By Madoline Markham Koonce Photography by Jean AllsoppImagine you had a different interior designer focus on each room of your home, decorating each nook and cranny with thoughtful details that anyone who enters would pause to take it all in. Talk about a dream! That’s just what visitors will find at the new Birmingham Home & Garden Inspiration … [Read more...]
Songs from the Porch: Crestfest is back and growing fast.
story and photos By Brent ThompsonOlivia Pierce and Clay McDowell knew there was a way to pull their Crestwood community closer together, have some fun and raise money all at the same time. They just needed the right idea. The answer came in the form of Crestfest, a day-long, family friendly music and arts event that launched in 2025. Crestfest is unique in that … [Read more...]
Maranathan Academy Celebrates Its First Permanent Home
After 35 years of changing lives and offering second chances to Birmingham's most vulnerable students, Maranathan Academy is celebrating a milestone decades in the making: its first permanent home.Founded in 1991 by Donna Dukes, with the presence and support of her late parents, Jacquelyn Bates Dukes and the Reverend Frank Dukes, Maranathan Academy has spent more than three … [Read more...]
Saying Goodbye to a Friend and Colleague
On October 17, OTMJ lost a friend and a co-worker. James Todd Shelnutt passed away at the age of 61, and he will be sorely missed. James was a delivery driver for the paper covering Homewood and half of Mountain Brook and he was as kind as he was dependable. A proud alumnus of Homewood High School, Todd graduated in 1983, and his pursuit of knowledge led him to UAB, … [Read more...]
Mountain Brook native offers marriage advice from a divorced dad
Mountain Brook native David Levin will publish his first book, "A Divorced Dad's Playbook for the Still-Married," on Tuesday, Oct. 27. It's a marriage book for couples who are still together, written by someone who learned its lessons after his own marriage ended.Levin's marriage ended in the second of three couples counseling sessions, two weeks before he turned 50. Over … [Read more...]