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WEEKLY
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LAGNIAPPE
F E B R U A RY 2 0 , 2 0 1 9 - F E B R U A RY 2 6 , 2 0 1 9 | w w w. l a g n i a p p e m o b i l e . c o m ASHLEY TRICE Co-publisher/Editor atrice@lagniappemobile.com ROB HOLBERT Co-publisher/Managing Editor rholbert@lagniappemobile.com GABRIEL TYNES Assistant Managing Editor gabe@lagniappemobile.com DALE LIESCH Reporter dale@lagniappemobile.com JASON JOHNSON Reporter jason@lagniappemobile.com
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BAY BRIEFS
Local law enforcement agencies are crediting ride-sharing services like Uber for a decrease in DUI arrests.
COMMENTARY
Can Mardi Gras survive this highly-charged political climate?
BUSINESS
Residential real estate activity cooled in Baldwin County last month, according to the latest data from the Baldwin County Association of Realtors.
CUISINE
KEVIN LEE Associate Editor/Arts Editor klee@lagniappemobile.com ANDY MACDONALD Cuisine Editor fatmansqueeze@comcast.net
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STEPHEN CENTANNI Music Editor scentanni@lagniappemobile.com STEPHANIE POE Copy Editor copy@lagniappemobile.com DANIEL ANDERSON Chief Photographer dan@danandersonphoto.com LAURA MATTEI Art Director www.laurarasmussen.com BROOKE O’DONNELL Advertising Sales Executive brooke@lagniappemobile.com BETH WOOLSEY Advertising Sales Executive bwilliams@lagniappemobile.com DAVID GRAYSON Advertising Sales Executive david@lagniappemobile.com SUZANNE SAWYER Advertising Sales Executive suzanne@lagniappemobile.com
COVER
Approaching the start of a new term on Fat Tuesday, Alabama’s 140 state legislators face a host of pressing issues, including possible prison construction and an increase in the gas tax. By Jason Johnson, Dale Liesch and Gabriel Tynes
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CONTRIBUTORS: J. Mark Bryant, Asia Frey, Brian Holbert, Randy Kennedy, John Mullen, Jordan Parker, Jeff Poor, Ron Sivak ON THE COVER: GAS TAX BY LAURA MATTEI LAGNIAPPE HD Periodicals Permit #17660 (Volume 4, Issue 21) Copyright 2015 is published weekly, 52 issues a year, by Something Extra Publishing, Inc., 704 Government St., Mobile, AL 36604 (P.O. Box 3003 Mobile, AL 36652). Business and Editorial Offices: 704 Government St., Mobile, AL 36604 Accounting and Circulation Offices: 704 Government St., Mobile, AL 36602. Call 251-450-4466 to subscribe. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to P.O. Box 3003 Mobile, AL 36652 Editorial, advertising and production offices are located at 704 Government St., Mobile, AL 36602. Mailing address is P.O. Box 3003 Mobile, AL 36652. Phone: 251-450-4466 Email: atrice@lagniappemobile.com LAGNIAPPE HD is printed at Walton Press. All rights reserved. Something Extra Publishing, Inc. Nothing may be reprinted. photocopied or in any way reproduced without the expressed permission of the publishers.
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ARTS
World War II author Adam Makos brings his new book and area connections to Page and Palette on Feb. 26.
MUSIC
STAN ANDERSON Distribution Manager delivery@lagniappemobile.com JACKIE CRUTHIRDS Office Manager legals@lagniappemobile.com
True to its name, Quickly Asian Fusion Café on Cottage Hill Road in Mobile offers a satisfying “fast Asian fusion” menu.
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Singer-songwriter/producer/ studio owner Adam Holt brings his “Southern Heartland Rock,” an amalgam of musical styles, to Manci’s Antique Club in Daphne.
FILM
Robert Redford portrays a career criminal whose notso-secret superpower is charisma in “The Old Man and the Gun,” allegedly the legendary actor’s final film.
MEDIA
The publisher of a small-town Alabama newspaper is facing international backlash for racist editorials.
SPORTS
In Mobile, the history of baseball — “America’s Pastime” — goes back almost 140 years, and retains its popularity on the collegiate level.
STYLE
Frenchman Julien Icher is on a mission to memorialize Marquis de Lafayette’s journey across the nation during the early 1800s.
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GOING POSTAL Hey Ashley, Thank you for the coverage (litter pun intended)! (Hidden Agenda by Ashley Trice, 2/6/19) Your article is #pawsdown seriously one of the most entertaining I’ve read in a long time! I have also answered/clarified a few of your questions from the article below in brown.... Is this the first sign of the apocalypse? Very possible but hopefully not. This is presumably a worldwide service since it is Instagram-based. And they only have four cats providing these poops which are promised to be “fresh?” It has admittedly been a while since I owned an indoor cat and had firsthand knowledge of the amount of “production” each cat would be capable of, but that seems like a lot to ask of each kitty. I mean, are they gorging them with food so they can provide enough specimens for their customers? Yes, they are all fresh catpoops as promised give or take 3 to 5 minutes to allow each cat their privacy which is important! There are actually 4+ cats (exact number not available due to some cats choose to not be counted) who contribute to the service. No cats are intentionally gorged with food in the making of said catpoops. Admittedly some do gorge themselves voluntarily at times. Also, is the cat poop guaranteed to be free from litter? I just don’t think your arch nemesis would be nearly as insulted if the “gift” came encrusted in Tidy Cat. Just takes a little of the punch out of it, you know? Some poops will contain small amounts of litter residue considering that is how it lands, falls or rolls. The majority of the poop will always be visible in each image however. That said we are open to exploring potential sponsorships from any interested litter manufactures. Does each poop come with a certificate
of authenticity from Fluffy, Mr. Whiskers, Tabby and Pumpkin? I really do not want a recycled photo of one sample Fluffy produced a year ago. Nothing but the best for my sworn enemies! And that’s fresh, steaming, one-of-akind cat poop delivered fresh to their inboxes! Yes, each poop does in fact come with a letter of authenticity paw printed by the donor kitty! Just to clarify the cats who wish to be known publicly are... Tucker, Livia, Puck and Pedro. Although the cats are doing most of the dirty work here, so to speak, coming up with a name for this poop would be challenging as well. In our experience this services works great for.... ex spouses/partners, Valentine’s Day, a former or current boss, frenemies, dog lovers, political bullies and more! Thanks again! James Collins Founder/Chief Poop Scooper
Mobile needs a new sister city Dear Editor: I personally do not know if there has been two cities more perfectly aligned historically economically and politically for a sister city partnership than Montreal, Canada and Mobile, Alabama. As you may know, sister city partnerships were created after World War II to promote ‘citizen diplomacy’ and to build stronger cultural economic and political ties between cities around the world. While historically, Mobile has been very strategic with its sister city partnerships, like its sister city partnership with Havana Cuba, I think strategically speaking it makes a lot of sense to partner with Montreal, Canada as a sister city.
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Historically Mobile and Montreal share a lot of events that have shaped who we are today. First and foremost is our shared heritage as French colonial cities. While Montreal was founded first, Mobile was established in 1701 as the capital of New France (the French colonial territory are on the North American continent) which included Montreal. Like in Mobile, Montreal also had to move its settlement due to weather and geographical conditions and discontent with neighboring Indian tribes. The same treaty that ceded Montreal and the rest of Canada to great Britain after the Seven Years War also ceded Mobile to the British as well, that allowed for mobile to become part of the British colony of West Florida before the American Revolution it was after Canada fell into the hands of Great Britain that Montreal became the capital of British Canada, so being colonial capitals is a historical event that both Mobile and Montreal share. While it is uncommon to hear French being spoken on the streets of Mobile outside of the Mardi Gras season, unless a native Mobilian is giving directions to somebody (because of our street names) it is not uncommon to hear a laissez Les bon ton roulet thrown out on the streets of Montreal. Almost half of all people in Montreal speak French as their primary language. Because of our shared French foundation, Mobile and Montreal both enjoy the finer aspects of culture, including art, theater, music, and other aspects of cultural society. After Mobile was settled, both Mobile and Montreal fell into the same archdiocese in the Catholic Church while they were both under French control, the Archdiocese of Quebec. Historically speaking, like Mobile, Montreal built its economy taking advantage of the vast natural resourcs available to it, including timber, wildlife, agriculture, and trade with Native Americans and Indigenous people
as well as trade with other French colonies. However, in present-day there is one big economic factor that ties the cities of Mobile and Montreal together. That factor is the fact that Mobile and Montreal are the only two cities in the world that build and assemble the Airbus A220. With the vast investments that Airbus and Bombardier are making in both Montreal and Mobile, coupled with the fact that both cities have a dislike for the Boeing corporation and the fact that once both cities get up to full production rates both cities will be producing 10 + planes a month, a sister city partnership could be very beneficial to both cities’ burgeoning aerospace industries. As a technology Center for Canada, a sister city partnership with Montreal could help Mobile further develop its technology sector in its economy. Also with the fact that one of the railroad companies that operates out of the Alabama State Docks is a Canadian railroad, it wouldn’t be hard to establish a trade link with Montreal if the need arises. There are many more reasons why it just makes sense for Mobile and Montreal to explore the possibility of a sister city partnership, too many to try and list in this letter, but couple these reasons with the fact that neither Montreal doesn’t have a sister city partnership with any city in the United States and Mobile does not have a sister city partnership with any city in Canada I believe this is an idea worth seriously exploring. I’ve been told by a citizen of Montreal whom I’ve discussed this idea with that if Mobile was to approach Montreal with this idea, they would be very receptive to the idea. Sincerely, David Preston Mobile
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BAYBRIEF | MOBILE COUNTY
Catching a ride POST UBER, MOBILE CONTINUES TO SEE FEWER DUI ARRESTS BY JASON JOHNSON
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hile police don’t believe there’s any direct correlation, data indicates the number of arrests for driving under the influence (DUI) plummeted after ride-hailing services such as Uber and Lyft became available in Mobile and have stayed down since. Following a news conference announcing the arrival of Uber on June 11, 2015, Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson hailed the first ride the service provided locally. That same year, the Mobile Police Department (MPD) made 814 DUI arrests, down from 858 recorded in 2014. However, in all of 2016 — a full year into Uber’s operation locally — the number of DUI arrests was cut by more than half to 408. After Uber’s main competitor, Lyft, set up shop in the Port City in March 2017, the number of DUI arrests fell to just 291 — a 33 percent drop from 2014. Despite the anecdotal evidence, there’s no way to definitively prove ride-hailing is the reason the number of DUI arrests Mobile has seen over the past four years has gone down. Mobile Police Chief Lawrence Battiste said he isn’t sold on the connection just yet, either. As Uber and Lyft have continued to grow ridership locally, the MPD has also ramped up enforcement efforts against impaired drivers using federal pass-through grants from the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs (ADECA). “Over the last few years, we’ve increased our presence out in the field, specifically with our efforts towards DUIs through these grants,” Battiste said. “Historically, traffic units would have been the only ones working in this area,
but by shifting to patrol units looking to get overtime we’ve been able to get more officers out on the street and get them out at different hours.” Speaking with Lagniappe, Battiste said MPD enforces DUIs by targeting areas impaired drivers are believed to frequent — nightclubs, special events and similar places. He said the department no longer uses “roadblocks” because it’s required to anncouce them in advance. “That has kind of made them ineffective, and historically, it has also caused us to get questions like ‘Why do you have them in this area of town versus another?” and it becomes an issue of ‘Are you targeting lower-income communities?’ and we don’t want to do that,” he said. “We want to deal with the offenders and we are out looking for those signs. We try to focus, based on what our intelligence shows us, on where we’re getting the greatest number of DUI reports.” It’s worth noting MPD has been criticized in the past for targeting certain “high-crime areas” with “safety checkpoints” over various constitutional concerns. No matter the actual reason for the drop in local DUIs, the assertion that ride-hailing might have an impact has been explored in other areas as well. In 2018, news reports emerged after Louisville, Philadelphia, Miami, Atlanta and other cities saw similar dips in DUIs. There have been a few scholarly studies on the subject, but they’ve had mixed results. Some attributed 30-35 percent drops in DUI arrests and fatalities to ride-hailing apps, while others found there was a correlation but not enough evidence to say ride-hailing was a direct cause.
In 2017, a research team from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania evaluated the specific effects of these services within certain cities and found a correlation between Uber and a decline in drunk driving, but the level of those decreases varied. Without asking them, it’s impossible for researchers to know why individuals choose to use a ride-hailing service or whether intoxication plays into those decisions. Uber does have a specific cleaning fee for “vomit” and another one for “significant amounts of bodily fluids,” though. No matter what customers’ reasons are, Uber and Lyft have both been happy to take some of the credit for the reduction in arrests and fatalities where they operate. “Our mission is to make it easier for people to get around their cities in a dependent, affordable way. Everyone can benefit from more transportation options, which allow people to make better choices before getting behind the wheel,” Kaitlyn Carl, a communications manager for Lyft, told Lagniappe via email. “One of our rush-hour periods is weekend nights. This speaks to how people are using Lyft to make safer choices on how they get around.” Carl also noted that, according to Lyft’s 2019 economic impact report, 71 percent of riders say they’d be “more likely to drive under the influence” without the service. The same was true in Atlanta and New Orleans, where 75 percent and 76 percent of riders, respectively, gave the same answer. Lyft doesn’t currently have data broken down for riders in Alabama or Mobile, specifically, and both companies declined to provide any data on the number of local users in the Mobile Bay area. Battiste said anything that might be reducing the number of impaired drivers on the road is a good thing, but he hasn’t personally seen the trend of Uber and Lyft having any significant impact. He also noted the number of DUI arrests has often fluctuated. The number of arrests did take a dip between 2013 and 2014 before Uber was operating locally, though not as significant as the drops that have happened since. Last year, the number of local DUI arrests jumped to 336 from the five-year low of 291 recorded in 2017. “I don’t know that I personally believe Uber has made the difference, but I don’t have specific data showing that it didn’t, either,” Battiste said. “I think there’s a combination of factors. Either way, Battiste put drunk drivers on notice that — Uber or no Uber — MPD is going to continue to have officers in the streets at all hours enforcing the laws on the books.
BAYBRIEF | BALDWIN COUNTY
Still standing CONFEDERATE MONUMENT REMOVED FROM FLORIDA FINDS NEW HOME IN BALDWIN COUNTY BY GABRIEL TYNES
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somewhere,” he said. “So they started looking for a place to take it. Florida has no laws protecting monuments and we thought with Alabama’s law it would be safe here, so we started looking for somewhere to relocate it.” In May, Gov. Kay Ivey signed into law the Alabama Memorial Preservation Act, which requires local governments to obtain state permission before moving or renaming historically significant buildings and monuments that date back 40 years or more. The bill was written in response to the movement taking place nationwide, but the city of Birmingham also attempted to remove a Confederate monument in Linn Park. Last A Confederate monument that was targeted by vandals before being month, in the moments before he officially retired from the removed by the city of West Palm Beach Florida was re-dedicated in bench, Jefferson County Circuit Judge Michael Graffeo Baldwin County earlier this month. overturned the law, arguing it infringes upon a municipalTwo weeks ago, with no media notified in an attempt “to keep the negativity ity’s right to free speech. Alabama Attorney General Steve out,” Nelson said Camp 1864 rededicated the monument in front of a crowd of Marshall swiftly appealed and on Friday, the Alabama about 100 sympathizers. The spray paint has been removed but the sledgehammer Supreme Court granted Marshall’s motion to stay Graffeo’s damage remains. The ceremony including a flag raising, musket and cannon fire. judgment. Adorned with an engraving of the Confederate flag, the inscription on the But regardless of the case’s outcome, Sen. Gerald Allen monument reads “Forever now, among the immortal dead, whose dust belongs to of Tuscaloosa, author of the Alabama Memorial Preservaglory’s dreamland, sleeps the fair Confederacy. Right principales can never die, tion Act, said the law as written has no bearing on monuno cause for which the brave have bled in virtue’s name, for which the true have ments relocated to Alabama from other states, particularly kept their faith, for which the dead have died in holy martyrdom, was ever lost!” those on private property. Meanwhile, as Confederate monuments fall around the country, this is the “If [relocation] becomes a trend, and the law is upheld, a second erected in Baldwin County in the past year. question like that would have to go through a committee,” Last June, Camp 11 of the SCV dedicated a 9-foot-tall marble and granite Allen suggested. “But if it’s on private property, it’s safe.” statue of a Confederate soldier at Fort McDermott in Spanish Fort. When it came to logistics, Nelson said Gary Wolfe of Back at Confederate Rest Cemetery in Point Clear, which is the final resting Wolfe-Bayview Funeral Home, who is “sympathetic to place for more than 300 southern soldiers who didn’t survive medical treatment Southern monuments,” offered to cover the expenses and at the nearby hotel (now the Grand Hotel), Nelson said it may become home to labor for the monument’s relocation. The privately owned other Confederate monuments targeted for removal elsewhere. Confederate Rest Cemetery is managed by the Point Clear “We put the word out to anybody else to who has monuments,” he said. “We’d Cemetery Association, which entered into an agreement like to bring them here and put them in our cemetery where they will be respected with Camp 1864 to host the monument while Camp 1864 and protected.” will be responsible for maintaining it.
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Photo | Lagniappe
monument to Confederate soldiers that was removed in 2017 from the city of West Palm Beach, Florida has found a new home in Baldwin County, where a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans said he hopes it will be protected by the state’s embattled historical monuments law. Earlier this month, Fort Blakeley Camp 1864, Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV), re-dedicated the monument and a stone marker explaining its history at Confederate Rest Cemetery in Point Clear. According to news reports from South Florida, the monument was one of many around the nation targeted by protestors and local governments in the wake of the Charleston church massacre in 2015, where a lone white nationalist shot and killed nine congregants of a black baptist church in a racially motivated attack. The perpetrator of that crime, Dylann Roof, had previously been pictured with Confederate memorabilia and other symbols tied to white nationalism. The nationwide trend to remove Confederate monuments stepped up in 2017, after racially charged protests in Charlottesville, Virginia culminated with another white nationalist plowing his car through a crowd of anti-fascists, killing one. In West Palm Beach, the monument dedicated by the United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) in 1941 stood in a public cemetery and quickly became the target of vandals. Before the city voted to have it removed, it was spray-painted with the words “NAZI,” “KKK” and “ANTIFA,” while someone also broke off a portion of it with a sledgehammer. Larry Nelson of Fairhope, a member of Camp 1864, said he was contacted by an acquaintance in Bay Minette with ties to a member of the UDC. “[The UDC] didn’t want it removed, but it’s my understanding the mayor of West Palm Beach — a woman from up North — had it taken down and put in a warehouse
BAYBRIEF | MOBILE
Low bid
CITY SALE OF 650 ST. ANTHONY ST. EXAMINED BY DALE LIESCH
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he sale last month of a nearly 11,000-square-foot, city-owned building and large lot in the middle of downtown for $255,000 has raised questions about whether it was handled in a way that is usual for the transfer of city property. When the former owners and operators of Gulf Coast Ducks exercised a “right of first refusal clause” in their rental agreement, it allowed them to purchase the building known as the St. Anthony warehouse at 650 St. Anthony St., and the nearly block-sized piece of land it occupies, without having to go through a bid process and without the land being publicly advertised as being for sale. While the new owners did pay what an independent appraisal said the property and large vacant lot were worth, after three weeks of inquiries into the sale, the city has been unable to tell Lagniappe if it has ever offered other renters a similar right of first refusal. The building and land were purchased by Activation Maintenance, whose owners currently run a for-profit restaurant out of city-owned Fort Conde without any annual rent, which has brought more scrutiny to the deal. The owners of Activation Maintenance also have a $1-per-year rental agreement with the city for space to run The Fuse Factory, a home for nonprofit startup companies and startups that serve a public purpose. Lagniappe detailed last week how the Fort Conde deal has brought complaints from local restaurateurs who feel Activation Management has been given a free place to run a restaurant. The board chairman of the History Museum of Mobile says they have not lived up to expectations for running the colonial fort as a tourist attraction. The purchase was made just after Gulf Coast Ducks announced they would stop running due to an explosion in insurance costs following a deadly duck boat accident in Missouri. Co-owner Grant Zarzour told Lagniappe he holds out hope Gulf Coast Ducks will be back, but said as of now they are worth “zero.” The duck boats were being housed inside the warehouse as of last week, but Zarzour and his partner, Scott Tindle, have also launched an auto garage in
the space, although no signage indicating it is an operating business had been erected as of the beginning of this week. Zarzour said Five Star Auto Care serves as a way for them to keep their duck boat mechanic employed while waiting to see if the popular tourist attraction can get up and rolling again. He said the garage has been advertised on numerous websites and Facebook pages associated with Tindle’s various ventures. Zarzour did not say why his company chose to exercise its right of first refusal to purchase property it had rented for two years just as Gulf Coast Ducks announced it would no longer operate. Some sources familiar with downtown development have questioned whether the city got the best price possible for the property by not opening a normal bid process, and it isn’t clear why it would be in the city’s best interests to sell property without holding a public bid. While the elevation of the building in question is below the city’s base flood elevation, a fact that might hurt its value, such large open pieces of land in downtown Mobile are a rarity. One local developer familiar with 650 St. Anthony St. suggested the price of $255,000 was low. Another person intimately familiar with downtown property said the appraisal done by Courtney & Morris also seemed low. By law, the city is required to get an appraisal before selling or vacating property no longer needed for public use. But more at issue is the city’s use of a right of first refusal when it initially leased the property to Activation Maintenance. Lagniappe has asked multiple times over the past three weeks if the city could provide examples of similar leasing situations, but they have been unable to do so. They also have not definitively said whether there are other examples. City attorney Ricardo Woods, who accompanied Zarzour to a meeting with Lagniappe last week, said there is no legal prohibition against it. He added that the city doesn’t have to take bids on property sales like this. “City-owned property does not have to be bid out,” he said. “So, if you look at it, what you have to do is sell it for fair market value. “So, what we typically do and what we did in
this case is got an appraisal, and you get an appraisal and you say ‘hey, this is the appraised value’ and if there’s an instance where multiple people want to buy it, we’ll say, ‘OK’ and auction it off to the highest bidder. That’s how we sell our property.” While there was no formal bid process, Woods and Zarzour both defended the deal, saying the sale, which was approved by the City Council, was on a public agenda for 12 days before it was finalized. Zarzour recalled seeing high-priced vehicles pulling into the parking lot during that period, with drivers presumably taking a look at the property in question. “We thought for sure people are going to put forth bids and everything will be done in the light of day, which it was, but nobody came forth,” Zarzour said. “[Council] normally [has] a seven-day layover, but with Christmas and the New Year [they] had a 12-day layover.” As the city did not advertise the sale in local newspapers or place signs on the property saying it was for sale, a potential buyer would have only the information provided on the agenda to know it was on the block and make a better offer. But if that had happened, Woods said the city would have gone back to Zarzour to see if he would match it, opening up a de facto bidding process. “So to the extent that there’s a first right of refusal, what that means is if somebody else comes in and wants to purchase it for 275, we say ‘do you want it for 275?’ No? OK,” Woods said. As part of the purchase agreement, Activation Maintenance will lease a 1,360-square-foot portion of the building back to the city for $366 per month, or $4,392 per year. The city houses two floats in that space, city spokesman George Talbot wrote in an email. “We are working on the lease back now,” he wrote. “It covers two floats: the float used by the council for Mardi Gras [and other District parades] and also the Christmas float.” When asked if Mayor Sandy Stimpson’s office was concerned about an added expense to the city the sale causes due to the storing of a Mardi Gras float, Lagniappe was reminded repeatedly that Stimpson pays for his own throws. Stimpson has been open about his desire to sell city-owned property, especially since an assessment by CBRE, a commercial real estate firm, documented close to $200 million in future maintenance costs at these facilities. The CBRE study for 650 St. Anthony St. found more than $140,000 in both short-term and longterm maintenance costs. The largest cost for the city, if the building wasn’t sold, would’ve been in the electrical system, which was estimated to cost $12,000 over the long term. The building itself was in “fair” condition, though, CBRE found. It doesn’t appear the city put out a request for proposals (RFP) on 650 St. Anthony St. and no advertisement for the sale appears in the legal advertising database, but the city has gone through the RFP process for other properties. One such property is referred to as the Norfolk Southern Building near the GM&O property. The city put out an RFP on that property in October, asking $400,000 for it, but couldn’t get any takers at that price, Talbot said. The building may be put up for auction in the future. The city also routinely advertises for the sale of other pieces of property, although it is still not clear if all such sales are advertised.
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BAYBRIEF | BALDWIN COUNTY
See you in court BALDWIN QUESTIONS MACKEY’S AUTHORITY IN GULF SHORES SCHOOL SPLIT BY JOHN MULLEN
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hile both sides in the school separation talks between Baldwin County and Gulf Shores fell over themselves to be the first to ask the state superintendent’s office to intervene, each pledged to abide by whatever ruling was handed down. That was in February of 2018. What a difference a year makes. As Lagniappe was the first to report last week, the Baldwin County School Board filed a lawsuit claiming State Superintendent Dr. Eric Mackey had no such authority to order the county to follow his directives. “[Baldwin County] alleges that Mackey acted willfully, knowingly, maliciously, in bad faith beyond his authority, and/or under a mistaken interpretation of the law and is not immune to civil action,” the filing states. “Mackey does not have the authority … to unilaterally order the Baldwin County Board of Education to enter into the agreement.” Allotment of money may be the attention grabber in the lawsuit, but it also raises issues over personnel, transportation and attendance. When the talks broke down between the two boards a year ago, both sides appealed to thenState Superintendent Dr. Ed Richardson to mediate disagreements the boards couldn’t resolve. Richardson stepped in to clear the first hurdle, decreeing that Gulf Shores City Schools would be open for students beginning in the fall of 2019. Officials there had hoped for a 2018 fall start date. Richardson, who was a temporary superintendent, then stepped aside when Mackey was hired
and took over mediation. Both Baldwin County and Gulf Shores officials agreed in several instances they would abide by whatever rulings he decreed. That all changed when Mackey’s rulings were presented to the BCBOE and the Gulf Shores City Board of Education on Jan. 15. Gulf Shores quickly approved and signed the agreement, posing for photographs to mark the occasion. But Baldwin County refused to sign and issued a withering attack at a news conference Jan. 16 and again at a meeting with Orange Beach parents Jan. 31. “We didn’t sign it and we’re not going to sign it,” Baldwin Superintendent Eddie Tyler said in the Orange Beach meeting. On Feb. 5, Mackey responded by issuing a second letter to both school boards saying each needed to sign and agree to the conditions by midnight on Feb. 15. Lagniappe received a copy of the letter on Feb. 13, one day before a special-called executive session by the BCBOE. In the letter, Mackey said he would invoke his powers under state law to force the acceptance of the decree, noting provisions allow the state superintendent to remove any local education officials who do not follow his directives. Baldwin County’s answer came the day of the deadline in a 4:30 p.m. filing of the lawsuit naming Mackey, the Gulf Shores City Board of Education and the Baldwin County Commission as defendants. The full lawsuit is available on www.lagniappemobile.com.
BAYBRIEF | BALDWIN COUNTY
All about the money BALDWIN CLAIMS POSITION ON SCHOOL FUNDS BACKED BY STATE LAW
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BY JOHN MULLEN
n its lawsuit against State Superintendent of Education Dr. Eric Mackey, the Gulf Shores School Board and the Baldwin County Commission, the Baldwin County Board of Education (BCBOE) cites several precedents and state law to back up its claims. At odds is up to $7 million in state funding and sales taxes — Gulf Shores officials believe the number is lower — a separation decree says Baldwin County must forfeit to the breakaway system. The BCBOE contends several times in the 40-page filing that Gulf Shores is due no money of any kind until Oct. 31, the end of the first month of the 2019-2020 fiscal year. Mackey directs in the disputed decree that the state funding normally paid for staff salaries follows any Baldwin County employees hired by Gulf Shores City Schools. Additionally, he directs that all sales tax earmarked for schools be distributed to Gulf Shores on the official day of separation, June 1. In its lawsuit, BCBOE contends both are contrary to state law. It agrees that state law gives Mackey the authority to direct where the funds go, but only if every party “is in agreement” with the funding split. “The only limited exception to the fiscal year distribution would be based upon a mutual agreement between both boards of education along with the State Superintendent’s approval, which currently does not exist and cannot be ordered by the State Superintendent,” the lawsuit states.
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Barring a mutual agreement, the Baldwin board contends state law directs all payments to school systems, whether from state funds or sales taxes, are in line with the fiscal year. “Alabama law directly addresses the division of taxes solely based on the fiscal year, not on the date of separation of two school systems,” the lawsuit claims. “Under Alabama Code 1613-1 the ‘fiscal year’ of every board of education ‘shall begin on Oct. 1 and end Sept. 30,’ and the State Department of Education has found that ‘a new school system would require start-up funds from the city.’” It goes on to claim, “a new school system does not receive a monthly Foundation Program payment until the end of October. The city would most likely need to provide funds for salaries and school operations from July through September as well as any cost prior to July 1.” The Baldwin County Commission is included in the lawsuit because it’s the collecting and distributing entity for the sales taxes earmarked for school funds, the lawsuit says. “[Plaintiff] asks the judge to ‘not allow diverting Baldwin County, Alabama tax revenues to the Gulf Shores City Board prior to October 1, 2019,’” the lawsuit states. “The county board also asks the judge to issue a directive saying ‘the Baldwin County Commission shall hold all funds designated for the Gulf Shores City Board in escrow until such time as this controversy can be resolved either by agreement of the parties.’”
BAYBRIEF | EDUCATION
Higher education TREASURER: ALABAMA PACT ON SOUND FOOTING, DESPITE PRIOR STRUGGLES BY JASON JOHNSON
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he board of the Alabama Prepaid Affordable College Tuition Program met for the first time this month under newly elected Alabama Treasurer John McMillan, who says the once-troubled program is on a much better financial footing than it was a decade ago. “We actually just had a report from our auditors and investment managers and everything was very positive,” McMillan said in a recent interview. “It’s extremely encouraging, and it looks like [Alabama PACT] has a sound financial basis and is moving forward.” From 1989 through 2008, more than 76,251 families in Alabama bought PACT contracts, which allowed them to pay at their own pace toward credits for their children’s college tuition and other expenses. By paying years in advance, families were hoping to avoid tuition hikes in the future. To date, the program has paid out more than $1 billion in benefits to those families for their children’s college education and will continue to serve more than 16,000 active accounts through the year 2032. However, only a decade ago, the PACT program came close to collapsing entirely after steep losses in the stock market and a steady stream of tuition increases left the program with hundreds of millions of dollars less than it was obligated to pay out to contract holders. While Gov. Kay Ivey was state treasurer at the time, most observers have said the problems the PACT program ran into were most likely inevitable because how it was initially set up. “You had a lot of money invested in a market that can turn volatile, no limit on tuition increases and a fairly broad program that included not only tuition, but books, supplies and fees,” former state senator and PACT board member Trip Pittman said. “Even before I was in elected office, I
always said it was too good to be true. Certainly, as it developed, that proved to be the case.” As it stands today, the PACT program has the funding needed to pay out the benefits it owes to its remaining contract holders, though new contracts haven’t been sold since 2008. According to a recent actuarial report, PACT was funded at 123.6 percent as of Jan. 1 — meaning its assets currently exceed its remaining liabilities. According to Assistant Treasurer Daria Story, McMillan’s office and most of the board focus on conservative investment strategies to ensure PACT’s assets are sufficiently protected to ensure it can meet its liabilities. As of 2019, the market value of those assets is estimated to be more than $105 million. “The role of board is to keep the investments safe and maintain liquidity in order to pay it out to contract holders as needed,” Story said. “Given the age of the program, we focus on very conservative, very safe investments, but with that, you also don’t get as much yield.” The stability PACT enjoys today, however, wouldn’t have been possible without some drastic intervention by the state of Alabama. A lawsuit filed by dozens of program enrollees also resulted in payouts being capped at the equivalent of instate tuition rates in the fall of 2010. Contract holders have been left to make up the difference since then, though the PACT board has been able to add to the value of those benefits four times between 2015 and 2018 with increases of 3 percent, 6 percent, 8 percent and 7 percent, respectively. In 2012, the Legislature moved to allow the PACT board to negotiate with contract holders to keep the program solvent through an amendment Pittman sponsored in the Senate. In 2015, lawmakers agreed to allocate $548 million for
PACT payments from the Education Trust Fund budget spread out over 12 years. It will receive $61.5 million this year alone, and Story said the program today “truly does depend” on those dollars. In addition to his history with the PACT program in the Legislature, Pittman also served on its board of directors for a number of years. However, records indicate his attendance at regular quarterly and specially called PACT board meetings was sparse. Pittman rotated off the board of directors when he left the Senate this year, but according to published meeting minutes, he hadn’t attended any PACT board meetings since at least 2015, as far back as minutes posted to the Alabama Department of Treasury’s website go. It’s worth noting that some absences weren’t uncommon among other board members, and Rep. Bill Poole, R-District 63, missed as many meetings as Pittman did during that same period. Re-elected in 2018, Poole is still listed as an active member of the Alabama PACT board. Asked about his spotty attendance, Pittman acknowledged he should have attended more meetings while serving in the unpaid position. He said serving in other leadership roles in Montgomery and working in his Baldwin County district kept his schedule full, though. “I know we went a couple of times when it was important, but when you’re in session or back home when you’re not in session, there’s plenty for a legislator to do,” Pittman said. “As far as that’s concerned, I would plead guilty, but I’d also say we were always in contact, making sure the program was kept solvent and meeting the obligation it has to contract holders.” At least one local contract holder raised concerns about Pittman’s absence from those meetings because the board’s bylaws say its membership should reflect, among other things, the “geographic diversity” of the state. Aside from Pittman, the only board member from anywhere south of Montgomery over the past three years was from Samson. However, with McMillan’s election, the person overseeing the entire program will now have strong ties to coastal Alabama. Born and raised in Stockton, McMillan served on the Baldwin County Commission and was twice elected state representative in the 1970s. Yet, McMillan told Lagniappe he didn’t think geographic location has any bearing at all on the work the board does. He said he’s more concerned with the number of PACT purchasers sitting on the board because of the potential for conflict of interest. Currently, the bylaws only require there be one PACT holder on the board of directors. “I personally think there might be a few too many people on there that are PACT contract holders,” McMillan said. “I know that might not be popular with some of the board, but there is the potential there to be inclined to look at the personal impact versus the overall program.”
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BAYBRIEF | MOBILE
Money moves ALDOT LOOKING AT $3 TO $6 TOLLS FOR NEW BRIDGE BY JOHN MULLEN
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olls along the entire 10-mile stretch of the proposed Mobile River Bridge could range between $3 and $6, a project spokeswoman has confirmed. While the public has known about planned tolls on the bridge, bayway and Wallace Tunnel to help fund the expensive project since as early as July, Alabama Department of Transportation spokeswoman Allison Gregg now says the agency has specific prices in mind. “We’re studying a $3 to $6 tolling range for use of the entire alignment,” she said. “That’s from Virginia Street through to the Eastern Shore on I-10. “It’s an expensive 10 miles of bridge,” Gregg added. “That includes everything from the start, including the approaches to the bridge all the way through the Bayway.” Agency officials are working with tolling experts and different people who have worked on similar projects before, Gregg said. “We’re looking at the cost to design, build, operate and maintain the project,” she said. “Those are the factors that go into to tolling, as
well as traffic rates.” The tolls are meant to help offset the cost of the bridge project with money from drivers who use it, Gregg said. “The people who use the alignment will pay for it,” she said. “It’s pay-as-you-go.” ALDOT recently pushed back the project timeline due to a longer-than-expected environmental process. Because of this, the agency has yet to pick a concessionaire for the project, out of three finalists. Once a concessionaire is picked, ALDOT will enter into a 55-year concession agreement with that group of developers, engineers and financial backers. Tolls are part of that 55-year plan, Gregg said, but won’t go into effect until the entire project is completed. ALDOT is still anticipating a five-year construction window, meaning tolls for the project would be in place for 50 years, she said. As previously reported, the project includes not only a new suspension bridge on I-10 over the Mobile River, but also includes a new, higher bayway.
BAYBRIEF | MOBILE
St. Joseph’s sold DOWNTOWN CHURCH BOUGHT FOR $650,000
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BY JOHN MULLEN
he Archdiocese of Mobile has sold a downtown church to a local developer, a little more than a year after its controversial closing. St. Joseph Catholic Church, at 808 Springhill Ave., was officially sold on Feb. 4 for $650,000 to 24/7 Development Partners of Alabama, according to a deed recorded with the office of Mobile Probate Judge Don Davis. The registered agent of 24/7 Development Partners of Alabama is listed as Chris Pfeiffer, according to business entity records on Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill’s website. The business entity in question was formed in October of last year. Brody Hale, a canon lawyer and expert in church closures, said in all cases Catholic leadership in a particular area must release a specific decree before selling a church in order to allow parishioners a chance to appeal it. “The parishioners have a right to appeal within 10 days,” Hale said. “It’s required to be made public.” Hale worked with St. Joseph parishioners last year to appeal the closure of the church, following a decree made to close the parish. He said a separate “relegation decree for the profane but not sordid use” of the church would be needed to sell it. Rob Herbst, editor of the Catholic Week and a spokesman for the Archdiocese, said the decree in question had been executed “some time ago.” In a question and answer format, following a story on the sale on The Catholic Week website, Herbst explains that “the decision … to sell St. Joseph Church was also approved by the Presby-
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teral Council, the Archdiocesan Finance Council, the College of Consultors and (the Most Rev. Thomas J. Rodi, archbishop of Mobile).” In the story, Herbst wrote that the money from the sale of the church will be placed in the capital coffers of the Cathedral-Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, which St. Joseph’s parish was merged into when it was closed more than a year ago. Herbst wrote that plans for the now former church are unknown. Attempts to reach Pfeiffer for comment on this story were unsuccessful. Kara M. Garstecki, an attorney who is named the organizer of the business entity in question did not return a phone call Friday. According to Herbst and The Catholic Week, some of the items from the inside of the former church will be given to St. Ignatius parish and put in a new church. Those items include the altar, pews, stations of the cross, baptistry, statues and other sacred items. Throughout most of its 160-year history, St. Joseph parish was run by the Jesuit order of priests. St. Ignatius, which is located 3704 Springhill Avenue, shares this history. The church itself was built in 1907. The archdiocese announced in March 2017 St. Joseph’s Parrish would be merged with that of the Cathedral-Basilica of the Immaculate Conception due to a dwindling number of parishoners. The decision was fought by those who regularly attended the church, who even appealed the matter to The Vatican, but the decision to close St. Joseph’s moved forward. The Archdiocese took over the parrish in 2009 and prior to that it was run by the Jesuit order of Catholic priests.
BAYBRIEF | MOBILE
Central station
MPD TO OPEN DOWNTOWN PRECINCT BY DALE LIESCH
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he Mobile Police Department (MPD) is opening a new downtown precinct, just in time for Fat Tuesday. Plans are underway to expand what is currently known as Central Events on Dauphin Street downtown to a full precinct, with a captain and shift lieutenants, Mayor Sandy Stimpson announced at a Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce breakfast Tuesday morning and Public Safety Director James Barber later confirmed at a Mobile City Council preconference meeting. “Central Events has remained roughly the same for 25 years,” Barber said. “With all the growth [downtown] it is appropriate to staff it up. It’ll be a slow increase.” The supervisor of Central Events, Lt. James Cunningham, will be promoted to captain March
1 and the new precinct will open March 2, Barber said. “It’ll ramp up as [residential development] comes in,” he said. Several high-profile crimes including a sexual assault in broad daylight have tarnished the safety profile of downtown in recent months. Currently Central Events operates under the leadership of MPD’s Third Precinct, Barber said. The new Central Precinct will encompass the area from Beauregard (Broad) Street to the Causeway and down Canal Street, he said. The plans would make MPD a five-precinct department once again. The department officially consolidated the number of precincts from five to four in June 2014. Before then, the department operated five precincts from four buildings.
BAYBRIEF | MOBILE
Fat Tuesday visitors NAVY WEEK RETURNS TO MOBILE FOR MARDI GRAS BY DALE LIESCH
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group from the U.S. Navy will partake in one of the largest parties along the Gulf Coast this year. Just like in 2017, Mobile will be a host city for Navy Week, an event meant to expose smaller cities to the Navy. And as in 2017, the event will coincide with some of the city’s biggest Mardi Gras events. Mobile will be one of 15 sites for Navy Week this year. It’s unique here because the city will have a ship in port, Lt. David Carter, Navy public affairs action officer, said. The events are designed to focus on Middle America, which is different from Fleet Week, which sends sailors to larger cities. During Navy Week in 2017, Carter joked that sailors thoroughly participated in Mardi Gras, including bringing back beads, learning how to properly eat crawfish and even attending tailgate parties. “The city really open its arms to us [in 2017],” he said. “They welcomed us.” Starting Wednesday, Feb. 27, more than 150 sailors from the destroyer USS Constitution will be in town to take in and participate in the Carnival festivities, Carter said.
“It’s a built-in event, which is perfect for us,” Carter said. “We can piggyback on an existing event.” In addition to offering tours of the ship, the sailors will take in the sights of Mardi Gras’ birthplace, as well as participate in parades and other events, Carter said. For example, members of the Navy Band Southeast, out of Jacksonville, will be in town performing as part of three separate bands, Musician First Class James T. Choate said. There will be a marching band, which will perform in a number of parades, as well as a rock band. There will also be the Navy jazz band, which will perform at Mardi Gras Park between parades on various days, including Joe Cain Sunday. “I love to mingle with the public,” Chote said. In addition to the Carnival festivities, members of the Navy’s dive team will be on display along with an 8,000-gallon tank. Crews from the Navy’s oceanography and meteorology teams will also be in town, Carter said. In addition, a number of Navy officers will visit the city, along with its Office of Small Business, which will host a workshop. Sailors will also visit local schools before Mardi Gras break.
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COMMENTARY | DAMN THE TORPEDOES
Laissez les outrage rouler! ROB HOLBERT/MANAGING EDITOR/RHOLBERT@LAGNIAPPEMOBILE.COM
IT’S MARDI GRAS TIME IN THE ERA OF OUTRAGE! LAISSEZ LES BON TEMPS ROULER AS LONG AS YOU DON’T ROULER ALL OVER SOMEONE’S FEELINGS. RIGHT? THE COLLISION OF #METOO AND THE BLACKFACE CRISIS COULDN’T COME AT A BETTER TIME, AS WE ENJOY OUR ANNUAL PRE-LENTEN PARTY.”
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symbol of Mobile’s Mardi Gras. To outsiders who’ve never heard the story of Joe Cain adopting the character of Chief Slacabamorinico, replete with his feather duster-like headdress and long braids, this all might seem quite politically incorrect. Joe Cain Day’s Indian-themed foot marchers, the Wild Mauvillians, would almost certainly cause a “clutch-the-pearls” moment on just about any college campus outside of Florida State. The thought of all these dudes running through the streets wearing war paint and huge headdresses is a straight up nightmare for the most “woke” among us. Let’s not forget even the Lost Boys in “Peter Pan” are considered racist by some. It wouldn’t be surprising if the group has lost a member or two just because those people wouldn’t want to have to explain the tradition to those who live outside the Mother of the Mystics. So what to do? The easy answer to that is that we should just have fun and realize it’s all in the name of a good time that’s enjoyed by people of all ethnicity and fiscal strata. Of course, that doesn’t mean things can’t go too far in the name of a good time. Right Comic Cowboys? I suppose the other answer is don’t wear Katy Perry shoes while marching and don’t ever let anyone run a photo of you in your Mardi Gras costume in a newspaper, magazine or yearbook. There’s really no telling where all of this is going to end, especially if you ever hope to hold public office.
THEGADFLY
what’s definitely never OK is set and reset on an almost hourly basis. There are some things just about everyone can agree on — like that the publisher in Linden, Alabama calling for the Ku Klux Klan to ride up to DC and lynch members of Congress is moronic and totally racist. (Not to suggest there aren’t some idiots out there who will actually agree with such a proposal.) Likewise, showing up in your medical school yearbook dressed as either a Klansman or in minstrel show blackface should have been an easy call even way, way back in the anything-goes 1980s. Mobile’s Mardi Gras equivalent of the career-ending college yearbook photo was the Comic Cowboys’ penchant for interspersing its annual humorous jabs at local, state and national politics with a few ridiculously racist drawings that were aimed at nothing more than making fun of African-American people and “Prichit.” It was increasingly uncomfortable to watch over and over, and things came to a head a couple of years ago. Last year’s Cowboys’ parade reined in the racism and put the emphasis back on poking fun at the powerful, which made it so much nicer to watch. But these days the watchful eye of political correctness is also staring hard at “cultural appropriation,” even during Halloween. (Go ahead and toss those Moana outfits and Black Panther costumes on the bonfire too kids!) Unfortunately, Mardi Gras is rife with the kinds of cultural appropriation that’s been deemed unacceptable. Every year floats full of white people are dressed up in whimsical costumes depicting characters from all over
the world. For example, this year’s first paraders, Conde Cavaliers, had a theme of Carnivale Internationale, which focused on carnival in different countries. Tell me there wasn’t any cultural appropriating going on there!!! In New Orleans, the famous Zulu Parade has run smack into the blackface scandal that briefly made Virginia the country’s laughingstock — until that goober publisher in Linden got everyone talking about us again. Zulu, which began as an all-black parading group, is now being blasted for allowing paraders to wear blackface. Most of the white paraders who participate are guests of the black members and are told to wear blackface, along with the black paraders who do as well. The members aren’t offended by it, but the “progressives” and some members of the media are. Zulu’s leaders are fighting back, saying the black makeup worn by black and white paraders is just that — makeup — and that it has nothing to do with the racist minstrel show blackface. It’s a nice argument, but we live in a world now where even suggesting that it was once OK to darken your skin for a Halloween costume can cost you a multimillion-dollar cable TV gig. I doubt that excuse will carry much weight outside the Big Easy. How long can it be before our own Mardi Gras traditions must endure the same kind of scrutiny? Chief Slac — a very white guy dressed like a Native American — is more or less the very
Cartoon/Laura Mattei
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t’s Mardi Gras time in the Era of Outrage! Laissez les bon temps rouler as long as you don’t rouler all over someone’s feelings. Right? The collision of #metoo and the Blackface Crisis couldn’t come at a better time, as we enjoy our annual pre-Lenten party. Mardi Gras has never been particularly “P.C.” to begin with, so the question is how does it fit in a world where Katy Perry is apologizing for putting eyes, a nose and a mouth on a pair of black shoes? Can Mardi Gras possibly survive the scrutiny of a society that sees racism and sexism practically everywhere? Will Mobilians eventually end up throwing their Mardi Gras masks and costumes on the bonfire along with their Ryan Adams CDs, college yearbooks and $900 Gucci “blackface” sweaters? How can we hope this tradition that remains somewhat segregated by race and gender will survive the withering scrutiny of those who set modern societal norms and their hoards of internet shaming followers? As with everything associated with our current national outrage, the fine line between what’s OK and
TEN SECONDS AFTER DONALD TRUMP DECLARES A NATIONAL EMERGENCY TO BLOW UP THE MOON, BRADLEY BYRNE RELEASES A STATEMENT.
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COMMENTARY | THE HIDDEN AGENDA
Ramblings of a crazy ‘old’ woman ASHLEY TRICE/EDITOR/ASHLEYTOLAND@LAGNIAPPEMOBILE.COM
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turned 42 this week. And I think it has hit me a little harder than even the big “0” birthday did a couple of years ago. I’m not really sure why. I guess it just feels so generically middle-aged, if that makes sense. Like if the “Family Feud” interviewed 100 people on what age they consider to be the midpoint of life, the survey would definitely say “42” was the number one answer. Forty-two just reeks of mom jeans and football helmet hair. Not that I sport either of those things, but maybe it’s time to consider it. That and I need to start calling my wallet, my billfold. And would anyone like a piece of Freedent gum? I think I have a piece in the bottom of my pocketbook. Actually, if this truly is the middle of my lifespan and I do make it to 84, I should be thrilled. People in my family don’t usually live that long. We drop like flies in our 50s and 60s. Yikes! If I think about it like that and start calculating how much time I may have left based on genetics, that’s far more depressing than mom jeans. I practically have one foot in the grave. Perhaps that is why I have been so cranky of late. Maybe I am in my twilight years. Somebody grab me a rocking chair, a bottle of Geritol and a darning needle (and then explain to me what a darning needle is used for). Or maybe it has nothing to do with age. Maybe just a lot of things in this world kind of suck right now and even 20-somethings who should be completely idealistic and optimistic about the future of this world are kind of cranky too. Either that or I’m almost dead. Or I guess it could be both. It’s hard to keep our collective glass half full when we turn on the news or jump on social media and story after story followed by snarky comment after snarky comment sucks every last drop of hope out of said glass. There are only so many cat videos that can help fill it back up. Obviously, a big source of this disillusionment comes from our nation’s capital. Honestly, I’m so sick of politics and those who practice in it. The extremes on the right and the left are both ridiculous, spending all of their time pandering to vocal minorities, instead of trying to sit down and work things out with common sense legislation and compromise. I hate that the go-to campaign strategy is just hatin’ on the other side. It’s lazy. And shows nothing but cowardice. And now even politicos who I once considered moderate, reasonable folks are fleeing to the fringes too, because they know they can’t win a primary without the bases of their respective parties. There are senators who once called the president “mentally unstable” and who repeatedly said a border wall was a bad idea, who are screaming it is indeed a national emergency and the country will go to hell in a hand basket unless the president gets to (sort
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of) fulfill his campaign promise (last I checked Mexico is still not paying for it). Give me a break. There are also congresspeople who once called for Trump to withdraw after the “Access Hollywood” tapes were released who now spend their time verbally fellating him on Facebook on an almost daily basis. We don’t have to look far to find them. In the same vein, Democrats, who were once lauded as working across the aisle, are terrified not to completely sign on to this Green New Deal or say we all get free healthcare and free college. And free ice cream and unicorn rides every day too. While aspirational, it is just not practical. Border security, our immigration system, climate change, healthcare and education are all things that desperately need to be addressed but until lawmakers are able to do this in a bipartisan fashion without the threat of government shutdowns, national emergency declarations and all other forms of this pathetic political theater, we’ll all be dead by the time anything gets done. Or (obviously) I will be. #onefootingrave(maybe) So much time is wasted peddling fear and fantasy on both sides. It’s just so counterproductive and infuriating. I need to crochet them all something (once I learn how to crochet) with my (soon-to-be) arthritic hands that reads, “We just want you to be genuine and authentic and reasonable and practical and work with each other and tell us how it really is instead us feeding us a bunch of party line/focus group bullshit!” That may be a little wordy and hard to accomplish for all 535 members of Congress. I mean I only have one darning needle (that I don’t actually have yet). But it is a sentiment that needs to be embroidered permanently in each of their brains. Aside from politics, the way we treat each other on not-so-social media is depressing too. I don’t care if you are a journalist, a rock star, a cupcake baker or local craft beer maker, at least one a-hole is going to get online and piss on everything you do. It is not OK to treat people like this. If you wouldn’t say it to someone’s face, then don’t type it. Why does everyone gotta be so mean? And this rush to judgment where we either exonerate and pity or convict and revile someone who is accused of something or who is an alleged victim of something when NONE of us know ANY of the facts yet, it’s just insanity. And it’s not the way our country is supposed to work. Our founding fathers wanted us to make such judgments like this based on reason not passion. But there is no room for reason in 280 characters. It is mob rule, and it is dangerous. Like every geezer before me has ever said, “I just don’t know what this world is coming to!” Now will someone rub my poor, old aching feet. I’ll give you a nice shiny quarter.
COMMENTARY | THE BELTWAY BEAT
Port of Mobile expansion push could kill gas tax hike BY JEFF POOR/COLUMNIST/JEFFREYPOOR@GMAIL.COM
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he debate over increasing Alabama’s gas tax has turned this state’s politics on its head. Many Republicans in the Legislature and Republican Gov. Kay Ivey are actively promoting raising the state’s gas tax in the name of infrastructure. Meanwhile, Democrats in the Legislature and liberals like Alabama Political Reporter’s Josh Moon are speaking out against it, calling the proposal regressive. That’s not to say all Republicans are for it. Last week in a radio interview, northeastern Alabama Rep. Tommy Hanes (R-Bryant) said to count him as a “no.” There also seems to be a grassroots movement across the state against the tax. Along U.S. Highway 231 in the Wiregrass, arguably the most conservative part of the state, yard signs have been placed calling on lawmakers to reject a gas tax hike. It’s one of those events in politics where the far right and far left seemingly agree on something. However, the most confusing aspect of this gas tax debate is why nobody raised the issue in the heat of last year’s election cycle.
Alabama’s highways leave much to be desired. The public can be swayed by the evidence before their eyes. Politicians argue they do not want to raise taxes but they must, because look at how bad our roads are, might start to win over some of the public. However, when they use the word “infrastructure” simply as a justification for unrelated projects, you might start to lose people. “Infrastructure” as defined by some lawmakers is not just roads and bridges, but waterways, broadband internet, railroads, mass transit, etc. Enter Rep. Bill Poole (R-Tuscaloosa), a senior lawmaker and the chair of the Alabama House Ways and Means Education Committee. He has said he will sponsor an infrastructure bill to raise the gas tax, but there is the possibility the gas tax proceeds will not just be used on roads and bridges. A portion of the revenue will be used to expand the Port of Mobile. The theory is if the state ponies up a portion of the money to finance expansion, U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby, as chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, will secure matching federal money, perhaps as much as a ratio of 3-to-1 for every state dollar raised. The Port of Mobile needs it. KAY IVEY [IS] ACTIVELY Mobile is fortunate to be one of the few ports on the Gulf Coast with PROMOTING RAISING THE room for expansion. As it stands STATE’S GAS TAX IN THE NAME OF now, there is a bottleneck getting in and out of the Port of Mobile. OfINFRASTRUCTURE. MEANWHILE, ten, ships must wait hours to dock DEMOCRATS IN THE LEGISLATURE AND because the port can only handle one ship at a time. LIBERALS LIKE ALABAMA POLITICAL There are benefits if the state REPORTER’S JOSH MOON ARE SPEAKING aids in the port’s expansion. Given that Mobile is positioned at the OUT AGAINST IT, CALLING THE junction of interstate highways 10 and 65, cargo is easily transported All statewide offices were up for grabs. The throughout the Southeast. Proponents argue if gas tax question was only mentioned sparsely, the port is expanded, Alabama becomes a more and when asked about the issue, the Repubviable candidate for other economic developlican leadership in the Alabama Legislature ment opportunities. wasn’t shy about acknowledging that a gas tax The problem: Selling the idea of taking increase to improve infrastructure was not a money from a gas tax collected throughout the remote policy idea, but a probability. state to fund a non-road project in Mobile. Yet, here we are just days before the AlaFor a lot of people in Alabama, Mobile bama Legislature convenes its next session, might as well be in South America. It’s so far and some are pretending to be shocked that a away and out of mind, what happens in Mobile higher gas tax is part of the conversation — doesn’t seem relevant to a lot of people in the especially given Alabama’s historical misman- central and northern parts of the state. agement of the public’s money and trust. This isn’t something new. The tribalism set Some of the most active gas hike propoby the geographic divides has plagued the state nents, like the Association of County Comfor a century. missioners of Alabama head Sonny Brasfield, With support somewhat tepid for increasing have told their members to argue that the new the gas tax, telling folks in places like Anniston, revenue collected must be put only toward Cullman, Dothan or Hamilton they’re paying asphalt and concrete for roads and bridges, and more at the pump for a maritime endeavor several not a dime spent elsewhere. hours to the south in a place many of them rarely, Most people acknowledge the highway if ever, visit will further suffocate support. system in Alabama is terrible. It’s not just the To those serving in the Alabama Legislature traffic jams plaguing the metropolitan areas, but who represent Mobile and Baldwin counties: also connecting rural areas to those urban areas. Good luck if you’re pushing for gas tax money Compared to our western neighbor, Mississippi, for the port. It’s going to be tough.
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BUSINESS | THE REAL DEAL
Baldwin County residential real estate activity cools BY RON SIVAK/COLUMNIST/BUSINESS@LAGNIAPPEMOBILE.COM
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he Baldwin County Association of Realtors’ January Average days on market: 122 Average sales price change from January 2018: up 14 percent 2019 residential housing report revealed a surprising drop in sales volume and housing inventory numbers comCoastal Homes pared to the same time last year, while average sales price Residential properties sold in January 2019: 41 increased incrementally. Average sales price: $390,620 “While most housing statistics dropped in January 2019 comAverage days on market: 111 pared to January 2018, there was a 6 percent increase in the averAverage sales price change from January 2018: up 5 percent age sales price. Despite the slight decrease in figures, the market continues to remain steady and homes are sitting on the market for Eastern Shore less time each month,” Taylor Lewis, JJPR account manager for the Residential properties sold in January 2019: 134 association said. Average sales price: $321,208 According to the report, 379 properties were sold last month, Average days on market: 85 a decrease of about 17 percent from January 2018. Properties are Average sales price change from January 2018: up 5 percent staying on the market for about the same amount of time as January 2018 — 96 days in 2019 versus 97 days in 2018, a drop of 1 North Baldwin percent. Residential properties sold in January 2019: 13 January 2019 total sales volume decreased almost 12 percent to Average sales price: $154,723 $136,666,765, down from $155,213,760 for January 2018. Average days on market: 56 The average sales prices of residential properties in Baldwin Average sales price change from January 2018: down 45 percent County in January 2019 increased 6 percent from 2018. Last year the average sales price was $284,930; this year it was $302,586. Baldwin Realtors’ Multiple Listing Service (MLS) reports total Business moves, transactions active residential inventory in January 2019 was 3,027. • Sioux Falls, South Dakota-based Profile by Sanford, a weightHere are additional residential MLS statistics by area: loss program designed by a group of doctors and researchers, is holding a grand opening for its 100th location Feb. 21 at 281 S. Central Baldwin McGregor Ave., near Mobile’s Llanfair subdivision. CEO Nate Residential properties sold in January 2019: 72 Malloy will attend the ribbon-cutting, sponsored by the Mobile Average sales price: $183,620 Area Chamber of Commerce. This is the company’s third location Average days on market: 86 in Alabama. Local franchise owner is Andy Luedecke. Average sales price change from January 2018: down .65 • Birmingham-based Sparrow Health and Performance wholepercent body clinic recently announced plans to open a new site in the Mobile area. The medical practice offers stem cell and PRP theraCoastal Condos pies, IV therapy, homeopathic supplementation, brain mapping Residential properties sold in January 2019: 69 and neurofeedback training, among other services. The clinic also Average sales price: $406,613 has a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, Good Fight Foundation,
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which provides treatments for disadvantaged individuals needing assistance, such as military veterans suffering from PTSD. • Pensacola-based restaurant and lounge Sandshaker will soon open its first Alabama location, Suite 130 on Wharf Parkway inside The Wharf in Orange Beach. The waterfront locale will be called Sandshaker at The Wharf. Expected opening date is March 2019. Jeff Barnes, broker associate with Stirling Properties, represented the landlord in the transaction. • Local developers recently purchased some 40 acres on South Pecan Street in Foley for $18,750 per acre, for a total purchase price of $750,000. Buyers plan to develop and build a single-family residential community on the site, according to Niki Coker of NAI Mobile, who worked for the buyers. Skip Davis with Coastal Real Estate and Development represented the sellers. • Per city planners, some 81 acres will be acquired for $1.45 million by the city of Orange Beach, near the Baldwin Beach Express and due north of Baldwin EMC. Property development plans were unknown as of press time.
Hand Arendall Harrison Sale announces promotion
Hand Arendall Harrison Sale, LLC, recently announced the promotion of attorney Christopher S. Williams to member of the firm. Williams has a developing cybersecurity and privacy practice and has worked with clients in the areas of spear-phishing attacks, ransomware, man-in-the-middle email schemes, wire instruction fraud and other computer security breaches. He has advised clients on policies and procedures to minimize cybersecurity vulnerability, served as breach counsel for multiple clients following a breach and assisted clients in crafting notices for compromised personal information in accordance with state and federal laws. Williams grew up in Mobile, attending McGill-Toolen Catholic High School and Spring Hill College. He graduated summa cum laude with a B.A. in English and received a J.D. magna cum laude from Loyola University New Orleans College of Law.
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CUISINE THE REVIEW
Fast Asian fusion, Quickly BY ANDY MACDONALD/CUISINE EDITOR | FATMANSQUEEZE@COMCAST.NET
ou had me at ‘fast Asian fusion.’” That’s more or less what I told Eveleen, Katie’s brother Craig’s wife — I guess you’d call her my sister-in-law — when she enlightened me about where she was stopping on her way out of town: Quickly Asian Fusion Café. Here she was, a little girl from Singapore, all grown up and visiting Mobile, telling her food writer kinfolk what he was missing. In her words it’s pretty much Asian fast food, a description that may not do it justice, but one I will accept as a positive mark on the otherwise clean scorecard I was about
FAST, CHEAP AND GOOD MAKES THIS A GREAT PLACE FOR THOSE QUICK WEEKNIGHTS WHEN YOU DON’T WANT TO COOK OR SUNDAY LUNCHES WHERE YOU HAVE TO FEED THE ARMY OF CHILDREN. GO AHEAD AND FEED THE NEIGHBOR KIDS WHILE YOU’RE AT IT. IT’S THAT CHEAP.” to ink. I don’t eat a lot of fast food, American or otherwise, but sure as sin don’t look down my nose at it. (My last review was chicken biscuits, for crying out loud.) So, as I walk through this menu, don’t get comfortable with the idea that I’ve turned a shoulder to Mobile’s evergrowing list of fine dining/casual atmosphere eateries. Besides, I’m not even sure “fast food” applies in Quickly’s case. The chain is known for its smoothies, bubble teas, snacks and Vietnamese cuisine, but a look online at the menu I pulled up didn’t exactly match the one in the restaurant. The owner told me it seems to be a combination of the Biloxi and Mobile locations. Either way, he was very accommodating as I ordered over the phone. Of course I needed to experience what Eveleen found so attractive about Quickly. She first mentioned the Popcorn Chicken ($4.75). Nibbles of chicken, battered and fried, were served with two skewers to aid with dipping into the sweet chili sauce. My kids are going to flip over these. It was also suggested I order Takoyaki ($5.45). The man
Photo | Facebook
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QUICKLY ASIAN FUSION CAFÉ 5033 COTTAGE HILL ROAD MOBILE, AL 36609 251-375-1825
A pork chop rice plate and wonton noodle bowl are pictured at Quickly Asian Fusion Café. They’re open Tuesday through Sunday on Cottage Hill Road in Mobile. wise known as Curry Chicken Rice Plate ($7.99). It wasn’t a on the other end of the phone said, “Oh, you mean octopus very spicy curry dish, but good nonetheless. A side of pickled balls.” Now, listen. I’m as adventurous an eater as most peocarrots, cabbage and cucumbers were appropriate. The rice was ple I know, but I was beginning to think Eveleen was putting perfect, not too gummy or too dry, and the chicken wasn’t overme on. This definitely didn’t sound like my cup of tea, though done as is often the case. It really had that dirty curry flavor, if I wasn’t about to be outdone by my relative-through-marriage. you know what I mean, and the onions cooked with the chicken Imagine my sigh of relief when I found the octopus balls were certainly didn’t hurt. fried balls of dough with bits of meat inside. With my mind at So, Quickly is referred to as Asian ease (and out of the unintentional gutter), I fast food? Maybe in name and price, but never questioned what part of the octopus I I didn’t get the feeling I had anything but was eating, and found them delightful. fresh ingredients. Perhaps the shrimp in the Banh Mi ($4.75) is something of which spring rolls were too tiny, but most everyI never tire. These Vietnamese sandwiches thing here seemed scratch made. There are are all about the bread, not much larger a dozen snacks and 36 Vietnamese cuisine than a hot dog bun, filled with meat and SO, QUICKLY IS REFERRED menu items, seven of which are sandwichslightly pickled vegetables. Mine had TO AS ASIAN FAST FOOD? es, and I haven’t even scratched the surface grilled pork with carrots, bell pepper and teas, smoothies and slushes. cucumber accented by fresh cilantro. Find MAYBE IN NAME AND PRICE, of bubble The best news is that all of this food me a $5 sandwich better than this and I’ll buy us each one. BUT I DIDN’T GET THE FEEL- was ready in less than 20 minutes, and I walked out with this armload for $38.42! Nursing a cold, Katie requested Ramen ING I HAD ANYTHING BUT I don’t know if this is the best ramen or ($8.49). In the to-go version we had the pho you’ll ever have, but you shouldn’t broth in one container and the cooked FRESH INGREDIENTS. complain. Fast, cheap and good makes this noodles with fresh fixings in the other. a great place for those quick weeknights Pork belly thinly sliced, calamari and fish when you don’t want to cook or Sunday balls (really, again?) made the soup, while lunches where you have to feed the army of mushrooms, bean sprouts, boiled egg, jalachildren. Go ahead and feed the neighbor peños and lime wedges were added at will. kids while you’re at it. It’s that cheap. A little salty, it wasn’t the greatest ramen ever, but a really I thought the banh mi was a fine sandwich and will surely good quick fix to cure what ails you. remain on my list when that itch needs scratching. Katie said Get me close to anything pho or banh mi related and I will the strongest dish was the octopus balls. Popcorn chicken is a get Vietnamese Spring Rolls ($3.50). This pair was the usual fun appetizer/snack anyone can enjoy. It was all good at worst pork and tiny shrimp halves with the peanut sauce. I’d call and great at best. it a less fancy version, but I still loved it. If you like it hot, Eveleen, come visit soon and we shall go back for your add Sriracha to the sauce. Despite Katie’s cold we carelessly favorite takoyaki. I’ll grab a sandwich. I can see why you are double dipped. I’d get them again. a fan — thanks for turning us on to it. Of all we had, the biggest entrée was Com Ca Ri Ga, other-
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CUISINE | WORD OF MOUTH
Taste of Oregon at Red or White
Ask the reps questions and learn all you can as your tastebuds travel the Willamette Valley and beyond. Tickets are $50 per person and are available at redorwhitewine. com under “upcoming events.” Hope to see you there.
BY ANDY MACDONALD/CUISINE EDITOR
Lobster tails do the trick
I ran across this recipe (after scoring some lobster tails for $5.99 apiece) somewhere the other day and modified it a bit. I’ve always either broiled or boiled lobster pretty straight and served with butter, allowing the meat to do its thing. This method jumpstarts the cooking as you add the sauce in the beginning. Feel free to baste during that cooking time. With any leftover sauce, you could easily take advantage of a few shrimp or scallops and pan cook them. Go ahead and have a seafood overload. We served this with cauliflower risotto. Delicious. • 2 lobster tails • 1 white onion, julienned • ½ stick of salted butter • 2 cloves garlic, peeled and whole • ½ cup of pinot gris • ¼ cup chopped green onions • Salt and pepper
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ention wine and Oregon in the same sentence and most of you will be flooded with visions of pinot noir. There are still great ones coming out of that part of the country, but Oregon has so much more to offer. See for yourself as Red or White of Mobile hosts an Oregon wine tasting Wednesday, Feb. 27, 5-8 p.m.
This is one of my favorite wine and food events of the year, as it always gives me a chance to stock up on something I wouldn’t have otherwise discovered. Chef Arwen will, of course, be providing the fabulous snacks she’s known for, and that alone is worth the price of admission. You’ll certainly find a red, white and rosé to wash them down.
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Using kitchen shears, cut the lobster tails down the center of the shell, exposing the meat. It should kind of look like a brain when lying flat. Loosen the tail meat with your thumb and slip a few bits of onion underneath the meat. Place face up in a small baking dish. Melt butter in a small saucepan. Add garlic cloves and continuously stir until they’re bronzed and emitting flavor. Throw in a handful (a half cup or so) of onion. Cook until softened, but not browned. Pour in the wine. Bring to a simmer and reduce heat until the mixture reduces a little, 10 minutes or so. Season with salt, pepper and green onions. Pour mixture over lobster tails, paying special attention to the meat. It’s more about the liquid than the vegetables. Broil on center rack until just done, about 10 minutes. Serve with cold pinot gris or pair it with a steak and a good zinfandel or cabernet. To be safe, drink all three. Recycle!
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COVER STORY
Gas tax, prison construction among top issues for legislators in 2019
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BY JASON JOHNSON, DALE LIESCH AND GABRIEL TYNES
T’S THE FIRST YEAR OF A NEW TERM FOR ALL
of Alabama’s 140 state legislators, and there will be a host of pressing issues waiting for them in Montgomery as the 2019 regular session begins Fat Tuesday. A possible gas tax increase to fund infrastructure improvements, gambling bills, reforms to Alabama’s ethics laws and Gov. Kay Ivey’s plan to build new state prisons are just a few of the subjects legislators are expected to consider between March 5 and June 18. After securing her first full term in office, Ivey clearly indicated during her inaugural address Jan. 19 that repairing the state’s ailing infrastructure is among her top priorities. “If we want to compete in a 21st century global economy, we must improve our infrastructure by investing more in our roads, our bridges and our ports,” Ivey said. “It has been nearly three decades since we last made any changes to our current funding, and the challenge has grown with the passing of time. Now is the time to solve this problem.” While no specific figure has been proposed, the controlling party has shown a willingness to consider increasing Alabama’s gas tax for the first time since 1992. Joining Ivey, House Speaker Mac McCutcheon, R-Huntsville, and Senate President Pro Tem Del Marsh, R-Anniston, have already expressed support for an increase. Alabama’s current gas tax rate is 18 cents per gallon, which includes an inspection fee of 2 cents. However, according to the American Petroleum Institute, the total gas tax in Alabama — including an 18.4 cent federal gas tax and an average of local gas taxes — is roughly 39.5 cents per gallon. Though, that is less than most other states and the national average of 52.2 cents. State Rep. Victor Gaston, R-Mobile, who serves as Speaker Pro Tempore and was first elected to the office in 1982, said he usually doesn’t try to guess what issues may arise during the session, but believes a gas tax increase will almost certainly be considered this year. As a local legislator, Gaston said his role will be to ensure the Gulf Coast is fairly considered in the distribution of any new revenue a potential tax increase might generate. “A primary interest of mine, likely above anything else, will be in monitoring the legislation as it’s drafted, discussed and debated to see that the Alabama State Docks receives the funding it needs to address its infrastructure,” he told Lagniappe. “We remind legislators from around the state on a regular basis that it is indeed Alabama’s state docks.” Gaston said he’s specifically interested in revenue the Legislature will need to identify in the future for Alabama’s share of a proposed expansion of the Mobile Shipping Channel.
The Army Corps of Engineers is currently evaluating a proposal to dredge the 36-mile channel to an overall depth of 50 feet; if approved, Alabama would need to come up with 25 percent of what could be at least a $600 million project. Even if a gas tax increase is able to gain support, divvying up the money it generates could be a political hurdle for coastal legislators. Speaking with Lagniappe, Rep. Chris Pringle, R-Mobile, warned it could lead to a “split” between legislators in northern and southern districts. “The split between cities and counties would also be a huge battle,” he added. Pringle said the distribution of those dollars could also be complicated by Alabama’s lack of a comprehensive five-year plan to prioritize infrastructure needs. For example, Pringle mentioned U.S. Route 98, which he claims has been, “part of a five-year plan for the last 40 years.” Sen. David Sessions, R-Grand Bay, seemed to favor a gas tax, but wanted to reserve judgment until more is known about what a legislative proposal might look like. “The people using the roads should be the ones paying for the roads,” he said. “If you crunch the numbers, we’re past due for some infrastructure spending. At a dime per gallon, it would cost me an extra $2.60 to go up to Montgomery and come back each week, at most. You hate to do that, but then again, you need infrastructure.” Across the aisle, Rep. Barbara Drummond, D-Mobile, said she has yet to see any formal proposal on a gas tax increase. However, she also said fair distribution of funding would be one of her concerns as those as those discussions begin in Montgomery. “I won’t only be looking at distribution, but also how much we’re putting on taxpayers,” she said. For freshman Sen. Chris Elliott, R-Fairhope, ensuring coastal counties get their “fair share” of tax revenue was a cornerstone of his 2018 campaign. He has also often cited data suggesting Baldwin County sends far more gas tax and tourism revenue to Montgomery than is re-invested locally by the state. Elliott was one of many local legislators who attended the annual meeting of the Coastal Alabama Partnership in Daphne Feb. 1, pledging to support its agenda, which includes securing funding for the shipping channel expansion as well as the long-discussed Interstate 10 bridge project. “One of the positive things about the BP oil spill and the resulting theft of the settlement money by the state is that it galvanized legislators in the area,” Elliott said last week. “Now everyone is on message about what is important to coastal Alabama.”
Prison reform and construction
In her inaugural address, Ivey said “much like Alabama’s roads and bridges, our prison system has been
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sorely neglected for decades.” The neglect Ivey described has been highlighted by recent federal mandates in a lawsuit brought by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). After the SPLC sued Alabama over the substandard living conditions in its prisons, a federal judge also found the state’s “horrendously inadequate” treatment of mentally ill inmates violated the U.S. Constitution’s protections against “cruel and unusual punishment.” Legislators have taken steps some to address the situation since then, including a $55 million appropriation to the Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC) last year to hire more mental health and medical staff. This year, Ivey is seeking an additional $31 million to hire “500 new correctional officers” and make ADOC salaries more competitive. The governor is also turning her attention to prison overcrowding. Ivey noted that despite recent strides to reduce populations, Alabama prisons are operating at 160 percent of their intended capacity. Her proposed solution is to build three new regional men’s prisons, one of which would focus on special-needs populations. Proposals are currently being sought to get a better idea of what building these new corrections facilities might cost, but preliminary estimates from ADOC put the figure at around $900 million. Ivey has maintained new construction would be cheaper than maintaining and upgrading the state’s existing prisons, some of which could close if her plan comes to fruition. “Here in Alabama and across our country, we have a set of laws to which every person must adhere. However, no matter what crime was committed, every human being deserves a certain level of care,” Ivey wrote last week. “I say to you that it is, and will continue to be, costly to provide adequate living conditions and health care for the more than 20,000 adults in our corrections system, to maintain aging facilities and to sustain public safety.” While some members of the Legislature have agreed with Ivey that an investment in Alabama’s prison system is necessary and in many ways unavoidable, Gaston said there are still unanswered questions about what role the Legislature will play in accommodating her current prison plan. “It’s got to be acted on, and I think she’s absolutely right about the cost savings in the long run, but getting there is another issue,” he added. “I would think, no matter what, it will take some kind of bond issue, and the Legislature will have a key role to play in that.” However, others are concerned Ivey could bypass the Legislature altogether. Elliott recently expressed concern over Ivey’s proposal because, according to him, her administration and the ADOC could theoretically move forward with the plan without any input from the Legislature by requesting proposals from private contractors. Elliott has also said he’d like to explore cheaper solutions than building multiple prisons. Specifically, he mentioned the privately owned Perry County Correctional Facility near Uniontown, which currently houses only a handful of federal inmates, but reportedly has around 700 empty beds. “There maybe we can spend $14 [million] to $15 million to purchase a facility that would probably cost in excess of $50 million to build and immediately reduce the prisoner-to-guard ratio,” he suggested. “I’d like to see where we can we find some inefficiencies — it’s my understanding there are many empty beds in county jails. I’m not saying there aren’t problems, but perhaps there are really low-cost alternatives.” Gaston, Sessions, Drummond and others in the local delegation said they’re waiting to get more details from Ivey and the ADOC, though all said the state must address the problem. However, Drummond said legislators “can’t build our way out of this issue” without other efforts to reduce overcrowding. If Ivey’s proposal doesn’t look at ways to improve re-entry programs and change state sentencing guidelines, Drummond said she’d likely have trouble supporting it. “We have to look at a comprehensive plan that deals with overcrowding and re-entry,” she added. “If it doesn’t address these three issues, then I think we’re just spinning our wheels.” Pringle, meanwhile, said there could be political considerations in the
COVER STORY discussion about prison reform as well, adding opposition from legislators who represent districts with prisons could make any changes to the current system more difficult. That concern is not without precedent. When former Gov. Robert Bentley tried to tackle Alabama’s prison problem with an $800 million plan to construct new facilities, it failed to pass the Legislature in 2016 and 2017, in part because of concerns about lost jobs in districts where existing prisons may have closed. “Some senators aren’t in favor of a new plan because it means prisons in their districts will close,” Pringle said. “There’s going to have to be a compromise.” According to Pringle, if politics cause Ivey’s plan to suffer the same fate as her predecessor’s, the end result could be a much more expensive solution in the form of a federal order forcing the state to fix the issue without input from the Legislature.
The local legislative delegation has already been working with local judges on a bill called the Mobile County Preservation of Justice Act, which, if passed, would tack on additional filing fees ranging from $25 to $100 in civil, criminal and domestic relations cases filed in Mobile County. There would be exceptions for things like juvenile cases, protection-from-abuse petitions and child support cases. Judges in the 13th Judicial Circuit agreed to pursue the legislation at the request of the Mobile County Commission, which has contributed nearly $700,000 since 2017 to help prevent catastrophic layoffs in local courts. According to Gaston, judicial funding is still likely to be a statewide issue. Last year, the Legislature found an additional $2.5 million for Alabama’s judicial system, and Gaston said he was under the impression some of it was going to help stabilize courts in Mobile. “The chief justice at the time [Lyn Stuart] ... let’s say, had other priorities,” Gaston said. “I think there’s concern with constituents from Gambling bill every district in this state who deal with the Local legislators seem confident this court system, and many at one time or another session will see yet another push to legalize do. The impact is significant in terms of the gambling in the state. Drummond said she overall population.” supports a referendum on the issue, but is Also locally, Drummond has pre-filed a bill hopeful that if it passes, funds will be used that would protect home and property owners for education. “There is not enough money going into the from imminent domain concerns as Mobile education system, from pre-K to higher educa- Regional Airport begins to shift passenger tion,” she said. “You get what you pay into it.” service to the Mobile Aeroplex at Brookley. While she supports the move, Drummond That said, Marsh and other state leaders said there are concerns among longtime resiclaim increases in the amount of state sales dents that they will lose their homes and won’t and income tax revenue has the Alabama get fair market value for them. Drummond Education Trust Fund poised to receive more said she would like to see those owners get funding than ever. The fund is projected to some kind of replacement cost. surpass $7 billion by 2020. She also joined legislative newcomer Rep. While some in the local delegation support Shane Stringer, R-Satsuma, as a cosponsor on a gaming bill outright, others have come to understand the lack of gambling or a lottery is a pre-filed bill aiming to regulate the advertisespecially costly for Alabama when it is avail- ing, retail sale and retail store inspections of vape shops, also requiring those businesses to able in neighboring states. obtain a state permit. Sessions, for instance, is personally opHeading into his first legislative session, posed to gambling, calling it a “voluntary tax Elliott said he plans to put several proposals on the poor,” but says he’d support a referenon the table. One would make targeting a first dum to bring the issue before the people. responder with violence a hate crime. Another “I don’t particularly like gambling paying would require voters to weigh in on city for government services,” he said. “But people school system splits, rather than allowing new say we have a lot of money leaving the state, school systems to break off simply by the vote and I understand that argument.” of a city council. Pringle also expects to see a gambling bill “Obviously we’ve had a ruckus over the this session, but he’s leery of approving it school split in Gulf Shores,” he explained. without first setting parameters for regula“I’m not trying to prevent city schools from tion. The success of any gambling bill, he forming completely, but what my bill will said, would depend on whether it’s clean, or propose is you have a vote of the people so the whether it opens the state up to casino gaming. city council can’t unilaterally make that deci“When the House made a bill for a ticketed sion without an express buy-in of the people. lottery, the Senate killed it,” Pringle added. I think that will give everybody a moment of pause and give everyone a chance to weigh Pre-filed bills, local legislation the pros and cons.”
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ART ARTIFICE
WWII author hits Fairhope alongside veteran BY KEVIN LEE/ARTS EDITOR/KLEE@LAGNIAPPEMOBILE.COM
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hen Adam Makos rolls into the Mobile Bay area in late February, it marks a return to familiar surroundings. The Denver-based author knows the area and its residents well. “Fortunately, I got to spend a summer in Mobile working with Dr. Sid Phillips, editing his memoirs,” Makos said. “That was my introduction to your city and I came to love it.” Phillips’ book described U.S. Marines in the second World War’s Pacific Theater. It’s just one portion of a global conflict that forever reshaped Mobile in ways documentarian Ken Burns made famous. For Makos, the era is a lifelong passion culminating in published works, a legacy from grandfathers who embedded in him their generation’s struggle. “One was a radio man on a B-17 bomber and the other was stateside guarding Brooklyn Naval Yard,” Makos said. “They took me to air museums, built models for me and told me stories about [Medal of Honor winners] John Basilone and Joe Foss, so their heroes became my heroes.” His latest work — “Spearhead” — follows European theater tank crews, specifically a hallmark confrontation that unplugged Allied access to Axis Germany’s core. It came courtesy of an old college pal. Makos’ buddy told him of an aging participant in a legendary duel at the foot of historic Cologne Cathedral, where Axis Germany’s nearly insurmountable Panther tank met America’s new Pershing model, specifically designed to face the feared enemy counterpart. Intrigued, Makos sought out the hometown hero.
Turned wood at USA’s Art Gallery
“Felled Flesh,” will be in place at The Art Gallery on the University of South Alabama campus (501 N. University Blvd., Mobile) through March 15. He will speak about his work March 7at 3 p.m. in The Art Gallery. For more information, call 251-510-0499 or visit TomMyersArt.com.
Chamber music group hosts eclectic quintet The Grammy-nominated quintet Imani Winds surfs genres as easily as they change reeds or clean valves. Their Lincoln Center residency and worldwide appearances are matched by a repertoire stretching from Stravinsky and Mendelssohn to Coltrane and Piazzolla. On Feb. 24 at 3 p.m. they will appear at the University of South Alabama’s Laidlaw Performing Arts Center (5751 USA Drive
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LIKE SO MANY VETERANS, HE WAS HUMBLE AND QUIET AND PULLED UP A CHAIR AT HIS KITCHEN TABLE AND STARTED TELLING ME WAR STORIES, THEN STOPPED AND SAID, ‘OH YEAH, I’VE GOT A LETTER FROM THE GERMAN I FOUGHT AGAINST. I’M PLANNING ON GOING TO MEET HIM.’” memories and decompress,” Makos said. Sledge famously turned his Pacific experiences into “With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa,” long hailed as one of the best firsthand accounts of combat’s horrors and aftermath. Sledge was also a boyhood pal of the aforementioned Phillips, which means Makos had inroads with both family circles. “I know [Sledge’s sons] John and Henry,” Makos said. “When I was working with Sid I was also working with his sister Katherine. I hope to see her when I get down there.”
S., Mobile) courtesy of the Mobile Chamber Music Society. The afternoon’s playbill contains the aforementioned Astor Piazzolla’s tangoinformed “Contrabajissimo” along with works by Rimsky-Korsakov, Paquito D’Rivera, Valerie Coleman and Simon Shaheen. Tickets cost $20, $10 for students, and are available online or at Carpe Diem Coffee and Tea (4072 Old Shell Road). Call 251-633.8840 for more information.
Bantens’ mixed media artwork; Paulette Dove’s “Views from Hitchhikers: The Users”; and a members’ juried show judged by Sandra Halat. There is live music and entrance is free (donations are welcome).
MAC picking garden artists
The Mobile Arts Council is curating artists for downtown’s Lost Garden in the lot just to the west of the Downtown Mobile Alliance (261 Dauphin St.). The visible venture promotes creEastern Shore art event changes ativity while calling attention to urban gardenFairhope’s standard First Friday Artwalk falls ing across the Azalea City. the same night as the Maids of Jubilee Mardi If you are interesting in painting a permanent Gras parade, so the Eastern Shore Art Center art panel for the garden, or in being a featured (401 Oak Ave., Fairhope) is moving its monthly Artwalk artist in the coming months, call 251opening to the second Friday, March 8, 6-8 p.m. 432-9796 or email Lucy Gafford at lgafford@ New exhibits open in March: Dr. Robert mobilearts.org.
ARTSGALLERY
Tom Myers had a long career as a rheumatologist behind him when he encountered a wood lathe. Something about it called to him, and a new passion emerged in middle age. “I created art for almost 10 years when I realized in hindsight I subconsciously recognized the archetypal features of a typical wooden turned piece: all wood, feminine, symmetrical form with a base that anchors it to a surface, and I was methodically denying the features one by one or collectively in my pieces,” Myers said in a statement. His addition of precious metals, acrylics and dyes, fibers and such fabrics as sea grass, linen, cotton cording and burlap added further texture to an already-lustrous medium. An exhibit of this woodturner’s work,
“I went to this little row house in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and Clarence Smoyer opened up a door,” Makos said. “Like so many veterans, he was humble and quiet and pulled up a chair at his kitchen table and started telling me war stories, then stopped and said, ‘Oh yeah, I’ve got a letter from the German I fought against. I’m planning on going to meet him.’” Makos said he “heard the angels sing” having just completed “A Higher Call,” a book about airmen Franz Stigler and Charles Brown. The German Stigler and American Brown faced off in European skies, then became friends nearly five decades after the war. “It was war told from both sides, which is something I love because I think it’s the truest way to tell a war story,” Makos said. The writer followed suit with Smoyer’s tale, joining the veteran tanker and comrades as they traveled to Cologne and met with Gustav Schaefer, the young crewman from the Panther tank they battled. Over six years, Makos researched all of their stories to craft a concise and riveting book. Makos’ style fits the action, tucking depth into its crannies. In one passage, Smoyer hears voices rising through the tank in the midst of battle and recognizes them as American foot soldiers seeking refuge beneath him, “making promises to God if he’d only save them now. Clarence violently stepped on the trigger and drowned out their prayers with gunfire,” Makos wrote. The author is clear about lingering his fascination with WWII — “truly a good versus evil situation with little
ambiguity” — but realizes his “both sides” coverage can appear muddier. “I’ve seen there are clearly good men on both sides and a lot of Germans didn’t ever really want Hitler,” Makos said in pointing to Schaefer’s bucolic, idyllic youth on a farm and how German forces drafted first his father, then him. “I sympathize for the young men who never wanted to be there but at the same time thank God we had men like Clarence Smoyer who helped us defeat Nazi Germany.” Makos will be at Fairhope’s Page and Palette (32 S. Section St.) Feb. 26 at 6 p.m. to speak and sign books. Buck Marsh, one of the men who reunited in Cologne, will join him. Marsh has a tie with Mobile, too. When he returned to Auburn University after the war, he would spend afternoons with fraternity brother and Mobile native Eugene Sledge talking about their war experiences. “They healed in a different way and basically found a place to put these
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MUSIC
BY STEPHEN CENTANNI/MUSIC EDITOR/SCENTANNI@LAGNIAPPEMOBILE.COM
FEATURE
Adam Holt’s Southern Heartland Rock BAND: ADAM HOLT DATE: THURSDAY, FEB. 21, 7 P.M. VENUE: MANCI’S ANTIQUE CLUB, 1715 MAIN ST. (DAPHNE), MANCISANTIQUECLUB.COM TICKETS: FREE
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Photo | Submitted
do that.” inger-songwriter/producer/studio From there, Holt began delving into some of the owner Adam Holt will be filling musical styles that would help him shape his sound. Manci’s Antique Club with a fresh The blues led Holt into one of his first explorations eclectic sound he fondly calls of the music world, witnessed through his 2003 “Southern Heartland Rock.” This release “Who I Am.” This album’s guitar-laden trademark sound encompasses the cuts feature a vast cavalcade of blues styles. During worlds of blues, rock and country those years, Holt fronted a full band called Adam without ever losing its balance. With its delicious Holt & the Blues Congregation. mixture of styles, Holt’s appealing sound is an Holt used his 2005 release “This Is Adam Holt” exercise in pure American rock ‘n’ roll crafted for to introduce the public to his newly-crafted style. enjoyment. This departure from “Who I Am” served as a musiHolt says his musical style is an offshoot of an cal portrayal of Holt’s musical experimentation. American style called Heartland Rock. Proponents Five years later, his sound came into full bloom include such icons as Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty, with the album “The Sunday Morning Troubadour,” Bob Seger and John Mellencamp. featuring that perfectly blended mix of country, rock “The songs are not your traditional 12-bar blues, and blues that highlight Holt’s but there are blues elements current sound. in there,” Holt said. “I’m not More than a decade later, full-on country, but there are Holt released an album in country elements in there. My 2016 that would add yet anmusic is pretty much Southother dimension to his musical ern, because I’m from the AFTER YEARS OF RECORDcareer. “Acoustic” lived up to South. With all those elements its title with a mix of unfrom the South that are put in ING AND PRODUCING OTHER plugged covers and originals. there, I think ‘Southern HeartAfter years of playing with a ARTISTS, HOLT IS FINALLY land Rock’ is a good descripfull band, Holt’s personal life tion for what I do.” led him to start concentratSETTING ASIDE TIME TO LAY Holt employs a thoughtful ing on solo acoustic perforprocess to create his sound, TRACKS FOR HIS FOLLOWmances, making “Acoustic” beginning with an acoustic an intelligent business move. guitar form. Holt says his UP TO ‘THE SUNDAY MORNEven though his full-band songs begin “primitively” as releases were available at his ING TROUBADOUR.’ a “typical country song with solo shows, “Acoustic” was a some depth to it.” After the chance for fans to essentially foundation has been created, take home the show they were he electrifies the song with a witnessing. Behind the scenes, blues riff. From there, Holt begins to layer instru“Acoustic” was the first album Holt recorded using ments and influences such as adding “thundering analog methods. drums” to fill the song with rock overtones. “I’ve always had some sort of home studio,” he Looking back on his musical path, Holt’s versasaid. “I got into recording on tape. I did the digital tile sound seems like a natural outgrowth of his perthing for so long, so I bought my first tape machine sonal and musical experiences. His desire to enter for the acoustic album.” the music game began when he was 9, when Holt’s From there, Holt began collecting analog equipfather had MTV added to the household cable plan ment and created Studio ’78. Specializing in analog and the young, would-be artist witnessed a vision studio production, Holt chose the Studio ’78 name that affected the rest of his life. as both a representation of the year in which he was “One of the music videos that came on, I was born and a tribute to a musical era when studios laid just mesmerized at the guitar solo,” said Holt. “It tracks on tape. was a silver sparkle Gretsch electric guitar being Since founding Studio ’78, Holt has welcomed played, and the person playing it was Joe Perry of a number of regional acts into its vintage confines. Aerosmith. It was ‘Dude Looks Like a Lady.’ At Area musical acts such as Soul Mexican, Greg that moment, I knew at 9 years old that I wanted to
Adam Holt will bring his unique brand of “Southern Heartland Rock” to Manci’s in Daphne on Thursday, Feb. 21. Padilla’s Red & the Revelers project, and country up-and-comer Justin Jeansonne have been laying tracks at Studio ’78. Pensacola-based guitarist Lang Holloman has also traveled to Baldwin County to lay tracks on Holt’s gear, which includes a 3M M79 reel-to-reel. “That’s the same tape machine that’s seen in the movie ‘Bohemian Rhapsody,’ explained Holt. “I don’t know how many were made, but mine’s serial number is 26. So, it was one of the first ones made. I bought it from a studio in New Orleans that decided to go all-digital. I went over there and picked up all three-hundred and something pounds of it. That was a nightmare.” After years of recording and producing other artists, Holt is finally setting aside time to lay tracks for his follow-up to “The Sunday Morning Troubadour.” Holt says this release will feature the same “blues-infused, Southern Americana rock” that showcases what he feels is his best songwriting. He also promises this album will be released in the “best format” — on vinyl. Currently, Holt plans for this album to feature nine originals and three covers. For a preview, check out “The Sun Comes Up in Memphis,” recorded at the historic Sun Studios in Memphis. The EP features his take on the blues standard “Killing Floor” as well as the Johnny Cash hit “Folsom Prison Blues.” Holt complements this EP with an online documentary of the same name detailing his trip through Mississippi.
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MUSIC BRIEFS
Yung Bleu’s badazz hip-hop BY STEPHEN CENTANNI/MUSIC EDITOR/SCENTANNI@LAGNIAPPEMOBILE.COM
Band: Yung Bleu Date: Saturday, Feb. 23, with doors at 9 p.m. Venue: Soul Kitchen, 219 Dauphin St. (Mobile), soulkitchenmobile.com Tickets: $30-$60 available online, Mellow Mushroom (both locations) or 1-866-777-8932
Photo | Submitted
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n Saturday, The Maids of Mirth will fill the streets of Mobile with beads and moonpies, then Mobile rapper Yung Bleu will keep the night moving with a homecoming after-party at Soul Kitchen. The Azalea City is filled with would-be hip-hop artists, but many lack the hustle and dedication to make it into the regional or national scene. Yung Bleu began recording his lyrical goodness before he entered his teen years. While most students were planning for college, Yung Bleu spent his high school years perfecting his production and solidifying his verbal flow. Eventually, Baton Rouge-based rap superstar Boozie Badazz discovered Yung Bleu online and recruited him for his Bad Azz Music Syndicate. Yung Bleu returns to Mobile to celebrate the release of his latest collection, “Bleu Vandross 2.” The rapper has given his followers a smooth mix of R&B, hip-hop and soul filled with sonic seduction and lyrical prowess. His patented delivery mixing soul’s heartfelt crooning and hip-hop’s verbal flow shoots to the forefront of this collection, which should be well-received by the crowd. Yung Bleu’s new material should thrive in Soul Kitchen’s live environment.
Mob Towne Revival after-party Band: Mob Towne Revival Date: Friday, Feb. 22, 9 p.m. Venue: Brickyard, 266 Dauphin St. (Mobile), 251-219-6488 Tickets: Call for more info On Friday night, the Order of Inca will take to the streets of downtown Mobile for its yearly Mardi Gras promenade. Afterward, the LoDa Entertainment District will welcome revelers who want to take the party into the wee hours, with Brickyard holding one of Dauphin Street’s most raucous Inca after-parties. On offer will be not only seasonal hospitality but also the return of one of Mobile’s most beloved bands. From the first note, Mob Towne Revival was unlike any band found in Mobile. This group specializes in live-instrument hip-hop at its finest. Mob Towne takes this musical style into overdrive with musical arrangements steeped in robust funk, jazz and blues. While the band’s verbal assassins shower words on the crowd, the band (complete with horn section) will show no quarter with a blitzkrieg of jams. Anyone new to the city or visiting for Mardi Gras won’t want to miss this show.
Padilla’s pre-parade matinee Band: Greg Padilla Date: Saturday, Feb. 23, 1 p.m. Venue: The Bone and Barrel, 311 Fairhope Ave. (Fairhope), 251-990-0782 Tickets: Call for more info Mardi Gras madness has spread from downtown Mobile throughout the Eastern Shore. On Saturday evening, downtown Fairhope will come alive with the return of the Knights of Ecor Rouge. Before these gallant maskers shower the crowds with trinkets, many along the Eastern Shore will be preparing for the evening’s festivities. For those wanting to get the party started early, The Bone and Barrel will be serving up food and drink, and live music from singer-songwriter Greg Padilla. The local music scene has seen Padilla gradually make his presence known through his infectious sound. He specializes in a mellow, exotic mix of funk and soul. While his music is undeniably appealing, his greatest weapon is a hearty voice built for his arrangements. Recently, Padilla has been working on his Red & the Revelers project. His fans can expect a single release party in April, which may signal a full-length to come.
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AREAMUSIC LISTINGS | February 20 - February 26 Please send upcoming music to listings@ lagniappemobile.com by MONDAY before Wednesday’s paper.
WED. FEB 20 Bluegill— Matt Neese Duo, 6p Blues Tavern— Art & Friends Boudreaux’s Cajun Grill— Ryan Balthrop, 6p Brickyard— Chad Davidson Band Callaghan’s— Phil & Foster Cockeyed Charlie’s— Music by JJ Felix’s— Matt Bush Duo, 6:30p Flora-Bama— Al and Cathy, 11a / Bat, 11a / Neil Dover, 3p / Johnny Hayes, 7p / Rhonda Hart Duo, 7p Listening Room— Peter Bradley Adams
THURS. FEB 21 Bluegill— Ryan Balthrop Duo, 6p Blues Tavern— Funkhouse Fever Bone and Barrel— Andy Cloninger, 7p Boudreaux’s Cajun Grill— David Chastang, 6p Brickyard— Brett LaGrave & The Midnight Transaction Callaghan’s— Stephen Sylvester Cockeyed Charlie’s— Music by JJ Dauphins— Mark Pipas, 5p Fairhope Brewing— Bluegrass Jam Felix’s— Grits ’N Pieces, 6:30 Flora-Bama— Gove Scrivenor, 11a / Delta Donnie Mathis, 1p / Dueling Pianos, 4:30p / Not the Real Band, but the Real Deal (Mark Sherrill), 5p / Davis Nix, 9p / Bat, 9:15p Manci’s— Adam Holt Moe’s BBQ (Mobile) — Rock Bottom Duo, 7p Stampede Saloon— Jamie Adamson w/Bubba Lee, 7p
FRI. FEB 22 Big Beach Brewing— Poarch Ninjas, 6p Bluegill— Lee Yankie, 12p / Blind Dog Mike, 6p Blues Tavern— Fat Lincoln
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Bone and Barrel— Last Call Rodeo Brickyard— Mob Towne Revival Callaghan’s— Adam Holt Cockeyed Charlie’s— Music by Will the Chill Dauphin Street Blues Co— The Scenic Heights, 10p Fairhope Brewing— Marlow Boys, Felix’s— Jimmy Lumpkin Trio, 6:30p Flora-Bama— Tony Ray Thompson, 1p / Lea Anne Creswell Duo, 2p / Lucky Doggs, 5:30p / Scott Koehn & Woody Pierce - Flip Flop Brothers, 6p / Davis Nix Band, 10p / Justin Jeansonne Duo, 10:15p Hard Rock (Center Bar) — Shazam, 9p LuLu’s— John Keuler, 5p Manci’s— Delta Smoke Moe’s BBQ (Daphne) — Twang Gang, 7p Moe’s BBQ (Mobile) — Glass Joe, 7p Moe’s BBQ (Semmes) — The Back Porch Boys, 6:30p Stampede Saloon— Will Smith, 9p The Old Mill — Albert and The Smoking Section
Eldorados The Merry Widow— Jamell Richardson & The Hidefsoul Band, 8p Moe’s BBQ (Mobile) — Harrison McInnis, 7p Original Oyster House — Jimmy Lee Hanford Soul Kitchen— Yung Bleu, Unappreciated Tour, 10p Stampede Saloon— Dr. CC, 8p Waves DI— The Sideliners, 8p Zebra Club— Ryan Balthrop and Friends, 9:30p
SAT. FEB 23
MON. FEB 25
Big Beach Brewing— Blue Mother Tupelo, 1p / Ed David Anderson, 6:30p Blind Mule— Pet Shark, NTTW, Mamalon Bluegill— Elise Taylor, 12p / Jamie Adamson Duo, 6p Blues Tavern— Johnny No Bone and Barrel— Greg Padilla, 1p / Delta Smoke, 8p Brickyard— Stolen Faces Callaghan’s— Will Thompson Cockeyed Charlie’s— Music by M Beazle Dauphin Street Blues Co— Ben Jernigan, 10p Dauphins— Mark Pipas, 5p Felix’s— Blind Dog Mike, 6:30p Flora-Bama— JoJo Pres, 10a / Al and Cathy, 1p / J Hawkins Duo, 2p / Hung Jury, 5:30p / Johnny Barbato Trio, 6p / Davis Nix Band, 10p / Justin Jeansonne Duo, 10:15p Hard Rock (Center Bar) — Shazam, 90\p Hard Rock (Live) — The Fab Four: Ultimate Tribute, 8p LuLu’s— Light Travelers, 5p Manci’s— The Modern
Felix’s— Bobby Butchka, 6:30p Flora-Bama— J Hawkins Duo, 11a / Open Mic w/ Cathy Pace, 3p / Bat, 7p / Petty and Pace, 7p LuLu’s— Brent Burns, 5p The Merry Widow— She Returns from War, 8p Moe’s BBQ (Mobile) — Bob Erickson Duo, 7p
SUN. FEB 24 Big Beach Brewing— Pale Moon Rising, 2:30p Bluegill— Ryan Balthrop, 12p / Red Clay Strays, 6p Blues Tavern— Doobious Brickyard— Delta Smoke Dauphins— Roland Cobbs, 11a Felix’s— Leonard Houstin, 12p and 6:30p Flora-Bama— Just a Little Rusty, 12p / Perdido Brothers, 4p / Bat, 7p / Mario Mena Duo, 8:30 Moe’s BBQ (Mobile) — Lee Yankie, 7p Stampede Saloon— Wally Richerson
TUES. FEB 26 Bluegill— Ty Taylor & Gram Rae, 6p Boudreaux’s Cajun Grill— Ryan Balthrop, 6p Brickyard— Delta Smoke Butch Cassidy’s— Josh Yancey Trio Cockeyed Charlie’s— Music by Jordan Felix’s— Matt Bush, 6:30p Flora-Bama— Bat, 11a / T-Bone Montgomery, 3p / Rick Whaley Duo, 7p / Tim Roberts, 7p Moe’s BBQ (Mobile) — Phil & Foster Original Oyster House — Drew Bentley
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FILMTHE REEL WORLD Robert Redford, through a rear-view mirror
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BY ASIA FREY/FILM CRITIC/AFREY@LAGNIAPPEMOBILE.COM
AREA THEATERS AMC MOBILE 16 785 Schillinger Road South Mobile, AL (251)639-1748 CRESCENT THEATER 208 Dauphin St Mobile, AL (251) 438-2005 REGAL MOBILE STADIUM 18 1250 Satchel Paige Drive Mobile, AL (844) 462-7342 AMC JUBILEE Square 12 6898 Highway 90 Daphne, AL (251) 626-5766
obert Redford is a career criminal whose not-so-secret superpower is charisma in “The Old Man and the Gun,” the legendary octogenarian’s alleged final film. It is based on the true story of a man named Forrest Tucker, but it is more compellingly based on the true story of Redford’s career. Set in 1981, it harks back to Redford’s heyday and draws on his real persona in such a way that the plot is secondary to his presence, and this film becomes a kind of meta tribute experience for a true legend. As an experience, it is not at all unpleasant to spend about 90 minutes being grinned at by Robert Redford. The film begins by establishing Forrest Tucker’s calm but effective method of robbing a bank. Forrest enters a bank, wearing a suit and what appears to be a hearing aid but is actually a device for listening to police scanners, and, with the greatest charm and decorum, sticks up the place. If an experienced young bank teller cries, he encourages her, and tells her she’s doing a good job. As much as Tucker seems to enjoy
his “work,” police detective John Hunt, portrayed by the ever-morose Casey Affleck, takes no pleasure from his. He has a beautiful and loving wife and kids, but remains decidedly hangdog in his profession, until one of these very low-key robberies takes place while Hunt is actually in the bank. He realizes that this unusual criminal has been pretty busy, and soon the pursuit of Tucker gives Hunt a sense of purpose. The film occasionally threatens to enter “Wild Hogs” territory, like when Tucker assembles an affable gang of geezers, comprising Tom Waits and Danny Glover, earning them the nickname “The Over the Hill Gang.” Writer/ director David Lowery, who also directed Affleck in the extraordinary 2017 film “A Ghost Story,” wisely doles out details about Forrest’s past after we’ve already fallen irreversibly in love with him. The twinkly eyed Forrest has already told an equally beguiling Sissy Spacek that he has no children when we find out the truth of that and other statements, and his devil-may-care persona is complicated at just the right time.
“The Old Man and the Gun” is not just set decades ago; it is also filmed to look like it was made then, and this works really well. It is a lighthearted caper flick, but it might have been more meaningful if it had lingered a bit longer on some dark spots. Rest assured, Redford handily supplies enough charm to fill this relatively short film, but maybe there could have been more to it. The angle this story uses, instead, is to bask happily in Redford’s gaze, both in its current, wrinkly iteration and its many past lives. A montage of Forrest’s various prison escapes goes so far as to use footage from an earlier Redford film. When Hunt flips through old photos of Forrest in his lengthy police file, it further conflates Redford’s past films with Forrest’s past escapades. This is really a film about a man who loves his work playing a man who loves his work, and, while it has a few truly delightful and memorable scenes, I’d also like to see a version that is a smidge less in awe of its subject, however deserved that awe may be. “The Old Man and the Gun” is currently available to rent.
NEXUS CINEMA DINING 7070 Bruns Dr. Mobile, AL (251) 776-6570 AMC CLASSIC WHARF 23151 Wharf Lane Orange Beach, AL (251) 981-4444 COBB PINNACLE 14 3780 Gulf Shores Pkwy Gulf Shores (251) 923-0785 EASTERN SHORE PREMIERE CINEMA 14 30500 State Hwy 181 Spanish Fort, AL (251) 626-0352 Information accurate at press time; please call theaters for showtimes.
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Photos | Fox Searchlight Pictures | Universal Pictures
From left: Robert Redford stars in what may be his final film, “The Old Man and the Gun.” In “How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World,” Hiccup and Toothless finally discover their true destinies. NEW THIS WEEK
HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON: THE HIDDEN WORLD In this next chapter, Hiccup and Toothless finally discover their true destinies: the village chief as ruler of Berk alongside Astrid, and the dragon as leader of his own kind. All listed multiplex theaters.
NOW PLAYING
ALITA: BATTLE ANGEL All listed multiplex theaters. HAPPY DEATH DAY 2 U All listed multiplex theaters. ISN’T IT ROMANTIC All listed multiplex theaters, Crescent Theater. COLD PURSUIT All listed multiplex theaters. THE PRODIGY All listed multiplex theaters. THE LEGO MOVIE 2: THE SECOND PART
All listed multiplex theaters, Nexus Cinema Dining. WHAT MEN WANT All listed multiplex theaters. STAN & OLLIE AMC Wharf 15 CAN YOU EVER FORGIVE ME? Regal Mobile Stadium 18, AMC Mobile 16, AMC Wharf 15 SERENITY All listed multiplex theaters, Nexus Cinema Dining. GREEN BOOK Regal Mobile Stadium 18, AMC Mobile 16, AMC Classic Jubilee Square 12, AMC Wharf 15 MISS BALA Regal Mobile Stadium 18, AMC Mobile 16 THE FAVOURITE Regal Mobile Stadium 18, AMC Mobile 16, AMC Classic Jubilee Square 12, AMC Wharf 15 GLASS All listed multiplex theaters, Nexus Cinema Dining. DRAGON BALL SUPER: BROLY
AMC Mobile 16 A DOG’S WAY HOME All listed multiplex theaters. THE UPSIDE Nexus Cinema Dining, all listed multiplex theaters. VICE All listed multiplex theaters. ESCAPE ROOM AMC Mobile 16, Regal Mobile Stadium 18 MARY POPPINS RETURNS All listed multiplex theaters. BUMBLEBEE All listed multiplex theaters. AQUAMAN All listed multiplex theaters. SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE All listed multiplex theaters. THE MULE Regal Mobile Stadium 18 RALPH BREAKS THE INTERNET All listed multiplex theaters.
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CALENDAR OF EVENTS FEBRUARY 20, 2019 - FEBRUARY 26, 2019
GENERAL INTEREST
begins at 3 p.m. Dauphin Island for snowbirds Saturday, Feb. 23, 9-11 a.m. CamelliaShrimp Boil grafting demonstration in Cadillac Square. Guy T. Smith Masonic Lodge, 6715 Visit townofdauphinisland.org. Dauphin Island Parkway, Mobile, will host a MCHD rabies clinics shrimp boil Saturday, Feb. 23, starting at 11 The Mobile County Health Department a.m. $10 per plate or shrimp by the pound. offers low-cost rabies shots for dogs, cats Call 251-895-3554 or 228-229-7052. and ferrets. Saturday, Feb. 23, 1:30-3:30 “Bioarchaeology of the Enslaved” p.m. at Dauphin Island Town Hall (1101 Wednesday, Feb. 20, 5-6 p.m., USA Bienville Blvd.). $8-10, cash only. Visit Marx Library. Lecture by Dr. Jaime mchd.org. Ullinger (Quinnipiac University in Hamden, 2B Choices Prenatal, Parenting Classes Connecticut) on what human skeletons Monday, Feb. 25, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at reveal about individuals’ lives and deaths. St. Margaret’s Catholic Church (13790 S. See @marxlibrary on Facebook. Wintzell Ave., Bayou La Batre). Parents Democratic Caucus Listening Tour with a child under 24 months and pregnant Mobile-area Democratic legislators will women can stop in anytime. Classes the host a town hall Thursday, Feb. 21, 6-8 2nd and 4th Mondays of each month. p.m. at Williamson High School (1567 Contact Kathryn at 251-343-4636. E. Dublin St., Mobile) to learn citizens’ Columbus ships at The Wharf priorities and concerns ahead of the next Replicas of Columbus’ ships the Pinta and legislative session. Visit @ALHouseDems on the Niña are at The Wharf in Orange Beach Facebook. through Monday, Feb. 25. Walk-aboard, Kirk Cameron Live self-guided tours; $8.50 for adults, $7.50 for Thursday, Feb. 21, 7 p.m. at Dauphin Way seniors and $6.50 for students ages 5-16; 4 Baptist Church in Mobile. Join Cameron for and under free. Visit ninapinta.org. a conversation about what matters to us Winter Wednesdays at Bellingrath most as husbands, wives and parents. Visit Wednesday, Feb. 27, 10:30-11:30 a.m. dwbc.org. “Flowers for Mom: Honoring an Alzheimer’s Murder Mystery Dinner Cruise Journey.” Artist and photographer Elmore Thursday, Feb. 21, 7 p.m. aboard the Demott, a great-niece of Walter Bellingrath, Perdido Queen. A riverboat captain and will discuss her artistic response to her a necklace disappear under questionable mother’s struggle with Alzheimer’s disease. circumstances. Visit perdidoqueen.com/ Call 251-459-8727 or email bellingrath@ murder-mystery-dinner-cruise. bellingrath.org. Tea for $2 Mardi Gras learning lunch Thursday, Feb. 21, 2-3 p.m., Fairhope Wednesday, Feb. 20, noon at The History Museum of History. Don Kilbourne of the Museum of Mobile. “The Mother of Mystics Mind Performance Center will discuss a comprehensive approach to brain disorders and All Her Children” presented by Steve Joynt, author and Mardi Gras historian. and brain restorative procedures.Call 251Call 251-301-0270 or email theeckj@ 929-1471 or visit fairhopeal.gov. Coastal Alabama Business Chamber Night historymuseumofmobile.com. Remington College Career Fair of Celebration Tuesday, Feb. 26, 10 a.m. to noon, Thursday, Feb. 21, 6-8 p.m., Orange 828 Downtowner Loop, Mobile. Call Beach Event Center at The Wharf. Chamber 251-544-1519 or email ibrahim.hasan@ member tickets cost $50, include two remingtoncollege.edu. drink tickets (beer/wine) and heavy hors Rainbow Mobile and MedPride & Allies d’oeuvres. Visit mygulfcoastchamber.com. Health Forum Cardiorespiratory Care Open House Thursday, Feb. 28, 6:30 p.m. at USA’s Friday, Feb. 22, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., USA Student Center in the Terrace Room. Health Sciences Building, HAHN 3093. Planned Parenthood will open a discussion Contact toptholt@southalabama.edu or on sexual health maintenance, AIDS 251-445-9284. Alabama South will offer free HIV testing Go Red Gulf Coast and there will be education about sexual Join Infirmary Health and FOX10 for a assault and domestic violence. Light FREE full cholesterol screening, blood refreshments provided. pressure and weight check. Friday, Feb. 22, Census jobs The U.S. Census Bureau is seeking 8-11 a.m. at FOX10 News (1501 Satchel Paige Drive, Mobile), Thomas Fitness Center temporary part-time workers to apply to conduct the 2020 Census in Southwest (212 Hospital Drive, Fairhope) and North Alabama, including Mobile and Baldwin Baldwin Fitness Center (2115 Hand Ave., counties. Paid training, flexible hours Bay Minette). Free to first 100 people at and pay averaging $17 per hour. Apply at Mobile, Fairhope locations; first 50 free at 2020census.gov/jobs or call 1-855-JOBBay Minette. 2020. Blakeley Cruise, Tree Seedling Giveaway Saturday, Feb. 23, 9 a.m. at Historic FUNDRAISERS Blakeley State Park. For details visit the events page at blakeleypark.com. Orange Beach Seafood Festival Iron Elite bike show Saturday, Feb. 23, 10 a.m. at The Wharf Saturday, Feb. 23, noon at Mobile Bay in support of the Orange Beach Sports Harley-Davidson. Celebrate Harley’s Association, featuring a full day of food, African-American Riders. Bike show, gift 130 artists from throughout the South and cards, Matt McCoy on music, free beer (21+) and grilled lunch. Find us on Facebook music on two stages. Find us on Facebook @orangebeach. @mobilebayharley. Karyn Tunks book signing Miracle on the Bay Parade Saturday, Feb. 23, 1:30 p.m. at Page and Monday, Feb. 25, at 6:30 p.m. iHeartRadio Palette in Fairhope. Tunks will read the story is hosting the inaugural Miracle on the Bay Parade benefiting St Jude. For details visit “Mardi Gras in Alabama” before the parade
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95ksj.iheart.com/content/2019-01-08iheartradio-miracle-on-the-bay-paradebenefiting-st-jude. “Many More Miles” For the 16th year, Baldwin Bone & Joint is hosting a community project to collect shoes for Wings of Life homeless outreach programs and for, the first year, Family Promise of Baldwin County. Gently used athletic shoes accepted through March 23. For more information and drop-off locations, visit baldwinboneandjoint.com.
ARTS Watoto Children’s Choir Wednesday, Feb, 20, 7 p.m. at 3 Circle Church (10274 State Highway 104, Fairhope). For a complete list of local performances, visit watoto.com. Free admittance. UM Chamber Opera in English: “The Consul” Feb. 22, 7 p.m. and Feb. 24, 2 p.m. at Murphy High School Auditorium, Mobile. Directed by Dr. Patrick Jacobs, director of opera, University of Mobile. Tickets at itickets.com Master class with Heidi Blickenstaff Saturday, Feb. 23, 2-3 p.m. at The PACT. Each participant is to prepare at least two full songs. Participant spots are limited. Master class is for grades 5-12. Contact Jacob Rowe at Jacob@thepactmobile.com USA Clarinet Day Saturday, Feb. 23, 4 p.m. at Laidlaw Recital Hall. Dr. Victor Chavez will present a clarinet recital with works by Francis Poulenc, Carl Maria von Weber and Felix Mendelssohn. Free to the public. Visit southalabama.edu/music. Open auditions Local artists and authors are collaborating to make a film based on the novel “Beyond the Myst: Lost Years of King Arthur.” Open auditions are Feb. 23 at the Copper Kettle Tea Bar in Foley, 2-5 p.m. All ages and backgrounds. Email Shari Prestwood, wolf_kyn@yahoo.com. Winter Choral Concert at USA Monday, Feb. 25, 7:30 p.m. at USA’s Laidlaw Recital Hall. Concert featuring ensembles in music spanning historical eras, styles and languages. Tickets sold at door only. Visit southalabama.edu/music. UM “Night of the Classical Masters” Feb. 26, 7 p.m. at Alabama School of Mathematics & Science, Mobile. Conducted by Dr. Al Miller, dean, Alabama School of the Arts, University of Mobile. Free admission. USA Symphony Band Winter Concert Thursday, Feb. 28, 7 p.m. at USA’s Laidlaw Recital Hall. USA Symphony will open with “Allegro Barbaro” by Béla Bartok. Tickets sold at door only. Visit southalabama.edu/music. “The Undersea Well” Jane Cassidy manipulates various technologies, such as speakers and projectors, and fuses light and sound to form meditative environments filled with visual music. Mobile Museum of Art; call 251-208-5200 or visit mobilemuseumofart. com. Alabama bicentennial murals Through Feb. 23 at Eastern Shore Art Center. Fairhope artist and historian Dean Mosher has created nine murals for the
state’s bicentennial, two of which are being displayed for the very first time. Visit esartcenter.org.
MUSEUMS Maurice Sendak Memorial Exhibition Mobile’s Ben May Main Library is hosting a retrospective of original works by Maurice Sendak, best known for his 1963 children’s classic, “Where the Wild Things Are.” Through Monday, March 25. Call 251494-2298 or visit mobilepubliclibrary.org. “Parading through Time” Roll through four centuries of Mardi Gras history with Mobile’s Carnival traditions, mystic societies and more. Through April 20, History Museum of Mobile. Visit historymuseumofmobile.com. Thursdays at MMoA Every Thursday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., the Mobile Museum of Art offers free admission to all Mobile County residents. No reservations necessary. MMoA is at 4850 Museum Drive. Call 251-208-5200.
SPORTS EVENTS/ACTIVITIES Pool Club Mitternight Park Pool Club (off University and Moffett in Mobile) is open Wednesdays, 6-8 p.m., for those interested in playing pool and bumper pool. Instructor available. Call 251-463-7980 or 251-2081610. Tennis Club Laun Park Table Tennis Club (off Cottage Hill and Demetropolis in Mobile) is open Mondays and Tuesdays, 6-8 p.m., for all interested in playing table tennis. Coach available. Call 251-463-7980 or 251-2081610. Piyo Stretch/Tone Stott’s Studio (off Cottage Hill and North Demetropolis in Mobile) is offering Piyo Stretch (relaxing Pilates and yoga) and Piyo Tone (toning Pilates and yoga plus weights). Call 251-463-7980 or 251-2081610. Bingo at Via Bingo every Tuesday and Thursday, 1-3 p.m. Open to the public. Via Health, Fitness, Enrichment Center, 1717 Dauphin St. in Mobile, 251-478-3311. West Coast Swing in Fairhope Wednesdays at 7 p.m. at American Legion Post 199 in Fairhope. Hosted by Pensacola Dance Society. Call 850-503-9978. Adult skate night The second and fourth Sundays of each month, 8-10:30 p.m. at Dreamland Skate Center (5672 Three Notch Road, Mobile) with DJ Beaux, $5. Call 251-661-6997.
WORKSHOPS Spring Foundation classes Wednesday, Feb. 20, 6:30 p.m. at Stewartfield on Spring Hill College campus. Build relationships with resettled refugees and other immigrants, help them gain skills necessary to rebuild their lives. Visit dwellmobile.org. Floral 101 class Thursday, Feb. 21, 5:30 p.m. at LUSH Home Garden Event. Take home a beautiful arrangement you create with the help of
our lead floral designer. Class costs $65, includes the arrangement you take home, snacks and drinks. Call 251-473-6121. Weaving on a 3-foot triangle loom Saturday, Feb. 23, 10 a.m. at Humming Star Alpacas, Silverhill. Learn the art of continuous-strand weaving while creating a beautiful shawl to wear home. Email Cheryl @hsalpacas.centurylink.net or text 251-214-8224.
PUBLIC MEETINGS Baldwin County Commission: First and third Tuesday at 8:30 a.m., 322 Courthouse Square, Bay Minette. Work sessions are second and fourth Tuesday at 8:30 a.m. rotating between Bay Minette, the Foley Satellite Courthouse, the Fairhope Satellite Courthouse and the Baldwin County Central Annex Building in Robertsdale, baldwincountyal.gov. Baldwin County Planning Commission: First Thursday at 6 p.m., 22251 Palmer St., Robertsdale, baldwincountyal.gov. Bayou La Batre City Council: Second and fourth Thursday at 5:30 p.m., 13785 S. Wintzell Ave., cityofbayoulabatre.com. Chickasaw City Council: Second and fourth Tuesday at 7 p.m., 224 N. Craft Highway, 251-452-6450. Citronelle City Council: Second and fourth Thursday at 6:30 p.m., 19135 Main St., 251-866-7973. Creola City Council: Second and fourth Thursday at 6 p.m., 190 Dead Lake Road, #A, 251-675-8142. Daphne City Council: First and third Monday at 6:30 p.m., 1705 Main St. Work sessions second Monday of each month at 6:30 p.m., daphneal.com. Dauphin Island Town Council: First and third Tuesdays at 7 p.m., 1011 Bienville Blvd., townofdauphinisland.org. Elberta Town Council: Third Tuesday of each month at 6 p.m. in the town hall. Workshop meeting on the second Tuesday, townofelberta.com. Fairhope City Council: Second and fourth Monday at 6 p.m., 161 N. Section St. Work sessions held before each council meeting at 4:30 p.m., cofairhope.com. Fairhope Planning Commission: First Monday at 5 p.m., 161 N. Section St. Visit cofairhope.com. Foley City Council: First and third Monday at 5:30 p.m., 407 E. Laurel Ave. Work sessions begin at 4 p.m.; cityoffoley.org. Gulf Shores City Council: Second and fourth Mondays at 4 p.m., 1905 W. First St., gulfshoresal.gov. Mobile City Council: Tuesdays at Government Plaza, 205 Government St. Pre-council meeting at 9 a.m.; council meeting at 10:30 a.m., cityofmobile.org.
MARDI GRAS 2019 THURSDAY, FEB. 21
Order of the Polka Dots, 6:30 p.m., Route A
FRIDAY, FEB. 22
Apollo’s Mystic Ladies, 6:45 p.m., Main Street, Daphne Order of the Inca, 6:30 p.m., Route A
SATURDAY, FEB. 23
County Road 1 Mystics of Pleasure, 6 p.m., Orange Beach Mystics of Time, 6 p.m., Route H Coronation of Queen Ellen Boyd Douglas and King Felix III, 6:30 p.m., Mobile Convention Center Shadow Barons, 6:45 p.m., Daphne
SUNDAY, MARCH 3, JOE CAIN DAY
Neptune’s Daughters, 6:30 p.m., Route A Order of Isis, 7 p.m., Route A
Abba Temple Motorcade, noon, Route I Loyal Order of the Fire Truck, 2:29 p.m., Main Street, Daphne King Elexis Parade, 2 p.m., Route E Joe Cain Marchers, 2:30 p.m., Route A Joe Cain, 3 p.m., Route A OWA Mardi Gras Celebration — Parade, parties and celebration with Krewe du Cirque of Foley, 4-8 p.m. at OWA Le Krewe de Bienville, 5 p.m., Route A Krewe de Secondline, 5:30 p.m., Route A Coronation of MAMGA Queen and King Elexis, 7 p.m., Mobile Convention Center
MONDAY, FEB. 25
MONDAY, MARCH 4
Mobile Mystics, 2 p.m., Route A Mobile Mystical Revelers, 2:30 p.m., Route A Mystic Mutts of Revelry, 3 p.m., downtown Fairhope Mobile Mystical Friends, 3 p.m., Route A Maids of Mirth, 6:30 p.m., Route G Knights of Ecor Rouge, 6:30 p.m., downtown Fairhope Order of Butterfly Maidens, 7 p.m., Route A Krewe of Marry Mates, 7:30 p.m., Route A
SUNDAY, FEB. 24
Order of Venus, 6:30 p.m., Route A Order of Many Faces, 7 p.m., Route A
TUESDAY, FEB. 26
Order of LaShe’s, 6:30 p.m., Route A
THURSDAY, FEB. 28
Mystic Stripers, 6:30 p.m., Route A
FRIDAY, MARCH 1
Mystical Order of Mirams, 6 p.m., Orange Beach Crewe of Columbus, 6:30 p.m., Route A Maids of Jubilee, 6:45 p.m., downtown Fairhope
SATURDAY, MARCH 2
Prichard Mardi Gras Association, 10 a.m., downtown Prichard Foley Mardi Gras Parade, 11 a.m., downtown Foley Krewe de Sparta, noon, Saraland Floral Parade, noon, Route A Knights of Mobile, 12:30 p.m., Route A Mobile Mystical Ladies, 1 p.m., Route A Order of Angels, 1:30 p.m., Route A Fairhope Mullet Mates, 2 p.m., south of Point Clear on
Arrival of King Felix, 11 a.m, Cooper Riverside Park, Mobile King’s Parade and Floral Parade, noon, Route A MLK Business and Civic Organization, 3 p.m., Route D MLK Monday Mystics, 3:30 p.m., Route D Moon Pies on Main, kids and pet parade at 4 p.m., float parade at 6 p.m., The Wharf, Orange Beach Northside Merchants, 4 p.m., Route D Fairhope Mystic Magnolias, 6:45 p.m., downtown Fairhope Infant Mystics, 7 p.m., Route F Order of Doves, 7:30 p.m., Route F
TUESDAY, MARCH 5, MARDI GRAS DAY
Gulf Shores Mardi Gras Association, 10 a.m., Gulf Shores Order of Athena, 10:30 a.m., Route A Knights of Revelry, 12:30 p.m., Route A King Felix, 1 p.m., Route A Comic Cowboys, 1 p.m., Route A Mobile Area Mardi Gras Association, 2 p.m., Route B Orange Beach Mardi Gras Parade, 2 p.m., Orange Beach Order of Myths, 6 p.m., Route C
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MEDIA MEDIA FRENZY
Linden publisher’s column a viral mess BY ROB HOLBERT/MANAGING EDITOR/RHOLBERT@LAGNIAPPEMOBILE.COM
J THE NEW YORK TIMES CROSSWORD PUZZLE THAT’S A MOUTHFUL BY LEE TAYLOR / EDITED BY WILL SHORTZ ACROSS 1 Parabolas, essentially 5 Part of a wedding 9-Across 9 See 5-Across 13 Trophy winner 18 He planned for a rainy day 19 Sled dog with a statue in Central Park 20 Jewish month before Nisan 21 Corolla part 22 Result of a foul on a long basketball shot 25 Bandleader Shaw 26 Start of Euripides’ signature 27 Bargain-basement 29 See 92-Across 30 Took off the board 32 Popular jeans 33 Does, as an animated character 35 A, B or C, in Washington 38 Albino orca, e.g. 41 “You’re on!” and others 42 Skedaddles 45 Country singer Chesney 46 “It was all ____” 48 Chops down 49 Places for toasters and roasters 51 Word after sock or bunny 54 Subjects of some New Year’s resolutions 56 Deli order 57 Reddish 59 When repeated, emergency cry to a fighter pilot 60 Wise-looking 63 Pub orders 64 On base, say 67 Part of a department store where people sit 70 Legally confer, as a power 71 Opulent 73 Kind of joke 74 Lilac color 76 High regard 78 Certain intersection 79 Andrew Jackson’s Tennessee home, with “the” 83 Family-reunion attendee, informally 84 One taking inventory? 87 ____ Pueblo (World Heritage Site) 88 Polite 89 Expensive outing 90 Philadelphia art museum, with “the” 92 With 29-Across, source of a famous smile
93 Home of the world’s only 14-lane suspension bridge 98 “Atonement” author Ian 100 Old barracks decorations 101 Catches up to 102 Bollywood instruments 105 Man Ray’s genre 106 Ham it up 109 Wine orders 112 Good servers 114 Timekeeper on the Emerald Isle 117 “Free ____” 118 Text-message status 119 Assists in a way one shouldn’t 120 One getting the redcarpet treatment 121 Diary passage 122 Avant-garde 123 Father 124 Scottish caps DOWN 1 Hill and tunnel builder 2 Architect Mies van der ____ 3 Complain 4 What a dairymaid does all day long 5 Poi plants 6 Chaiken who co-created “The L Word” 7 Printemps follower 8 Source of a deferment in the 1960s draft
9 Syndicate 10 Big fan 11 Yamaha competitor 12 Formerly, once 13 Figurehead? 14 Tim ____, frequent collaborator with Adam Sandler 15 Ancient Greek state with Athens 16 “The Marvelous Mrs. ____” (award-winning Amazon series) 17 “I beg of you” 19 A sharps 23 Aer Lingus destination 24 Performances for Hawaii tourists 28 Plane, e.g. 31 Column in soccer standings 34 Confesses 35 Picket line crosser 36 Hobbes’s favorite food in “Calvin and Hobbes” 37 Text-message status 39 Leading characters in “Mad Max” 40 Matter in court 43 Pretentious 44 1984 Olympic gymnastics sensation 47 ____ Boston (noted hotel) 49 ____ de leche 50 Somewhat 51 Put an edge on 52 Loopholes 53 “Hey you!”
55 Wanna-____ 56 Writer Stieg Larsson, e.g. 58 Hard way to say the answers to the italicized clues in this puzzle (good luck!) 60 Willow twig 61 San ____, Calif. 62 Having a frog in one’s throat 64 Building direction, briefly 65 What “btw” means 66 Mess (with) 68 Spanish direction 69 Book before Deut. 72 Extend a hand to after a fall, say 75 London’s Old ____ 77 Beyond that 79 Listens attentively 80 Declare 81 “Jane the Virgin” actress Rodriguez 82 Pizazz 85 Wine: Prefix 86 Was on the verge of collapse 87 What “light” cigarettes are lower in 89 Not so hip 90 “The Garden of Earthly Delights” painter 91 Cleverness 93 App release 94 One of the B vitamins
ANSWERS ON PAGE 40
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ust when we thought Virginia had taken the heat off of Alabama as the state most likely to be racially embarrassed, along comes the publisher of the Democrat-Reporter newspaper in Linden to put us back on the map. Publisher Goodloe Sutton ran an opinion column in his 2,000-circulation newspaper last week that suggests he’s either addicted to cough syrup or was kicked in the head by whatever jackass he rode to work that day. Sutton’s piece, titled “Klan needs to ride again,” is a rambling screed calling for the infamous white supremacists’ group to protect the state from Democrats and “socialist-communists” in Washington, D.C. The 202-word column blames Democrats for both World Wars, the Korean War, war in Vietnam and the current wars in the Middle East. But the real lesson comes from Sutton’s history lesson on former slaves. “Slaves, just freed after the civil war, were not stupid. At times, they borrowed their former masters’ robes and horses and rode through the night to frighten some evil doer. Sometimes they had to kill one or two of them, but so what,” he wrote. He also suggested the Ku Klux Klan’s terroristic tactics would be ideal for handling the problems in D.C. “Seems like the Klan would be welcome to raid the gated communities up there. They call them compounds now. Truly they are the ruling class,” he wrote. If all that wasn’t bad enough, Sutton dug in deeper when contacted by the Montgomery Advertiser about his column.
“If we could get the Klan to go up there and clean out D.C., we’d all been better off,” Sutton reportedly said. Asked to elaborate on what he meant by “cleaning up D.C.,” Sutton suggested lynching, according to the paper. “We’ll get the hemp ropes out, loop them over a tall limb and hang all of them,” Sutton said. The Advertiser also reported Sutton defended Klan violence as well. “A violent organization? Well, they didn’t kill but a few people,” Sutton reportedly said. “The Klan wasn’t violent until they needed to be.” Sutton, 79, inherited the Democrat-Reporter from his father and has been working at the paper for roughly 54 years. He is reported to have told the Advertiser reporter that people were welcome to write him or boycott his paper. I have little doubt he’ll get both of those wishes. He and his wife were inducted into the University of Southern Mississippi Journalism School’s hall of fame in 2007, but that honor is reportedly being rescinded in light of this latest column. In the ‘90s the paper was lauded with several journalism awards for its coverage of the Marengo County Sheriff’s Department. After student journalists brought this latest column to light, Sutton and his paper have gone viral in the worst kind of way. People are digging up past racist articles in the paper from years ago and putting them on the web. The Democrat-Reporter doesn’t have a web page, which is probably one reason these types of articles weren’t noticed sooner. The paper celebrated its 100th anniversary just two years ago.
SPORTS FROM BEHIND THE MIC
Knowledgeable fans are not overrated BY RANDY KENNEDY/CONTRIBUTING WRITER
K
entucky coach John Calipari is my new sports hero. It’s not because his team was so spectacularly fun to watch beating No. 1 Tennessee and crushing the Volunteers’ dreams of completing a perfect season in the SEC. Kentucky basketball teams have been crushing dreams long before Calipari began his coaching career by winning games at Massachusetts and Memphis. He inherited a Kentucky program that is supposed to enjoy annual success and win games against bigger basketball names than Tennessee. That’s why he was having none of it when members of the Big Blue Nation began to taunt the Volunteers once the outcome of Saturday’s blowout became apparent. With 1:35 remaining and Kentucky leading 76-63, Kentucky fans began to chant “overrated” at the Volunteers. Calipari immediately began waving his arms in the universal sign for “no” while simultaneously screaming the word “stop.” The fans quickly followed his instructions. Part of Calipari’s motivation may be that the Wildcats were only 14 days away from having to face the Volunteers again, this time in Knoxville. There’s no need to provide any extra motivation to the opposition, especially a good one. But Calipari was motivated by more than that. He knows that just because the No. 1 ranked team in the country comes to Lexington and loses by 17 points, that doesn’t make that team overrated. Every team that comes to Rupp Arena is supposed to lose by double digits. It doesn’t require the opposing team to be bad or overrated. It simply requires them to
be on the same floor with one of the greatest programs in college basketball history. Teams that are overrated, underrated and accurately rated are all supposed to lose at Kentucky. You’re Kentucky. Act like you’ve been there before, because you certainly have. The “overrated” cheer is just one example of fans not always understanding what supporting your team actually looks like. The Kentucky players certainly weren’t going to chalk up their win to Tennessee by being overrated. They were ready to bask in the excitement that comes with dominating a very good team. Another example of fan exuberance gone awry involves recruiting. (Haven’t most all things gone awry when it comes to recruiting?) When a five-star recruit decides to sign with one rival team over another, the cry from the spurned fans is as predictable as a multi-car crash on the last lap at Daytona. The disappointment always shows up in complaints about the player being on the take, which is the only possible explanation for why he could choose another school. The complaint is most overblown in writing, where the aggrieved fan can replace every “S” with a dollar sign, such as “He cho$e Ole Mi$$. $hocker!” I’m not here to say illegal inducements never factor into where a recruit goes to school, but if you’re going to make these sweeping accusations you have to also wonder how your school ever signs a top prospect. If there are two five-star recruits and School A signs one of those players by illegal means, then how did the second five-star recruit end up at the rival school? Are we supposed to believe that the first player took the money but the second didn’t because he liked your fight song
and meal plan enough to turn down the cash from the cheating program? But the “overrated” folks and the ‘everybody except us is cheating” crew are easily overshadowed by the worst and most destructive fans in sports. These fans are best exemplified by the old Aints fans, who wore bags over their heads while attending New Orleans Saints games. At first glance it’s cute and clever. The team is playing so poorly that it’s an embarrassment for fans to show their faces. But the impact of this action is obvious, especially for a college program. For me, the progression for disappointed fans should be as follows: Total support, complete with wild cheering; passive attendance; stay home to watch on TV; stop buying tickets and completely ignore the team until there are signs of improvement. Nowhere on that scale is the option to hurt the
KENTUCKY BASKETBALL TEAMS HAVE BEEN CRUSHING DREAMS LONG BEFORE CALIPARI BEGAN HIS COACHING CAREER BY WINNING GAMES AT MASSACHUSETTS AND MEMPHIS. HE INHERITED A KENTUCKY PROGRAM THAT IS SUPPOSED TO ENJOY ANNUAL SUCCESS AND WIN GAMES AGAINST BIGGER BASKETBALL NAMES THAN TENNESSEE.” home team on the field and on the recruiting trail by booing and showing that you’re embarrassed to be associated with the team. I’m not saying you don’t have a right to boo. You buy the ticket, you have the right to boo as much as you desire. The same is true for wearing a bag on your head and accusing opposing programs of buying players and chanting “overrated” at the opposition when your team puts on a tremendous performance. You have the right. But that doesn’t make it right. Randy Kennedy writes a weekly column for Lagniappe and is co-host of “Sports Drive” every weekday from 3-6 p.m. on WNSP 105.5 FM, the country’s first all-sports FM station.
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SPORTS UPON FURTHER REVIEW
College baseball provides link to past and present BY J. MARK BRYANT/SPORTS WRITER/SPORTS@LAGNIAPPEMOBILE.COM/TWITTER @GOULAGUY
Photo | Provided
Spring Hill’s Grayson Williams, a Mobile native on the preseason all-SIAC team.
B
aseball has been known as “America’s Pastime” for many generations. In Mobile, the sport’s history goes back almost 140 years, when college and minor-league teams first stepped onto the diamond. The game retains its popularity on the collegiate level. Spring Hill College (SHC), the University of South Alabama (USA) and the University of Mobile (UM) all hope to have successful 2019 seasons. • Few colleges can boast of a lineage as rich as SHC’s. The Badgers formed their first baseball team in 1889. Stan Galle Field is believed to be America’s oldest active collegiate baseball complex. But the future is of even greater importance to the Badgers. The team is finally a full member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s Division II. During its transitional period, no SHC teams could compete for postseason action. The 2018 squad would have certainly been in the running. The Badgers ended the year with an 18-1 record in the West Division of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association Conference (SIAC) while going 27-17 overall. “We are looking forward to playing in the SIAC confer-
ence tournament this year,” said Frank Sims, who has won almost 900 games since taking over as head coach in 1985. “We have had a 70-8 record in the regular season over the past four years, so we are ready to try and play to advance to the NCAA regional tournament. “The Badgers have a lot of players back and have added some good young arms, so we are looking forward to the season getting underway. We will be able to gauge how our season might go in our first 15 games. We play a very strong schedule early so we need to be ready.” Three SHC veterans have earned all-conference honors — senior outfielder Luke Wall (.415 average, 40 runs, 59 hits, 32 RBIs), sophomore outfielder Grayson Williams (Mobile Christian School, .375 average, 47 runs, 57 hits, 40 RBIs) and senior catcher Brennan Fontenot (.340 average, 46 runs, 54 hits, 43 RBIs). All are on the SIAC preseason team, along with Mobile native Nytorious Cooler, a pitcher with Tuskegee. Other veterans are junior outfielder Justin Collier (Baker High, .317 average, 37 runs, 39 hits, 35 RBIs), senior infielder John Sklopan (Saraland High, .285 average, 28 runs, 29 hits, 26 RBIs), junior shortstop Dan Rodriguez (.310 average, 17 runs, 31 hits, 16 RBIs) and senior in-
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fielder Maverick Latour (.215 average, 24 runs, 23 hits, 15 RBIs). Back on the mound are sophomore Mike Romano, senior Will Shaw (Mary G. Montgomery High) and senior Zachary Pauline. • USA has been picked to finish second in the Sun Belt Conference’s East Division. The Jaguars went 32-25 overall last year and 18-11 in league play. USA returns 22 veterans, including second-team All-Sun Belt catcher Carter Perkins. As a junior, he hit .301 with 9 doubles, 9 home runs, 43 RBIs, 38 runs scored, a .410 on-base percentage and a .506 slugging percentage. Other veterans are first baseman Wells Davis (.295, 10 doubles, 8 home runs) and right-handed pitcher Zach Greene, who was selected in the 15th round of the Major League Baseball Draft by the Miami Marlins. USA also has a pair of fifth-year senior outfielders in Colton Thomas and Eddie Paparella, each of whom redshirted last season. Mark Calvi returns as head coach. In his seven seasons with USA, the Jaguars have a 239-175 record. The Jaguar baseball home schedule features 30 games, highlighted by a three-game series with Alabama on March 1-3 and a March 12 contest against Auburn. • UM is coming off one of its most successful seasons. The Rams advanced to the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics’ World Series and were ranked No. 22 in the final poll. They were 42-14 overall and 17-7 in the Southern States Athletic Conference (SSAC). For this campaign, Mobile is picked third in the SSAC preseason poll behind Faulkner (defending regular-season champion) and Middle Georgia State (league tournament winner). Christian Snow of McIntosh returns for his senior year. Playing in the outfield and infield, he was first-team all-SSAC and Newcomer of the Year after hitting .401 with 15 doubles, 16 home runs and 63 RBIs. On the second-team unit was senior Kyle Friday, who hit .358 with 6 doubles and was 6-3 on the mound. Senior third baseman Gunner Hendrix of Spanish Fort was a Gold Glove winner who hit .301 with 14 doubles. Other veterans include seniors Blake Carnley of Daphne (.315) and Logan Palmer (.301). Back in the bullpen are junior Hunter Avery of Mobile Christian (3-0, 2.55 ERA), senior Jordan Taylor of Theodore (3-0, 5.06 ERA) and junior Bailey Bannon of Baker High (1-1, 5.92 ERA). Head coach Mike Jacobs is back for his 30th season after starting the Rams’ program in 1990. He was inducted last year into the Alabama Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in recognition of a lifetime of outstanding achievement in the game of baseball.
Save the dates
• The USA Department of Athletics will conduct several events to learn more about the on-campus Hancock Whitney Stadium, set to open in 2020. The events are at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 21, and Saturday, Feb. 23, at the Mitchell Center. Free parking will be available in the Mitchell Center’s south lot, with Jaguar fans encouraged to use the main entrance to access sections 107-109 for the presentation. The events will include a virtual tour of the 25,000-seat stadium as well as a guided view of the facility’s website, and will be followed by a question-and-answer session. • The Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources will conduct an artificial reef zone naming ceremony at Gulf State Park on Friday, Feb. 22. The ceremony will take place at the Dunes Terrace at the Gulf State Park Lodge at 2 p.m. During the ceremony, eight artificial reef zones will be named in honor of individuals and organizations that have made substantial contributions to the continued development of the largest artificial reef program in the U.S. The list includes: Dr. Robert Shipp, Dr. Sean Powers, Dr. Stephen Szedlmayer, Alabama Charter Fishing Association, Alabama Gulf Coast Reef and Restoration Foundation, Alabama Wildlife Federation, Coastal Conservation Association of Alabama, and National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.
STYLE HISTORY
Frenchman seeks support for ‘Lafayette Trail’ markers BY JORDAN PARKER/CONTRIBUTING WRITER
I
Marquis de Lafayette visited Mobile on April 7, 1825. During a stop in Mobile last week, Julien Icher spoke about his effort to recognize Lafayette’s broader travels around the country. did at each location he visited. Icher said information about Lafayette’s later visits to the U.S. is displayed in an active manner. Traveling from city to city, Icher analyzes each town’s history of Lafayette through its archives and adds his findings to the map. Another objective of the project is to reach out to local officials to enlist their support in having markers placed at historic spots
Photo | Jordan Parker
n July 2017, Julien Icher, a native of France, set out on a mission across the eastern U.S. to memorialize the Marquis de Lafayette’s journey across the nation during the early 1800s. During a stop last week in Mobile, Richards DAR House hosted Icher to speak about Lafayette’s visit to the Port City in 1824. While the French general’s layover here may have been brief, many feel his broader impact on the country is deserving of recognition. Icher is the founder and executive director of The Lafayette Trail, a project aiming to recognize the routes of Lafayette’s 1824-1825 farewell tour and create a historic trail to educate others about his endeavors as the “Nation’s Guest.” Icher created the project in 2016. After receiving his master’s degree in geography and geographic information systems from École Normale Supérieure de Lyon, Icher’s journey began when he partook in a 2015 cultural exchange program at the College of William and Mary in Colonial Williamsburg for his postgraduate research. Before he set off, Icher’s father introduced him to a member of the American Friends of Lafayette (AFL), a historical society that celebrates Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, otherwise known as Gen. Lafayette. Once he arrived in the states, Icher attended his first AFL meeting in Yorktown and was invited to join the society. Thus began Icher’s interest in Lafayette’s accomplishments and the mark he left on our country. “In America, people passionately come around here to try to portray what kind of a guy he was and the ideals he stood for, but it’s so different than what we have in France that it caught my interest,” he said. While earning his master’s degree and conducting research, Icher gained experience in geospatial programming. One element of The Lafayette Trail project is an interactive mapping program Icher created allowing users to learn more about what Lafayette
relative to Lafayette’s tour. In Alabama, the old “Federal Road” connected to Fort Mitchell, and the Chattahoochee River was discovered to have been traveled by Lafayette during his trip across the state. Icher found that a few years ago Sen. Richard Shelby made an effort to have the site marked, noting Lafayette had traveled the road and river. However, the marker was never placed. In coming months, Icher said, he hopes to expand his interactive map across all states Lafayette traveled and establish additional markers. Icher is seeking help in installing as many markers as possible by inviting local legislators to be sponsors and co-sponsors, especially those who have displayed an interest in historical endeavors. He said he is also willing to work with service organizations such as the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR). “I have worked with DAR consistently during my project,” Icher told the crowd at Richards DAR House. “I’m amazed that you’re wonderful caretakers of American History, and in the 1920s there was a nationwide program to put markers all over, and everywhere I go I am amazed to see all of those DAR markers.” The warm welcome Icher has received from service organizations left an impact, and he is hopeful he will accomplish the goal of placing markers and remembering those who fought during the Revolutionary War. He has also accompanied French President Emmanuel Macron on trips to the U.S. to strengthen the relationship between the two countries. “I try to forge the 21st century friendship between [us],” he said. “Put boots on the ground, try to raise awareness and it’s a true delight.” So far, Icher has made progress with historical markers in the states of New Hampshire, Massachusetts and New York, and hopes to have more placed in the coming months. If you would like to learn more about The Lafayette Trail project, you can visit thelafayettetrail.com. Icher may be reached via email at icher.julien11@gmail.com.
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STYLE HOROSCOPES DECODE THE SECRET MESSAGE
ANSWERS FROM PAGE 36
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PISCES (2/19-3/20) — In the spirit of the season, you adopt the historic personality of “John Cain” and attempt to resurrect an old Mobile tradition of delivering coal and fresh milk on a horsedrawn carriage to residents of Midtown. ARIES (3/21-4/19) — Trying to keep your cool under the cloud of a “national emergency,” you enroll in meditation classes at your local senior center. In doing so, you build a figurative wall around yourself to block out all the negativity. TAURUS (4/20-5/20) — Still uncertain about the accuracy of the Mobile Police Department’s very specific crowd estimates during Mardi Gras parades, you march ahead of each procession, taking a head count in the interest of clean science and data. GEMINI (5/21-6/21) — Much to your horror, you’ll get caught in Carnival traffic downtown. Defeated, you’ll catch and eat MoonPies on the hood of your car, a new holiday tradition. CANCER (6/22-7/22) — As much as you appreciate sausage dogs, funnel cakes and chicken-on-a-stick, your obligations to Scale Back Alabama conflict with concession stand menus this year. For each parade, remember to BYOLW: bring your own lettuce wrap. LEO (7/23-8/22) — Resolving to ditch your car rather than pay $3 to $6 in future tolls to cross the Bayway, you step up your research and development efforts for feasible teleportation. VIRGO (8/23-9/22) — Despite your best efforts, you are unable to visit the Democrat-Reporter’s Facebook page without leaving a rebuke of their racist editorials and a .gif of a funny meme. LIBRA (9/23-10/22) — In honor of the project to memorialize Marquis de Lafayette’s tour across the U.S., you pile your family into a Citroën for a road trip retracing his steps. When you reach his starting point at Staten Island, you toast with café au lait and a fresh baguette. SCORPIO (10/23-11/21) — Going the extra mile to support your candidate, you’ll get a Bernie Sanders 2020 face tattoo. Unfortunately, you’ll be publicly mauled by Democrats who, despite agreeing with almost all of your political leanings, view you as a mortal enemy. SAGITTARIUS (11/22-12/21) — Realizing that taking an Uber after having a few drinks is making a real impact on DUI arrests, you propose to recoup some of that sweet municipal court revenue by ticketing drivers for distractions caused by TruckNutz. CAPRICORN (12/22-1/19) — Anticipating the implications of a lawsuit between the Baldwin County Board of Education and State Superintendent Eric Mackey, you establish a home school program for disenchanted parents who were so disenchanted by Mobile County public schools that they moved to Baldwin County in the first place. AQUARIUS (1/20-2/18) — Sometime between now and Ash Wednesday, you’ll unwittingly be inducted into a ultra-secret society. Your heirs will only find out about it after your death, when there is a lawsuit in probate court over the beneficiary of your reverse mortgage.
STYLE BOOZIE
All kinds of Hollywood gossip BY BOOZIE BEER NUES/SOCIAL BUTTERFLY
W
e are in the thick of it, y’all! With one full weekend of Mardi Gras madness behind us and two more weeks to go, hold on to your livers, it’s going to be a wild ride. I’m actually kind
of scared. My spies were busy this past week devouring King Cake, going to Hollywood with Osiris and seeing real Hollywood stars, so we’ve baked it all up for you in a cake fit for a king and/or queen. So dig on in, just don’t choke on the baby, as they say.
Bake My Day and many others fed revelers with their tasty treats. I am told there were quite a few folks walking around with a sugar high, not to mention buzzing on cocktails made with King Cake-flavored vodka. Yum! Boozie like! In the end, Wonder Wife Bakery took home the honors with their traditional entry and Cammie’s Old Dutch won the nontraditional category with what else, but their King Cake ice cream, which was divine. We can’t wait until next year! Congrats to organizers on a successful first year!
Osiris goes to Hollywood
Stars are back in town
Fit for a king
This past weekend the inaugural Mobile King Cake Cookoff took place at Azalea Manor with 18 teams competing with their traditional and creative takes on the famous Mardi Gras confection. The event sold out and it was easy to see why. Teams such as Rouse’s, the Warehouse Bakery, ellenJay,
Just when everyone stopped hyperventilating over Liam Hemsworth and Vince Vaughn being in town, a new slate of Hollywood stars (including an Oscar winner) are in town to film a new feature flick that is actually set in Fairhope. Yep, Fairhope is playing the role of Fairhope in the movie, “The Friend,” which stars Oscar-winner Casey Affleck, Jason Segel and Dakota Johnson. And they have all been spotted around town. Jason Segel was at Mama’s Downtown earlier this week. And all three were at Sage Lebanese Restaurant in Fairhope. Segel was also spotted at The Grand Hotel and Page & Palette. They were also filming in Oakleigh near Selma and Chatham streets on Tuesday. So exciting! Rumor has it Dakota Johnson may even be doing some recording at Dauphin Street Sound. We welcome all of you folks to our wonderful city and we will try not to stalk and drive you crazy. But no promises. Well, kids, that’s all I got this week. Just remember, whether rain or shine, dramatic or scandalous, or some plain ol’ Hollywood gossip, I will be there. Ciao!
Photo |Depositphotos.com
This past Friday night the Order of Osiris once again dazzled Mobile as King Gregory the 37th and King Marty the 37th along with emblems Osiris, Isis and Horus led everyone down the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Guests were fascinated as celebrities such as Liberace, Dolly Parton, Freddie Mercury, and Siegfried and Roy graced the dance floor. One guest remarked they felt like they were at a concert as Cher entered on an elephant, followed by a almost life-sized stage with Fleetwood Mac performing a medley of songs. After the crowning of King James the 38th and Queen Jason the 38th, 3,200 balloons were dropped on the guests as the dance floor opened! Another amazing ball by this organization! Congratulations! It is always one of Boozie’s favorites!
Oscar winner Casey Affleck is in town filming a new movie, “The Friend,” along with Jason Segel and Dakota Johnson. If you see them, please don’t make them take 3000 photos with you. That’s just tacky!
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LAGNIAPPE LEGALS | 251.450-4466 | legals@lagniappemobile.com FORECLOSURES NOTICE OF MUNICPAL LIEN FORECLOSURE ACTION The City of Mobile hereby gives Notice of a pending municipal lien foreclosure action (Code of Ala. § 11-40-60 et. seq.) against the following parcel of real property located within its municipal limits: 1. The Property is commonly known as 2433 Ridge Road North. 2. The interested parties are as follows: a. Unknown Heirs of Willie Wilson b. Larry Johnson c. Calvin Johnson d. Cynthia Phiffer 3. The Property is more specifically described as LOT 18 BLK C CEDAR RIDGE SUB MBK 5 PG 287 #SEC 44 T4S R1W #MP29 02 44 0 028. 4. The Mobile County tax identification number is R022902440028045. 5. The municipal code lien being foreclosed is recorded in the records of the Office of the Mobile County Judge of Probate in Book LR7613 and Page 836. 6. The outstanding amount of the payment due to satisfy the municipal code lien is $3,426.19; this amount includes the principal amount together with accrued interest and penalties. 7. The Property is currently tax delinquent. 8. The outstanding amount of ad valorem taxes due and payable for the years 2013-2017 is $1,972.06, including the principal amount of taxes owed and any accrued interest. 9. To avoid loss of ownership or any interest in the Property, payment of the full amount of the municipal code lien, penalties, interest, and costs must be paid to the City of Mobile at 205 Government Street, Mobile, Alabama Office of Accounting (4th Floor). Additionally, payment of the full amount of any property taxes that are due or delinquent, if any, including any related penalties, interest, and costs must be paid to the Revenue Commissioners’ Office located at 3925 Michael Boulevard, Mobile, Alabama prior to the hearing date. 10. Upon deposit by the appropriate parties with the Court of the tax payoff amount, any and all rights of redemption accorded to the interested parties under Title 40, Chapter 10 or Title 40, Chapter 51, are extinguished. 11. The Amended Petition was filed on February 6, 2019, in the Mobile County Circuit Court. The case number is 02CV-2018-902345.00. 12. A hearing on the above-mentioned matter shall take place before the Circuit Court of Mobile County, Alabama on May 3, 2019 at 9:00 a.m. in Courtroom 8100. 13. If any of the interested parties wishes to discuss this matter please contact: The City of Mobile (Legal Department) P.O. Box 1827 Mobile, AL 36633 Phone: (251) 208-7416
Lagniappe HD Feb. 13, 20, 27, 2019
NOTICE OF MUNICPAL LIEN FORECLOSURE ACTION The City of Mobile hereby gives Notice of a pending municipal lien foreclosure action (Code of Ala. § 11-40-60 et. seq.) against the following parcel of real property located within its municipal limits: 1. The Property is commonly known as 1014 Dauphin Street. 2. The interested parties are as follows: a. Margaret A. Turner; b. Angela E. Turner; c. Virginia T. Miller; d. Mary E. Turner; e. Robert E. Turner; f. William A. Turner; g. Edward M. Thompson, Jr.; h. William R. Thompson; i. James M. Thompson; j. Ashlyn M. Thompson; k. Richard M. Thompson 3. The Property is more specifically described as LOT 10 & W 51 FT OF LOT 11BLK 4 DAUGHDRILL & KENNEDY S/D MBK 1/14 #SEC 40 T4S R1W #MP29 06 40 0 009. 4. The Mobile County tax identification number is R022906400009214. 5. The municipal code lien being foreclosed is recorded in the records of the Office of the Mobile County Judge of
Probate in Book LR7613 and Page 849. 6. The outstanding amount of the payment due to satisfy the municipal code lien is $3,800.93; this amount includes the principal amount together with accrued interest and penalties. 7. The ad valorem property taxes are current. 8. To avoid loss of ownership or any interest in the Property, payment of the full amount of the municipal code lien, penalties, interest, and costs must be paid to the City of Mobile at 205 Government Street, Mobile, Alabama Office of Accounting (4th Floor). Additionally, payment of the full amount of any property taxes that are due or delinquent, if any, including any related penalties, interest, and costs must be paid to the Revenue Commissioners’ Office located at 3925 Michael Boulevard, Mobile, Alabama prior to the hearing date. 9. Upon deposit by the appropriate parties with the Court of the tax payoff amount, any and all rights of redemption accorded to the interested parties under Title 40, Chapter 10 or Title 40, Chapter 51, are extinguished. 10. The Amended Petition was filed on February 11, 2019, in the Mobile County Circuit Court. The case number is 02CV-2018-902336.00. 11. A hearing on the above-mentioned matter shall take place before the Circuit Court of Mobile County, Alabama on March 15, 2019 at 9:00 A.M. in Courtroom 6500. 12. If any of the interested parties wishes to discuss this matter please contact: The City of Mobile (Legal Department) P.O. Box 1827 Mobile, AL 36633 Phone: (251) 208-7416 Lagniappe HD Feb. 13, 20, 27, 2019
FORECLOSURE NOTICE Default having been made by the herein referenced Grantee in the terms of that certain Vendor’s Lien Deed executed on September 17, 2012, by Cindi K. Lynn, as Grantee to Iras Development Company, Inc., a Alabama corporation, as Grantor which said Vendor’s Lien Deed was recorded in the Office of the Judge of Probate, Mobile County, Alabama, in Real Property Book 6942, Page 1069, and said vendor’s lien having been last assigned to The Avila Group, LLP, which assignment was recorded in the office of the Judge of Probate Mobile County Alabama in Real Property Book 6956, Page 1087, and default continuing under said Vendor’s Lien Deed, by virtue of and pursuant to the power of sale contained in said Vendor’s Lien, the following described real property will be sold at public outcry, for cash, to the highest bidder, in front of the North entrance of the Courthouse of said County, located at 205 Government Street, Mobile, Alabama 36644, during the legal hours of sale, on March 13, 2019. Lot 38, as per plat of TIMBERLAND, UNIT II as recorded in Map Book 89, Page 60, Probate Court of Mobile County, Alabama; Said sale is made for the purpose of paying said Vendor’s Lien debt and costs of foreclosure. The Avilia Group, LLP Holder of said Vendor’s Lien WILLIAM B. JACKSON, II STOKES & CLINTON, P.C. Attorneys for Lienholder Post Office Box 991801 Mobile, Alabama 36691 (251) 460-2400 Lagniappe HD Feb. 6, 13, 20,2019
CIRCUIT COURT IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF MOBILE COUNTY, ALABAMA CASE NO: CV-2019-900050.00 WILLIAM HENRY ROBINSON, JR., Plaintiff Vs. KEVIN QUINTON ROBINSON, NANCY LYNN ROBINSON, and her heirs or devisees if deceased, PHYLLIS ROBINSON GARDNER, and her heirs or devisees if deceased, PAUL TREVOR ROBINSON, and his heirs or devisees if deceased, Defendants. LEGAL NOTICE NOTICE to Defendants of a Complaint issued out of the Circuit Court of Mobile County, Alabama. William Henry Robinson, Jr., Plaintiff, by and through his Attorney William S. McFadden, in Circuit Civil Case Number: CV-2019-900050. NOTICE is hereby given that on January 04, 2019, the above-named Plaintiff, filed this cause of action against said Defendants Kevin Quinton Robinson, Nancy Lynn Robinson, and her heirs or devisees if deceased, Phyllis Robinson Gardner, and her heirs or devisees if deceased, and Paul Trevor Robinson, and his heirs or devisees if deceased, to obtain an Order Granting Sale for Division from said Court regarding the following described real property: Beginning at a point on the South line of Andrews Street, (formerly known as Payne’s Lane), 597 feet West of the
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Southwest corner of Andrews Street and Craft Highway, thence West along the South line of Andrews Street 55 feet to a point, thence South 38 degrees 55 minutes East, a distance of 236.5 feet to a point, thence Eastwardly 25 feet to a point, thence Northwardly a distance of 266.5 feet, more or less, to a point of beginning. Property address: 1855 Andrews Street, Mobile, AL 36617. This notice is published pursuant to Section 35-6-20 et seq., and 35-6A-1 et seq., of the Code of Alabama, 1975. Any persons claiming any future, contingent, reversionary, remainder or other interest therein must respond to the Complaint within 30 days after the date of the last publication of this notice, by serving a copy of your answer, either admitting or denying the allegations in said Complaint; to William S. McFadden, Attorney for Plaintiff, whose address is 718 Downtowner Blvd., Mobile, Alabama 36609, and failing to answer within said time, a default may be entered against you as determined by the court for the relief demanded by the Plaintiff. You must also file your Answer with the Mobile County, Alabama Circuit Court Clerk by such date. This publication shall be made in the Lagniappe Newspaper, published in Mobile County, Alabama, for four (4) consecutive weeks. WITNESS my hand this the 24th day of January, 2019 /s/ JoJo Schwarzauer Attest: JoJoSchwarzauer Clerk of Circuit Court of Mobile County, Alabama William S. McFadden, Attorney for Plaintiff McFadden, Rouse & Bender, LLC 718 Downtowner Boulevard Mobile, AL 36609 (251) 342-9172 johnt@mrbattorneys.com Lagniappe HD Jan. 30, Feb. 6, 13, 20, 2019
IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF MOBILE COUNTY, ALABAMA DOMESTIC RELATIONS DIVISION NOTICE OF DIVORCE ACTION CASE NO. DR-2018-901569.00 DARMINA ELENA CAMPBELL, PLAINTIFF VS. TYRONE CAMPBELL, DEFENDANT TYRONE CAMPBELL (Defendant), whose whereabouts is unknown, must answer the plaintiff’s Petition for Divorce and other relief by MARCH 28, 2019 or, thereafter, a Judgment by Default may be rendered against him/her in the above styled case. The defendant’s written answer must be filed with the Court and a copy mailed to the plaintiff’s attorney of record at the address provided below. Done this 15th day of January, 2019. JoJo Schwarzauer, Circuit Clerk Attorney: Caitlin Smitherman P.O. Box 1986 Mobile, AL 36633 Telephone: (251) 433-6560 ext. 3414 Attorney for the plaintiff Lagniappe HD Feb. 6, 13, 20, 27, 2019
IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF MOBILE COUNTY, ALABAMA CASE NO: CV-2019-900373.00 TIMOTHY RITZ, a/k/a TIM RITZ, Plaintiff Vs: LANDS DESCRIBED IN THIS COMPLAINT; ELIZABETH M. SHEPPARD and if Deceased, Her Heirs and Devisees, Defendants. LEGAL NOTICE NOTICE to Defendants of a Complaint issued out of the Circuit Court of Mobile County, Alabama. Timothy Ritz, a/k/a Tim Ritz, by and through his Attorney John T. Bender, Civil Case Number: CV-2019-900373.00. NOTICE is given that on February 07, 2019, the abovenamed Plaintiff, filed this cause of action against said Defendants, the lands described in the Complaint; Elizabeth M. Sheppard., and her heirs, or devisees, if deceased; A, B, and C, being all other persons claiming any present, future, contingent, remainder, reversion, or other interests in said lands to obtain an Order Granting the Plaintiffs quiet title in and to the following described real property: Parcel #: 023708270000005009. Legal Description: COMG AT SE COR OF NE 1/4 OF SEC 27 T6S R3W RUN W 1044.37 FT TO PT TH RUN N 00 DEG 01 MIN E 15 FT TO PT TH W 568.97 FT TO POB TH CON W 95FT TO PT TH N 00 DEG 01 MIN E 480 FT TO PT TH E 95 FT TO PT TH S 00 DEG 01 MIN W 480 FT TO POB CONTG 1.047 ACRES M/L #SEC 27 T6S R3W #MP37 08 27 0 000. This notice is published pursuant to Section 6-6-564 et seq., Code of Alabama, 1975. Any persons claiming any future, contingent, reversionary, remainder or other interest therein must respond to the Complaint within 30 days after the date of the last publication of this notice, by serving a copy of your answer, either admitting or denying the allegations in said Complaint; to John T. Bender, Attorney for Plaintiff, whose address is 718 Downtowner Blvd., Mobile, Alabama 36609, and failing to answer within said time, a default may be entered against you as determined by the court for the relief demanded by the Plaintiff. You must also file your Answer with the Clerk of the Court by such date. This publication shall be made in the Lagniappe Newspaper, published in Mobile County, Alabama, for four (4) consecutive weeks. WITNESS my hand this the 15th day of February, 2019.
/s/ JoJo Schwarzauer Attest: JoJoSchwarzauer Clerk of Circuit Court of Mobile County, Alabama John T. Bender, Attorney for Plaintiff McFadden, Rouse & Bender, LLC 718 Downtowner Boulevard Mobile, AL 36609 (251) 342-9172 johnt@mrbattorneys.com Lagniappe HD Feb. 20, 27, March 6, 13, 2019
PROBATE IN THE PROBATE COURT OF MOBILE COUNTY, ALABAMA NOTICE OF COURT PROCEEDING CASE NO. 2017-2461 IN THE MATTER OF THE CLIFTON THOMAS BUCHANAN REVOCABLE FAMILY TRUST A/K/A THE BUCHANAN FAMILY TRUST On to with the 1st day of April, 2019, at 1:30 p.m., in Courtroom No. 1, Third Floor, Mobile County Government Center Annex, 151 Government Street, Mobile, AL 36602, the Court will consider the Petition for Declaratory Relief as to Trust Assets Consisting of Lost Promissory Notes. A proceeding has been initiated in the Probate Court of Mobile County, Alabama concerning the ownership and/or the proper payee(s) of Promissory Notes executed by Support Our Troops, Inc. to The Buchanan Family Trust (also know as the Clifton Thomas Buchanan Revocable Family Trust dated January 6, 2000) (“Trust”) dated December 13, 2005 and October 16, 2006 (“Notes”). The due dates of the Notes have been extended, but the principal amounts of the Notes along with any accrued interest payable at this time have been paid on December 21, 2018, into an escrow account due to the loss of the original Notes. NOTICE is hereby given to all interested parties if you claim an interest or right in the Notes, then you will need to assert such rights or interests in the probate proceeding styled In the matter of The Buchanan Family Trust; Probate Court of Mobile County, Alabama; Case No. 2017-2461, within thirty (30) days of the last run date of this publication, or such interest or right will be lost and deemed waived. Don Davis, Judge of Probate. Attorney: T. Julian Motes, Esq. Sirote & Permutt, P.C. Post Office Drawer 2025 Mobile, Alabama 36652-2025 Ph. (251) 432-1671 jmotes@sirote.com Lagniappe HD Jan. 30, Feb. 6, 13, 20, 2019
NOTICE OF ESTATE ADMINISTRATION PROBATE COURT OF MOBILE COUNTY, ALABAMA Estate of: JAMES R. PAYNE, Deceased Case No. 2019-0128 Take notice that Letters Testamentary have been granted to the below named party on the 29th day of January, 2019 by the Honorable Don Davis, Judge of Probate of Mobile County Probate Court, Alabama and that all parties having claims against said estate should file the same with the Probate Court of said county within the time allowed by law, or they will be barred. ANGELA K. PAYNE as Executrix under the last will and testament of JAMES R. PAYNE, Deceased. Attorney of Record: ROBERT H. ROUSE, Esq. LESLIE G. WEEKS Lagniappe HD Feb. 6, 13, 20, 2019
NOTICE OF ESTATE ADMINISTRATION PROBATE COURT OF MOBILE COUNTY, ALABAMA Estate of: CLAIRE B. WILKERSON, Deceased Case No. 2019-0075 Take notice that Letters Testamentary have been granted to the below named party on the 31st day of January, 2019 by the Honorable Don Davis, Judge of Probate of Mobile County Probate Court, Alabama and that all parties having claims against said estate should file the same with the Probate Court of said county within the time allowed by law, or they will be barred. TERESA M. MILLER as Executrix under the last will and testament of CLAIRE B. WILKERSON, Deceased. Attorney of Record: R. MARK KIRKPATRICK Lagniappe HD Feb. 6, 13, 20, 2019
NOTICE OF ESTATE ADMINISTRATION PROBATE COURT OF MOBILE COUNTY, ALABAMA Estate of: SABINA REDDING, Deceased Case No. 2018-2381 Take notice that Letters Testamentary have been granted to the below named party on the 31st day of January, 2019 by the Honorable Don Davis, Judge of Probate of Mobile County Probate Court, Alabama and that all parties
having claims against said estate should file the same with the Probate Court of said county within the time allowed by law, or they will be barred. RONALD J. REDDING JR. as Executor under the last will and testament of SABINA REDDING, Deceased. Attorney of Record: JOSHUA B. BOONE Lagniappe HD Feb. 6, 13, 20, 2019
NOTICE OF ESTATE ADMINISTRATION PROBATE COURT OF MOBILE COUNTY, ALABAMA Estate of: JOHN A. LEHO, Deceased Case No. 2019-0182 Take notice that Letters Testamentary have been granted to the below named party on the 5th day of February, 2019 by the Honorable Don Davis, Judge of Probate of Mobile County Probate Court, Alabama and that all parties having claims against said estate should file the same with the Probate Court of said county within the time allowed by law, or they will be barred. LAURA BETH BENNINGTON and JOSEPHINE LEHO as Co-Executrices under the last will and testament of JOHN A. LEHO, Deceased. Lagniappe HD Feb. 13, 20, 27, 2019
NOTICE OF ADOPTION HEARING PROBATE COURT OF MOBILE COUNTY CASE NO. 2018-2212 To: Douglas Chaffee father of AWC, a minor. Please take note that a petition for the adoption of the above named minor child who was born to Douglas Chaffee on or about the 2nd day of February, 2015, has been filed in said Court. Please be advised that if you intend to contest this adoption you must file a written response with the attorney for the petitioner(s) named below and with the Clerk of the Probate Court, P. O. Box 7, Mobile, AL 36601 as soon as possible but no later than thirty (30) days from the last day this notice is published. Attorney for Petitioner(s): Ronald W. McBay 50 St. Emanuel St. Mobile, AL 36602 Lagniappe HD Feb. 20, 27, March 6, 13, 2019
NOTICE OF ADOPTION HEARING PROBATE COURT OF MOBILE COUNTY CASE NO. 2018 - 2213 To: Douglas Chaffee father of EGC, a minor. Please take note that a petition for the adoption of the above named minor child who was born to Douglas Chaffee on or about the 16th day of January 2017, has been filed in said Court. Please be advised that if you intend to contest this adoption you must file a written response with the attorney for the petitioner(s) named below and with the Clerk of the Probate Court, P. O. Box 7, Mobile, AL 36601 as soon as possible but no later than thirty (30) days from the last day this notice is published. Attorney for Petitioner(s): Ronald W. McBay 50 St. Emanuel St. Mobile, AL 36602 Lagniappe HD Feb. 20, 27, March 6, 13, 2019
NOTICE OF ESTATE ADMINISTRATION PROBATE COURT OF MOBILE COUNTY, ALABAMA Estate of: NAHRIAH JA’NEIL HUGHES Case No. 2019-0230 Take notice that Letters of Administration have been granted to the below named party on the 13th day of February, 2019 by the Honorable Don Davis, Judge of Probate of Mobile County Probate Court, Alabama and that all parties having claims against said estate should file the same with the Probate Court of said county within the time allowed by law, or they will be barred. GARRY M. TATE AS Administrator of the estate of NAHRIAH JA’NEIL HUGHES, deceased. Attorney of Record: RUTH R. LICHTENFELD Esq. Lagniappe HD Feb. 20, 27, March 6, 2019
NOTICE OF ESTATE ADMINISTRATION PROBATE COURT OF MOBILE COUNTY, ALABAMA Estate of: MAYNORA NIGERIA HUGHES Case No. 2019-0231 Take notice that Letters of Administration have been granted to the below named party on the 13th day of February, 2019 by the Honorable Don Davis, Judge of Probate of Mobile County Probate Court, Alabama and that all parties having claims against said estate should file the same with the Probate Court of said county within the time allowed by law, or they will be barred. GARRY M. TATE as Administrator of the estate of MAYNORA NIGERIA HUGES, deceased. Attorney of Record: RUTH R. LICHTENFELD Esq. Lagniappe HD Feb. 20, 27, March 6, 2019
LAGNIAPPE LEGALS | 251.450-4466 | legals@lagniappemobile.com NOTICE OF ESTATE ADMINISTRATION PROBATE COURT OF MOBILE COUNTY, ALABAMA Estate of: MARTIN S. MCGOWAN, JR., Deceased Case No. 2019-0233 Take notice that Letters of Administration have been granted to the below named party on the 13th day of February, 2019 by the Honorable Don Davis, Judge of Probate of Mobile County Probate Court, Alabama and that all parties having claims against said estate should file the same with the Probate Court of said county within the time allowed by law, or they will be barred. CAROL WEAVER as Executrix under the last will and testament of MARTIN S. MCGOWAN, JR., Deceased. Attorney of Record: JOHN DAVID BRADY, JR. Lagniappe HD Feb. 20, 27, March 6, 2019
NOTICE OF COMPLETION NOTICE OF COMPLETION STATE OF ALABAMA COUNTY OF MOBILE In accordance with Chapter 1, Title 39, Code of Alabama, 1975, NOTICE IS HEREBY given that Rob’t J. Baggett, Inc. has completed the contract for City of Mobile, Alabama Cruise Terminal – Parking Deck Repairs – Phase 2 (CT-004-19), 201 South Water Street, Mobile, Alabama 36602. All persons having any claims for labor, material or otherwise in connection with this project should immediately notify the Architectural Engineering Department, City of Mobile, PO Box 1827, Mobile, Alabama 36633-1827. Rob’t J. Baggett, Inc. 759 Holcombe Avenue Mobile, AL 36606
NOTICE OF ESTATE ADMINISTRATION
Lagniappe HD Jan. 30, Feb. 6, 13, 20, 2019.
PROBATE COURT OF MOBILE COUNTY, ALABAMA Estate of: MICHAEL ANTHONY ALLEN Case No. 2019-0229 Take notice that Letters of Administration have been granted to the below named party on the 13th day of February, 2019 by the Honorable Don Davis, Judge of Probate of Mobile County Probate Court, Alabama and that all parties having claims against said estate should file the same with the Probate Court of said county within the time allowed by law, or they will be barred. GARRY M. TATE as Administrator of the estate of MICHAEL ANTHONY ALLEN, deceased. Attorney of Record: RUTH R. LICHTENFELD Esq.
NOTICE OF COMPLETION
Lagniappe HD Feb. 20, 27, March 6, 2019
NOTICE OF ESTATE ADMINISTRATION PROBATE COURT OF MOBILE COUNTY, ALABAMA Estate of: WILLIAM S. CHAVERS, Deceased Case No. 2018-2440 Take notice that Letters Testamentary have been granted to the below named party on the 11th day of February, 2019 by the Honorable Don Davis, Judge of Probate of Mobile County Probate Court, Alabama and that all parties having claims against said estate should file the same with the Probate Court of said county within the time allowed by law, or they will be barred. WALTER GLADSTONE CHAVERS as Executor under the last will and testament of WILLIAM S. CHAVERS, Deceased. Attorney of Record: THOMAS BOLLER Lagniappe HD Feb. 20, 27, March 6, 2019
ADVERTISEMENT FOR BIDS ADVERTISEMENT FOR BIDS Notice is hereby given that the University of South Alabama (Owner) will accept sealed Bids for the following Work: FOOTBALL STADIUM BROADCAST CABLING University of South Alabama Mobile, Alabama USA Bid #9020403 - Job #17-66I Provide the cabling, enclosures, equipment and installation for the Broadcast Cabling system for the new football stadium. The enclosures will be Contractor Supplied but Owner Installed. Bids will be received from electrical General Contractors only and clocked in at 2:00PM local time on Tuesday, March 12, 2019, in Procurement Services on the Main Campus of the University of South Alabama. Bids will not be accepted after the time indicated herein and will be returned unopened. A cashier’s check or bid bond payable to the University of South Alabama in an amount not less than five percent of the amount of the bid, but in no event more than $10,000 must accompany the bidder’s proposal. Bid Documents shall be available only through the USA Purchasing Office. Contact as follows: University of South Alabama Procurement Services Technology & Research Park Bldg. III 650 Clinic Drive, Suite 1400 Mobile, AL 36688 PH# (251) 460-6151 FX# (251) 414-8291 (rbrown@southalabama.edu) Bids must be submitted on Proposal Forms furnished in the Bid Documents or copies thereof. The preceding is an abbreviated advertisement. The complete advertisement may be obtained from the location listed above. A Pre-Bid Conference will be held at 10:00AM local time on Thursday, February 28, 2019, in Room AD23 of the Administration Building. Those in attendance will include the Owner, Engineer, and Consultants. Contract bidders, subcontractors and suppliers are encouraged to attend. All questions concerning the Project and requests for Prequalification packet should be submitted in writing to trenddavis@southalabama.edu, or 307 University Blvd, AD001, Mobile 36688. Lagniappe HD Feb. 20, 27, March 6, 2019
STATE OF ALABAMA COUNTY OF MOBILE In Accordance with Chapter 1, Title 39, Code of Alabama, 1975, NOTICE IS HEREBY given that H & H Electric Co., Inc. has completed the contract for Mobile Museum of Art - Intelligent Lighting Control Systems Upgrade PR-MX-062-18 in Mobile, Alabama. All persons having any claims for labor, material or otherwise in connection with this project should immediately notify the Architectural Engineering Department, City of Mobile, P.O. Box 1827, Mobile, AL 36633-1827. Lagniappe HD Feb. 20, 2019
PUBLIC NOTICE STATE OF ALABAMA COUNTY OF MOBILE Notice is hereby given that a bill as described in the synopsis below will be introduced in the 2019 Regular Session of the Legislature of Alabama and application for its passage and enactment will be made: A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT SYNOPSIS: Relating to Class 2 municipalities; to repeal Section 33-4-1 through 33-4-57, Code of Alabama 1975; to establish a State Pilotage Commission in a Class 2 municipality; to provide for licensing and regulations of Bar Pilots whose principal place of business is within a Class 2 municipality. Lagniappe HD Feb. 6, 13, 20, 27, 2019
STATE OF ALABAMA COUNTY OF MOBILE Notice is hereby given that a bill as described in the synopsis below will be introduced in the 2019 Regular Session of the Legislature of Alabama and application for its passage and enactment will be made: A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT SYNOPSIS: Relating to Mobile County; to amend Section 2 and Section 7 of Act 87-663, 1987 Regular Session (Acts 1987, p. 1172); to further provide for the acceptance of certain unimproved roads and regulating the construction of certain other unimproved roads. Lagniappe HD Feb. 13, 20, 27, March 6, 2019
STATE OF ALABAMA COUNTY OF MOBILE Notice is hereby given that a bill as described in the synopsis below will be introduced in the 2019 Regular Session of the Legislature of Alabama and application for its passage and enactment will be made: A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT SYNOPSIS: Relating to the Town of Dauphin Island in Mobile County; to authorize the governing body of the municipality to establish three entertainment districts; to provide that one district must have no fewer than two licensees holding a retail liquor license in that area and be located in an area zoned commercial, another district may be established in a commercial area at times when special events are held as designated by the town council, and another district may be established on property owned by the Dauphin Island Property Owners Association; to define the licensed premises of the holder of a retail liquor license. Lagniappe HD Feb. 13, 20, 27, March 6, 2019
NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING BOARD OF ZONING ADJUSTMENT MOBILE, ALABAMA PURSUANT TO THE ZONING ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF MOBILE, adopted the 16th day of May 1967, as amended, the City of Mobile’s Board of Zoning Adjustment will hold a Public Hearing on March 11, 2019 at 2:00 p.m. to consider a request at 4358 Stein Avenue (North side of Stein Avenue, 435’+ East of North McGregor Avenue) for a Side Yard Setback, Combined Side Yards and Site Coverage Variances to allow a dwelling addition within the required side yard setback with reduced combined side yard setbacks and increased site coverage in an R-1, Single-Family Residential District; the Zoning Ordinance requires a minimum 8’ side yard setback with 20’ of combined side yards, and
allows a maximum site coverage of 35% in an R-1, SingleFamily Residential District. The meeting will be held in the Auditorium at 205 Government Street, Mobile, Alabama. This notice is to advise you of the public hearing so that you may attend the meeting and present your views to the Board concerning this request. Dated this 18th day of February, 2019. BOARD OF ZONING ADJUSTMENT Lagniappe HD Feb. 20, 27, 2019
NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING BOARD OF ZONING ADJUSTMENT MOBILE, ALABAMA PURSUANT TO THE ZONING ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF MOBILE, adopted the 16th day of May 1967, as amended, the City of Mobile’s Board of Zoning Adjustment will hold a Public Hearing on March 11, 2019 at 2:00 p.m. to consider a request at 72 Jordan Lane (West side of Jordan Lane, 245’+ North of Wilkinson Way) for a Use Variance to allow the addition of a second kitchen for a mother-in-law suite at a single-family dwelling in an R-1, Single-Family Residential District; the Zoning Ordinance allows only one kitchen per dwelling unit in an R-1, Single-Family Residential District. The meeting will be held in the Auditorium at 205 Government Street, Mobile, Alabama. This notice is to advise you of the public hearing so that you may attend the meeting and present your views to the Board concerning this request. Dated this 18th day of February, 2019. BOARD OF ZONING ADJUSTMENT Lagniappe HD Feb. 20, 27, 2019
NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING BOARD OF ZONING ADJUSTMENT MOBILE, ALABAMA PURSUANT TO THE ZONING ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF MOBILE, adopted the 16th day of May 1967, as amended, the City of Mobile’s Board of Zoning Adjustment will hold a Public Hearing on March 11, 2019 at 2:00 p.m. to consider a request at 4401 Birchwood Drive East (East side of Birchwood Drive East at the East terminus of Hillandale Drive) for a Use Variance to allow a mobile home as an accessory dwelling in an R-1, Single-Family Residential District; the Zoning Ordinance does not allow mobile homes in an R-1, Single-Family Residential District. The meeting will be held in the Auditorium at 205 Government Street, Mobile, Alabama. This notice is to advise you of the public hearing so that you may attend the meeting and present your views to the Board concerning this request. Dated this 18th day of February, 2019. BOARD OF ZONING ADJUSTMENT Lagniappe HD Feb. 20, 27, 2019
NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING BOARD OF ZONING ADJUSTMENT MOBILE, ALABAMA PURSUANT TO THE ZONING ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF MOBILE, adopted the 16th day of May 1967, as amended, the City of Mobile’s Board of Zoning Adjustment will hold a Public Hearing on March 11 , 2019 at 2:00 p.m. to consider a request at 1400 Church Street (Northwest corner of Church Street and Everett Street) for a Use, Parking Ratio, Access/Maneuvering and Front Landscaping Variances to allow an apartment building in an R-1, Single-Family Residential District, with a reduced number of parking spaces, substandard access width and a reduced front landscaping ratio; the Zoning Ordinance does not allow an apartment building in an R-1, Single-Family Residential District, and a compliant number of parking spaces is required, with compliant access and maneuvering space, and compliant front landscaping area must be provided. The meeting will be held in the Auditorium at 205 Government Street, Mobile, Alabama. This notice is to advise you of the public hearing so that you may attend the meeting and present your views to the Board concerning this request. Dated this 18th day of February, 2019. BOARD OF ZONING ADJUSTMENT Lagniappe HD Feb. 20, 27, 2019
STORAGE AUCTIONS NOTICE OF SALE In accordance with Alabama Law, notice is hereby given that Magnolia Self Storage, 5010 Moffett Road Mobile, AL 36618 will conduct a public lien sale or dispose of the contents of the following units to pay rent and other charges due. Call 251-343-7867 with questions. The sale will be held on Friday March 8, 2019 at 11:00 am. H-001 Keshon Robinson 2450 Payton Ct. Apt C Mobile, AL 36610 Baby Items, Bags, Misc. H-017 Glen Lambert 410 Elm Street Prichard AL 36610 Furniture, Boxes, Misc. H-018 Bruce Frazier, Jr. 2784 N. University Blvd. Mobile, AL 36618
Furniture, TV H-049 Naomi King P. O. Box 662 Butler, AL 36904 Household Items, Appliances, Furniture
Lagniappe HD Feb. 20, 27, 2019
ABANDONED VEHICLES NOTICE OF SALE ABANDONED BUS NOTICE OF SALE The following unclaimed bus will be disposed of on February 27, 2019 – if not claimed – at Mobile County Public School System, Purchasing Department, 1 Magnum Pass, Mobile, AL 36618. 1996 Thomas 48 Passenger Diesel Bus, Handi-Lift 1HVBBABL5TH346738 Lagniappe HD Feb. 13, 20, 2019
The following unclaimed vehicle(s) will be sold on March 22, 2019 - Time - 12pm, if not claimed - at 740 Lakeside Dr., Mobile, AL 36693. 2012 Hyundai Veracruz KM8NU4CCXCU188414 Lagniappe HD Feb. 13, 20, 2019
The following unclaimed vehicle(s) will be sold on March 22, 2019 - Time - 12pm, if not claimed - at 13030 Larry Lane W., Grand Bay, AL 36541. 1996 Chevrolet Blazer 1GNDT13W7T2240225 Lagniappe HD Feb. 13, 20, 2019
The following unclaimed vehicle(s) will be sold on March 22, 2019 - Time - 12pm, if not claimed - at 22886i US Hwy 98., Fairhope, AL 36532. 2011 Toyota FJ Cruiser JTEBU4BFXBK106187 Lagniappe HD Feb. 13, 20, 2019
The following unclaimed vehicle(s) will be sold on March 22, 2019 - Time - 12pm, if not claimed - at 3330 Whitestone Dr., Semmes, AL 36575. 1998 Ford Mustang 1FAFP47V5WF209406 Lagniappe HD Feb. 13, 20, 2019
The following unclaimed vehicle(s) will be sold on March 22, 2019 - Time - 12pm, if not claimed - at 1102 Bishop Wilmer Dr., Mobile, AL 36605. 2004 Chrysler Pacifica 2C8GM68404R631046 Lagniappe HD Feb. 13, 20, 2019
The following unclaimed vehicle(s) will be sold on March 22, 2019 - Time - 12pm, if not claimed - at 3935 Government Blvd., Suite B., Mobile, AL 36693. 2002 Cadillac Deville 1G6KF57972U223904 2006 Ford Five Hundred 1FAFP23116G161713 Lagniappe HD Feb. 13, 20, 2019
The following unclaimed vehicle(s) will be sold on March 22, 2019 - Time - 12pm, if not claimed - at 324 N University Blvd., Mobile, AL 36608. 1991 Chevrolet C1500 1GCDC14Z8MZ121710 Lagniappe HD Feb. 13, 20, 2019
The following unclaimed vehicle(s) will be sold on March 22, 2019 - Time - 12pm, if not claimed - at 2821 Government Blvd., Mobile, AL 36606. 1997 Chevrolet Blazer 1GNCS13W2V2245186 Lagniappe HD Feb. 13, 20, 2019
The following unclaimed vehicle(s) will be sold on March 22, 2019 - Time - 12pm, if not claimed - at 555 Janwood Dr., Mobile, AL 36606. 2002 Mercury Grand Marquis 2MEFM74W62X667440 Lagniappe HD Feb. 13, 20, 2019
The following unclaimed vehicle(s) will be sold on March 22, 2019 - Time - 12pm, if not claimed - at 5471 A Hwy 43, Satsuma, AL 36572. 2010 Ford F250 1FTSX2AY8AEA28296 Lagniappe HD Feb. 13, 20, 2019
The following unclaimed vehicle(s) will be sold on March 22, 2019 - Time - 12pm, if not claimed - at 958 Elmira St., Mobile, AL 36605. 2008 Toyota Camry 4T1BE46K58U262056 Lagniappe HD Feb. 13, 20, 2019
The following unclaimed vehicle(s) will be sold on March 22, 2019 - Time - 12pm, if not claimed - at 3124 Govern-
ment Blvd., Mobile, AL 36606. 2007 Honda Civic 2HGFG12887H524468
Lagniappe HD Feb. 13, 20, 2019
The following unclaimed vehicle(s) will be sold on March 22, 2019 - Time - 12pm, if not claimed - at 1629 E 2nd St., Gulf Shores, AL 36547. 2004 Ford Ranger 1FTYR14U84PA53361 Lagniappe HD Feb. 13, 20, 2019
These abandoned vehicles will be sold at 5781 Three Notch Mobile AL 36619 on 03/27/2019 at 9am if not redeemed before then. TOYO 4T1BE32K94U937501 VOLV YV1RS547752463667 HOND 1HGCM56816A164602 NISS 1N4BL21E97C164884 BMW WBABN534X2PH01435 CHEV 1G1GZ11G5HP126016 Lagniappe HD Feb. 20, 27, 2019
The following unclaimed vehicle(s) will be sold on March 29, 2019 - Time - 12pm, if not claimed - at 15464 Pine Grove Rd Ext., Bay Minette, AL 36507. 1998 Chevrolet GMT-400 2GCEC19M6W1257539 Lagniappe HD Feb. 20, 27, 2019
The following unclaimed vehicle(s) will be sold on March 29, 2019 - Time - 12pm, if not claimed - at 25675 County Rd 38., Summerdale, AL 36580. 1998 Volvo S70 YV1LS5575W1507287 Lagniappe HD Feb. 20, 27, 2019
The following unclaimed vehicle(s) will be sold on March 29, 2019 - Time - 12pm, if not claimed - at 8325 Padgett Switch Rd., Irvington, AL 36544. 2013 Ram 3500 3C7WRSAL8DG574757 Lagniappe HD Feb. 20, 27, 2019
The following unclaimed vehicle(s) will be sold on March 29, 2019 - Time - 12pm, if not claimed - at 3916 St Stephens Rd., Eight Mile, AL 36613. 2013 Chevrolet Malibu 1G11A5SA4DU119438 2006 Chrysler 300 2C3KA53G86H321093 Lagniappe HD Feb. 20, 27, 2019
The following unclaimed vehicle(s) will be sold on March 29, 2019 - Time - 12pm, if not claimed - at 5795 Magnolia Rd., Theodore, AL 36582. 1987 Nissan Pickup 1N6ND11S0HC340255 1996 Ford E250 1FTHE24H4THA77251 Lagniappe HD Feb. 20, 27, 2019
The following unclaimed vehicle(s) will be sold on March 29, 2019 - Time - 12pm, if not claimed - at 25380 Water Rapids Rd., Robertsdale, AL 36567. 2002 Mercedes C230 WDBRN47J72A273155 Lagniappe HD Feb. 20, 27, 2019
The following unclaimed vehicle(s) will be sold on March 29, 2019 - Time - 12pm, if not claimed - at 106 Martin Luther King Dr., Prichard, AL 36610. 2008 Toyota Camry 4T1FA38P68U144114 Lagniappe HD Feb. 20, 27, 2019
The following unclaimed vehicle(s) will be sold on March 29, 2019 - Time - 12pm, if not claimed - at 7060 Airport Blvd., Mobile, AL 36608. 2013 Nissan Rogue JN8AS5MT2DW010715 2013 Ford F150 1FTFX1CF1DFC76850 2004Chevrolet Impala 2G1WF52E549368340 Lagniappe HD Feb. 20, 27, 2019
The following unclaimed vehicle(s) will be sold on March 29, 2019 - Time - 12pm, if not claimed - at 3747 Government Blvd., Suite A1., Mobile, AL 36693. 2005 BMW 745LI WBAGN63535DS60349 2008 BMW X3 WBXPC93428WJ05806 Lagniappe HD Feb. 20, 27, 2019
The following unclaimed vehicle(s) will be sold on March 29, 2019 - Time - 12pm, if not claimed - at 19410 St Stephens Rd., Mt Vernon, AL 36560. 2005 Toyota 4Runner JTEZU14R358035646 Lagniappe HD Feb. 20, 27, 2019
The following unclaimed vehicle(s) will be sold on March 29, 2019 - Time - 12pm, if not claimed - at 6715 Old Shell Rd., Mobile, AL 36608. 2006 Ford Escape 1FMYU94106KC86780 Lagniappe HD Feb. 20, 27, 2019
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