By Birmingham City Schools | The Birmingham Times

Huffman High School senior Carlos Smith Jr. is the AHSAA Class 1A-7A Spring Esports State Champion for Madden ’26, the first in school history.

Smith bested Maximus Murrah of Sheffield High School by a score of 49-42 for the championship. Playing as the Philadelphia Eagles, Smith scored a touchdown in with less than a minute to play to claim the victory over Murrah, who controlled the Baltimore Ravens.

The senior also excels in the classroom with a 3.8 GPA. He is a member of the Student Government Association, National Honor Society, the Vikings bowling team and the Peer Peace Board, and he serves as a senior ambassador.

Under Coach Justin Hackett, Carlos Huffman Jr. has enjoyed success in esports. (Birmingham City Schools)

Under Coach Justin Hackett, Huffman has enjoyed recent success in Esports. Earlier this school year, Class of 2026 graduate Robert Miller secured an Esports scholarship from the University of Montevallo.

Colleges across the country offer tens of millions of dollars in esports scholarship money, with more being added every year.

The championship also marks back-to-back state champions for Birmingham City Schools, as Wenonah’s Amari Megginson, who won the Fall 2026 Esports Championship, ironically playing as the Ravens and beating the Ravens.

Esports competition is rooted in technology. Research has found a large crossover between esports players and STEM interests. In fact, more than 50% of aspiring esports students pursue college majors in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) category.

Esports are co-ed, inclusive, and engage students who might not otherwise participate in other school activities or athletics.

Participation in esports follows the same strict scholastic requirements as any other high school sport. Teachers and parents both report renewed interest in schoolwork and an improvement in student grades as a result of participation.

By Sym Posey | The Birmingham Times

Christmas came a bit early this year for one Birmingham resident. Michael Reed and his family are “Home for the Holidays.”

The Birmingham Land Bank Authority hosted a ribbon cutting for Birmingham’s newest housing development on Thursday in the historic Fountain Heights neighborhood for Reed and his family.

His new home, which will be a 1,500 square-feet structure will be the family domicile for him, his 14-year-old daughter, and 67-year-old mother. But it’s bigger than his home, he said. “My hope is to be a part of the revitalization of the city. I love Birmingham.”

The theme for the event, Home for the Holidays, emphasized the importance of family, community, and belonging, particularly during the holiday season.

The Land Bank launched the Accelerated Home Ownership Program (AHOP) last year with a goal of building 25 new homes in the Fountain Heights neighborhood. The development contributes to the city’s ongoing efforts to expand housing options and opportunities and foster neighborhood renewal.

Caroline Douglas, Executive Director of the Land Bank Authority, said the day marks a significant milestone in the Land Bank’s history, but it also marks as a special day for the Reed family.

“This is an example that you can change a community not having to do 100 homes at a time, but we can change it one house at a time,” said Douglas. “… This house demonstrates the power of the Land Bank’s ability to take property that has been lying vacant, overburdened by delinquencies that no one would pay for, and we are able to transfer that to other owners to make it development ready.”

The first home, constructed by local builder QS Construction, represents a collaborative effort between the City of Birmingham, the Birmingham Land Bank Authority, and other community partners.

QS Construction is a leader in custom and affordable homebuilding, dedicated to creating high-quality homes that strengthen communities and improve lives. With a focus on craftsmanship and innovation, QS Construction partners with municipalities, developers, and community organizations to deliver housing solutions that meet the needs of residents and enhance neighborhoods.

“To see QS Construction, two African American men, this house in Fountain Heights… to see the quality of what’s behind us go up in Fountain Heights, that gives people hope,” she said.

By Ryan Michaels | The Birmingham Times

The Birmingham Civil Rights Institute (BCRI) has selected Myrlie Evers-Williams, widow of Medgar Evers, as this year’s recipient of the Fred L. Shuttlesworth Human Rights Award.

The award and other honors will be presented on November 18 during the BCRI’s 30th anniversary celebration and culminate a week of festivities and a one-night-only special exhibit highlighting three decades of archival acquisitions and programs.

Evers-Williams, a Mississippi native, has been a lifelong champion of Civil Rights, starting in the mid-1950s, when she and her husband, the late Medgar Evers, opened the first National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) field office in their home state.

Isaac M. Cooper, chairman of the BCRI board of directors, said Evers-Williams embodies many characteristics of the late pastor and Civil Rights fighter the award is named for.

“Every year we consider candidates whose legacy embodies the principles which characterized the life of Rev. Shuttlesworth – a philosophy of non-violence and reconciliation; courage, both moral and physical, in the face of great odds; humility; leadership by example; and an established commitment to human rights activities,” Cooper said.

Evers-Williams’ legacy of accomplishment has made her a perfect selection for the award, he added.

“She’s an extraordinary woman of great strength and bravery. Her commitment to human rights has been beautifully demonstrated by her advocacy and aptitude for linking business, government and social issues to foster equality. We’re so pleased for the opportunity to honor Mrs. Evers-Williams with the 2022 Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth Human Rights Award,” Cooper said.

Through the 1950s and into the 1960s, Evers-Williams along with her husband, fought for the desegregation of the University of Mississippi and equal rights for African Americans in the state.

In 1963, Medgar was shot and killed by a white supremacist outside the couple’s home in Jackson, MS.

Evers-Williams moved to California a few years later, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Pomona College in Claremont in 1968, a year after publishing “For Us, The Living,” a book about Medgar’s life and work.

She then went on to build a career in the corporate world, across industries such as advertising and energy. In 1988, Evers-Williams was appointed a commissioner on the Los Angeles Board of Public Works, the first Black woman person, and served for eight years.

The following year, she founded the Medgar Evers Institute, now named the Myrlie and Medgar Evers Institute, continues the fight for Civil Rights. She currently serves as the organization’s chairperson.

In February 1994, after years of fighting for justice for her late husband, Evers-Williams finally saw it when Byron De La Beckwith, the white supremacist who murdered Medgar, was convicted for his crime.

From 1995 to 1998, Evers-Williams served as chairperson of the NAACP board of directors.

This article originally appeared in The Birmingham Times.

By Ryan Michaels | The Birmingham Times

Troy Whetstone, owner of the newly opened Modern House Coffee Shop in Titusville, said he wasn’t one for coffee until recently. “I’ll go grab a Mountain Dew if I need some hype,” Whetstone said.

Modern House, which has been in the works since 2019, held its grand opening Sept. 23 in Titusville. Whetstone wants to do more than just serve coffee. He wants his shop to serve as a catalyst for people experiencing homeless to learn valuable skills, he said.

“Many of these companies, the minimum is soft skills, being a people person, dealing with those type of things, knowing how to interact with people, so that’s what we kind of doing here. We’re incorporating that here through coffee,” he said.

In addition to providing people skills training and paying $12 per hour his business will have a partnership with Lawson State Community College to help employees get professional certifications, he said.

Whetstone developed a passion for those experiencing homelessness through his church, Faith Chapel, located in Birmingham’s Sherman Heights neighborhood. The church also operates its Care Center in Smithfield which provides showers, laundry and other services to people experiencing homelessness.

Working weekly overseeing the Care Center’s showers, Whetstone said he wanted to do more for the homeless population.

“You wouldn’t even know [many were homeless]. It was just something that had happened, and it caused them to be homeless, but they’re still trying to work their way out of that, so we’re just hoping that we can be that extra help, that extra step,” Whetstone said.

In addition to Lawson State and Faith Chapel, Whetstone has also partnered with numerous other organizations, including the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham.

Opening his coffee shop is not Whetstone’s first experience with Titusville. He and his wife Jeanisha, with whom Whetsone runs Modern House, spent some of their early marriage there in an old family house, which has been in his family for more than 30 years.

“I was 20, she was 18, and that was an opportunity for us to live there rent free,” Whetsone said of he and his wife. “All we had to do was just pay for our utilities, so it gave us an opportunity to grow without…having credit, not having a livable wage, having to work two part time jobs to make it as a full-time job.”

“Titusville helped me grow up as a man,” he added.

In the process Whetstone has broadened his knowledge of coffee, such as the different tastes.

“I drank a cup the other day, just black, just to get that flavor…so I’m just trying to learn more about the industry, and the more I learn, the more I see different growth aspects of this company,” he said.

In 2019, he ran a series of pop-ups in Birmingham’s Ensley community, where he planned to open a brick-and-mortar store.

Jeff Huey, founder of Homewood-based Seeds Coffee and a business partner of Whetstone’s, encouraged Whestone to move the business to Titusville.

“I literally left Seeds in Homewood, and I went driving around here. I drove up and down on Sixth Avenue [South], back and forth, and then I saw one building up there to the left, and then I saw this one right here,” Whetstone said.

That building, now the Modern House, reminded Whetstone of a favorite restaurant of he and his wife’s in New Orleans, LA called Surrey’s Café & Juice Bar.

“It’s a shack house,” said Whetstone, of the small, simply-designed structure. “It’s just like [the Modern House building], but it stays slamming-packed, and it’s like one of those local spots. If you’re not from that area of New Orleans, you may not know about it, unless somebody shared it with you. And when it’s shared with you, you’re gonna go every time,” Whetstone said.

Whetstone, 35, grew up in Fairfield until third grade before moving to Hueytown, where he first met his wife and graduated from Hueytown High School. Whetstone is the son of Troy Whetstone Sr., a former aviation expert, and Patricia, a former administrative employee of the Buffalo Rock Company, and has one sister, Kimberley.

Whetstone is also owner of Aircraft Cleaning Solutions, an aircraft detailing company he founded in 2010. Whetstone said he was brought into the business by his father following the economic downturn in 2008.

“I liked the jets. I liked the atmosphere, the business that I was seeing, and we started the company.”

Realizing he wanted to know more about aviation, Whetstone he took classes at Lawson State, enough to get into Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, FL, where he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in aviation management.

Aircraft Cleaning Solutions was originally a “hustle” that grew into a career, Whetstone said. Through some shrewd business moves, quality of work,’ it was immediately successful,” Whetstone said.

Modern House is a chance for Whetstone to express his entrepreneurial spirit through providing a community service, he said.

“With me being an entrepreneur, just having that mindset…seeing a void and fulfilling it.

“I saw an opportunity to offer the coffee shop, to provide jobs, opportunities, to provide those soft skills training,” he said.

Modern House Coffee Shop is located at 422 Sixth Avenue S and is open from 6am to 2pm, Monday through Friday.

Find Modern House on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/the_modern_house__/

This article originally appeared in The Birmingham Times.

By Nicole S. Daniel | The Birmingham Times

Tierra Robinson Jeter, owner of Fairfield-based La’Fleur Coffee Boutique, wants her customers to do more than just like her products. She wants them to know why they enjoy her luxury coffee and herbal tea.

“I’m always interested in what my customers like so that I can get an idea of what they want or need,” said Jeter.

To that end, the business owner makes sure she goes out of her way for her customers. “A luxury experience starts as soon as someone walks up to my table or into the store; I try my best to be as professional and approachable. I will always have a smile on my face,” she said, adding that you’re more personable that will make customers want to purchase from you.

Also, with every purchase online she tries to be prompt with responses and shipping out orders. “I really take pride in how I package everything; everything is hand packaged by me. If it doesn’t look, right, I’m going to do it again,” she said.

In addition to selling coffee and herbal teas La’Fleur Coffee Boutique sells accessories such as coffee mugs, gold stainless steel straws, coffee scoops, and reusable coffee filter cups.

“For some orders, I may throw in a free accessory because I want people to feel like their business is appreciated. I don’t ever treat anybody like they’re just the number because I’m grateful for every purchase, every customer that even inquires about my brand or feels drawn to my brand, and I’m appreciative of them so much,” said Jeter.

Her customers can purchase the gold stainless steel straws that come with one straw cleaner per order.

“It is a part of the luxury experience. I just get a different type of feeling when I use those straws. You save money and it’s not something that you’re going to throw away they are non-toxic, and they don’t peel,” said Jeter.

The Flower and The Flavors

Jeter knows her target audience. “I discovered millennial women make up the majority of the coffee drinkers in the United States right now,” said Jeter.

She would go to a local coffee shop to create content for her blog Blossoming Unlimited to empower young women and looked around “and I kind of just realized that I wasn’t in the environment that I felt comfortable in and God gave me the vision to create an environment for women of color and millennial women from all walks of life,” said Jeter.

After doing her research and connecting with other coffee shop owners Jeter launched La’Fleur Coffee Boutique in August 2020.

“La’Fleur is a French word for flower and the vision came to me while I was blogging years ago,” she said. “Whether you’re working woman, stay at home mom, whatever the case maybe I just wanted somewhere where we could feel empowered comfortable in a comfortable space.”

Her first step was to develop the product. “I actually sat on that idea for about four or five years before I actually moved forward,” she said.

While studying business management with a concentration in production and operations at The University of Alabama at Birmingham, Jeter researched how to start a business and where to purchase coffee products.

“I ended up connecting with some other coffee shop owners in the city and that led me to coming out with my first two products and they were the house blend and white chocolate mousse, both are ground coffees,” she said.

“House Blend is perfect to jumpstart your day and it provides a smooth harmonic taste with less acidity.”  White Chocolate Mousse is 100 percent Arabic coffee roasted to a medium brown flavored with natural and artificial flavoring.

To create an effective product Jeter researched herbs and came up with the perfect blend using elderberry and lemongrass as a few ingredients which is one of her best sellers, said Jeter.

Lemon Berry Refresher is one of her favorites, she said.

She also makes another tea called Lights Out which is blend of chamomile lemon peels and lavender.

“Although it’s titled ‘Lights Out’ to help you with sleep, I also like the fact that the herbs help with anxiety and that’s something I’m overcoming. I created that blend for myself but when I started to talk about it and connect with my customers and learned they were dealing with anxiety and not being able to sleep I added it to my menu,” she said.

For non-coffee drinkers there is organic Jasmine Green Tea — “an alternative to coffee because it’s highly caffeinated but it’s still healthy,” she said.

Asked what makes La’Fleur Coffee Boutique unique Jeter said, “I feel like my brand as a whole is unique because of my brand colors, the name, and I definitely create like a luxury experience for my customers.”

La’Fluer Coffee Boutiqe colors are hot pink and gold.

“When you think of coffee you mostly think of like brown or tan you know, and I use those colors as accent colors, as well as gold. But I just want it to stand out and I feel like that was something very different,” said Jeter.

Family

Jeter’s love for coffee began as a child in her family home in Hueytown. She was attracted to the aroma every time her great grandmother Arsenia Jackson brewed a pot of brown coffee.

“My great grandmother also had a garden in her backyard. I would learn from her by being in the garden about herbs.”

Around age 5 she was introduced to herbs and its benefits while drinking tea almost every day with her grandmother Barbara Figgers.

“She would drink tea every single morning; I would sit at the kitchen table and drink tea with her. Both were very influential in me creating La’Fleur Coffee Boutique.” said Jeter.

Jeter, 29, and a wife of Jonathan and mother to Josiah 6, and Lynnox 2 said her son is her “number one supporter. He loves my business; he always tells me I’m doing a good job and he loves the smell of my coffee. I don’t make him any coffee drinks, but I make him Frappuccino’s without coffee, and he enjoys. My daughter’s favorite drink in the lemon berry refresher there’s no caffeine in that,” said Jeter.

Health Benefits

Jeter promotes coffee because outside of energy from the caffeine it has a lot of antioxidants.

“It actually helped me to not only speed up my metabolism but burn fat, a lot faster,” she said. “If you over if you have too much of anything, it cannot be a good thing but if you drink it and drink in moderation it has a lot of benefits for your digestive system,” said Jeter.

On her website, she also offers a Coffee Cleanse with lemon juice.

“I had picked up a lot of weight after my second child.  I had digestive issues, when I started drinking just black coffee and took a lot of dairy out of my diet, I noticed how things were changing, and my digestive system was a little bit more regulated. I realized by adding the lemon juice, which also has a lot of antioxidants in it combined with the coffee, it really did help to burn the fat faster. So between the intermediate fasting and changing my eating habits, I lost over 50 pounds,” said Jeter.

To learn more about La’Fleur Coffee Boutique visit its website at https://lafleurcoffeeboutique.com/ The business operates Monday through Friday, 7:30 a.m. until 1:30 p.m. out of The Pink Trap located at 5230 Valley Rd, Fairfield, AL 35064.

This article originally appeared in The Birmingham Times.

The Birmingham Times

Montgomery, AL – The Alabama Department of Public Health, the Alabama Hospital Association, the Medical Association of the State of Alabama, and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama are encouraging Alabamians to get a flu shot with the No Time for Flu campaign. Helpful information and additional resources to help stop the spread of the flu can be found on the No Time for Flu website at

https://www.alabamapublichealth.gov/flu/campaign.html.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends everyone six months and older get a flu vaccination as early as possible, preferably in September or October. However, getting vaccinated anytime during the flu season can provide protection as the vaccine can help reduce the risk of flu and associated hospitalizations and deaths.

Some of facts according to the CDC:

• One person with the flu can infect other people one day before any symptoms develop, and up to approximately seven days after a person becomes sick.
• The virus can spread to others up to six feet away, mainly when people cough, sneeze or talk.
• The flu causes U.S. employees to miss approximately 17 million workdays at an estimated $7 billion a year in sick days and lost productivity.
• The latest information available from the CDC regarding the effectiveness of the flu is from 2019-2020 when the vaccine was estimated to have prevented approximately 6,300 deaths.

The statewide organizations also want to remind the public that simple hygiene efforts, such as washing your hands, covering your mouth and nose when coughing or sneezing and staying home when you’re sick can also help protect against the flu.

To learn more about flu prevention and for other helpful resources go to https://www.alabamapublichealth.gov/flu/campaign.html. For additional questions about the flu, please contact your physician.

Contact Information:

• Wes Stubblefield, M.D., Alabama Department of Public Health (256) 340-2113
• Jeannie Gaines, Alabama Hospital Association (334) 315-7610
• Mallory Camerio, Medical Association of the State of Alabama (334) 954.2500
• Sophie Martin, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama (205) 220-6816

This article originally appeared in The Birmingham Times.