Under the zoo

During the late 19th century the Red Mountain Cemetery and Southside Cemetery became the final resting places for many of Birmingham’s poorest residents. They were buried there from 1888 until around 1905, more than 4,700 people in unmarked graves.

Here we are, several generations later, and the Birmingham Zoo owns the land where the cemeteries were placed. The zoo is trying to build a cougar exhibit where some of the graves lie beneath.

AL.com’s Joseph D. Bryant reports that Zoo officials have applied for a permit from the Alabama Historical Commission to relocate about a dozen gravesites.

Birmingham Zoo president and CEO Chris Pfefferkorn said, quote, “We want to treat these people with the respect and dignity that they deserve.”

So this is not just a matter of digging up folks. The zoo will bring in an archeologist to do the excavating.

Eventually, this will likely lead to next year’s opening of an exhibit called “Cougar Crossing.”

Following Fauci

Dr. Anthony Fauci’s successor is a woman who’s worked at UAB for around the past seven years.

AL.com’s Amy Yurkanin reports that Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo is the new director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

Marrazzo’s name also became well-known during the COVID-19 pandemic through her appearances with local and national media.

Fauci resigned at the end of last year after serving in the position since 1984. So he led the Institute from the time of the rising HIV epidemic through the COVID pandemic.

Seaside digs

If you haven’t priced houses in a few years you might be in for some sticker shock if you jump into the real-estate market.

Ten or fifteen million dollars just won’t go as far as it once did.

Alabama head football coach Nick Saban has purchased a beachfront home on Jupiter Island in Florida, reports the Palm Beach Post, for a sale price of $17.5 million.

It had been listed at $21.5 million, but there’s a process to waiting and buying at the right time.

It’s a 6,200-square-foot house on 1.68 acres that was built in 1992 and renovated in 2016. Six bedrooms, marble floors and a floating staircase — which is a style of staircase that has nothing to do with high tides on the Atlantic Coast.

The neighbors include Tiger Woods and Celine Dion.

Quoting

“I’m not saying I am in solidarity with the Republicans. I am saying that Huntsville won the competition fair and square, and they did so over a four-year process.”

— Rep. Terri Sewell, on WJLD radio defending herself against criticism from fellow Democrats over her disappointment with the Biden Administration’s decision to stop Space Command headquarters from coming to Alabama.

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