Birmingham Discussion Thread

[Blazer85]

^ Certainly hope not. If an Amsouth buyout seems eminent, maybe Regions should step up to the plate and buy them before others. If we lose Amsouth, we might as well gain something in return (ie, Regions growing stronger).

[shortydee999]

Sorry if this is posted already. But what is UAB putting right there by Al's??? Is that the other studend parking deck that they are suppose to build??

[DevinLee]

Yes shortydee999, it will be a parking deck mostly for dorm residents of Rast, Camp, and the new freshmen dorm.

[Blazer85]

Though it's not about skyscrapers or development, it is about Birmingham and this is the discussion thread. So... Richard Scrushy has been cleared on all 36 counts against him in the $2.7 billion HealthSouth earnings scandal. The current management at HealthSouth has said today that Scrushy will be offered no position in the company, so this leads me to the question "What's next for Richard Scrushy?"

[Sulley]

The verdict was a disgrace to justice.

[neilson]

Look, so maybe Scruchy was guilty, but it really doesn't matter now. Double Jeperdy(sic) can't happen, and so we might as well make the best of a bad verdict.

Now, Scruchy is not guilty, he can begin to fix B'ham, 1st by giving the backing for private funds for a Domed stadium, and to buy a sports team and move it to B'ham.

[Dystopos]

Maybe he'll fund the Scrushy Center for Creative Accounting at B'ham Southern and give himself an endowed professorship.

[Randy Sandford]

The judge is fully to blame. She was so determined to avoid a mistrial when the jurors were deadlocked and forced the jurors to continue to deliberate until they reached some sort of unanimous decision. So, obviously if there was a deadlock, then some (don't know how many) jurors thought he was guilty on some or all accounts. Knowing that they'd be stuck there indefinitely until a unanimous decision was reached and realizing how impossible it is to get the others to agree that he is guilty (if they weren't convinced during the trial, they probably would never be swayed during the deliberation), it's obvious that those originally voting "guilty" changed their votes in order to be done with this lengthy trial.

[Sulley]

I also put some of the blame on Alice Martin... the trial should have been in NYC or Washington, D.C. - not Birmingham.

[Blazer85]

UAB's influence grows...
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UAB, Montgomery's Baptist Health ink formal affiliation

Baptist Health of Montgomery - a wholly separate entity from Birmingham-based Baptist Health Systems - will become an affiliate of UAB Health System, which began overseeing management of the Montgomery company last year at the request of Baptist Health's board.

The University of Alabama System Board of Trustees, meeting Tuesday, created a health-care authority into which Baptist Health will transfer its three hospitals: Baptist Medical Center South and Baptist Medical Center East, both in Montgomery, and Prattville Baptist Hospital.

According to a written statement from UAB, the agreement calls for the creation of a new governing board for the health-care authority, with six members selected by the UA System and five members by Baptist Health. The authority's board will have full governance powers with respect to the business and affairs of Baptist Health, while the UA System and Baptist Health boards will maintain oversight of the hospitals.

The Baptist Health name and faith-based mission will not change, the UAB news release states.

A new board will be composed of Dr. Dennis Boulware, senior associate dean of the UAB School of Medicine; Joseph C. Espy III, UA System board member; Carol Garrison, UAB president and chair of the UAB Health System board of directors; John Henig, chairman of the Baptist Health board; David Hoidal, CEO of the UAB Health System; Dr. Charles Ingalls, vascular surgeon; Dr. Cleveland Kinney, senior associate dean of the UAB School of Medicine; Rev. Ken May, director of Missions for the Montgomery Baptist Association; Kay Miller, retired bank executive; David Patrick, senior vice president and branch manager, Wachovia Securities; and James W. Wilson III, UA System board member.

UAB entered into a management agreement to oversee Baptist Health in March 2004.

"The relationship between UAB and Baptist Health has grown in scope in the past year," said Hoidal. "We have found a multitude of instances whereby the two systems are able to benefit each other in the public interest. UAB will have opportunities to enhance our education and research opportunities, while Baptist Health will gain operational and financial efficiencies through partnership and the establishment of a health-care authority structure."

Henig said the deal represents "a solution that will ensure the long-term viability and growth of health-care services provided to the residents of central Alabama."

Montgomery's Baptist Medical Center South has long been a training site for some 18-20 UAB residents annually. It also is a medical training site for approximately 20 residents in the Baptist Health Family Practice residency program. Nearly 40 percent of physicians at the Montgomery Baptist Hospitals are graduates of the UAB School of Medicine.



© 2005 American City Business Journals Inc.

[Blazer85]

Is Bessemer serious?
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Bessemer official says her city a good location for dome
Wednesday, June 29, 2005
ROBERT K. GORDON
News staff writer

If the City of Birmingham can't get its act together on funding for a domed stadium, Bessemer City Councilwoman LaBrenda Marshall has an answer: build the dome in Bessemer.

"Why not?"she said. "We lave the land. No one is going to continue to beg for you to locate something in your city."

For several years, officials from Birmingham, Jefferson County, the state and the Birmingham Jefferson Convention Complex have not been able to agree on how to pay for the proposed BJCC expansion and 65,000-seat dome stadium. The BJCC board already has $10.3 million a year earmarked for the project from county and state taxes and fees.

The board wants the county to pay $10 million annually for 30 years. Birmingham and the BJCC are close to an agreement for Birmingham to provide $8 million annually for 30 years. The BJCC board also wants $20 million in a lump sum from the state.

"Study long, and you study wrong," Marshall said. "We can have an opportunity here if Birmingham does not come through."

Marshall said she got the idea while attending City Stages. She thinks Bessemer needs something in addition to Visionland to attract people to the city.

"You have not because you ask not," Marshall said. "We should talk to the County Commission and throw our hat into the ring."

Mayor Ed May said Bessemer should not get in the position of trying to compete with Birmingham - not yet at least. "We should wait to see what happens," he said.

The dome would be something good for the entire county, May said.

"As mayor of Bessemer, my main concern is with Bessemer, but we have to look at the region as a whole, and this would be good for the entire region," he said.

Marshall's fellow council members were split on her surprise idea.

"If all else fails, I say bring it on," Councilman Jesse Matthew said.

There are too many unknowns, Councilwoman Sarah Belcher said.

"We don't know what's happening," she said. "We don't know what Birmingham or the governor is going to do."

E-mail: rgordon@bhamnews.com

[Dystopos]

Once again the point is lost. The dome is only financially feasible as part of the exisitng BJCC exhibition spaces and hotel capacity. The site is not the problem, the BJCC already owns the proposed site. The problem is funding. If Bessemer has a couple hundred million dollars it wants to spend, they can go ahead and build a dome without talking to the county or the state.

[Sulley]

LOL

[shortydee999]

Who goes to Bessemer anyway?

[paladin]

"You have not because you ask not," Marshall said.

I am pretty sure there is a reason no one has asked... who wants to go to Bessemer?

[neilson]

What about........Visionland? It's Alabama's Themepark!

[Randy Sandford]

I went to Visionland on Saturday for the first time and found it to be a lot better than expected. Of course they need to add more coasters and other thrill rides, but when Six Flags Over Georgia opened in 1967, the only coaster it had was the Dahlonega Mine Train, and the Great American Scream Machine wasn't added until 1973. So, it only took Visionland a year longer to add its second coaster...not bad for a theme park that nearly closed its doors a few years ago. I may post a photo report of our trip to Visionland in a little while.

[Dystopos]

Your Visionland photos would also be coveted by the Magic City group on Flickr, should you care to contribute them.

[Blazer85]

Good idea here...

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100 changes for Birmingham
Vision-setting committee formed
Friday, July 01, 2005
ERIC VELASCO
News staff writer

Seven community leaders will form the nucleus of a new group to create a list of 100 changes to improve the Birmingham-Hoover metro area, Jefferson County and Birmingham chamber leaders said Thursday.

The seven are: David Sher, chairman of the Birmingham Regional Chamber of Commerce; Carol Z. Garrison, president of the University of Alabama at Birmingham; Vestavia Hills Mayor Charles "Scotty" McCallum; Ethel Hall, vice president of the state Board of Education; Charles McCrary, president of Alabama Power; Albert Sloan, president of Miles College; and Perry Ward, president of Lawson State Community College.

Group members, and others they invite to participate, will come up with goals for the metro area - a checklist for improvement, Sher said. It is patterned after similar programs in Nashville and Chattanooga.

"What Birmingham is missing is a shared common vision," Sher said during a ceremony in a County Commission conference room. "We've got to decide what we want to be when we grow up, and go after it."

The list can include projects big and small. Some would cost money and others would require the investment of time.

The idea is to bring communities together to work toward a common goal and build on assets such as UAB that are the backbone for the entire metro area, said Sher and Larry Langford, the Jefferson County Commission president.

Potential items for the improvement list include standardized zoning regulations and definitions in Jefferson County, so developers and residents don't have to sort through a maze of different rules and classifications.

"I want to propose that we do a better job of making sure people outside Birmingham realize how important the city is to the success of this entire area," Langford said.

The idea for the committee came from a meeting last week between Sher and Langford.

It also inspired Langford to create a Thinking Outside the Box Award to honor the committee members, then make it an annual event for community-oriented people who help their communities make progress.

Langford had plaques created for the recipients, who also will received bronze replicas of Rodin's famous statue "The Thinker" attached to wooden pedestals built by the county's building services department.

E-mail: evelasco@bhamnews.com

[Blazer85]

Dont forget Thunder on the Mountain 9PM Monday!