Outbreak of civil rest: Civil rights leader and Alabama native Fred Shuttlesworth is stepping down from the pulpit of the Cincinnati church he founded 40 years ago. The reverend worked in Birmingham in the 1960s to end segregation — and was nearly killed several times fighting for equal treatment. He turns 84 on Saturday. Meanwhile, 83-year-old Jim Clark, the Dallas County sheriff at the heart of 1965’s “Bloody Sunday” in Selma, says he’d attack the civil rights marchers again today. Ah, some things never change.
• Civil rights leader: age, retirement won’t stop fight for justice [Associated Press]

You’ve bulldozed the rest, now try the west: Bessemer is spending $13.5 million to land a $60 milllion mall. That thing better have a Hot Topic.
• Bessemer to back shopping center [Birmingham News]

Lord, I’m coming home to you: Among this year’s newest members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? Skynyrd! You can thank/rue the band for the inescapable state anthem, “Sweet Home Alabama,” whether it’s in fast-food chicken commercials or in heated debates of Lynyrd Skynyrd vs. Neil Young. Meanwhile, Sheryl Crow has rescheduled her Huntsville date for June 25, following breast cancer surgery in March. And the latest adds to City Stages? Yellowcard and John Hiatt.
• Black Sabbath, Blondie Enter Rock Hall [Associated Press]

Also:

• Downtown parade attracks gawkers, lookie loos
• New customer still feels vaguely uneasy about cell phone plan
• State organizes intervention for Jefferson County

• • •

Send us your news tips.

The good folks at Scripps Howard News Service have picked up this profile on Taylor Hicks for the news wire. (Thanks, Karen!) Meet Brad Hicks, Taylor’s father and best friend. And learn what Taylor has in common with “American Idol” winner Ruben Studdard.

Look for it in print and online in your favorite news sites, such as the Knoxville (Tenn.) News Sentinel, the Albuquerque (N.M.) Tribune, the Abilene (Texas) Reporter-News, ABC 15 (Phoenix), the (Wichita Falls, TX) Times Record News, the Corpus Christi (Texas) Caller-Times, the Decatur Daily and the (Fort Wayne, Ind.) Journal Gazette.

And be sure to kindly ask your local newspaper and TV station to run the story from the Scripps Howard News Service.

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St. Patrick’s Day in U.S. at odds with Ireland’s religious holiday: Here in America, March 17 is a day of beer-fueled frivolity for many, a secular holiday filled with visions of shamrocks and leprechauns more than penance and prayer. “St. Patrick’s Day is a religious holiday in Ireland. The first thing you do is go to church. The big thing here is corned beef and cabbage. In Ireland, you’d have to go looking for it. It’s not served on St. Patrick’s.”

Fight the power. Fight
the power. We’ve got to fight
the powers that be.

• • •

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Dancing for dollars: The Southeastern Conference (like all conferences) gets paid for each team and each game in the men’s NCAA tourney. But the payoff has tapered off after growing by more than $4 million in recent years. Is the SEC in a temporary drought? ESPN’s Dick Vitale puts it in perspective: “Florida can have this phenomenal year they’re having. But let Florida get bounced in the first or second round, the naysayers will be saying Billy Donovan can’t win in the tournament. (But) a team gets hot two games (in the tournament) and that coach is a savior and everybody who has a vacancy is hunting him down. The tournament has become so big that it’s created a lot of chaos.” And you thought it was about sportsmanship and higher learning.

The schedule:

• 1:40 today, CBS 42: Marquette (7) vs. Alabama (10)
• 1:55 today, online: Florida (3) vs. South Alabama (14)
• 8:55 p.m. Friday, CBS 42: Kentucky (8) vs. UAB (9)

Last chance to fill out your brackets for a prize!

• Doing so little with so much [Birmingham News]

See rock country: Moss Rock Preserve is a 250-acre slice of wilderness heaven for hikers, rock climbers and visitors. Hoover’s hidden gem has homegrown touches, from Boy Scouts building bridges to handmade trail signs. As long as the city doesn’t put another gas station or pita joint there, we’re happy.
• Moss Rock Preserve [Black and White]

Two wheels, will travel: The tiny town of Ramer, south of Montgomery, is home to the Alabama Cycling Camp, attracting riders from across the United States and Canada. For $600 for a week, cyclists enjoy lodging, meals and coaching, plus the mild climate from November to April. Said one attendee, “Back in Michigan, we have a lot of flat roads and a lot of irate drivers. I’m amazed at how polite people are here and how accommodating they are when they pass. A lot of the roads are almost totally free of traffic.” Just wait till you get in a car, buddy, cuz then you’re fair game.
• Rolling in Ramer: Cycling team enjoys taste of Alabama charm [Montgomery Advertiser]

A reminder: Turn in your NCAA brackets to win a 256MB USB thumb drive/pen by 11 a.m. today. It’s free, so enter now.

Also:

• East Lake woman can smell your weakness, and it’s tiny muffins
• ‘No ketchup’ order botched in drive-through lane
• Engineering firm debates best crack pipe material

• • •

Send us your news tips.

Use extreme caution!
Beware the ides of today
and live tomorrow.

• • •

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Jam TV: What’s more exciting than watching paint dry? How about cars stuck in traffic? The state transportation department is offering live streaming video of 12 traffic hotspots around Birmingham, such as the one at University Boulevard facing south on the Red Mountain Expressway pictured here. Other spots include Interstate 20/59 at Arkadelphia, and the I-65/I-459 junction. The state spent $200,000 on video equipment. And you’ll never have to ask your loved ones, “Guess where I am?” ever again.
• Live! From Malfunction Junction [Birmingham News]

Law and Order: County Task Force: The Birmingham buzzword for 2006 is “cooperation.” Jefferson County sheriff Mike Hale is asking for a countywide violent crime task force called Operation Unity. And none too soon, as Birmingham homicides are up over this point last year. Birmingham fortunately seems amenable to the 60-day project. “We have no problem with it at all,” said one city deputy police chief. Just as long as they don’t waste time raiding 7-7-7 parlors …
• Hale proposes 60-day initiative to fight homicides [Birmingham News]

CSI: College Savings Inferior: Parents can use a state plan to save for kids’ college funds. Unfortunately, a mutual fund rating company says Alabama’s plan is one of the worst in the nation. For the second year in a row. One reason: Until this year, savings withdrawals from the plan were taxable. But even with the change, a few investment advisors are steering their clients to other 529 mutual funds. Feh, college. Who needs it? It’s just book learning and church burning from what we hear.
• Alabama college savings ranks at bottom [Birmingham News]

A reminder: One day left(!) to turn in your NCAA brackets to win a 256MB USB thumb drive/pen. It’s free, so enter now.

Also:

• Delivery guy can’t find house of “Al Cayda”
• Office mates’ droning actually kinda soothing
• Last mall standing wins a Hooters

• • •

Send us your news tips.

The 12 “American Idol” hopefuls sang the praises and phrases of Stevie Wonder live. And Birmingham’s Taylor Hicks brought the house down. How did he stack up against the other finalists?

Recap after the jump …

Updated with video, elimination.

(more…)

Spark of life comes from
striving for more than dreams stuck
inside our noggins.

• • •

Read more haiku.

Spare parts: Although South Korean automaker chose Georgia for its first North American factory (missed Alabama by a mile), Alabama will still reap benefits. As many as 800 residents could work at the West Point, Ga., plant. And after another South Korean automaker, Hyundai, announced a factory in Montgomery, 41 related suppliers came to the state. Plus, Honda spent $1 billion on its 27 parts suppliers in this state. Alabama is clearly becoming the Detroit of Dixie.
• Alabama said to gain from Georgia plant [Huntsville Times]

Cattle futures: One cow out of a herd of 40 among thousands of producers and 1.3 million head of cattle in the state. One cow with mad cow disease, but officials are saying the system worked, as the cow was found and killed before entering the food supply. But will it affect beef exports? And beef prices?
• Mad cow case in state said to pose no threat [Birmingham News]

World of wheels: Girls kick ass. The current issue of Birmingham Weekly revisits that truism with its Women’s Issue '06. Meet the gals who make Birmingham boom, like the Tragic City Rollers, a fledgling flat-track roller derby team. Our fave bruisers: Suge Fight, Southern Discomfort and Catty Snatch. And yes, they have a MySpace profile.

Other issue highlights:

• A trio dedicated to ending domestic violence.
• A woman who builds connections between communities of differing faiths.
• The unforgettable commercial ventures of Linda Verin (“Call Goldberg: 800, 600, 6-0-1-4!”), who’s also a busy activist.

• Hell on wheels [Birmingham Weekly]

A reminder: Less than 48 hours to turn in your NCAA brackets to win a 256MB USB thumb drive/pen. It’s free, so enter now.

Also:

• Diner patrons flee rampaging toddler; Dad claims she ‘just had a nap’
• Former pageant winner gazes wistfully at tiara
• Missing cats return with no explanation of disappearance

• • •

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Can’t stand up to boss.
It’s hard out here for a wimp.
Loser mafia.

• • •

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You should be working. You should be studying. You should be changing the baby.

You should be doing anything except thinking about March Madness.

Not gonna happen.

Three teams from Alabama are in. After Alabama snuck in, can it make it past the first round? Can UAB upset Kentucky again? Wait, South Alabama, really?

How to enter

Enter the Big Brackets for Bytes Bonanza. Pick the winners in the men’s NCAA Tournament and challenge your coworkers, buddies and barmates. We’ve made it easy for ya.

(more…)

Update

March madness: A cow at an unnamed Alabama farm tested positive for bovine spongiform encephalopathy, better known as mad cow disease. It’s the third known case in the United States (after Washington and Texas). Effects include tremors, loss of eyesight, loss of bodily function, dementia, respiratory arrest and death. No treatment or cure exists.
• Alabama cow tests positive for mad cow disease [Associated Press]

Mi condo es supremely expensive condo: Condo fever is running at an all-time high downtown, and spreading to outlying areas. How much? Anywhere from $100K to more than $1 million. One appraiser says, “If those higher-end units sell (at City Federal), I guess the sky is the limit.” Let’s hope Birmingham isn’t headed for a condo market crash, like Miami or Atlanta.
• Lofty prices [Birmingham Business Journal]

Homicidal tendancies: Ten weeks into 2006, and we’re running ahead of last year’s homicide total. Birmingham police count 21 homicides, five more than at this point in 2005. We’ve got one word: Duck!
• Birmingham records 21st homicide this year [Associated Press]

Meter unmade: Paying too much for water and sewer? Your odds are going up. Jefferson County workers were responsible for 1,494 misread meters that led to billing adjustments. The county commission will vote Tuesday to hire more workers to deal with a backlog of customers wanting refunds. A Birmingham Water Works official cited a meter misread daily rate of 0.08 percent. Montgomery (0.7 percent), Tuscaloosa (0.17 percent) and Mobile (0.14 percent) have higher error rates, while Huntsville (0.06 percent) has a lower one.
• Water-meter woes swamp Jeffco [Birmingham News]

Also:

• Moving party offers only pizza, lite beer to tired sweaty pals
• Amusement park boasts shorter lines, fewer visitors than ever
• The new phone books are here! The new phone books are here!

• • •

Send us your news tips.

Nice day to kick back.
Even us workaholics
enjoy the respite.

• • •

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Homemade cards still need
personal note to convey
happiness, good cheer.

• • •

Read more haiku.