gulf shores al travel

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Barack Obama is a master at grabbing and keeping his audience's attention, which is the number one goal of any public speaker. How does he do it? Here are five key lessons from Obama's rhetorical playbook.

Times have been tough for everyone in the hype business the last couple of years ... except at Hill & Knowlton, the WPP (WPPGY)-owned PR agency. There, everybody else's bad news is good for business.

Even smart people make financial moves that are downright illogical. Emotions and superstitions have a sneaky way of keeping you from rational financial decisions. But dumb choices can have serious, real-world consequences. Here are some of the biggest blunders we all make, plus tips from the experts on how to keep cool.

Presley George, 8, of Mobile surfs at Waterville USA in August. BAY MINETTE, Ala. -- Moving the start of the school year from early to middle August statewide would generate more jobs and business for Alabama, save money on utilities and produce as much as $1 million in Baldwin County tax revenue and more than $300 million for Alabama, Baldwin County tourism officials said. This year, Baldwin County public school students began classes Aug. 10. Moving the start of school earlier over the last 20 years has cut the tourist season along the Gulf Coast, said John Turberville, general manager of Waterville, USA in Gulf Shores.

Herb Malone, director of the Alabama Gulf Coast Convention and Visitors Bureau, said starting the school year four weeks before Labor Day hurts the local tourism businesses. The start also cuts into the summer income of students and school employees. Those losses cut already depleted tax revenue for schools, the county and state, Malone told Baldwin school board members at a recent work session. 

Moving the beginning of class two weeks later in August statewide would generate another $333 million in Alabama, according to a study prepared by M. Keivan Deravi, professor of economics at Auburn University Montgomery. That total includes almost $259 million in additional tourism revenue as well seasonal income for students and teachers. 

Malone said that with Baldwin County generating 38 percent of the state's tourist income, that $259 million would mean another $98 million for the local economy. That would also generate about $1 million in additional county sales taxes, most of which would go to the school system, he said.

(For a complete report, read Friday's Baldwin Register.) 

The Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge will host free guided walking and boat tours Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge will host free guided walking and boat tours from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday. Guided hikes will be held on the three-mile Pine Beach Trail, which cuts through maritime forest, scrub habitat and dunes. Refuge officials have suggested meeting at either the sanctuary's office or the trailhead on Fort Morgan Road near Mobile Street. A prairie warbler is one of many migratory songbirds that are commonly spotted each fall at the Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge. The refuge's staff will offer free guided walking and boat tours Saturday.

Also availble Saturday will be tours of the refuge's Sand Bayou Unit, centered on the western shores of Oyster Bay, which is available by boat. Those wishing to participate in the tours are required to be at the Canal Park boat launch on the Intracoastal Waterway in Gulf Shores at 9 a.m. For more information on the tours, call the Refuge office at 251-540-7720.

(The Associated Press)A tug pushes a Southwest Airlines airliner away from a gate at SeaTac Airport in SeaTac, Wash. on June 11, 2009. A number of Gulf Coast communities are competing to land the discount airliner.Hey, Southwest Airlines, can a fourth Gulf Coast airport bid for your flights?

Mobile Regional Airport and business leaders are launching a new push for the Dallas-based discount carrier, which could include efforts to give public money and free hotel rooms as enticements.

Already, the Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce is sounding out business leaders on potential pledges, using an online survey set to end Wednesday.

The incentives would echo those offered by three Florida Panhandle airports. Pensacola just wrapped up a very public campaign that won support from some Baldwin County business leaders.

Mobile Airport Authority leaders have taken a hush-hush approach, by contrast. "The airport is constantly talking to various airlines, including Southwest," airport Marketing Manager Julie Bordes said Monday.

But authority board Chairman Richard Davis confirmed the effort. "We would desire to have Southwest in Mobile, by all means," Davis said.

Mike Lee Sr., a member of the Mobile chamber's air service task force, said the survey resulted from a meeting last month