A tourney falls in the woods: Birmingham is host to a basketball conference championship. Right now, hundreds of fans are watching the SWAC tourney at the BJCC Arena, but likely more fans watched the practices of high school teams last week there. The Ratings Percentage Index ranks the SWAC as the worst basketball conference. And it has the fans and players to prove it. Saturday night’s champion will advance to the NCAA tournament … sort of. The team must fight for the 64th spot in the play-in game on Tuesday, a game that the SWAC team has never won.
• Far From the Limelight and Far From Successful [New York Times]

Here’s the kickers: This weekend’s Vulcan Cup soccer tournament will bring in hundreds of soccer kiddies and their families from a dozen states … and an estimated $4 million to Birmingham. Hold on. Craig Depken, an associate professor of economics at the University of Texas at Arlington, calls foul on that seemingly absurd figure. He says that each visitor would need to spend $333 a day to reach $4 mil, without the multiplier effect, and that using the multiplier can be “easily abused.” No kidding, but we swear that the SWAC tourney has already brought in $11 kazillion dollars.
• For local economy, soccer tournament expected to kick in extra $4 million [Birmingham Business Journal]

Jesus, take the wheel: The money pit known as City Stages has announced the first signed acts. Hank Williams Jr., the Allman Brothers, Marty Stuart. Excited yet? We know some people still think of the June music festival as a bragging point for a sometimes lackluster city, but why exactly? Seeing new music? Williams and the Allmans have been to Birmingham plenty of times. Well-planned festival? It’s still nearly a half-million dollars in debt, and after 17 tries, they still don’t know how to place stages or manage costs (ticket prices are at an all-time high for fewer acts). But at least the name still means something: the Waldrep, Stewart & Kendrick City Stages Presented by Lanny Vines & Associates. It gets better: Nashville is so desperate to save its flailing festival scene, it’s looking to City Stages for ideas.
• Hank Jr., Allmans to play City Stages [Birmingham News]

Also:

• Spring planting begins with disheartening review of barren yard
• Forest Park crone asks neighbors to turn down ‘wi-fi racket’
• Car plant moves to Alabama, only to driven off by truck klan

• • •

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Hard to conceive: Alabama ranks fourth in providing contraceptives, according to a study by New York-based Guttmacher Institute. The acting president of the Montgomery chapter of the National Organization of Women and the president of the Alabama Pro-Life Coalition praised the ranking. We never use contraception — and sadly, it’s exactly why you think. Sigh.
• Study: Alabama ranked 4th overall in providing contraceptives [Associated Press]

Planning a Big Dance: Pure madness. SEC Commissioner Mike Slive and SWAC Commissioner Robert Vowels left Birmingham for the heavily guarded 15th floor of an Indianapolis hotel with just one thing on their minds: hoops. They’re part of the NCAA selection committee, designated to select by Sunday the 65 men’s teams for the championship tournament. No cell phones, no voting on your own conference, no second chances. Pure madness.
• Slive, Vowels climb into NCAA ‘bunker’ [Birmingham News]

Whose network is it anyway?: As previously reported, The CW is replacing The WB and UPN, meaning Sinclair-owned Birmingham stations WTTO and WABM would be stuck with an unknown sixth-place network and the other would languish in indie obscurity. Fret not! Now, they’re both with crazy startup networks. A new Fox-created network, MyNetworkTV, is signing up affiliates, including WABM (since WTTO will be The CW affiliate). What will it show? Nothing but telenovelas! Well, not exactly, but two hourlong soaps every weeknight for 13 weeks. It launches Sept. 5, and we swear, if they fold before episode 65, we’ll launch a vicious letter-writing campaign.
• MyNetworkTV Signs 17 Sinclair Stations [TV Week]

Also:

• City council puts meeting videos, bickering sound clips for sale on iTunes
• Teens contract social networking disease
• Church bulletin’s swimsuit issue completely sold out

• • •

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From left, Birmingham college students Matthew Lee Cloyd, Russell Lee DeBusk Jr., Benjamin Nathan Moseley were arrested today in connection with nine Alabama church fires.

We don’t get the punchline, either: “Three college students accused of setting fires at nine small churches in rural Alabama began the arsons as a joke that escalated out of control, according to federal agents who said key evidence came together only hours before the arrests Wednesday. Benjamin Nathan Moseley and Russell Lee DeBusk Jr., both 19 and students at Birmingham-Southern College, and Matthew Lee Cloyd, 20, a student at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, were charged in the rash of church fires last month.”
• Agent: Three college students say church arsons started as joke [Associated Press]

Almost infamous: “Russ DeBusk and Ben Moseley, both amateur actors, had dreams of becoming stars as they performed in campus plays at Birmingham-Southern College, appeared in a documentary and began putting together an independent film.”
• Two church fire suspects known as pranksters, aspiring actors [Associated Press]

All you have to do is ask: “On March 8, 2006, Bureau of ATF and Alabama State Fire Marshals Office investigators interviewed Russell Lee DeBusk Jr- DeBusk stated that on the night of February 2, 2006, he, Matt (Cloyd), and Ben (Moseley) traveled to Bibb County, Alabama and were shooting deer. DeBusk stated that they were in Matt’s 4Runner. DeBusk admitted being present at all five Bibb County church fires. DeBusk admitted to kicking in the door on two of the churches. DeBusk stated that approximately two weeks later Ben told him that he (Ben) and Cloyd did four more church fires.”
• Criminal complaint against Cloyd, DeBusk, Moseley [U.S. Department of Justice]

Also:

• God: ‘Three college kids walk into a jail cell …’
• Pastors encourage forgiveness among smoldering ruins
• Muslims: We told you it wasn’t us

• • •

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Graduated success: Auburn’s football team is ranked No. 3. But not in the BCS or the AP, but the APR. That’s the Academic Progress Report issued by the NCAA, avoiding possible scholarship penalties. Only Stanford and Boston College ranked higher among the six BCS conferences. But not so fast: Columnist Ray Melick raises questions about the “improvements”: How did these schools make this kind of drastic improvement? Was it due to really hard work in the classroom by the athletes on the teams in question, or did advisors steer student athletes into easier classes? Has the purpose of college now become doing whatever it takes to make minimum APR score, or is it to graduate students? Well, duh, it’s B.
• Auburn football academic rank is 3rd best in nation [Birmingham News]

For whom Ma Bell tolls: What will AT&T’s $67 billion buyout of Bellsouth mean for Alabama employees? Across the company, it means 10,000 jobs cut. Bellsouth’s Alabama president Thomas Hamby says, “The majority of our 7,000 jobs in Alabama are service-related. While there may be some small reductions, my guess is that about 95 percent of our employees will not be affected.” OK, that’s one way to put it. The other way: a possible 350 jobs cut. But good spin, nonetheless.
• BellSouth’s Hamby says 95% of employees won’t be affected [Birmingham Business Journal]

To have and have less: Alabama is low. How low is it? It’s so low, it’ll tax any family making $4,600 and up. That’s $88 a week. That’s low. So low, that Alabama is the worst state in gouging the poor. The next worst is West Virginia, which doesn’t start taxing until the income level is $10,000 for a family of four. The Washington-based Center on Budget and Policy Priorities put out the study.
• Alabama remains top taxer of poor [Birmingham News]

Also:

• Old online dating profile haunts Southside single
• Mulga plant prepares workforce with viral video on forklift safety
• Bad boss believes she’s actually a good boss

• • •

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Gung Ho 2: Automotive Boogaloo: What happens when good ol’ boys and Korean gearheads join forces? Economic gains, waves of cars and … wackiness, natch. Hyundai’s $1.1 billion investment in Montgomery hasn’t been without its setbacks: language problems, rough handling of delicate machinery and … “according to a manager, when the company tried to send some workers to Hyundai Motor’s plant in Asan, Korea, it discovered that many employees didn’t even hold a passport.” The South Korea shall rise again. Hyundai’s not the only triumph: Mercedes and Honda are having record sales, too, thanks to state factories.
• Alabama plant is a Hyundai success story [JoongAng Daily (Seoul, Korea)]

Following the strokes: Researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham say that stroke victims can recover use of their limbs, even five years later. Before, doctors believed that maximum recovery was limited to six months to a year after a stroke. Hundreds of thousands of stroke survivors could regain the use of previously impaired limbs, according to the study published today in the journal, Stroke.
• Stroke Victims May Regain Weak Arm Use [Associated Press]

Black and white and remembered all over: The Birmingham News published “Unseen. Unforgotten,” a special eight-page section Sunday (and online section) of photos from the 1950s and '60s, the peak of the civil rights era. An intern found the negatives at the newspaper offices 16 months ago. The images had never been published.

The newspaper shied away from aggressive controversial coverage of the era, choosing instead to hide the photos (some taken at great risk to the photographers) in a closet. The editors, perhaps wisely, did not respond in the main story. But this columnist and this other columnist have suggested that the photos’ publication will spark frank discussions on race. (One column is even headlined “City finally finds nerve to talk race.”)

We agree. Maybe the discussion can start in the newsroom as to why, in 2006, in a community that’s 43 percent nonwhite, is the newsroom’s leadership mostly white and male? Or the higher-profile writers, the columnists, mostly white and male? Or the departmental management? Someday, perhaps, they shall overcome.
• From negatives to positives [Birmingham News]

Also:

• Southside restaurant hostess aspires to be part-time server
• Early state tax refunds spark out-of-state lottery ticket spree
• Offensive T-shirts fail to shock illiterate classmates

• • •

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Go with the flow: Is Jefferson County poisoning the water? Last week, 23.5 million gallons of sewage went into Shades Creek — more than six times the amount Trussville produces in one day. No biggie: It’s just one of more than 2,800 overflows since 1997. Billions borrowed, dozens of facilities built, with disgusting results. The Environmental Protection Agency plans to fine $1,000 for each offense while cutting $10 million in funding for the state. We’ll stick to making water at home … it’s two parts hydrogen and one part something, right?
• Sewage fouls Shades Creek [Birmingham News]

Adger is burning: An explosion Tuesday at the state’s biggest coal mine hurt no one since the site had already been evacuated. That’s because it’s the fourth explosion there since Friday. Despite a judge’s order in January for the state to inspect all mines within 10 days, despite a renewed focus nationally on mine safety, the Drummond Co. Shoal Creek mine has seen quite a few explosions and fires. The miners’ union says the state could have prevented the potentially deadly situation with a full inspection. A state official blamed time constraints. People, people, there will be plenty of time for finger pointing after another dozen miners are trapped and killed.
• Another explosion rocks coal mine [Birmingham News]

CeCe to FX: Birmingham’s Courteney Cox loves gossip. Sorta. She’s playing an editor of two celebrity mags in “Dirt,” a pilot for FX shooting this month. Cox, along with Matthew Carnahan and hubby David Arquette (hi, David!) are also executive producers. For those keeping score … Phoebe, cancelled HBO show; Joey, likely cancelled NBC show; Rachel, dumped by Brad Pitt; Ross, ????; and Chandler, in one of 20 SNL-inspired meta-TV fall comedy pilots. As for Courteney’s personal life, she is or isn’t pregnant. How’s that for a (non-)scoop?
• Cox Gets the ‘Dirt’ for FX [Zap2It]

Also:

• Accountant who misplaced precious cash to give seminar on how not to lose precious cash
• Tire retailers fight to legalize potholes
• H.S. center makes amazing three-point shot during warmups before team knocked out of state playoffs

• • •

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To our friends expecting or already blesed with babies, today’s headlines are just for you …

Because anything less is child abuse: If you’re going to parent, parent big! In the money = love department, we offer “the Cadillac of child care.” The cost of day care is exploding in the Birmingham area, driven by demand for the “very best” in entertaining 4-year-olds. Guilty parents (who can ill afford the tab) can blow their food money on such amenities as “Internet monitoring for parents, daily written reports on each child, state-of-the-art playgrounds with sprinklers for summer fun, organic lunches and advanced educational programs with foreign languages.” We’re all for improving child care and educational facilities for Alabama’s children, but we’re guessing the money’s not so much for Junior’s benefit as it is for salving parental shortcomings. But what do we know — we were raised by wolves. Unlicensed wolves, at that.
• Parents dig into pockets for top-quality child care [Birmingham News]

Condo U: Forget those drab cold cinder block dorms. Today’s collegian needs something to suit his/her upscale lifestyle (and mounting tuition debt). How about an off-campus condo, starting at a bargain $139,000? Birmingham-based Capstone Development is creating a $53 million Seaside-style gated(!) community near Auburn University. The 370 condos on 50 acres will include “granite countertops, stainless steel appliances, oil-rubbed bronze fixtures, security systems. … a clubhouse with a 30-seat theater, a fitness center, tanning beds, pool tables, a computer center, copier. … a three-level pool.” We wouldn’t be caught dead in anything less than the $229,000 five-bedroom unit. But that’s because Mummy and Daddy love us more.
• Plain living gets fancy [Birmingham News]

Object lessons: All is not lost. We present three examples of sanity regarding kids and their rearing (that didn’t come out right).

• Buses to and from Minor Community School have books paired with cassette players, so students can listen and read along during the ride.
• Toyota is donating $600,000 to Shelby County elementary schools to teach English to Spanish-speaking parents to help their children’s education.
• At Clay Elementary, a new approach to teaching math uses sports themes and motivation.

See, the kids are all right. It’s the parents that are messed up.

Also:

• Spring-like weather confuses plants, poets
• Smoker in restaurant smoking section still feels ‘uneasy’
• Olympian returns to throngs of passengers waiting to board plane

• • •

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Can’t stop the signal 1: A new promotional campaign in TV commercials and print ads will tout “Birmingham: The DiverseCity.” Ugh. Maybe instead, “Birmingham, the city too busy to learn.” Or “What happens in Birmingham … is none of your damn business.” More commercials in an unrelated campaign will highlight the city’s growing tech industry. Some say the city needs an image makeover, and that we suffer low self-esteem, either from racial history, risk aversion or poor leadership. At least it wasn’t “Birmingham: The AdverseCity.”
• New ads to promote ‘The DiverseCity’ [Birmingham News]

Can’t stop the signal 2: Once we lure tourists here, what next? CityVision is a promotional channel offered on TV sets in 50 area hotels, similar to travel guides offered in other cities. Restaurants and attractions advertise on a half-hour repeating DVD on the channel, free to hotels. Let’s hope guests don’t accidentally flip to this show.
• CityVision showcasing Birmingham’s attractions [Birmingham Business Journal]

Can’t stop the signal 3: What better way to show off the city than a segregation-era battle between blacks and whites? That’s the pitch (cough) behind Sunday’s game at Rickwood Field between the all-white Bristol (Conn.) Barnstormers and the Birmingham Black Barons, broadcast live on ESPN Classic. Jodi Markley, a senior vice president for ESPN Classic, said, “This is the first time we’ve put together an all-white vs. an all-black team. We want to showcase the game through the eyes of the segregated South.” (Oddly enough, the black team vs. white team is overlooked in this story.) The game airs from 3 to 6 p.m. with Chuck D(!) in the booth. Tickets are $10 and $12 at the ballpark and also at the Hoover Met.
• Black, white and televised all over: Segregated baseball to be re-enacted [Birmingham News]

Ciao, bella: Before we Turin out the lights (ack), one last Winter Olympics quickie. Albertville native and Auburn alum Elise Woodward Thomason was the lead designer for the pictograms for the 15 sports. “I saw them printed large, on the sides of buildings, and huge banners on the side of the Olympic stadium. It was a bit of a thrill.” Ah, the thrill of victory, the agony of design.
• AU grad’s art covers Turin [Birmingham News]

Also:

• Anti-crime summit interrupted by drug dealer’s beeper
• Weekend forecast: baby shower, with occasional drooling
• Still no winner in state’s hepatitis lottery

• • •

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Stock and aw: Birmingham-based healthcare company Healthsouth is paying $445 million to settle class action suits against the company, with no admission of wrongdoing. The plaintiffs will also receive 25 percent of any future judgments against Ernst and Young, UBS and former founder Richard Scrushy. That’s why we invest solely in fat-free chitlins and Martha Stewart bidets.
• HealthSouth reaches $445M agreement on lawsuits [Birmingham Business Journal]

De port! De port!: Forget confiscating nail clippers at the airport or stocking up on duct tape and plastic sheets. How about letting a Middle Eastern country that has banked al Qaida money and recognized the Taliban, as well as supplying two of the 9/11 hijackers, run the Port of Mobile? Not bloody likely, says Gov. Riley. While Mobile isn’t part of the president’s plan to allow six U.S. ports to be managed by a United Arab Emirates-owned company, the governor says Alabama will remain in charge of its own port. Thank Allah, since President Bush says "People don’t need to worry about security."
• Riley: Arab port deal not happening in Alabama [Decatur Daily]

When the Web cost a nickel: Community colleges statewide are helping old folks sign up for Medicare drug benefits. That’s because the new program requires high-speed Internet access. Great idea, that, forcing the elderly to go online to save money on overpriced meds. Because as we all know, Grandpa loves to surf the Web.
• Elderly can get Medicare help at schools [Birmingham News]

Also:

• State officials prepare clinics, vaccines for outbreak of March Madness
• Animals running wild, untaxed in Shelby County
• It’s official: I’ve become my mother, if my mother were still living at home with her parents

• • •

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Conventional wisdom: A Senate committee approved 10-0 on Tuesday a bill allowing citizens to vote on a constitutional convention — after a House committee failed to pass it 7-7. The state’s 105-year-old constitution, amended countless times, has outlived its usefulness. If by some miracle the Legislature OKs the referendum, we predict the religious conservatives will spend millions to discredit the reform movement, and that voters will shoot it down by a 2-1 margin. On the plus side, we’ll never have to dream big again.
• Constitutional convention gets new life in Alabama Legislature [Associated Press]

Home overrule: The House hasn’t been entirely slacking. It approved 74-3 on Tuesday a bill allowing citizens to vote on whether to severely curtail the Jefferson County Commission’s ability to float bonds. If voters statewide approve, the five commissioners would no longer be able to raise money through bond issues without holding a referendum or by unanimous vote. We haven’t been big fans of the shenanigans at the county level, but we’re certainly not gonna let Greene County tell us how to run our bidness. If only we could fix the constitution …
• House OKs bill to limit Jeffco bonds [Birmingham News]

Heads in the clouds: Pemco Aviation Group wants Birmingham to cough up $2.5 million to help it win a military contract. Corporate welfare or patriotic duty? At stake, 500 new jobs if the contract is signed — or 500 jobs cut if not, say company officials. Birmingham also wants to give $11 million to lure Wal-Mart to the Eastwood Mall site. A few mil here, a few there, it starts to become real money.
• Pemco asks council for $2.5 million [Birmingham News]

You’re soaking in it: Hoover is leaving the Jefferson County Storm Water Management Authority, which oversees federal water quality mandates, Sept. 30. That’s because Oct. 1, annual fees increase from $5 to $12 for homes and $15 to $36 for businesses — the first such increase in 10 years. Outrageous!! The city’s pullout is likely to have a dramatic effect on the oversight group’s budget, while Hoover mayor Tony Petelos said the city will meet federal standards on its own. Maybe Hoover should start its own postal system, too, since stamps went up two whole cents.
• Water agency losing Hoover [Birmingham News]

Also:

• Tourists too entranced by city TV promos to leave hotel rooms
• Car-repair scam replaces horn with collegiate fight song medley
• Bar violates occupancy limit for ‘self-involved pricks’

• • •

Send us your news tips.

Down from the mountain: The women’s two-man bobsled competition just finished. Did Birmingham’s Vonetta Flowers move up or down from Monday’s ninth-place rank? Did the United States team repeat as medalists? (No spoilers until the jump.) The third and fourth runs air between 7 and 10:30 tonight on NBC 13.
• Bobsled results, day 2 [NBC Olympics]

Birds of a feather: Is Alabama ready for a possible outbreak of bird flu? Wednesday will be a major step in preparing for pandemic, as Gov. Riley and Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt join area leaders for a half-day summit. On the agenda: “setting up a surveillance system, identifying ways to stop the spread of infection and building a health emergency response.” Although transmission from chickens to humans is rare, avian influenza has killed more than half of infected humans and could spread rapidly through all of us. Then, we’re all totally clucked.
• Flu-response summit set [Birmingham News]

Food fight: Our pal Cary writes about how the influx of upscale restaurant chains is pushing independent eateries to offer something different to retain employees. Special meals and involvement in daily decision-making are two tactics against the chains’ often higher salaries and bigger benefits packages. We’ll settle for a working intercom at the drive-through.
• A fine-dining dilemma [Birmingham Business Journal]

Also:

• Anti-violence campaign hawks new slogan, “Peace out, bitch!”
• Bank earns high marks in customer service, speedy layoffs
• Tuscaloosa promises to stop stealing water, cable from Birmingham

Olympics bobsledding results after the jump …

(more…)

Slip-sliding away: Birmingham’s Vonetta Flowers, along with teammate Jean Prahm, competed in the first two of four heats in two-women bobsled competition earlier today in the 2006 Winter Olympics. How did the twosome do in Turin? (No spoilers until the jump for those of you who, for some reason, TiVo’d this afternoon’s tape-delay broadcast.)
• Bobsled results [NBC Olympics]

Building a legacy: The Sixteenth Street Baptist Church received national landmark status today. The church was the site of the 1963 bombing that killed four girls. But you know you’ve really made it when you’re worth hundreds of dollars as a “Jeopardy!” clue.
• Alabama church bombed in '63 gets designation amid church arsons [Associated Press]

Bringing in outsiders: Think it’s cold this week? Try enduring it outside, like the estimated 3,000 homeless individuals do each night in Birmingham. But can we end homelessness, especially as federal dollars are disappearing? Homeless advocates are struggling against shrinking resources and wavering public attentnion. Said Rev. Lawton Higgs, “We live in what is supposed to be one of the most religious states in America but if we can allow this kind of suffering to go on, we are spiritually ill people.” Amen.
• Scaling the Wall [Birmingham Weekly]

Also:

• Forest Park partner promises to clean gutters without really meaning it
• National Guard called in to monitor county commission
• Downtown protestors decry War on Presidents Day

Olympics bobsledding results after the jump …

(more…)

Hicks in '06: The world’s biggest karaoke contest is down to the final 24, including Birmingham native Taylor Hicks. He joins American Idol Ruben Studdard, and runners-up Bo Bice and Diana DeGarmo as hometown singers gone Hollywood. Hicks sings at 7 p.m. Wednesday on Fox 6, as the 12 men compete for six spots. How big is “Idol”? Bigger than the Olympics, bigger than the Grammys If only he could get some local coverage … Meanwhile, try his sound out for free.
• Taylor Hicks bio [Fox]

On the Dial: Our pal Celia Carey has picked up another award, this time for a yet-to-be-aired documentary on Black Belt-native folk artist Thornton Dial (see a preview in Windows Media). The 20-minute film earned the Golden Gate Award for Best TV Documentary Short Form at the upcoming 2006 San Francisco International Film Festival. Carey won an Emmy in 2005 for “The Quiltmakers of Gee’s Bend,” airing again in March.
• San Francisco film fest honors APT documentary [Birmingham Business Journal]

The Oprah touch: Look, an extreme home makeover, the first in Birmingham. Without sextuplets. Or stuck on basic cable. Colette, the homeowner, said, “We planned on doing a lot of the work ourselves, but there were so many costs we didn’t foresee. We didn’t expect to have to rewire the electrical system, change the plumbing, and move heating vents.” Oprah Winfrey put her best man on the job, redoing the kitchen, foyer, living, dining room and den.

A rug really pulls a room together.
As do chairs, paint, a lamp, mirrors, a coffee table …

Hey, O, how about helping us finish the damn raking?
• Nate’s Sweet Home Alabama makeover [O at Home magazine]

Literary atonement: OK, to make up for all the TV hype, don’t forget the Southern Voices 2006 writers’ conference Friday and Saturday at the Hoover Library. One panelist will be our pal David Rachels, co-author of "What The Shadow Told Me." Ah, everything in balance.
• Southern writers converge on Hoover library event [Birmingham News]

Also:

• City’s young professionals getting old
• New landmark to honor area’s white trash heroes
• State quail send taunting faxes to White House

• • •

Send us your news tips.

If you make it, they might come: American City Business Journals studied 179 major cities to see if their total personal income could support pro teams. Birmingham, with a total personal income of $48.1 billion, makes the cut for football, basketball, hockey and soccer — but not baseball, which apparently isn’t affordable in any market. The report acknowledges other factors would affect attracting a franchise, such as stadium availability and proximity to existing franchises. A huge strike against Birmingham is population: Not enough eyeballs in the market to watch in person or on television. Also, much bigger cities are ahead of us in desirability. Also available: study overview | spreadsheet (MS Excel) | 10 most overextended markets.
• Birmingham is wealthy enough for pro sports team, study shows [Birmingham Business Journal]

Flame war: Ten burned churches, 200 investigators, $30,000 reward, more than 400 leads — and no arrests. (Except for a copycat mentally retarded/ill suspect, whose brother is a volunteer firefighter.) Jim Cavanaugh, head of the ATF field division in Nashville, leads the task force based at the Tuscaloosa Airport — and is better known as the hostage negotiator who talked with David Koresh by phone during the 1993 Waco standoff. Meanwhile, residents are keeping close watch on their own churches.
• U.S. Mounts a Vast Hunt for Church Arsonists [New York Times]

Of fairways and speedways: Do country clubbers like to cheer on Dale Jr. in the No. 8 car? Do NASCAR fans like to shoot birdies (the other kind)? That’s the promotional push behind Alabama Speedweek, touting April 21-30 as a dream week of golf and NASCAR/motorbike racing for fans. We’re gonna put up the caution flag and suggest that the only thing these two groups share is … well, flags.
• ‘Alabama Speedweek’ packages state’s golf, racing attractions [Birmingham Business Journal]

Also:

• Elementary school locker raid turns up 11 guns, 3 knives, 1 textbook on evolution
• Weekend visit to Georgia refreshes, relaxes uptight human resources manager
• Transit board misses meeting because of heavy traffic

• • •

Send us your news tips.

From the Viacom empire: The 50-million-dollar man is coming to the BJCC Concert Hall. Comedian and Comedy Central fugitive Dave Chappelle will perform Feb. 25, along with two bands TBA. The quickie tour promotes the March 3 theatrical release of "Dave Chappelle’s Block Party." Shot in September 2004, the concert movie features Kanye West, Common, Mos Def, Erykah Badu, the Roots and a reunion of the Fugees (though none are likely to be onstage here). Tickets, $55, go on sale at 10 a.m. Wednesday through Ticketma$ster. We’d go, but who wants to listen to hundreds of rednecks drawl, “I’m Rick James, bitch”?

And from MTV, a reality show on the Hoover High football team will likely air in July or August. Despite our past criticism, we’d like to offer possible titles: “Buc It Up”; “Buc Fuddies”; “My Super Sweet 6A.” Go team.

Update: The MTV show could be called "Two-a-Days," referring to twice daily practices under the blazing August sun. “MTV is … offering an unvarnished look at the lives of young people in settings not often seen in primetime. … ‘Two-A-Days’ … will reflect not only the town’s rabid interest in high school football but also the pressures the players face to perform in order to secure college scholarships and live up to the lofty expectations of their relatives and friends.” Um, this ain’t “Friday Night Lights — the TV Series,” and Hoover ain’t some tiny town in the Texan Outback. We’re guessing it’s like “Laguna Beach,” where a privileged set of high schoolers is more powerful than other students, teachers, administrators, parents and school board. Whee.
• Chappelle comeback trail includes Birmingham stop [Birmingham News]

To serve (The) Man: In case Dave needs a little material, how about this nugget? The Museum of Slavery and Civil Rights in Selma will offer visitors a unique experience: working and living as 19th-century plantation slaves. The package includes shabby clothes, standing on the auction block, working construction and being called the N-word. It’s all a part of the new tourism push in Alabama. We’d go, but who wants to listen to hundreds of rednecks drawl, “You’re Rick James, bitch”?
• Soon, Selma museum’s visitors can spend the day as a slave [Birmingham News]

Masters of their destiny: Alabama had 14,707 black-owned businesses in 1992 — and 28,684 in 2002, almost double. Now that’s progress. Plus, not only are more minorities becoming entrepreneurs, but also possibly more young people, too.
• In business [(Florence) TimesDaily]

Also:

• Dollar store sees run on “slightly defective” lingerie, candles
• High school wrestling team to be featured on gay-themed cable channel
• Part of me wants Italian, part of me wants barbecue

• • •

Send us your news tips.