By Sam Prickett After close to a year of delays, construction of a boutique hotel in downtown Homewood is moving forward – albeit with a few changes from its developers’ original plans. The five-story, 129-room Valley Hotel is on track to open in late fall 2020 at the corner of 18th Street South and 28th Avenue South, the former location of Hatfield Auto and Little Professor … [Read more...]
Swimming With the Sharks: Mountain Brook Students Coached by Business Leaders to Develop and Pitch Product Ideas
By Sam Prickett David Windsor has his elevator pitch ready to go. “It’s a mobile party ready to be set up at hundreds, even thousands, of events each year,” he said, adopting the enthusiastic tone of a commercial spokesman. That’s how Windsor, along with fellow Mountain Brook High School students William O’Leary and Beck Corley, introduced their product, the Omni-Hitch, to … [Read more...]
‘Something to Say’: Mountain Brook Author Writes About the Romance Between Joy Davidman and C.S. Lewis
By Sam Prickett Joy Davidman may have died nearly 60 years ago, but for Mountain Brook author Patti Callahan Henry, she’s begun to take on “a life of her own” again. Davidman’s 10-year relationship with author and theologian C.S. Lewis is the subject of Henry’s latest novel, “Becoming Mrs. Lewis,” which was published by HarperCollins in October. Though the … [Read more...]
Safety and Security: Schools Look for Ways to Prevent the Next School Shooting Plot
By Sam Prickett Feb. 14’s mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, was the eighth recorded school shooting of 2018 and, with 17 casualties, among the deadliest high school shootings in American history. It was also the deadliest school shooting overall since 2012’s Sandy Hook elementary massacre in Newtown, Connecticut, which killed 28 … [Read more...]
‘Hitting on All Cylinders’: Mountain Brook Mayor Welch Lays Out His Plans for 2018
By Sam Prickett Stewart Welch doesn’t like talking about the past. The Mountain Brook mayor, now in his second year in office, demurs when asked about his proudest accomplishments so far. “Let me take a little bit of a different angle,” he says after a pause. “My brain is all wired forward, so whatever’s in the past is in the past.” Instead, Welch lays out his plans … [Read more...]
