EDITORS, MANAGING EDITORS, WEEKEND EDITORS:
The Associated Press recommends the following stories of Southern interest for use over the weekend of July 7-9.
For repeats of AP copy, please call the Service Desk at 800-838-4616. AP stories, along with the photos that accompany them, also can be obtained from http://www.apexchange.com.
ALABAMA
For Saturday use:
HIGH-TECH CHURCH
DAPHNE, Ala. — When the Rev. Jerry Taylor gives his sermon on Sunday at Bay Community Church’s Malbis campus, he is two places at once. On the high-tech stage of his 25,000-square-foot church in Daphne, bathed in colored lights, he preaches in person. At the same time, his message is broadcast onto a screen in the 23,000-square-foot church of Bay Community’s Mobile campus, on the site of a former wholesale store. By Roy Hoffman, Press-Register.
For Sunday use:
UA-TRIAGE TEAMS
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Dan Daly looks for the cream of the crop when he hunts for students to join his University of Alabama “triage teams.” Students who not only excel in studies, but also have that spark, that oomph, that sine qua non that may one day transform them into entrepreneurs. Triage is the brainstorm that Daly brought to the Capstone after working in industry as a chemist, where he headed small teams of researchers developing new products. By Jeff Hansen, The Birmingham News.
For Monday use:
LIBRARY-1821 LETTER
FLORENCE, Ala. — Library work might appear dull to the casual observer, but there are days when the staff gives thanks they showed up for work. Patti Hannah, a volunteer conservator at the Florence-Lauderdale Public Library, had one of those days several months ago. When the mail was delivered one morning, a manila envelope with an Irish postmark was dropped on her desk. Intrigued, she opened it to find a photo copy and transcription of a letter dated June 1821. The lengthy letter contained detailed descriptions of the countryside and people the writer and his family encountered while traveling from Tennessee to Florence, and later on to Philadelphia. By Robert Palmer, TimesDaily.
UA-SCIENCE GRANTS
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — With more than $1.6 million in grants from the National Science Foundation, three University of Alabama instructors will study earthquake seismology and advance nanotechnology to improve MRIs and solar energy collection. The five-year project grants are known as CAREER grants, because they’re awarded to boost researchers who are still on the path to achieve tenure. By Mark Hughes Cobb, The Tuscaloosa News.
FLORIDA
For Saturday use:
FLORIDA ALPACA FARMS
LARGO, Fla. — There she was, sitting in a northern Arizona restaurant, thumbing through a local magazine while waiting for her meal to arrive.
That’s when Jamie Flores saw the article on alpacas. The wooly-headed Huacayas that looked like Muppets, and the Suris, resembling Jamaican rock stars with their pencil-thin dreadlocks. By Michelle Bearden, The Tampa Tribune.
For Sunday use:
STUDENT ASTRONAUTS
MIAMI — They were in the midst of their mission when a master warning popped up on the screen: Fire in the payload.
Within minutes, the shuttle computer forced them to abort the mission. But despite the setback, the team of Pompano Beach High students won the first place in the State of Florida Student Astronaut Challenge. By Maria Camila Bernal, The Miami Herald.
For Monday use:
STUDYING DEATH
SARASOTA, Fla. — Professor Kathy Black peppers each startled student enrolled in her University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee class with a single question on the first day: “How old will you be when you die, and what are you going to die of?”
Halfway through the course, shaking them up again, she schedules a field trip to a local funeral home, including a tour of the embalming room. After frank talk about the emotions he deals with in his work, longtime funeral director Gary Wiegand enthralls the class with a short course on preserving a dead body — while one squeamish young woman hovers just beyond the threshold. By Barbara Peters Smith, Sarasota Herald-Tribune.
GEORGIA
For Saturday use:
BACKYARD BEEKEEPING
AUGUSTA, Ga. — A cloud of honeybees swirled and hummed around the head of Elliot Huffman as he strained to pry the top off his backyard beehive.
The Huffmans are among a growing trend of backyard beekeepers starting hives in neighborhoods around the area, said Gary Mathison, an Aiken beekeeper and owner of C&T Bee Supply. By Steve Crawford, The Augusta Chronicle.
For Sunday use:
COLLEGE CREDIT
ATLANTA — Tracy Martin long considered going to college but worried about the time and cost.
The 52-year-old decided to enroll after hearing about “prior learning,” which lets adults earn free credits toward a degree for college-level learning that occurred outside a traditional classroom, such as on the job, in the military or through corporate training. By Laura Diamond, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
For Monday use:
RISE FROM HOMELESSNESS
SAVANNAH, Ga. — Things kept getting worse for Royce Brown.
For more than a year, the U.S. Marine Corps veteran lived on the streets. He slept on friends’ couches when he could; other nights he just walked. Often he meandered from one side of Savannah to the other just to kill time. Just to stay alive.
Brown’s life began to improve about three months ago after an encounter with a peer counselor from Goodwill Industries of the Coastal Empire and an introduction to the non-profit organization’s Operation Open Doors. By Corey Dickstein, Savannah Morning News.
KENTUCKY
For Sunday use:
WASHED AWAY DREAMS
HUEYSVILLE, Ky. — Rick Handshoe has about given up. He dreamed of a house beside the small creek on land his family has owned for 200 years; he hoped his daughter would one day live in that house when she married and had children; he just wanted a quiet life in Floyd County. His dreams have been washed away by poisoned water. By Ronnie Ellis, The Independent.
For Monday use:
DOUGHBOY RESTORATION
MOREHEAD, Ky. — A torso was bound together and upside down. Legs, severed at the knees, stood upright. And a head rested on a table next to a chunk of a rifle. By Daniel Moore, Lexington Herald-Leader.
LOUISIANA
For Saturday and Sunday use:
BIG EASY BLENDS
NEW ORLEANS, La. — Back in 2007, Antonio LaMartina was relaxing in Orange Beach, Ala., with his mom. She asked him to make her a frozen cocktail. By the time he went to the kitchen, made it and brought it out to the beach, the frozen beverage had melted. He saw his nephew drinking a Capri Sun, and was struck with an idea. Why not make frozen cocktails to go? By Diangelea Millar, The Times-Picayune.
KIDS COOKING CAMPS
BATON ROUGE, La. — For De’Shoin York Friendship, teaching kids to cook is giving them power and responsibility. “What we’re seeing is a lot of parents work,” she said. “When they get home in the evening, they’re taking kids to McDonald’s or to eat something very quick. We thought we would empower those kids.” By Beth Colvin, The Advocate.
For Monday use:
RUBINSTEIN TAYBI SYNDROME
LAKE CHARLES, La. — Clay Whitaker is putting on a show. Standing on a makeshift stage in his backyard with a PVC pipe as a microphone and his sister’s old toy guitar in hand, Clay is a star. By Ashley Withers, The American Press.
MARINE’S LEGACY
LOREAUVILLE, La. — Joseph L. Bastian was proud to fight for his country during World War II. He wore his United States Marine Corps uniform with pride, but as a black Marine serving during segregation, he sometimes doubted if his country was equally as proud of him. He was recruited at the age of 18. Seventy years later, his doubts have come to an end. He recently went to Washington, D.C., to receive a Congressional Gold Medal, the most prestigious honor awarded to a civilian by Congress. By Karma Champagne, The Daily Iberian.
MID-ATLANTIC
For Sunday use:
NURSING HOME KARAOKE
FREDERICK, Md. — If the entries in Arthur “Pete” Baugher Sr.’s worn pocket calendar hold true, very few days in July will end before he’s sung some gospel music.
For most dates in the month, the 80-year-old Frederick resident plans to set up his karaoke equipment at a local nursing home or church and belt out some melodies with his singing partner. By Bethany Rodgers, The Frederick News-Post.
PROCESSED SLUDGE
OCEAN CITY, Md. — Fewer farmers are using Ocean City’s processed sludge as fertilizer, leaving the resort to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars a year to send the mess to the dump — when it used to give it away for free. By Brian Shane, The Daily Times of Salisbury.
For Monday use:
CANAL TRAIL
DELAWARE CITY, Del. — When Joan Smith bikes from St. Georges to Chesapeake City along the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal, she’s forced onto roadways and away from a waterfront view as the path becomes unaccommodating.
But with construction beginning on a trail along the north side of the canal, bikers, hikers, runners, horseback riders and others can look forward to when the trail will be more welcoming. By Megan Rogers, The News Journal of Wilmington.
BOAT SLIPS
OCEAN CITY, Md. — You’ll always remember your first crush; at least, that’s what they say at Harborside.
The waterfront restaurant and bar overlooking West Ocean City’s commercial harbor has been known for its signature drink, the Orange Crush, since the mid-1990s. Nineteen years after opening, Harborside is still a favorite spot for locals and tourists alike. By Charlene Sharpe, The Daily Times of Salisbury.
MISSISSIPPI
For Sunday use:
HATCHERY MAKEOVER
TUPELO, Miss. — The Private John Allen National Fish Hatchery is in the middle of a makeover and more changes are on the horizon.
About $1.2 million in renovations to the 25-acre property began in 2010 with extensive work on the hatchery manager’s residence, a Victorian home built in the first decade of the 20th century. By M. Scott Morris, Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal.
MISS FISH HATCHERY
TUPELO, Miss. — Sometimes nature needs a helping hand, and the staff at the Private John Allen National Fish Hatchery is there to give it.
Project Leader Ricky Campbell and his crew at the hatchery are tasked with keeping fish off the threatened and endangered lists. By M. Scott Morris, Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal.
For Monday use:
CIVIL WAR BLANKET
VICKSBURG, Miss. — When Confederate Sgt. Jacob Senile Heller was captured at Vicksburg July 4, 1863, by Union troops, he was given a choice: sign an oath that he would not continue to fight and be paroled to go home, or be taken as a prisoner of war.
A Union-issued blanket passed down by Heller to family members is the only clue to what Heller decided. By Pamela Hutchins, Vicksburg Post.
TAX COLLECTION FEE
PASCAGOULA, Miss. — Jackson County’s practice of charging cities a flat fee for property tax collection is arbitrary and unfair, Pascagoula city councilmen contend.
County Tax Collector Joe Tucker, meanwhile, said that the cities for which the county collects taxes — Ocean Springs, Gautier and Pascagoula — are getting a great deal, considering the quality and amount of work that’s involved and compared with what cities in other parts of the state pay. By Kaija Wilkinson, The Mississippi Press.
NORTH CAROLINA
For Saturday use:
UNC EXPANSION
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — When a team works on a project, each of its members tries to stay on the same page. But beginning in 2014, students at UNC School of the Arts will stay on the same screen as they collaborate. Special study rooms in a new library will enable them to send data from their laptops to a flat-screen monitor as they work on concepts for a show. By Ken Keuffel, Winston-Salem Journal.
For Sunday use:
TEXTILE REDEVELOPMENT
GASTONIA, N.C. — In its heyday, Gastonia’s biggest and most historic textile mill pumped life into the community. By Joe Depriest, The Charlotte Observer.
For Monday use:
14-YEAR-OLD TRUCKER
SALISBURY, N.C. — Valerie Carriker loves to ride her horse, Ruby, along the roads and back-country trails not far from Hurley Elementary School. By Mark Wineka, Salisbury Post.
SOUTH CAROLINA
For Saturday use:
D-DAY-LETTER
SPARTANBURG, S.C. — Every day of the past 68 years, Hazel George has thought of her brother, an Army paratrooper in World War II, and wondered how he spent the last few hours of his life before he and his comrades were ambushed in Normandy, France, on D-Day. By Lynne Shackleford, The (Spartanburg) Herald-Journal.
For Sunday use:
QUEENS OF JEANS
GREENVILLE, S.C. — There are plenty of reasons why Emilie Whitaker and Kathy Moca might be crazy. By Lillia Callum-Penso, The Greenville News.
For Monday use:
SCHOOLHOUSE REUNION
STARR, S.C. — A grove of old oak trees, a low concrete block wall and two sets of steps are all that are left of what once was the Flat Rock schoolhouse in Starr.
Termites and weather can destroy buildings, but they cannot erase memories. And those who learned how to read and write in that schoolhouse until it closed in the late ’50s will have plenty to share when they gather for their first reunion July 21. By Charmaine Smith-Miles, Anderson Independent-Mail.
TENNESSEE
For Sunday use:
RARE REACTION
JACKSON, Tenn. — Tyrelle Turner stared blankly at his mother and nurses, then his eyes rolled into the back of his head. By Ned B. Hunter, The Jackson Sun.
For Monday use:
DOCTOR’S MISSION
BRISTOL, Tenn. — Dr. Aaron Jones had a plan from the day he started medical school seven years ago — he would go to Kenya upon finishing his studies and residency requirement and then practice medicine in one of the most rural settings in the world. By Rex Barber, Johnson City Press.
VIRGINIA
For Sunday use:
SOPRANO TRADITION
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Dorothy Wingfield Smith made a grand entrance, riding down from the second floor on her stair lift. As she approached the foyer of her Virginia Beach home, she threw open her arms and sang in a lilting voice, “Here she comes….” By Teresa Annas, The Virginian-Pilot.
CAMPER DAY
RICHMOND, Va. — Ten-year-old Jordan Davis shrieked and ducked out of the way as a baseball flew toward her during the Flying Squirrels’ annual Camper Day baseball game. By Tilden Bowditch, Richmond Times-Dispatch.
For Monday use:
SUMMER STORM-APPALACHIAN TRAIL
CATAWBA, Va. — When they embarked on a 40-day trek on the Appalachian Trail in late June, Hugh Crawford and his 17-year-old son Bennett knew they had some hard days ahead. By Mark Taylor, The Roanoke Times.
HEART SURGERY COMEBACK
FREDERICKSBURG, Va. — Hikers who reach the top of Stony Man Mountain are rewarded with one of the best views in Shenandoah National Park. When Steve McInnis completed the climb, however, he found more than a great vista. He realized that his damaged heart was whole again. By Jim Hall, The Free Lance-Star.
WEST VIRGINIA
For Sunday use:
MARSHAL SHOT-BROTHER
CLARKSBURG, W.Va. — Ten years ago, Dustin Hotsinpiller filled out paperwork and set up the automatic deposit for his pay as a Bridgeport policeman. By Matt Harvey, The Exponent-Telegram.
SHEEP PARASITE
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A silent killer is attacking sheep all over the country, but sleuths at West Virginia University are hot on its trail. By Zack Harold, Charleston Daily Mail.
For Monday use:
COLLEGE RADIO
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia University’s student radio station, U92 FM, will soon celebrate its 30th anniversary, while Marshall University’s station, The Cutting Edge, recently rang in 50 years. By MacKenzie Mays, The Charleston Gazette.
BOTTLED WATER
LESAGE, W.Va. — If you spent some time at a West Virginia state park, you probably bought a bottled water that came from Cabell County. By Bill Rosenberger, The Herald-Dispatch.
The AP
