Bad news. The Web rumblings became real yesterday when one-time Birmingham mayoral candidate Patrick Cooper threw his hat back in the ring. Thanks a lot, now-convicted ex-mayor Larry Langford. Your love of white-collar crime is going to cost me my Google rank again. But this fight has just begun, and a man named Tom, who appears to know his Birmingham, found me online yesterday and noted the bright side.

Maybe. Folks are searching the Web for Patrick Cooper again, my site reports claim, and that only means one thing: trouble in Alabama. And trouble in Alabama only means one thing: trouble for me. A federal jury has convicted Birmingham Mayor Larry Langford of all 60 conspiracy, bribery, fraud, and money laundering counts he faced. The conviction automatically removed Langford from office and installed an interim.

But there now appear to be searchers and commenters looking for Langford's mayoral runoff opponent and this Patrick Cooper's Google PageRank-nemesis "Patrick Cooper" to return to politics. Cooper has been active this fall in getting out the vote. Let's keep it that way.

Ending a long-running saga: The website for 2007 Birmingham mayoral candidate Patrick Cooper has left the Internet. This blog has regained its place atop Google, Yahoo and MSN searches for "Patrick Cooper."

Yes, this blog has previously reported victory here only to find the win temporary — when I wrote about a whole bunch of Patrick Coopers, I think. But now the ranking has appeared to hold, and the competition has left the Web. As much as I liked hearing from confused Birmingham voters (and amused relatives of the candidate and local bloggers), I'm glad it's over. Jazz musician Patrick Cooper, don't try anything funny.

Birmingham Mayor Larry Langford, the man who beat the Patrick Cooper who has our shared name's No. 1 search ranking, is in trouble. How much trouble? National trouble. "Mr. Langford, 60, was charged in the 101-count indictment with taking over $230,000 in cash, clothing and jewelry in exchange for ensuring that a widely known Alabama investment banker, William B. Blount, took part in lucrative bond deals related to the financing of improvements to Jefferson County's failing sewer system," the NYT says. "Those deals have led the county, which includes Birmingham, to the brink of bankruptcy."

The only mentions of the other Patrick Cooper so far come from Al.com commenters. "Let's hope Patrick Cooper gives it another shot, and a diverse coalition builds to support him," one says.  Here we go again?

But the man who beat him in last year's hotly contested Birmingham mayoral race sure would like to. The New York Times is either intrigued or amused enough to have a piece on the proposal in Sunday's paper.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — In his first year as Birmingham's mayor, Larry P. Langford has proposed a $500 million domed stadium, a $125 million law enforcement complex and a $33 million trolley car network.

But those ideas were dwarfed by Mr. Langford's proclamation this month: He wants the Olympics.

"Why shouldn't Birmingham host the Olympics in 2020?" Mr. Langford, 60, asked in an interview at City Hall, smiling coyly and puffing a menthol cigarette.

The menthol line is weird, given how much coverage the Times has given to the semi-coded race issues around those cigarettes this summer. But the story's a good read overall. Is Langford trying to distract the city? He says no. Where's the Patrick Cooper reaction?

I'd like to announce the official end of the Birmingham mayoral election.

Yes, the legal challenges have been over for months, but I'm talking about the real issue. The search battle, which Amit first raised in October, is done. As of Saturday, Patrickcooper.com is once again Google's No. 1 result for "Patrick Cooper," with quotes or without.

Despite returning to the top, I don't plan to rest on my laurels — as comfortable as those laurels may be. (They're ticklish.) The fall's victorious candidate, SEC-probed Mayor Larry Langford, is still prone to mention his opponent. "According to Langford, the federal investigations into him are the evil machinations of his campaign opponent Patrick Cooper and, of course, the media," Birmingham Weekly's Kyle Whitmire writes this month. "It's all one great conspiracy. I'm still waiting on my black helicopter."

In greater seriousness, I'm also rooting for Birmingham's Terminal. After being kind and amused enough to link to this blog during the election, finances have run rough for the indie's efforts. I'm going to pick up a T-shirt. Please check out the site when you get a chance.

Nevermind on the search results
Update at 6:36 p.m. ET Wednesday: The quest goes on. Continuing his streak here, Amit brought me the bad news. My blogging about Cooper beating Patrick on the baby name list and the included mentions of other Patrick Coopers apparently put me over the top only temporarily.

Or is it?

We have some catch-up work to do in Alabama. In his fight for the Birmingham mayor's office, Patrick Cooper is dropping his legal challenge, "citing the time the litigation would take and a desire to move on to other projects," the Birmingham News reports. This move follows an appeal in the case, which could've received hearing in the Alabama Supreme Court as early as mid-January.

That concludes our coverage day here, I think. Good luck to both of the fall's candidates and to Birmingham. Thanks to The Terminal blog for linking and keeping me updated on the events in its fair city, and thanks to Amit for pushing for coverage. As Cooper spends less time keeping his Google PageRank in shape, we wish the best to the two charitable groups that will receive his future efforts, Birmingham Vision and the Alabama Roadrunners. They're worth my first and only PageRank-affecting link to Cooper's site: You can find details on both groups on this page.

I turn now to "Patrick Cooper Jazz" … now beating me on Yahoo.

Continuing coverage of the other Patrick Cooper.

An Alabama judge denied Patrick Cooper's election challenge in Birmingham this afternoon. The judge ruled winner Larry Langford had established residency in the city before the election and could legally serve as mayor.

But in a statement afterward, Cooper didn't rule out another battle. "Many have encouraged me to appeal this ruling to the Alabama Supreme Court, but I have yet to make a decision to do so," he said.

The other Patrick Cooper remained atop Google this evening.

Birmingham lawyer Patrick Cooper remains atop the "Patrick Cooper" Google results, so my coverage of his mayoral battle continues. This week we add courtroom drama to the mix.

If you'll recall, Cooper filed paper last month to disqualify election victor Larry Langford for residency reasons. That dispute arrived before a judge this week. The Birmingham News had details.

A Jefferson County judge heard four hours of debate Wednesday about where Larry Langford really lives, but did not rule on whether Langford will remain Birmingham's mayor or if a new election must be held.

Jefferson County Circuit Judge Allwin Horn conducted the non-jury trial in front of a standing-room-only crowd of about 80 people. He ordered both sides to submit proposed orders by 10:30 a.m. Monday, but gave no timetable for his ruling.

…

Langford, who was sworn in Tuesday, spent his first full morning as mayor in a courtroom explaining why he should be allowed to serve a full four-year term.

The arguments ran deep on both sides. The News mentioned a back-and-forth over Langford's NFL satellite TV package. NBC 13's reporting also went into the personal nature of the debate.

Cooper, who seemed at times to be representing himself with whispers and calls for information on a computer screen, even propped up a former campaign volunteer who told a judge he rarely saw Langford's car outside his north Birmingham loft, and talked with Cooper about going to ask Fairfield neighbors if Langford stayed at that home more often. Langford and his lawyers seemed furious, after Cooper's previous public statements that he did not know whether a campaign worker had made visits to Langford's neighbors, or watched his house to see living arrangements.

Defense lawyers got the man to admit he did not know Langford used an indoor parking garage at his loft, making the testimony about Langford's car-parking habits seem hardly useful.

The next steps: The Monday filings, then wait for a decision.

Previously:
-October 31: Can't forget about Birmingham
-October 21: Candidate Patrick Cooper lawyers up
-October 16: Patrick Cooper's campaign, Google lead still not over
-October 10: Patrick Cooper loses election bid, probably
-October 1: Patrick Cooper, the candidate

As candidate Patrick Cooper challenges the residency of mayor-elect Larry Langford, the court date remains set for November 14. Langford takes office the day prior. I still have zero real stake in the race.

Thanks to Birmingham Terminal for writing about this blog ("The other Patrick Cooper"), and thanks to candidate Patrick Cooper's cousin for e-mailing to say he was enjoying the posts.

What's the latest? We're in a bit of coverage break before the court session. But Birmingham News columnist has a piece guessing what candy the various city players may be giving out this Halloween.

Start with Mayor-elect Larry Langford, because he is the easiest. He'd pass out 5th Avenue bars, because he might be able to claim them as a downtown home address. He'd offer 100 Grand bars because, heck, that's what he does. He'd pass out Paydays and Now and Laters, or a combination of both, for all those bond dealers: Pay Me Now and Later.

…

Second-place mayoral candidate and election-challenger Patrick Cooper can give Bit-O-Honey. Like that stuff stuck in your teeth, he just won't go away. His supporters who keep on calling? Almond Joy, I guess. Or Mounds. Sometimes they seem like nuts, but sometimes they don't.

Read the rest. This Patrick Cooper is out of candy. Happy Halloween!