Heads and tales: Angelic endorsement
By Wade Kwon
Cross to bear: How much God is too much God when you’re running for office? In Alabama, even the Almighty has limits on helping one campaign over another. But it shouldn’t come as a surprise that invoking religion and faith is the new “shaking hands and kissing babies” in politics. [streaming audio version] The primary elections are Tuesday.
• Faith-Based Voting [WBHM (90.3 FM)]
Signs o’ the times: You’re driving down I-65, enjoying the scenic view of pine farms and gravel/wildflower medians, when your lovely drive is spoiled by … campaign signs. One Blount Springs man is on a crusade to clear the plastic political weeds. Greg Caudle has been yanking signs since March and launched LitteronaStick.com (warning: automatic audio), offering a $50 reward to catch campaign workers in the act. In case you’re wondering, it is illegal for those signs to be there, not that the transportation department does much with them (yet they have time to cut down trees!). And at least one candidate has vowed to remove his signs — after the election. Next election: 10-foot-high Vote Wade on Birmingham signs.
• Cleaning up the campaign trail [Birmingham News]
Breathing easier: Ozone is becoming a scarce commodity in Birmingham, which could help in recruiting new industry to the area. Alabama Power, long a top polluter, has spent $2 billion in cleaning up its emissions from coal-fired plants. The city has inched closer to complying with EPA standards, which not only benefits recruiters but also people who breathe, too.
• Metro area gaining ground in pollution battle [Birmingham Business Journal]
The littlest lawsuits: Can a baby sue over a botched abortion? An Alabama appeals court says yes. A woman gave birth to a girl with a hole in her heart and damaged tube from the lungs to the heart. Her unsuccessful abortion at a Southside clinic of Planned Parenthood of Alabama led to the lawsuit. A circuit court ruled that the mother, L.K.D.H., couldn’t sue the clinic on her own behalf, and the five-member appeals court agreed, but did say she could sue on behalf of her child.
• Appeals court allows child to sue over botched abortion [Associated Press]
Also:
- Council, mayor clash over font, paper in preliminary budget
- Weekend picnic ends tragically in stomach cramps, sunburns
- June bugs rename themselves as “summer swarm”
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