LOCALNEWS [ SECTION B ]Thursday, June 4, 2009

METRO BRIEFS 2B OBITUARIES 3B WEATHER 8B

JOHN ARCHIBALD

Apartment blazein Huffman forcesresidents to fleeHere’s the scoop:

We don’t planon quitting

BByy JJEERREEMMYY GGRRAAYYNNeewwss ssttaaffff wwrriitteerr

AA ffaasstt--mmoovviinngg ffiirree sseett ooffff ssmmookkeeaallaarrmmss WWeeddnneessddaayy aafftteerrnnoooonn aannddhheeaavviillyy ddaammaaggeedd eeiigghhtt uunniittss iinn aa HHuuffff--mmaann aappaarrttmmeenntt ccoommpplleexx..

TThhee aallaarrmmss jjaarrrreedd CChhrriiss RRiicckklleess ffrroommhhiiss sslleeeepp aanndd sseenntt hhiimm rruunnnniinngg ffrroommhhiiss ssiisstteerr’’ss EEmmeerraalldd PPaarrcc aappaarrttmmeenntt iinnhhiiss ssoocckkss..

OOnn hhiiss wwaayy,, RRiicckklleess kknnoocckkeedd oonn tthheeddoooorrss ooff sseevveerraall ooff tthhee rreessiiddeennttss ooff tthhee664400 bbuuiillddiinngg iinn tthhee EEaarrlliinnee CCiirrccllee ccoomm--pplleexx..

BBeessiiddeess hheeaavviillyy ddaammaaggiinngg eeiigghhttuunniittss,, tthhee bbllaazzee lleefftt ttwwoo ttoo ffoouurr ootthheerrss

wwiitthh aatt lleeaasstt mmooddeerraattee ddaammaaggee..AAmmbbeerr AAnnddeerrssoonn,, 1155,, ssaaiidd sshhee wwaass iinn

aann uuppssttaaiirrss aappaarrttmmeenntt wwiitthh ttwwoo ssiisstteerrss,,aaggeess 33 aanndd 88,, wwhheenn RRiicckklleess kknnoocckkeedd oonntthhee ddoooorr ttoo tteellll hheerr aabboouutt tthhee ffiirree..

BBiirrmmiinngghhaamm ffiirreeffiigghhtteerrss,, AAnnddeerrssoonnssaaiidd,, ttrriieedd ttoo kknnoocckk ddoowwnn tthhee ffllaammeess..““EEvveerryyttiimmee tthheeyy ppuutt iitt oouutt iinn oonnee ppllaaccee,,ffiirree ssttaarrtteedd uupp ssoommeewwhheerree eellssee,,”” sshheessaaiidd..

AAnnddeerrssoonn’’ss mmootthheerr,, SSaarraahh CCoolleemmaann,,ssaaiidd sshhee wwaass ccaalllleedd aatt wwoorrkk aanndd ccaammeehhoommee.. SShhee ssaaiidd tthhee aappaarrttmmeenntt mmaann--aaggeerr ssaaiidd tthhee ffaammiillyy wwoouulldd bbee ppllaacceedd iinn

SSeeee FFIIRREE PPaaggee 33BB

The grand opening ofCentury Plaza wassomething to behold

back in 1975.It was a carnival and a lot-

tery all rolled into one. He-lium balloons filled the air,and some of them, The Bir-mingham News told usahead of time, held coldhard cash.

I was 12 or 13 then, andhad never seen anything likeit. Girls ran in packs, wide-eyed at the mall and itssplendor. Boys ran behindthem, wide-eyed at all thosegirls.

It was, for a shining mo-ment, a grand place. I hatedto learn this week that it isclosed. But while it was sadnews, it was not unexpected.

Times are hard in Bir-mingham. Forbes Piano.Bruno’s as we knew it. Somany institutions are gone.

Those of us at the 122-year-old News got toughnews Wednesday, too. Em-ployees must take pay cutsto make up for lost ad reve-nue.

I can hear folks out therenow, talking of our demise.

Well, they can kiss my ink.For we are far from dead.

It’s appropriate, I think,that Mark Twain wrote hisfamous bit in the New YorkJournal 112 years ago thisweek: The report of my deathis an exaggeration.

It is common knowledgethat newspapers and tradi-tional media struggle in thischanging world, especially inan economy that has mauledtraditional advertisers in realestate, retail and automotive.

It’s a complex problem,and experts can’t say howmuch of it is the economyand how much is the medialandscape. I believe thingswill improve, but the busi-ness must change.

Most newspapers, includ-ing this one, now give awaytoo much for free on theWeb. Smart people are tryingto find ways to “monetize”that content. Meanwhile,buy a paper instead.

That’s our biggest hopeand pride, anyway. Reader-ship of The BirminghamNews is in some ways betterthan ever. While audiencesin media across the countryhave splintered like dimestore baseball bat, Newsreaders remained com-mitted. Scarborough Re-search’s survey numbers sayaverage readership has beensteady at The News since2004, both on Sunday andduring the week.

We actually have morereaders now than in 2004,and that doesn’t even in-clude our Internet readers.

According to Editor &Publisher, The News and itsInternet partner, al.com,reach 76.5 percent of alladults in this market. That’ssixth best in the country.

I see it anecdotally everyday. People have a thirst forlocal news and depth thatonly newspapers provide,whether online or in print.

That is the light that drivesus through these dark times.We’ll get through. Withwork.

I heard a comment fromone bozo who said he didn’tcare about the fate of the pa-pers because he got his newsfree on the Web.

That’s a lot like saying youdon’t care about farmers be-cause you get your food fromthe supermarket.

As for the pay cut, we’ll getby. After all, good reportersdon’t get into the businessfor money. Good reportersare not that stupid.

We’ll still look under rocksto tell you what’s there. We’lleven comfort the afflictedand poke the comfortable attimes.

If we don’t, who will?

NEWS STAFF/HAL YEAGER

Birmingham firefighters battle a fireWednesday afternoon at Emerald Parcapartments in Huffman. Eight units in one building were heavily damaged.No injuries were reported.

WATCH VIDEO ONLINE:yyWWaattcchh ffiirreeffiigghhtteerrss bbaattttllee tthhee bbllaazzee aatt EEmmeerraalldd PPaarrcc aappaarrttmmeenntt aatt

aall..ccoomm,, tthhee oonnlliinnee hhoommee ooff TThhee BBiirrmmiinngghhaamm NNeewwss::vviiddeeooss..aall..ccoomm//bbiirrmmiinngghhaamm--nneewwss

PEDIATRIC BRAIN INJURY

Children’s,UAB tolead stateprojectBy DAVE PARKSNews staff writer

UAB and Children’s Hos-pital will be named a LeadCenter of Excellence for a na-tional network focusing on pe-diatric brain injury, authoritiessaid.

Participants in the NationalPediatric Acquired Brain In-jury Plan, an initiative createdby the Sarah Jane Brain Pro-ject, are scheduled to be offici-ally announced at a news con-ference Friday in Washington.

T h e n e t w o r k i s b e i n gformed to expand research,develop treatments and buildawareness of pediatric ac-quired brain injury, the lead-ing cause of death and disabil-ity for children younger than15 in the United States. Itcauses 5,000 deaths and a mil-lion hospitalizations annually,according to estimates.

UAB’s division of pediatricrehabilitation medicine willcoordinate the project for Ala-bama. The clinical practice isbased at Children’s Hospital,and is the only acute pediatricinpatient rehabilitation servicein the state.

The national network willhave a lead center in eachstate. The Sarah Jane BrainProject was created by thefamily of a child who sufferedbrain injury at 5 days old afterbeing shaken by a nurse.

“There is a tremendousneed for funding and re-sources so we can better un-derstand the natural history ofbrain injury and develop ap-propriate interventions,” saidDr. Drew Davis, director of theUAB-Children’s center.

Falls, bike crashes, motorvehicle collisions, sports inju-ries and violence are leadingcauses of pediatric acquiredbrain injuries.

E-MAIL: dparks@bhamnews.com

NEWS STAFF/LINDA STELTER

Elriges Perry of Bessemer tries on new shoes during aWednesday shoe giveaway at The Foundry SuperThriftOutlet in Bessemer.

Charity ensures the shoe fitsand the price does, too — freeBy TORAINE NORRISNews staff writer

Henry Beckwood was drivingdown the interstate, run-ning errands, when hismother-in-law called justbefore 1 p.m. Wednesday to

inform him there were free shoes beinggiven away in Bessemer.

“I said I’d better get out there,”Beckwood said.

Fifteen minutes later, Beckwood andhis wife had joined dozens of others inline at The Foundry Rescue Missionand Recovery Center’s SuperThriftOutlet on Ninth Avenue in Bessemer,where free pairs of name-brand shoesand flip-flops were being passed out.

Soles4Souls Inc., a footwear charity,is working with The Foundry in an ef-fort to give away 10,000 pairs of shoesand flip-flops as part of National Bare-foot Week. Soles4Souls is sponsoringthe week to raise awareness of the foot-

wear needs of needy families.Other distributions also were

planned this week in Indianapolis, LosAngeles, Atlanta and Portland, Ore.

“The Barefoot Week events are de-signed to give immediate aid to Ameri-cans in need during extremely difficult

times,” according to a statement bycharity CEO Wayne Elsey on the orga-nization’s Web site. “But they alsoserve in bringing communities to-gether over a single purpose — helping

See SHOES Page 2B

A line ofcustomers,hoping to findfree shoes thatare just the rightfit, extendedWednesday tothe back of TheFoundrySuperThriftOutlet inBessemer.

Calera OKs shorter workweek, pay cut for employees

Flush with pride,Birmingham-Southernwins lavatory laurel

By SCOTTIE VICKERYNews staff writer

Starting next Wednesday,Calera’s hourly employeeswill have a 38-hour workweek, and pay for all salariedcity employees and FireDepartment personnel will becut 5 percent.

The moves, which the Ca-lera City Council approved4-2 Monday night, are de-signed to save the city about$125,000 through the end ofthe fiscal year, prevent layoffsand a reduction in city serv-ices.

One option the council pre-viously considered was put-ting hourly employees on a32-hour work week. That pro-posal angered residents, who

feared that services such aspolice and fire protectionwould be reduced.

“This was not an easy thingto come up with,” Coun-cilman Jerry Davis said of theaction taken. “We avoidedhaving to lay off anybody andit’s because of the departmentheads and everybody elseworking together.”

The reduction in hours andpay was not the only cost-cut-ting measure the council ap-proved.

In addition, 66 city vehiclesthat department heads andpolice and fire personneldrove between home andwork will be parked at the endof each shift. That moveshould save the city about$40,000 over the next four

months.The city will also stop mos-

quito spraying, and inmatesjailed for committing crimesin Calera will handle street-sweeping.

Instead of having one on-call employee for the publicworks department and onefor the building maintenancedepartment, one on-call em-ployee will cover both depart-ments through September,saving about $13,000.

In addition, city employeeswill begin recording worktime on paper so time clockswill no longer be needed, sav-ing the city $2,300 a month.Altogether, the cuts will saveabout $500,000 through the

See CALERA Page 3B

By STAN DIELNews staff writer

It doesn’t compete in thehighest division of the NCAA,so Birmingham-Southern Col-lege may not win any bigbowls. But its bowls are bigwinners.

The toilets in the privateschool’s visitor center tookfirst place in a national “bestbathrooms” contest con-ducted by a college recruit-ment consulting firm.

BSC won the TargetX Bowlin the Best Small College bath-rooms category, the universityannounced this week.

Trent Gilbert, an “experi-ence evaluator” with Pennsyl-vania-based TargetX, said in

an interview Wednesday thathe has personally experiencedBSC’s visitor center bath-rooms. And they are a sight tobehold.

“It’s like going into a coun-try club,” he said. “They havemouthwash and hair spray.The attention to detail!”

Tyler Peterson, director ofrecruiting for BSC, said ad-ministrators at the collegeknew that many prospectivestudents and their parentswould arrive on campus aftera long drive and would imme-diately have need of the facili-ties. The mouthwash is forthose who might have stopped

See BSC Page 2B

John Archibald’scolumn appearsSundays, Tuesdays

and Thursdays. Write him at:jarchibald@bhamnews.comJoin the conversation withJohn online at:blog.al.com/archiblog GET THE NEWS AS IT HAPPENS Sign up for breaking news alerts from The Birmingham News at al.com/alerts

MONEY inside | 6C5B