Lagniappe: May 25 - May 31, 2017 by Lagniappe

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WEEKLY

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LAGNIAPPE

MAY 25, 2017 - MAY 31, 2017 | www.lagniappemobile.com 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 JANE NICHOLES Reporter jane@lagniappemobile.com

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BAY BRIEFS

The 2017 regular session of the Alabama Legislature is a wrap. Read a roundup of its accomplishments.

COMMENTARY

Is Karin facing trumped up charges in Fairhope?

BUSINESS

A Coastal Alabama Partnership advisory committee recently launched the second phase of an ambitious regional planning initiative.

CUISINE

KEVIN LEE Associate Editor/Arts Editor klee@lagniappemobile.com

On Memorial Day weekend, the grillin’ is easy.

ANDY MACDONALD Cuisine Editor fatmansqueeze@comcast.net STEPHEN CENTANNI Music Editor scentanni@lagniappemobile.com

J. MARK BRYANT Sports Writer sports@lagniappemobile.com STEPHANIE POE Copy Editor copy@lagniappemobile.com DANIEL ANDERSON Chief Photographer dan@danandersonphoto.com LAURA RASMUSSEN Art Director www.laurarasmussen.com BROOKE O’DONNELL Advertising Sales Executive brooke@lagniappemobile.com

COVER

Despite a local clinic’s success in using hyperbaric oxygen to treat veterans with brain injuries, the federal government refuses to recognize or reimburse the procedure.

BETH WILLIAMS Advertising Sales Executive bwilliams@lagniappemobile.com ALEEN MOMBERGER Advertising Sales Executive aleen@lagniappemobile.com RACHEL THOMAS Advertising Sales Executive rachel@lagniappemobile.com MELISSA EDGE Editorial Assistant events@lagniappemobile.com

ARTS

Alabama Contemporary Art Center’s multimedia “Sister Shores” exhibit dips its feet into Cuba’s waters.

MUSIC

ROSS PRITCHARD Distribution Manager delivery@lagniappemobile.com JACKIE CRUTHIRDS Office Manager jackie@lagniappemobile.com CONTRIBUTORS: Lee Hedgepeth, Ron Sivak, Jeff Poor, Asia Frey, Brian Holbert, Tom Ward, Judy Weaver ON THE COVER: FRESH AIR BY DANIEL ANDERSON

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to P.O. Box 3003 Mobile, AL 36652. Editorial, advertising and production offices are located at 1100B Dauphin St. Mobile, AL 36604. Mailing address is P.O. Box 3003 Mobile, AL 36652. Phone: 251.450.4466 Fax 251.450.4498. Email: ashleytoland@lagniappemobile.com or rholbert@lagniappemobile.com LAGNIAPPE is printed at Walton Press. All letters sent to Lagniappe are considered to be intended for publication. Member: Association of Alternative Newsweeklies and Alternative Weeklies Network All rights reserved. Something Extra Publishing, Inc. Nothing may be reprinted, photocopied or in any way reproduced without the expressed permission of the publishers. Individuals may take one copy of the paper free of charge from area businesses, racks or boxes. After that, papers are $3 per issue. Removal of more than one copy from these points constitutes theft. Violators are subject to prosecution.

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Sometimes a singersongwriter needs a little help from friends to bring her true voice into focus. Just ask Bonnie Bishop.

FILM

Fund raising campaign aims to keep the Crescent Theater alive.

GARDEN

Succulent bowls provide joy, and are relatively low maintenance.

SPORTS

The Publix Grandman Triathlon includes a one-third mile swim, an 18-mile bike ride and a 3.1-mile run through Fairhope.

STYLE

Boozie lets it all Hangout, and Batman was spotted in Mobile pumping gas into his exotic Batmobile.

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GOING POSTAL A LEADER, NOT A FOLLOWER Editor: It was with some consternation that I read Ken Robinson’s complaint that U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions is not “… a political leader willing to embrace positive change” (Lagniappe, May 4). Among the positive change he advocates Sessions embracing is the legalization of a mind-altering drug, marijuana. His reason for advocating the change is that national polls taken in November 2016 reported the highestever support. A leader, political or otherwise, is not someone who takes a poll, then acts accordingly. That is a follower, not a leader. A leader guides or directs based on in-depth experience, ability to be objective, etc. This is why important leadership positions are usually afforded to the mature. Robinson is touting legalization as a new and fresh approach, unaware that it is actually very old. In the 1830s some scholar-officials in China recommended legalizing opium, arguing that legalizing it would permit them to regulate and tax it. Others recommended a more hardline approach. After listening to both sides of the debate, the emperor decided to take the advice of the hardliners. History does not record that he took a poll before deciding. Robinson complains of “no treatment for those with substance abuse issues” in past decades, apparently unaware of the existence right here in Mobile Drug Court. Treatment is not a cure-all. Some drug offenders do not want to stop using chemicals and even drug court cannot help them. Contrary to Robinson’s conclusion that doing anything new is the recipe for success, I much prefer making decisions the way a true leader would — based on in-depth knowledge of fac-

tual information, history and enduring values, using objectivity and a wealth of experience. These are qualities that have won Sessions the admiration of scores of Alabamians for many years. G. Smith Davis Mobile

ENSURING THE INFRASTRUCTURE OF HOPE Editor: Medical research means hope for millions of Americans and their families affected by a life-changing disease like Alzheimer’s, diabetes, cancer or heart disease — diseases that certainly have an impact in Alabama. As we look to the future, it is important for Congress to continue to fund the National Institutes of Health to provide for the critical infrastructure needed by our nation’s medical research enterprise. Today, the physicians, scientists and patients at the UAB School of Medicine, USA College of Medicine and HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology urge Congress to continue its commitment to sustained, robust growth in the NIH by creating a sustainable model for funding the NIH moving forward. Congress responded in a bipartisan and positive way to the extreme cuts proposed by the administration. Investment in scientific discovery is crucial to improving the health of patients, strengthening the economy in the near and long terms, and maintaining the United States’ global pre-eminence in medical innovation. The nation invests less than $100 per person annually for all of the research conducted and supported by the NIH, yet the return on investment has been spectacular for us all. The quality

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of life for millions of Americans has been improved by innovations in treatment, technology and care resulting from NIH-supported research across the country. Because of NIH-funded research, the HIV transmission rate in the U.S. from infected mothers to their babies has fallen from 27 percent in 1990 to less than 1 percent in 2017. Childhood cancer patients with lymphocytic leukemia now have a five-year survival rate of 90 percent as a result of available treatments. People battling high cholesterol can take statins to manage their health. Vaccines have been developed to prevent hepatitis A, rotavirus and the human papillomavirus (HPV). The emerging field of genomics is the foundation for countless discoveries. While there is tremendous potential, advances in genomics have identified key factors in widespread, costly diseases such as Alzheimer’s and have provided prevention strategies for breast and other cancers. The federal government, primarily through NIH, plays an irreplaceable role in supporting medical innovations by funding the research that serves as the foundation for these and other life-saving advances. Given the uncertainty of discovery — the next important insight into a disease could come from a number of different avenues or organisms — industry relies on this investment to inform our fundamental understanding of medicine. This research is a springboard that speeds and makes possible the development of treatments and cures. Physicians and scientists at U.S. medical schools and teaching hospitals such as the UAB and USA Schools of Medicine conduct more than half of all external research funded by NIH. Because of NIH support, these investigators are a force for translational discovery through their ongoing research of techniques such as

deep brain stimulation, an important treatment for patients with Parkinson’s disease and other movement disorders; exploration of molecular changes that happen to the body during and after exercise; and design of cutting-edge clinical trials to advance discovery and new therapies. The proposed cuts to NIH funding not only affect medical research, but they affect the very fabric of academic medical centers and nonprofit research institutes — institutions across the country employing faculty and staff to conduct this scientific research and provide the best possible care for patients. At UAB, USA and HudsonAlpha, less than 15 percent of funding comes from the state of Alabama. More than 25 percent of revenue comes from federal grants, including those from the NIH and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Removing or reducing that funding would be devastating for patients, researchers and workers alike. Forty-five of the nation’s 50 states have academic medical centers, each making large economic impacts, both in local and regional communities and in states as a whole. UAB and USA are among the largest employers in Alabama. Millions of Americans depend on medical research to provide hope in the face of potentially devastating diagnoses. The UAB and USA Schools of Medicine, HudsonAlpha and the nation’s medical schools, teaching hospitals and nonprofit research institutions urge Congress to help us maintain the infrastructure of hope. Our patients — and all Americans — deserve it. Selwyn M. Vickers, M.D., FACS (UAB) John V. Marymont, M.D., MBA (USA) Richard M. Myers, Ph.D. (HudsonAlpha Institute)

BAYBRIEF | MONTGOMERY

Adjourned

STATE LAWMAKERS END HISTORIC ANNUAL MEETING BY LEE HEDGEPETH

tate lawmakers have headed back home to their districts after ending what was one of Alabama’s most historic regular legislative sessions. Beginning in February, the annual meeting of legislators considered not just the typical bills, but also unprecedented measures such as the potential impeachment of now former Gov. Robert Bentley. Speaker of the House Mac McCutcheon, a Republican, acknowledged this in his remarks concluding this year’s State House meeting. “As I move into the next session as speaker, I hope that it’s more dealing with legislative issues than all of the outside stuff, if you will, that we’ve had to deal with,” he said. “I think that has added a lot of stress and pressure to the members that this Legislature normally doesn’t have to contend with.” In the meeting’s final days, lawmakers scrambled to pass a bill mandating insurers cover a particular type of autism therapy. While the legislation eventually passed, singular opposition by Sen. Trip Pittman of Baldwin County led to the adoption of an age cap, leaving those over 18 without such required coverage. Another major sticking point of the session was a bill redrawing many of the state’s electoral districts. After a federal court struck down the Legislature’s previous plan as having unconstitutionally diluted African-American voting power, state lawmakers were forced this session to remedy the issue, charged with drawing boundaries that wouldn’t produce similar problems. GOP lawmakers, who hold a supermajority in the State House, attempted to do so, passing a new map, but according to some of the same officials who led the charge against the first plan, they did not succeed, and instead iced

African-American legislators out of the renewed discussion. “The Legislative Black Caucus felt we were not involved in the process of drawing these district lines, being that we won,” said Sen. Bobby Singleton, a black Democrat. “We did have some working relationships with Sen. [Gerald] Dial and others, but not to the extent we felt totally included.” Late in the session, tensions boiled over when Rep. Lynn Greer, a white Republican, circulated an email to fellow lawmakers that compared legislators to monkeys in a cage trying to get to a banana. “From time to time,” Greer’s email said, “ALL all of the monkeys need to be REPLACED AT THE SAME TIME! This is meant as no disrespect to monkeys.” Black lawmakers responded immediately, saying they found the email to be racist and insensitive. “There is no place in the State House for this type of emails to be circulated,” Rep. John Knight said in a press conference on the issue, with fellow black Democrats standing behind him. “We resent it and we will not tolerate it. Our voices have not been heard, and we have been subjected to the most racial insult that I’ve ever seen.” After an apology and prolonged, heated debate on Greer’s email and ensuing apology, the House moved on, eventually passing the contested redistricting plan largely along party lines. Although it’s possible the Legislature may meet in a special session regarding prison construction sooner, according to the House speaker, the next regular legislative session begins next year.

Boiled over

BILL ENDING CRAWFISH CRACKDOWN TO BECOME LAW

BY LEE HEDGEPETH

fter more than a year of back and forth between local businesses and state health officials over the legality of the events, a bill explicitly permitting crawfish boils and other food-related cultural events on sidewalks in Mobile will soon become law. The legislation, originally sponsored by Rep. Margie Wilcox, exempts from state health department regulations “a regional celebration, tradition or cultural event that is designated as such by the city of Mobile,” and specifically says that exempted groups, which will have to apply for the status with the Mobile County Department of Health, “may boil whole crawfish, for public consumption, outside on the premises of the establishment.” Last year state health officials cracked down on crawfish boils in Mobile, and businesses such as The Merry Widow, Hayley’s and Saddle Up Saloon announced they’d been required to cancel events because of the strict regulations, which prohibited cooking food outside in the open. “There must be a compromise,” The Merry Widow’s Roy Clark told Lagniappe at the time. “More than anything, I’m saddened that one of the most unique and anticipated traditions of Gulf Coast culture — people of all walks coming together at a watering hole around a boiling pot, being a community — might be purged from our lives because of arbitrary restrictions.” The new legislation will prevent that purge by giving Mobile County health officials — instead of the state — the power to exempt groups and events from the stricter require-

ments. Instead, per the law, which awaits Gov. Kay Ivey’s signature, businesses will apply for exemption online through the Mobile County Health Department and then be required to meet certain minimum standards, like planning for waste disposal and having a handwashing station available at the event. While both state and local health officials asked for some changes to the legislation, the Mobile County Health Department eventually lent its support. “As always, our aim is to promote, improve and protect the health of those who live, work and play in Mobile County, Alabama,” local health officials said in a statement. “We believe this legislation does not disrupt our ability to achieve that mission. Our sincere thanks for all the hard work put forth by various individual leaders, food industry representatives, local, state and federal food safety officials.” For her part, Rep. Wilcox says the legislation was successful in protecting something she finds to be part of Mobile’s culture. “Really my intent was to protect the flavor of Mobile, Alabama,” Wilcox said. “Getting together, sharing food and loving are part of Mobile’s traditions … we have been eating crawfish and seafood since before the Spanish came.” Wilcox originally introduced two versions of the bill, one that applied statewide and the one focused solely on the Port City, which passed. “We had bipartisan support for Mobilians eating their crawfish,” Wilcox said. M a y 2 5 , 2 0 1 7 - M a y 3 1 , 2 0 1 7 | L AG N I A P P E | 5

BAYBRIEF | BALDWIN COUNTY

Practically full-time LEGISLATION GIVES BALDWIN COMMISSIONERS HEFTY RAISES

BY JANE NICHOLES

aldwin County commissioners will get raises of about 50 percent thanks to a bill passed during the chaotic last week of the Legislature’s regular session. The exact amount of the raise is unclear. Current salaries are $33,600. The commission chairman, currently Chris Elliott, receives an additional $5,000 because the position includes executive, administrative and ceremonial duties. Using a formula, the new salaries will be tied to Baldwin County’s median family income and could go up to $50,000 or more. Every four years at the end of a term, the salaries would be recalculated and could rise or fall depending how well the income of Baldwin citizens has fared. “I just thought it was deserved,” said Rep. Steve McMillan, R-Gulf Shores, the chief sponsor of the bill. “If someone is going to run countywide in as large a county as Baldwin, it really is a full-time job.” The commissioners did not ask for the additional compensation, McMillan said, although they did thank him for it. “I just felt like it was time for it to be done. It hasn’t been done in years.” The new salaries are effective when the next term begins in 2018. In future years, the reset of the salaries will also be effective with the new commissioner terms. The salary structure is similar to that of the Legislature, which several several years ago gave itself hefty pay raises tied to the state’s median income level for a family. The move drew widespread criticism at the time because of the state’s overall financial condition. Currently, the median family income of $50,524 for Baldwin County dates to 2015, according to U.S. Census

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data and other sources. Here’s how the new salaries will be calculated, according to the bill. It will be the average of the median annual

BALDWIN COUNTY COMMISSIONERS WILL GET RAISES OF ABOUT 50 PERCENT THANKS TO A BILL PASSED DURING THE CHAOTIC LAST WEEK OF THE LEGISLATURE’S REGULAR SESSION.” household income in Baldwin County for the previous four years, as ascertained and adjusted by the Alabama Department of Labor. The $5,000 in additional compensation for the commission chairman will remain as is. Anyone who prefers not to accept the raise may choose to donate it instead. The bill was not introduced until early April. Longtime County Commissioner Frank Burt said he did not learn it had passed until Friday morning. He said he did not push local legislators to work for the raise, but said he also thinks the commission deserved it. “I think the job has grown so tremendously,” Burt said. “It’s a full-time job.” Population growth calls for more roads, and the commission is spending more time on development-related issues such as subdivisions and zoning, he said.

Although the raise came up rather quickly as the session was coming to an end, it wasn’t a new idea, Burt said. Four years ago the Legislature set out to enact a similar bill. Because the raise was discussed in County Commission work sessions, it quickly drew opposition, Burt said. Second, there was an amendment to the bill that inadvertently set the maximum raise at 4 percent every four years, he said. The commission sought an attorney general’s opinion on that point and were told the resulting opinion interpreted the language as limiting the raises to that amount. That is what the commission received, Burt said. As often happens when a legislative session is ending with a rush to get bills passed, items such as the commissioners’ salary increase come to light later. This year, raises of $20,000 each also went to the sheriff and revenue commissioner. The sheriff has been making $95,794 for many years, while the revenue commissioner has been making $90,000. Also passing in the final week was the controversial school funding bill in which School Superintendent Eddie Tyler and commissioners restructured sales taxes to deliver more road money to the commission and a permanent source of revenue to the schools. Although both the commission and the school board were mostly happy with the plan, not all citizens were. Some thought the plan was deliberately kept quiet, some thought the schools gave up too much money to the commission and some believed there should have been a public vote on any tax issues.

WHAT OTHER COUNTY COMMISSIONERS MAKE Here are the top 10 highest county commissioner salaries, according to the Association of County Commissioners of Alabama. These numbers do not include extra benefits such as vehicles, nor do they include supplements paid to commission chairmen. The current salary of $33,600 paid to Baldwin County commissioners would rank them No. 11 on this list, the pay raise would move them to the middle of the pack. • Jefferson $82,400 • Mobile $79,055 • Morgan $77,173 • Madison $73,840 • Limestone $59,088

• Cullman $50,342 • Marion $47,420 • Lamar $39,684 • Blount $35,955 • Marshall $37,205

BAYBRIEF | MOBILE

Greenlight AUTHORITY GIVES CONSENT TO CITY ON RECYCLING PLANS BY DALE LIESCH

obile’s Solid Waste Disposal Authority (SWDA) voted to permit the city to enter into two contracts making recycling easier for residents. As a result, the board has also agreed to work out some of its legal issues stemming from a 2015 lawsuit with Waste Management Mobile Bay Environmental Center (WM). The sides will now meet before the issue returns to the City Council agenda June 20 to discuss it and the city’s continued diversion of yard waste away from the WM-managed Chastang Landfill, for which the company already received a multimillion-dollar judgment against SWDA. The judgment stems from a 1993 contract SWDA entered into with TransAmerican for management of the city’s Chastang Landfill. The contract gave TransAmerican, which later

MOBILE’S SOLID WASTE DISPOSAL AUTHORITY (SWDA) VOTED TO PERMIT THE CITY TO ENTER INTO TWO CONTRACTS MAKING RECYCLING EASIER FOR RESIDENTS. became Waste Management, control over the city’s entire waste stream, including yard debris. In addition to yard debris, the contract also mentions recyclables as being part of the waste stream. SWDA was concerned that if the city entered into new recycling contracts, WM would sue them again for breach of contract. The city currently sends yard waste to Dirt Inc. because it would be more expensive to haul yard debris to the Chastang Landfill, City Attorney Ricardo Woods said. As an alternative, Woods offered a solution proposed by acting Chief of Staff Paul Wesch that could work through some of the many contractual issues, including the disposal of yard waste and recycling. The city, Woods said, would pay WM a diversion fee to allow it to use the Dirt Inc. landfill instead of the Chastang Landfill, without risking further legal action. Woods said paying the diversion fee to use Dirt Inc. would be roughly half as much as hauling the debris to the WM-managed landfill and paying tipping fees. “We know the city will have to do something,” Woods said. “It costs everyone more money to transfer [yard debris] to the landfill.” While Jaime Betbeze, an attorney for WM, said his client is not interested in renegotiating the 1993 contract, they are interested in discussing the parameters of the deal that would allow the city to continue using a different landfill for yard debris and also allow the city to update its recycling program. Betbeze later explained the diversion fee would be negotiable based on volume. “It’s very beneficial to all parties,” Betbeze said. “We would like to work toward a solution to wrap up all the issues. We are willing to sit down

with representatives of the Solid Waste Disposal Authority to sort through contractual issues.” SWDA attorney Chuck Miller said the authority was willing to reach a solution. “We’ll just have to see what Waste Management proposes,” he said. If the sides reach an agreement on those issues, the City Council could finalize the recycling contracts by the end of next month, when they’re due to reappear on the agenda. One contract the council will be considering would allow for the acceptance and processing of recyclables by Emerald Coast Utilities Authority for $125,000 over nearly three years. The second contract would allow for the rental of equipment to collect and transport the recyclables for $900,000 over a three-year period. In a previous interview, Don Rose, the city’s procurement officer, said the $900,000 contract represents a “high-end” aspirational goal of collecting 8,000 tons of recycling. Right now, the city sees about 2,000 to 2,500 tons of recyclables. The city would only be charged in the contract per ton. The contracts also represent a possible savings over the recyclables ending up in the waste stream. Emerald Coast Utilities Authority does not charge a tipping fee and the city will pay $35 per compressed ton to transport the recyclables to Cantonment, Florida. Due to the commodity price, Emerald Coast will pay the city $15 per ton for the recyclables. However, if the commodity price drops low enough, the city would instead pay Emerald Coast a handling fee, Rose said.

Legal issues

The sit-down will most likely not solve all the issues between WM and SWDA. The two entities still have active lawsuits against one another. SWDA is currently suing Waste Away Group for more than $1 million, claiming the company gave the entity indemnity from the lawsuit WM brought against it. In addition, the suit argues Waste Away Group, not SWDA, is responsible for gas management and capital improvement costs at the landfill. At the same time, WM has filed complaints stemming from SWDA’s failure to reimburse the company for those costs. Betbeze said similar arguments were rejected by the federal court during the entities’ initial court battle. He also claimed Waste Away Group was a parent company of WM Mobile Bay Environmental Center. Miller, however, called them separate “sister corporations.” Betbeze brought up the latest reimbursements at the meeting. SWDA Chairman Pete Riehm told Betbeze the considerations of the March reimbursements would be on the regular meeting agenda in July, after a consultant reviews them. Riehm said the special meeting was planned on short notice. “We don’t have the review,” he said. “The report did not come.” Betbeze called the situation “disappointing.” Miller said SWDA rejected WM’s request for reimbursements in 2015, on the advice of consultants.

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BAYBRIEF | BALDWIN COUNTY

Location, location, location

BALDWIN SEWER SERVICE COSTS A LOT MORE IN SOME PLACES THAN OTHERS BY JANE NICHOLES

growing area of Baldwin County including Summerdale, Silverhill, Elberta, Perdido Beach, Spanish Fort and Lillian. Lagniappe surveyed current rates countywide, using system websites and a survey put together by Richard Peterson, operations superintendent for Fairhope. Fairhope Utilities — Minimum fee per first 1,000 gallons: $16.77 outside city limits, $13.74 inside city limits. Fixed sewer fee outside city limits: $28.49; fixed inside: $18.39. Minimum tie-in fee: $600 inside city limits, $2,800 outside city limits. Riviera Utilities — Base rate: $20 per month inside. Fixed rate: $36. Tap fee: $1,500. Daphne Utilities — Minimum fee per first 1,000 gallons: $22 inside city limits, $27.59 outside city limits. Residential capacity fee: $2,800. Baldwin County Sewer Service — Monthly charge: $54.50. Tap fee: $3,500. Gulf Shores — Monthly fee for up to 4,000 gallons: $15, plus 25 percent in Zone 2. Service installation fee: $1,000. North Baldwin Utilities — Gravity sewer connection fee: $3,450. Pressure sewer connection fee: $1,500. Flat monthly fee: $31 plus $13.50 if using less than 3,000 gallons per month. Town of Loxley Public Works — Monthly bill: $26.52.

Photo | Daniel Anderson

s Baldwin County continues to grow, the need for sewer service continues to increase. A survey of single-family residential sewer fees in Baldwin County revealed a wide variation in both tap fees for new construction and monthly usage rates. Apples-toapples comparisons are difficult, however. Some sewer system operators charge minimum fees per thousand gallons used, some have standard base or monthly rates and some charge more for single-family residential service outside city limits. Commercial rates often take into account the size of the business and essential questions such as how many people work in the building. Despite the challenges, it is possible to draw some conclusions. People who live farther away from a population center are probably going to pay more, particularly in tap fees, which are charged to connect a home to an existing sewer line. In Baldwin County the highest sewer rates seem to be charged by the privately owned Baldwin County Sewer Service. Officials have said that’s because BCSS isn’t eligible for the types of grants and loans that nonprofit municipalities can apply for, so its expenses are higher. Likewise, BCSS is building new lines mostly outside city limits. BCSS is based in Summerdale and serves a large and

Tap fee: $2,500. Orange Beach — Monthly bill inside city limits: $28. Outside city limits: $42. Robertsdale — Robertsdale has four different rates depending on whether a customer is or is not connected to city water and whether the customer is inside or outside the city limits. Monthly rates range from $16 to $43.25. Connection fees range from $1,425 to $2,250.

BAYBRIEF | FAIRHOPE

Human resources

EMPLOYEE CLAIM AGAINST FAIRHOPE MAYOR LACKS DETAIL BY JANE NICHOLES

airhope Human Resources Director Pandora Heathcoe in January made a police report on what police termed “harassment (simple assault)” by Mayor Karin Wilson, according to a police document. Now, with a civil complaint filed against the city by Heathcoe, more questions are being raised about what’s going on at City Hall. On Friday, Heathcoe filed a civil complaint with the city against Wilson, who took office in November. People who have seen the civil complaint will not discuss its contents. No criminal charges have been filed. In response to public records requests, on Monday Lagniappe received only the cover sheet of the police report on the incident. It shows neither Wilson’s nor Heathcoe’s names and contains no description of what actually happened between the two. The date of the incident was reported as Dec. 29, but the police report was not taken until Jan. 25.

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Sgt. Craig Sawyer, assistant administrator for the Fairhope Police Department, said the case was considered closed. Harassment (simple assault) is a misdemeanor offense. Sawyer said that to avoid a conflict of interest, the complainant was referred to the Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office if Heathcoe wanted to sign a warrant. The sheriff’s department was made aware of the situation by Fairhope police but no one came forward to ask for a warrant, said BCSO spokesman Maj. Anthony Lowery. If someone did, the case would have been sent on to District Attorney Robert Wilters, he said. Asked via her Facebook page for comment Saturday afternoon, Wilson sent this statement to Lagniappe: “Legal counsel will be handling responses internally. I’m confident the facts will demonstrate very quickly the allegations are false.” On Monday, as news of the incident continued to

spread, Wilson again took to Facebook: “Many people are reaching out for additional information about a claim that was filed on Friday. I am confident that the facts will demonstrate that no assault occurred. Responses to the claim will be handled internally by legal counsel. “I am in Birmingham where I have been since Saturday attending the League of Municipalities Annual Convention and will be back in the office this week.” Heathcoe declined to comment. City Attorney Marion “Tut” Wynne said he received the complaint Friday. He said the filing of a such a complaint is a necessary first step in seeking reimbursement from the city’s insurer, Travelers. “I don’t think there is a criminal issue,” Wynne said. Without discussing any details, Wynne said what happened was best described as “an incident.” After news of Heathcoe’s claim became public Friday evening, Wilson made the following post on her Facebook page Saturday: “I remember when I contemplated running for mayor how worried my husband was for me. I kept asking him what he thought could happen that would warrant such stress? He’d give me hypothetical situations and I always responded, ‘but that’s not the truth.’ If we allow worry and doubt to control our decisions based on an unknown future, there would never be positive progress. “I’m surrounded by opportunists, people who believe I’m naive and those who try to demoralize me. But no one can or will take away the truth.” Since taking office, Wilson has made a number of personnel changes in top positions of city government, including some firings, and has created new positions and rewritten job descriptions. Heathcoe’s job includes making sure procedures, salary ranges and job descriptions comply with existing personnel rules and the system’s salary structure.

BAYBRIEF | MOBILE

Roads less traveled

COUNCILMEN VOICE CONCERNS TO TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE

BY DALE LIESCH

wo Mobile City councilors representing areas east of Interstate 65 presented advisers to the Metropolitan Planning Organization May 17 with their concerns over a disparity of the number of projects the group has planned over the next 20 years. Councilmen Fred Richardson and Levon Manzie told members of the Technical Coordinating Citizens’ Committee of the MPO they had concerns over fairness in the South Alabama Regional Planning Commission’s 2040 LongRange Transportation Plan. “There are 200,000 people in this city,” Richardson said. “There are 100,000 each east and west of Interstate 65. Those east of I-65 are just as deserving as those west.” At issue is a big disparity in MPO spending on either side of I-65. As Manzie pointed out using MPO numbers, since 1993 some 81 projects have been planned west of I-65, using roughly $107 million, while only five projects east of I-65 were planned, using roughly $5 million. Similarly, Richardson told TCC members that highways 98, 90 and 31 — west of I-65 — had all been expanded to four lanes, while Highway 45 — east of I-65 — remains two lanes. The councilors suggested the board change the parameters for federal funding and open up more projects for those roads and streets east of I-65. Manzie said the standards the board uses to determine what roads and streets should be updated were put in place initially in the late 1960s. Kevin Harrison, director of transportation planning for the SARPC, told TCC members that while the current federal model — based

on traffic demand — for picking road expansion projects began in 1968, they get updated every time there’s a new transportation budget. The most recent one was announced in 2016, he said. Further, Harrison argued the majority of projects east of I-65 — the city’s oldest section — are maintenance issues. Currently the MPO doesn’t consider maintenance projects, only additional capacity projects. Many roadways east of I-65, such as Broad Street, are being considered for fewer lanes and pedestrian and cycling upgrades, while expansion projects for vehicular traffic are happening to the west. The model does not take population into account, Harrison said. The MPO is also prohibited from taking geography into account, he added. For 2017, Harrison said, the MPO is looking at spending $25 million, $15 million of which will be used to widen Zeigler Boulevard. “Projects currently on the books have been there for a long time,” he said. “Zeigler has been on the books for 25 years.” Harrison said the MPO could redirect a small portion of funding to maintenance issues, but projects then could get “caught in the weeds” and become political. A majority of board members agreed maintenance issues, like the ones described by Manzie and Richardson, should be handled on a local level, either through the city or county. Afterward, members of the TCC voted to send a letter to councilors detailing their reasons for not changing the standards they use.

Seeing the future

PLANNING COMMISSION APPROVES LAND USE MAP BY DALE LIESCH

he Mobile Planning Commission voted to approve the city’s new Future Land Use Map (FLUM) and major streets plan, despite the vast majority of speakers at a long public hearing asking the board to delay its decision. The city promotes the new map as a way to move forward with the vision set forth in the Map for Mobile comprehensive plan, which the Planning Commission has already approved. While it will work in conjunction with the comprehensive plan, the FLUM will not replace the city’s zoning ordinance, Shayla Beaco, Build Mobile director, told the board. “It’s the first step in rewriting the zoning ordinance,” Beaco said. “The goal is to come back to you on a very regular basis. It’s a living document.” The FLUM breaks the city into areas where planners and citizens believe certain uses are appropriate. There is a mix of both traditional uses — such as heavy industrial, residential and commercial corridors — and more specific, contemporary uses, including mixed use, mixed density and others. Additionally, the plan includes water-specific uses in areas like Dog River, the delta and Mobile Bay, as well as areas with more public water access, like the downtown waterfront. Water access was the biggest reason for opposition to the plan, uniting industry and community group leaders at the public hearing. Steve Gordon, president of the industry advocacy group Keep Mobile Growing, submitted a statement to the board opposing some of the new categories in the FLUM. “The FLUM considered today creates a new Downtown Waterfront District immediately ad-

jacent to … Mobile’s deep-water port,” he wrote. “We do not understand why a new district is necessary. We are concerned if the intent is to promote changing the use from industrial shipbuilding to recreational and commercial use.” In the statement, Gordon said the port is the “foundation of our city’s existence” and changing allowable uses could impact its ability to compete. “It is premature to adopt a new zoning district for this area when the zoning regulations relevant to it have not been developed or adopted,” he wrote. Jarrod White, an attorney for Keep Mobile Growing, asked the Planning Commission to table the FLUM until a new zoning ordinance had been completed. Debi Foster, president of the Peninsula Group, said she supported parts of the map, but was also concerned there wasn’t enough water access provided along areas close to Dog River and other local creeks. Like Gordon and Keep Mobile Growing, Foster asked the Planning Commission to delay a vote on the plan. Casey Pipes, an attorney for the Mobile Area Association of Realtors, said his client also had concerns the plan might be premature. “The map presumes the zoning code will be rewritten,” Pipes said. “We feel this can jeopardize development in Mobile. We ask that you wait and adopt it later.” While the Planning Commission approved both the Future Land Use Map and the Major Streets Plan at its regular meeting, the decision was not unanimous. Commissioner Taylor Atchison said he would be in favor of a holdover, while others, including Chairman Carlos Gant and Don Hembry, wanted to “keep the ball rolling” and approve the FLUM. M a y 2 5 , 2 0 1 7 - M a y 3 1 , 2 0 1 7 | L AG N I A P P E | 9

COMMENTARY | DAMN THE TORPEDOES

Trumped up charges against Wilson in Fairhope? ROB HOLBERT/MANAGING EDITOR/RHOLBERT@LAGNIAPPEMOBILE.COM

WILSON AND BURRELL BROKE BREAD TOGETHER AND VOWED A NEW LEVEL OF DECORUM. IT LOOKED LIKE THINGS WERE FINALLY SETTLING DOWN.”

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she handles things, but also has a strong, loyal base of supporters. Her dealings with the media are often hostile and suspicious, and she seems to prefer communicating with constituents through social media. And ancillary issues have come to dominate a good bit of what she does. The successes both of them have had are often overshadowed by friction with others. While Trump deals with Comey, Karin must fight off assault accusations. If she renames a neighborhood Little Moscow I’m really going to get suspicious. Whether any of this amounts to a hill of finely roasted coffee beans fit for serving in one of Fairhope’s trendiest coffee shops remains to be seen. Regardless, it seems like there’s enough of a pattern over the past six months to come to the conclusion the mayor may need to employ a little more finesse in working to achieve her goals. I understand that to her supporters Wilson is storming the gates of Hell all by herself, but she frequently seems to hurt her own cause. Things such as complaining about her salary, delivering a severely delinquent budget and engaging in heated arguments during council meetings may all come from a place of reason, but they certainly make it look like the change agent needs a change. For Fairhope’s sake let’s hope the olive branch Wilson extended to Burrell recently was the sign she’s recognized there are other ways to skin a cat or a goose pooping on the Fairhope beach. Trumped up or not, the assault accusation will probably dominate for a while. How Wilson handles it will be the bigger issue.

THEGADFLY

lawsuits centered around development. Karin won with a “drain the swamp” message reminiscent of the one that swept a certain orange-haired/skinned gentleman into the White House. And since then Trump and Wilson have run a pretty good race in terms of who can be involved in the most conflict. Wilson’s style has been acerbic, which has no doubt made things tough. But she also has repeatedly stated that people voted her in to make changes and that’s what she is there to do regardless of her style. Maybe it’s a case of trying to eat everything in one bite, but often the mayor seems to suffer from charging in without much forethought and without the realization that entrenched people are going to fight to stay entrenched. She and City Council President Jack Burrell almost immediately locked horns over subjects ranging from city utilities, the mayor’s salary, the airport authority and the budget. So for months those two players struggled. Meetings were tense and there were open arguments. But then suddenly there seemed to be a thaw. Wilson and Burrell broke bread together and vowed a new level of decorum. It looked like things were finally settling down. But late last week the news broke about HR Director Pandora Heathcoe’s claims against the city and a police report she filed alleging harassment/simple assault. The police have released very few details. All we KNOW from the report is some sort of incident is alleged to have taken place Dec. 29 of last year, which led Heathcoe to file an incident report almost a month later on Jan. 25 of this year. Since state law allows police to withhold the back page of police reports — the part containing the narrative of what actually happened — there’s really not much more the report tells us. Wilson has said the city’s legal counsel will handle the matter and she’s confident whatever allegations are being made against her will be shown to be false. The city’s attorney quickly said he didn’t believe the “incident” represented a criminal matter. And the mayor took to the worldwide web to issue a Trumpian slam on her opponents. “I’m surrounded by opportunists, people who believe

I’m naive and those who try to demoralize me. But no one can or will take away the truth,” she wrote. On Monday she added more, stating: “Many people are reaching out for additional information about a claim that was filed on Friday. I am confident that the facts will demonstrate that no assault occurred.” Admittedly, this newspaper wasn’t first on this story, and a Gulf Coast Newspapers reporter has filed a story in which he claims to have seen the civil complaint, which includes some narrative of what Heathcoe claims occurred that day. At this time Lagniappe has not been able to independently verify any narrative information from the police report or the civil claim, so I won’t go into much detail about what GCN has reported. However, I will say the story reports an allegation involving somewhat rough physical contact and lists an employee Wilson fired as an eyewitness. At this point it’s pretty tough to know what to think. Certainly the mayor’s denial that she assaulted anyone should be taken at face value until someone is able to produce enough facts to show otherwise. The fact that the incident report wasn’t filed until almost a month after the assault allegedly occurred and that the eyewitness happens to be someone fired by Wilson should be taken into account, but so too should the fact that the employee was fired more than a month after Heathcoe’s police report was filed. As I mentioned earlier, Wilson’s time in office has often seemed to bear an eerie resemblance to Trump’s stay in the White House. She faces harsh criticism for the way

Cartoon/Laura Rasmussen

ust when it seemed like things in Fairhope were starting to smooth out a bit, now people in the Single Tax Colony are dealing with stories about the city’s human resources director filing a civil complaint against the city and a police report against Mayor Karin Wilson. Those days when golf carts and tree lights were the city’s headier debates seem like a million years ago. Saying things have been tumultuous since Wilson took office last November would be an understatement. That’s not to say Wilson has been the cause of all the tumult, but city politics have at least become a more open blood sport since she’s been mayor. Wilson was brought in to replace Mayor Tim Kant, who many felt was way too chummy with local power brokers and who had landed the city in some spectacular

TERMITE SWARMS AGGRAVATE LOCAL RESIDENTS WITH NIGHTLY HOME INVASIONS.

COMMENTARY | THE HIDDEN AGENDA

Summertime and the livin’ is easy

ASHLEY TRICE/EDITOR/ASHLEYTOLAND@LAGNIAPPEMOBILE.COM chool is letting out. It’s raining every day. The termites are swarming. Cars are backing up on Government Street by noon on Fridays. It must be summer in Mobile! As we approach this holiday weekend and kick off the most sizzling season of the year, there is no time I feel luckier to live in Mobile. (Well, until Mardi Gras rolls back around.) Now sure, the heat and humidity will become almost as unbearable as the mosquitoes and the Bayway on a Sunday, but any experienced Mobilian knows there are ways to work around all of those minor inconveniences. They are but small prices to pay for the many little pieces of paradise we have in our own backyard. Most people have to plan for weeks or months, pack up cars and drive for hours to enjoy places we can get to in less than an hour and on a whim. With so many things to do, it’s hard to fit them all in just one summer. So I’ve been working my way through a Gulf Coast Summer Bucket List for a while now. Some of these things I’ve done multiple times, others only once and a few I have yet to mark off the list, but I feel lucky to have such a list to complete. (And also lucky to have friends with boats. That has been helpful for many of these. Thanks, guys!) A day on Sand Island. — Dauphin Island There is just something about packing up the boat with provisions (chairs, towels, a wellstocked cooler, snacks, maybe a tent) to journey to what at first seems like your own little private island. As other boats pull in and join the fun, the vibe turns from privacy into a party, which is a welcome change. The tension in your neck begins to melt away as you lounge in chairs next to your best friends as your children play along the shore, scooping up hermit crabs. I have had some of the best conversations of my life sitting out on that little strip of sand. Some of those came with laughter, others with tears, as we talked about marriages and divorces, babies being born and parents dying. I always feel such a great sense of peace and fulfillment as we begin to journey back in as the sun is beginning to set. We only have so many days on this Earth and one spent on Sand Island never feels like one wasted. Being a freak with the freaks at Flora-Bama It’s just a dingy little dive straddling the Florida and Alabama line but there’s no other place like the Flora-Bama. Maybe it’s because you are almost as likely to see a country music star or an NFL quarterback as you are a girl with a tramp stamp and a fresh hickey on her neck. Probably why it’s been immortalized in songs by Jimmy Buffett, Kenny Chesney, Blake Shelton and JJ Grey and Mofro. There are things my eyes have seen there that I still wish they could unsee, especially during what we will call the “talent competition” during the Miss Flora-Bama Bikini Contest one year. Yikes. The people watching is always definitely worth the trip. And the raw oysters and Bushwackers go down really easy, too. I don’t think you can mark it off your bucket list after visiting just once. To really have experienced it, you must have danced all night with the band, left there laughing, left there crying or left there missing a shoe, phone, credit card, purse, wallet and/or possibly someone in your group (and most likely your dignity). But hey, you only live once. A burger and a Bushwacker at Pirate’s Cove — Josephine Another bar with that special “it” factor, I finally made my first trip to Pirate’s Cove earlier this spring. I can’t believe it took me so long, but

it was so worth the wait. With as many dogs running around as toddlers, it’s a feast for the eyes. A feast for your belly can be found in their legendary pizzas and burgers, which are delivered by servers who walk around screaming your name. Somehow it seemed to work perfectly. I didn’t try the pizza but their burger was one of the best I have ever had. And their Bushwackers don’t play, so proceed with caution. On the way out, an actual pirate ship sailed by and blasted a cannon at us and threw some treasure (Mardi Gras beads) our way. And since you can get there by land or by sea, everyone can enjoy it. A rejuvenating plunge into the Cold Hole — Magnolia Springs Come late July or August, when temperatures reach a level local meteorologists refer to as “ass hot,” it’s time to take a leisurely trip down the Magnolia River to dip in the ice cold but magically healing waters known as the Cold Hole. I don’t know what the actual temperature is but it feels something like 38 degrees. I’m pretty sure it’s not, as that would probably give you hypothermia, but whatever it is, it’s cold. And oh so refreshing! And I swear it really is healing. So long aching joints. Who needs a cortisone shot, when you can just submerge yourself in this magical mix of hydrogen and oxygen? Gumbo Key Experience on Robinson Island — Orange Beach This is one I still haven’t marked off of my bucket list but it will happen. The founder and mayor of Gumbo Key, Mac McAleer, describes it as “a tropical, mythical place that appears from time to time. This floating musical venue is a place for friends and family to meld together in our Gulf Coastal waters while soaking up the fine sounds of live Southern bands.” Basically, they have a large barge-like boat out in the water near Robinson Island and a bunch of great bands play all day while you float around on a flamingo or other animal raft of your choosing. Sounds like a pretty perfect day to me! It looks like this year Mayor McAleer’s mythical place will magically appear on June 17. Hopefully I’ll see you there. A day of lawlessness in the Delta — Mobile Tensaw Delta I also have not made into the Delta yet. And I am not sure that I want to. Mainly, because what I imagine happens in the Delta is probably way more exciting than what actually does happen in the Delta. So maybe it’s just one of those journeys better left in my imagination. Known as “America’s Amazon,” I envision it to be a lawless world run by alligators, birds of prey and salty seamen on the FBI’s Most Wanted List, where scenes from “Breaking Bad,” “Deliverance,” “Lord of the Flies” and/or “Anaconda” could very well play out any time you venture into it. Murders* and arsons* will remain unsolved and the people who inhabit those mysterious camps there will never utter a word about those who have vanished without a trace.* *I have no idea if there have ever been any murders, arsons and/or missing persons cases in the Delta, but it seems like there should have been, so please just let it stay mysterious for me until I see it for myself. Relaxing, freaky, rejuvenating, mythical or mysterious, there are so many cool places to visit during the summer months. We really are so very lucky. And these are just a few that should be on our collective Gulf Coast Summer Bucket List. What other adventures should we add? M a y 2 5 , 2 0 1 7 - M a y 3 1 , 2 0 1 7 | L AG N I A P P E | 11

COMMENTARY | THE BELTWAY BEAT

Politics in a cord-cutting culture BY JEFF POOR/COLUMNIST/JEFFREYPOOR@GMAIL.COM

ne of conservatives’ biggest complaints is the political left’s influence — almost monopoly — on pop culture, and how difficult that makes it for conservatism to reach younger generations. All the cool movie and TV stars with any public political views are liberals. Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Leonardo DiCaprio, JJ Abrams, Beyoncé — they all gave money to Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign in 2016. In fact, according to the Los Angeles Times, $9 out of every $10 donated to presidential elections from the entertainment industry in California went to Clinton during the last presidential election cycle. Sure, there are a few conservatives in Hollywood — Kelsey Grammer, Jon Voight, Chuck Norris, Mel Gibson, Vince Vaughn. But for the

lack of choice did have sort of a unifying effect on the country. Without the infinite choices of today, everyone consumed and experienced similar media. People on Friday morning could talk about last night’s episode of “Seinfeld” around the water cooler. How about that answer on final “Jeopardy?” Now people are moving away from cable TV. They’re participating in what is called cordcutting and dropping their service for internetbased options such as Netflix and Hulu. They’ll get their news from the internet, and if it’s a big enough sporting event to care about, it can be watched via a broadcast signal from the local ABC, CBS, NBC or Fox affiliate. Perhaps the closest unifying entertainment we have now are sporting events. America will still rally around watching the Super Bowl every year. But there was a time when TV events such as the Super Bowl were more than ONE OF CONSERVATIVES’ BIGGEST once a year. COMPLAINTS IS THE POLITICAL Now everyone is watching something different, and there is LEFT’S INFLUENCE — ALMOST MONOPOLY — no longer a significant coalescON POP CULTURE, AND HOW DIFFICULT THAT ing behind pop culture. That does undermine Hollywood’s MAKES IT FOR CONSERVATISM TO REACH effort to social engineer through the culture. YOUNGER GENERATIONS. Take this last election, for example. The elites completely most part, the A-list celebrities are liberal, and dismissed Donald Trump’s chances of winning. their work reflects it. “I mean, a reality TV star? Who are we kidUsually, these films are trying to push a ding? He won’t even make it on the ballot in social message. Sometimes, especially during all 50 states.” the Bush administration, it was an anti-war film, But those people likely were not regular depicting the United States as an imperialist viewers of NBC’s “The Apprentice.” While they power. After the 2008 bank crisis, some of the were binge-watching “House of Cards” and choices at the box office took on a markedly “Orange Is the New Black,” a lot of traditional anti-Wall Street slant. Americans in the heartland were still watching The entertainment industry has not always regular old-fashioned broadcast TV. trafficked in left-wing exhibitions. War movies With the economic malaise brought forth by once depicted heroic American soldiers fightglobalization, immigration or whatever, having ing the Japanese or the Germans. Who doesn’t a high-speed internet connection and a Netflix love a good John Wayne movie? But when was account were luxuries. But a TV antenna was the last time you saw a new America-as-hero free and basic cable was affordable enough for a movie at the box office? Or a Western with a lot of people. gritty cowboy riding in to save the day in the Not seeing Trump’s TV success was a total white hat? misreading of where our culture is, and that can Things started to change during the Vietnam be attributable to not being aware of why “The War. “M*A*S*H,” a long-running TV series set Apprentice” was such a successful TV show. in Korea during the Korean War, was critical of The cord-cutting phenomenon isn’t going war. But it aired as the country was involved in away. Eventually, the technology will be in the very unpopular Vietnam War. everyone’s homes. Some local governments Then there have been more and more overtly may even offer high-speed internet as a public left-leaning TV series — “The West Wing,” utility, a la power, sewer and water. Politics will “Law & Order” and “Madam Secretary,” to have to adapt. name just a few. We won’t have moments anymore where And in 2017 with the age of Trump underwe have national conversations about homoway, the late-night talk shows have become unsexuality when Ellen DeGeneres comes out of deniably left-of-center. CBS’s Stephen Colbert the closet on prime-time ABC. Not only is the has used his platform as a battering ram against public desensitized to it, but these hot-button the Trump administration. ABC’s Jimmy Kimissues are all over the internet already. Nothing mel made an impassioned plea for Obamacare short of NBC “Nightly News” anchor Lester just as the GOP-led House was attempting to Holt coming out as a right-winger can cause that repeal parts of the controversial 2010 law. stir anymore. Hollywood is indisputably liberal and likely The late Andrew Breitbart would always on the verge of losing more of its relevancy. say politics was downstream from culture. The Once upon a time, everyone had three major problem now for those trying to understand broadcast networks, a handful of print media politics is determining where the culture is and and maybe a few other cable channels. The what aspects of the culture matter.

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BUSINESS | THE REAL DEAL

CAP launches regional planning initiative BY RON SIVAK/COLUMNIST/BUSINESS@LAGNIAPPEMOBILE.COM

he Coastal Alabama Partnership (CAP) Regional Strategic Plan advisory committee recently launched the second phase of its ambitious, and reportedly unprecedented, regional planning initiative, according to a news release. A committee consisting of more than 110 elected, business and community leaders hailing from both Mobile and Baldwin counties met last month to provide input on a plan for the region as a whole. A secondary goal was to connect and encourage other key stakeholders to be involved in the process. “The greatest opportunity that we have exists because of the collaboration that we have continuing to work together,” Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson said. He referenced the success of the 2014 CAP legislative trip to Washington, D.C., where 16 elected officials from both Mobile and Baldwin counties collaborated as advocates of the I-10 bridge project. Mayor Robert Craft of Gulf Shores emphasized the importance of being prepared. “The opportunities that we have working together are so much greater than if we don’t cooperate with each other,” he said. At the meeting, Wiley Blankenship, president and CEO of CAP, provided a brief summary of initial findings from the first part of the Regional Strategic Plan, assessing the significance of the Coastal Alabama region and establishing an economic baseline. Opportunities to diversify and strengthen the Coastal Alabama region were also identified. Following Blankenship’s presentation, the focus of the meeting shifted to next steps in the planning process. Larry Watts, director of community planning at Goodwyn, Mills and Cawood, introduced the Part 2 planning team, consisting of individuals from CAP, GMC, planning NEXT and Kimberly-Horn. Committee members participated in nine planning sessions across the region, with a final presentation set for Thursday, May 25. Discussion topics included opportunities

and challenges related to resilience, environment, education, workforce, economic development, innovation, tourism, infrastructure, transportation and government structure. At wrapup, the planning team will produce a framework for growth and development for the Coastal Alabama region with specific principles, goals and objectives. Opportunities identified in the April meeting included: development of a high-speed ferry across Mobile Bay to connect the Eastern Shore to downtown Mobile; a collaborative effort connecting tourism regionally to drive visitors to attractions on both sides of the bay (including the GulfQuest Maritime Museum); capitalizing on history in the region by developing a history trail; greater connection of the arts in Mobile and Baldwin counties; and the development of technology and aerospace in the region. Identified challenges centered on unplanned growth, lack of a skilled workforce, affordable housing, lack of understanding among the citizens of Baldwin and Mobile counties about the critical nature of regionalism, inadequate funding for regional opportunities and aging infrastructure. Regional entities involved in the collaborative effort include the Baldwin County Economic Development Alliance, Mobile Airport Authority, South Baldwin Chamber of Commerce, Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce, Visit Mobile, Eastern Shore Chamber of Commerce, Gulf Shores and Orange Beach CVB, Alabama State Port Authority and Coastal Alabama Business Chamber More information about the initiative can be found on the CAP website.

Commercial real estate moves

The city of Mobile recently leased the 9,384-squarefoot former AutoZone retail building located at Tillman’s Square shopping center in Tillman’s Corner for use as a police precinct for the Mobile Police Department. Precinct

Two, currently located near Langan Park, will move into the building sometime this summer. The city executed a 15-year lease with Baton Rouge-based Cobalt Realty LLC and the owner of Tillman’s Square. The Mitchell Co. represented the city in the transaction; David Dexter and Pete Riehm of NAI-Mobile worked for Cobalt Realty. A General Services Administration-leased property at 1514 S. Broad St. at the Brookley Aeroplex sold for $1.5 million to an investor. The property consists of 3.46 acres with a 19,600-square-foot office/warehouse property occupying the site. Burton Clark of Cummings & Associates represented the buyer. Joe Steen of Joe Steen Real Estate and Development worked for the seller According to a news release, the 375,000-square-foot McGowin Park shopping center, located near the WALA-TV studios, was sold for about $79 million to Cole Credit Property Trust IV Inc., a publicly traded, nonlisted real estate investment trust. CCPT IV is the investment management subsidiary of Maryland-based VEREIT Inc. The seller was the Hudson Co. Mobile-based BUR Commercial has been retained by the purchaser to manage leasing of the relatively new retail center Mobile-based Rowe Engineering and Surveying Inc. recently moved to a new 5,000-square-foot building located at 3502 Laughlin Drive, Suite B, in Mobile. The firm recently hired two new employees and has plans to hire more as work volume increases. A group of out-of-town investors purchased some 11 acres of property at 7600 Cottage Hill Road for $617,540. Margie Baxter with M.J. Baxter & Associates worked for the property owners. Sharon Wright with White-Spunner Realty represented the buyers.

New Horizons awards scholarships

New Horizons Credit Union recently awarded five $1,000 scholarships to local area high school seniors. Applicants were chosen based on overall academic achievement, community involvement and essay responses. Each winner was recognized at the NHCU annual meeting last month. The students were also presented with certificates for their scholarship at their respective high school’s Senior Awards Day. Checks for $1,000 will be sent to each recipient’s college or university of choice. Scholarship winners are: Aleiha Emmons, graduate of Flomaton High School; Darnell Ferguson Jr, graduate of Murphy High School; Christopher McClintock, graduate of McGill-Toolen Catholic High School; Hailey Porter, graduate of Daphne High School and Sidney Stacey, graduate of Saraland High School. “We believe in giving back in our community, especially through education. Nearly 100 applications were received which made the decision very difficult. We wish all the students success in their pursuits,” Lisa Corvo, president and CEO of New Horizons Credit Union, said. Information regarding the 2018 scholarship program is available on the New Horizon company website.

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BUSINESS | THE DISH

Hit the grill Memorial Day BY ANDY MACDONALD/CUISINE EDITOR | FATMANSQUEEZE@COMCAST.NET

t’s kind of the beginning of what many consider grilling season. I never take a break from the charcoal, propane and wood chips, but Memorial Day stands out as the first holiday of the year with the menu based around the barbecue grill. For kids still in school it’s the last day off, while mom and dad usually get a free day with pay. So if the weather is nice the entire family may as well get all of the cooking done outdoors in the fresh air and vitamin D. If the storm clouds gather in your backyard, then you’d best have a Plan B. Smoking, grilling, frying and boiling is perfectly acceptable on rainy days if you’re safe about it. Giant umbrellas, roof overhangs and the like are friends of the Stormy Monday grillers as long as you can avoid any circumstances that could cause asphyxiation. Don’t bring your grill inside and put a fan in the window. Don’t cook inside your garage. Carbon monoxide is actually odorless but in this case could taste delicious. Don’t fall prey to that temptation. Stay ventilated, keep the fire extinguisher handy and never drink too much to clean up. When you say Memorial Day, I usually think of hot dogs and burgers. All well and good, but let’s think outside the box. A crawfish boil would be nice. It’s so communal, a group of people standing in a circle around a trash can, pinching tails, sucking heads and swapping stories about fallen military heroes. It never gets old for me. Let’s say you do go the hot dog route. I love cooking hot dogs in the crawfish boil. As a dual purpose to include those who can’t eat the mudbugs, there are all kinds of things you can throw in a boil. But let’s not skimp on the wieners. I have my favorites. I love the local Hall’s red

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hots. Don’t forget about those guys from Chickasaw and all their sausages and garlic bologna. It’s great stuff. More commercially, my kids and I have found what we think is the greatest hot dog on the market. We are a Nathan’s all-beef skinless franks family. I’ve finally convinced Rob to get on board the train. I’ll warn you, once you are on it’s hard to turn back. A second favorite is the Hebrew National. When it comes to burgers you could go classic or get a little adventurous, but for God’s sake don’t let me catch you using a donut instead of a bun or frying a piece of pizza and all that ridiculous stuff. At some point a hamburger ceases to be a hamburger. For me, the alternate path to Burgerville would be using ground lamb or turkey for a Mediterranean flavor. Mix in crumbled feta with your meat prior to grilling. Tzatziki sauce made from scratch is easy to execute and goes great with thinly sliced cucumbers as an unusual condiment. Pay attention to the bread aisle and find some really good buns or the effect will diminish greatly. Speaking of Mediterranean, there is nothing wrong with shish kebabs. I’ve always loved cooking these things. In my youth Cliff Fulkerson and I would wow our friends by marinating the meat and veggies prior to lighting the fire. The dumbest mistake we ever made was purchasing stew meat. We thought that would save us a step in cutting, but it’s way too tough. You’d have to boil it before grilling. Find a decent steak and start there. My neighbors already have corn as high as my chest so I am sure there are regional varieties already producing ears. That is a real sign of summer, fresh corn from your garden and my mom’s corn salad recipe. She uses canned

white shoepeg corn when the real deal isn’t around. Chopped fresh tomatoes, green onions and a healthy dollop of mayonnaise with lots of black pepper keep this dish on my short list for warmer parties. It’s best if it chills overnight. Turn it into an entrée by adding chilled boiled shrimp. If you do have corn on the cob fresh and in the husk, grilling is a great alternative to boiling. I peel back the green stuff and remove the silk. Then I slather it with melted butter, salt and pepper before closing the husks back to their original form. On a hot grill it may take them 20-30 minutes to get done. Don’t freak out about the husk charring — it protects the corn. But be sure to move them around every few minutes for even cooking. I probably eat more avocados than I ever have in my life. There is so much you can do with them for a refreshingly chilled entrée or side. Stuffing them with shrimp is a trend. My latest obsession is a dish served at Dority’s Grill on Dauphin Island, where they batter and deep fry slices of avocado and serve them

WHEN IT COMES TO BURGERS YOU COULD GO CLASSIC OR GET A LITTLE ADVENTUROUS, BUT FOR GOD’S SAKE DON’T LET ME CATCH YOU USING A DONUT INSTEAD OF A BUN OR FRYING A PIECE OF PIZZA AND ALL THAT RIDICULOUS STUFF. AT SOME POINT A HAMBURGER CEASES TO BE A HAMBURGER.” with spicy jalapeño ranch. Of course homemade guacamole is almost unbeatable, but the avocado is so much more versatile than I once thought. Seared tuna so rare it’s still mooing is nothing to me until it has fresh (not pickled) jalapeños, sliced avocado and soy sauce. If you cook it on the grill make sure the heat is as high as it can go. You’ll want to cook it as quickly as possible, just a little on each side. Dessert is going to have to be cold fruit and vanilla ice cream. The watermelons from the grocery I’ve had are just now starting to get sweet. Sliced and sprinkled with feta cheese, perhaps garnished with a little mint, it could be an appetizer or a dessert. For more of an adult theme, let us hearken back to our college days where watermelon was made for spiking. Cut a small hole and insert a liter of vodka. Eat with caution. Take a moment or two and remember someone as you light that grill. Eat like there’s no tomorrow. Someday there won’t be.

M a y 2 5 , 2 0 1 7 - M a y 3 1 , 2 0 1 7 | L AG N I A P P E | 15

FIREHOUSE SUBS ($)

HOT SUBS, COLD SALADS & CATERING 6300 Grelot Rd. • 631-3730

FIVE GUYS BURGERS & FRIES ($) $10/PERSON • $$ 10-25/PERSON • $$$ OVER 25/PERSON

COMPLETELY COMFORTABLE ALL SPORTS BAR & GRILL ($) 3408 Pleasant Valley Rd. • 345-9338

AL’S HOTDOGS ($)

CLASSIC HOTDOGS, GYROS & MILKSHAKES 4701 Airport Blvd. • 342-3243

ATLANTA BREAD COMPANY ($-$$) SANDWICHES, SALADS & MORE. 3680 Dauphin St. • 380-0444

BAKE MY DAY ($)

OLD-FASHIONED SOUTHERN BAKE SHOP 156 N. McGregor Ave. • 219-7261

BOB’S DINER ($)

GOOD OLD AMERICAN COOKING 263 St. Francis St. • 405-1497

BUCK’S DINER ($)

CLASSIC AMERICAN DINER 58 N. Secion St. Fairhope • 928-8521

CAFE 219 ($)

SALADS, SANDWICHES & POTATO SALAD 219 Conti St. • 438-5234

CAMELLIA CAFÉ ($-$$$)

CONTEMPORARY SOUTHERN FARE 61 Section St. • Fairhope • 928-4321

CAMMIE’S OLD DUTCH ($) MOBILE’S CLASSIC ICE CREAM SPOT 2511 Old Shell Rd. • 471-1710

CARPE DIEM ($)

DELI FOODS, PASTRIES & SPECIALTY DRINKS 4072 Old Shell Rd. • 304-0448

CLARK’S KITCHEN ($-$$)

SANDWICHES, SOUTHERN CUISINE & CATERING 5817 Old Shell Rd. • 343-0200

CHAT-A-WAY CAFE ($)

QUICHES & SANDWICHES 4366 Old Shell Rd. • 343-9889

CHICK-FIL-A ($)

BURGERS, MILKSHAKES & FRIES 4401 Old Shell Rd. • 447-2394 4663 Airport Blvd. • 300-8425 5319 Hwy 90 • 661-0071 1225 Satchel Page Dr.• 378-8768

FOOSACKLY’S ($)

FAMOUS CHICKEN FINGERS 29181 US Hwy 98 • Daphne • 375-1104 7843 Moffett Rd. • 607-6196 1109 Shelton Beach Rd. • 287-1423 310 S. University Blvd. • 343-0047 2250 Airport Blvd. • 479-2922 7641 Airport Blvd. • 607-7667 2558 Schillinger Rd. • 219-7761 3249 Dauphin St. • 479-2000

FOY SUPERFOODS ($) 119 Dauphin St.• 307-8997

GULF COAST EXPLOREUM CAFE ($) HOMEMADE SOUPS & SANDWICHES 65 Government St. • 208-6815

1880 Industrial Pkwy. • 675-2999

CREAM AND SUGAR ($)

3869 Airport Blvd. • 345-9544 5470 Inn Rd. • 661-9117 28975 US 98 • Daphne • 625-3910

SANDWICHES, CATERING & DELIVERY TOO 6920 Airport Blvd. • 414-5444 9 Du Rhu Dr. • 340-8694 62 B Royal St. • 432-0360

JOE CAIN CAFÉ ($)

PIZZAS, SANDWICHES, COCKTAILS 26 N. Royal St. • 338-2000

JONELLI’S ($)

1252 Govenment St.• 301-7556 HOME COOKING 4054 Government St. • 665-4557

LICKIN’ GOOD DONUTS ($) 3242 Dauphin St. • 471-2590

LODA BIER GARTEN ($) MAMA’S ($)

SLAP YOUR MAMA GOOD HOME COOKING 220 Dauphin St. • 432-6262

MARS HILL CAFE ($)

GREAT SANDWICHES, COFFEE & MORE 1087 Downtowner Blvd. • 643-1611

MARY’S SOUTHERN COOKING ($) 3011 Springhill Ave. • 476-2232

MICHELI’S CAFE ($)

DAUPHIN ST. CAFE ($)

MCSHARRY’S ($-$$)

D’ MICHAEL’S ($)

MIKO’S ITALIAN ICE ($)

PHILLY CHEESE STEAKS, GYROS & MORE 7101-A Theodore Dawes Rd. • 653-2979

D NU SPOT ($)

22159 Halls Mill Rd. . • 648-6522

DELISH BAKERY AND EATERY ($) GREAT DESSERTS & HOT LUNCH 23 Upham St. • 473-6115

DEW DROP INN ($)

CLASSIC BURGERS, HOTDOGS & SETTING 1808 Old Shell Rd. • 473-7872

DUNKIN DONUTS ($)

DONUTS, COFFEE & SANDWICHES 1976 Michigan Ave. • 442-4846 3876 Airport Blvd. • 219-7369 505 Schillinger Rd. S. • 442-4845 29160 US Hwy 98 • 621-2228

E WING HOUSE ($)

6358 Cottage Hill Rd. • 725-6917 AUTHENTIC IRISH PUB 101 N. Bancroft St.• 990-5100 HOTDOGS SANDWICHES & COOL TREATS 3371 Dauphin Island Pkwy • 300–4015

MOMMA GOLDBERG’S DELI ($) SANDWICHES & MOMMA’S LOVE 3696 Airport Blvd. • 344-9500 5602 Old Shell Rd. • 287-6556

MONTEGO’S ($-$$)

FRESH CARIBBEAN-STYLE FOOD & CRAFT BEER 6601 Airport Blvd. • 634-3445 225 Dauphin St. • 375-1576

MOON PIE GENERAL STORE ($)

107 St Francis St #115 • RSA Bank Trust Building

MOSTLY MUFFINS ($) MUFFINS, COFFEE & WRAPS 105 Dauphin St. • 433-9855

NEWK’S EXPRESS CAFE ($)

15 N Conception St. • 433-2299

OVEN-BAKED SANDWICHES & MORE 1335 Satchel Page Dr. Suite C. • 287-7356 7440 Airport Blvd. • 633-0096 30500 State Hwy 181 #132 • 625-6544

FATHOMS LOUNGE

O’DALYS HOLE IN THE WALL ($)

195 S University Blvd. Suite H • 662-1829

EUGENE’S MONKEY BAR ($) SMALL PLATES AND CREATIVE COCKTAILS 64 S. Water St. • 438-4000

FLOUR GIRLS BAKERY ($) 809 Hillcrest Rd. • 634-2285

562 Dauphin St.• 725-6429

OLD SHELL GROWLERS ($) GROWLER STATION AND BITES 1801 Old Shell Rd. • 345-4767

16 | L AG N I A P P E | M a y 2 5 , 2 0 1 7 - M a y 3 1 , 2 0 1 7

WEDGIE’S ($)

RUTH’S CHRIS STEAK HOUSE ($$$)

THAI & SUSHI 5369 D Hwy 90 W • 661-5100

WILD WING STATION ($)

SAGE RESTAURANT ($$)

THAI KITCHEN & SUSHI BAR 960 Schillinger Rd. S • 660-4470

GOURMET GRILLED CHEESE 5955 Old Shell Rd. • 287-6134 1500 Gov’t St. • 287-1526

YAK THE KATHMANDU KITCHEN ($-$$)

BAKERY, SANDWICHES & MORE 750 S. Broad St. • 438-1511 4464 Old Shell Rd. • 342-8546 107 St. Francis St. Suite 102 • 438-2261

PUNTA CLARA KITCHEN ($)

FUDGE, PRALINES & MORE 17111 Scenic Hwy 98 • Fairhope • 928-8477

R BISTRO ($-$$)

334 Fairhope Ave • Fairhope • 928-2399

REGINA’S KITCHEN ($-$$) ROLY POLY ($)

ROSHELL’S CAFE ($)

2906 Springhill Ave. • 479-4614

ROYAL KNIGHT ($)

JIMMY JOHN’S ($)

312 Schillinger Rd. • 633-9077

POLLMAN’S BAKERY ($)

JERSEY MIKE’S ($)

AUTHENTIC SUB SANDWICHES 7449 Airport Blvd. • 375-1820

ROYAL SCAM ($$)

COFFEE AND DONUTS 759 Nichols Avenue, Fairhope • 928-7223

THE WINDMILL MARKET ($)

ROSIE’S GRILL ($-$$)

MIND-BLOWING ISLAND FOOD 3700 Gov’t Blvd. Ste A • 602-1973

WAREHOUSE BAKERY & DONUTS ($)

CHICKEN FINGERS, SALAD & SANDWICHES. 1165 University Blvd. • 202-0959

JAMAICAN VIBE ($)

COFFEE, BREAKFAST, LUNCH, DESSERT 351 George St #B • 405-0003 HOT LUNCH, DAILY MENU (INSIDE VIA) 1717 Dauphin St. • 470-5231

PDQ ($)

HOOTERS ($)

PUB FOOD AND DRAFT BEERS 251 Dauphin St. • 287-6871

CONNECTION FROZEN YOGURT ($)

BAR FOOD 271 Dauphin St • 438-9585

WRAPS & SALADS 3220 Dauphin St. • 479-2480

SEAFOOD & SANDWICHES 212 ½ Fairhope Ave •Fairhope • 928-4100

CHICKEN SALAD CHICK ($)

CHICAGO STYLE EATERY 1222 Hillcrest Rd. • 461-6599

PAT’S DOWNTOWN GRILL ($)

SANDWICHES, SUBS & SOUPS 2056 Gov’t St. • 476-2777

JUDY’S PLACE ($-$$)

CHI-TOWN DAWGZ ($)

ORIGINAL SANDWICH AND BAKE SHOP 42 ½ Section St. • Fairhope • 929-0122 102 Dauphin St. • 405-0031

GUMBO SHACK ($-$$)

107 St. Francis St. • 415-1700 3244 Dauphin St. • 476-0320 3215 Bel Air Mall • 476-8361 4707 Airport Blvd. • 461-9933 435 Schillinger Rd. • 639-1163 1682 US HWY 98 • Daphne • 621-3215 30500 AL 181 • Spanish Fort • 621-3020 CHICKEN SALAD, SALAD & SOUP 2370 S. Hillcrest Rd. Unit R • 660-0501 5753 Old Shell Rd. • 408-3236 1802 US Hwy 98 Suite F• 625-1092

PANINI PETE’S ($)

SANDWICHES, SOUTHWEST FARE, 7 DAYS 1203 Hwy 98 Ste. 3D • Daphne • 626-2440 LUNCH & DINNER 3004 Gov’t Blvd. • 287-1220

ROYAL STREET CAFE ($) HOMEMADE LUNCH & BREAKFAST 104 N. Royal St. • 434-0011

SALLY’S PIECE-A-CAKE ($) BAKERY 5638 Three Notch Rd.• 219-6379

85 N. Bancroft St. Fairhope • 990.8883

HOME COOKIN’ LIKE MOMMA MADE. 2804 Springhill Ave. • 473-4739

THE TRELLIS ROOM ($$$)

BAR-B-QUING WITH MY HONEY ($$)

CONTEMPORARY SOUTHERN CUISINE Battle House Hotel, Royal St. • 338-5493

A FAVORITE BARBECUE SPOT 5456 Old Shell Rd. • 343-0001

COTTON STATE BBQ ($)

DOWNTOWN LUNCH 101 N. Conception St. • 545-4682

DICKEY’S BARBECUE PIT ($-$$) BBQ AND MORE Jubilee Sq.Ctr. Hwy 90, Daphne • 210-2151 McGowin Park Ctr. Satchel Paige Dr. • 471-1050 7721 Airport Blvd. • 380-8957

DREAMLAND BBQ ($)

RIBS, SANDWICHES & GREAT SIDES 3314 Old Shell Rd. • 479-9898

MEAT BOSS ($)

5401 Cottage Hill Rd. • 591-4842

MOE’S ORIGINAL BAR B QUE ($)

SIMPLY SWEET ($)

SMOKEY DEMBO SMOKE HOUSE ($)

SANDWICHES, SOUPS, SALADS & MORE 41 West I-65 Service Rd. N Suite 150. • 287-2793

SEAFOOD, ASIAN & AMERICAN CUISINE 69 St. Michael St • 375-1113 CASUAL FINE DINING 104 N. Section St. • Fairhope • 929-2219

SAUCY Q BARBQUE ($)

STEVIE’S KITCHEN ($)

CUISINE OF INDIA ($$)

MODERN GASTROPUB INSPIRED BY JAPANESE KITCHEN 455 Dauphin St • 433-0376

BACKYARD CAFE & BBQ ($)

SERDA’S COFFEEHOUSE ($)

CUPCAKE BOUTIQUE 6207 Cottage Hill Rd. Suite B • 665-3003

SAISHO ($-$$)

TAMARA’S DOWNTOWN ($$)

BRICK PIT ($)

AWARD-WINNING BARBQUE 1111 Gov’t Blvd. • 433-7427

THE WASH HOUSE ($$)

FOOD, WINE & MORE 5150 Old Shell Rd. • 341-1497

POUR BABY

WINE BAR, CRAFT BEERS & BISTRO 6808 Airport Blvd. • 343-3555

FIREHOUSE WINE BAR & SHOP 216 St Francis St. • 421-2022

RED OR WHITE

323A De La Mare Ave, Fairhope • 990-0003 1104 Dauphin St.. • 478-9494

ROYAL STREET TAVERN

LIVE MUSIC, MARTINIS & DINNER MENU. 26 N. Royal St. • 338-2000

SOUTHERN NAPA

BISTRO PLATES, CRAFT BEERS & PANTRY 2304 Main St. • 375-2800

THE VINEYARD

FALAFEL? TRY SOME HUMMUS 7 SPICE ($-$$)

HEALTHY, DELICIOUS MEDITERRANEAN FOOD. 3762 Airport Blvd. • 725-1177

A PREMIER CATERER & COOKING CLASSES 1880-A Airport Blvd. • 450-9051

4861 Bit & Spur Rd. • 340-6464

BRIQUETTES STEAKHOUSE ($-$$)

AUTHENTIC TURKISH & MEDITERRANEAN 3702 Airport Blvd. • 461-6901

DAILY SPECIALS MADE FROM SCRATCH 57 N. Claiborne St. • 694-6853

ABBA’S MEDITERRANEAN CAFE ($-$$) ISTANBUL GRILL ($)

JERUSALEM CAFE ($-$$)

CHUCK’S FISH ($$)

MOBILE’S OLDEST MIDDLE EASTERN CUISINE 5773 Airport Blvd. • 304-1155

THE HARBERDASHER ($)

CORNER 251 ($-$$)

MEDITERRANEAN FOOD AND HOOKAH 326 Azalea Rd • 229-4206

THE PIGEON HOLE ($)

DAUPHIN’S ($$-$$$)

THE GALLEY ($)

OPEN FOR LUNCH, INSIDE GULFQUEST 155 S. Water St • 436-8901 113 Dauphin St.• 436-0989

SOUTHERN COOKING & THEN SOME 1716 Main St. Daphne • 222-4120

THE SUNFLOWER CAFE ($) INSIDE VIRGINIA’S HEALTH FOOD 3055 A Dauphin St • 479-3200

THYME BY THE BAY ($-$$)

33 N Section St. • Fairhope • 990-5635

TIME TO EAT CAFE ($)

DOWN-HOME COUNTRY COOKIN 7351 Theodore Dawes Rd. • 654-0228 13665 N. Wintzell Ave. • 824-1119

TIN ROOF ($-$$)

SOUTHERN CASUAL FAMILY DINING 10800 US HWY 31 • Spanish Fort• 621-4995

TP CROCKMIERS ($)

AMERICAN RESTAURANT & BAR 250 Dauphin St. • 476-1890

THREE GEORGES CANDY SHOP ($) LIGHT LUNCH WITH SOUTHERN FLAIR. 226 Dauphin St. • 433-6725

TROPICAL SMOOTHIE ($)

GREAT SMOOTHIES, WRAPS & SANDWICHES. Du Rhu Dr. • 378-5648 570 Schillinger Road • 634-3454

UNCLE JIMMY’S DELICIOUS HOTDOGS ($)

2550 Dauphin Island Pkwy S. • 307-5328

SEAFOOD AND SUSHI 551 Dauphin St.• 219-7051 HIGH QUALITY FOOD & DRINKS 251 Government St • 460-3157 HIGH QUALITY FOOD WITH A VIEW 107 St. Francis St • 444-0200

DUMBWAITER ($$-$$$) 9 Du Rhu Dr. Suite 201 167 Dauphin St. • 445-3802

FIVE ($$)

GREAT FOOD AND COCKTAILS 609 Dauphin St. • 308-3105

KITCHEN ON GEORGE ($-$$)

CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN FOOD 351A George & Savannah St. • 436-8890

LAUNCH ($-$$)

HIGH QUALITY FOOD & DRINKS 251 Government St. • 432-8000

MAGHEE’S GRILL ON THE HILL ($-$$) GREAT LUNCH & DINNER 3607 Old Shell Rd. • 445-8700

NOBLE SOUTH ($$)

LOCAL INGREDIENTS 203 Dauphin St. • 690-6824

NOJA ($$-$$$)

INVENTIVE & VERY FRESH CUISINE 6 N. Jackson St. • 433-0377

OSMAN’S RESTAURANT ($$) SUPREME EUROPEAN CUISINE 2579 Halls Mill Rd. • 479-0006

HIBACHI GRILL & ASIAN CUISINE 309 Bel Air Blvd • 470-8033

HIBACHI 1 ($-$$)

2370 Hillcrest Rd. Unit B • 380-6062

ICHIBAN SUSHI ($)

LIQUID ($$)

FOOD PAK

TILMO’S BBQ ($)

GRILLED STEAKS, CHICKEN & SEAFOOD 720A Schillinger Rd. S. S2. • 607-7200 901 Montlimar Dr • 408-3133

GOLDEN BOWL ($)

WINE, BEER, GOURMET FOODS, & MORE. 720 Schillinger Rd. S. Unit 8 • 287-1851

SUNSET POINTE ($-$$) THE BLIND MULE ($)

THAI FARE AND SUSHI 2000 Airport Blvd. • 478-9888

KAI JAPANESE RESTAURANT ($-$$)

DOMKE MARKET

SUGAR RUSH DONUT CO. ($) AT FLU CREEK 831 N Section St. • Fairhope • 990-7766

FUJI SAN ($)

A LITTLE VINO

UPSCALE WINE BAR 9 Du Rhu Dr. S 201 • 287-7135

BAY GOURMET ($$)

LUNCH BUFFET 3674 Airport Blvd. • 341-6171

JAPANESE & CHINESE CUISINE 3959 Cottage Hill Rd • 666-6266

DROP DEAD GOURMET

4701 Airport Blvd. • 408-3379

3966 Airport Blvd.• 343-5530

17111 Scenic HWY 98 • Point Clear • 928-4838

3758 Dauphin Island Pkwy. • 473-1401 FAST BBQ W/ DRIVE-THRU 3249 Dauphin St. • 652-3508

CHARM ($-$$)

CHINA DOLL ($)

‘CUE

BBQ, BURGERS, WINGS & SEAFOOD 19170 Hwy 43 Mt. Vernon. • 839-9927

BENJAS ($)

INSIDE THE MOBILE MARRIOTT 3101 Airport Blvd. • 476-6400

VON’S BISTRO ($-$$)

COFFEE, SMOOTHIES, LUNCH & BEERS. 5460 Old Shell Rd. • 344-4575 COFFEE, LUNCHES, LIVE MUSIC & GELATO 3 Royal St. S. • 415-3000

EXCEPTIONAL SERVICE & TASTE 271 Glenwood St. • 476-0516

AUTHENTIC FOODS FROM HIMALAYAN REGION 3210 Dauphin St. • 287-0115 400 Eastern Shore Center • 459-2862

BARBEQUE & MUSIC Bayfront Park Dr. • Daphne • 625-RIBS 701 Springhill Ave. • 410-7427 4672 Airport Blvd. • 300-8516

SATORI COFFEEHOUSE ($)

GUMBO, ANGUS BEEF & BAR 72. S. Royal St. • 432-SCAM (7226)

KAN ZAMAN ($-$$)

MEDITERRANEAN SANDWICH COMPANY ($)

GREAT & QUICK. 3702 Airport Blvd. • 308-2131 274 Dauphin St. • 545-3161 2502 Schillinger Rd. Ste. 2 • 725-0126 6890 US-90 • DAPHNE • 621-2271

MINT HOOKAH BISTRO ($) GREAT MEDITERRANEAN FOOD. 5951 Old Shell Rd. • 450-9191

OLLIE’S MEDITERRANEAN GRILL ($-$$) MEDITERRANEAN RESTAURANT & HOOKAH 1248 Hillcrest St • 634-9820

TAZIKI’S ($-$$)

MEDITERRANEAN CAFE 1539 US HWY 98• 273-3337

FAR EASTERN FARE ANG BAHAY KUBO ($$) 4513 Old Shell Rd.• 473-0007

BAMBOO STEAKHOUSE ($$) SUSHI BAR 650 Cody Rd. S • 300-8383

BANGKOK THAI ($-$$)

DELICIOUS, TRADITIONAL THAI CUISINE 28600 US 98 • Daphne • 626-5286 3821 Airport Blvd. • 344-9995

BANZAI JAPANESE RESTAURANT ($$) TRADITIONAL SUSHI & LUNCH.

QUALITY FOOD, EXCELLENT SERVICE 5045 Cottage Hill Rd. • 607-6454

AMAZING SUSHI & ASSORTMENT OF ROLLS. 661 Dauphin St. • 432-0109

RICE ASIAN GRILL & SUSHI BAR ($) 3964 Gov’t Blvd. • 378-8083

ROCK N ROLL SUSHI ($$)

273 S. McGregor Ave • 287-0445 6345 Airport Blvd. • 287-0555 940 Industrial Pkwy • 308-2158 6850 US HWY 98 • Daphne • 753-4367

SAISHO ($$)

6455 Dauphin St. • 433-0376

STIX ($$)

610240 Eastern Shore Blvd. • 621-9088

TASTE OF THAI ($$)

9091 US-90 Irvington • 957-1414

TOKYO JAPANESE STEAK HOUSE ($$) UPSCALE SUSHI & HIBACHI 364 Azalea Rd. • 343-6622

WASABI SUSHI ($$)

JAPANESE CUISINE 3654 Airport Blvd. S. C • 725-6078

FROM THE DEPTHS BAUDEAN’S ($$)

FRIED, GRILLED, STEAMED & ALWAYS FRESH 3300 River Rd. • 973-9070

THE BLUEGILL ($-$$)

A HISTORIC SEAFOOD DIVE W/ LIVE MUSIC 3775 Hwy. 98 • 625-1998

BONEFISH GRILL ($$)

ECLECTIC DINING & SPACE 6955 Airport Blvd. • 633-7196

BOUDREAUX’S CAJUN GRILL ($-$$) QUALITY CAJUN & NEW ORLEANS CUISINE 29249 US Highway 98 Daphne. • 621-1991

CRAVIN CAJUN/DIP SEAFOOD ($) PO-BOYS, SALADS & SEAFOOD 1870 Dauphin Island Pkwy • 287-1168

ED’S SEAFOOD SHED ($$)

FRIED SEAFOOD SERVED IN HEFTY PORTIONS 3382 Hwy. 98 • 625-1947

FELIX’S FISH CAMP ($$) UPSCALE DINING WITH A VIEW 1420 Hwy. 98 • 626-6710

FISHERMAN’S LEGACY ($) DELI, MARKET AND CATERING. 4380 Halls Mill Rd. • 665-2266

HALF SHELL OYSTER HOUSE ($)

30500 AL-181 • Spanish Fort • 206-8768 3654 Airport Blvd. • 338-9350

LUCY B. GOODE ($$)

GULF COAST CUISINE, REINVENTED 200 E. 25th Ave. • Gulf Shores • 967-5858

LULU’S ($$)

LIVE MUSIC & GREAT SEAFOOD 200 E. 25th Ave. • Gulf Shores • 967-5858

MUDBUGS AT THE LOOP ($) CAJUN KITCHEN & SEAFOOD MARKET 2005 Government St. • 478-9897

RALPH & KACOO’S ($-$$) THE SEAFOOD RESTAURANT 1595 Battleship Pkwy. • 626-0045

R&R SEAFOOD ($-$$)

LAID-BACK EATERY & FISH MARKET 1477 Battleship Pkwy. • 621-8366

RIVER SHACK ($-$$)

SEAFOOD, BURGERS & STEAKS 6120 Marina Dr. • Dog River • 443-7318.

THE GRAND MARINER ($-$$) LOCAL SEAFOOD & PRODUCE 6036 Rock Point Rd. • 443-5700

THE HARBOR ROOM ($-$$) UNIQUE SEAFOOD 64 S. Water St. • 438-4000

THE SEAFOOD HOUSE ($-$$)

HEROES SPORTS BAR & GRILLE ($) SANDWICHES & COLD BEER 273 Dauphin St. • 433-4376 Hillcrest & Old Shell Rd. • 341-9464

HURRICANE GRILL & WINGS ($-$$) WINGS, SEAFOOD, BURGERS & BEER 7721 Airport Blvd. Suite E-180 • 639-6832

ISLAND WING CO ($)

EVERYTHING BAKED OR GRILLED 2617 Dauphin St. • 476-9464

751 Azalea Rd. • 301-7964

MANCIS ($)

TIN TOP RESTAURANT & OYSTER BAR ($$)

MCSHARRY’S IRISH PUB ($)

SEAFOOD, STEAKS, & EXTENSIVE WINE LIST 6232 Bon Secour Hwy County Rd. 10. • 949-5086

WINTZELL’S OYSTER HOUSE ($-$$) FRESH SEAFOOD FOR OVER 75 YEARS 605 Dauphin St. • 432-4605 6700 Airport Blvd. • 341-1111 1208 Shelton Beach Rd. • Saraland • 442-3335 805 S. Mobile St. • 929-2322

IS THE GAME ON?

ASHLAND MIDTOWN PUB ($-$$) PIZZAS, PASTAS, & CALZONES 245-A Old Shell Rd. • 479-3278

BAUMHOWER’S ($)

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CUISINE | THE BEER PROFESSOR

Hard cider harks back to colonial days BY TOM WARD/CONTRIBUTING WRITER

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are abundant. Two of the most widely available (if you’ve been to a grocery store or seen a television, you’ve probably heard of them) are Redd’s Apple Ale and Angry Orchard Cider. Angry Orchard is owned by the Boston Brewing Co., best known for its Samuel Adams line of beers. I found it to be not angry, but very sweet, just like apple juice. My wife commented that it took her back to Vacation Bible School — all that was missing were the graham crackers. Redd’s, owned by Miller Brewing, is technically an apple-flavored beer, not a true cider, and comes in a variety of flavor combinations. Like Angry Orchard, it is very sweet, like apple juice, although I did like the raspberry version. As craft breweries look to put out more and different styles of beer, some have introduced their own versions of cider as well. Locally, Fairhope Brewing Co. currently has its own cider — Along Came a Cider — available in its taproom, while Birmingham’s Avondale Brewing Co. produces a Farmhouse Cider. Lakeside Cider is on tap at Red Clay Brewing Co. in Opelika. If cider isn’t your thing, as we move into the early summer there are a number of craft beer festivals on tap for our area. Southern Napa’s 99 Bottles of Beer of the Lawn was held in Daphne in early May, and, although I was unable to attend, I heard it was a wonderful event with lots of great beer styles to sample. Birmingham’s Magic City Brewfest is Friday and Saturday, June 9 and 10, at the Sloss Furnaces. With a reported 150 beers available, it should be amazing. Tickets cost $40 for one day or $70 for a weekend pass (www.magiccitybrewfest.com). That same weekend, there are two festivals next door in Mississippi. On June 9, the Mississippi Craft Beer Festival (fondren. org/mscraftbeerfest) will be held in Jackson, while on June 10 the Hattiesburg Craft Beer Festival will feature more than 100 beers for tasting. Tickets for the Hattiesburg festival cost $35; information is available at www.hattiesburgcraftbeerfest.com.

Photo | Woodchuck Cidery

he craft brewing phenomenon has produced similar local, small-batch production of other spirits in the past few years, including whiskey and vodka. Like beer, one craft beverage that has begun to go mainstream — and also has become mass produced — is hard cider. Hard cider has a long history in America, going back to the colonial era. During that time, alcoholic beverages were consumed regularly by all members of society — even children — because the boiling process had the added (then unknown) benefit of killing off dangerous bacteria. In a time before pasteurization, alcoholic beverages were consumed by many instead of cow’s milk, or even water, because people realized they were simply safer to drink (as were other brewed drinks, like coffee and tea). English colonists brought their taste for both hard cider and beer to America, but found the hops and barley they were used to back home were not easily grown in New England. Apples, however, were. Thus, cider became a staple of the early American diet. The influx of German immigrants and westward migration in the 19th century to the Great Plains — where grains were easily grown — saw beer eclipse cider in popularity. Following Prohibition, hard cider did not return to American glasses — as beer, wine and liquor did — until recently. Vermont’s Woodchuck Cidery touts itself as producing the nation’s first craft cider, back in 1991. Its signature brand, Woodchuck Amber (which is not really an amber color — I’m not sure where the name comes from) is quite good, not too sweet and, like most ciders, very lightly carbonated. Even better, I thought, is its Granny Smith Cider, which is very light and acidic — not sweet at all — and very refreshing. Woodchuck also produces Gumption Hard Cider, which is available in bottles and on tap, and sweeter with a much more pronounced apple taste than the other two I tried from Woodchuck. Most ciders produced on a large scale are, not surprisingly, found in the Northeast and Upper Midwest, where apple orchards

VERMONT’S WOODCHUCK CLAIMS TO HAVE PRODUCED THE NATION’S FIRST CRAFT CIDER.

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COVER STORY

Physicians push VA to treat ‘invisible wounds’ JASON JOHNSON/REPORTER

fter 22 years in the United States Army, Mike Jackson had become used to living with a number of physical and mental ailments. He hadn’t felt one of his feet for more than a decade, tinnitus was causing a constant ringing sensation in one ear and, like many veterans, he was suffering from post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), memory loss and depression. “My wife said that she had to tell me something two or three times before it would get into my head and I could remember it. It’s totally different. I can remember things from back when I was a kid now,” Jackson said. “I mean, this is … to me, this is big-deal stuff. I don’t understand how it works, I just know that it’s working.” Jackson was referring to hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT). Long used to treat open wounds, infections and decompression sickness, HBOT utilizes a highly pressurized chamber that allows patients to breathe in several times more oxygen than is possible under normal atmospheric conditions. After a few sessions, Jackson said, he had feeling in both of his feet. The ringing in his ears had stopped, and the flash points and negative outlook he associated with his PTSD were gone. “The biggest thing is I appreciate life now,” Jackson said. “I played Army for 22 years. I wasn’t happy unless I was in the Army. When I lost that … when they medically discharged me. I lost my identity, you know? I’m starting to have an identity again.” While his physical improvements aren’t controversial, Jackson’s cognitive improvements are — at least when it comes to treatments the U.S. departments of Defense (DOD) and Veterans Affairs (VA) are willing to pay for. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) only approves HBOT for a handful of mostly physical conditions, so using it to treat PTSD or any traumatic brain injury (TBI) is considered an “off label” use by many private insurers and one the DOD and VA won’t cover. Integrated Pain Management of Alabama (IPMA), a pain clinic in West Mobile, is the only facility in the state designed to to treat those types of brain injuries using HBOT. It was opened in 2013 by Dr. Lloyd Manchikes, a board-certified anesthesiologist also qualified in HBOT medicine. Together with hyperbaric technologist Pat O’Brien, Manchikes has been offering free treatment to veterans like Jackson, using the proceeds from his pain management practice to offset the costs. They’ve also recently created a GoFundMe page to raise money for the same purpose. With many veterans living with pain, emotional and mental distress, and addiction, O’Brien said an effective

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treatment such as HBOT is a much better alternative to numbing the symptoms of veterans who are suffering when they return to civilian life. “It’s not a pill. It’s an actual treatment, and what they get from this they will have for the rest of their life,” O’Brien said. “It’s not me trying to retrain you how to think, it’s an actual treatment. If we can save one person, it’s better than nothing at all.” However, because of the many complicated insurance issues, Manchikes and O’Brien have also spent years pushing for a change in the VA’s policy on HBOT as a treatment for TBI. So far, those efforts have been unsuccessful.

‘Injured brains’ and ‘a suicide epidemic’

While IMPA’s operation is unique in Alabama, dozens of clinics are performing similar pro bono work across the country. Recently, IPMA joined the TreatNOW Coalition, which includes 30 similar clinics nationwide dedicated to treating veterans suffering from TBI and PTSD in hopes of stemming an “epidemic of suicide” that’s plagued U.S. war veterans in recent years. According to the VA, an average of 20 veterans committed suicide every day of 2014, and another 45 attempted and failed. Adjusting for age and gender, the risk for suicide is 21 percent higher for veterans than civilians. Manchikes said there’s a correlation between those rates and the number of veterans suffering from traumatic brain injuries, adding he has treated multiple TBI patients who’ve experienced suicidal thoughts — “enough brain injury in 30 years to understand the misery behind [it].” Dr. Robert Beckman, a Vietnam veteran who coordinates TreatNOW’s national network of hyperbaric clinics, told Lagniappe concussions, TBI and PTSD are prevalent among veterans because of their higher exposure to “blast injuries” when they are deployed. “When you really get blasted, it’s like throwing molasses into the inner workings of a computer,” Beckman said. “Cell death can follow, and you can just lose everything — executive function, memory … and then depression isn’t far behind.” Beckman said there’s no doubt brain injuries in the veteran population contribute to their elevated risk of suicide. In a paper he published on the subject, Beckman wrote that “nearly 25,000 veterans may have been misdiagnosed” by the VA who had some type of TBI, because they are often diagnosed with “only PTSD.” “Couple those numbers with the 325,000 service members diagnosed with ‘only PTSD’ that may be the

secondary outcome of TBIs caused by blast, along with the 345,000 acknowledged TBI diagnoses, and the numbers of untreated brain injuries are staggering,” he added. So far, TreatNow claims to have recorded “over 2,350 success stories” in cases treating TBI and PTSD with hyperbaric oxygen therapy, though those aren’t exclusively veterans. High-profile suicides by athletes such as ex-NFL player Junior Seau and former wrestler Chris Benoit — both of whom showed signs of chronic traumatic encephalopathy after death — have a growing number of active and retired athletes looking into HBOT, with some claiming to have found similar relief. Former University of Alabama and New York Jets quarterback Joe Namath is putting his own money into HBOT research and has established the Joe Namath Neurological Research Center in Jupiter, Florida. Mobile resident Edward Davis knows firsthand TBI doesn’t only affect soldiers and professional athletes, though. In 2014, Davis became septic after medical complications caused to E. coli to enter his bloodstream. The result was a five-week coma. By the time he regained consciousness, Davis had lost his job as an engineer, along with most of his motor functions and his ability to speak. He said he had “just enough brainpower to know [he] was screwed.” “I’d get aggravated because I couldn’t tell anybody what I wanted, and I couldn’t eat. I knew my hands were here, but it was like my fork just wouldn’t go to the plate,” he said. “It almost ruined my life. I went from making $120,000 a year to $0 in one day. I mean, we lost everything.” Two months later, Davis was living with his mother and still struggling to perform basic tasks. He believes he had two choices: “shooting [himself] in the head” or “not quitting.” Part of Davis’ road to recovery was found at IPMA when he came to the clinic seeking treatment for shoulder pain. At the time, Manchikes recommended Davis try HBOT to address his cognitive issues, and within weeks he was walking and talking again. Now Davis manages the clinic’s IT and computer systems while finishing classes to re-earn his engineering degree. “As an engineer, they get kind of funny about brain damage,” Davis joked. “I scored a 127 on my IQ test, which I thought was going to take a big hit because I was down to my baseline functions. I mean, my heart was beating, and that was about it.”

Controversial medicine

A session of HBOT is often called a “dive” — a name taken from its similarities to scuba diving. In a hyperbaric chamber treating brain injury, the atmospheric pressure is typically one and half times greater than normal. Those dives can last anywhere from an hour to 90 minutes. Manchikes said his patients typically go through some 40 dives during treatment for TBI. At $250 per dive, he said, a full treatment usually costs anywhere from $6,000 to $10,000, depending on the progress. Critics of HBOT therapy — including those within the DOD and VA — have dismissed improvements in the past as merely a “placebo effect,” but Manchikes said physicians can measure a patient’s improvements in blood flow scans taken of the brain. “You’re healing the anatomy, and then the software comes along behind it,” he said. “In a lot of cases, you’re back to where you were — cells wake up, blood vessels get flowing between areas where they had previously been disrupted, and what can be saved is saved.” However, not everyone agrees. Manchikes and Beckman have both lobbied on behalf of HBOT research for the treatment to be covered under DOD and VA health benefits, and both have described a consistent mantra in Washington of people saying, “It isn’t FDA approved.”

COVER STORY Indeed, VA spokesperson Terrence Hayes gave a similar response when Lagniappe asked about the lack of support for HBOT, though he did commend IPMA for “offering assistance to veterans.” “It is important to note the [FDA] does not recognize the use of hyperbaric oxygen for treatment of brain injury, and has warned that patients may be unaware that its safety and effectiveness has not been established for brain injury,” Hayes wrote. “The absence of FDA clearance for the proposed indications, potential safety risks, coupled with limited evidence of sustained benefit, precludes VA from endorsing [its] use for TBI at this time.” Beckman has taken issue with that particular objection for a number of reasons, but mostly because he claims there is no FDA-approved treatment for TBI because the procedures, computer applications, therapies and drugs the VA does cover are also used “off-label.” According to Beckman, the majority of brain injuries aren’t treated at all, their symptoms are only masked — often with prescriptions for treating pain, anxiety and depression, drugs that come with their own risks including “a dozen that are ‘black box’ labeled, warning of the risk of suicidal ideation.” That leaves what Beck says is an obvious question: “Why do the DOD, VA and Army deny HBOT to the injured?” Though he said there are multiple answers to that question, Beckman believes many are rooted in the financial interests of the institutions and corporations perpetually researching the problem and potential solutions, as well as those of the DOD, which can’t treat soldiers for TBI if no treatment exists. “I know this is hard to understand as a layman: Guys are committing suicide, why don’t we try and stop it?” He said. “But that’d be interrupting business as usual inside the military and the VA as well as the vast amount of money that’s dedicated to research instead of treatment. “There’s no patent on oxygen and no profit in fixing the problem,” he added.

Momentum for change

To say the least, Manchikes and O’Brien’s efforts to get the VA’s policies changed on the federal level have left a bad taste in both their mouths. Manchikes said he’s personally met with the staff members from many local representatives’ offices and with several members of congressional committees overseeing veterans’ health care programs. He’s says he’s been frustrated with their responses.

“They don’t work for us,” Manchikes said. “We’ve been to [Sen. Richard] Shelby. Shelby’s not around. [Sen.] Luther Strange is unavailable. [Attorney General] Jeff Sessions has moved on.” Though Manchikes says he had trouble getting U.S. Rep. Bradley Byrne’s staff to follow up with him, Byrne has taken some direct action on the issue. He’s also no stranger to criticizing the VA, recently describing it to Lagniappe as “a huge and bloated bureaucracy.” “I have called on the VA to further evaluate hyperbaric oxygen therapy as a way to treat veterans with PTSD,” Byrne wrote via email. “I think we should be considering every tool at our disposal when it comes to helping veterans get the help and care they need.” Byrne was also one of 13 House members who signed a letter to the VA in 2015 urging the expansion of veterans’ access to HBOT under their VA benefits. It said HBOT was valuable as a treatment for PTSD and TBI “without the need for prescription medication” and could address the “overmedication of veterans” that “plays a direct role in [their] rate of suicides.” The VA declined that recommendation, however, stating that three separate DODfunded studies were unable “to demonstrate any positive effects” of HBOT in the treatment of brain injuries and PTSD — concluding “the risks of the procedure outweigh possible benefits.” Many proponents of HBOT have disputed the accuracy of those past studies, and Beckman has often claimed the VA or DOD’s direct oversight presents a conflict of interest he compared to “cigarette companies sponsoring research into the links between smoking and cancer or asking the NFL whether concussions lead to brain damage.” Still, the VA isn’t entirely opposed to researching HBOT further. This week, Hayes said the VA would be partnering with DOD on upcoming research into its effectiveness in treating PTSD — research that will be conducted during a three-year trial involving 150 active-duty service members. In the meantime, TreatNOW and physicians around the country who believe the debate over HBOT is already settled are continuing to treat veterans who aren’t finding relief elsewhere. Manchikes said the positive results IPMA has recorded are “across the board.” He wants to see the work continue. “I just want to get paid for doing this so we can keep doing it,” he added. “We’re giving it away for free, but the oxygen alone costs at least $1,800 a month, and we’re not running full steam.”

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ART ARTIFICE

ACAC Cuban show wets its feet BY KEVIN LEE/ARTS EDITOR/KLEE@LAGNIAPPEMOBILE.COM

espite my lack of firsthand Cuban familiarity, the Alabama Contemporary Art Center’s new “Sister Shores” exhibit met expectations. When you share ocean currents and storms with the island state just south of Miami, you earn a roundabout acquaintance. I was unsurprised when ACAC Board Chair Mike Dow told me a year ago the show was in the works. I remembered the relationship he struck up with Havana back during his four terms as Mobile mayor. The timing is apropos, following the United States’ rapprochement with its once-avowed enemy. Fidel Castro is dead and his brother’s reign will pass soon. A May 15 Miami Herald article made clear poverty still reigns in Cuba. Food, water and resources remain scarce. The state cracked down on dissidents and communications in fear of an oncoming political transition. So as I wandered into ACAC on a lazy Saturday a couple of weeks after the show’s opening, I sought illumination. What insights awaited? Visitors are immediately surrounded by large portraits of Cuban residents underscored by conversational excerpts with Eastern Shore writer Lynn Oldshue. Of course, the printed quotations are in both English and Spanish. Two of the portraits were credited to photographer Michele Stancil. I had to assume the rest of the dozen or so photos were hers as well, since I never found another attribution. The writer and photographer work together on Oldshue’s glossy magazine “The Southern Rambler” and other projects. A glance through Oldshue’s earlier pieces in that publication point to her previous relationship with Cuba

Baldwin Pops plays patriotic pair

and an understanding of its people and tales. Many of the quotes revolve around economic fragility. There are also stories of struggle for artistic voice. “We are all human beings with personal histories and implications … Art helps us understand each other,” one artist told her. Near the portraits, a small black-box theater shows a loop of waves breaking on an urban shoreline. On the other side of the front entrance, paper tags hang on a forest of draped strings while a stand with pencils beckons visitors to scrawl their questions on the tags. They’re to be implemented in public programming for the “Back to Havana” exhibit in September 2017. Inquiries such as “Do you feel free?” and “What did you think of Castro?” and “How are the cigars?” swayed and circled on the tendrils. Varied paintings lead down the east wall. The playfulness of Osmel Herrera’s “Estampida” stood out, its mixture of images from the Altamira cave paintings with the Red Bull logo. Also entertaining was Ramon Deanda’s “El Burro,” wherein a man pulls a donkey in a cart while glued to his handheld device. It embodies the artist’s bewilderment with our technological fixation and our ignorance of nature. Mobilian Amanda Youngblood’s woodcuts “Born to Fly, Born to Die” and “Guts and Glory” were captivating. Another local artist, Susan Peele, rendered four large paintings at the back of the room, archetypal vignettes of cigars, an old car and a guitarist. The back half of the building holds more gallery space and a large room for presentations, but was closed. It

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DESPITE MY LACK OF FIRSTHAND CUBAN FAMILIARITY, THE ALABAMA CONTEMPORARY ART CENTER’S NEW ‘SISTER SHORES’ EXHIBIT MET EXPECTATIONS. WHEN YOU SHARE OCEAN CURRENTS AND STORMS WITH THE ISLAND STATE JUST SOUTH OF MIAMI, YOU EARN A ROUNDABOUT ACQUAINTANCE. ” Another wall is filled with an array of street scene photos — a smattering of brightly hued cars, laundry lines flapping on balconies, an abstract in the worn and deteriorating paint on a wall, fruit stands — but again I found no placard or artist’s statement. Once again Artifice relied on the front desk. The woman there was under the impression ACAC Director of Operations Allison Schaub shot the photos. Promotional literature indicated more is on the way. Additional Cuban artwork will be imported in September and a film series surveying Cuban directors is in the works. It’s apparent this is an early step in a longer arc. ACAC has only just put its metaphorical feet in the water and stirred it. We’ll have to wait and see what ripples return from across the Gulf.

Both concerts are free. Call 251-987-5757 for more information.

Opera auditions chorus members

Do you like to sing and want to see how good your pipes are? Ever wonder if you have what it takes to tread the boards in an operatic production? Your opportunity has arrived. Mobile Opera is holding auditions for new singers, adults of all ages interested in adding their names to the Mobile Opera chorus roster. Auditions take place at the Larkins Music Center (257 Dauphin St.) on Tuesday, May 30, at 5:30 p.m. Interested parties should prepare an aria, song or other musical selection so Mobile Opera personnel can honestly evaluate your level of singing. Bring a copy of the audition piece for the provided accompanist. No pre-recorded music, please. Interested parties must call to reserve an audition spot prior to the audition date. For more information, call Stacey Driskell at 251-432-6772 or email her at stacey@mobileopera.org.

TV star in Theatre 98 fundraiser

Kirsten Vangsness is best known as Penelope Garcia on the CBS hit show “Criminal Minds” but she has a healthy theatrical career to boot. She’s won a Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Natalie Schafer Award for best emerging comic actress, the 15 Minutes of Fem Best Actress Award and a Garland Award. Vangsness will bring her one-woman show “MESS” to Fairhope’s Theatre 98 (corner of Morphy and Church) on Friday, June 2, at 8 p.m. The fundraiser is intended to buy new seats for the theater. The play is about our inner sense of self and the ambiguities that haunt those interior images. The big twist involves nonlinear concepts of time and the idea that life’s key moments might as well be occurring simultaneously. Trauma at age 13 can stand hand-in-hand with age 38’s watershed. The drama has enough comedy to prevent it from becoming too heavy. Tickets are $20. Call 251-928-4366 for more information.

ARTSGALLERY

The Baldwin Pops Band will stage a pair of concerts bookending the Memorial Day weekend. Conductor Roger Jones has a patriotic playbill worked out for the occasion. Selections include a big-band showcase, the “Colonel Bogey March,” Elegy for the U.S.S. Arizona, George M. Cohan’s “Patriotic Fantasy,” John Williams’ “The Symphonic Marches,” “The Stars and Stripes Forever” and more. Current and veteran members of the armed forces will be recognized. The concert also will include a children’s march with flags and a “Checkered Tablecloth Award” presented to the person or group with the most interesting picnic setup. Attendees are reminded to bring chairs and/or blankets. The first event is Friday, May 26, 6:30 p.m. at Foley’s Heritage Park. It is part of Foley’s “Music and a Movie” series, and the film will be “La La Land.” Go to VisitFoley.com for more details. The second show is Monday, May 29, 6:30 p.m. at Henry George Park in Fairhope.

would be a shame for it to go unutilized. An intriguing film was projected onto the east wall complete with ambient musical tracks, but unfortunately the view was faded by the sunlight streaming through the windows above it. Personally, I would have preferred it placed in the small black-box theater near the front. I found no placard or information telling me precisely what its footage reveals. Where was the theatrical production it documents? Who were the players? Who designed and wrote the stage work? What does it mean? How long did it take to make the film? Who shot it? I presumed the cameraman was Kris Skoda, since the woman at the front desk told me he shot the wave footage and video on the ACAC website. If so, his work was underserved by the presentation.

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Band: Bonnie Bishop with special guest Ross Newell Date: Wednesday, May 31, 7 p.m. Venue: Callaghan’s Irish Social Club, 916 Charleston St., www.callaghansirishsocialclub.com Tickets: $25 (limited to 50), available at Callaghan’s

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Photo | Facebook | Bonnie Bishop

onnie Bishop was an accomplished Nashville songwriter and performer. She’d penned “Not Cause I Wanted To,” and Bonnie Raitt’s performance of the song earned Bishop a Grammy. Her tune “The Best Songs Come From Broken Hearts” was performed by actress Connie Britton’s character Rayna James on the NBC television show “Nashville.” Even in the light of success, Bishop was not satisfied with her career or the effects it had on her life on and off the road. Eventually, Bishop took a break from music and returned to graduate school to pursue creative writing studies. Then, she met producer Dave Cobb (Sturgill Simpson, Chris Stapleton, Jason Isbell). Cobb did not see Bishop as a country artist — rather, he saw her as a soul singer. Bishop and Cobb worked together to create a collection of smooth soul grooves accented by Bishop’s satiny voice. Lagniappe recently spoke with Bishop about the details behind this sonic transformation. Stephen Centanni: You put your music career on hold to go back to graduate school. What was it like making that transition from the road and music back to the classroom? Bonnie Bishop: I’ll put it this way: I never intended to go back to college. I was ready for a change. I was ready for a break from being on the road, and I learned a lot about myself through that process. I found a routine that really works for me, as far as being a creative person and making time to create and work and sit down and take work seriously. As a songwriter in Nashville, I took the songwriting process seriously. When I removed playing live as my main gig and was considering a different career, it took a lot mentally to just let go of the music training that I had. That was the hardest part. Once I actually got to school, I was so happy to be there, and being in a different environment and being in a learning environment surrounded by people who were so well-read and on their own journey figuring out what they were doing with their lives. We were all in the same process together pursuing creative writing. It was a wonderful experience. I never finished my degree. I only got a little bit done. When I made the record with Dave Cobb, it fired everything back up. Centanni: You mentioned Dave Cobb as one of the main factors in your return to music. What was it about Cobb’s input that made you want to rededicate yourself to music? Bishop: He said, “You’re not a country artist. You’re a soul singer, and we’re going to make a soul record.” Up to that point, I was living in Nashville, which is a commercial country industry town and always had been. Living there, everyone had their opinion on how I could adapt my style to fit more what country music was doing. That never worked for me. I came from Texas, so I had country sensibilities, but I wasn’t really a country artist.

I really threw out singing soul music. I just didn’t know how to play soul music. I sang country music very soulfully. It was liberating when I sat down across from Dave, and he created this new lane for me to run in. He was like, “We’re going to do something completely different from what you’ve done before.” I guess it gave me a sense of hope that things could be different, and there may be a way to present myself and my music that I haven’t tried yet. It was a wide-open opportunity that I thought was worth taking. Centanni: As a songwriter, what was it like making the shift from country to soul? Bishop: There was no shift. I didn’t write anything differently. I didn’t change any of the music. It was just arranged differently. I wrote several songs leading up to that record, but I have a lot of older songs that we cut. So, I didn’t change my writing style at all. I really didn’t change my singing style. It was more just a matter of framing the songs in a different genre and not trying to make them sound country or make me sound country. It was putting simple music around the soulful melodies that I was already singing. So, I didn’t change at all. That was the brilliance of Dave Cobb as a producer. He told me to keep doing what I’m doing, and he would frame it to where people would hear me differently. Centanni: What kind of reaction have you been getting from people who were familiar or were fans of your previous work? Has the feedback been positive? Bishop: Oh, yeah! Everybody loves it. They say it’s the best record that I’ve ever made and sounds amazing. I didn’t get any

MUSIC

BY STEPHEN CENTANNI/MUSIC EDITOR/SCENTANNI@LAGNIAPPEMOBILE.COM

FEATURE

Serendipity helped Bonnie Bishop find her true voice

negative feedback at all. In fact, my fans that have been around forever have said, “This is the record that we’ve been waiting for from you. We’ve always known that you were a soul singer.” Centanni: It seems like “Ain’t Who I Was” was almost an exercise in self-therapy from all the life events that made you second guess music. How did pouring your emotions into your songs help you as a person? Bishop: Well, I’ve always written from personal experience. I’m trying to write songs from other people’s point of view, because I feel like I’ve limited myself as a writer from writing strictly from my own point of you. It’s not unusual to pour my emotions into songs. That’s what I’m best at. That’s why I think people are drawn to my music. They feel something. I use music to feel myself and bring to light those things that we don’t say or want to express or admit. Writing songs is a healing thing for me, but I’ll tell you something about “Ain’t Who I Was,” specifically. That’s one of the ones that I did not write on this album, and that song has the best story behind it. We were in the studio finishing that record. We were looking for one or two more songs. I told Dave Cobb, “I really feel like I haven’t written the story of what happened with me with letting go and continuing on this path that I’m on and not knowing where I’m going, but walking away from music and the struggle and trying to return. I don’t know how to write that journey.” He said, “Let me call my buddy Brent Cobb [his cousin] and see if he has any songs. He’s a great writer and might have something.” I was like, ‘“OK, if we’re calling people, I’m calling Adam Hood.” Dave went to one room to call Brent, and I went to one room to call Adam. At that exact moment that we called them, they were sitting down together to write a song. It was one of those “Wow!” moments. They said they would work on something and call in a couple of hours. Three hours later, they called us with this song, and they wanted to come to the studio to play it for us. Right at the top, he said that line, “Well, it’s true/All you’ve heard/I’m living like a gypsy/And I can’t be cured of this homesick blues.” It makes me weep to think about. It’s not only this beautiful song, but it also has this toughness to it and a vulnerability. It’s like, “This is who I am. I can’t apologize for it. I’m a road dog. I’m a gypsy. I’m going to do this for the rest of my life. It’s the way I’m made.” It was said in a way that I would’ve never said it like that, because it was written by two dudes. I’m like a dude in a woman’s body, because I’ve been on the road with dudes for so long. It just fit. That was one of the most emotional parts of making that record. I allowed somebody to write something for me by friends who knew me. I think that song means more to me than any other song on the record, and I didn’t write it. So, I think that’s a beautiful experience as a songwriter to admit that somebody else could actually say something for you that you couldn’t say for yourself. Like you mentioned, I was in graduate school. When we made that record, I was two weeks out of my first semester in graduate school. I was letting go of my music training. So, I didn’t know who I was. I was a totally different person, and then, I was making a record again. That’s why it was so poetic that the album was called “Ain’t Who I Was.”

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MUSIC BRIEFS

Back home

BY STEPHEN CENTANNI/MUSIC EDITOR/SCENTANNI@LAGNIAPPEMOBILE.COM

Photo | Conway Entertainment Group | Alabama

Band: Alabama with Charlie Daniels Band Date: Saturday, May 27, 8 p.m. Venue: The Amphitheater at The Wharf, 23101 Canal Road (Orange Beach), www.alwharf.com • Tickets: $27-$79.50, available through Ticketmaster

emorial Day marks the official beginning of the summer beach season. Hundreds of thousands of people will flock to the Alabama Gulf Coast until Labor Day brings seaside travel to an end. With its reputation for hosting country music’s hottest acts, the Amphitheater at The Wharf is starting summer with two legendary country bands. With his trademark cowboy hat and fiery fiddle work, Charlie Daniels emerged from the ‘70s country scene with a little help from his spoken-word anthem “Uneasy Rider.” Daniels and his crew will set the evening’s tone from a catalog including such hits as “The Devil Went

Down to Georgia” and “Long Haired Country Boy.” Since reuniting, Alabama has made the Gulf Coast a regular stop. Alabama’s country music legacy began in 1980 with its first No. 1 single, “Tennessee River.” In the following decade, this band from Fort Payne rarely released a single that did not make it to the top spot on Billboard’s “U.S. Country” chart. Alabama will entertain fans with classic hits as well as perform tracks from its latest release, “Southern Drawl,” an album filled with the band’s trademark country rock sound mingled with warm dirt-road love ballads.

Island holiday

Band: Slide Bayou Date: Saturday, May 27, 8 p.m. Venue: Fins Bar, 1600 Bienville Ave. (Dauphin Island) Tickets: Free

Fins Bar has been attracting more and more people to Dauphin Island with frozen drinks, a versatile menu and live musical entertainment to gather throngs of dedicated patrons. For Memorial Day weekend, Fins will be treating its crowd to the soulful jams of Slide Bayou. Slide Bayou is the Mobile Bay area’s newest supergroup, pooling the songwriting and instrumental talents of Ryan Balthrop, Lee

Yankie and Harrison McInnis. Together, this trio is taking their respective songs and placing them into a new context through their artistic collaboration. During the Lagniappe Mobile Bay Showcase at SouthSounds 2017, Slide Bayou’s set was a high-energy jam session that brought the crowd to its feet. Their full show should be a healthy overdose of electrifying homegrown sounds.

Get glamorous

Band: Skid Row, Kix Date: Friday, May 26, 8 p.m. Venue: Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, 777 Beach Blvd. (Biloxi), www.hrhcbiloxi.com Tickets: $71-$134, available through Ticketmaster

This Friday the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino will feature a double dose of ‘80s glam metal. Kix will serve as the lineup’s opener. Its release “Blow My Fuse” spawned two stellar hits that included the ballsy “Cold Blood” and the quintessential ‘80s power ballad “Don’t Close Your Eyes.” Headliner Skid Row will provide the climax to this ‘80s metal flashback. This New Jersey

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band brought a little darkness to the world of glam metal through the release of its 1989 self-titled debut. Rockers fell in love with songs such as “Youth Gone Wild” and “18 and Life.” Skid Row’s current lineup features original members Rachel Bolan, Dave “The Snake” Sabo and Scotti Hill. New additions include drummer Rob Hammersmith and vocalist ZP Theart of DragonForce fame.

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AREAMUSIC LISTINGS | May 25 - May 31

THUR. MAY 25

Bluegill— Emily Stuckey Blues Tavern— John Fleming Trio Callaghan’s— Eric Erdman Cockeyed Charlie’s— JJ Dority’s Bar and Grill— Lee Yankie Felix’s— Grits N Pieces Flora Bama— Dave McCormick, 2p// Destiny Brown, 4p/// Logan Spicer, 5p//// Dueling Pianos, 5:30p//// Kyle Wilson Band, 6p//// Mark Sherrill, James Daniel, Chris Newbury, 6p//// Chris Bryant Duo, 9p//// Ben Bradford Band, 10p//// Davis Nix Duo, 10:15p//// Whyte Caps, 10:30p Hangout— Ben Loftin & The Family, 6p Listening Room— Laurie Anne Armour, Summerlyn Powers, Madison Grace, 8p Live Bait— Brandon Styles, 8p Lulu’s— Adam Holt, 5p McSharry’s— Rock Bottom, 7:30p Tacky Jacks (Orange Beach) — Mac Walter, 6p Wind Creek Casino— Michael Stacey, 8p

FRI. MAY 26

All Sports Bar & Billiards— DJ Markie Mark, 10p Beau Rivage— Huey Lewis and The News, 8p Big Beach Brewing— Cornbred, 6:30p Bluegill— Lee Yankie, 12p// Delta Reign Duo, 6p Blues Tavern— Regulators Cockeyed Charlie’s— Journey 2 Mars, 10p Dority’s Bar and Grill— Britney Grimes Felix’s— Brandon and Pierce Flora Bama— Alabama Lighting, 1p// Lea Anne Creswell Duo, 2p/// Logan Spicer, 4p//// Jack Robertson Show, 5:30p//// Lucky Doggs, 6p//// Mel Knapp, 6p//// Telluride, 6p//// Riley Greeen, 99p//// Ben Bradford Band, 10p///// Brian Hill Trio, 10:15p//// River Dan Band, 10:30p Hangout— Velcro Pygmies, 6p// Ja’Rhythm, 10p IP Casino— Vanessa Williams, 8p Listening Room— Fat Man Squeeze, 8p Live Bait— Brandon Styles, 8p Lulu’s— Light Travelers, 6p McSharry’s— DJ Carter, 10p Moe’s BBQ (Daphne) — Soulshine, 8p Moe’s BBQ (Mobile) — Jimmy Lee Hannaford & Jose Santiago O’Daly’s— Gene Murrell,

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Tony Edwards and David White, 10p Tacky Jacks (Gulf Shores)— Three Bean Soup, 5:30p Tacky Jacks (Orange Beach) — Soul Food Junkies, 6p Wind Creek Casino— Meet the Press, 9p Windmill Market— Oh Jeremiah, 11:30a

SAT. MAY 27

Bluegill— Brandon Bailey, 12p// Bust Trio, 6p Blues Tavern— Johnny Barbato and the Lucky Doggs Callaghan’s— Dirt Bourbon River Show Cockeyed Charlie’s— Jordan Bramblett Cowboys & Angels— Jelly Roll ft. Haystak, 7p Dority’s Bar and Grill— Nick Peraino Trio Fairhope Brewing— Steel City Jug Slammers Felix’s— Bobby and Jana Flora Bama— Lea Anne Creswell Trio, 11a// Mason Henderson Duo, 1p/// Tyler Mac, 1p//// Hung Jury, 2p//// Jay Hawkins Trio, 2p//// David Dunn, 4p//// Lefty Collins, 5p//// Jack Robertson Show, 5:30p//// Telluride, 6p//// Tim Kinsey, 6p//// Brian Hill Duo, 9p//// Ben Bradford Band, 10p//// Logan Spicer and Tony Ray Thompson, 10:15p//// Foxy Iguanas, 10:30p Hangout— Velcro Pygmies, 6p// Greg Lyon, 10p Listening Room— Lisa Mills, 8p Live Bait— Brandon Styles, 8p Lulu’s— LuLu Palooza, 11a McSharry’s— DJ Tiger, 10p The Merry Widow— Steel City Jug Slammers, 9p Moe’s BBQ (Daphne) — Michael Aresenault, 5p Moe’s BBQ (Mobile) — Charles E. Wilson Duo Pirates Cove— Emerge, 5p Pour Nelsons— Pearls of Trinity U.S.A., 10p Tacky Jacks (Gulf Shores)— Soul Food Junkies, 5p Tacky Jacks (Orange Beach) — Melissa Joiner Duo, 11a// Hippy Jim, 6p Top of the Bay— Worx The Wharf— Alabama Wind Creek Casino— Meet the Press, 9p

SUN. MAY 28

Bluegill— Quntin Berry,12p// Tip Tops, 6p Blues Tavern— John Hall Trio Callaghan’s— Paw Paw’s Medicine Dority’s Bar and Grill—

Johnny Hayes and the Loveseats Felix’s— Jimmy Lumpkin Frog Pond— Brittany Grimes, 11a// Smoky Otis Trio, 12p/// Big Muddy, 1p//// Songs of Rusty, 1:30p//// Al and Cathy, 2p//// Christina Christian, 3p//// Mel Knapp, 5p//// Jezebel’s Chill’n, 5:30p//// Brian Hill Band, 6p//// Perdido Brothers, 6p//// Mario Mena Band, 10p//// Zachery Diedrich Duo, 10:15p//// Lee Yankie and the Hellz Yeah, 10:30p Hangout— Everyday People, 6p// Scott Morlock, 10p Lulu’s— Albert Simpson, 5p McSharry’s— Trad Irish Session, 6:30p Tacky Jacks (Gulf Shores)— Lisa Christian, 2p Tacky Jacks (Orange Beach) — Hippy Jim, 11a// Jessie Howell, 6p

MON. MAY 29

Felix’s— Lee Yankie Flora Bama— Jay Hawkins Trio, 1p// Mario Mena Band, 2p/// Tim Kinsey, 5:30p//// Cathy Pace, 6p//// Yeah Probably, 10p//// Petty and Pace, 10:15p Hangout— The Good Lookings, 6p// Whyte Caps, 10p Lulu’s— Brent Burns, 1p// Albert Simpson, 5p Tacky Jacks (Orange Beach) — Groovinators, 6p

TUE. MAY 30

Bluegill— Dale Drinkard Butch Cassidy’s— David Jernigan, Dr. Tom Thomas and Carl Bates Cockeyed Charlie’s— Jordan Bramblett Felix’s— Bobby Butchka Flora Bama— T. Bone Montogmery, 2p// Rowdy Jones, 5:30p/// Perdido Brothers, 6p//// Whyte Caps, 10p//// Albert Simpson and John Kulinich, 10:15p Hangout— Continuum, 6p// Philly Cheese Shea, 10p Lulu’s— Ronnie Presley, 5p Moe’s BBQ (Daphne) — Lefty Collins, 6p

WED. MAY 31

Callaghan’s— Bonnie Bishop and Ross Newell Felix’s— Brandon Bailey Flora Bama— Neil Dover, 2p// Logan Spicer, 5:30p/// Rhonda Hart and Jonathan Newton, 6p//// Albert Simpson and John Kulinich, 10:15p Hangout— Rhythm Intervention, 6p// Justin Wall + 1, 10p Lulu’s— Justin Yawn, 5p McSharry’s— Doc Rodgers and the Rock Dodgers, 7p

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Help keep Crescent alive

FILMTHE REEL WORLD

obile’s only independent movie theater is still very much open for business, and there are high hopes the Crescent Theater can remain open. The time has come for film fans to pony up for a month-long Crescent fundraiser; the films coming up through the summer alone are worth a donation. However, a successful fundraising campaign can keep the Crescent where it belongs for the next two years. “The Crescent Theater is planning on staying at its current location at 208 Dauphin St. The landlord has granted us a one-month extension on the current lease while we work out the details on a new two-year lease,” stated Carol Hunter of the Crescent Theater Film Society. “If, in the next month, the Crescent Theater Film Society is able to raise the money to cover the rent, roughly $65,000, we’ll be able to sign that lease. Nearly all single-screen, independent theaters rely on nonprofit support, and the Crescent is no exception,” she added. Visit the Crescent’s website (www. crescenttheater.com) to donate, or make a donation by check. Make your check payable to the Crescent Theater Film Society and drop it off in the lobby, or send it by mail to 208 Dauphin St., Mobile, AL 36602. Contributions by check will be reflected in the bar on the website showing progress made toward the goal. Here are the films we can look forward to this summer. Every one of them has been making a buzz in big cities or film

“Maudie” Sally Hawkins (“Blue Jasmine”) is one of the most intriguing actors on the screen today, so her performance in the true story of a Canadian folk artist overcoming crippling arthritis should be worth checking out. She plays Maud Lewis, a woman stricken with rheumatoid arthritis who nevertheless summons the strength to transform her surroundings. An unappealing job as housekeeper to an impossibly gruff man (Ethan Hawke) is her only way out of an even worse existence living with relatives, and her spirit enables her to work as an artist and even find success. She also, like our own Walter Anderson, paints every inch of a tiny cottage, which is still on display in the Arts Gallery of Nova Scotia. “The Big Sick” A breakout hit at Sundance, directed by Michael Showalter (“Hello, My Name is Doris”) and co-written with comedian and actor Kumail Nanjiani. Variety describes this as “a film that’s by turns romantic, rueful and hilarious.” The cast also includes Zoe Kazan, Holly Hunter and Ray Romano, and reviews say it starts out charming and becomes absolutely riveting. Maybe this is the one I’m most excited about. In the words of manager Max Morey: “The patrons of the Crescent Theater in Mobile, Alabama, have shouted from the top of their lungs, ‘we love this theater and we want to keep it open. We want to continue to watch our city grow and prosper.’ With a small donation from everyone we can make this happen.”

BY ASIA FREY/FILM CRITIC/AFREY@LAGNIAPPEMOBILE.COM

AREA THEATERS CARMIKE CINEMA’S Wynnsong 16 785 Schillinger Rd. S. (251) 639-7373 CRESCENT THEATER 208 Dauphin Street (251) 438-2005 HOLLYWOOD STADIUM 18 1250 Satchel Paige Dr. (251) 473-9655 RAVE MOTION PICTURE JUBILEE SQUARE 12 6898 U.S. 90 Daphne, (251) 626- 6266

festivals, and the Crescent will most likely be the only place we can see them. “The Lovers” Rolling Stone calls this “a near perfect rom-com, brilliant and bittersweet,” a sophisticated adult love story about two married people who, on the verge of ending their marriage and joining their respective lovers, find their spark again. The two leads, Debra Winger and Tracy Letts, are described as “perfection.” This one is probably the film I’m most excited about seeing. “The Hero” Sam Elliott stars as an aging actor confronting mortality — and romancing a younger woman played by Laura Prepon — in Brett Haley’s film, which premiered at Sundance. You could listen to Sam Elliot read a cereal box in that voice of his for two hours and be entertained, so a star turn as the reluctant half of a May-December romance should be promising. “Paris Can Wait” Anne (Diane Lane) is at a crossroads in her life. Married to a successful but inattentive movie producer (Alec Baldwin), she unexpectedly finds herself taking a car trip from Cannes to Paris with her husband’s business associate (Arnaud Viard). What should be a seven-hour drive turns into a carefree two-day adventure replete with diversions involving picturesque sights, fine food and wine, humor, wisdom and romance, reawakening Anne’s senses and giving her a new lust for life. The film is directed by Eleanor Coppola, a longtime documentary filmmaker making her first foray into fiction; she is the wife of Francis and mother of Sofia.

CARMIKE CINEMAS 23151 Wharf Ln. Orange Beach (251) 981-4444 COBB THEATRES PINNACLE 14 3780 Gulf Shores Pkwy Gulf Shores (251) 968-7444 EASTERN SHORE PREMIERE CINEMA 14 30500 Alabama 181 #500 Spanish Fort, Al (251) 626-0352 Information accurate at press time; please call theaters for showtimes.

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Photos | Lagniappe / A24

The Crescent Theater is attempting to crowd source $65,000 to sign a new two-year lease. In “The Lovers,” Debra Winger and Tracy Letts play a long-married, dispassionate couple who are both in the midst of serious affairs. NOW PLAYING

KING ARTHUR: LEGEND OF THE SWORD All listed multiplex theaters. ALIEN: COVENANT SNATCHED All listed multiplex theaters. Crescent Theater, all listed multiplex THE DINNER theaters. AMC Classic Wharf GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY: COLOSSAL VOL. 2 AMC Wharf All listed multiplex theaters. TOMMY’S HONOR BAAHUBALI 2: THE CONCLUSION AMC Classic Wharf AMC Mobile 16, Regal Mobile Stadium EVERYTHING, EVERYTHING 18 Cobb Pinnacle 14, Regal Mobile StaLOST CITY OF Z dium 18, AMC Mobile 16, AMC Jubilee THE AMC Classic Wharf Square 12 THE ZOOKEEPER’S WIFE DIARY OF A WIMPY KID: THE AMC Mobile 16, AMC Jubilee Square LONG HAUL 12, AMC Classic Wharf Regal Mobile Stadium 18, AMC Mobile 16 THE CIRCLE

AMC Classic Wharf GIFTED AMC Jubilee Square 12, AMC Mobile 16, Regal Mobile Stadium 18 UNFORGETTABLE Regal Mobile Stadium 18 BORN IN CHINA All listed multiplex theaters. THE PROMISE AMC Jubilee Square 12, AMC Mobile 16 FATE OF THE FURIOUS All listed multiplex theaters. GOING IN STYLE All listed multiplex theaters. THE BOSS BABY All listed multiplex theaters. POWER RANGERS All listed multiplex theaters.

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST All listed multiplex theaters. SMURFS: THE LOST VILLAGE AMC Mobile 16 GET OUT Regal Mobile Stadium 18, AMC Mobile 16, AMC Classic Wharf

NEW IN THEATERS PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MEN TELL NO TALES All listed multiplex theaters.

BAYWATCH

All listed multiplex theaters.

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CALENDAR OF EVENTS MAY 25, 2017 - MAY 31, 2017

GENERAL INTEREST Science on Tap Join Dr. Casey Daniel and Dr. Natalie Gassman for a discussion on “Safe Tanning: Fact or Fiction,” Thursday, May 25, 6-9 p.m. at Moe’s Original BBQ, 701 Springhill Ave. Call 251-445-9610. Blakeley Park Tour On Thursday, May 25, Blakeley State Park will host a “surf and turf” tour of Civil War naval battle sites beginning at 9 a.m. Call 251-626-5581 or visit blakeleypark.com. Free Senior Lunches The last Thursday of every month, End Time Harvest Ministry provides seniors with a free lunch at 1701 Donham Drive in Mobile. Call 251-604-2710. Fairhope farmer’s market The city of Fairhope hosts an outdoor farmer’s market Thursdays, 3-6 p.m., through Nov. 2, behind the Fairhope Public Library, downtown on Bancroft Street. Call 251-929-1466. MobiCon 2017 Mobile’s annual three-day convention for fantasy, science fiction, horror, comic book, anime and gaming fans. May 26-28 at the Renaissance Riverview Plaza Hotel, 64 S. Water St., Mobile. Visit mobilecomiccon.org. Free Family Movie Night Join Dauphin Island on the West End Beach for a free movie night at dusk on Friday, May 26. Market in the Square Mobile’s downtown farmer’s market is now held in Cathedral Square on Saturdays, 7:30 a.m. until noon. Come enjoy, music, food, beverages and more. “Red Bird” Serpents of Bienville will host “Red Bird,” a play with music written and performed by Brian Kennedy. Saturday, May 27, 7 p.m. Visit cathedralcircus.org. Dauphin Island concert Sunday sunset concerts on West End Beach run monthly from May to October. On May 27 at 6 p.m., Lisa Mills performs. DIVA Memorial Day Join the Dauphin Island Veterans Association at Water Tower Plaza at 11 a.m. on Monday, May 29, as they host the annual Memorial Day ceremony to honor the many brave men and women who lost their lives defending our nation. West Mobile Farmer’s Market This farmer’s market, sponsored by Christ United Methodist Church, is every Tuesday, 3-6 p.m., on the west side of church property, 6101 Grelot Road, Mobile. Call 251-342-0462. Brown Bag in Bienville Every Wednesday through May 31, join friends in Mobile’s Bienville Square from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. for lunch and live music. Providence Farmer’s Market Shop the Farmer’s Market every Wednesday now through July 12, 2-5 p.m., in Lot F at Providence Hospital. Call 251631-3501.

Dauphin Island Boardwalk Talks Boardwalk Talks are held the first and third Wednesday of each month at 11:15 a.m. at the Dauphin Island Sea Lab, 101 Bienville Blvd. Call 251-861-2141. Midtown Optimist Club Join Midtown Optimist Club every Wednesday at noon for lunch at Azalea City Golf Course. Call 251-348-3542. Toastmasters Do you want to deliver a speech like a pro or gain leadership skills to advance your career? Toastmasters International meets regularly at six locations in Mobile and Baldwin counties. Visit www.toastmasters. org for more information.

FUNDRAISERS Paddleboard Cup Join the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Saturday, May 27 at the Mobile Yacht Club for our inaugural SUPCUP. Open to stand-up paddleboards, kayaks and open canoes. Registration begins at 9 a.m., race begins at 11 a.m. Call 251-406-8471. Polo for Paws Point Clear Polo presents Polo for Paws, a charity polo match benefiting The Haven. Sunday, May 28, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Sonny Hill Farms Polo Field, Point Clear. Visit pointclearpolo.com. L’Arche Football Preview The 23rd annual L’Arche Football Preview is Thursday, May 25, at 6 p.m. at USA Mitchell Center. For a list of confirmed speakers visit larchemobile.org.

ARTS Art Talk: On Photography Join Mobile Museum of Art for a discussion on the history of photography and the contemporary practices that have helped shape the medium. Thursday, May 25, at 6 p.m., 4850 Museum Drive. Call 251-208-5200. Memorial Day concert Baldwin Pops presents a Memorial Day concert on Monday, May 29, at Henry George Park in Fairhope at 6:30 p.m. Last Friday Art Night Last Friday Art Night features local art and history, food, beverages, music and socializing at Dauphin Island Art Gallery, 918 Bienville Blvd. For more information call 251-861-3300.

MUSEUMS “Windows to the Sea” “Windows to the Sea” is a new permanent exhibit at the Dauphin Island Sea Lab Estuarium. Visit disl.org. “Shipwreck! Pirates and Treasure” A new, highly interactive exhibit at GulfQuest features more than 500 authentic artifacts recovered from deepocean shipwrecks. Visit www.gulfquest.org. “Christenberry: In Alabama” On the occasion of Alabama’s Bicentennial Celebration, this exhibit honors artist William Christenberry’s exploration of themes related to his native state. Mobile Museum of Art, 4850

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Museum Drive. Extended through July 9. Call 251-208-5200.

Hot Wheels Skating Rink in Daphne. Email cassief13@aol.com.

“Faces of Africa” The History Museum of Mobile exhibit “Faces of Africa: A Mystical View of Tribal Heritage” runs through Monday, July 31. Call 251-208-7420.

WORKSHOPS

“Drugs: Costs and Consequences” The Gulf Coast Exploreum Science Center and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration team up to present a powerful interactive exhibit of the effects of drugs on individuals and society. Through August. Visit exploreum.com. Fairhope’s founding Learn more about the 1894 founding of Fairhope at the Fairhope Museum of History, 24 N. Section St. The museum is open daily (except Sunday and Monday) from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Call 251-929-1471. Little Discoveries “Outside the Box,” aimed at children age 6 and under, explores how innovation and creativity can lead to a world of possibilities, starting with a simple cardboard box. Wednesdays at 10 a.m. Call 251-208-6893 or email jholland@ exploreum.com. Thursdays at MMoA Every Thursday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., the Mobile Museum of Art offers free admission to all visitors. No reservations are necessary. MMoA is at 4850 Museum Drive. Call 251-208-5200.

SPORTING EVENTS/ACTIVITIES Mobile BayBears The Mobile BayBears are back in action at Mobile’s Hank Aaron Stadium. The team hosts Birmingham for a five-game home stand May 24-28. Call 251-479-BEAR. Weekly 1K/5K Every Thursday evening at 6 p.m., join Red Beard’s Outfitter and Cortlandt’s Pub in the Spring Hill Village Shopping Center for a 1K or 5K run and walk. No cost to participate. Bridge lessons The Mobile Bridge Center offers free bridge lessons each Tuesday at 6 p.m. at 1510 University Blvd. Arrive a few minutes early to register. Call the Bridge Center at 251-666-2147, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Fitness and athletics classes New fitness classes are in progress at Palmer Pillans Middle School. To register or for more information on classes offered, call 251-463-7980 or go to communityactivitiesprogram.com. Dance and art classes New dance and art classes are in progress at Palmer Pillans Middle School. To register or for more information on classes offered, call 251-463-7980 or go to communityactivitiesprogram.com. Ballroom dance Azalea Ballroom Dance Club hosts dances the second and fourth Tuesday of every month, 7-9:30 p.m. at Via Health, Fitness & Enrichment Center, 1717 Dauphin St. Call 251-623-9183 or visit azaleaballroomdanceclub.com. Ballroom dance The Moonlight Chassé Ballroom Dance Society hosts dances the first and third Monday of every month, 7-9:30 p.m. at

ACT tutoring Get to really know the ACT and learn tips, tricks and valuable test-taking skills. Classes meet the four Saturdays leading up to the June 10 ACT exam. Classes are held at Palmer Pillans Middle School. Visit communityactivitiesprogram.com.

PUBLIC MEETINGS Baldwin County Commission: First and third Tuesday at 8:30 a.m., 322 Courthouse Square, Bay Minette. Work sessions are the 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. www.baldwincountyal.gov Baldwin County Planning Commission: First Thursday at 6 p.m., 22251 Palmer St., Robertsdale, www.baldwincountyal.gov. Bayou La Batre City Council: Second and fourth Thursday at 5:30 p.m., 13785 S. Wintzell Ave., www.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 are the second Monday of each month at 6:30 p.m., www.daphneal.com. Dauphin Island Town Council: First and third Tuesdays at 7 p.m., 1011 Bienville Blvd., www.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 are held before each council meeting at 4:30 p.m., www.cofairhope.com. Fairhope Planning Commission: First Monday at 5 p.m., 161 N. Section St. For more information visit www.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., www. cityoffoley.org. Gulf Shores City Council: Second and fourth Mondays at 4 p.m., 1905 W. First St., www.gulfshoresal.gov. Mobile City Council: Tuesdays at Government Plaza, 205 Government St. Pre-council meeting begins at 9 a.m.; council meeting begins at 10:30 a.m., www. cityofmobile.org. Mobile Planning Commission: First and third Thursdays at 2 p.m., 205 Government St., www.urban.cityofmobile.org. Orange Beach City Council: First and third Tuesdays at 5 p.m., 4099 Orange Beach Blvd., www.cityoforangebeach.com. Prichard City Council: Every Thursday at 5:30 p.m., 216 E. Prichard Ave., www. thecityofprichard.org.

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STYLE GARDENING

How to build a succulent bowl BY JUDY WEAVER/CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Photos/Judy Weaver / Flickr

Succulent bowls provide joy, and are relatively low maintenance.

t has been my good fortune to become a Master Gardener in three states: New Jersey, Louisiana and Alabama. Two weeks ago Carol Williams and Ellen Huckabay wrote a column about the upcoming Master Gardener class this August in Mobile. For me, becoming a MG was as much about making new friends as it was a great educational opportunity. Gardeners are the nicest people. I say that to share this interview with Davanna Hart, who was our succulent expert in Baton Rouge. Hart has raised cacti and succulents since childhood, but got serious about it in the 1970s when she began to keep records of what she grew. She is a charter member of the Baton Rouge Cactus and Succulent Society and has been a Louisiana Master Gardener since 1995.

Q: WHAT IS A SUCCULENT BOWL?

It’s a mixed planting of succulents, plants that can conserve water in their stems, leaves and/or roots, in times of drought.

Q: HOW LARGE AND DEEP A BOWL IS BEST?

12-inch to 18-inch diameter is a good size for a succulent bowl, and 4 to 6 inches deep. It can be made of ceramic, plastic, clay or even be a big flower pot saucers. Make sure it has a hole for drainage.

Q: WHAT KIND OF GROWING MEDIUM IS BEST?

Use a fast-draining soil, one that won’t retain moisture for long. Don’t put rocks in the bottom your bowl. Your drainage is better if you use the same soil from top to bottom.

Q: WHAT KIND OF SUCCULENT PLANTS WILL DO WELL?

I use a lot of aloes; there are so many cousins, aunts and uncles to the aloe vera we’re most familiar with. You don’t want plants that get too big too fast. I also use haworthias and euphorbias; each has many varieties that are available locally. Sedums make nice ground covers and agaves also work well.

Q. HOW DO YOU ACTUALLY PLANT THE BOWL?

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After filling the bowl with fast-draining soil, I plant five or six main plants, which I call the backbone of the bowl. For example, I might start with a 12-inch crown of thorns (euphorbia milii) just off center, and a couple of aloe and agave rosettes, which you pleasingly arrange around the bowl. That gives you five or six main plants in the bowl while leaving a lot of dirt exposed. Add a nice rock, about the size of a baseball, which gives the bowl a desert landscape look. Next, I might add a portulaca or an ice plant (delosperma cooperi), a flowering succulent that gives the bowl color over the entire growing season. (The growing season is any time you can get something to grow.) After establishing the core plants, the rest is a process of tweaking with accent plants. You want to cover the dirt, and I use pea gravel as a ground cover. If you see cute little plants, tuck them in, too. Sedums are good, low-growing plants that could spill over the edge and soften the bowl, the rock and the tall centerpiece.

Q. WHEN SHOULD YOU PLANT SUCCULENTS?

Anytime you feel like it. These plants have been ripped out of their native habitat and brought here, some from the Southern Hemisphere, which means their seasons are the reverse of ours. Just don’t leave your succulents outside when the temperature goes below 40 degrees. And if you’ve had them inside for the winter, ease them into full sun, because they get sunburned if they aren’t conditioned.

Q. HOW DO YOU CARE FOR THEM — FREQUENCY OF WATER AND FERTILIZER, AVAILABILITY OF SUN?

The secret to watering succulent plants is to let them dry entirely and then water profusely until water comes out the drain holes. You want to flush from the soil the salts that build up from fertilizer and water minerals. Most succulents like full sun. Use an all-purpose liquid fertil-

izer every other time you water in the summer.

Q. HOW LARGE DO THEY GET? HOW QUICKLY DO THEY GROW? HOW LONG DO THEY THRIVE?

Each one is different. When your bowl looks overcrowded, take it apart and give the offsets or babies to your friends. Any dish garden will get overcrowded sooner or later. I have two bowls that are two years old and both are ready to be rebuilt.

Q. WHAT ARE YOUR PERSONAL SECRETS FOR SUCCESS WITH SUCCULENTS? Find an inexpensive water tester and don’t water if the needle moves. If in doubt, don’t water.

Q. HOW DO YOU DEFINE SUCCESS WITH A SUCCULENT BOWL? If you like it, it’s a great bowl!

YOU ARE INVITED TO THESE UPCOMING GARDENING EVENTS WHAT: Mobile Master Gardeners Monthly Meeting WHEN: Thursday, June 1, 10-11:30 a.m. WHERE: Jon Archer Center, 1070 Schillinger Road N., Mobile TOPIC: Weed Control, Ellen Huckabay WHAT: Mobile Master Gardeners Lunch and Learn WHEN: Monday, June 19, noon to 1 p.m. WHERE: Jon Archer Center, 1070 Schillinger Road N., Mobile TOPIC: Tomato Taste-Off, Ellen Huckabay

2017 Mobile County Master Gardener Class WHEN: Wednesdays from Aug. 9 through Nov. 15, 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. WHERE: Jon Archer Center, 1070 Schillinger Road N., Mobile COST: $160 for materials and educational field trip (limited number of scholarships available) Application deadline: June 17 For more information, call 251-574-8445 or email jda0002@aces.edu Print application at http://mg.aces.edu/mobile Master Gardener Helpline: 1-877-252-4769 or send questions to coastalalabamagardening@gmail.com

NEW YORK TIMES CROSSWORD PUZZLE PLACES, EVERYONE! BY WILL NEDIGER / EDITED BY WILL SHORTZ ACROSS 1 Necklace parts 7 Extreme 14 Peter out 19 Relative of a brasserie 20 Phoenix event 21 Power machine in woodworking 22 Dropped out 23 U.S. heartland 24 Dexterous one 25 Where you might stop before going home 26 Prince Buster’s genre 27 Heathrow facilities 28 Cherished by 29 Start of a boast 30 Battle-torn Syrian city 32 Org. that delivers 34 Contraction lacking just a “v” 35 You might find one under a Christmas tree 37 One using 32-Across, e.g. 39 Hideouts 40 Did a cobbler’s job on 42 First-year law student 43 Sinus suffix 45 “Who ____?” 48 Enter 50 Tool for talking online 52 Angel dust 55 Knightstick? 57 Colossal head sculptors 59 Setting for John Ford’s “My Darling Clementine” 61 Sarah Palin, by birth 63 ____ Gunderson, sad sack on “The Simpsons” 64 Average 65 White House worker 66 Abandoned 67 Person pretty far up the corporate ladder 69 Having correct opinions 71 No longer in the company, say 72 Singer/reality TV personality Aubrey 74 What old couches tend to do 75 ____ up on (conspiring against) 76 It lacks locks 78 Credit-card provider, e.g. 80 Theft preventer … or theft encourager 81 Equal 82 Mushroom makers 84 R.&R. by oneself 86 H.S.-level exam 87 Smooch 88 Vinick’s portrayer on “The West Wing” 90 Searcher for “the lost village,” in film 92 Catalyst 95 “Told you so!”

98 Accountant’s list 101 Creature also called a catamount 102 All-inclusive 103 Aggrandize 105 Apple of Discord thrower 107 Poison victim’s remedy 109 Fidel’s brother 111 Whack 112 Suburb of Minneapolis 113 Blind-side protector, usually, in an offensive line 114 Chaucer’s tongue 116 Brings up a menu with a PC mouse 117 Waters and Kennedy 118 Aisle’s head? 119 Disavows 120 Juicy bits, in slang 121 Item for a cafeteria worker 122 Whim

13 Gliding step, in ballet 14 Wings, to zoologists 15 Grand pooh-bahs 16 Russian film director Tarkovsky 17 Threaten to fall 18 They may be unforced 21 Many profs 26 Think over 30 Bedfellow 31 Contribute to a radio show 33 Syringe sensations 36 Lavish with attention 38 They provide backing for churchgoers 39 Sight at a red-carpet event 41 Director Guillermo ____ Toro 44 City SSW of Seattle 45 Fictional woodcutter 46 Was belligerent 47 Debt-ridden 49 Coming-out words DOWN 51 Vulgar sort 1 “The Late Show” airer 52 Indulging (oneself) in 2 Reindeer moss, e.g. self-satisfaction 3 Glowing 53 Rhythm 4 News highlights 54 Vowed 5 Nudge 56 Neglected one, stereotypi6 La preceder cally 7 Rapper with the 4x platinum 58 Bourgeoisie album “Views” 60 Mezzo-soprano, for female 8 Charts again voices 9 Fin 62 Rescues a foundling, say 10 Boneless cut 64 Smooth transition 11 Huey, Dewey and Louie, e.g. 67 Yoga equipment 12 Brangelina was one 68 Line to a pilot?

70 Figures out 73 “Is that so?” 75 [That’s painful!] 77 Fox neighbor 78 Part of a chain 79 Many “Star Trek” characters, for short 83 Home of the highest point in Africa 85 Cry to a sled dog 87 Where teams that have little-to-no chance of winning are found 89 Inhabitant of the ocean’s benthic zone 91 Profiting from the misfortunes of others 92 Treated with malice 93 Transform, as larvae 94 Actor Don 96 Cult leader killed in the Waco siege 97 Sibelius’s “Valse ____” 99 One of the Nixon daughters 100 Fishing item 102 Part of a dead man’s hand 104 Onetime tool for talking online 106 Full of lip 108 First word in a Shakespeare title 110 Hybrid citrus 112 Home of Zeno and Parmenides 115 Roadside stop 116 405, to Flavius

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SPORTS UPON FURTHER REVIEW

Baykeeper adds Kids Triathlon to Grandman event BY J. MARK BRYANT/SPORTS WRITER/SPORTS@LAGNIAPPEMOBILE.COM/TWITTER @GOULAGUY

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in Lagniappe. The Delta Bike Project will also assist in the cycling section of the Grandman. Putting on one of the biggest athletic events along Mobile Bay apparently was not enough for the Baykeeper staff. Starting this year, they are joining with a group of volunteers to host the Publix Jubilee Kids Triathlon that Sunday, June 4, at 7:30 a.m. The race, presented by Altaworx and Eastern Shore Cycles, is open to ages 7 to 15 (as of Dec. 31, 2017). The starting point is again Fairhope Municipal Pier. “For the past seven years, a core group of dedicated volunteers have helped make this event such a huge success,” said Casi Callaway, race director and executive director of Mobile Baykeeper. “Combining the two races under the same umbrella will be a great selling point for families looking to spend a weekend together in Fairhope. “Fairhope is the perfect race destination for the whole family,” Callaway continued. “We really want to encourage parents to race in the Grandman on Saturday and then cheer on their children at the kids’ race on Sunday. These events are an important way to get people of all ages outside and expose them to the beautiful natural resources we have in Coastal Alabama.” For Sunday’s race, participants will compete in two different waves according to age. Wave One — the Long Course Super Sprint — is open for children ages 11-15 and consists of a 200-yard swim, 3-mile bike and 1.75 mile run. Racers in this wave will compete in two different categories: Mullets (ages 13-15) and Flounders (ages 11-12). Wave Two — the Short Course — is open for children ages 7-10 and consists of a 75-yard swim, 1-mile bike ride and 0.75 mile run. Racers in this wave will also compete in two different categories: Crabs (ages 9-10) and Shrimp (ages 7-8). Herlihy said Fairhope’s new mayor, Karin Wilson, has competed in previous Grandman races and was one of the original supporters of the kids’ race. Her twin sister, Kelley, has also taken part in the Grandman. To learn more about all the events, to register or to volunteer, visit www.thegrandman.com, send email to jherlihy@mobilebaykeeper.org or call 251-433-4229.

Sports briefs

• Mobile’s Chris Blankenship has been appointed deputy commissioner of the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (ADCNR). For the previous six years, he has served as director of marine resources, a division of ADCNR. Blankenship is a graduate of the University of South Alabama, with a degree in

Photo | Mobile Baykeeper

obile Baykeeper is a well-known environmental group along the Alabama Gulf Coast. Its mission is “to provide citizens a means to protect the beauty, health and heritage of the Mobile Bay Watershed and our coastal communities.” As a nonprofit organization, Baykeeper depends on fundraisers and donations to support its efforts. The biggest event planned so far is the Publix Grandman Triathlon, set for its 13th running on June 3 in Fairhope. “This is the perfect event for us,” Justine Herlihy, Baykeeper’s development director and this year’s race coordinator, said in an interview with Lagniappe. “All of the stages promote what we care about: clean air, clean water, clean communities.” The race will begin as usual at the Fairhope Municipal Pier. Competitors will start jumping into Mobile Bay at 7 a.m. for the one-third of a mile swim to shore. “To help alleviate congestion at the start of the race, we will let the triathletes jump off both finger piers for the first time,” Herlihy said. “Racers have had to stand on the pier for a long time in the past. This should help speed up the course.” Following the swim, racers will bike for 18 miles, first through downtown Fairhope and then across the rolling countryside. The final event is a 3.1-mile run through the streets of downtown, ending back at Fairhope Park. The Publix Grandman Triathlon is a Waterkeeper Alliance Splash Series Event presented nationally by Toyota. Registration is open to individuals and team racers. Because of the race’s popularity, organizers have had to cut off registration at 800. Also taking part are approximately 150 volunteers while close to 1,000 spectators are expected. Activities will begin that Friday with a health and fitness exposition at the pier from 4-7 p.m. A meeting for first-time competitors will take place at 6 p.m. Baykeeper has dedicated charities it supports during the triathlon. Back for the second year is “myTeam Triumph: Southern Alabama.” This is an athletic ride-along program created for children, teens, adults and veterans with disabilities who would normally not be able to experience endurance events such as triathlons or road races. Volunteers assist those in need to complete each section of the course. “It went great last year,” Herlihy said. “We expect at least three or four this year.” Proceeds will also benefit another local nonprofit group, the Delta Bike Project. The exploits of the community bicycle shop dedicated to promoting and improving access to local bicycle transportation have been reported regularly

THE PUBLIX GRANDMAN TRIATHLON INCLUDES A ONE-THIRD MILE SWIM, AN 18MILE BIKE RIDE AND A 3.1-MILE RUN THROUGH THE STREETS OF FAIRHOPE AND ALONG THE BAY. criminal justice. He served as a marine resources enforcement officer before being named division director in 2011. Blankenship, who will relocate to Montgomery with his wife, Allyson, said he expects to continue in his current roles as program administrator of the Alabama Seafood Marketing Commission, chairman of the Shellfish Aquaculture Review Board and chairman of the Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission. • The University of Mobile’s cheerleading squad recently teamed up with One Meal. The group’s mission is to “provide nourishment for body and soul to the homeless and hungry of our community and to give hope and kindness to those in need of a kind word and a friend.” The food is served in the parking lot of St. Louis Street Missionary Baptist Church in downtown Mobile. On average, 150 meals are served every Sunday at 4 p.m. This was the fourth service project for the cheerleaders, who previously have helped at Saraland Elementary School, USA Children’s & Women’s Hospital and Baptist Children’s Home.

STYLE HOROSCOPES SAGITTARIUS CREATES A CULINARY SENSATION

GEMINI (5/21-6/21) — You’ll make a sizeable donation to the ongoing efforts to “Save the Crescent Theater” but be sorely disappointed when the iconic downtown film venue announces it will exclusively screen the works of Adam Sandler through 2018. CANCER (6/22-7/22) — You’ll enter a local charity version of Dancing With the Stars. As a low-level, local, pseudo-celebrity, even being invited to participate will make your week. Your participation won’t end well, as your partner will go to the hospital after a kick to the face. LEO (7/23-8/23) — Misreading the city’s new Future Land Use Map, you’ll apply to construct a boardwalk along the Mobile River. The idea will gain support and be partially constructed, but the plan will run aground when shipping traffic is delayed. The city will sponsor a controlled burn to end the project. VIRGO (8/24-9/22) — White pants after Memorial Day are fine, unless you also wear your patriotic, SpongeBob SquarePants Fourth of July underwear underneath. You’ll cause quite a stir in the neighborhood when everyone can see your red-white-and-blue bikini bottoms. You’ll be discussed at length on the Nextdoor app. LIBRA (9/23-10/22) — A series of downpours in the next couple of weeks will make the street you live on completely impassable by automobile. With clearance from the city, you’ll completely block off the roadway and make it Mobile’s first canal. It will bring tourists from miles around to the rainiest city in the country. SCORPIO (10/23-11/21) — In an effort to make the Grandman Triathlon more challenging, you’ll complete the swim underwater, the cycling portion on a unicycle and the run backwards. Next year, you’ll complete the obstacle course in American Ninja Warrior while hogtied. SAGITTARIUS (11/22-12/22) — Attempting to start a new Memorial Day tradition, you’ll throw a PiChickDog on the grill. That’s a package of hotdogs stuffed into a rotisserie chicken, then wrapped with a $5 hot ‘n’ ready from Little Caesar’s. Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it. CAPRICORN (12/23-1/19) — After simply suggesting the city pull up its Easter lilies and replace them with summer irises, you’ll be assaulted and harassed by a Fairhope politician. You won’t win the resulting lawsuit, but you will receive a gift card for one free latte with the purchase of another. AQUARIUS (1/20-2/18) — Now that the Saturday farmer’s market has returned to Cathedral Square, you can return to the abandoned Mardi Gras Park for nude sunbathing. But stay away from the shadow of the statue of the guy playing a horn — unless you want to explain that odd tan line to your peers. PISCES (2/19-3/20) — A state law mandating Alabama high school students pass a basic civics tests before graduating will backfire when the new requirement gives way to a new generation of better-informed, more-knowledgeable voters who reject political grandstanding and needless mandates at the expense of their flex periods. ARIES (3/21-4/19) — You’ll find yourself behind bars after donating $2 to a GoFundMe account set up by a fugitive running from local police. It will seem harmless enough, but local media will later reveal that a $2 seat on a MegaBus secured the gentleman’s freedom and lost you yours. TAURUS (4/20-5/20) — During your first trip to the beach this year, you’ll neglect to put sunscreen on your shoulders and wind up ruining what would have otherwise been at least six to seven very enjoyable showers. In retaliation, you’ll use Facebook to organize a boycott of the sun.

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STYLE BOOZIE

In true Hangout fashion … BY BOOZIE BEER NUES/SOCIAL BUTTERFLY

hat is going on with this world? Everyone is freaking out about the male romper — which they have right to, those things are just weird — but has anyone thought about how overalls are pretty much a male jumpsuit? That never crossed your mind, did it? Luckily I have no man romper (romp-him?) sightings to report, but I do have other attire to fill you in on, as well as some other gossip. Enjoy!

Letting it all Hangout

I’ve pretty much come to the conclusion I should have been at Hangout Fest this past weekend. I came to this conclusion Saturday night. Major Lazer was probably just taking the stage, and I was watching a man drink beer from a straw and a woman steal sips of her date’s drinks while he was in the bathroom. What a time to be alive, huh? Anyways, the more I thought about it, the more I started thinking, why didn’t I go? Then when the spies’ gossip started rolling in I remembered. Yeah, sure, I still know most of the bands, but there is no way I could keep up with the fashion, if that is the right word for it. I’d probably be what those kids would consider as “old and fat.” Let me explain. I’d probably be wearing clothes that covered … my body. My spy said she saw some of the most interesting swimsuits of her life; she even wondered how some girls got the thing on with all the holes and straps. A few other trends she noticed: Pigtail buns, which are

two buns almost on top of your head. Body chains, as in a chain that is meant to be worn with a swimsuit. (I can hardly keep a chain necklace from tangling so I know a body chain would not work very well for me.) Highwaisted booty shorts. (I mean, makes total sense to cover your hips but show your butt cheeks.) Then probably the worst trend of them all, body glitter! My spy hates glitter as much as I do and she said tons of girls had smeared it on all kinds of places — their chest, face, arms, legs, stomach, everywhere. I don’t even know how you get glitter to stick like that and I don’t care to ever find out. Enough about Hangout fashion trends, time for the reason people were there, the music! The party started off Thursday with an enthusiastic crowd and acts performing on three of Hangout’s six stages. DJ Jazzy Jeff turned it up with a set that included the “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” theme song, and DJ Shaun Frank mixed in a tribute to the late Chris Cornell in his own show. Some of the first crowd surfers appeared in the Boom Boom Tent during Migos’ performance, including one fan who was decked out in a full ghillie suit made of faux marijuana leaves. Friday’s fun included female sibling trio Joseph, who belted out an absurdly good cover of the Rolling Stones’ “Midnight Mile,” and The Strumbellas, who treated a swaying and singing-along crowd to all their hits. Speaking of singalongs, it seemed as if even casual fans knew every word of Weezer’s set, which began with “Hash Pipe” and ended with “The Sweater Song,” “Say it Ain’t So” and “Buddy Holly.” It was hard to hear lead singer

F U T U R E S H O C K

May 25, 2017 - May 31, 2017September 1, 2016 - September 7, 2016

Rivers Cuomo over the crowd, which is a pet a peeve of Boozie’s, I don’t pay to hear the crowd sing. But I’m cranky. Everyone else seemed to enjoy it. Of course, Saturday was an elbow-to-elbow crowd jumping in unison for Major Lazer, a revamped Band of Horses lineup that sounded as good as ever (rain started falling during “The Funeral”) and indie favorites The Head and the Heart. Before Twenty One Pilots were cut short in the middle of “Car Radio” by the weather, they brought Mutemath on stage to collaborate on “Tear in My Heart” and “Lane Boy,” and vocalist Tyler Joseph performed an abbreviated version of Elvis’ “Can’t Help Falling in Love.” The rain gods were in Hangout’s favor and pretty much stayed clear of Gulf Shores Sunday, leaving the festival to be closed out in fine fashion by Shaggy, Chance the Rapper and Mumford & Sons. If you’ve never seen the multitalented Marcus Mumford perform, it’s a sight to behold, as he plays everything from drums to guitar to mandolin to tambourine while also finding time to jump into the crowd and get the audience involved. Highlights included “Little Lion Man,” “Lover of the Light,” “Believe” and a new song that debuted live during the encore called “If I Say.” Look for it on their next album. As always, the festival ended with “Sweet Home Alabama” on the PA and a nearly 10 minute-long fireworks show. I’m already looking forward to next year!

Da da da da da …

Batman! That’s right, Batman was spotted in Mobile! What was he doing? Oh, you know, just pumping gas into his Batmobile (aka a black Lamborghini with the Batman logo on every side). It’s not every day you pull up to a gas station and have Batman next to you. And let me just tell you, this guy wasn’t in some boo-boo Batman costume, this guy looked like the real deal, I’m talking custom-made costume. (Or who knows maybe is was the real caped crusader?) As word got around town that Batman was in Mobile, Boozie quickly found out he was in town visiting children at USA Children’s and Women’s Hospital. Boozie thought maybe he’d heard about Mayor Sandy Stimpson’s commitment to make Mobile the safest city and was here to help. Well, kids, that’s all I’ve got this week. Just remember, whether rain or shine, dramatic or scandalous or just some plain ol’ Hangout lovin’, I will be there. Ciao!

LAGNIAPPE LEGALS | 251.450-4466 | legals@lagniappemobile.com PROBATE NOTICE OF ESTATE ADMINISTRATION PROBATE COURT OF MOBILE COUNTY, ALABAMA Estate of: MARY ANN HERRING, Deceased Case No. 2017-0908 Take notice that Letters Testamentary have been granted to the below named party on the 16th day of May, 2017 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. MARY HERRING POWNALL as Executrix under the last will and testament of MARY ANN HERRING, Deceased. Attorney of Record: MICHAEL S. MCNAIR Lagniappe HD May 25, June 1, 8, 2017.

NOTICE OF ESTATE ADMINISTRATION PROBATE COURT OF MOBILE COUNTY, ALABAMA Estate of: DE’LAUNA KION ANDERSON Case No. 2017-0267 Take notice that Letters of Administration have been granted to the below named party on the 16th day of May, 2017 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. ZOLIA C. ANDERSON as Administratrix of the estate of DE’LAUNA KION ANDERSON, deceased. Attorney of Record: JAMES D. WILSON, Esq. Lagniappe HD May 25, June 1, 8, 2017.

NOTICE OF ESTATE ADMINISTRATION PROBATE COURT OF MOBILE COUNTY, ALABAMA Estate of: MARIE CELINE KAHALLEY, Deceased Case No. 2017-0294 Take notice that Letters Testamentary have been granted to the below named party on the 2nd day of May, 2017 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. DEBORAH MARIE KAHALLEY KALIFEH as Executrix under the last will and testament of MARIE CELINE KAHALLEY, Deceased. Attorney of Record: BRAXTON C. COUNTS Lagniappe HD May 11, 18, 25, 2017.

NOTICE OF ESTATE ADMINISTRATION PROBATE COURT OF MOBILE COUNTY, ALABAMA Estate of: PEARLIE D. JOHNSON, Deceased Case No. 2017-0188 Take notice that Letters Testamentary have been granted to the below named party on the 8th day of May, 2017 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. MECHELE JOHNSON PICHON as Executrix under the last will and testament of PEARLIE D. JOHNSON, Deceased. Attorney of Record: PRO SE Lagniappe HD May 18, 25, June 1, 2017.

NOTICE OF ESTATE ADMINISTRATION PROBATE COURT OF MOBILE COUNTY, ALABAMA Estate of: M.B. BLAKENEY, Deceased Case No. 2017-0783 Take notice that Letters Testamentary have been granted to the below named party on the 1st day of May, 2017 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. JAMES MCWHORTER and LAURIE OWEN as Co-Executors under the last will and testament of M.B. BLAKENEY, Deceased. Attorney of Record: MELISSA POSEY FURMAN Lagniappe HD May 11, 18, 25, 2017.

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. JAMES MCWHORTER and LAURIE OWEN as Co-Executors under the last will and testament of M.B. BLAKENEY, Deceased. Attorney of Record: MELISSA POSEY FURMAN Lagniappe HD May 11, 18, 25, 2017.

NOTICE OF ESTATE ADMINISTRATION PROBATE COURT OF MOBILE COUNTY, ALABAMA Estate of: GLADYS EZELL ROBINSON, Deceased Case No. 2017-0304 Take notice that Letters Testamentary have been granted to the below named party on the 8th day of May, 2017 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. JANICE ROBINSON THOMAS and GREEN THOMAS JR. as Co-Executors under the last will and testament of GLADYS EZELL ROBINSON, Deceased. Attorney of Record: JEROME C. CARTER Lagniappe HD May 18, 25, June 1, 2017.

NOTICE OF COURT PROCEEDING May 18, 2017 Case No. 2016-1595 IN THE PROBATE COURT OF MOBILE COUNTY, ALABAMA CHANGE OF NAME FOR MINOR On to-wit the 31st day of July, 2017 at 9:30 AM in COURTROOM 1, THIRD FLOOR, Mobile County Government Center Annex, 151 Government Street the court will proceed to consider the CHANGE OF NAME FOR MINOR as filed by CHRISTINA L. WILLIAMS. NOTICE is hereby given to all parties in interest, specifically RONALD GOINS, JR. who may appear and contest same or file a proper responsive pleading thereto if they then think proper. DON DAVIS, Judge of Probate. Attorney Name and Address: MICHAEL S. MCNAIR, 2151 GOVERNMENT STREET, MOBILE, AL 36606 Lagniappe HD May 25, June 1, 8, 15, 2017.

NOTICE OF COURT PROCEEDING IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF MOBILE COUNTY, ALABAMA CASE NO. CV-2017-000083 ESTATE OF BERNIE LEON NEWBERRY Letters Testamentary on the estate of said deceased having been granted to the undersigned on the 5th day of May 2017, by the Honorable James C. Wood, Circuit Court Judge of Mobile County, notice is hereby given that all persons having claims against said estate are hereby required to present the same within time allowed by law or the same will be barred. Ginny Newberry Personal Representative. Deena R. Tyler P. O. Box 6 Mobile, AL 36601 Lagniappe HD May 18, 25, June 1, 2017

NOTICE OF COURT PROCEEDING April 18, 2017 Case No. 2015-0200-3 IN THE PROBATE COURT OF MOBILE COUNTY, ALABAMA Estate of JAMES E. KNIGHT, Deceased On to-wit the 24th day of July, 2017 at 2:00 PM in COURTROOM 1, THIRD FLOOR, Mobile County Government Center Annex, 151 Government Street the court will proceed to consider the FINAL SETTLEMENT as filed by TERESA KNIGHT. NOTICE is hereby given to all parties in interest who may appear and contest same or file a proper responsive pleading thereto if they then think proper. DON DAVIS, Judge of Probate. Attorney: HENDRIK S. SNOW 50 ST. EMANUEL ST, MOBILE, ALABAMA 36602. Lagniappe HD May 18, 25, June 1, 8, 2017

ADVERTISEMENT FOR BIDS Notice is hereby given that the University of South Alabama (Owner) will accept sealed Bids for the following Work: HOT WATER PIPING REPLACEMENT TO STUDENT HOUSING PHASE III University of South Alabama Mobile, Alabama USA JOB NO. 17-36 USA BID NO. 7042801 Bids will be received and clocked in at 2:00 p.m. local time on Tuesday, June 6, 2017, in Room AD245 of the USA Administration Building, 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 (5) 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 Purchasing Department 307 University Blvd, N., AD245 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 10:00 a.m. local time on Tuesday, May 30, 2017, in Room AD023 of the Administration Building. Those in attendance will include the Owner, Engineer, and Consultants. Contract bidders, subcontractors and suppliers are encouraged to attend. A tour of the Project site is scheduled immediately after the conference All questions concerning the Project should be submitted in writing to the Project Manager at the address listed below. 307 University Blvd. N., AD001 Mobile, AL 36688 PH# (251) 460-6165 FX# (251) 461-1370 dstrain@ southalabama.edu Lagniappe HD May 18, 25, June 1, 2017

ADVERTISEMENT FOR BIDS Notice is hereby given that the University of South Alabama (Owner) will accept sealed Bids for the following Work: CENTRAL UTILITIES PLANT ROOF REPLACEMENT University of South Alabama Mobile, Alabama USA JOB NO. 16-51 BID NO. 7022101 Bids will be received and clocked in at 2:00 p.m. local time from Prequalified Contractors on Thursday, June 8, 2017, in Room AD245 of the USA Administration Building, 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 (5) 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 Purchasing Department 307 University Blvd, N., AD245 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 Thursday, June 1, 2017, at 10:00 a.m. local time, in Room AD 023 of the Administration Building. Those in attendance will include the Owner, Engineer, and Consultants. Contract bidders, subcontractors and suppliers are encouraged to attend. A tour of the Project site is scheduled immediately after the conference All questions concerning the Project should be submitted in writing to the Project Manager at the address listed below. 307 University Blvd. N., AD001 Mobile, AL 36688 PH# (251) 341-3860 FX# (251) 461-1370 rcorrigan@southalabama.edu Lagniappe HD May 11, 18, 25, 2017

NOTICE OF SALE The following unclaimed vehicle(s) will be sold on June 23, 2017 - Time - 12pm, if not claimed - at 7960 Two Mile Rd., Irvington, AL 36544. 2003 Dodge Ram Truck 1D7HA18N23S286003 Lagniappe HD May 18, 25, 2017

The following unclaimed vehicle(s) will be sold on June 23, 2017 - Time - 12pm, if not claimed - at 2406 St Stephens Rd., Mobile, AL 36617. 1998 Buick Century 2G4WS52M0W1614055

The following unclaimed vehicle(s) will be sold on June 23, 2017 - Time - 12pm, if not claimed - at 82 Plantation Pointe Rd., Fairhope, AL 36532. 2005 Honda Civic 1HGEM22015L062033 Lagniappe HD May 18, 25, 2017

The following unclaimed vehicle(s) will be sold on June 23, 2017 - Time - 12pm, if not claimed - at 105 Border Circle East, Mobile, AL 36608. 1988 Saab 900 YS3AT76L4J7041982 2007 Volkswagen Passat WVWJK73C37P066007 Lagniappe HD May 18, 25, 2017

THESE ABANDONED VEHICLES WILL BE SOLD ON 06/22/2017 AT 9AM AT 5781 THREE NOTCH RD MOBILE AL. 36619 HONDA 1HGCD713XRA028657 FORD 1FMYU03134KB55644 TOY JTMZD33V076041336 CHEV 1GTCS14R7M8544816 JEEP 1J4G258S1XC593950 18, 25, 2017 Lagniappe HD May

The following unclaimed vehicle(s) will be sold on June 30, 2017 - Time - 12pm, if not claimed - at 4763 Lott Rd., Eight Mile, AL 36613. 2003 Chevrolet Impala 2G1WF52E239399673 2011 GMC Terrain 2CTALMEC5B6379808 Lagniappe HD May 25, June 1, 2017

The following unclaimed vehicle(s) will be sold on June 30, 2017 - Time - 12pm, if not claimed - at13908 Hwy 90, Loxley, AL 36551. 2002 Toyota Tacoma 5TEGM92NX2Z070561 Lagniappe HD May 25, June 1, 2017

The following unclaimed vehicle(s) will be sold on June 30, 2017 - Time - 12pm, if not claimed - at 16840 Lancaster Lane, Bay Minette, AL 36507. 2001 Chevrolet Silverado 1GCHC29G51E299558 2009 Pontiac G6 1G2ZH57N594102936 Lagniappe HD May 25, June 1, 2017

The following unclaimed vehicle(s) will be sold on June 30, 2017 - Time - 12pm, if not claimed - at 418 Crenshaw St., Mobile, AL 36606. 1997 Honda Accord 1HGCD5634VA052508 Lagniappe HD May 25, June 1, 2017

The following unclaimed vehicle(s) will be sold on June 30, 2017 - Time - 12pm, if not claimed - at 751 Schillinger Rd. N., Mobile, AL 36608. 2012 Hyundai Sonata 5NPEC4AC4CH402852 Lagniappe HD May 25, June 1, 2017

The following unclaimed vehicle(s) will be sold on June 30, 2017 - Time - 12pm, if not claimed - at 6425 Spanish Fort Blvd., Spanish Fort, AL 36527. 2001 Ford LGT Convt 1FTRW07W61KD78846 1998 Mercury Sable 1MEFM50U8WA652736 Lagniappe HD May 25, June 1, 2017

The following unclaimed vehicle(s) will be sold on June 23, 2017 - Time - 12pm, if not claimed - at 2719 Moot Ave., Mobile, AL 36606. 2012 Yamaha YZFR6BW JYARJ16E2CA025991

The following unclaimed vehicle(s) will be sold on June 30, 2017 - Time - 12pm, if not claimed - at 608 South Wilson Ave., Prichard, AL 36610. 2004 Kia Sedona KNDUP131X46525559 2007 Hyundai Accent KMHCN46C07U117163

Lagniappe HD May 18, 25, 2017

Lagniappe HD May 25, June 1, 2017

The following unclaimed vehicle(s) will be sold on June 23, 2017 - Time - 12pm, if not claimed - at 7880 Crary Station Rd., Semmes, AL 36575. 2005 Chevrolet Silverado 1GCEC14X05Z347230

The following unclaimed vehicle(s) will be sold on June 30, 2017 - Time - 12pm, if not claimed - at 2550 Masters Ct., Mobile, AL 36618. 2009 Toyota Camry 4T4BE46K19R123243

Lagniappe HD May 18, 25, 2017

Lagniappe HD May 25, June 1, 2017

The following unclaimed vehicle(s) will be sold on June 23, 2017 - Time - 12pm, if not claimed - at 18786 Old Brady Rd., Bay Minette, AL 36507. 2004 Mercury Monterey 2MRDA20234BJ17732

The following unclaimed vehicle(s) will be sold on June 30, 2017 - Time - 12pm, if not claimed - at 1713 Marengo Dr., Mobile, AL 36605. 1992 Volvo 240 YV1AS8810N1473984

Lagniappe HD May 18, 25, 2017

Deadline for legal advertising in Lagniappe HD is every Monday at 3 p.m. Lagniappe HD is distributed each Thursday. Lagniappe HD offices are located at 1100B Dauphin St. Mobile, AL 36604. For more information or to place your ad call Jackie at 251-450-4466. Or email at legals@lagniappemobile.com

Lagniappe HD May 25, June 1, 2017

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