Here’s a look at what we’re working on for the Wednesday, April 22, 2009, edition of The North Jefferson News. For complete stories, please see Wednesday’s paper or visit our Web site throughout the day. Also, don’t forget to tune into a new edition of NJNtv Thursday at 4:30 p.m. at www.njeffersonnews.com.



Jordan team gets national ranking



Now that the Mortimer Jordan softball team has garnered just about all the statewide recognition it possibly can, it’s time to go national.

And the Blue Devils have done just that, landing in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association/USA Today Top 25 for the first time in school history.

Jordan is ranked 25th in the poll, which is taken among state representatives from the NFCA and reported in the Friday editions of USA Today. The rankings are based on won-loss record, strength of its schedule, overall strength in a state, and quality of players.



Organizers, sponsors praise Magnolia Festival



Gardendale’s eighth-annual Magnolia Festival may have been the city’s biggest and best yet, according to organizers.

The Saturday event, held at the Gardendale Civic Center, brought thousands of people to the event for inexpensive family fun for a good cause. The proceeds from the festival will go toward providing $1,000 college scholarships to 10 north Jefferson-area high school seniors.



School board officials get look at Corner construction



Corner High School was the first of five stops Friday during a tour taken by school officials.

Jefferson County Board of Education members, school system officials and others took a school bus to the construction sites for Corner High, Minor Community, Pleasant Grove High, Hueytown High and Brighton schools.

Among the crowd of about 20 who toured the new Corner High School was principal Ronald Cooper.

Cooper seemed impressed with what he saw, even though the school campus is still only half-finished buildings of concrete block and metal trusses.

“They’ve deserved a new facility for years,” said Cooper of Corner School’s faculty, staff and students. “The kids perform well in our current school, but everybody will benefit from this new campus.”



Council sets public hearing on rezoning



A proposed rezoning for a Gardendale housing development may get a green light next month, pending the outcome of a public hearing.

At Monday’s city council meeting, a public hearing date of May 18 was set for the council to hear public comments regarding the rezoning of portions of Bauers Lane from institutional district and single-family residential district to planned unit development.

The development group, Gardendale Fifty, LLC, has tried several times before to have the property rezoned. Developer Randy Brooks initially wanted to build 198 town homes on 60 acres between Gardendale Elementary School and the Magnolia Ridge subdivision.

The city’s planning and zoning commission turned down the project twice, claiming differences in the plans turned in to the city’s inspections department and plans brought before the commission.



Person You Should Know — Tina Meadows



Tina Meadows, 38, works as an office assistant at Bryan Elementary School. She started there in September.