The Boost: Yesterday's JeffCo bankruptcy deal could be a milestone ...

The Boost is a daily guide to news, living, and entertainment in Birmingham and in Alabama. Here's your boost for Wednesday, June 5, 2013.

Yesterday was a milestone day for JeffCo: Yesterday, Jefferson County and its major creditors came to an agreement five years in the making that could lead the county out of its $4.23 billion bankruptcy - the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history.

The deal, which must be approved by a federal bankruptcy judge and other creditors, includes a concession by JPMorgan of $842 million on the $1.2 billion the bank loaned JeffCo - a significant cut in JeffCo's sewer debt that University of Alabama finance professor Robert Brooks suggested was "extremely generous."

"I wonder if perhaps there is a reason for their generosity other than they are really nice people," Brooks said. "Obviously, you don't give up that kind of money unless you believe that your firm has inflicted harm on Jefferson County."

In all, creditors are cutting JeffCo's sewer debt from about $3.078 billion to $1.835 billion, Barnett Wright reports.

JPMorgan and JeffCo's creditors are not the only ones who will see an impact from the agreement - sewer ratepayers in Jefferson County will as well. To finance the repayment of the sewer debt, Jefferson County Commissioners agreed to increases in sewer rates of 7.41 percent a year for four years, and no more than 3.49 percent a year after that. However, that's a considerably smaller increase than 25 percent-a-year increase the sewer system receiver proposed at one time.

If the deal is approved, then perhaps JeffCo can begin winding down a timeline that started in earnest in 1996, when Jefferson County was ordered to rebuild and repair its overburdened sewer system, and came to a head in 2008 when vulnerable interest-rate swaps used to finance JeffCo's sewer construction debt took a dive along with the national economy.

AL.com reporter Barnett Wright explains how the deal was reached:

Fill your head with this knowledge:

Jefferson County reaches a deal to exit the largest Chapter 9 bankruptcy in U.S. history

Barnett Wright, county beat reporter for eight years, explains yesterday's deal

Kyle Whitmire speaks with financial analysts and experts about the deal, and JeffCo's return to the bond market to finance its repayment

A timeline, from 1998 through 2013, of Jefferson County's bankruptcy

Deal puts Jefferson County on path to exit record-setting bankruptcy

What Jeffco's deal to end bankruptcy means for residents

In photos above: Parents, their children, and their families gathered last night in Avondale Park for the free Movies at Avondale Park showing of "Up". Mark Almond has the photos.

This day in history: In 1856, Rufus Rhodes, the founder of the Birmingham News, was born in Mississippi, according to BhamWiki.

Robert F. Kennedy was shot by Sirhan Sirhan on this day in 1968. He died the next day.

In 1977, the Apple II went on sale.

What to do in Birmingham today: Catch "Must Come Down," a play by Birmingham's own Billy Ray Brewton, at the Dorothy Jemison Day Theater. According to AL.com intern Jared Downing, the play "tells the story of a nerdy high school student who questions his sexual identity when he falls for the captain of the football team." It's Pride week, and the show is a fundraiser for PFLAG and Equality Alabama. Tickets are $25, and the show begins at 7 p.m. More information here.

If you don't want to come down for "Must Come Down," head up the mountain for Some Dark Holler and Bonnie Whitmore at Moonlight on the Mountain. Admission is $12, show is at 7:30 p.m.

You might also consider Dax Riggs at Bottletree (9 p.m.; $12).

Don't miss: Shadrack McGill says wife's Facebook post result of strippers coming to house, Facebook hacks from last campaign

Traffic and weather: Traffic Mike has your traffic report. Weather-wise, we could see some rain this afternoon, and a high in the mid-80s. Here's your complete forecast.

The numbers game: $750 million.

That's how much development we could see at the site of the Trinity Medical Center on U.S. 280, on site of the planned HealthSouth "digital" hospital.

Watch this: A very, very short documentary on the Internet Archive, which is a really fantastic site. One fascinating thing: In one server room, they pump cold air through the servers to cool them, then collect the hot air and use it to heat the building - efficiency!

Internet Archive from Deepspeed media on Vimeo.

Hat tip to mental_floss blog.

The Boost is curated five days a week by Madison Underwood. Send tips, comments, suggestions, and insults to munderwood@al.com.

Source: http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2013/06/the_boost_yesterdays_jeffco_ba.html

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