Senator says money was offered for vote

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Senator says money
was offered for vote
Bingo lobbyist rejects claim
By CHARLES J. DEAN
News staff writer
Alabama Sen. Paul Sanford
says that, shortly before he was
elected last year, a lobbyist representing electronic bingo interests offered him $250,000 if
he would commit to voting yes
on a bingo bill.
Sanford identified that lobbyist as Jarrod Massey, whose clients include the Country Crossing electronic bingo casino in
Dothan.
Meanwhile, a second state
senator told The Birmingham
News on Monday that Massey
offered him a “substantial”
campaign contribution in return for a yes vote on “any
bingo bill” that came before the
Senate in the current legislative
session, which began in January. The senator said he consid-
Time capsule
to open
LOCAL | Section C
ered the offer by Massey to be a
“bribe.”
Massey’s lawyers in a
statement Monday said the allegations were “completely
without basis in fact and solely
an attempt to scare our legislators from voting on the bingo
bill.”
See E-BINGO
Page 10A
Bryant-Denny video scoreboard coming to Legion Field
AP
Former Birmingham Mayor Larry
Langford will report Wednesday to
either this federal prison camp or a
low-security prison in Ashland, Ky.
Langford
to begin
transition
to prison
Former mayor starts his
15-year sentence Wednesday
By ERIN STOCK
News staff writer
NEWS FILE/MICHELLE WILLIAMS
Birmingham officials say Legion Field will be the new home of the old video scoreboard from Bryant Denny Stadium. The
board is being replaced with newer models during $80 million in renovations to the Tuscaloosa stadium’s south endzone,
shown here behind coach Nick Saban during the 2007 A-Day scrimmage.
Stadium will get more Tide history
By JOSEPH D. BRYANT
News staff writer
A piece of Crimson Tide history is getting a new home at Legion Field.
After years of tallying points of powerhouse SEC football matchups for hundreds of thousands of fans, the old video
scoreboard at Bryant-Denny Stadium is
heading to Birmingham. The board is being replaced with newer models during
$80 million in renovations to the Tuscaloosa stadium, and the city of Birmingham
was awarded the bid for the retired equipment.
The City Council today will vote on paying $30,000 for the scoreboard. The board
See SCOREBOARD
Page 7A
See LANGFORD
CAMPAIGN 2010
Families
will be able
to stay with
injured vets
Most hopefuls
in GOP districts
reject bankruptcy
By JEFF HANSEN
County’s fate in
hands of winners
News staff writer
Since 2006, about 800 military
service members have gone
through Lakeshore Foundation’s
Lima Foxtrot program, learning to
be active and independent through
recreation or sport — despite
blindness, amputation, paralysis or
other severe injury.
But one thing has been missing:
the close participation of their families. Service members stayed in a
dorm on Lakeshore’s Homewood
campus, with room for only one
friend or relative.
On Monday, ground was broken
to fill that gap — construction of
two cottages and four duplexes
where families can stay for longer,
more intensive and individualized
visits.
is set to be transported to Birmingham
later this month.
The Tide scoreboard will replace Legion
Field’s 20-year-old scoreboard — which
does not have a video screen — at the
north end of the stadium, said Kenneth M.
Blackledge, Legion Field’s stadium
When Larry Langford reports to prison
Wednesday, he will leave a decades-long
political career for a federally-issued uniform, a schedule that dictates his
m ov e m e n ts , a n d a c o d e o f c o n d u c t th a t
prohibits one of his favorite pastimes —
smoking.
The f o rmer Bi r mi ng ham mayor is one night
aw a y f r o m b e g i n n i n g a
1 5 -y e a r s e n t e n c e a t t h e
Federal Correctional Institution Ashland in
Larry Langford
northeast Kentucky.
Langford, 64, was con- INSIDE
victed in October on 60
counts that include brib- y Some prison
rules / 10A
ery, fraud, money launderin g an d c o ns p irac y
tied to his time on the Jefferson County
Commission. Langford, who took an estimated $235,000 in bribes, was ordered to
p a y $1 19 , 9 85 i n b ac k ta x e s a n d fo rf e i t
$241,843. He has appealed his conviction.
Langford, known to have a taste for designer clothing and expensive watches, will
c h a n g e i n to p r i s o n -i s s u e k h ak i - c ol o r e d
NEWS STAFF/BEVERLY TAYLOR
W.D. Foster of Alabaster, left,
and Dr. Leah Hagedorn of
Norfolk, Va., observe the
groundbreaking ceremony
Monday at Lakeshore
Foundation in Homewood.
“One thing we have learned,”
said Lakeshore President Jeff Underwood, “is that inclusion and
involvement of families are key to
the success of the program.”
The hilltop residential area will
include a flagpole, an outdoor
See LAKESHORE
Page 10A
By BARNETT WRIGHT
News staff writer
Bankruptcy is not a viable option to most candidates seeking to replace
two Jefferson County commissioners who have favored bankruptcy to solve
the county’s sewer debt crisis.
If those candidates win,
it could almost guarantee a
negotiated settlement between the county and creditors over the $3.2 billion
sewer debt.
A record 34 people are
running for the commission in the June 1 primary
election, including for seats
now held by current GOP
Commissioners Bobby
Humphryes and Jim Carns,
both of whom have said
they favor a Chapter 9
See COMMISSION
Page 7A
INSIDE
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