Cahaba Lily Season Draws Crowds, Inspires Conservation Efforts
Alabama is thought to be home to the world's largest population of the rare flower, which is only in bloom a few more weeks. Read more.
Virginia Martin
COVID by the Numbers
COVID-19 has had a lasting impact on Alabama in the 38 months since the first case was reported in the state. One in three Alabamians have had the virus, and 21,138 Alabamians have died with it, according to numbers from the Alabama Department of Public Health. Just this year, 251 people in the state have died with COVID, illustrating that, while the “emergency” is over, the virus is still out there. Globally, COVID has killed almost 7 million people so far. Read more.
New Biography Examines King as a Person Over the Myth
Writer Jonathan Eig’s new biography of Martin Luther King Junior draws on thousands of pages of new documents and audio recordings to paint an intimate portrait of the civil rights leader. Read more.
With Increased Revenue, Woodfin’s Budget Proposal Targets Neighborhoods, Youth, Pay Raises and Transportation
Mayor Randall Woodfin revealed his proposed budget for the 2024 fiscal year on Tuesday, highlighting its “laser focus commitment” on neighborhood revitalization and youth support services. The proposed $554.8 million budget is significantly larger than last year’s $522.3 million budget, thanks in part to projected increases in business tax revenue (up $12.3 million from last year) and property tax revenue (up $2.8 million). But Woodfin’s proposed budget reflects few differences in priority from the previous year. Read more.
Field of Streams: Reconnecting the Alabama and Cahaba Rivers Would Restore Ecosystem Lost to Dams
Dams were built across the United States from the 1920s to the 1960s with the hope they would change economies and do great things for people all over the U.S. But there was an unintended consequence in many places, including Alabama. “Looking back with hindsight, if they were going to build a dam below the Cahaba River, they should have accounted for maintaining the connection of the ecosystem, but they didn't,” said Mitch Reid, director of The Nature Conservancy in Alabama. “We're trying to make it right now.” The plan from the U.S. Corps of Engineers that would build a system of canals to reconnect the Cahaba and Alabama rivers and allow fish to make their way along the river system down to the Mobile area. Read more.
To Improve Birth Outcomes for Uninsured Moms, Birmingham is Training More Doulas
The city of Birmingham has teamed up with BirthWell Partners’ community doula project to sponsor 32 trainees to work in underserved communities. Read more.
Let’s End Live TV Coverage of Politicians Talking
When the audience for CNN’s live “Town Hall” laughed at Donald Trump’s ridiculing of a proven sexual assault victim, do you think CNN’s president was pondering how many alienated Fox News viewers he would capture, or maybe how happy a conservative billionaire on CNN’s board would be? I doubt he was doing what he should have been doing: Vomiting. Wednesday night’s live event manufactured by CNN was predictably disastrous. Even some CNN employees anonymously acknowledged the shame the cable network had brought upon itself. Trump discharged his familiar lies endlessly despite the commendable but essentially ineffective efforts of moderator Kaitlin Collins, a UA journalism grad with a track record of aggressive questioning of Trump. CNN had to know what it was going to get from Trump. Either it didn’t care or foolishly thought it had a way to mitigate. Read more.
Whoa Nelly!: Plans for a Special Election to Fill Commission Seat Won’t Be Made Until After the End of May
It’s tempting to put the cart before the horse when it comes to determining a successor to District 5 Jefferson County Commissioner Steve Ammons.
But prospective voters will have to hold their horses before learning the specifics of the special election that will take place this summer.
Probate Judge James P. Naftel II said the process begins when there is actually an opening. Ammons gave his notice of resignation May 5 to become CEO for the Birmingham Business Alliance. His resignation is effective May 31, so the clock starts then. Read more.
Ammons Resigns from Jeffco Commission, Will Head Birmingham Business Alliance
Ammons Says It Wasn’t His Day Despite the News of His Resigning to Become BBA CEO
Bham Kicks in $1.3M to Build Restaurant in Downtown Parking Deck
A Birmingham restaurant will receive $1.3 million in city incentives to renovate part of a downtown parking deck into a 5,760-square-foot eatery. Yo’ Mama’s, a counter-serve restaurant that has operated on Second Avenue South since 2014, will take over the ground floor of the city-owned Birmingham Parking Authority Deck 3, at 2098 Fourth Avenue North. The deck was initially constructed in 1976 and expanded in 2009, but that expansion left an incomplete, street-level retail space that the Birmingham Parking Authority unsuccessfully attempted to lease out over the subsequent 14 years. Read more.
Tuberville Defends Hold on Defense Nominations, Says Pentagon Wrong to Screen Out White Nationalists
U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville defends his hold on DOD nominations and speaks about his bill to ban transgender athletes from competing in women’s sports and his objections to what he says are attempts by the Pentagon to screen out white nationalists. Read more.