BCRI to honor human rights icon
The Birmingham Civil Rights Institute will present an award named after the leader of the local movement for human rights to an activist who also marched with Martin Luther King. The BCRI will honor activist Dr. C.T. Vivian with the Fred L. Shuttlesworth Human Rights Award at 7 p.m. on Nov. 14 at the Sheraton Birmingham Hotel Ballroom.
Vivian, 90, was born in Missouri before moving to Illinois with his mother.
By 1947 he was participating in sit-in demonstrations, successfully integrating a cafeteria in Peoria. He was studying for the ministry at American Baptist College in Nashville, Tenn., where he became involved in the Nashville Student Movement. The group organized sit-ins and took 4,000 people to Nashville City Hall in April 1960, where Vivian and fellow activist Diane Nash challenged the mayor, who subsequently admitted that racial discrimination was morally wrong.
As a member of King’s Southern Christian Leadership Conference, Vivian participated in Freedom Rides in 1961. He served on SCLC’s executive committee in Birmingham and other campaigns, and later, after the Selma Movement, created an educational campaign that made it possible for 702 black students to go to college. The program later became Upward Bound.
In 1970, Vivian wrote the book Black Power and the American Myth. He went on to work in numerous other human rights related capacities, to speak before conferences including at the United Nations and to become a guest on national television programs. Now a civil rights icon, Vivian was honored by President Barack Obama with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2013. Vivian lives in Atlanta.
“We are pleased to pay tribute to Fred L. Shuttlesworth by honoring a civil rights pioneer who pushed our nation towards greater justice and equality,” BCRI Interim President and CEO Priscilla Hancock Cooper said in a statement. “With a legacy of activism that began in 1947 with the desegregation of lunch counters in Peoria, Illinois, and continues today as founder of the C.T. Vivian Leadership Institute, Dr. Vivian remains an inspiration and example to all.”
For ticket information, call (205) 328-9696, ext. 236.
Vestavia man charged: Fake jewel heist plus fraudulent insurance claim plus pawn attempt may equal prison time
A Vestavia Hills man has been charged with trying to pawn gems he had reported stolen years earlier in a Mountain Brook jewelry store robbery – and for which he had been paid more than $2 million in insurance money.
Joseph Harold Gandy, 64, is charged with one count of money laundering for pawning a 3-carat diamond in 2013, some eight years after federal authorities said he committed wire fraud by reporting it and many other jewels stolen.
Based on a plea agreement made between federal prosecutors and Gandy, he would face up to 45 months in prison if a judge approves the agreement. Gandy was previously convicted in federal court of mail fraud back in 1989.
A press release from the U.S. Attorney’s office says that Gandy was the owner and operator of Denman-Crosby Jewelry Store in Mountain Brook back in 2004, when he reported that two men robbed him of jewels, some of which were on consignment from stores in New York and elsewhere. He filed for insurance reimbursement in 2005, submitting an inventory of what he said was taken: jewels worth about $2.8 million.
His insurer, XL Specialty Insurance Company, paid him the maximum on his policy: $2.6 million. Gandy had increased his insurance to the maximum just weeks before the “robbery.”
But in 2013, federal prosecutors said, Gandy paid a friend to go to pawn shops and sell some jewels which were among those he had reported stolen and collected insurance money on. The friend succeeded in July 2013 in pawning a 3.01-carat emerald-cut diamond that Gandy said was worth $43,000. The Birmingham pawn broker gave the friend $12,000, and from that Gandy paid the friend $2,000.
“Between August and November of 2013, Gandy’s friend pawned two more diamonds: a 3.45-carat cushion-cut diamond for $8,000 and a 2.16-carat round diamond for $2,000. Both stones were on the stolen inventory list Gandy provided the insurance company in 2005. Gandy gave his friend $1,880 after receiving the $8,000 for the 3.45-carat diamond,” the press release notes.
Although the U.S. Attorney’s release notes that at least one pawn broker interrupted the scheme by requesting documentation and a closer look before taking a 1.59-carat diamond mounted in a platinum setting, there was no word on exactly how authorities stumbled onto Gandy’s operation. But agents found a lot of jewelry and 99 guns when the FBI, working with investigators from Mountain Brook and Vestavia Hills, searched Gandy’s home.
Gandy has also been charged with being a felon illegally possessing firearms. Federal officials acknowledge, however, that the guns were either bought before Gandy’s 1989 conviction, were inherited from his father and grandfather, or left behind when the owner, Gandy’s son, died in 2004.
“As part of the agreement, the government would recommend Gandy be required to pay $20,000 in restitution to the jewelers where he pawned the diamonds, and that he forfeit to the U.S. government all the jewels seized and recovered in the case,” the U.S. Attorney’s office reports. “Vestavia Hills Police seized the 99 weapons at Gandy’s house and has state charges pending against him. The city police are handling forfeiture of the firearms.”
Due to the nature of the “binding” plea agreement, if a federal judge does not accept the arranged settlement, Gandy and prosecutors are free to back out of the deal.
Business and communications conference at Innovation Depot
A conference scheduled for later this month is designed to bring entrepreneurs and professional communicators together. Navigating Today’s Media, a one-day event, promises to help communicators polish the skills they need and help people who own businesses learn how to promote their enterprises realistically and affordably.
The conference will be held Thursday, Oct. 23 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Innovation Depot, 1500 First Avenue North. Familiar faces will speak to attendees, including longtime Birmingham broadcaster Pam Huff, media entrepreneur Wade Kwon, Ike Pigott of Alabama Power and Ed Bowser of AL.com, all of whom will tout the value of social media – among other forms – in promoting business. The conference is being hosted by Alabama Media Professionals, Birmingham Business Resource Center and the Birmingham Chapter of the American Marketing Association.
The $85 registration fee will cover conference sessions, continental breakfast, lunch and refreshments in the afternoon, all food provided by Culinard Café, based at Innovation Depot. Registration deadline is Oct. 19. To register and for more information, visit www.alabamamediaprofessionals.com.
District 1 residents share concerns
The top concerns of residents living in Councilor LaShunda Scales’ district include public transportation, retail, public safety and Birmingham City Schools, according to a web survey. Scales revealed the results of her MailChimp survey this week.
Residents of District 1, which includes parts of Roebuck and Huffman in the eastern area, ranked public transportation as their main concern — at 44 percent, far higher than any other issue. That was followed by grocery and retail (24 percent), public safety (18 percent) and schools (14 percent).
Scales has scheduled a town hall meeting to discuss the concerns for 7 p.m. on Oct. 27 at Huffman High School. Those who can’t attend can email their questions, concerns or comments to Scales at lashunda.scales@birminghamal.gov.
Fry-Down this weekend
The Cahaba River Fry-Down, a fundraising competition bringing in donations to benefit charity through a fish fry-based festival, has been rescheduled for Sunday Oct. 12 from noon until 4 p.m. The event, which will be held for the fifth year on the riverbank in Trussville Springs, benefits the Cahaba River Society and pits 11 teams of amateur fish-fryers in competition to cook the best catfish and hushpuppies.
Originally scheduled for Sept. 28, the event was postponed because of the threat of inclement weather.
The Fry-Down will also feature music — this year by the Herb Trotman Band — as well as games and other family-friendly activities. There will also be beer provided by local brewers, gourmet shaved ice and an opportunity for environmental education.
Presenting sponsor for the event is Amerex Corporation, but there is a long list of other sponsors, including Weld. For more information visit frydown.com.