The World Around You

The grace period is over for red light runners at the intersections with cameras in Montgomery,

As of mid-afternoon Wednesday, the cameras had captured 1,620 possible vio­lations, and a week-by-week breakdown shows the number of offenses have in­creased significantly since the first week.

The first week 233 warnings were mailed out. Those warnings averaged 429 a week during the past two weeks.

“I’m kind of surprised that they are this high and also not that surprised,” said mayoral assistant Michael Briddell, who has overseen the project.

Briddell said a survey was done about four years ago at the intersection of East Boulevard and Vaughn Road — one of the busiest intersections in the city — and it was determined that on average, 105 peo­ple ran the red light each day.

“To see that they were this high at oth­er intersections is pretty disturbing,” Briddell said, adding that the numbers underline the extent of the problem of red-light running in Montgomery.

Mayor Bobby Bright attributes the high numbers to the fact April was highly publicized as being the grace period. He believes those numbers will drop now that warnings are no longer being issued.

“When they get a ticket that says they owe $50, that will have an effect on their behavior, I’m sure,” Bright said recently.

I certainly agree…that number will decline, but the public will also start getting much more vocal about this policy.

montgomeryadvertiser.com | Red-light camera fines start today

This had to be an inside job…

The stolen computers were delivered to the county in 2006 as part of a new comprehensive election system ordered from a Nebraska company that was supposed to include 60 electronic poll books. Instead it delivered 60 laptops, said Trey Granger, Montgomery County elections director.

“We immediately put this company on notice that they sent us the wrong equipment, refusing delivery of the laptops and told them to make the order right and pick up their property,” Granger said.

He said the company — Electronic Systems & Software (ES & S) — asked the county to store them until the company could arrange to have them picked up, promising to make the order right.

That was two years ago.

Granger said the county stored the boxed computers in a locked and secure room on the second floor of the Montgomery County Election Center at 125 Washington Avenue.

“We never paid for the laptops because they aren’t even close to what we specified in our order and we have pleaded with this company to pick up their property constantly since 2006, all to no avail,” Granger said Monday.

He said the loss of the laptops would not affect any of the upcoming elections scheduled in the county for this year.Within the last month, E S & S finally responded to the county’s request to pick up the laptops and both parties agreed the computers would be sent back to Nebraska on April 22.

Granger discovered the crime Friday after he told an intern at the elections office to move each boxed laptop to his first-floor office in preparation for E S & S to pick them up Tuesday.

“At 1:30 p.m., I inspected the boxes to make sure everything was in order before the vendor took possession of them on Tuesday,” Granger said.

“When I picked up one of the boxed-up laptops, it felt unusually light, so I cut the tape, opened the box, and it was empty with no computer in it at all,” Granger said.

He then continued to open every box.

“We tore through each and every box and while they were all perfectly sealed and taped shut, none of the boxes had its computer inside of it,” Granger said.

“The biggest irony of this crime is the laptops were stolen in a room next door to the sheriff’s criminal investigation office,” he said.

This was not just some petty thief, this was someone who knew the story on these laptops, and probably took one or two a day out of the building for two months…and who knows how long ago that was?

montgomeryadvertiser.com | Stolen Laptops Point of Dispute

I found the most underreported piece of this story on the city’s website:

Q. Is this notice a “Traffic Ticket?”

A. No. This notice is not considered a “moving violation”. It is merely a notice advising of the violation and potential for civil liability.

To get around the problem of the legislature not authorizing law enforcement to give traffic violations when they don’t witness the act, these cameras fall under a city ordinance that makes someone civilly liable for running a red light. That was actually a very, very smart move, but one that was not clearly reported. So, though people may not like it, the cameras are here and we better get used to them.

montgomeryadvertiser.com :: Red-light cameras on duty today

This is going to be good for tourism…

Montgomery police are searching for a man with a gun who robbed the new hotel in downtown Montgomery on Friday.

The man took an undetermined amount of cash from The House, a restaurant and bar inside the Renaissance Montgomery Hotel & Spa at the Convention Center, and then ran away, Lt. Ron Cook said. The crime occurred about 3:45 p.m.

Witnesses described the man as white, age 25 to 30, about 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighing between 135 to 140 pounds. He was wearing a light blue windbreaker, a short-sleeved green shirt and stonewashed jeans, Lt. Mark Drinkard said.

Come have a convention in Montgomery! And get robbed…

montgomeryadvertiser.com ::  Robber hits Renaissance’s bar

They have selected the intersections for the first red light cameras in Montgomery. So, beginning in April be on the lookout at the following intersections:

# Air Base Boulevard and Mo­bile Highway

# Ann Street and Highland Avenue

# Bell Road and Vaughn Road

# Carter Hill Road and Craw­ford Street

# Fairview Avenue and Oak Street

# Norman Bridge Road and Fairview Avenue

# Perry Hill Road and Carmi­chael Road

# Ripley Street and Madison Avenue

# Rosa Parks Avenue and Fair­view Avenue

# Vaughn Road and Taylor Road

The ones that impact me are Vaughn and Taylor (near my house), Ripley and Madison (corner where my work parking garage is), and Anne and Highland (when I stop off at Chick-Fil-A on my way to work). The rest I would rarely pass through.

montgomeryadvertiser.com :: Intersections chosen for red light cameras

Montgomery Mayor Bobby Bright will announce his candidacy for the third congressional district seat being left vacant by Terry Everett, as a Democrat, on Tuesday at noon in Dale County. Bravo to the Montgomery Advertiser for getting someone to confirm on the record what Danny had reported at Doc’s Political Parlor earlier today. You’re closing the gap, mainstream media!

montgomeryadvertiser.com ::  Bright set to announce Congressional bid

We’re going to be keeping the city attorney busy if the city proceeds with it’s plans to begin ticketing using red light cameras. The practice of using the cameras is not expressly allowed under Alabama law and that is where the city is going to get itself in trouble.

I agree that the use of these cameras could help save lives, but I don’t want the city to move forward on something they will eventually fight and lose on in court. I also have concerns about where the cameras will be placed and how the locations will be chosen, the potential for discrimination is high.

montgomeryadvertiser.com :: Red light cameras to scan in April

Danny has confirmed that Montgomery mayor Bobby Bright will announce his candidacy for the Alabama 2nd Congressional District race as a Democrat at the Dale County Courthouse, any day now.

Bright Expected to Announce for AL-02 in Dale County » Doc’s Political Parlor

Oscar winner Forest Whitaker made a successful stop in Montgomery yesterday to support Barack Obama.

He was joined in support of Obama and a host of local boosters by Sharon Pratt, former mayor of Washing­ton. About 120 people showed up for the event at the Oba­ma campaign headquarters on Zelda Road.

Local politicians, state Sen. Quinton Ross Jr., D-Montgomery, and Montgom­ery County Circuit Judge Johnny Hardwick, who were previously uncommitted, also announced their en­dorsement of the Illinois sen­ator.

“I am proud to stand here during this time in history, a time that will change Ameri­ca and the world,” Whitaker said to raucous cheers from the crowd. “I was just in Washington and it occurred to me that Barack Obama is going to be our next presi­dent, and that Washington would be his hometown.”

I was a bit surprised to note that Sen. Ross Jr. had not offered his endorsement before now, but glad to see that he did it yesterday.

montgomeryadvertiser.com :: Oscar-winner stumps for Obama

Danny’s information is always reliable (despite what others seem to insinuate) and I’m thrilled that Mayor Bright is running as a Democrat. I haven’t always been a fan of his job as mayor, but I do believe he is honorable and I couldn’t ask for more than to have a Democrat replace Rep. Terry Everett.

He has my full confidence and support.

Bobby Bright Picks a Party » Doc’s Political Parlor