Upstart startups
Business Alabama – May 1
When a patient undergoes an MRI scan, doctors must be able to read the resulting images clearly to identify any abnormal conditions. To aid in the process, doctors use chemical contrast agents to increase the visibility of target body structures. In the past, these contrast agents were gadolinium-based solutions. But the Gd-based agents began causing their own health problems, and researchers began searching for alternative MRI contrast solutions. This January, Magnetic Nanomaterial Products, or MagnnPro LLC, formed in Tuscaloosa with the goal of developing a safer substitute for existing contrast agents, with 24-year-old University of Alabama graduate student Thomas Macher as CEO. “As part of my master’s degree, I was able to join Dr. Yuping Bao’s research team in the department of chemical engineering at the University of Alabama,” says Macher. In addition to the department’s prominence in research and facilities, Macher sought assistance from the Alabama Institute for Manufacturing Excellence. “They offered guidance in the manufacturing process and professional business training to our team in the start-up phase of the company,” he says. “This institute has been invaluable to us in providing a level of expertise that would take years to attain without their help.”
Pulitzer Prize-winner Rick Bragg speaks at prayer breakfast
Al.com – May 2
Rick Bragg doesn’t think of himself as an ideal speaker for a prayer breakfast. The bestselling author, Pulitzer Prize-winning newspaper reporter and professor of journalism at the University of Alabama feels he lacks, well, the necessary piety. “My family said, ‘You’re gonna talk at a prayer breakfast? Do they know who you are? You’ll burst into flames at the podium.'” But when the YMCA of Calhoun County and Regional Medical Center Foundation asked him to speak at the first-ever countywide McWane Mayors’ Prayer Breakfast for Calhoun County, he couldn’t refuse. “It’s a good cause and a good thing to do,” Bragg said. More than 450 people came out to eat breakfast, pray and hear Bragg speak at the Oxford Civic Center this morning. And when he got to the podium, there were no flames.
Tickets for Summertide Theatre’s Songs Of And About Alabama now on sale
Mullettwrapper.com – May 1
Tickets are now on sale for SummerTide Theatre tenth anniversary of bringing professional musical theatre to Gulf Shores. From May 31 thru June 28, SummerTide Theatre will present Jubilee – Songs of and about Alabama. Performances will be held Tuesday to Sunday evenings at 8 p.m. at South Baldwin Community Theatre, located at 2022 W. 2nd St. in Gulf Shores. Paying homage to the great musical heritage of Alabama, Jubilee is a riveting compilation of songs about or invoking the “Heart of Dixie” state. From blues and country to rock and gospel, the state of Alabama has played a central role in the development of America’s musical legacy. Jubilee showcases the rich and varied musical flavors, from the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains to the white sandy beaches of Pleasure Island … SummerTide Theatre is made possible by the Herbert Clark West Endowed Support Fund at The University of Alabama, The University of Alabama National Alumni Association, The University of Alabama Office of the Provost, The University of Alabama College of Arts and Sciences, the George C. Meyer Foundation, the Erie Hall Meyer Charitable Fund, Alabama Credit Union, Alabama Gulf Coast Convention and Visitors Bureau, the South Baldwin Community Theatre, Sunset Properties, James V. Roberts PC, Mark & Karen Reynolds, and Bama Breakfast Group. The UA Department of Theatre and Dance is part of the College of Arts and Sciences, UA’s largest division and the largest liberal arts college in Alabama.
Forget the Iron Bowl — The real action is at the Hoverbowl
Wired – May 2
Historic rivals Auburn University and the University of Alabama just faced off on a whole new level: about three inches off the ground, floating on a cushion of air. The battle was part of the University Hoverbowl Challenge at Lake Lurleen State Park near Tuscaloosa. Sponsored by the Hovercraft Club of America, it pitted the Auburn Hovering Tigers against the Alabama Crimson Tide. The Tigers emerged victorious, after the Alabama team had mechanical issues that kept them from competing for more than a single lap of the hour-long event…Both teams are relatively new. Alabama built both their hovercraft and their team from scratch in just eleven months, while Auburn’s hovercraft club hadn’t participated in a race in three years. Both teams’ fight in the Hoverbowl Challenge was part of the Hovercraft Club’s early attempts to start a collegiate division, and it looks like both Alabama and Auburn will be back next year with new members to replace those who have graduated.
Grants may add sewer to Holt area
Tuscaloosa News – May 2
Tuscaloosa County has applied for $11.7 million in Community Development Block Grants, which would go toward tornado relief, primarily in the Holt area…Also included in the list is a $1.1 million CDB enhancement grant that was already approved for a senior center in Holt. The previous plan for the senior center included building it adjacent to Hold Elementary on Crescent Ridge Road…But the county will now ask for approval that the location be changed to the old Holt Elementary School, which is between Alabama Avenue and Anderson Road in Holt. According to Becky Reamey of the Holt In Action group, proposals for the site also include a learning center through a $75,000 grant from the New York-based nonprofit American Response with Love. The University of Alabama’s School of Nursing has discussed opening a clinic on the site, which would be staffed with student nurses from UA, and the Tuscaloosa County Park and Recreation Authority has also discussed putting a mountain bike park at the site….
OPINION: Sen. Jeff Sessions’ failed approach has no place in immigration debate
Al.com – May 1
Inside the Beltway, immigration is the single most issue that has captured the bipartisan support of a deadlocked Congress…An analysis from the University of Alabama states that HB 56 could ultimately cost Alabama as much as $11 billion in economic output, as much as $264.5 million in tax revenue, and as many as 70,000 to 140,000 jobs.