Satan continues to lurk in the corridors of City Hall, this time as a link connecting Birmingham to the global sex trade. At the April 19 City Council meeting, morality crusaders expressed dismay that the city would consider opening a topless bar in an industrial and historic district directly across from Sloss Furnaces.

Known as The Furnace, the club is an imposing structure that has been advertising and selling memberships before receiving the necessary permits to open. The Furnace has been in the planning stages since 1999, when the previous City Council denied a Division II dance permit. The club sued over that decision in January 2000 and an agreement was reached to resolve the lawsuit. However, a battle with the state Alcohol Beverage Control Board has delayed the opening. In November 2004, Councilor Carole Smitherman spoke in favor of The Furnace and its tax benefit to the city. (The Council approved the club’s liquor license in May 2004.) But by April, Smitherman had changed her mind and voted with the majority to deny the club a dance permit by a six to three vote. Councilors Roderick Royal, Bert Miller, and Elias Hendricks voted in favor of the club.

The rhetoric of moral and economic zealots was as fascinating as the car wash drama in the council chambers two weeks previous when a license for that business was denied. “I am a recovering sexual addict myself!” admitted Paul Hughes, a ministry veteran of 23 years who works for Intervarsity Christian Fellowship, a campus ministry with an office a few blocks north of The Furnace. Hughes said that he has observed “my peers dealing with issues of sexual addiction and the ‘tsunami’ of social cost that the multi-billion-dollar pornography industry celebrates and profits from in terms of what it’s costing our men, our women, in relationships, in marriages, [and] the destruction of these marriages.” Hughes continued: “I’m made of the same cloth as those who will be satisfied in their desires by these men who are for this. I’m saying that there is a global sex industry that you do not want to say ‘yes’ to in the heart of Birmingham, right between the national historic site of Sloss Furnace [sic] and the Hope VI project!” Hughes finished with a flourish: “They want to be the flagship and put a very pretty face on a very destructive force in our city, with their billboards along every major highway . . . if we continue to say ‘yes’ to sex trade that is global, it won’t only affect young men in Birmingham but also young women in Romania and Eastern Europe, who right now are being imported through Mexico City, pimped and prostituted and then imported into Atlanta, New Orleans, to be a part of the auxiliary illegal sex trade.”

Steve Upton, owner of Crane Works at 2728 8th Avenue North, represented the economic interest that seemed to more effectively instill fear in the hearts of city officials; he threatened to pull his business out of Birmingham. Speaking on behalf of a real estate company that he owns as well as Crane Works, Upton said, “As far as statistics go, Crane Works today is already spending $250,000 in property taxes, payroll taxes, sales tax license, and business license,” said Upton. “And that’s in a business that’s only been growing for six years. If things turn for the worse, we could pack our bags and leave the city.” Ironically, the mammoth Crane Works building was erected directly across the street from an adult book store.

Mark Polson, who identified himself as a defense attorney who has practiced law for 30 years and has represented women employed at other strip clubs in town, said that what the exotic dancers share in common are prostitution and drug addiction. “What do you think goes on in those private rooms?” Polson asked the Council, noting that prostitution is how these women pay for their addictions.

Several women addressed the Council next, quoting scripture. One said she had solicited opinions from surrounding businesses refuting information she had received that the majority in the area were in favor of the club. “My friend and I just didn’t believe that,” she said. “We spent three days going around the industrial park. We talked to at least 20 businesses—huge businesses. Most said, ‘We wish it would fall into the ground.’ And I’m going to say ‘an ugly,’ that it is a whorehouse and a drug place. And we don’t like looking at the naked ladies that are painted on the corners of the building.” She added, “It’s an industrial area and should not be a red-light district.”

“First and foremost, this is not against the law,” argued Councilor Elias Hendricks. “It was not against the law when the people initially invested their money, and it’s not against the law now . . . If you have a problem with this, then make it against the law before people [invest] their money.” Hendricks, who lives in the area, has indicated that the neighborhood approves of the establishment. “We are getting ready to have people invest $180 million in an entertainment complex,” Hendricks said. “We cannot, if it’s within the confines of the law, start picking and choosing. If you don’t like Thai food, don’t go to a Thai restaurant. But that doesn’t mean that the Thai restaurant should not exist, if it’s well within the law.” Councilor Roderick Royal added, “We are treading on a slippery slope here because we’ve not so inquired about other applicants as much as we’ve done here, in previous forums.” City Attorney Tamara Johnson disputed Royal’s claim.

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The ABC Board earlier denied the club a liquor license due to concerns about private dance rooms as well as problems with the names on the application. Circuit Court Judge Scott Vowell ordered the state agency to rehear the club’s application. The ABC board had maintained that the owner, Gregory Jackson, failed to include the names of others with a financial interest in the establishment. Jackson’s brother, who reportedly had a drug conviction in 2002, was not listed as one of the owners of the business, although he was reportedly involved in the business. Vowell told Jackson to identify everyone with a financial stake in the business. Furnace attorney Ferris Ritchey maintained that the correct names were disclosed and that no one was trying to hide anything. In early March the ABC Board recommended that the owner be granted a liquor license.

“The fact [is] that the transfer of property was made specifically in order to take someone else’s name off of this application after it had already initially been filed,” complained Councilor Joel Montgomery. The councilor said dance floors are to be a minimum of 15 square feet and permanent in nature, but that he had not been able to confirm that the dance floors are in compliance with city code. “I am not going to ignore the business owners around this establishment,” Montgomery added. “I am not going to ignore their wishes . . . They were here before you got here. I do not appreciate the way that this establishment came into the city of Birmingham, posting billboards up all over the interstates, all over the bypasses, saying that you were going to build it before you had even applied for a liquor license or a Division II dance permit.”

Mayor Bernard Kincaid urged the Council to vote against the dance permit, though he acknowledged that the business could operate without exotic dancing, although it might not be as profitable for the city tax-wise. “There is no absolute right to this license,” said Kincaid. “It might not be as profitable, but it would fit with the terrain that the Council and the Mayor are responsible for protecting.”

Attorney Ferris Ritchey, who has requested nearly a dozen delays from the Council as The Furnace battled with the state ABC Board for a liquor permit, pointed out that there are currently five similar strip club businesses in the city. “[The] only thing is that The Furnace will be much nicer, much more secure,” Ritchey said. He added that cameras will monitor club activity. The attorney said The Furnace would provide between $150,000 and $200,000 in taxes for the city and would employ up to 100 people. The attorney said he would appeal the Council’s rejection to the Jefferson County Circuit Court.

On Friday, April 29, Judge Houston Brown ruled that the city should abide by the 2000 agreement with the club and grant The Furnace a dance permit. As of press time, the city had not decided if it would appeal. &

On February 22 the Birmingham City Council passed a resolution in support of a 65,000-seat domed convention complex and adjoining entertainment district development in downtown Birmingham. In January, Governor Bob Riley decided against pledging either $75 million up front or $5 million yearly for 30 years as requested by the BJCC authority, but did promise to seek other ways that the state might contribute to the facility expansion. Jefferson County currently gives $10 million a year to the BJCC (and will do so through 2008), and has pledged to continue for an additional 35 years if the city and state are on board. Birmingham currently gives $5 million [$3 million from occupational taxes and $2 million from lodging taxes]. The BJCC wants an additional $5 million from the city for 30 years, but the city has not secured a source for the money.

At the February 22 meeting, Councilor Valerie Abbott said that uncertainty about where the money is going to come from, as well as doubt about the city’s current financial state, gives her pause regarding the BJCC expansion. “It’s like driving down the interstate in a pouring rain toward Malfunction Junction, and your windshield wipers don’t work,” said the councilor, adding that consultant reports indicate that most conventions are failures and lose money. Councilor Carole Smitherman pointed out that people have shown a willingness to support local events, with many flocking from out of town for top concert acts. “Alicia Keys, sold out!” said Smitherman. “People from all over want to come see Alicia Keys. She passed up going to Nashville, Tennessee, to come to Birmingham, Alabama!”

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Kincaid said the resolution is intended to send a good faith message to the state that the city is very much committed to the expansion project, as Governor Bob Riley has indicated that the state still wants to help. “We have it from the Governor’s lips,” Kincaid said repeatedly when Councilor Joel Montgomery kept asking if the governor has put the pledge in writing. “When we talk about a domed stadium, it is as if we’re talking about a sports venue. It is not; it is an expansion of the exhibit space with retractable seats that has a dome over it,” explained the Mayor. He stressed it will be used primarily for trade shows and conventions, and he even feels that Birmingham can snatch the SEC football championship game from the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. “Cities of comparable size [bringing in] trade shows and conventions are eating our lunch,” Kincaid told the council.

Councilors Elias Hendricks and Bert Miller complained about naysayers. “Some people are against progress in Birmingham if it doesn’t agree with how they perceive and define progress, no matter what we do,” said Hendricks, who asked those with a better idea for development and creating jobs to step up to the plate. “Why do we always make it so difficult to give business to Birmingham?” asked Hendricks. “You cannot build jobs the day you need them. You have to do that five to ten years in advance.” Councilor Miller said that he intended to support the resolution. “I think part of the misconception is, it’s not a domed stadium. That’s probably got a lot of people rattled. It’s a convention center,” explained Miller. “But every city you go in, you’re going to have ‘cave people.’ What ‘cave’ stands for is ‘citizens against virtually everything! I’m gonna have a wrestling match, as soon as it’s built, between two people on this dais. I think it will sell out then!” said Miller, laughing, presumably referring to himself and Councilor Joel Montgomery, who opposes the project. He added that the expanded facility will “make a lot of millionaires in this city, particularly a lot of black millionaires.”

Calling Miller’s diatribe about “cave people” a personal attack, Joel Montgomery later responded, “Citizens against virtually everything? Well, if I remember correctly, these same people are going to hold you accountable when it comes time to be re-elected because those ‘citizens against virtually everything’ went to the polls in 1998 and voted MAPS down [MAPS won in Birmingham, but lost on a county-wide basis].” Miller replied, “Brother, I ain’t scared of nothing.” Montgomery voted no, while Abbott was not in the room at the time the vote was taken. The remaining seven councilors voted approval.

In a press conference following the council meeting, Kincaid said he was not surprised that some councilors were not on board. “No, I think the ones who aren’t going to vote for it, no matter how sanguine it is for the city, aren’t going to vote for it notwithstanding what I present. And some have said in advance that they are adamantly opposed to the notion, period,” said Kincaid. “A majority of the council, however, a super majority, obviously, will be in favor and will support our funding the enterprise.” Complaining that none has been shown him, Kincaid said that he needs to look at a preliminary offering statement [POS] that details “how the deal is to be structured.”

The Mayor said all he has received regarding proposed investors “was some peoples’ thoughts on a plain piece of paper. We’re going to want their financial advisor, their attorneys, to certify the money that’s going to be on the table.” Kincaid said, “Once we understand that, and once we see a POS that shows how the funding will take place, then I can feel comfortable saying to the council, let’s go . . . But what we have said and telegraphed to the world is that, as a city, we are inclined toward supporting this if the numbers work.”

Kincaid is waiting to see how the Alabama Supreme Court will rule in March on a lawsuit the city won in circuit court against the BJCC after the state legislature passed a law converting taxes to fees. The state’s action allowed the BJCC to keep tax collected at events there by designating the taxes as fees. The tax receipts otherwise would go to the city and county. The BJCC has appealed the circuit court ruling to the Alabama Supreme Court Circuit. The outcome of that case will shape the preliminary offering statement, said Kincaid. In an interview a week later, Kincaid expressed fear that the city would have another Visionland on its hands [The city was forced to give a five-year notice to get out of its deal with Visionland at a cost of $1 million a year]. The Mayor said the expanded convention center proposal must be sound legally and financially, and added that he was optimistic that the state would eventually be on board financially. &

Etcetera

Jorge Guinle

This once filthy-rich playboy bragged that he had slept with Jayne Mansfield, Lana Turner, Rita Hayworth, Jane Russell, Veronica Lake, and Kim Novak. Jorge Guinle dropped dead at age 88 at the Copacabana Palace Hotel in Rio De Janeiro after refusing surgery to remove an aneurism in his aorta. “The secret of living well is to die without a cent in your pocket,” Guinle once said, adding, “But I miscalculated, and the money ran out.” Indeed it did. Guinle, who was pals with Ronald Reagan, Errol Flynn, and Orson Welles, squandered his wealth and barely got by during his waning years on a government pension and help from friends. —E.R.

	Jorge Guinle (click for larger version)

Joyce Jillson

Famous for her nationally syndicated astrology column in newspapers across the country, Joyce Jillson (58) is best remembered as Nancy Reagan’s astrologer (as reported in a memoir by former Reagan chief of staff Donald Regan). Jillson insisted that it was she who advised Reagan campaign aides to choose George H.W. Bush as Reagan’s running mate in 1980 and claimed to have spent much time at the White House following the assassination attempt on the president in 1981. She was also the official astrologer for 20th Century Fox, advising the studio on the best opening days for films. Her resumé, however, went much deeper than astrology; Jillson played Jill Smith Rossi on the 1960s television series “Peyton Place.” —E.R.

Yang Huanyi

There once was a centuries-old rare script called Nushu that was used by women to communicate secretly with one another in the southern Hunan Provence of China. Yang Huanyi was believed to be the last woman to employ the Nushu code, known both as “witches’ script” and “the first language of women’s liberation.” In early Chinese history, the penalty for creating languages was death, but centuries later, after the invention of words was no longer deemed a capital crime, practitioners were still required to take an oath not to reveal the code to men. Common wedding gifts in Chinese history included booklets filled with Nushu writings that detailed deeply held anxieties by Chinese women that marriage was a tragic event. —E.R.

Joseph F. Cullman

As the chief spokesman for the tobacco industry, Joseph F. Cullman (92) led Philip Morris through the “cigarette wars” as the corporation battled Congress over legislation that forced warning labels on cigarette packs. He testified before Congress with a lit cigarette in his mouth and made the statement, “I do not believe that cigarettes are hazardous to one’s health,” on the program “Face the Nation.” When told that evidence suggested that smoking mothers give birth to smaller babies, Cullman replied, “Some women would prefer having smaller babies.” Cullman smoked almost his entire life, finally quitting a decade before his death. —E.R.

Frank Sanache

Frank Sanache (86) was the last of the eight “code talkers” employed by the U.S. during World War II to use their native tongue as code on walkie-talkies. Sanache was from the Meskwaki Indian tribe, one of 18 tribes that contributed to code talking, which was classified until 1968. He was captured while serving in North Africa and held prisoner for 28 months. —E.R.

Charles Sweeney

Pilot of the B-29 Superfortress known as Bockscar that dropped the atomic bomb on Nagasaki, forcing Japanese surrender, Charles Sweeney (84) returned to the city only weeks after he had decimated it. He said he felt neither pride nor remorse for what his duty had called him to do. The bomb dropped on Nagasaki was plutonium and was more powerful than the uranium bomb dropped on Hiroshima by the crew of the Enola Gay. —E.R.

Olive Osmond

Alan, Wayne, Merrill, Jay, and Donny—not to mention Jimmy and Marie—were only part of the amazing clan spawned by Olive Osmond’s ovaries. Osmond (79) passed away with nine children, 55 grandchildren, 22 great-grandchildren, and lots of money. —J.R.T.

Pat Tillman

A millionaire professional football player with the Arizona Cardinals, Pat Tillman abandoned stardom to join the Army’s elite special forces to fight against terrorism in Afghanistan after the September 11 attacks on the United States. Tillman eschewed a $3.6 million contract for an $18,000 yearly military salary. He was killed in a firefight at age 27. Tragically, it was later reported by the Washington Post that Tillman had been killed by American troops who did not identify their targets as they shot their way out of an ambush. —E.R.

	Pat Tillman (click for larger version)

Harry Lampert

Harry Lampert (88) was the original illustrator who created DC Comics’ wing-footed superhero The Flash in 1940, two years after the appearance of Superman. With a lightning bolt emblazoned across the chest of his red uniform, The Flash’s winged shoes and helmet evoked the Greek god Hermes. Despite the Flash’s success, Lampert preferred to draw humorous material, which is perhaps why he was replaced as The Flash illustrator after only two issues. His gag cartoons appeared in Esquire and The Saturday Evening Post, among others. Lampert began his illustration career as a teen, inking Popeye and Betty Boop for famed illustrator Max Fleischer. Lampert later regretted not hanging onto his early Flash drawings after achieving recognition during a comics revival in the 1990s. A near-mint copy of Flash Comics No. 1 recently sold for $350,000. —E.R.

Syd Hoff

Many people probably spent decades thinking that Syd Hoff (91) was already dead. After all, plenty of generations have already been handed Danny and the Dinosaur as a classic children’s book. The writer and cartoonist was still living in Miami, though, and nobody heard about his death without going through a fit of nostalgia. —J.R.T.

Also Dead

Musician John Balance (42), founder of the band Coil and former member of 23 Skidoo, Psychic TV, Zos Kia, and Current 93; Buffalo Springfield bassist Bruce Palmer (58); Singer Laura Branigan (“Gloria”); Broadway composer Cy Coleman (75); Motown singer Syreeta Wright (58); reggae producer Clement ‘Sir Coxsone’ Dodd (72); rapper Ol’ Dirty Bastard, aka Russell Jones (35); musician Kevin Coyne (60); Blues singer-guitarist Son Seals (62); Guitarist and violinist Claude (Fiddler) Williams (96); Former Pantera guitarist “Dimebag” Darrel Abbott (38); Gilbert Lani Kauhi (66), who played “Hawaii Five-0″‘s Detective Kono Kalakaua, the burly Hawaiian sidekick to the show’s star, Jack Lord; Character actor Victor Argo (69); Comedian and actor Dayton Allen (85), the voice of the characters on the “Deputy Dawg” cartoon show as well as those of mischievous cartoon crows Heckle and Jeckle; Norman Rose, the voice of Colombian coffee mascot Juan Valdez; Comedian Alan King (76); Stage actress and dancer Ann Miller (81); Actress Uta Hagen (84); New Zealand author Janet Frame (79), whose memoirs were the source material for Jane Campion’s film An Angel at My Table; Rape of Nanking author Iris Chang (36), suicide; Last Exit to Brooklyn author Hubert Selby, Jr., (75); philosopher and literary critic Jacques Derrida (74), sometimes called the “father of deconstruction; football player Reggie White; Leonidas da Silva (90), Brazil’s first superstar of professional soccer, credited with inventing the bicycle kick; Los Angeles Rams’ football player Elroy “Crazy Legs” Hirsch (80), known for his unique running style; fashion designers Geoffrey Beene (77) and Egon Von Furstenberg (57); photographers Henri Cartier-Bresson (95) and Francesco Scavullo (81); MAD magazine illustrator George Woodbridge (75); Drug store magnate Jack Eckerd (91).