It was almost quitting time on a Friday, and Josie Russell Young was looking forward to her weekend when the phone at Russell Construction of Alabama’s Montgomery office rang. She saw it was a California phone number and almost didn’t answer. “It was 4:45, and I really thought it was spam,” she said, “but I picked […]

Dr. Seuss is under fire on his birthday. March 2 is the anniversary of Dr. Seuss’ birth, as well as the annual Read Across America Day. Started by the National Educational Association in 1998 as a way to promote children’s reading, the holiday is traditionally seen as being held in conjunction with Dr. Seuss’ birthday, although […]

Roy Wood Jr. had a good amount of success on radio and doing standup comedy in Birmingham. But to reach his full celebrity status, he had to travel to New York. The actor, comedian and filmmaker grew up in Birmingham without knowing the variety of career paths available to him or how to pursue them. These […]

In the recently released “From Marion to Montgomery: The Early Years of Alabama State University, 1867-1925,” author Joseph Caver brings to light new information about the founding in a detailed history of one of the country’s earliest historically black universities. Caver is a former senior archivist at the Air Force Historical Research Agency at Maxwell Air Force Base in […]

Chris Rogers left the heights of college football at the University of Alabama knowing he wanted to make a difference. Ten years later, he’s seeing his dreams come to pass through his nonprofit Together Assisting People (TAP). Rogers founded TAP with a focus on STEM – science, technology, engineering and math – to help propel young Black athletes into strong careers […]

Time is running out to book your vacation rental or hotel for the coming warm-weather months, however it is not because things are returning to a non-COVID “normal.” The pandemic has put the national tourism and travel industry under siege for the last year, and Alabama’s 32 miles of white sands on the Gulf Coast […]

Necessity is the mother of invention. But in Birmingham, a father-and-son team has devised an innovative app to help businesses effortlessly manage ongoing construction and facilities maintenance projects. KMS, formerly Kemp Management Solutions, has spent the past decade growing the company while helping much larger businesses flourish, including Regions Bank and peer banks. When the […]

Few people can say they knew Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks when that internationally celebrated pair were average citizens. Fred Gray can. The 90-year-old legendary civil rights lawyer has known most of the most-respected figures in the modern movement toward equality for Blacks. He represented Parks and King, persuading judges to make rulings that helped shape both […]

“OK, but what if ‘Bridgerton’ was a musical?” That’s the question that Abigail Barlow, who grew up in Birmingham and lives in Los Angeles, posed to her TikTok followers in early January. The post included “Daphne’s Song,” the first song Barlow wrote based on the hit Netflix series about debutantes in Regency-era London. She also posted “I Burn for You,” […]

Not only are members of Auburn University’s Tiger Excellence Scholars Program (TESP) enjoying their college experience on the Plains, they are thriving and evolving into leaders. Nearly 300 students involved with the program – designed to support the persistence and retention of students from historically underrepresented backgrounds, low-income families and first-generation college enrollees – posted a […]

Workshops Inc., a staple in the Birmingham nonprofit world for more than 120 years, has announced a new name signaling a shift toward better representing the organization’s mission and impact: Workshops Empowerment Inc. Established in 1900 as Workshop and Rehabilitation Facilities for the Blind and Disabled, Workshops originally employed people with vision impairment to make brooms […]

A permanent home for Clotilda and Africatown artifacts is one step closer to reality, thanks to an official groundbreaking ceremony Thursday in Mobile for the new Africatown Heritage House. The museum will tell the long untold story of the Clotilda, the nation’s last known slave ship, and the town created by the African survivors who once suffered aboard that […]

The Valley Hotel opened on Tuesday in the heart of Homewood, Alabama, minutes away from downtown Birmingham.

A teenager born in Pintlala is the first native of the Yellowhammer State to make the United States Ski Team. Dani Loeb, 19, told WSFA she began her athletic career doing gymnastics at United Gym Stars and Cheer in Montgomery. “I was really into gymnastics. I got up to pretty high levels,” Loeb told the […]

The ZeroZero Foundation on Monday announced that it will launch this week, serving the Birmingham area.

Mobile is the birthplace of America’s first Mardi Gras, and with pandemic safety guidelines in place, Mobilians have found an unusual way to commemorate this annual event with the Mobile Porch Parade. Front yards throughout Mobile’s downtown neighborhoods have been transformed into Mardi Gras floats, with some even calling the alternate celebration “Yardi Gras.” “As a […]

The pandemic forced many schools to switch to remote learning in spring 2020. But it also forced a virtual shift in critical summer academic programs. The big question: Would those summer programs be as effective in keeping kids on track? Results from one major statewide summertime academic initiative indicate the answer is yes. That’s encouraging […]

Wine needs a good aging to be its best. The same can be said of The Wine Loft, a pioneering destination that was once an oasis in a sea of vacant buildings but is now surrounded by other bars and restaurants that bring vibrancy as well as competition. Owner Mike Dunnavant now has 14 years […]

Never underestimate the power of your vision. More than 10 years ago, Jenny Waltman and her husband, Jason, saw integral needs in their Avondale neighborhood and wanted to help. That desire led the couple to found Grace Klein Community, a Birmingham-area nonprofit that last year donated more than $2.1 million in groceries to 25,000 households. Before the pandemic, […]

Though he started out as an athlete in Tuscaloosa, Bradley Constant came up with another dream when a shoulder injury sidelined him in middle school. “I was obsessed with the Disney Channel,” he says with a laugh. “I watched it all the time and I said, ‘I want to do this,’ and I started taking classes in Birmingham […]

HomeTown Lenders' Birmingham branch wanted to not only give back to the community, but also bring local residents together in the trying time.

The Breast Cancer Research Foundation of Alabama (BCRFA) announced an investment of $1.05 million in Alabama-based breast cancer research, bringing the organization’s total impact over 25 years to nearly $11 million. Matching their 2019 investment, the organization will support 14 research projects throughout the state, including studies at the O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), Auburn […]

Alabama State University and the Alabama Shakespeare Festival officially became partners Thursday. Dr. Quinton T. Ross Jr., ASU’s president, and Festival Artistic Director Rick Dildine signed a Memorandum of Understanding to continue an academic collaboration “enhancing the artistic education” of ASU students enrolled in the university’s College of Visual and Performing Arts. In a news release distributed by ASU, […]

Working in what could be compared to a war zone, a team of UAB doctors and nurses performed an onsite amputation to save an injured man after the F3 tornado hit Fultondale Jan. 25. Sometime after midnight, UAB trauma surgeon Dr. Don Reiff received a call from Vestavia firefighter and paramedic Lawrence Pugliese. The firefighter was in […]