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Focuses on a roundtable discussion on the state of the high technology industry in South Florida. Emergence of application service providers in Broward County; Evolution of the I-95 Corridor initiative into the Internet Coast initiative; Incrementalism; Steps to facilitate the growth of the technology sector.

Focuses on the rising therapeutic importance of gardens and landscapes in the health care industry in Birmingham, Alabama. Role of the landscape architect in the construction of health care centers; Case of the Riverchase's Galleria Woods retirement community; Healing effects of plants; Advances in health care landscaping through the collaboration between horticulture and architecture.

Focuses on the 1996 Man of the Year co-winners Larry Lemak and Gene Hallman. Qualifications; Judgement criteria; Contributions to the Birmingham, Alabama society.

Focuses on Highland Park Neighborhood Association president Morris Newman's difficult task of convincing homeowners near the fairways of the Highland Park Golf Course in Birmingham, Alabama about the viability of the project. Proposals for returning the golf course to playability; Newman's plans to hire a management company to oversee the golf course's daily operations; Problems that led to the course's decline.

Profiles Gene Hallman, chief executive director of the Alabama Sports Foundation. Events Hallman organized; Olympic Soccer matches; National Collegiate Athletic Association's Southeastern Conference baseball tournament in Birmingham; Bruno's Memorial Classic Senior Professional Golf Association Tour.

Reports on retailer and ex-convict Charles Mallory's re-opening of the 65th St. Grocery store in Birmingham, Alabama. Mallory's thoughts on his drug conviction; Location of the store; History of the store; Mallory's renovation of the store.

Reports on complaints against the quality of care at the Beverly Health Care Center East in Trussville in Birmingham, Alabama. Case of Martha Glass, who claimed her mother received poor care from Beverly staff; Concerns over lack of nursing staff in the center; Contract negotiation between the United Food and Commercial Workers' Union Local 1657 and the health care center owner Beverly Enterprises Inc.

Reports on Alabama Insurance Commissioner Michael DeBellis' call for a continuance of the investigation against the contracts undertaken by former commissioner Jimmy Dill. DeBellis' railroading of the investigation with the Alabama Personnel Board; Allegations against Dill; Insurance investigations against Dill. INSETS: Dill learns details of new investigation.;Dill reformed Insurance Department during short, stormy...

Reports on the University of Alabama at Birmingham's (UAB) proposal to set up a health maintenance organization (HMO), to be called VIVA, and the reactions of insurers and politicians in the area. Implications of the proposal and UAB's 75 percent ownership of Triton Health Systems; Reasons behind hospitals' interest in founding HMOs; Lawsuits filed and threats hurled at UAB.

Discusses the rise and fall of the Barracudas, a football team in Birmingham. Manager Art Williams; Monetary problems; Comments from vice president of the Barracudas Ty Coppinger; More comments; Statistics.

Reports that Labor union organization activity is rising in Birmingham. Election wait for UNR-Rohn company's non-union Bessemer factory officials; Other companies attempting to organize unions; Statistics on the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations membership; Comments from National Labor Relations Board's Doug Marshall.

Part I. Examines Alabaster town mayor Roger Wheeler's proposal to build a domed athletic stadium in an abandoned lime quarry in Shelby County, Alabama. Increase in the town's budget; Description of the proposed location; History of the county; Growth of the county population; Real estate business; Background information on Wheeler.

Focuses on the assistance given the National Association of Investors Corporation to people in making investment decisions. Membership requirements; Sharing of investment information.

Reports on the growth of venture capital financing in Georgia, in 1999. Ranking of the state based on amount of venture capital raised; Size of the average venture capital deal; Major deals in the fourth quarter of the year.

Focuses on Florida State Senator Ron Klein's introduction of a legislation that officially promotes a Network Access Point in south Florida. Benefits to potential high tech tenants; Enhancement of the state's role as the tech gateway to Central and South America; Long-term key to success in electronic commerce; Four primary national access points to the Internet backbone.

Reports on business difficulties encountered by women entrepreneurs in the technology industry of Atlanta, Georgia. Number of women that landed venture capital funding deals in 1998; Efforts of the city to grow into a technology hub; Increased number of women entrepreneurs as bringing a different perspective to companies targeting a diverse consumer base. INSET: High-tech party still a men's club in Atlanta..

Reports on the Georgia Department of Industry, Trade and Tourism's development of a strategy to recruit technology companies to every area in the state. Tax incentives and new programs for technology companies; Reactions of the Atlanta technology community over the agency's plan; Ranking of Georgia in the United States in terms of technology growth.

Reports on Marksteiner AG's purchase of high-definition television (HDTV) stations in southern Florida. Gunter Marksteiner's rationale for selecting the region as base for his MIG Group Communications firm; United States Federal Communications Commission's rules regarding HDTV programming; Cost of television sets which receive HDTV programs.

Features Florida Venture Forum's annual Florida Venture Capital Conference. Total amount in venture capital garnered by entrepreneurs since 1992; Topic of the seminar to be held in Orlando, Florida on October 13, 1999; Technology push as the tech talk that entrepreneurs often life to espouse. INSETS: National Vc info.;Annual conference coming in January.;Vc in Florida..

Interviews Thomas Doster, ex-president of Doster Construction, and his successor Duane Watson, about the family succession issue and other topics. Significance of the appointment of Watson as president; Basis for the appointment; Responsibilities of Watson.

Reports that the Court of Appeals has asked the Alabama Supreme Court to make decisions on a case that will affect Blue Cross' carefully constructed physicians networks and could modify its government-sanctioned status. Actions the Court of Appeals might take in consideration of the Supreme Court's findings regarding the case; Background of the case; Blue Cross' argument on paying non-network providers.

Looks at the acquisition of Scandipharm, a drug marketing company in Birmingham, Alabama, by California-based company Dura Pharmaceuticals. Reactions of Scandipharm's president on Dura's offer; Characteristics of Scandipharm; Services offered by the company and its sales; What the combined operation can offer.

Describes the children's psychiatric unit at the Hill Crest Hospital in Birmingham, Alabama. Appointment of Steve McCabe as chief executive officer of the hospital owned by Florida-based Ramsay Health Care; Background on founding of hospital in the 1920s; Financial problems at hospital.

Features MedPartners Inc., a physician practice management firm founded in Birmingham, Alabama in 1993. Creation of a network on medical knowledge; Improvement of profits and patient care; Accountability of physicians through advisory committees and task forces.

Reports on Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama's decision to drop its membership in the Birmingham Area Chamber of Commerce. Possible reason for the health maintenance organization's decision; Trend toward chamber-endorsed health plans; Provisions under the Hoover Chamber of Commerce health plan debuted in March 1997.

Discloses that Birmingham, Alabama-based KPS Group has acquired Atlanta-based Housworth Parker/Cherry Roberts and its seven registered architects in a stock-for-stock swap. Total staff of the combined company known as KPS Group Inc.; Financial performance of KPS Group in 1996; Consolidation in the architectural services industry.

Reports on the financial troubles facing health maintenance organizations (HMOs) in Birmingham, Alabama. Concerns over the ability of HMOs to compete with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama; Factors driving the decline in HMOs' business; Highlights of the financial reports of several HMOs in the area.

Features the Operating Partners Program offered by the RTM Restaurant Group. Profits gained by the company from the program; Manager of the group; Stability of the work force of the company; Management style employed in running the business; Advantages of the program; Costs of the program.

Reports that Wall Street Deli has combined TCBY Enterprises to open a prototype restaurant in Birmingham, Alabama, designed to improve market share and stockholder value. Restaurant description; Format; Operations.

Reports that BioHorizons Implant Systems, which manufacturers and markets resistance-precise implants, will offer $700,000 worth of new shares. Background information on the company; Product description; Price per share; Comments from chief executive officer Martha Warren Bidez.

Reports on the purchase and development of the former Jaguar Club building in Birmingham, Alabama by Charlotte Taylor. Notoriety of the Jaguar Club and its owner Ulysses Smoot; Plans to open a restaurant; Taylor's efforts to build goodwill with the community.

Focuses on the terra cotta exhibit at the Birmingham Museum of Art entitled `The First Emperor: Treasures from Ancient China.' Role of museum curator Don Wood in bringing the figures to Birmingham; Historical background of the terra cottas.

Focuses on Profitt's Inc.'s acquisition of specialty department store chain Parisian. Cash and stocks involved in the deal; Parisian as Profitt's flagship specialty brand; Parisian's distinctive marketing and sales strategies.

Recounts the author's experience with United Food and Commercial Worker's Union Local 1657 representative Julee Jerkovich while organizing a handbilling campaign against a nursing home in Birmingham, Alabama. Confrontation with the police; Legal aspects of handbilling campaigns.

Reports on the start of PsychPartners' acquisitions negotiations with five physician practices in Birmingham, Alabama. Plan for a statewide behavioral medicine network; Projections on a $10 million worth of earnings in June 1996; Acquisition of Birmingham Psychiatry.

Part II. Reports on the investigation of former Alabama Insurance Department Commissioner Jimmy Dill for various charges. How the investigation relates to Dill's dispute with Insurance Commissioner Michael DeBellis; Impressions on the changes made by Dill to the department; How Dill describes his investigation.

Reports on the increase in Mobile, Alabama-based Delchamps Inc.'s profits for the second quarter ended December 31, 1995. Recovery from losses in the previous quarter; Positive effect of the company's low-price strategy; Optimism of management about the financial results.

Looks at retail trade in Alabama's Mountain Brook area. Measures implemented by Mountain Brook City Council; Uses for revenue generated from retail trade.

Assesses the performance of the business loan program created by the Birmingham, Alabama Community Development Office. How the program helped former Fontaine Truck Equipment employee Russell Warren form and operate Warren Manufacturing.

Reports that the Birmingham, Alabama Public Safety Committee is investigating a spate of shootings and crime in the vicinity of Club Jaguar. Highlights of an inquiry held in October 1995.

Reports on the growing competition among airplane service and maintenance companies at Birmingham, Alabama's airports. Opportunities for fixed-base operators (FBO); Marketing strategies.

Reports that high-risk federal and local lending programs have clogged Birmingham, Alabama's books with $5.75 million in principal on defaulted, delinquent, and unresolved loans as of August 1995. Loans received by Tutwiler Hotel and Colonial Properties; Other businesses which have defaulted loans.

Reports on the University of Alabama Birmingham's football program under the management of marketing entrepreneur Mitzi Sims. Sims' advertising campaign for the Blazers; Sims' career background; Entry into football management.

Reports on various violent incidents associated with the presence of Birmingham, Alabama-based nightclub Jaguar Club. Ray Press owner Thomas Ray's decision to relocate his company's business; Opening of the Jaguar Club by Ulysses Smoot; Rowdy clientele attracted by the club; Lack of sufficient evidences to implicate the Club.

Features restaurateur Chris Hastings and his soon-to-open Hot and Hot Fish Club eatery in Birmingham, Alabama. Competition to former employer, Frank Stitt of Highlands Bar & Grill and Bottega restaurants in downtown Birmingham; Training and background of Hastings as a chef; Origin of Hot and Hot Fish Club.

Features Skate Sports South, an association involved in inline skating in Birmingham, Alabama headed by Dano Loudon. History of the organization; Growth in the participation in inline skating; Sports' appeal to skaters.

Reports on the pension fund investment devised by Birmingham, Ala. investment specialists George Daniels and Rodney Alldredge. Sale of the investment scheme to the State Street Bank and Trust Co. in Boston, Mass.; Features of the pension fund investment scheme; Rate of returns; Comments from Daniels and Alldredge.

Reports on the conflict between HealthSouth Corp. chief executive officer Richard Scrushy and the Alabama Hospital Association (AHA) concerning the abolition or retention of the state Certificate of Need (CON) board. AHA's campaign to eliminate the CON process for reviewing applications for new health care infrastructure and services; Governor Fob James' dismissal of seven CON board members.

Reports on the merger between Bart Starr's Starr Sanders Johnson and Maryland-based Healthcare Realty Trust (HRT). Healthcare Realty Management (HRM) as company's new name; Emphasis on less expensive outpatient care; HRM's flagship project; HRM as a real estate lender.

Focuses on the supermarket industry in Birmingham, Alabama. Bruno's as the dominant supermarket; Expansion of Winn-Dixie; Replacement of the idea of customer service with a focus on one-stop shopping.