The Ed Howell Blog

bingo in court and bingo funds in Dora

2009-06-23T18:46:00.000-07:00

I had to go Tuesday to two events concerning electronic bingo--the hearing in Birmingham and the Dora City Council discussing the use of the firemen's bingo funds. As far as I could tell, I was the exclusive reporter at both events.

The court hearing was supposed to be on Sheriff's John Mark Tirey's desire to drop a restraining order that would allow him for now to start enforcing rules preventing some bingo halls from operating without enough permits and preventing charities from participating without following other rules such as existing five years and owning land for five years. Somehow, the discussion weaved in and out so many points of argument that at the end of a 12-hour day, I just don't feel going into all the discussions. It is possible we may hear an order on that later, but the real significant news appeared to be that Jefferson County Circuit Judge Robert Vance Jr. again emphasized he wants to hurry along the case. He seemed to understand more clearly than ever that lawyers on both sides really want the main issue -- is electronic bingo legal -- to get the priority, as that may decide everything. The judge seemed happy to help that along and stated that he wanted to decide the main question by the end of summer. Remember that he already has a hearing set on Aug. 11 on the main questions, which also includes whether the machines used are slot machines or are they legal to use.

Moreover, participants on both side -- who discussed it somewhat before the judge came in, in my presence -- seemed to get tentative OK to try to work out something on the machine question. There was concern about the problems of getting bingo machine officials and looking at machines and particularly dragging the hearing with tons of technical testimony. What seemed to be evolving was that lawyers on both side were agreeing to find ways to agree on certain points and get evidence in place that would cut down the amount of testimony and time in court. They were so eager at that point that a break was held and lawyers and their clients streamed into the hallway outside the courtroom to discuss some initial points on this. District Attorney Charles Baker was among those out there. After the two-hour proceedings, he seemed very happy that the judge had indicated a ruling by summer's end (in other words, within a little more than two months) and that sides were getting together to streamline this thing. Attorneys on the other side appeared happy with these developments, too.

There were some other points in the day, of course. Attorney Ken Guin, who is also a legislator, tried to make the point that the law to be followed is the constitutional amendment and that brought on discussion on whether the county commission is really the one to be making rules. (You remember they started to do that, got bogged down in status quo concerns and retreated. Attorney Herbie Brewer said others have created false trails using status quo and confused people, and he may be right.) Baker said he didn't know if he agreed with all of Guin's arguments and may file a brief. Also, there was testimony concerning the depositions concerning hours and permits for some of the bingo halls, although it seemed to point that some halls still only have a few permits or no permits to operate.

By the way, Vance was told at one point the Walker County Commission is much like the Jefferson County Commission having control over Jefferson's sewer situation. "And hasn't that worked out well," Vance said to howls of laughter. However, he did apologize to the Walker County Commission for possibly stating inappropriately at an earlier hearing that they deserved some blame over the bingo controversy coming to this point. On another point, District 2 Commissioner Dan Wright attended the hearing--someone pointed out the county's lawyers should be there to keep up with it, even if the commission is not a direct party to the suit, just because it affects the commission so much. If bingo were to be approved, it might help to have Wright or a representative there to know what the judge is thinking.

Meanwhile, at Dora's city council meeting, it was brought up that most of the firemen's turnout gear is five years old or worse. We're talking maybe 17 firemen. I was told the other day four years is about the life of turnout gear; I can't imagine how dangerous that is, because the material is deteriorating and threatens to burn firemen. That's a lawsuit waiting to happen, but it sounds like one of those things that got left behind over the years.

At any rate, the other problem was in a partial solution. Councilman Nick Isbell wanted the city to buy four turnout gear (which could cost up to $1,500 each) as a start, and the fire department's bingo funds would reimburse the city. The fire department has enough bingo funds to buy the four turnout gear, which could take two months to arrive. (No word on how much bingo funds they have.) The council, you will remember, had also said they would not accept bingo funds and were not happy that volunteer firemen were taking bingo funds.

Councilmen questioned why the department didn't buy the gear directly. Isbell said he felt it was a "sign of respect" for the city to do so. The council members said they knew there was a need and wanted to help, even with fundraisers, but they said this approach amounted to a backdoor acceptance of bingo funds. They more or less felt the department should use the funds directly, and they would try to come up with fundraisers for the department's general needs down the road. They also felt they had to be responsible with funds because of the deep cuts they have recently had to make with city employees. (I hope in the next day or two we can play part of that discussion on "The People's Viewpoint," as I think it raises two major issues concerning the need for turnout gear and the use of bingo funds.)

By the way, the city got a grant for turnout gear a while back, but it might be a while before another comes along. As for fundraisers, Isbell noted that they are good, but firemen say they are a lot of extra work when they are already tired from regular work and fighting fires. There was talk about sending out letters to request donations, which brought in up to $3,000 a few years ago.

In other matters, the council agreed to get a computer for the police as they will be required by the state (along with all law enforcement agencies doing accidents) to log in accident reports without paper. It even appears the state will get funds when people come asking for accident reports, not the city, as the city will not keep paper reports anymore. The mayor will check to see if the state has any computers, and if they don't, the city will buy a computer package.

Also, the doctor's clinic should be completed in July, although no doctor is in sight. Local representatives are far apart from grocery chains in coming to any deal to replace Food World, Mayor Chris Edwards said. The city hopes to fill a court clerk, or court magistrate, position as early as this week, and a half dozen applications are already in. The first movie in the park only had 100 people -- and officials said during the council meeting it was because the Daily Mountain Eagle had misprinted that the event was Friday night, not Saturday, and that the correct information was more like a "reminder" on Saturday instead of indicating to be a correction.

Also, let me point something out in fairness. One woman approached the mayor afterward to question why the public did not get to speak at council meetings but I got to ask questions. She seemed rather mad at me--she walked away from me and wouldn't speak to me--but the mayor does have the right to call me down if I get out of hand. (He hasn't.) I didn't realize anyone felt they didn't have that right in Dora. Certainly, we also know of the questions being asked in Carbon Hill on similar questions, as far as how much right a citizen has to approach a city council. I think the woman in questions, the citizens of Carbon Hill and I all have a right, as long as we act reasonably.

I usually try to be respectful and ask questions in certain meetings when I think it would not go over a line; how meetings are set up have much to do with that. I think there is concern that the public has been allowed to speak and things got out of hand, but I think there is a way to allow the public to speak for a few minutes each, if the mayor takes a firm hand. I'm certainly not trying to hog the show, but to ask questions for thousands of other citizens who don't get to come or point out what I've heard in other cities that councilmen don't get to hear. If I ever abuse the privilege, I hope a city official comes to me gently and let's me know...but I also hope a forum exists for the public to be able to have their say in a respectful, organized way.

Mark Baynes

2009-06-20T21:11:00.000-07:00

Some of you on my last radio show may have heard Mark Baynes on my program Good Friday Week. The e-mail newsletter at his church, Triad Baptist Church in North Carolina, had this fine article on Mark. The Web version, which has photos, is at http://www.triadbaptist.com/Connections/Articles/connections_revelationroad_06152009.htm, but otherwise here is the story below. Mark is a great Christian musician and you deserve a chance to hear or obtain his music, if you have not already. His own Web site is Mark Baynes.com. ED HOWELL

Journey with Christ: Mark Baynes' Latest Recording Takes Listeners Down "Revelation Road"
Revelation Road is Mark Baynes' third album.

"Christianity is not something that we have figured out, rather it is something that has been and continues to be revealed to us daily. And those revelations only come along the road as we follow Him." Mark Baynes

By Wayne Thompson

Triad Baptist members will soon hear a familiar voice on WBFJ-FM and other Piedmont radio stations — music from "Revelation Road," the third album by Mark Baynes, associate pastor of praise and worship and single adult ministries.

More than three years in the making, the recording's acoustic-based Christian Celtic folk reflects Scotland's musical imprint on Baynes' life and music. He fell in love with Scotland in 2002—and met his future wife there—while visiting friends studying at King's College in Aberdeen. He married Dawn in 2004 and stayed until 2007 when he returned to the United States to join the staff at Triad."The very first CD I did in Nashville, Tenn., was more of a pop/country sound," Baynes said. "Over the last 10 years, I have moved more towards the folk/Celtic style by adding the mandolin, hammer dulcimer and Irish whistles to the instruments I play."Dawn and I have always loved the old hymns, and living in Scotland exposed me to numerous hymns that I had never heard before."

The result was "Hymn of Season" featuring Dawn's lyrics and Mark's music. "I was always encouraging Dawn to write some lyrics, telling her I would try and put some music to it," Baynes recalled. "She gave me the first two verses several years ago and I thought they were brilliant. I tried a variety of melodies and nothing seemed to fit and then I finally had a breakthrough to what you hear on the CD.

"After I had the music, I went back to her and pleaded, 'Please write two more verses!' She did and I couldn't be more happy how it turned out."

A perfectionist who believes in giving God his best whether preaching or singing, Baynes considers "Revelation Road" his most professional recording to date. Nashville recording engineer Gil Gillis put the project together from sessions in Dublin, Ga., and digital files Baynes prepared and mailed.

"Revelation Road" is available for purchase from Baynes, iTunes, Amazon.com and CD Baby, a digital music distribution service.

A constant theme throughout the recording is the Christian life as a journey, whether a sailor daring to set sail again across the sea in "The Winds of God," or a follower boldly saying "yes" to a new life in "Journey With Christ" —one of Baynes' two favorite songs on "Revelation Road."
"I began writing that song while on a trip to Israel," Baynes said. "My home pastor in Dublin, Dr. Cliff Morris of First Baptist, was teaching about the calling of Matthew while we were standing beside the Sea of Galilee. It could have been a day like this, perhaps very near here, he told us, that Jesus looked at Matthew and said, 'Come follow me.' The simplicity of Jesus' call overwhelmed me in that moment as I saw with fresh eyes what the Christian life is: following the Jesus who calls us."

Baynes' other favorite on "Revelation Road" is the musical tribute he wrote to his father, Jack, who adopted Mark shortly after he was born in Atlanta, Ga., and later adopted his sister, Katy, too. "Dad's Song" has since become an audience favorite at Baynes' concerts."It certainly doesn't have a 'Celtic' feel to it but, at the end of the day, I thought it belonged on the record," he said. "My 'Dad's Song' is the most personal song to me for obvious reasons. I'm most grateful to God for that song. After all the labors of love my dad has done for our family, I wanted to give him back a labor of love from my heart. It's just a small reflection of all that he has invested in me. Outside of knowing Jesus Christ and being married to Dawn, I can't think of anything I'm more grateful for than that William Jackson Baynes is my father."

Writing many of the songs in a cramped Scottish apartment, Baynes said that one of his own revelations was realizing a life of faith is always on the move. "The Christian life is never static," he said. "We cannot stand still and follow the Lord. The phrase 'along the road,' occurs in Mark's gospel repeatedly, especially after Peter's confession of Christ. From then on, Jesus is heading directly to the cross. We must follow Jesus along the road as well."When people listen to 'Revelation Road,' I hope they enjoy the excellence of the music. I pray they will not be satisfied with a comfortable routine but will be inspired to ask God, 'What road do you want me walking down?' I hope they will see life as a journey that ends with Jesus Christ. Jesus said, 'I go and prepare a place for you, so that where I am, there you may also be.' I long that they will keep their eyes fixed on God for revelations of Himself along the road they are called to travel."

Guests coming up

2009-06-18T09:26:00.000-07:00

Just to let you know, Jasper Councilman Morris Studdard will be on "The People's Viewpoint" at 3:30 p.m. while Jasper Fire Chief Calvin Kluesner will be on at 4:30. James Phillips of the Daily Mountain Eagle, who has been involved with a board to look into a homeless shelter for Walker County, will be on Monday at 3:30 p.m., and Parrish Mayor Wayne Gross will be on the show at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday.

We're trying in earnest to get more guests in the studio now, as well as get some advertising. Also, we heard last night there have been some problems with the streaming audio on the Internet, but we're now trying to work that out. If you ever hear some problems with the audio on the radio or the Internet, let me or the station (WIXI, AM 1360) know about it immediately so we can fix it. Thanks.

Quick Review: "Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian"

2009-06-06T21:23:00.000-07:00

This was the night I decided to try to go back to a drive-in theater that I knew of in my youth, the first time I've been back as an adult. I was greatly disappointed. I had to worry about my Buick (which loves to flash lights at a moment's notice). I had to deal with less-than-adequate gravel area to drive in. They didn't take cards, just cash or checks. You did better if you sat outside my car, because the windshield was really cloudy.

Worst of all, families now bring their children, who pop in and out of cars and are noisy to no end. You could also hear the mothers talking back to the kids, and some that seem to comment on the movie. It was family night out, and I guess if you have families you are used to it. I am used to enclosed theaters and respectful audiences, and I think I will stay there. I also like not dealing with no more light than a cell phone or a flash light. When the lights on the Buick came on again and looked like a lighthouse, I was humiliated enough that I somehow wedged myself out of the parking area (not easy) and fled without finishing the movie.

Thankfully, the movie was as bad as the drive-in experience. In fact, it might have been a perfect drive-in experience, because if you saw the first one, you didn't need much excuse in knowing the plot. The makers of "Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian" (the sequal to the popular original) must have known this, because they seemed to rush up the plot at lighting speed so the chase can begin. Apparently the New York museum we loved in the first movie has decided to go high tech and ship most of its materials to the Smithsonian in Washington (like they would take some of the dorky displays). Just as illogical, Ben Stiller's character, who barely got a guard job in the last movie, now is a successful inventor/TV pitch man but drops everything to rescue the artifacts when he finds out there is a REALLY evil curse that puts the come-to-life artifacts in danger.

This garbled plot, apparently written on a napkin at an L.A. eatery for all I know, is rushed through fast, except for stopping for stupid, silly conversations that are supposed to be funny but are not. There is an occasional poke at history or iconic figures that is has a giggle, but that's about it. It is a complete waste of very good talent, including Stiller, Hank Azaria (who also does some voice work, such as the "Thinker," whose "guns" are featured in the commercial), Owen Wilson, Bill Hadder and even the voices of the Jonas Brothers (as the Cherubs). I'll probably see the end of the movie...when it comes on DVD. And I'm really bored. (There must be a lot of bored people out there; so far the film has made $104 million and ranked a B-plus with Yahoo reviewers.)

By the way, before the movie, on the radio where the soundtrack is played, there was 1950s rock, and then on the way home I listened to, of all things, the live broadcast of the Grand Ole Opry, still clear as a bell on WSM 650 AM from Nashville. Those broadcasts were more entertaining than what I dealt with on the screen. That should tell you something right there.

Bulletin: Bham allows electronic bingo

2009-06-02T12:09:00.000-07:00

The Birmingham News Web site reports the Birmingham City Council has voted to allow electronic bingo in that city.

Sherer will run for re-election; poll worker bill sent to governor

2009-05-28T17:46:00.001-07:00

State Rep. Tommy Sherer, D-Jasper, said Thursday afternoon on WIXI-AM's "The People's Viewpoint" that he will run again for re-election to a third term in 2010. No Republican opposition has emerged, but a Republican indicated at Thursday's Walker County Republican Party meeting that that person will make an announcement this year for Sherer's seat. That Republican did not want to make a public announcement at this time. Sherer's announcement is the first that a Walker County legislator will run for re-election, as state Sen. Charles Bishop, R-Arley, announced he will not run. (Republican Greg Reed has announced he will run for the seat.) The status next year of state Rep. Ken Guin, D-Carbon Hill, is uncertain at this time.

Meanwhile, Sherer also announced that his long-suffering poll workers bill passed the Legislature and has been sent to the governor. That was confirmed on the state Legislature's Web site. The statewide bill essentially allows poll workers, who have worked 14 hours in one day at a poll site, to have a split shift. The poll worker would still have to undergo training, but would only work maybe six hours, Sherer said. He has worked for several years to get the bill passed. Sherer said the bill would also have to be cleared by the U.S. Justice Department, but no problem is expected.

Vance may set bingo hearing for August or September

2009-05-26T18:19:00.000-07:00

Jefferson County Circuit Court Judge Robert Vance Jr. indicated from the bench Tuesday afternoon he wants to set a date to start hearing evidence in the Walker County electronic bingo case, either the week of Aug. 10 or on Sept. 10-11.

Vance was also expected to set a hearing in two or three weeks on a narrowly focused area of the hours of operation of bingo halls in relation to the number of permits had. He said any resulting order would probably be an interim order that governs bingo until he makes his major decision on the legality of electronic bingo in Walker County.

District Attorney Charles Baker said he did not think that would throw off the main hearing if it was set in August or September.

Vance clearly wanted to move the overall matter to conclusion after months of delays. Even after attorney Earl Hillard asked the case be set in September because of other work, Vance said he was open to that but kept mentioning August as a potential time. He also noted he would may have a decision on a date as early as the next day.

"This case has been sitting around awhile. I'm at the point we need to seek closure on the issues presented in this case," Vance said, opening the hearing in his Birmingham courtroom to a roomful of attorneys.

He feels the matter can be addressed in an evidentiary hearing within 60 days, with the primary issues being whether bingo includes electronic bingo -- something he said would take expert evidence -- and whether the business model of a group of charities allowing a co-op to run the games for them is allowable under the law.

"I'm growing increasingly concerned because of time," Vance said at one point in the hearing. He said it was no one's fault that the case had dragged on, saying it was the "nature of the beast" for the legal process to be deliberate. Still, it frustrated him.

"I think everyone wants guidelines but it's been spinning its wheels for two years," he said, noting that was "gnawing" at him.

He agreed with attorney Herbie Brewer that he was being asked to "micromanage" the case in some respect and that he has expressed concern about that. He said the Legislature and the Walker County Commission also failed to act.

"I'm also serving as something of a quasi-regulator," Vance said, saying that is what the motion asks him to do, regardless of whether it was proper or not--and adding he would leave it to others to decide that. On continued arguments, he said lawyers could present evidence the judge did not have authority to act in some respects, noting in the past he has "been spanked by Montgomery for going out too far on a limb."

Vance also revealed he had also been appointed to be the judge in the White Hall bingo case, joking that he is "glutton for punishment" and that he might should stop answering calls from Chief Justice Sue Bell Cobb, who also asked him to take the Walker County case after another judge dropped out after several months.

He said he had "no strong feelings" on whether to take August or September, but he said he would try to have a scheduling order within a day or so.

Attorneys Thomas Carmichael and Charles Tatum Jr., who are involved in the issue of whether the Yerkwood Fire Department is getting their fair share of bingo funds, pleaded with Vance to accelerate their hearing. Vance said he wanted to hold a separate hearing on that matter because he might not could get all the bingo issues before him done in the main hearing. He also pointed out that the Yerkwood issue is a class action issue, which brings up more legal complications as Vance would have to determine class.

"I candidly admit I put it on the back burner," Vance told Carmichael.

Carmichael said millions of dollars were rolling into the county through bingo, with 80 percent of the profits going to operators, 10 percent going to charities and only 10 percent left to charities. Tatum argued he had been told lawyers representing the bingo interests had been trying from the outset to drag out the case as long as possible to allow operators to make as much money as possible.

Vance said a motion from Sheriff John Mark Tirey on determining how long a bingo hall can open each week could be delayed two or three weeks, noting it raises significant questions. However, he said he was not comfortable ruling on it as evidence should be heard in the matter.

The 75-minute hearing, like others before it, soon bogged down in legal detail as lawyers around the room make points on whether Vance had authority to make some rulings and whether the rights of charities were being trampled.

The issue of "status quo," which involved a temporary restraining order on adding new charities to the case, came up, and with some arguing that the order was given to prevent delays in the process of adding more charities or bingo halls as defendants. Some argued it was just an agreement and not an order.

Baker, who filed suit with the sheriff to get a legal determination on electronic bingo, said many of the issues were just side issues, and he pressed to get on with a ruling on whether electronic bingo is legal and whether the machines used are slot machines. He said those two issues were "98 percent of the things that concern me."

At the end of the hearing, the sheriff's attorney Bill Adair said he would make a motion to drop the status quo restraining order, although Vance was hesitant at this late stage to take that action on the idea it could open the door to more unseen problems.

Baker said he agreed to move to drop the order -- even though he questioned whether it actually existed -- on the idea that it would speed up the case. He said a solution could be found in agreeing that new charities would also agree to immediately join the case.

State Rep. Ken Guin, representing bingo charities, said the county commission made rules but rescinded them because of concern over the meaning of the status quo order. Guin said the judge could clarify the authority of the rules in reference to the authority of the county commission, which would allow the commission to set the rules.

At one point, one attorney attempted to convince Vance that the charities operated the games, not the operators of the co-ops. Vance pressed for what the operators do if the charities run the games. The attorney said the operators "run the bingo halls," which resulted in laughter in the courtroom. Bingo hall attorney Bubba Grimsley later noted different bingo halls have different models of operation, which the judge would need to look into.

Arguments also went into the legality of seven charities due to technicalities in filing paperwork and their location. There was discussion about charities moving from one bingo hall to another despite a restraining order, and whether bingo halls were enticing the charities with bonus payments. Adair said there were reports of photocopies of licenses being displayed and accidents occurring in the permitting process.

After more than an hour of mind-numbing discussion, Vance admitted to having his fill.

"I believe we'll stop now," Vance said to laughs in the room.

Bulletin: April unemployment

2009-05-22T09:33:00.000-07:00

Walker Co. unemployment drops 1%, from 8.6 to 7.6 %, in April. Alabama rate stays at 9%; 1st time in 18 mts. state rate doesn't go up.

Review: Valkyrie

2009-05-20T20:19:00.000-07:00

It is not hard to approach this movie with unease. This is the Tom Cruise movie where Cruise is a real life hero who tried to kill Hitler from within--and he had to wear that eye patch in the course of the movie. You will remember Germany was not too happy that Tom Cruise, Mr. Scientology and Hollywood super star, would take on such a heavy duty, somber task that weighs on the whole country.

Germany should not have been worried. Cruise is part of a balanced cast and handles his duties well. At the start of the movie, we learn that Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg (Cruise) was injured in Africa, leaving one hand amputated and one eye missing, thus requiring either an eye patch or a false eye. He is disillusioned with Hitler and becomes a traitor to him, making the injuries (and the eye patch) more sympathetic. By circumstances, he joins an underground network of Germans determined to take Germany back from within so that the country can negotiate a peace with the Allies, thus saving lives and Europe in general. The movie shows that this was not just a matter of a few good men, but a vast underground with great intentions, although sometimes bogged down by its own bureaucracy and fear.

Cruise, no longer being the kid movie star, is cool, assured and brave - with the fault of sometimes being a little impatient, but, of course, we are talking about saving as many lives as possible, and time is of the essence. Thankfully, Cruise is not overblown is his portrayal and gives nice, human touches -- not wallowing, but a glance, a shudder, a boiling, all underneath that reserved German exterior. It is one of his best performances in some time, and I think it shows the middle age Cruise is maturing in his acting.

The rest of the cast is excellent, with plenty of moments for others to shine. The story is the thing, and the incident where we heard that a briefcase blew up in a meeting where Hitler was attending is shown to be a much larger operation that caused chains of reaction all across Germany. I had no idea that for a short time, major ministry buildings were handed over and even the Berlin police chief gave assurances there would be no problems from him. For a moment, we can suspend our knowledge of history and can be happy for our heroes...if but briefly.

This is a serious film, meaning the number of explosions (even for a World War II film) is kept to a minimum and adults act like adults. And those of us know history, well, that does take out a certain amount of fun. But watching the planning and dedication of certain heroes that no one talks about -- the German resistance movement from within -- and sweating out the details with them does make this two-hour film, released this week on DVD, one to rent. (The two-disk version has all the extras on it.)

Wet-Dry referendums are likely in Walker County

2009-05-19T21:37:00.001-07:00

Well, it has been a long time since I've been in the middle of a wet-dry referendum. Now, I think I'm going to see little ones all over the place.

As you may have heard, the Legislature overrode Gov. Bob Riley's veto the other day to allow cities with populations of 1,000 to 7,000 to have wet-dry referendums in those cities. A number equalling the the total of 30 percent of the voters in the last municipal general election can have their names on a petition sent to the city council. Then the council sets a wet-dry referendum on the sale of alcohol in that city.

Years ago, you used to see these countywide referendums that decided wet-dry issues, and they were grand affairs. In those days, it was the only time preachers got involved in politics, and you would hear a political stump speech right there on Sunday morning. I would not say this is true for all preachers, but some can make for great political stump speakers. We would hear a cascade of statistics about how alcohol can ruin lives (and much of it true, to be sure).

Meanwhile, there would be newspaper ads, flyers and all sorts of excitement. The pro-alcohol people would make their cases for economic progress, but they didn't have opportunities to speak...and even if they did, I wonder how many would have came out for it in public. It was usually faceless committees advocating going wet (much like these full-page bingo ads we now see in the paper that don't identify themselves, either). The pro-wet forces certainly had a hard time competing against those Sunday sermons and concern for families, and in the end they would usually lose in my neck of the woods.

Before I got to Walker County, the city of Jasper went wet, and it is no secret one can go over a couple of borders to get their alcohol. The small cities have always been jealous of the resources that Jasper and other areas have, and alcohol revenue can be included in that. Some of the towns may also be jealous of the bingo revenue, although Carbon Hill has it within its city. Some city departments or boards are benefiting to some extent from bingo revenue or donations. At the East Walker Chamber of Commerce banquet, Sipsey Mayor Anita Sanders was quick to point out renovations on local structures in her town were owed in large part to bingo money. But, as I said, only Carbon Hill actually has any bingo halls.

The envy over alcohol funds becomes more enflamed as the economic downturn has made it tough for the small towns to survive. Carbon Hill and Cordova have not been in great shape for a while, and Dora is undergoing an earthquake of sorts, losing 30 percent of its tax revenue (and possibly more, as Dora Mayor Chris Edwards is beginning to remember businesses lost within the past year).

There was a time when I couldn't imagine small towns with their small churches in rural areas of a county giving over to alcohol sales. But between the economy, changing outlooks and the foothold of electronic bingo, it has not taken long to hear positive responses toward getting alcohol sales. In fact, two towns are looking at it.

Carbon Hill, in fact, is practically jumping up and down to do it. I talked informally with council members and city officials after a called city council meeting before the override, and it was clear the city leaders had no problems with either bingo or alcohol.

After the override, Carbon Hill Mayor Chris Hart said, “We want to get our ducks in a row first,” adding he wants to city with city attorney and state Rep. Ken Guin to go over the bill. “This would boost our economy dramatically," he said.

Edwards, who will discuss dealing with the economic downturn in a called council meeting Thursday night, received several phone calls about the issue the day I called him. “I do think there is a strong push for it," he said.

He said it is an option the council will want to look at as alcohol sales would help to recruit a replacement for Food World (once the cash cow for Dora) or some other major restaurants that have passed over the city before. He said he understands Publix will not come to a city without alcohol sales, for example. He also noted the city deals with residents going to Jasper and Jefferson County on either side looking for alcohol.

Cordova Mayor Jack Scott said Tuesday he hadn't talked about it with the council, and he didn't know if it would pass considering the church vote. However, he would just as soon the alcohol revenue came to his town than to go to Jasper, saying something has to be done to pay the bills in Cordova. He would favor selling alcohol in retail settings, although he would oppose an open bar to yet.

The only public distancing from the issue came from Sumiton Mayor Petey Ellis, who said it had not been brought to the council and if someone brought it to them, then they would consider it. He also noted the city is in good financial shape. Maybe they do oppose alcohol sales. Still, that left a lot of wiggle room as far as taking a stand. That could come in handy if a petition is ever presented. For that matter, the wet forces in this old-fashioned small town might want to be positioned in an old-fashioned faceless committee. (It was interesting I brought it up at a city council meeting, and none of the other council members said a word about the subject.)

Mind you, petitions may not come tomorrow, but they could come in time. I have stated before in a column I am not really happy with the idea of going wet, but -- having fought against the tide of electronic bingo sweeping into the county that we are now awash in -- I am resigned that it may come anyway because of the desire to bring in restaurants and other establishments that won't come to a dry county.

What is almost incredible is that we haven't solved the bingo issue. The Alabama Legislature, in its infinite wisdom, not only didn't resolve that issue statewide, but threw another one in our lap to chew on at the same time. Now we have more controversy than ever before to go to war with each other over.

It's enough to drive someone to drink -- and they may drive all the way to the polls to do it.

Quick Review: Good summer reading

2009-05-17T20:52:00.000-07:00

Since it is summertime, this is the time to read some relaxing books that are a short read and not inexpensive. I've read a few of late that I would suggest.

"Crazy 'O8: How a Cast of Cranks, Rougues, Boneheads and Magnates Created the Greatest Year in Baseball History" pretty well tells the tale in the title. Author Cait Murphy (who has penned an additional Q&A for the paperback edition by Smithsonian Books, $14.95) wrote this dandy 300-page book a couple of years ago but it is easy to find in 2008 paperback edition. Essentially Murphy proposed this was baseball's best year and devotes detailed attention in the book to the season, save for a quick review of the World Series. Like baseball itself, the action along the way and the characters involved make for the real story. There is a lot of attention devoted to the New York Giants and the Chicago Cubs (when the Cubs was a real ballteam), but there are plenty of other teams and characters to devote time to. We learn about Tinkers to Evers to Chance (who didn't like each other but became famous because of a poem), battling John McGraw, the hated Ty Cobb, pitcher Christy Mathewson (who once went to the showers to early and had to be dragged out of the showers to save a game) and poor Fred Merkle, who's mistake on the field became known as "Merkle's Boner" and branded him for the rest of his life.

Best of all, Murphy takes time to examine how different the game was in those days, when pitchers were still the heroes, ballfields were starting to be replaced for becoming fire traps (and some still had crowds in the outfield). The equipment was primitive and catchers barely crouched instead of squated. Crowds would go into the streets to watch large signs that showed a game in progress by lights and other means. Of course, some things don't change: There was a financial panic in 1907 that sounds way too familiar in details and owners worried if patrons would come back to the ballpark. (They do.) Team owners and league presidents sweep their problems (in this era, gambling and fan violence) under the rug. Honus Wagner stages a walkout and doubles his salary--to $10,000. Fans, however, make only $7 a week on the average, and a 50 cent ticket is something that can only be afforded starting with the middle class.

There is a lot of rich detail and characters that I can't do justice to here, and I won't. I wouldn't want to spoil it for you anyway. It is a delight to read, even for the casual baseball fan, and there are many seventh-inning stretches to look at other events and circumstances outside of baseball. It is a fascinating time capsule that brings the era to life.

Also, at just over 300 pages, we have "The Groucho Letters," which is a paperback 2007 reprint from Simon and Schuster, reintroducing a 1967 classic. Here we sample the historic letters coming to and from Groucho Marx, who proved with pen to be mightier and merrier and and heck of a lot more wicked than the sword. Groucho needed no ghostwriters for this, as evidenced by the fact his letters at the time had been given to the Library of Congress, where they remain. Not only do we read Groucho writing to literary, stage and screen wits, but we get to read his mail, from the likes of E.B. White, Fred Allen, Goodman Ace, Nunnally Johnson, James Thurber, Harry Truman, S.J. Perelman and others. We see a serious side of Groucho in many of the letters, but we get the Groucho we know as well. On a tax matter, he said, "The government has some curious notion that I owe them $1,000,000. I claim I owe only $3.85." He winds up saying, "On this I expect to fight them tooth and nail (nail more than tooth, only because I have more nail than tooth." When Warner Brothers warns him not to use "Casablanca" in the Marx Brothers movie "A Night in Casablanca," he writes a grand series of letters confounding the Warner Brothers lawyers, saying he will sue over "brothers" because the Marx Brothers were around before Warner Brothers. That alone is worth the $16 price of the paperback.

In case you thought I didn't read serious stuff, I'm starting 2007's "The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression" by Amity Shlaes (paperback, Harper Perennial, 400 pages). It takes a new look at the Depression and will apparently try to paint Roosevelt and his business opponents as neither heroes nor saints, as they both do good and bad along the way. However, it is interesting that the book proposes some of Roosevelt's policies meddled too much and caused the crisis to linger long after it did in Europe, causing another sharp downturn late in the 1930s as he tried to raise taxes and balance the budget. Looks like it will be interesting.

I would also recommend "Presidential Courage" by Michael Beschloss (Simon and Schuster, 2007) as he looks at a series of presidential crisis situations and how men like George Washington, Andrew Jackson, Abraham Lincoln, Harry Truman and Ronald Reagan faced them. It makes for a good comparison of the presidency and the more than 300 pages goes quickly.

Charles Bishop bows out of Senate

2009-05-14T23:45:00.000-07:00

It is probably a dicey affair to be talking about your boss when your boss is a state senator making news, but it is quite public that District 5 state Sen. Charles Bishop, R-Arley, also is behind the new radio talk show, "Voice of the People," that I joined recently on WIXI, 1360 AM, along with Bucky Rizzo. Bishop himself sometimes appears on the program as a host.

Of course, you would think if Bishop was going to announce that he was not going to run again, his resident news anchor would be the first to know. Well, you just have to know Bishop. He is unpredictable, but that's what makes him so interesting. He really got interesting just after lunch Thursday when I read on the Birmingham News Web site that he was not going to run again for the Senate in 2010.

"I've been giving you hints," he told Bucky on the phone before the show, confirming the news. (We must train the old man on the difference between hints and confirmation. I take it this could be useful in the future. As in, "We can't use hints.")

Having said that, I didn't know what Bishop would do. In fact, Bishop still hints he could run for another office or participate in someone else's campaign. At 71, I don't doubt he wouldn't do either. Time will tell.

The immediate impact, of course, is that we have an open seat in District 5. When Bishop came out of retirement to run for an open seat in 2006, that race became hotly contested in both the primary and the general elections. The primary season was fairly civil, but the general election became the stuff of legend. It was brutal and there was little area for gray. The Democrats and the Republicans both opened up the wallets wide for quite an ad campaign. The Daily Mountain Eagle, eager for revenue like all newspapers these days, is probably salivating at what is coming next year in revenue - and dreading the accusations that may make their way into proposed ads.

Suffice it to say we already have candidates on both sides. Steven Aderholt, who lost the District 4 Walker County Commission race last year, announced in the middle of the 2008 election cycle he was running for the seat. Minutes after I announced the news Thursday on WIXI, Walker County Republican Party Chairman Curtis Poe called the show to say that state GOP executive committee member Vicki Drummond of Jasper had told him she was running for the position. (Interestingly, Poe admitted on the air she didn't know he was going to announce this to the public. So much for party discipline.) Poe said Vicki ran for a seat on the national committee and lost by like two votes.

I expect the crowd will only get thicker with time. It would be interesting to see if some of the candidates from the last race, including Republican Ed Frazier and Democrats Byron McMath and Larry Cagle (the latter being the general election nominee last time), will enter the race.

Something else that should be fascinating is to watch the money trail. There can be no doubt that electronic bingo forces will filter money or advertising to some Democratic candidates. (Keep in mind the Senate will now lose both Bishop and Sen. Hank Erwin, two of the strongest opponents of electronic bingo. Erwin is running for lieutenant governor.) State Rep. Ken Guin's newspaper, the Corridor Messenger, practically became a party newspaper in 2008 with extra editions and full page ads paid for by the state Democratic organization. Between all that and an open seat, the money should flow like Niagara Falls after a rain.

Of course, Bishop will miss out on some of this. It would have been another bitter race probably, and we would have been sick of seeing Democratic TV and print ads reminding us of the punching incident Bishop had with Sen. Lowell Barron. Bishop may have been thinking of this, but I suspect his business interests, which continue to take up more time, and the changing climate of Montgomery had more to do with it. He also went down to help out Future Interstate 22 and instead found much of his time devoted to fighting electronic bingo.

At any rate, even if he runs for something else, it ends a chapter in the Senate that will have stretched for nearly three decades, as he previously served in 1983-90 -- a time that included George Wallace's last term as governor. No doubt he will be remembered for the punch -- something he has regretted to some extent -- but he's done much good for the county in that seat as well. Over the years he fought for agriculture and industry, including his time when he held posts in the cabinet over those areas. Certainly in his last term, he fought electronic bingo tooth and nail to help prevent the county from having a black eye for industrial development. Perhaps it was more of a draw at times, but he certainly prevented victories for the other side.

There is probably much more to be said, but I admit to being a little biased. Over the past few months, as my career has been trying to find itself after leaving the Daily Mountain Eagle, Bishop has been as helpful as anyone out there and has been a good friend -- a little unpredictable at times, yes, but in the end loyal and supportive. He has provided a means to keep bread on the table and give me a new lease on a local news career that I didn't expect to have. I don't know what I would have done without him. Many people don't see this side of him while he is in the public eye, but he has done many acts of kindness when you were not looking. I'm grateful that I'll still be working with him in the future.

And, of course, still trying to guess what the old fox will do next. If you find out first, let me know.

race cars vs. tornadoes

2009-05-02T20:52:00.000-07:00

I just had to point out that during tonight's tornado outbreak, Fox 6's exasperated weatherman wound up having to explain why they were having to give tornado warning coverage.

That was incredulous, except for the fact it was a split screen situation. The other screen was a live broadcast of the Russ Friedman 400 at Richmond International Raceway, a NASCAR race carried by the Fox network.

With tornado warnings issued and the state map lit up with more colors than a Christmas tree on fire, the weatherman noted that the station had already gotten a number of nasty e-mails from race fans. It seems the fans were angry that the races were downsized to a small screen, while the weather was getting the big picture.

You could tell the weatherman was barely keeping it under control, not really wanting to tell off the rednecks. He said that there were Alabamians who were in danger of being wiped out by a tornado and that this was a prime function of the station.

He actually had to explain that, in the middle of a tornado outbreak. I'd be hot under the collar, too.

Now, it is true my county was one of those that was under attack by the tornadoes. It is also true I am not the world's biggest NASCAR fan, although I usually have a good feeling when Jeff Gordon wins. I think it is like when you move into the state and you have to pick Alabama or Auburn, lest someone decides to deport you for being a suspected terrorist or a carrier of swine flu from Mexico. At any rate, racing has its good points and is a fine thing to follow. There are many fine people who follow and participate in the races, and who set a good example.

However, when you are in the first row at Talladega, you almost ask for being in the line of danger. Someone standing at the a crawfish boil in downtown Birmingham and suddenly finding out they may be in the line of tornadoes, that is something else. All of us in this area being in the line of tornadoes or even high winds, that is something else.

One of the major functions of broadcasters and news personnel is to tell you when imminent danger is near, whether it is weather, a meteor, Martians, a terror attack, whatever. We live in an area where people routinely die from high winds, and many times there is not much time to prepare. It also has the characteristic of not booking a more convenient time.

It is amazing that 35 years after the fact, I remember I could not watch one of those NBC mystery movies (I recall it being the "Snoop Sisters") when the April 1974 tornadoes came through. There have been times when I missed seeing a TV show when storm coverage comes on for another part of the state. I was not happy, but I wasn't mad at the TV station.

NASCAR and its fans have grown up in many respects, but sometimes still have to work on the stereotypes that befall that sport. Unfortunately, some of the fans Saturday night -- and I would trust it was a small minority of them -- proved that the idea of a stupid redneck watching a car race on TV and complaining about the interruption for, oh, say, impending deadly weather shows us that we still have a few people left to give racing and Alabama a bad image.

I just hope that if the worst happens (which I wouldn't wish on them anyway) and they find their trailer and their 15 hunting dogs blown away, and that rusty 1976 Chevrolet truck topples off of its cinder blocks in the front yard...well, I just hope it was at a convenient time for them.

The death of Bruno's

2009-05-01T18:35:00.000-07:00

If anything could get me to come out of my hybernation on the blog (sometimes life IS more important, thank you), it would certainly have to be the death of the Bruno's grocery chain, which seemed to finally come this week when it auctioned itself off. Southern Foods bought it; they purchased the Food World in Hamilton a while back and made a mess of it before it finally died as well. I am not terribly hopeful of what is coming.

It may be that Jasper and Dora will be spared anymore suffering. The Birmingham News reported today that it had the list of probable stores to be liquidated, and those two cities were on the list. Assuming that is true, it would mean that Jasper is down to two major chain stores, Wal-Mart and Winn-Dixie, as well as Son's and another store at the Parkland area. East Walker County would now only have one major store (Wal-Mart, of course) and a local store. Dora would be deprived of a major generator of sales tax revenue and the shopping center would lose its big anchor. Jasper would have a big hole in that major quadrant where 78 and Airport collide, and it will be interesting to see in a lesser economy if anyone takes it over soon. (I would point out Goody's nearby is still vacant.)

This is personally sad for me, because Bruno's is responsible for funding my childhood upbringing. Dad was employed there for something like three decades, ironically starting in Jasper. Although he lived in Winfield, he commuted seemingly everywhere, including Haleyville, Jasper, many stores in the Birmingham area, Russellville and finally Hamilton, where he retired. He was a meat cutter and eventually a meat department head in a number of stores.

It was during his time in Birmingham in particular that he got to know many of the people in the company, even those at the top. His conversations have always included tales of the patriarch, Joe Bruno, known as "Mr. Joe." It was a family operation, and they family stayed connected to the business. It always impressed me that the family, devout Catholics, would have a cross set up in the store around the business office, and the stores would be blessed upon opening.

As many of you know, they were community minded and funded a number of institutions, particularly in the Birmingham area. They also loved to hold an open house at the warehouse, and considering they knew all the vendors, it was quite an affair indeed. Of course, the warehouse was something to behold, and they took great pride in showing it off.

Now, those days are over. I've heard many inside and outside the company reflect back to the plane crash that killed several executives, including family members. "The company was never the same after that plane crash," they say, shaking their heads. That is correct. Not only was the management not the same, but Bruno's faced a tide of change in the supermarket industry. The change was Wal-Mart, which stomped in on the scene like a giant, undercutting everyone and swamping with volume. There had been a half-hearted attempt between Bruno's and K-mart to do something like what Wal-Mart does now, but it went nowhere. Moreover, Dad still maintains that the company lost its way in customer service in the end, which is the only thing it could really compete with.

Even if the Jasper and Dora stores survive, it will not be the Bruno's we knew. It will not be the Bruno's bear smiling at us from the grocery ads. It will not be the Bruno's that started a world class golf tournament and funded educational and spiritual institutions. It will not be the Bruno's that introduced Big B drugs when we didn't have mammoth national drug stores on every corner. It will not be the Bruno's that really introduced the big grocery store concept with Food World, with its amazing selections.

Perhaps most of all, it's not Mr. Joe. When the Bruno family left, so did the heart of the company. The reputation of the name is the only reason that the patient is only now dying of cardiac arrest.

Jasper City Council - called work session

2009-04-14T08:33:00.000-07:00

E-mail from Jasper City Clerk Kathy Chambless: "The Jasper City Council will hold a work session Friday, April 17, 2009, at 12:00 noon in the Council Chamber located at Jasper City Hall. This work session is being held to discuss procedures concerning garbage collections, drainage matters, update on the construction of a pool for Southside, and amendment to the business license ordinance for peddlers, and other matters."

Talk of the Town cancelled; Shelby will not be broadcast

2009-04-14T08:15:00.001-07:00

I would have gotten this word out earlier (AT&T's DSL went out yesterday afternoon), but we WJLX will not broadcast Sen. Richard Shelby's town hall meeting today, and, perhaps just as importantly, I won't be on the air myself, as "Talk of the Town" is no more. I will be moving to WIXI, 1360 AM, effective Monday, April 20, to be a co-host on "The People's Viewpoint" with Bucky Rizzo and (occasionally) Charles Bishop from 4-6 p.m. Monday through Friday.

I have enjoyed my show and the crew at WJLX, and I would have done it for a long time. I wish them well, and they have done the same for me; we part on good terms. However, the ad revenue just wasn't there at this time to support the show. I depended on that revenue for my revenue, and the bad economy never gave it a chance. With the economy getting somewhat of a break recently, and after some discussions with those involved with "The People's Viewpoint," there may be a way this new show can work out. I think we will be blending some elements from my show and Bucky Rizzo's show, which was also formerly on WJLX. I will still be bringing the local and state news on this show. I should also point out the time slot and the signal strength should amount to an improvement.

At any rate, thank you to everyone who supported "Talk of the Town." I think it was a journalistic success and proved that we can have another way to bring newsmakers into your homes, offices and cars. I hope you'll follow me to 1360 AM.

ComeUnity cancelled tonight

2009-04-02T10:58:00.001-07:00

Jim Odom said the ComeUnity Christian group that meets on Thursday nights has cancelled tonight due to the weather.

School closings in Walker, area start at 1 p.m.

2009-04-02T09:59:00.000-07:00

This is Ed Howell at noon. The following school systems will close at 1 p.m. today because of storms: Walker Co., Sumition Christian, Cullman Co., Fayette County, Winfield City, Marion County. Winston County and Jasper City will close at 2 p.m.

Bevill State is still holding classes, as of noon. The Carbon Hill City Council will still meet at 6 p.m. as of this hour.

Jason Simpson of ABC 33/40 says a moderate risk of severe risk of thunderstorms, tornadoes and such will likely hit most of Walker County between 4 and 9 p.m.

Adkins will run for superintendent; Tirey will run again

2009-03-27T16:42:00.001-07:00

The big news Friday was political as Cordova High Principal Jason Adkins confirmed he will run for Walker County superintendent of education in 2010, vying for a seat held now by Vonda Beaty. (She is in her first term.) Sheriff John Mark Tirey also announced will run for fifth term as sheriff. That news came out of interviews during an active two hours at the Jasper Mall as "Talk of the Town" was simulcast on WJLX and WJBE at the Home and Garden Show.

Attorney Herbie Brewer, who represents bingo charities, came on the show to discuss the issues around electronic bingo at the moment. Walker Wilson came on to talk about the retail recruitment committee at the Chamber of Commerce of Walker County, as well as the banking industry in Walker County. (His own bank, the Bank of Walker County, also marked its fifth anniversary Friday, which he remarked on.) The only disappointment was that we couldn't get state Rep. Ken Guin, who had a schedule change and offered to come on by phone, but our situation of doing a remote at the mall was not easily set up for tape playback and called-in phone interviews, which we usually do a lot of at the studio. Hopefully we'll have him on the show soon.

We also had a pretty robust news segment, as unemployment figures announced Friday showed the rate going up again in Walker County and slightly above the state and national figures. (Winston and Marion counties are now above 14 percent.) The Jasper City Council had a work session and indicated it would likely go with a lessor Blue Cross plan for employees that will eliminate their drug card and require them to start filing for prescriptions (although they get 100 percent on generics). They also were told they have very good chances to get a $250,000 grant for a new senior citizen center. However, they also have a total debt of more than $11 million and they are still seeing declines in the sales tax. I also had news about the bingo hearing in Birmingham, where agreement seemed near to allow the release of bingo charity applications to the Walker County Political Accountability Coalition.

Overall, I am well pleased with the day, and my thanks to everyone who participated. The crew at the radio station did a great job overcoming difficulties to bring this remote, and hopefully we can do more.

bingo hearing and more

2009-03-25T21:28:00.000-07:00

I will be covering the Walker County bingo hearing at 3:30 p.m. in Room 330 of the Jefferson County Courthouse on Thursday, March 26. I'll be representing not only WJLX but also the Alabama Baptist weekly newspaper. This is the hearing that involves the Walker County Political Accountability Coalition wanting to see the permit applications for electronic bingo charities in Walker County, as there are questions about the validity of some charities.

Meanwhile, I learned this week that a full list of the charities is on display at the Walker County Courthouse, along with expiration date and assigned bingo hall. It is in a narrow basement hallway outside of the bingo compliance officer's office -- under glass. No paper copies are allowed to be distributed, and there were lines of bingo-related people in the hallway when it first went up trying to scribble the information down on paper.

As for Thursday, because of the hearing and the home and garden show being set up by my station for this weekend, the show will be taped in advance but will feature a reading of the full statement released by Jasper Councilman Johnny Rollins to WJLX on Tuesday about the new position being created for a public works director/engineer. Rollins said it was released to other Jasper media as early as March 2 but was never published. Since he is an elected councilman (as opposed to just anyone coming off the street to vent), I feel obligated to read the entire statement as a matter of record. Mayor Sonny Posey has denied some of the allegations in the statement. I also hope to include the recorded statement from Bevill State's president concerning the cuts that could be approved by the state board of education on Thursday.

On Friday, I will be on both WJLX-AM and WJBE-FM from 2-4 p.m., a special two-hour live broadcast from the home and garden show at the Jasper Mall. We hope to feature Sheriff John Mark Tirey and banker and chamber retail official Walker Wilson, as well as some others we are trying to line up. We hope you will join us at the center of the mall Friday, as well as on the radio and the Internet.

I'm still proud of what we're doing on this show. We were the only news organizations to cover the last Dora City Council meeting over the past week (and the first to report on Carbon Hill's meeting). We were the first in the county to report about the rise in the county unemployment rates, and we reported today that state Rep. Tommy Sherer abstained on the food sales tax vote because he was not comfortable with how the funding would be made up. We were the first to report about the public works director/engineer matter from Jasper's meeting and ran a 30-minute segment taped from the meeting hours earlier. We were the first to report that the county had been confirmed to receive more than $200,000 in stimulus funds and that it would have more time to use the money, thus preventing the county from having to give the money back. We were the first to report that Dora firemen had formed a bingo charity to help the fire department using the department's name in the title...while the council had earlier voted not to receive bingo money. (We ran a long portion from that discussion as well.) We've been the first to report stock closings and breaking legislative developments from Montgomery.

I hope we can offer a service in breaking the local stories of interest and bringing listeners into public meetings, as well as informing and entertaining them with our guests. No other news outlet in Walker County is offering anything like we do, and I hope advertisers and listeners in our market will support this effort. Again, we are also streamed live on http://www.walkercountyradio.com/ and the shows are archived there for a week to be downloaded.

A final word for the moment: I'm getting so old I am forgetting my age. I got off track during a morning show on WJBE Wednesday. I think someone asked if I was 32 and I kept saying I was 36. Actually, I meant to say I turned 46. In fact, it got me messed up all day and I had to keep correcting myself, for some reason. I think we can now really say I am old when I can't remember how old I am! At any rate, 46 or not, I appreciate the many kind words I received Wednesday. It has been a difficult time of transition, and the day was a welcome comfort to me.

Added to this happiness on Wednesday was my interview that day with Jarrod Jones, which I think was important for many people to hear concerning the problem of sexual problems and looking at it from a Christian perspective. I would encourage you to look up this show on the Web site, archived as Wednesday's show, and give it a listen. You can also find links to his material at http://www.jarrodjones.com/.

Aderholt on Monday's show

2009-03-22T21:51:00.000-07:00

Aderholt Press sent a message to the members of Friends of Rep. Robert Aderholt.-------------

-------Subject: MEDIA ALERT: Aderholt on the Radio Monday

Congressman Aderholt will be on the radio several times tomorrow (Monday). First, he will be on the Matt Murphy morning radio show at 8:45am Central (9:45 EST) to talk about the AIG controversy, the out-of-control federal spending and the Cap & Trade debate in Washington. You can listen to this interview on 1070am WAPI in the Birmingham metro area or online at www.wapi1070.com. Later in the day, Rep. Aderholt will be on the "Talk of The Town Radio Show w/Ed Howell" at 2:15pm Central (3:15pm EST). You can listen to this interview on 1240am in or nearby Walker County or online at www.walkercountyradio.com.

God Bless, Aderholt Press Office

Talk of the Town at Home and Garden Show

2009-03-19T23:36:00.000-07:00

"Talk of the Town" is planning to hold a special two-hour broadcast at the Walker County Home and Garden Show at 2 p.m. Friday, March 27, that will be simulcast on both WJLX and its FM sister station. It will be our first remote broadcast, our first two-hour show and our first time to be simulcast on both the stations. We are trying to get guests lined up for the show, which I understand should be broadcast from near the center of the Jasper Mall. (Considering how some guests have cancelled or gotten lost in the past week or so, this may be the first publicly broadcast nervous breakdown in history, but hopefully it will go well.)

Hopefully, if you show up to watch, you might get a chance to ask some questions yourself on the air. I was just sitting here thinking we should have a giveaway to people who come up watch. Of course, I've seen a lot of cheap things given away at things like this. (I suggest we give away Brett Elmore to the first one who wants him. That's about as cheap as it gets.)

Also, we have smoothed out problems with the live stream on www.walkercountyradio.com so that you should be able to stream it, at least if you have high speed Internet. It will continue to be archived by suppertime and available for a full week for each broadcast.

It is a gamble to say who will be on because of breaking news and cancellations but some highlights we are planning for include Carbon Hill Chris Hart today (Friday) and Cordova Mayor Jack Scott on April 1. Dora Mayor Chris Edwards is set for April 15. I would also like to point out two Christian-themed guests that I hope you will especially tune in to, as they are personal friends I recommend: Christian youth speaker and author Jarrod Jones (www.jarrodjones.com) on March 25 (my birthday) and singer Mark Baynes (www.markbaynes.com) on April 7.

Hopefully, you'll like what we are doing on the broadcast, and I would love to hear feedback.

Also, I hope you will visit around on my Web site at www.edhowellcommunications.com and realize I can handle some of your photography, Web site and other communication needs. I will be upfront with you and help you to fit a project to within your budget. We're all tight on our spending these days, and I can do you a bargain job without sacrificing quality.

court hearing on Thursday

2009-03-19T22:52:00.001-07:00

Bucky Rizzo, the chairman of the Walker County Political Accountability Coalition, told me tonight that a court hearing on the coalition's motion to release the applications for charities in the county, is set for 3:30 p.m. next Thursday, March 26, in Birmingham.

A better county Web site

2009-03-16T15:11:00.000-07:00

Today on "Talk of the Town," assistant University of Alabama journalism professor Chris Roberts, an old friend of mine, came on for a few minutes to discuss the fairly new trend of Web sites for county governments. In Sunday's Birmingham News (his old newspaper), Roberts talked about the subject in an ed-op piece, which also coincided with Sunshine Week. That is a time set aside to emphasize the importance of making government documents and resources available to the public at large and calling attention to what is legally in place to do such work.

Finding government information on Web sites may sound like a small subject, but many people are now getting much of their information from Web sites now. Perhaps some people are poor and can't afford a computer, but in that case others with a computer can take more time to look up that information for the less fortunate. However, we are moving to a society where many people have access to computers, even at libraries for free.

Moreover, in a very busy world we live in today and with commuter situations that take people out of the county to work, it is easier to look up this information by the Internet. Making it available allows the public to do what reporters have done for years -- to be the watchdog over the government. By putting contracts, bids, court dockets, arrest information, meeting agendas and more on the Web, we are able to better keep track of government officials. It is not to say everything they are doing is bad, but it makes for more transparency and quicker response in the 21st century to have material scanned in quickly for the public to browse through.

In the old days, they might have to fight traffic, pay fees for photocopying and then carry reams of paperwork. Now government is available to watch over while sitting in your pajamas at a computer. Maybe it shouldn't be THAT comfortable, but it certainly makes it easier for the common folk, especially the busy ones who have jobs to do, to find out what the people they are paying are actually doing.

Roberts uses the example in Sunday's column that former Jefferson County Commissioner Jeff Germany, who used non-profits to give hundreds of thousands of dollars to friends and relatives, could have been tracked as the spending was in line items in county agendas and minutes -- records that Roberts said are still not online.

Roberts and some of his students marked Sunshine Week by conducting the first survey in the state that I know about concerning county Web sites. (A similar one is being finished about city Web sites. The county results can be found at www.chrisrob.com/sunshine.) What they found out is discouraging. Out of 67 counties, 25 still don't have Web sites and the rest vary wildly in the quality of useful information. Only 17 counties even include the minutes of minutes and only 11 had timely links to agendas for upcoming meetings.

That brings us to Walker County, which pays Walker Web $1,500 a year to maintain a Web site (http://www.walkercounty.com/) that has been around for a while. However, some departments have apparently never even submitted information to complete their pages, such as the sanitation department. Walker County did state the time but did not include the place of the meetings. The agendas are not posted, as a county official indicated it has not been set up for her to make the postings herself and sometimes the agenda is not completed anyway. More than two dozen other counties have their agendas posted online.

The county does post some contact information and commission district maps. There is an ability to pay for some items, such as in renewing tags online, printing business license applications to pay by mail, renewing hunting and fishing licenses online and paying sales tax revenue online. However, on the flip side, finding property values and a property map was not apparent. About 29 counties gave an employee directory, but Walker did not have one. It did not post its budget, contracts or requests for bids. No police or sheriff reports, nor any jail logs, were on the site (even though Carbon Hill and Winston County were doing similar items on their Web sites). The county did not follow Winston's lead to put court dockets directly on the site; instead, it gave a link to the state's AlaCourt site, which usually requires a subscription fee.

It would seem that it is time to sit down with Walker Web and county departments to see what can be done for taxpayers to get their money's worth. To his credit, Walker County Commission Chairman Bruce Hamrick said today he was interested in looking into an update and noticed recently some things were still missing from the site. He wanted a breakdown of some of the information from Roberts' study in comparison with other counties. He did note there is the problem of how smaller counties can afford to provide so many services on a Web site and that there is only so much time to make postings.

Hamrick did note there is a possible solution being bantered around. There is apparently some talk within the Association of County Commissioners of Alabama to possibly handle the service for all the counties, apparently pooling resources. Roberts said Monday that this would be an excellent idea and hopes that it takes off as a way to help the counties. It could particularly help many smaller counties that may feel they cannot afford in some ways to tackle a project. Certainly there has been great advancement in the state court system for bringing online services online, as lawyers are now getting used to filing and researching cases electronically. The association and the Alabama League of Municipalities might be able to undertake similar projects.

At any rate, county and city Web sites are the next wave of government service. Anyone who thinks it is premature to discuss the impact of the Internet can only see newspapers shutting down in Denver, Seattle and other areas to note that the future is here. It is imperative that the public be served in an efficient, cost-effective way. It also helps the public to take up its role again as the true boss of all those politicians who try to take advantage of the voters.

Interesting thing about that study, by the way: When I noted one or two mistakes in the results concerning Walker County, Roberts admitted he had already started finding them and updating the results. In fact, since they went online, others around the state are calling in. Believe it or not, he didn't sound displeased, because this is the point about oversight that he is making when it comes to the general public. If they can start correcting the study this quickly, think what they could do with county and city governments when their material goes online.

Paint me a bingo hall, Randy Owen

2009-03-11T16:40:00.000-07:00

Well, I have say I am a little disappointed in Randy Owen of Alabama, as he has gone over to the side of bingo. So much for a wholesome reputation.

On Wednesday the House Tourism and Travel Committee voted to approve the bingo bills that would set up 14 large bingo halls in the state, including two in Walker County. According to the Associated Press, the committee passed a version of the bill that would allow games in Etowah, Greene, Houston, Lowndes, Jefferson, Macon, Mobile and Walker counties. The committee took out Calhoun County, which was in the original version. Lucky Calhoun.

The identical Senate committee held a public hearing on the identical Senate bill but did not take an identical vote. In fact, they held no vote at all, for some reason.

Perhaps they were not serenaded like the House committee was. According to the AP, "The legislation attracted support from country music entertainers, who say it will help a country entertainment center be built near Dothan. Tracy Lawrence sang 'Paint Me a Birmingham' for the House committee, and Alabama singer Randy Owen told the Senate committee that there is no place he'd rather play than Alabama."

Paint me a bingo hall, Mr. Owen. And use some pretty colors to mask the ugly mess we're creating. Be sure to use green, the color of money.

By the way, going through the bill, I uncovered something interesting. There is a section that indicates that while the current bingo amendments for the counties would be scrapped, the governing authorities under those old amendments would have the ability to pick the operators of the two bingo halls for that county. In other words, the Walker County Commission would get to pick the two bingo halls which would have at least 1,000 machines each and would cost at least $50 million to build. Once that word gets around, the reaction should be quite interesting.

There is no question there is a big push this time to pass the bills. Paul Hubbert of the Alabama Education Association has already staked out a position, noting 70 percent of the 20 percent tax on the gross would go for education. The ink had barely dried on the newspapers announcing the plan on Friday before a weekend blitz of TV commercials started to advocate the passage of the bills. The commercials were so cheery that you would have thought you were voting for motherhood and apple pie.

Of course, the commercials also want to tout that you will be getting rid of illegal gambling. Oh, really?! The same illegal gambling that some of the same supporters are not just pushing for, but operating? Give me a break.

It becomes even more interesting when looking at other factors. The economy becomes a bigger player in this than it ever has before. We can talk about the faked charities, the crime committed to get money to play bingo, the poor people and elderly who are losing funds that they would otherwise use to pay bills and more...but money in a severe recession such as this will take center stage every time. One of the latest full page pro-bingo ads plopped down in local newspapers (still without identification, of course) blows up huge photos of Jack Webb as Sgt. Joe Friday, of all things, the quintessential cop. (I would bet...if I bet...that the ads used the images without copywrite permission, because I saw no hint of that. Heck, they won't even identify themselves!) It blew up that and another publicity photo from "Dragnet" with the headline, "Just the facts, ma'am," the famous cliche to come out of the TV show.

It then led into figures, which are true, showing the Walker County's unemployment rate has been lower than that of surrounding counties. It then made this statement:

"Over 1,400 individuals are directly employed by the Charity Bingo industry in Walker County. That's almost 5% of the entire workforce of Walker County. Tourism in Walker County is at an all-time high. Charity Bingo brings visitors to the area, which keeps local businesses thriving."

Of course, there is no way to double-check those numbers since the bingo halls are almost unchecked and have been from the beginning. But as the county has given itself over so freely and the bingo halls are hiring like mad, I would not doubt it has come to this. Kill bingo and you kill Disney World, the golden goose that draws in the crowd. And who would want to put our county into an economic tailspin?

Well, maybe those folks could do legal work for Attorney General Troy King. He may need it soon.

The Birmingham News and the Montgomery Independent reported that a federal grand jury has been meeting to question Troy King's former employees, with U.S. Attorney Alice Martin in the room. Not only do there appear to be questions of King taking retribution on those who don't see eye-to-eye with his supporters, but there are questions, according to reports, about why King seems to allow some bingo halls in the state to remain unchecked while he allegedly acts to close others. And this comes on the heels of a very public, nasty falling out between King and Gov. Bob Riley over bingo, with Riley telling the Alabama Baptist that King has simply been "wrong" in his stand. Riley apparently met with Walker County bingo opponents, heard from King, then heard from his own legal experts and concluded something was not right. King didn't even make the cut on Riley's anti-gambling task force.

Yes, that's the kind of tourism we need. New York Times reporters staying in our motels covering the attorney general of Alabama on trial.

Reports indicate Riley will oppose the new bingo bills in the Legislature, and so will a number of Republicans. One senator said it was dead on arrival. Then again, when Nashville comes to sing in front of legislators and bingo halls start using Joe Friday as a poster boy, anything goes. Stay tuned.

News Bulletin: Carbon Hill City Council gets National Guard Armory

2009-03-05T18:32:00.000-08:00

The Carbon Hill City Council voted Thursday night to get the National Guard Armory property, ending a long issue that began in the Phillip Howard administration when the decision was made by the state to close the armory.

The council essentially will only pay $17,000 for the property. Lt. Col. Mark Weeks (Ret.), in representing the state, wrote an e-mail to Carbon Hill Mayor Chris Hart, which Hart read at Thursday night's meeting. The state agreed to a price of $50,000, but the price had a credit of $33,000. Hart said essentially the city would write a check for $17,000.

The transaction will include the property in "as is" condition and excludes a metal storage building that has already been removed, Hart said. The decision was unanimous except for Councilman Horace Jones, who stepped out of the room momentarily.

Councilman Scott Wright said just the land alone was worth the purchase price.

Hart said after the meeting the site will be used as part of park improvements and that he hopes to get grants to renovate the building. Hart said the overall park complex would be a youth center, with the armory useful as a basketball court and as a community center where birthday parties and other events could be held.

A bingo dilemma in Dora

2009-03-03T19:45:00.000-08:00

If anyone needs an example of the dilemma faced by good people who decide to use bingo to fund good things, Dora may be a good example after Tuesday night's work session of the Dora City Council.

(NOTE: Ed Howell's "Talk of the Town" on WJLX, 1240 AM in Jasper, will air the 24-minute debate on its 2 p.m. Wednesday, March 4, broadcast, which can also be heard live and over the next week on www.walkercountyradio.com.)

At one point, the council began to discuss about the proceeds of a bingo charity called the Dora Fire Department Community Action Group. A while back, the outgoing council before the new administration took office voted to have the fire department not accept electronic bingo funds.

Councilwoman Kristie Tuggle, who opposes electronic bingo, was not happy that a charity was set up with the name "Dora Fire Department" in the long title. She felt it still gave the impression the fire department was collecting electronic bingo funds under this charity, which Dora Mayor Chris Edwards said is registered with Country Classic Bingo.

Told by Edwards, the former fire chief, that the group is separate private group and that the sheriff had approved it as a charity, Tuggle responded, "But I think it is misleading that it says Dora Fire Department Community Action Group, because they do no own the Dora Fire Department and that is the implication that that name gives. That name needs to go away because that is giving the implication this council has voted no on bingo but, yes, we've started a charity to accept money for the fire department."

The impression that the fire department was involved turned out to be more than passing. Edwards, pressed on who was involved with the group, revealed five or six members of the fire department were behind it. Councilman Nick Isbell, who is part of the volunteer fire department, was revealed during the meeting as one of the firemen who is part of the charity. He said it was designed to collect funds that could be used in time solely for fire department equipment, although no funds have been transferred yet.

Tuggle said the city is liable for the equipment purchased. Isbell said if "someone dies because we don't have the proper equipment, who's fault is that?" He said some of the current equipment is 15 years old. He also asked how was this different than accepting alcohol and tobacco taxes.

"Look how crooked the government is and we accept money from it," Isbell said. (Well, you may have us there, but ...)

He also alluded to some long-standing allegations that money intended for the fire department went missing. (As I recall, then-Mayor George Sides denied this last year.) Isbell said the money was set up so that it would not go through the General Fund, although someone later said any funds for the city have to go through the General Fund.

Isbell said the group had a tax account number. When Tuggle asked where the group's account was set up, Isbell said, "Do I have to tell you?" Edwards then said, "It doesn't have to be discussed here at all because it ain't city business."

"I think it is city business because we voted no," Tuggle said.

Eventually, Councilmen Gary Thomas and Hezekiah Walker also expressed concern about using the fire department's name in the charity's title.

Edwards and Isbell said the group was set up last summer. Did we say last summer? Yes, and there lies another problem. Even though Walker County Sheriff John Mark Tirey approved the bingo charity, it apparently does not meet the requirement that the charity needed to be set up for five years and own property for five years. Asked what property the charity owned, Isbell said during the meeting he was not sure about that.

Council members were mostly concerned about the name, indicating that if the group changed the name, it would be alright. They did not want to give the impression that the fire department was taking bingo money, and having "Dora Fire Department" in the name would not make a good impression. However, here's the question I have: Even if you change the name and accept a donation, isn't that the same thing as prevented by the council resolution? This was set up by firemen who belong to the fire department for the benefit of the fire department. You could call it the Mystic Order of the Benevolent Tuna Salad Appreciation Society and it still appears to be the Dora Fire Department.

Moreover -- and let's forget what the sheriff has or has not been approved; the whole permitting process for charities is pretty much in shambles -- there appears to be no doubt that the charity does not follow the most basic rules, practically the only rules we seem to agree on for bingo in this county: The charity must have existed for 60 months and own land for that amount of time. (Tuggle said Tuesday night the East Walker Chamber of Commerce "didn't meet the guidelines but they still let the chamber have it," referring to approval to be a bingo charity. No one from the chamber was present at the meeting.)

This is not to say that the Dora Fire Department is a sham or that the department doesn't do good works. That is not to say it doesn't need good equipment and more funds, especially in this economy. The department and Isbell do a good job, and I appreciate the service they do. Anyone who remembers Sept. 11 and has seen the movie "Fireproof" can't begin to state how much we appreciate their service.

However, the firemen of this county opened the door to this, perhaps with a certain amount of naivete, after a bingo lawyer promoted the benefits of electronic bingo at a firemen's meeting. Starved for cash, the fire departments signed up to be charities, following the Pied Piper all the way down the path we have all been forced to take. It has now come down to the point that firemen feel they have to create some fire department appreciation society to get charity funds (albeit before the council apparently voted to prevent firemen from participating).

I can understand the frustration of charities, particularly of firemen. It is easy to go after bingo money; I've been put into some tempting situations recently, some of which would really only be incidental in connection, but I've decided against those situations as best as I can manage for the sake of erring on the side of avoiding conflicts with my stand and my associations. Turning down money and opportunities is not easy, but racing after bingo money is not the answer.

And even if it was, taking the road that Dora firemen went down appeared to be in conflict with the wishes of the city council. The group easily could have changed its name after the vote, but even then it walked like a fireman, talked like a fireman and acted like a fireman. The fire department should have abandoned the effort.

I hope the Dora firemen can find another source of funding if it needs turnout equipment that badly, and after 15 years it probably does. But this was one fire the department should have put out and didn't. It is a lesson of how easily we can get burned by this raging blaze that seems intent on leaving our county in ashes.

Sorry I've played hooky from blogging

2009-02-27T22:11:00.000-08:00

I'm sorry I've played hooky from blogging, as it seems to have been a crazy, mixed up week to where I didn't post anything on my own blog. Someone actually asked what happened to me, somewhat worried. Well, life happened. You almost wish it had been the flu (which people seem to be getting around me left and right).

Seems like in this blog/Facebook/Twitter/Web site/e-mail/cell phone world of ours, we are demanded to communicate in five different directions at once. There were reports of President Obama's speech to the Congress being a focal point among members of Congress, who eagerly spent part of the time in the chamber Twittering others on their whereabouts, obviously to score points. (In the old days they only lined the aisle to be seen with the president. Now they can just sit in their seats and tell constituents by cell phone what the constituents can clearly see on TV.)

I guess as I try to sort out some things in my life -- and, no, it ain't all sorted out in my mind to yet -- I just didn't make time for some things. I also ignored by Bible study. I've missed that, too. However, until I see enough advertising for the radio show or income from other freelance work or **something** that can look truthfully long-term, then I will relax. I was happy with one job, one steady paycheck, health insurance, the whole ball of wax. Well, that has ended, at least for now. I'm either out of my comfort zone or out of my mind. Thankfully, I'm not out of money, as I am getting some of that, but changing the course of one's life after 27 years is not easy. It is especially difficult when you are changing course and the ocean that you were used to sailing is drying up around you, as evidenced by the sad collapse of the newspaper in Denver. We may see some big and small names vanish or shrink to yet. Reporter jobs are hard to come by in newspapers, and I am concerned the newspapers may be just as hard to come by in days down the road.

In my case, that means you try radio, which means you try selling ads for your own radio show, too. Most have been receptive to what I said, although the old days of making up your mind are gone. Now they have committees to go through. I've been referred to so many committees recently I feel like a constitution convention bill in the Alabama Legislature, passed on to be passed on until I pass on myself. I'm told I have a good product and to be patient on the economy. And every day I watch the stocks drop another 100 points. It's like betting on the Detroit Lions to win the Super Bowl by five touchdowns.

Then, there is freelancing. You write to magazines and you never hear back. You bid for work on Web sites like Elance, and a dozen people have already bid for projects...and some greedy person has underbid $100 and $200 offers with a $50 offer.

Oh, my. Selling cars sounds better, except that's not so hot these days. It's tough all around. I ordered pizza the other day, and the guy who brought it looked older than I was.

Anyway, I'll try to be a good boy and get back to blogging more in the next few days. I still won't be making any more money, but at least I know you're paying attention. Unless you're Twittering someone that you're reading my blog.

Quick Review: "Changling"

2009-02-21T20:07:00.000-08:00

When I was a boy, I would watch the reruns of "Dragnet," leading me to think the Los Angeles Police Department was the most by-the-book, professional police department ever. The department would repay Jack Webb by lowering its flag at half-mast when he died. Yeah, they owed him big time, because history has now taught me that the department has had problems long before Rodney King.

Director Clint Eastwood cements his reputation further on this movie, now on DVD, by revisiting a sensational case that exposed how corrupt and above-the-law the department was in the 1920s. Angelina Jolie puts in a marvelous performance (as does everyone in this movie) as the real-life mother of a boy who went missing in 1928. When the police, eager for good publicity, announced they had found the boy, she was horrified to learn it was not her boy -- and even more horrified to find out the police not only wanted it behind them, but would stoop to playing mind games with her to pretend it was her boy and that the mother was crazy -- and I mean literally crazy. It is a story with so many twists and turns I don't dare reveal more, but it certainly is safe to say this was an historic case with major ramifications for the police department. It is a great movie that grips you with its story and holds you in suspense, tears and astonishment to the end, with every detail handled expertly.

In this day of Amber Alerts and media concentration, parents will be horrified to find out what happened to this mother and this child. One will be stunned how, in the United States of America, we can discover how authority, when too eager to get good publicity and easy rides at the risk of actually doing a good cop's job, can stoop to Gestapo-like tactics to get their way. It is a morality lesson for us all, and one every law enforcement agency, every military and every citizen's action group in these post-9/11 days should all but force their ranks to watch. Action in the sake of cleaning up society can soon spiral out of control be at the expense of a free society only wanting the basics done, such as finding a missing child. It happened in the "good ol' days" of 1928, in California, in an age of front porches and trust. Heaven help us what could happen today, and "Changeling" is our warning bell in the night.

Friday's show: Parrish debate at BOE meeting

2009-02-19T22:18:00.000-08:00

I've decided that because of the bitter school board debate over the hiring of teachers at Parrish High School, which occurred late Thursday afternoon, we will air a large portion of that debate on our show Friday, provided there are no technical glitches. We will still have Cordova Mayor Jack Scott as our guest, but the bulk of the first half of the show will be devoted to this debate, which got rather angry toward the end. This will air Friday, Feb. 20, at 2 p.m.

Quick Review: Time Magazine special on Lincoln

2009-02-16T08:06:00.000-08:00

To mark President's Day and the 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's birthday, there are probably lots of thick books you can buy. But the neatest bargain I've seen recently is probably in your grocery store's magazine area. Time Magazine has put out one of its special paperback books, this one running 122 color pages and called, "Abraham Lincoln: An Illustrated History of His Life and Times," costing only $11.99. For someone who doesn't want to spend a month reading the subject, this edition is full of rare photos (Lincoln in a white suit, for example) and great illustrations, matched by some great research and writing that made me sit up and take notice. A number of facts come out, such as Lincoln's skills as a legislator (which were used with others to move the Illinois capital to Springfield and get a major state construction package, although the latter failed because of a national economic collapse). There are early insights into what may have formed his views on slavery and how his love life caused him to fall into two major depressions. It also explains how someone from Lincoln's background could become a lawyer without going to law school and just how well he became at the profession. And, forget all the movies you saw...he had a high squeaky voice. For the armchair historian on a budget, or for anyone wanting an photo/text source that makes Lincoln human and accessible, this is a great way to mark the occasion on a quick read. As a fan of these Time/Life special projects, this is also one of the best they've put out in quite some time.

Quick Review: "W."

2009-02-15T14:45:00.001-08:00

To me an Oliver Stone film usually is a sign of trouble. I thought "Platoon" was great, but he crossed a terrible historical line with "J.F.K." in that it completely warped what are the more common historical findings of the 1963 Kennedy assassination, and an entire generation bought it. I haven't quite forgiven him to yet.

Needless to say, we all know "W." will not be a film the Bush family will want to screen for family gatherings. We know the liberal director will be making his jabs at the former president. Here we get to see the long-rumored family split between son and father which may have had an impact on how W. governs. We also see presidential discussions that show how the war was built on faulty evidence and visions of regional domination. It is not pretty. Surprised?

However, first, actor Josh Brolin's portrayal of George W. Bush is so on the mark that it is worth the price of a rental to see it. Second, Stone, perhaps maturing a bit, has admitted and says again on extras here that it may not be completely accurate, as some conversations had to be constructed, but it is what he feels may be a close representation of what Bush's life was like. He is quick to admit in the commentary and other materials when literary license has been taken for the sake of better storytelling (leaving out a number of advisers in meetings to par down the number of people, re-arranging time, etc).

Most astounding is a supplementary DVD-ROM segment that you use on your computer to get articles and book quotes to back up incidents depicted in the movie, and there are a number of them. Stone has obviously read up well on his subject, and I have to admit to hearing about some of these incidents myself. I've never seen a movie on DVD that has been backed up with footnotes and sources like this, and I have to admit it is most refreshing. Movies and true history shall never completely meet thanks to the problem of storytelling or prejudices. Even though Stone once went so over the line that even I couldn't ignore it, he seems to set a standard here that would be refreshing if followed by other directors of historical films. Moreover, the reading in these articles even without the film are interesting, such as depictions of Bush's youthful arrests and his near-fight with his father.

Finally, Stone appears to have mellowed somewhat. Sure, he notes that he doesn't not agree with the Bush policies -- and gets in a few jabs on the commentary at Reagan and, of course, mentions Vietnam in passing, showing some of the old anger still there. Still, Oliver notes Bush as a personality is likeable and seems to like Laura Bush's influence on the man. He notes Bush did overcome problems and finally proved a success in his father's eyes in the form of a campaign advisor, and you can't help but be happy for him, even with the Willie Horton ads thrown in for emphasis.

Stone does not seem to doubt that Bush had some type of spiritual awakening and reformed himself on booze and other youthful problems. He seems to admire that. He even admires other Christians he has met, even though he did not appear to be a convert to private pleadings. But he tries to give some respect to those moments, although he seems bewildered by the president's constant praying at staff meetings. (Granted, though, that is unusual as a custom.)

Stone finds Bush somewhat a problem in general, one not really qualified, scarred emotionally, unable to empathize with others. Then again, you do seem to take some joy when Bush gives comeuppance to Vice President Dick Chaney and others who served the president poorly at times or who wanted to be in charge. Stone thinks others, such as Collin Powell, deserve some blame, according to his commentary. Bush is not really an evil man in Stone's hands, as he is one who was not equipped to be in place, becoming a victim of a final, belated success which unraveled into a failure of policy.

"W." will always be seen as a hit at Bush by a liberal director, but if the history books confirm many of these details...and, I fear, they may...then we may see this in the future as quite a record of a Shakespearean tragedy gone awry on the world stage. Only time will tell. For his part, Stone has done his best to give us an early peak at history and to back up his story. No matter how it ends, though, we know it ends in tragedy, for the man depicted has made his mark in history. It is a sad story, and any historical redemption, Harry Truman-style, may be very late in coming, indeed.

This week's Talk of the Town, Feb. 16-20

2009-02-15T14:26:00.000-08:00

This week's shows have been reshuffled a little. Monday we will still have Paul Kennedy to tell us about the community garden proposal and his work at the Walker Area Community Foundaton. Congressman Robert Aderholt, who was coming on Monday for a segment, will now be on Tuesday's show, joining Cordova Police Chief Kenneth Bobo. Wednesday we will Jennifer Williams Smith talk about the "Dream Time" non-competitive baseball team and Lora Courington will discuss her work at the Walker County office of the American Red Cross. David Jones will appear concerning the Capstone Rural Medical Clinic in Parrish on Thursday, and Cordova Mayor Jack Scott will appear on Friday to discuss developments in the city. The schedule is subject to change.

Talk of the Town, which includes news summaries and breaking news, is heard Monday through Friday at 2 p.m. on WJLX, 1240 AM, in Jasper, Alabama. Remember you can now hear a live stream of the broadcast anywhere at www.walkercountyradio.com, or you can download the show for up to a week afterward. The show should be ready within an hour after the broadcast. You can pass along news or comments in a call or text to 205-522-2986 or e-mail me at byedhowell@aol.com or byedhowell@yahoo.com. I would appreciate to know if you are hearing the broadcast and what we can do to make it better. We also are asking for commercial support of the show and welcome anyone who would like to take out commercial time on it.

A matter of ethics

2009-02-15T13:54:00.000-08:00

Somehow the word "ethics" and Alabama government have not gone well together in recent years. We have had a number of situations that gave given pause to state and local residents. We've had questions about a county commissioner and a mayor to go before the Ethics Commission. We've had one legislator, a state legislator who was House majority leader, who had contracts with two state community colleges for work that became a spark for statewide debate. That is not to mention all of the other allegations concerning legislators over the past couple of years. We have had governors on both sides of the aisle to be tangled by ethics, losing their jobs in the process.

Some will argue fine points over certain cases, and that's fine. The individual cases are not what I am concerned about. I am concerned about a lingering pattern of problems in a state where the good ol' boy system continues to get the best of us. We know there are problems. How many and how much of it relates to Walker County, well, who knows? The fact is, this is going on statewide at such a clip that it is bound to happen here sooner or latter, if it hasn't already happened, and something has got to be done about it.

Gov. Bob Riley stepped forward this year to make ethics reform a big part of his legislative platform. Elsewhere on his Web site, he mentions that "in Alabama, a lobbyist can spend up to $91,000 per year on a single legislator without being required to report it. That’s $250 a day that special interests are able to spend entertaining officials without the public’s knowledge. Also, under current law, those who lobby the executive branch for state grants or contracts are not required to register with the Ethics Commission."

He mentioned his proposal in his State of the State address:

"It gives citizens a clearer picture of the money being spent to influence public policy and public officials," Riley said. "No longer will there be unlimited wining and dining by the special interests. This reform ends that. And it requires full disclosure of everything spent by lobbyists on elected officials.

"It ensures that all potential conflicts of interests are also fully disclosed. Public officials will have to divulge any ownership they have in, or contracts with, an entity that receives any state funds. It also requires this same level of disclosure for their spouses. The Ethics Commission will – for the first time – have subpoena power to carry out its mission. And an attorney general or district attorney will be given a reasonable amount of time to either prosecute an ethics case or decline it."

According to the Birmingham News, Alabama is the only state with an ethics agency that does not have the power to subpoena.

Of course, this may fall on deaf ears again. Stars may literally have to fall on Alabama before reform can come. The Birmingham News noted in an editorial Sunday that Alabama is one of only six states left in the union that have not passed ethics reform in the past four years. As usual, we are gearing up to be last.

Moreover, legislators did not rush across town to an ethics seminar available to all legislators one day last week in Montgomery. Even though they were in town, the governor had made an issue of state ethics, the two-year college system had its share of state headlines and the event was arranged not to conflict with legislative duties, only one out of five state legislators showed up.

Appropriately, the seminar took place the day that state Rep. Sue Schmitz saw her retrial start on federal fraud charges.

Perhaps I shouldn't be so cynical. There was good news in that a House committee did approve giving the subpoena power, the first time a legislative committee has done that. Perhaps we should have hope, but passing a committee is still small potatoes compared to getting it through the House and the Senate in general.

Citizens should demand action on the bills. They should demand that legislators, many of whom have been dragged through the mud themselves, pass these bills as a means of bringing reform to our state. Legislators should be lining up to bring these types of reform.

I should be hopeful. I am not. Let's all hope I'm proven wrong.

A funny way to budget

2009-02-11T16:10:00.000-08:00

Sometimes the world of budgeting is something to behold in government, where the slight of hand is sometimes more agile than on a Las Vegas stage. Many times it becomes a matter of whose projections do you believe or whether some funds are included or not.

I am not prone to agree with U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby every day of the week, but he was certainly right this week to warn the Alabama Legislature not to base its budgets this year on what is coming from Washington. But of course, that is what is happening. Last year, there were rosy projections in time for the election, and some say that the governor was the one making the rosy projections that time. At any rate, the Legislature signed on to it as well, and we wound up with a shortfall. Now we have school proration and we are already digging out of the rainy day accounts.

But the byword from any number of cities, counties and states is to wait for the stimulus package. It has been described in such terms that, depending on the version you like, it will fund everything your heart desires, and that includes the hearts of career politicians who want to cover up their losses and hand out the pork. The real effect was to help out the economy, and you can see by Tuesday's near 400 point drop there are a few skeptics in that arena.

Of course, things get more diverse in Walker County. The Jasper City Council appears to be headed down the right path as it meets at noon Thursday to consider ways to trim items and as it has already passed a three month freeze on non-budgeted spending items. If it does get stimulus money, it will likely be used for projects that are already engineered and are ready to go. No one can blame the city and they are good projects. We just hope from the federal standpoint that these projects can create some construction or other jobs. It does not appear the city, at this point, is plugging leaks with stimulus money. That cannot be said of Montgomery, where two new Democratic congressman from Alabama have already been publicly blasted by the AEA for voting against the stimulus, taking away their precious education budget funding.

Then there is the Walker County Commission, which is getting just under $2 million in funds just from the license fees for bingo halls. And the best part is we have no plan on how to use the money in the wake of the commission got rid of the rules and we have to keep in mind the court still has to rule on whether electronic bingo is legal. It has its own stimulus package, but all it really stands to stimulate is illegal gambling rather than any set need. At the very least it may at least help out the county’s General Fund for a while, and the county has plugged up that borrowing that got it in trouble a while back and seems not to be in dire shape. But we would feel better if the commission held a meeting like the one Jasper is holding. We would feel better if all local governments had such a meeting to review their current budgets rather than depend on pie-in-the-sky bailouts that may not last forever.

In short, government finds funny ways to fund itself these days. How funny it remains a year from now when these budgets get executed and there is no more free lunches to fill the lunch pail.

several shows archived

2009-02-10T15:18:00.000-08:00

We have still had some problems learning the saving mechanism for putting shows in the archive section of www.walkercountyradio.com, but we think we are overcoming it today. WJLX station manager Brett Elmore tells me it should be easier now (I saw a little conferencing today about where to save what computer file). On Tuesday afternoon the shows for Friday, Monday and Tuesday were posted on the Web site. You should also still be able to stream the broadcasts live by way of the Web site. I'm sorry about the confusion, but we're getting there. Enjoy.

Vote yes in the referendum

2009-02-09T19:48:00.000-08:00

Tuesday Jasper voters will go to the polls...well, at least a small number of them. There is not expected to be a large turnout for the Jasper City Schools tax referendum.

It was be easy to roll over and do other things, but Jasper residents have to realize that the schools have a tough enough situation as it is, with proration and budget cuts. As things stand, Gov. Bob Riley may empty out the rainy day fund and take some from a stimulus package to make do this year, but if the economy worsens, it could be a disaster in the coming school year. School administrators across the state are counting every penny they can.

As it would turn out, the 2.5-mill tax which was put on years ago is coming up for renewal to keep for the next three decades. It raises $338,000 a year for the purpose of maintenance and construction. Already, the school system is shelving plans for now to build a new Walker High until the economy improves. The only reason voters are now seeing improvements at local elementary schools is because of a state bond issue that was approved a couple of years ago that did not require any payback by the local authorities.

In other words, under tight times, the tax will likely be used more for maintenance (painting, etc.), small construction projects and emergencies which could occur. Don't wish for them not to occur, because we've seen fires, tornadoes and other problems. If something happens in the current economic mess, we would be in a real pickle.

No taxes would be increased under this proposal and the millage is needed anyway to keep the minimum required in each county under state law. Turning down this millage would be a disaster on top of a disaster.

Please, if you live in the city of Jasper and are a registered voter, go to your normal voting place for about five minutes and vote yes for the continuation of the 2.5-mill tax.

Quick Review: Taken

2009-02-09T19:26:00.000-08:00

I was going to see a comedy Monday at the Cobb Movies 4, but I was talked into seeing "Taken" instead, with Liam Neeson as a retired and divorced government agent who tries to get close to his teenage daughter. She takes an overseas trip to Paris, and, Natalie Holloway style, things go wrong when she and her girl friend are kidnapped. Daddy is overseas in a flash to find her. Frankly, you do need to leave some of your brains at home on this one, as bodies fall like the autumn leaves and no one ever gets arrested, even Neeson, who takes revenge at such turns that Interpol would be kept busy for a year with hardly a scratch on him. (Some of international bad-guy cliches and the fact an American can essentially be a cowboy and kill half of Europe probably won't win fans overseas. However, the basic premise of kidnapping for the result of human trafficking and prostitution is a very real problem.) But the situation is set up where you care about the girl and the father, and what parent would not want revenge and have the skills that this father has? It is a satisfying thriller that, warts and all, will please audiences and scare parents into NEVER letting their underage children go overseas.

Ed's scheduled guests for February

2009-02-08T14:27:00.000-08:00

Sorry I have not been very faithful about blogging this past week as much of my time was devoted to getting adjusted to the new 2 p.m. show on WJLX, AM 1240, that aired its first week. I will try to do better in the near future.

For now, here is the current list of guests that we have lined up over February...

Monday, Feb. 9: Dr. Robert Sparkman, superintendent of Jasper City School's will discuss the school system's citywide vote on Tuesday to extend property mills for school construction projects.

Tuesday, Feb. 10: Todd Hunter, Bucky Rizzo and Johnny Sims will discuss their roles as chaplains in local hospices, which involves ministering to the dying.

Wednesday, Feb. 11: Circuit Clerk Susie Odom talks about improvements made in her office in recent months.

Thursday, Feb. 12: County engineer David Edgil discusses the state of the county's roads and bridges.

Friday, Feb. 13: Greg Williams, the head of the Walker County Bar Association, will discuss the legal profession.

Monday, Feb. 16: Congressman Robert Aderholt will join us again by phone to discuss news out of Washington. Paul Kennedy, the executive director of the Walker Area Community Foundation, will discuss local projects, including a personal project to start a community garden at the old airport in Jasper.

Tuesday, Feb. 17: Kenneth Bobo, the new police chief of Cordova, will be our guest.

Wednesday, Feb. 18: Lona Courington of the Walker County Red Cross will discuss various projects in advance of Red Cross Month in March, including plans for a homeless shelter. Jennifer Williams Smith will also discuss her project for a Dream Team baseball project to create a countywide non-competitive baseball team for challenged young players.

Thursday, Feb. 19: David Jones of the Capstone medical clinic in Parrish will discuss that facility's services.

Friday, Feb. 20: Open

Monday: Feb. 23: Financial consultant Hal Holland of the Red Mountain Bank in Birmingham will discuss dealing with the stock market and investing in these turbulent times.

Tuesday, Feb. 24: Open.

Wednesday, Feb. 25: Parrish Mayor Wayne Gross will discuss what has been going on in the city since his new administration took over in November.

Thursday, Feb. 26: Open.

Friday, Feb. 27: Ezekiel Nichols, an economics instructor at the University of Alabama and Shelton State Community College, will make a return visit to discuss the local, state and national economic situation.

Ed's broadcast now streamed, archived

2009-02-05T22:16:00.000-08:00

Just a quick post to confirm that "Talk of the Town" on WJLX has worked out the bugs. The show can now be streamed live off the Internet off www.walkercountyradio.com, and it can be listened to later in the day or for several more days in the archive section. Amanda Blackwood tonight confirmed she was able to stream it off the Internet, and I checked out the archive myself tonight. (Of course, that meant I paid the price by listening to that voice of mine that seems like it can't quite get itself out of my lungs.) Anyway, my thanks to WJLX and Brett Elmore for attending to this quickly. Also, my thanks to a number of people who have had kind words to say about the broadcast and who recognize what we are trying to do for the county.

State of the State Address

2009-02-03T17:43:00.001-08:00

Well, things at Alabama Public Television were so bad this year that a satellite hookup went awry and we lost the entire speech this year. APT filled in time until 7 p.m. and then plugged a live economic summit they were hosting later in the evening...and then one of the anchors signed off forgetting one of the four main guests as he was ticking off the list. Considering we pay a lot in pledges for this service, it was not a good night for us, the consumer and taxpayer.

You can read the full address at this link, by the way:
http://www.governorpress.state.al.us/pr/sp-2009-02-03-sos2009.asp. But here is the shortened Readers Digest version, the Gospel According to Ed:

It is interesting to not that out of five pages of address I printed out, one-fifth of the speech addressed gambling and gambling taxes, a subject we deal with in Walker County a lot. With calls out for a tax on gambling to help pay education, Riley said that the current proposals would only bring in less than 1 percent of the $12 billion in state and federal money that Alabama spends on education. Moreover, he pointed out that other states that do have gambling are cutting their education budget, so he labeled as bogus the claim that expanding gambling and taxation would result in not having to reduce education funding.

"The real question is: are we willing to invite more misery, more corruption and more crime in our state just to get less than 1 percent? I know I'm not and the people aren't either. Ladies and gentlemen, gambling is not the answer," Riley said.

"The Legislature has been polarized and paralyzed by the issue for years. And yet again, the most power special interests have gotten together and they are determined to make this the number one issue for this session. But you shouldn't waste another minute trying to expand gambling. Certainly not when more important issues demand your attention, like creating jobs, making government more honest, and protecting educational achievements."

Likely the Legislature won't do anything, but some will try. It is good that Riley is taking the stand to prevent a terrible official link to gambling. I once thought the state should try to get what they can, but I now feel it would only justify something that probably is not legal in the first place, and for something that would not really give a reasonable amount of funds. I frankly don't see the bingo halls giving their fair share to charities, and a small state tax won't make up for that shortcoming, nor for all the social ills that they bring. (Then again, I don't suspect we'll see many full-page ads in local papers asking for a state tax on themselves...and if they do, it will be confirmation that the revenue would be a drop in the bucket to what they are currently raking in.)

Riley opened the speech telling Alabamians their state government took steps so that the state is weathering the economic storm much better than other states. He recited a number of statistics about the state: business climate ranked in the top 3, ranked fourth for people moving into the state, seventh lowest in foreclosure rates, 383 new and expanding industry announcements in the past 12 months, more than 14,000 announced new jobs in the past 12 months, and so on. He said last month a panel of economists said Alabama "is poised to come out ahead of the nation as the broken economy mends."

He said the state could not wait on Congress to pass a stimulus plan. (I imagine legislators will disagree as some have talked about postponing the budgets until a special session later this year.) He shocked no one by not calling for higher taxes but for fiscal discipline. He called for a back-to-work tax credit of $500 to encourage companies to hire unemployed workers. He wants a targeted job creation tax credit of $1,500 over three years for each new job created in counties with the highest unemployment levels, citing the Black Belt and rural counties in general. (He didn't mention what the cut off point would be.) Frankly, every little bit helps -- and why aren't such measures already on the books?

As expected, he made a pitch to protect some of his cherished education initiatives, including the Alabama Reading Initiative and some involving math and science and distance learning. Those programs are popular and effective, but that could be difficult in proration. Most salaries are protected, after all. If we start protecting programs, even popular ones, I have an awful feeling that toilet paper in schools will be replaced by sales catalogs. (More appropriate would be pages from some of these bureaucratic reports that bog down educators every year.)

He asked for "a complete overhaul" of the state's ethics laws, the first major rewrite since 1973. He did not link it to any scandals, but there have been plenty to go around in the state to warrant such action.

"It gives citizens a clearer picture of the money being spent to influence public policy and public officials. No longer will there be unlimited wining and dining by the special interests," Riley said. "This reform ends that. And it requires full disclosure of everything spent by lobbyists on elected officials."

He said conflicts of interests are disclosed and public officials will have to disclose ownership or contacts with any entity that gets state funds, and the same would go for their spouses. Moreover, the Ethics Commission for the first time would have subpoena power, with the attorney general or district attorneys given a reasonable amount of time to prosecute or to state they decline to prosecute.

In the end, it was modest by the number of items asked for (or in the case of gambling, not asked for), but it amounted to a good request in a year where there is not much money to go around.

Then again, I have an awful feeling APT is going to request more funds. I don't even know what to say about that.

DVD recommendation: MGM: When the Lion Roars

2009-01-31T22:49:00.000-08:00

This is will be short because of the late hour, but if you are interested in a good DVD documentary that shows the rise and fall of one the great movie studios, and how it worked during the heyday of Hollywood, this two-disc, six-hour set released in late January is the ticket. Originally shown on TNT about 15 years ago, it has not been seen much since except for a rare airing on Turner Classic Movies.

This three-part series details the rise and fall of MGM, where the son of a junk dealer, Louie B. Meyer, and a well-educated, sickly young boy genius, Irving Thalberg, combined forces to create the greatest movie studio in Hollywood. It reveals how their different personalities at various times propelled the creation of literary classics transferred to the screen (Thalberg) and family classics, such as the Andy Hardy series (Meyer), as well as how Meyer discovered stars like Garbo and Garson.

The series is rich in clips and stories, interviewing just about every available survivor of the studio at the time, from studio executives to unbilled dancers, and using other available footage as well. Highlights include what the Marx Brothers did when Thalberg had left them in his office once too often for story conferences (they stripped naked and roasted potatoes in his office fireplace) to Van Johnson getting tearful about a wartime scene Mickey Rooney once performed reading a telegram from Johnson's character. Many of the participants have since passed away, so it is a real oral history lesson. (Some of the outtakes have appeared on TCM over the years between movie airings.)

There are no extras, unfortunately, but the storytelling and a breathtaking set design for narrator Patrick Stewart to walk around in at times makes up for it. If you like a good overview of what the old studio system was like -- as well as how it floundered with the advent of television -- this one is for you. They'll never make movies like this again, so just sit back and be amazed how a virtual city of 5,000 people in Culver City worked every day to make classics week after week after week.

Guy Hunt's legacy lives on

2009-01-30T17:26:00.001-08:00

Apparently the word came down about three hours ago on the Associated Press that former Alabama Gov. Guy Hunt has died. The news came in at the end of the work week, almost under the radar. How appropriate.

Guy Hunt was credited with being the man who helped the Alabama Republican Party to be part of a two-party system in Alabama, with making it a proud thing to say you are a state GOP member. No doubt, he did work to do that but it might be more accurate to say he was an instrument of history who achieved his goal despite expectations. He was in the ultimate situation of the turtle overcoming the rabbit.

For decades, the Democrats once roamed the state and ruled the earth like the dinosaurs, with no one else able to challenge them. Republicans ran token opposition, much like the Walker County Republican Party picked people for this past year's elections and ran them unopposed. That was once the norm statewide. If there was opposition, no one noticed or cared.

Hunt found himself running for governor, an improbable pick in 1986 after winning a three-man primary race. Then the Democratic Party imploded over what is still called the Graddick-Baxley fight. There were allegations that the Democratic runoff winner, Attorney General Charlie Graddick, encouraged Republicans to vote illegally by crossing over in the primary. The state party eventually awarded the race to the No. 2 finisher, Lt. Gov. Bill Baxley (yes, Lucy's ex-husband). The backlash was so severe and the party so split that Hunt won with 56 percent of the vote.

It was almost unthinkable. You could make a comparison with the Sarah Palin debacle, because Baxley charged Hunt did not have the credentials to be governor. Hunt was considered someone from the country who had not risen higher than probate judge of Cullman County, mainly on the coattails of the Barry Goldwater presidential bid in 1964 (really the first taste of victory some Republicans had in the state). He had lost bids for the state Senate in 1962 and for governor in 1978.

But the backlash to Graddick-Baxley mess was so bad that the state suddenly had its first Republican governor since 1872.

Of course, you don't underestimate those rubes who take high office, like Harry Truman. Hunt (who followed an almost incapacitated George Wallace in his last term) actually did fine on his own, enacting tort reform legislation that was later dismantled by the state Supreme Court (then dominated by Democrats, if you can believe that), and I recall he did work hard to recruit industry, perhaps setting the stage for the hands-on approach. US News and World Report named him one of the nation's top governors. He may have even topped himself by winning a second term against Alabama Education Association executive director Paul Hubbert, whose very presence raised fears the AEA would steamroller over everyone it hadn't steamrolled already. Come to think about it, it may have been a second opportunity to be governor by being compared to an unpopular Democrat.

I don't recall Hunt having necessarily having the best oratory, but he came across as a decent guy and his wife, Helen, was popular, too. I remember her campaigning on the courthouse square in Livingston, and I was scrambling as a young man to keep up with her.

I also recall that he was a primitive Baptist minister and would still preach at churches on the weekend. In fact, I heard him preach once in Marion County, using a rather old-fashioned preacher style that, frankly, was more effective than his political speeches. His personality on the stump was not terrific, but he was still effective. I recall he landed at Hamilton's huge runway that state Rep. Rankin Fite arranged, and Hunt told a Kiwanis crowd he had landed at "Hamilton International Airport." He made a good impression.

It was a shame that his achievement, which was a beacon to Republicans for years to come, was overshadowed in disgrace. In 1993, a jury convicted Hunt of violating the state ethics law by making personal use of $200,000 donated to a tax-exempt fund for his 1987 inauguration. He was given five years of probation and fined $211,000, but worst of all was the fact that it was a felony conviction.

I still remember the then-chancellor of the two-year system, Fred Gainous, walking into a meeting in Hamilton at what is now Bevill State's Hamilton campus, with state Board of Education member Victor Poole and some others. We were all chatting informally until Gainous dramatically walked in and said, "Gentlemen, the governor has been convicted." That meant he had been removed from office. We were shocked, and I remember thinking I was with some pretty high officials at an important moment in state history. Later that day, Jim Folsom, the Democratic lieutenant governor, was sworn in at the old Capitol, another governor made by the forces of history.

Hunt got a pardon, but he was ruined politically. He had to care for a daughter and suffered financial misfortunes, and then his health started failing. It was a sad, slow end. You would want a better end for an underdog who ushered in the two-party system in the state, but I think he would be satisfied to know that is what he will be remembered for, probably more than anything else. He was, like Wallace, a man who represented a growing segment of the state, the little man who was dissatisfied with the status quo, and eventually, even Wallace turned Republican in retirement, and Wallace's son won office as a Republican.

Folsom would be defeated in 1994 by Republican Fob James, who had been elected once before as a Democrat despite conservative leanings. Thanks to Hunt and the growing fortunes of Republicans in Alabama and nationwide, James didn't have to worry about running as a Democrat again by 1994.

Hunt recruited industry in the wake of tort reform by declaring that Alabama was "open for business." His life has come to a close, but the business he started as a participant of history lives on in a state system that, for better or worse, now has a more vibrant, diverse political discussion. That is something to be proud of.

(My appreciation to the work of Associated Press and Wikopedia for help in developing this post.)

It's a new (open) world coming...

2009-01-29T13:46:00.000-08:00

This was a day to show me the new extremes in the world of communication, or at least the world that is Walker County.

On the one hand, I've been hearing some people in the Walker County community complaining about something on Facebook. Since it is a closed community intended for friends you let in yourselves, I won't reveal the exact discussion, but it has been raging all day. It is the sign of how people can be disgusted when traditional media does not fulfill its role in the community, and the new media can take over.

Meanwhile, I am going again to tonight to the ComeUnity community that Jim Odom of Berean Christian Bookstore began last week in Jasper. (The meetings are at his home at Thursdays at 7 p.m.) Essentially it is a Bible study but also a means for people of Christian faith to come together and support each other, with a more open mind of allowing a new generation of Christians who don't fit into the traditional Walker County mold. (In other words, someone with an iPod and tattoos can sit next to a clean-cut conservative.) Jim did a fantastic job last week of launching this and proving he is maturing as a Christian leader. Part of his genius is for new technology, and he was able to use Facebook -- same site as the angry people used -- to network and bring Christians together in Christ's work.

For that matter, I recently went on Facebook at the suggestion of James Phillips, as I recall. I now have about 100 friends, some of whom I had been out of touch with and hadn't seen in years. Some of them gave me much relief they were OK. Moreover, I've actually used it to quickly contact people on work-related business. It is not surprising that I am told more kids today use a Facebook or MySpace e-mail for most of their e-mailing than traditional e-mail. (Did you ever think we would get this old this quickly to have to explain something as "traditional" e-mail, as if we ever thought there would be any other e-mail but e-mail?)

Meanwhile, I waded into radio today. Yesterday I bought a new Olympus WS-321M digital voice recorder at Radio Shack which is slimmer than my last one but holds more than 30 hours of recordings. More importantly, the battery compartment separates out and the top park has a USB terminal that plugs into a computer. That way, you can download the recording for saving on a CD (or Heaven knows what else). In my case, it can be saved on a computer at WJLX-AM (1240 on the dial) where an interview can later be played back on my new hour-long show that begins Monday at 2 p.m. (Nice way to ease into a shameless plug, huh?)

Since the Alabama Legislature will be in session Tuesday, I today (Thursday, Jan. 29) interviewed state Rep. Tommy Sherer, D-Jasper, in the studio. (By the way, I tried repeatedly to get state Sen. Charles Bishop and state Rep. Ken Guin, but was unsuccessful. The invitation is still open for later.) We couldn't use the station's equipment in the process at that moment, and we wanted to test out the recorder anyway, so Tommy and I went into a production room and did the interview using the recorder. Station manager Brett Elmore then took the recorder and in minutes downloaded the material, saying the recordings were fine.

I had thought at one time I would be using some bulky 1970s-era recording equipment, towing it all around town like a suitcase. As it turns out, I can carry it in my pocket. The only addition to it is a $10 microphone from Wal-Mart, and that will not be used all the time.

What strikes me in comparison to newspaper work, where I used a recorder for taping and transcribing interviews, is that many times not all the material would be used. Some of the best stories, one-liners or points would be cut from a story. Sometimes the nuances could not fully be explained or come through. Sometimes the speaker would not get his point across.

On a show like we are planning, it is not the breakneck speed of a "Today Show" interview. Sherer had time to elaborate and make points, as well as explain positions (such as what happened with the bingo bills during the last session, when he was roundly criticized by others).

Even if we did not have radio, think about it: Digital interviews like this can also be downloaded to blogs and Web sites. I noticed Gov. Bob Riley got on board with that, as he originally posted his news about the new bingo task force with a traditional press release on his Web site. A day or so later, he updated it to included video excerpts from the press conference announcing the creation of the task force.

For that matter, when my friend, Jeff Yastine, gets to fill in for the Miami anchor of "Nightly Business Report" at PBS, I can go to his Web site at a video archive and watch the whole 30-minute program, hours or days later. Needless to say, we are discussing at WJLX on how we can do much of the same thing, as they are already trying live streams and some attempts at presenting shows aired earlier in the day.

It is a process that can be applied to almost anything. My good friend, Gresham Hill of the Reach Your City ministries (http://www.reachyourcity.com/)recently posted an online article where he talked about how churches need to get beyond the idea of only posting up a static Web site. Now, he says youth ministers and other church officials need to think about constantly blogging to reach the members of their church and those who are unsaved in their community. That article made me think, and it may lead me to tinker some more with this blog. (The story can be found at http://www.preaching.com/resources/preaching_ online/11598587/#.)

Is it any wonder that newspapers are in trouble, when a new generation is now actively networking, blogging, web casting and doing things we could not dream of to get around traditional media? In effect, that generation banded together to elect a president. There is no telling what else it will be able to do in the future.

I only hope I can catch up with it in time to understand the next e-mail system.

When the economy goes down the drain

2009-01-27T16:27:00.000-08:00

The economic meltdown continues to be felt in so many different ways. I was told today at one Jasper-based charity that they are dealing with more calls than ever before, requesting help with utilities and finding jobs. I was told some people have actually been found to be sleeping in cars, and multiple families are being combined in some homes. (Arguments have been made gambling in bingo halls have also led to some of this, but there is no question the economy has also contributed to this problem, as some are asking agencies for help to find jobs.)

It could get worse before it gets better. Marion County is already in double digit unemployment, and a reporter on NBC said a few days ago some experts expect the national rate to possibly rise to 9 or 10 percent in time before this is over. I know one major manufactured housing plant recently closed in Marion County, and we all know that the Tupelo Toyota plant has been delayed and the Guin plant never came. Here in Walker County, a number of stores have closed or are closing, particularly chain stores like Goody's and KB Toys.

Nationally, the reports of companies laying off thousands of people at a time are piling up like so many 1929 margin calls on Wall Street. The piper who played a luring tune to consumers and financial leaders alike for a number of years has put down his flute, stuck out a bag with a sheriff in tow and said, "It's time to pay."

We can easily point to greed on Wall Street. It was there, and prosecutors are now having a field day sorting out how some of them, even after the bailouts came, were living high on the hog while others lost their jobs or debt mounted. But the consumer also deserves his share of the blame by not doing his homework and buying homes or other items on dangerous terms that could fluctuate off the cliff, like the coyote missing the Road Runner and landing at the bottom with a small thud and a cloud of dust (again).

We purchased homes that bordered on mansions, buying into the idea we could afford far more home than what we really could, based on terms clouded in the mist of the Great American Dream that we wanted for our families. The smartest and most courageous word in the English language sometimes turns out to be "no," and we failed to use it once too often.

Now we are faced with a stimulus package that, faced with the prospect of The Great Depression: The Sequel, one feel mandated to accept. The terms are mind-boggling and may saddle us with debt for years, although NBC said experts have said spending is likely to have more of a roll-over effect in creating stimulus than tax cuts, although it may be slower to spread around. We may not have any choice but to swallow the medicine, and no spoonful of sugar will make it any better.

There could be good results for local governments and taxpayers, as the Metropolitan Planning Organization in Birmingham is already drawing up a list of projects that the Obama administration might fund in Alabama as part of the package. The big winner could be, if approved, the $300 million interchange for Future I-22 and I-65, which is ready to go. Counties like Walker, Winston and Marion could be in line for funds that could help pay for infrastructure improvements such as the bridges and roads that have been in disrepair here for so long. (The Birmingham News points out Shelby and Jefferson counties could get up to $7 million each for roadwork, as the Association of County Commissions of Alabama is already drawing up a list.)

A continued national slowdown could truly slow down progress for years to come, although it was noted at the Chamber of Commerce of Walker County's annual meeting last week that this might actually buy the county some more time to get its own house in order to mount future economic development recruitment proposals. Certainly it gives us more time to get rid of the blight of electronic bingo halls before they ruin the advantage we had in I-22 for obtaining more industry.

Overall, though, it is a sad day for the national and local economies, whether or not the House votes Wednesday on the stimulus package. The debt problem for Walker and Jefferson counties are now going to be upstaged by a national problem that threatens to swallow us all up. It is not so much a sewer debt one worries about now, as opposed to whether we will all go down the drain.

Odds and ends

2009-01-26T21:24:00.000-08:00

Procrastination seems to be my middle name the past few days. Here are some odds and ends until I get my act together (hopefully quick)...

I got my second traffic ticket ever Sunday, and for the second time it was on I-22 between Jasper and I-22. The guy in front of me at the Circuit Clerk's Office on Monday also got caught on I-22. Apparently, the officers have an easy time of it there. For the record, I was doing 82 mph in a 65 mph zone. (I'm not a speed demon, but the Buick has got some power that I'm still not used to. I'll have to put it on cruise control more often.)
I had some people to tell me that six points on the state traffic system and you can have your license suspended. However, I've had legal confirmation that it is actually about 12 points that this happens, and that most speeding incidents only accounts for two points. (Had I gone 86 mph or more, it would have been five points.) Better yet, once the incident is two years old, the points given for that infraction no longer count toward suspension.
When I was in to see the circuit clerk about being on the radio show, once I had checked about the ticket (which I couldn't pay because it was not in the records yet), I noticed I was still holding the ticket as I was asking. I told one of the clerks what I was really in to see Susie Odom about. I said that I guessed a number of people actually did try to come in to see Susie or someone about tearing up the ticket. "You have no idea," the clerk wearily said, making me feel better I had said something.
Of course, everyone instantly becomes a comedian. One lawyer saw me in the courthouse with a ticket. "I could get you off on an insanity defense," he said. If I were him, I wouldn't bill me for the advice.
Good wishes go to attorney Charlie Waits and his expecting wife, dentist Amanda Waits, who is pretty much resting up and relying on extra help at the dentist office while she awaits the birth of their child.
The economic problems the country is facing continue to hit the region. I was shocked to see how depressing the once mighty McFarland Mall in Tuscaloosa had fallen. Once anchored by Woolco and Gayfers (later Dillards), it had at one time boasted a movie theater, a pet shop, a major cafeteria restaurant, Baskin Robbins and so much else. The Gayfers end is practically unused, Goody's is closing in the middle, Dollar Tree takes up space in the large restaurant area, and only some low-end chains can be found down the end. There is practically no reason to go. Even in Birmingham, I went by Patton Creek development next to the Galleria, where Circuit City is closing, Linens 'n Things has closed and Barnes and Noble announced that it was cutting back its closing hour on weeknights from 11 p.m. to 10 p.m., which is devastating to late owls.
The annual breakfast meeting of the Chamber of Commerce of Walker County was great, but what everyone talked about was the food. It was plentiful and good. I don't think anyone ate much for the rest of the day. (For that matter, it was good to rejoin the Jasper Kiwanis Club again recently, as the food at the Jasper campus of Bevill State Community College is the best bargain in town.)
I'm told by Jasper Superintendent of Education Robert Sparkman, who spoke Monday to the Kiwanis, that absentee ballots are now available in Jasper for the special referendum set for Feb. 10. That vote will decide on renewing 5.2 mills of property tax first approved in 1981, and would last another 30 years for upkeep of school buildings. Since state law requires a certain amount of mills, it could be a problem if the tax is not renewed, and it could cause the city to lose state funding.
An open house will be held at T.R. Simmons Elementary for their new remodeling on Feb. 2 at 6 p.m. The renovations at Memorial Park should be finished by March, Sparkman said Monday.
Northport Baptist will screen the two-hour movie "Fireproof" at 5:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 15. This is the third movie released by a Georgia church, which earlier made "Flywheel" and "Face the Giants." This is, by far, the most professional of the three and is a great tale with a great message about dealing with marriage. It is coming out this month on DVD, but I would catch it with an audience while I could.
Jim Odom's ComeUnity inaugural meeting in his house last Thursday was attended by about a half dozen people, all of them apparently excited about coming together for Bible study and to promote unity and friendships in Christ in a casual setting. The next meeting is on Thursday, Jan. 29, at 7 p.m. at Odom's house, maybe a mile off of Highway 78 and just off of Walston Bridge Road.
First Baptist Church of Jasper apparently has plans to try out a new early morning contemporary service, although it might only be on a once-a-month trial basis for now.
Back on my radio show, U.S. Rep. Robert Aderholt will also join me on my inaugural broadcast, along with Jasper Mayor Sonny Posey. Sparkman will join me the day before the referendum, and Odom will join me on Feb. 11. The show starts at 2 p.m. Feb. 2 on WJLX, which is 1240 on the AM in Walker County.

Ed's first guests on radio (week of Feb. 2)

2009-01-23T17:57:00.000-08:00

I've been rather busy the past couple of days. (Half of it fulfilling my obligation of going through receipts for the IRS, and it's still not over. Did I really buy that many batteries for tape records?) However, I can at least turn in a quick blog this Friday night to say I have the lineup of the first week of my new radio show, "Talk of the Town," on WJLX, 1240 AM, starting at 2 p.m. Feb. 2.

Monday, Feb. 2: Jasper Mayor Sonny Posey, to talk about events at City Hall, including the future of Sherer Auditorium and dealing with the economic crunch in terms of tax revenue.
Tuesday, Feb. 3: It's the first day of the Legislature, starting at noon. (Gov. Bob Riley should address legislators at 6:30 p.m., which should be televised by Alabama Public Television, going by tradition.) I hope to talk to our local legislators (probably on tape) and possibly other experts, depending on scheduling.
Wednesday, Feb. 4: Linda Lewis of the Chamber of Commerce of Walker County will go over the progress of the Focus Walker County plan and other plans for the chamber. I hope to also ask her about what economic impact she is seeing from retailers in the area and how this could affect the chamber's plans.
Thursday, Feb. 5: Managing Editor James Phillips of the Daily Mountain Eagle will be in to talk about recent news in the area and hopefully give us some insight into the newspaper and what is happening with the newspaper industry.
Friday, Feb. 6: Ezekiel Nichols, who does some economic teaching at the University of Alabama and is a native of the county, will discuss the status of the economy and how President Obama will handle this under his watch, as well as some insights into the local economy.

The following week, Feb. 10, I'll also have some hospice ministers to talk about how one ministers to the dying and how this impacts the ministers themselves. I also know Feb. 12 county engineer David Edgil will discuss projects in the county, and I hope we touch on the status of the closed roads and bridges in the county, as well as improvements at the airport. I should be able to wrap up the second week quickly and get ahead on some other bookings.

Keep in mind that I'll leave room for breaking news when it happens, and we'll have quick summaries of what is going on in national, state and local news, weather, sports, stocks, entertainment, etc., sometimes from our reports and sometimes from the resources of CNN Radio. I also hope to do some commentary as well, as well as attend meetings and events, and maybe bring some sound bites back to the station. It's rather all new to me, but I am excited we can give something the county has needed for some time. I'll certainly welcome your feedback on what you like, and we'll do the best we can. Remember, this starts Feb. 2 and will be Monday through Friday at 2 p.m. on 1240 AM.

Wednesday's bingo hearing

2009-01-21T13:26:00.000-08:00

In all honesty, I sat Wednesday morning at the Jefferson County Courthouse at another bingo hearing under Circuit Judge Robert Vance impressed with his abilities but getting very little immediate results out of the hearing.

Essentially, Bill Adair, the lawyer for the Sheriff's Department, wanted an order to put a halt to the practice of allowing bingo charities to be repermitted to keep moving to new bingo halls as it would delay the case further. Allowing charities to move around presents new opportunities to have amendments to the original case as to who are defendants and where, which delays the case. He said there was no way to manage this if the suit had to repeatedly be amended with new bingo halls. He said it would be understandable if a bingo hall burned down or flooded, for example, but that some changes have been made as soon as a week after moving to another hall.

Adair said a bidding war for charities had gone on, and there has been at least one accusation of intimidation involved to get a charity. (As bingo charities lawyer Herbie Brewer pointed out, you need about 14 charities to operate 24/6 based on the hour limitations for one charity.) Adair went on to call it a "pyramid scheme." He also went on to tell about one bingo hall that didn't have any charities, and, once found out, came up with names in a matter of hours, some of which officials had never heard of.

Brewer said there are lots of ways charities can operate their own games, including one bingo house to allow several under one roof.

"They can certainly have other people do it for them," Brewer said.

Eventually an order may come later this week, but we had to sit through a number of other arguments that touched on just about everything else about the case. We even got into the matter of whether the charities can get together and contract with a third party to operate the games...which Adair said, in his opinion, they cannot.

"I think the intent of the law is that the permit holders must operate the games," Adair said.

A number of arguments were offered up that serve as interesting points. One is that Judge Jerry Selman's original temporary restraining order on new permits has never been made permanent, thus making that order suspect as far as current standing. It was pointed out the TRO came as everyone thought a resolution would come quickly. Brewer even gently urged the judge not to consider legislating rules from the bench -- although it was also agreed that the commission had few rules out, and Adair said that the commission might have even rescinded some past rules for the March 2008 rules it passed -- then failed to take them back on when they cancelled the March rules.

Brewer also raised the idea of filing a motion to stay the whole proceeding if Gov. Bob Riley's new gambling task force performs criminal investigations. On that, Vance saw the point of possibly infringing on Fifth Amendment rights if information is sought that could go back to a criminal case.

There was also discussion about a proposed protective order against disclosing information from documents. The judge noted the idea that media might try to intervene to claim state record laws, and attorney Charlie Waits, an attorney for the Walker County Political Accountability Coalition (which, as disclosure, recently has been one of my private clients) spoke up saying the group had indicated it wanted copies of the charity applications.

However, it was interesting everyone seemed to discuss getting to the main questions, which are: Is electronic bingo legal, and are current machines permissible, or are they slot machines? Now that the vending machines are close to being put on the suit, Vance hopes to move on with inspection of the machines so he can answer the main questions. He also seemed to look for ways to speed up the process, although he admitted that might involve more unfair speculation if not all the machines are alike. He warned to get the facts needed will still take some time.

In all, we didn't get much done except to air out positions Wednesday, although we got some hope that the judge wants to move on to the main points. He also seemed fair in dealing with both sides. But I hope he has some patience, because this still could take a while.

Jan. 20 commission, Jasper council meetings

2009-01-20T10:16:00.001-08:00

I'm not sure that any other reporters eventually showed up for Tuesday's called Walker County Commission meeting, unless they came late in the back, and my own show doesn't start until Feb. 2, so I'll go ahead and give a summary here. Plus, I'll give a brief summary of Jasper City Council's meeting that morning since I've started this ball rolling.

Walker County Commission Chairman Bruce Hamrick noted the flag was ordered at half-mast that day for Pvt. Sean McCune, who died in Iraq and whose funeral was that day. Hamrick's prayer mentioned McCune and the new president to be sworn in that day, Barack Obama.

The commission gave approval to the state's paving project on Alabama 195 from Alabama 5 to 1.766 miles north of Fall City Road, also known as County Road 27. (The Jasper City Council later that morning passed the same type of resolution. Councilmen heard that this particular project will not straighten out long-term traffic problems with the infamous intersection of 195 and 5, but that the state has been discussing the matter.)

The commission approved a grant award to the county's airport for clearing of obstructions. The county and state will each pay a 2.5 percent match of $6,685, while the federal government will pay $254,024, for a total of $267,394.

The commission followed the recommendation of County Engineer David Edgil in rejecting all bids for work on the roof of the Walker County Emergency Management Agency building, with the idea of rebidding or looking again at the project later.

The commission observed the swearing in of county Treasurer Sheila Rice by Circuit Clerk Susie Odom, with family also in attendance. The commission later approved a resolution for First National Bank to clear the way for Rice to join Hamrick and county administrator Jill Farris is having signatures on the county's accounts.

The commission approved a $3,200 annual contract with the East Walker Chamber of Commerce to pave the way for the county's annual appropriation.

The commission agreed to change its food service at the county jail, which has had a contract with ABL Management for that service. Hamrick said there have been problems with ABL in the past, while the jail now has a licensed dietitian on staff. Sheriff John Mark Tirey and jail administrator Trent McCluskey wants the dietitian and other local staff to administer the program and buy local food for the meals. The county has to give 30 days to ABL to cancel its contract.

The commission agreed to reappoint EMA director Johnny Burnette as the NIMS point of contact, a position Burnette has held for a couple of years and which was previously held by 911 director Roger Wilson.

The commission announced it would hold its annual auction in April and gave permission to Hamrick, Farris and District 1 Commission Dual Tubbs (who generally directs the auction) for signing documents related to the auction.

The commission announced its annual spring cleanup will be held April 18-25 in conjunction with the statewide People Against a Littered State (PALS) cleanup.

A few blocks over, the Jasper City Council postponed a hearing with Charles Tatum Jr. concerning a hearing on a matter for Donald Booth against the city, as Tatum was apparently out of town that day. It renewed a contract with RPS to transport prisoners in emergency situations, although the fee will rise to $385 per trip in an emergency. It approved purchase (though bids) of a number of items using a $96,156 grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), with $4,807 in local matching funds. It approved a resolution for nuisance abatements but postponed a couple of cases until more information could be obtained. It also introduced ordinances to rezone areas for industrial and commercial use in connection with the new industrial park and approved election officers for an upcoming school millage referendum that is to be paid for by the Jasper City Board of Education.

Also from that council meeting, the council discussed $46,500 in curb and gutter work, as well as other improvements, that had been delayed for three years on Audie Boulevard and Gary Drive. However, some on the council were concerned about the rising cost of insurance and wondered if the project should not be postponed a few months until the council can get a handle on the finances. Mayor Sonny Posey suggested a resolution for the next meeting to put a three-month freeze on non-emergency projects because of funding needs. No one on the council spoke out against the project's merits.

The council also discussed entering a lease and sublease with Walker County and Clastran to purchase a new bus that it could then lease to Clastran. That is something Clastran wants to cut down maintenance costs, and the city can get a grant for the bus, which could come several months from now. However, the council and Posey agreed to see if the mayor could use the proposal as leverage to get Clastran to allow bus passes or other exemptions to be used to help make off-route trips that are currently more expensive. City officials said it is possible government regulations or other restrictions might not allow such a change, but they wanted to see what they could get for local riders who otherwise might be physically able to make the off-route trips by themselves.

Bruce's blunder at the chamber

2009-01-16T14:05:00.000-08:00

I find it amazing we are finding Chairman Bruce Hamrick of the Walker County Commission making crude remarks hailing back from the Vietnam War in front of the Birmingham Regional Chamber of Commerce. Of all people to blow this, I didn't think it would be him.

Hamrick did just that Thursday, according to the Birmingham News. (The Birmingham chamber's Web site, loaded with multi-media from 2008, did not have any thing by which to hear the remarks Friday.)

"When talking about economic challenges facing the region, Hamrick told a story comparing the economic situation to his time in Vietnam," News Writer Joseph Bryant wrote Friday on page 3B. "In the story, an officer complained about the small number of enemies killed and soldiers responded by saying they could only kill so many (slur) in a day. Hamrick then said the region must work the same way as the soldiers did in attacking the economic problems" by working together.

Of course, the economic problems seem to spring out of the jungle like the enemy in Vietnam and we seem to be losing no matter what we do, but that's beside the point. The point is that in one of the most diverse cities in the state, a true melting pot that maybe better represents America than Walker County does, Hamrick made a careless remark that is offensive to a number of people who now are business leaders in this nation.

It doesn't stop there. The News said Hamrick talked about the influence of women and used a joke about his granddaughter to say he was getting used to the idea. That's great, since most of America got used to it 20 years ago. I don't even want to know how many women there were in the audience, because it was probably half.

You can imagine the backlash. The News had a five-column headline (out of six): "Remarks called insensitive, sexist." Underneath, the chamber president said that the chamber does not "condone sexist or racist comments, regardless of the context in which the comments were made," although he added the chamber does not screen the comments in advance.

Birmingham businessman David Sher said he didn't know about the Vietnam term, but had a bad enough feeling about it that he thought, "Ouch," at the time. Birmingham City Councilman Steven Hoyt said he didn't appreciate it and thought it was "out of place and out of line."

State Sen. Jabo Waggoner, who resides much of the time at Smith Lake and is a friend to local officials, and county attorney Hank Wiley was the only ones to defend Hamrick in the story, as Hamrick could not be reached.

As a person, I like Hamrick. He did serve bravely in Vietnam, and I know he is proud of his record. I think he has done well to try to represent the county at wine-and-cheese crowds such as this, at least in the past. But something failed this year. Badly.

It is not the first time a speech has gone badly. Comedy writer Hal Kanter said at a 1999 Friars Club event, "the human brain is an astonishing instrument. it starts working the moment you're born and it doesn't stop until you're called on to speak in public. That just happened to me."

Still, Hamrick has had enough experiences with crowds like this that he should have known to be on his best behavior. Walker County has the problem of being the ugly stepchild in a room of Birmingham officials, and you have to project a professional image that can win over their support. In a time where we are in that economic slump that Hamrick talked about, we have to be more careful so we can get that cooperation and image to win jobs and projects.

So what do we project? Well, first there was the redneck image, and, let's face it, an image we can sometimes be racist here, where the Klan was once strong. Then there were the bingo halls. Now this.

I feel bad for Hamrick. I really do. But I hope our public officials will consider the implications in a politically correct before they make an address like this again.

Exclusive: Bingo hearing to be held Wed. in Bham at 9 a.m.

2009-01-15T18:10:00.000-08:00

For those of you following the bingo lawsuits, this may be an exclusive, as I understand it: Court documents at the Walker County Courthouse confirm that Jefferson County Circuit Judge Robert S. Vance will hold a hearing at Courtroom 330 in the Jefferson County Courthouse, in downtown Birmingham, on Wednesday, Jan. 21. The hearing is set for 9 a.m. and is a continuation of a hearing that was originally set for Jan. 15.

The hearing appears to go back to a motion filed by Walker County District Attorney Charles Baker and Sheriff John Mark Tirey on Jan. 7 to restrict amending permits that would allow changing the location of playing bingo games for the duration of the bingo suit. On Dec. 31, Helping Hands Charity Bingo also filed a motion to that any bingo operations licensing granted after the November 2007 temporary restraining order be declared null and void. The Baker/Tirey team opposes that motion, saying it has been complied with and that Helping Hands is trying the confuse the issue.

(If that sounds confusing, welcome to the world of all the legal minds of Walker County, who now have constant headaches. The girls in the Circuit Clerk's Office are constantly kept busy just keeping lawyers updated on all the filings, to the point they are sick of it.)

Keep in mind the word went around that during the last hearing in Birmingham, more was discussed than what was on the table. In a case where anything can happen and where the sides have not often gone before the judge (to the point they have a lot to discuss), I am sure any number of things could happen. Stay tuned.

George W. Bush: Goodbye 'W' -- and good riddance

2009-01-15T17:44:00.000-08:00

Tonight President Bush addressed the nation for a few minutes, with a built-in audience that we now must expect with presidential addresses. It used to be a president sat in the Oval Office and talked one-on-one with us. With this president, we now expect a friendly audience gathered to applaud and support the Speaker-in-Chief.

In this case, Bush spoke from the White House with selected staff, family and aides. They applauded him before and after, although Bush did address the nation in the eye most of the time. He spoke in confident, optimistic tones of the work accomplished in his eight years, starting with his handling of Sept. 11, 2001, and going on from there. He mentioned a cleaner environment, which probably surprised a number of environmentalists. He talked of people paying lower taxes, although many don't have incomes now to pay those taxes on. He went on about other accomplishments.

I was tired. I sat back on the bed and listened, mostly with my eyes closed. Considering Katrina, Iraq, Wall Street excesses and a few other setbacks, I think that is probably how he conducted his presidency, so why should I listen any differently. I do remember when he concluded at 7:15 p.m. CST, I said to myself, "Thank God it is over." I was not just referring to his speech.

Granted, he acknowledged the economy is hurting and he offered best wishes to the incoming president, so I can't be completely negative. But the latest, and last, NBC-Wall St. Journal poll numbers on his presidency show a major negative reflection of the country concerning his approval rating. His father, although beaten, went out with a good approval rating. George W. Bush will go out with the country saying, "Good riddance."

He is probably right that he was willing to make tough decisions and I think he has a moral base in his character. But the downfall of George W. Bush falls under many bullet points: Surrendering foreign policy to his vice president; structuring his office so that he would not hear bad news; allowing politicizing and polarization of day-to-day government operations known for being non-partisan; following the path toward a war that was single minded in purpose in conflict with evidence; favoring fat cats instead of the middle class or lower income Americans; and on and on. His presidency may be the saddest since the days of the LBJ and Nixon years, as those, too, were imperial presidency structures which were doomed to failure.

Now, we have a new president who has the major backing of the country. The WSJ-NBC poll show even among those who don't agree with President-elect Obama, they like him and want him to succeed. We NEED for him to succeed, to recover from the past eight years and to put the country on track. We need him to work out the economy, the war on terrorism, health care and any number of pressing issues.

President Bush wanted to be a compassionate conservative. He talked of being a uniter, not a divider. He failed miserably in the first, and in the end only succeeded in the later in a way he could not imagine. He united the country against Bush and the Republicans. He united us to take a new course in this country. In the end, you can argue for or against Obama. I think the average voter, without realizing it, may not have voted so much for Obama or even against Republican John McCain. He voted against George W. Bush.

In the end, as he packs for Texas, the man known simply as "W." on bumper stickers goes home with an eventful, but failed presidency. The W, I fear, may stand for one thing in the history books: Washout.

Show debut reset for Monday, Feb. 2

2009-01-14T14:34:00.000-08:00

The station has now reset the debut of the radio show for 2 p.m. Monday, Feb. 2. The groundhog will see his shadow; I suppose I'll be coming out from under the shadows.

I also understand again that the show can be streamed on the Internet and that the recording device I can use to tape comments will not be a bulky device, but a simple handheld one. We are planning on local interviews and news, but we will also have pieces from CNN Radio to balance with some national news. I'm hopeful we can plan for a good professional production for our local listeners.

UPDATE: New radio show delayed

2009-01-13T17:19:00.000-08:00

I have told many of you that the new radio show on WJLX would start this coming Monday, Jan. 19. I had a great lists of guests set for the first week.

Well, the station now tells me that schedules have gotten crossed, so they are delaying the debut, although hopefully not long. This may give us a chance to look over some rough spots anyway. I am disappointed, but this will give us more time I hope to get prepared. Sorry for any confusion.

How we got bingo in 1992

2009-01-09T11:24:00.000-08:00

Doing research for a client at Ed Howell Communication, I finally had time to look at the 1992 issues of the Daily Mountain Eagle concerning how bingo got started--at least the paper kind. It is water under the bridge perhaps, but it makes for some interesting reading in the aftermath.

In the Feb. 26, 1992, issue, the Eagle said that hundreds of people had signed petitions already for bingo as a means of raising money for fire departments and other charities. The Jasper VFW and the Elks Lodge were among those that had come out in favor. Charles Tipton of the United Mine Workers came out in favor of it, as long as the charities had existed for five years and non-profit groups were the ones who benefited, adding that retirees and locals could get funds. (He later had to apologize for giving the impression that the UMW was in favor of it, saying he was only speaking for himself.)

On March 5, it was noted by Eagle writer John Sandlin that state Rep. Johnny Cagle, D-Nauvoo, who had defeated Ed Frazier earlier to gain that seat, was sponsoring the bills. A major supporter of bingo, T. Wayne Bright, brought the legal ad to the Eagle that was necessary to run the bills.

Cagle said he had received no negative response to the bills and that it would "help a lot of schools in trouble." He expected it to pass through after a tax reform package was passed.

"I've got petitions from hundreds of people who want the right to vote. There's been an overwhelming response from organizations, and it's the same thing as tax reform. It's ultimately up to the people," Cagle said. "I'm sure there are some people opposed and I say, 'If you are opposed, vote against it or campaign against it.'"

Cagle said there are safeguards written in the bills "so people can't come into Walker County and take advantage " of legalized bingo, Sandlin wrote. Groups would have to be non-profit and in existence locally for at least five years before they could operate games.

Sandlin noted, "Several volunteer and fraternal groups have operated low-key bingo games to raise funds over the years in Walker county, either as traditional bingo or virtually the same game under a different name."

It is interesting no one in the stories talks about electronic games being proposed from the bills. In fact, on March 10, there was a story about Jasper police cracking down on video poker machines.

It appears at least on the surface the Walker County Commission, which had all different members then, had little to do with the effort. Frazier came one day to a meeting thinking there was to be a hearing, but commissioners said they had no received petitions and had no hearing scheduled. I think that was the only time the commissioners had any record in the paper of discussing it in a meeting.

Meanwhile, then-state Sen. Bob Wilson Jr. had nothing to say about it at the time. State Rep. Tom Hogan, who held Tommy Sherer's seat at the time, only reluctantly supported the bills, saying he could not block them only because of wide support.

"I don't think bingo is the way to go, but I'm not going to stop the veterans from having a chance to vote on it. There's a lot of members who appear to favor bingo," Hogan said.

It was not until the end of the session that the bingo bills were passed -- four of them. It turns out that two bills set up a Jasper Bingo Authority and a Walker County Bingo Authority, according to a May 21 report. I just realized that, and don't know if Gov. Guy Hunt signed them, as Hunt was studying them at the time. Obviously, he signed bills to set up a vote that November. There was later talk about how the act would set up a bingo committee to make sure caps on jackpots, set by the Legislature, would be followed.

The bills first passed the House. Wilson signed the measures out of the Local Legislation Committee in the last hours of the session. He told Sandlin the four bills then went on the Senate general calendar because of a legislative rule that makes any bill regarding lotteries or games of chance a general bill regardless of its local application.

"Wilson asked for the bills to be handled out of order and the Senate passed the measures before the legislative clock died," Sandlin said.

By the Nov. 3 vote, there had been a number of ads, particularly from Rev. Delmus Anthony of New Prospect Baptist Church, that worried about the proposal opening up other gambling in the county. Dr. Michael Adams of First Baptist Church (of Jasper, I presume) also opposed it.

The ballot allowed "legalizing the operation of bingo games for prizes or money by certain non-profit organizations for charitable or educational purposes...when all the requirements of Amendment 425 to the state constitution are fulfilled." Jasper voters got to vote on their proposal and the county's bingo amendment as well.

VFW leaders said 30 percent of the proceeds would go to charity causes, while 50 percent would be paid to player winnings and 20 percent would go for overhead. It was noted by Sandlin that "heat from authorities over bingo conducted by AMVETS at a building just across the Warrior River brought an end in 1984 to games conducted by the Jasper VFW post and police shut down both the VFW and the Elks when they tried to resume games last year (1991), the VFW leaders said."

Post 4850 Commander John Grimes told Sandlin that he disagreed with the stand by church leaders.

""I don't want to get into a fight with the church. The church has it's place," he said. "But bingo is bingo and I don't understand how they can say it's going to lead someone to do something else, unless they think it's going to make him go somewhere else to bet on dogs."

Meanwhile, Sandlin said Cagle was now distancing himself from a growing fray, saying he was not backing one side or another but only trying to give people the right to vote on the issue. He did say that the bills were drawn up based on bills used in Gadsden, where games were being conducted without problems.

Again, none of the articles were describing whether electronic bingo was part of the deal, and it would seem it pointed only to regular bingo when the headline on Nov. 4 referred to VFW leaders "dusting off their bingo balls" after they won the referendums the day before. The vote outside Jasper was 14,016 in favor to 11,417 against. Inside Jasper it passed 13,065 to 11,694.

Adams told Sandlin he was not persuaded on arguments that the gambling aspect of bingo would not eventually lead to big business controlling the games, based on what he had seen in other communities.

Grimes responded that the wording of the legislation would prevent that from happening since only non-profit charitable groups which had been around for 60 months could operate the games.

Well, we all know how that ended, don't we?

Cleaning the notebook (quickly)

2009-01-08T21:41:00.000-08:00

It's late tonight, so I'll make this short with some odds and ends....

I am becoming a Facebook fanatic. I joined at the suggestion of James Phillips, and thought, well, we'll see. Half the world is connected to it, I think, and I've already reconnected with at least two people I wondered if I would ever get to communicate with. It is easy to become addicted to it, and I can't really say I am a true fanatic; I think some must stay on it all day. (The ones I worry about are the ones who appear to be nice Christians, but they have 1,927 friends...and I've never heard of them. Aren't 1,927 enough for you?) I just learned today that you can have secure e-mail no one else can see...and that many kids use this instead of regular e-mail now. Boy, life is really passing me by now.

The holiday movie season has been good for the industry, and for good reason. "Marley and Me" is an excellent film not only about a crazy dog but about adjusting in life. "Bedtime Stories" is one of the better entries I've seen from Adam Sandler, and even "Four Christmases" was better than I expected. "Bolt" was an excellent entry on the animation front. The biggest disappointment was "Yes Man," which only had moments here and there, and otherwise just sat there. For the most part, though, at a time when Hollywood needed to come through, it did. Although I haven't seen them, I've also heard good things about the new Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt movies.

I have to say that if anyone had to win the national title, I was glad Tim Tebow led the Gators to the trophy. This is an excellent young Christian at a time when the sports world needs leaders like him. He will also be the poster boy for the effort that will likely now pave the way for home schooled students to be accepted into high school and college football.

Jasper is beginning to really see the effects of the recession, as the toy store and the hamburger stand in the mall are going or gone, and Goody's clothing store will be closing its doors now. Maloy Ford apparently has not come back, and speculation this week Chrysler's national organization may not survive doesn't help the mood. (The Toyota and Chevrolet places only moved to new places in town, but now leave big empty spots that don't look good and ad to the gloomy feel.) The old Importers Warehouse apparently is empty. The old Wachovia building downtown is empty. Dairy Queen melted off its cone. The last full-service station that I know of, the Chevron across from Hardee's, is closed, and so is the old Quincy's that failed with another recent try at a restaurant. The grocery store downtown is closed. Let's just say 2008 was not good to Jasper's retail market and hope for the best in the coming year.

The Jasper City Council talked again the other day about what to do about Sherer Auditorium. Without much use, it's costing $50,000 a year to maintain, and it could cost $500,000 to $1 million to renovate. Mayor Sonny Posey talked about making it into a court facility. Some in the city government hope the Obama administration come through with community grants to help fund it, but I have to admit I don't know what to think. If it was made into a better facility, more might use it, but you also might make it expensive like the CHS Building, and then even fewer would use it. As it sits now, it is practically an eyesore.

If you want to check some new good contemporary Christian music, my friend, Durwin Kicker, has a son, Kyle, who is in a band called Time of Favor that is beginning to play to larger crowds. The music can be sampled at http://www.myspace.com/timeoffavor and is impressive.

Floating bingo halls

2009-01-07T18:39:00.000-08:00

One time in Mississippi, my parents and I stepped on board one of those so-called floating casinos just to see what it looked like. I will never forget one woman at the slot machine looking at us, like we were going to invade her space and take her quarters. I couldn't wait to get off, and my parents never stopped to play a game, either.

Certainly the idea of a floating bingo hall would have come in handy this week in Walker County, where we got 4 inches in 24 hours. The Warrior River area was flooded bad enough, but there is one bingo hall, Mega Bingo, that was built in a low lying area. I mean very low. To the side of Highway 78, the land just drops off deep and there at the base is flat land that someone decided would be great for a bingo hall. I always thought runoff might be a problem there, and noticed what a nice, large building it was.

Well, runoff was not the word for it. On Monday, the Argo Fire Department evacuated 70 people from the place.

“The water was rising fast and they couldn't get their vehicles out and they couldn't walk out,” said George Lane, the fire department’s assistant chief, in talking with the Daily Mountain Eagle. “It was a pretty large operation with that many people involved.”

Then they had to return early Tuesday morning because the rains kept coming and a dozen workers had stayed behind. By then a boat was needed to get people out. By Tuesday afternoon, all you could see were the tops of cars. One fireman walked the wrong way and went completely under water. And to top it all, the owner of the bingo palace (understandably) suffered chest pains and had to be examined by paramedics.

This would seem whimsical if dozens of people were not put in this position by the crazy position of this hall. I don't know if it is officially a flood area that is designated by government or insurance officials, but it certainly looked strange enough from the beginning that one would have to know some type of problem would result even with less rain.

It is not the first time the electronic bingo hall owners have put people at risk. Four bingo halls were closed last month by the fire marshal because they did not have the proper number of sprinkler systems installed for the occupancy. They were VFW No. 1 and 3, Dreams Come True Charity Bingo and...why, it's Mega Bingo! Imagine that.

That name sounded even more familiar. Then I recalled that eight operating bingo halls in the county missed a Dec. 1 deadline to pay their business licenses without a penalty, based on information from the county’s Office of Gaming Compliance and records from the Probate Judge's Office. They included Caring Neighbors, Highway 13 Charity Bingo, Valley Bingo, VFW No. 1, VFW 2, VFW 3, Walker County Bingo and...say it with me, children...Mega Bingo.

In other words, Mega Bingo has been causing Mega Problems from the beginning. It would seem like it is time to start clamping down on this operation, as it is symptomatic of the problems that some of the bingo hall operators cause by putting up unsafe structures and not following the rules.

Then again, maybe they could get a used riverboat and sail up and down the Warrior with bingo machines singing in the background. And old man river, he just keeps rolling along...

A new journey for Ed

2009-01-06T18:08:00.000-08:00

This is my entry into the world of blogging. God help me.

Since leaving the Daily Mountain Eagle in October 2008, I've been trying to decide the next step in my life. It has not been easy, as the newspaper industry that I've been committed to for 27 years has been in more of a slump. It's been an outright free fall. Major newspapers that we thought would last forever are facing bankruptcy or huge losses. The New York Times is accepting ads on its front page. Detroit's newspaper won't deliver to subscribers except for the weekend, leaving only street sales and its Web site. The Birmingham News is using more part-time help than ever before. Buyouts are now common for staffs. The Christian Science Monitor is going to a Web-only publication. I applied for a couple of newspapers that had posted positions, only to hear they had changed their minds due to economic circumstances.

That's not to say I would rule out joining a newspaper in the future. I just worry about newspapers being there to want me or anyone else.

This has led to sleepless nights and anxious days, but in the meantime I've created Ed Howell Communications, where I am doing freelance work in writing, photography and public relations. For the last three months of 2008, I have performed publicity and administrative work for the new Walker County Political Accountability Coalition in its fight against electronic bingo halls. (I will still voluntarily help them as I can I believe in their cause.) On Jan. 5, I took on state Sen. Charles Bishop, R-Arley, as a client, doing political consulting work.

Moreover, also on Jan. 5, I agreed to start hosting a one-hour afternoon radio news/interview program on WJLX-AM in Jasper. We expect this to go on the air Jan. 19. It is a new thing for me altogether, but I'm excited to get back into the swing of covering Walker County and also trying my hand at something new. Hopefully for those of you outside the county, I can have the broadcast streamed for listening on the station Web site.

I've also been involved in developing Web sites for Ed Howell Communications and the coalition. It is no piece of cake. If anyone wants you to develop a Web site for them, do yourself a favor and shoot him on the spot, because he is probably satanic and wants you to suffer. I actually enjoyed the designing and learning how to use Publisher, but connecting to the Web is still one of my shortfalls. I get oh-so-EVER-close, and then I get it finally on the Web -- with no photos appearing, only outlines. Twice I've had to ask Jeff Blell to come to the apartment and straighten it out. The last time he started doing repetitive motions himself and said, "Go figure." When the expert is stumped, you're in deep trouble. Thankfully, he figured away around it and did me a great favor. I hope to continue to learn more as I go along, and I've had many nice remarks about the designs.

Jeff also got me to go to Bible Fellowship Study in Birmingham on Monday, and I was blown away by it. It is the best Bible study I've seen in eight years and maybe the most disciplined. I'm planning to carpool with Jeff and Bob Sanders to continue this, and it should lift my spirits a lot.

So many of you have said you missed my columns, and some of you appeared sane at the time. I hope to continue that tradition here on this blog, which can be found at http://edhowell.blogspot.com or through a link on my Web site at http://www.edhowellcommunications.com. I'll try to update it often. Also, I hope to do commentaries on the show, much like David Brinkley used to do. (May I never be like Eric Sevareid at CBS, who never, ever made any sense to an 10-year-old kid with his lumbering, pontificating. I'm not sure I would understand it today.)

This is not the end of the journey, and events may still be fluid. But I'd like to say many thanks to many people who have been helpful and expressed good wishes over the past few months. I am much like the character in "City Slickers" who goes through a personal crisis, and his friends tell him that life is a "do-over." I feel I am opening a new chapter in my life, and it is a do-over. It is exciting, new and scary, but it is a journey. Most of all, I think God is directing the boat now, and I am beginning to trust Him to do the steering. If I seem out of place for a while, I am, but hopefully we'll make the journey together.