After 16 years of service on the Jefferson County Commission, Mary Buckelew has gone down in disgrace. She plead guilty Tuesday to one count of obstruction of justice.

Buckelew lied to a grand jury about receiving $4,000 in designer shoes, a purse, a spa treatment and more, all to influence her vote on sewer bonds and swaps.

For eight years, she served as commission president. In 1997, Governing magazine honored her as a Public Official of the Year. Now, she’s expected to lead prosecutors to bigger targets in the ongoing investigation of the county’s poorly managed sewer system.

She joins a growing list of convicted commissioners: Jeff Germany, Chris McNair and Gary White.

Meanwhile, Jefferson County has considered declaring bankruptcy over the $3.2 billion owed in interest alone. How deep is the financial hole, and how deep is the corruption that led us here?
• Birmingham News: Former Jefferson County Commissioner Mary Buckelew pleads guilty

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Then and now

Fed up: Since the campaign last fall, we knew this was a possibility, a dark cloud on the horizon. And so, it has happened.

The Securities and Exchange Commission filed a civil complaint against Mayor Larry Langford, alleging he took cash to help friends profit from sewer system bond swap deals while he served on the Jefferson County Commission. As you may recall, mishandling of the sewer has put the county on the brink of record bankruptcy, not to mention convicting three former commissioners.

Not a peep from the SEC since April, but Langford has talked to the media, most notably this interview with WBHM (90.3 FM).

And if you need a preview of the defendant’s possible testimony in court, we have the video, after the jump …

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Then and now

Flushed away: Jefferson County is broke, and getting broker by the minute. The commission sent representatives to New York to meet with financial brokers to find a way to pay off the $3.2 billion in interest payments.

It all started with a broken-down sewer system, which led to court-ordered fixes, which led to bonds to raise funds, which led to unsupervised hiring of contractors, which led to corruption and payoffs, which led to bond swaps to get supposedly better deals.

On Thursday, the commission rejected a proposed plan from Merrill Lynch to create an independent oversight board. Naturally, the commission is paying Merrill Lynch $75,000 a month to make proposals for it to reject.

If the commission doesn’t come up with a plan by Aug. 1, it will default on $100 million in payments. Not to mention the possibility of filing for bankruptcy, the largest in U.S. history.

So much for solvency. So much more for leadership.

More on festivals, war and schools, after the jump …

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Then and now

The road to skinny: Our extended coverage of “The Biggest Loser: Couples” began with former Alabama linemen Roger Shultz and Trent Patterson. Shultz, an Enterprise native, went on to take second place while losing his day job at Jacksonville State.

He does still have his radio show and has embarked on the post-reality show career of choice: appearances! This weekend, he’ll be at a celebrity charity weekend in Orange Beach. But he still has time for the kids, like stopping by a fourth-grade class at Helena Intermediate School in May.

Check out the slimmed-down Shultz, plus more news updates, after the jump …

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Jefferson County has never been in more financial trouble. Thanks to years of bonds and swaps, the interest payments have escalated to $3.2 billion (never mind the principal) on the infamous sewer improvements. Those bonds have been downgraded to junk status. And don’t forget an extra $1.4 billion owed, originally borrowed for school construction. Meanwhile, county commissioners are scratching their heads just figuring out how to pay the tab, even sending representatives to New York to beg for help from creditors. It’s a crazy system, one that has states and cities fighting these seemingly arbitrary bond ratings.

In case you were unfamiliar with the guilty parties, let us reacquaint you with the commissioners who favored these pricey deals: Mary Buckelew, Bettye Fine Collins, Jeff Germany, Larry Langford (under investigation by the SEC), Steve Small, Shelia Smoot and Gary White (convicted for corruption). As the county goes broke, we’ll be over here, digging for change in the couch.
• The Birmingham News: Sewer-bond debt crisis gets uglier

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Former Jefferson County commissioner Gary White was convicted Thursday of bribery in the never-ending but always depressing $3 billion sewer debacle. White, 61, took bribes, up to $4,000 in $100 bills, to favor one bidding company in sewer contracts. He faces up to 85 years in prison and $2.25 million in fines. His fellow commissioners Jeff Germany and Chris McNair were also convicted in 2006.

Ah, life on the county commission. You either end up in jail or city hall.
• The Birmingham News: Jury finds White guilty of bribery

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Your tax dollars at play: For the second time in two months, a former Jefferson County commissioner has been convicted of conspiracy. Jurors decided today that Jeff Germany funneled money through a nonprofit agency to himself, his wife, his ex-girlfriends and current friends. He faces a possible 10 years in prison; sentencing is Sept. 21. If one more gets locked up, at least we’ll have a quorum. [print version]
• Former Jeffco Commissioner Germany Found Guilty [Fox 6]

What a waste: Speaking of the commission, the other former member/criminal steered work to F.W. Dougherty Engineering, which designed the $52 million pumping station at Valley Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant. That’s part of a $400 million upgrade. With us so far? Thanks to the firm’s incompetence, the commission is shelling out an additional $26.5 million today to repair and rebuild the pump station. The firm, by the way, didn’t take out enough insurance on the project. And yet, no one’s made a pithy T-shirt or panties about the super sewer debacle …
• Jeffco to pay $26.5 million to fix sewer pump station [Birmingham News]

Convicts of the county: Tuesday, a jury convicted Ronald Wilson, a county engineer, and Pugh Construction guilty of more sewer shenanigans — this time bribery and conspiracy for him, conspiracy for the firm.
• Jury convicts Jeffco engineer, construction firm in sewer case [Birmingham News]

Penny pinchers: By now, you may have lost all faith in the county’s ability to manage public funds, protect the infrastructure or stay out of jail. Fret no more, the county is guarding those dollars zealously. County employees have the option to buy back into the retirement plan (in a dispute lasting 28 years!), though the county fought the state law and lost. Because it will cost the county millions of dollars, it is eliminating retirement health insurance for the up to 774 employees who exercise their legal buyback option. See, they’re not all corrupt … some are just petty and vindictive.
• Jeffco to restrict retiree health plans [Birmingham News]

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Scientific Americans: President Bush dropped by Tuskegee University Wednesday to announce a new push to fund scientific research to remain globally competitive. The plan calls for $136 billion over 10 years to train teachers and provide Pell Grants for students planning to major in math or science. It’s called the American Competitiveness Initiative, but we prefer “No Nerd Left Behind.”

• Handpicked student audience didn’t vote for Bush, “indifferent,” “excited”
• The speech video (Windows Media) | transcript
• Photo essay
• Moore: Bush visit part of vast right-wing conspiracy to undermine gubernatorial bid

• Bush pushes research in Tuskegee [Montgomery Advertiser]

L.A. laws: Gov. Riley is counting up his legislative wins as he rolls toward the June primaries. Among the achievements: tax breaks for the poor, expanded use of children’s car seats, a February presidential primary and criminalizing the injury or murder of a fetus (not counting abortion). April 28 is the signing deadline on the bills.
• Riley says he ‘couldn’t be happier’ as session ends [Birmingham News]

Down the drain: The jury was expected to begin deliberations today in the sewer trial involving former Jefferson County commissioner Chris McNair and various contractors. The charges: bribery and conspiracy. The question: Did McNair receive bribes or gifts in the form of thousands of dollars in cash envelopes? This is the first of two trials for McNair, whose own daughter testified against him. The sewer fiasco started out at $1 billion and is now expected to cost $3 billion to fix. Additional coverage.
• First sewer swindle trial closes [Birmingham Weekly]

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