The City of Opelika has moved the recycling drop-off center at Miles Thomas Field over to the Denson Drive Recreation Center (now called the Denson Drive Community Center), located at 1102 Denson Drive.  A trailer with multiple compartments will be used to collect items, instead of the “igloos” used at the Miles Thomas fields.  The same materials will be collected:  glass, cardboard, newspaper, steel cans, aluminum cans and plastic containers.

The City of Opelika requests that plastic bags not be placed in the plastic containers bins.  Unfortunately, plastic bags are not the type of “recyclable plastic” the city can send off with the other plastic products.  They can, however, be returned to Kroger, Winn Dixie or Wal-Mart shopping centers, which all have plastic bag “drop off” areas.

For more information on recycling call KEEP OPELIKA BEAUTIFUL offices at (334) 749-4970.

Glad Kenny is back in Auburn.  Maybe he can teach me how to do some of the cool videos he does. (Source: kennysmith.org)

Below are the numbers posting from each Ward into todays vote for what the city calls “Cable Competition” and others have called the Smart Grid. Note:  The vote remains “unofficial” until ratified by the Opelika City Council.                               
 
Ward 1 - 211 Yes/54 No
Ward 2 - 236 Yes/86 No
Ward 3 - 368 Yes/333 No
Ward 4 - 443 Yes/228 No
Ward 5 - 492 Yes/368 No
Absentee  – 14 Yes/7 No

Numbers represent: 62% voters voted YES and 18% registered voters went to the polls. (Thanks to WANI for the results posted here.)

Tuesday Night is the final Summer Swing in Monkey Park.  It brings and end to summer (if not summer weather) and the beginning of a new school year, which began on Tuesday.  Route 66 is back to close out the year, again this year.

And the Farmer’s Market will continue for a few more weeks. Today at 2PM.

There’s been much debate about todays vote for what the city calls “Cable Competition” and others have called the Smart Grid.  The Smart Grid isn’t a bad thing, it can give the consumer many more choices in spending and saving money.  From the power management features, which help the consumer best use the power service, to the added benefit of Higher Speed Internet,  TV and phone service.  I’ll be voting yes today and encourage other Opelika residents to do the same.

Monday it’s the first full day of school for the kids.  Teachers have been at it a week getting ready for the teturn.  There’s on Open House and Title One Meeting at Carver Primary on Tuesday at 6PM.  Dr. Mark Neighbors will talk about the new school year on WANI with Andy Burcham at 8:35AM on Thursday.  And the week wraps up with OHS Majorette Kiddie Camp from 8 til Noon on Saturday.  Call 745-9715 for more information. You’ll find more school events on the events calendar, so check that out.

And some other upcoming school items: Open House Dates:  Northside Aug.16, Southview Aug. 17, West Forest Aug. 19, OMS Aug. 23, OHS Aug. 24, OLC Aug. 30, Jeter Sept. 16 – Band-O-Rama, August 19 @ Auburn High School – OHS vs. Greenville @ Cramton Bowl in Montgomery, August 20 – OHS Cheer and Mascot Kiddie Camp August 21 @ OHS

As representatives of the business community, the Opelika Chamber of Commerce endorses the telecommunications proposal by the City, allowing it to provide additional services for the citizens of Opelika. This should have a positive impact on recruiting businesses, supporting existing businesses, and improving job opportunities in Opelika. We ask that you vote “yes” on the ballot, August 10th.

Board of Directors: Janie Corlee, Chair, Vetrina Grubbs, Temple Anderson, Chair-Elect, Corinne Hodges, Brian Henderson, Vice Chair, Shey Knight, Jimmy Wright, Treasurer, Ira Silberman, Bob Meadows, Past Chair, Bill Trant, Tim Gore, John Wild, Laura Grill and Other Committee Members & Staff: Eric Canada, Barbara Patton, David Jones, Vivian Anthony, Mark Neighbors, Dinah Motley, Roben Nutter, Jill Robinson, Jerry Rolinson and Bill Samford.

Don’t Forget! The Alabama state sales tax holiday is this Friday Aug. 6 – Sunday Aug. 8.  I was remined today that Mike Hubbard was amoung those that supported and helped pass the law that created the sales tax holiday (five years ago) because it provides a tax break for families while also boosting our local economy. During the three-day tax holiday, families can purchase school supplies, clothes, computers and computer software without having to pay state sales tax.  Click Here for a List of What Is and What Isn’t Taxed!  (Thanks Mike for the Reminder!)

PS – Both Auburn and Opelika participate in this, so no local taxes on this stuff either! 

Key Addition to Radio BroadView Team Accelerates Market Growth! Longtime radio veteran Jerry Katz has joined BroadView Software as Radio Sales Director after over ten year’s service in senior positions at Wicks & Marketron Broadcast Solutions.

Katz is well known throughout the radio industry for his wide-ranging expertise in radio management that combines extensive station-side experience, hands-on traffic know-how, and a comprehensive understanding of the latest technological advances opening opportunities in today’s marketplace. His arrival follows the continuing growth of Radio BroadView and coincides with the launch of BroadView’s Traffic Bureau service, an alternate to traditional in-house systems.

“Jerry Katz’ reputation speaks for itself,” said Michael Atkin, BroadView Founding Partner and President. “His coming aboard further establishes our commitment to radio and marks an important next phase in expanding our place in a marketplace where our technology provides a decisive advantage.” Katz says that his decision to join BroadView comes as crucial changeover in traffic technology gains momentum.  

“It’s no secret that a fundamental shakeout of the radio traffic business is now underway,” said Katz. “I’ve always prided myself on being on the forefront, and so deciding to be part of the growth and acceptance of Radio BroadView as the new industry standard was easy.”

Katz noted that, together, Radio BroadView and Traffic Bureau offer a full-range of options for radio managers providing no-compromise sophistication with simplicity and value. Traffic Bureau can free station operations from the day-to-day traffic tasks where refocusing on core business practices is needed.  Radio BroadView’s technology, combined with the company’s “trifecta” implementation approach, delivers bottom-line results.

“BroadView’s ‘trifecta’ packages highly configurable software, excellent training plus full conversion of the clients’ historical data. It’s a winning combination for implementing a traffic system that delivers real value day-to-day, quarter-to-quarter,” Katz said.

About BroadView Software: BroadView Software Inc. is a leading North American software developer  specializing in broadcast information-management solutions. With more than two decades experience, BroadView has a well-established reputation in the broadcast industry for delivering a comprehensive toolset for programming, traffic and sales that combines sophisticated functionality with ease of use. BroadView’s winning trifecta for clients provides highly configurable software, excellent training plus full conversion of historical data. With BroadView, stations can maximize revenues with increased profitability and operational savings. For more information, visit www.BroadViewSoftware.com.

The City of Opelika will have two table top demonstration areas set up inside city hall for interested citizens to view all day long on Tuesday, August 3rd.

The first demonstration focuses on the cable TV offering.  It will be doing a demo of Microsoft Media room’s IPTV Middleware platform.  This can be described as a “truly unique cable TV offering,” showing the community the advanced technology Opelika could deliver in the cable TV platform if allowed to deploy the cable service.  It would be an advanced product offering that the citizens of Opelika could never expect to get from any of the existing providers. 

The second demonstration will show bandwidth utilization.  This demo will show consumers typical use of video and data products and how the use of them consume bandwidth capacity in the home.  It will highlight the huge pipe Opelika could have available to its customers to deliver truly unique and technically advanced products to our community.  For example, if someone is trying to download a movie from Netflix on one PC or blue-ray player while someone else in the home is trying to surf the internet, the person surfing the internet sees the slowdown from the impact of downloading the movie.  This demonstration will show how this will not happen with the proposed system. 

There will also be a video that highlights another community that has benefitted tremendously from the building of a very similar system Opelika is now considering.

Opelika City Hall is located at 204 South 7th Street in downtown Opelika.  If you enter the building from the 7th street location, simply go through the front doors; you will see the displays in the front hall area.  If you enter city hall through the Avenue A entrance, go past the Utilities customer service area, Revenue Department area and Purchasing area and go through the double doors.  You will be right at the display tables.