As expected, the SEC has filed a lawsuit in federal court here against Mayor Larry Langford, Montgomery investment banker Bill Blount and lobbyist Al LaPierre. The SEC’s complaint is a civil lawsuit, so nobody is getting arrested or going to jail. That’s the Justice Department’s end of things and they’re still working at it.
In the meantime, the SEC wants Blount, LaPierre and Langford to repay money they received in various bond deals from Langford’s tenure at the Jefferson County Commission. According to the lawsuit, Blount paid off more than $150,000 of Langford’s personal debts, while Langford directed more than $6.7 million in fees to Blount’s investment firm, Blount Parrish.
1 I looked and there in City Hall a door stood open. 2 And I heard a voice say, “It’s time to do something.” 3 At once I was in the chambers, and there stood a podium with the One strutting before it. 4 Behind the podium was a wide dais and on the dais sat nine councilors and in front of the dais sat department heads who had dominion over all the city works. 5 And behind the One stood 12 ministers from the churches of the city. 6 And I heard him say to them: “If we can have a National Day of Prayer and nobody gets upset, don’t get upset about this one here, and even if you get upset, get upset. We’re still going to have it.”
Rep. Artur Davis went to bat for “Team Obama” (George Stephanopoulos’ words, not ours) on the Sunday morning talk show circuit. On This Week, Stephanopoulos moderated the four-way discussion somewhat better than he did the Pennsylvania debate, but he pitched all the Obama race-based questions predictably to the Alabama congressman. Read the full story
Friday night more than 1,000 people gathered at Boutwell Auditorium for a prayer rally hosted by Birmingham Mayor Larry Langford.
At the arena entrance, ministers greeted visitors with sackcloths and ashes. The voice of James Earl Jones reading from Revelation boomed through the auditorium speakers. Above the crowd, two wide white banners hung from the ceiling. Each read, “A world without Jesus is a mess waiting to happen - Mayor Larry P. Langford.”
On either side of the stage, two projector screens displayed the Birmingham skyline with the message “A city not forsaken.” On those screens, the event began with an animated film of the last supper, crucifixion and resurrection.
Langford took the stage with a group from Indiana who had come to Birmingham to take part in the event. True to his word, Langford traded in his Gus Mayer suits for a burlap sack, although he did still wear a Rolex watch and designer shoes.
“The only reason he is here is because God put him here,” T. L. Lewis, pastor of Bethel Baptist Church, said of Mayor Langford at the end of a lengthy and raucous sermon. Lewis told the crowd not to tolerate “journalistic terrorism” and said that no one could harm Langford because God was protecting him.
Langford closed the event, drawing largely on his stock of political boilerplate.
“What in hell do you want?” Langford asked the crowd, a line he uses frequently. “There has got to be something in hell we want because we are fighting so hard to get there.”
Mayor Langford called the event because of rising crime in Birmingham. The city’s murder rate is out-pacing 2007 by more than 40 percent.
You probably know Robyn Hitchcock’s name but you probably can’t hum one of his songs. For more than 30 years, the English singer/songwriter has actively recorded and performed while flying under the radar of commercial success. But while Hitchcock’s songs don’t resonate across the FM airwaves, he has garnered immense respect among his peers. The DVD Sex, Food, Death…And Insects takes viewers behind-the-scenes as Hitchcock forms his backing band Venus 3 and tours the U.S. in support of his album Ole Tarantula.
Festival organizers have made the first announcement about the 2008 City Stages lineup. Acts playing on nine stages in downtown Birmingham June 13, 14 & 15 include:
Diana Ross
The Flaming Lips
Old Crow Medicine Show
The Roots
Buddy Guy
Citizen Cope
Sean Kingston
Galactic
Marc Broussard
Ledisi
Dave Barnes
Will Hoge
Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit
Israel & New Breed
Martha Munizzi
Toubab Krewe
Fredy Omar Con Su Banda
L’Angelus
Rosie Ledet
Michael Warren
Jon Black
Ford Turrell
Act Of Congress
Blues Old Stand
Beyond Me
The Basement
Within Reason
Weekend passes for City Stages will go on sale in May.
The 2008 festival marks the first time that Knoxville, Tenn.,-based A.C. Entertainment, which co-produces the wildly successful Bonnaroo Music & Arts festival, has handled booking talent for City Stages. Bonnaroo takes place the same weekend as City Stages and acts that perform at the Manchester, Tenn., festival sign a non-compete clause that precludes them from playing both festivals. While having A.C. Entertainment involved in City Stages won’t eliminate the non-compete clause, it does connect the Birmingham festival with a significant talent pool: Musicians who already have a working relationship with Bonnaroo organizers.
Sen. Barack Obama has scheduled a campaign stop in Birmingham Sunday, Jan 27. The event will be held at the Bartow Arena, and unlike his small-donor Alabama kick-off last July, this visit will be free to the public. However, if you plan to atten, you will need a ticket.
Tickets are available on the Obama campaign’s website. Also, they will be available at the campaign’s local headquarters in Birmingham.
Doors at the Bartow Arena will open at noon Sunday. The event will begin at 2 p.m.
This will be Obama’s third visit to Alabama, which has received increased attention after moving its presidential primaries to Feb. 5. While more than 20 other states have done the same, Alabama for once was the first, triggering the front-loading trend.
Or “Dewey Defeats Truman”, if the usual Birmingham snowfall bait-n-switch takes its familiar toll on all of the north-central Alabama snow fans this weekend.
A winter storm is bearing down on Alabama over the next 36 hours, as you’ll soon realize the moment you run out to the store to pick up a few items, only to find yourself trapped for hours amongst a storm-addled crowd clamoring for milk, bread, pop tarts and toilet paper.
On Monday night at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens, the Over the Mountain Democratswill host an evening of discussion and debate titled “Crisis in American Healthcare: Is Universal Coverage the Solution?”
Featured speakers include U.S. Congressman Artur Davis, 7th District; Terry Kellogg, Executive Vice President & CFO, Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Alabama; Dr. Max Michael, Dean of the UAB School of Public Health; and Dr. Walden “Wally” Retan, practicing physician and state coordinator of Healthcare For Everyone, the Alabama Chapter of Physicians for a National Health Plan.
The panelists will discuss the proposed healthcare policies of the leading presidential candidates and issues of disparity in access to healthcare for U.S. citizens. Perhaps the most interesting question on the agenda: Is meaningful reform really possible?
