Till court ruling do us part: One of the first gay couples married in Massachusetts in 2004 is a pair of guys from Anniston. But now, the Massachusetts Supreme Court has upheld a 1913 law that prohibits out-of-state couples from marrying in-state if their union is illegal in their home states. So they’re no longer technically married. Christopher McCary, one-half of the couple, said, “It really doesn’t change anything. We’re like everybody else. He has two jobs, I have one and we both work all the time.” Hey hey hey, no one wants to hear about it, keep that stuff to yourself, pervert.
• Alabama men wed in Massachusetts living happily despite ruling [Associated Press]

Bunny changes everything: Resume: hospital candy striper (with one ‘P’), Sonic waitress, Playboy playmate. Attalla native Holley Ann Dorrough is Playboy’s April playmate. The 19-year-old model, now in Los Angeles, lists her turn-ons as “respect, passion, nice hair” and her turn-offs as “cockiness, players, bums.” She landed the playmate title (as only the seventh playmate ever from Alabama) by announcing to Hugh Hefner, “I’m your next playmate.” We’re pleased to report that her photos are tasteful, devoid of any shots of her “hoohoo,” “bajingo” or “cooch.”
• Hometown folks fret over Attalla teen’s centerfold [Birmingham News]

Hoop dreams: Leeds native Charles Wade Barkley will be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame this September as part of the class of 2006. He averaged 22.1 points and nearly 12 rebounds a game; he won a gold medal in 1992 but never earned a championship ring. We’ll let Sir Charles speak for himself. “Hey, I’m 43 and I’ve never had a real job, and I hope I never do.” “You know it’s going to hell when the best rapper out there is white and the best golfer is black.” And “My family got all over me because they said Bush is only for the rich people. Then I reminded them, ‘Hey, I’m rich.’ ”
• Barkley, Wilkins, Auriemma lead ’06 Hall of Fame class [Associated Press]

Clock block: Despite our less-than-accurate report about Daylight Saving Time being suspended in Alabama, we do know that changing all those clocks is for a good cause. Or is it? An Alabama Power spokesman says it’s unlikely we’re saving that much on energy used for lighting, the reason behind the annual time warp. Do you know how hard it is to change the sundial in the back yard?!
• Daylight saving won’t save energy [Alexander City Outlook]

Also:

• Neighborhood jog turns out to be sprint followed by gasping walk
• Over-the-mountain mayors vow to form ‘kick-ass’ garage band
• Bridal registry nothing more than wish list of kitchen appliances, pricey linens

• • •

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Narrow daylight: Forget the whole time-change exercise this weekend. Scientists at the U.S. Daylight Saving Institute have temporarily suspended Daylight Saving Time for Katrina-affected states, including Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama. Clocks aren’t expected to “spring forward” until late June or early July. One researcher noted, “We couldn’t ask thousands of displaced residents to change their clocks, much less look for them under all that rubble.” The states will likely make up the time by extending Daylight Saving until November or December.
• Katrina knocks clocks off course [Temporal Mechanics]

Domain event: The fourth estate is looking for a second chance. In a controversial move, Mayor Bernard Kincaid used the city’s power of eminent domain to seize control of the yet-to-be-completed Birmingham News downtown offices to use for either the railroad park museum or the successor to Boutwell Auditorium. The daily newspaper was expected to move into the new headquarters by summer, but Kincaid took possession of the property late Friday. He denied any personal motive against the newspaper, long a critic of his tenure at City Hall. A newspaper spokesman said, “We have incriminating photos of [Kincaid] in a closet somewhere, and as soon as we find them …”
• Stop the presses [WADE-FM]

Fighting fire with ire: The chapel at Birmingham-Southern College was found in smoldering ruins early Friday, in apparent retaliation for the church arson suspects’ affiliation with the school. A passing professor discovered the scene while the campus was deserted for spring break. During an impromptu press conference, the school’s president said, “It’s as we feared: Those backwoods Baptists are pissed off and gunning for us.” Students were asked to pray temporarily in the campus bookstore and rec center.
• Birmingham-Southern burns; bumpkins believed to be baddies [Birmingham Bugler]

Also:

• Attalla girl turns to life of porn, sweet sweet porn
• Home-schooled kids want chance to let down teammates, too
• Popular news blog uses April 1 as excuse for lame fake briefs

• • •

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1. City council puts meeting videos, bickering sound clips for sale on iTunes
2. Missing cats return with no explanation of disappearance
3. Fan discovers either ‘Alabama’ or ‘Auburn’ could work in football-themed punchline
4. Dance recital fails to spark love of arts in parents
5. Engineering firm debates best crack pipe material
6. Chimp remains mum on gubernatorial candidacy
7. English Village candle store burns down over four days; smells like pumpkin, lemongrass
8. Forest Park crone asks neighbors to turn down ‘wi-fi racket’
9. Leave a penny, take a penny program nets three cents, plastic button
10. Jocks, nerds reach tentative peace accord

(more…)

Suck it: The Alabama House says it’s OK for women to expose themselves to children, some no older a few months. Before you yell at your rep (you do know who your rep is, right?), it’s merely a bill to allow public breastfeeding. At least one level-headed representive, DuWayne Bridges, has thought of the children: “I think it would be good for (breastfeeding moms) to go to their automobile or to the restroom.” Meanwhile, a Huntsville strip club’s owner and manager have been indicted because women exposed themselves to children, some no older then 55 or 60 years old. Let’s just outlaw boobs and get it over with.
• House passes bill to allow breast feeding in public [Associated Press]

A ruse by any other name: American forces moved into the suburban stronghold of Vestavia Hills Wednesday, ending the long tyranical regime that had gripped this troubled village. Soldiers and civilians alike ripped down the name of the dictator Richard M. Scrushy from its library, dragging the signs through the streets. Residents greeted the soldiers as liberators, shouting “Y’all done good bagging Dick! (‘You have performed admirably freeing us from Richard’s stranglehold.’)” Meanwhile, Scrushy remains at large trying to recruit followers to his cult.
• Board votes Scrushy off name, sign [Birmingham News]

Money to burn: Alabamians filed a record 47,844 bankruptcies in 2005, in part to avoid tighter restrictions under a new federal bankruptcy law. “It is ironic that, at least in the short term, a law Congress hoped would reduce bankruptcies instead caused the largest upward spike in history,” said Samuel J. Gerdano, executive director of the American Bankruptcy Institute. Let’s just outlaw poverty and get it over with.
• Alabama cases hit record high level in '05 [Birmingham News]

Also:

• State prepares for hurricane season by stockpiling bread, milk, Jesus videos
• Transportation department plans to sell “Traffic Cam Topless Hotties”
• Bored journalists read forbidden blogs for sSePcErLeLt mCeHsEsCaKgNeOsW

• • •

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Copycat: So often, we read about how Birmingham wants to be more like Atlanta, Charlotte, Chattanooga, Nashville … Well, hold up. Our pal Ailene writes about how Birmingham’s Hope VI project has inspired Nashville (one of several cities) to go after federal dollars to revamp decaying public housing. In fact, Nashville has completed or nearly completed three Hope VI communities and has plans for a fourth. Critics say such renovations merely chase away the poorest residents. In Birmingham and in Nashville, it’s still too early to tell.
• Birmingham success story inspires other cities [(Nashville) Tennessean]

Labor lure: Alabama is attractive to industry, not because of currently unemployed workers, but because of workers willing to leave their jobs for a better opportunity. So says the state department of industrial relations, especially as the state unemployment rate remains very low. Or those business could just be holding out for big economic incentives that’s all the rage with the kids these days.
• Alabama touts its strengths [Birmingham Business Journal]

Oink oink: Alabama’s congressional delegation landed $345 million in pork-barrel projects, 16 times the amount corralled 10 years ago. Remember: It’s pork if other states steal it; it’s targeted economic development if we earn it.
• Alabamians in Congress adept at securing cash [Birmingham News]

Track of focus: The Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum is “truly one of the great museums of the world, with almost 900 bikes and a few cars lavishly displayed over 80,000 square feet.” At least, that’s what they say in one British newspaper. Even if you’re not into racing (Yankee), it’s still worth a Saturday afternoon visit.
• Man and machines [(London) Telegraph]

Also:

• Vulcan changes name to ‘Bama_Stud75’
• In Birmingham, urge to kill rising, fading, rising, fading
• Water meter reader: Sometimes, we ‘just wing that mother’

• • •

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Testy, testy: Thanks to scoring errors in standardized tests, 14 schools in Alabama were classified incorrectly in accountability reports under No Child Left Behind. Four schools were forced to transfer students even though they had actually achieved Adequate Yearly Progress status; the other 10 passed even though they should have been classified as “needs improvement.” A state education department spokeswoman said, “To take away AYP status now wouldn’t be the right thing to do and would really send the wrong message to these schools who are working so hard to meet academic goals.” Sure, but who’s going to hand out lollipops when these kids can’t get jobs because their diplomas “need improvement”?
• Firm’s error gave 14 Alabama schools the wrong status [Associated Press]

Meth stakes: What’s worse than a meth lab? A meth lab around children!! Under the new federal law, anyone caught making meth faces an additional 20 years in prison. Yet, the nonprofit Justice Policy Institute (favorite superhero: Martian Magistrate), based in Washington, says that drug-free zones around schools have failed to deter dealers or protect children. The study points out that Alabama has the biggest zones: a 3-mile radius around any school, or more than 28 square miles. Naturally, we’d suggest cranking that bitch up to a 4-mile radius.
• Federal laws stiffen sentences for meth drug traffickers [Birmingham News]

Too much trauma: For too long, trauma patients have been a drain on the system, but no longer. Victims in Birmingham will be unwitting participants in a medical study to determine the best IV solution. Normally, medical studies require informed consent from, um, conscious patients, but this National Institutes of Health study has special federal exemption. One risk is an allergic reaction, which isn’t a big deal, unless you’re in some sort of critical trauma situation. Those participating will have special yellow stars, we suspect.
• UAB to try new trauma therapy [Birmingham News]

Also:

• Knife fight breaks out at Helena gun store
• Trend report: trendiness on the rise
• Sale at mall food court leaves shoppers queasy, bloated

• • •

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Crazy in Alabama: Despite a 33-year-old lawsuit settled in 2003, the state hasn’t taken care of its mentally ill patients. Demand on the four state hospitals has jumped 39 percent in five years, while public and private resources have shrunk. Can the state make good on its promise to look after those in need, without federal oversight? Are you nuts?
• No room for mentally ill [Birmingham News]

Ham it down: Tuscaloosa gave up on its downtown music festival, CityFest, in 2005. Now, even the barbecue contest used to carry on the tradition is gone, killing any immediate hopes of reviving the music event. What, they couldn’t find an incongruent title sponsor? Meanwhile, Alabaster’s fourth CityFest (no relation) has landed headliners Joe Nichols (whose country hits include “Brokenheartsville” and “Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off”) and … Foghat. So for those scoring at home (and those of you alone), that’s Alabaster: Foghat; Tuscaloosa: can’t sell barbecue to Southerners.
• CityFest barbecue contest gives up the ghost [Tuscaloosa News]

Mizzou much: UAB men’s basketball coach Mike Anderson is taking his ball and going to the University of Missouri. His salary is doubling to $1.3 million, after a successful 24-7 season and first-round tournament appearance. The UAB interim athletics director wants the new coach to also push the up-tempo style Anderson implemented. Maybe UAB could start a football program, too. Wait, it has one? Really?!
• UAB basketball coach takes national title quest to Big 12 [Birmingham News]

Also:

• School fund-raiser marred by exposed payoff scheme to ‘seed pushers’
• Vestavia Hills theater manager keeps projectors, ticket kiosks in pristine, barely functioning condition
• 48-year-old goth still refuses to ‘not look so depressed’

• • •

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It’s now or never: If the occupant of the governor’s mansion can’t be colorful, at least the race to get there can be. In case you’d forgotten (and Lord knows we’ve tried), it’s an election year and three candidates are looking to unseat the incumbent for governor of Alabama. At one political rally, “A lot more people showed up this year. I guess it’s because of the governor’s race. You know, we like our politics down here in Alabama.” The observer? An Elvis impersonator. Wake us on Nov. 8.
• In Race to Lead Alabama, It’s Politics as Unusual [New York Times]

Life and limbs: The young man from Ashville dreamed of being an underwater welder. But during his second tour of duty in Iraq, Noah Galloway lost his left arm and left leg to a roadside bomb. Now the soldier is an outpatient at an army hospital in Washington, facing months of rehab. His goal is to attend college and open a gym, but first, he must master his new artificial limbs. Spc. Galloway is one of about 10,000 American military personnel injured by improvised bombs in Iraq.
• State soldier working to rebuild bomb-battered life [Birmingham News]

Silvertron shocker: Quite a few people are stunned about the death of Alan Potts, owner of the Silvertron Cafe in Forest Park. He was found dead early Wednesday, shot in the head once. The 55-year-old husband and father of two had operated the restaurant for 20 years. Police found forced entry at the back door and the gun apparently used. The restaurant was closed Wednesday, with no indication of when it would reopen. If it’s ruled a homicide, the toll would keep Birmingham ahead of this point last year.
• Owner of Silvertron Cafe found fatally shot in kitchen [Birmingham News]

Also:

• Park cleanup yields more treasures for man’s fast-food wrapper collection
• Midfield woman’s ‘bun in the oven’ was literal, not figurative
• Twelfth graders rally to improve truancy skills

• • •

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Signed, sealed, delivered: We’ve discussed churches as pillars of rural communities, but let’s not forget post offices. In tiny Alabama towns, the postmaster is not just the giver of mail, but the keeper of gossip, the payer of bills and … the weigher of babies and turkeys. Said Emelle Postmaster Janet Hutcherson, “They don’t think of me as a federal servant. They think of me as a friend.”
• Heart of town [Tuscaloosa News]

Rane of preservation: You may know the YellaWood commercials, but what about the town that YellaWood built? Abbeville is in a civic revival, with help from one of the town’s companies, Great Southern Wood Preserving, and its founder Jimmy Rane. The company has put $1 million into revitalization projects during the last decade. A former gas station is now the company’s purchasing department, and a dentist’s office is now a subsidiary company’s headquarters. Says on historian, “You can stroll down Kirkland Street and see Jimmy Rane’s tracks and his impact on both sides of the street.”
• Yella Fella preserves wood and hometown [Birmingham News]

Up Highway 72: Florence is becoming known for its fashion, with two designers calling it home. And if you’re in town, ask for the fried chicken and fried okra at the Hollywood Inn. Not because we’ve tried it, we’re just late for lunch.
• Florence, Alabama — Fashion Capital of the South [New York Times]

Also:

• Legislature hustles to placate voters with spending, stances
• Bus driver ignores ‘exact change rule,’ but just this once
• Only lost items found in lost-and-found bin

• • •

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Hispanics, go home: Talk about tough on crime … jaywalk in Hoover, and you’re on your way back to Mexico. Robert Cahill, a Jefferson County district judge, has sent undocumented Hispanic immigrants packing after being booked with no bond for misdemeanors, a power reserved for immigration judges. A class-action suit against Cahill, the city of Hoover and the police chief claims violations of immigrants’ constitutional rights. Whew! We were afraid the Department of Hoover Homeland Security was going go illegally detain Arabs … Plus, it’s not like Hoover is ignoring the potential windfall of Hispanic business.
• Banished [Birmingham News]

Hispanics, stay here: Maybe Hoover can deport Hispanics to farm country. More than 200 farmers told Sen. Jeff Sessions that without migrant workers, farms would be ruined. Dios mio, those farmers are selfish: You can’t let a bunch of Spanish-spewing jaywalkers have the run of the place.
• State’s farmers split with Sessions on immigration [Birmingham News]

Jihad against boredom: Kids have a new place to hang out, play Xbox, shoot pool and study holy scriptures. Is it the new Baptist Family Center? Nope. Try the Birmingham Islamic Center, which has dedicated part of a prayer hall to youth activities. And we’re not kidding: The center is located in … Hoover. Now we’re just confused …
• New Islamic center provides place for children to pray, play [Birmingham News]

All clear: Here’s our travel tip for the week: Aruba! Since Alabama students and families are steering clear of Caribbean resorts, it should be less crowded and less rowdy. Plus, we bet the prices are a steal at this point. And if you should ever turn up missing, don’t worry, we’ll talk about you night and day.
• Alabamians shun Caribbean resorts on spring break [Birmingham News]

Also:

• Gubernatorial candidates stump for votes from citizens, jurors
• Supermarket samples revealed to be sales gimmick
• Local man determined to finish crossword by ‘quittin’ time’

• • •

Send us your news tips.

Outbreak of civil rest: Civil rights leader and Alabama native Fred Shuttlesworth is stepping down from the pulpit of the Cincinnati church he founded 40 years ago. The reverend worked in Birmingham in the 1960s to end segregation — and was nearly killed several times fighting for equal treatment. He turns 84 on Saturday. Meanwhile, 83-year-old Jim Clark, the Dallas County sheriff at the heart of 1965’s “Bloody Sunday” in Selma, says he’d attack the civil rights marchers again today. Ah, some things never change.
• Civil rights leader: age, retirement won’t stop fight for justice [Associated Press]

You’ve bulldozed the rest, now try the west: Bessemer is spending $13.5 million to land a $60 milllion mall. That thing better have a Hot Topic.
• Bessemer to back shopping center [Birmingham News]

Lord, I’m coming home to you: Among this year’s newest members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? Skynyrd! You can thank/rue the band for the inescapable state anthem, “Sweet Home Alabama,” whether it’s in fast-food chicken commercials or in heated debates of Lynyrd Skynyrd vs. Neil Young. Meanwhile, Sheryl Crow has rescheduled her Huntsville date for June 25, following breast cancer surgery in March. And the latest adds to City Stages? Yellowcard and John Hiatt.
• Black Sabbath, Blondie Enter Rock Hall [Associated Press]

Also:

• Downtown parade attracks gawkers, lookie loos
• New customer still feels vaguely uneasy about cell phone plan
• State organizes intervention for Jefferson County

• • •

Send us your news tips.

Dancing for dollars: The Southeastern Conference (like all conferences) gets paid for each team and each game in the men’s NCAA tourney. But the payoff has tapered off after growing by more than $4 million in recent years. Is the SEC in a temporary drought? ESPN’s Dick Vitale puts it in perspective: “Florida can have this phenomenal year they’re having. But let Florida get bounced in the first or second round, the naysayers will be saying Billy Donovan can’t win in the tournament. (But) a team gets hot two games (in the tournament) and that coach is a savior and everybody who has a vacancy is hunting him down. The tournament has become so big that it’s created a lot of chaos.” And you thought it was about sportsmanship and higher learning.

The schedule:

• 1:40 today, CBS 42: Marquette (7) vs. Alabama (10)
• 1:55 today, online: Florida (3) vs. South Alabama (14)
• 8:55 p.m. Friday, CBS 42: Kentucky (8) vs. UAB (9)

Last chance to fill out your brackets for a prize!

• Doing so little with so much [Birmingham News]

See rock country: Moss Rock Preserve is a 250-acre slice of wilderness heaven for hikers, rock climbers and visitors. Hoover’s hidden gem has homegrown touches, from Boy Scouts building bridges to handmade trail signs. As long as the city doesn’t put another gas station or pita joint there, we’re happy.
• Moss Rock Preserve [Black and White]

Two wheels, will travel: The tiny town of Ramer, south of Montgomery, is home to the Alabama Cycling Camp, attracting riders from across the United States and Canada. For $600 for a week, cyclists enjoy lodging, meals and coaching, plus the mild climate from November to April. Said one attendee, “Back in Michigan, we have a lot of flat roads and a lot of irate drivers. I’m amazed at how polite people are here and how accommodating they are when they pass. A lot of the roads are almost totally free of traffic.” Just wait till you get in a car, buddy, cuz then you’re fair game.
• Rolling in Ramer: Cycling team enjoys taste of Alabama charm [Montgomery Advertiser]

A reminder: Turn in your NCAA brackets to win a 256MB USB thumb drive/pen by 11 a.m. today. It’s free, so enter now.

Also:

• East Lake woman can smell your weakness, and it’s tiny muffins
• ‘No ketchup’ order botched in drive-through lane
• Engineering firm debates best crack pipe material

• • •

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Jam TV: What’s more exciting than watching paint dry? How about cars stuck in traffic? The state transportation department is offering live streaming video of 12 traffic hotspots around Birmingham, such as the one at University Boulevard facing south on the Red Mountain Expressway pictured here. Other spots include Interstate 20/59 at Arkadelphia, and the I-65/I-459 junction. The state spent $200,000 on video equipment. And you’ll never have to ask your loved ones, “Guess where I am?” ever again.
• Live! From Malfunction Junction [Birmingham News]

Law and Order: County Task Force: The Birmingham buzzword for 2006 is “cooperation.” Jefferson County sheriff Mike Hale is asking for a countywide violent crime task force called Operation Unity. And none too soon, as Birmingham homicides are up over this point last year. Birmingham fortunately seems amenable to the 60-day project. “We have no problem with it at all,” said one city deputy police chief. Just as long as they don’t waste time raiding 7-7-7 parlors …
• Hale proposes 60-day initiative to fight homicides [Birmingham News]

CSI: College Savings Inferior: Parents can use a state plan to save for kids’ college funds. Unfortunately, a mutual fund rating company says Alabama’s plan is one of the worst in the nation. For the second year in a row. One reason: Until this year, savings withdrawals from the plan were taxable. But even with the change, a few investment advisors are steering their clients to other 529 mutual funds. Feh, college. Who needs it? It’s just book learning and church burning from what we hear.
• Alabama college savings ranks at bottom [Birmingham News]

A reminder: One day left(!) to turn in your NCAA brackets to win a 256MB USB thumb drive/pen. It’s free, so enter now.

Also:

• Delivery guy can’t find house of “Al Cayda”
• Office mates’ droning actually kinda soothing
• Last mall standing wins a Hooters

• • •

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Spare parts: Although South Korean automaker chose Georgia for its first North American factory (missed Alabama by a mile), Alabama will still reap benefits. As many as 800 residents could work at the West Point, Ga., plant. And after another South Korean automaker, Hyundai, announced a factory in Montgomery, 41 related suppliers came to the state. Plus, Honda spent $1 billion on its 27 parts suppliers in this state. Alabama is clearly becoming the Detroit of Dixie.
• Alabama said to gain from Georgia plant [Huntsville Times]

Cattle futures: One cow out of a herd of 40 among thousands of producers and 1.3 million head of cattle in the state. One cow with mad cow disease, but officials are saying the system worked, as the cow was found and killed before entering the food supply. But will it affect beef exports? And beef prices?
• Mad cow case in state said to pose no threat [Birmingham News]

World of wheels: Girls kick ass. The current issue of Birmingham Weekly revisits that truism with its Women’s Issue '06. Meet the gals who make Birmingham boom, like the Tragic City Rollers, a fledgling flat-track roller derby team. Our fave bruisers: Suge Fight, Southern Discomfort and Catty Snatch. And yes, they have a MySpace profile.

Other issue highlights:

• A trio dedicated to ending domestic violence.
• A woman who builds connections between communities of differing faiths.
• The unforgettable commercial ventures of Linda Verin (“Call Goldberg: 800, 600, 6-0-1-4!”), who’s also a busy activist.

• Hell on wheels [Birmingham Weekly]

A reminder: Less than 48 hours to turn in your NCAA brackets to win a 256MB USB thumb drive/pen. It’s free, so enter now.

Also:

• Diner patrons flee rampaging toddler; Dad claims she ‘just had a nap’
• Former pageant winner gazes wistfully at tiara
• Missing cats return with no explanation of disappearance

• • •

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Update

March madness: A cow at an unnamed Alabama farm tested positive for bovine spongiform encephalopathy, better known as mad cow disease. It’s the third known case in the United States (after Washington and Texas). Effects include tremors, loss of eyesight, loss of bodily function, dementia, respiratory arrest and death. No treatment or cure exists.
• Alabama cow tests positive for mad cow disease [Associated Press]

Mi condo es supremely expensive condo: Condo fever is running at an all-time high downtown, and spreading to outlying areas. How much? Anywhere from $100K to more than $1 million. One appraiser says, “If those higher-end units sell (at City Federal), I guess the sky is the limit.” Let’s hope Birmingham isn’t headed for a condo market crash, like Miami or Atlanta.
• Lofty prices [Birmingham Business Journal]

Homicidal tendancies: Ten weeks into 2006, and we’re running ahead of last year’s homicide total. Birmingham police count 21 homicides, five more than at this point in 2005. We’ve got one word: Duck!
• Birmingham records 21st homicide this year [Associated Press]

Meter unmade: Paying too much for water and sewer? Your odds are going up. Jefferson County workers were responsible for 1,494 misread meters that led to billing adjustments. The county commission will vote Tuesday to hire more workers to deal with a backlog of customers wanting refunds. A Birmingham Water Works official cited a meter misread daily rate of 0.08 percent. Montgomery (0.7 percent), Tuscaloosa (0.17 percent) and Mobile (0.14 percent) have higher error rates, while Huntsville (0.06 percent) has a lower one.
• Water-meter woes swamp Jeffco [Birmingham News]

Also:

• Moving party offers only pizza, lite beer to tired sweaty pals
• Amusement park boasts shorter lines, fewer visitors than ever
• The new phone books are here! The new phone books are here!

• • •

Send us your news tips.