2 | L AG N I A P P E | D e c e m b e r 5 , 2 0 1 8 - D e c e m b e r 1 1 , 2 0 1 8
WEEKLY
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••
LAGNIAPPE
D E C E M B E R 5 , 2 0 1 8 - D E C E M B E R 1 1 , 2 0 1 8 | w w w. l a g n i a p p e m o b i l e . c o m ASHLEY TRICE Co-publisher/Editor atrice@lagniappemobile.com
ROB HOLBERT Co-publisher/Managing Editor rholbert@lagniappemobile.com GABRIEL TYNES Assistant Managing Editor gabe@lagniappemobile.com DALE LIESCH Reporter dale@lagniappemobile.com JASON JOHNSON Reporter jason@lagniappemobile.com
4 12 17
KEVIN LEE Associate Editor/Arts Editor klee@lagniappemobile.com ANDY MACDONALD Cuisine Editor fatmansqueeze@comcast.net
BAY BRIEFS
An 80-year-old serial killer currently incarcerated in Texas for other murders confessed to two cold case homicides in Mobile dating back to 1984.
COMMENTARY
Fighting back against the scammers.
BUSINESS
Creative marketing firm Hummingbird & South recently hired two new employees to staff an office in Birmingham.
18
CUISINE
Between all the ham, turkey and red meat of the holiday season, simple, fresh, nearlyraw tuna finds a welcome place at the table.
STEPHEN CENTANNI Music Editor scentanni@lagniappemobile.com STEPHANIE POE Copy Editor copy@lagniappemobile.com DANIEL ANDERSON Chief Photographer dan@danandersonphoto.com LAURA MATTEI Art Director www.laurarasmussen.com BROOKE O’DONNELL Advertising Sales Executive brooke@lagniappemobile.com BETH WOOLSEY Advertising Sales Executive bwilliams@lagniappemobile.com DAVID GRAYSON Advertising Sales Executive david@lagniappemobile.com SUZANNE SAWYER Advertising Sales Executive suzanne@lagniappemobile.com STAN ANDERSON Distribution Manager delivery@lagniappemobile.com JACKIE CRUTHIRDS Office Manager legals@lagniappemobile.com CONTRIBUTORS: J. Mark Bryant, Asia Frey, Brian Holbert, Randy Kennedy, Alice Marty, Jo Anne McKnight, John Mullen, Jeff Poor, Ken Robinson, Ron Sivak ON THE COVER: TERROR AT SEA BY LAURA MATTEI LAGNIAPPE HD Periodicals Permit #17660 (Volume 4, Issue 10) Copyright 2015 is published weekly, 52 issues a year, by Something Extra Publishing, Inc., 704 Government St., Mobile, AL 36604 (P.O. Box 3003 Mobile, AL 36652). Business and Editorial Offices: 704 Government St., Mobile, AL 36604 Accounting and Circulation Offices: 704 Government St., Mobile, AL 36602. Call 251-450-4466 to subscribe. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to P.O. Box 3003 Mobile, AL 36652 Editorial, advertising and production offices are located at 704 Government St., Mobile, AL 36602. Mailing address is P.O. Box 3003 Mobile, AL 36652. Phone: 251-450-4466 Email: atrice@lagniappemobile.com LAGNIAPPE HD is printed at Walton Press. All rights reserved. Something Extra Publishing, Inc. Nothing may be reprinted. photocopied or in any way reproduced without the expressed permission of the publishers.
For Lagniappe home delivery visit
www.lagniappemobile.com/lagniappehd
20
COVER
What began as a routine commercial fishing trip ended with the captain and first mate bleeding and treading water in the Gulf of Mexico, and a crew member on the boat with a knife and guns.
26 28 ARTS
The Mobile Symphony Orchestra has a holiday feast for eyes and ears at the Saenger in mid-December.
34 36 40 44
MUSIC
One of Mobile’s most charming holiday traditions, “A Charlie Brown Jazz Christmas,” returns to the Saenger Theater for its 10th anniversary installment Dec. 8.
FILM
Every minute of the Coen Brothers’ “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs” is brilliant — spectacular looking and mind bogglingly well-written.
GARDENING
If you’re a new gardener, deciding which catalogs offer varieties adapted to the southeastern United States can be difficult.
SPORTS
According to its annual report, the Mobile Sports Authority attracted, supported, and/or hosted a total of 29 sports events generating an estimated $22,467,000 in the Mobile area economy.
STYLE
The 10th annual Semmes Christmas Tour highlights home décor, food and holiday spirit Dec. 8 beginning at Allentown Elementary School.
December 5, 2018 - December 11, 2018
| L AG N I A P P E | 3
BAYBRIEF | CRIME
A ‘monster’ in Mobile SERIAL KILLER CONFESSES TO 1984 COLD CASE MURDERS BY JASON JOHNSON
L
ocal investigators say a Texas inmate who’s spent months confessing to killings across the United States has implicated himself in two murders in Mobile that have remained unsolved for 34 years. If what he’s told authorities is true, Samuel Little, 78, would be among the most prolific serial killers in United States’ history. Since May, he’s confessed to at least 90 murders in multiple states between 1970 and 2005. Little began making his confessions in exchange for a prison transfer earlier this year. At the time, he was already serving three consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole following a 2014 conviction for three homicides in California between 1987 and 1989. He is currently incarcerated in Wise County, Texas. Authorities first announced Little’s confessions earlier this month, but the Federal Bureau of Investigation reported last week its Violent Criminal Apprehension Program (ViCAP) has confirmed 34 murders so far, with many others still pending confirmation. The Mobile Police Department says two of those confessions were to a pair of murders occurring in Mobile on the same night in 1984. Little hasn’t been formally charged by local authorities, but police say he has confessed to the unsolved killings of Ida Mae Campbell and Hannah Mae Bonner. According to Maj. John Barber, head of MPD’s investigative operations, police believe Bonner and Campbell were both abducted on the night of Aug. 11, 1984, but at different times. The victims’ families told investigators the women were friends, but the exact circumstances of their separate disappearances are unclear. “Ms. Bonner was found on Aug. 13 in a ditch off of
what was Buccaneer Road in the Rangeline Road area. It was a dirt road at the time,” Barber told Lagniappe. “Ms. Campbell was not found until Sept. 6, and she was also found off a dirt road near what is now Halls Mill Road.” The FBI says, if the confessions are true, one of the reasons Little may have evaded capture for so long could have been that his method of killing didn’t always leave obvious signs of a homicide. Little, a one-time competitive boxer, usually stunned or knocked out his victims with powerful punches before strangling them. With no visible wounds, many of the deaths were not classified as homicides but were attributed to drug overdoses, accidents or natural causes, according to the FBI. Bonner’s death was investigated as a homicide, and the suspected cause of death does fit Little’s self-proclaimed modus operandi. However, because of the condition of her body, Campbell’s cause of death couldn’t be determined. “Bonner’s cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head and asphyxiation,” Barber said. “But, when Campbell was found, due to the amount of time, there were mostly only remains, and investigators at the time could not determine a cause of death because of those conditions.” In a news release, the FBI reported Little has had trouble remembering the exact time of the murders he’s confessed to but recalls vivid details of each. Yet, based on the information released by the FBI so far, Little could have easily been in Mobile in 1984. Little is said to have lived a “nomadic life,” drifting from city to city including several along the Gulf coast. He has confessed to multiple killings in Florida, one in Georgia and five in Mississippi, all reported in 1984. Some were as close as Pascagoula and Gulfport, Mis-
4 | L AG N I A P P E | D e c e m b e r 5 , 2 0 1 8 - D e c e m b e r 1 1 , 2 0 1 8
sissippi. The FBI reported Little was also charged with killing women in Mississippi and Florida in the early 1980s, but escaped indictment in Mississippi and then dodged a conviction after a trial in Florida. According to Barber, after hearing from federal investigators, a detective was sent to Texas to interview Little earlier this month. During the interview, Little gave “intimate” information to the detective about Campbell and Bonner’s murders. “He gave information about both women, as far as what happened and where their bodies were dumped, to the extent that we believe he had to have been involved in the crime,” he added. Asked whether Little could be a suspect in any other unsolved murders from the Mobile area, Barber said it was doubtful given how forthcoming he’s been with investigators. However, he said MPD would continue reviewing cold cases from the time to make sure. Additionally, Barber said the information collected by local investigators would soon be presented to a Mobile County grand jury to consider an indictment. That could ultimately be a symbolic gesture, though, as Little is nearing 80 years old and will likely be facing dozens of new charges in states across the country. Still, Barber said it’s important to go through the proper processes for the victims’ families. “Realistically, he would probably never see the inside of a courtroom in Alabama, but we think it’s important for these families to continue with the closure process,” he concluded. Lagniappe reached out to members of Bonner’s family, but did not receive a response in time for this publication’s press deadline. However, Bonner’s daughter, Glory Bonner, has spoken publicly about Little’s confessions in previous interviews and on social media. “Even though my love we might not get complete justice, you can now R.I.P my lady,” Glory bonner wrote on Facebook Monday. “We [no] longer have to wonder who, what, why? The day he took you, that’s the day our life was never the same.” Glory, who was just 8 years old when her mother was murdered, also expressed frustration with a criminal justice system she suggested could have prevented her mother’s death by convicting Little years before he wandered into Mobile. In a recent post that appears to be addressing her deceased mother, Bonner wrote, even though Little “stole your life, stole you from us, robbed us of having that mother’s love, I blame the system who let this monster out over and over again!” “I just don’t understand,” she added. “How could nothing take so much?”
BAYBRIEF | MOBILE
Stalled out
MIDTOWN CAR WASH DECISION DELAYED
C
BY DALE LIESCH
iting the complicated nature of the under contract. decision, the city’s Board of Zoning Myers applied for the PUD, which was iniAdjustment delayed a vote on a variance tially recommended for approval, Pipes said. to allow a car wash at the southeast “No one mentioned it was limited to a bank intersection of Dauphin Street and Sage Avenue or drug store,” Pipes said. “It was zoned B2. during its meeting on Monday, Dec. 3. There was no voluntary use restriction from Instead, the board will likely vote at the next 2008.” meeting, slated for Jan. 7. At issue is the amount In 2016, the original PUD was approved and of paperwork attached to property development Myers bought the property for $675,000. The proposals dating back a decade. project was delayed because of the placement of “This is probably one of the more complicat- trees on the property and the PUD expired. Myed applications we’ve received since I’ve been ers re-applied in 2018 and sparked the interest on the board,” member Jeremy Milling said. of neighbors, Pipes said. Casey Pipes, an attorney for applicant Robert “It was the same car wash with a different Myers, asked the board to consider two items on road on it to avoid trees,” he said. “The car wash its agenda. The first was an administrative apwas denied.” peal of a decision to limit the commercial classiPipes argued nothing between 2016 and 2018 fication of the property to the proper zoning for had changed, except for the Planning Commisa bank or drug store. sion members’ minds. Board Chairman Wil“It’s … unjust and unfair liam Guess said the group to stick him with a lot would not consider the that was downzoned after appeal because it was a the fact,” he said. “The decision of the Planning hardship is he has over Commission upheld by the $675,000 in this property CITING THE COMPLICATED City Council and the BZA that’s essentially worthNATURE OF THE DECISION, was not the proper venue less.” for it. The only remedy — THE CITY’S BOARD OF ZONPipes then requested the aside from the current board hear arguments on ING ADJUSTMENT DELAYED hearing — is to sue the why Myers was entitled to city, Pipes said, but they A VOTE ON A VARIANCE TO a variance. Guess agreed it were trying to avoid that. was appropriate. Donald Stewart, an ALLOW A CAR WASH AT THE The issue goes back to attorney representing 2008 when the property SOUTHEAST INTERSECTION OF neighbors of at least two was originally zoned comnearby neighborhoods, DAUPHIN STREET AND SAGE said allowing the car wash mercial. At first residents were notified the property AVENUE DURING ITS MEETING with 36 vacuum stalls to would be rezoned to allow operate year-round would a bank and a drug store. be “a profoundly bad ON MONDAY, DEC. 3. When a first batch of idea.” However, he argued notifications were mailed, the legal merits of the words were added implyneighbors’ case. Stewart ing all other commercial uses would be apsaid there’s a “high threshold” to grant a variplicable, attorney Jim Rossler told the Planning ance and potential “economic loss” cannot be Commission in May. considered. He added there is no evidence the However, the initial hearing in 2008 was held property is “worthless,” as Pipes claims. over and a second batch of letters were mailed “He doesn’t have an economic loss and even alerting residents to the commercial rezoning if he did that wouldn’t be the basis for a varifor a bank, this time without the caveat, Rossler ance,” Stewart said. “He may or may not have a said. The agenda for the meeting at the time claim for damages, but he’s not entitled to a use only mentioned the bank rezoning as well. The variance.” City Council ultimately approved the rezoning, In a short rebuttal, Pipes argued while Rossler said. The city advertised it and sent out economic loss is not normally considered for written notices again. Once again, he said, the a use variance, it can “when the burden is not notices only referred to a bank. common to the public at large.” In this case, The confusion over notifications means that Pipes argued Myers did suffer differently than a previous, unrelated state Supreme Court ruling the public would, given he initially got all the applies, Rossler argued. In what he referred to approvals he needed and a car wash is normally as the “Roadhouse Grill case,” Rossler said the allowed in a B2 zoning area. state’s high court used evidence of a similar Several residents spoke against the varinotification problem to void the zoning to allow ance, including Rose McPhillips, a relative of a restaurant. The Planning Commission voted the original owners of the former Graf Dairy along a tight 6-4 margin to reject the planned property. She has been present at a number of unit development for the car wash. previous hearings about the property and says Rossler, who is working on the city’s behalf, she doesn’t remember getting notice in 2016, was in attendance at Monday’s meeting but did despite living within 300 feet of the property. not speak and was not asked any questions. Planner Margaret Pappas told the board the Pipes admitted the variance request Myers 2016 notice wouldn’t have mentioned a car was seeking was “unnecessary” because the wash because it was to allow a shared driveway. hardship was caused by the city. In looking for McPhillips said even if it had not mentioned the property for the car wash, Myers settled on the car wash she would’ve looked it up. commercially zoned piece at the intersection The board could vote as early as the next of Dauphin Street and Sage Avenue and put it scheduled meeting on Monday, Jan. 7, 2019. D e c e m b e r 5 , 2 0 1 8 - D e c e m b e r 1 1 , 2 0 1 8 | L AG N I A P P E | 5
BAYBRIEF | MOBILE COUNTY
Creola councilman acquitted ALLEGED ‘GUN POINTING’ INCIDENT RESOLVED BY JASON JOHNSON
C
reola City Councilman Harold Martin was acquitted of a misdemeanor menacing charge at a Dec. 3 bench trial after prosecutors choose not to call on a man once thought to be a crucial witness. Martin was accused of brandishing a gun during a heated conversation with fellow Councilman Ralph Avis Walker outside the Creola Police Department last November. Martin and Walker both agreed in court that the subject of their Nov. 30, 2017, conversation was Martin’s wife. That’s about where the similarities in the two men’s version of events stop, though. Walker has maintained that, while seated in his truck, Martin pulled a handgun from his pocket and put it in his lap so it was pointed in Walker’s direction while telling him to stop “bullying my wife.” On the stand, though, Martin maintained he never touched a gun while speaking with Walker that day, and added, while he is a gun owner, he doesn’t own the kind of nickel-plated .22 caliber pistol Walker described in court and wouldn’t keep it stowed in his pocket if he did. No physical evidence was ever submitted to the court, and there was also no security camera footage available from outside the police station on the day of the incident. According to Creola Police Chief Harold D. Kirkland’s testimony, it would have long been recorded over by the time it was requested in a subpoena from Martin’s lawyers, and even if the footage had been preserved, the cameras wouldn’t have caught the incident clearly. After about an hour of testimony, Mobile County District Court Judge Jill Phillips found Martin not guilty because, according to her, the state ultimately failed to
meet its burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt. “I feel very relieved,” Martin’s attorney, Buzz Jordan, said after the verdict. “[Martin] is committed to the city of Creola as a councilman. He and Mr. Walker were friends, and they haven’t had any incidents before or after. I think everything is going to be fine going forward.” Jordan appeared to build Martin’s defense upon the lack of tangible evidence presented by state prosecutors and the way Alabama law defines menacing — any physical action “that places or attempts to place another person in fear of imminent serious physical injury.” Walker was asked many times how how he felt when Martin purportedly pulled out a pistol and laid it in his lap while speaking to him, but he gave varying answers at different times. At first, he redirected the question, asking Assistant District Attorney Beth Stepan: “How would you like for one of your friends to pull a gun on you?” He later said it “made me a little angry.” However, when Jordan pressed the issue further, it caused a particularly heated exchange during Walker’s cross examination. “I’m not interested in answering your questions anymore,” Walker told Jordan at one point. After being reminded by Phillips he was a sworn witness in a criminal trial and had to answer questions, Walker told the court: “No, I wasn’t scared of Martin.” He also testified he’d regularly attended council meetings since the incident occured. While the trial wound up being one man’s word against another’s, that wasn’t always supposed to be the case. Former Creola Police Sgt. Donald Turberville was,
6 | L AG N I A P P E | D e c e m b e r 5 , 2 0 1 8 - D e c e m b e r 1 1 , 2 0 1 8
at one point, a potential witness for the prosecution because he signed the criminal complaint against Martin leading to his criminal charge. But while Turberville attended the trial, he was never called to testify. Stepan did not take questions after the verdict was handed down, but Jordan told reporters he believes prosecutors realized Turberville would not have been a credible witness because of recent accusations that he fabricated a report about being shot at in the line of duty. Turberville reported being fired upon by a unidentifiable motorist during a traffic stop in Creola in the early hours of Nov. 12. However, an external investigation by the Mobile County Sheriff’s Office immediately raised questions about Turberville’s claims. While he initially stuck by his story after refusing two chances to take a polygraph test, days later Turberville admitted things “did not happen the way [he] said” they did. He resigned from his position with the Creola Police Department late last month. “As those incidents have occured recently with the [MCSO] investigation, I think the DAs realized he wouldn’t be a very believable or credible witness,” Jordan added. “So, they did not want to call him.” Trial testimony also raised issues about the veracity of Turberville’s claims against Martin. In Alabama, an officer can only arrest someone for a misdemeanor if it occurs in the officer’s presence. Given that he signed a sworn complaint and then later told reporters he witnessed the Nov. 30, 2017, incident, Turberville was long believed to have been an eyewitness. However, according to Walker, Turberville was not present at the truck when Martin allegedly pulled a gun on him that day, and only found out about it when he told him afterward. Walker said he was asked if he wanted to press charges against Martin at the time but declined. In all, Jordan said the case brought against Martin has been one of the strangest he’s handled in his legal career. “I’m suspecting that somewhere along the line this has some political background, and we may never be aware of how this came about,” Jordan said. “This whole thing has been strange from the first day, and you’d have to ask Mr. Turberville about that.” Martin didn’t personally take questions from reporters after the trial, while Walker spoke briefly t0 say he still “can’t believe” Martin’s behavior on the day in question. Walker said he wouldn’t let the incident or the trial impact city business, but added he’d be keeping his distance from Martin.
BAYBRIEF | MOBILE COUNTY
Sorry, wrong number FEDERAL AUTHORITIES LOOK TO REGULATE INVASIVE ROBOCALLS BY JASON JOHNSON
I
f it feels like you’ve been receiving more frequent calls about extended car warranties you don’t have, credit cards you don’t want or fines you supposedly haven’t paid, you’re not alone. According to a study released in September by communications data firm First Orion, nearly 45 percent of all calls to cell phones in the United States will be connected to some type of scam by early 2019 — a drastic increase from the 3.7 percent the firm reported just a year ago. A large percentage of calls documented in 2017 used pre-recorded “robocalls,” many featuring a newer tactic called “neighbor spoofing.” Spoofing, for short, is when an out-of-town caller deliberately takes steps to falsify information sent to a phone’s caller ID display in order appear as a local number. But while the frequency of these calls may be increasing, federal agencies, wireless carriers and other private industries are also ramping up efforts to combat the annoying trend. “We get somewhere between 450,000 or 550,000 calls per months about unwanted calls,” Ian Barlow, coordinator of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC’s) Do Not Call Program said. “In terms of spoofing specifically, we don’t have concrete numbers because a lot of consumers don’t even know that term to report it. A lot of them may not even know a number has been faked.” While many cell phone users have ignored “No Caller ID” or “Unknown” numbers for years, the growing trend of spoofed calls has caught some off guard. Often, spoofed calls will appear as a number with the same area code and prefix as the call recipient. Some people may be able to easily let those calls go to voicemail, but ignoring the calls may not be an option for parents with children in local schools, professions relying
upon interaction with the public, or businesses which communicate with customers using company cell phones. According to Barlow, both the FTC and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) have been working to address the rise of spoofing, though he did note, while spoofing is illegal in most every case, not everyone using the tactic is running an illegal scam. “These telemarketers or frauders are using numbers they [don’t have] the authority to use, but with that said, it may not be a fraudulent product they’re selling,” he added. “It could be a legitimate company like Dish Network, which the FTC sued [in 2009].” The lawsuit resulted in a $280 million civil penalty against Dish Network in 2017, accusing the company of, among other things, using “robocalls” to deliver prerecorded telemarketing messages and calling consumers registered on the FTC’s “Do Not Call” list. Barlow said it’s illegal to place telemarketing calls to anyone on the “Do Not Call” list and it also violates FTC rules to use “robocalls” to sell a product. However, the same does not apply to general calls, political calls and calls seeking input on public surveys. “At the FTC, we’ve filed 140 cases related to Do Not Call, robocall and spoofing violations in recent years,” Barlow said. “We’ve sued 165 corporate entities and 374 individuals. We’ve recovered over $1.6 billion in judgements and have actually collected more than $121 million.” According to its website, the FTC has initiated cases or proceedings against 27 companies in the past month alone, and the FCC has been similarly aggressive in enforcement. Earlier this year, it issued a $120 million fine against a single individual in Florida for allegedly making close to 100 million automated calls offering unsolicited vacation deals.
While the fines might seem excessive, there’s already broad support among law enforcement officials for increasing them. In October, attorneys general from 35 states signed a letter to the FCC urging it to continue to crackdown on spoofing and to consider harsher penalties. Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall was not among those who signed the letter. While legal action can help stop individual and corporate offenders, Barlow said law enforcement alone isn’t going to solve the problem. Thus, the FTC works to educate consumers and to support industry-backed solutions from telecom companies. Third-party call blocking applications have been available for cell phones for some time, but aren’t always effective at blocking “spoofed” calls. However, some companies are already in the process of adopting new technology standards specifically addressing spoofed calls. A handful of wireless carriers have been working to implement Secure Telephony Identity Revisited (STIR) technology standards and a system to govern their use that could help ensure incoming calls have the authority to use the number appearing on a caller ID in real time. Yet, adopting STIR standards is voluntary and won’t prevent unwanted calls. Instead, it aims to allow participating carriers to warn customers when the origin of an incoming call can’t be properly verified — which Barlow said should be a “big red flag.” “Certain carriers say they’re planning to start implementing [STIR] by the end of this year and into early 2019,” He added. “The hope is, even though it’s voluntarily, that it will be popular with consumers and eventually more carriers will have to implement it in order to complete.” Unwanted calls may always be an annoyance consumers have to accept, but Barlow said the FTC has made significant efforts to educate the public so fewer people fall victim to predatory phone scams. He said common calls to be weary of include: pre-recorded messages soliciting money, calls asking consumers to pay for something using prepaid cards or money transfers and callers who claim to know personal information like, “We know you’re having trouble with your computer.” It’s also important to note, even when consumers realize they may have received a scam call, prolonging the time of the call in hopes of annoying the perpetrator or by following prompts to be put on “do not call” list can trigger even more calls in the future. “Our consumer education points of emphasis have been: register your number at donotcall.gov, hang up on any unwanted or illegal calls, report unwanted calls the FTC or the FCC and consider some type of call blocking application,” Barlow said. “We value the consumer complaints we receive, because the more complaint data we get from the public, the better.”
December 5, 2018 - December 11, 2018
| L AG N I A P P E | 7
BAYBRIEF | MOBILE
Funding punt MAYOR WON’T GIVE LADD STADIUM EXTRA BUDGETED MONEY
M
BY DALE LIESCH
ayor Sandy Stimpson does not plan to honor the amended fiscal year 2019 budget approved by the Mobile City Council, which awarded the Ladd-Peebles Stadium board an additional $750,000 in funding. Acting Chief of Staff Paul Wesch informed the council Tuesday, Dec. 4 the city would not be giving the stadium’s board any additional money above its $200,000 annual performance contract. The additional $750,000 for Ladd came in the form of a budget amendment passed by a 6-0 vote of the council on Sept. 26. Councilman Joel Daves was not present for the vote. The council’s vote followed weeks of debate over whether to give money to the University of South Alabama for its proposed on-campus stadium. The council eventually rejected the proposal, despite heavy pressure from Stimpson and the USA community to approve it. The funding was taken from the city’s legal liability fund, which is used to pay outside attorneys who take cases on behalf of the city. Because of the move, the liability fund amount decreased from $2.8 million to just over $2 million. Wesch told councilors the administration wasn’t sure the amount left in the budget would cover outside attorneys fees because it’s “less than what was spent in 2018.” He didn’t rule out allocating the money to the volunteer board later in the fiscal year. “To spend that money early in the year would not be something we’re likely to do,” Wesch said. Ladd board Chairwoman Ann Davis told councilors the money would be used in part to pay for an engineering study on the stadium from Cain & Associates, as well as for a fitness trail. Davis said the study was needed because the board want-
ed to get clarity on how much it would cost to fix cosmetic issues with Ladd. However, the report also refuted some of the safety concerns highlighted in a similar study commissioned by Stimpson’s office in 2016, Davis added. For one, Davis said stadiums aren’t typically given letter grade designations like roads and bridges. She also said Cain engineers found the stadium’s superstructure to be safe. “Ladd is in very good shape for its age,” Davis told councilors. “The only damage has come from water leaks the city was supposed to fix when they upgraded the suites for [the University of South Alabama] about 10 years ago.” The board has also spent money repainting portals at the stadium and replacing 200 toilet seats in preparation for the Dollar General Bowl and Senior Bowl games, Davis told councilors. Wesch said it is the opinion of Stimpson’s office the Ladd board’s charter, signed into state law, prevents it from making capital improvements on its own. The board’s articles of incorporation limit its activities to the day-to-day operation of the stadium, a task Wesch pointed out was being performed by the Mishkin Group. He also argued the board is not required to follow state bid laws or any other requirements spelled out in state laws governing municipalities. “This is new to us,” Davis said after the meeting. “From what I understand — and I don’t have the bylaws in front of me — we have a right to take on capital projects. I’m so shocked by this.” This new information would likely halt some of the projects Davis and the board were planning. For instance, she said they had partially paid Cain & Associates, but hadn’t paid them in full.
8 | L AG N I A P P E | D e c e m b e r 5 , 2 0 1 8 - D e c e m b e r 1 1 , 2 0 1 8
“I can’t believe it,” Davis said. “Once again, we’ve been blindsided.” The revelation comes after weeks of Davis’ correspondence to Wesch, which she said has been unanswered. “I’ve gotten no response from the the city,” she said. “I’m just floored. This just took me by surprise.” She added she hasn’t spoken to the mayor in a while either. “I’ve known the mayor for over 50 years and we used to talk all the time,” Davis said. “I haven’t heard from him in over a month.” Davis wasn’t the only one who felt “blindsided.” Councilors voiced their surprise over the new information, as well. Councilman Fred Richardson said the council would do whatever needed to in order to allow the board to operate autonomously. “The council can authorize them to have the power to do what they need to do,” Richardson said. “The council is the ruling authority of the city of Mobile.” Councilman C.J. Small said he wished there was better communication between Stimpson’s office and the council. “Transparency is just not there,” Small said. “I wish he would’ve been more transparent with us.” Small said the fitness trail would not only enhance the stadium but also the community around it. Stimpson’s refusal to provide the funding for the trail, Small said, was a slight to the broader community. “I just have some concerns with the mayor and his actions,” he said. “Some very deep concerns.” Richardson believes Stimpson is choosing not to give the stadium its funding as a way of proving himself right about Ladd’s condition. He asked the council to do what it needed to in order to fund the stadium with the money it placed in the budget. “He’s put this plan in place to make his prediction come true,” Richardson said. “We have an obligation to make sure what we say comes true.” When asked about the legal issues surrounding the funding, council attorney Wanda Cochran said some interesting questions have been raised. She asked city attorney Ricardo Woods for a “written legal opinion” about the issue. He told her he would provide one only if the mayor asks him to. This marks, at least, the second deviation Stimpson has made from the council’s amended budget. Stimpson has already said he intends to pay the city’s GulfQuest employees through other department budgets. Councilman John Williams asked the administration for a public accounting of the budget amendments they planned to ignore. “At this point, I think it would be great if the mayor’s team could communicate with the entire city on what they plan to do and not do …,” Williams said. “I think it’s just fair.”
BAYBRIEF | BALDWIN COUNTY
Home with a view
BENTLEY SPENDING $487,500 ON NEW FORT MORGAN HOUSE BY JOHN MULLEN
I
t won’t cost $1.8 million this time, but disgraced former Gov. Robert Bentley is going to drop about $487,500 to build a new home on the Fort Morgan peninsula across the street from the Gulf of Mexico. Bentley has a history with homes in this general area. In 2016, he authorized the use of $1.8 million in BP funds to refurbish a beachfront governor’s mansion that sat crumbling for years. A few miles east Bentley used to own another house with wife Dianne. It went to Dianne after their divorce, prompted by his relationship with Rebekah Caldwell Mason, an advisor on his staff. The alleged affair and Bentley’s paying her legal fees out of campaign funds led to his resignation in April of 2017. This spring, according to county records, Bentley secured a $350,000 loan to build on the property in the Surfside Shores subdivision in Fort Morgan. It’s about a half mile west of the governor’s mansion and about a mile west of Dianne Bentley’s home. Bentley took out the $350,000 mortgage with Robertson Banking Company of Demopolis. County records show Bentley paid $137,500 to Kanine Properties for the lot in October 2016, for a total of $487,500 invested in the new home. Baldwin County Building Official Mike Howell said the new house is modest compared to some of the sprawling vacation rental houses in the area. “It’s below standard, in my opinion, for Fort Morgan,” Howell said. “It’s not a big immacu-
late house. The dollar figure we have on it is $173,480 which isn’t much out in Fort Morgan.” A building permit was issued for the property on Sea Shell Drive on Nov. 19. Plans call for a five-bedroom, three-bath home with 2,413 square feet of heated space and 1,148 square feet of non-heated space. Bentley’s plan to renovate the nearby governor’s mansion was criticized at the time because of the use of BP settlement dollars to make the repairs. It was damaged in Hurricane Danny in 1997 and sat in disrepair for 19 years before Bentley insisted on its restoration. He said the money was leftover from a previous BP grant. A construction company owned by Gulf Shores Councilman Philip Harris won the contract. At the time, local builder Greg Kennedy said for that price the state could have scrapped the whole building and build a new house up to current hurricane and other building standards. Kennedy wasn’t exactly thrilled at the use of BP money to pay for the work, either. “It’s just a miscarriage, abuse of taxpayer money to go out there do something like that,” Kennedy said. “The idea of spending $2 million on that old house, it doesn’t make any sense from my perspective and I’ve been doing this all my life.” The governor’s troubles weren’t just about the BP controversy. During construction, a concrete wall was built on the east side of the house. It was later discovered it was on a Baldwin County right of way and was eventually removed.
BAYBRIEF | ALABAMA LEGISLATURE
Read my lips
ALABAMA MUST ADDRESS GAS TAX, SENATE PRO TEM SAYS BY JOHN MULLEN
T
here’s a word no politician or voter ever likes to hear. But when the 2019 Alabama Legislature convenes in March, Sen. Pro Tem Del Marsh says it’s likely to come up. A lot. “I think you can see legislation dealing with — and I’ll say the dreaded word — a gas tax,” Marsh told the Leadership Series Luncheon at the Foley Civic Center on Nov. 28. The meeting was part of an ongoing South Baldwin Chamber of Commerce series. Marsh, who represents District 12 in east Alabama including the cities of Anniston and Jacksonville, said two major issues are on his mind as the 2019 session looms: boosting expectations for education and infrastructure. Even as he’s heard from colleagues supporting his return as pro tem, he also challenged those same senators to come back ready to work. “Think hard about it because when January comes around and it’s time to vote pro tem and my name is on there,” Marsh said. “If you’re not willing to step up and do some of the bolder things the state needs in education and infrastructure, I’m not your guy. I want to see something done.” He says the gas tax is vital to bolstering infrastructure in the state and believes the Port of Mobile is a key component. “If we can deepen that port then we can double the amount of commerce coming and going and that’s important to the state of Alabama,” Marsh said. “We are talking about taking a
percentage of any tax increase to go to the port authority. We believe there’s going to be federal money that can be matched to deepen the harbor to make these improvements we need to continue to make at the port.” Marsh said several talks during the latter part of 2018 have been about infrastructure, including the port, and that Gov. Kay Ivey is on board to help. “I spoke with the governor three weeks ago and any infrastructure bill the governor is going to be connected with will have an element for the port in it,” Marsh said. Raising the gas tax has proven problematic since it was last raised to 18 cents per gallon in 1992. Marsh said cars get more miles to the gallon than in 1992 and the wear and tear on the roads has increased while the tax has not. “It’s not like sales tax where you pay a certain percentage,” Marsh said. “It’s a flat number and that number has stayed flat for 26 years. I want an index model and what we’re looking at is the Consumer Price Index. The fuel tax would be increased based on the Consumer Price Index, but have floors and ceilings where it can’t go more than a certain amount per year.” On education, Marsh said the state needs to develop a comprehensive plan involving all levels of education instead of separate plans for Pre-K, K-12 and higher education. “We’re working on these things with the goal to bump up the expectation of education and reward educators throughout this state,” he said. December 5, 2018 - December 11, 2018
| L AG N I A P P E | 9
BAYBRIEF | MOBILE
New jobs, new concerns RESIDENTS SPEAK OUT ON CHEMICAL PLANT EXPANSION BY DALE LIESCH
C
hris Williams Sr., pastor of Yorktown Missionary Baptist Church in Plateau, has officiated more than his fair share of funerals. He lays the blame for some of those untimely deaths on polluted air from nearby industry. “I’ve [officiated] well over 100 (funerals) since I’ve been there,” he said. “One family I know buried three people out of one house. It was because of cancer.” Williams was one of many speakers from a group of neighbors and activists speaking out against a planned expansion of the Kemira Water Solutions chemical plant during an Alabama Department of Environmental Management hearing in Chickasaw last week concerning the company’s air permit application. Williams’ concerns over an expansion of industry near the historic Africatown community were echoed by many of those who spoke against the application. “I would like to ask ADEM not to agree to this permit because our community has suffered from air pollution for many years,” Mary Jones, who lives across the the street from the plant, said. “Chemicals [they] are producing can cause
sions will be reduced. Yet Mobile Environmental Justice Action Coalition President Ramsey Sprague said the plans in place are not good enough. “Kemira still owes it to the people to explain what happened,” he said. “Multi-national, multibillion dollar corporations should be able to afford a robust communications effort in order to get the word out.” Sprague and others accused the company of not having a relationship with the surrounding community. Ryder suggested that going forward they would work to better reach out to the surrounding area. ADEM plans to take public comments into consideration before reaching a decision on the permit, but in a statement during the hearing, staff engineer James Adams said the emissions from the bio-acrylamide facility would be minimized by scrubbers, a vapor recovery system and other technology. “The control equipment meets federal and state requirements,” Adams said. Residents warned of the impacts of multiple industries in the same area. Herb Wagner called the chemicals “bio-accumable,” meaning while one plant’s emissions might not make residents sick, a combination of several can. He said this minimizes efforts of WILLIAMS’ CONCERNS OVER AN ADEM to regulate industry when only an air permit for one plant. EXPANSION OF INDUSTRY NEAR considering “There’s no limit on the amount (of THE HISTORIC AFRICATOWN COMMUNITY emissions),” he said. “There is no limit to the amount of people subjected to it.” WERE ECHOED BY MANY OF THOSE WHO Wagner argued the emissions caused by plants like Kemira, “trespass on SPOKE AGAINST THE APPLICATION. ” people’s property and a trespass on people’s health.” “We’re talking about our health,” he cancer. Whole families in the community have said. “We’re talking about the future of children died from cancer.” playing outside and breathing in these chemicals.” Others questioned whether Kemira had Not everyone who spoke was opposed to the the necessary precautions in place in case of expansion. Former New York Mets outfielder an emergency, citing a May incident where a and Africatown resident Cleon Jones said he chemical being shipped to Kemira overheated. supported the move. He said the plant would lead The company tried to mitigate the problem by to progress for the community and Kemira has spraying water on the container to cool it down, historically been a good neighbor. but residents downwind of the facility had to be “I didn’t know the plant was here until about temporarily evacuated. five years ago,” Jones said. “That’s how good For its part, Plant Manager Richard Ryder they’ve been to the area.” said there are emergency plans in place and they Jones added the pollutants released by Kemira were followed on May 20. are “minimal.” “We did the best we could,” he said. “We “It tells me that’s a responsible company,” he brought it in and controlled it.” said. “Progress is what we need. I’m interested Furthermore, he said emergency incidents in jobs.” affecting the surrounding community are rare and The expansion would create a total of 30 Kemira officials and employees practice different new jobs, 20 of which would be included in scenarios in case an emergency does happen. a first phase. The company’s board has yet to Ryder said the chemicals used by Kemira finalize plans for the Mobile plant’s expansion, aren’t dangerous when “handled appropriately,” Richard said. adding the new processes to develop the polyEarlier this year, the Mobile Industrial Demers use best practices in the industry and meet velopment Board awarded Kemira $4.1 million ADEM rules and regulations. In addition, Ryder said the air permit does not in tax abatements over 10 years to help sweeten the deal for the company’s leaders. Kemira turns seek an increase in emissions and the existing chemicals into polymers used to clean water used site will be cleaned up. primarily in the pulp and paper industry. The in“My feeling is a business needs to be going centives include a 10-year, $2.4 million property forward to stay relevant,” he said. tax abatement and a $1.4 million sales and use The expansion includes additional storage tax abatement. tanks, a bio-acrylamide production facility and In exchange, the plant will undergo a 40 a loading and unloading area, Ryder said. He added the air permit does not seek an increase in percent expansion worth around $49 million, pending its board’s approval. emissions and for the existing site some emis-
10 | L AG N I A P P E | D e c e m b e r 5 , 2 0 1 8 - D e c e m b e r 1 1 , 2 0 1 8
December 5, 2018 - December 11, 2018
| L AG N I A P P E | 11
COMMENTARY | DAMN THE TORPEDOES
Striking back against the scammers ROB HOLBERT/MANAGING EDITOR/RHOLBERT@LAGNIAPPEMOBILE.COM
trip she wanted, and she handed over her info and hung up all excited. Immediately I felt sick about it, so I trashed her info, told the boss I had a dental appointment and went and found a job at K-Mart. I never even got my 10 hours worth of minimum wage from Mr. Ponytail. So I have some empathy for the poor saps on the other end of the phone tasked with dialing would-be suckers over and over, but just a tiny little bit. Mostly I’d like them to stay on the line long enough to interest them in an exciting offer I have in the exciting business of standing in traffic delivering newspapers. The scammers are out of control and there has to be some way to stop them short of running over our cell phones. Both the Federal Trade Commission and Federal Communications Commission are trying to address the situation and have slapped some really huge fines on perpetrators. Authorities urge everyone who is annoyed by these calls to place their numbers in the FTC’s “Do Not Call List.” But really, people violating the law by spoofing probably aren’t going to honor the DNC list. I suggest we all just try to roll with these constant intrusions and become the most annoying “customers” these clowns have ever called. Take a minute to play along with them and ask totally dumb questions about the weather or if they think Trump’s hair is really that color. Fake heart attacks in the middle of giving them your information. Waste their time. Hopefully, with some creativity, we can all eventually end up on the scammers’ do not call list. It’s worth a try.
THEGADFLY
12 | L AG N I A P P E | D e c e m b e r 5 , 2 0 1 8 - D e c e m b e r 1 1 , 2 0 1 8
time-shares in boring places near land fills in the Carolinas. Guess which one everyone wanted. My boss impressed upon me that we were not to lie to the customers and tell them they would definitely get the European vacation, because it was kind of a lottery or something and they’d “most likely” just get one of the others. But the customer was certainly encouraged to express a preference. I went to work calling people, and this was in the days before caller ID ruined things completely for sleazy sales people and prank phone callers. Even so it wasn’t easy because even if people were slightly interested, the second I told them they couldn’t automatically get the European vacation, they hung up. My co-worker, Tiki, by comparison did very well. He was a closer. He also blatantly lied over and over to get that credit card number. The boss seemed to like Tiki a lot. I finished my first day skunked with nary a vitamin sold. I made up my mind the next morning to get serious because although we were paid minimum wage, the real money was in bonuses for each vitamin package sold. Sometime in the mid-morning I got a young woman on the phone who was into vitamins but mostly she really wanted to take her boyfriend to Europe and thought $300 was an amazing price. She waffled a lot though because even the $300 was a big stretch for her financially. Eventually she decided if she could definitely get the European trip she’d buy it. I told her she could definitely get the
Cartoon/Laura Mattei
I
’ll admit it. I’m trying to get blackballed by the annoying phone scammers who call several times a day. It’s probably a fruitless mission, but I have to try something. So when a guy rang last week and said, “I’m calling about a problem with your house” I went with it. “My house!? What is it? Pleeeease help me!!!” I said. “Yes!” the now-enthusiastic phone pest went on, thinking he had a sucker on the hook, “I can help you. You need a home warranty….” “FOR THE LOVE OF GOD! HELP ME SAVE MY HOUSE!” I screamed into the phone. Click. He hung up. Later that day when I received a call from a guy trying to sell me a trip, I whispered into the phone, “Please don’t hang up. I’m trapped in the trunk of a car and I don’t know where they’re taking me. I need you to stay with me and help get the authorities….” Click. He hung up. Those were a couple of my more inventive methods of trying to annoy the annoyers. Often I just get lazy and yell profanities into the phone. We’re all dealing with it these days. One of the perks of turning off your landline and being one of those cool people without an actual “home phone” used to be no telemarketing on the cell phones. But that’s all changed dramatically. A study released a couple of months ago by a firm called First Orion, expects about 45 percent of the calls to U.S. cell phones next year to be connected to some kind of scam. That’s insane. In 2017, that number was less than 4 percent. So get your acting skills honed and your air horns ready, the calls are coming. The most annoying and insidious development in phone scamming is the amount of “spoofing” happening now. That’s when these companies manage to use a fake local number to call you so it looks like it’s generated nearby. A lot of these will come with the same area code and three-number prefix as your own phone number. So you pick it up thinking it’s someone you might know and suddenly it’s Lisa and she has important information about trouble with your bank account and you shouldn’t hang up. One thing I’ve noticed lately is how quickly these scammers will bail on a call the second they sense that you’re onto them. It takes just a little bit of anger in the voice or a slightly snarky response and they’ll hang up. I’m sure all they’re looking for is someone who sounds confused — an easy mark. I will confess right now that at one point in my troubled youth I actually was one of those people on the other end of the phone — for a day and a half. Desperate for money while living near Ft. Meyers, Florida during the summer after my junior year of college, I answered an ad looking for sales people. A flashy guy with a pressed shirt, French cuffs, lots of gold and a ponytail was running the show when I got there. Yes, he looked exactly like the movie version of a scumbag who would run a phone bank. He filled me in on the basic deal — I was selling vitamins. Roughly $300 worth of vitamins. In the ‘80s that was a lot of money for vitamins, especially considering the Flintstones were still in heavy rerun rotation and had pretty much cornered the market for about $3 a bottle. So the idea of selling $300 worth of vitamins over the phone was daunting. But there was a sweetener — if you bought the vitamins you also got a vacation. Vitamins and vacations! It made perfect sense. The only catch in that deal was that there were four possible vacation spots — one in Europe and three in crappy
CREOLA POLICE CONTINUE SEARCH FOR MYSTERIOUS GUNMAN.
December 5, 2018 - December 11, 2018
| L AG N I A P P E | 13
COMMENTARY | THE HIDDEN AGENDA
Let there be peace on Earth and inside Government Plaza ASHLEY TRICE/EDITOR/ASHLEYTOLAND@LAGNIAPPEMOBILE.COM
L
ast week, Lagniappe reported on the months-long drama playing out inside the glass walls of Government Plaza and the apparent strained relationship between Mayor Sandy Stimpson and members of the Mobile City Council. Though the mayor and councilors mostly downplayed the tension as just part of the process, or something all cities struggle with, they did admit there had been some pretty nasty scrapes of late. The biggest issues have been over Stimpson’s firing of the council’s spokesperson, the failed USA stadium deal and the city’s albatross, the GulfQuest Maritime Museum. While they agreed they had differences on these issues and blamed most of that tension on lack of communication, they also pointed to successes they had achieved together through com-
any one of the seven City Council members. It just looks petty and spiteful. The question of whether the mayor had the authority to fire the council’s spokesperson is one that needs to be answered. And since every “side” has an attorney and their own piece of case law backing up their opinion on the matter, perhaps the only way to solve this is by having a judge decide. But ugh. Do you guys realize how infuriating that is to your citizens who will have to pay for this process to play out? And who knows how long that will take. Certainly many billable hours for the lawyers involved! Yay for them! Meanwhile, we will just be standing out here on our chunky, broken sidewalks, watching GulfQuest and Ladd Stadium continue to die and fall into disrepair because you just told us we have no money for those things. But yet, we can afford to have a legal squabble over this. This is exactly what makes people IN TODAY’S CULTURE OF VICIOUS, hate politics. RED VERSUS BLUE TRIBAL POLIWhile I do think this “authority” matter needs to be determined someTICS — INSIDE THE BELTWAY AT LEAST — how because it will rear its head again COMPROMISE IS A NASTIER WORD THAN ANY on other things, a good compromise on this particular issue would be to allow FOUR-LETTER COMBINATION ONE COULD the council to hire a new spokesperson, COME UP WITH AND HAS EVEN COST SOME just not one the mayor clearly has irreconcilable differences with. THEIR ELECTIONS.” Couldn’t one “side” give a little on this and just move on? promise, like the Capital Improvement Program. And GulfQuest, what oh what are we going Success through compromise? Can we get to do with GulfQuest? Is the plan just to hope some more of that please? some restaurant comes in and it is so good Compromise, it’s a tricky word. We are raised people will magically want to go tour a maritime to never “compromise” our values for anyone museum? Because if so, that doesn’t sound like or anything. In this vein, the steel magnate and much of a plan. At least for the museum portion. philanthropist Andrew Carnegie once said, “The It just seems to me if we are going to have ‘morality of compromise’ sounds contradictory. this museum, maybe we should put a little Compromise is usually a sign of weakness, or an money into marketing it and keeping it staffed admission of defeat. Strong men don’t comproand trying to get a bunch of school children mise, it is said, and principles should never be from all over the region packed in there every compromised.” weekday from September to May. In today’s culture of vicious, red versus blue I know no one was ever really all that jazzed tribal politics — inside the Beltway at least — about this building and the whole project seemed compromise is a nastier word than any fourdoomed from the start, which is a shame because letter combination one could come up with and it’s a great space and a great museum. But at this has even cost some their elections. point, that’s neither here nor there. It’s ours and But in the real world, and in this city, comwe need to do something with it before it just promise can and should be a beautiful thing. sits there and rots into the river. I get that it’s a That same Carnegie fella also said, “I shall complicated issue with no easy answers. But if argue that strong men, conversely, know when y’all can’t even sit down and talk about it, it will to compromise and that all principles can be obviously be even harder to formulate plan to compromised to serve a greater principle.” figure out what to do with this thing once and And the greater principle, in this case, is for all. moving this city forward. And it will be the same way with Ladd and Some disagreement is inevitable and even a the Civic Center and on and on and on. healthy part of democracy, but it can also very When the mayor first came into office he suddenly devolve to the point where it’s difficult took down the door to his office to symbolize to get anything accomplished or back on track. he would always be available to the citizens and I don’t think our mayor and City Council’s to the council. At the time, I thought it was a relationship is irreparable at this point, but it nice gesture albeit a little corny. But perhaps the could get there quickly if things don’t change. mayor and councilors alike should all go look I know the mayor and each council member at that door again and remind themselves why has their own political agendas and ambitions in they are there and that most of the problems they mind as well, and perhaps some think this dishave with each other can be solved by passing sension serves those desires well. from one side of that gloriously corny doorway But getting mired down in these little spats to the other. makes no one look good — not the mayor, or And those paths work both ways.
14 | L AG N I A P P E | D e c e m b e r 5 , 2 0 1 8 - D e c e m b e r 1 1 , 2 0 1 8
December 5, 2018 - December 11, 2018
| L AG N I A P P E | 15
COMMENTARY | THE BELTWAY BEAT
Handicapping Alabama’s 2020 U.S. Senate race BY JEFF POOR/COLUMNIST/JEFFREYPOOR@GMAIL.COM
W
ith a little less than two years to go until Alabamians go to the polls to cast a vote for U.S. Senate, speculation is rampant as to who might run against Sen. Doug Jones (D-Mountain Brook) on the Republican ticket. Jones is thought to be vulnerable given the circumstances behind his 2017 special-election victory over Roy Moore. His apparent weaknesses have lent themselves to a wide-open realm of possibilities for the 2020 election. Beyond his intrinsic vulnerabilities, the incumbent will likely have an even tougher re-election given that the 2020 ballot will likely have President Donald Trump at the top. Trump remains popular in Alabama. Looking ahead, here are your way-too-early odds for that 2020 election — for entertainment purposes only, of course. Bradley Byrne (9/2) — Alabama’s 1st Congressional District representative started running for this seat on Dec. 13, 2017, the day after Doug Jones pulled off his upset victory. Alabamians know who he is. He had his getacquainted campaign in 2010 with his loss to Robert Bentley in the GOP gubernatorial runoff. Byrne is also a good fundraiser. He will be able to raise a lot of money, but Byrne is a South Alabama candidate, which historically makes it a little bit tougher to win statewide. Del Marsh (5/1) — People in Mobile are probably unfamiliar with the Anniston Republican representing Alabama’s 12th Senate District. Marsh has served as the pro tem of the state senate since 2010. In 2017, Marsh hinted at a run but was warned off by the Luther Strange-Richard Shelby machine. Consultants and others in the business of elections were warned if they accepted Marsh’s business in a bid to interfere with Strange’s rightful spot in the U.S. Senate, they would be blackballed in the future. To win the Republican nod, Marsh will have to expand his name ID beyond Calhoun County and the Montgomery bubble. Doug Jones (6/1) – He is the incumbent, even if he is a Democrat. People and organizations will give money to an incumbent candidate’s campaign just for being an incumbent. It is still a long shot for Jones. He’s high up on this list of 2020 hopefuls because he will not have to endure a competitive primary. He also has the benefit of facing a candidate who is the last man standing following a circular firing squad of Republican hopefuls. If there was one glimmer of hope for Jones coming out of this year’s general election, it’s that the suburban voter is drifting Democrat. Democrats made their most significant gains in Shelby and Madison counties in this past election. Gary Palmer (11/1) — The congressman for Alabama’s 6th Congressional District was recently elected by his colleagues to chair the House Republican Policy Committee. The former head of the Alabama Policy Institute is well-liked and a formidable fundraiser.
16 | L AG N I A P P E | D e c e m b e r 5 , 2 0 1 8 - D e c e m b e r 1 1 , 2 0 1 8
However, he faces many headwinds, especially regarding statewide name ID. Look for him in 2022 if Shelby retires. Robert Aderholt (16/1) — The longtime congressman for Alabama’s 4th Congressional District could make things interesting. He represents one of the most heavily GOP districts in the country. It’s difficult, however, to see Aderholt giving up his seniority in the U.S. House to make a longshot run at the U.S. Senate. Tommy Battle (19/1) — Huntsville’s mayor is a rising star in the GOP, but this race probably isn’t his best shot. His get-acquainted race this year for the Republican gubernatorial nod was also on the lackluster side. He still needs to expand his name ID beyond the Tennessee Valley to be a more serious threat. Jim Zeigler (19/1) — Alabama’s state auditor is 2-0 in statewide general elections. Shorty Price he is not. Zeigler is hinting at a run. Even though he isn’t among the top contenders, he could influence the outcome by taking votes away from another, more viable candidate. Will Ainsworth (24/1) — He’s loud and bald. He also can raise money. It’s a little early for this newcomer to the state scene to wage another statewide campaign. Look for him in 2022. John Merrill (24/1) — Like Ainsworth, Merrill is another rising star in Republican ranks and a conservative media darling. We’re a cycle or two away from Merrill being a threat, but he has the qualities of being a solid retail politician at a statewide level. Roy Moore (49/1) — You can’t continue to dine on martyrdom without throwing yourself in front of a speeding train now and then. There may be some Democrats who wouldn’t mind seeing a Roy Moore re-emergence, but don’t expect the adults in the ALGOP to make this mistake again. Jeff Sessions (unknown) — Should Jeff Sessions announce he is seeking his old U.S. Senate seat, wipe the slate clean of all names except for incumbent Doug Jones. If elected, it’s not a given he will get his seniority back. And why would he want to go back to being a mid-bencher in the U.S. Senate after being the nation’s top law enforcement official? Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell never seemed to give him the respect he was due given his seniority, evidenced by his lack of committee chairmanships. Field (5/1) — This far away, it’s not out of the realm of possibilities for another name to emerge. There are candidates who, if they announced, should be taken seriously. They include Reps. Mo Brooks, Martha Roby, Mike Rogers, 2017 U.S. Senate hopeful former State Sen. Trip Pittman and Jimmy “Yella Fella” Rane. Expect some of those candidates to emerge in 2022 if Shelby does not seek re-election. It isn’t a foregone conclusion that he won’t, especially if Republicans hold the U.S. Senate. He’ll have two more years chairing the Senate Appropriations Committee, a lifelong ambition of his.
December 5, 2018 - December 11, 2018
| L AG N I A P P E | 17
BUSINESS | THE REAL DEAL
Hummingbird & South expands into Birmingham BY RON SIVAK/COLUMNIST/BUSINESS@LAGNIAPPEMOBILE.COM
M
obile-based Hummingbird Ideas and Daphne-headquartered Southern View Media recently announced a new partnership between the companies, creating Hummingbird & South located in Hummingbird›s former 3,000 square foot office space at 1102 Dauphin St. in Mobile. Southern View Media’s 1,050 square foot former headquarters, situated at 6384 Bay Front Drive in Daphne, is now serving as the new firm’s Baldwin County branch. The combined venture now employs 19, with 12 coming over from Southern View and the remainder from the former Hummingbird’s office pool of seven. The rapidly growing local business also recently hired two more workers to staff a new office that recently opened up in Birmingham. “The new venture of the two agencies are working together to fill the need as a local advertising solution, offering the power and flexibility of digital media with the sophistication and creativity associated with boutique agencies,” Michelle Murrill, co-owner and partner of Hummingbird & South said. “With over 14 years of experience, Hummingbird Ideas has established and maintained a reputation for elegant execution, creativity and dynamic strategy throughout the southern regional market. Southern View Media’s ascendancy in social media and digital tactics, in the past few years has established a reputation as one of the leading agencies in a competitive and very crowded marketplace” Murrill said. Per a news release, the digital side is run by the husband and wife team of Michelle Murrill and Brad Murrill. The creative side of the new agency is managed by Crawford Binion and Tim Dozie. Lewis H. Golden with Hamilton & Company recently represented Hansen Heating & Air in leasing a new loca-
tion for their new home division. The 6,000 square foot office and warehouse building is located at 3800 Abigail Drive just off Rangeline Road. John Delchamps with Merrill P. Thomas Co. worked for the building owner. “Hansen Heating & Air is continuing to expand their business with a new home division. This is in addition to their HVAC service, plumbing and electrical divisions,” Golden said.
health system. Additionally, over a 30 year career in marketing and communications, Mans has held positions at Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke’s Medical Center in Chicago, Loyola University Medical Center in Chicago, University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics and Shands Hospital at the University of Florida. A native of Gainesville, Florida, Mans holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Florida and a master’s in public administration from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. “We’re very much looking forward to Gary joining USA Health, and with his leadership we anticipate continued great success in our marketing and communications initiatives,” Mike Haskins, USA vice-president for marketing and communications said.
Baldwin Realtors donates to local charities
Baldwin Realtors, a professional trade organization supporting upward of 2,300 members in the area reportedly donated over $21,000 last month towards local and regional nonprofits. During the association’s annual Thanks & Giving lunch, $15,000 was donated USA Health Marketing and Communications hires Mans Per a news release, Gary Mans has been selected for the to local charities: South Alabama Out of the Darkness Walk-American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, Ecumenical Ministries, Mary’s Shelter, Home of position of associate vice-president for USA Health MarGrace, The Shoulder, The Baldwin County Trailblazers for The Walking School keting and Communications and will begin work at USA Bus, Prodisee Pantry, Habitat for Humanity of Baldwin County and Feeding the effective January, 2019. This role encompasses marketing Gulf Coast’s Backpack Program. Baldwin Realtors also donated $6,000 to the for the entire USA Health System. Florida Realtor Relief Foundation for victims of Hurricane Michael. Prior to his position at South Alabama, Mans has had “Baldwin Realtors recognizes the impact these organizations have on our area, a long career of leadership in healthcare marketing and and we want to support these causes because they create strong communities,” communications. Since March 2009, he has been direcKandy Hines, 2019 Baldwin Realtor president said. “Realtors believe in strong tor of communications and marketing at the University communities, and we will do anything we can to support what they do.” of Louisville Health Sciences Center, an academic health Thanks & Giving is an event for association members to recognize local charisystem, where he led a staff that supports a physicians ties in the community for their work as well as the group’s affiliate members, group, multiple hospitals, a cancer center and four academic schools with research centers, including a nationally committee chairs and Omega Tau Rho Inductees — realtor emeritus members who have been in the industry for at least 40 years. recognized School of Medicine. This year, four Baldwin County members were inducted into the Omega Tau During his time at University of Louisville, Mans Rho fraternity of the National Association of Realtors. Membership is represented developed and executed multiple strategic marketing by the Medallion of Service which is awarded to inductees and symbolizes recogcampaigns and created a communications program for a nition accorded to them for contributions to the National Association of Realtors campaign that raised more than $1 billion in funds for lo(NAR) and its institutes, societies and councils. cal area nonprofits and charities. Members recognized by NAR included Sonny Nichols, associate broker of Prior to joining University of Louisville, Mans worked Berkshire Hathaway Home Services Nichols Real Estate; Bernice Lindsey, asat the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), sociate broker of Bellator Real Estate and Development-Eastern Shore; Sherry where he was director of public relations for over a decade, leading a staff that developed and executed strategic, Bell-Headrick, associate broker of Roberts Bros. Gulf Coast and Ann Gordon, integrated communications for the university’s campus and broker with Atmore Realty and Baldwin Realty Brokers.
18 | L AG N I A P P E | D e c e m b e r 5 , 2 0 1 8 - D e c e m b e r 1 1 , 2 0 1 8
December 5, 2018 - December 11, 2018
| L AG N I A P P E | 19
CUISINE | THE DISH
Tuna is missing from your holiday menu BY ANDY MACDONALD/CUISINE EDITOR | FATMANSQUEEZE@COMCAST.NET
Photo | Facebook
A
Half Shell Oyster House offers tuna a number of ways including on a salad and stacked with crabmeat.
ll of my Thanksgiving leftovers are gone. All of them as of yesterday. I am still a little sore the giblet gravy was tossed prematurely, but thankful the turkey and green onion sausage gumbo was a great substitute for the dressing. Some say it’s better than the original gravy, but they don’t appreciate organ meat as much as I. There isn’t a morsel of meat left in the fridge despite cooking over 72 pounds of big bird. I missed out on bringing home my share of the 20 pounder I oven-roasted, leaving it for the ravenous Mississippi crowd. But don’t feel sorry for me. I ate way more than I should. So here we are, weeks after the holiday and I am looking to get away from the richness of last week to sort of cleanse before the Christmas cookies, divinity and pralines scratch my itching sweet tooth in tandem with the immoderate supply of Texas
trash that will satisfy my salt fix. I am in luck. My friend and guitar student David Adams came through with a slab of tuna for me. The past 10 months or so we at the MacDonald manor have for the most part turned our backs on tuna due to the anticipation of baby Henry’s arrival followed by the beginning of the silly season, so when Dave appeared with this healthy chunk I was reminded of what I had been missing in my diet. I was told this piece, skin on and covered in ice, was plucked from the Gulf during a highfalutin fishing charter three days before. My gratitude cannot be expressed enough for the excess flesh sent my way. I am having it three days in a row and I will not tire of it. So how do I prepare it? Let’s first take a look at the tuna dishes around town that are excellent examples of what to do with such a fantastic piece of meat. The Royal Scam consistently tops the list with their tuna
20 | L AG N I A P P E | D e c e m b e r 5 , 2 0 1 8 - D e c e m b e r 1 1 , 2 0 1 8
martini. Straight chunks of tuna served over microgreens in a martini glass have not so much as touched the flame of a zippo. A little bit of wasabi crème fraiche compliments the sesame soy Sriracha dressing. For this dish or any other tartare you have to be really particular about the tuna you serve. Only the freshest will do. The Loop has a favorite tuna dish at Fuji San. Actually they have a couple. The Spicy tuna ball has crabstick and crunchies, a delicious dish, but you must enjoy mayonnaise (I do). My favorite is the less spicy Tuna Tower. A layer of sushi rice, crabmeat, avocado, tuna, seaweed salad and roe steal my heart. I don’t share this with the table. It’s also an example of why chopsticks still exist. I wouldn’t eat this with a fork as you would compromise the integrity of the tower. You’ll find a variation on this at Half Shell Oyster House. Their Tuna and Crab Stack is close to the same ingredients garnished with soy glaze, Sriracha lime mayonnaise and sesame seeds. Feel free to destroy this one with a fork. They give you wonton chips for scooping. Tuna Tataki is a go-to when trying any sushi restaurant. I find it a good measuring stick for what’s to come. I rarely visit Liquid though I eat their food regularly in the courtyard of the OK Bicycle Shop. They may have my favorite tataki. The wok-seared tuna gets a little treatment from chili oil and sesame seeds. The honey wasabi mayonnaise is the icing on the cake. It’s simple, pure and elegant the way tuna should be. I should also mention Chuck’s Fish. If Raiza is working just order the Raiza special. If you see him ask about the tuna. Sometimes he gets something a little better than the already spectacular normal. Whatever he puts together will not disappoint. Here at the Lagniappe test kitchen otherwise known as my home, I usually prepare tuna the same way. I vary from time to time, but I do sear it. It has to be rare. Mooing. If you want your tuna cooked medium then just eat something else. I know people argue, “Well if you aren’t the one eating it then why do you care?” I care because I don’t want to see it wasted. It’s as offensive as a filet cooked well-done and bathed in ketchup. It’s like painting a mustache on the Mona Lisa. Mud tires on a sports coupe. This fish is designed to be either raw or barely cooked so learn to love it or fry up some catfish. A wok will work fine but I usually fire up a flat griddle. Blazing hot with some quality sesame oil or really good olive oil, I season both sides of the tuna steak with whatever flavor of the day suits me. Asian spices, lemon pepper or even some kind of Creole seasoning will do. Let your mood direct your shaker. Grill each side for less than a minute, maybe less than thirty seconds depending on temp. Pay attention to the edges. You will see the pink interior shrink as the meat cooks. Keep in mind that it may cook a touch further while resting so pull it before it reaches desired doneness. I want that outside crust with a cold center so I prefer a thicker cut, 1 ¾ inch to 2 inches. An inch thick tuna steak is too thin to cook. After searing you can really see the grain. Slice cross-grained into thin slices. Serve over cubed avocados, and red onions that are sautéed just enough to sweeten. Top that with fresh cilantro, lime juice, good soy sauce and dots of Sriracha. This is one of those things I can taste as I’m writing. A great way to interrupt that gluttonous time between turkey day and New Year’s Eve. Thanks, Dave for the gift. With friends like you who needs fishing?!
December 5, 2018 - December 11, 2018
| L AG N I A P P E | 21
CUISINE | THE BEER PROFESSOR
Haint Blue provides ‘fellowship through beer’ BY TOM WARD/THE BEER PROFESSOR
Photo | Facebook
After years of anticipation, Haint Blue Brewing Co. opened its taphouse at the former Crystal Ice House building at 806 Monroe St. last month.
A
nyone who cares anything about craft beer in Mobile probably knows at least a bit about the saga that has been the Haint Blue Brewing Co. and the old Crystal Ice House over the past two years or so. While stationed in Washington State, owner Keith Sherrill got plugged into the craft beer scene in the Northwest, and when he and his wife decided to move back to Alabama to be close to family following his retirement from the Army, he planned on opening a brewery. He purchased the old Ice House in 2016, even before he had left Washington, and began making plans for the brewery.
WORD OF MOUTH
Buster’s Brick Oven offering brunch
It was only a matter of time before they realized the power of alliteration, but now Buster’s Brick Oven is breaking the breakfast benchmark with brunch! Brick oven brunch pizza, cast iron steak and eggs, a signature brunch baguette and wings and grits are just a few items to get your mouth watering. There is also a European breakfast board and an adult version of a cinnamon roll with bourbon crème anglaise and orange zest. Other specials accompany the regular menu. Normally open at 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday, you can now add Sunday from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. That dinner is no slouch, either. Make sure you get something prime rib related.
He convinced his brother-in-law, Matt Wheeler, to sign on as brewmaster, and they hoped to open within a year. The Ice House’s haints, however, seemed to have it in for Sherrill, and he faced a number of legal obstacles that delayed the opening of the brewery. Undeterred, Sherrill contracted with Mississippi’s Lazy Magnolia to produce Haint Blue’s beers before the brewery in Mobile was completed. As a result, its two flagship brews have been widely available both on tap and in bottles in Mobile and Baldwin counties for a while now, building up a dedicated following well before the brewery opened last month.
Papa Vince Olive Oil has local ties
I recently found out that one of my customers is in the oil business. The olive oil business, that is. Papa Vince Extra Virgin Olive Oil is a single source oil out of Sicily with a bright flavor and a smooth finish. It isn’t as bold as its Spanish counterparts and is therefore more versatile as it won’t color your flavors as harshly. They have been growing, harvesting, pressing and bottling since 1935, so I’d say Papa Vince LLC has it down pat. Try it yourself or give a bottle as a gift but be warned: good olive oil is a slippery slope. You won’t enjoy the cheap stuff ever again. They’re at 3757 Gulf Shores Pkwy. Ste BA1, 251-269-6000 or at www.papavince.com.
22 | L AG N I A P P E | D e c e m b e r 5 , 2 0 1 8 - D e c e m b e r 1 1 , 2 0 1 8
Haint Blue’s India Pale Ale is an excellent, well-balanced IPA. It is hoppy, but not overpowering, with some very subtle citrus notes. It’s an everyday beer, and, in many ways, what an IPA should taste like, unencumbered by all the extra stuff that seems to now go into many IPAs. The Marianne, on the other hand, is more unique — a strong (7.8% ABV), hoppy, hazy saison, with saffron spices. The Afghanistan veteran Sherrill calls it “the beer that fights terrorism,” as the saffron is purchased from Afghan farmers, providing them with economic opportunities. I met Keith Sherrill for a pint not long after the brewery’s opening and was surprised neither the IPA nor the Marianne was on tap at the Ice House. Like most taprooms, Haint Blue offers brews that are only available on-site; unlike most breweries, it only had three beers on tap, none of which were the flagships the brewery was already known for. Even more surprisingly, all three beers — the “Jarrett,” the “Lewis,” and the “Diane” — were IPAs, flying in the face of the cornucopia of styles most craft breweries like to put out today. I asked Sherrill about this and he told me he planned on “producing a few good options,” instead of a wide-variety of brews, focusing mainly on different types of IPAs at the Ice House. He said at least two of the beers on tap would always be IPAs, occasionally mixing in something different, like a porter. I tried the “Diane,” a light, smooth ale with citrus notes. It reminded me of many of the beers that come out in the summertime, and was defiantly in a West Coast style. At $6.50 and $7, pints are a little pricier than at the other local breweries, and no cash, only plastic is accepted. The interior of the Ice House is a quirky, comfortable area — an eclectic mix of the old and new, with modern tile and glass contrasted with century-old church pews and old schoolroom chairs. Local artist and musician Abe Partridge did both the mural inside the taproom and the design of the Ice House pint glasses; his folk art adds a unique touch to Haint Blue, as do the 150 very unique blown glass tumblers behind the counter that are personalized and reserved for those who contributed to the brewery’s initial crowdfunding campaign. Sherrill said he wants to build “fellowship through beer,” and has created a wonderful neighborhood space for people to come together. The brewery is open every day but Monday, so stop by and (finally!) enjoy a beer at the old Ice House!
World Market comes to Springdale
Just in time for Black Friday deals, the highly anticipated World Market had a soft opening in the Springdale Mall. For those unfamiliar, the giant chain specializes in home furnishings, hard to find confections and sauces, really good olive oil and excellent wine prices. I have mixed emotions about the business being so close to my home. Lucas and Graham are fans of Clearly Canadian, such that I may have to take on another job, you know, because I have a lot of free time. Other than that it’s a welcomed addition filling a void initiated by an exodus to McGowin Park. You’ll find a lot of Christmas chocolate here so get busy!
Tiffany B’s delights
I finally made a stop into Tiffy B’s on Old Shell Road in the former Chat-a-Way Café for a quick bite. Results were good for this fairly new restaurant, and I’m thinking this might be what Spring Hill needs. Gumbo was excellent, Buffalo chicken salad was a fresh take on a classic with pulled chicken and the sides were reminiscent of her former employer, Queen G’s. Not that she’s living in the shadow of a meat and three, we sampled green limas, field peas, chicken and dumplings, red beans and rice, turnip greens and cornbread. Yes, the cornbread was served with almost everything and came with a pat of butter. Expect good things to come out of there. They also have an extensive sandwich menu.
December 5, 2018 - December 11, 2018
| L AG N I A P P E | 23
COVER STORY
California man convicted in violent offshore stabbing incident
W
BY GABRIEL TYNES/ ASSISTANT MANAGING EDITOR scenario, provide almost a month’s worth of income. According to the testimony of both Love and Gibson, the first four days were routine. By their own accounts, Dreiling was quiet and unassuming, but otherwise did all the work expected of him and slept soundly when he could. But Dreiling was drying out. With no alcohol or drugs on board and temperatures hovering in the 90s during the day, Dreiling later told forensic psychologist Dr. Judith Campbell, “he got an uneasy feeling, like he wasn’t part of the crew.” According to psychologists who examined Dreiling in prison earlier this year, he didn’t have an easy life. An expert witness for his defense team last week testified Dreiling was a victim of child abuse beginning in the womb, when his mother was kicked in the abdomen by his father while she was pregnant. His mother also suffered from a tumor, which could have impaired his brain development. His father was violent and irresponsible according to statements The trip from Dreiling and his family, As part of the close-knit fishing hitting Dreiling with a truck at the community, Love and Dreiling age of 5 and by age 7, providing had become friends over the years HE GOT AN UNEASY FEELhim with alcohol. The family lived through previous fishing expediING, LIKE HE WASN’T PART in poverty and moved more than 20 tions together. In the week before times throughout his childhood. the trip last year, Love invited OF THE CREW. The jury last week was not alDreiling to his home outside HousFORTY-SIX MILES OUT IN lowed to hear evidence or testimoton for dinner, where Dreiling ny related to a voluntary manasked for help finding work. THE GULF, THAT ALONE slaughter charge Dreiling pleaded Dreiling had come to Texas guilty to at the age of 17, but did with the promise of a job on board SHOULD HAVE BEEN A hear about a “psychotic episode” a boat owned by a man named DEATH SENTENCE. in 2012 resulting in an involuntary Charlie Graham. But when he hospital commitment. arrived, he found the boat in dry As part of a defense strategy dock and learned a trip had never seeking a verdict of not guilty by been planned. reason of insanity, forensic psychologist Dr. Robert Dreiling contacted Love, who invited him over and Shaffer reported Dreiling suffered from brain damage also arranged for Dreiling to join him aboard the Billy and “had a long history of neurological and emotional B in Alabama the following week. But as he drank symptoms.” throughout the dinner, Dreiling was still focused on the In September of 2012, testimony indicated, Dreiljob that had fallen through and at one point allegedly ing had been using methamphetamines in Contra Costa told Love “somebody ought to kill” Graham. Between County, California. Living with a friend at the time, he the night of the dinner and the day the Billy B left Bon became paranoid his roommate was saying negative Secour with the three men aboard, Dreiling went on a things about him that would lead their neighbors to kill four-day drinking binge. him. He fled the house on foot and was subsequently Love introduced Dreiling to Gibson and on Aug. 16, arrested twice in the next two days for trespassing and 2017, the three men left port in search of grouper on a trip expected to take less than a week and in the best case bizarre behavior, including telling strangers he was be-
HEN THE U.S. COAST GUARD CUT-
24 | L AG N I A P P E | D e c e m b e r 5 , 2 0 1 8 - D e c e m b e r 1 1 , 2 0 1 8
Illustration | Laura Mattei
ter Kingfisher pulled up to the commercial fishing vessel Billy B 46 miles out in the Gulf of Mexico on the night of Aug. 20, 2017, the crew found Captain Noah Gibson and deckhand A.J. Love floating in the dark water, clinging to a life raft and each bleeding from multiple stab wounds. What had started as a routine fishing trip out of Bon Secour ended in a nightmare for the men after Christopher Shane Dreiling stabbed them in a delusional attack and forced them bleeding into the Gulf waters. Last week, Dreiling was convicted in federal court on two counts of assault with intent to commit murder within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States. Gibson and Love survived, but according to one family member, may never return to sea.
ing watched and followed. Upon the second arrest during the episode, he was hospitalized and treated with antipsychotic medication. But it wasn’t long before he was released again and back to abusing drugs and alcohol.
Fateful trip
On Aug. 20, 2017, just after sunset, the United States Coast Guard Sector Mobile received a radio call from Dreiling. Dreiling claimed the two other men aboard had conspired to kill him, so in an attempt to prevent his own murder, he stabbed Gibson and Love repeatedly and ordered both men off the boat. Under interrogation by the Coast Guard Investigative Service the next day, Dreiling said he had become increasingly concerned his comment to Love about killing Charlie Graham had gotten back to the Texas boat owner. Dreiling grew increasingly suspicious about private conversations between the two men and a handgun onboard the Billy B. Eventually, Dreiling began to believe Graham had contracted Love and Gibson to murder him at sea and sink his of body in the murky depths. So on the fourth night, believing Gibson had the gun in his pocket, Dreiling attacked. He stabbed Gibson in the back and ear, and Gibson jumped overboard to escape. Clinging to a chain attached to one of Billy B’s outriggers, Gibson witnessed the attack on Love next. “That’s when Chris started chasing A.J. around the boat,” Gibson told investigators. Love pleaded with Dreiling to stop the attack, reminding them they were friends and begging for his life. Before he ordered Love to jump overboard, Dreiling stabbed him at least 15 times. Six of the wounds were life threat-
COVER STORY
Photo | Baldwin County Sheriff ’s Office
ening, including punctures to the arm, neck, lung and colon. But with the perceived threat to his life gone, Dreiling found himself in another predicament. He did not know how to operate the Billy B’s propulsion, navigation or communication systems. From the dark water below, bleeding and wary of sharks, Gibson and Love begged Dreiling to call the Coast Guard and throw them a life raft and the vessel’s EPIRB, a device which transmits geolocation data to the Coast Guard and nearby vessels upon contact with water. Within a few minutes Dreiling did all three, but not before forcing Gibson to take his clothes off to prove he wasn’t carrying the gun. Meanwhile, the Coast Guard cutter Kingfisher was underway from Panama City, Florida to New Orleans for routine maintenance. Dreiling’s distress signal and the EPIRB indicated the Billy B was approximately 7.5 nautical miles away. Nearly 45 minutes later, crew aboard the Kingfisher rescued Gibson and Love from the water. They were clinging to rope attached to the life raft. About an hour after that, a helicopter arrived to medivac Gibson and Love to Pensacola Baptist Hospital and before dawn, a second Coast Guard vessel with an investigations team arrived to detain Dreiling and tow the Billy B to port. Gibson was treated and released within hours, but Love remained in critical condition for two weeks. According to a family member
Christopher Shane Dreiling was diagnosed with paranoid personality disorder and antisocial disorder coupled with chronic alcohol and drug abuse.
and utter lack of motive, complete and utter lack of sense and a complete break from reality shows you how we got here,” Colvin argued. Noting there were not one but two guns on the boat, Colvin said “if it’s true he really wanted them to die, he had the means to make that happen.” Instead, “when the threat on that boat was gone, the aggression was gone, but the paranoia remained.” Federal prosecutor Michael Anderson disagreed. Testimony from the prosecution’s own expert witness, Dr. Campbell, suggested FROM THE DARK WATER BELOW, Dreiling’s attack on board the BLEEDING AND WARY OF SHARKS, Billy B as well as the episode California were not the reGIBSON AND LOVE BEGGED DREILING TO CALL in sult of brain damage, but rather textbook paranoid personality THE COAST GUARD AND THROW THEM A LIFE disorder and antisocial disorder RAFT AND THE VESSEL’S EPIRB, A DEVICE coupled with chronic alcohol WHICH TRANSMITS GEOLOCATION DATA TO THE and drug abuse. Further, Dreiling admitted to investigators that he prayed COAST GUARD AND NEARBY VESSELS UPON for himself and the victims in CONTACT WITH WATER.” the moments before he began his attack, thereby undermining the insanity defense. who wished not to disclose their name, doc“These were mortal wounds with the intent tors said the saltwater that filled Love’s lung to kill,” Anderson told the jury. “Forty-six miles may have saved his life, but he was within out in the Gulf, that alone should have been a minutes of bleeding out. death sentence.” Upon completion of the investigation, Anderson said one juror allegedly gasped Dreiling was indicted in federal court last when Love’s injuries were put on exhibit. September. “[Dreiling] was suffering from something, but not to the extent he did not know what he Trial was doing.” To prove a defendant is not guilty by reaFurther, Anderson said Dreiling’s initial son of insanity, a jury must find the defendant communications with the Coast Guard were “is unable, because of severe mental disability more an attempt to provide a justification of his or defect to the extent that he could not appre- own actions than to seek help for his victims. ciate the nature and quality or the wrongful“His defense is he was trying to help A.J. ness of his act.” Love and Noah Gibson, but it is obvious he Based upon the testimony of Dr. Shaffer, is also trying to help himself,” he said. “This defense attorney Latisha Colvin showed CT was not a ‘complete break from reality,’ in scans of Dreiling’s brain taken after the 2012 a two-hour-and-15-minute interview with episode in California indicating his frontal [investigators], Christopher Dreiling was very lobe was missing tissue vital for reasoning. clear he knew exactly what he was doing.” “Christopher Shane Dreiling is someone The jury deliberated about five hours over who came into this world under horrible two days to return the two guilty verdicts. circumstances,” she told the jury during clos- Each charge carries a maximum sentence ing arguments. “His brain was focused on of 20 years in prison. Previous convictions, rewiring itself from all the trauma I can’t even including Dreiling’s 1993 manslaughter plea, begin to imagine.” can also be considered upon sentencing, The impairment, coupled with “a complete which is scheduled March 11 of next year. December 5, 2018 - December 11, 2018
| L AG N I A P P E | 25
ART ARTIFICE
MSO adds to holiday spectacle in sight and sound BY KEVIN LEE/ARTS EDITOR/KLEE@LAGNIAPPEMOBILE.COM
W
hen the nights grow long, holiday magic All that’s missing are lords a-leaping, partridges and gets strong and there’s no place better suited pear trees. Of course, Santa will be in the lobby. for it than the Saenger Theater (6 S. Joachim No wonder it’s going to take Barrett multiple days for St.). The grand dame of Mobile showplaces set-up. The lobby gets the first treatment, with décor going gets her most fantastic makeover of the year when the up in early December but everything for the stage and Mobile Symphony Orchestra (MSO) theater itself is for MSO only. convenes for its December concert. “He’ll come in on the day before For yuletide spectacle, MSO we get in there [for rehearsals on turned to a reliable source: Ron BarDec. 12],” Barker said. “He’ll conrett. Known for his fanciful decoratinue to set up on Dec. 13 so three tive work in all phases of Mobile days just to install our stuff.” Carnival season, Barrett let his Two shows follow, a 7:30 p.m. THE SHOW MIGHT imagination roam in service to MSO. concert on Dec. 15 and a 2:30 p.m. LOOK MORE ESOTERIC matinee on Sunday, Dec. 16. While “With Ron, more is more,” J.C. Barker laughed. As MSO’s genlast year’s version was inspired by THAN IT REALLY IS. eral manager and director of artistic popular mid-20th century orchestraadministration, he conferred with tions of contemporary origin, MSO is ALL THE TUNES Barrett on décor for months. going back to classical fare in 2018. They used Barrett last year for the “We’ve done a lot of different ARE SHORT. IT’S A first time and were pleased with the things, traditional Christmas, Christspectacular results. Barker ran down CHRISTMAS CONCERT. mas carols, Santa Clauses and this a recently received list. time we just wanted to concentrate “Nine painted distant snow trees; on doing something really beauti20 white glittering snowflakes with ful. So we looked at the best, most ivory cords; three foliage trees with beautiful Christmas stuff out there,” light, each with glittered pine cones; six lighted balcony Barker said. trees; 3,000 bright red ornaments; foliage swirls across the That list includes numbers many Americans don’t front of the stage with red ornaments and glittered pine automatically summon when pressed for seasonly tunes cones, clear lights,” he recited in awe. like Max Reger’s “Maria Wiegenlied,” Pietro Yon’s “Gesu
Tuskegee Airmen land at Learning Lunch
CCT stages comic holiday Austen sequel
Of the Bennet girls in Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice,” Mary was in an unenviable spot. Her older sisters were witty, her younger ones vivacious and flirty. The pedantic and scholarly middle sister was lost in the mix. Playwrights Lauren Gunderson and Margot Melcon changed her plight in their witty sequel entitled “Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley.” When the clan gathers at Fitzwilliam
26 | L AG N I A P P E | D e c e m b e r 5 , 2 0 1 8 - D e c e m b e r 1 1 , 2 0 1 8
Darcy’s ancestral home, Mary Bennet runs into the bookish Arthur De Bourgh, a Darcy cousin. You don’t have to be a jolly old elf to see what’s coming. Chickasaw Civic Theatre (801 Iroquois St.) stages this yuletide comedy Dec. 7-16 under the direction of Nedra Bloom. Friday and Saturday curtain is 7:30 p.m. Sunday matinee is 2 p.m. Tickets are $15.75, $12.50 for students, military and seniors. For more information, call 251-457-8887 or go to cctshows.com.
New Nutcracker twist in mid-December
For some locals, it isn’t Christmas without fantastic dreams of magical rodents and toys that spring to life to dance with fairies. That’s
because Mobile Ballet’s annual rendition of Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker” has embued the holiday season with enchantment for decades. Now under new Artistic Director Katia Garza, the classic ballet has new choreography. The shows at Mobile Civic Center Theater (401 Civic Center Drive) will also feature the talents of Ballet Master Israel Rodriguez and guest artists including Eduardo Pi Iglesias. Also for the first time, performers will include dancers from across the community as a result of open auditions. On Saturday, Dec. 15, there will be a 2:30 p.m. matinee and a 7:30 p.m. show. Sunday, Dec. 16 features a 2:30 p.m. matinee only. Tickets run $20 - $60. For tickets or additional information, call 251-342-2241 or go to mobileballet.org.
ARTSGALLERY
After earning his Ph.D. in history from Auburn University, Daniel Haulmen began work at Montgomery’s Maxwell Air Base in the research division. His work there elevated him to chief of the organizational history division at the Air Force Historical Research Agency. Haulmen also became an expert on the famed Tuskegee Airmen after he chose to chronicle their entire history. He’s written 16 published articles, presented more than 20 historical papers at various conferences and authored five books. He received the Milo B. Howard award from the Alabama Historical Association for his article “The Tuskegee Airmen and the ‘Never lost a Bomber’ Myth” which was published in the Alabama Review. He will be the featured speaker at the His-
tory Museum of Mobile’s (111 S. Royal St.) Dec. 12 Learning Lunch. The noontime event is free to the public. Attendees can bring their lunch and enjoy complimentary beverages. For more information, contact Curator of Education Jennifer Theeck at 251-208-7510 or theeckj@historymuseumofmobile.com.
Bambino,” Hugo Wolf’s “Schlafendes Jesuskind”and Léo Delibes’ “Flower duet from ‘Lakmé.’” The vocals needed for those numbers feature a pair of guest sopranos. “Martha Guth is going to be with us and also Clara Osowski who is a mezzo [soprano] and they’re both really brilliant, smart singers. We’re excited about it,” Barker said. According to her website bio, Guth has appeared with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the Santa Fe Symphony, the Canadian Opera Company Orchestra, the National Arts Centre Orchestra and the Calgary Philharmonic. She won first prize at the 2007 Wigmore Hall International Song Competition in London and was recorded live by the BBC in London, CBC radio /radio Canada and CBC Television. Osowski was a 2012 Metropolitan Opera National Council Upper-Midwest Regional Finalist, a winner of the 2014 Bel Canto Chorus Regional Artists Competition in Milwaukee and runner-up of the 2016 Schubert Club Bruce P. Carlson Scholarship Competition. In 2017, she won the Houston Saengerbund Competition. The remaining program — “Ave Maria,” “O Holy Night,” “I Wonder As I Wander,” Nigel Hess’ “Christmas Overture,” John Rutter’s “Candlelight Carol,” — is familiar. They’ve taken a different tack with Tchaikovsky’s practically requisite “Nutcracker.” Rather than the typical individual character dances, MSO will perform the Waltz of the Snowflakes and Act One Finale along with its grand pas de deux. Still, it’s accessible. “The show might look more esoteric than it really is. All the tunes are short. It’s a Christmas concert,” Barker said. There’s even a nod to last year with three Carmen Dragon arrangements of traditional carols. The most sizable feature is likely the appearance of the Eastern Shore Choral Society. With 100 members, they’ll be tucked into any available space onstage. “They are going to be on four of the numbers with us and the big finale. The orchestra isn’t as big as Mahler but it’s still a regular-size orchestra,” Barker said. Barker is confident for good reason. He was still proud of something from a September rehearsal with Renee Fleming. “Right after we read the first [Strauss song] with her, she turned around to the orchestra and said, ‘That is absolutely the finest reading I have ever had with any orchestra.’ Trust me, she didn’t have to say that,” Barker said.
December 5, 2018 - December 11, 2018
| L AG N I A P P E | 27
MUSIC
BY STEPHEN CENTANNI/MUSIC EDITOR/SCENTANNI@LAGNIAPPEMOBILE.COM
FEATURE
‘A Charlie Brown Jazz Christmas’ celebrates 10 years BAND: THE 10TH ANNIVERSARY OF “A CHARLIE BROWN JAZZ CHRISTMAS” DATE: SATURDAY, DEC. 8 WITH DOORS AT 6 P.M. VENUE: SAENGER THEATRE, 6 S. JOACHIM ST., WWW.MOBILESAENGER.COM TICKETS: $20 GA/$40 VIP ($10 FOR CHILDREN UNDER 10) AVAILABLE THROUGH TICKETMASTER
28 | L AG N I A P P E | D e c e m b e r 5 , 2 0 1 8 - D e c e m b e r 1 1 , 2 0 1 8
Photo | Chad Edwards/MCE Photography
T
he holidays are filled with many definitely a big learning curve getting all the pieces traditions, especially in Mobile. put together.” Many invoke the spirit of the Since, Milham says the organizers are always season with the lighting of the thinking about the future. After each performance, Mobile Christmas tree, taking they get together to discuss the previous show and place for the first time last Friday every aspect of what needs to be done differently in Mardi Gras Park. Others for the following year’s performance. The usual choose to experience an antebellum holiday with topics of conversation pertain to the show’s length, the “Christmas at Oakleigh” event. Bellingrath format, and methods of marketing. Milham said Gardens & Home attract crowds with millions of there has been no shortage of revisionary input. holiday lights strung across the property. This year, “Every year, we say, ‘Well, we need to do these one Mobile’s most festive Christmas traditions will things differently,’” he explained. “Every year, be celebrating its 10th anniversary. we learn what things work and what things don’t. For the past decade, “A Charlie Brown Jazz We always find different things that we need to Christmas” has become almost a rite of passage change.” with local music enthusiasts. Over the years, the amount With each passing Christmas, of people involved in the plankeyboardist Chris Spies, ning of each performance has drummer John Milham and increased, for which Milham bassist Chris Severin undergo is thankful. These days, a holiday transformation into the team driving “A CharTHE BIGGEST COMPLIMENT lie Brown Jazz Christmas” the Joe Cool Trio. They take the Saenger stage and perform includes Noell Broughton, I GET IS THAT IT’S THE their version of Vince GuaralJohnny Gwin, Stacy Wellborn di’s soundtrack for the 1965 and Cheryl Shifflet. SHOW THAT PUTS THEM IN animated television special “A The production aspect THE CHRISTMAS SPIRIT. Charlie Brown Christmas.” of the show has also grown. The Joe Cool Trio’s comProfessional live sound YOU CAN’T ASK FOR ANYbined talents shine brighter engineers Albert Robinson than any decorative treetop and Josh Murray man the THING MORE THAN THAT. star, and this year’s perforsoundboard. Meanwhile, light mance will be no different. It’s engineers Will Isherwood and Christmas gift to the city with Dustin Rudzynski accent each a set of holiday-inspired tunes performance with a visual featuring several special guests. extravaganza. When he thinks back on the time that has passed Since that first show at Murphy, the show has since their inaugural performance, John Milham established a philanthropic aspect as well, with says he gets a “surreal” sensation. Back then, the proceeds benefiting Delta Dogs. A plethora of sponJoe Cool Trio used Murphy High School’s 400-seat sors now back the show including the Jake Peavy theatre as the venue. In those days, Milham said that Foundation, Gulf Distributing, Cooper Restaurants, he, Spies and the other organizers involved were Moore Law Firm, The Fairhope Store, Callaghan’s responsible for not only producing the show but Irish Social Club, Mobile Bay Coin, Bay Gourmet also creating tickets and posters for three separate Catering, Heroes Sports Bar, Hayley’s, The Garage, performances in Mobile, Fairhope and Laurel, Mis- The OK Bike Shop, Rogers & Willard, Ashland sissippi. This year’s events are only in Mobile (Dec. Gallery, Cortlandt’s Pizza and Lagniappe. 8) and Laurel (Dec. 7). “We could not pull off something at the Saenger “We had no sponsors,” Milham said. “It was us on the level that we’re doing it without the sponjust trying to push everything we could to make sors,” Milham said. it happen and make it work. There was a lot of “A Charlie Brown Jazz Christmas” has also uncertainty and a lot of excitement. There was established a reputation for bringing a number of
The 10th annual “A Charlie Brown Jazz Christmas” will feature music, lights, media and dancing suitable for all ages. special guests who either sit in with the Joe Cool Trio or provide a set of their own. Milham said their selection of guest bands and artists is based on friendships, connections and collaborations he and Spies have created over the years. In the past, they’ve recruited notables including Molly Thomas, Ryan Balthrop, Rebecca Roubion, Rick Hirsch, Corky Hughes, Andy MacDonald, John Keuler and Eric Erdman. The duo has also brought out-of-town guest artists including The Invisible Czars, vocalist Eileina Dennis, trumpeter Leon “Kid Chocolate” Brown and saxophonist Clarence Johnson. For the concert’s 10th anniversary, the Joe Cool Trio plans on giving Mobile a funky Christmas that should have the house moving and grooving. For the second set, they’ll welcome vocalist Kim Dawson to the stage. Spies first experienced Dawson’s powerful soul vocal stylings during his time with the funk and soul band Matador! Soul Sounds. The second set will also feature the smooth saxophone of Christopher Spies, the organist’s progeny. The younger Spies will be fresh from touring with blues guitarist Samantha Fish. Milham said the second set will be a funky mix of traditional Christmas and soul in the key of Aretha Franklin and Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings. Milham has no shortage of beautiful Christmas memories associated with the tradition, as he has also made the show a family affair. His son and his nephew have both played the role of Peanuts character Woodstock. His son also read Linus’ famous Nativity monologue from the television special. His niece has taken on the role of Snoopy and his daughter Ana has sung a Christmas tune since she was three years old. Those attending “A Charlie Brown Jazz Christmas” should also prepare to make some joyous holiday memories. Milham said the happiness and memories this show brings is a reward in itself and he finds great joy in knowing others feel the same. “It’s an amazing feeling,” he said. “Every year, somebody tells me how much they look forward to it, or how their four-year-old asks when’s the Charlie Brown Christmas concert. There’s so many people who look forward to it and come to it every year. It’s great. On one side, it’s an adult jazz concert. On the other side, there’s enough elements to this music that it caters to all ages. The biggest compliment I get is that it’s the show that puts them in the Christmas spirit. You can’t ask for anything more than that.”
December 5, 2018 - December 11, 2018
| L AG N I A P P E | 29
MUSIC BRIEFS
Welcome home
BY STEPHEN CENTANNI/MUSIC EDITOR/SCENTANNI@LAGNIAPPEMOBILE.COM
Band: Edward David Anderson featuring Stan Foster and Molly Thomas, Christina Christian Date: Saturday, December 8 at 8 p.m. Venue: The Listening Room of Mobile, 78 St. Francis St., www.thelisteningroommobile.com Tickets: $25 artist donation Since his time with the indie rock outfit Backyard Tire Fire, Illinois native Edward David Anderson’s music has matured like a fine whiskey. The band’s hiatus sparked Anderson’s relocation to the Alabama Gulf Coast and a thriving solo career. Anderson will be using the acoustically pristine ambiance of The Listening Room of Mobile to introduce his local fans to his latest album “Chasing Butterflies.” “Chasing Butterflies” is a warm, timeless embrace of beautiful harmonies and evocative lyrics. The album is also a testament to Anderson’s eclectic nature. From the big country stomp of “Dog Days” to the mellow jazz rag of “Bad Tattoos,” “Chasing Butterflies” is an 10-track exploration of Anderson’s passion for songwriting. Christina Christian will warm up the crowd. A familiar voice in the Gulf Coast music scene, last year, she captured her trademark mix of folk and country in the tracks of her debut “Silent Sea.” Christian’s latest single is “Dolly Would You Pardon Me,” a twangy tribute to Dolly Parton. Armed with her acoustic, Christian’s collection of original tunes should be perfect for a listening room environment.
Deep underground
Band: Ricky Hell & the Voidboys, Mr. California, Scraepers Papers, Blotchouts Date: Saturday, Dec. 8 at 9 p.m. Venue: The Blind Mule, 57 N. Claiborne St., www.theblindmule.net Tickets: $5 for 21+/$10 for under 21
Ricky Hell & the Voidboys is returning to Mobile to help locals release a little bit of that holiday stress. Hell is truly a connoisseur of underground sounds, which could be considered the love child of Sonic Youth and The Jesus & Mary Chain. Elements of early ‘90s alt. rock, punk, garage and even a little ‘80s new wave course virulently throughout Hell’s music. Mr. California is joining Hell and the boys for the tour. With his heart-shaped Daisy Rock guitar and a batch of sample tracks, Mr. California is a futuristic one-man band. His tongue-in-cheek lyrics and delivery take on the air of classic Dead Milkmen. These two out-of-towners will be in proper local company. Scraepers Papers will bring an onslaught of classically inspired punk rock laced with organ to give it that garage feel. Blotchouts’ rock ‘n’ roll insanity will complete the lineup. Be on the lookout for chaotic rhythms, lyrics and arrangements that show the listener no quarter.
A little bit country
Band: Andrew Combs, The Kernal Date: Thursday, Dec. 13 with doors at 9 p.m. Venue: The Merry Widow, 51 S. Conception St., www.themerrywidow.net Tickets: $10 advance /$12 day-of available through Ticketfly Nashville’s indie renaissance continues to send up-and-coming artists to Mobile. Singer-songwriter Andrew Combs will be headlining this Music City lineup. Combs will charm his Merry Widow audience with equal parts of alt. country and folk rock from the same world that spawned Ryan Adams and Dylan LeBlanc. Combs is on tour in support of his follow-up to his 2017 full-length “Canyons of My Mind.” His EP “Five Covers & a Song” includes his latest single “Expectations” as well as translations of tracks from Radiohead, The Struts, Lucinda Williams, Blake Mills and Loudon Wainwright III. Single Lock Records artist The Kernal will be lending his country sounds to the evening. In the same songwriting tradition as notables such as Jonny Fritz, The Kernal’s style keeps things fresh while nodding to country’s brash glory days of the late ‘70s/early ‘80s.
Let’s Hangout
The Hangout Music Festival will spend May 17-19 celebrating 10 years of bringing music’s hottest acts to Gulf Shores. However, music is not the only reason this unique festival has brought thousands from around the globe to the Alabama Gulf Coast. Hangout Fest touts surf, sun and fun to accent this musical experience. On Thursday, Nov. 29, the festival satisfied the masses with the release of a lineup that continues of tradition of mixing popular acts with promising up-and-comers of all walks. Two of modern hip-hop’s most prominent artists will be making the journey to Gulf Shores to headline at the festival. Travis Scott will electrify the crowd with verbal prowess from the Lone Star State. He will shift the crowd into Sicko Mode with tracks from his latest album “Astroworld.” Hangout Fest will also feature a beachside set from Cardi B. With her infectious trademark sound, Cardi B has been spending the past year enjoying the success of tracks such as “I Like It,” “Bodak Yellow” and “Money.” Hangout Fest has never shied from alternative sounds, and two past acts will be returning to headline for the 2019 installment. Folk rock band The Lumineers will be coming back to Gulf Shores as a headliner as well as The 1975. With a new album in the works, Vampire Weekend will bring their new material to Hangout Fest. The festival also announced sets from Khalid, Kygo, Diplo, Judah & the Lion, Bebe Rexha, Allison Wonderland, Bishop Briggs, Sir Sly, Jonas Blue, The Interrupters, Flora Cash, Pale Waves, The Band Camino, Moon Boots, Easy Life and many more. Skate Mountain Records’ country rockers The Red Clay Strays will serve as the ambassadors of the Mobile Bay area music scene. Tickets are on sale now at hangoutmusicfest.com. Currently, general admission armbands are $259. VIP passes are going for $1,099. A Super VIP experience will cost $1,699. For those wanting the ultimate Hangout experience, Big Kahuna level passes have been set at $4,500. EZ-Pay, interestfree installment plans are currently available as well as travel packages. With the holiday season in full swing, Hangout Fest passes will make any festival-enthusiast’s Christmas shiny and bright.
30 | L AG N I A P P E | D e c e m b e r 5 , 2 0 1 8 - D e c e m b e r 1 1 , 2 0 1 8
December 5, 2018 - December 11, 2018
| L AG N I A P P E | 31
AREAMUSIC LISTINGS | December 5 - December 11 Please send upcoming music to listings@ lagniappemobile.com by MONDAY before Wednesday’s paper.
WED. DEC 5 Bluegill— Matt Neese Blues Tavern— Chris Gamble Boudreaux’s Cajun Grill— Ryan Balthrop, 6p Callaghan’s— Phil & Foster Cockeyed Charlie’s— Music by Jordan Cortlandt’s Pizza Pub— Marcus Elizondo, 7:30p Felix’s— Jimmy Lumpkin Duo Flora-Bama— Neil Dover, 4p / Justin Jeansonne, 7p / Rhonda Hart Duo, 8p
THURS. DEC 6 Beau Rivage— Aaron Neville, 8p Bluegill— Hannah McFarland Blues Tavern— Mark Welborn Band Boudreaux’s Cajun Grill— David Chastang, 6p Brickyard— Yellowhammer Callaghan’s— Bobby Butchka Cockeyed Charlie’s— Music by JJ Cortlandt’s Pizza Pub— Bryant Gilley, 8p Dauphins— Mark Pipas, 5p Felix’s— Grits N Pieces Flora-Bama— Gove Scrivenor, 1p / Dueling Pianos, 4:30p / Not The Real Band, But The Real Deal (Mark Sherrill), 5p / Alexa Burroughs, 9p / Mario Mena Duo Manci’s— Brittany Grimes The Merry Widow— The Pine Hill Haints, 9p Saenger— Kansas
FRI. DEC 7 Bluegill— Lee Yankie, 12p / Matt Neese Duo, 6p Blues Tavern— L.A.
32 | L AG N I A P P E | D e c e m b e r 5 , 2 0 1 8 - D e c e m b e r 1 1 , 2 0 1 8
South Boudreaux’s Cajun Grill— Delta Smoke, 6p Brickyard— Groove Fetish Callaghan’s— Stephen Sylvester Cockeyed Charlie’s— Fat Lincoln Felix’s— Blind Dog Mike Flora-Bama— Lea Anne Creswell Duo, 2p / Big Muddy, 5:30p / Scott Koehn and Electric Dawg, 6p / The Whiskey River Band, 10p / Bruce Smelley Duo, 10:15p IP Casino (Studio A)— Jeffrey Osborne, 8p Listening Room— Seth Walker LuLu’s— Jimmy Lumpkin, 5p Manci’s— J.E.R.I. Moe’s BBQ (Daphne) — Twang Gang, 8p Moe’s BBQ (Mobile) — Phil & Foster, 6:30p Moe’s BBQ (Semmes) — Jim Burt, 6:30p Saenger— The Black Jacket Symphony - Tom Petty’s “Damn the Torpedos” Soul Kitchen— Derez De’shon, 8p
SAT. DEC 8 Blue Water BBQ— Jamie Adamson Bluegill— Jimmy Lumpkin, 12p / Rebecca Barry Duo, 6p Blues Tavern— Disciples of the Crow Boudreaux’s Cajun Grill— Matt Neese, 6p Brickyard— Lee Yankie & The Secret Stash Cockeyed Charlie’s— M Bezzle Dauphins— Mark Pipas, 5p Fairhope Brewing— Flow Tribe Felix’s— Jamie Adamson Duo Flora-Bama— Santa Drop featuring Rebecca Barry and Bust, 11a / J Hawkins Trio, 1p / Army Vs. Navy Game, 2p / Jamell Richardson, The Gulf Coast Blues Boy, 5:30p / Brandon White Duo, 6p / Whyte Caps, 10p / Justin Jeansonne
Duo, 10:15p Hard Rock (Live) — The Righteous Brothers, 8p Listening Room— Edward David Anderson LuLu’s— Adam Holt, 5p Manci’s— Eric Erdman Saenger— Charlie Brown Jazz Christmas
SUN. DEC 9 Bluegill— Lee Yankie, 12p / Ben Leininger & Friends, 6p Boudreaux’s Cajun Grill— Anna McElroy, 6p Brickyard— Delta Smoke Callaghan’s— Susto Dauphins— Roland Cobbs, 11a Felix’s— Leonard Houstin Flora-Bama— Songs of Rusty, 12:30p / Al and Cathy, 4p / Perdido Brothers, 4p / Elaine Petty, 8p / Jonathan Newton, 8:30p Listening Room— Chip Herrington Jazz Quintet LuLu’s— Brent Burns, 5p Manci’s— Abe Partridge Tacky Jacks (Gulf Shores)— Lisa Christian, 2p Zebra Club— Randy Boyette, 6p
MON. DEC 10 Bluegill— Ty Taylor Boudreaux’s Cajun Grill— David Chastang, 6p Felix’s— Lee Yankie Flora-Bama— Open Mic w/ Cathy Pace, 4p / Justin Jeansonne, 7p / Petty and Pace, 8p
TUES. DEC 11 Boudreaux’s Cajun Grill— Ryan Balthrop, 6p Butch Cassidy’s— Chris Powell Cockeyed Charlie’s— Music by JJ Fairhope Brewing— Brittany Grimes Felix’s— Rodger Fleshman Flora-Bama— Rick Whaley Duo, 4p / Shea White, 7p / Bruce Smelley, 8p
December 5, 2018 - December 11, 2018
| L AG N I A P P E | 33
The Coen Brothers’ lastest masterpiece
T
FILMTHE REEL WORLD
BY ASIA FREY/FILM CRITIC/AFREY@LAGNIAPPEMOBILE.COM
AREA THEATERS AMC MOBILE 16 785 Schillinger Road South Mobile, AL (251)639-1748 CRESCENT THEATER 208 Dauphin St Mobile, AL (251) 438-2005 REGAL MOBILE STADIUM 18 1250 Satchel Paige Drive Mobile, AL (844) 462-7342 AMC JUBILEE Square 12 6898 Highway 90 Daphne, AL (251) 626-5766
he six tales in Joel and Ethan Coen’s anthology film “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs” are nasty, brutish and short. Varying in tone but all set in the American West shortly before the Civil War, these films are virtuosic, capturing different aspects of this enduringly mythic time, held together by a unified vision of dark humor and brutality, and sparkling with profoundly beautiful cinematography. The Coen Brothers are the most specific, assured and skilled people making films, or possibly anything else, right now. Everything they do is so precisely constructed and utterly idiosyncratic, that as you witness each moment, it is clear that nothing could look or sound any other way than it does, and it is brilliant. The first section, which is about the titular Buster Scruggs, is absurd, slapstick and ludicrous, hilariously violent and unrealistic. Do not stop watching if you don’t connect with this farcical singing cowboy story; it is merely laying the conceptual scene for what follows, as open hilarity gives way to more restrained and ironic humor, and the viewer transitions from giggles to grimaces. In “Near Algodones” James Franco tries to rob a bank and meets another memorable performance from character
actor Stephen Root, who serves Franco the first of many reversals of fortune. This tale is pithy and ironic, as Franco’s cosmic luck switches back and forth with breakneck speed. In the Old West, death is never far away, and each story tackles a different character grappling with this constant reality. Each of these tales is disturbing in its own way, but “Meal Ticket” will haunt you forever. Liam Neeson plays “The Impresario,” a man who drives a charming wagon that opens into a little stage, and there, the unfortunate “Wingless Lark,” a young man without arms or legs, delivers a series of moving orations, from the poem “Ozymandias” to the Gettysburg Address. Neeson feeds the man, Harrison, and puts his makeup on for him, and Harrison’s vulnerability is palpable; he represents every person in this pitiless world, waiting for disaster he has not the smallest chance of preventing. No less than Tom Waits plays a grizzled prospector in “All Gold Canyon,” one of the film’s more endearing characters, a man in a battle with nature and the elements searching for gold. “The Gal Who Got Rattled” is the longest and most developed story, aching and even romantic. Zoe Kazan plays Alice Longabaugh, a young lady heading west in a wagon train, after a simply hilarious
scene in the boarding house where she and her brother reside. Her character is gorgeously realized, and the rhythm of this story stretches perfectly, creating a respite in the quick pacing. Then, the film ends so appropriately with “The Mortal Remains,” a dazzlingly verbal piece that feels theatrical, set almost entirely inside a stagecoach where five characters ride to a place called Fort Morgan. In some ways, this story sums up the different viewpoints of those that came before it, as three characters debate the nature of man while two undertakers sagely look on. Every minute of these stories is brilliant — spectacular looking and mind bogglingly well-written. In the capable hands of Joel and Ethan Coen, Western and human tropes of masculinity, mortality, humanity, and spirituality are bent, reformed, and displayed with a sharp crackle of ill will and, always, indelible visual grace notes. They are the Impresarios, creating a work that is so wholly realized on every level, so complete and effective in its singular vision, that these six stories add up to an achievement that is wise, ridiculous, gorgeous, hideous, and contains some of the best onscreen monologues and original characters of all time. “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs” is currently streaming on Netflix.
NEXUS CINEMA DINING 7070 Bruns Dr. Mobile, AL (251) 776-6570 AMC CLASSIC WHARF 23151 Wharf Lane Orange Beach, AL (251) 981-4444 COBB PINNACLE 14 3780 Gulf Shores Pkwy Gulf Shores (251) 923-0785 EASTERN SHORE PREMIERE CINEMA 14 30500 State Hwy 181 Spanish Fort, AL (251) 626-0352 Information accurate at press time; please call theaters for showtimes.
Photos | Netflix / Sony Pictures Entertainment
Tim Blake Nelson in “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs,” a collection of six stories by Joel and Ethan Coen currently streaming on Netflix. In “The Possession of Hannah Grace,” when a cop who is just out of rehab takes the graveyard shift in a city hospital morgue, she faces a series of bizarre, violent events caused by an evil entity in one of the corpses. NOW PLAYING
GREEN BOOK
Crescent Theater, Regal Mobile Stadium 18.
CREED II
All listed multiplex theaters.
RALPH BREAKS THE INTERNET All listed multiplex theaters.
ROBIN HOOD
All listed multiplex theaters.
A PRIVATE WAR
WIDOWS
Regal Mobile Stadium 18, AMC Classic Wharf.
DR. SEUSS’ THE GRINCH
All listed multiplex theaters.
OVERLORD
All listed multiplex theaters.
THE GIRL IN THE SPIDER’S WEB All listed multiplex theaters.
THE NUTCRACKER AND THE FOUR REALMS
HUNTER KILLER
All listed multiplex theaters.
THE HATE U GIVE
All listed multiplex theaters.
FIRST MAN
All listed multiplex theaters.
A STAR IS BORN
All listed multiplex theaters.
VENOM
All listed multiplex theaters.
NIGHT SCHOOL
All listed multiplex theaters.
All listed multiplex theaters, Nexus All listed multiplex theaters. Cinema Dining.
All listed multiplex theaters.
Regal Mobile Stadium 18.
INSTANT FAMILY
FANTASTIC BEASTS: THE CRIMES OF GRINDLEWALD
NOBODY’S FOOL
BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY
Crescent Theater, Regal Mobile All listed multiplex theaters, Nexus Stadium 18, AMC Mobile 16, AMC Cinema Dining. Classic Jubilee Square 12.
34 | L AG N I A P P E | D e c e m b e r 5 , 2 0 1 8 - D e c e m b e r 1 1 , 2 0 1 8
NEW THIS WEEK
THE POSSESSION OF HANNAH GRACE
A nighttime morgue worker starts to suspect that a disfigured body is possessed by a demonic force. All listed multiplex theaters.
December 5, 2018 - December 11, 2018
| L AG N I A P P E | 35
STYLE GARDENING
Using seed catalogs 101 BY ALICE MARTY, MOBILE COUNTY MASTER GARDENER | COASTALALABAMAGARDENING@GMAIL.COM
I
Photo | Courtesy of Burpee’s
t’s that time of year again when the seed catalogs start showing up in our mailboxes. If you’re a new gardener, deciding which catalogs offer varieties adapted to the southeastern United States can be difficult. What to plant and when are the next two important decisions. It’s time to “Ask a Master Gardener,” or check the Extension website at aces.edu for two popular planting guides: ANR-0047 Alabama Gardener’s Calendar and ANR-0063 Planting Guide for Home Gardening in Alabama. Individual plant listings may not include climate zone data. If they do it will be numbers from 4-10. Links to the USDA climate zone map are sometimes included. This is the starting point for determining the growing season where you live and a guideline for expected first and last frost dates in your region. Mobile is usually listed as climate zone 8b. Many edibles and flowers will grow in every climate, yet some won’t thrive in areas that don’t get either enough heat or chill time. Some will need to be started indoors before the last frost date. For more information on average last frost dates, check with local county extensions or consult the Old Farmer’s Almanac. Catalogs are usually divided into categories: vegetables, trees, shrubs, perennials, annuals and so on. Once you’ve found the category you’re looking for, plants are listed in alphabetical order. Seed catalogs vary in the amount of information they provide with each listing, but some information is standard, such as the plant name, sun and water needs and the number of seeds per packet. Most catalogs include additional information such as descriptions of each variety, days to maturity, type of seed and advantages specific to climate or growing condition. Look for legends to alert you to specific abbreviations the grower uses. If you are growing a modest-sized garden, pick the vegetable varieties your family enjoys most as well as those that provide the largest harvest in the available space. If it’s flowers you’re after, make sure they will grow in the conditions of your growing area. That is, hours of sun and water needs. In recent years, many seed catalogs and seed packages have been expanded to include more reference information. Here is a glossary of terms to help you make sense of all the information provided: Days to maturity is typically found after a variety name and lets you know how soon you can expect to start harvesting after planting seeds or setting plants in the garden as transplants. It will also tell you when to expect beautiful flowers from seed. It is important to note that the sooner the plant matures, the fewer resources of water, nutrient, and care you will have to dedicate until harvest. Open-pollinated, or OP, seeds are from plants that have
Burpee’s highly recognized horticulturalists have been continuously bringing innovation to the seed market since 1881. been pollinated the old-fashioned way: by wind, insects, birds and other natural interventions. If you save the seeds of your harvest for use the following year, you will get the same variety and plant characteristics as the original plant. Hybrid (F, F1, F2). These are seeds or plants from a cross between two or more known varieties and are often grown for specific traits like flavor or size. Saving seeds from hybrids and replanting them will not guarantee the same plants in future years. Genetically Modified Organisms. Hybrids are not the same as genetically modified organisms, or GMOs. Those are produced in labs by manipulating the DNA of the plants.
36 | L AG N I A P P E | D e c e m b e r 5 , 2 0 1 8 - D e c e m b e r 1 1 , 2 0 1 8
They aren’t necessarily creating a separate category of types or characteristics as much as enhancing certain characteristics for agricultural advantages. Critics of GMOs object to the altering of the plants’ DNA. Heirlooms. Most people consider anything that was grown before World War II to be an heirloom while others say any seed that has been around for at least 50 years qualifies. Heirloom seeds are from open-pollinated sources. They are sought after for their flavor and their hardiness as well as their historical interest. They’ve also adapted naturally to different growing conditions so finding heirlooms that originated from where you live means they will continue to do well in your garden. You’ll find more sources for heirloom seeds and plants from Seed Savers Exchange, which is often considered the starting point for the growing interest in heirlooms. Many newer companies also specialize in these plants. Organic seeds must be officially certified to be both pesticide and chemical-free and not genetically modified. Disease resistance. There are several persistent plant diseases that can affect edibles, especially favorites such as cucumbers and tomatoes. If certain diseases are prevalent in your area, search for resistant hybrid seeds that have the following notations: powdery mildew (PM), verticillium wilt (V), fusarium wilt (F), tobacco mosaic virus (TMV), tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV) and late blight (LB). Seeds with the (N) designation have been bred to resist nematodes. Determinate plants will grow to a set size then stop growing. These plants may be better selections when growing space is limited. Using determinate tomato varieties as an example, all the fruit will ripen at the same time. Flowering plants will have a shorter blooming period. Indeterminate plants continue to grow, providing an extended harvest so long as conditions allow. These tomato plants will probably need to be supported or staked and will continue to bear fruit until killed by frost or disease. Flowering plants will bloom over a longer period. If you’re new to garden catalogs, try to remember that all the lovely pictures in the catalog are of mature plants at peak perfection. Some of your perennial plants won’t look that way for a year or two so don’t despair and rip them from the ground. Keep trying—that’s what gardeners do, and gardening catalogs are there to entice us to do just that. Happy planting!
AN ANNUAL EVENT NOT TO MISS: What: Bellingrath Gardens Magic Christmas in Lights When: Nov. 23 – Dec. 31, 2018 (closed Dec. 25), 5-9 p.m. Where: 1204 Bellingrath Gardens Road, Theodore Tickets: Visit bellingrath.org for more information
December 5, 2018 - December 11, 2018
| L AG N I A P P E | 37
CALENDAR OF EVENTS DECEMBER 5, 2018 - DECEMBER 11, 2018
GENERAL INTEREST BWG guest speaker Bill Finch Award-winning ecologist Bill Finch, author of “Longleaf; Far As The Eye Can See,” will be guest speaker at the Baldwin Writers Group on Saturday, December 15th (10 a.m.) at the Daphne Library. He will show better ways to make nature come alive in your book’s scenes. Visitors welcome. Greefleaf Writers Group Third Saturday each month at Semmes Library on Moffet Road from 11am-2pm. Upcoming authors at Page and Palette Dec. 6 at 6 p.m. Sonny Brewer author of “Our Prince of Scribes,” Dec. 8 at 1 p.m. Donna F. Orchard and Kayla Jones authors of “Nanners for Nana” Candlelight at the Loop Saturday, Dec. 7 from 5 - 8 p.m. Refreshments, drawings, door prizes, food trucks and classic cars. Ride one of Two Streetcars/Trolleys to visit loop area businesses. For more information call 251471-3523. Alabama Coastal Christmas The Coastal Alabama Business Chamber supports more than 40 holiday events in South Baldwin County including a Merry Market Dec. 7-8 at the Orange Beach Events Center at The Wharf and a lighted boat parade on the Intracoastal Waterway Dec. 8 beginning at Lulu’s at dusk and ending at the Flora-Bama Ole River Grill. Visit www.alabamacoastalchristmas.com. Christmas Through the Ages
Saturday, Dec. 8 at Fort Gaines. Come join the soldiers from the past and their families as they celebrate a noncommercial Christmas. Admission is $8 (13 and over), $4 (5-12 years), 4 and under free. For more information visit fortgaines@dauphinisland.org. Christmas on Dauphin Island Tree-lighting ceremony at dusk on Saturday, Dec. 8, at Water Tower Plaza. Featuring Santa Claus, a special patch of snow for the children and refreshments. Christmas Boat Parade, Saturday, Dec. 15 at 5 p.m. at Billy Goat Hole (east end). Call 251-861-5525. Christmas at LuLu’s Featuring Santa’s warm-weather-loving younger brother Billy Claus and his LuLuBelles and lots of activities. Dec. 8 beginning at 1 p.m. Followed by the 33rd annual Christmas Lighted Boat Parade at 5 p.m. with more than 45 decorated vessels that will parade from Lulu’s to the FloraBama. Admission is free. Charlie Brown Jazz Christmas This tenth annual family-friendly Christmas tradition includes a performance by The Joe Cool Trio performing Vince Guaraldi’s Masterpiece Soundtrack, A Charlie Brown Christmas.A portion of proceeds will go to Delta Dogs, a community-supported, volunteer-led nonprofit that provides free spay and neuter and veterinary care to the pets of people in need in Mobile County. For more information, visit www. mobiledeltadogs.org. Saturday, December 8, 2018, Mobile Saenger Theatre. Doors at 6 p.m., show at 7 p.m. Prices: $40 for VIP, $20 for General Admission, $10 for children ages 10 and
38 | L AG N I A P P E | D e c e m b e r 5 , 2 0 1 8 - D e c e m b e r 1 1 , 2 0 1 8
under. Available at Saenger Box Office or www.ticketmaster.com. “Alabama Day” Join The Tristan de Luna Chapter, Alabama Society Daughters of the American Revolution and the Mobile Public Library invite the public for “Alabama Day” Saturday, Dec. 8 at 2 p.m. Bernheim Hall at the Main Library. Light refreshment to follow. Call 251-208-7093. Wine Taste of Mobile Saenger Theatre (Room 1927), Dec. 8 at 7 p.m. Wine Taste’s mission is to bring together captivating conversations and ideas through art, music, food and wine. Contact Execnetgroup@gmail.com or 251454-7428. Santa Drop at Flora-Bama Santa will parachute in to kick-off a day of activites Dec. 8 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Arts and crafts, sweet treats, live music and more. Admission is free. Breakfast with Santa Saturday, Dec. 8, 9-10 a.m. at The Shoppes of Bel Air. Featuring Santa Claus and food provided by Chick-fil-A. Please reserve your child’s complimentary ticket on Eventbrite. Christmas at the Bragg Dec. 1-21, guests are invited to share the spirit of the season at the Bragg-Mitchell Mansion. Tours Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., on the hour. Admission $10/ adults, $5/children ages 5-12. Private tours available for groups. Call 251-471-6364 or visit braggmitchellmansion.com.
Magic Christmas in Lights Bellingrath Gardens and Home presents the 23rd season of Magic Christmas in Lights nightly, 5-9 p.m. through Dec. 31. Visit bellingrath.org. Wales West Arctic Express Now through Dec. 24, take a steam train ride to the North Pole and visit Santa Claus. Petting zoo, pony rides, miniature train rides, a hayless hayride, bounce house and fun artificial snow. Visit waleswestlightrailway.heartlandticket.com. Breakfast with Santa The Grand Hotel in Point Clear will host Breakfast with Santa Dec. 8 and 15. Breakfast buffet 7-10:30 a.m., pictures with Santa 8-11 a.m. Reservations required, call 251-928-9201. Happy Howlidays Kid & Pet Parade Sunday, Dec. 9 at 2 p.m. down Main Street at The Wharf. Bring your with dogs, cats, parrots and more for this fun, familyfriendly parade. Admission is free. Cruise to Bottle Creek Indian mounds On Dec.15, Blakeley Park offers guided excursions to the Bottle Creek Mounds, 18 earthen mounds built centuries ago by Native Americans. Cruise departs at 9:30 a.m., returns 12:30 p.m. $35 for adults, $17 for children 6-12. Purchase online at blakeleypark.com/Event. Military Mondays Active-duty military and their families will receive a 15 percent discount each Monday of the Magic Christmas in Lights season at Bellingrath on Mondays, Dec. 10, 17 and 24. Visit bellingrath.org.
Winter at The Wharf Ice skating at The Wharf now through Jan. 13, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily; $10 for skating, $13 for skating and ferris wheel. Horse and carriage rides Dec. 8, 9, 14-16, 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. Admission $20 per carriage ride. Visit ALWharf.com for details. Christmas at the Conde-Charlotte Museum Enjoy the beauty of the holidays at one of the oldest homes in Alabama now through Jan. 5. The Conde-Charlotte Museum is open Tuesday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Closed Dec. 22-25 and Jan. 1. Call 251-432-4722 or visit condecharlotte. com. Holiday concert The Baldwin Pops will perform a holiday concert, Monday, Dec. 10, 7 p.m. at Foley Civic Center. Admission is free. Santa Pet Night The Shoppes of Bel Air, Thursday, Dec. 13 from 5:30 - 7:30 p.m. Dress your pet and take holiday photos with Santa. “Lighting up Lafayette” Join us for the 2nd annual Lighting Up Lafayette Christmas Stroll. Satuday, Dec. 15 from 6 - 8:30 p.m. Kid-friendly event to see lights and Santa. No parking on Lafayette Street. Foot traffic only. Parking available at Dauphin Way Methodist and McGill parking lots. Disposable diapers will be collected for Junior League of Mobile Diaper Bank w/ collection stations at houses.
FUNDRAISERS “Hark!” A Christmas Concert Presented by St. Paul’s Episcopal Church and The Ecumenical Ministries Thursday, Dec. 6 at 7 p.m. at the Foley Civic Center.
Performing will be “Four A Change” with members from the disbanded “Coastal Chorale.” Tickets are $15 and can be purchased at St. Paul’s Church in Foley. Call 251-943-2173 for other ticket locations. World AIDS Day To mark the 30th annual World AIDS Day, in recognition of those who have passed away from, been infected with or affected by HIV and AIDS, the HIV Prevention and Care Network Group will hold the “Scarlet Event” Friday, Dec. 14, 6 p.m. at Cathedral Square. Call 251-690-8167 or 251-690-8170.
ARTS
located at 2022 W. 2nd St., Gulf Shores) Visit SBCT.biz for showtimes and tickets. “The Nutcracker” Performed by the Bay Shore Ballet Academy Dec. 7-9. Showtimes and tickets are available online at bayshoreballet.com. USA Holiday Concert Performances will feature faculty and student soloists and ensembles including concert choir, chorale, wind ensemble, opera theatre, orchestra and a variety of vocal, woodwind, brass, string, percussion ensembles, and the Jaguar Marching Band. Thursday, Dec. 8 from 6:30 - 7:30 p.m. at the Mitchell Center main arena.
“Everest” at Exploreum Celebrate the Exploreum’s 20th anniversary with “Everest.” An international team of climbers ascends Mount Everest in spring 1996. The film depicts the lengthy preparations for the climb, the trek to the summit and the successful return to base camp. Visit exploreum.com. Thursdays at MMoA Every Thursday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., the Mobile Museum of Art offers free admission to all Mobile County residents. No reservations necessary. MMoA is at 4850 Museum Drive. Call 251-208-5200.
SPORTING EVENTS/ACTIVITIES
“Babes in Toyland” Playhouse in the Park presents “Babes in Toyland” for one night only, Wednesday, Dec. 5, 7:30 p.m. at the historic Saenger Theatre in downtown Mobile. Purchase tickets online at playhouseinthepark.org/tickets/ or call 251602-0630. Tickets ($20) will also be available at the Saenger box office.
MUSEUMS
WORKSHOPS
“Dancing on the Keys” Performance by University of Mobile Elite 88 Piano, Thursday, Dec. 6 at 7 p.m. in Moorer Auditorium at University of Mobile. Free admission.
“Our Beloved Women” The Marx Library at the University of South Alabama will host “Our Beloved Women: Matriarchs of the Poarch Creek” through December. Visit library.southalabama.edu.
Predatory Lending and High Cost Loans The abusive practices by lenders have increased. Learn some of the more common practices and how the Equal Credit Opportunity Act & Fair Housing Act protect you against discrimination. Also, learn about avoiding high-fee loans. Lifelines Counseling Services, Monday, Dec. 10, 7 p.m. Sign up online at lifelinesmobile.org.
“Christmas Blessings” Presented by the Eastern Shore Choral Society Thursday, Dec. 6 at 7:30 p.m. at Spanish Fort United Methodist and Sunday, Dec. 9 at 2 p.m. at First Baptist in Fairhope. Featuring the music of Handel, Mendelssohn, Rutter and includes our annual audience sing-along. Purchase tickets at www.escs.org or at the door the day of the concert. Students are free. “A Charlie Brown Christmas” Performed by South Baldwin County Community Theatre Dec. 7-9 and 14-16
Handel’s “Messiah,” Part 1 Tuesday, Dec. 11 in the Cathedral-Basilica of the Immaculate Conception (2 S. Claiborne St.) at 7:30pm. Free and open to the public.
“Animation Academy” at the Exploreum Learn about the history of animated drawings, from prefilm animation devices to today’s computer-generated animation, and try your hand at drawing characters. Through Jan. 6. Call 251-208-6893 or visit exploreum.com. “Mystery of the Mayan Medallion” Secrets of an ancient world await at the History Museum of Mobile, through Dec. 30. Visit historymuseumofmobile.com.
Adult skate night Every 2nd and 4th Sunday each month, 8-10:30 p.m. at Dreamland Skate Center (5672 Three Notch Road) with DJ Beaux, $5.
Marriages end, families don’t Lifelines Counseling Services will host “Helping Children Cope with Divorce,” an educational program focusing on how effective parenting can lessen the negative impact of divorce and parental separation on children. Saturday, Dec. 8, 8 a.m. to noon at 705 Oak Circle Drive East. Sign up online at lifelinesmobile.org.
December 5, 2018 - December 11, 2018
| L AG N I A P P E | 39
SPORTS UPON FURTHER REVIEW
Mobile Sports Authority reports on another successful season BY J. MARK BRYANT/SPORTS WRITER/SPORTS@LAGNIAPPEMOBILE.COM/TWITTER @GOULAGUY
Photo | Lyndon George / LG Photography
an approximate 30 percent increase in numbers over the three previous years (2013-2015). “Since Fiscal 2012, the MSA has attracted, hosted, managed or co-managed 189 sporting events which have generated an estimated $131 million in economic impact for Mobile County,” Corte said. “The future continues to look bright as we’re constantly engaging sports event owners about coming to play in our beautiful area.” Other major events managed or supported by MSA from Oct. 1, 2017, through Sept. 30, 2018, that hit the $1 million mark include: • The 5th Quarter Classic football game between Tuskegee and Jackson State; Oct. 13-14, 2017; second annual; had 3,000 visitors for two-night stay, 3,500 visitors for one-night stay and 2,000 day trippers; impact of $4,112,000. • USA Gymnastics AL Optional & XCEL Championship Meet; March 16-18, 2018; second annual; had 2,066 visitors for two-night stay and 300 day trippers; impact of $1,742,912. • USA Volleyball Gulf Coast Region Championships; April 13-15, 2018; fourth annual; had 1,963 visitors for two-night stay and 333 day trippers; had 121 teams compete; impact of $1,713,136. • Mobile Challenge of Champions track & field competition; April 6-7, 2018; 26th annual; had 1,500 visitors for two-night stay and 828 for onenight stay; had 149 schools from 11 states with 2,178 competitors; impact of $1,592,448. • Servis 1st Bank First Light Marathon; Jan. 13-14, 2018; 17th annual; had 2,000 competitors from 37 states and nine foreign countries; 1,300 visitors for two-night stay; impact of $1,081,600.
Sports shorts
• Three University of South Alabama football players — offensive lineman Brian Ankerson of Theodore, offensive lineman Rowan Godwin and kicker Gavin Patterson — have been named to the 2018 Google Cloud Academic All-District Football Team. This marks the first time the Jaguars have had three The Mobile Sports Authority’s Gulf Coast Challenge attracted more than 23,000 fans (including visitors from 19 or more individuals earn academic all-district recognition in the same football season. states) to Ladd-Peebles Stadium in September 2018. The district includes the states of Alabama, Florida, Georgia and South ports tourism can bring fans to Mobile County visitors from 19 states) to Ladd-Peebles Stadium in SepCarolina. To be eligible for consideration for honors individuals must have a who might not have come here for any other tember 2018. Along with the contest, various events took cumulative grade point average of 3.30 or higher, be a starter or important rereasons. It is the job of the Mobile Sports Authority place during the week including a college fair for high serve and must have sophomore status both academically and athletically. The (MSA) to promote such events, which can lead to school students, concerts, alumni and team luncheons, a three have all been moved forward to the national ballot, with the Google Cloud people coming here, staying in motels and spending money. traditional Mardi Gras-style parade and game-day tailgatNCAA Division I Academic All-America team to be released on Dec. 10. The MSA has managed to reach its goal once again. ing. MSA worked with Green Coast Boys Entertainment to • The University of Mobile had several volleyball players honored by the According to a report on the most recent fiscal year, the promote the schedule. Southern States Athletic Conference. On the first-team unit for a second time non-profit sports commission attracted, supported and/or The weeklong occasion generated an estimated was junior outside hitter Mirella Gatterdam, who was also named to the SSAC hosted a total of 29 sports events generating an estimated economic impact of $6,615,776 to the Mobile area. This all-tournament list. Joining her on the first-team were junior middle blocker $22,467,000 in the Mobile area economy. makes the Gulf Coast Challenge the most economically Samantha Nichols and freshman setter Victoria Songe. On the second-team unit “With the tremendous support of the Mobile County impactful event ever hosted by the MSA, or by its predewas junior libero Avery Wasdin, while middle blocker Rachel Hart and Songe Commission, the Mayor and City Council of Mobile, and cessor organization, the Mobile Area Sports Commission, were on the all-freshman squad. Outside hitter Chloe Wentland was named to a very engaged board of trustees, we at the Mobile Sports dating to 1998. the Champions of Character Team. Authority are proud that we were able to generate such The MSA Economic Impact Formula measures the • University of South Alabama volleyball middle blocker Kelley Hartman a significant impact for the Mobile area economy,” said number of visitors, times the number of nights stayed, has been named to the Sun Belt Conference’s second-team unit. She finished Danny Corte, executive director of MSA. times $208 per day to get a direct spending figure. That the regular season ranked sixth in the SBC in service aces per set (0.30), and MSA was involved with 22 different sports from all age number is then doubled (a regional multiplier) to get the ranked seventh in blocks per set (1.02) in conference matches. brackets. Among the events was everything from cross total economic impact for the area. The $208 figure comes Sophomore outside hitter Hannah Harris has been named Google Cloud country runs and gymnastics to volleyball, basketball and from a 2012 study by the University of Arizona on what First-Team Academic All-District. An arts & sciences major who boasts a 4.00 football. The full list can be found at MobileSportsAuthor- visitors spend on average during various amateur sports GPA, she was one of eight NCAA Division I student-athletes voted to the team ity.com. events. It is estimated that “day trippers” spend an average in District 4, which covers Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and Of those 29 events, 17 were either taking place for the of $40 per person per day. Puerto Rico. first or second time. This includes the one making the largest Corte said the fiscal year numbers represent one of the • USA sophomore Siti Shaari was voted the SBC Women’s Golf Athlete of economic impact — the inaugural Gulf Coast Challenge. better years for MSA or the Mobile Area Sports Comthe Week. She averaged 73.33 strokes per round, recorded a career-low 18-hole The football game between Southern University and mission. During the last three fiscal years (2016-2018), score and a season-low three-round total and earned a second-place finish over Alabama A&M attracted more than 23,000 fans (including the MSA has averaged about 31 events per year. This is two tournaments in the reporting period.
S
40 | L AG N I A P P E | D e c e m b e r 5 , 2 0 1 8 - D e c e m b e r 1 1 , 2 0 1 8
SPORTS FROM BEHIND THE MIC
We may have already seen the two best teams play BY RANDY KENNEDY/CONTRIBUTING WRITER
J
alen Hurts wasn’t named the Most Valuable Player of the SEC Championship, probably because of the fault in the system that requires votes to be submitted before the game ends so a winner can be announced while the confetti is still falling. Hurts wasn’t included when the four permanent team captains were announced Sunday night, probably because players were required to vote before the SEC Championship Game. But Hurts did solidify his place among the most legendary players in Alabama history by coming off the bench and leading the Tide to a 35-28 win over Georgia. In some ways I hated to see Hurts score the winning touchdown on a running play, because it overshadowed the point that Hurts was the hero of the game because he stuck it out in Tuscaloosa to improve his passing, the deficiency in his game that allowed Tua Tagovailoa to take command of the job. Hurts was a perfect 5-for-5 passing on third down against Georgia, including a bullet to tight end Irv Smith on third-and-13. That pass was enough to convince the Georgia coaches and players they weren’t facing the same player they dominated in the first half of last year’s national championship game. Without that, the running lane would not have been open for Hurts to score the touchdown that won an SEC championship and continued the Tide’s undefeated season. **** Has anyone else wondered if we’re going to look back on last Saturday night and think we were watching the true national championship game? No other team has come
within 22 points of Alabama this season, and the Tide are a 14-point favorite over Oklahoma in the first round of the College Football Playoff. If the Tide beats the Sooners in Miami, they will be a solid favorite over either Clemson or Notre Dame in the national championship game. According to the experts in Las Vegas, who have a reputation for being pretty good at this prognostication stuff, Georgia would be favored over Oklahoma, Ohio State, Notre Dame and every other team in the country not named Alabama and Clemson. I completely understand the selection committee’s decision to include Oklahoma over Georgia for the fourth playoff spot. But it definitely goes against the notion that the committee’s job is to identify the best four teams. Don’t just take the word of the wise guys in Vegas. Look at what the committee has said. Prior to championship Saturday, the top six teams in the rankings were 1. Alabama, 2. Clemson, 3. Notre Dame, 4. Georgia, 5. Oklahoma, 6. Ohio State. So, the committee had already factored in the Georgia loss to LSU, and the Ohio State loss to Purdue. The committee members had already factored in the strength of schedule and all the wins by all three teams. Their assessment was that Georgia was better than Oklahoma, which was better than Ohio State. So, for Oklahoma to get into the playoff over Georgia you have to believe what happened Saturday proved the previous week’s rankings were in error. In other words, we thought Georgia was No. 4, but after watching that game against Alabama we realized we had the Bulldogs ranked too high. We watched Oklahoma beat Texas and we watched Georgia lose to Alabama and we believe we saw enough to
convince us we had the ranking wrong last week. Georgia is one of the best four teams in the country. That fact is hard to argue. In 120 minutes plus an overtime against Georgia over the last two years, Alabama has led for exactly two minutes. The Tide has led for only nine of the 290 plays between the two teams and yet won both games. That proves the Bulldogs are worthy of another championship shot. Of course, if the Bulldogs hadn’t been blown out by LSU we wouldn’t be forced to have this conversation. **** Much has been made about how far the Pac-12 has fallen, but the Big Ten is in a similar position. Since no Big Ten team made the playoff this year, the streak will be continued to four years since a conference team scored a point in the playoffs. The Big Ten has missed out on the playoff in 2018 and 2017. In 2016, Ohio State was beaten 31-0 by Clemson. In 2015, Michigan State was beaten 38-0 by
HAS ANYONE ELSE WONDERED IF WE’RE GOING TO LOOK BACK ON LAST SATURDAY NIGHT AND THINK WE WERE WATCHING THE TRUE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME? NO OTHER TEAM HAS COME WITHIN 22 POINTS OF ALABAMA THIS SEASON, AND THE TIDE ARE A 14-POINT FAVORITE OVER OKLAHOMA IN THE FIRST ROUND OF THE COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF. ” Alabama. The Big Ten has to go back to the first year of the four-team playoff in 2014 to find a win or even a point scored by one of its members. **** Nine of 11 SEC teams that reached a bowl are favored to win. The exceptions are Florida (against Michigan) and Kentucky (against Penn State). Only Ole Miss, Arkansas and Tennessee missed the postseason. Randy Kennedy writes a weekly column for Lagniappe and is co-host of Sports Drive every weekday from 3-6 p.m. on WNSP 105.5 FM, the country’s first all-sports FM station.
D e c e m b e r 5 , 2 0 1 8 - D e c e m b e r 1 1 , 2 0 1 8 | L AG N I A P P E | 41
THE NEW YORK TIMES CROSSWORD PUZZLE SILENT FINALES BY JOON PAHK / EDITED BY WILL SHORTZ ACROSS 1 Late Queen of Soul 7 Places for bears or villains 12 What a recipe may be written on 20 Puts up 21 Veep under Nixon 22 Formal defense 23 Photo caption for the winning team’s M.V.P. being carried off the field? 25 Get an F in physics? 26 Bert of “The Wizard of Oz” 27 Powerful swell 28 In the style of 30 First-generation JapaneseAmerican 31 Houdini feat 33 Rey, to Luke, in “The Last Jedi” 36 Place for a stud to go 38 What you’re effectively saying when you sign a waiver? 41 Longtime athlete on the U.S. Davis Cup team 45 Line through one’s teeth? 47 Torment 48 Full of subtlety 50 Capital of Albania 52 Atlas or Titan, for short 53 Street through the middle of town 54 Energy secretary Chu under Obama 55 ____ neutrality 56 Actress Long 58 Extended diatribe 59 Moon race? 61 Router attachments 63 It’s just below 0: Abbr. 64 Medieval poets 67 Piece of writing that’s half in verse? 70 Some paid rides, informally 71 First leg of an itinerary 72 Avenging spirits in Greek myth 73 Bad thing to hit with a hammer 75 “Casey at the Bat” poet Ernest 77 Wee bit 78 “I’m f-f-freezing!” 80 Coined money 84 Aids for determining pregnancy, e.g. 86 Pizazz 87 Fellini’s “La ____” 88 Inducing forgetfulness 89 Outlook alternative 91 Dollar signs without the bars 92 Word after who or how 93 Dropping the baton in a relay race, e.g.? 98 Bit of ink 99 Optimum 101 Senator Feinstein 103 Blues legend Waters 106 “____ complicated” 107 Area near the shore
42 | L AG N I A P P E | D e c e m b e r 5 , 2 0 1 8 - D e c e m b e r 1 1 , 2 0 1 8
109 Publicans’ servings 112 Area near the shore 115 Warning not given on a golf course? 118 Something on the rise today 119 Actress Belafonte 120 Start to inhabit 121 Baja California city 122 “The Zoo Story” playwright 123 Movie trailer, e.g. DOWN 1 Name of what was once the world’s second-largest saltwater lake 2 Tabula ____ 3 “Hematite, magnetite — take your pick”? 4 Line that ended with Nicholas II 5 “____ Grace” (title of address) 6 “To quote myself …” 7 Los Angeles neighborhood next to Beverly Grove 8 Wide-eyed 9 Memo starter 10 Half of a cartoon duo 11 Make official? 12 Super Bowl III M.V.P. 13 Nail polish brand with the colors Teal the Cows Come Home and Berry Fairy Fun 14 Talking-____ (reprimands) 15 Big female role on HBO’s “Westworld” 16 Two things you might find in Sherwood Forest? 17 As long as one can remember 18 Work (up)
19 “The Hallucinogenic Toreador” painter 24 Apartment building V.I.P. 29 Mentally sluggish 32 Producer of “60 Minutes” 33 Seniors’ big night out 34 European stratovolcano 35 Astronauts’ wear 36 Young newts 37 Came down 39 Spike 40 Human Rights Campaign inits. 42 Minor altercation 43 Soccer shot resulting from a corner kick, often 44 Lawn tools 46 Like Tara, several times in “Gone With the Wind”? 49 Singer DiFranco 51 Multi-time music collaborator with Bowie 52 Some magazine perfume ads 53 Conductor 56 Country on the Arctic Circle: Abbr. 57 “Yes for me” 60 The Wildcats of the Big 12 Conf. 61 Brit. legislators 62 [Shrug] 64 Forcibly oppose 65 Following close behind 66 Some celebrity charity events 68 Shirking work, maybe, for short 69 “The Hurt Locker” menace,
briefly 70 Scads of 72 Club known for 66-Down 74 Enterprise starter 76 Barely make (out) 78 Two-masted vessel 79 Small stream 81 Places for specific social classes to park? 82 “Any ____?” 83 Heading in the right direction? 85 Fastener with a flange 86 Bête noire 89 Small bother 90 Pageant whose 1986 runner-up was Halle Berry 94 Procedural spinoff starring LL Cool J 95 Antarctic penguin 96 Person who’s hard to take 97 Most conservative 100 Page of a movie script? 102 1994 tripartite treaty 103 De bene ____ (legal phrase) 104 In those days 105 Tommy of tennis 107 Temporary cover 108 Hopper 110 Writer ____ Stanley Gardner 111 Tiresias, in “Oedipus Rex” 113 Some gametes 114 Join 116 Capitals’ org. 117 Ruby of “A Raisin in the Sun”
ANSWERS ON PAGE 46
STYLE HOROSCOPES SLEIGH BELLS RING SAGITTARIUS (11/22-12/21) — On heightened alert since a serial killer confessed to cold case murders in Mobile, you rid your pantry of Cheerios, Fruit Loops and Cinnamon Toast Crunch. Your lucky terrible Christmas song is Bruce Springsteen’s “Santa Claus is Coming to Town.” CAPRICORN (12/22-1/19) — With former Creola police Sgt. Don Turberville now labeled an unreliable witness, you seek to expunge your criminal record for equine relations. Your lucky terrible Christmas song is Justin Bieber’s “Mistletoe.” AQUARIUS (1/20-2/18) — Having lost a bit of your elegance while running around Christmas shopping, you’ll be mistaken for a cosplay of Frieda and Pig Pen at “A Charlie Brown Jazz Christmas.” Your lucky terrible Christmas song is Paul McCartney’s “Wonderful Christmas Time.” PISCES (2/19-3/20) — Inspired by the Tua Tagovailoa/Jalen Hurts saga one year in the making, you decide to bench your significant other until November 2019. Your lucky terrible Christmas song is The Jackson 5’s “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus.” ARIES (3/21- 4/19) — In solidarity with Plateau and Africatown residents in opposition to increased industrial activity in the area, you chain yourself to the smokestacks at Kimberly Clark. Your lucky terrible Christmas song is She & Him’s “Baby it’s Cold Outside.” TAURUS (4/20-5/20) — In memory of President George Herbert Walker Bush, you playfully sexually harass casual acquaintances and backtrack on your opposition to new taxes. Your lucky terrible Christmas song is NewSong’s “The Christmas Shoes.” GEMINI (5/21-6/21) — You’ll reach the limits of your cell phone plan when you string along the person on the other end of the line of the next robocall you receive, just to waste their time. Your lucky terrible Christmas song is Bon Jovi’s “Back Door Santa.” CANCER (6/22-7/22) — You will be blacklisted from future Christmas parties after you misread the instructions to provide a Dirty Santa gift as a “Dirty Sanchez gift.” Your lucky terrible Christmas song is Maroon 5’s “Happy Christmas (War is Over).” LEO (7/23-8/22) — Winning a bet to stare at Mobile’s Christmas Tree for one hour without blinking, you’ll become the latest enrollee at the Alabama Institute for the Deaf and Blind. Your lucky terrible Christmas song is the Pussycat Dolls’ “Santa Baby.” VIRGO (8/23-9/22) — Ever the troll, you make an offer to former Assistant AG Matt Hart to invest in a four-story beachfront mansion across from former Gov. Bentley’s Fort Morgan property to block his view of the gulf. Your lucky terrible Christmas song is Lady Gaga’s “Christmas Tree.” LIBRA (9/23-10/22) — While prices are low and before the Legislature imposes new taxes next year, you begin to stockpile cheap gasoline in used milk containers. Your lucky terrible Christmas song is Pentatonix’s “That’s Christmas to Me.” SCORPIO (10/23-11/21) — Since it lately seems to rain only on the weekends, you petition your boss to work Saturdays and Sundays and take Tuesdays and Wednesdays off instead. Your lucky terrible Christmas song is John Denver’s “Please, Daddy (Don’t Get Drunk on Christmas).”
ANSWERS FROM PAGE 44
D e c e m b e r 5 , 2 0 1 8 - D e c e m b e r 1 1 , 2 0 1 8 | L AG N I A P P E | 43
STYLE FEATURE
Semmes Christmas Tour highlights home decor, holiday spirit BY JO ANNE MCKNIGHT, CONTRIBUTING WRITER
O
n Saturday, Dec. 8, 3-8 p.m., the 10th annual Semmes Christmas Tour will be presented by the Semmes Woman’s Club, with advertising sponsorship by the city of Semmes and Mobile County Commissioner Connie Hudson. The starting point will be a tasting tour at Allentown Elementary School, 10330 Howells Ferry Road, from 3-4:30 p.m. Tickets are a $10 per person donation in advance and are available at Semmes Senior Center, Meggie B’s and online at Eventbrite.com. Admission is $12 at the door at Allentown Elementary School. Proceeds from the tour benefit a new Semmes Senior Center project and Semmes Woman’s Club ongoing projects. The tour this year consists of five homes, four businesses and a public park. Semmes Christmas Tour is endorsed as an Alabama 200 bicentennial event, with two of the decorated homes having historic ties and categorized as “Honoring our People.” Opened to the public by gracious hosts families, the homes are all different in decor and reflect the personalities, lifestyles and taste of the families who live there. Miranda and Bo Wilder’s home is a newly built farmhouse blending the new with the old and showcasing Miranda’s family, the Grimes Nursery Family. Its connection with the past gives it a special historical value: the kitchen cabinets and dining table are made of wood that in a previous life, were the frames of greenhouses. Miranda’s great grandmother, Reba Grimes, started Grimes Nursery in Semmes in 1940, and the many photos lining the walls in the stairwell and placed strategically at
with nutcrackers; another, traditional; one in gingerbread and one with ornaments made by children in Semmes Woman’s Club member Susan Hubbard’s class. Semmes businesses on the tour include Air Specialty Inc., Meggie B’s, Stokley’s Garden Express and Ruby Blue Boutique. All will be decorated and most are offering extended shopping hours and discounts for those on the tour. Air Specialty features a Christmas village with Santa’s workshop, a bake shop, a church and other “buildings” constructed from materials used in the business. Meggie B’s in Harmony Corners has a diverse array of novel gift ideas, and this year, there’ll be free Santa pictures and face painting. other focal points give visitors a view of Semmes life for Stokley’s Garden Express offers not only fresh green Christmas trees, the past 70 years. plants and wreaths, but decorations, gifts and all the makings for a Fairy Christin and Michael Bumstead share their home with two children, Collins and Lucy. There are trees everywhere Garden. Ruby Blue Boutique, also in Harmony Corners, stocks high-quality boutique trends at affordable prices, and the store will be decked out in in the Bumsteads’ home — an old-fashioned aluminum Christmas décor and discounts. tree, Collins’ boy-themed tree, small modern triangle At Camellia Park — transformed into Dr. Seuss’ Whoville — the Grinch shaped trees, Lucy’s silvery ballerina and nutcracker tree and three trees to reflect the Tale of the Three Trees. Plus, (Robert Moore) and Santa Claus (Rob Bearden) will greet children there, then since Michael played professional baseball — the Padres, rotate to different sites on the tour. One of the most popular aspects of the tour is the “Taste of Semmes” at the Mariners, the Rangers — one tall, pencil tree is covered in sports-related decorations, including a houndstooth Allentown Elementary School from 3-4:30 p.m. Eighteen eateries and specialty shops will provide samples of their favorite dishes for guests to enjoy. hat and a “star” and a “skirt” of baseballs and footballs. And, for the second year, guests will receive a tour map at the tastLinda Johnson is known in the Semmes area for hosting tour (one per household). To be eligible for the reward prize drawing, ing tea parties for children and adults, for all occasions. guests will have their maps punched at all Christmas tour stops. They will It’s a tradition she’s carried on from her mother. She also sees the tea parties as a ministry, a way of bringing people turn in the fully punched map at the last stop to be eligible to win a prize (no purchase required). A drawing will be held the following week and wintogether over a pot of tea. Linda might also be noted for ners will be notified. her collection of white teddy bears. She has no particular Prize donors include Ashley Furniture, Jamie Tapia, Bella and Bow’s Pet reason for collecting; she just likes them, and she features Market, Charlie’s Honey, Elegant Nails, ISO4U, Phyllis Bell, Jarvis Nursery, them in several rooms. Latham Bee Farm, Leigh’s Wreaths, Meggie B’s Gifts, Mesh by Vanessa, The home of Donna and Semmes Fire Chief Kevin Brooks will be gaily decorated inside and out. Look for the Oopsie Daisy Florist, Ruby Blue Boutique, Second Impression, Semmes Woman’s Club, Target, Walmart and Warren Gatwood. Angel Room and the pool area. In addition to Semmes Woman’s Club members and other community Taylor Floyd will be showing the historic Howell volunteers, Mary G Montgomery High School Azalea Trail Maids and Semmes House, which she uses for her businesses, Sweet T’s Hair Camellia Maids, MGM Academy Ambassadors, Key Club and other service Studio. The home was built around 1897 for the Marsh clubs and organizations will help at the tasting tour and host homes. family; it was purchased by Curt and Clara Howell circa 1917, and The Howell children grew up there. The house Jo Anne McKnight is a local writer; visit blog joannemcknight.com for more is still a home, and each room carries a different old-fashcommunity news. ioned tree. One is white and silver; another is decorated
F U T U R E S H O C K 44 | L AG N I A P P E | D e c e m b e r 5 , 2 0 1 8 - D e c e m b e r 1 1 , 2 0 1 8
D e c e m b e r 5 , 2 0 1 8 - D e c e m b e r 1 1 , 2 0 1 8 | L AG N I A P P E | 45
LAGNIAPPE LEGALS | 251.450-4466 | legals@lagniappemobile.com FORECLOSURES FORECLOSURE NOTICE Default having been made by the herein referenced Grantee in the terms of that certain Vendor’s Lien Deed executed on February 14, 2014, by Derrick C. Haney, as Grantee to Iras Development Company Inc., an Alabama corporation, as Grantor which said Vendor’s Lien Deed was recorded in the Office of the Judge of Probate, Mobile County, Alabama, in Real Property Book LR7125, Page 1687; and a Correction Vendor’s Lien Deed executed April 21, 2014, recorded in the Office of the Judge of Probate, Mobile County, Alabama, in Real Property Book LR7150, Page 719, said Vendor’s Lien having been last assigned to W. Austin Mulherin , which assignment was recorded in the office of the Judge of Probate, Mobile County, Alabama, in Real Property Book 7161, Page 1484; and default continuing under said Vendor’s Lien Deed, by virtue of and pursuant to the power of sale contained in said Vendor’s Lien Deed, the following described real property will be sold at public outcry, for cash, to the highest bidder, in front of the North entrance of the Mobile County Courthouse, located at 205 Government Street, Mobile, Alabama 36644, during the legal hours of sale, on January 9, 2019. Lot 56, as per plate of RAMSEY ESTATES, UNIT II as recorded in Map Book 71, Page 103, Probate Court of Mobile County, Alabama Said sale is made for the purpose of paying said Real Estate Mortgage debt and costs of foreclosure. W. Austin Mulherin, Holder of said Vendor’s Lien WILLIAM B. JACKSON, II STOKES & CLINTON, P.C. Attorneys for Vendor’s Lien Holder Post Office Box 991801 Mobile, Alabama 36691 (251) 460-2400 Lagniappe HD Dec. 5, 12, 19, 2018
FORECLOSURE NOTICE Default having been made in the payment of the indebtedness described in and secured by that certain Vendor’s Lien reserved in unrecorded deed from Lonnie G. Simpson Sr. to Mario Lucent Burden dated March 1, 2009, notice is hereby given that the undersigned as the holder of said Vendor’s Lien will under power of sale contained in said Vendor’s Lien, sell at public outcry for cash to the highest bidder, during legal hours of sale on December 12, 2018, at the front door of the Courthouse of Mobile County, Alabama,205 Government Street, Mobile, AL 36602, the following described real property in the County of Mobile, State of Alabama, being the same property described in the above referred to Vendor’s Lien: COMMENCING AT A GRANITE MONUMENT ON THE WEST LINE OF THE BASIL CHESTANG GRANT WHERE THE SAME IS INTERSECTED BY THE EAST-WEST CENTER LINE OF SECTION 24, TOWNSHIP 3 SOUTH, RANGE 2 WEST, THENCE RUN SOUTH 12 DEGREES 00 MINUTES WEST ALONG THE WEST LINE OF THE BASIL CHESTANGE GRANT A DISTANCE OF 4170.9 FEET TO A POINT THENCE SOUTH 78 DEGREES 00 MINUTES EAST A DISTANCE OF 201.00 FEET TO A POINT ON THE EAST LINE OF SHELTON BEACH ROAD EXTENSION (FORMERLY MOULTON STREET) TO THE POINT OF BEGINNING, THENCE RUN NORTH 15 DEGREES 20 MINUTES EAST, ALONG THE SAID EAST LINE OF SHELTON BEACH ROAD EXTENSION A DISTANCE OF 110.00 FEET, THENCE RUN SOUTH 73 DEGREES 46 MINUTES EAST A DISTANCE OF 314.00 FEET TO THE CENTER LINE OF EIGHT MILE CREEK, THENCE RUN SOUTHEASTERLY ALONG THE CENTER LINE OF EIGHT MILE CREEK TO A POINT OF SAID CENTERLINE WHERE A LINE RUNNING SOUTH 73 DEGREES 46 MINUTES EAST, FROM THE POINT OF BEGINNING; WOULD INTERSECT IT THENCE RUN NORTH 73 DEGREES 46 MINUTES WEST, A DISTANCE OF 318.00 FEET TO A POINT ON THE EAST LINE OF SHELTON BEACH ROAD EXTENSION AND THE POINT OF BEGINNING, BEING SITUATED IN THE CITY OF PRICHARD, COUNTY OF MOBILE, STATE OF ALABAMA. ALABAMA LAW GIVES SOME PERSONS WHO HAVE AN INTEREST IN PROPERTY THE RIGHT TO REDEEM THE PROPERTY UNDER CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES. PROGRAMS MAY ALSO EXIST THAT HELP PERSONS AVOID OR DELAY THE FORECLOSURE PROCESS. AN ATTORNEY SHOULD BE CONSULTED TO HELP YOU UNDERSTAND THESE RIGHTS AND PROGRAMS AS A PART OF THE FORECLOSURE PROCESS. THIS PROPERTY WILL BE SOLD ON AN “AS IS, WHERE IS” BASIS, SUBJECT TO ANY EASEMENTS, ENCUMBRANCES AND EXCEPTIONS REFLECTED IN THE MORTGAGE AND
THOSE CONTAINED IN THE RECORDS OF THE OFFICE OF THE JUDGE OF THE PROBATE WHERE THE ABOVEDESCRIBED PROPERTY IS SITUATED. THIS PROPERTY WILL BE SOLD WITHOUT WARRANTY OR RECOURSE, EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED AS TO TITLE, USE AND/OR ENJOYMENT AND WILL BE SOLD SUBJECT TO THE RIGHT OF REDEMPTION OF ALL PARTIES ENTITLED THERETO. Said sale is made for the purpose of paying the said indebtedness and the expenses incident to this sale, including a reasonable attorney’s fee. The sale will be conducted subject (1) to confirmation that the sale is not prohibited under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code and (2) to final confirmation and audit of the status of the loan with the Vendor’s Lien. Lonnie G. Simpson Sr., Vendor’s Lien Holder William S. McFadden McFadden, Rouse & Bender, LLC 718 Downtowner Blvd. Mobile, AL 36609 Lagniappe HD Nov. 21, 28, Dec. 5, 2018
FORECLOSURE NOTICE Default having been made by the herein referenced Grantee in the terms of that certain Vendor’s Lien Deed executed on October 26, 2015 by Robert D. McKay and Kelly D. Griffin, as Grantees to g.l.s. Inc., an Alabama corporation, as Grantor which said Vendor’s Lien Deed was recorded in the Office of the Judge of Probate, Mobile County, Alabama, in Real Property Book LR7317, Page 954, and said vendor’s lien having been last assigned to EMON, LLC, which assignment was recorded in the office of the Judge of Probate Mobile County Alabama in Real Property Book LR7481, Page 1014, and default continuing under said Vendor’s Lien Deed, by virtue of and pursuant to the power of sale contained in said Vendor’s Lien, the following described real property will be sold at public outcry, for cash, to the highest bidder, in front of the North entrance of the Courthouse of said County, located at 205 Government Street, Mobile, Alabama 36644, during the legal hours of sale, on December 27, 2018. Lot 3 as per plat of FORT LAKE FARMS, FIRST ADDITION as recorded in Map Book 69, Page 18, Probate Court of Mobile County, Alabama, Said sale is made for the purpose of paying said Vendor’s Lien debt and costs of foreclosure. EMON, LLC Holder of said Vendor’s Lien WILLIAM B. JACKSON, II STOKES & CLINTON, P.C. Attorneys for Lienholder Post Office Box 991801 Mobile, Alabama 36691 (251) 460-2400 Lagniappe HD Nov. 21, 28, Dec. 5, 2018
PROBATE NOTICE OF ESTATE ADMINISTRATION PROBATE COURT OF MOBILE COUNTY, ALABAMA Estate of: ALFREDO SEWER, Deceased Case No. 2018-2091 Take notice that Letters Testamentary have been granted to the below named party on the 8th day of November, 2018 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. ANTHONY TYRONE SEWER as Executor under the last will and testament of ALFREDO SEWER, Deceased. Attorney of Record: HENDRIK S. SNOW
NOTICE OF ESTATE ADMINISTRATION PROBATE COURT OF MOBILE COUNTY, ALABAMA Estate of: ALLEN R. JONES Case No. 2017-0952 Take notice that Letters of Administration have been granted to the below named party on the 26th day of November, 2018 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. NELSENA KING as Administratrix of the estate of ALLEN R. JONES, deceased. Attorney of Record: RACHELE ALEXANDER REIS, Esq. Lagniappe HD Dec. 5, 12, 19, 2018
NOTICE OF ESTATE ADMINISTRATION PROBATE COURT OF MOBILE COUNTY, ALABAMA Estate of: DOROTHY WILLIAMS SMITH Case No. 2018-1909 Take notice that Letters of Administration have been granted to the below named party on the 26th day of November, 2018 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. TERRY C. SABREE as Administrator of the estate of DOROTHY WILLIAMS SMITH, deceased. Attorney of Record: KEVIN M. RYAN, Esq. Lagniappe HD Dec. 5, 12, 19, 2018
NOTICE OF ESTATE ADMINISTRATION PROBATE COURT OF MOBILE COUNTY, ALABAMA Estate of: JOHN JOSEPH DONOVAN, Deceased Case No. 2018-2256 Take notice that Letters Testamentary have been granted to the below named party on the 27th day of November, 2018 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. KEVIN BOULTON as Executor under the last will and testament of JOHN JOSEPH DONOVAN, Deceased. Attorney of Record: LESLIE G. WEEKS Lagniappe HD Dec. 5, 12, 19, 2018
NOTICE OF ESTATE ADMINISTRATION PROBATE COURT OF MOBILE COUNTY, ALABAMA Estate of: DORIS LYNNE LANGHAM BLISSETT, Deceased Case No. 2018-1578 Take notice that Letters Testamentary have been granted to the below named party on the 20th day of November, 2018 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. DONALD L. LANGHAM as Executor under the last will and testament of DORIS LYNNE LANGHAM BLISSETT, Deceased. Attorney of Record: PRO SE Lagniappe HD Dec. 5, 12, 19, 2018
Lagniappe HD Dec. 5, 12, 19, 2018
NOTICE OF ESTATE ADMINISTRATION
NOTICE OF ESTATE ADMINISTRATION
PROBATE COURT OF MOBILE COUNTY, ALABAMA Estate of: JAMES D. BROOKS AKA JAMES DAVID BROOKS, Deceased Case No. 2018-1840 Take notice that Letters Testamentary have been granted to the below named party on the 27th day of November 2018 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. MEDA B. BROOKS as Executrix under the last will and testament of JAMES D. BROOKS AKA JAMES DAVID BROOKS, Deceased. Attorney of Record: HARWELL E. COALE
PROBATE COURT OF MOBILE COUNTY, ALABAMA Estate of: MARY ANN O. SERDA, Deceased Case No. 2018-2228 Take notice that Letters Testamentary have been granted to the below named party on the 20th day of November, 2018 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. CHRISTINE S. ODOM as Executrix under the last will and testament of MARY ANN O. SERDA, Deceased. Attorney of Record: IRVIN GRODSKY Lagniappe HD Dec. 5, 12, 19, 2018
46 | L AG N I A P P E | D e c e m b e r 5 , 2 0 1 8 - D e c e m b e r 1 1 , 2 0 1 8
Lagniappe HD Dec. 5, 12, 19, 2018
CIRCUIT CIVIL ACTION Case No. 18-901645 CIRCUIT COURT OF MOBILE COUNTY Paula Goblowsky v. Christolyn White, Mia McGee, and GEICO Casualty Company (in its capacity as uninsured/underinsured motorist carrier) NOTICE OF CIVIL ACTION CHRISTOLYN WHITE, an Alabama resident, whose whereabouts are unknown, must answer the Complaint filed by PAULA GOBLOWSKY for civil damages filed in the case of Paula Goblowsky v. Christolyn White, Mia McGee, and GEICO Casualty Company (in its capacity as uninsured/ underinsured motorist carrier), pending in the Circuit Court of Mobile County, Alabama, bearing Civil Action No. 18-901645 on or before January 11, 2019. In the event that CHRISTOLYN WHITE fails to file a responsive pleading on or before said date, a judgment by default may be rendered against her in the above-styled case. This the 9th day of November, 2018. /s JOJO SCHWARZAUER CLERK MOBILE COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT LEWIS & CAPLAN, PLC Barrett R. Stephens, Esq. 3631 Canal St. New Orleans, LA 70119 T: 504-486-7766 F: 504-486-7769 E: brs@lewis-caplan.com OF COUNSEL: JACKSON & JACKSON Jody Forester Jackson 11 North Water St., Suite 10290 Mobile, AL 36602 T: 251-460-3230 F: 888-988-6499 E: jjackson@jackson-law.net Lagniappe HD Nov. 21, 28, Dec. 5, 12, 2018
PUBLIC NOTICE NOTICE OF COMPLETION STATE OF ALABAMA COUNTY OF MOBILE In accordance with Chapter 1, Title 39, Code of Alabama, 1975, notice is hereby given that James B. Donaghey, Inc. has completed the contract for: University of South Alabama HVAC – Food Court – Student Center, 307 N. University Blvd. Mobile, Alabama 36688. All persons having any claim for labor, material or otherwise in connection with this project should immediately notify Dell Consulting, LLC. Mobile, AL. James B. Donaghey, Inc. 1770 Old Shell Rd. Mobile AL 36604 Lagniappe HD Nov. 21, 28, Dec. 5, 12, 2018
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT STATE OF ALABAMA COUNTY OF MOBILE Notice is hereby given that a bill as described in the synopsis below will be introduced in the 2019 Regular Session of the Legislature of Alabama and application for its passage and enactment will be made: A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT SYNOPSIS: Relating to Mobile County; providing for additional fees in district civil, circuit civil, and domestic relations cases, and additional court costs in district criminal and circuit criminal cases; to provide for the establishment of a judicial administration fund in Mobile County; and to provide for the distribution of monies in this fund. Lagniappe HD Nov. 14, 21, 28, Dec. 5, 2018
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT STATE OF ALABAMA COUNTY OF MOBILE Notice is hereby given that a bill as described in the synopsis below will be introduced in 2019 in any Special Session of the Legislature of Alabama and application for its passage and enactment will be made: A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT SYNOPSIS: Relating to Class 2 municipalities; to create an alternate Self-Help Business Improvement District as authorized in Section 11-54B-40, Code of Alabama 1975; to provide procedures for any Class 2 municipality to establish one or more Self-Help Business Improvement Districts for the purpose of promoting tourism, including the creation of non-profit corporations to manage the districts; to provide certain required provisions in the articles of incorporation of district management
corporations; to provide for the levy of a special assessment on a particular class of businesses located within the geographical area of the district for the purpose of promoting tourism for the benefit of businesses in the district; to provide for the expansion or reduction of real property in any self-help business improvement district; to provide for dissolution of a district and withdrawal of a non-profit corporation’s designation as a district management corporation. Lagniappe HD Nov. 21, 28, Dec. 5, 12, 2018
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT STATE OF ALABAMA COUNTY OF MOBILE Notice is hereby given that a bill as described in the synopsis below will be introduced in 2019 in any Special Session of the Legislature of Alabama and application for its passage and enactment will be made: A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT SYNOPSIS: This bill relates to Class 2 municipalities and would provide that any federal Program of All Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE Program) in a Class 2 municipality would be allotted by the Alabama Medicaid Agency a minimum of 200 participants each fiscal year beginning October 1, 2019, and thereafter. Lagniappe HD Nov. 21, 28, Dec. 5, 12, 2018
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT STATE OF ALABAMA COUNTY OF MOBILE Notice is hereby given that a bill as described in the synopsis below will be introduced in 2019 in any Special Session of the Legislature of Alabama and application for its passage and enactment will be made: A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT SYNOPSIS: Relating to Class 2 municipalities; to amend Section 32-13-6, Code of Alabama 1975; to provide that any Class 2 municipality which maintains an impound facility and sells its motor vehicles at public auction shall retain the proceeds from the sale in the general fund of the municipality. Lagniappe HD Nov. 21, 28, Dec. 5, 12, 2018
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT STATE OF ALABAMA COUNTY OF MOBILE Notice is hereby given that a bill as described in the synopsis below will be introduced in the 2019 Regular Session of the Legislature of Alabama and application for its passage and enactment will be made: A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT SYNOPSIS: Relating to Mobile County; to amend and reenact Act 2015-258 of the 2015 Regular Session, authorizing the Mobile County Commission to create a North Mobile County Volunteer Fire Department Board to review and evaluate the delivery of volunteer fire services to property owners within the unincorporated area in Mobile County Commission District 1 and any incorporated area in the district served by a volunteer fire department; to provide further for the date to implement the fire protection and suppression plan and a fire protection and suppression service fee on certain owners of dwellings and commercial buildings in Mobile County Commission District 1; to provide for certain exemptions and collection of the service fee; to provide for audits; to provide that municipal funding shall not be diminished; and to provide for the distribution of funds derived from the service fee. Lagniappe HD Dec. 5, 12, 19, 26, 2018
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT STATE OF ALABAMA COUNTY OF MOBILE Notice is hereby given that a bill as described in the synopsis below will be introduced in any Special Session in 2019 of the Legislature of Alabama and application for its passage and enactment will be made: A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT SYNOPSIS: Relating to Mobile County; to amend and reenact Act 2015-258 of the 2015 Regular Session, authorizing the Mobile County Commission to create a North Mobile County Volunteer Fire Department Board to review and evaluate the delivery of volunteer fire services to property owners within the unincorporated area in Mobile County Commission District 1 and any incorporated area in the district served by a volunteer fire department; to provide further for the date to implement the fire protection and suppression plan and a fire protection and suppression service fee on certain owners of dwellings and commercial buildings in Mobile County Commission District 1; to provide for certain exemptions and collection of the service fee; to provide for audits; to provide that municipal funding shall not be diminished; and to provide for the distribution of funds derived from the service fee. Lagniappe HD Dec. 5, 12, 19, 26, 2018
LAGNIAPPE LEGALS | 251.450-4466 | legals@lagniappemobile.com STORAGE AUCTIONS NOTICE OF SALE In accordance with Alabama law, notice is hereby given that A-Cool Self Storage located at 3310 Demetropolis Rd. Mobile, AL 36693 will conduct a public lien sale or dispose of the contents of the following units to pay rent and or other charges due. The sale will be held on January 8, 2019 @ 2:00pm. #1121 Stephanie Porter 1711 Belfast St Mobile, AL 36605 Household goods ,flat screen, boxes, totes #1306 Bernard Hale 2304 Roberta Dr. Mobile, AL 36617 Household goods, boxes, totes
#01439 Anne Sewell 4205 Burma Rd. Mobile, AL 36693 Dryer, boxes, totes #3555 Joshua Mosley 7685 Matrella Dr Mobile, AL 36575 Household goods, furniture #4041 Crystal Anne Robinson 9625 Argyle Rd Irvington, AL 36544 Washer & Dryer, boxes, totes
Lagniappe HD Dec. 5, 12, 2018
NOTICE OF SALE Notice is hereby given pursuant to Alabama statue that the following contents of Unit(s) listed below will be sold at a Public Lien Sale to satisfy lien claims by Grand Slam Storage LLC, located at 6420 Grelot Road Mobile, AL. 36695 on January 8th, 2019 @ 1:00 p.m. Veozie Sharron Anthony Unit 408 5X10 218 Garrison Ave Mobile, Al 36610 Furniture
Lagniappe HD Nov. 28, Dec. 5, 2018
The following unclaimed vehicle(s) will be sold on January 04, 2019 - Time - 12pm, if not claimed - at 7311 Airport Blvd., Mobile, AL 36608. 2008 Ford Mustang 1ZVHT84N585188993 Lagniappe HD Nov. 28, Dec. 5, 2018
The following unclaimed vehicle(s) will be sold on January 04, 2019 - Time - 12pm, if not claimed - at 419 Dogwood Dr., Mobile, AL 36609. 2003 Chevrolet Silverado 1GCEC14X23Z148936 Lagniappe HD Nov. 28, Dec. 5, 2018
The following unclaimed vehicle(s) will be sold on January 04, 2019 - Time -12pm, if not claimed - at 2821 Government Blvd., Mobile, AL 36606. 1985 Oldsmobile Cutlass 1G3GR47A0FH304644 Lagniappe HD Nov. 28, Dec. 5, 2018
The following unclaimed vehicle(s) will be sold on January 04, 2019 - Time - 12pm, if not claimed - at 1824 Witherspoon Circle, Mobile, AL 36618. 2006 BMW 530I WBANE73556CM33714 Lagniappe HD Nov. 28, Dec. 5, 2018
The following unclaimed vehicle(s) will be sold on January 04, 2019 - Time -12pm, if not claimed - at 356 Elm St., Prichard, AL 36610. 2005 Hyundai Santa Fe KM8SC13E45U965470 Lagniappe HD Nov. 28, Dec. 5, 2018
The following unclaimed vehicle(s) will be sold on January 04, 2019 - Time - 12pm, if not claimed - at 13475 County Rd 32, Summerdale, AL 36580. 1996 Ford F250 1FTHW25F2TEA36323 Lagniappe HD Nov. 28, Dec. 5, 2018
The following unclaimed vehicle(s) will be sold on January 04, 2019 - Time - 12pm, if not claimed - at 6812 Anders Dr., Mobile, AL 36608. 2002 GMC Sierra 1GTHC29U02Z320879 2002 Ford F250 1FTNW21F22ED17903
Lagniappe HD Dec. 5, 12, 2018
Lagniappe HD Nov. 28, Dec. 5, 2018
NOTICE OF SALE
The following unclaimed vehicle(s) will be sold on January 04, 2019 - Time -12pm, if not claimed - at 2430 Rosedown Dr., Semmes, AL 36575. 2005 Ford Expedition 1FMPU155X5LB11329 1995 Ford Mustang 1FALP4040SF251481 1987 Cadillac Brougham 1G6DW51Y2H9717575
Notice is hereby given, pursuant to Alabama Statutes, that the goods stored in units rented by occupants listed below will be sold to the highest bidder at a public auction online atwww.storageauctions.com on December 27, 2018 at 10:00 am to satisfy liens claimed by STORAGEMAX MIDTOWN, together with all costs of sale. Katrina Agee & Michael Mitchell Any of the above goods may be withdrawn from sale by STORAGEMAX MIDTOWN at any time without prior notice. Lagniappe HD Dec. 5, 12, 2018
ABANDONED VEHICLES NOTICE OF SALE The following unclaimed vehicle(s) will be sold on January 04, 2019 - Time - 12pm, if not claimed - at 3952 Dauphin Island Parkway, Mobile, AL 36605. 2004 Chevrolet Trailblazer 1GNDS13S442274284 Lagniappe HD Nov. 28, Dec. 5, 2018
The following unclaimed vehicle(s) will be sold on January 04, 2019 - Time - 12pm, if not claimed - at 558 S Wilson Ave., Mobile, AL 36610. 2002 Ford Explorer 1FMZU75E92UA32364 2014 Nissan Maxima 1N4AA5AP9EC462529 Lagniappe HD Nov. 28, Dec. 5, 2018
The following unclaimed vehicle(s) will be sold on January 04, 2019 - Time - 12pm, if not claimed - at 2103 Wagner St., Mobile, AL 36605.
Lagniappe HD Nov. 28, Dec. 5, 2018
The following unclaimed vehicle(s) will be sold on January 04, 2019 - Time - 12pm, if not claimed - at 2207 Wolf Ridge Rd., Apt B, Mobile, AL 36618. 1996 Dodge Ram 1500 3B7HC13YXTG113925 Lagniappe HD Nov. 28, Dec. 5, 2018
The following unclaimed vehicle(s) will be sold on January 04, 2019 - Time - 12pm, if not claimed - at 3409 Emerald St., Whistler, AL 36612. 1988 Chevrolet C1500 1GCDC14H3JZ306041 Lagniappe HD Nov. 28, Dec. 5, 2018
The following unclaimed vehicle(s) will be sold on January 11, 2019 - Time -12pm, if not claimed - at 2024 Halls Mill Rd., Mobile, AL 36606. 2005 Mercury Grand Marquis 2MEFM75W75X645823 2004 Ford LGT Convt 2FTRX17W74CA78177 Lagniappe HD Dec. 5, 12, 2018
STYLE BOOZIE
The following unclaimed vehicle(s) will be sold on January 11, 2019 - Time - 12pm, if not claimed - at 1834 Couch Plant Rd., Summerdale, AL 36580. 2008 Ford F250 1FTSX21598EB63139 1987 GMC Hi-Cube 2GTGG31K9H4519672 Lagniappe HD Dec. 5, 12, 2018
The following unclaimed vehicle(s) will be sold on January 11, 2019 - Time - 12pm, if not claimed - at 740 Lakeside Dr., Mobile, AL 36695. 2005 Cadillac SRX 1GYEE63A750170551 2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee 1J4GS48KX5C584297
ConNECKted and it feels so good BY BOOZIE BEER NUES/SOCIAL BUTTERFLY
Lagniappe HD Dec. 5, 12, 2018
The following unclaimed vehicle(s) will be sold on January 11, 2019 - Time - 12pm, if not claimed - at 106 Martin Luther King Jr Dr., Mobile, AL 36610. 2004 Saturn Ion 1G8AN12F54Z154809 Lagniappe HD Dec. 5, 12, 2018
The following unclaimed vehicle(s) will be sold on January 11, 2019 - Time -12pm, if not claimed - at 916 Shady Brook Dr., Mobile, AL 36606. 2003 Suzuki GSX-R1000 JS1GT75A932108815 Lagniappe HD Dec. 5, 12, 2018
The following unclaimed vehicle(s) will be sold on January 11, 2019 - Time -12pm, if not claimed - at 1015 E I-65 Service Rd S., Mobile, AL 36606. 2003 Nissan Altima 1N4AL11D03C291630 Lagniappe HD Dec. 5, 12, 2018
The following unclaimed vehicle(s) will be sold on January 11, 2019 - Time - 12pm, if not claimed - at 7960 Two Mile Rd., Irvington, AL 36544. 2005 Pontiac G6 1G2ZG528154160945 2006 Dodge Stratus 1B3EL46X26N267193 2004 Chevrolet Impala 2G1WH52K349214970 Lagniappe HD Dec. 5, 12, 2018
The following unclaimed vehicle(s) will be sold on January 11, 2019 - Time - 12pm, if not claimed - at 4003 Michael Blvd., Mobile, AL 36609. 2006 Toyota Highlander JTEDW21A060014648 Lagniappe HD Dec. 5, 12, 2018
The following unclaimed vehicle(s) will be sold on January 11, 2019 - Time - 12pm, if not claimed - at 1289 Deadlake Rd., Creola, AL 36525. 2001 Jeep Cherokee 1J4FT48S11L585194 1995 Ford LGT Convt 1FTEX15N0SKA82511 Lagniappe HD Dec. 5, 12, 2018
The following unclaimed vehicle(s) will be sold on January 11, 2019 - Time - 12pm, if not claimed - at 25716 Ponderosa Farm Rd W., Robertsdale, AL 36567. 1993 Jeep Cherokee 1J4FT68S9PL640169 Lagniappe HD Dec. 5, 12, 2018
The following unclaimed vehicle(s) will be sold on January 11, 2019 - Time - 12pm, if not claimed - at 2915 Gray Ct., Mobile, AL 36605. 1998 Ford Contour 1FALP6534WK129697 Lagniappe HD Dec. 5, 12, 2018
Deadline for legal advertising in Lagniappe HD is every Monday at 5 p.m. Lagniappe HD is distributed each Thursday. Lagniappe HD offices are located at 704 Government St., Mobile, AL 36602 For more information or to place your ad call Jackie at 251-450-4466. Or email at legals@lagniappemobile.com
F
Photo | Instagram
#1402 Ricardo S. Grove 3104 Kendale Dr. Mobile, AL 36606 Household goods, boxes, totes
2011 Chevrolet Tahoe 1GNSCBE04BR217223 2014 Chevrolet Sonic 1G1JC5SH8E4165136
eliz Navidad! Merry Christmas! Happy Hanukkah! Whatever you are celebrating, I hope you are doing it with great cheer! Holiday office parties are gearing up, and they usually bring me plenty to write about, as there are lots of rear ends to be photocopied and folks who have been over-served doing what they do best! It’s the most wonderful time of the year! But before all those shenanigans start, we need to review what happened in the big crazy, world last week, and it is pretty crazy, so let’s get to it!
Monster), among many, many, many other things. Apparently McDowell isn’t the only one famous for his neck on the world wide web, however. It seems another gentleman is known for his being really skinny. David Samuelson, Jr. of Flint, Michigan, aka “Damn Long Neck” saw the attention “Neck Man” was getting and started an online feud of sorts. So, of course, if the internet is to be believed — and why not, right? — someone brought the two together and made a video called “All Necks Matter,” which I am not sure if it is really glorious or really sad. Or both. But you can judge for yourWhatabutt at Whatburger! Late last Saturday night, a spy sent self by googling “neck guys meet.” me a video of a very odd performance But warning, the necks both have potty mouths, so be careful if you are from the Whataburger drive-thru on watching at work. Just when we think Government Street. While the spy our country is so divided, these two was waiting in line for his Thick and necks, who couldn’t be more differHearty burger, he witnessed someent, show us the meaning of coming thing even more “thick and hearty.” together. God bless America! A young lady in one of the cars in front of him jumped out and did some sort of strange strip tease (without Oh Christmas Tree! Oh Christmas the stripping) and booty dance on the Tree! hood of the car she jumped out of. Last week, the good people of Sort of like that Paris Hilton Hardee’s Mobile were complaining about the commercial but different. The spy move of the city’s Christmas tree was not sure if she lost a bet or was from Bienville Square to Mardi just messing with her friends or what Gras Park, as Mobilians like to do. but it definitely made sitting in the But then, they saw how freaking drive thru a lot more interesting, to awesome it was and all the griping say the least. stopped. The new tree, which is much bigConNECKted ger and cooler, also has a pathway Speaking of thick and hearty, you can walk through, which makes it seems the man whose mugshot it a great place for taking photos. gained him worldwide acclaim last I’m told Mayor Sandy Stimpson month for the thickness of his neck and his wife Jean, Santa, Mrs. Claus has found the yin to his yang. and and his elves, along with the very Charles Dion McDowell who was strange city mascot/furry convention arrested on various drug charges and escapee known as Sandy Bear all eluding police in Escambia County, helped light the new tree. Definitely Florida gained internet fame once his go check it out. It’s really neat! Just photo went viral and immediately stay away from Sandy Bear! people began making memes by Well kids, that’s all I got this Photoshopping his robust neck and week. Just remember, whether rain or head onto various cartoons (Shrek/ shine, dramatic or scandalous or just Neck), album covers (Neckleback) some plain ol’ big or li’l neck lovin’, and historic photos (The Loch Neck I will be there. Ciao! D e c e m b e r 5 , 2 0 1 8 - D e c e m b e r 1 1 , 2 0 1 8 | L AG N I A P P E | 47