Most Thanksgiving travel expected since 2007, AAA says
USA Today – Nov. 20
It’s going to take longer to get to that turkey and dressing this year. That’s the message from experts who say that an improving economy, more disposable income, consumer optimism and low gas prices are combining to create the biggest Thanksgiving travel rush in years. … Researchers at the University of Alabama Center for Advanced Public Safety say that vehicle crashes caused by deer, alcohol and bad weather are more common during Thanksgiving week than the rest of the year. Their most crucial piece of advice: Buckle up.
Montgomery Advertiser – Nov. 20
Indianapolis Star – Nov. 20
Learning lesson from January’s snowstorm
Fox 6 (Birmingham) – Nov. 20
Dr. Laura Myers with the Center for Advanced Public Safety at The University of Alabama has studied the snow and ice event of Jan. 28. Her team has surveyed people in Tuscaloosa, Birmingham and the Atlanta areas. The goal was to find out what the perception was before and during the event.
Small earthquake near Eutaw
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – Nov. 20
We have seen earthquakes in Alabama and in Greene County before, but normally they are smaller, and we don’t even notice them. This morning, Eutaw residents told us the earthquakes shook them awake while they were in bed.UA geophysics professor Dr. Andrew Goodliffe is urging people who felt the shaking to go to the United States geological survey’s website. There, they’ll find shake maps and a survey that can help researchers better understand earthquakes in our area. “We don’t know an awful lot about why they occur to be perfectly honest, because we would need a lot more earthquakes to be able to study it, so our best guess is, a lot of these earthquakes are due to old fault lines.”
CBS 42 (Birmingham) – Nov. 20
2014 north Alabama unemployment lower than state average, looks to improve in 2015
Al.com – Nov. 20
North Alabama job seekers had a somewhat easier task overall in 2014 than previous years, and the outlook for 2015 looks to be cautiously better, say local and statewide economic watchers and forecasters. Despite softness in Huntsville’s economy due to defense-related job cuts and budget sequestration, state economic watchers and local chambers say hiring has improved in 2014 and they look to better times next year. Though overall there had been a slowdown in Alabama job growth and employment from earlier 2014 estimates, that does not reflect the situation in most of north Alabama. Third quarter 2014 data from the Alabama Bureau of Labor Statistics and the University of Alabama’s Center for Business Economic Research confirm that north Alabama unemployment was lower than the state average in 2014 and expected to stay lower in 2015.
Study: Companies With Heavy-Golfing CEOs Generally Underperform
NewsMax – Nov. 20
Many business people who play golf says there’s no better place to conduct their companies’ affairs than on the links. Shareholders in the companies with CEOs who golf heavily might take issue with that idea in light of a recent study by professors Lee Biggerstaff of Miami University of Ohio, David Cicero of the University of Alabama and Andy Puckett of the University of Tennessee. Their study, published by Social Science Research Network, finds that CEOs play more golf when they have lower equity-based incentives. “CEOs that golf frequently (i.e., those in the top quartile of golf play, who play at least 22 rounds per year) are associated with firms that have lower operating performance and firm values,” the scholars write. Sound like somebody needs a mulligan. It appears that “CEO shirking causes lower firm performance,” the professors write. Presumably they equate golfing with shirking. “We find that boards are more likely to replace CEOs who shirk, but CEOs with longer tenures or weaker governance environments appear to avoid disciplinary consequences.”
Things to do outside Bryant-Denny Stadium homecoming weekend
Tuscaloosa News – Nov. 20
The University of Alabama homecoming football game will kick off at 3 p.m. Saturday, but fans will want to get to campus much earlier to enjoy the parade and other pregame festivities. For fans who are in Tuscaloosa on Friday night, the bonfire and pep rally will be at 7 p.m. on the Quad at the UA campus. The name of the 2014 homecoming queen will be revealed, Tide coach Nick Saban is scheduled to speak and the Million Dollar Band, UA cheerleaders and Big Al will be there to fire up the crowd. Fans will want to line up early Saturday morning to view the homecoming parade. The parade, which will start at 10:30 a.m., will begin in downtown Tuscaloosa and move eastward along University Boulevard through the UA campus. At 11:30 a.m., the Coca-Cola Kickoff Zone will open outside the Walk of Champions side of Bryant-Denny Stadium. The zone will feature interactive displays from AT&T, Chicken Salad Chick, Baumhower’s, Chester’s Sterling Resorts, Trager Grills and ALFA.
UA Homecoming Prep (Photo gallery)
Tuscaloosa News – Nov. 21
Tissue paper strips and rolled tissue pomps are scattered across the floor in the basement of the Delta Gamma sorority house as Rachel Little works to complete the design for their lawn decoration for homecoming on the University of Alabama campus in Tuscaloosa, Ala. on Thursday Nov.20, 2014.
Is Texas case Munchausen by proxy?
KARE-NBC (Minneapolis, Minn.) – Nov. 21
“The arrest warrant is as powerful a document as I’ve ever seen.” The court record makes claims of medical child abuse or what some like Dr. Mark Feldman from the University of Alabama call Munchausen by proxy, where a parent produces a disease in a child to gain attention.