Have a safe and filling Thanksgiving!
In case you need an appetizer, here’s the holiday classic episode, “Turkeys Away,” from “WKRP in Cincinnati,” which aired 30 years ago.
“As God as my witness, I thought turkeys could fly.”
Six hours down, six hours left to vote on this Election Day. We have three videos to keep you entertained while in line at the polls, or just waiting for the results to come in …
Join us from 7 to 11 tonight for the Wade on Birmingham Election Night Live Blog.
And if you haven’t voted, check out our guide to Election Day, then get out and vote already.
Amy Poehler’s Palin Rap
Happy Halloween! Have fun storming the castle!
A special holiday treat, after the jump …
After 1,752 posts, Wade on Birmingham reaches its third anniversary today.
I’m grateful for the opportunity to share my insights and spotlights on the city as well as Alabama. On any given day, we’ve seen this city triumph and stumble.
I’m grateful for the support from the community of writers, publishers and activists who have contributed to this space.
But I’m especially grateful to you, the reader, for spending time every so often to check in and weigh in. Thank you for visiting.
A few highlights from the past 12 months:
If it’s August, it must be time to plug this site’s annual appearance in Birmingham Magazine …
Our pal associate editor Carla Jean Whitley rounded up the best sites in town, charitably including Wade on Birmingham in the list. We’re on page 87! We’re on page 87!
Ironically, the “Birmingham on the Web” article is not on the Web. However, you can plunk down $2.95 at your local magazine shoppe or newsstand for the issue, because it’s worth every penny finding out which sites to surf when not enjoying “clever, daily haikus.” We’re blushing.
Our thanks to Carla Jean, with a hat tip to head:subhead.
Also:
Several Alabama media outlets won at the 58th annual Green Eyeshade Awards on Saturday, including WBHM (90.3 FM) winning first place overall in the radio division for its series, “Searching for Safetown,” after winning its category, Public Affairs Reporting.
More Alabama winners, plus the award for this blog, after the jump …
Have a great holiday weekend! What’s more patriotic than American Idol Kelly Clarkson singing “God Bless America” at a baseball game? Nothing, we sez, nothing.
Be sure to check out the full list of activities for today and tonight.
And after the jump, Birmingham-born and Idol runner-up Diana DeGarmo singing more “God Bless America” at yet another baseball game …
Then and now
Stages and the city: City Stages 2008 brought the usual highs and lows, including …
Videos from the festival, after the jump …
Then and now
Meet the new owners: Birmingham-based construction/engineering firm BE&K will have a new owner. KBR, a Houston-based construction/engineering contractor, will buy the homegrown company for $550 million. In fact, KBR has now completed the deal.
BE&K has a reputation as a family-friendly workplace, but what do we know about KBR? So glad you asked …
And we all paid for it.
Then and now
Fed up: Since the campaign last fall, we knew this was a possibility, a dark cloud on the horizon. And so, it has happened.
The Securities and Exchange Commission filed a civil complaint against Mayor Larry Langford, alleging he took cash to help friends profit from sewer system bond swap deals while he served on the Jefferson County Commission. As you may recall, mishandling of the sewer has put the county on the brink of record bankruptcy, not to mention convicting three former commissioners.
Not a peep from the SEC since April, but Langford has talked to the media, most notably this interview with WBHM (90.3 FM).
And if you need a preview of the defendant’s possible testimony in court, we have the video, after the jump …
Then and now
Flushed away: Jefferson County is broke, and getting broker by the minute. The commission sent representatives to New York to meet with financial brokers to find a way to pay off the $3.2 billion in interest payments.
It all started with a broken-down sewer system, which led to court-ordered fixes, which led to bonds to raise funds, which led to unsupervised hiring of contractors, which led to corruption and payoffs, which led to bond swaps to get supposedly better deals.
On Thursday, the commission rejected a proposed plan from Merrill Lynch to create an independent oversight board. Naturally, the commission is paying Merrill Lynch $75,000 a month to make proposals for it to reject.
If the commission doesn’t come up with a plan by Aug. 1, it will default on $100 million in payments. Not to mention the possibility of filing for bankruptcy, the largest in U.S. history.
So much for solvency. So much more for leadership.
More on festivals, war and schools, after the jump …
Then and now
Does not compute: Back in his Fairfield days, Mayor Langford set up a charity with pals John Katopodis and Richard Scrushy to get computers to kids. Except that tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars went to him, Katopodis and a gay porn star. All of this came out in court as HealthSouth and Katopodis sued each other.
Both sides settled in March without revealing the terms of the deal. Frankly, plenty was revealed already.
Meanwhile, Langford’s latest effort to give computers to kids rolls on, having ordered an additional 14,000 laptops this week without Birmingham school board approval. The technology upgrades could cost millions for a system already struggling to keep facilities open.
More on Larry Langford and John Katopodis.
Keep reading for more updates, plus a scandalous photo of yours truly, after the jump …
Then and now
The road to skinny: Our extended coverage of “The Biggest Loser: Couples” began with former Alabama linemen Roger Shultz and Trent Patterson. Shultz, an Enterprise native, went on to take second place while losing his day job at Jacksonville State.
He does still have his radio show and has embarked on the post-reality show career of choice: appearances! This weekend, he’ll be at a celebrity charity weekend in Orange Beach. But he still has time for the kids, like stopping by a fourth-grade class at Helena Intermediate School in May.
Check out the slimmed-down Shultz, plus more news updates, after the jump …
Our lucky pair who’ve won two free passes (a $70 value) each to Sunday’s Preserve Jazz Festival are …
Thank you to everyone who entered the contest.
Even if you didn’t win, you still have time to buy tickets for this terrific music event at Hoover’s Moss Rock Preserve. See details and video previews on our site.
Back on the job but not quite ready to work? Take a few minutes to enter our giveaway.
Enter our special We Jazz June contest. Two lucky winners will win two passes (a $70 value) each to the second annual Preserve Jazz Festival on Sunday in Hoover.
To enter, visit our special We Jazz June contest page.
Hurry! Entry deadline is noon CDT today!!
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