🌱 B'ham Starbucks Unionizes + Seniors Receive $1000 Each For School

Good morning, Birmingham! Like many of you, the Patch team is taking some time off to celebrate Memorial Day, so you won't see a newsletter in your inbox on Monday morning. We will be back on Tuesday with your next update, but in the meantime, here's what's happening around town this holiday weekend.

First, today's weather:

Mostly sunny and pleasant. High: 82 Low: 62.

Here are the top 3 stories today in Birmingham:

1. A Starbucks in Birmingham has become the first in Alabama to unionize. Workers at the 20th Street South Starbucks voted 27 to 1 to form the union. The employer and anyone opposed to the outcome have until Jun. 3 to file objections. Across the nation, more than 80 Starbucks locations have unionized. (Alabama Today)
2. More than two dozen Birmingham Promise seniors who are going to HBCUs will receive $1,000 to put towards their schooling. HBCU Springcoming, a New York-based event that brings together graduates from historically Black colleges, is in Birmingham for the first time, and organizers hope that the scholarship recipients will one day return to the Magic City and invest in the community. A whole weekend of activities is planned for this event. (WVTM13 Birmingham)
3. A Birmingham man has been indicted on federal charges for having a device that turns a handgun into a machine gun, according to authorities. According to the indictment, back in January, Fredrick Leonard Temple Jr., 32, illegally possessed a Glock 9mm pistol that had a “Glock switch," or a device designed to convert a semiautomatic Glock pistol into a fully automatic machine gun. Federal prosecutors across the country have started indicting more suspects for possession of these switches. (AL.com)

Today in Birmingham:

• Tiny Art Show! - Springville Road Regional Branch Library (9:00 AM)
• A Century In Symphony: A Midsummer Night's Dream & More - Railroad Park Foundation (8:00 PM)

Check out some Memorial Day Weekend events in Birmingham here.

From my notebook:

• Students at Birmingham’s Huffman High School built a tiny home for a North Carolina family. The students, who are part of the school’s Academy of Architecture and Construction, worked on the home throughout the school year, learning teamwork and communication skills, as well as a whole range of technical skills. (Birmingham Times)
• House shopping? Here are 47 new and coming soon home listings in the Birmingham area. Happy hunting! (Bham Now)

Now you're in the loop and ready to start this Saturday off right. I'll see you around!

— Miranda Fraraccio

About me: Miranda Fraraccio is a born and raised Rhode Islander, now living in New York. She works as a staff writer for content creation agency Lightning Media Partners and is a graduate of The University of Rhode Island, where she earned a degree in Writing & Rhetoric and Communication Studies. In her free time, you can find her traveling, drinking tea, or photographing her neighborhood as a street photographer.