (the portion that runs directly in front of City Hall) and Richard Arrington, Jr. Blvd. N. It will also be closed on Monday, May 14 – along with one parking lane and one traffic lane along Arrington between Park Place and 6th Ave. N. Their goal is to reopen the area to traffic by 9 p.m. on May 15.

Next Friday, May 18, 3rd Ave. N. (PDF of closure map) will be closed from 17th Street N to Richard Arrington, Jr. Blvd. N. will reopen to traffic early Saturday morning (May 19). There may also be a section of 17th St. N. closed between 3rd & 4th Ave. N. at sometime on May 18 reopening the following morning. They’ll be towing cars too, so don’t park where you’re not supposed to be.

Photo: Jackie Robinson’s 42 at Citi Field June 10, 2009. David Berkowitz/Flickr.

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Posted in 35203, Movies

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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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Congratulations Stephen!

Posted on May 3, 2012 | Leave a comment

Stephen Vinson-at-332The first time Stephen Vinson was mentioned here on The Terminal in July 2009, he’d just launched “Who Ate My Blog?” that February. He was also training for the BE&K 5K as part of his quest to lose 300 lbs.

A quick look at the list of goals and milestones on his site shows he’s tackled that goal and several others. Early last year, he had his sights set on participating in the Mercedes Half-Marathon. Yesterday, he announced that one of his initial goals had been reached – he currently weighs in at 342 lbs having lost 300 pounds.

We know the fact that he reaches his milestone in advance of this year’s Aaron’s 499 at the Talladega Superspeedway is probably not lost on him or any of his longtime followers – though he’s already been able to cross that off of his list too (last year). Now, he’s got a few other things to cross of the list in the coming months, including the potential formation of a “Who Ate My Blog?” team – one he’s been excited about eventually launching since our first conversation with him.

Photo: Stephen Vinson at 332 lbs. whoatemyblog.com.

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We’re about to turn 5, so it’s time for more pie!

Posted on March 12, 2012 | Leave a comment

Terminal bday logoWe don’t often get a chance to let the hub wear its party hat, but we’re turning five on Wednesday!

What do you do to celebrate? You announce the return of #piecampbhm, of course!

We’re happy that the folks at Good People Brewing Company are willing to let us bring our pies into the taproom that evening (plus, starting today it’s staying open until 10 p.m.). The registration form’s up so please let us know if you’re able to come out (so we can be ready).

As we did last year, we’re asking folks that can’t attend (or who don’t want to bake a pie) to make a donation to the Birmingham Education Foundation & to help spread the word.

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Posted in The Terminal

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Get to know the “Red Rock” trail system plan

Posted on February 22, 2012 | Leave a comment

Red Rock Ridge & Valley logoThe name of the new greenway master plan – The Red Rock Ridge & Valley Trail System – was revealed last night to a standing room audience at the Birmingham Museum of Art’s 340-seat Steiner Auditorium.  Its new website, designed and developed by FitzMartin, was also unveiled, enabling people from throughout the region and the country to study it in depth. The site is seen as an implementation tool as well, providing supporters of the plan with necessary information to help see it get constructed.

The plan details a 750-mile combined network of greenways, blueways, paths, and trails along existing roads. Freshwater Land Trust executive director Wendy Jackson said could cost as much as $200 million if fully constructed – and the cost would be spread out over several decades and the 29 cities the trails would go through. The plan is focused on six major trails; Cahaba River, Five Mile Creek, Jones Valley, Shades Creek, Village Creek, and Turkey Creek with additional feeder trails.The plan also provides suggestions for a greenway alongside the proposed Northern Beltline if built while not endorsing that particular project.

The Regional Planning Commission of Greater Birmingham has agreed to incorporate the plan into its long range transportation improvement program, making all trails eligible for federal funds from the Surface Transportation Program and the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program. If you’re wanting to dive into the entire plan on paper – there’s a link to a PDF download on the site that promises it will be available on March 9.

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Posted in transportation

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Yes, cash mobs are a good thing…

Posted on February 21, 2012 | 1 comment

Cash. BlantantWorld.com/Flickr.The cash mob has found its way to Birmingham, AL in recent months. The folks at Magic City Post have recently held two events in the metro area so far and late this morning there were mentions floating around the local digital network that a Birmingham Cash Mob brand page had been created on Facebook.

The movement’s got its roots in Buffalo, NY and it’s continued to gain traction as a shop local movement continues to spread across the country as gas prices continue to go higher (as evidenced by the success of Carrie Rollwagen‘s (of Church Street Coffee & Books) Shop Small blog here in metro Birmingham.

According to the page’s info section:

Once a month, we’ll be hitting up locally owned and operated businesses armed with $20, a smile, and a love of Birmingham. Then we’ll head over to a local watering hole to celebrate the awesome night.

While we’re not sure who the organizers of the page are, we do know that they aren’t going to announce the unwillingly happy recipient of their generosity until they reach 500 people. Based on a quick reading of the site linked to on the page though, it may be safe to admit that they’ll try to coordinate their first effort with what will probably be referred to as National Cash Mob Day on March 24.

They’ve also set a goal of having at least 100 people “like” the page today. If you’re on Facebook and you’re interested in supporting local businesses, this could be yet another way to stick with your principles.

Photo: Cash. BlantantWorld.com/Flickr.

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