Glenn Stephens

Birmingham Promise Approved by City Council

The Birmingham City Council today took a big step toward fulfilling the promise of Birmingham Promise by funding apprenticeships and scholarships for students of Birmingham city high schools. By unanimous consent, council members authorized the mayor to execute a project agreement between the city and Birmingham Promise in which Birmingham Promise will administer a program to, among other things, increase postsecondary opportunities and economic prosperity of graduates of Birmingham schools. The city will provide $10 million during the next five years – $2 million per year – subject to extension in accordance with the terms of the agreement. Students must be enrolled in city schools now in order to qualify for the apprenticeships. Read more.

by Solomon Crenshaw Jr.

The New York Times Keeps Making People Mad

It must be frustrating for The New York Times to do such exceptional journalism (for instance, here and here) and then to get beaten up mercilessly on social media because of its handling of a routine story. It’s a reminder that, of course, there’s really no such thing as a routine story, especially if you live in the middle of a political maelstrom, as the Times does every day. The Times is catching some heat for its headlining and framing of a Wednesday story about contact between the Ukraine whistleblower and Congressman Adam Schiff. Some supporters of President Trump, who likely would have done this no matter how the story was presented, are distorting the article as evidence of collusion between the whistleblower and Schiff. This unfairness aside, there’s no question the Times is having a real bad run lately. It has gotten justified public criticism for several things. Read more.

by Tom Arenberg

Ammons Fails in Move for More Discussion of Jeffco Budget

Commissioner Steve Ammons took one last shot Thusday at conducting more discussion concerning adjustments to the recently passed the budget for fiscal year 2020. Ammons moved that the resolution approving amendments to the budget be set aside from the other 51 resolutions for separate consideration. Commissioner Lashunda Scales offered a counter motion that all of the resolutions be considered as presented. The counter motion was passed on a 3-2 vote with Scales, Sheila Tyson and Joe Knight voting in favor; Ammons and Commission President Jimmie Stephens voted no. Speaking later, Ammons repeated his concern that budget adjustments are coming a very short time after the budget was adopted in early August. Read more.

by Solomon Crenshaw Jr.

Pouncey Gets Sendoff From JefCoEd

The meeting room was filled with Jefferson County Schools officials and administrators, plus mayors and other dignitaries, even maintenance workers, to see off Superintendent Craig Pouncey on his last day in office. But perhaps none stood out more than Larry Lee — and it wasn’t just because of his brightly-colored Hawaiian shirt, liberally sprinkled with Auburn University logos. Lee, a well-known public education advocate and outspoken blogger from Montgomery, was in attendance Thursday morning to give his best wishes to his friend, who is leaving to take over the presidency of Coastal Alabama Community College in Bay Minette. “Craig, I didn’t know so many people were coming to make sure you got gone!” Lee joked. “Y’all had a good man here for five years, and I wish the state could have taken him away from you, and I’ve written about that…. God knows we need some leadership in Montgomery, where we ain’t got none.” Read more.

by Robert Carter

Birmingham Board of Education Approves $313 Million School Budget

The Birmingham Board of Education has approved a $313 million budget that will fund salary increases, security enhancements and maintenance projects. The board voted 8-1 Tuesday in favor of the budget for the fiscal year that beings Oct. 1. Daagye Hendricks, who represents District 4, cast the lone vote against the spending plan. She said she felt there were too many unanswered questions and not enough information. The budget includes several salary increases: a state-mandated 4 percent raise to all BCS staff, including teachers, that the Alabama Legislature approvedin May; step salary increases; a 5% raise for custodians, bus drivers, child-nutrition workers and managers; and a raise from $8.25 an hour to $9 an hour for substitute teachers. Read more.

by Cheryl Slocum

Birmingham Public Library’s Central Building to Close Monday for New Staircase

The Birmingham Public Library’s central building will close Monday as construction begins on a long-awaited staircase. “I think we can all agree that today has been a long time coming,” Mayor Randall Woodfin said Tuesday during a press conference, drawing laughter from a crowd comprised mostly of BPL staffers and board members. “I thank each and every one of you for your patience. It’s been overwhelmingly tested.” The stairs will replace a pair of escalators that extend from the building’s lobby to the fourth floor. Both escalators have been defunct -- and roped off to prevent injuries -- since December 2014. Read more.

by Sam Prickett

JefCoEd Superintendent Craig Pouncey Resigns to Take Community College Presidency

Dr. Craig Pouncey, who has served as superintendent of the Jefferson County Schools since 2014, is leaving that job to become president of a community college headquartered in Bay Minette. Coastal Alabama Community College, formerly known as Faulkner State Community College, announced the hiring of Pouncey on Wednesday morning. Pouncey was hired to replace Stephen Nowlin, whose contract was bought out in May 2014 after a troubled tenure lasting 16 months. Read more.

by Robert Carter

‘Man Without a Country’ Describes Conditions at Gadsden Detention Center

Awot Negash's troubles with U.S. immigration officials began in 2001 and spiraled two years ago when Immigration and Enforcement officials knocked on his suburban Washington, D.C., home. He eventually wound up in a controversial immigrant detention center in Gadsden. He has been arrested and sent to two centers where immigration officials hold immigrants. He describes the Etowah center in Gadsden as inefficient, unorganized, chaotic and dysfunctional. Read more.

by Virginia MacDonald

Lawyers: Major Changes Happening in How Law Is Applied to Immigrants

Immigration actions in Alabama and Mississippi recently underscore the point: The campaign against undocumented residents is nationwide, not just on the southern U.S. border. That’s no surprise to at least one group in Birmingham – the lawyers who specialize in immigration disputes and have been handling growing caseloads. Local immigration attorneys said that where once individuals would have been released on bond, now they are being sent to detainment centers until their court dates, and it could take months or sometimes years for court dates to be scheduled. Read more.

by Michelle Love

Alabama Site for Detained Immigrants Has History of Abuse Charges, Efforts to Close It

Alabama Site for Detained Immigrants Has History of Abuse Charges, Efforts to Close It

As 2020 rolls in, BirminghamWatch looks back at its biggest stories of 2019, highlighting a different one each day. After immigration officers detained Marcos Baltazar and his son, Juan, in Homewood one morning last week, the two men were in the Etowah County Detention Center in Gadsden by nightfall. Their destination spotlights the Etowah center, a controversial facility adjoining the county jail in Gadsden where federal authorities detain immigrants. The center has drawn critics’ protests and attempts to close it for years, and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement office itself tried to close the facility in 2010. That effort hit a maelstrom of resistance from local political officials and their supporters in Congress. Reports on the center cited deficiencies and violations of federal standards in a number of areas, including crowding, discrimination, retaliation, a lack of adequate mental health care and in many cases no effective medical care, poor food and hygiene at the center and practices that curtailed inmates’ ability to communicate with the outside world. Read more.

by Virginia MacDonald