Such a cold heart bears
no ill will, hides from contact
within its armor.

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We’re getting older,
yet kids remain naive and
somewhat annoying.

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Somehow, I missed my
true calling of eating hot
dogs and playing Wii.

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A good teacher knows
the limits of her knowledge
from which springs wisdom.

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Between acts, patrons
gulp blended reds and sneak in
a smoke on the lawn.

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Here lies Jefferson County, the biggest county in Alabama, once home to the once biggest city in the state.

What killed Jefferson County? Poor leadership? Not enough civic engagement? Bad financial management? The recession?

Let us start with the budget, a gaping black hole of billions of dollars of debt from the sewer crisis debacle. [More stories on the Jefferson County sewer system problem.] Add to that the demise of the county’s bizarre occupational tax and its $75 million in annual revenue. Rainy day fund? Emergency action plan? What’s Jefferson County’s Plan B? Heck, it doesn’t seem like it has a Plan A …

Kyle Whitmire of Birmingham Weekly does an exceptional job in “Politician-Assisted Suicide” of breaking down the tangled politics and morass of mistakes that have led us to today, the end of the budget.

With no money left, the county has yet to declare bankruptcy. It has however …

• Placed 900 employees on administrative leave with no return date. (The county employs 3,000 workers.)
• Shut down its satellite courthouses where citizens can renew drivers’ licenses and auto tags.
• Revamped its Web site.
• Battled with Sheriff Mike Hale over budget cuts to his department.
• Left Cooper Green Mercy Hospital untouched.
• Fled town: Commission president Bettye Fine Collins was in San Diego at a Republican National Committee meeting (checked into a hotel under her maiden name), and Shelia Smoot was in Nashville at a National Association of Counties convention.

So what’s left? The Legislature could reinstate a revised occupational tax or force the commission to hire a county manager. Jefferson County’s legislators will meet again Tuesday to look for a solution via Montgomery.

Update: The commission must also fend off a lawsuit from within. County tax assessor Dan Weinrib filed suit today to prevent any budget cuts to his department. (Hat tip Kerry Sanders.)

Meanwhile, the debt grows, the commission is out, and workers and citizens are left to wonder how much worse can it get.

An unfeeling man
walked to the end of the world
and turned back around.

• • •

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A sudden parting
of the ways leaves splintered hearts
and unfinished dreams.

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When the lights go on,
the camera zooms in and it’s
all business on air.

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Obama picks Alabamian for top doctor post

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President Obama selected Bayou La Batre’s Dr. Regina Benjamin as his surgeon general on Monday. Born in Mobile, she earned her medical degree at the University of Alabama in Birmingham.

She is perhaps best known for building a clinic in rural Bayou La Batre and then rebuilding it after Hurricane Katrina struck in 2005. Benjamin served as the first black female trustee (and first doctor under age 40) for the American Medical Association.

What else should you know about this Alabamian? Funny you should ask …

We present 10 Things You Didn’t Know About Surgeon General Nominee Dr. Regina Benjamin.

1. Pope Benedict XVI awarded her the papal cross Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice. It’s the highest award conferred by the Pope to the laity. [Associated Press]

2. She spent $800 to open her clinic in 1990. It was destroyed by Hurricane Georges in 1998, so she built further inland (yet still owed $170,000 on the previous building). The second clinic was wiped out by Katrina in 2005. [Reader’s Digest]

3. The third clinic? Extensively damaged by fire. On New Year’s Day 2006, one day before it was scheduled to open. The clinic “operates out of a tiny rented house, while Benjamin raises cash to build anew.” [U.S. News and World Report]

4. She’s a “Genius.” The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation selected her for a $500,000 MacArthur Fellowship (“genius award”) in 2008. [MacArthur Foundation]

5. Her speaker’s fee? $5,000 to $10,000. Although that will likely end as a government official under ethics guidelines. [Speakers on Healthcare]

6. She’s a hugger. “The doctor and her staff reciprocate, dispensing hugs as an essential ingredient of high-quality health care.” [U.S. News and World Report]

7. She’s Catholic and supports abortion rights. But her Bayou La Batre Rural Health Clinic doesn’t perform abortions. [Miami Herald]

8. Besides her medical degree, she also has an MBA from Tulane University. She graduated from UAB in 1984 and earned her Master of Business Administration in 1991 from the Freeman School of Business. [Tulane University]

9. Her father had diabetes and high blood pressure. Her brother died from HIV, her mother from lung cancer. She wants to combat what she calls “preventable diseases.” [Associated Press]

10. She was Obama’s second choice for the position. First choice? CNN correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta. [CNN]

Her red cape simply
a blanket wrapped as tightly
as a fond embrace.

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Who knows what lies in
the fog of the near future?
Who dares part the mists?

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The world moves along
but the body takes a less
hurried pace for fun.

• • •

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After decades of discussion and debate, the City of Birmingham took a big step forward today in building a domed stadium. The city council approved $8 million annually in funding for a dome to be built adjacent to the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex.

With that, Mayor Larry Langford announced on Paul Finebaum’s radio show this afternoon that the groundbreaking would take place on July 21, and that a Major League Soccer team has already shown interest in establishing a franchise at the facility, along with purchasing naming rights.

The dome, with a $630 million price tag, would be completed in 2014. The next step would be the BJCC paying architects $666,000 a month and acquiring land.

Meanwhile, the city has yet to pass a budget for fiscal year 2010, 14 days after the start of the new budget year. In dispute is the city’s financial health: either $26.4 million in the black or $17 million in the red.

Let’s hear what you think: Will the dome bring new jobs, new events to Birmingham? Will it be completed on time and on budget? Is this the right move for Birmingham given the current economy? Sound off in the comments …

Update: Feedback via Twitter so far …

• BrennaWilson: For it, if it’ll bring fun things here. But I think its a poor choice w/our current money sit. RT @WadeOnTweets Dome: for it or agin’ it?
• StaceyShirley: is it a dome deal or a dumb deal?
• AABrasfield: nope. #dumbdome
• manup4: dome=opportunity. Let’s stop fighting advancement.
• mjoeirish: Bham dome. Check unemployment %age. You are right on bad timing.
• filamentartists: Not big on LL, but dome is good! $$$’s are now going to be circulated back into the local economy. Nothing bad about that!

Feedback via Facebook …

• 4:05pm July 14
  visionland 2, electric bugaloo! because inclement weather ruined so many stallions games… scrushy get the naming rights? hooboy.
• 4:06pm July 14
  I’d be more impressed if he could land a Premiership team, but think of the travel expense…otoh, I hear Newcastle United is for sale, and there’s a Newcastle right around Fultondale – they wouldn’t have to change the name ;]
• 4:08pm July 14
  Alright – they can hire all the laid off county employees! Who’s fanny are they pulling the $8 million from? That’s a lucrative fanny…
• 4:16pm July 14
  I’ve said it before – this could be a money maker if they focus not on pro ball, but red neck fun (hunting, pro bass, nascar, ultimate fighting, wreslting). High school sports, college sports, stick with what works and it can make money, but pro sports are historically a no go. I’d add in beer festivals, barbeque cook offs, square dancing, and blue grass. Oh and dog shows! Ha ha!
  Still wish the design could play off the archecture of the old rail station!
• 4:19pm July 14
  unbelievable.
• 4:26pm July 14
  dude has NO IDEA what it costs to bring in a soccer team — that $8mm is just an ENTRY FEE into a BLACK HOLE, and soccer doesn’t sell tickets ANYWHERE in the US. teachers need to be screaming outside of city hall with posters before that passes, because someone’s on the take — use that money to create tax breaks to lure more auto business away from detroit.
• 4:56pm July 14
  And so many worthy organizations were cut from the budget this year. It never ends.
• 5:03pm July 14
  I think it’s a damn fine idea, myself. Then again, I like pretty much anything Larry does.
• 5:08pm July 14
  A big resounding WTH and a follow-up with WTF
• 9:04pm July 14
  Mayor Lala strikes again. What planet is he on?

What’s your take?

Bucket of suds gets
stained with dirty Datsun’s grit
melting in lather.

• • •

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