When I first started writing these blogs, I was immediately introduced to the Birmingham haters.
You know the Birmingham haters. They are the stars of talk radio and the first to comment on al.com. They hope Birmingham’s annihilated by the Bubonic Plague, that Vulcan suffers from herpes, and that the Mayor gets dandruff. Continue reading This should make the Birmingham haters salivate
Between 2003-2006 five CFO’s of HealthSouth were convicted of fraud.
Would it be appropriate to assume all CFO’s in the Birmingham area are crooked?
I think we can agree there was something in the corporate culture or structure at HealthSouth that created such blatant fraud. Continue reading Is political corruption rampant here?
I hear it regularly, “The problem with Birmingham is racism.”
One of my first blogs, Let’s move to the suburbs and attack the city, quickly attracted two comments. One was from (I assume) an African American blaming Birmingham’s problems on whites, “The racism is so obvious and so thick you can cut it with a knife.” Continue reading Is racism the problem with Birmingham?
Will your 911 cell phone call save you in an emergency?
Maybe not if you’re calling from within our region.
I have a friend who witnessed a wreck near Blue Lake Road off of Hwy 280. He immediately dialed 911 but ran into a geographic overlap. Continue reading Your local 911 call could kill you
The year 1999 was painful for me and my family. My wife, Ina-Mae, was diagnosed with breast cancer. Fortunately the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center is located here in Birmingham. And I’m absolutely convinced Ina-Mae would not have survived without UAB.
Patients come from all over the world to visit UAB. When Ina-Mae registered with doctors at Kirklin Clinic, nurses seemed genuinely surprised we lived almost in walking distance. Continue reading Birmingham is in the center of my heart
When our Chamber of Commerce (BBA) visited Charlotte in 2004, we were greeted by the President of the University of North Carolina Charlotte.
Charlotte’s a city on fire, but the first words out the President’s mouth were, “We don’t have anything like UAB.”
Can you believe a great city like Charlotte is jealous of us? Continue reading How can we have UAB and suck?
I was dumbfounded when I saw the results.
The Birmingham Business Journal ran a poll the week of February 29, 2012.
Readers were asked, “Would you be in favor of a unified metro area government for Birmingham?”
The response was more than two to one in favor. Continue reading BBJ Readers support unified metro government–two to one
We know it’s not the mayor of Birmingham.
The City of Birmingham represents only 19% of the population of the metro area.
And Mayor Bell, who I strongly believe understands the importance of regionalism, has said on numerous occasions, “I was not elected mayor of the region.”
The Birmingham News convened a panel of community leaders in April of 2011 to discuss the future of Birmingham. Included were corporate CEO’s, non-profit professionals, and top political leaders.
Each panelist made his/her remarks and then questions or comments were solicited from the audience. Continue reading Four unsettling comments
It seems like a distant memory, but in the 70’s and 80’s, Birmingham leaders were plotting to recruit an NFL football franchise to Birmingham. I don’t know how close we came, but we obviously felt there was a possibility.
Of course, we weren’t successful while other Southern Cities like Jacksonville, New Orleans, Atlanta, Charlotte, and Nashville recruited teams. Continue reading Birmingham rated one of the poorest sports cities in U.S.