Birmingham Blues

Wow, I have been slack. I missed Del and Anna in February, and once again I’m late for Tom Hilton, whose birthday was Tuesday. I hope they were good ones!
Speaking of Anna, she reached a huge milestone on Saturday. Congratulations, Anna! I’m proud of you.

This is good news.
The plan would remove the 4% state portion of sales tax on groceries. It would also increase the amount of the standard deduction and the personal exemption for state income taxes. It would also remove the deduction for federal taxes paid.

If you’re still in sticker shock from your last trip to the gas station, you may be interested in this:
Public Meeting on MAX Transit
Thursday April 24th, 2008 5:30 p.m.
Central Station Main Lobby
For More Information Contact John C. Harris, Chair Transit Advisory Committee Phone: 252-1833 - Email: johnjcharris@netzero.net
Come have an open [...]

[CORRECTION:  It was a $45,000 raise, from $68,000 to $133,000.  I'm not sure if I read the initial report wrong or if it was corrected later.]
Yeah, I know that sounds like a bad joke, but unfortunately for the city, April Fool’s Day has come and gone. The House approved a bill yesterday that will [...]

UPDATE:  The C&E Committee unanimously approved the bill.  Here’s Loretta’s account of her day in Montgomery.   BTW, Rep. John Rogers’ bill to repeal Alabama’s stupid ban on the sale of sex toys also passed.
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Raise your hand if you signed a petition to get Loretta Nall on the ballot as a gubernatorial candidate in 2006.
*raises [...]

Cheryl Sabel is running for Congress in Alabama’s 2nd District. Cheryl is the president of Alabama NOW, and she was a good friend to my brother. She spoke beautifully about him at his memorial service and at this year’s hate crimes vigil.
Click here to listen to her interview with BlogTalkRadio (it starts at [...]

I hope everyone is okay in the wake of yesterday’s storms. We lost power for about 12 hours — went to bed last night in the pitch dark to the hum of the neighbor’s generator (*grumble, grumble, grumble*). Power came back on at 4:30 this morning, and we cheered. Other than some [...]

And good for him for avoiding even the appearance of unethical behavior.
The House sponsor of a bill that would tax pornography said Thursday he’s pulling his bill because it was linked to film industry incentive legislation.
Rep. Jack Williams, R-Birmingham, said the linkage creates a potential conflict of interest for him because the film industry [...]

Birmingham mayor Larry Langford canceled an advertising contract with WJLD 1400 AM after the morning show host dissed his plan to build an Olympic village in Fair Park. The city had agreed to pay the station $2,000 for one month to advertise Fair Park’s upcoming Spring Fling. Langford’s chief of staff called [...]

I planted our vegetable garden today. It’s not one of those neatly laid out, orderly plots. There’s not much room, so I just stick tomatoes and peppers wherever they’ll fit, working around the mass of sage and the compost pile.

This year, I’m experimenting, trying four varieties of tomatoes. I have an Early Girl [...]