Category Archives: The First 100

The First 100: City of Birmingham launches new website

Posted on January 2, 2008 | 3 comments

Screenshot of new City of Birmingham websiteThe first part of the overhaul of the City of Birmingham’s online presence started yesterday, when they unveiled their new birminghamal.gov website (and don’t forget to put the www in front of it when you put it in the browser). The empty space is actually filled with news from the city when you visit. We’d let you know what else it can do here, but then that wouldn’t give you a reason to check out the first post we wrote about it to learn more about some of the features, now would it?

With the unveiling of the city’s revamped site, a new plan to have wireless access in the city and possibly a in-chambers debut of Over C’s new single “Don’t Trash My Hood” geared towards encouraging area youth to do their part in the city’s efforts to be cleaner and safer, you’d think the first council meeting of 2008 should be fairly straightforward. Not necessarily…

Screenshot of http://www.birminghamal.gov.

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Posted in technology, The First 100

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UPDATED – The First 100: SEC seeks to question Birmingham mayor

Posted on December 17, 2007 | Leave a comment

UPDATE: 12.17.2007, 8:45 p.m., Bloomberg News’ updated post has additional information.

There are reports that the Securities and Exchange Commission has asked a federal judge to compel Birmingham mayor Larry Langford to testify as part of a continuing investigation after the mayor testified before the commission last week and did not answer questions, citing “privileges and a ‘right under the United States Constitution” as his reasons.

The official litigation release offers additional information and details.

According to this report filed earlier this afternoon, no comment has been released as of yet from the mayor’s office.

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Posted in Birmingham, The First 100

The First 100: Local bloggers’ thoughts

Posted on December 6, 2007 | Leave a comment

Langford as vote is announced - Photo credit: Bob Farley/f8photo

Mayor Langford immediately after the council vote on Tuesday.

Photo credit: Bob Farley/f8photo

One of the interesting things to do is to take a look at what others are saying about our new mayoral administration so far, particularly about this week’s vote. Here’s just a sampling from around our local blogosphere:

Mayor Langford, Pundit by the Pint

Birmingham’s new dome or doom?, Pt. 1|Pt. 2, Alabama Pundit

BirminghamDome.com (a whole blog apparently focused on the “dome”)

Know of any others?

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Posted in Commentary, The First 100

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The First 100: Notes from the mayor’s report for 12.4.2007

Posted on December 4, 2007 | Leave a comment

A couple of hours before the council approved the business license and sales tax increases, Mayor Langford opened his comments by presenting an XO laptop to those in attendance at the council meeting; he then passed the machine around among the councilors that were present.

Mr. Langford displayed the new laptop and demonstrated the computer to the City Council and those in the audience.

He reported to the council that he has been asked by representatives of the company to be a spokesperson for the effort encouraging other cities to participate in exchange for the city being the first U.S. city to receive the machines. He announced that 15,000 computers will be delivered to the city and that they would be distributed to students in grades K-8 on April 15 at the BJCC, with a special guest in attendance at the event. We won’t know who it is until then, the mayor’s not telling…

The mayor also introduced two ordinances to the council… Continue reading →

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Posted in 35203, politics, The First 100

Random Shots: Sending a message

Posted on December 4, 2007 | 3 comments

Avonwood Cleaners

Photo credit: Chotty via Flickr

Some residents in Forest Park-South Avondale decided that they would ask Birmingham’s new mayor for a favor during the early days of his administration. The old Avonwood Cleaners building has sat vacant for years and has already suffered a fallen in roof and vandalism as mentioned in this story from August. This group simply wants the building taken down, though it the city did say in August that it may take as long as six months to clean up the property before demolition. They decided it was time to make sure that folks remembered that they wanted it down; so up went the sign on December 1…

Now if we could just get that old metal sign on the side of the building for our office…

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Posted in Random Shots, The First 100

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The First 100: The computers in question face challenges

Posted on December 3, 2007 | Leave a comment

While much of the conversation surrounding Mayor Langford’s revitalization plan has been around the ways that he plans to raise the monies to accomplish his goals, another discussion has occurred surrounding the laptops that he would like to have in school system children’s hands when they return from the Christmas holiday.

Last night 60 Minutes re-broadcast this story about the XO Laptop, its creator and the issues surrounding the underlying goal. The rebroadcast has added to the attention given to the computer as they will only be made available to American households until the end of December, and only if you purchase a second computer for a child in a developing country.

You can also check out this NPR podcast from the November 29 edition of Talk of the Nation or the buzz surrounding accusations of patent infringement by the not-for-profit, though it means that the organization’s for profit competitors are benefiting.

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Posted in technology, The First 100

The First 100: Online petitions begun against taxes

Posted on December 3, 2007 | 2 comments

iPetitions screenshot - Tax increase opposition in Alabama

Screenshot from iPetitions for opposition to tax increase.

One of our readers sent us a link yesterday to this online petition for residents against the proposed increases in sales tax and business license fees in Birmingham. It will be interesting to see how many signatures are collected. It’s not the only development from over the weekend as our local newspaper of record decided to share its thoughts on Sunday (and we already told you about the piece in this week’s Birmingham Times).

We’d love to know if there are any more petitions out there either in support or against the proposals. Contact us using any of the methods listed on our contact page.

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Posted in Citywide, politics, The First 100