Category Archives: Citywide

Election ’07: Bell creates MySpace profile

William Bell Myspace ProfileOne of the issues that has come up during this year’s mayoral campaign in Birmingham (at least among us out here on the web) is the candidates’ web presence. There are very few extensive websites, though one candidate has now expanded his campaign into the world of MySpace.

Following the lead of national presidential candidates, William Bell has become the first person running for Birmingham’s mayor’s office to create a MySpace profile. His actual site is still not up and running; however, as of the time of this posting, the current City Councilor for District 5 already had 54 “friends” who had accepted his invitation to join his page on the popular social networking site. Time will tell if others will follow suit and use other Web 2.0 technologies as the race continues on.

NOTE: Hear their answers to your questions on our Election ’07 site!

Election ’07: The spotlight’s on Langford

Larry LangfordMany people in the city feel as though the former Jefferson County commission president already has the mayor’s office on the third floor of city hall in downtown Birmingham locked up. Doc’s Political Parlor made this post on August 22 that gave the idea that many believed it was only a matter of waiting for the votes to be tallied on October 9.

Now it appears that the federal government, the Securities and Exchanges Commission in particular, may be looking to put an end to it all. The Birmingham News reports that Mr. Langford’s financial records have been subpoenaed. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens next in this story.

Photo credit: Bob Farley/f8photo

Three Parks: One step closer for Railroad Reservation

 Sysco Warehouse

A view of the SYSCO warehouse building looking towards Birmingham’s city center. Photo credit: Bob Farley/f8photo

Among the many items approved during yesterday’s Birmingham city council meeting was the purchase of the  SYSCO Food Services warehouse on 1st Avenue South, pictured above, by the city. The property will be purchased for $1,550,000 to make way for the Railroad Reservation Park. Representatives hope that groundbreaking will go on as planned this fall.

UPDATED: Live from the mayoral homelessness forum

NOTE: Visit our Election ’07 site for more information on the candidates

We are attempting to provide some coverage of this evening’s forum on homelessness mentioned in our previous post.

We will update this post as needed.

The following candidates were present at the beginning of the debate:

Valerie Abbott
William Bell
Willie Hendrix
Bernard Kincaid
Barry Taylor

UPDATE: Please click READ MORE to see a summarization of the comments and questions from this evening’s forum.

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Help Jeremy Make The Band

Frazier Singing - Bob Farley - F8photo.org

We’ve got another finalist vying for a chance to win a reality television show. Jeremy Frazier is one of 10 hoping to win MTV’s Making the Band 4. The series ends with a live finale on August 26 and he needs Birmingham to turn out and vote for him. So go visit the site, register, and vote (you can vote once per day). And don’t forget to pass it on to others. Voting ends at 9:59 p.m. on August 26.

Photo credit: Jeremy Frazier sings for the city council at their August 21 meeting. – Bob Farley/f8Photo.org

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Election ’07:We’re getting a clearer picture

Birmingham City Hall Reflected - Photo By Bob Farley

We’re starting to get a clearer picture of the candidates for mayor (well, we hope that we are). Are we getting a clearer picture of what the issues really are in this  year’s race and for the city’s future? We’ll start our editorial series over at my Birmingham tomorrow to take a closer look.

Photo credit:Bob Farley/f8photo

Three Parks: Red Mountain next steps discussed

Red Mountain Park Commission During August 10 Meeting

Yesterday afternoon the Red Mountain Park Commission met at Vulcan Park receive the final draft master plan from representatives from WRT. Among action items taken by the commission, the group unanimously agreed to move forward and begin a search for the park’s first ever executive director. When the discussion shifted to the closing on the property, officials said they were hopeful that it would take place before the end of the month.

The commission also agreed to conduct a one-day workshop with WRT to determine the steps necessary to complete the final master plan for what will be one of the largest parks in the region.