Squashed roaches vex me,
but not as much as live ones
running loose and fast.

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If I were a book,
the intro would say how much
I hate weird questions.

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Choice at lunchtime is
extracubicular jaunt
or eating at desk.

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Lake Soon-be-Gone: It is so hot … How hot is it? It is so hot, the lakes are drying up. Let us remind you, we’re in a drought. If you’re watering your plants at midnight or washing your car, you’re killing us all down the road. It’s likely we won’t see significant rainfall until November — or the first hurricane. Either way, it’s going to be ugly. Hot and ugly.
• Lakes’ water levels dwindling, utilities say [Birmingham News]

Gimme shelter: Speaking of nasty weather, three cities have invested in public storm shelters able to withstand (fingers crossed) an F-5 tornado with winds up to 318 mph. Bagley and Graysville already have one shelter each, for a total of 110 people and a total cost of $47,000 (federal dollars covered 75 percent of the cost). Trussville is spending $110,000 (must be the deluxe model) to protect 100 people. Applause all around for these cities on the lookout for residents who don’t always have some place to hide when the sirens go off.
• Public shelters help weather storms [Birmingham News]

New edition: A long time ago, yours truly was a cub reporter for The Birmingham News. And then for a long time, I worked for the Post-Herald in the same building as the News. So I’m a little wistful to see the new building finally complete. After $21 million and 14 months, the state’s biggest newspaper has a grand new home. I can’t wait to see it in person. Congratulations to the folks down at the intersection of Fourth Avenue North and 22nd Street.
• The News’ building for new century [Birmingham News]

Also:

• City mass transit cut to one route, one moped, two days a week
• Homewood students pray intently for flagpole
• Almost time to rake leaves unconsumed by wildfire, tropical storms

• • •

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World holds its breath as
terror almost strikes again.
Calamity? Tamed.

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Cop out: Birmingham’s murder spree continues unabated, and what’s the police chief’s big idea? Threaten cops leaving for better-paying jobs in the suburbs, telling them that they won’t ever be hired back. Mayor Kincaid even balked at the Aug. 2 menacing memo from Annetta Nunn (pictured here), writing that she didn’t have the power. Mayor Kincaid, take it one step further: Fire or demote Nunn now, and tell her if she ever leaves, he’ll spring for bus fare.
• Mayor orders police chief to restore policy [Birmingham News]

For whom the school bell tolls: Police officers aren’t the only ones fleeing town in droves. In only five years, Birmingham schools lost 7,300 students — one in five students skipped out for other, presumably better, systems. And 90 percent were black. (The methodology, somewhat flawed, still shows a desperate situation.) The exodus is costing city schools millions in federal dollars tied to enrollment numbers. New superintendent or no, the system’s fate could be sealed, leaving nearly 30,000 students stuck with a bleak future.
• City’s black students leaving for suburbs [Birmingham News]

Semper try: Some conservatives paint the media as responsible for declining troop morale and safety in Iraq. So what to make of Jeff Key, a gay redneck from Walker County turned Hollywood actor turned Marine reservist deployed to Iraq? After suffering from a hernia two months on duty, he returned stateside for an operation and … anti-war activism, including a play at Birmingham Festival Theatre, “The Eyes of Babylon,” based on his life story. The play runs through Saturday. By 2007, nearly 1,600 Alabama Army National Guard soldiers will be in Iraq, the highest number since 2,300 served in 2003.
• Looking into the Eyes of Babylon [Birmingham Weekly]

Also:

• Gas station owners prepare to gouge gas-addicted drivers
• Malls besieged with returns, long lines in post-sales tax holiday rush
• Accounting firm’s softball team forfeits pennant after flipping digits

• • •

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Tell me all about
the specials, and bring me an
appetizing dish.

• • •

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1. drops on in
   Flowers are coming
   thanks to these passing showers
   that soak up the sun.
    
2. uno de mayo
   Workers’ holiday
   marks birth of eight-hour day.
   Almost quittin’ time?
    
3. señor suave visits the patio
   Older gent puffs on
   cigarette and borrowed time,
   with stylish mustasche.
    

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What can the Soul Patrol expect tonight at the American Idols concert? Birmingham’s Taylor Hicks is back with nine “also-rans” (provided Katharine McPhee doesn’t bug out, again) to perform before a sold-out show at the BJCC Arena.

If you missed out on tickets, or just want to see what you’re getting for your $36.50 to $66.50, we have a sneak peek …

(more…)

Scraps of paper hold
notes, info, once important
to someone somewhere.

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As you may have noticed, I have freshened up Wade on Birmingham with a new look and several new features.

Update: I have even more exciting news at Wade Kwon.com.
(more…)

Shiny new facade
hides hours of coding and
griping at laptop.

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Blank notebooks, pencils,
new backpack, calculator.
Ready for class now.

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Helping hands: As parents shop this tax-free weekend for back-to-school items, area companies are doing their part to fund city schools’ athletic programs, including band and cheerleading. The 10 companies will contribute $1 million total, collected during the next four years, to the Birmingham Athletic Partnership. Participants are ACIPCO, Alabama Power, First American Bank, Ligon Industries, Maynard, Cooper and Gale, Pricewaterhouse Coopers, Protective Life, Regions Bank, Starnes & Atchison, LLP, and Viva Health. Also, World of Opportunity gives dropouts a second (or third) chance at education.
• Companies aid city schools [Birmingham News]

Crunch time: Meanwhile, several school systems are in their annual scramble to find teachers before doors open. Mobile and Montgomery Counties are short by 230 vacancies total with only a couple of weeks to go. Wonder how Birmingham-area systems are doing …

• Retired Samford prez will try to fix state’s nepotism-riddled two-year college system
• Hoover may have ousted her unfairly, but its super ex-superintendent will be helping Birmingham’s new school chief
• Former state assistant school superintendent, Robert Morton, died Tuesday. His legacy: helping systems dig out of debt

• Some Ala. school systems still trying to fill teaching vacancies [Associated Press]

To-do list: 1. If you can stand the heat, the Southern Heritage Festival is back, this time at the Railroad Reservation Park in the heart of Birmingham. On tap: Patti LaBelle, Kem, Koko Taylor and Little Memphis Blues Orchestra. Tickets are $25 for today, $30 for Saturday and $40 for both. [schedule | tickets] (Yep, no Web site, and in 2006. Sigh.) 2. If you can’t stand the heat, the first Magic City Chamber Music Festival takes place in the Reynolds-Kirschbaum Recital Hall at Alys Stephens Center on Southside. Take in classical music, wine, cheese and desserts. Vancouver-based Borealis String Quartet canceled at the last minute because of work visa problems; performers include Pacifica Quartet and UAB’s Denise Gainey and Yakov Kasman.Tickets are $35 for today or Saturday, $40 for Sunday and $100 for all three days. [schedule | audio interview | program notes] 3. See “Talladega Nights,” if only for the deconstruction of Faulkner’s role in modern American literature.

Also:

• Interstate congestion caused by gawkers reading traffic updates on electronic signs
• Growth spurt in Hispanic population linked to steroid abuse
• On Monday, it all begins again

• • •

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Dinner party starts
long before guests arrive as
host scrambles to prep.

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