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Local Government With Kyle Whitmire
Magic City Marketplace
John Archibald
Robert Bentley
Vestavia Hills: Library in the Forest
Hotel Tax Dispute
Oil Spill and Hair Sausages
Anne Frank and Me
Jefferson County Commission Runoff
On the Line: Ask the Mayor
Midwives in Alabama
The Future of the Jefferson County Commission
New EPA Sulfur Dioxide Rules
Alabama Gubernatorial Primary 2010
Alabama and the Oil Spill: Seafood Safety
Alabama and the Oil Spill: One Family's Story
Bike to Work
The ASO plays Carnegie Hall
Alabama and the Oil Spill: Hurricane Season
Alabama and the Oil Spill: Tourism Takes a Hit
Sleepy Mamas
Alabama and the Oil Spill: Protecting the Beaches
On The Line: Fixing 280
US 280: Tolling
the B-52s
The Oil Spill & Alabama
An Alternative Plan For 280
US 280: The Environmental Perspective
US 280: The BBA's View
News Features Archive

90.3 WBHM Birmingham-- Facebook, Twitter and blogs are abuzz today with news of a showdown between Birmingham Mayor Larry Langford and local tavern owner Jerry Hartley. Langford and Hartley verbally sparred at Wednesday's meeting of the Five Points South Merchants Association. Hartley tells WBHM's Andrew Yeager the confrontation erupted during a conversation about regional cooperation to address the problem of "brain drain."

Listen to the interview

The mayor's office did not return repeated calls for an interview. Langford did tell the Birmingham News that he had no intention of fighting and that he was simply defending the city's reputation.

One side note to this story. Hartley is active in Free the Hops, an organization pushing legislation to raise the state limit on alcohol content in beer. Last year, Free the Hops boycotted Birmingham Budweiser -- the distributor where Larry Langford is director of public relations. Hartley says that issue had nothing to do with his comments to the mayor.

~ Andrew Yeager, May 14, 2009.

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