Today’s guest columnist is Tom Cosby.
They say that Coach Saban has a “War Room” next to his office in Tuscaloosa.
Much like the White House Situation Room that tracks worldwide threats to our nation, in this room Saban reportedly tracks all the top high school athletes nationwide; some even internationally. Continue reading Birmingham needs a Saban-like War Room
Today’s guest columnists are Jefferson County District Attorney Danny Carr and U.S. Attorney Prim F. Escalona.
Jefferson County has a murder problem.
Our murder problem is so prolifically deadly, that it even eclipses the annual homicide rate for the entire continent of Australia, a nation of more than 25 million people. Continue reading A homicide prevention strategy that will work
Today’s guest columnist is Michael D. Waters.
Less than one month after Fob James was first inaugurated Governor of Alabama in January 1979, I answered my home telephone on a Saturday afternoon and a friendly voice on the other side said: “Hello, is this Mike Waters, the governor’s legal adviser?” Continue reading A startling phone call from an Alabama segregationist governor
Today’s guest columnist is Christopher Tyler Burks.
It seems to me that David Sher has done us all a great service by publishing ComebackTown.com.
While there is excellent coverage of regional issues across our media, this site has become the de facto beat reporter for discussions of regional cooperation in Greater Birmingham. Continue reading Is metro Birmingham ready for regional governance?
Today’s guest columnist is John Whitman.
I’m an entrepreneur and a business academic from the northeast who happily married into Birmingham.
Prior to Birmingham, I spent four years helping to build an entrepreneurial ecosystem in Huntsville to cultivate high-tech, high-growth startups. Continue reading Can Birmingham become an entrepreneurial city?
Today’s guest columnist is Mike Diccicco.
I’m a white guy that grew up in the 60’s in Birmingham. Moved there in 2nd grade, left after graduating high school in 1967.
During that whole time, I had one black friend, a kid named Jackie, same age as me, who lived in an old farmhouse a half-mile through the woods from our modest rancher on Lynn Acres Drive in Roebuck. Continue reading White and black parents talked differently to their children
Today’s guest columnist is Terry Barr.
In my adopted hometown of Greenville, we have two synagogues and one Jewish deli.
I am not a member of either religious house because long ago I distanced myself from organized practice, except of the yoga, or writing, kind. Continue reading Man sheds tears over old Birmingham restaurant
Today’s guest columnist is John Lyda.
I have always wanted to attend a Magic City Classic football game between the Alabama A&M Bulldogs and the Alabama State Hornets, the state of Alabama’s two largest historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs).
Year after year I’d find myself once again allowing the Classic weekend to come and go, telling myself, “I’ll go next year”. Continue reading Are ‘Over-the-Mountain’ Caucasians welcome to Magic City Classic?
Today’s guest columnist is Ryan Hankins.
“I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change.” This is the title of the second-longest-running Off-Broadway musical (according to Wikipedia, at least).
The phrase also seems to summarize Alabamians’ thoughts about our state constitution. Continue reading Our Constitution out of control
Today’s guest columnist is Malcolm Carmichael.
My friend, Mike Buchanan, and I, both mature residents of suburbs south of the city, read the hype and wondered: what’s riding the Xpress really like?
Is it different from the existing bus service we’ve tried with limited success?
What will it accomplish? Continue reading Vestavia geezer stunned by Birmingham’s leap into 21st Century