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Alabama Scene
In 1963 when four little girls were killed by a bomb at the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, one of them was his daughter. McNair had every reason to be bitter, to be angry, but if he was it never showed. To know Chris, as I did, was to like him and respect him. A few years later McNair ran and was elected to the Alabama Legislature where he served with distinction. He was easy to pick out in the House chamber…by profession McNair was a photographer, and he always had several cameras strapped around his neck. In 1986 McNair was elected to the Jefferson County Commission and it was there where his troubles began. A decade later he oversaw the $3 billion overhaul of the county's sewer system, a mammoth project that had potential scandal written all over it. McNair was indicted and convicted a year ago of conspiracy and bribery charges relating to the sewer project, and last week the 81-yearold McNair, rather than go through another trial, entered a plea of guilty to another charge of conspiracy to commit bribery. He admitted to taking $140,000 in bribes from a contractor. McNair could get up to five years in prison on this latest charge and ten years on the other but I find myself hoping that at his age…and his exemplary career before the love of money got the best of him…that the federal judge will be lenient. **** Kenny Stabler, the former Alabama and NFLfootball great, has agreed to sell his home on Ono Island near Orange Beach to pay off federal income tax debts which exceed $500,000. The federal government has charged that Stabler owes more than $241,000 in back taxes, interest and fees, and that the Stabler Company…of which he is the sole owner…owes a fraction over $300,000 in taxes, interest and fees. **** Long before most of you were born the U. S. Navy's recruiting posters urged young men to "join the Navy and see the world." What with all the junkets they take, the same slogan might be used to entice folks to run for the Alabama Legislature. The lawmakers do take some nice trips. Early this month a half-dozen lawmakers jetted to New Delhi, India where they participated in the opening of the Alabama-India Trade Development Center. The delegation was led by Agriculture Commissioner Ron Sparks. Lawmakers who made the trip included Sens. Vivian Figures, D-Mobile; Roger Bedford, DRussellville; Pat Lindsey, D-Butler; Ted Little, D-Auburn; Hank Sanders, D-Selma and Rep. Richard Lindsey, D-Centre. **** Being the sports fan I am, I am compelled to give a send-off in this column to Eddie Feigner, who died last week in Huntsville. Most of you probably never heard of this man but if I mentioned "The King and His Court" some of you would know who I am talking about. Feigner was a softball pitcher like no one has ever seen. He toured the country for decades taking on and beating the best teams anyone could put together. And he did it with a catcher, a first baseman, a shortstop and himself. That's right, a fourman team. He didn't need fielders behind him because it was so rare when any of the opposing batters hit the ball. On one memorable afternoon in 1964 at Dodger Stadium…on national television…Feigner struck out, in order, Willie Mayes, Willie McCovey, Maury Wills, Harmon Killebrew, Roberto Clemente and Brooks Robinson. There are a few Hall of Famers in that batting order. The 81-year-old Feigner had lived in Huntsville for the past five years. **** He was probably one of the least known members of the Alabama Legislature but former Sen. Charles Langford of Montgomery, who died last week, but surely he was one of the most respected. Langford served almost three decades in the House and Senate after being a major player in the early years of the Civil Rights movement in Montgomery.
The highest compliment paid Langford by his senate colleagues: "His word was his bond…he stayed hitched."
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