Music in May continues Saturday with a first fest from WZZK (104.7 FM). The station will hold its Downtown Throw-Down from 4 to 10:30 p.m. The five country acts are:

• Whiskey Falls
• Bucky Covington
• Kellie Pickler
• Blake Shelton
• Sara Evans, aka the soon-to-be Mrs. Jay Barker

Like last weekend’s Crawfish Boil, the event takes place next to the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex [satellite view]. Tickets are $15 in advance (meaning today) and probably more at the gate.
• Official site

Video previews, after the jump …

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How bad is traffic in the Birmingham metro area? Forbes magazine says we have the worst commute among small cities, costing us 33 hours a year. Some 37 percent make it to work in less than 20 minutes.

The city ranked as having the best commute among small cities is Corpus Christi, Texas.

What’s being done to save us? Well, Mayor Langford proposed free rides on MAX buses to help combat rising gas costs, but both the Birmingham-Jefferson County Transit Authority and the city council have balked. So far, City Hall hasn’t provided promised cash to actually pay for the free rides. Not that the transit system hasn’t been broken for years.

Perhaps a more innovative solution comes from CommuteSmart Birmingham, which will pay you $2 a day (up to $120 in three months) for switching from driving alone to an alternate method: bike, walk, carpool, telecommute or even ride the bus.

Does Birmingham have what it takes to fix the transportation situation? Or are we all doomed to spend more time stuck in our cars and more money at the pump?
• Forbes: In Depth: Best And Worst Commutes In Small Cities

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May means more more more when it comes to fun events and fresh air.

If you’re going to eat local, this weekend’s a good time to start.

The ninth annual Pepper Place Saturday Market starts its five-month run on Saturday. Local crops, local flowers, local music and demonstrations by local chefs fill the mornings from 7 a.m. to noon.

And don’t forget: Tonight and Saturday, check out the Schaeffer Eye Center Crawfish Boil with Fergie, T-Pain, Gavin DeGraw, Flo Rida and 3 Doors Down. See and hear the lineup.

Will you be heading out to these local events this weekend? Tell us.
• Official site

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Jefferson County’s debt crisis could be the worst in U.S. history, thanks to bond swaps and other financial shenanigans. Who’s to blame? The government says Larry Langford, former head of the county commission and current head of Birmingham.

The Securities and Exchange Commission filed a civil complaint today against the mayor for taking more than $156,000 in cash and benefits, in exchange for helping his good buddy Bill Blount get in on the bond swap action worth more than $6 million in business. Also named is Al LaPierre, another Langford pal/lobbyist/former head of the state Democratic Party. The SEC accused LaPierre of receiving $219,500 from Blount to help win the county’s financial business.

Langford and LaPierre have denied any wrongdoing.

At the heart of the case, accusations of concealed payments, backroom deals and financial mismanagement of public funds of the worst kind. Meanwhile, the mayor continues to propose sketchily detailed projects and funding for the city. Where, and how, will it all end?

Also:

• The SEC press release
• How Langford’s $70,000 clothing crunch may have cost billions to county residents (PDF)
• Langford: “My whole life has been put out in the public. Name me another official that’s been put under that type of scrutiny.”
• WBHM interviews Glenn Gordon of the SEC (MP3)
• Fox 6 explains the complexities of municipal finance in Bond Deals 101

• Birmingham News: SEC files civil complaint against Birmingham Mayor Larry Langford, banker and lobbyist

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Paintings in the park: Swing by Linn Park for the 25th annual Magic City Art Connection. The free event runs from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. today, Saturday and Sunday, with artists from all over, plus Corks and Chefs, that sumptuous gathering of the Birmingham’s finest cuisine.
• Official site

Bargains in the Belk: The Junior League of Birmingham has its annual Bargain Carousel. Maybe you need clothes, or toys, or furniture, or about a hundred other things. See one of the largest “garage sales” over at the abandoned Belk at Century Plaza, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday. Admission from 8 a.m. to noon Saturday is $5. Proceeds from the event fund the organization’s year-round service projects.

Don’t forget: You can also dump your old electronics and computers Saturday at Century Plaza.
• Official site

God vs. gangstas: If you’re on hand this evening for the art festival, stick around, because some performance art is gonna blow your mind. Mayor Langford, having purchased thousands of sackcloths with personal funds, will have a prayer rally in Linn Park at 6 tonight. Like his predecessor Bernard Kincaid (who threw a “funeral” for crime), Langford wants the community to don the sackcloth and ashes, declaring “It’s time to pray.” LaLa meets dada. Excellent.
• Park drips with irony, intolerance [Birmingham News]

Also:

• Barons gear up for pointless season
• City’s surreal index dangerously high
• Segway plant considers moving to state, very slowly

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Hosts Tom Bergeron and Samantha Harris, left, boot
Marlee Matlin and Hoover’s Fabian Sanchez
from “Dancing With the Stars.”

On Tuesday’s episode of ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars,” actress Marlee Matlin and her professional partner, Fabian Sanchez of Hoover, were eliminated. Week 5 saw the pair perform the mambo, earning a score of 21 from the judges, the lowest among the seven competing couples.

Ironically, Sanchez won the 2006 national championship in … mambo.

Oh well, that’s the way the ballroom bounces. What’s the sign for “failure”?

Video of the messy mambo, after the jump …

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Greetings, fellow Earthlings,

As you idle your SUVs in rush hour traffic, sipping on gourmet coffee in disposable containers, please remember that today is Earth Day. (Next week: Up With Uranus Week.)

To mark the greening of society, Birmingham Weekly has a passel of articles on the event, including a look at Fresh Air Family, which wants you to go outside and play.

The Birmingham News marks the day with a feature on the soon-to-be first LEED-certified house in Alabama, over in Homewood. Take a look at it via satellite.

And finally, drop off your electronics and computers and unwanted gizmos from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday at Century Plaza during Ecycling Day. Send all gently used iPods to our mailing address.

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If Alabama hasn’t received enough national media attention lately, the drought is over, friends.

Exhibit A: Don Siegelman freed by “60 Minutes.” The former governor talked with the news magazine about seeing his story and his challenge for Republican operative Karl Rove.

Check out his brief interview from last Sunday’s broadcast …

• Siegelman Future Hinges On Appeal [CBS News]

Exhibit B: How bad is the state’s tax system? PBS news magazine “Now” investigates.

“Now” gets inside the lives of three Alabamian families — each in a different income bracket — to document the impact of regressive tax policies on people’s lives and wallets. The program follows a working mom to a grocery store, showing viewers how a 10 percent sales tax on groceries makes a significant difference in what her family eats.

Viewers travel to the backwoods to meet a couple who have always held jobs but still face hunger. They wonder why the government takes such a big share of the salary they earn. The program also spends time with a well-to-do suburban couple who benefit from a system that gives them huge tax breaks, and we hear their opinion on a tax hike.

The show airs at 8:30 p.m. Friday on APT-10 (a one-time only resurrection from its current time slot, 3:30 a.m. Sundays, banished there by the cowards at Alabama Public Television). Video and podcast will be available next week on the show’s site and on iTunes.
• Alabama Tax Policies [APT]

Exhibit C: As the corruption in Alabama’s two-year college system comes to light, lawmakers are running scared. Many “work” for the system, and are now being hauled before a grand jury to prove they’re not in it just for money. Oh, but think of the children poorly educated not-quite-collegians! (Hat tip to our pal Dave.)
• Fear, Paranoia and, Yes, Some Loathing in Alabama State House [New York Times]

Also:

• Rains bring nearly full capacity for local pollution- and pharmaceutical-tainted lakes
• Council approves mayor’s plan to beat council with pointy sticks
• Ah, spring, when a young man’s fancy turns to— er, fancy? Really?

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After nine months in prison, Don Siegelman is a free man. Sort of.

The former governor, convicted in 2006 of bribery, mail fraud and conspiracy, will be released from an Oakdale, La., prison camp on bond today as his appeal is considered. Meanwhile, co-convict Richard Scrushy remains locked up, his release denied because of flight risk.

The appeals court says enough substantial questions remain about the conviction to allow the release. Siegelman could end up in Washington, testifying before the House Judiciary Committee. Ironically, he didn’t even take the stand at his own trial.

How bizarre is this legal maze? See the “60 Minutes” report from February and judge for yourself.

• The Birmingham News: Siegelman leaving prison on appeal

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What’s wrong with Birmingham? And how do we fix it? Birmingham Weekly gathered city and community leaders for a series of conversations on the issues of the day. Crime, education, communication and cooperation all came up, along with a rather detailed discussion on the pros and cons of the neighborhood associations. The group includes a Langford staffer, the president of the County Commission, a brain, a princess, a basket case and a criminal.

Sincerely yours, the B’ham Club.
• Birmingham Weekly: Pieces of the puzzle

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Hoover dance instructor and 2006 national mambo champion Fabian Sanchez has partnered with Oscar winner Marlee Matlin. Not for a movie, but for something more glamorous: the sixth season of ABC’s reality competition, “Dancing With the Stars.” The show premiered last Monday.

Sanchez, a newcomer among the show’s professionals, and Matlin, the first deaf competitor, scored 22 in the first round, good enough to tie for fourth place among the 12 couples. The pair performed a cha-cha-cha and a quickstep.

He started dancing in 1992 and serves as co-owner of Fred Astaire Dance Studio with his wife, Jacqueline.

The round continues from 7 to 9 tonight, with a recap at 7 p.m. Tuesday and the results following at 8 p.m., all on ABC 33/40.

Update: The Comedy Club Stardome [map] will hold a free viewing party tonight. Doors open at 6, with free dance lessons from 9 to 10.

Speaking of ABC reality, the Gaudet family of Mobile moved into a new house in February after Katrina wrecked the old one, courtesy of “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.” The episode, which aired Sunday, is available online.
• The Birmingham News: Birmingham man dances way to TV

See Sanchez with his celebrity partner, after the jump …

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If your TV set and DVR haven’t been stolen, tune in at 7 tonight for the oddly named “Birmingham 35911,” an hourlong report from Alabama Public Television on the city’s struggles with violent crime. Randy Scott will serve as host for this installment of the news series, “Alabama Stories.”

“What’s being done to fight crime in Alabama’s largest city? Some federal statistics suggest there could be an increase in violence in the Magic City. As a new police chief settles in at city hall, this program explores what’s being done to stop this alarming trend.”

(APT will likely make the program available afterwards on its video page, which you can watch if your computer hasn’t been stolen.)

And be sure to visit our Crime Watch page, with the latest on Birmingham under siege. Fun fact: For 2008, we’re at 19 homicides, more than 50 percent ahead of last year at this time with a measly 12.

What is to be done?

Who’s got pull? The juice? The reach? In Alabama politics, the most powerful unelected person turns out to be union boss Paul Hubbert. (Though technically, he was elected by the membership.) The head of the Alabama Education Association ranked No. 1 in Danny’s list of the Top 40 movers and shakers who wield the sweetest power of all, untouchable.

How did Bobby Lowder rank? Or Milton McGregor? Or even Charles McCrary? What, no bloggers?
• Doc’s Political Parlor: Top 40 Most Influential Non-Elected Alabamians

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The Big Dance starts nationwide Thursday, and eight teams are headed to Birmingham to Step. It. Up. The BJCC Arena will play host to first-round East region games of the men’s NCAA basketball tournament on Friday and Sunday. The matchups:

Friday

• Game A: 2. Tennessee (29-4) vs. 15. American (21-11), 11:15 a.m.
• Game B: 7. Butler (29-3) vs. 10. South Alabama (26-6), 1:45 p.m.
• Game C: 3. Louisville (24-8) vs. 14. Boise State (25-8), 6:10 p.m.
• Game D: 6. Oklahoma (22-11) vs. 11. Saint Joseph’s (21-12), 8:40 p.m.

Sunday

• The winners of Game A and B, 1 p.m.
• The winners of Game C and D, 3:30 p.m.

(Specific times to be updated.)

The South Alabama Jaguars are the sole team in the field of 65 from the state, essentially playing a home game in Birmingham, which last held tourney games in 2003. UAB and Alabama’s men’s teams could be headed to the NIT, to be announced at 8 tonight on ESPN2/ESPNU.

Tickets for the Friday/Sunday games are still available, in three-ticket books at $153 each.

Update: Alabama State (but not Alabama) and UAB are headed to the NIT. Plus, zero Alabama women’s teams headed for the tourney.

Update 2: And the last team headed to post-season? Auburn, playing George Washington in the first round of the ladies’ tourney, 1 p.m. Saturday in Stanford, Calif.
• ESPN: 2008 NCAA tournament selections

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The Birmingham school board fired superintendent Stan Mims Tuesday night. His downfall? Taking a think tank report [PDF] that listed problems within the system and deleting pages with critical comments before distributing the altered version [PDF] to the public and media. No severance pay — his contract was for $175,000 a year plus $7,200-a-month expense allowance — though the board could change its mind at the termination hearing.

Mims changed his story a few times on why he altered the report, claiming its findings would demoralize the staff, findings such as “Leadership: lack of strategic vision; poor communication; no sense of urgency or energy” and “Operations: lack of performance standards.” We know we’re demoralized.

Meanwhile, the council approved $3.5 million for 15,000 laptops for the school system, whether it’s ready or not, whether it wants them or not. Those computers are the ones that cost $200 each and need a yet-to-be-implemented wireless network. Wait, what did that report say again?

• The Birmingham News: School board fires Mims

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