Jefferson County Commissioner David Carrington with Commission President Jimmie Stephens
I wrote most of this piece about Commissioner Carrington a few months ago, but did not publish it for fear it would appear too political.
Now that the Jefferson County Commission election is over, I feel more comfortable making my comments. Commissioner Carrington has been reelected and Commissioner Jimmie Stephens has been elected President.
I’m not saying Commissioner Carrington is better or worse than any other commissioner–I just happen to know David better. I do feel strongly that our County Commission–though not perfect–did a credible job with the hand it was dealt. Continue reading David Carrington: “I don’t care!”→
There’s been talk that UAB may discontinue its Division 1 football program. UAB boosters are joining ranks to save it.
It’s heartbreaking because Bill Clark and UAB are showing new life, but I think it’s unavoidable. There are just too many obstacles for UAB football to overcome.
I’m about to give you some numbers that will confound and amuse you.
On October 1st, Justin Connolly, Senior VP of ESPN Programming over College Networks, spoke to the Rotary Club of Birmingham about the new SEC Network. He said the SEC Network has been the most successful launch of a cable network in the history of television. (Oprah, eat your heart out)
The point of the piece was that there’s no person dead or alive who can save our school system—not Moses, not President Abraham Lincoln–not even Coach Nick Saban.
Craig Witherspoon, outgoing Superintendent Birmingham City Schools
Every editorial I read about hiring a new superintendent for Birmingham City Schools says it’s critical we recruit the right candidate. The future of Birmingham Schools and possibly the City of Birmingham may be at stake.
Unfortunately, our next superintendent has virtually no chance of being successful.
I attended the University in the early ‘60’s when Bear Bryant was winning football games just as Nick Saban is today. By the way–even the Bear lost a game or two every once in a while.
My claim to fame is that while eating at the Little Cookie, a burger joint in Tuscaloosa, Joe Namath asked me to pass the salt.
“I have always thought about coming home to do something greater, but the timing just hasn’t been right. I have looked at doing things within the city at different times in the past and things just didn’t pan out. It could have been anything, like bringing restaurants and supermarkets to the downtown area. I am all about doing what I can to help people. I’m a firm believer that in order to be successful, you have to employ people. My main goal to come back home was to help employ some of the unemployed.”
There’s no way my wife and I could have been prepared for our first visit to Mi Pueblo—the new 44,186-square-foot multicultural supermarket that recently opened on Green Springs Highway.
The store is bright, clean, and stacked high with fresh meats and poultry, fresh seafood and fish with products from all over the world. My guess is that Mi Pueblo does more business in a day than the Food World it replaced did in a week. Continue reading Birmingham–the city too confused to hate→
Folks in Birmingham squabble a lot, but there’s one thing we agree on —none of us want Birmingham to become another Atlanta.
Because the growth of metropolitan Birmingham has been so slow, I haven’t spent much time worrying about Birmingham getting too big. In fact, I’ve been much more concerned about Birmingham staying the size of Birmingham.
Then I read that researchers from North Carolina State project that the South’s explosive growth rate for the past 60 years will continue and metropolitan Birmingham could be part of an “urban megalopolis” by 2060. Continue reading Is Birmingham destined to become a suburb of Atlanta?→
I wrote a piece doubting the longevity of UAB Football, a young Auburn student wrote a rebuttal, and all hell broke loose on the Internet.
