UA social groups raise $180K for storm relief
Tuscaloosa News – July 9
…In the week from April 29 to May 6, the UA Greek Relief Fund, a joint effort between Greek fraternities and sororities to aid in the recovery effort, registered more than 600 volunteers who cooked more than 50,000 hot meals and distributed hundreds of thousands of pounds of canned goods, clothes and hygiene products. But after May 6, the group switched its focus solely to fundraising and has collected more than $180,000 to distribute within the Tuscaloosa community. Earlier this week, the group announced it has begun accepting grant applications from nonprofit organizations through its website, uagreekrelief.com. Fowler said it’s important to the organization that the money stays in Tuscaloosa. To ensure that goal and manage the money, the organization formed a board of trustees that includes representatives from the Tuscaloosa City Council along with UA administration, alumni and student leaders…
UA unveils Ingram portrait
Montgomery Advertiser – July 9
The University of Alabama is unveiling a portrait of the school’s first Heisman Trophy winner, Mark Ingram. Ingram and football coach Nick Saban participated in Friday’s ceremony at the Paul W. Bryant Museum on campus in Tuscaloosa. The portrait was painted by sports artist Steve Skipper of Birmingham. It’s titled “Take It By Force.” The portrait will hang in the museum beside Ingram’s Heisman Trophy…
Fox 6 (Birmingham) – July 8
ABC 33/40 (Birmingham) – July 8
NBC 13 (Birmingham) – July 8
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – July 8
WKRG (Mobile) – July 8
WAKA (Montgomery) – July 8
WCOV (Montgomery) – July 8
WDHN (Dothan) – July 8
Distracted driving leads to thousands of car crashes in Alabama yearly
Mobile Press-Register – July 10
…In Alabama last year, an estimated 14,000 car crashes — about one in nine of all roadway accidents — involved distracted driving, such as talking on a cell phone, eating, texting or toying with the navigation system. In those crashes, 132 people died and 4,380 others were injured, according to estimates by the University of Alabama’s Center for Advanced Public Safety based on federal data….
Immigration law could impact city’s rebuilding
Tuscaloosa News – July 10
…”It will cause a labor shortage, particularly in construction and in fields dominated by Latino immigrants,” said Michael Innis-Jimenez, an assistant professor of American studies at the University of Alabama, who specializes in Latino and labor issues…
Alabama AFL-CIO president to retire
Gadsden Times – July 9
…Trevor Bain is chairman emeritus of the School of Management at the University of Alabama. One of his specialties is organized labor. He’s also a neutral labor arbitrator. Bain said Alabama, with its coal mines, steel and textile industries and the Mobile port, was one of the most unionized states. Now many industries are overseas. “What Stewart has seen is a very vibrant union movement in the state of Alabama, but as throughout the United States, unions went down to about 10 percent in the private sector, (up) a little more in the public sector,” Bain said…