Author: Virginia Martin
I’m Failing to Get Outraged About the Death of The Birmingham News
Gonna make this short because, as grateful as I am for every wonderful person who has ever read an Arenblog post, I write primarily for my students, and I can assure you they don’t give a sheet* about the end of newspapers in three of Alabama’s largest cities.
Today marked the end of The Huntsville Times, The Mobile Press-Register and The Birmingham News, for which I busted my tail for 30 years and in which I took enormous pride (on its good days, anyway). Read more.
‘It’s a fight for freedom.’ Ukraine backers call for continued arms support 1 year into war.
A group of supporters gathered at Railroad Park in Birmingham to draw attention to human rights violations in the country and call for continued arms support from the U.S. Read more.
Preparing for the ‘Experience of a Lifetime’: Birmingham Students to Sing at Carnegie Hall
The choir at Ramsay High School is heading to Carnegie Hall this May. It’s an opportunity to boost school pride and to give some students the experience of a lifetime. Read more.
New Book Offers Glimpse Into the Life of Harper Lee
“Afternoons with Harper Lee” (NewSouth Books, 2022) by Wayne Flynt
Among the millions of documents preserved in the Birmingham Public Library Archives, there is a brief, handwritten letter from Harper Lee to a fellow writer. In the letter, Lee explains that she cannot read a book that has been sent to her and lists a variety of ailments that have made reading difficult. “As Gilda Radner would say.” Lee writes, “It’s always something.”
This is one of the items that archives staff regularly bring out to show visitors, although it is wasted on 21st century college and high school students, who rarely have a clue who Gilda Radner was or that she was one of the comic geniuses of the last century.
But what makes this letter intriguing is that it tells us something about the life and tastes of a widely beloved but intensely private author. Like many people, Harper Lee watched Saturday Night Live and quoted lines from the show.
Small nuggets like this are at the heart of Wayne Flynt’s new book, “Afternoons with Harper Lee.” Flynt, a professor of history at Auburn University, and his wife Dartie, befriended Lee after a stroke forced her to leave New York and return to her hometown in Monroeville. Read more.
Alabama Has 5th Highest U.S. Gun Death Rate; Study Blames Weak Laws, High Ownership
The Violence Policy Center, a non-profit educational organization, used the most recent CDC data on gun death rates in the U.S. for its analysis. Read more.
JeffCo Commission Agrees to Support Magic City Classic for 1 Year, Will Consider Longer Contract Later
Lashunda Scales was moved to tears Thursday as she lobbied to get a 3-year deal for Jefferson County to support the Magic City Classic.
But Scales’ tears didn’t move her fellow Jefferson County commissioners to go beyond the 1-year, $500,000 commitment that was on their meeting agenda.
The commission approved the professional services agreement with the Alabama Sports Council on a 4-1 vote with Scales voting no. Sheila Tyson hesitated before voting with commissioners Jimmie Stephens, Joe Knight and Steve Ammons.
The money comes from the county’s economic development fund, although Stephens, the commission president, questioned whether that was the appropriate source. Read more.
Earlier this week
Commission Considering Funding to Keep Magic City Classic in Birmingham
‘Injustice, Inc.’ Uncovers How Some in the Legal System Use Poor Families to Get Rich
Daniel L. Hatcher discusses his book, which looks at how state agencies exploit impoverished families to make money through the U.S. juvenile justice system. Read more.
Commission Considering Funding to Keep Magic City Classic in Birmingham
The Jefferson County Commission today sent a resolution to the agenda of Thursday’s meeting to pay $500,000 to the Alabama Sports Council in support of the Magic City Classic.
The resolution followed a vigorous discussion among commission members about the level of support the county will provide to the annual gridiron meeting between Alabama State and Alabama A&M universities.
Commissioner Lashunda Scales initially presented a resolution for the county to pay the ASC $750,000 for each of the next three years to help keep the game at Birmingham’s Legion Field, where the past 80 Classics have been played. Read more.
Councilors Discuss Spending $500K to Send Neighborhood Leaders to Convention but With Report Requirement
Each year, the Birmingham City Council approves funding for hundreds of neighborhood officers to attend the Neighborhood USA conference. This year, though, that approval will likely come with the stipulation that attendees report back to their neighborhood associations on what they learned.
Pending a council vote next week, the city’s 99 neighborhoods will each have the option to send two representatives to NUSA, which this year will be held in El Paso, Texas. The conference offers what it describes as “cutting-edge workshops” and “tools and training to improve and maintain great neighborhoods every year.” Read more.
Alabama Health Officer Reflects on Lessons Learned From COVID-19
Three years ago, Alabamians were beginning to see the impacts of a new respiratory virus sweeping the nation.
“Everybody remembers watching in horror at what was transpiring in Washington State in this skilled nursing facility,” recalled Dr. Scott Harris, state health officer with the Alabama Department of Public Health. “We just didn’t know how much we didn’t know.”
Harris made the comments during a monthly meeting of the Alabama Board of Health on Thursday. He discussed lessons learned from the pandemic and future challenges amid the looming removal of a federal emergency declaration. Read more.
