The descendants of Alabama Creeks forced to walk the Trail of Tears are urging Alabama's governor not to sign a gaming agreement with a tribe they say built a casino on sacred land.
The Muscogee** Nation of Oklahoma sent Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley a June letter urging him never to sign a compact with the Poarch Band of Creek Indians.
The Poarch Band built a hotel and bingo casino on tribal land in Wetumpka. The letter came after some legislators suggested a gambling compact as a revenue source for the state.
Muscogee Chief George P. Tiger says the land is a sacred burial and ceremonial site. Tiger said a compact would signal the state's approval of the desecration.
The Poarch Band has said it has been respectful in the land's development.
A collection of letters from a prominent Alabama author failed to sell at auction today. APR’s Alex AuBuchon reports it was expected to bring a quarter of a million dollars.
Six typed and signed letters from Harper Lee to one of her close friends failed to sell at a Christie’s auction today.
The letters were written to New York architect Harold Caufield between 1956 and 1961. Four of the letters were written before “To Kill a Mockingbird”, while Lee was caring for her ailing father who became the model for Atticus Finch.
In another letter, Lee writes about her stunned reaction to the success of her first novel soon after it was published.
Christie’s says only three other letters by Harper Lee have been auctioned in the past 35 years.
This collection was expected to sell for $250,000.
The seller wasn’t identified.
‘Jurassic World’ makes its debut in theaters today. One of the vehicles used to get around in the movie was built in Alabama.
The new Mercedes-Benz GLE Coupe is produced at the Mercedes plant in Vance. The new SUV and a fleet of other Mercedes cars were flown to the set of Jurassic World in Hawaii.
This isn’t the first time Mercedes has associated itself with the film franchise. Company spokeswoman Stephanie Zimmer says Mercedes-Benz “M” class vehicles were used in 1997 filming of Jurassic Park 2….
“And when my team was looking for product placement opportunities we knew that being a part of Jurassic World was really the arena to launch the GLE which is the updated version of the M class.”
Zimmer says they worked closely with Universal Studios to make sure the set remained closed with tight security. The extra security was because no any pictures of the GLE Coupe had been released to the media or general public yet. Mercedes vehicles also appeared in Jurassic Park 2.