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Services announced for longtime Birmingham radio host Binnie Myles (WVTM)
Services have been announced for Binnie Myles, a longtime Birmingham radio host, public relations professional and civil rights advocate who died Aug. 27 at the age of 81. Myles hosted a weekly community affairs program called Perspective on the Move on WAGG Heaven 610 AM.
Alabama to borrow $200 million to build new Escambia prison (Alabama Reflector)
A state board Thursday agreed to borrow almost $200 million to build a new 4,000 bed prison in Escambia County, a decision that increases the budget for the project from $700 million to $900 million. That’s on top of more than $1.25 billion spent to build another 4,000 bed prison in Elmore County. That state initially had planned to spend $1.3 billion on the two prisons.
Bessemer mayor faces runoff as data center backlash reshapes City Council (AL.com)
It appears Bessemer’s longtime mayor faces a runoff in his bid for reelection and four City Council seats were flipped or will go to a runoff after an election dominated by local backlash to data center plans.
Alabama to get $117M in landmark Meta youth safety settlement (Alabama Daily News)
Alabama will be receiving $117 million of a landmark multistate settlement with tech giant Meta over social media’s harms to teenagers. The social media giant as part of the $17.1 billion multistate agreement must implement sweeping safety measures for children on its Instagram and Facebook platforms. Alabama’s portion can be used for youth online safety initiatives in the state, to be distributed in annual installments over 10 years.
The Grid Has Eyes: How Alabama Power became Flock’s longest-standing middleman (Inside Climate News)
Alabama Power has partnered with more than 80 municipalities across the state to provide subscription-based surveillance services, a result that law enforcement agencies have lauded as a meaningful law enforcement tool. But the relationship between Alabama Power and companies like Flock has raised concerns about how sensitive location data, including the ability to track individuals across time and space, is being collected and shared.
Leadership Birmingham announces class of 2027 (Bham Now)
Leadership Birmingham has named 54 leaders across a range of industries and sectors to its class of 2027, marking the 43rd class since the nonprofit’s founding in 1982. The class will spend the next 10 months together, visiting more than 30 locations across the region learning from experts in education, economic development, government, justice, human services, health and quality of life. The program is designed to deepen leaders’ ties to the city, according to its executive director.
Trying to get away from gas turbines, data centers place their hopes on small modular nuclear reactors (Inside Climate News)
Data center developers and states see small modular nuclear reactors as one of the potential solutions for America’s increasing energy demand due to their smaller sizes and ability to provide steady energy generation. But nuclear energy experts say the main challenge is the timeline for their commercial deployment.
Two small reactor designs have received approval from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for deployment in the U.S. market, but there are not yet any fully deployed commercial SMRs in the country, according to the think tank Third Way.
Developers and government officials across the country are watching as different methods for handling the massive energy demands of hyperscale data centers are tried across the world. The issue is of particular interest in Alabama, where vast swathes of undeveloped rural land are readily available in areas with no zoning and few development regulations.
