Abby Good for Gays, and Judge to Visit Love Stuff

It looks like Larry Langford will be mayor of Birmingham. Patrick, I heard many times during my campaign how difficult it is for someone to win their first race, and I found it to be true. But don't tell Howard Bayless, who swamped the competition with 78% of the vote.

As one television pundit said yesterday, Larry has a new idea every day. Let's hope that at least a few of them become reality, better mass transit being one of them.

Congratulations to Larry and Howard.

And congratulations to Jeanne Phillips.

Phillips, aka Dear Abby, is being honored by PFLAG (Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays) for her support of gays and PFLAG will give her their first "Straight for Equality" award. Story
Pauline Phillips, the original Dear Abby, began referring readers to PFLAG in 1984.

Abby says "I'm trying to tell kids if they are gay it's OK to be gay. I've tried to tell families if they have a gay family member to accept them and love them as they always have."

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Jefferson County circuit Judge Robert Vance, Jr, will visit Love Stuff in Hoover tomorrow as part of the non-jury trial which will determine the fate of the store. Story

Hoover asserts the store is an adult only store, and by state law can not be located within 1000 feet of churches, day cares and houses.

Store manager Ross Winner says the store is not "adult only" and that only 25 to 30 % of the store area (and 36 % of inventory) is devoted to the restricted area where sex toys (for medical and educational purposes only) are displayed.

Hoover attorney Mark Boardman says this is purely a zoning issue, not about whether the store can sell the devices.

Winner says he hopes to gross $1.6 million in sales this year. That's a heck of a lot of sales tax that Hoover might run off, but I guess they don't need it.

Oh, and today, two witnesses will testify about the history and medical uses of the vibrator.



The drought has taken a toll, and fall flowers are sparse here anyway, but there are some things blooming. I've put new pictures to the left, but here is one of my favorites. When I first saw this vine about 25 years ago in Tennessee, I was told it was called the "Little Red Flower that Grows on Mary's Mailbox". OK . But they end up everywhere, on feathery vines up to 12 feet long or more, because the seeds spread all over the place.






And the pomegranate trees are loaded this year.