Latest news with #AL.com
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
AL.com's Bob Carlton looks back on 46 years covering food across Alabama as he heads for retirement
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (TRIBUNE) — As longtime food and culture writer Bob Carlton retires from Alabama Media Group, he took a moment to look back on his career in a recent interview. During a recent episode of 'Tribune Unscripted,' an online show hosted by Trussville Tribune Publisher Scott Buttram, Carlton discussed his career covering the food beat for The Birmingham News and as well as some of his memories working in journalism over the years. Friday marks Carlton's last day at before his retirement, marking the end of 46 years with the news organization, which he first joined as an intern in 1979 and full-time in 1980. Watch the full interview above. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Beloved Alabama Restaurant ‘Suspending Operations' After 15 Years
After more than a decade in business, popular Huntsville, Alabama restaurant 1892 East is shutting down. Located at 720 Pratt Avenue NE in the city's historic Five Points district, 1892 East was known for Southern-based favorites such as fried green tomatoes, crispy shrimp and grits, fried chicken and pork chops, as well as other seasonal items and local craft beers. The restaurant's proprietors announced its closure in a note to customers on the official 1892 East website. "We are going to miss you. After 15 years serving Huntsville and the neighborhood of Five Points, we are suspending operations," the note reads. "We have truly loved being a part of your celebrations, date nights, and happy hours. Thank you for making us a part of your lives. Sincerely, Chef Steve Bunner and Mike Burleson." In the wake of 1892 East announcing it was closing, one Google reviewer said the establishment was "my 1st choice for lunch since the day it opened." "I just read they are closing after 15 years. I have enjoyed dining alone and with groups. Not sure where my go to place will be now, but I wish the well. I for one will miss this place," they wrote. "Our cute little neighborhood spot is gone! We have loved loved 1892 East more than any other and we are truly so so sad to hear this," another social media user said, via 'Nice restaurant. Sad news," said a third person. No specific reason for the shutdown was provided, and none has been reported elsewhere as of Wednesday morning.
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Bob Carlton, longtime writer who has covered food and all things Alabama for 45 years, retiring from AL.com
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) — On his X profile, the bio for Bob Carlton is short, yet covers far more than any one sentence ever could. 'I write about Southern food and culture and all things Alabama for The Birmingham News, This is Alabama and It's a Southern Thing,' the line reads. It's a description that has covered the breadth of Carlton's work for decades at The Birmingham News, then transitioning into the digital age with and its subsidiary, This is Alabama, working as everything from a copyeditor to a book reviewer, film critic, feature writer and food reporter since 1980. On May 30, Carlton will retire from the news organization he has spent his entire professional life. 'My whole career has been a real rewarding career for me, especially these last couple of months that I've gotten to reconnect with people I've worked with and people I've written about,' Carlton said on the 'Down in Alabama' podcast with Ike Morgan Monday. Carlton, who first started at The Birmingham News as a summer intern in 1979 while a student at the University of Alabama, is one of the longest tenured journalists at covering a large swath of Alabama culture in the decades he's worked at the News. Although his career has covered everything from writing about Jimmy Nabors' pool table to the 40th anniversary of the Woodlawn/Banks high school football game, Carlton's best known work in recent years has been his coverage of Southern food and those who make it, many of those newspapers pieces nailed to the walls of countless restaurants across Birmingham and the whole of the state. During his time covering food, which he took over for former News food editor Jo-Ellen O'Hara in 2008, Carlton has covered the rise of Birmingham's food scene on the national stage, from Frank Stitt's Highlands Bar and Grill named Most Outstanding Restaurant in America by the James Beard Foundation in 2018 to a local scandal a few years later when the foundation disqualified Timothy Hontzas of Johnny's Restaurant in Homewood from getting an award after a report of him allegedly yelling at an employee and several customers. Among the countless stories he has written throughout his career, Carlton counted his obituary of Bright Star owner Jimmy Koikos as among his favorite pieces. It was an assignment he received after getting a call from the late restauranteur in the early part of 2019. 'He said 'Come out to the restaurant. I want to talk to you about something,'' Carlton recalled. 'He had found out he was dying of cancer and he said 'I want you to write my obituary.'' Carlton worked for months on the piece, talking to everyone from former Alabama football coach Gene Stallings to members of Koikos' family. The piece ran on November 16, 2019, the day Koikos died. 'It was really special that he trusted me to write that story,' he said. 'In a bittersweet way, it was one of my favorite things that I've ever worked on.' Carlton said he has different things he'd like to do in life after journalism, from travelling with his family to volunteering, but don't expect him to go away entirely. 'I have the opportunity, and I believe I'm going to take advantage of it, to do freelance work on a limited basis, so you might not see the end of my byline' he said. 'I may be back on the site again in a very sporadic basis in a couple of months after I take some time off.' Looking back over his career, Carlton said he has had a rewarding career. 'The thing I enjoy most about my job is that I get to meet everyday people who do everyday, but remarkable, things and they're unsung heroes, if you'd like,' he said. 'You get to interview them and hear their stories. Some of them I've become friends with through writing about them because they're just nice people ,neat people, people you'd like to know better. I couldn't pick one person from that, but there are dozens of people like that I meet and continue to meet.' You can listen to the full interview here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Yahoo
Huntsville lawyers facing court hearing over use of ChatGPT-created citations in federal prison lawsuit
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WHNT) — Attorneys for a Huntsville law firm working for the state of Alabama admitted in federal court Monday that one of their firm partners used ChatGPT to find case citations to strengthen their arguments – but the citations were made up, apparently invented by the AI tool. The story was first reported by and the case continues to unfold. It stems from a lawsuit filed by an Alabama prison inmate, Frankie Johnson, who alleges that state prison personnel failed to protect him, and he was attacked and stabbed multiple times on three different occasions. The issue the sides were arguing over was the timing of the defendant's efforts to question Johnson under oath. The false ChatGPT citations, used in two separate court filings by the lawyers arguing for the deposition, were caught and pointed out by Johnson's attorneys. The lawyers for the Huntsville-based law firm Butler Snow have apologized and said they didn't mean to mislead the court. U.S. District Court Judge Anna Manasco has set a Wednesday morning hearing in Birmingham to consider sanctions against lawyers in the case. The Butler Snow firm does a tremendous amount of business with the State of Alabama on ongoing prison lawsuits — including lawsuits brought by the U.S. Department of Justice. Butler Snow's lead attorney in those cases, William Lunsford, is listed as having been paid $42 million by the state — since fiscal 2020, according to state records. In court filings, Lunsford said he didn't provide the false citations, that was firm partner Matthew Reeves, who works with Lunsford on the prison lawsuits. Lunsford said in court filings that the mistake was unacceptable and is being reviewed. 'To begin this declaration, I am personally and professionally sorry for what has occurred,' Lunsford said in an affidavit filed with the federal court. 'These events do not reflect the nature or quality of work that I have worked for decades to ensure that every client receives. I apologize to the Court, to all parties, to opposing counsel and to the State of Alabama for the terrible decisions that led to an erroneous filing. We will ensure that this never occurs again.' On Monday, Lunsford and two other lawyers – whose names are on the documents with the false citations – submitted descriptions of their roles to the court. Reeves said he takes full responsibility and regrets the lapse in judgment and diligence. In his affidavit, Reeves said that in reviewing planned court filings by another lawyer in the case, he saw that some of the arguments needed case citations, so he went to ChatGPT, the AI program. 'I knew generally about ChatGPT,' he wrote in the affidavit. 'I performed a search to identify supporting case law for the proposition that discovery may proceed even during the pendency of other discovery issues, as to the Motion for Leave, and that general or boilerplate objections are not effective, as to the Motion to Compel. 'My search immediately identified purportedly applicable citations for those points of law. In my haste to finalize the motions and get them filed, I failed to verify the case citations returned by ChatGPT through independent review in Westlaw or PACER before including them in the Motion for Leave and Motion to Compel. I have now confirmed that the citations in the string cite on Paragraph 2 of the Motion for Leave after the citation to Rule 30(a)(2)(B) are inaccurate or do not exist.' Butler Snow Firm Partner Matthew Reeves He goes on to say that in the second court filing, the motion to compel, the citations are inaccurate and fail to support the argument. Johnson's lawyers, Jamilla Mensah and M. Wesley Smithart, notified the court about the false citations. They cited four examples and urged the court to take action. 'Defendant's complete fabrication of case law is suggestive of an abuse of the utilization of generative artificial intelligence and should be taken very seriously by this court,' the filing argued. 'As one district court articulated, 'the use of artificial intelligence must be accompanied by the application of actual intelligence in its execution.' 'Simply put, Defense counsel failed to substantiate—with any legitimate case law—that Defendant should be granted leave to depose Mr. Johnson on June 3, 2025.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Woman launches battle for justice after uncovering toxic threat in local community: 'I made a promise to God when I was sick'
When Brenda Hampton suffered two heart attacks, a stroke, and kidney failure linked to forever chemicals in her drinking water, she decided to become a community advocate for others impacted by the harmful chemicals. As reported, Hampton noticed that her neighbors were also dealing with similar health problems and said she traced them to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, also known as PFAS, in their water supplies. Their community is adjacent to the Tennessee River, where several industrial plants — including 3M — are located. Hampton founded the Concerned Citizens of North Alabama, an advocacy group dedicated to raising awareness about the health effects of drinking PFAS-contaminated water. She's also one of four people featured in a newly released book on PFAS called "Poisoning the Well: How Forever Chemicals Contaminated America." PFAS have been found in drinking water across the United States, with one study finding that at least 45% of the nation's tap water could be contaminated with the chemicals. "Our idea was to take four different communities around the country that each have a unique type of PFAS problem. Unique among each other, but not unique nationwide," one of the book's co-authors, Sharon Udasin, told the news outlet. Hampton told that she kept herself going with the goal of saving others. "I keep saying that the chemicals are going to get the best of me," Hampton said. "I made a promise to God when I was sick, down for 18 months, and I had smaller children at that time: 'God, if you would help me to help these people and give me back my strength, I would do all that I can to help people.'" As Hampton explained, PFAS have been linked to serious health issues, including increased risk of cancers, immune system problems, respiratory illnesses, and liver damage, among others. They can even lead to death in some cases, according to research. Because PFAS don't break down easily in the environment or our bodies, they can have far-reaching impacts, especially since they're used in so many household products — including nonstick pans and food packaging. PFAS can get into drinking water from industrial plants, firefighting foams, and leaching from landfills, which is concerning for anyone who lives nearby. reported that Hampton's advocacy work has paid off, with a reverse osmosis plant opening in Lawrence County in 2021 that will improve the water quality. She's also spoken at conferences nationwide to raise awareness about the chemicals. How often do you worry about toxic chemicals getting into your home? Always Often Sometimes Never Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. New Hampshire lawmakers recently banned PFAS in ski, board, and boat waxes, and France announced the chemicals would be prohibited in clothing textiles and cosmetics starting next year. Scientists have also made notable progress on removing PFAS from drinking water with high-tech water filters and activated carbon. Consumers can avoid the harmful chemicals by using stainless steel or cast iron cookware, opting for clean beauty products such as Walmart's line of PFAS-free makeup, and natural cleaning products like good old-fashioned baking soda and vinegar. Join our free newsletter for weekly updates on the latest innovations improving our lives and shaping our future, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
