Tag Archives: News

Birmingham enjoys some good press

Posted on April 23, 2009 | 4 comments

There’s been a lot of buzz recently about Birmingham, AL going on in both mainstream media and on blogs that have a slightly wider reach than some of us may realize.

One example of this increase in attention come from The New York Times, which published one of their 36 hour travel stories about The Magic City. Another comes from the mind of one of our friends in the Windy City (and editor of Gapers Block), Andrew Huff, one that will probably not get as much attention locally. He contributes to Starwood Hotel’s preferred guest program’s blog, The Lobby, and recently took a look at The Hip Side of Birmingham, AL with a quick mention of their newest Aloft property adjacent to Homewood’s SoHo Square.

Anyone else know of some other online media mentions?

4 Comments

Posted in Online, The City

Tagged AL, Alabama, Andrew Huff, Birmingham, blog, coverage, food, News, reports, stories, The Lobby, The New York Times, travel

Langford to suggest support for zoo expansion

Posted on February 17, 2009 | Leave a comment

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

For the Record goes on, until 2.3

Posted on January 9, 2009 | 2 comments

Alabama’s only statewide news program, For the Record, is scheduled to have its current format go dark after 25 years on the air come February 3. The Huntsville Times reported the story in this morning’s paper, with FTR moderator Tim Lennox offering this note on his blog earlier today.

It is one of several announcements expected later today from APTV’s Birmingham offices and according to the Times’ article, it may not be the only one due to proration for our state’s television station.

2 Comments

Posted in Media

Tagged Alabama, APTV, budget, cancellation, cuts, For the Record, News, program, public television, state, Tim Lennox

CVS plans approved in Five Points South

Posted on October 10, 2008 | Leave a comment

Residents and supporters of Five Points South put up a good fight, but ultimately the ZBA decided in a 4-2 vote Thursday to approve the variances for a CVS drug store to be built at 1312-1324 & 1330 11th Ave South and 14th Street. This means three apartment buildings will have to be demolished. Neighborhood association president Gary Bostany says the association is now looking into their options to appeal the decision, but right now they just aren’t sure.

Business development threatens Five Points apartments

Posted on October 8, 2008 | 16 comments

The Five Points South Neighborhood Association will voice their opposition Thursday at City Hall in a zoning dispute that could leave several Five Points residents displaced. According to the neighborhood association president, Gary Bostany, a developer requested two variances from the Zoning Board of Adjustments (ZBA) to build a CVS drug store located at 1312-1324 & 1330 11^th Ave South and 14^th Street (see the proposed site plan). The problem is this would involve demolishing three apartment buildings, one even considered to be historic.

According to the new rules adopted by City Hall, the neighborhood associations are no longer obligated to advertise the variance requests in the monthly newsletter and vote on the them at the monthly neighborhood meeting. Bostany says the affected tenants weren’t even aware of the issue until he posted the information on the apartment buildings. “This is a tragedy for all the neighborhoods, remarks Bostany, because the neighborhood doesn’t have a lot of time to fully address the issue.”

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16 Comments

Posted in News

Tagged five points neighborhood association, Five Points South, News

Contracts is the word of the week

Posted on September 12, 2008 | 2 comments

If you haven’t been digging deep recently in a couple of our local print publications, you may have just missed something that’s quite interesting surrounding no-contract bids and Birmingham mayor Larry Langford.