Road closures, public viewing area set for July 4 implosion of UA’s Rose Towers
Al.com – June 27
The implosion of the University of Alabama’s Rose Towers on the morning of July 4 will cause some road closures and a public viewing area will available to visitors, UA announced today. The demolition of Rose Towers, a 13-story, 750-bed residence hall built in 1969, will make way for the second phase of the university’s Presidential Village Residential Community, which was formerly called the North Bluff Residential Community. The implosion will occur at approximately 8 a.m. at the site located near the intersection of Jack Warner Parkway and Hackberry Lane. Parts of Jack Warner Parkway, Hackberry Lane and Old Hackberry Lane in the surrounding area will be closed beginning at 6:30 a.m., and are expected to reopen one to two hours after the implosion. A public viewing area for the demolition will be available in the Riverside East residence hall parking lot at the intersection of Old Hackberry Lane and Third Place. (UA) Pedestrian traffic on campus and on trails in the Park at Manderson Landing will be closed in the vicinity of the demolition site. The Black Warrior River will also be closed to boat traffic near the site around the time of the demolition. Visitors can watch the implosion from a public viewing area in the Riverside East residence hall parking lot at the intersection of Old Hackberry Lane and Third Place. Public parking will be available in lots along Hackberry Lane at Shelby Hall and at the Campus Drive parking deck. Visitors should take Hackberry Lane from University Boulevard to access these lots.
NBC 13 (Birmingham) – June 27
A dissent by Scalia is criticized as political
New York Times – June 27
When Justice Antonin Scalia read aloud from his dissent in the Arizona immigration case on Monday, including an attack on President Obama’s recent decision not to deport many illegal immigrants who arrived here as children, it raised some eyebrows. Mr. Obama’s policy was announced two months after the case had been heard. But Monday was a busy day at the Supreme Court, and Justice Scalia’s contention that the administration was refusing to enforce the nation’s immigration laws was only briefly noted as analysts pored over the meaning of his colleagues’ striking down of key elements of the Arizona law and their ruling on juvenile sentencing. In the days since, however, the discussion has mushroomed. Commentators from across the political spectrum have been saying that Justice Scalia, who is the most senior as well as, hands down, the funniest, most acerbic and most politically incorrect of the justices, went too far … “With all due respect, the man has a tin ear,” said Paul Horwitz, a professor of law at the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa. “When he loses on a hot-button issue, he sometimes blows his opportunity to be as persuasive as he could be.”
Twin Cities Pioneer-Press (Minn.) – June 27
Gas prices dip below $3 per gallon mark
Tuscaloosa News – June 27
Gasoline prices have dipped below $3 a gallon in some parts of Tuscaloosa, reflecting a national trend of average prices hitting levels not seen since summer 2010. Peter Clark, a professor of chemical and biological engineering at the University of Alabama, said that gas prices should continue to fall. “It’s being driven by demand and the price of oil,” Clark said. “The price of oil is down and gasoline demand is up because it’s summertime, but it’s not up worldwide as people thought it would be.” Crude oil was selling at $80.53 per barrel on Wednesday, a sharp decline from this year’s high of about $110 per barrel in February. The drop is now influencing prices at the pump, with five stations in the Tuscaloosa area showing prices of regular gasoline at $2.99 per gallon or less. The most inexpensive gallon was available at the Pilot on Skyland Boulevard, which had its regular gasoline priced at $2.98 per gallon.