Urban Purpose’s A Seat at the Table event was designed to put people on a level playing field during a relaxed, laid-back late afternoon hang out, leaders said. Read more.
Birmingham’s “on fire” restaurant scene is helping change outside perceptions. Once dismissively nicknamed “Bombingham” for the deadly violence during the Civil Rights Movement, today’s city officials brand Birmingham as “the dining destination of the South.” Food is a calling card. Read more.
Eugene’s Hot Chicken owner Zebbie Carney hopes to open a commissary kitchen in Woodlawn that would offer kitchen space for the metro area’s growing number of food trucks and add to the revitalization of Woodlawn. Read more.
Birmingham officials on Monday announced that the city was awarded a $20 million federal grant aimed at making workforce investments in the economically distressed communities of North Birmingham, Northside, Smithfield and Pratt. Read more.
Bessemer’s Kewanna Benson and her son Kamaurion were dressed for baseball. The 9-year-old rising 4th grader could have been at practice for his Hueytown youth baseball all-star team. Instead, mother and son were at Birmingham’s Carver Theatre for a screening of the HBO Original documentary “Say Hey, Willie Mays!” It is one of several events happening around town related to Major League Baseball’s hosting three games at historic Rickwood Field. But the real stars of the three-day extravaganza are Rickwood Field and the Negro League teams and players who applied their craft there. Supporters say the buzz over the event also is drawing attention to the western-area community around Rickwood and the game of baseball itself. Read more.
Jefferson County Economic & Industrial Development Authority has added about 1,100 acres to its inventory of developable land to create its latest industrial park in north Jefferson County. JeffMet North Industrial Park, off Interstate 65 at Exit 275 near the Gardendale/Morris area, sets the stage for the creation of an estimated 4,700 new jobs and is expected to be a lure for auto suppliers. Read more.
The Birmingham Land Bank Authority on Friday held a ceremonial groundbreaking on what will be the newest home built in the Fountain Heights Neighborhood, marking the official launch of the Land Bank’s Accelerated Home Ownership Program. AHOP launched last year with a goal to help 25 individuals become owners of newly built homes in the historic community. It is a collaborative effort among the Birmingham Land Bank Authority, a local lender and home builders to create a pathway to homeownership. “Everybody deserves a home,” said Caroline W. Douglas, executive director for the authority. Read more.
In an effort to keep a longtime business in the county, the Jefferson County Commission agreed to reimburse Red Mountain Distributing for 60% of the 1-cent sales tax the company pays to the county. Red Mountain, which does business as Ashley Furniture, has outgrown its warehouse in Bessemer. That warehouse serves four stores in the northern half of Alabama. Read more.
The construction equipment left no doubt that the ground had already been broken behind the former Carraway Hospital. But the lack of virgin soil took nothing away from the celebratory feel of the ceremonial groundbreaking Monday morning for the planned amphitheater that’s coming to Birmingham’s Druid Hills Neighborhood. Read more.
Hundreds of alumni, family and friends of Birmingham-Southern College filed into Bill Battle Coliseum Thursday night. Across the academic quad, more who couldn’t get a seat in the stands where Panther basketball teams played gathered in the auditorium of Munger Hall. All returned to the college that they have known so long to bid an official farewell in a closing ceremony. Read more.
