Alabama is one of eight states that do not allow charter schools, and some legislators want to change that.
Several Republican lawmakers said they will make another push to establish charter schools in Alabama, at least on a limited basis. Republican Senator Dick Brewbaker of Pike Road said he believes families need more education options for their children.
Charter schools are new publicly funded schools that operate outside the rules and regulations of regular public schools.
Record numbers of people are packing their bags for the long holiday weekend. Triple-A Alabama is predicting ninety nine million people nationwide will get in their cars to travel at least fifty miles from home this year. That’s a four percent hike over 2013. It’s a number that even the American Automobile Association describes as through the roof. There’s been speculation that lower gas costs and higher airplane ticket prices are prompting more people to drive. AAA spokesman Clay Ingram says actually the growing number of holiday drivers is part of an ongoing trend…
“We used to see anywhere from 82 to 84 percent of people traveling would travel by automobile. Nowadays, this year, it’s upwards of ninety percent. I think that’s a tremendous indicator that more people are driving and fewer people are flying.”
Ingram says the holidays, plus school being out, plus upcoming college football bowl games will keep traffic busier than normal until the new year.
The U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville is honoring a rocket scientist who was considered ahead of his time. Ernst Stulingerwas part of Wherner Van Braun’s team that built rockets to send NASA astronauts to the moon. The Center in Huntsville is hosting an exhibit on another of Stulinger’s idea. He designed a type of motor called an ion engine. It uses inert gases to generate thrust. Ed Stewart is director of exhibits at the Space and Rocket Center. He says the display on Stulinger’s rocket includes scale models…
“If you’ve display cases with these really fantastic period models of spacecraft based on his designs. And what’s really cool about these is that they’re really 1950’s retro futuristic looking.”
Stewart says film maker Walt Disney liked the designs enough to use them in his film titled “man in space.”