A last look at the ’06 …

Then and now

Less taxing: Alabama doled out tax cuts … for the poor. Rep. John Knight had proposed reform bills for years, but this year — coincidentally an election year — brought some relief. Before, the state taxed working families making as little as $4,600 annually (the only state to tax families making below $10,000). The approved bill raised the threshold to $12,500.

For 2007, Gov. Riley wants to up the minimum to $15,000, while passing tax cuts for families earning up to $100,000. Meanwhile, the state’s regressive food tax remains intact.

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A last look at the ’06 …

Then and now

Locally disowned: Birmingham-based Parisian goes up for sale, as does NBC 13. Saks sold Parisian to Belk for $285 million in August. Parisian started out in 1887 as Parisian Dry Goods and Millinery Company.

NBC sold its affiliate to Media General in August as part of a four-station $600 million deal. NBC 13 is the oldest TV station in Alabama and after launching its redesigned site in January, ended up launching a new, new redesign this week which no one will ever see.

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X-tinct: Back in Earth Year 2006, the Terrans were still using forms of mass communication from the previous century, such as “radio.” Portable devices powered by electricity or batteries would convert invisible waves into sound, usually speech or music. The X was known as a broadcast station, and its downfall led to a series of events that would later topple governments and ruin civilizations … but I’m getting ahead of myself.
• Publisher’s Notebook [Black and White]

Sidewalk shuffle 3: The drama continues to unspool at Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival. We reported earlier on changes that led to the director’s departure. Monday’s Salon had twice as many attendees as the City Stages/Catalyst town hall (still waiting for that meeting report two weeks later). Meanwhile, all eyes are focused (film pun) on Sidewalk’s board, logistics, finances and future. WBHM’s “Tapestry” also turned in a six-minute segment (MP3 format) on the affair, which aired Thursday. (Foolish Terrans and their radio, have they learned nothing?!)
• At the Salon [Birmingham Weekly]

Real-life Roadblock: Karlyn Harris, the single mom from Helena we’ve followed all season long on “The Amazing Race,” found her house burglarized. Harris, along with her teammate Lyn Turk, was about to travel last week to New York for the season finale airing when she came home to find the entire place ransacked and robbed, even taking the copper pipes from below. The station led with a two-minute segment (WMV format and separate window). Harris is staying with family until she can restore her house. We suspect the beauty queens … (Warning: Audio plays automatically.)
• Amazing Race Contestant Robbed [CBS 42]

Magic City munchies: Birmingham may not be a tourist town, but how about a palate’s paradise? It all apparently begins and ends with Frank Stitt, the Moses of local fine dining. The writer and companion hit the nouveau haunts: Ocean, Garage, Chez Lulu/Continental Bakery, Bottega, Hot and Hot … Our favorite colorful phrase describing the city from an outsider perspective: “Birmingham, founded on the wrinkled topography of central Alabama because of its iron, coal and limestone deposits, has rarely come to mind as a tourist destination.” Brace yourselves for the invasion of the foodies.
• Birmingham Has a Lot on Its Plates These Days [New York Times]

Also:

• Santa anticipating delay along 280 during Christmas Eve deliveries
• Local bowl game fever downgraded to tepid indifference
• Coaching search expands to include convicts on work-release detail

• • •

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All about Black and White’s crime issue. Because we’re a sucker for special issues.

First, the good news: While violent crime runs unabated through the once-peaceful neighborhoods of Birmingham, at least one police unit is getting it done. Not the Birmingham police, but the Jefferson County Sheriff. Mike Hale’s task force sweeps have targeted hot spots and rounded up suspects of every stripe. drug proceeds of more than $6,000 in cash seized and a missing juvenile was located. One daylong sweep in September netted “62 contacts, with five arrest warrants in surrounding counties and states, 16 new criminal charges including possession of a controlled substance (cocaine, crack, pills), obstruction of justice — false information, possession of drug paraphernalia.”
• County Mounties [Black and White]

Lies, damn lies and …: Statistics show that overall crime in Birmingham is down 1 percent from 2005. But is that the whole story? Homicides are on pace to beat the 105 in 2005, and Southside, West End and other Birmingham neighborhoods are taking a real beating. Chief Annetta Nunn and Mayor Kincaid maintain that the police are helpless to prevent murders among acquaintances, but the open cases suggest random killings, not domestic disputes gone awry.

So far, 87 homicides this year. Hard to imagine? BhamWiki maintains a running list. Still too fuzzy? CBS 42 has compiled this interactive murder map.

And the hits keep coming …
• Crime by the Numbers [Black and White]

DIY PD: Merchants in Five Points South, fed up with attacks on employees and patrons, are hiring off-duty cops to patrol the streets. “It doesn’t speak well of the police force that we’re having to hire our own cops,” says Jeff Tenner, owner of Soca Clothing and president of the Five Points South Merchants Association. “The officers who are down here do a really excellent job, but there are just not enough of them.” We had boldly made the same suggestion a year ago, after friends were mugged outside one Southside bar. The response then: It can’t be done.

And yet, it saddens us that it’s come to this.
• Hired Guns [Black and White]

• How can the police fight crime with more than 40 vacant positions?
• Or using “cheap theatrics” like a fake funeral against crime?
• Mayor Kincaid dithers on promise to increase salaries of cops, firefighters
• Chief Nunn on the rising homicide rate: “I can’t explain this phenomenon”
• Judge for yourself: Are we better off one year later?

Also:

• Cold snap brings out sweaters, leaf blowers, cider dealers
• Mountain Brook schools locked down after jaywalker spotted
• We’re surrounded by ugly Bettys

• • •

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One nation under Katrina: Black and White has a remarkable two-part feature on the struggle of Mississippi and Louisiana to recover a year after Hurricane Katrina. Part 1 shows the forgotten places along the Mississippi Gulf Coast, where towns such as Pearlington waited up to six weeks just for disaster teams to arrive. Part 2 focuses on New Orleans, where federal dollars are caught in bureaucratic nonsense, musicians have fled from total devastation, and the local alt-weekly has made a surprising comeback.
• One Year Later [Black and White]

An enduring society: A century-old Southside home is getting the HGTV treatment. “If Walls Could Talk …” profiles an arts-and-crafts house that has served as meeting headquarters for the Birmingham chapter of the American Federated Women’s Club for decades. Current owner Bob McKenna has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars renovating the place, and leases it to the ladies for their five-times-weekly meetings. It airs again 5:30 p.m. Friday.
• The Stories They Would Tell [Black and White]

The war at home: An assistant professor of graphic design at Samford University has brought home his views of Iraq. Scott Fisk, who also serves as an Army Reserve combat photographer, has an exhibit, “Iraq: 05-06, A Photographic Journey” at Wright Center at Samford University. Fisk is typically embedded with American and Iraqi units during combat. The free exhibit is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays through Sept. 28.
• At the Galleries [Black and White]

Also:

• Birmingham water supply saved by air drop from God
• Talk radio caller has nothing but praise for offense, defense and coaching staff
• Halloween sales pitch sounding a little desperate this year

• • •

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The fat(test) of the land: Alabama, step away from the buffet. Two-thirds of us are fat, making us the second-fattest state in America, says a study by the Washington-based nonprofit research group, Trust for America’s Health. Mississippi was fattest, and Colorado was 51st (including the District of Columbia). A map of the Bible Bloated Belt shows the South leading the way in the supersizing of the world, with top showings in diabetes and high blood pressure. It’s so bad, Birmingham’s mayor has already put us on a routine of proper eating and exercise. And one Trinity cafe is finding success selling half-portions at half-price. Can the state lead the way to a thinner nation, or die(t) trying?
• Alabama gets fatter, No. 2 in country, report says [Birmingham News]

Going for broke: One-sixth of us are poor, making us the eighth-poorest state in America, says the latest U.S. Census report. Mississippi had the most families below the poverty line; New Hampshire had the fewest. In 25 years, the rate has fluctuated somewhat. Alabama’s median household income was $36,879 in 2005. And while the Birmingham-Hoover metro area was above the state average, blacks and Hispanics are faring terribly, with about 25 percent falling below the poverty line.
• State’s 17% poverty rate is nation’s 8th highest [Birmingham News]

Getting housed: Birmingham ranks ninth among 130 cities in high-cost mortgages, according to a report from social justice group, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. Nearly half of the mortgages refinanced here were at 3 or more percentage points above the national average. Blacks and Hispanics in cities often face fewer choices in loan products and services, forcing them into high-cost loans. A map shows cities in the South and Midwest gouging consumers who can afford it least. For them, the American dream is more like an amortized nightmare.
• City ranks high in costly mortgages [Birmingham News]

School standings: Among universities, Alabama A&M ranked 24th according to Washington Monthly magazine. And the unique survey is based on three criteria: helping poor people get into school and graduate, fostering scientific and humanistic research, and instilling an ethic of service to country. Paired with the survey is the cover story with a title that says it all: “Is our students learning?” Well, is they?

Plus, Hoover High ranks No. 1 in football in the USA Today Super 25.
• A&M gets high rank [Birmingham News]

Also:

• Ernesto boycotts Alabama
• Demopolis body shop owner moves fantasy football franchise to L.A.
• Five Points South demonstrators make love, not sense

• • •

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The bitter beginning: By a 95-87 vote, the state Democratic Party upheld Patricia Todd’s victory for the District 54 house seat on Saturday. By the numbers:

• 59: Vote margin of victory in the July 18 runoff;
• 81: Days since the June 6 election to declare a winner;
• 3,000: Amount paid by runner-up Gaynell Hendricks’ mother-in-law to challenge the contest;
• 25,000: Amount paid by the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund, which Todd disclosed late, sparking the challenge;
• 18: Years since candidates were required to follow the rule that knocked out both candidates prior to Saturday’s decision.

Once again, Todd becomes the first openly gay member of the Legislature. On to Montgomery.
• Alabama Democrats reinstate gay candidate for Legislature [Associated Press]

Do not assume: John Mark Karr, arrested in Thailand for the murder of 6-year-old beauty queen JonBenét Ramsey, won’t be charged. A DNA test showed he wasn’t at the the crime scene 10 years ago. Since his whirlwind tabloid debut nearly two weeks ago, we’ve learned that Karr grew up in Hamilton and taught as a substitute teacher there, and also ran a daycare out of his home. The case remains open.
• Timeline of John Mark Karr Between 1996 and 2006 [Associated Press]

Soaring cost of health care: Everyone’s favorite corporate scalawag Richard Scrushy now owes HealthSouth more than $50 million in repayment of bonuses, a figure that grows by more than $15,000 a day in interest, or a Hamilton a minute. Wonder if that money will ever be repaid in full — not that the shareholders will ever see a dime.
• Scrushy told he must pay $51.5 million [Birmingham News]

The starstruck Enterprise: Country singer George Jones has a new home of sorts. He and his wife are calling the southeast Alabama town of Enterprise their home for part of the year, as he becomes spokesman for a real estate company based there. The couple also plans to open the Possum Holler Restaurant (Jones’ nickname is the Possum). Some new residents are plunking down money for lots next door to keep up with the Joneses, including a Florida lottery winner. To quote Dennis Miller, “And you thought there were a lot of zeroes in the prize total …”
• Possum Finds Happiness in a Small Town [Black and White]

Also:

• Katrina refugees welcomed as permanent scapegoats for city
• Red Mountain decried for alleged past Communist ties
• Vestavia Hills shown to consume trendy restaurants at alarming rate

• • •

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54, forfeit or fight: In case you were worried that 2006 would be the dullest election year in Alabama history, along comes the strange case of District 54, and along with it, the demise of the modern Democratic Party.

It started out with five candidates, with black businesswoman Gaynell Hendricks, shown at far left, and white lesbian activist Patricia Todd slugging it out in what was supposedly a clean runoff fight. (We take that back, by the way. Nasty fliers and hurled insults made for a sickening contest.) Todd won it in a squeaker, becoming the first openly gay member of the Legislature. That is, until Hendricks cried foul, with her mother-in-law challenging the vote.

Hendricks’ camp cried foul over Todd’s late campaign finance form disclosing a contribution from a gay and lesbian group. Todd’s camp cried foul over Joe Reed, chairman of the black caucus, who they blamed for issuing the challenge; he has denied it, though he has openly campaigned for a black representative to remain in power in this majority black House district.

After a delayed hearing, a state Democratic Party made a surprising move today, voting 5-0 to disqualify both candidates based on an obscure rule. That’s right: Everyone loses, which apparently is the new motto for the Democrats. How serious is this infraction? No party candidate has bothered to file a disclosure statement with the chairman in 18 years, including current gubernatorial nominee, Lt. Gov. Lucy Baxley.

The party’s executive committee will hand-pick the representative Saturday, overriding two legitimate votes by the public, both favoring Todd.

So the question is: Which is worse in Alabama politics: being gay, black, white, female, corrupt, a sore loser, a Democrat or a complete ass? The answer will be revealed this weekend.
• Democratic Party committee asked to disqualify gay candidate [Associated Press]

Get wrong with God: It’s not the just the liberals who are imploding. The Christian Coalition of Alabama has defected from the Christian Coalition of America, calling the national group too pinko. And believe it or not, it’s likely the powerful state group — the third to defect this year — will continue long after the national one has thumped its last Bible. And Election Day is only 11 weeks away …
• National, Alabama Christian Coalition separate [Associated Press]

Also:

• Wanted: Rep for District 54. Great hours, good kickbacks.
• VH1 plans reality TV series around city’s has-been pro teams
• Katrina still missing after one year; suspect arrested in Thailand

• • •

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The latest from the enchanted kingdom of Hoover …

Long arm of the law of supply and demand: The city police department may bump up its pay for new hires with experience to help it compete with cities across the country. Starting pay is $38,500, but those with a few years of service stand to gain in the long run. Note how Hoover didn’t threaten its current officers with payback or leave it all to God alone.
• Hoover eyes pay increase to recruit experienced police [Birmingham News]

The road to Ross Bridge: Creepy analogy of the day: If Ross Bridge Golf Resort and Spa were a dude, men would want to be him and women would want to be with him. Such is the success of the mega-resort and planned community in the wilds of Oxmoor Valley. It celebrated its first anniversary Thursday. In that time, more than 102,000 guests from 50 states and 30 countries have played 30,000 rounds of golf and received nearly 14,000 spa treatments. Not to mention the 1,000 meetings and 26 weddings. A big selling point? Says the resort’s sales director: “(Coca-Cola, Phizer and Glaxo) are companies that would not have hosted meetings in Birmingham if Ross Bridge were not here. We have had numerous companies choose us to avoid the traffic congestion in Atlanta.” Come for the golf, stay for the ozone.
• Raves for Ross Bridge resort [Birmingham News]

Wednesday night lights: A quick programming note: The MTV reality show “Two-a-Days” (still not loving that name) premieres at 9:30 tonight with an hourlong show. (The other eps will be a half-hour.) Because not every channel in America hasn’t done something on Hoover High’s championship football team (we’re looking at you, Lime and Encore Comedy West), we’ll see what really goes on behind the scenes of a closely watched football program in a well-heeled suburb that’s not on a beach. Look for more coverage on Wade on Birmingham, if we’re not busy too watching “So You Think You Can Coach?” or “Rock Star: Vova Nova.”
• Hoover High’s champion football team focus of new MTV series [Associated Press]

Also:

• Farmers’ market overrun with vegetarians
• Elevated roadway to aid more drivers with gas-efficient vehicles burn more fuel
• Hurricane season: Why it’s turning out to be a drought of boredom

• • •

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Tax (pause) and spend: The Alabama Supreme Court has OK’d spending $1 billion on Jefferson County schools raised from a one-cent sales tax. The two-year delay has forced area systems to delay construction on badly needed new schools. Birmingham and Jefferson County systems together will split $725 million — but all systems will get less bang for their billion bucks, since construction costs have risen dramatically in the post-Katrina era. As for the whole sales tax scheme, it may be legal, but it ain’t necessarily right. Road to hell? Now nicely paved.
• Schools renew plans for $1 billion construction [Birmingham News]

Here’s the pitch: A public service announcement: While the “American Idol” auditions begin Monday at the BJCC Arena, auditioners must show up between 8 a.m. Saturday and 8 a.m. Monday to receive a wristband and a seat ticket. Up to 15,000 would-be Idols are expected. The show needs its next William Hung — will it be (dramatic pause) you?

• Official info plus the short version of what to expect
  
• Taylor Hicks shares the adventures of contestant No. 74094: “I didn’t fall in with all the singing and screaming and banner waving. I was somewhat excited, but I kept quiet and kept to myself.”

• Think it’s easy to become an Idol? Join the crowd [Huntsville Times]

Karr talk: John Mark Karr, the sometime resident of Hamilton and JonBenét Ramsey murder suspect, gets the full “neighbor profiler” treatment. “A lot of students were not very fond of him.” “I’m sure his wife told the truth (about his alibi of being in Hamilton at the time of the murder). I’ve got confidence in her.” “He always wanted to substitute in the elementary grades.” And from a similar story: “It wouldn’t surprise me if he done it and it wouldn’t surprise me if he didn’t do it.” “He’s always been a dark person, a different bird. He’s smart. He’s bad smart.” “We grew up together. He was just a very nice guy.” Judge away.
• Northwest Alabama residents remember Karr [Associated Press]

Cho business: A quick plug for our second-favorite funnyman from the South who’s Korean. Henry Cho is appearing tonight and Saturday at the Comedy Club at the Stardome in Hoover. We caught his latest on Comedy Central, and he does the whole “marriage is crazy” schtick, but clean and witty. Bonus points for riffing on Arab (the Alabama town, not the Middle Eastern dude).
• Clean comic Cho comes to Stardome [Birmingham News]

Also:

• “Talladega Nights,” Tallapoosa days, Tuscumbia weekends
• Birmingham Bill sees shadow, now predicts six more weeks of summer
• ‘How I spent my summer’ essays, two for $15

• • •

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Update: John and JonBenét: The suspect arrested Tuesday night in Bangkok in connection to the strangulation death of JonBenét Ramsey was raised in Hamilton, about 90 miles northwest of Birmingham. John Mark Karr, already held on unrelated sex charges, confessed to the crime earlier today, but his wife says she was with him in Alabama at the time of the murder. The 1996 murder of the six-year-old Boulder, Colo., beauty queen drew tabloid attention and remained unsolved. Parents John and Patsy Ramsey were the focus of early scrutiny, but were never arrested. Patsy Ramsey died in June from cancer. Karr worked as a substitute teacher in August and September of 1996 at Hamilton Elementary School, but was fired after a parent’s complaint about “language.” JonBenét was murdered that December.
• Former Alabama man tied to JonBenet Ramsey death [Birmingham News]

Help wanting: The Personnel Board of Jefferson County has a seemingly simple task: Find qualified applicants to fill jobs in 23 municipalities. At a cost of nearly $12 million in taxpayer money in 2005, it is failing miserably. Cities are wringing their hands over staffing shortages, outdated applicant lists and increased spending for a clearly broken system. The board’s discriminatory past has created the boondoggle it is today. Now, the board is spending another quarter million dollars to find applicants from as far away Miami, Houston and Puerto Rico. Birmingham has had an opening for a heavy equipment operator for three years, and the city’s public works director said, “All 12 candidates had filled out the application in June 2001. I want the best-qualified person available today. I don’t want the best-qualified person who was available five years ago.” Well, if you’re gonna be picky …
• $231,000 marked to help fill jobs [Birmingham News]

Steered straight: Say a big “arigato, y’all” to Honda. The Japanese auto manufacturer has nearly finished its $70 million engine factory expansion in Lincoln. Now it’s spending another $40 million for another expansion, this one adding 41,000 square feet … and 20 new jobs. Straight from the story: “The plant makes the Odyssey minivan and the Pilot sport utility vehicle along with the V-6 engines that go in them. The $1.3 billion plant employs 4,500 people and can turn out 300,000 vehicles and engines each year.” To address the needs of Honda and other would-be employers, Gov. Riley has launched a new workforce training and certification program. This means workers can gain new skills and earn Career Readiness Certificates to land better jobs — and help the state woo new industry. Not bad for a state which has seen the number of families on food stamps rise by a third since 2001.
• Honda plans $40 million expansion at engine plant [Birmingham News]

And you can get it if you try: A 26-year-old Birmingham man is one heartbeat away from the presidency. Jared Weinstein is Bush’s “body man,” the go-to guy for the president’s every need. He described his job thusly, “The president should never have to do more than nod his head or twitch his finger and you know what he wants.” By the way, a nod means coffee, a twitch means invade Iran. Meanwhile, a 21-year-old engineering student at the University of Alabama won nearly $1 million in a Vegas poker tournament. Shannon Shorr of Irondale has earned $1.3 million total this year. And if he needs a body man, we volunteer.
• Birmingham man serves in the president’s shadow [Birmingham News]

Also:

• Sandwich maker’s jargon baffles customer in search of hoagie
• Barons expected to finish season
• Missing Hueytown dog last seen chewing on something or other

• • •

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Attacking AIDS: Team UAB is fighting a war abroad — and winning. The Centre for Infectious Disease Research in Zambia, a UAB affiliate, started putting more than 25,000 HIV-positive patients on life-saving antiretroviral therapy. It’s part of a $15 billion, 15-country effort. Dr. Jeffrey S.A. Stringer, director of the center, writes in Wednesday’s Journal of the American Medical Association that treating AIDS on a massive scale in Africa can be done. Meanwhile, nearly 500,000 Zambians are HIV positive, and 200,000 need those drugs to live. “Many dying patients ‘literally came in in wheelbarrows, a common form of ambulance in Lusaka,’ the Zambian capital, Stringer said. We’ll win the war, but the casualties will be far too high.
• AIDS eases grip on Africa [Birmingham News]

Rehabilitator, heal thyself: HealthSouth was a dominant player in sports medicine and rehabilitation. Still is, though it has stumbled since its accounting scandal. Since then, it took bold steps to regain investor trust and remain afloat. The next step for the Birmingham-based health care giant will be to shed three divisions, sticking solely with inpatient rehabilitation. It also plans to be publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange by October. Is this the makings of the greatest comeback in sports (medicine) history? It ain’t over till the jailbird Scrushy sings …
• HealthSouth announces plan for restructuring [Birmingham News]

Hail, yeah! EWTN, the Catholic global cable network based in Irondale, is marking its 25th anniversary, just two weeks behind that other cult sensation. Mother Angelica, the founder and face of the network, still remains in poor health and didn’t attend Saturday’s celebration at the BJCC Arena. How powerful is the network? It has a $30 million annual budget, receiving as much as $3 million in donations a month. Plus, you know it has God on its side, always a help.
• Catholic TV network has celebration [Birmingham News]

The tyranny of safety: The Tiger Walk, the decades-old pre-game ritual at Auburn, is being declawed, sorta. Barricades separating players from fans will line Donahue Drive for the first time this fall. It’s amusing to think 300-pound linebackers need protection from throngs of drunk exuberant fans. Graduate and former player Rich Trucks said, “I couldn’t believe it either. … I got more kisses in Tiger Walk than I got my entire career in college.” Real kisses, too, not audited ones.
• Auburn fans, players have mixed feelings about Tiger Walk changes [Opelika-Auburn News]

Also:

• Suburban cops also get big Birmingham brushoff from chief
• Boutique sale triggers squeals, handbag riot
• Autumn expected to be extra dry, somewhat leafy

• • •

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Lake Soon-be-Gone: It is so hot … How hot is it? It is so hot, the lakes are drying up. Let us remind you, we’re in a drought. If you’re watering your plants at midnight or washing your car, you’re killing us all down the road. It’s likely we won’t see significant rainfall until November — or the first hurricane. Either way, it’s going to be ugly. Hot and ugly.
• Lakes’ water levels dwindling, utilities say [Birmingham News]

Gimme shelter: Speaking of nasty weather, three cities have invested in public storm shelters able to withstand (fingers crossed) an F-5 tornado with winds up to 318 mph. Bagley and Graysville already have one shelter each, for a total of 110 people and a total cost of $47,000 (federal dollars covered 75 percent of the cost). Trussville is spending $110,000 (must be the deluxe model) to protect 100 people. Applause all around for these cities on the lookout for residents who don’t always have some place to hide when the sirens go off.
• Public shelters help weather storms [Birmingham News]

New edition: A long time ago, yours truly was a cub reporter for The Birmingham News. And then for a long time, I worked for the Post-Herald in the same building as the News. So I’m a little wistful to see the new building finally complete. After $21 million and 14 months, the state’s biggest newspaper has a grand new home. I can’t wait to see it in person. Congratulations to the folks down at the intersection of Fourth Avenue North and 22nd Street.
• The News’ building for new century [Birmingham News]

Also:

• City mass transit cut to one route, one moped, two days a week
• Homewood students pray intently for flagpole
• Almost time to rake leaves unconsumed by wildfire, tropical storms

• • •

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Cop out: Birmingham’s murder spree continues unabated, and what’s the police chief’s big idea? Threaten cops leaving for better-paying jobs in the suburbs, telling them that they won’t ever be hired back. Mayor Kincaid even balked at the Aug. 2 menacing memo from Annetta Nunn (pictured here), writing that she didn’t have the power. Mayor Kincaid, take it one step further: Fire or demote Nunn now, and tell her if she ever leaves, he’ll spring for bus fare.
• Mayor orders police chief to restore policy [Birmingham News]

For whom the school bell tolls: Police officers aren’t the only ones fleeing town in droves. In only five years, Birmingham schools lost 7,300 students — one in five students skipped out for other, presumably better, systems. And 90 percent were black. (The methodology, somewhat flawed, still shows a desperate situation.) The exodus is costing city schools millions in federal dollars tied to enrollment numbers. New superintendent or no, the system’s fate could be sealed, leaving nearly 30,000 students stuck with a bleak future.
• City’s black students leaving for suburbs [Birmingham News]

Semper try: Some conservatives paint the media as responsible for declining troop morale and safety in Iraq. So what to make of Jeff Key, a gay redneck from Walker County turned Hollywood actor turned Marine reservist deployed to Iraq? After suffering from a hernia two months on duty, he returned stateside for an operation and … anti-war activism, including a play at Birmingham Festival Theatre, “The Eyes of Babylon,” based on his life story. The play runs through Saturday. By 2007, nearly 1,600 Alabama Army National Guard soldiers will be in Iraq, the highest number since 2,300 served in 2003.
• Looking into the Eyes of Babylon [Birmingham Weekly]

Also:

• Gas station owners prepare to gouge gas-addicted drivers
• Malls besieged with returns, long lines in post-sales tax holiday rush
• Accounting firm’s softball team forfeits pennant after flipping digits

• • •

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Helping hands: As parents shop this tax-free weekend for back-to-school items, area companies are doing their part to fund city schools’ athletic programs, including band and cheerleading. The 10 companies will contribute $1 million total, collected during the next four years, to the Birmingham Athletic Partnership. Participants are ACIPCO, Alabama Power, First American Bank, Ligon Industries, Maynard, Cooper and Gale, Pricewaterhouse Coopers, Protective Life, Regions Bank, Starnes & Atchison, LLP, and Viva Health. Also, World of Opportunity gives dropouts a second (or third) chance at education.
• Companies aid city schools [Birmingham News]

Crunch time: Meanwhile, several school systems are in their annual scramble to find teachers before doors open. Mobile and Montgomery Counties are short by 230 vacancies total with only a couple of weeks to go. Wonder how Birmingham-area systems are doing …

• Retired Samford prez will try to fix state’s nepotism-riddled two-year college system
• Hoover may have ousted her unfairly, but its super ex-superintendent will be helping Birmingham’s new school chief
• Former state assistant school superintendent, Robert Morton, died Tuesday. His legacy: helping systems dig out of debt

• Some Ala. school systems still trying to fill teaching vacancies [Associated Press]

To-do list: 1. If you can stand the heat, the Southern Heritage Festival is back, this time at the Railroad Reservation Park in the heart of Birmingham. On tap: Patti LaBelle, Kem, Koko Taylor and Little Memphis Blues Orchestra. Tickets are $25 for today, $30 for Saturday and $40 for both. [schedule | tickets] (Yep, no Web site, and in 2006. Sigh.) 2. If you can’t stand the heat, the first Magic City Chamber Music Festival takes place in the Reynolds-Kirschbaum Recital Hall at Alys Stephens Center on Southside. Take in classical music, wine, cheese and desserts. Vancouver-based Borealis String Quartet canceled at the last minute because of work visa problems; performers include Pacifica Quartet and UAB’s Denise Gainey and Yakov Kasman.Tickets are $35 for today or Saturday, $40 for Sunday and $100 for all three days. [schedule | audio interview | program notes] 3. See “Talladega Nights,” if only for the deconstruction of Faulkner’s role in modern American literature.

Also:

• Interstate congestion caused by gawkers reading traffic updates on electronic signs
• Growth spurt in Hispanic population linked to steroid abuse
• On Monday, it all begins again

• • •

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