By Nathan Turner Jr. A tall, brawny young man patrols the hallways of Putnam Middle School on Montclair Road in east Birmingham. The towering figure greets children by name. At one point, he offers words of encouragement to a seventh-grader who recently lost a sister to cancer. Jeremy Towns, 6-foot-4-inches and 280 pounds, is a […]

Fifi’s rumble in the sky is like hearing history, a tale with echoes from Birmingham. In the waning months of World War II, hundreds of B-29s like Fifi flew in and out of Birmingham every day. Now the only flying Superfortress in existence is on display in the Magic City. “We keep planes like Fifi […]

Imagine being a student in the seventh or eighth grade with an idea for a business you would like others to invest in. Now imagine you’re making your pitch to a room full of business and community leaders that includes former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and the CEO of Regions Bank. That was […]

The nearly $1.1 billion in capital investment from the announced economic development projects in the Birmingham metro area last year may be an all-time high for the region. Brian Hilson, CEO of the Birmingham Business Alliance (BBA), told business and community leaders at this morning’s 2016 Birmingham Regional Economic Growth Summit that the figure is […]

For four solid days, May 5-8, someone was stationed at the front steps at Alabama’s State Capitol building in Montgomery, reading the Bible, nonstop. Coinciding with the National Day of Prayer, the Montgomery Bible Reading Marathon brought the opportunity to cloak Alabama’s seat of government with the word of God, Mike Cleland said. “This is […]

Last Tuesday’s Indiana primary victory, along with the subsequent suspensions of Ted Cruz and John Kasich’s presidential campaigns, made real estate mogul Donald Trump the presumptive Republican nominee for president in 2016. That means that at some point this summer, Trump’s Alabama headquarters in Montgomery will reopen. The building that served as Trump’s headquarters prior […]

When you play music simply for the passion of it, recognition is unexpected — which makes it all the more impressive. Kevin Grigsby, Birmingham Division market specialist for Alabama Power, has been selected to play at the Cliburn International Amateur Piano Competition in Fort Worth, Texas, on June 19-25. Named for the late Van Cliburn, […]

By Katherine Shonesy Newly examined video of Kemp’s ridley sea turtles, which are found primarily in the Gulf of Mexico, shows that the species’ recovery from endangerment has stalled at less than one-tenth of historic nesting levels. Researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham came to that conclusion after being tasked with identifying the […]

The Market at Pepper Place is returning for its 16th year to Birmingham Saturday with a spring version that its founder said rivals the size of summer markets in previous years. What once was confined to the parking lot of Pepper Place now takes place in the Pepper Place Market District in Lakeview, between Second […]

By Michael Tomberlin When the Birmingham City Council voted last month to change the name of the city’s “Entrepreneurial District” to the “Innovation District,” some influential leaders applauded the move not just for branding reasons, but for the realization of what the Magic City has become and can become. Since that decision, leaders from the […]

(Video above: How UAB researchers are using tiny, squishy cubes to kill cancer) By Jeff Hansen UAB researcher Eugenia Kharlampieva, Ph.D., makes polymer microcapsules meant to carry cancer drugs to the site of a tumor. Working in the UAB College of Arts and Sciences Department of Chemistry at the intersection of polymer chemistry, nanotechnology and […]

Ryan Adams, Ray Lamontagne, Death Cab for Cutie and the Flaming Lips will headline the second Sloss Music & Arts Festival. The July 16-17 event at Birmingham’s Sloss Furnaces will also feature Ben Harper and the Birmingham debuts of The Arcs and Grouplove. Organizers today announced the 30-plus acts who will play SlossFest, which debuted […]

Birmingham’s reputation as a food destination has grown in recent years as white tablecloth restaurants and trendy food trucks have staked claim on the city’s culinary scene. But when it comes to basics, Gus’s Hot Dogs is still a main attraction. On any given day, police officers and politicians, lawyers and laborers eat hot dogs […]

By Solomon Crenshaw Jr. Pelham High wrestling coach Eric Pollard said he never treated double amputee Hasaan Hawthorne any differently than any other Panther grappler. “The same technique we taught one guy, we taught him,” Pollard said. “He’s learned the same way anyone else would. It’s really no different, except now he’s a state champion.” […]

By: Alejandro Danois At the mere age of 25, DeMarcus Cousins has successfully redefined the combo big man role in the NBA as a center/power forward. Sunday evening, he made his second straight appearance in the All-Star game after a spectacular opening half to the season that has seen him score a career high 48 […]

(Video above: UAB’s Dr. David Freedman, left, and Dr. Craig Wilson discuss the Zika virus and its potential to spread in Alabama.) By Bob Blalock Media coverage and public concern have ratcheted higher as the Zika virus spreads across the world and to the United States and Alabama. Friday, two UAB experts with broad experience […]

By Kelli M. Dugan Broetje Automation, the latest original equipment manufacturer to support the Airbus U.S. Manufacturing Facility, has set up shop officially at Mobile Aeroplex at Brookley. Roger Wehner, executive director for the Mobile Airport Authority, said Broetje Automation’s M-Technologie division is starting small with a two-man operation and has taken the last available […]

By Gilbert Nicholson Alabama Power security officer Greg Coleman had a 23-year career with the Birmingham Police Department, and always wondered why the Fire Department guys got all the love. Now he knows. Coleman awoke around 3 a.m. Feb. 5 to the cries of a neighbor on Blocker Drive in Bessemer shouting that a house […]

By Kelli M. Dugan In less than one week the crowds will be gone, the barricades will be loaded onto city trailers and the streets will show few signs – save for stray beads dangling from lofty live oak branches – that Mardi Gras 2016 attracted nearly one million people to downtown Mobile. But even […]

By Alec Harvey Forty years ago, Birmingham’s Louise Fletcher made history at the Academy Awards, winning the Oscar for best actress and giving part of her acceptance speech in sign language for her deaf parents. This year, a week before the Oscars on Feb. 28, she’s receiving another honor – the Mary Pickford Award from […]

(Video above: Karim Shamsi-Basha looks into Syria from Israel’s Golan Heights) By Karim Shamsi-Basha Eerie landscape laden with conflict loomed while I felt the wind on my palm through the open car window. Knowing that I couldn’t see my sister, who was 50 miles away, added to the haunting feeling. The car drove through farms […]

By Alec Harvey When the producers of “The Amazing Race” first approached Cole LaBrant (@TheSuperCole on both Twitter and Instagram) about competing on “The Amazing Race,” he had no idea who his partner might be. They found Cole, a freshman at Troy University, through his 6.5 million followers (and astounding 3 billion loops) on the […]

By Michael Sznajderman The Alabama Workforce Council formally presented its latest recommendations to Gov. Robert Bentley this week, capping months of work and research aimed at better preparing Alabama’s workers and students for a competitive, global economy. In January 2015, the 40-member advisory council presented its first findings and recommendations to the governor, which included […]

By Michael Sznajderman The National Weather Service (NWS) is forecasting the potential for severe weather Tuesday afternoon into Tuesday night for large portions of Alabama. The most significant threat is in western counties, with severe thunderstorms, quarter-size hail, damaging winds and tornadoes possible. As of midday Monday, the NWS was predicting a more limited risk for severe […]