BIRMINGHAM NEWS OPINION

Commentary and editorial pieces from the editorial writers at The Birmingham News

The Birmingham News will make a recommendation in the Dec. 8 special election for Birmingham mayor. We invite any candidate who would like an interview with The News' editorial board to set up an appointment by calling Pat Goggins at 325-2382. Candidates should meet with the editorial board no later than Dec. 2. Failure to do so will not eliminate... Full story »

My wife and I spent the second week in October on a bus trip over some of the back roads in New England. The trip covered parts of Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. The foliage was beautiful, and the scenery was magnificent. I gorged on clam chowder. The white birches were in their golden glory, and the maples were... Full story »

Acting Mayor Carole Smitherman this week told folks at the Operation New Birmingham annual meeting that city government must operate more like a successful business with sound budgeting and spending practices. OK. That's cool. We can accept that. But too often, politicians (especially when running for office, as Smitherman is) push that government-as-business mantra to extremes. The analogy falls... Full story »

There's not much new about the plan advocated this week by a group of business leaders aimed at keeping Jefferson County's sewer system out of bankruptcy. The plan is simple: Getting the Legislature's approval to pay some sewer debt with excess revenue from the county's 1 cent sales tax for school construction, creating an independent sewer board and negotiating with... Full story »

The Birmingham News has long believed that governments shouldn't hire lobbyists, either to work in Montgomery or in Washington, D.C. After all, we elect City Council members and a mayor to be our lobbyists. We elect a governor, state representatives and senators to be our lobbyists. We elect U.S. representatives and senators to be our lobbyists. Why spend hundreds of... Full story »

Another schoolteacher has been accused of sexually abusing a student. A Springville High School teacher was arrested and charged with two counts of sodomy and one count of enticing a child. We do not know whether the charges are true. A trial may determine that. We do know, however, that an elaborate statutory process is in place that sometimes resembles... Full story »

In football, the fourth quarter is the most important quarter. In a close game, the fourth quarter is where a game is won or lost. But where Birmingham's crime rate is concerned, if the fourth quarter is anything like the previous three, there will be much to celebrate at the end of the year. After three quarters in 2009, police... Full story »

Overshadowed by the news of last week's lawsuit by Jefferson County against convicted former Commission President Larry Langford and the financiers who cashed in on sewer bond deals gone bad is a suit filed more than a year ago on behalf of sewer customers. That June 2008 suit attempts to hold other former and current county commissioners who approved sewer... Full story »

The News recently reported the trial of an Alabama Department of Human Resources caseworker who, according to the jury verdict, did a poor job of investigating and recognizing the potential danger zone where a child was living. The News also reported the ex-boyfriend is now in prison for beating and killing this defenseless child in 2002. And the obvious missing... Full story »

OK. I WAS WRONG. I relied on one of our newspaper stories when I said in Tuesday's blog that yesterday was the last day to qualify to run for mayor of Birmingham. Colleague John Archibald has it right in today's column (here) -- qualifying closes today. Right now, 14 people are running. Archibald offers a pretty good rundown of the... Full story »

Whether you think the problem is the perpetual push of gambling interests or the push-back from the anti-gambling crowd, state Sen. Scott Beason may have the solution. Beason, R-Gardendale, said he'll push next year for a statewide vote on whether Alabama should have gambling. Not whether to expand it, or save the dog tracks, or regulate it, or tax it,... Full story »

One gets a sense the changes acting Mayor Carole Smitherman is making at Birmingham City Hall are calculated to help her campaign for mayor. Yet, just because somebody does something for a political reason doesn't mean it's bad. Smitherman is attacking the city's perceived budget problems aggressively and head on. When Smitherman moved over to the mayor's office from her... Full story »

Captivated by the beautiful irony of Bill Keller's "My View" essay (Viewpoints, Nov. 8), my eyes roamed to The News' lead editorial, "National champs, again." It recounted the all-too-familiar story of a survey showing Alabamians have the overall lowest tax burden in the United States, followed by the predictable cheers by politicians of both parties. But the editorial contained an... Full story »

A FRIEND E-MAILED the other day, a bit upset. He lives in Birmingham and has, of course, followed former Mayor Larry Langford's booting from office and the buildup to the mayor's election on Dec. 8. This friend is hoping that maybe our city will change for the better. But here's what he writes to me: "I thought you might be... Full story »