adventures at the online mall

William Bell, the Jefferson County Commissioner who ran twice for mayor, and Patrick Cooper, the attorney who ran once, will have 6 weeks to convince Birmingham voters before the Jan. 19 runoff.

In today’s race, unofficial results show Cooper (shown at near left) led handily with 40.1 percent, or 13,992 votes, while Bell (far left) came in second with 25.1 percent, or 8,752 votes.

City council member Carole Smitherman finished third with 18.8 percent, and attorney Emory Anthony came in fourth with 12.4 percent.

The 26 percent turnout today was down from 45 percent in 2007.

Fourteen candidates entered the race, but Ernie Dunn died before Election Day. The special election was held to replace convicted former mayor Larry Langford. Cooper or Bell would serve less than 2 years, until the next election in 2011.

Note: Numbers updated as results come in.

What’s your prediction? Will it be Bell or Cooper come January?

• • •

More Vote 2009 coverage.

Posted in B'ham | Permalink | 7 Yips »

Vote 2009: Time to elect another mayor

Tuesday, December 8th, 2009

The polls are open. Birmingham voters have until 7 tonight to cast their votes in this special election with just one contest: mayor.

If you don’t know where to vote, we have the answer. If you don’t know for whom to vote, we sorta have the answer. If you want to vote in our straw poll, we have a simple ballot.

And if you want to know more about any of the 13 candidates from Anthony to Turner, see our Vote 2009 coverage, with 34 posts (and counting), including stories, videos, audio clips and much more.

Join us tonight for election results
on Wade on Birmingham.

• • •

More Vote 2009 coverage.

Posted in B'ham | Permalink | 1 Yip »

predictions for the next decade

Tuesday, December 8th, 2009

Flying cars, yoga
weddings, telepathic phones,
wars without borders.

• • •

Read more haiku.

Posted in Daily Haiku | Permalink | Add a Yip »

you better watch out

Monday, December 7th, 2009

Santa has turned on
spyware and night vision to
decide naughty, nice.

• • •

Read more haiku.

Posted in Daily Haiku | Permalink | Add a Yip »

Football season wraps with championships, bowls

Monday, December 7th, 2009

Video: BCS National Championship Game preview

The weekend brought early Christmas presents for football teams across Alabama …

• Hoover beat Prattville 28-23 for the state 6A championship Friday night at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa. The Bucs, who went 14-1 this season, earned their sixth state title, and their first since 2005 during the Rush Propst era. Prattville’s loss ended the team’s 3-year streak as 6A champions.

• No. 2 Alabama defeated No. 1 Florida 32-13 in Saturday’s SEC Championship Game in Atlanta. The Tide, with a perfect 13-0 record, climbed to No. 1 in the BCS and AP polls, while the Gators (12-1) dropped to No. 5. (Gallery of newspaper front pages.)

• And in Sunday’s bowl announcements …

No. 1 Alabama will play No. 2 undefeated Texas in the BCS National Championship Game on Jan. 7 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena.
Auburn (7-5) faces Northwestern (8-4) in Tampa at the Outback Bowl on New Year’s Day.
Troy (9-3), after winning its fourth straight Sun Belt Conference championship, heads south to Mobile to face Central Michigan (11-2) in the GMAC Bowl on Jan. 6.
And here in Birmingham, the Papajohns.com Bowl will offer South Carolina vs. Connecticut (both 7-5) on Jan. 2.

Also: All 34 bowl games … the 2009-10 bowl schedule.

Will you be heading to a game or watching on television?

Posted in B'ham, Bama, Commerce, Culture | Permalink | 2 Yips »

Vote 2009: Last-minute thoughts on a hurry-up mayoral election

Monday, December 7th, 2009

Birmingham to choose from 13 candidates Tuesday

For the third time this year, Birmingham voters will visit the polls. Tuesday’s special election focuses on mayor, an office suddenly open after Larry Langford’s federal conviction in October.

We have found that 6 weeks is barely enough time to have an election, much less evaluate more than a dozen candidates.

Even though the winner will hold office for less than 2 years before the next election, much is riding on the outcome.

For starters, the city is in jeopardy. Bernard Kincaid seemed glacial in doing anything to move Birmingham forward. That stasis seems preferable to the rapid plunge into financial chaos and political embarrassment wreaked in just 2 short years by Larry Langford.

His reign of error ended only with the say of 12 jurors. But City Hall is in shambles, as is the public trust.

We’re building a dome, renovating Fair Park Arena and beginning to successfully fight crime. And yet, the budget has been criminally neglected (and perhaps, deliberately fudged). Carole Smitherman spent less than a month as interim mayor before the newly seated council tapped Roderick Royal as council president, thus taking over the interim mayoral duties.

In short, much confusion, little time and wary voters.

‘The candidates have failed
to distinguish themselves.’

The candidates have failed to distinguish themselves. The much heralded Patrick Cooper has raised (and spent) a lot of cash, but by doing so seems to be influenced by out-of-town interests. He missed high-profile forums, which has the odor of the artful dodge. While he made a splash in 2007 by receiving almost 30 percent of the vote, Cooper has done little since then to demonstrate his capacity for leadership.

With Smitherman and William Bell, we have two seasoned politicians who have served as interim mayor, albeit briefly, and lost in a combined five campaigns for the top office. Smitherman, a self-described mother figure, voted with Langford on many budget busters and wants to continue his projects, even as the city goes broke.

Bell, who picked up Langford’s unsolicited endorsement, also seems enmeshed in old school ways, both in campaigning and in office. He needs to continue and finish his work on the Jefferson County Commission: fixing its $3 billion sewer debt calamity.

Steven Hoyt is serving in his second term on council and recently was voted president pro tempore under questionable circumstances (the new acting mayor Royal voted, even though he was not allowed). When given the chance to fix things, he declined. Imagine what he’d do with real power.

Scott Douglas, one of the outsiders, has a good record of service to the city. And while his green platform might work in a more progressive and more solvent city, he seems to have no solution on getting the city’s finances back on track.

Emory Anthony ran twice against longtime mayor Richard Arrington in the early 1990s and lost. The defense attorney wants to bring the city’s finances in order, with transparency and accountability. The question is: Can he back it up?

We aren’t certain. We’re picking a mayor at gunpoint Tuesday, and chances are, we’ll still end up taking a bullet or two.

• • •

Voting takes place from 7 a.m. till 7 p.m. A runoff, if needed, will take place Jan. 19.

Q: Where do I vote?

A: The answer is a call away. Jefferson County: 325-5550.

Or try AlabamaVotes.gov and click on “Search for My Polling Place.”

Join us Tuesday for election results
on Wade on Birmingham.

Remember, if you have problems at your polling place:

Notify a poll worker immediately.
Obtain a complaint/evaluation form (or download jpgs of pages 1 and 2). Print it, fill it out, copy and mail it.
Call the state attorney general at 1-800-831-8814 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. today and Wednesday or fill out this online form.
Call the secretary of state at 1-800-274-VOTE (8683) or visit her site, StopVoterFraudNow.com.
And tell the probate court for Jefferson County (325-5203).
Leave a comment below.

Q. Who’s running for mayor?

A. The 13 candidates …

Emory Anthony	William Bell	T.C. Cannon	Patrick Cooper
Scott Douglas	Steven Hoyt	Stephannie Huey	Edith Mayomi
Carole Smitherman	Jimmy Snow	Jason Sumners	Jody Trautwein
Harry “Traveling Shoes” Turner

Note: Ernie Dunn died on Thursday.

Also:

Birmingham News editorial board endorsement: “(Emory) Anthony brings a regional approach to governing that has been in far too short supply.”
Kyle Whitmire of the Birmingham Weekly on the financial crisis: “Few candidates in the special-called mayoral election have demonstrated an understanding of what faces the city.”
One blogger’s take? None of the above.
Patrick Cooper leads fund-raising, but also campaign debt.
Pavo Magazine podcast discusses the candidates.
[audio:http://www.pavomag.com/sites/default/files/audio/Mayoral%20Race%2012_2_09%20Edit%201.mp3]

Are you voting? Who has your vote? Vote in the poll above, and leave a comment below.

• • •

More Vote 2009 coverage.