English Bulldog Puppies for Sale in Birmingham, AL

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. —

An incredibly strong geomagnetic storm is impacting Earth this weekend, and that means places in the United States may be able to view the Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis).

And while we did get to see them here in Alabama back in May, that was a very rare, nearly once-in-a-lifetime event.

Video above shows a look at the Northern Lights in May.

The KP Index, a measure of geomagnetic activity, is a key factor in determining how far south the Aurora Borealis can be seen. This weekend, the KP Index is expected to reach a maximum of 7.

While that's high, it's still not enough to bring the lights down to the Deep South.

>> WVTM 13 ON-THE-GO: Download our app for free

To see the Aurora Borealis, you'll also need dark skies and clear weather conditions. Even if the KP index reaches 7, it would have to be dark outside for us to see the Northern Lights.

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If you're really hoping to catch a glimpse of the Northern Lights, Saturday night from 10 p.m. CST to midnight might be your best bet, but you would want to drive farther north.

So, while it's not impossible, don't hold your breath for a repeat of May's magical display. But hey, you never know!

>> WATCH: Woman gets stunning view of northern lights on flight home from surprising sister at UAB graduation in May

And if we are lucky enough to catch a glimpse of the Northern Lights, be sure to send in your photos here.

Click through the gallery of Northern Lights photos from May below.

Kennedy Thompson Langford

Slideshow

16 photos

For the latest weather coverage for your area, click here. And stay updated with alerts in the WVTM 13 app. You can download it here.

This story is republished with permission from The Birmingham Times

Joining a growing number of Black female-owned businesses in the city of Birmingham, Tanya Pugh-Johnson has opened an art gallery where faith, creativity and hard work intersect.

Her storefront, 16th Cross Pearson Wearable Art Gallery, the first Black-owned, wearable art gallery in Alabama opened in July and showcases work by local designers, artists and stylists.

Inside you’ll find the wistful black and white memories of acrylic on canvas, (by local painter A.Nichel) or the bold bright colors of Aaliyah Taylor’s handmade jewelry. Live models fill the window scape, wearing the work of local fashion designers and stylists.

Pugh-Johnson, 46, said her wearable art gallery is the fruit of a vision she received in October 2023 where she saw a platform and a microphone and saw herself standing under the platform, unseen but indispensable. “It’ll never really be about me,” she said. “God called me to be a vessel. To uplift and shine a light on others so that they can be seen.”

She knew her love of fashion would be at the heart of her business. “My favorite thing to do is to put it on,” she said. “The human body is a blank canvas. The masterpiece is on the inside.” Fashion is art because it is an expression of the masterpiece, she said. “It tells your story, tells us who you are.”

Her shop is unique in that it features a rotating selection of local African American artists and stylists including Aaliyah Taylor; A. Nichel; Nikki Manning Huntley, Bradford Caddell, Pansey Nelson, Samuel Kane and Allyson Ragland.

Pugh-Johnson said she was able to assemble a group of Black talent through “word of mouth, social media. “I met with each of them and so many of those initial meetings ended in tears and us hugging and praying because we just knew it was the right fit.”

Each creative has a 6–12 month contract for 16th Cross Pearson to feature their work, she said.

Behind The Name

Pugh-Johnson is the product of a generational embrace. Her grandmothers are behind the name 16th Cross Pearson. Her mother’s mother lived on 16th Street in Fountain Heights and her father’s mother lived on Pearson in the West End neighborhood. Pugh-Johnson was a latchkey kid and when she got home after school, she would sit on her grandmother’s stoop on 16th St. Johnson remembers seeing the MAX Transit bus pull up and her grandmother emerge, wearing her nurse’s uniform and slowly making her way up the street through the haze of the afternoon sun.

“It was like an Angel was walking toward me,” said Pugh-Johnson, pointing out that her grandmother was her beacon.

“I would feel so much excitement at finally seeing her coming up the street. As a kid it meant I could go play, but as an adult I know her presence meant so much more. She nurtured me, loved me unconditionally, and taught me resilience.”

Pugh-Johnson always had an entrepreneurial spirit. She left her full-time job in banking in 2019 and started a marketing business. “It did fairly well but it didn’t do as well as I wanted,” she said. “… I can tell you there was a moment when I thought God forgot about me. Plans and ideas that I wanted just weren’t coming into fruition. But I came to realize it wasn’t that God had forgotten about me, it was that I forgot who He was.”

When it came to the gallery, Pugh-Johnson said everything just fell into place. She received the vision in October 2023 and got funding from her aunt just a few months later in the beginning of 2024. “I went to her with my idea, and she told me she believed in me.”

And it all happened fast. Even when stressors popped up, like when it came time to find a building. Pugh-Johnson just knew she was supposed to be in a building off 3rd Ave, but she kept getting the run around from the realtor.

“She totally dismissed me. Wouldn’t call me back. I was devastated when I learned they sold to someone else. But within 24 hours I was notified about a place in the middle of 1st Ave. and it turned out to be perfect. The lease was signed within 30 days, before the old tenant had even moved out.”

Before she knew it, it was July 2024 and she was hosting her grand opening. Getting to this point was all about being able to act in the moment, Pugh-Johnson said.

“When God shifts, align,” she said. “We can become complacent if we stay in a space where God does not want us any longer. If he shifts, you better learn.”

16th Cross Pearson is also about partnerships, said the business owner. For example, she partners with The Flourish Alabama (non profit that supports young artists) and showcases T-shirts designed by Birmingham City Students.) that gives access to exclusive work. “Everything we showcase here is one of a kind. You won’t find these pieces anywhere else,” she said. “It’s the storefront to the creative.”

The Gallery also fosters collaboration by eliminating gatekeeping. Many of the artists at 16th Cross Pearson have never shown in a gallery before. “We want to provide opportunities for untapped talent and provide a place for local creatives to sell their work,” she said.

The gallery serves artists through 6-12 month contracts and takes submissions at info@16thCrossPearson.com

Address: 2215 1st Ave N Suite 200, Birmingham, AL 35203 Website | Instagram

Three things we love about fall in Birmingham: College football, cooler temperatures and the annual Birmingham Greek Festival.

One of Birmingham’s biggest and oldest food and cultural events, the festival starts today and continues through Saturday at Holy Trinity-Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Cathedral, 307 19th Street South.

Hours are 10:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. all three days.

This is the 51st year for the Birmingham Greek Festival, which celebrates the contributions the Greek community has made to the Magic City – especially to the Birmingham food scene.

Teddy Hontzas, who co-owns Birmingham’s iconic Niki’s West restaurant with his brother, Pete, is this year’s festival chairman.

If you’re a regular at the festival, you probably know the drill by now.

But if you’re a newbie, or just need a refresher, here’s everything you need to know about the Birmingham Greek Festival before you go.

READ MORE: Food fests we love in Birmingham

On the menu

All appetizers, entrees, and desserts served at the festival are prepared from scratch by church parishioners, including some prominent Greek chefs and restaurateurs.

Appetizers include feta and feta-and-spinach pitas (four for $7) and stuffed grape leaves (four for $7).

Entrees include souvlaki ($21), Greek chicken ($19), pastitsio ($19), a vegetable plate ($17), a gyro sandwich ($11), a Greek salad ($13), a gyro and salad ($14), and a deluxe plate with chicken and pastitsio ($25).

Pastries include baklava (two for $7), honey-and-nut cookies (two for $7), Greek wedding cookies (two for $7), almond crescents (two for $7), butter cookies ($12 for a dozen), honey-dipped Greek donuts ($6 for a half-dozen, $12 for a dozen), and a boxed assortment of any dozen Greek pastries ($42).

Beverages include Coca-Cola products, as well as Greek beer and wines.

Also, pans of frozen pastitsio, which will feed nine to 12 people, are available to take home for $60.

Guests may order their food to go, but the festival also offers outdoor seating along 19th Street South for those who want to stick around and take in all the sights, sounds and smells.

Online and phone-in orders are not available.

For more details and descriptions of all the dishes, go here.

Drive-thru service

Just like McDonald’s and Chick-fil-A, the festival also offers drive-thru service for those who don’t want to get out of their cars.

Servers will greet customers as they pull into the drive-thru line, take their orders, and deliver their food to their vehicles.

Drive-thru hours are 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. all three nights.

Music and dancing

Along with the live music, the traditional Greek dances performed by the children of Holy Trinity-Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Cathedral are almost as much a part of the annual celebration as the food.

The dancers -- from 4 to 18 years old – perform on the outdoor main stage along 19th Street South starting at 5 p.m. each night.

For the full music and dance schedule, go here.

Cathedral tours

The Holy Trinity-Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Cathedral parish was chartered in 1906, and it is the fourth oldest Greek Orthodox parish in the Southeast.

The cathedral is open for self-guided tours between 10:30 a.m. and 9 p.m. during the three-day festival, and parishioners are available to answer any questions.

Call 205-716-3088 to schedule a tour for large school and church groups.

Also, the Greek Market Place offers Mediterranean and Orthodox Christian souvenirs.

Free parking

Free, secured parking is available in the former Liberty National building parking deck on Richard Arrington Jr. Boulevard between Third and Fourth Avenues South.

For a map, go here.

Charities

Since 1972, the Birmingham Greek Festival has donated a portion of the festival proceeds to local and national charities.

In recent years, these charities have included Magic Moments, The Exceptional Foundation, The Ronald McDonald House Charities of Alabama, Firehouse Ministries, Alzheimer’s of Central Alabama, Pathways, Family Connection, The Wellhouse, Jimmie Hale Mission, Safe House, the Alabama Kidney Foundation, MS Society, The Greater Birmingham Ministries, Diakonia Retreat Center, Children’s of Alabama, Folds of Honor, The Bell Center for Early Intervention Programs, First Light Shelter, Youth Towers, Saint Herman of Alaska Orthodox Christian Mission in Tuscaloosa, AHEPA 3 Charities, and Magic City Harvest.

This year’s charities are Firehouse Ministries, First Light Shelter and Urban Ministry.

Still have questions?

For more information about the 2024 Birmingham Greek Festival, go here.

An Alabama restaurant franchisee is the target of a federal lawsuit filed Monday, alleging the company failed to protect young female employees from sexual harassment at an Applebee’s.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission sued Quality Restaurant Concepts, LLC, which operates the Applebee’s restaurant in Chelsea, in federal court in Birmingham.

“Given the prevalence of the misconduct, management at the Chelsea restaurant should have known about the sexual harassment of female employees and failed to take prompt or corrective action to prevent or remedy the hostile environment it created,” the complaint reads.

Quality Restaurant Concepts has not yet responded to the complaint in court records. Birmingham attorney Rachel Barlotta released a statement to AL.com on Tuesday.

“Because this matter is in pending litigation, QRC is not in a position to provide detailed commentary,” Barlotta said in an email. “However, QRC strenuously denies the allegations and looks forward to presenting its defense in court.”

A spokesperson for Applebee’s did not respond to a request for comment.

In the lawsuit, the EEOC argues that the sexually hostile work environment violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

“Many of the female employees in this case are teenagers who were new to the workplace and unfamiliar with their rights,” said Marsha Rucker, regional attorney for the EEOC’s Birmingham district. “A priority of the EEOC is defending the civil rights of vulnerable young people such as the teenage employees in this case. The EEOC will continue to hold employers accountable when they fail to protect their workers from a sexually hostile work environment.”

The Birmingham-based Quality Restaurant Concepts operates 60 Applebee’s locations in Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Tennessee and Kentucky, as well as a few other restaurants, per the company’s website and LinkedIn page.

The Applebee’s restaurant in Chelsea is located at 89 Chesser Plantation Lane, just off Highway 280.

The EEOC’s Birmingham office said in a statement that since last year, the male general manager, other male employees and customers at the restaurant harassed at least six female employees with sexual comments, offensive conduct, unwanted advances and sexual contact.

And when the Applebee’s franchisee received multiple complaints about the general manager, the company allowed him to keep working with the employees he harassed and didn’t take action, per the EEOC.

The male general manager had a prior history of sexually harassing a 16-year-old female employee and another female employee at another Applebee’s restaurant owned by the franchisee in Pelham, according to the lawsuit. He was reprimanded for that by the franchisee company in 2022, the lawsuit says.

But then, in April of 2023, he was promoted to general manager of the Chelsea restaurant, according to the EEOC.

The lawsuit says the manager made sexual comments to multiple female employees, including telling one employee to “take it all off” while offering dollar bills when her shirt got wet. The suit also says that the manager called employees, including a minor, “sluts,” and once told workers he wanted to hire a woman so he could “stare at her breasts all day.”

The lawsuit alleges a male bartender flirted with a minor female employee, repeatedly asked her out and cornered and physically restrained her.

A male cook, according to the lawsuit, made comments about a female employee’s body. And, an additional male employee touched her buttocks multiple times and made sexual jokes to her, per the complaint.

Male customers groped minor female employees and made other comments about having sex with them, per the complaint.

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Two of the female workers quit because of the toxic work environment, the lawsuit says. A minor female employee resigned after she complained about sexual harassment and got removed from her server shifts, according to the suit.

The EEOC said it filed the lawsuit after an attempt to reach a settlement failed.

“Young workers are particularly vulnerable to harassment and other forms of workplace discrimination because they have less work experience, are less likely to know when someone crosses a boundary, and may be afraid to report an older or more powerful harasser,” said Karla Gilbride, general counsel for the EEOC, in a statement.

September was full of exciting new businesses in The Magic City, and we can’t wait to see what October brings.

From a new bourbon bar in the heart of downtown to a unique new sports bar coming soon to Homewood, check out these new businesses around Birmingham.

Plus, join us in saying goodbye to four local businesses we’re sad to see go.

Sloan’s, a new cocktail bar specializing in an elevated bourbon experience, officially opened its doors on 2nd Ave N on Tuesday, September 24.

Founded by the team behind Bistro 218 and Bocca Ristoriante, Sloan’s is a new establishment where both connoisseurs and casual drinkers can explore the rich world of bourbon in a refined, welcoming atmosphere.

(Psssst… Get an exclusive tour of Sloan’s with Bham Now on Instagram)

A new all-purpose travel center opened earlier this month at the busy Finley Boulevard exit off I-65 in Birmingham.

Speedway, one of the nation’s largest convenience store chains, is open 24 hours, 7 days a week.

The Birmingham restaurateurs behind NOLA Ice-Broad St Peaux Boys at the Pizitz Food Hall are opening a new sports bar in Homewood.

Kelli Caulfield and London Jackson plan to open Do Not Disturb, an elevated sports bar located just off Lakeshore Parkway near Lowe’s. The new space will be the perfect place to sit back and watch games, have a beer or cocktail and enjoy creative dishes.

The largest bank in the country is planning to open a new branch in Mountain Brook next year.

Chase Bank, the consumer and commercial division of JP Morgan Chase & Co., will be constructing a new location in the heart of the Lane Parke development. The site is the former home of local real estate firm Ray & Poynor, whose building caught fire overnight and suffered catastrophic damage in 2022.

Red Robin permanently closed their The Pinnacle location in Trussville.

Known for its gourmet burgers and bottomless fries, the departure of the Birmingham location leaves the Red Robin with only two remaining restaurants in Alabama–Montgomery and Huntsville.

Wild Roast Cafe in Hoover is closing its doors after nearly 6 years, according to social media posts from the cafe.

Named Hoover’s Best Coffee in 2023, Wild Roast specializes in craft lattes, scrumptious breakfast bites and lunch options. Go grab a coffee before they’re gone for good!

Ghost Train Brewing Company—a local brewery and Birmingham favorite founded in 2014—has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy and shutting its doors permanently.

The longtime brewery is responsible for iconic local craft beers like the Kaleidoscope Kettle Sour, the Gulf Coast IPA and the Allurium Double IPA.

Urban Smoke Bar & Grill has closed its location in Fairfield.

However, this may not be the end for Urban Smoke. Owner Draper Mason is on the lookout for a new space to reopen the popular eatery and sports hangout in the future.

Did we miss anything? Tag us @bhamnow and let us know!