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Coal Ash Talk and Bright Star Birthday

cleanenergy.org

           

Environmentalists from Alabama will be heading to North Carolina tomorrow to talk about coal ash pollution. APR’s Pat Duggins reports one of these people will speak from experience…

Esther Calhoun lives in Uniontown in Alabama’s black belt. A local landfill is reportedly storing four million tons of coal ash from Tennessee. Calhoun and a representative of the Alabama Rivers Alliance will address a public hearing in Sanford, North Carolina. They’ll talk about health problems connected to coal ash which is a byproduct of coal fired power plants. Calhoun says living near the landfill is tough….

“I smelled it about three weeks ago when we went to the landfill and it makes you gag, it literally makes you sick.”

Environmentalists say coal ash contains hazardous chemicals like arsenic and mercury. Critics complain that new EPA rules do nothing to make the storage of coal ash any safer.

The oldest restaurant in Alabama is celebrating its birthday tonight. The Bright Star in Bessemer turns one hundred and eight years old. The restaurant will be observing the occasion by serving dishes tonight from its 1935 menu.  Bright Star was the first establishment in Alabama to win the James Beard Award for American classics. Andreas Anastassakis is a managing partner at Bright Star. He says the celebration is a salute to guests who have supported the restaurant for all these years.

“We are currently celebrating our 108th birthday. The restaurant is now currently in its fourth location, all here in historic downtown Bessemer. This year is a very special year, we are here for 100 years in this specific location and the restaurant is recognized by the state as not only the oldest family-owned restaurant in Alabama, but the oldest restaurant in Alabama.”

The Bright Star is like a museum with original tile floors, one hundred year old murals, and a 1935 menu in the lobby

Parts of central and south Alabama will be under a heat advisory as temperatures climb into the upper 90s in southern parts of the state, with heat index values soaring to more than 100 degrees in some spots.

 Forecasters say the advisory is scheduled to be in place from noon to 7 p.m. Wednesday in an area of southeast Alabama. 

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