FOX 54 ran a story last night about Huntsville candidates and stolen yard signs -- complete with shots of signage on public rights-of-way. As a longtime "thief" of misplaced signage, I found the story unfair and lacking in balance. Fact: the most prolific sign-"stealer" in any town is the street department.
Candidates don't always control their signs. Supporters often place them around town out of enthusiasm without realizing there are limits to where they can go. For instance, any sign nailed to a tree or telephone pole is automatically out-of-bounds; public rights-of-way are supposed to be clear of temporary signs, too. Check your local ordinances before putting signs in dirt that doesn't belong to a private citizen. The operative word here is YARD sign, as in private yard.
It was a tremendous pleasure last week to attend the book signing for Huntsville author, Jane DeNeefe's book (she co-authored it): "Alabama's Civil Rights Trail: An Illustrated Guide to the Cradle of Freedom."
DeNeefe read excerpts from her book and discussed how the civil rights history of Huntsville differed from other cities in Alabama. Birmingham (or "Bombingham") is famous, of course, but I had never heard about the violence in Gadsden. A landmark Supreme Court case actually came out of that incident:
April - Mary Lucille Hamilton, Field Secretary for the Congress of Racial Equality, refuses to answer a judge in Gadsden, Alabama, until she is addressed by the honorific "Miss". It was the custom of the time to address white people by honorifics and people of color by their first names. Hamilton was jailed for contempt of court and refused to pay bail. The case Hamilton v. Alabama was filed by the NAACP It went to the Supreme Court, which ruled in 1964 that courts must address persons of color with the same courtesy extended to whites.
The only disappointment was that the author ran out of books! She graciously offered to arrange to meet Daddycat and me later and sign our copy in person. I'll take her up on that as soon as I get my copy from Amazon - purchased through LIA, of course.... ;-)
It's important to learn about and remember the past. We can avoid repeating others' mistakes if we just pay attention to the hard lessons learned by previous generations.
On a lighter note... enjoy this short video of Ivy Joe and the Snowballs, a local band of (then teenage) musicians who did their part of help integrate Huntsville (at least the music scene). They rocked the house on Saturday; the music was so good that my teenage daughter even got up to dance with me!
Huntsville author Jane deNeefe - along with her co-authors - will have a book signing tomorrow at the Flying Monkey Arts Center (in Huntsville) for the book Alabama's Civil Rights Trail: An Illustrated Guide to the Cradle of Freedom:
Featuring music by Ivy Joe and the Snowballs. Please join us for a special event celebrating the civil rights era in Huntsville and the release of Alabama's Civil Rights Trail: An Illustrated Guide to the Cradle of Freedom by Frye Gaillard, Jennifer Lindsay and Jane DeNeefe, published by the University of Alabama Press. Coauthors Frye Gaillard and Jane DeNeefe will read selections from Alabama's Civil Rights Trail: An Illustrated Guide to the Cradle of Freedom, emphasizing the role of music in promoting racial harmony in North Alabama. Huntsville's beloved garage band from the 1960s, Ivy Joe and the Snowballs, along with musical guests they invite, will play popular music of the civil rights era inspired by the Muscle Shoals sound.
Now, I had never heard of Ivy Joe. In the 1960's the only music I knew anything about was along the lines of "Twinkle, Twinkle" and the "ABC song."
Teenage musician Ivy Joe Milan also did his part to integrate Huntsville. As part of the first big wave of black students to attend Huntsville High School, he was looking for a way to shine.
So Ivy Joe was delighted when Tommy Graham, Chris Couchois, Billy Brown and Mike Byrum asked him to front their new band. Ivy Joe would sing, and the white guys would back him up.
[...]
So “Ivy Joe and the Snowballs” assumed their role in Huntsville’s social history. They played for white kids at the country club. They played black social clubs, a white country and western bar, high school dances and family barbecues. They played at teenage dance clubs like the Epic on Andrew Jackson Way, and television’s “Hullabaloo.”
Effective social change rarely occurs by administrative decree. Social change starts with individual acts of courage. As teenage musicians, “Ivy Joe and His Snowballs” helped Huntsville integrate peacefully.
Can't wait to see them tomorrow! Do we have any "old Huntsville" types on the blog who remember this band? Please share some tales in this open thread if you do!
And my blogging after this post will be slim to none until Monday. Daddycat and I are celebrating our 18th wedding anniversary on Sunday and we'll be dealing with last-minute party plans, relatives coming into town, etc.
For real. The shuttle program is ending this year and NASA is having a garage sale with what's left. The Federal Times is reporting:
NASA is now selling shuttles Atlantis and Endeavour for $28.8 million - nearly a third less than their original price tag of $42 million.
But wait!
You can now get an actual engine from the shuttle for free, as long as you cover the costs of moving and housing the eight-foot-diameter, four-ton behemoths.
Someone from North Alabama needs to get on this. Maybe not the actual shuttles, but free rockets?
BTW: Yes, I know my tax dollars went to this program, so "free" is relative. Spare me the anti-space program comments.
It's the end of an eye opening week for me (pun intended). Although I'm not a native Huntsvillian, I've resided here most of my life and until recently I considered Huntsville to be a progressive oasis in the reddest of the red states. Maybe I thought Huntsville was progressive because we didn't have the bombings, Bull Conner, cross burnings, boycotts, dogs, and bloody marches like many of our sister cities. Our schools and public facilities were integrated without much fanfare (except for the public swimming pool). I believed because of Huntsville's educated and diverse populace we were immune from the ignorance of racism and bigotry. The SD 7 race opened my eyes by uncovering the subtle undercurrent of racism that has probably existed in Huntsville since it's inception. Huntsville's Mayor Tommy Battle promised One City One Vision. Uh, good luck with that.
To those of you who have ever had the urge to turn a relaxing night out with the family into a political rally (yes, all three or four of you), well, this article’s just for you.
In a decision released on Monday, the U.S. Department of Justice directed the Georgia Secretary of State to discontinue a system being used to verify the citizenship of Georgia voters
Tired of all this talk about Sotomayor? Convinced that this Supreme Court stuff just isn't that deep? Probably not if you're reading this article. But you've got friends and cousins, so go on and forward this article to them.
I'm going to end with this quote taken from mooncat's excellent analysis of the voting history in SD7 describing what I learned about Huntsville this week from another prospective. (Emphasis mine)
I saw a disturbing example of the ugly racist assumtions that were part of this race. As a volunteer with Laura's campaign, I went to Blossomwood to get the final poll numbers. Having grown up there, I knew the numbers would probably be bad. I was waiting outside with my husband while a few of the poll workers stepped out to get some air. One of the woman said with a sneer "I hear they are shuttling in voters." I supposed she assumed that because we were white we would know what that meant. My husband and I pointed out that there was nothing wrong with driving people to the polls, and she said yes, if they are registered to vote there. Uh, yeah.
One City One Vision? Not even close. One man one vote? Only if that one vote is for the gop. Experience, educations and qualifications count? Not if you're an African American male/female.
Note to the media; We're tired of hearing Sarah Palin's shrill voice. Enough is enough.
When I interviewed Democratic Alabama Senate candidate Anthony Daniels in late January we discussed the Alabama Senate, his ideas for healthcare, education, government reform and issues based consensus building in the troubled Alabama Senate. However, Daniels was at his most animated on the subject of transportaion, specifically the benefits of a light rail system for the Huntsville area.
"I'm from Union Springs, Alabama, a town where we rely heavily on farming. So if we continue to build roads and build roads and build roads we'll be building roads on of farmland which will be needed down the road. I support a light rail system because a light rail system brings revenue into a city. In fact Salt Lake City, Utah made 25 to 1, 25 to 1 on taxes alone from light rail."
Traffic congestion, cost overruns, schedule delays, a lawsuit and a recall referendum seem less significant now, Bob Morgan, president of the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce, told local leaders in Norfolk, where a similar line is planned.
“It’s amazing how quickly people forget the short-term nuisance of construction,” he said.
That’s because about $1.8 billion of new development has been announced along the rail line and ridership is about to shatter 20-year projections. Now, there’s a push to fast-track extensions.
I just watched a segment on the McLaughlin Group about the future of the US space program in the face of trillion dollar deficits. The panel was unanimous in saying new programs and spending are dead in Congress. Will local Republicans (voters and politicians) continue to support massive giveaways to the financial services industry when it means that the local economy will be diminished, probably substantially?
Wow! Huntsville Mayor Loretta Spencer was trounced at the polls today. Six months ago virtually no one imagined she would be vulnerable. Just six weeks ago, when she failed to win re-election outright, the smart money said she would easily deal with challenger Tommy Battle in a head to head runoff, especially since this is fall break and turnout would be low. So how did that work out for Loretta Spencer?
Today she lost by a 12 point margin in a much heavier turnout (38,000 voters vs. about 29,000) than in the election on August 26. In fact, that August 26 election also saw Alabama incumbent mayors kicked out in Madison, Decatur, Arab, Albertville, Grant, Scottsboro, Rogersville, Hillsboro, Town Creek, Homewood, Argo, Brighton, Clay, Leeds, Lipscomb, Sema and Tuskeegee.
This bodes ill for incumbents (and the incumbent party) in the general election just 4 weeks from today. Alabama voters are in a surly mood and taking their frustrations out on the folks who've been in charge.
Looking to the next level, a recent Rasmussen poll found that 59% of voters would like to replace the entire Congress. Couple that with the incumbent bloodbath in Alabama municipal elections and you know incumbent Congressman Mike Rogers has to be worried sick. His support recently dropped 9 points, leaving him below 50% and facing a well funded and well organized challenge from Democrat Josh Segall. As though determined to make a bad situation worse, Rogers voted in favor of the financial bailout bill last week -- a decidedly unpopular vote in his district.
This is a bad year to be an incumbent, a worse year to be a Republican and maybe a disastrous year for Mike Rogers of Saks, Alabama. Josh Segall needs your support, in manpower and money, to send incumbent Mike Rogers packing.
The fact that Jay Love (AL-02) and Wayne Parker (AL-05) invited George W. Bush to host a fundraiser for them provides a measure of just how hard up for cash Alabama Republicans are this year.
There is an invisible man in the 2008 election: the president of the United States.
Republican candidates have all but shunned him, save those who need him to help raise money. And to the extent any president can keep a low profile, George W. Bush is doing it.
Saddled with one of the lowest approval ratings in polling history, the president is still in demand to shake the party money tree, though almost all of that is done out of the public eye.
Even next door in Mississippi, the Republican Senate candidate -- in a very close race -- declined to appear with Bush:
``Senator Wicker is running his own race,'' campaign spokesman Ryan Annison said.
Bush did attend a fundraiser for Wicker this summer that brought in $1 million; the men, though, didn't appear together in public, Annison said.
So, Parker and Love are desperate enough to invite Bush down for a fundraiser in Huntsville. Now Bush has stood them up and they'll get Deadeye Dick Cheney instead.
The White House announced late Wednesday night that President Bush is canceling a planned trip to Huntsville today in order to stay in Washington and consult with his economic advisers.
Bush also had planned to attend a Republican fundraiser and tour a waste facility here. Vice President Dick Cheney will attend the Huntsville fundraiser.
Do you suppose they'll offer a refund to people who pledged $10,000 for a picture with the President but will now find themselves standing next to Cheney -- who may or may not even show up in the pictures?
(Huntsville municipal elections are next Tuesday, Aug. 25. Vote if you live there! - promoted by mooncat)
The Rain Dance at the Coffee Cooler
We know that the upcoming Huntsville municipal election is not party specific but we see definitive split in affiliation of voters. No need to elaborate. The question is whether the candidates are appreciative or taking the votes for what they can get.
We have not seen the connection to Huntsville proper. We have not seen the connection to leaders. Heck, we don’t’ really know the folks in your commercials. (Well, we do, but that’s a subject for yet another post.)
Spencer has done a decent job in the past years of representing the public’s interest. It has gotten a tad bit difficult to connect with her and her "army" over the past few years but over all, not a bad job. However, she has had 2 major public snafus: The jail and the Rescue Mission. Yes, they were public. Yes, there were obviously lies involved (What politician doesn’t lie? The one not elected, yet). Yes, it occurred under HER watch. At the end of the day, decent job and you make the city say “We are sooooo proud-kinda.” Spencer has a great campaign staff that thinks the election is in the bucket. We are not sure how that will work out. She needs to make sure that her campaign staff can turn out the South Parkway vote; if not, congrats on the run, it was fun and you did a lot for us. In your commercials, you walk fast and pick up people as you go. That’s very similar to what we’ve seen at public events. Stop and talk to us next time. Low visibility in the community during election time, the “I” syndrome and lack of a good PR specialist may hurt. Pray for rain and you may win it.
Now, we look at the Battle Campaign and several observations are apparent. The organization has loose to no structure, very little visibility, no connection to the area, and a lacking connection to improvement issues. Surely, there are more issues to address than the jail and Rescue Mission.
Tommy, where have you and your campaign been over the past year? We have watched the commercials and have tried to figure out the message. Other than having individuals with questionable backgrounds and “presents”, it appears that it is a veiled attempt to connect to Huntsville. Yes, we did our research and you should too. Surely, he can do better in getting community leaders to appear in his commercials. Are you really running for this election? Competent staff, vision, and execution may be needed when you are serious. Spend the money to get the votes. His campaign has done a decent job branding himself. Ford Motors did a good job-too; before the recalls. You never know what you are gonna get until you drive it a few miles-That’s a compliment. We need to see the Battle folks out and about. Pray that it doesn’t rain and you may win it.
As any Southern lady would say, "I’m bringing my umbrella-You never know"
As she campaigns for a seat on the Alabama Supreme Court this year, Judge Deborah Bell Paseur is making a special effort to reach out to women voters. She has already attended women's events in Tuscaloosa, Mobile and Birmingham and tonight she will be in Huntsville, from 5:30 to 7 pm at the Dea Thomas Building, downtown on the square at 301 Franklin Street, SE. Although it's a "women's event", men are also invited and contributions to JudgeDeborahBell.com are always welcome -- Alabama judicial races are some of the most expensive in the nation.
Women are a hot demographic this year and are expected to vote in larger numbers than ever in November. In the past, women have been willing volunteers and supporters of political candidates, but less eager (or able?) to make significant financial contributions. That seems to be changing as the event tonight has a Host Committee of over 100 women from the Huntsville and Decatur area. That's the most women I recall seeing as sponsors of any political fundraiser in this area. The full list is below the fold.
At present Chief Justice Sue Bell Cobb is the only Democrat serving on any of Alabama's appellate courts and the courts have become entirely too business friendly. There is only one Supreme Court seat on the ballot in November -- the one Judge Paseur is seeking -- and I think it's the most important statewide race in Alabama. If you're in the Huntsville/Decatur area, come to the Dea Thomas building this evening to meet the candidate and see for yourself that Deborah Bell Paseur has the experience and judgement we need on the Alabama Supreme Court.
There's nothing like having a homeless shelter, especially one with a history of being a problem neighbor, announce they're moving to your neighborhood to really bring people together. In Huntsville, business owners and residents near the Westminster Christian Academy campus have organized to fight the Downtown Rescue Mission's move, or at the very least make sure they're better neighbors in their new home. Redeye found this video of two of the people involved with the citizens group.
(Bumped, for the liveblogging in comments. - promoted by mooncat)
The 5th District Congressional candidates will participate in a debate (or forum?) tonight from 6:30 to 8 pm. It will be televised live on WHNT-19. The station is co-sponsoring the event with the Huntsville Times, al.com, AARP and Huntsville Young Professionals.
All 8 candidates are expected to be there -- 2 Democrats and 6 Republicans -- and the members of the public can submit questions via email.
Questions will be posed three ways: A three-person panel will ask prepared questions and each candidate will answer; viewers can e-mail questions and a select few will be asked; and candidates will ask questions of each other.
"We are most excited about the candidates asking each other questions," [WHNT station manager Denise] Vickers said. "I've done this in other places in the past, and it has elicited some of the best interaction.
Email your questions (to: questions@whnt.us) for the candidates now. This is the first, and probably the last candidate forum in District 5 before the June 3rd primary election.
Typo's are an unfortunate, but they happen. Sorry. Candidate names were shortened because they're easier to type that way. Ms. Baswell Guthrie is often referred to as "Cheryl" or "CBG" because her last name just took too long to type. No disrespect intended.
City official says 'every one of them knew' about plans
Huntsville City Council members were informed where the Downtown Rescue Mission would relocate weeks before they approved its purchase, according to the city department head who brokered the deal.
"Every one of them knew," confirmed Community Development Director Jerry Galloway.
Regular readers of Left in Alabama are aware of plans for the Downtown Rescue Mission to move from it's present location in Lowe Mill Village to Northwest Huntsville. Lately the residents and business owners in Northwest Huntsville have been the victims of a massive PR campaign in which to send the message "The Mission is coming, get over it".
Check out how the residents and business owners of the Chapman neighborhood are being treated.
Developer to explain what is planned if OK'd
A neighborhood meeting is scheduled for Wednesday over a proposed retail and residential development at the base of Chapman Mountain. It will be at 6 p.m. at City Hall, City Councilman Mark Russell said.
According to a flier, developer Cole Walker of United Properties will explain what is planned if the property is rezoned.
Shelter to move to Westminster's old Evangel campus
The state's largest homeless mission has found a new home in an old school.
After getting word nearly two years ago that it would be ousted from its Ninth Avenue site for the city to revamp Seminole Drive, the Downtown Rescue Mission began searching for a place to relocate its ministry.
No neighborhood meeting. No zoning meeting. Nothing.
The City Planning Commission will consider a rezoning request May 27 to rezone some 250 acres of the so-called Harris Hills property. The property is south of U.S. 72 near the Moores Mill Road intersection.
* The City Planning Commission decided to by pass the zoning requirement for the Rescue Mission. I wonder why?
Speaker after speaker Thursday night said the council had at least a moral obligation to ensure disclosure of the mission's new location. They questioned why the Lowe site purchase agreement didn't withhold payment until the homeless shelter's new location was publicized and reviewed by police and city leaders.
Preliminary plans announced late last year call for a hotel, shops, restaurants and office space. The land would be rezoned from Residence 1A and Residence 2A and Neighborhood Business C-1 to Residence 2B and Highway Business C4. Russell said the change would allow more multiple-family options.
The mission will maintain the fence that already surrounds the 16-acre campus to keep homeless residents in, and Peavy said the shelter may erect a higher-security fence as well. Surveillance cameras and security guards will also safeguard the neighborhood, he said.
Security guards will keep non-mission transients from loitering on the fringe of the campus.
The Chapman neighborhood has THIS kind of elected representation on the Huntsville City Council.
"My purpose for having this meeting is to let the neighborhood know what the plans are," Russell said Monday.
The residents and buisness owners in Northwest Huntsville have THIS kind of elected representation on the Huntsville City Council.
Councilman Glenn Watson, in whose district Westminster is located, attended the Friday news conference at the school. He said that "God made the decision for me" to vote Thursday night to purchase the mission.
Maj. Gen. James Myles, commander of the Army Aviation and Missile Command at Redstone Arsenal, is addressing the Alabama Legislature today in an attempt to acquaint them with North Alabama's BRAC related infrastructure needs. BRAC stands for Base Realignment and Closure. In 2005 the BRAC commission decided to shift several thousand high tech jobs from the Washington, D.C area to Huntsville in a cost-saving measure.
Parker Griffith already sounds like the Congressman from North Alabama:
"We decided to put this together so that people will hopefully understand," he said. "We're getting BRAC now and BRAC is here. We want to impress upon our (legislative) budget chairmen and others that this involves a great deal of infrastructure, recruitment and jobs."
Griffith said Huntsville has not received the same kinds of state incentives that Mobile got for German steelmaker ThyssenKrupp AG, Montgomery for automaker Hyundai and the Shoals area for a boxcar manufacturer.
...
"Many House and Senate members are vaguely familiar with the (up to 10,000) jobs that are being created (through BRAC)," Griffith said. "We've had little financial support from the state."
Griffith said the creation of the jobs in Huntsville is more important to Alabama than "ThyssenKrupp, Hyundai and Toyota all rolled into one because these are high-paying jobs that cannot be exported. They are intelligence jobs, homeland security jobs and troop support that cannot be exported.
"We've heard a lot about ThyssenKrupp and the others, but this is a stealth announcement that didn't have the impact in Montgomery," he said.
Asked last summer to compare BRAC to the millions in incentives the state gave ThyssenKrupp, Gov. Bob Riley told The Times, "I'm not sure you want to go down that road."
Griffith also made the point that auto manufacturing jobs may be shipped elsewhere in the future, but the BRAC jobs can't be sent overseas.
Bill Clinton's appearance in Huntsville Saturday morning had originally been billed as a "town hall" but what materialized was actually more like a political rally. The discriminator between the two is whether or not questions are allowed and there were no questions from the audience in the Huntsville High gym.
The gym was packed -- perhaps 2000 people -- with folks from Huntsville and the surrounding counties. All ages and races were represented, although the crowd was more white than minority (so is Huntsville) and it looked like a disproportionate number of young folks were seated in the section directly behind the podium. The organizers distributed hundreds of bright blue Hillary signs to an upbeat crowd. I chatted a bit with a couple of high school seniors standing in front of me. One of them noticed my John Edwards button and said he was her first choice, but now that he's dropped out she is determined to vote for whoever is the Democratic nominee this fall. She said she likes both Hillary and Obama, but won't be old enough to vote by Tuesday so she doesn't have to choose between them. These young ladies confirmed that interest in the election is very high among their friends and they are all excited about voting and working for a candidate. Don't you love these kids?
Bill Clinton will appear at a free town hall event, "Solutions for America's Economy," in Huntsville Saturday morning. As I recall, Bill knows something about economic solutions since he managed to convert George H. W. Bush's budget deficits into a budget surplus during the 8 years he was in the White House. Of course, W fixed that budget surplus but good once the Republicans took over again.
Details:
Saturday, February 2, 2008 at 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM
Huntsville High School 2304 Billie Watkins Avenue Huntsville, AL 35801
The town hall is hosted by Alabama for Hillary, so he may mention her name once or twice. According to the Huntsville Times, the high $$$ fundraiser initially planned has been postponed so the Big Dog can greet the masses on this trip.
The other man from Hope, Mike Huckabee, will also be in Huntsville Saturday, holding a 9 am rally at Trinity Methodist Church.
Please join Huntsville for Obama for the opening of the Huntsville Campaign Headquarters. Meet local Obama supporters and learn how you can get involved. Change can’t happen without you!
The event will be held at: Brahan Spring Professional Village 2227 Drake Avenue Suite #27 Huntsville, AL on January 22, 2008 at 6:30 PM.
For more information, email/ tstubbs@barackobama.com or visit
Join other young working professionals as part of a simultaneous nation-wide kick-off of "Generation Obama."
Generation Obama - Huntsville Kick-Off
Generation Obama/GO is a national grassroots arm of the Obama campaign. GO's mission is to channel the energy and excitement of the new generation to change our country by electing Barack Obama as the next president of the United States .
Join GO Huntsville at The Heritage Club on August 25th from 6 PM to 7:30 PM. We will distribute material,give an overview of GO and participate in a national teleconference with Senator Barack Obama as he addresses GO groups across the nation.
RSVP via the website is encouraged. For more information:
T.H.E. Social Work Agency Adoption home studies & care management services in the North Alabama area.
Licensed, certified, caring social workers. blog advertising is good for you
And my blogging after this post will be slim to none until Monday. Daddycat and I are celebrating our 18th wedding anniversary on Sunday and we'll be dealing with last-minute party plans, relatives coming into town, etc.
Looking to the next level, a recent Rasmussen poll found that 59% of voters would like to 
As she campaigns for a seat on the Alabama Supreme Court this year, Judge Deborah Bell Paseur is making a special effort to reach out to women voters. She has already attended women's events in Tuscaloosa, Mobile and Birmingham and tonight she will be in Huntsville, from 5:30 to 7 pm at the Dea Thomas Building, downtown on the square at 301 Franklin Street, SE. Although it's a "women's event", men are also invited and contributions to 
