Bessemer Crime

I know that crime happens everywhere. I have a friend who lives in one of the communities of North Shelby county whose home was broken in to, and there have been cars stolen or broken in to at the malls of Hoover. But when crime occurs in your own neighborhood it is more than just a statistic.

My neighbor that was almost hit by the speeding vehicle on the wrong side of the road the other day now has had his car stolen from right in front of his house between 1 and 3 Saturday morning.

The car is a cream colored 1984 Olsmobile Delta 88, 4dr with VIN# 1G3AN69YXEX387804 and tag # AS64421. It was last seen, by a witness that night, turning left into one of the housing projects on Dartmouth Avenue.

He left a comment on Disregard of the Law in Bessemer but I am reprinting it here.


I live on Dartmouth and think this is a major issue! My car was stolen Saturday Morning, the window was broken out of our truck and radio stolen less than a month ago and I am the guy who was almost hit by the car! I also think it would be a good idea to install speed breakers evey 500 feet on the Avenues. The streets all have stop signs where they intersect the Avenues, therefore speeding is not really an issue except maybe on 19th street. If you slow these people down they will find a faster way to get where they are going. It will also impeed the big truck traffic! Hopefully they will find the faster way is by following the railroad tracks through the brickyard intersection and then down Carolina Ave to Hwy 150! Decreasing traffic also decreases crime.................IMO!

Speed, noise, litter, theft is becoming a way of life on Dartmouth Avenue. It's hard to be a community promoter who tries to convince people to move into historic Bessemer to help our city recover, when all around us the thugs and hoodlums are contolling the streets.

We were told last week that police patrols would increase. I worked outside almost all day Friday and most of Saturday, and did not see one police car. Are they afraid to come into the area or what? Maybe we will get some answers tonight at the Bessemer Neighborhood Association meeting (7 PM at New Grace Covenant Assembly of God, 830 Briarwood Drive, Bessemer, Al 35020). See you there.

Disregard of the Law in Bessemer, and The Out 50

At the risk of being accused of trying to make everything gay on this blog and in Bessemer (not that it would be a bad thing) by a certain news editor, I offer the following.

Out Magazine has named their 50 most influential Gay Men and Women in America. Guess who is number 1? Barney Frank, the highest ranking elected official (Representative from Mass)? Nope. It's Ellen DeGeneres. Well, she is certainly a fave around here. And while Barney might have some power in congress, he has to fight against a president that vetoes anything substantially progressive, while Ellen reaches millions every day. Barney is number 2.

Strange but true, number three is Anderson Cooper. He was number 2 last year...and he won't even acknowledge he's gay. Nothing wrong with that, but to consistently be ranked so high, you might think there would be a denial if he wasn't. "America's boyfriend," that's what they called him recently when he had the skin cancer removed. As such, and remaining neutral, he can be seen as the "boyfriend" of all of America, male and female. Uh, huh.

Others you may not expect. Jodie Foster, at number 13, is another entertainer who is not comfortably out. That's OK, because everybody...I mean everybody, knows.

Nate Berkus, of Oprah fame, at number 21. Suze Orman number 24. See the rest of the list right here.

In Bessemer, especially on the Southside, there has been an increase in disregard for the law. Speeders, running stop signs, especially along Dartmouth Raceway...uh, Avenue. One neighbor almost had his kids and himself killed yesterday by someone flying down the wrong side of the street.

In addition, stereos are blaring as if there has never been mention of a noise ordinance. And smoking has occured at The Stadium Grill on occasion since the ordinance against smoking passed.

So what is the deal. We are supposed to get increased police patrols but what they really need to do is hide on 19th street and 16th or 17th street and watch. Maybe someone from the police department will be at the upcoming Bessemer Neighborhood Association meeting, which is Monday night (7:00) at New Grace Covenant Assembly of God Church on Briarwood Drive in Bessemer. They could address all of these issues.

And speaking of Dartmouth Avenue, I posed this question last year, and here it is again.

Why can’t the city designate a “truck route” coming from Lipscomb on Dartmouth Avenue, at Carolina Terrace, to Carolina Avenue, all the way to 14th Street or Highway 150?

On this map, where the star is, is the intersection of Carolina Terrace and Dartmouth. (Don’t follow the “brown” line…that was on there when I copied the map. Coming from the Libscomb direction, turn right at the star, continue on to Carolina Avenue, turn left, and go about 4 or 5 blocks to 14th Street (Highway 150).





Doing this would keep those noisy and dangerous trucks off of the residential street Dartmouth Avenue, and send them down the mainly commercial street Carolina. Bus routes would not have to change, and of course emergency vehicles and fire trucks would still use Dartmouth. Earl, are you listening? This is your street. And it is OK to inconvenience truck drivers just a little to increase the quality of life of residents.

Early in the morning, before the buses start running, big trucks come rumbling down Dartmouth. Some day I am going to get out there to identify them, but it's not like you have a lot of time. I mean it's not as if they stop for the red light or anything.

Who lives on Dartmouth? Who thinks this would be a good idea. In my spare time, I might circulate a petition along the street for this.

Protests in San Fran

I am 100% behind the protests being waged as the Olympic torch travels around the world. Here is video of the Golden Gate Bridge incident. I do have questions like..how did these guys get around the security and all to do this. This report says it took them 45 minutes to unfurl the banners.

Tibet is only one of the many reasons to protest against China. Let's see, human trafficking, lead paint on toys, dangerous chemicals in prescription meds and toothpaste, exploitation of workforce, baby killing, Tiananmen Square.

I walked across the GG Bridge once, and I felt a little nervous just looking over the edge. I can't imagine climbing and doing this. I get nervous on a ladder hanging Christmas lights.

About 80 people will carry the torch while it is in San Fran, and one is HIV positive gay Navy Veteran John Caldera. Here is a report.

In this report, the news reporter actually talks by cell phone to one of the protesters, Laurel Sutherlin, as Laurel hangs on the bridge with a flag. No hands, as one is holding the phone and the other is waving to the camera at the request of the reporter to confirm that is who she is talking with.





Now I don't really support boycotting the Olympics. Let the event proceed, but hold protests every day is what I say.



I promised flower pictures so here they are. Sorry it has taken so long. I no longer have use of my laptop, so blogging is not as convenient, nor is editing pictures, but soon I will get a new laptop (notebook I guess is the preferred term these days).



Dogwoods have been in bloom for the last two weeks, but still hanging in there, in spite of all the stormy weather.

Wisteria Lane...not quite, but close.


Irises are continuing to open, different varieties open at different times.

Don Siegelman on 60 Minutes

Scott Pelley interviewed Don Siegelman two days after his release from prison.

Here Scott Pelley answers questions about the story. Unfortunately, you have to listen to a Sprint advertisement first. Siegelman was still in prison when this took place. These videos from CBS embed sort of strange, hope they work.




From Sunday, April 6, 60 Minutes Show, here Siegelman affirms that he did not make a deal with Scrushy.




Here Elmer Harris confrims that there was not bribe (where was he when we needed him?)



Here Siegelman discusses the future. Politics is not in his future, Karl Rove...mission accomplished.



I can only hope that Karl Rove and several others involved in this are obliged to enjoy prison in a worse way than Don Siegelman did.

Thomas Beatie...revisited

By far, and I mean really far, this post on Thomas Beatie has brought more visitors to Bessemer Opinions than any previous post. I track those kinds of things, when I have time. Not more comments than other posts, but more visitors. And from countries, literally, around the world. Lots of interest in the story.

There have been some interesting comments, and I am going to copy one of them here, and my response which I also posted as a comment.

A reader had this to say:

I am a heterosexual woman with VERY liberal views on the LGBT community. But this situation is where I draw the line. There is no miracle about Thomas's ability to carry a child she's a woman - that's what we do! Thomas needs to see shrink, she wants to identify as a man but have the rights of a women! WTF?? Stop being greedy either you are or your not. Thomas is trying to play God - defy nature what he is doing is mocking the cycle of life. SHAME ON THEM!!

And here is my response:

I remember in 1978 when Louise Brown was an embryo in a test tube and the news of her successful implantation into the uterus of her natural mother took place. I remember the same types of comments, that Steptoe and the other doctors involved were playing God. Of course, Lesley Brown was the natural parent, so there are differences. No wait, Thomas is the natural parent also. And his baby was not concieved in a test tube, outside of the body.

Now in vitro fertilization is commonplace, and no one, well almost no one, thinks anything of it, except maybe questioning the multiple births that usually take place with these techniques. But is it playing God when we use a woman as a breeding machine to produce a litter? Is that mocking the human cycle of life, and mocking God? After all, the human uterus is not designed to carry 4 or 5 fetuses, yet the fertility Gods..docs...deem it so.

Also common are surrogate pregnancies where a woman carries the fetus of another woman and has the baby and then just gives it up. Is that healthy for the woman (the surrogate)or the baby? Is that playing God?

When Sarah (Sarai) couldn't bear Abraham's (Abram's) child he tried that surragacy thing, sort of, with Hagar. Who was playing God there?

Of couse they had that whole incest, who's your daddy thing going on with Sarah and Abraham having the same father (oh, really?) and rumors about Abimelech being the daddy of Isaac.So unusual pregnancies and relationships did not begin with Thomas Beatie, and they won't end there.

Oh, the flower pictures will have to wait till later in the weekend..

Cheyenne Jackson

Now I really want to see Xanadu. Cheyenne stars as the leading man... struggling artist Sonny Malone in the Olivia Newton John remembrance. He's part Native American and 100% handsome. He spoke about his gayness in The Advocate and his story, of coming out to his family at 19, of getting turned on by Popeye and Brutus bondage at 7, and of being in a loving and understanding relationship for 9 years is nothing but sweet and uplifting.

Of course he went through what we all do, whether we come out at 7 or 19 or 40, but of particular merit is the importance that celebrity or well known role models hold for young gay people. One teenager asked for a picture, and later clutched it as he told his parents he was gay "because it gave him strength." He even loaned the picture to a friend a couple of weeks later when he coming out.

I might even watch the Tony's this year...well, if he's nominated.

At least click on the link and read the first of the article. What he says about Popeye will crack you up.

I probably won't make it to New York to see Xanadu, but I did see this on Thanksgiving Day and did leave the oven unattended for a few minutes:



Here is Cheyenne's web site Cheyenne Jackson

My other connection (yeah right, like that was one) to Xanadu is:

In Xanadu did Kubla Kahn
A stately pleasure-dome decree :
Where Alph, the sacred river, ran
Through caverns measureless to man
Down to a sunless sea.
So twice five miles of fertile ground
With walls and towers were girdled round :
And there were gardens bright with sinuous rills,
Where blossomed many an incense-bearing tree ;
And here were forests ancient as the hills,
Enfoldingsunny spots of greenery.

The link takes you to the entire poem. I wrote a term paper in high school about Samuel Taylor Coleridge's drug use and how it influenced his poetry.

Nice pictures (of flowers and such) are due Friday.

Bessemer Development and Bessemer Beauty (and Beyond)

Thanks to Carole for this tip.

The Birmingham Business Journal lists the top business deals of the year and U. S. Pipe's expansion in Bessemer is number two. From Bessemer Opinions May 9, 2007, "Building permits and fees alone will generate $450,000 for the city on the $45 million project. Ray Torok, company president, says, “This is a statement of commitment by U. S. Pipe to the Bessemer Community. No one is going to wake up one morning and worry that U. S. Pipe is leaving Bessemer, and in this day and age, that is no small gift.” Neither is the $116 million total annual economic impact that U. S. Pipe, with its current plant and the new one will generate for the city once it opens."

I am still waiting for more information, but there is supposed to be some degree of green in this development, not the $$$ kind, but rather the environmentally friendly kind. That was my main interest in this story from the beginning. Environmentally friendly economic development of this sort will really help Bessemer in the eyes of the yuppies and guppies that are helping to Bring Bessemer Back.

Number three on the list is Colonial's Tannehill Promenade development. Publix, Target, Ross, J. C. Penney, Premiere 14 Cinema, and probably Logan's, Chik-fil-A and Habenero's are among the businesses soon to open, some as early as this summer.

This development will bring more of the $$$ green to the city. Of course, the city "invested" $14.5 million to the development, including a much debated gift of a cool million to secure the theater, so it will take a while before we recoup our investment.

Another Bessemer development on the list (number 8)is Equity Development Corporation's construction of a 127,500 square foot spec building at its Parkwest Corporate Center. This was phase three of their project.

To have 3 of the top 12 deals of 2007 speaks well of Bessemer. Where it's happenin:





Bessemer also has some of the most colorful gardens in the county. Without fail, Lady Banks Rose is the earliest to bloom. Ours is yellow, but there is a white form available also.

Tulips are still blooming, this white one has a bright yellow center, and must have been planted by Dr. McElroy years ago. Some tulips seem to be pretty good about coming back year after year, other do not.



Orange and pink don't always go together, but tell this monarch butterfly who couldn't resist this azalea blossom.



The following pictures are from the farm in Morgan County. These are peach blossoms.



Sometimes the tiniest flowers are the most beautiful. Simple, common, and walked over by almost everyone who has a yard, are the tiny bluets. Bluets are also called Quaker Ladies. One of my favorite "weeds" since childhood.



Speaking of weeds, even the lawn pesk dandelion is realy beautiful, and in a pasture at sunset, the seed head looks like this.

This is a little pond as sunset approaches. Part of the poperty is in the wetlands program to preserve habitat.

The farm pictures were taken Easter weekend, the others this week in our yard in Bessemer.