April freeze moves through Bama Tuesday night

            The forecast for freezing weather Tuesday night caused local gardeners to take actions to protect their plants.

Jessica Tuggle, owner of Sunny Seedlings, took caution against the cold so she could be ready for the Homegrown Alabama farmer’s market.

“It was the night before the market, and I was worried about my seedlings,” Tuggle said.

She grows tomatoes, peppers and various herbs. She said she has a greenhouse, but because it’s not heated, she brought all her plants in her house. Some plants have hardened against the cold, but she said she was still cautious because it could stunt growth in young plants.

“Better safe than sorry,” Tuggle said.

Erin Jones, an Alabama Master Gardener, said she was not as worried.

“I would’ve been more worried if it was next week,” Jones said. She said there usually is one last cold front in the beginning of April, so it was not unanticipated.

Jones said she has mostly plants and herbs that are evergreens. She said she only covers her plants when it’s a hard freeze, like it was this summer. If it’s a soft freeze, in the low 30s, she doesn’t.

WVUA Chief Meteorologist, Richard Scott, said his forecast was in the low 30s, and Tuscaloosa reached 34 degrees, with scattered frost.

Scott said a combination of cool air mass, calm winds, dry air, and clear skies allowed us to have frost in central and west Alabama. He said since we are nearing the end of April, we could still get shots of cool air, but nothing in the freezing range.

“The latest freeze date on record in Tuscaloosa is April 21,” Scott said. “If we were to have a freeze after that date, then that would be record breaking.”

“The ten-day forecast looks good, so I hope the weather stays warm,” Tuggle said.

Moundville's Saturday in The Park

 This is a video I made for my broadcasting class about Moundville Archaeological Park's "Saturday in the Park" program. It was a pleasure working on this. I recommend for everyone to go see the park now that the weather is nice. Enjoy!

Moundville's Saturday in the Park from Andrea Matei on Vimeo.

Here is a link to the park's website: http://moundville.ua.edu/

Dangerous crude still spreading after Aliceville explosion, rerouted through Tuscaloosa

(I wrote this about a month ago. It is still a problem, and I urge everyone to get educated on this topic and share the information.)

 

            Almost three months after the Aliceville train wreck, the spilled crude oil is still spreading through the surrounding wetlands, and the clean-up efforts appear to be minimal.

Three cars exploded out of the 12 that derailed on Nov. 8, 2013, in Aliceville, leaking thousands of gallons of Bakken crude into wetlands feeding into the Tombigbee River.

Bakken crude oil is more volatile than conventional crude and gasoline, making it more dangerous to transport by rail than other oil. Transport of this crude has caused more explosion than any others, nicknaming the trains “bomb trains.”

            “This is nothing to play with,” said John Wathen, Hurricane Creekkeeper and watchdog environmentalist.

            Scott Smith, a member of Water Defense, an organization working to keep drinking water clean, said these kinds of disasters can be found all over the country. 

            A couple of days after the wreck, Smith accompanied Wathen to the derailing site to explore since officials said the oil was confined and there was no environmental or human threat. Smith wanted to donate a product he invented called OPFLEX Eelgrass, a sponge-like filtration system that soaks up oil and repeals water. It can be rung out and reused, which would also reduce waste.

Wathen said a man claiming to be with the railroad threatened them with the Sheriff’s Department and the FBI upon arrival. Wathen said he was concerned the site was not properly being taken care of.

That day, Wathen and Smith were also told them the crude was mostly cleaned up, but Wathen’s investigations have proven otherwise. Since the explosion, he has driven to the derailing site several times to take photographs and observe the clean-up efforts.

            Wathen said it took the railroad crew less than a week to rebuild the tracks and have trains running again. They rebuild so quickly by not taking any of the oil-soaked sand out, but instead covering it up. Now, even if the oil in the water gets cleaned up, more oil will just seep out of the sand.

            “It’s money overriding the environment,” said Kenneth Robinson, a member of Friends of Hurricane Creek.

            Robinson visits the wreck site with Wathen and shares his view about the negligence of the clean-up.

            The Alabama Department of Environmental Management set up wooden poles holding up cloth sheets to keep the oil confined. The once-white sheets are now soaked in crude and falling off the poles in several places, letting the crude flow through. There are also pom-poms distributed throughout the water with hopes they will soak up the crude. They are soiled and look as if no one has changed them in weeks. Wathen said he has not seen a worker out there changing the cleaning supplies in months.

            “This is a continuous neglect situation,” Wathen said.

            The oil is spreading outside of its confinement area, and Wathen has taken samples that were tested to confirm they are Bakken crude.

            Since officials are still investigating the cause of the incident, they decided to reroute the oil trains through Downtown Northport and Tuscaloosa, on the track that runs over the Black Warrior River and near the Tuscaloosa Amphitheater.

            Both Wathen and Robinson said they are concerned about the safety of the community with these trains running through one of the most populated areas of the city.

            Wathen went to inspect the bridge running over the amphitheater and noticed many broken or rotted wooden beams, with only a few make-shift repairs. This is one of the oldest bridges in the state, and was never designed to hold the kind of weight that the crude oil trains carry. Wathen said that there could be an accident at any time, and most people do not even know these trains are rolling through the area.

            Crude oil trains can sometimes be up to 100 cars long, each carrying about 30,000 gallons. Each car is marked with a red sign with the numbers “1267” and a “3” signifying it to be the most flammable.

            “We’re messing with stuff we’re not supposed to be messing with,” Robinson said. “It’s underground for a reason.”

            Wathen and Robinson want to raise awareness and expose the truth about incidences like the one in Aliceville. Robinson said he hopes to make people understand that this is messing with the drinking water, and they need to fight to preserve natural resources.

            To get more information and view Wathen’s photographs and videos, visit his blog at http://bakkendebate.blogspot.com.

Local schools compete to recycle the most phone books

            The eighth annual YP Cares phone book recycling contest for Tuscaloosa city and county school teaches the importance to recycling to students of all ages, but also adds competition between schools.

Beth Curtis, principal at Verner Elementary School, said recycling is an important habit to teach children. She sends weekly reminders about the contest, but also promotes recycling all year by having bins for paper and cardboard outside each classroom.

            “Several years ago, we decided to become service-oriented,” Curtis said. 

            She said the school has participated in the contest every year it has been held, as well as in other community projects, such as Canstruction. They won the $1,000 prize last year which was put back into the recycling program.

The contest, sponsored by the YP Real Yellow Pages, rewards elementary, middle and high schools in each system. This year’s contest started on Jan. 20 and will end Feb. 28.

“This is an established program,” said Ashley Chambers, the City of Tuscaloosa Environmental Coordinator. “We have schools calling us in the fall asking if we’re doing the contest again.”

Winning schools are based on the total number of books collected divided by total number of students enrolled. First place winners receive $1,000, and second and third places receive $600 and $400, respectively.

Chambers said participation increases every year. She is happy to see the schools rally to get large numbers of phone books so they won’t end up in the landfill. She said the books can be turned into new books, cardboard, animal bedding and much more.

Last year, schools collected more than 25,000 phone books, which weigh about 31,000 pounds.

            Tiffany Craig, a second grade teacher at Oakdale Elementary School, also sends flyers home with the students, and well as offers them free homework passes for every five books they bring in.

            She said she enjoys seeing the students reach out to various people and businesses in the community to get the old books. Oakdale Elementary also has recycling bins around the school all year.

“This is something they can take home,” Craig said. “They can use what they learn here to recycle at home.”

Chambers said the books get picked up after the deadline. She said the schools are competitive and look to do better every year.

“It’s funny,” she said. “The schools don’t tell us the numbers, and let it be a surprise.”

Chambers said that she noticed elementary-age students were easier to get excited about recycling. Last year, she teamed up with city officials to create individual prizes to get the older students excited, too.

For elementary schools, each student bringing in ten phone books gets entered for into a drawing for a Playstation Portable. If they bring in 100 books, they will receive a Little Ricky the Recycling Raccoon stuffed animal and other prizes from YP Cares. Middle school students get an entry for Beats by Dre ear buds for every ten books collected, and high school students get an entry for Beats by Dre headphones for every ten books. 
Students from private schools or home school programs are also eligible for individual prizes for collected phone books by contacting the City of Tuscaloosa Environmental Services Department.

Arboretum caretaker has deeply-rooted passion for nature

            It is not difficult for Kenneth Robinson to take care of 60 acres. He says he does it “for the trees.”

 Robinson has been the head caretaker at the University of Alabama Arboretum in Tuscaloosa for the past eight years, and was a volunteer before that.

He called the arboretum a tree museum, as it is home to many Alabama native trees and flowers such as south-eastern redwoods, Alabama black cherry trees, azaleas and various hardwoods.

Robinson said he is concerned about Alabama hardwoods being clear-cut and replaced with a spruce, pine and fir hybrids, which grow faster. The arboretum is one of the only places in Alabama where native plants can grow without the danger of being clear-cut or damaged.

Robinson has a very close relationship with nature and values his Cherokee and Lakota heritage. He protects and takes care of the hardwoods in his own backyard, too. He said he has acorn trees, and the deer can come there and know it is a safe spot for them.

“I honor their spiritualism,” Robinson said. There are also many species of birds, deer, coyotes, rabbits and other woodland animals in the arboretum he has a respectful relationship with.  He believes as long as one honors other beings, they can all connect on a spiritual level.

Robinson is also an advocate for preserving the Earth’s drinking water and supports the non-profit Tuscaloosa group, Friends of Hurricane Creek.

He said he hopes to shed light on both how beautiful nature is and how much conservation is needed through photography he does while traveling throughout the United States. His photos can be viewed on Facebook on his page called “Hawks Photos,” a reference to his Lakota name “Cata” meaning “hawk.”

As caretaker of the arboretum, Robinson makes sure everything is groomed and taken care of, from planting and pruning to picking up sticks off the walking trails. He also works with the university’s biology department and looks after the tropical plants the professors keep in the greenhouses.

Robinson has been working by himself since the director retired in April 2012.

“The entire arboretum was left in his hands,” said Sharon Wise, a Tuscaloosa County master gardener. She has been a volunteer at the arboretum for the past seven years, and helps Robinson with any grooming-related tasks he has.

He got some more help when he hired an assistant in May 2013. Wise has also been encouraging fellow master gardeners to volunteer regularly.

The arboretum ground is covered in leaves that fell off the trees in the fall, and with spring not too far away, clean-up will be starting soon. Volunteers are always welcome.

Both Robinson and Wise said the arboretum is a perfect place to work. It is peaceful and beautiful and an ideal escape, located just a few minutes from the UA campus.

“There’s so much to see, so much people just drive past,” Robinson said.

He said he hopes when a new director gets hired, the clubs with UA will start again and more students will come out and enjoy the arboretum.

The arboretum is open daily from 8 a.m. to sunset, and is located at the intersection of Veterans Memorial Parkway and Loop Road. For general or volunteer information, visit the website at arboretum.ua.edu.

Kenneth Robinson stands in front of the greenhouses at the front of the UA Arboretum.

 

UA Student’s Determination to Raise Awareness

Most fifth graders think about cartoons and what they should do at recess, but Stephanie Ray had other thoughts occupying her mind.  She and a friend worked with the school counselor to develop a program to help needy children.  Even at a young age, she knew she wanted to affect other people’s lives.

“I knew I wanted to do something, and I just couldn’t wait until after college,” Ray said.

            Ray, now 20, is an upcoming junior at the University of Alabama, majoring in international studies and minoring in French.  She loves music and writes her own, ranging from indie music to folk and a little bit of soul.  She used to travel from her home in Birmingham to Nashville some weekends to perform with a band there.  She was also part of a campus bluegrass band during the spring semester that performed at some open-mic nights and at the Homegrown Alabama market.

            What she calls her “baby” is Good Alabama, a student organization she founded and registered with UA’s The Source in February.  The goal for the organization is to mentor “at risk” children in Tuscaloosa and provide a creative outlet for them.

            “I don’t want to be an organization that just drops stuff off,” Ray said. “I want to engage.”

            This summer, she has been defining the goals she wants to accomplish with this, as well as collecting supplies and donations to build an account.  She said she wants to meticulously plan everything so the group can establish a good reputation.

            In the fall, Ray will work to find as many members as she can to join.  She said she is aiming to volunteer on a weekly basis at several group homes for youth in the Tuscaloosa area.

(I actually wrote this story beginning of August 2013. It is still relevant, and I think people should show their support for Good Alabama.)

Photo credit: Good Alabama Facebook page