No one ride this elevator after today:

Here’s what you need to know about elevators in Alabama: state law requires all elevators other than those located in industrial facilities that are not accessed by the general public, to be inspected annually. The state seems to have 44 licensed inspectors. It costs about $90 to do an inspection. I don’t know for certain how long it takes to do an inspection — but it might not be what you imagine anyway, if you read the inside baseball at Elevator Blog. (That, by the way, is a surprisingly interesting site. Thank you, Internet, and strangers, for opening up the journey of discovery. There’s also an Instagram.)

Also, I don’t know how many elevators there are in the state. But this one, after today, is overdue.

I seem to recall doing a story several years ago about overworked elevator inspectors — one in a series, I’m sure, of state budget crisis stories. I believe they are private citizens, though, and I’m sure they have other jobs to do.

That elevator is perfectly fine, in truth. It is in a three-floor building, so I take the stairs.

There is an elevator in my building, going from the second-floor to the basement. I rode in that one time. Once. That was scarier than the night we thought we were about three minutes from a tornado was bearing down on the campus.

Things to read … because that’s what we do on campus.

You hope this doesn’t go private … Johnson Publishing to sell historic photo archive:

Looking to raise cash, the Chicago-based publisher of Ebony magazine has put its entire photo archive up for sale. The historic collection spans 70 years of African-American history, chronicling everyone from Martin Luther King Jr. to Sammy Davis Jr.

[…]

“It’s just sitting here,” said Johnson Publishing CEO Desiree Rogers. “We really need to monetize that in order to ensure growth in our core businesses.”

[…]

“This is an incredibly important archive.” said Mark Lubell, executive director of New York’s International Center of Photography. “It is the definition of the African-American experience in the latter half of the 20th century, and it’s an amazing, valuable asset.”

Wouldn’t won’t to add clarity to things … Paris attacks: Do not call Charlie Hebdo killers ‘terrorists’, BBC says:

The Islamists who committed the Charlie Hebdo massacre in Paris should be not be described as “terrorists” by the BBC, a senior executive at the corporation has said.

Tarik Kafala, the head of BBC Arabic, the largest of the BBC’s non-English language news services, said the term “terrorist” was too “loaded” to describe the actions of the men who killed 12 people in the attack on the French satirical magazine.

Mr Kafala, whose BBC Arabic television, radio and online news services reach a weekly audience of 36 million people, told The Independent: “We try to avoid describing anyone as a terrorist or an act as being terrorist. What we try to do is to say that ‘two men killed 12 people in an attack on the office of a satirical magazine’. That’s enough, we know what that means and what it is.”

We just don’t want to say it.

It’d be interesting to see a thoughtful and serious discussion about the impact of names and labels, used politically and in the media and so on. Are we doing ourselves a disservice? Are we ignoring obvious problems? Sugarcoating things? Insuring we never prosecute evildoers to the greatest extent? Who is such a refusal really serving?

I read this as Michael Bloomberg, a man who couldn’t find the paper towels, is running the newsroom: Bloomberg Shakes Up Newsroom Side of His Company.

Good stuff here: The absolute definitive list of questions you should ask when you conduct an interview.

State politics … Alabama’s first openly gay lawmaker threatens to ‘out’ officials having extramarital affairs:

“This (is) a time where you find out who are accepting, loving people. To say I am disappointed in Speaker Hubbard comment’s and Attorney General Strange choice to appeal the decision is an understatement. I will not stand by and allow legislators to talk about ‘family values’ when they have affairs, and I know of many who are and have. I will call our elected officials who want to hide in the closet OUT,” Todd stated in her Facebook post over the weekend.

That should make things at the statehouse a little awkward.

This is tough news: U.S. Steel could lay off 1,600 in Fairfield after production adjustment.

Locally, Auburn, Phenix City receive crime prevention grants:

Auburn received $27,940 to purchase license plate readers, traffic radar units, body cameras and digital video systems. Phenix City received $20,462 to purchase an automatic fingerprint identification system.

Now, about those license plate readers.

Media news:

Snapchat breaks into media with Discover
Most Young People Say They Have Stopped Watching TV

The Lighting II – Warthog debate rages on … In the Trenches with the F-35

Remarkable video, a very fortunate guy. Coast Guard releases dramatic video of plane crash, rescue operation

We are losing our way. To Collect Debts, Nursing Homes Are Seizing Control Over Patients:

(O)ne day last summer, after he disputed nursing home bills that had suddenly doubled Mrs. Palermo’s copays, and complained about inexperienced employees who dropped his wife on the floor, Mr. Palermo was shocked to find a six-page legal document waiting on her bed.

It was a guardianship petition filed by the nursing home, Mary Manning Walsh, asking the court to give a stranger full legal power over Mrs. Palermo, now 90, and complete control of her money.

Few people are aware that a nursing home can take such a step. Guardianship cases are difficult to gain access to and poorly tracked by New York State courts; cases are often closed from public view for confidentiality. But the Palermo case is no aberration. Interviews with veterans of the system and a review of guardianship court data conducted by researchers at Hunter College at the request of The New York Times show the practice has become routine, underscoring the growing power nursing homes wield over residents and families amid changes in the financing of long-term care.

Love these stories, Senior manager with cerebral palsy gets chance to be basketball star:

“I think this is a stepping stone Austin never thought he would get to achieve,” teammate and friend Devin Brown said. “I think just the fact that he even gets to put on a uniform and warm up is amazing. But to start a varsity game in front of a big crowd with his best friends? That is something I am sure he never imagined possible.”

Much of the night surprised Miller.

Faith coach John Price told him only that he would dress out with the team, wear No. 33 and sit on the bench. He received a rousing standing ovation before pre-game warm-ups when he was introduced with the Rams’ other seniors.

“To come out to all that noise from the crowd was amazing,” Miller said. “For our student body to show that love was something special, but it wasn’t a one-time thing. They do that all the time. We really are a family at Faith.”

Kids these days, eh?