Cruises, cookies, mysterious shooting: Down in Alabama
A monumental anniversary
There’s a special Alabama anniversary this week. It was 165 years ago this week – Oct. 4, 1858 to be exact – that Joseph Henry Johnson opened the Alabama School for the Deaf in Talladega, in part to help educate his deaf brother. In 1879, the school expanded and was renamed Alabama Institute for the Deaf, Dumb and Blind. Today, the Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind serves more than 31,000 infants, toddlers, children, adults and seniors with hearing and vision loss throughout Alabama each year, serving those who are deaf, blind, deaf and blind and multi-disabled. They also operate regional training centers throughout the state and business enterprise services. Happy birthday AIDB!
The Carnival Spirit will arrive in Mobile Friday, signaling the return of cruising to the city.
The Spirit marks a turnaround for the city that faces debt related to cruise ship terminal, something that can’t be addressed without a cruise ship.
Under a five-year agreement with Carnival Cruise Line to bring the Spirit to Mobile, the city anticipates receiving a rough estimate of $3 million each year from a combination of wharfage, parking fees, and other income the cruise terminal brings in from hosting events and conferences during the off-season.
The Carnival Spirit is set to operate for only six months – October to May – after which point it will be repositioned during the summer months for sailings in Alaska.
That said, the terminal’s debt is expected to expire in 2030. The agreement with Carnival Cruise Line could last to 2029, or almost up to the time that the terminal’s debt is paid off.
Girl Scouts of the USA said Raspberry Rally cookies won’t be sold when cookie season kicks off in January. The cookies were introduced last year but sold only online and, due to resellers grabbing the boxes, soon appeared on sites for up to $180 a box.
The raspberry cookies were only sold online last year as part of a way to teach “omnichannel business skills,” Girl Scouts said. This year, however, they are “taking a pause to prioritize supplying our classic varieties.”
Other Girl Scout favorites will be back this year, including Do-si-dos, Samoas, Peanut Butter Patties Tagalongs, Trefoils and – thank heavens – Thin Mints.
On a serious note, Birmingham police are looking for information on a three-year old case involving a man who was killed on his way to Bible study.
Forty-one-year-old Rodger Burr II was killed Sept. 30 when, shortly after 5:30 p.m. that Wednesday, someone opened fire on him while he was driving in the 700 block of Carline Avenue in Birmingham. Police believe Burr was at a stop sign at Avenue T and Carline when another vehicle – a small sedan – pulled alongside him and unleashed a barrage of gunfire.
Burr’s Nissan Rogue rolled a short distance before coming to a stop under a tree in a field. Officers found Burr unresponsive from multiple gunshot wounds.
He was pronounced dead on the scene and investigators believe he was targeted in the attack.
Anyone with information is asked to call Birmingham homicide detectives at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.