Cheeseburger in paradise

A sizzling experiment that could help save Alabama's small farms (And it tastes good)

Sunday, November 30, 2008
By RYAN DEZEMBER
Staff Reporter

CLAYTON, Ala. — In January of last year, the phone rang at Boutwell Farms, an upstart family operation near the Georgia line, specializing in organic grains, free-range pork and grass-fed beef.

On the line was Johnny Fisher, general manager of Lulu's at Homeport Marina, the well-known, 450-seat Gulf Shores restaurant.

Fisher, wanting to wean Lulu's off of the nondescript patties at the center of its most popular menu item, was searching for beef that was tastier, healthier and regionally produced. And he needed enough of it each year to make more than 70,000 cheeseburgers.

Mobile Press-Register

'Insurance Queen' finds rocky road

Sunday, November 30, 2008
By JEFF AMY and RYAN DEZEMBER
Staff Reporters

Pamela Wynona Schoen's recent business career has been peppered with legal disputes.

Now 45, Schoen began working as an Alfa insurance agent in 1986, the Montgomery-based company said. In the April 2007 edition of a publication called Ladies in Business, Schoen said her father was a friend of Alfa founder Ed Lowder and served as an Alfa district manager for 42 years.

Schoen declined to speak to the Press-Register, referring comment to her lawyer, Kelly McGriff.

Mobile Press-Register

Police: Insurance swindle involved big bucks

Sunday, November 30, 2008
By JEFF AMY and RYAN DEZEMBER
Staff Reporters

Two former employees of the Starfish Insurance Agency in Gulf Shores stole hundreds of thousands of dollars, police believe, some of it by selling fake property insurance policies.

Pamela Wynona Schoen, who owns the agency and is its only licensed insurance broker, says that the former employees also stole from her. Schoen has refunded at least some of the money paid for fake insurance, according to two victims of the alleged swindle, which apparently peaked in midsummer and left some Starfish customers unprotected for a chunk of hurricane season.

In a Sept. 17 police report, Schoen accused Benton Gray Harvey and Jonathan W. Adams of stealing $176,317.81 from Starfish. Most of the thefts involved unauthorized purchases on company credit cards, according to Sgt. Skip Callaway of the Gulf Shores Police Department, who is handling the inquiry. Alabama's Insurance Department is also investigating.

Mobile Press-Register

Orange Beach Budget Cuts for 2009

Expenses large and small are cut in anticipation of steep drop in revenues
Sunday, November 30, 2008
By RYAN DEZEMBER
Staff Reporter

ORANGE BEACH — The penny-pinching that began this summer in City Hall with a hiring freeze, reductions in overtime and employee travel and culminated this month with the layoffs that saw 23 workers lose their jobs will continue in 2009, the city's proposed budget shows.

The plan, which anticipates a $5 million drop in revenue next year, includes detailed plans for a year of frugality from the elimination of take-home vehicles for employees to a mandate to print two-sided documents, and only in black and white.

There will be no capital purchases of more than $7,500, according to the 29-page spending plan. There will be no new employee uniforms.

Employee travel, training and tuition reimbursement are out. Vehicle logs, ride sharing, e-mail and orders to unplug office equipment when it's not in use are in.

Faced with a $3.3 million shortfall to end this year, municipal officials have spent the past few months trying to figure out ways to operate cheaper in 2009, which they believe will see revenues drop lower than they were in 2008.

Mobile Press-Register

Black Friday in Badwin County

From WKRG-TV5...

WKRG.com

Snowbirds in Gulf Shores

Video from Fox10 News...

Rare Tiger Cubs Visit South Baldwin Regional Imaging Center

Nov. 26, 2008 - Gulf Shores, AL -- Apata & Yeti, Snowy White Bengal Tiger cubs, paid a brief visit to the South Baldwin Regional Imaging Center in Gulf Shores yesterday. Courtesy of the Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo (The Little Zoo That Could).

Click here for more photos, to read about these beautiful & rare tigers and to learn how you can have your own "Tiger Encounter".

Orange Beach City Meeting Details City's Layoffs

From WKRG-TV5...

WKRG.com

Oversight committees need citizen involvement

Administration plans to align newly formed panels with various municipal departments
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
By RYAN DEZEMBER, Staff Reporter

ORANGE BEACH — If you've ever wanted to participate in municipal governance but didn't feel like mounting a city council campaign or haven't been able to pledge several years of service for a planning commission seat, City Hall might have an opening for you.

As part of Mayor Tony Kennon's campaign pledge to bring more taxpayers into the fray at City Hall, applications are being made available for a series of citizen oversight committees the new mayor wants to align with several municipal departments.

Kennon said the panels' roles will be three-fold. They'll provide a layer of "transparency and accountability," act as a liaison between municipal officials and the public, and utilize the expertise of Orange Beach citizens, he said.

Mobile Press-Register

Gulf Coast, Ala.: A mecca of food, water, quiet beaches

By Christine Tibbetts

Water, water every which-way around Alabama’s Gulf coast gave my October beach vacation more dimensions than imagined.

Going to the beach generally offers up an inter coastal waterway as well as an ocean but this stretch of Alabama also has five bays plus the big Mobile Bay, several lakes and a lagoon named Little which looked pretty big to me.

Want to stay on the water? Better be specific when you book a condo or rent a house since there are so many kinds of water to enjoy.

Best I could tell, they all lend to sitting and staring, strolling and resting up to get ready for the next meal. The food is every bit as abundant as the waters and even though I concentrated on seafood every lunch and dinner, I saw plenty of beef choices on the menus.

Gulf Shores and Orange Beach are the big town names in Alabama’s enormous Baldwin County; Magnolia Springs is the tiny treasure and I never got to Foley to check it out.

I did get out in the waters, looking at the Gulf and bays from two of the many boating options.

Full article in the Tifton Gazette

Ala. coast summer room revenue about equal to 2007

By GARRY MITCHELL , 11.24.08, 10:20 AM EST

Alabama Gulf coast tourism officials are bracing for the effects of the financial meltdown on next year's vacation season, but were grateful this year's summer lodging revenue held close to the 2007 record.

They also don't expect to see a significant drop-off in "snowbird" arrivals this January.

About half of the visitors to Alabama beach resorts this summer came from the Southeast - more than a third of them from Alabama - and, despite high fuel prices on the drive down, they spent about the same on lodging as last summer.

Full Article on Forbes.com

UFO sightings on the Gulf Coast

Video from Fox 10 News...

Orange Beach makes employee cuts

From Fox-10 News...

Local markets can fill your Thanksgiving shopping list

Brian Kelly

November 21, 2008- Orange Beach, AL- efore you head off of Pleasure Island to shop for goods to cook your Thanksgiving feast, take a cue from snowbird Delores Stockwell. She'll be shopping Pelican country food markets that have exactly what she's looking for and more.

"We do Thanksgiving here on Pleasure Island in our condominium," said Stockwell from Wisconsin.

"I don't have much in the way of kitchen utensils and food, so I prefer to shop on a local level because it helps the local business owners, and I can generally find unique foods. I'd have to say Janna's Market is my favorite market. You never know what you'll discover there."

From the turkey and black-eyed peas to pecan pies, Pelican has listed a few notable markets to stock up on all things Thanksgiving.

Janna's Market

For one of the area's hippest and trendiest specialty markets, Janna's Market in Orange Beach is the place. If you want to wow your dinner guests with a cheese spread this Thanksgiving, then owner Janna Watkins can set you up with the usual and the truly exotic.

"We have a fantastic cheese department, perfect for that unusual cheese platter," Watkins said. "One of our most popular and best cheeses is Rembrandt Extra Aged Gouda, but we've got just about every type of cheese."

Once Janna Watkins has created the ultimate cheese platter, just turn around to the meat counter where Watkins' husband, Dave, will take care of that all-important course, the turkey. But these aren't just your run-of-the-mill Tom turkeys.

"We sell free-range turkeys, which is just a better quality bird," said Dave Watkins about turkeys that are raised in more humane conditions. "This year, we'll be able to deliver or folks can come here and eat. One thing we'll be doing this year is deep-fried turkeys, which are popular and very good."

Janna's also sells beer, wine, and it can prepare sandwiches at the deli counter if you just need to get out of the kitchen for a spell.

Janna's Market, Orange Beach Commons, Highway 161 and Canal Road, Orange Beach, Ala., 251-981-7467, www.jannasmarket.com. Hours: 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., Friday and Saturday, 1 to 5 p.m., Sunday.

Pensacola News Journal

Last weekend of Frank Brown Fest has plenty to offer

Brian Kelly

November 21, 2008- Alabama/Florida Gulf Coast- It came and went so fast, but all good things must come to and — until next year, that is. And so, as the 24th annual Frank Brown Inter-national Song-writers' Festival wraps up this weekend, festival-goers can expect some great nights of music for the final three days. Below are a few notable events this weekend.

Perdido Beach Resort
The Perdido Beach Resort, 27200 Perdido Beach Blvd., Orange Beach, Ala., will present a day full of music with the Grand Reef Exhibit Hall Beach Party today from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. The music starts with Riley Yielding, then continues with Camille Watson, Scott Sanford and C.J. Watson.

At 2 p.m., Roger Murrah (Murrah Music ITR) will perform. If you didn't get scheduled this year, step up to the microphone with guitar in hand for the open microphone session at 3 p.m.

Blues, say hello to rock 'n' roll
Upstairs at the Perdido Beach Resort Night Reef room, SESAC and ASCAP recording artists will take the stage. The line up includes Brian White, Jerry Salley, Larry Butler, Jim "Moose" Brown, Crystal Shawanda and others.

Also at the Perdido Beach Resort is the new "Rock and Roll Meets the Blues" event on Saturday in the Grand Reef room at 8 p.m. The two musical genres will collide with the music of local songwriter Rick Whaley, Beverly Jo Scott and Scotty Cothran. The house will be brought down at 10 p.m. with the sounds of the Original Flares, a superb bluesy, country and folk band.

Pensacola News Journal

Baldwin County, Ala., legislators pledge to win improvement on property insurance

Friday, November 21, 2008
By JEFF AMY, Business Reporter

FOLEY — It's not like Baldwin County lawmakers didn't already favor reduced coastal insurance rates, but now they've publicly signed a pledge reaffirming that stance.

More than 400 people crowded into a church hall Thursday night to press those legislators for action, in a meeting organized by All Churches Together, a religious coalition.

The coalition's goals include cheaper premiums, coverage that won't be dropped and fair payment of claims.

"The structure of insurance in lower Alabama is unfair, arbitrary and needs to be restructured throughout," said Pat McCormick of Gulf Shores.

State Reps. Steve McMillan, R-Gulf Shores; Joe Faust, R-Fairhope and Randy Davis, R-Daphne attended and signed the pledge, as did state Sen. Trip Pittman, R-Montrose.

Mobile Press-Register

23 Orange Beach city workers to be laid-off

Friday, November 21, 2008
By RYAN DEZEMBER, Staff Reporter

ORANGE BEACH — This morning, 23 municipal employees will lose their jobs and many others in the weeks to come will see their pay slashed as city officials scramble to make up a $3 million budget shortfall.

Specifics of the firings won't be released until after Mayor Tony Kennon tells affected employees, but they amount to a little more than 8 percent of the city's current 275-person workforce. Overall, Orange Beach is cutting more than 13 percent of its jobs via the layoffs and the elimination of 15 positions that have been vacant since summer.

Over the last decade Orange Beach has thrived as one of the wealthiest cities in Alabama. City officials spent feverishly to add park land, build roads, provide amenities and generally get ready for a forecast population boom.

But sky-rocketing property insurance rates and tightening credit markets conspired to slow the area's booming real estate market and the onrush never came. Developers of more than 4,200 high-end condo units and hotel rooms that were approved in recent years never applied for building permits and construction of at least 3,400 more have been permitted but not started, city records show.

"We're cleaning up the mess from someone else's party," said Kennon, who took office earlier this month. "It's not a fun thing to do, but I've committed to run this city like a business and that's what we're going to do."

Kennon's counterpart in neighboring Gulf Shores, Mayor Robert Craft, said his city will also probably have to part with some of its nearly 300 employees. Gulf Shores isn't facing the immediate shortfall that Orange Beach is, but Craft said that city financial planners are anticipating that tax revenue will be about $3 million, or 10 percent, less than it was in 2008.

Mobile Press-Register

Insurance Help May Be On The Way

Need help paying your homeowners insurance? The state of Alabama may be riding to the rescue. Governor Bob Riley's new insurance commissioner said the governor is looking at ways to help property owners with high premiums and lost coverage.

From WKRG-TV5...

WKRG.com

New Alabama Insurance Commissioner talks to WKRG...

Frank Brown International Songwriters Festival

Thursday, November 13, 2008
By LAWRENCE SPECKER
Entertainment Reporter

The guy who sings the song on the radio has a familiar, comforting voice, instantly recognizable and unforgettable. The guy who wrote the song probably sings okay.

They guy who plays guitar on the song on the radio is a six-string wizard. The guy who wrote the song might be a pretty mean picker, but then again he might be no better than the average amateur strummer.

When you see that star play at some arena you get all the flash and polish that a major record label can deliver. Come see the writer this weekend at the 24th annual Frank Brown International Songwriters Festival and, well, you won't.

Mobile Press-Register

Frank Brown International Songwriters Festival website

Venue Map for Songwriters Festival

Dune plant giveaway to help save beachfront

Federal scientists offering free vegetation, expertise in effort to restore waterfront habitat, bolster shoreline
Thursday, November 13, 2008
By RYAN DEZEMBER
Staff Reporter

GULF SHORES — In hopes of hastening the recovery of waterfront wildlife habitat, federal scientists are offering property owners their expertise as well as hundreds of plants.

The program has been ongoing since Congress gave local U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service biologists $200,000 in the wake of 2004's Hurricane Ivan, said Rob Tawes, a supervisor at the service's Daphne field office.

Over the last two years the Fish & Wildlife Service along with state and local scientists have worked with about 175 landowners to restore storm-damaged salt marsh in Josephine, longleaf pine forests and Gulf-front dunes, Tawes said.

Mobile Press-Register

Austal in Mobile wins $1.6B Navy contract

Sen. Shelby's office says Mobile shipbuilder will build up to 10 high-speed transports for Navy in contract that will run through 2015
Thursday, November 13, 2008
By KAIJA WILKINSON
Business Reporter

Austal USA has won a $1.6 billion contract to build up to 10 high-speed transport ships for the U.S. military, U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Tuscaloosa, announced Wednesday.

Neither Austal nor the U.S. Navy would confirm Wednesday's announcement, but a staff member in another congressional office, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the contract is going to Austal. Shelby spokeswoman Laura Henderson did not respond to phone calls seeking clarification late Wednesday.

The award would be significant for Austal, which has about 1,000 employees at its facility on the Mobile River.

Mobile Press-Register