It moves!

The state grand jury investigating dealings surrounding the Birmingham Water Works Board and other aspects of city and county government has a new lease on life.

Judge Joseph Boohaker, who last month said he'd cancel the grand jury if it was not making progress, met with prosecutors and says he has been assured the investigation is weighty and moving forward.

And all of Birmingham said ... whew.

All, that is, but those who have reason to want it dead, who like being fat cats in a yard without a dog.

Boohaker said he met last week with Deputy Attorney General Matt Hart, who leads the AG's corruption unit and asked for the grand jury last fall.

The grand jury will "absolutely" continue, Boohaker said. "It is a heavy document case, but it's making progress. I said whatever I can do I will certainly do."

Did I mention that Birmingham is sick and tired of corruption? Again?

It is.

The very notion that a probe of the water works and other agencies could go off the rails before it reaches the station roused people to a frenzy and made them fear the worst.

Boohaker said he discussed the length of the grand jury with Hart, and determined it has no time limit. He would like to hear a progress report next year, but said he expects it to take a while, given the number of documents and witnesses subpoenaed.

"I think he's got more than one somebody in mind," Boohaker said.

One would hope.

Prosecutor Matt Hart. Not, actually, after his meeting with Boohaker. (From a kind reader)

The grand jury, which began in October, has already indicted elected Jefferson County DA Charles Todd Henderson on perjury charges. Henderson is awaiting trial and was unable, because of the charges, to take office (although he's still cashing the paycheck).

Water Works Board Chair Sherry Lewis was called to testify before the grand jury earlier this year, as were others from across Birmingham's Government-Industrial Complex. David Merrida, associate director of the Birmingham Construction Industry Authority, was called to testify, and so was mayoral candidate Chris Woods, who in November accused Merrida and the BCIA of demanding pay for play.

The grand jury is secret, so we can't know what goes on inside. We can just draw conclusions from who goes in and who - when we can find out - gets a subpoena.

Boohaker did provide a little insight into that. I asked if he had been pressured by defense lawyers to put a deadline on the grand jury in the first place, but he vigorously disabused me of that notion.

He said the only lawyer he'd talked to was Tommy Spina, who represents Water Works engineering firm Arcadis. Boohaker said Spina was wondering if Arcadis had to comply with a state subpoena to produce documents when he had already been asked to do the same by a federal grand jury, which is looking at some of the same matters.

Spina wasn't comfortable with that characterization of the conversation. He said he knows his client has to comply, but was asking Boohaker - since Jefferson County Circuit Judge Virginia Vinson actually oversees this grand jury - what judge he should see if he came to have questions about the document subpoena.

The issues were resolved, and Arcadis is complying with the subpoenas, he said.

But the conversation lets us know the state is probing some of the same issues being looked at in the federal courts. It's not that unusual. They do look at different crimes.

Hart declined to comment, saying "we don't talk about ongoing grand jury matters."

But Birmingham gets to breathe a sigh of relief. At least somebody's looking.

Now, if they'd just get a couple of somebodies before the election...