Montgomery Advertiser (Montgomery, AL) articles from November 2005

Montgomery Advertiser (Montgomery, AL) archives from November 2005

Chamber looks to past, focuses on future.
November 30, 2005... Byline: Deborah Willoughby Nov. 30--Business leaders looking forward to more economic development paused Tuesday to honor one of the heroes of the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Civil rights pioneer Johnnie Carr was surprised to receive the...

Lowndes County, Ala., auto plant caught in tug-of-war.
November 29, 2005... Byline: David Irvin Nov. 29--A union election scheduled for Wednesday at the Daehan Solutions Co. plant in Lowndes County has opened a debate about what this could mean for the state's automotive industry and, ultimately, the workers who...

Plan would reduce electricity rate hike.
November 29, 2005... Byline: David Irvin Nov. 29--Alabama Power Co. customers will see a smaller electricity rate increase if the Public Service Commission approves staff recommendations released late Monday. Under the recommendations, Alabama Power will...

Business Q&A: Marguirette Fields.(Interview)
November 28, 2005... Byline: Deborah Willoughby Nov. 28--Marguirette and Lyle Fields opened their second Marquirette's jewelry shop in Montgomery last week. She is a native of Montgomery. He is a New Yorker who followed his father into the diamond business....

Seoul training a boon to workers.
November 27, 2005... Byline: Deborah Willoughby Nov. 27--Frank Barnes likes his job building doors for Hyundai Motor Manufacturing. But when he spent two weeks at the Namyang Research and Development Center near Seoul, South Korea, he was so impressed that...

TV goes PC.
November 27, 2005... Byline: Darryn Simmons Nov. 27--On Saturday morning Scotty Crawley, 19, watches the sports reports and then a few hours of wrestling. He's not watching TV, but his computer. World Wrestling Entertainment is just one of many that are...

Selma, Ala., Lockheed still waiting.
November 27, 2005... Byline: Mike Linn Nov. 27--Selma city officials hope Uncle Sam puts on his Santa outfit and delivers that present the city has been anticipating for the last few months -- a $175 million contract. The Air Force is expected to chose...

Drug-cost growth tops norm.
November 27, 2005... Byline: John Davis Nov. 27--Prescription drug costs are on the rise across the nation, but a recent survey suggests that Alabama's pharmaceutical costs may be growing faster than average. A recent study by the Southern Legislative...

Stores rejoice as bargains boost sales.
November 26, 2005... Byline: Deborah Willoughby Nov. 26--If Montgomery retailers don't end the year with healthy profits, don't blame Floretta Timmons. She did her part Friday. "I spent pretty good," she said. "We always go shopping the day after...

Early shoppers get the deals.
November 26, 2005... Byline: Crystal Bonvillian Nov. 26--Hundreds of shoppers braved cold temperatures Friday morning as the rising sun cast shades of pink and orange in the sky over Target. The cold was forgotten by 6 a.m., when the doors opened and the...

Rural cell users will be covered by Kudzoo.
November 25, 2005... Byline: David Irvin Nov. 25--The days of dropped calls and weak mobile phone signals are growing shorter for residents in four rural Alabama counties, according to the chief executive officer of a new mobile phone company setting up next...

EDITORIAL: City crime ranking still merits concern.(Editorial)
November 25, 2005... Nov. 25--At first glance it is a sobering report: According to a survey of the nation's safest cities based on crime statistics, Montgomery ranks among the bottom quarter of cities in the nation in public safety. The 12th annual...

EDITORIAL: 'Donor fatigue' not problem yet.(Editorial)
November 25, 2005... Nov. 25--With memories of yesterday's Thanksgiving Day feast still in the minds of many, today is a good time to contemplate anew the needs of others and the ways in which the needy can be helped. It has been a challenging year for charitable...

$48 million bond talk of town.
November 24, 2005... Byline: Marty Roney Nov. 24--The city of Prattville took another step Wednesday night toward making a $48 million investment that it hopes will lure two large shopping centers and a conference center to the city's east side. About 50...

Both BONDS employees leave, nonprofit seeks workers.
November 24, 2005... Byline: Kirsten J. Barnes Nov. 24--Building Our Neighborhoods for Development and Success is looking to fill its two positions after both of its employees left to pursue new endeavors. BONDS Director Jonathon Dow and his assistant...

Shoppers gear up for big day.
November 24, 2005... Byline: David Irvin Nov. 24--Even before their turkey hangovers wear off, throngs of aggressive shoppers will be scouring the shelves of Montgomery retail stores looking for the best holiday deals. The day after Thanksgiving...

Siegelman pushes tax breaks.
November 24, 2005... Byline: John Davis Nov. 24--Former Gov. Don Siegelman is taking his campaign to the Montgomery Mall today, where he'll continue to bash Republican Gov. Bob Riley, this time calling for a post Turkey Day tax break. Gubernatorial...

Editorial: Bid law shouldn't be serious impediment.(Editorial)
November 23, 2005... Nov. 23--Given the reports of dubious uses of homeland security funds around the country, Alabamians can scarcely be faulted for being skeptical about a proposal to create exemptions to the state's bid law. Maybe there's a bit of...

FEMA extends hotel deadline.
November 23, 2005... Byline: Kirsten J. Barnes Nov. 23--Hurricane evacuees living in hotels who had been told they had until Dec. 1 to find new residences have had their deadlines extended until Jan. 7 by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The...

Xbox frenzy starts waiting game.
November 23, 2005... Byline: Deborah Willoughby Nov. 23--It was 9:57 p.m. Monday, and Tracy Dill was a little impatient: "Can we get them now?" she called to a Wal-Mart employee. "It's three minutes now. Three minutes!" She had been waiting in line at...

City digs deep for outlying areas.
November 22, 2005... Byline: Marty Roney Nov. 22--PRATTVILLE -- Prattville is getting ready now to shell out big bucks and borrow even bigger bucks to extend services to areas annexed into the city. Three years ago the city approved annexations that...

State troopers issue holiday travel alert.
November 22, 2005... Byline: Deitrich Curry Nov. 22--Clemente Grimes and his wife, Rohonda Grimes, are not leaving until Thanksgiving morning to spend the day with his family in Birmingham. He said they are not worried about the traffic, drunken drivers...

Organization turns housing into homes.
November 22, 2005... Byline: Kirsten J. Barnes Nov. 22--Janice Porter has lived in Garden Square for seven years. She rents a duplex next to another duplex that had been boarded up for some time. Thanks to Freedom Life Community Development Corp., that...

Hospice workers bring caring, dignity to patients' last days.
November 22, 2005... Byline: Teri Greene Nov. 22--For some people, the word "hospice" is chilling. It seems to signal the end of the road, evidence, when someone is struggling with a terminal illness, that the time has come to give up hope. But people...

'Grand Theft Auto' comes under fire.
November 22, 2005... Byline: Mike Linn Nov. 22--Jack Thompson doesn't want youngsters killing cops, either real ones with a gun, or computer-generated ones with a joystick. The Miami-area attorney sent a letter Nov. 15 to Alabama Attorney General Troy...

State personnel director announces retirement.
November 22, 2005... Byline: John Davis Nov. 22--Alabama's personnel director Tommy Flowers, who has been in state service for more 42 years, announced his retirement Monday, as he stepped aside for longtime deputy Jackie Graham. The State Personnel...

Check the Malls ... and Shoppes at EastChase.
November 21, 2005... Byline: Teri Greene Nov. 21--In the weeks leading up to Christmas, you're going to be out there mall-trekking and boutique-hopping anyway. Why not make the most of it? Here is just a sampling of some local shopping standouts that might...

Business Q&A with mortgage, real estate specialist Steven Tucker.(Interview)
November 21, 2005... Byline: Deborah Willoughby Nov. 21--Steven Tucker has worked in the mortgage and real estate industries for several years. As the Montgomery area's housing market has heated up, Tucker has helped groups of outside investors who visit the...

Substitute teacher shortage chalked up to low pay.
November 21, 2005... Byline: Antoinette Konz Nov. 21--Dorothy Lee-Hudson carries lesson plans with her and often has different learning activities ready to go at a moment's notice. When she gets the call that a teacher has come down with the flu or needs...

Montgomery, Ala., airport shuttle's maiden voyage in December.
November 20, 2005... Byline: David Irvin Nov. 20--A new entrepreneur will challenge the established players in the human transport business when he starts up an airport shuttle service next month in Montgomery. But those already in the business say he'll...

Young veterans need jobs.
November 20, 2005... Byline: Crystal Bonvillian Nov. 20--Latoyia Delbridge of Montgomery has had a hard time finding work since she returned from Operation Iraqi Freedom 18 months ago. "In August, I started a job, but that ended in October," said...

Game on.
November 20, 2005... Byline: Darryn Simmons Nov. 20--It's time for the opening shot to be fired in the next-generation video game console wars. The blast hits at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday, when the Microsoft Xbox 360 launches in stores -- at least those that...

Frenzy feared as new Xbox arrives.
November 20, 2005... Byline: Darryn Simmons Nov. 20--It's been more than a year in the making for Leonard Cage. He's been waiting that long to drive Ferraris through city streets, lead a platoon of soldiers on a mission during World War II and throw the...

Troy, Ala., arts center plan gets boost.
November 19, 2005... Byline: Alvin Benn Nov. 19--TROY -- Plans to convert Troy's old post office into a cultural arts center got a major boost Friday when two high school sweethearts returned "home" to donate $500,000 to the project. Manley and Mary Lois...

Montgomery Advertiser, Ala., business profile column.
November 19, 2005... Byline: David Bundy Nov. 19--It's no surprise that Sherry Knight loves her work, but it may be for some of her victims. Eight years ago, Knight bought the tri-county franchise of Flamingo-A-Friend and has been treating unsuspecting...

Auburn University chief receives pay hike.
November 19, 2005... Byline: Erica Pippins Nov. 19--AUBURN -- Auburn University's board of trustees voted unanimously Friday to raise interim President Ed Richardson's salary by nearly 19 percent to acknowledge the college chief's accomplishments during the...

Evacuees' hotel funds ending.
November 19, 2005... Byline: Kirsten J. Barnes Nov. 19--Pierre Andre' NaBonne Jr., 85, has been in Montgomery since Oct. 12, when he evacuated from New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina damaged the HUD-subsidized retirement home where he lived. NaBonne now...

Alabama jobless rate climbs in October.
November 19, 2005... Byline: David Irvin Nov. 19--Alabama's unemployment rate increased to 4.5 percent in October, up from 4.1 percent in September, a state news release states. That represents about 10,000 more unemployed people in the state. Last...

EDITORIAL: Medicine cut threatens poor.(Editorial)
November 19, 2005... Nov. 19--Something is seriously amiss when a rush to curb federal spending takes so many actions that harm the poorest of America's people. Certainly it is important to find the fiscal discipline to hold the line on spending, but surely it is...

Wal-Mart in Millbrook, Ala., future.
November 19, 2005... Byline: Julie Arrington Nov. 19--MILLBROOK -- By 2007, residents here may no longer have to drive to Prattville to shop at Wal-Mart. Millbrook Mayor Al Kelley confirmed Friday that a Super Wal-Mart will open in Millbrook in 2007. ...

Colleges address parking issues.
November 18, 2005... Byline: Erica Pippins Nov. 18--Khambrel Campbell equates finding a convenient place to park on the Alabama State University campus to looking for a needle in a haystack. But he'd rather pull his car into a spot that's a little bit...

EDITORIAL: View ANWR oil as a mega-reserve.(Editorial)
November 18, 2005... Nov. 18--While the situation still could change, it now appears likely that Congress this year will not approve drilling for oil in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge. That's a good thing - not because it won't happen eventually, but because...

Spending bill benefits area.
November 18, 2005... Byline: Greg Wright Nov. 18--WASHINGTON -- You could practically hear Willie Jones smile over the phone Thursday when he found out the Cleveland Avenue YMCA could get a $400,000 check from the federal government. The YMCA in downtown...

Forester spars with Southern Poverty Law Center over worker threats.
November 18, 2005... Byline: Mike Linn Nov. 18--A Montgomery lawyer is asking a federal judge to protect a group of Guatemalan tree planters, saying co-workers at an American forestry company threatened and bribed them to withdraw from a class-action lawsuit...

Transport network needs help.
November 18, 2005... Byline: David Irvin Nov. 18--The future growth of Alabama's economy will be "limited" and "constrained" without significant spending on transportation infrastructure, a group of researchers from the University of Alabama in Huntsville...

Forester spars with SPLC over worker threats.
November 18, 2005... Byline: Mike Linn Nov. 18--A Montgomery lawyer is asking a federal judge to protect a group of Guatemalan tree planters, saying co-workers at an American forestry company threatened and bribed them to withdraw from a class-action lawsuit...

Shoppers welcome Zelda Road growth.
November 17, 2005... Byline: Deborah Willoughby Nov. 17--As the signs say, Zelda is getting a facelift. Zelda Road, the four-lane artery through Montgomery's midtown area, is being revitalized with an influx of retailers and soon will be expanded with a...

EDITORIAL: Lack of inspections make dams too risky.(Editorial)
November 17, 2005... Nov. 17--Suppose there's a dam somewhere near your home. Are you and your family potentially in danger from it? Are you in the path of the water that would be released if the dam failed? Is the dam in good condition? Whose dam is it? You...

EDITORIAL: Cutting Head Start sadly shortsighted.(Editorial)
November 17, 2005... Nov. 17--The federal budget is awash in red ink, in part due to the huge outlays associated with Hurricane Katrina, so the need to curb spending is not in dispute. But why make spending cuts in programs with proven records of helping the...

Indians could begin live poker.
November 17, 2005... Byline: Jannell McGrew Nov. 17--By the start of the new year, thousands of in-state and out-of-state gamblers could be taking part in live poker games on Indian lands in Alabama. Eddie Tullis, council member and former tribe chairman...

State warns of identity theft.
November 17, 2005... Byline: Julie Arrington Nov. 17--The next television commercial you try to flip through may bear a very important message. The attorney general's office, in cooperation with the Credit Union Coalition of Alabama, released a new...

Beasley, Merck set for Vioxx battle.
November 17, 2005... Byline: Mike Linn Nov. 17--Since Jere Beasley broke his arm about a month ago, he's had trouble completing some of the more routine tasks in his Montgomery law office. But the former lieutenant governor and one-time gubernatorial...

Restaurant adds South Boulevard location.
November 16, 2005... Byline: David Irvin Nov. 16--The owner of a popular barbecue restaurant defiantly will set up a new store location on South Boulevard this month in an effort to show the area still is economically viable. Michelle Browder, owner of...

EDITORIAL: Don't rush to make Medicare drug choice.(Editorial)
November 16, 2005... Nov. 16--A suggestion for seniors in Alabama: Although you can now begin to sign up for the Medicare Prescription Drug Plan, don't do it - at least don't do it right away unless you've already done your homework. It's almost as if the...

City gets say in $48M plan to lure retail.
November 16, 2005... Byline: Marty Roney Nov. 16--Prattville residents will have a chance to have their say next week on a proposed $48 million bond package that will finance incentives to lure retail interests and a conference center to the east side of the...

Plan to cut Medicaid could bite pharmacists.
November 15, 2005... Byline: John Davis Nov. 15--Congress' search for $54 billion in federal savings is poised to hit pharmacists in the pocket book, and some say it could cost them everything. Billy Beatty, owner of City Drug on Dexter Avenue, says 40...

Week set aside to salute farm-city symbiosis.
November 15, 2005... Byline: David Irvin Nov. 15--The toil of America's farmers bears some of the oddest fruits. For instance, crayons, antibiotics and even the colored ink used in The Montgomery Advertiser are made from soybean byproducts. Insulin from hogs...

EDITORIAL: PSC owes public answers on costs.(Editorial)
November 14, 2005... Nov. 14--A survey of costs paid for natural gas by residential users shows the three companies serving Alabama have some of the highest costs in the region for the same amount of natural gas. That raises a serious question for the Alabama...

Business Q&A: Trey Sippial.(Interview)
November 14, 2005... Byline: Deborah Willoughby Nov. 14--Business partnerships frequently are a family affair partly because families tend to share the same values and goals and that instills a sense of trust. When Trey Sippial, Alfonso Patterson and Theo...

Hog farm waste blamed.
November 13, 2005... Byline: Mike Linn Nov. 13--Large hog farms can smell, attract flies and affect property values. Residents who live near them know that. But biologists say the farms are also turning some Alabama streams into open sewers, introducing...

Businesses hope revelers stay out of the kitchen.
November 13, 2005... Byline: David Irvin Nov. 13--Consumers will pay a little for their holiday feasts if they can just get out of cooking them, area caterers said this week. "What we are seeing more and more, rather than a cost issue it's just a...

Anonymous gifts helping restore city's first hotel for blacks.
November 13, 2005... Byline: Robyn Bradley Litchfield Nov. 13--Slowly but surely, the eyesore at the corner of South Jackson and High streets is beginning to heal, and its prognosis is promising. With financial backing from a number of anonymous sources,...

Western Railways of Alabama: Today -- Future of site in city's hands.
November 13, 2005... Byline: Allison Griffin Nov. 13--In the past year, little has changed at the old Western Railways of Alabama site, an overgrown plot of about 40 acres in the industrial part of Montgomery's north downtown area. The remaining...

Montgomery County, Ala., roads earn high state score.
November 13, 2005... Byline: Sebastian Kitchen Nov. 13--The more than 630 miles of county roads and 215 bridges in Montgomery County are among the best kept in the state. Ever. In a recent inspection of county roads by the Alabama Department of...

Daehan denies plant closure threat.
November 12, 2005... Byline: David Irvin Nov. 12--The National Labor Relations Board this week released complaints filed against Korean automotive supplier Daehan Solutions, and on Friday company representatives denied them all. The allegations, as...

EDITORIAL: Reduction bill hurts poorest.(Editorial)
November 12, 2005... Nov. 12--It's hard to find anyone who doesn't favor reducing the federal budget deficit. It's also hard to find a lot of common ground about how best to do that, how best to curb the growth in spending without inflicting serious damage to...

Real People @ Work: Nancy Rhodes.
November 12, 2005... Byline: David Bundy Nov. 12--Nancy Rhodes wouldn't describe herself as a "girlie girl." Being a tow truck driver for Powell Wrecker Service is not the first work she's had that may be considered "man's work." Previously, she has...

EDITORIAL: Do Georgia consumers get better treatment?(Editorial)
November 11, 2005... Nov. 11--Customers of Alabama Power Co. - that includes most Alabamians - can expect to pay more for electricity soon, no matter what the state Public Service Commission does about the company's proposed rate increase. The issue isn't about...

EastChase properties sold.
November 11, 2005... Byline: David Irvin Nov. 11--The Shoppes and The Plaza at EastChase were sold Thursday for an undisclosed sum to a joint-venture real estate company. Jim Wilson and Associates Inc. and Alfa Insurance Companies developed the eastside...

Business is too good for rural transportation system.
November 11, 2005... Byline: Marty Roney Nov. 11--PRATTVILLE -- The director of the Autauga County Rural Transportation Authority is in a bit of a pickle. Business is too good. Laura Crowe has sought direction from the Autauga County Commission on how to...

Prescription drug assistance available.
November 11, 2005... Byline: John Davis Nov. 11--SELMA -- Siblings Larry Jordan and Mary Wilson don't have a home. The New Orleans residents are living in a Selma hotel, exiled by Hurricane Katrina. They also don't have any blood pressure medication. "I...

Conference focuses on fuel alternatives.
November 10, 2005... Byline: Alvin Benn Nov. 10--AUBURN -- Alabama farmers who step lively around chicken litter might not know it, but that could be an answer to America's search for alternative fuel sources. The same can be said of cotton stalks, corn,...

Trip to Cuba produces $23 million in deals.
November 10, 2005... Byline: David Irvin Nov. 10--A delegation of Alabama state officials returned from Cuba this month with some positive news: $23 million in trade deals with Cuba's import company, Alimport. According to department officials, Alabama...

EDITORIAL: Infrastructure vital to Black Belt growth.(Editorial)
November 9, 2005... Nov. 9--The public hearings being held this week on the extension of Interstate 85 through the Black Belt are a necessary part of the lengthy process that holds great promise for the chronically impoverished region. Nothing happens quickly...

Gas prices expected to continue falling.
November 9, 2005... Byline: Erica Pippins Nov. 9--Consumers will shell out fewer pennies at the pump over the next few months but still should expect to pay more for gasoline than they did at this time a year ago, analysts say. Robert Norris of Ariton...

Federal deficit reduction may cost state Medicaid dollars.
November 9, 2005... Byline: John Davis Nov. 9--Alabama's U.S. senators are showing how serious they are about Bush administration-backed cuts to federal spending, voting against an amendment that would net Alabama $34.2 million in Medicaid dollars. The...

Power outage darkens downtown.
November 9, 2005... Byline: Topher Sanders Nov. 9--A power outage that affected portions of downtown Montgomery and stretched almost to Maxwell-Gunter Air Force Base lasted for more than five hours Tuesday. The power finally came back on in some parts...

Bridge construction behind.
November 8, 2005... Byline: Marty Roney Nov. 8--PRATTVILLE -- Jason Kelly travels from Prattville to visit relatives in Selma several times a month and his route takes him past the new bridge under construction downtown where Alabama 14 crosses Autauga...

EDITORIAL: Geriatric parole has little effect.(Editorial)
November 8, 2005... Nov. 8--It's hard to argue against the early parole of prison inmates who are so old or enfeebled as to pose no threat to society, but no one should imagine that this will have any appreciable impact on Alabama's chronic prison overcrowding...

PSC to hear positions on power rates.
November 8, 2005... Byline: David Irvin Nov. 8--Two intervening parties will offer testimony at today's Public Service Commission hearing on the issue of whether Alabama Power can boost its electricity rates next month. One of the intervening parties...

Voting system purchase OK'd.
November 8, 2005... Byline: Sebastian Kitchen Nov. 8--Exactly a year before Alabamians go to the polls to elect a governor and slate of other public officials, Montgomery County commissioners approved the first new voting system in decades. The...

Capital City seeks to attract Internet surfers.
November 8, 2005... Byline: David Irvin Nov. 8--Montgomery officials unveiled a new multimedia Web site Monday they believe will help sell the city to prospective businesses and residents. The site, which is hosted by New York-based CGI Communications,...

Business Q&A: Edwin Kershaw.(Interview)
November 7, 2005... Byline: Deborah Willoughby Nov. 7--Edwin Kershaw is human resources manager of ArvinMeritor's Montgomery Light Vehicle Systems facility, responsible for the Montgomery Customer Value Center door modules plant, which employs 130 people...

Colorful prairies potential 'gold mines'.
November 7, 2005... Byline: Mike Linn Nov. 7--JONES BLUFF -- About 150 yards from where the farm meets the forest, down a trail of soggy soil and felled trees, sits a half-acre pod of chest-high Indian grass. In the spring, environmental...