Opponents of UAB President Ray Watts and his decision to kill the school's football program are voicing their concerns to trustees of the University of Alabama system. Several dozen demonstrators stood and turned their backs on Watts as he gave a report to trustees during a meeting in Birmingham on Friday. Some held up signs calling for Watts' dismissal. But trustees say they support Watts, and the president says he isn't quitting. Faculty groups and student government leaders have held no-confidence votes in Watts since his decision to shut down football and two other sports at the University of Alabama in Birmingham. Watts cited finances when he announced a decision to end football and the others sports in December. He has since said the numbers are being re-evaluated.
There could be a new twist in the political tug-of-war over the historic district in the city of Eufaula. There are questions on a controversial road project. Alabama’s State Auditor Jim Zeigler will release an audit on a plan to widen U.S. Highway four thirty one through Eufaula’s historic district. The road project attracted attention after work crews chopped down trees in the district that was used during the shooting of the movie “Sweet Home Alabama.” Zeigler took a look at the damage and an alternative plan for a road that skirts the district. He says everyone needs to rethink the road…
“A lot of the damage has already been done in the beginnings of the work in paving the north Eufaula median. We could minimize that damage to halt the project now and switch to a truck route around North Eufaula Avenue. That would be the best and cheapest alternative.”
Zeigler feels that the truck route around Eufaula’s historic district will be the best thing to reduce the long term traffic in the town, and to save the historic district.
February is American Heart Month and studies show men in the Southeast are at a higher risk for heart disease. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is partnering with an organization called Million Hearts. They want to call attention to this problem. Bruce Johnson is a heart attack survivor and heart health advocate. He says part of the problem is the diet in the Southeast… “We have this sense of entitlement when it comes to our diet. We eat all the heavy grease, starches, the sugar all the stuff that isn’t good for us. We think it is almost a birthright. We eat this way all our lives and multiple times a day and that doesn’t help.” Johnson says changing the way you eat makes a big difference but exercise has to be included. More than 300,000 men die each year from heart disease, making heart disease the leading cause of death for men.