UAW targets Mercedes In talks with workers for a third attempt at unionization | 1D
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Mark Ingram excited about upcoming NFL season | 1C IN TODAY’S PAPER
THE MOM STOP | 1E
COUPONS WORTH $
Pool safety is vital for children of all ages
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In most areas
S U N DA Y , J U L Y 14 , 2013 $1. $1 50
T U S C A L O O S A , N O R T H P O R T, W E S T A L A B A M A
WWW.TUSCALOOSANEWS.COM
Girl shot in drive-by By Stephanie Taylor Staff Writer
A 4-year-old girl is in stable condition after being shot Friday night. Tamerra Harper was asleep on a chair when someone fi red shots into a home in the 700 block of 31st Avenue, said Tuscaloosa County Metro Homicide Unit commander Sgt. Dale Phillips. Harper was taken to Children’s of Birmingham, where she was in stable but critical condition Saturday morning, he
said. Tamerra, who has a twin sister Tamiya, suffered a head wound and a broken arm. Her grandmother said she has a bullet lodged in her skull and another in her arm. She is breathing with the help of a ventilator, had a blood clot in the left side of her head and was scheduled to undergo surgery to remove the bullet from her arm Saturday afternoon, La Shonda Harper-Gibson said. The shots were fired into the house SEE SHOOTING | 9A
Alabama tuition mid-range among similar universities SUBMITTED PHOTO
Tamerra Harper, right, was struck by two bullets during a drive-by shooting on Friday. At left is her twin, Tamiya Harper.
Officials cite competition, retirement costs, state cuts for doubling of tuition since 2003 By Ed Enoch Staff Writer
Peddlers’ Predicament William Fields sells produce along U.S. Highway 82 in Northport on Thursday. Fields has been selling at the same location six days a week seasonally for more than seven years. The city of Northport is considering making changes to peddler-license requirements, including requiring produce stands to have permanent electricity and a bathroom. STAFF PHOTO | MICHELLE LEPIANKA CARTER
Northport to consider tighter rules on roadside salesmen By Lydia Seabol Avant Staff Writer
NORTHPORT | For the past eight years William Fields has operated a covered fruit and vegetable stand off U.S. Highway 82 in Northport, but that could soon change as Northport considers tightening restrictions on peddlers’ licenses. The City Council will vote Monday on limiting peddler’s licenses to 15 days. If passed, peddlers could get only two licenses per calendar year and would be able to conduct business only in a Northport church, school-sponsored event or events such as Kentuck, Dickens Downtown, Blue Angels air shows or school festivals. They will also be allowed for special events in an enclosed permanent structure with electricity and permanent restroom facilities. For f r uit a nd veget able
stands, the license would be good for 180 days and could be obtained only once a year. The produce stand also must be located on a site that has permanent electrical service and permanent restroom facilities. No temporary storage facility, portable toilets, tent or temporary cover would be allowed, according to the proposed ordinance. That worries Fields, who operates under a metal garagetype shelter, has a storage building on site and, until last week, had a portable restroom. He says he just wants to stay in business, but he’s not sure he’ll be able to if he has to move. “Rent for an actual storefront is $800 or $900 a month,” Fields said. “You aren’t going to make anything if you have to do that.” Fields started selling produce — including local produce from farmers and eggs from SEE R ULES | 8A
Tuscaloosa moving vendors out of public parking spaces By Jason Morton Staff Writer
TUSCALOOSA | As Northport prepares to enact strict legislation against street-based vendors, Tuscaloosa City Hall is making policy changes related to vendors as well. On Tuesday, the City Council will vote on whether to grant a new franchise license to Benny’s Hotdogs, the only regular street vendor in the downtown area. Despite opposition from some downtown bar and restaurant owners, Mayor Walt Maddox has voiced his support for approving it. But Benny’s Hotdogs, which pops up on downtown street corners during various times of the year, is an anomaly. Several other street vendors show up only during football season, but for them to get licensed this year, they will have play by a stricter set of rules. At the instruction of Maddox, Tera Tubbs, director of the Tuscaloosa Department of Transportation, will not sign off on a franchise license for these vendors if they don’t agree to stay out of downtown parking spaces. Tubbs said a complaint that TDOT and public safety officials have dealt with in the past is that food vendor carts, which can only operate in public rights-of-way in the downtown area, would take SEE VENDORS | 8A
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The cost of attending the University of Alabama remains in the middle of the pack compared to similar fl agship institutions in the Southeast, even as undergraduate tuition at UA has more than doubled during the past decade. The average annual tuition and fees for undergraduates at UA has increased from $4,134 for Alabama residents in 2003 to $9,450 beginning this fall. The average tuition for undergraduates from out of state has increased from $11,294 to $23,950. In state, UA’s tuition rates for the fall remain cheaper than Auburn
University, whose board of trustees voted this year to increase annual tuition for undergraduates to $9,852 for residents and $26,364 for nonresidents. University of Alabama System spokeswoman Kellee Reinhart said the cost of attending peer institutions is among the benchmarks considered by the system when it evaluates tuition hikes. “Whether it is providing highdema nd ac adem ic prog r a ms , cutting-edge research facilities or up-to-date campus housing, we always strive to remain competitive with other universities,” Reinhart said. That ability to compete — whether SEE T UITION | 9A
2013 tuition rates for southeastern schools
Shown are the annual tuition rates for each school. Numbers are based on full-time enrollment of four to six courses per semester.
IN-STATE
SEC
OUT-OF-STATE
$9,450 Alabama $7,817 Arkansas $9,852 Auburn Florida $6,270 $10,262 Georgia $9,966 Kentucky $7,834 LSU Miss. State $6,772 $9,430 Missouri ALABAMA Ole Miss $6,660 $10,791 South Car. $11,194 Tennessee $41,928 $9,006 Texas A&M Vanderbilt $13,382 Clemson $6,404 FSU $10,400 Georgia Tech $9,928 Georgia State NC State $8,206 Texas $9,816 Virginia $12,466 Virginia Tech $11,455 WVU $6,456
Other
Thousands
5
7.5
10
12.5
15
$23,950 Alabama $19,074 Arkansas $26,364 Auburn $28,548 Florida $28,472 Georgia $21,052 Kentucky $25,742 LSU Miss. State $16,960 $22,822 Missouri ALABAMA $17,628 Ole Miss $28,461 South Car. $29,684 Tennessee $41,928 $25,626 Texas A&M Vanderbilt $30,382 Clemson $21,568 FSU $30,400 Georgia Tech Georgia State $28,138 NC State $21,661 Texas $33,976 Virginia Virginia Tech $27,211 $39,852 WVU $19,620
40 Thousands 10
15
20
25
30
40
STAFF GRAPHIC | ANTHONY BRATINA
Jurors find Zimmerman not guilty in Martin’s death By Audra D.S. Burch, Evan S. Benn and David Ovalle The Miami Herald
SANFORD, F LA . | George Zimmerman was acquitted Saturday in the shooting death of Miami Gardens teenager Trayvon Martin after a wrenching five-week trial that provoked a national discussion around the thorny issues of race, profi ling, self-defense laws and gun control. The neighborhood watch captain who fatally shot Martin in the heart during a violent struggle 17 months ago, smiled slightly after a court clerk read the verdict aloud in Seminole County courtroom 5D with Zimmerman’s family present. Martin’s parents were not in the courtroom. On the single count of murder in the SEE VERDICT | 9A
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
George Zimmerman leaves court with his family after his not guilty verdict was read in Seminole Circuit Court in Sanford, Fla. on Saturday.