The World Around You

This is a perfect example of why people should pay more attention to city politics. District lines are redrawn well before election day and public hearings were held, a public vote was held at a city council meeting and the public had ample opportunity to lodge their complaints. I’m sure the council heard from no one about these concerns. It’s too late now and if I were the council, I really wouldn’t care what anyone says now. They had their chance and their stuck with what they have. Next time, the residents who are complaining should pay more attention.

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Purdue Head Coach Gene Keady and Head Coach in training Matt Painter got a big verbal commitment yesterday.

An Ohio high school basketball player, considered one of the top point guards in the country, has given his verbal commitment to play at Purdue.

Korey Spates will be a senior this fall at Warrensville Heights High School in the Cleveland suburb.

He says coaches have told him that he’ll have an opportunity to play with the Boilermakers in his first year, if he improves.

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Alabama novelty-store owners are ready to challenge an appeals court ruling that upheld the state’s ban on sex toys.

Doris Fedrick, owner of BG Novelties in Montgomery, would lose half of her store’s inventory if the courts upheld the ban. Not surprisingly, she hopes the courts rule in favor of legalizing sex toys.

“It’s not a good thing. That’s just part of the government intruding on your privacy. It’s big brother looking over your shoulder,” she said.

Fedrick also expressed anger that, while sex toys are contraband, guns and alcohol are sold legally.

“You can’t go to the bank and hold up the bank with a vibrator. Who are you hurting (selling sex toys)? Who is this law going to benefit?” she asked.

**UPDATE: Hit and Run notes this development as well.

**UPDATE: Even Glenn Reynolds took notice and gave a rare mention to Alabama.

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I watched the speech last evening and was very impressed, as everyone seems to be. It was the most impassioned, best written and best delivered speech I have seen Kerry give in this campaign.

The Birmingham News reports that the Alabama delegation in Boston and the crowd at Alabama for Kerry headquarters were equally pleased with the address. The question now is what will the bounce be and can Kerry-Edwards continue to merit media coverage over the next few weeks, with President Bush in full campaign mode. We are in the heart of the race now and things will change everyday until election day.

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I heard an interesting tidbit on our local radio station (1410 AM - Prattville) regarding the case of Montgomery Police Chief John Wilson. In what amounted to hearsay, the female radio host asserted that Chief Wilson’s wife has filed for divorce and Hooper was following Chief Wilson because she had hired him to prove that Wilson was having an affair. This ties the story together very well and makes a lot of sense, but we have not seen any proof of this yet.

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Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson blew the Alabama Department of Public Health’s cover on the “morning-after” pill this week. The Department had claimed that they must provide all forms of contraception or lose their federal funding. Thompson wrote to Rep. Aderholt and said this is not the case. Dr. Miller (who is a friend of mine), who oversees the program at Public Health has said they will continue to offer the contraception in question.

It’s interesting that the Birmingham News seems to tie John Giles of the Alabama Christian Coalition much closer to this whole situation than the Advertiser piece above. It claims that he was the one who asked Rep. Aderholt to send the letter and he is the one who is looking at next steps.

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Paul Hubbert gave a rather extended interview to the Birmingham News during the Democratic National Convention yesterday. Many of his remarks are encouraging about what the Alabama delegation will take back from the gathering.

“We’ve been deathly silent when our national ticket has needed our help,” Hubbert said.

The Republican right has had a lot to do with that, he said. “They’ve captured the airwaves, they’ve captured the pulpits of many of our white churches, and they use those pulpits and those airwaves to bully us into silence.”

In response, party members and candidates often have tried to separate themselves from the national party by calling themselves “Alabama Democrats.”

“The heck with that,” Hubbert said, his audience standing to applaud. “We’re all Democrats.”

Hubbert said he would be ashamed to be with Democrats who “rah-rah in the convention center only to go back home and keep our mouths shut.”

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Published in this week’s Wednesday (Prattville) Progress:

I was watching a magazine news show last week and they were having a discussion about political language. During the discussion they pointed out that the word liberal is off limits in American politics today.

Webster’s Dictionary has several meanings for the adjective “liberal”. The definition that seems to be most appropriate in this case is “favoring reform or progress, as in religion, education, etc; specif. favoring reforms tending toward democracy and personal freedom for the individual; progressive”. So, liberal means progressive.

It’s hard to see why being for progress is bad. Yes we need to preserve the foundation of our society, but that foundation is rarely under serious threat. Progress is expanding on that foundation to be better than we were yesterday.

A liberal believes in freedom above all else. Not a restricted set of freedom where criticism and open debate are off-limits. A liberal would not believe in freedom only for those who believe as he does. The essence of the word embraces all points of view. Liberals believe that everyone has the freedom to think, feel, worship and express their views in whatever fashion they wish. When one person’s freedom is abridged, freedom everywhere is compromised.

Being a liberal means believing in a social safety net for those whose circumstances lead to a need for some assistance. This is a basic function of government, but is often mistakenly dismissed as advocating socialism or communism. Socialists believe that the government should own everything and provide everything to its citizens. Communism is an approach where everyone owns everything, without any central government at all. A true liberal would find either socialism or communism to be diametrically opposed to their beliefs.

Another of the aspects of liberalism that often gets belittled is tolerance. It took me a long time to understand what is so offensive about tolerance. However, if you don’t embrace the idea of true freedom, then I could see where tolerance would also be a problem. Tolerance is a natural extension of this belief system. If you think that everyone has the right to be free, then you naturally would want to tolerate what a citizen chooses to do with his or her freedom.

Tolerance is easy to support in the abstract, but more difficult to put into practice. That is one reason the ACLU is so vilified by so many. They are probably one of the organizations that push tolerance more than any other. When they happen to support someone that the vast majority of Americans don’t agree with, they are seen as aligned with that persons beliefs. Yet, the only thing the ACLU is interested in is the civil liberties of everyone. Just because they support someone’s right to do something, doesn’t mean they believe it is the correct course, but in a free country the practice of freedom must be paramount.

So, the next time you hear someone rail against “liberals”, you may want to ask them to define about whom they are speaking. It quite possibly could be you.

**UPDATE: Submitted to OTB’s Beltway Traffic Jam

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The NPR/Slate program Day to Day ran a piece yesterday on the “L” word. I find the disappearance of “liberal” deeply troubling and wrote my weekly column on the subject this week.

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The number of parolees in Alabama dramatically increased last year. Releasing prisoners was one of the cost-saving strategies the governor and state legislature chose to implement. It was followed by dire warnings from the Attorney General and district attorneys across the state that this strategy would result in more crime. Guess what? Not only has crime not increased, but how about less crime?

Overall, 6 percent of early parolees have returned to prison, either for new crimes or parole violations such as using drugs or alcohol of not reporting to their parole officers.

“We know we can’t sustain that low number, but so far it’s unbelievably low,” Dillard said.

Jefferson County District Attorney David Barber said Tuesday that it’s difficult to determine whether the newly paroled prisoners are contributing to area crime or if they’ve stayed out of trouble. “The only way for me to know whether that’s been affected is to look at every warrant we’ve issued to see if those people were parolees,” he said.

The decrease in crime that’s accompanied the paroles “doesn’t really mean a thing to me. Who knows what affects a crime rate? Nobody really knows,” Barber said.

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Well, Bill Clinton worked his magic last night. It was a brilliant speech that does set the bar very high for Barack Obama and his keynote and John Kerry’s acceptance speech. He is a hard act to follow. Sections of the speech came directly from the talk he has been giving around the country while discussing his book, but I was particularly moved by the conclusion of the speech:

At every turning point in our history we the people have chosen unity over division, heeding our founders’ call to America’s eternal mission: to form a more perfect union, to widen the circle of opportunity, deepen the reach of freedom, and strengthen the bonds of community.

It happened because we made the right choices. In the early days of the republic, America was at a crossroads much like it is today, deeply divided over whether or not to build a real nation with a national economy, and a national legal system. We chose a more perfect union.

In the Civil War, America was at a crossroads, divided over whether to save the union and end slavery—we chose a more perfect union. In the 1960s, America was at a crossroads, divided again over civil rights and women’s rights. Again, we chose a more perfect union. As I said in 1992, we’re all in this together; we have an obligation both to work hard and to help our fellow citizens, both to fight terror and to build a world with more cooperation and less terror. Now again, it is time to choose.

Since we’re all in the same boat, let us chose as the captain of our ship a brave good man who knows how to steer a vessel though troubled waters to the calm seas and clear skies of our more perfect union. We know our mission. Let us join as one and say in a loud, clear voice: Send John Kerry.

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When Governor Riley named a stretch of Interstate 65 for former President Reagan yesterday, he was actually adding a second name to the same stretch of interstate. He also was adding the ninth name to some stretch of I-65 in the state. This naming thing is starting to get a little out of control.

On the part of the road where the Reagan Highway and Heroes Highway designations overlap, the governor’s office said I-65 would be known by both names. That’s how it’s done elsewhere, said Pouncey.

The entire length of I-65 was named for Spann and victims of the terrorist attacks in July 2002. At the time, the road was the first interstate in the nation to honor people killed in the 9/11 attacks.

Here are the other names for I-65, from south to north, according to Pouncey:

•The Gen. W.K. Wilson Jr. Bridge over the Mobile River, named for an Army Corps of Engineers executive.

•The J.M. “Mack” Mays Memorial Highway between Flomaton and Atmore, named in memory of teacher, coach and legislator.

•The Hank Williams Memorial Lost Highway from Georgiana to Millbrook, named after the country music legend.

•The American Legion Memorial Bridge, over the Alabama River at Montgomery.

•The William S. “Billy” Newell Highway in Autauga County, named for a road builder.

•The Tim Dison Memorial Bridge in Birmingham, named for a Killen truck driver killed in a fiery wreck in 2002.

•The Trail of Tears Highway, between Decatur and the Tennessee line.

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I congratulate Patricia Todd for her efforts at the Democratic Convention this week. I hope she is able to make some headway with our state legislative leaders who seem to want to persecute people like her. I hope she succeeds in changing some minds and hearts.

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Millbrook Mayor Al Kelley continues to play games with the feasibility study on a new school system. He refused to release the first report to the public, claiming it was incomplete. Now he released sealed copies only to the members of the Millbrook City Council yesterday, saying he wanted them to be familiar with the document before it is released to the public today. The time for playing games is up. Mayor Kelley is violating the law, and I am so happy that the Montgomery Advertiser is taking action:

Dennis Bailey, attorney for the Alabama Press Association and the Montgomery Advertiser, said the two studies are public record and should be released to the media and public. Holding off until the council gets a chance to look at this most recent study isn’t acceptable, he said.

“The open records law doesn’t recognize a preference for public officials in regard to access to public documents,” Bailey said. “The document became public record and subject to public inspection when it was delivered to the mayor, in my opinion.”

The Montgomery Advertiser has filed suit in Elmore County Circuit Court to get a copy of the first feasibility study under the Freedom of Information Act. The previous study came in about two months ago, but Kelley kicked it back to its author, Lee Henderson. Henderson is superintendent of the Leeds City Schools and is acting as Millbrook’s consultant. Kelley refused to released the first study then, saying it was not complete and lacks key pieces of information.

Bob Allen, city attorney, said the document will be released in a timely manner.

“We’re not keeping anything secret,” Kelley said. “After noon tomorrow anybody can get a copy.”

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Amanda Walker, wife of slain Prattville police officer Clint Walker, is suing the City of Prattville for $5 million. If you don’t remember, this was the officer that was shot by a fellow officer, evidently, while playing around after training exercises. Lt. Dan Jones, who shot Officer Walker, has been cleared of any criminal wrongdoing. Mayor Byard claims that the internal investigation is winding down. I don’t know what could have taken the internal investigation so long, but its deeply disturbing to me. This should have been wrapped up, and if the City does not intend to reprimand the officer, that should be known. Instead they have been dragging their feet, hoping no one would notice when it went away. Well, guess what, a lot of us have noticed.

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No matter what Chief Wilson or Mayor Bright says, he was forced out. The Chief claimed in a statement that he bumped up his retirement date due to “personal issues”. However, the timing of his departure, coming the business day after Mayor Bright received a report on Wilson’s alleged drunk driving incident fromt the Alabama Bureau of Investigation makes one scenario very likely.

BRIGHT: John, this report is not good. You are going to have to retire, or we are going to have a situation on our hands.

WILSON: Bobby, you know this isn’t right, but I’m out of here.

The Montgomery Advertiser reports that Mayor Bright did speak about some of the contents of the report.

Bright, who refused to release the ABI report to the public on the grounds that it’s a personnel document, said a letter written by Maloy to Shorter Mayor Willie Mae Powell and included in the ABI report claims that Wilson had offered at the scene to submit to a sobriety test.

However, Maloy concluded that it wasn’t necessary and had Wilson’s vehicle towed.

“I couldn’t believe it,” the mayor said of what he learned in the ABI report. “In my opinion, there was more than sufficient evidence to request him to take a sobriety test.”

The evidence includes Hooper complaining that Wilson drove erratically and subsequent reports that Wilson had been drinking, Bright said.

“That was a mistake on that guy’s part,” the mayor said, a reference to the Shorter police officer at the scene, J.W. Spencer. “And it was poor police work.”

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Kevin Drum provides some background on Drudge’s headline this morning that might be enlightening.

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Kos has been persuaded by Jim Lehrer that conventions are still important, and that they deserve to be covered. I’m very impressed with Jim’s attitude. I saw him in a roundtable on C-SPAN this weekend with Judy Woodruff, Dan Rather, Peter Jennings and Tom Brokaw. He is very sharp about the current political climate and what it means for the news. It excites him. He doesn’t have a problem with people being angry, because that means they care about what he is reporting and that’s a good thing.

If you want to see some really solid coverage of the Democratic convention, flip over to PBS and watch Jim at work.

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If you are running Mozilla Firefox as your web browser, you might want to check out this nice extension that displays thumbnails of webpages next to your Google search results.

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The BBC has a startling report on the rise of pirates last year.

The body that monitors piracy around the world has reported a sharp rise in the number of ships crew killed in the first half of 2004.

The International Maritime Bureau says 30 crew members were killed, twice as many as in the same period last year.

It is the highest number of piracy related killings for a decade, despite a global fall in the number of attacks.

Half of those killed were in Nigerian waters. Other hot spots were Vietnam, Bangladesh, and the Philippines.

“The increased ferocity and the number of attacks are linked to law and order problems ashore,” the British-based bureau said in a report released by its piracy watch centre in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

“The (Nigerian) authorities are under pressure and unable to respond adequately to attacks at sea.”

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A new poll has some unsurprising results,

In last week’s Mobile Register-University of South Alabama poll of 401 adults, virtually every respondent professed a belief in God and heaven. Around 90 percent said they believed in the devil, hell, angels and miracles.

By contrast, in a national poll last September by Fox Opinion Research, 85 percent of people surveyed said they believed in God, while belief in hell and the devil stood at about 72 percent.

But on matters of belief in astrology, ghosts and other phenomena, the national results were in line with those found in Alabama. About one-third of the national respondents gave some credence to astrology, while one-quarter believed in reincarnation.

I am in search of a group like, Sane Christians, Jews and Muslims for Separation of Church and State. Does anyone know of such a group?

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Eddie Curran at the Mobile Register who specializes in investigative reporting using first-hand documents obtained some interesting documents from ADECA.

Clayton L. “Lanny” Young’s involvement in a state warehouse construction project began much earlier in Don Siegelman’s administration than aides of the former governor had acknowledged, according to information found in telephone messages and schedule records from the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs.

The phone messages and schedule records of Siegelman’s first two ADECA directors, Dewayne Freeman and Nick Bailey, also reflect that lobbyists who later became Freeman’s business partners made frequent calls to him on behalf of their clients.

One of those, Johnny Moore, was at the time under criminal investigation for his success in winning highway department grants under the previous governor, Republican Fob James. Moore later pleaded guilty in that case and spent six months in prison.

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The AP has gone back over the current poll numbers to come up with the following report on the current numbers:

SOLID KERRY

States: California (55), Connecticut (7), District of Columbia (3), Delaware (3), Hawaii (4), Illinois (21), Massachusetts (12), Maryland (10), New Jersey (15) New York (31), Rhode Island (4), Vermont(3)

Electoral votes: 168

Analysis: Kerry has moved New Jersey back into his “solid” column since May, when polls showed Bush was making inroads in the Democratic state. New Jersey still bears watching.

LEAN KERRY

Maine (4), Minnesota (10), Washington state (11)

Electoral votes: 25

Since May, when The Associated Press last tallied electoral votes, Michigan and Wisconsin have fallen back into the “tossup” column. Kerry may be ahead a percentage point or two in Michigan, but the race is essentially tied in Wisconsin. Bush has targeted Wisconsin and Pennsylvania as Democratic states he most wants to flip.

TOTAL KERRY

14 states and the District of Columbia for 193 votes.

SOLID BUSH

Alaska (3), Alabama (9), Georgia (15), Idaho (4), Indiana (11), Kansas (6), Kentucky (8), Mississippi (6), Montana (3), North Dakota (3), Nebraska (5), Oklahoma (7), South Carolina (8), South Dakota (3), Tennessee (11), Texas (34), Utah (5), Wyoming (3).

Electoral votes: 144

Analysis: Since May, Kerry has peeled North Carolina and Virginia away from Bush’s “solid” column, though both states still trend toward the president. There is little chance of Kerry putting any more of these “solid” states into play.

LEAN BUSH

North Carolina (15), Colorado (9), Louisiana (9), Arizona (10), Virginia (13), Arkansas (6) and Missouri (11)

Electoral votes: 73

Analysis: Kerry kept his promise and put several GOP-leaning states in play, but Arkansas, Louisiana and others have come back home to Republicans — at least for now. Kerry has the time and money to force Bush to defend his turf through Nov. 2.

TOTAL BUSH: 25 states for 217 electoral votes.

TOSSUPS: Florida (27), Iowa (7), Michigan (17) Nevada (5), New Hampshire (4), New Mexico (5), Ohio (20), Oregon (7) Pennsylvania (21), Wisconsin (10), West Virginia (5)

Electoral votes: 128.

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Eleanor at Newshounds discusses a piece which I also found interesting on Bill Moyers PBS program last night. Professor Lakoff was very accurate in his argument that the Republicans have found ways, mostly through repetition, to frame arguments to their benefit. Democrats have seemed satisfied with responding by citing facts. This isn’t good enough. You have to remove the framework. Instead of responding to an attack, you re-frame the attack in a context that favors you. Until this can be accomplished, Democrats will constantly find themselve on the defensive.

**UPDATE: Mary at Pacific Views found this interview enlightening a well.

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This column was published in the July 14th edition of the Wednesday (Prattville) Progress:

The last bit of mystery in the presidential election was eliminated when Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry selected the Senator from North Carolina, John Edwards as his running mate. Much of the discussion since has revolved around how the southerner makes the south more competitive. This is not likely, if you are speaking about the actual vote.

Yet, there is little doubt that Edwards does make the ticket more competitive in another race, the race for cash. In fact the real story of the presidential race here in Alabama from now until election day is the fundraising battle. Our electoral votes were long ago sewn up by the Bush-Cheney ticket, but our checkbooks remain in play. During the presidential primary season, John Edwards received a nice chunk of change from contributors here. He will now likely bring some of that financial support to the Kerry-Edwards ticket. I wouldn’t be surprised if we even receive a visit from the vice presidential nominee on the Democratic side before this election season is over. Not to campaign for votes, but to raise some cash.

On the other side of the race, Laura Bush is visiting Birmingham this week to headline a fundraiser for the Republicans. The Republicans receive a great deal of financial support from Alabamians as well, and are not about to let that support dwindle in this important election. Every penny that can be squeezed from donors will be obtained, we can be assured of that.

So far this election season, according to filings with the Federal Election Commission, Alabama citizens have given $3.9 million to presidential candidates, $1.8 million to federal political action committees (PAC’s) and $2.2 million to federal party committees.

George W. Bush has raised over $2.6 million so far from Alabamians, whereas John Kerry has only mustered just over $262,000. What is interesting is that John Edwards brought in over $735,000 to his presidential campaign, putting him in second place for fundraising in Alabama. So, it does seem to bear repeating that his ability to raise funds in our state should not be underestimated.

However, it is unlikely that many checks will be coming from our immediate area. Citizens of Prattville have given $22,924 to federal candidates, PACs and party committees in 45 contributions. This ranks us 61st in the state among cities. Citizens of Millbrook have given only $1,200 in this election cycle, putting them near the bottom in giving.

This would seem to indicate that we do not contribute to federal political campaigns in proportion to our population. None of this is to say that political fundraising is good or bad. It is a necessary component of the process and especially interesting to watch in a state like ours, where the outcome of the race is a foregone conclusion. If you want more information on political giving, visit http://www.fecinfo.com.

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This column was published in the Saturday edition of the Prattville Progress on 7/10/04:

Sometimes a picture is worth much more than a thousand words. I’m not sure if I have enough space to tell the full story of the images of a Chevy Trailblazer nose down in a swimming pool. If the potential for a horrible tragedy were not in front of your mind, you would have to laugh. Yet, there are so many stories contained in those images and the story behind them.

First, the driver was seventeen years old. Young, inexperienced drivers are inherently more dangerous. They cause an inordinate number of accidents in comparison to their percentage of the population. In general, they are less safe. That’s why their insurance rates are so much higher than their older counterparts. There are plenty of good reasons to be wary of young drivers.

Then, you add in the element of drugs. No, I’m not talking about the marijuana allegedly present in the car. That would be a whole other column. I’m talking about the muscle relaxers that she allegedly admitted to taking prior to the accident. Legal drugs can be just as dangerous as illegal drugs when you add a teenager, a motor vehicle and shake. In fact, the combination can be lethal.

It’s just as upsetting to me that she may have been driving while using muscle relaxants as I am that she could have been under the influence of marijuana. The results could have been exactly the same. Any mind altering substance Fortunately for everyone no one was enjoying the Viars’s pool that day when this girl came driving in. It was only out of luck that she did not cause a lose of human life or limb and just as luckily, she was not injured.

Along with the Blazer taking a bath, news came over the weekend from the Department of Public Safety that the number of accidents by teenage drivers has dipped recently. They attribute the decrease to the graduated driver’s license program that Alabama finally implemented last year.

The program includes new restrictions for drivers under the age of 18, gradually increasing their driving privileges to those of all other drivers. One of the limits was a restriction on teen drivers operating late at night. This is a very prudent idea that Alabama was once again near the end of the line in adopting. However, it is already paying dividends. The percentage of accidents caused by 16 and 17 year olds decreased from 8.57 percent in 2002 to 7.96 percent in 2003. This is a significant improvement that we can all celebrate.

There is no substitute for experience when it comes driving, but you also can’t leave your common sense at the door. Experience does not eliminate the potential for a moment of stupidity. If you needed to be reminded, you need look no further than the pages of your local newspaper.

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This column was published in the 6/30/04 edition of the Wednesday (Prattville) Progress:

It’s been a very exciting few weeks for former Governor Siegelman. Now that he is under one federal indictment, it appears that another indictment may be forthcoming from a grand jury in Montgomery. Predictably, Siegelman is blaming these developments on a Republican conspiracy to take him down.

Of course, it’s much easier to believe there is a conspiracy against you then to admit in your own mind that you have done anything illegal. Believing you are on the right side of the law is a natural instinct for a trained lawyer like our former governor. Yet, your belief that you are right and reality are often separated by a great gulf. We’ll know where the truth lies in the pending case when Siegelman has his day in court.

In the latest case it appears from those who have testified that the investigation is related to the funding of an organization the governor formed to support his lottery proposal. In this case the governor received warnings at the time from the State Ethics Commission that the kind of activity he was engaging in could be considered criminal. He chose to ignore the opinion of the commission at his own peril. If an indictment is ultimately handed down, doubts will multiply about the Governor’s innocence in all of these cases.

Most of the evidence for the latest potential charges is public record, the facts were already known. The only thing prosecutors had to do was bring in the principal players to have them testify under oath. It will be left to a grand jury to decide whether the former governor or others committed an indictable offense. From the public facts available, it would appear they will.

It’s difficult in these situations not to get ahead of the game, but it is wise to keep in mind that there are two sides to every story. It appears from published reports that the defense will be, the appearance of impropriety is not a crime. This particular defense seems eerily familiar to that put forward by Governor John Rowland of Connecticut, who was recently forced to resign. The facts of the cases are different, but it is fascinating how birds of a feather, whether Republican or Democrat, react to such charges.

It would also be prudent for Governor Siegelman to keep in mind that just because he is being prosecuted does not mean it is for political purposes. He can mount a vigorous defense to the charges without besmirching the character of his accusers.

The US Attorney’s office has evidence of a crime and they are prosecuting. That is their job, like it or not, but don’t ascribe motives to someone when you have no proof. There is nothing to show that the prosecution is motivated by anything but their responsibility to the law. If Siegelman’s team has such evidence, let them bring it forward. Otherwise, they should be concentrating on constructing a viable defense to the existing and pending charges and leave the baseless accusations to someone else.

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I need to play catch-up with my columns. This column was published in the 6/23/04 edition of the Wednesday (Prattville) Progress:

The Millbrook city school system has been back in the news this week as Millbrook Mayor Al Kelley has refused to release the first feasibility study commissioned by the city. Now, Millbrook certainly has the authority to explore its options with regards to separating from the Elmore County system. However, there is no benefit to a closed process. The public needs to have the same information that its leaders have in order to make informed decisions. If it is, in fact, incomplete, then there is no harm in making it available as a work in progress. I don’t fault the city leaders for wanting to hold onto the report, but it would be wrong for them to continue the stonewalling.

I have said from the beginning of this exploration, that in the end, the problems are not going to go away simply by forming another school system. Elmore County provides the fewest local resources of any school system in the state. Many of the problems that have been identified can only be addressed with increased revenue. If Millbrook wants to form its own system, its citizens will have to pay the price from their pocketbooks. I applaud Millbrook’s leaders for making clear that a new system will not happen without a simultaneous affirmative vote on increased revenue for the new system.

It now appears that all of this will not be put to the voters for quite some time. It’s good that the process is being stretched over a period of time that allows for careful contemplation and a full and complete dialogue between the citizenry and their elected officials. The burden does not rest with one side or the other. It is not going to be an easy sell, when you package a tax increase with anything around these parts.

The potential is there for Millbrook to have a superior school system, if the citizens are willing to put the time, energy and resources behind the effort. Yet, it begs the question, why can’t we do it now? What is preventing the Elmore County system from working in a way that would serve all its children in a superior manner? It’s not just about money, though that is critical component. It is about understanding the crucial role of the schools in the quality of life of a community and choosing to participate in their success, rather than demanding from them more than you put into them.

No school system can produce the results everyone desires on its own. The community must be invested in its schools for the schools to work for the community. Bemoaning the problems, while choosing not to help in any way is neither productive, nor very intelligent. Why should I care what you think should be done with the schools, when you don’t offer assistance in the ways you can. Teachers, administrators and students cannot build a great school in isolation. Without participation from parents, the business community and government officials no school system can succeed, city, county or otherwise.

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I have neglected to post my published columns in the last couple of weeks. I’ll catch up with them over the weekend. Here was this week’s, published in the Wednesday (Prattville) Progress

Drinking and driving became a prime topic for conversation based on two incidents that occurred in the tri-county area last week. The first involved Montgomery Police Chief John Wilson and a person who turned out to be a former employee of the department. Rhett Hooper, the former officer, accused Chief Wilson of driving while intoxicated and nearly running him off of I-85 near Shorter. Shorter police arrived on the scene and the story became more complicated. Wilson accused Hooper of following him in hopes of catching him in some compromising position. No Breathalyzer test was administered, so we will never know for sure if Chief Wilson was legally intoxicated or not.

Driving under the influence is a serious charge and should be pursued seriously. I would hope that the Montgomery Chief of Police did not receive special treatment from a fellow police chief, though I fear that he did. Whether or not he was drunk, the test should have been administered to eliminate the possibility of unanswered questions.

In an odd coincidence, just one day before the incident with Chief Wilson, another public official, this time in Millbrook, was also suspected of driving under the influence. This time the charge was not brought by a fellow citizen. An Elmore County sheriff’s deputy arrested Millbrook city councilwoman Lisa Saylor on July 13. She had a blood alcohol level that was almost twice the legal limit. In addition to her elected position, Ms. Saylor is also an educator at Stanhope Elmore High School.

She issued an apology on Saturday in an effort to clarify her position on the incident. She apologized to the citizens of Millbrook and appeared to be sincere in her regret of the incident. Yet, we do have to remember that it isn’t any way for her to deny the charges, the Breathalyzer doesn’t lie. Not to be cynical, but with an election looming she had little choice but to throw herself on the mercy of her constituency.

Using alcohol responsibly is not an easy thing to do for a variety of reasons. First, alcohol impairs your judgment, which may lead you to believe that you are more in control than you really are. Second, some people who use alcohol can develop an addiction to it. This addiction further clouds their judgment and can lead to erratic behavior. You take the irresponsible use of alcohol and cross it with a motor vehicle and you are asking for serious and potentially deadly trouble.

These two situations illustrate different aspects of the issues surrounding drinking and driving. Both cases will resolve themselves in due time, but they can both offer fodder for discussion about what role alcohol plays in our society and the risks and rewards when combined with a car or truck. When talking about these issues, I hope saving lives is always the paramount issue. Only by taking the issue seriously can we ensure that all Alabamians are safer on the roads.

Posted Columns on Friday, July 23rd, 2004.

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Does anyone want to be mayor of Ridgeville, Alabama? Apparently not. No one qualified to run for mayor or any of the five town council seats. That means the Governor will get to appoint four members to the council, and those four will appoint an additional member and the mayor. Now, granted, the town only has 158 inhabitants. You start to wonder how they became incorporated in the first place, but it’s still an interesting situation.

Perry Roquemore, executive director of the Alabama League of Municipalities, said the situation has not happened anywhere in the state in years.

“Once over the years, we had one town that didn’t have anybody to qualify,” he said.

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The LA Times is reporting in a piece by Ron Brownstein new poll results which show the presidential race solidifying very early in the process.

Mostly, the poll shows enormous stability of attitudes since the June survey, demonstrating both the persistence of Bush’s strengths and the doubts that have accumulated about his performance.

Overall, Americans split almost exactly in half on Bush’s job performance, with 51% approving and 48% disapproving - virtually the same result as June. As in last month’s poll, majorities disapproved of his handling of both Iraq and the economy; Bush won majority support only for his handling of the war against terrorism.

These judgments about Bush’s performance remain perhaps the single most important force in the election. Among those who approve of Bush’s performance, the president leads Kerry 84% to 9%, with Nader drawing 1%. Among those who disapprove, Kerry leads Bush by 85% to 4%, with Nader drawing 5%.

This falls in line with what Charlie Cook wrote earlier in the week and many others have been indicating. It’s not panic time for either campaign. Things don’t look positive for the President, but there is little certainty in the Kerry camp either. Everyone will be watching the numbers closely coming out of the convention. If there is any significant convention bounce, it should rapidly disappear. We are headed toward another long night in November folks.

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I want to thank Skippy for sending some readers my way today. Welcome everyone, make yourselves at home.

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The Governor’s Blue Ribbon Panel studying insurance costs for public employees in Alabama seems to be ready to make its final recommendations in the coming weeks.

The plan, presented by William Ashmore, executive director of the State Employees’ Insurance Board, would make active public employees each year pay premiums equal to 12.5 percent of the total cost of single coverage and 26 percent of the total cost of family coverage. The state would pay the rest.

Retirees 65 or older who are on Medicare would pay those same percentages. Younger retirees would pay 32 percent of the total cost of single or family coverage.

Costs would be lower for employees or retirees with family incomes less than twice the federal poverty level.

The percentage increases would boost the health insurance premiums of an active state agency employee with single coverage from nothing to more than $370 a year.

But all employees and retirees would get raises or pension increases equal to their extra costs of health insurance in 2005, wh