Stay in Hillary, and Signs in Bessemer

Hillary should stay in the race


Barack Obama will be the nominee of the Democrats, I have no doubt. But Hillary's presence in the race, and the discourse between the two candidates brings countless new people into the process in every state when a primary occurs. I can not remember an election in which voters in every state felt as though they were having a say in who the nominee would be.


These new voters might not have seen the light had it not been for the opportunity to make a choice and express it through voting, many of them for the first time. Since the Democrats will need every vote in November to defeat McBush, the primaries should continue. Then, as Hillary has already indicated, we will all come together and support Obama. Kumbaya.


Signs in Bessemer


Sometimes a sign looks like this:

The sign pictured is at the Red Rock Convenience Store located at Arlington Avenue and 19th Street in Bessemer's Historic Southside. That is a business that many in the area would like to see closed down, but there are some in the area who want it to remain open because (as some suspect) it gives them a place to gather and sell their drugs (conveniently). This sign has been in its current position for years, and when I walk to town on the city sidewalk, I have to leave the sidewalk and either walk in the street or walk through the parking lot. I don't think an entity can place a sign across a sidewalk, so I will ask our council person to look in to this.

Across the street is this sign:

In front of this building.

I have written about this historic property before, but that was when I thought the school board would use common sense and sell the property to a nearby developer who was going to restore the building. Then they got greedy, and want to use the property to make money by selling it for more than anyone would pay for it, while it continues to decline at an exponential rate.


Then there is this sign:

and I only include it here because I featured another sign here on this post last year.

Sometimes signs are more subtle, such as a sign that Bessemer might actually be moving forward on issues that have been overlooked for years. Council president Jesse Matthews said "We're going to take some aggressive moves out in the districts," in an interview reported in the Western Tribune.

"He cited problems in the older neighborhoods topping the priority list" according to the paper, including getting rid of old burned out houses and repaving of roads. That's kind of ironic, as we approach the first anniversary of my columns in The Western Tribune. My first column was titled "Three things that Bessemer needs now" and while not in my original list, the column ended with "...let's see...Re-paving streets?"

Where are the streets worse, Bessemer or Birmingham? I drive in both cities every day, and it's close. On Birmingham's southside, 2oth street driving south just past the fountain is about the worst road I drive on. Or there is the railroad crossing in Powderly or the streets I take in West Birmingham on the way to UAB. I don't know, they are all bad, especially when you drive a bouncy little pick up truck.

But in Bessemer, where potholes and crummy repairs are spread all around the city, at least the council president is talking about paving. And improvements in our communities, something we haven't heard from council leadership in years. Let's see if he can follow through.