Birmingham Blues

We’re off to pick up 9YOD from her first week at spend-the-night camp.  I expect her counselor will be ready for a long rest.

An investigative report issued yesterday on the two-year college system shows that Shelton State Community College paid House Majority Leader Ken Guin (D-Tuscaloosa) almost $50,000 a year for services that he should have been providing to any constituent who asked for them.  He’s already resigned from Shelton, but he’s still feeding from the trough at Bevill State.  He’s [...]

Siegelman: 88 months (7 years, 4 months), $50,000 fine, $181,325 restitution, 500 community service hours and 3 years’ supervised release after completion of sentence
Scrushy: 82 months (6 years, 10 months), $150,000 fine, $267,000 restitution (all to United Way), 500 community service hours and 3 years’ supervised release after completion of sentence
No bond.  They will be taken [...]

It’s been increased to “more than 15 years” rather than “more than 10 years”, because Judge Fuller has just now been persuaded that Siegelman damaged public confidence in state government by his actions.  Sorry, but something smells wrong here.  Seems to me that any public official convicted of taking a bribe inherently damages the public’s confidence in government and that [...]

We are officially living in La-La Land.  The governor of Alabama has issued a proclamation declaring June 28 through July 7 as “Days of Prayer for Rain”.
According to the statement: “Throughout our history, Alabamians have turned in prayer to God to humbly ask for His blessings and to hold us steady during times of difficulty. [...]

I’m just stunned to read that the Bush administration is refusing to comply with congressional subpoenas for testimony and documents related to the US Attorney firings.  Flummoxed, flabbergasted, and gobsmacked.  I think I’m going to have to lie down with a cold cloth on my head.
“I write at the direction of the President to advise [...]

Melissa McEwan has whiplash over the White House’s latest flip-flop re: Dick Cheney’s role in government.  Dick wanted to argue that his dual role as president of the Senate somehow exempts him from executive branch oversight — because he isn’t part of the executive branch.  Now White House officials are claiming that he’s exempt from [...]

Helen Hammons is live-blogging for WSFA’s Courtroom Chronicles.  She expects a decision later today.

Yvonne Kennedy, President of Bishop State Community College, and Rick Rogers, President of Shelton State Community College, announced their upcoming retirement today.  Kennedy will leave office on July 31; Rogers is going on leave and will stay there till his retirement date of September 30.
Several state school board members started last fall calling for the [...]

Officials at Alabama’s Noccalula State Park are working to save wildlife and plants from the ravages of drought.  Here’s a publicity shot of the falls from a Gadsden tourism site.  It looks a lot like most of the other pictures you can find at Google Images.

This, OTOH, is a current picture published today on al.com:

(credit: [...]