Monday, July 9, 2007

All the news that's fit to upload

I've lived in Hoover for seven years now, and the whole time I've been a faithful reader of the Hoover News/Birmingham News. In fact, I wrote short feature articles for several years. When the Hoover Gazette started publishing, I was an early subscriber. (When they changed ownership, my subscription mysteriously stopped - now I just pick it up in the yard like everyone else.)

But there seemed to be something missing - the kind of information I wanted to know - background and research just wasn't there. At the same time, my love of community newspapering bubbled up again.

I've been in journalism since college (graduate of Auburn University, 1977, managing editor of the Plainsman, then editor of the Advertiser in Clanton for three years, and freelance writing since then). I've also been involved in economic development and planning issues for a long time. I worked for a Birmingham City Council member for eight years, and served on the Birmingham Planning Commission and other boards. I was honored to serve on Mayor Petelos' economic development committee.

With that kind of background, I could really see the gaps in news coverage of some of Hoover's major issues. There were things I wanted to know that I just couldn't get in the paper. One way to find them out - start my own!

I'm planning to write articles on city council meetings and other government actions, with a focus on planning (or lack of same) because in Hoover, land use and zoning are the keys to everything else. This news blog is not intended to be about the politics of city government, although that might come into play from time to time. It's also not intended to promote any particular ideology. My only bias is toward land use planning and treating people with respect.

Because this is primarily a news blog and not an opinion outlet, I'm not going to allow anonymous comments, and they will be moderated as well. There are some excellent comment blogs available if you want to converse about issues.

If there is something that you want to know about that's happening in Hoover, please email me and I will work on it.