What's going on in Edwardsville

A story I’ve followed thru the Cleburne News keeps getting more and more interesting. The town of Edwardsville has annexed large portions of non-contiguous land and created Special Development Districts, which offer the land owner relief from all state and county taxes in return for deeding 1% of the land to [...]

Birmingham's Special Mayoral Election Today

Steven Hoyt for Mayor Handout

Today’s special election for Birmingham’s fourth mayor in months is being held on a rainy day. Or perhaps the heavens are crying over the whole affair.

WadeonBirmingham has “Last-Minute Thoughts on a Hurry-up Mayoral Election” that is worth checking out for those with interest in the matter.

I’ll be surprised if Patrick Cooper isn’t easily [...]

Arrington Passes on Birmingham Mayor’s Race

Richard Arrington

Speaking of the Birmingham mayor’s race…

Richard Arrington apparently will not find out if the once-formidable Citizens’ Coalition could propel him into the mayor’s office again, telling the Birmingham News that he will not run. Many public figures are not self-aware enough to know when their time has come and gone. Is [...]

Natalie Davis Looks National. And Local.

Parlor Alert

Don’t miss Natalie Davis considering the lay of the land after the recent national elections, and she looks ahead to the Birmingham mayor’s race.

She managed to wiggle the post on to the site at the end of the week before the site got completely uncooperative, and I didn’t want you to overlook it.

In [...]

Crowded Field for Birmingham Mayor’s Race – Updated

Birmingham

Tomorrow at 10 am, Scott Douglas, Executive Director of Greater Birmingham Ministries, will announce his candidacy to be mayor of Birmingham tomorrow at Kelly Ingram Park at the statue of Martin Luther King, Jr.

Interim mayor Carole Smitherman will run. Patrick Cooper, runner-up in the last election, is fast out of the gate [...]

JeffCo Sewer Debt Reduced $700 Million at JPMorgan’s Expense

Pile of money

From Dealbook at nytimes.com:

The Securities and Exchange Commission said Wednesday that JPMorgan Chase had agreed to pay $75 million in penalties and forfeit another $647 million in termination fees to settle civil charges that its securities firm had engaged in an “unlawful payment scheme” to win municipal bond business in Jefferson County, Ala.

The county, [...]

William Bell Considering Candidacy for…

Here’s a bit of an eyebrow raiser…

Jefferson County Commissioner William Bell is strongly considering a run for Congressional District 7, the seat Artur Davis is vacating for his gubernatorial run. Bell is on everyone’s list as a potential candidate in the upcoming special election for mayor in Birmingham, and he may yet announce [...]

First Looks at Birmingham’s Mayoral Race

Birmingham

Don’t miss Natalie Davis’s “First Thoughts on the Race for Birmingham’s Next Mayor” here in the Purple Dot Connection.

The Birmingham News has a good run-down of the situation here.

Sounds like Patrick Cooper is likely to be in. Larry Langford’s conviction will dissipate much of whatever bad feeling might have lingered [...]

Carole Smitherman to Become Interim Birmingham Mayor

Carole Smitherman

Birmingham City Council President Carole Smitherman, wife of Alabama Senate President pro tempore Rodger Smitherman (D), will become interim mayor of the state’s largest city now that Langford has been convicted.

Next month, the city council will elect its council president for the new term, and that person (perhaps Smitherman still) will be the [...]

Verdict Reached in Larry Langford Trial – Updated

Larry Langford

The jury has returned a verdict in the federal corruption trial of Birmingham Mayor Larry Langford.

Guilty on all counts.

Related Articles:

Considering the Larry Langford Trial

Larry Langford

At first I wondered why Birmingham Mayor Larry Langford would want his trial moved to Tuscaloosa since he won a landslide victory in Birmingham just two years ago, winning in a 10 person field without a runoff. But since everyone I meet from Birmingham assumes Langford is going to jail, I’ll concede a [...]

Whitmire on Birmingham’s Deficit

Red ink

For example, this article from a couple of weeks back on the (mis)handling of Birmingham’s deficit by the Mayor and the City Council is a most interesting and painful [...]

Birmingham City Council Runoff Rundown

Ballot Going into Box

If you are interested in a rundown on yesterday’s City Council runoff results from the state’s biggest city, Kyle Whitmire of The Birmingham Weekly is happy to tell you what it all means.

Short version:
     Big winner: Council President Carole Smitherman despite her narrow victory
     Big loser: former mayor Richard Arrington who couldn’t restart the old machine

But [...]

Spicer to Become Elba School Superintendent

Terry Spicer

State Rep. Terry Spicer (D – Elba) is in contract negotiations to become the Superintendent of Elba City Schools. That gets him out of the two-year college system, where he has been assistant to the President of Enterprise Ozark Community College, and into at least a slightly less politically sensitive position.

Spicer’s seat [...]

2nd Co-Defendant to Plead Guilty in Langford Bribery Case

Larry Langford

Looks like the vise is tightening for Birmingham Mayor Larry Langford. He can’t afford to pay his lawyer, and co-defendant Bill Blount is changing his plea to guilty today.

Co-defendant Al LaPierre has done the same already, leaving Langford alone to go to trial. The three were named in [...]

Daily News

Daily Headlines, Sunday, 3/21/2010

Montgomery AdvertiserPrint exclusive: Bingo lawsuits cost state more than $500,000

Montgomery AdvertiserCensus officials, volunteers vow to count all on Gulf Coast

Montgomery AdvertiserCENSUS Q&A

Montgomery AdvertiserCivil rights groups seek changes in 2020 census

Montgomery AdvertiserWhy has PAC reform not [...]

Small Town News

Small town political gazette – 3/21/10

The News CourierAthens goes after delinquent taxes

The Selma Times-Journal - Road closure for ‘greater good’ and related editorial

BaldwinCountyNowResidents gather to discuss Zoning District 14 referendum

Shelby County ReporterWestover mayor discusses progress

The Daily HomeHealth care: Fix it now

See more Recent Small Town News

 


 

Legislative Dispatch

Change

I wish my friend Hinton Mitchem godspeed and good luck after his retirement from public service. Hinton, on Monday, announced what many had suspected — he will not seek re-election. I remember meeting Hinton for the first time while I was a student at Auburn University. He served the people of his [...]

Ten Minutes in the House, Senate Moves On

Riley and her friend Caroline joined Julie on the campaign trail in Isabella this past weekend.

Here is a quick preview of the upcoming week in Montgomery. This week will be a standard legislative schedule for the House. We will be in session on Tuesday and Thursday with committee meetings scheduled for Wednesday.
The House will take up a ten minute calendar this week. A ten minute calendar is [...]

Purple Dot Connection

MARCH MADNESS

TOP TEN INDICATIONS OF MARCH MADNESS

10.  Eric Massa inviting us to ask the 10,000 Navy men he served with whether he is gay.

9.  Larry Langford hitting the jackpot 33 times in one day and not remembering it.

8.  Ron Sparks being able to make payments on a $500,000 loan with an income of $80,000.

7.  Artur Davis [...]


Back in the Day...

Tent City at Camp Sheridan near Montgomery, ca 1918

Vintage postcard