BW Recommends is a rundown of stories you might have missed this week. It offers insight into issues important to our area and sometimes tickles your curiosity.
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Sidewalk Film Festival to Showcase More Than 250 Films Across Birmingham (Birmingham Times)
Film lovers from Birmingham and beyond will have the opportunity to experience more than 250 films during the 28th Sidewalk Film Festival, which will bring filmmakers, artists and audiences together across 11 venues in Birmingham’s historic theater district. The 28th annual Sidewalk Film Festival will take place in Birmingham Aug. 24-30.
Tuberville Names Advisers to ‘Golden Age’ Transition Team (Alabama Daily News)
The Tommy Tuberville for governor campaign on Thursday announced it has formed a transition team ahead of the November election. Dubbed the “Golden Age Action Team,” the group of nine will be tasked to review the operations of state government and make recommendations for changes should Tuberville prevail and assume the governor’s office.
Film Exhibit at Birmingham Airport Celebrates Nation’s Birthday Through a Walt Whitman Poem (WBHM)
If you walk through the Birmingham airport during the next year, you might run across a small theater on the secure side of the terminal. Inside, an Emmy-nominated film called Whitman, Alabama is playing on a loop. The film features everyday Alabamians reciting verses from Walt Whitman’s famous 19th-century poem, “Song of Myself.” While the film debuted in 2017, it’s an ongoing project, and leaders of the Birmingham Airport Authority said it’s a perfect way to celebrate the United States’ 250th birthday.
Federal Judge Terminates Consent Decree for Tutwiler Prison for Women (Alabama Reflector)
A federal judge last week dismissed a decade-old consent decree between the state and the U.S. Department of Justice over conditions at Julia Tutwiler Prison in Wetumpka. U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson dismissed the case, filed in 2015, after the state and the DOJ reached an agreement to terminate the remaining issues in the consent decree. Justice Department officials filed the lawsuit in May 2015 after releasing a scathing report on sexual abuse and harassment of women incarcerated at the prison.
Window collisions kill more than a billion birds a year. An Alabama initiative aims to reduce that (WBHM)
Birds fly across Alabama as they migrate during the spring and the fall. But every year, more than one billion birds die from window collisions in the U.S. In fact, it’s the second leading cause of death for birds worldwide. So Alabama Audubon launched an initiative called Project Safe Flight to make windows more bird-friendly.
New Hi-Fi Listening Lounge, Ralph’s, Opening in Birmingham Next Week (Bham Now)
Ralph’s Listening Room, a hi-fi cocktail lounge that combines craft cocktails with curated music on a high-end stereo system, is set to open its doors at 2204 2nd Ave N in downtown Birmingham in late July.