Rediscovering a dad: A new marriage with a stepson sends author on a trip to his own troubled past
Denver Post – May 6
Rick Bragg’s “The Prince of Frogtown” is billed as the end of a trilogy the author has written on his family. The first, “All Over But the Shoutin,’ ” was a tribute to his long-suffering mother, and it walked that fine line between funny and sad. The second, “Ava’s Man,” also excellent, was about a grandfather he never knew. The third is about his father, a figure he had pretty much dismissed as a mean drunk who had abandoned his family, only returning to get his mom pregnant. Bragg, who’s a storyteller on a par with Pat Conroy, has been a journalist, won a Pulitzer Prize when he worked for the New York Times and is now professor of writing at the University of Alabama, in his home state.
TINA MILLER: True hero Ali Sharrief reaches out to help fourth-grade boys
My Turn
Tuscaloosa News – May 4
I would like to tell you about an athlete that has made a difference off the field, and oh what a difference he’s made in the lives of several young fourth graders at Woodland Forrest School. This hero’s name is Ali Sharrief, No. 26, a defensive back on the University of Alabama football team. I am the lucky fourth-grade teacher who has had the joy to watch Ali work with my boys during the spring semester of this school year.
TV academy awards $40,000 scholarship to RHS senior
Nashville Tennessean – April 30
Ravenwood High School senior Logan Watson developed a love for the media arts early on, and it paid off. Among many other accolades, Watson, 17, is the recipient of the John Cannon Memorial Scholarship. It’s awarded by the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, the organization that gives the Emmy Awards. The scholarship is named after a former academy president. . . . Watson will attend the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, which also granted him scholarship funds. He will study telecommunication in film with a minor in business. His dream is to work in film, but he’d be happy to work in the television industry. He wants to study business as a fallback plan, he said.
Future of all postsecondary education in Alabama debated Thursday in Montgomery
Opelika-Auburn News — May 6
The Alabama Commission on Higher Education will start developing a long-range plan for all postsecondary education in Alabama Thursday at Troy University Montgomery. The Planning Advisory Council, consisting of representatives from institutions and the business community will meet at 9:30 a.m. to begin work on the “State Plan for Alabama Higher Education 2009-10 to 2013-14.” Samuel N. Addy, director and associate research economist at the University of Alabama, will highlight the role that higher education plays in the state’s economic development. His presentation is scheduled for 10 a.m. in the Civic Room of Whitley Hall.
Bicycle Sales Up
WVUA, Tuscaloosa – May 5
We stopped in some Tuscaloosa-area bicycle businesses today, where owners are reporting increases in their sales. According to managers at Velocity Pro Cycle and Academy Sports, a big part of this spike in sales is due to people wanting to cut down on gas consumption. Bike business owners expect sales to even higher, as the University of Alabama works to convert its campus to a walking campus.
Alabama Farm Tops Nation in Conservation
Southern Farmer – May 1
…Dee River Ranch was honored on April 30 with USDA’s 2008 Excellence in Conservation Award….Both Dees recognized their partnerships with Auburn University Extension personnel, University of Alabama researchers and National Resource and Conservation Service agents. Mike Dee called them “our support staff and mentors.”