The contenders: Tuesday’s state primaries offered few surprises, including the top races for governor. For Republicans, Gov. Bob Riley soundly defeated ousted judge Roy Moore, while for Democrats, Lt. Gov. Lucy Baxley knocked out six opponents, including still-on-trial former governor Don Siegelman. Both Riley and Baxley benefitted not only from solid campaigns, but the virtual self-destruction of the their main opponents. Moore seemed to offer little beyond his Ten Commandments bully pulpit, while Siegelman unsuccessfully trotted out the lottery again and blamed Riley for his current courtroom tour on corruption and racketeering charges. Turnout was slightly higher than the 2002 state primaries. Great, Nov. 7 will have a sane and likely boring campaign for governor.
• Primary results [Alabama Live]

A toast: Not surprisingly, the amendment to ban gay marriage in Alabama passed overwhelmingly. Some voters in favor of the amendment cited religion as their reason. Lowndes County, however, did approve liquor sales on Sundays. Tsk tsk. If Jesus died to keep gays from marrying, he certainly didn’t die so you could booze it up on the Sabbath. Straights can drink to victory, gays can drink to better days.
• Gay marriage ban easily approved [Montgomery Advertiser]

The last line of defense: With someone like the mayor of Alabama’s largest city, you’d want only the best protecting him, right? A Birmingham cop assigned to protect Mayor Kincaid has just returned to duty after a month off. Officer William T. Camp Jr. wasn’t on vacation: He was suspended for abandoning a dying man and four victims during a shooting at a restaurant where he provided off-duty security. Camp left to chase the suspect — without calling the paramedics or the cops. Someone please get Mayor Kincaid a panic button and a helmet that says “MAYOR.”
• Officer back on job after 30-day suspension [Birmingham News]

Also:

• Losing candidates prepare to make losing endorsements
• Voters: the vote was yesterday?!
• Only 42 shopping days until runoffs

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Blue skies mean nothing
when power blinks out … again.
Popsicles melting!

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Stand by your man: What does Birmingham have in common with Utah, northwest Georgia, Idaho, the Florida Panhandle and Wyoming? It’s all Bush country, as far as the eye can see. Even with presidential approval ratings in the low 30s nationally, these six areas still show an above-50 percent approval rating. Said one Provo, Utah, Mormon, “I’m against the war in Iraq — and what happened with Hurricane Katrina, well, it was a failure by everybody. I tend to judge a person by their character. And President Bush reminds me of President Reagan. He’s a man of principle.” The muck stops here.
• All Polls Aside, Utah Is Keeping Faith in Bush [New York Times]

Power to the people: New voting machines in Jefferson County are enabling voters with disabilities to cast their ballots today. Before, they had to rely on assistants, sacrificing their privacy, but machines equipped with headphones, braille readouts and touch screens allow for unassisted voting. Now, if someone would help us decide between “money-saturated tool” and “bigoted crazy zealot” …

Also, ballot problems affected at least one Jefferson County precinct this morning.
• 14 handicapped-accessible voting machines to be tested [Birmingham News]

Mething around: Public organizations in Marshall County have banded together to film public service announcements about the dangers of meth. The filming included blowing up a house to show the risk of explosion in residential drug labs. We smell Oscar! Not an Academy Award — Oscar, our neighbor who runs a crummy meth lab in his tool shed.
• Meth film to make citizens more aware [Sand Mountain Reporter]

Also:

• It’s too beautiful a day to stay inside and vote
• AmSouth downtown headquarters to be turned into low-rent condos, homeless shelter
• Bar scene seems so trashy lately

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It’s every voter’s headache and every candidate’s nightmare: ballot problems.

At Fire Station No. 12 in Birmingham, it’s a reality. A ballot mix-up could cause potential problems for state senate candidates in today’s Alabama primary election.

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Take care of yourself.
Fretting about you isn’t
doing a whole lot.

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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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What’s to stop people
from finding new ways to change
the world for better?

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Spelling champ pauses
to C if she can beat U.
Yes, letter perfect.

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Hard to read issues
when magazines never show
up in my mailbox.

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Pros and cons: The cost of housing prisoners in Alabama is akin to highway robbery. So says the state department of corrections, which found it cheaper to send prisoners to Louisiana than house them in Alabama’s first private prison. Dammit, first we’re losing them to Louisiana, next we’ll be losing them to Mexico. So Alabama’s newest export is … murderers, rapists and thieves? Ironically, state prison commissioner Richard Allen had little time to start finding homes for convicts — or face the problem head on by ending up in jail, too.
• In-state prison still empty; 600 inmates to go to Louisiana [Birmingham News]

Heading to the poles: Our pal Kathy Kemp explores another issues with metal bars: pole dancing. Workout classes known as Polates (ha!) are attracting women of all ages for a vigorous, um, routine of … well, let’s just let them talk about it. Instructor Erika Grooms says, “Our ladies come from all walks of life, stay-at-home moms, bankers, students. One was a school superintendent. This is fun, it gives you a head-to-toe workout and also boosts a woman’s confidence. It makes you feel sexy.” Great, we can get pole dancing everywhere in town … except actual strip clubs(!).
• Exotic workout [Birmingham News]

Stage beauties: Black and White has its roundup of acts at City Stages 2006, organized in a convenient stage-by-stage breakdown. Run, don’t walk, to your newsstand for your copy. And while you’re out, you have until Sunday to pick up three-day passes at the discounted price of $35, available at select AmSouth (not Regions yet) or Books-A-Million locations. (Also, Ticketma$ter, but watch out for the $ervice charge.)
• City Stages 2006 [Black and White]

Also:

• Election officials prepare for trickles of voters on Tuesday
• Spelling bee champ admits to performance-enhancing aids, like practice, studying
• Citizens flee downtown for gun shops, liquor shacks of suburbia

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If you thought May 2006 was awesome, wait till you see May 2006, again …

(more…)

We real cool. We left
school. We sing sin. We thin gin.
We jazz June. We die …

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