Alabama

Reader Opinion: It is no secret that the Obama nation will rule and Alabama Artur Davis will be offered a position in the administration which he might turn down to run for Governor. Tim James will carry the populist white vote of his father’s Republican base and Mike Dow will wait on Davis to decide. Bradley Byrne will try and lose, as will the rest of the silk stocking crowd of politicians. Riley has had great timing with success thanks to RSA, TK Steel, EADS and Port of Alabama investments locally, so his endorsement should be powerful. But will we ever have a Governor that funds education with the fruits of gambling, and builds a real Alabama investment strategy.

(Read the full post about ‘Alabama New Governor Davis to Follow President Obama’…)

http://www.al.com/news/press-register/index.ssf?/base/news/1217322921201840.xml&coll=3

Mobile Gas has been sold today. The Press Register, once run by Mobile Gas President Bill Hearin, offered this historical note of interest today:
Sept. 20, 1836: The city of Mobile contracts with James H. Caldwell to set up gaslights around the city. Caldwell forms the Mobile Gaslight and Coke Co., which is serving 850 homes by 1838.

In 1986 Mobile Gas celebrated 200 by adding oak trees to Government Street.

What folks will be talking about today: WKRG reports woman body found in freezer at home

What folks should be talking about today: al.com reports Mobile Gas is sold to California company

The spin: was the woman a victim of too much crime tv watching, or high food prices?
The question: will the loss of another major Mobile heritage corporation be a blow to our community like the loss of Delchamps, Morrison’s. Ruby Tuesdays, QMS and famously Brookley AFB?

Once the Holiday Inn on the Causeway, Phillip Drane found the location became well known quickly as the Shoulder, and for many life saving. He lead the Christain facility as a last stop for men in need of help with alcohol and drug problems. The free clinic has now moved to Daphne and plans to celebrate 20 years with a new building fundraiser Aug 7 noon at the Riverview. A nice article in today’s paper and congratulations to Phillip Drane!

LONDON (AP) - A British hacker accused of breaking into Pentagon
and NASA computers has lost his appeal against extradition to the
U.S.
Gary McKinnon is accused by American prosecutors of executing a
series of cyber-attacks that stole passwords, attacked military
networks and wrought hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of
computer damage in the United States.
His appeal against a government order extraditing him was
rejected by the House of Lords on Wednesday.
McKinnon’s lawyer, Karen Todner, says he will appeal his case to
the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg in France and that
she was working to try to halt his immediate removal to the United
States.
She says McKinnon should have been prosecuted in Britain and
that she thinks the U.S. (Read the full post about ‘UK Hacker Loses Appeal Against US Extradition’…)

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) - Imprisoned boy-band impresario Lou Pearlman
may testify against a fellow jail inmate accused of gunning down an
Orlando police officer.
The Orlando Sentinel reports Wednesday that Pearlman provided
key information after talking with 19-year-old shooting suspect
Davin Smith. Smith and another man have pleaded not guilty in the
October killing of police officer Alfred Gordon.
Prosecutors said the information Pearlman provided is useful and
that Pearlman may be called to testify at Smith’s trial in
November.
Founder of the Backstreet Boys and N’Sync bands, Pearlman
pleaded guilty earlier this year to fraud and conspiracy after
swindling banks and investors out of some $300 million. (Read the full post about ‘Lou Pearlman To Testify Against Inmate’…)

ATLANTA (AP) - A new government study claims diabetic women who
get pregnant are three to four times more likely to have a child
with birth defects than other women.
It found nearly 40 types of birth defects are significantly more
common in the infants of diabetic mothers than in those who weren’t
diabetic, or who were diagnosed with diabetes after they became
pregnant. That’s more than was first thought.
The study was led by researchers at the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention and is the largest of its kind. (Read the full post about ‘Diabetic Birth Defects’…)

Parkinson’s disease is a condition that affects movement. It occurs when nerve cells in an area of the brain called the substantia nigra, degenerate or die. These cells normally produce dopamine, a brain chemical involved in the transmission of messages controlling movement. As these nerve cells die, movement becomes impaired. Most patients lose 60 to 80 percent of their dopamine-producing cells before symptoms become apparent.

There are four characteristic signs of Parkinson’s: tremor, bradykinesia (slowed movement), rigidity (stiffness) and postural instability (balance problems). Resting tremor is a common initial sign. It usually involves the thumb or wrist and tends to initially occur on one side. (Read the full post about ‘Parkinson’s Brain Shot’…)

MURRAY, Utah (AP) - A Utah fisherman is recovering after
spending about 16 hours in a frigid mountain stream trapped up to
his waist in numbingly cold 55-degree water.
It was an 11-year-old camper looking for firewood who finally
heard Dean Ririe’s (REER’-eez) screams Monday morning and got his
dad to check things out.
A nurse says Ririe’s body temperature dropped 33 degrees below
the normal 98.6 degrees.
The painful ordeal began when Ririe got stuck in rocks and was
unable to pull himself free. His waders then sprung a leak and
filled quickly with the achingly cold water.
He stayed awake through the entire episode, saying he was
“afraid to fall asleep.”
Ririe’s right foot may have to be amputated. (Read the full post about ‘Man Rescued From Cold Creek’…)