A few weeks ago in a story about the special class at Elyton School, I mentioned a Civil War sword sticking out of a tree we used to watch for every time we drove down Third Avenue. It was part of a sad sweet story of love unfulfilled.

The City Council voted earlier this week to apply for the grant to install seven pedestrian bridges in various spots throughout the 5.9mile path hewn by the April 27 tornado. The total cost of the project is estimated at $17.5 million, but the grant calls for a 20 percent match. Tuscaloosa residents would be on the hook for $3.5 million.

Early Saturday morning, on a day trip organized by the Cahaba River Society, a group of committed naturalists, hardy outdoorsmen and women, and a metro something photographer trundled off I-59 from Bham and turned down Hwy 5 past Centreville towards Selma to the Perry Lakes and Barton’s Beach Parks.

One of my first memories of my dad was at Lock 17. Judging by the number there must be many locks on the Black Warrior River, but this one seems special.

A mine on Hurricane Creek is polluting the waters that flow into the Black Warrior River and its owner should be forced to begin meeting its permit, according to a lawsuit filed by the nonprofit groups Black Warrior Riverkeeper and the Friends of Hurricane Creek.

According to John Wathen, Hurricane Creekkeeper for the Friends of Hurricane Creek, “Coal mining has been a serious problem in Hurricane Creek for many generations causing it to be placed on the EPA’s impaired streams list.

Here are some of the programs supported by the Southern Environmental Center at Birmingham-Southern College: What do you get when you combine great libations, a harvest supper by Whole Foods Market, and Birmingham’s coolest live & silent auction?

This week the Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT) released its evaluation of the Northern Beltline highway project, drawing opposition from the Black Warrior Riverkeeper, an environmental watchdog group with a mission for protecting the river.

There are plenty of reasons for us to appreciate how precious our water is and to take practical steps each day to use less of it. For one thing, there are critical shortages of this life-sustaining resource in many parts of the world.

NEW NUKES: The directors of the Tennessee Valley Authority announced recently that they plan to finish building the Bellefonte nuclear reactor in Hollywood, Ala. They spent mega-bucks on before dropping it in 1988 due to cost overruns and other factors, according to an Aug. 18 report by Matthew L. Wald of The New York Times (www.nytimes.com).