Rick Bragg, Harper Lee will be among Alabama Writers’ Forum’s inductees
Tuscaloosa News – May 25
The first class of inductees to the Alabama Writers Hall of Fame contains household names — including one who lives here — others that will ring bells, and a few that might send you scrambling through the library or Wikipedia for information. The 12 selected range back to the early years of the state, and include poets, satirists, essayists, journalists and novelists. Some of the living writers will attend the inaugural Alabama Writers Hall of Fame event June 8 at the Bryant Conference Center, and others of the dozen will have family or other representatives receive their medals. It’s a project of the Alabama Writers’ Forum, whose offices are in Montgomery, and the Alabama Center for the Book, the state affiliate of the Library of Congress Center for the Book, housed at the Amelia Gayle Gorgas Library on the University of Alabama campus.
New water resource center opening in Tuscaloosa
WLTZ (Columbus, Ga.) – May 26
A new national center dedicated to water resources is opening in Tuscaloosa. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration cuts the ribbon Tuesday on its National Water Center at the University of Alabama. NOAA Administrator Kathryn Sullivan and Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker are among the officials who will be on hand. U.S. Senator Richard Shelby helped secure funding for the nearly $24 million, 65,000-square-foot building. The center is supposed to help the National Weather Service provide new kinds of information about water. Officials say that data could improve disaster preparedness and forecast droughts like the one currently gripping the West Coast. About 200 people will work at the center. That includes employees of NOAA, other government agencies, contractors and visiting scientists.
Gadsden Times – May 25
The Republic (Columbus, Ga.) – May 25
USS Alabama celebrates 30th anniversary by unfurling enormous Bama flag
Yellowhammer News – May 25
The USS Alabama, a nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine, celebrated 30 years of service to her country last week by sending a huge “Roll Tide” back to the Yellowhammer State. Unfurling a large University of Alabama flag, and another banner that says “USS Alabama SSBN 731 Roll Tide,” her Blue and Gold crews standing in the shape of a 30 at 7:31am, commemorating what was originally supposed to be the ballistic missile submarine’s decommissioning ceremony. But the USS Alabama will be in service for another 12 years, after an “exhaustive engineering analysis” in 1990 found her submarine class fit to extend the original 30-year-commission out to 42. The USS Alabama is only the second Ohio-class ballistic submarine to reach the milestone. “This is a very significant in the ship’s history and also for the Navy. These ships will make it to 42 years, they have to; it’s imperative that they do to fulfill our mission,” said Cmdr. Paul Reinhardt, Alabama Blue crew commanding officer. “What helps us get there is the hard work of our Sailors, our partners in the fleet, and the support of our families and crew to get it done.”