The Boost is a daily guide to news, living, and entertainment in Birmingham and in Alabama. Here's your boost for Thursday, Nov. 7, 2013. If you'd like the Boost in your inbox every morning, please subscribe.
BIRMINGHAM, Alabama - There is no possible way to fit the soon-to-be renovated Lyric Theatre and the downtown staple Lyric Hot Dogs & Grill into the same building, according to a joint statement from Birmingham Landmarks (which owns the Lyric Theatre) and Lyric Hot Dogs owner Andrew Collins.
"We understand that code issues and other realities left the Lyric team with no choice for us to stay in our current location," Collins said in the statement, according to AL.com reporter Stan Diel. "We appreciate the opportunity to look at other options but Lyric Hot Dogs would require more space to be strong going forward."
Lyric Hot Dogs will cease operations in January, and its space must be used by the Lyric Theatre to accommodate modernization needs - handicap-accessible restrooms and other concerns necessary for the $9 million renovation of the nearly 100-year-old theatre.
The decision to end Lyric Hot Dogs' lease, removing the restaurant from its spot in Birmingham's downtown after 56 years, irked many and prompted a backlash on the Facebook Pages belonging to both institutions.
Read more from the joint statement here.
In photos above: Glass-blowing produces beautiful art, that much is obvious. But it is also one of the few arts that is also striking to watch as it is made. Reporter Dawn Azok and photographer Joe Songer visited Orbix Hot Glass Studio on Lookout Mountain, where Songer captured two videos of the glass-making process. Check out Azok's story and Songer's videos here.
What to do in Birmingham today: Perennial Birmingham rock venue The Nick is only a year older than I am, and the crew is celebrating its 30th anniversary the way they know how - with a line-up of great bands.
Six bands will play Thursday: Baak Gwai, Jasper Coal, India Ramey, Bunny Austin, Caddle, and People's Blues of Richmond. Admission is a mere $5, so there's some excellent entertainment value there. More information here.
It's Alabama-LSU week... So I'd like to give LSU head football coach Les Miles a big-ole flat-palmed clap for this gem from a ride-along with ESPN's Kaylee Hartung, in which Miles runs a red light because, he says, he anticipates the change:
Hartung: Did you just run a red light?
Miles: I did not. I did not. Running would have to be speeding.
Hartung: You stopped. You treated it like a stop sign.
Miles: Well, I want you to know it changed. You didn't notice it changed. I anticipated the change.
This day in history: In 1811, the Battle of Tippecanoe - part of Tecumseh's War - commenced near what is now Battle Ground, Indiana. Forces led by Indiana Territory Gov. William Henry Harrison, who would later be nicknamed "Tippecanoe," fought against Shawnee leader Tecumseh and his forces. The United States won.
Few, if any, canoes were actually tipped during the battle.
Don't miss: Here at AL.com, we've begun a new series, spearheaded by veteran writer Chuck Dean, called "Connecting Alabama." The series hopes to accomplish a very simple thing - profiling Alabamians with compelling, important stories - in a beautiful way.
This week and last, Dean wrote about the geographical center of our state - where it might be and where it actually is - and the people he connected with at each point. He met Jeff Higgins, whose land contains the actual geographical center of Alabama, and many readers who noted the center was in a different spot. Notably, that has since changed thanks to an act of Congress.
Another Dean story is below in Quotable Alabama.
Watch this: In this epic hit-and-run misadventure in Chicago, an SUV driver rear-ends a cabbie, and the cabbie - he's the one eventually wielding a nightstick - would very much like to trade insurance info. But the SUV driver is having none of it. While trying to escape the situation, he hits a total of five cars and barely misses a sixth on the way out:
Quotable Alabama: Medical corpsman and Gardendale resident Harold Jarvis, who served at Iwo Jima and spoke to Chuck Dean for his Connecting Alabama series:
"You know Chuck, you might be the last person I tell my story to."
I told him I hoped not. I told him I was honored to hear it and would be honored to tell it.
He smiled again. "Well, I think you might be the last person I tell it to, and I want to ask you a favor. When you tell it, please tell it good."
Weather: Thursday will start out rainy and stay cloudy until mid-morning, reaching a high in the low 60s on Thursday. Thursday will be followed by one of the chillier nights we've had so far this fall, dropping to a low of 37. Your forecast is here.
The Boost is curated five days a week by Madison Underwood. Send tips, comments, suggestions, and insults to munderwood@al.com. Consider subscribing for free via e-mail and get The Boost every day.