Troy University will observe Black History Month with its 2016 Leadership Conference starting tonight. Actor, dancer and director Jasmine Guy will deliver a keynote speech during the event. Attendees will also hear from Juanita Jones Abernathy. She’s the widow of the Reverend Ralph Abernathy. City of Troy spokesman Isaiah Scott says the conference continues to improve each year with more speakers and activities.
“I’ve been on the committee—this is my fifth year. Last year we had Hill Harper- tv actor-and the year before that our keynote was Rev. Bernice King- Dr. Martin Luther King’s daughter. Each year the conferences get better and better.”
The event will also include a reception with work by Alabama artists Darius Hill and Scott Meyer. The Conference gets underway tonight at 6:30 pm at Troy University’s Sartain Hall.
The music of the late David Bowie will be ringing through Tuscaloosa’s Bama Theater tomorrow. The Mardi Gras group the Mystic Krewe of the Druids is holding its annual event called Bal Masque Saturday night. The theme for this year’s celebration is “Let’s Dance.” with music by David Bowie and the Spice Girls. General admission tickets are forty dollars, with the proceeds going to the group West Alabama Aids Outreach. Steven Yates is a Lieutenant for the Krewe. He says the action isn’t limited to the stage…
“We have a runway that we install that goes out over part of the audience, so you can be immersed in the world that we are creating for you, so I think participants should just come ready to enjoy. You can dance if you want to. You can sit if you want to. I don’t know if you’ll be able to sit through it though. I think you’ll be caught up in all that’s going on and be dancing in no time.”
The Bal Masque begins tonight with the Captain’s party at the Dinah Washington Cultural Arts Center in Tuscaloosa.
Birmingham Mayor William Bell has issued an executive order to protect applicants for city jobs from automatic disqualification over their criminal records.
Bell was flanked by officials from the U.S. Attorney's Office, the U.S. Department of Labor and others when he announced the order on Thursday.
In his order, Bell said providing jobs for people with criminal histories reduces the risk of recidivism. Bell says the order will not impact applications for "sensitive governmental positions."