Huntsville updates

[Exodus]

I have two questions, are they going to take the Saturn rocket down ? and what's going on at Clinton and the Parkway ?

[HSVTiger]

Originally Posted by Exodus

I have two questions, are they going to take the Saturn rocket down ? and what's going on at Clinton and the Parkway ?

Uh no, the real Saturn V is laying down and will be put in the building that is being built for it. The standing Saturn V is a mock up.
Constellation the urban lifestyle center being built downtown is what is happening at Clinton and the Parkway. Go back a few pages in this forum, there is more info about it.

[Exodus]

Originally Posted by HSVTiger

Uh no, the real Saturn V is laying down and will be put in the building that is being built for it. The standing Saturn V is a mock up.
Constellation the urban lifestyle center being built downtown is what is happening at Clinton and the Parkway. Go back a few pages in this forum, there is more info about it.

Thanks for the info.

[Exodus]

Originally Posted by daveyp

this new surgery center is sooooooo hideous. what were they thinking?

Not really, I think it's a great design. I also like the shopping center at Clinton. It looks like it will be nice, and even add to the skyline a little bit.

[HSVTiger]

By MARIAN ACCARDI
Times Business Writer [email protected]
Director expects to have 1,300 on staff in a year

The new Verizon Wireless call center and state headquarters in Huntsville is expected to take its first official customer call on Sept. 4, the day after Labor Day.

The 152,000-square-foot call center is under construction in Thornton Research Park and, when fully staffed, will house 1,300 employees, including customer service representatives and supervisors, technical support staff, government customer service teams and corporate sales employees.


"By this time next year, we should have all 1,300 on board," said Jeremiah Knight, who has been named director of the Huntsville call center. The first group of Huntsville center employees hired will start training July 16, Knight said. This group of 150 customer service reps will undergo six weeks of training in a temporary recruiting and training center, then have a 12-week "nesting," or transition, period.

Benefits, such as medical and dental coverage and tuition assistance, "begin on day one," Knight said.

The company is recruiting for the second training class - to include 200 employees - which will start Sept. 10. That training session will be held in the new Verizon Wireless building.

Knight will manage all aspects of customer service, including technical support, customer retention and quality service delivery.

He comes here from the Charleston, S.C., call center, where he has been director since it opened in 2004. He joined Verizon Wireless in 2002 as director of the company's Morristown, N.J., call center.

Before he joined Verizon Wireless, Knight held a number of customer services, sales and engineering positions with companies including Procter & Gamble and Ford Motor.

[HSVTiger]

From the Mobile Press Register

Huntsville officials hosted a cocktail party on the eve of the air show, which opens today at Le Bourget Airport.

The Sunday night event was held at L'Escale, a reception hall overlooking the Seine River and a short walk from the Eiffel Tower, where the city hosted similar gatherings in 2003 and 2005.

The party, catered by two-star Michelin chef Jean-Pierre Vigato, drew several hundred visitors and more than a few high-ranking politicians. Riley welcomed an audience that included U.S. Sens. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, and Barbara Mikulski, D-Md.

"Our mission here is to talk about a new Alabama, a reformed Alabama," Riley said. "We still have a negative image to some people in the world. All we have to do is get them to Huntsville one time. You are our best ambassadors."

Huntsville is home to both the Redstone Arsenal and the Marshall Space Flight Center, earning it the nickname the "Rocket City."

"Nearly every major aerospace business has a presence in Huntsville, and half of the country's weapons are procured in our community," said Jeff Sikes, chairman of the Huntsville-Madison County Airport Authority. Sikes said the Pentagon spent about $24 billion in Madison County last year.

Guests got an update on the space shuttle Atlantis from NASA administrator Mike Griffin. Engineers are working to repair a computer problem on the Russian side of the station.

"We solved our computer problem. We'll return the Russian computer on the shuttle and bring it back up probably in July," Griffin said. "We've got a great team in orbit. It's tough to do trouble-shooting, particularly when you're doing it on national television."

Astronauts also repaired a thermal blanket near the shuttle's tail, enabling it to land safely, Griffin said. Looking ahead, "we're going to go back to the moon and then on to Mars," he said, drawing applause.

[HSVTiger]

from the Mobile Press Register

Huntsville officials hosted a cocktail party on the eve of the air show, which opens today at Le Bourget Airport.

The Sunday night event was held at L'Escale, a reception hall overlooking the Seine River and a short walk from the Eiffel Tower, where the city hosted similar gatherings in 2003 and 2005.

The party, catered by two-star Michelin chef Jean-Pierre Vigato, drew several hundred visitors and more than a few high-ranking politicians. Riley welcomed an audience that included U.S. Sens. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, and Barbara Mikulski, D-Md.

"Our mission here is to talk about a new Alabama, a reformed Alabama," Riley said. "We still have a negative image to some people in the world. All we have to do is get them to Huntsville one time. You are our best ambassadors."

Huntsville is home to both the Redstone Arsenal and the Marshall Space Flight Center, earning it the nickname the "Rocket City."

"Nearly every major aerospace business has a presence in Huntsville, and half of the country's weapons are procured in our community," said Jeff Sikes, chairman of the Huntsville-Madison County Airport Authority. Sikes said the Pentagon spent about $24 billion in Madison County last year.

Guests got an update on the space shuttle Atlantis from NASA administrator Mike Griffin. Engineers are working to repair a computer problem on the Russian side of the station.

"We solved our computer problem. We'll return the Russian computer on the shuttle and bring it back up probably in July," Griffin said. "We've got a great team in orbit. It's tough to do trouble-shooting, particularly when you're doing it on national television."

Astronauts also repaired a thermal blanket near the shuttle's tail, enabling it to land safely, Griffin said. Looking ahead, "we're going to go back to the moon and then on to Mars," he said, drawing applause.

[HSVTiger]

Now if we could just get Jet Blue to begin scheduled service
10:50
"A Jet Blue airplane has landed at Signature Flight Support at Huntsville International Airport and unloaded two busloads of people, presumably members of the national media, following the president during his trip to Huntsville and Athens today.

Secret Service agents shut down Signature Flight Support for the past hour to do a security sweep in advance of the president's visit."

Marine One sits in a hangar at the airport



Getting a glimpse of President Bush's motorcade this afternoon may be next to impossible.

Police are not allowing spectators to stop along James Record Road at Huntsville International Airport, or along Interstate 565 or its overpasses. Police will soon shut down I-565 for the president's trip from the airport to Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant in Athens.

At the airport, the Secret Service security sweep has gone smoothly, with the exception of bomb sniffing dogs getting a little stirred up by a bag of hamburgers a television news crew brought along for lunch. The crew will have to find something else to eat. The hamburgers were discarded.

[neilson]

Anybody have a rough guess of when he'll be arriving, and which approach Air Force One will come in on so we can see the plane?

[HSVTiger]

Originally Posted by neilson

Anybody have a rough guess of when he'll be arriving, and which approach Air Force One will come in on so we can see the plane?

Already here in route to Browns Ferry. Air Force One landed on the east runway south approach at 12:15

[neilson]

Originally Posted by HSVTiger

Already here in route to Browns Ferry. Air Force One landed on the east runway south approach at 12:15

Any clue when you'd guess they'd be leaving for Mobile so the folks in Triana can catch a view of the plane as it takes off?

[HSVTiger]

Originally Posted by neilson

Any clue when you'd guess they'd be leaving for Mobile so the folks in Triana can catch a view of the plane as it takes off?

not yet, no gurantee they will leave that direction, but most likely since the plane is parked at the north end. Will make for a quick takeoff.
Probably between 2:30- 3 as the event in Mobile is scheduled for 5 I think.

[HSVTiger]

Air Force One has just left for Mobile
This striking photo shows Huntsville's new Air Traffic Control Tower in the background

[marvingardns]

Not really, I think it's a great design. I also like the shopping center at Clinton. It looks like it will be nice, and even add to the skyline a little bit.

Who was the architect for the surgery center?

I heard the Prez. rode by Greenbrier... the "REAL" Greenrbrier, not that West Va. snob hotel/bomb shelter he and his Congress buds hang out at. Is it true his motorcade took the Greenbrier exit, then over to Mooresville road, then left onto Hsv Browns Ferry? The ride back was down I-565. It was a 20-car 'cade. Heard F-22's were scrambled to intercept a twin engine beechcraft loitering above Decatur. Where are F-22's based around here? I know they build them in Atlanta, but I did not know they were operational anywhere around here... unless they were part of the 1st Fighter Wing and came down south with the Prez from Andrews and Langley.

[marvingardns]

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[marvingardns]

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[HSVTiger]

not sure if it was a total surprise, they have tried to close this plant before.
These are some high paying jobs.
Hopefully someone will buy it.
Still the ripple effect could reach far and wide.

ATHENS - Delphi Corp. will close a north Alabama auto parts factory that employs almost 1,400 people by March 2009, and cutbacks will begin almost immediately, a union leader said today.

Members of the UAW Local 2195 were informed of the company's plans to shutter the plant during a series of meetings. Many of the union's 1,180 members were taken by surprise by the announcement, said President Vaughn Goodwin.

"We were all aware that our pay probably was going to be cut, but it's like a slap in the face when we find they are going to close it," said Vaughn. "We really didn't see this coming."

Delphi, based in Troy, Mich., had no immediate comment. The company declared bankruptcy in October 2005 and said in court papers that it planned to close the Athens plant unless a buyer was found.

The factory employs about 200 salaried workers aside from union members. It manufactures steering components and axles.

Workers at the plant, which had 2,000 union workers as recently as a year ago, make hourly wages ranging from $14 to almost $28, Goodwin said. On Friday, Delphi announced it had reached a memorandum of understanding with UAW that would cut wages to a maximum of $18.50 an hour by Oct. 1.

The Alabama plant employed around 3,000 people as recently as the mid-1980s, Vaughn said. The workforce has dropped steadily since then, with the most recent cuts coming from buyouts that were intended to reduce labor costs for Delphi.

Vaughn said displaced workers could be offered positions at General Motors factories, but not Delphi plants.

"Nobody would want to work for Delphi anyway," he said.

Delphi has smaller factories in Cottondale and Gadsden. The company plans to sell the Cottondale plant, according to information from the union, but plans for the Gadsden plant were not immediately known.

[HSVTiger]

Some metro government talk, nothing of substance just chit chat

from WHNT

NewsChannel 19's Amber Stuart Reporting:

Many have tossed the term 'metro government' around in Madison County for the last 30 years. A couple of weeks ago at a county commission meeting, someone mentioned the idea again. NewsChannel sat down with city and county leaders to find out how they feel about combining city and county governments into one.

A metro government would bring governments in Madison County, Huntsville, Madison, Triana, and Owens Crossroads under one umbrella.

"It has worked in some places," said Madison County Commissioner Faye Dyer. "Here, it would be a difficult thing to implement. I don't think people realize how difficult it would be to implement."

Huntsville Mayor Loretta Spencer tried to get city and county leaders to consider a metro government in the 80's when she was on the planning commission.

"I think metro government was a great idea," said Mayor Spencer. "I think it's a cost-saving, it prevents duplications of the same efforts. It's a large advantage for purchasing opportunity."

Commissioner Dyer says taxpayers have new things to consider with a metro government.

"If you have metro government, everyone has to pay at the same tax rate," said Dyer. "My understanding is people in rural Madison County like paying the low property tax rates."

County Commissioner Dale Strong says he supports the idea of a metro government because it would save money.

"Even if we don't do the entire metro government, even the consolidation garbage, police, fire just to evaluate that to see if it's a saving to taxpayers of all that participate," said Commissioner Strong. "I think that would be a good opportunity of something that could be potentially good for the people of Madison County."

It's easier said than done, though. There are a few bumps in the road holding up metro government. Land annexed in from Limestone County would have to be deannexed. The changeover would also require a vote of the people.

Madison Mayor Sandy Kirkindall says he is adamantly opposed to metro government. So, until everyone is on board, there won't be a change.

If you need to see whether a metro form of government works, just look up I-65. Nashville, which is in Davidson County, has had this in place for 43 years.

[neilson]

Originally Posted by HSVTiger

Some metro government talk, nothing of substance just chit chat

from WHNT

NewsChannel 19's Amber Stuart Reporting:

Many have tossed the term 'metro government' around in Madison County for the last 30 years. A couple of weeks ago at a county commission meeting, someone mentioned the idea again. NewsChannel sat down with city and county leaders to find out how they feel about combining city and county governments into one.

A metro government would bring governments in Madison County, Huntsville, Madison, Triana, and Owens Crossroads under one umbrella.

"It has worked in some places," said Madison County Commissioner Faye Dyer. "Here, it would be a difficult thing to implement. I don't think people realize how difficult it would be to implement."

Huntsville Mayor Loretta Spencer tried to get city and county leaders to consider a metro government in the 80's when she was on the planning commission.

"I think metro government was a great idea," said Mayor Spencer. "I think it's a cost-saving, it prevents duplications of the same efforts. It's a large advantage for purchasing opportunity."

Commissioner Dyer says taxpayers have new things to consider with a metro government.

"If you have metro government, everyone has to pay at the same tax rate," said Dyer. "My understanding is people in rural Madison County like paying the low property tax rates."

County Commissioner Dale Strong says he supports the idea of a metro government because it would save money.

"Even if we don't do the entire metro government, even the consolidation garbage, police, fire just to evaluate that to see if it's a saving to taxpayers of all that participate," said Commissioner Strong. "I think that would be a good opportunity of something that could be potentially good for the people of Madison County."

It's easier said than done, though. There are a few bumps in the road holding up metro government. Land annexed in from Limestone County would have to be deannexed. The changeover would also require a vote of the people.

Madison Mayor Sandy Kirkindall says he is adamantly opposed to metro government. So, until everyone is on board, there won't be a change.

If you need to see whether a metro form of government works, just look up I-65. Nashville, which is in Davidson County, has had this in place for 43 years.

Like I said, the problem is in deannexation of HSV and Madison City Limits in Limestone County. The only way I'd approve of Metro Gov't is if it meant combining Madison and Limestone Counties into 1 Megacounty/Gov't.

I know that would upset some in Athens, Ardmore(who could then petition to leave Alabama and become part of Giles County, TN), and Decatur, but it'd make good business sense.

I'm all for a Madison-Limestone Megacounty that is under the umbrella of 1 local gov't from the Elk River to Gurley and from the Tennessee River to the Tennessee State Line.

[HSVTiger]

to replace this building with a Dollar store is sickening. Why not use the soon to be vacant CVS store a block down the street.
We don't need anymore Dollar Stores!

A Huntsville landmark in Five Points is about to be just a memory.

The building that housed Eunice's Country Kitchen for years will apparently soon be razed.

The Huntsville Planning Commission approved a measure Tuesday night that will allow the new property owner to build a store. City planners said a dollar store is planned for the site along Andrew Jackson Way near Rison Avenue.

Eunice's was operated by a woman affectionately known as "Aunt Eunice" Merrell, who died in 2004 at age 84. It was a popular stop for politicians and patrons from all walks of life.