280 Living
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Volume | Issue2011 10 | June | 4June | 2011
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neighborly news & entertainment
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Tracking storms, saving lives
June Features
By RICK WATSON
Photo Contest | pg 4 • Publisher’s Note
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• T-shirts for tornado relief
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• Local honey
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• Oak Mountain State Park
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• Youth tornado relief
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• Valedictorians
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• School House
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• Sports
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• Pure Barre
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• Restaurant Showcase
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• Business Spotlight
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During spring and fall in our state, Mother Nature often throws us a curve: a potent mix of warm air, cool air, and other more exotic ingredients make the atmosphere as volatile as matches and gasoline. Where does one turn for immediate weather information, when the sky looks even more threatening than usual? Most of us in central Alabama have never met James Spann, chief meteorologist at ABC 33/40 and a Greystone resident, but we feel like we already know him, especially after the April tornadoes. “James Spann has probably saved more lives in central Alabama than penicillin,” Randy Palmer of Tuscaloosa said. Casie Bridges and Regina Hicks of Argo can testify that listening to Spann’s on-air reports that day saved their lives. They were in the path of the tornado and took shelter when Spann said the storm was near. Their homes were heavily damaged, but they came out okay. Since that historic week, Spann and
See SPANN | page 29
Meteorologist and Greystone resident James Spann, known for wearing his suspenders, provides weather coverage for ABC 33/40. Photo by Rick Watson.
United to bring relief
Meadow Brook woman one of the workhorses behind Toomer’s for Tuscaloosa
• 280 Business Happenings 22 • Rick Watson
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• Library Happenings
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• Kari Kampakis
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• U-Pick Farms
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• Paul Johnson
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• Calendar of Events
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• Music Listings/Classifieds 31 Become a fan on
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Christina Tatum and Meadow Brook resident Holly Hart Shirley direct the flow of supplies at a warehouse in Tuscaloosa in early May. Photo courtesy of Kelly Windham.
By MADOLINE MARKHAM A month and a half ago Holly Hart Shirley was not a relief worker. She was an interior designer living in Meadow Brook and working on a point-of-sale website. Today it is relief work through a different website, toomers4tuscaloosa.com and its Facebook page, that consumes her days and nights.
Shirley is part of the nucleus of worker bees behind the grassroots group Toomer’s for Tuscaloosa that sends aid directly to tornado victims as quickly as possible. “Our team never would have been hired to do relief work,” she said. “We’re a maid, two artists, an interior decorator, a mini storage manager, a stay-at-home mom and
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a couple of college students.” But together they are mobilizing thousands to serve the needs of those all over Alabama whose lives were forever changed by the April 27 tornadoes. More than 85,000 Toomer’s Facebook fans are constantly posting and responding to needs for tarps, underwear, you name it. The page is a communication hub for tornado relief efforts throughout the state, and many other relief groups publicize on the page as well. ESPN and other national media have told the story of Alabama and Auburn fans uniting under the group to serve tornado victims. Alabama fans had supported Auburn last fall when their beloved trees at Toomer’s Corner were poisoned, and Toomer’s has encouraged Auburn fans to help those in Tuscaloosa in the wake of the EF-4 tornado. “I think since Auburn is an agricultural school, its alums and students are used to building and doing,” Shirley said. “It’s part of the Auburn culture.” From the Beginning Just after the tornadoes struck Shirley stumbled upon the Toomer’s for Tuscaloosa
See TOOMER’S | page 23
We offer quarterly, bimonthly, and one time services! Monthly’s starting at $25 Bimonthly’s starting at $45 Quarterly’s starting at $65 prices based on a one year contract
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