Author: Virginia Martin
This Swampy Paradise is Alabama’s Winter Haven for Sandhill Cranes
As many as 25,000 sandhill cranes migrate to Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge every winter, along with a handful of highly endangered whooping cranes. Read more.
Pay Raises, Recreation Areas Provided Under Woodfin’s Budget Surplus Plan
The Birmingham City Council voted Tuesday to unanimously approve Mayor Randall Woodfin’s plans for spending the city’s $81 million budget surplus, with money allocated to a cost-of-living adjustment for city employees, capital improvement for parks and libraries, and funding for a new amphitheater in the city’s Uptown entertainment district. Read more.
Sometimes You Shouldn’t Stay Out of the Story
In late December, a reporter for the Bend (Oregon) Bulletin who was assigned to report on dangerously cold weather wrote a first-person account of his decision to summon help for a shivering woman living in a tent. He feared she might not survive the night. Compassionate and heroic, is it not?
Apparently not, because he got torn to shreds on Twitter – so much so that the next day he posted that he was taking a break from the “unrelenting hatred” on the platform.
Jefferson County Drug Overdose Deaths Hit New Peak in 2022
Drug overdose deaths topped gun and vehicle-related deaths investigated last year by the Jefferson County Coroner’s Office. Read more.
Birmingham Schools Get More Than $600K From Scales’ County Account
JeffCo Funding for BSC Would Be ‘Very Difficult,’ Commission President Says
Jimmie Stephens said Tuesday that it is very difficult to give public dollars to a private institution.
The Jefferson County Commission president was asked by media after Tuesday’s committee meeting whether there was any update on Jefferson County possibly allotting funds to help Birmingham-Southern College, the private liberal arts college in Birmingham’s Bush Hills Neighborhood.
“Our position hasn’t changed,” he said. “The county has not considered that and I don’t know that they have any plans to.
“I can say at this time, based on our past pattern and practices, that it is very difficult to give public dollars to a private institution,” Stephens said. “If that were to happen, it would be something that we’ve never done before.” Read more.
Birmingham Council Looks to Reduce Crime With Statistical Analysis
The Birmingham City Council has approved a partnership with the nonprofit Aspen Institute to gather and analyze a wide variety of data about the city’s 99 neighborhoods.
The project, named the Birmingham/Aspen Justice and Governance Partnership, is intended to reduce crime by gathering and analyzing hyperlocal statistics — for example, the number of traffic stops or emergency room admissions in a given neighborhood. This information would be made publicly available and could be used by lawmakers to inform policy. Read more.
What a Difference a Year Makes, but COVID’s Still Around
One year ago, Alabama was in the throes of the COVID-19 pandemic.
At the state’s peak, on Jan 21, 2022, the 7-day average of new COVID cases per day was 12,918, according to the New York Times’ COVID tracker.
The year before, in February, 2021, deaths hit their high with an average of 147 Alabamians a day succumbing to the disease.
This week, as of Wednesday, Jan. 18, the 7-day average of new cases per day statewide was 963, and the daily average of deaths was 3.1 on Thursday.
Despite the steep drop, health officials have urged people to remain vigilant, keep up with their vaccinations and mask if their community is at risk of COVID or if they are at heightened risk from the virus. Read more.
Moody Landfill Fire Now a Federal Affair as EPA Is Called in to Extinguish Nuisance
The landfill fire in Moody is now a federal affair. At the request of the Alabama Department of Environmental Management, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will lead the effort to put out the underground fire at a privately operated vegetative waste disposal site near Moody in St. Clair County, the agency said in a press release Wednesday. Read more.
Birmingham-Southern President Says He’ll Do Everything Possible to Keep the College Open
Birmingham-Southern College, a private institution, is asking the state to help bail it out after financial troubles. School President Daniel Coleman shared with WBHM what he sees as the path ahead for the college. Read more.
