Birmingham Blues

That is all.

UPDATE:
Jefferson County’s sewer-bond credit rating was cut to junk tonight, increasing the odds of the largest bankruptcy filing ever by a governmental body.
Standard & Poor’s, which ranks the creditworthiness of borrowers, downgraded the county’s sewer bonds to junk status, citing “uncertainty” that the county can make its debt payments.
The downgrade intensifies pressure on the county’s [...]

I’m off to Alabama Arise Lobby Day in Montgomery.  If you’re free, join us at 9:30 at the state capitol.  Spend some time learning about the issues Arise is working on and then visit with your legislator.  It’s a great opportunity for some face time with the people who are elected to represent you.

UPDATE on ticket prices: $25, $23 for seniors, $13 for students.
Well, sort of. If you’re in the Birmingham area and you like musical theatre, mark your calendars for the CenterStage Productions presentation of Stephen Sondheim’s Into the Woods, which opens on Friday March 7 at the Virginia Samford Theatre (for details on show times [...]

Unleaded is averaging $3.11/gallon in the metro area, up from $2.23 a year ago and $2.91 last month. Ouch! Does anyone else think it’s past time for a good regional public transit system?
It’s definitely time to break out this image again:

If you missed the 60 Minutes segment on the prosecution of former Gov. Don Siegelman, you can watch it here:

Last week, Kyle Whitmire reported that Birmingham Mayor Larry Langford was proposing that the city pay $150,000 to the Stuart Group for an assessment of the Public Works Department’s management and operations. That would be this Stuart Group:

Dear Husband came home from a trip to the in-laws with a copy of the Savannah (TN) Courier from February 21, detailing WorldNetDaily’s settlement of a $165 million libel suit filed by Savannah businessman Clark Jones. Jones is a prominent Democrat who raised funds for Al Gore during the 2000 presidential campaign. WND, [...]

Remember how the Jefferson County Commission voted to allow two commissioners to give $15,000 to support a conference put on by the right-wing Eagle Forum? Yeah, me too. Despite some outcry from taxpayers, the Commission went ahead with the donation, and yesterday the Eagle Forum brought Phyllis Schlafly to town.
Schlafly, wearing her [...]

Jefferson County failed to find buyers for sewer debt for the second time last week, meaning interest charges could increase as much as $5 million a month.
A Wall Street auction on $784 million of Jefferson County sewer debt failed last week, pushing interest charges the county must pay each month as much as $5 million [...]