Who carries their birth certificate on them while riding their bike at 2:40am?

A man told police he was kidnapped, forced to strip, robbed, and beaten Friday in southwest Birmingham.

The 25-year-old man told police he was riding his bicycle in an alley of the 1700 block of Pearson Avenue at 2:40 a.m. Friday when a vehicle, with three men he didn’t know inside, drove up, according to a police report.

One man pointed a handgun at him. The backseat passenger got out of the vehicle and jammed a gun into his side. He was then blind folded and forced into the backseat where he was made to remove his clothes.

The man was beaten as he was taken to another location. His Alabama identification card, Social Security card, and birth certificate were taken, according to the report.

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Hat tip: MGM

A Birmingham man angry at his girlfriend fired 15 rounds at her Monday night.

Stephen Gafford, 43, missed but some of the bullets hit too close for comfort.

Investigators recovered seven .22-caliber projectiles from the lining of the woman’s purse, said Jefferson County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Randy Christian.

The victim, whose name wasn’t released, went to the sheriff’s Forestdale substation to report the assault. She told authorities she and her boyfriend got into an argument about him smoking crack.

He began punching her in the face, and then opened fire with a rifle. Her purse was slung over her shoulder when it was peppered with the seven shots.

She got away and went to the substation.

Gafford is charged with attempted murder and unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia. He is being held in the county jail on $26,000 bond.

“To get shot at 15 times in itself is unnerving to even think about,” Christian said. “For her purse to take seven rounds while she had it over her shoulder and none of them hit her is almost a miracle.”

Seriously Chief Deputy Randy…It was a miracle that he even hit the purse.

Former Birmingham Mayor Larry Langford will be sentenced this morning in federal court for accepting bribes during his time on the Jefferson County Commission.

This marks the end of the road for the Escalade.

A fitting tribute to what has happened. Just a short distance from the former Mayor’s home in Fairfield is a modified work sign.

The best of Larry Langford in photos.

Photo by lamin8


Photo by Jonathan Purvis

Photo by Birmingham Public Library (AL)

And my personal favorite…Larry captured playing the video games

Jesus Christ was called for jury duty this week in Jefferson County.

Court officials were skeptical at first when on Monday a potential juror submitted a name change form with “Jesus Christ” on it. But the 59-year-old Birmingham woman, who previously went by Dorothy Lola Killingworth, assured the presiding judge that was her name.

“It raised eyebrows, so I asked her if that were truly her name,” Circuit Court Judge Scott Vowell (pictured right) said. “She assured me that it was. She had her name changed in the Probate Court, and she presented her driver’s license.”

Christ was sent to Judge Clyde Jones’s courtroom for a criminal case. She was excused because she was disruptive, court officials said. Instead of answering questions, she was asking them, a court employee in Jones’s office said.

Efforts to reach Christ today were unsuccessful.

Court administrator Sandra Turner said she and others in the jury assembly room were somewhat shocked at first when the woman insisted Christ was her name. And when her name was called, several potential jurors laughed out loud.

Unlike some Jefferson County residents, Christ did not try to get out of jury duty, Turner said.

“She was perfectly happy to serve,” said Turner.

Harry “Traveling Shoes” Turner is one of 14 candidates running for Birmingham’s mayor. He is a minister. A clown. A chaplain for the police department. And he works for the postal service. He has been preaching since he was 12, when he accidentally shot his foot with his mom’s gun.

If elected, Harry has pledged to remove the mayor’s chair in the city council chamber and stand up for the first city council meeting to demonstrate that he is standing up for the people. I’m not sure if Harry knows that some of these council meetings last for many, many hours.

Harry also is extremely concerned about the 20 million budget deficit. He said you can’t drive 20 blocks without needing a wheel alignment. You can’t take the trash out without stray dogs chasing you back in the house. Every 5 blocks, a city bus breaks down.

With 14 candidates running for mayor, it’s hard for Festville to examine all of them. The election is December 8th and a likely runoff will be held January 19th. Vote for Harry.

The now famous attempted beatdown of NBC 13’s John Paepcke by former Birmingham Mayor Larry Langford.

Greater Mount Carmel Baptist Church, Birmingham, AL

http://cfc.abc3340.com/videoondemand.cfm?id=46828

The Birmingham News is reporting that Birmingham Board of Education District 6 seat candidate, Antwon Womack, lied about his biography. On his campaign facebook page, Antwon claims he is 23 years old, but the News reports that his is only 21.

He also claims that he graduated from West End High School in 2005 and received a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Alabama A&M in 2009. The News again disputes this saying he dropped out of Wenonah High School on Feb. 22, 2004, as a freshman.

“I’m currently in Fairfield, but that’s not permanent,” he said Monday evening. “It’s just until I get myself back up and going.”

Womack said he likely will drop out of the race “because when people read this, there’s no way I can win.”

“This is really going to hurt my political career, period,” Womack said. “It’s going to ruin my relationship with key people, like Carole Smitherman,” the City Council president.

I love how he drags the city council president into this.

On his personal facebook page, he is listed as Bishop Antwon Womack. On his campaign website, the Bishop claims he is a graduate of Brevard Community College in North Carolina.

Strangely, one of Bishop Womack’s campaign promises is that he will work to decrease the Birmingham Drop out Rate by offering alternative solutions to at risk students.

Womack says the incumbent Mr. Maye want even hold a community forum or town hall meeting to get interactive with District 6, because he can’t face the truth. Oh, the irony.