http://wbhm.org NPR News and Classical Music en Copyright 2005, wbhm.org webmaster@wbhm.org http://www.wbhm.org/pics/smalllogo.gif http://www.wbhm.org WBHM 90.3 FM Today the state education department released a list of 78 "failing schools" under the controversial Alabama Accountability Act. Of the 78, 11 were in Birmingham. WBHM's Dan Carsen caught up with Birmingham Superintendent Craig Witherspoon for his reaction. http://wbhm.org/News/2013/WitherspoonAAA When foster care kids grow too old for the system, they're pretty much on their own. They're often unprepared for the basics of life such as finding a job, paying rent or buying insurance. Succeeding in college is a much higher bar. Many states have special programs to support foster care kids who want to go to college. Tuesday, we kick off a Southern Education Desk series "From Foster Care to College: Extra Help for Extra Hurdles." http://wbhm.org/News/2013/SEDfostercare1.html There’s no question the housing market is bouncing back from the depths of the recession. That’s certainly true in Birmingham. But that fuels a new concern. Are we in another housing bubble? We talk about that in this week's Magic City Marketplace. http://wbhm.org/News/cindy_crawford/2013-06-17 Privacy concerns are news with the NSA and PRISM stories, Alabama makes news with roadblocks to gain samples from drivers. And good news about Birmingham? We talk with Kyle Whitmire, political reporter with AL.com and The Birmingham News. http://wbhm.org/News/kyle_whitmire/2013-06-12 Some images from the civil rights era are indelibly etched on our collective memory. For instance, the rubble left by the bombing of the 16th St. Baptist Church or the dogs and fire hoses set upon marching children in downtown Birmingham. Tuesday marks the 50th anniversary of a third -- Governor George Wallace’s stand in the Schoolhouse door. Greg Bass reports. http://wbhm.org/News/2013/schoolhousedoor.html Birmingham has seen its list of Fortune 500 companies shrink over the last decade. Now the city's list of public companies is shrinking too. A Memphis firm is merging with Birmingham-based Colonial Properties effectively moving that company’s operation to Tennessee. We talk about what that means in this week's Magic City Marketplace. http://wbhm.org/News/cindy_crawford/2013-06-10 The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to rule this month on a challenge by Shelby County, Alabama, to a portion of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. It’s legislation that in a certain sense was born in Alabama because of what’s known as Bloody Sunday. On March 7, 1965, police brutally beat protesters on Selma’s Edmund Pettus Bridge which spurred President Lyndon Johnson to push for the bill. But University of Delaware history professor Gary May says there’s much more to the Voting Rights Act. He writes about the law in his book Bending Toward Justice:The Voting Rights Act and the Transformation of American Democracy. WBHM’s Andrew Yeager spoke with May. http://wbhm.org/News/2013/votingrightsact.html