Officials in Mobile have committed to expediting the annexation process. This could result in a vote by the general public in March deciding whether or not the Port City would add 26,000 additional residents.
The outcome of the vote, which would take place during a special election sometime following the city’s Mardi Gras festival, will determine whether Mobile will have a population of around 213,000 people.
At that point, Mobile would follow Huntsville as the second-largest city in Alabama, with a population of over 216,000 people, by a relatively small margin.
The city would be assimilating a population of 26,000, which is the same as Homewood, the 23rd largest city in the state.
With annexation, Mobile’s population would surpass that of Montgomery (200,006) and Birmingham (200,133).
We’re growing (even if it’s by some annexation love!)
Mobile Press-Register To Stop Printing
I’m guessing you don’t read the newspaper anymore now that you get your news online.
Well, the Birmingham News, The Huntsville Times, and Mobile’s Press-Register will all have their presses permanently shut down after the last Sunday of February 2023.
[don’t you worry, our friends over at AL.com are still pumping out the tunes!]As part of a restructuring by parent firm Advance Publications that also affected The Times-Picayune in New Orleans, the company already reduced publishing from daily to three times a week in 2012.
A printing facility in Mobile will have to close as a result of the change, which will result in the loss of about 100 jobs, largely in production, circulation, and advertising.
Kelly Ann Scott, editor-in-chief and vice president of content for Alabama Media Group, states that no layoffs to the newsroom are anticipated.
She intends to expand the investigative teams as well as her other areas of interest.
While this might be sad news to some, many others will say that this is a step in the right direction. After all, we all have to keep up with the times.
And yes, we always look at the potential for new opportunities when something is lost (it’s that positive nature in us!)
Who’s The Bubble Guy?
In the spring of 2020, enormous soapy spheres rose over the pier of the American Legion Post 199 in Fairhope, Alabama. You were probably in a “safe bubble” of your own because of the pandemic.
The bubbles attracted people like moths to a flame.
It turns out that bringing joy to this bayside community was the goal of one man. One massive bubble at a time. So, who’s the person behind these massive bubbles?
Introducing Vories Pittman (or Big V for short).
Big V stands tall and has a kind, deep presence. His broad grin is accompanied by a stubby cigar. After leaving Daphne as an adult to live in Mississippi, he felt compelled to return in 2011 “to watch sunsets and sunrises” on the Gulf.
He settled in a Fairhope cottage from 1921 close to the bay.
He grew closer to his 6-foot-5 little brother, one of his 10 siblings, after returning to Alabama. His brother invented a mixture that produced enormous bubbles that brilliantly reflected the rainbow’s hues.
V developed his own formula over several months. He learned alone in the early mornings at the American Legion Post 199 beach.
Big V still has certain talent-related insecurities. As an army veteran, he had spent most of his life with troops and weapons.
For a guy like him, blowing enormous bubbles didn’t seem macho enough. However, he has always had a youthful spirit, and folks seem to appreciate it!
Indestructible Roshell’s
A driver crashed into a well-known eatery after leading police on a chase through Crichton.
The collision only caused damage to Roshell’s on Springhill Avenue. However, it didn’t slow down business!
Nothing will stop them from servicing their customers, according to the business’s owner, Marty Flowers.
They cleaned up the mess, boarded the broken windows, and were in full operation in no time.
Flowers said that since the driver slammed into their building, their doors have remained open.
This month, ten years ago, Roshell’s had a different kind of catastrophe.
Their roof was destroyed by a tornado that passed along the Gulf Coast, forcing them to close for a while.
Flowers claims that this is nothing in comparison to what they have gone through. Roshell’s is definitely an institution, and they’re here to stay.
