Author: Virginia Martin
Birmingham Council OKs New Districts Despite Dissent
The Birmingham City Council approved the redrawing of its district boundaries Tuesday to comport with data from the 2020 census, despite some councilors’ misgivings that the move will disenfranchise some voters.
Municipal law requires the redrawing of district lines after each federal census, which happens every 10 years. The goal of the redistricting is to balance the city’s population roughly equally among the nine districts, which each elect representatives to the City Council and school board.
But two councilors objected to the plan. Councilor Darryl O’Quinn said redistricting now basically invalidated the votes of thousands of residents whose districts changed. And Councilor Valerie Abbott objected to major sections of her area being shifted out of her district and other areas being added in. Read more.
Water Board Asks to Change Settlement to Lighten Requirements for Protecting Land Around Lake Purdy, Cahaba River
The Birmingham Water Works Board and Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall are asking a Jefferson County court for permission to change parts of a 2001 settlement agreement requiring conservation easements to be placed on board-owned Cahaba watershed lands.
This request comes just more than a month after the Alabama Supreme Court sided with environmentalist groups in a lawsuit alleging that the board had violated the settlement agreement.
The argument centers on the Cahaba River and Lake Purdy, which is a major source of Birmingham’s drinking water. Not only does development on land close to the bodies of water risk contamination, it also drives up the cost of filtering and cleaning the water, which raises rates.
Last year, the Cahaba Riverkeeper and the Cahaba River Society sued the BWWB, claiming that in the 20 years since the settlement had been reached, the board had never placed any legal conservation easement on its properties surrounding the lake and the river, despite it being a condition of the board’s purchase of the land. The board unsuccessfully tried to get that suit thrown out of court.
Environmentalists say the board’s request to change the agreement directly conflicts with its past claims of compliance. Read more.
States Look to Community Colleges to Fill Labor Gap
Monique Acosta began the month of March as a pre-K classroom assistant in Arizona, with no credential beside her high school degree.
She ended it with a certification in a booming branch of electronics and started applying to entry-level jobs at Boeing.
For four hours a day, over 10 days total, Acosta studied the fine art of stripping, cutting and crimping wire as part of a technical “boot camp” at Mesa Community College outside Phoenix. The program, created in partnership with Boeing and taught by company engineers, aims to rapidly upskill students into jobs that local employers need to fill.
Now — amid a labor shortage that has baffled businesses and slowed the nation’s economic rehabilitation — policymakers, community college administrators and private businesses in several states are fueling new workforce-oriented initiatives, from tuition incentives and paid apprenticeships to boot camps such as the one Acosta completed. Read more.
Grant Awarded for Program to Serve Victims of Violence in Hospital
The Jefferson County Department of Health has given a grant of more than $1.1 million to the Offender Alumni Association to start a Hospital-linked Violence Intervention Program. Read more.
Birmingham Council Sets April 19 Hearing and Vote on New Districts Despite Disenfranchisement Concerns
The Birmingham City Council has set an April 19 public hearing on its proposed redistricting plan, which will likely culminate in a vote despite concerns from some councilors that the timing of the redistricting’s implementation could be interpreted as voter disenfranchisement.
Municipal law requires the city to draw new district lines after each federal census, which happens every 10 years, to make sure that population is roughly balanced among the nine districts, which each elect representatives to the City Council and the school board.
Due to delays caused by COVID, the council didn’t receive the 2020 census results until earlier this year, even though there was an election in fall 2021. Some councilors, such as Councilor Darrell O’Quinn, expressed concerns over the timing of the new map’s implementation. For the changes to be made so early in a four-year term, O’Quinn said, “would essentially nullify (voters’) participation” in the 2021 election. Read more.
New Report Shows Math Proficiency Continues to Lag in Alabama
This week, officials released an update to the annual Kids Count Data Book that measures the well-being of kids in Alabama. Advocates are hopeful spending on children’s healthcare and education recently approved by state lawmakers will improve indicators. Read more.
World Games’ High-Risk Rating by Homeland Security Will Mean Extensive Federal Security Assistance, CEO Tells Jefferson County Commission
Birmingham’s upcoming World Games will get the highest level of security attention from the federal government.
The games has been given a level-one Special Event Assessment Rating by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, a move that designates the games as a high-risk event but that will bring in federal officers to help secure the area.
Nick Sellers, the games’ chief executive officer on Thursday briefed the Jefferson County Commission on the move. The level-one designation is reserved for major events with large crowds, such as the Super Bowl, Kentucky Derby and Indianapolis 500 — usually about six events per year. Read more.
Yours, Mine or Ours? Jeffco Commission Discusses Who Should Get Credit for Distributing Relief Money for Food
The Jefferson County Commission heard Tuesday from entities seeking funds for feeding people adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
But the discussion spilled over to who was getting credit for the federal funds being sought.
Commission President Jimmie Stephens closed the meeting by saying it appears that American Rescue Plan Act funds were being distributed by individual elected officials.
“If we will depoliticize what we do, I think that this commission can move forward as a better unified body,” he said. “It’s the entire commission who votes through majority, through resolution, as actually the donor of those funds. Read more.
Birmingham Council OK’s Plan to Bring Grocery Store to Five Points West
The Birmingham City Council voted Tuesday to approve an incentives package for a new Food Giant supermarket in the city’s Five Points West area.
The store will be located at 2257 Bessemer Road, the former location of a Winn-Dixie store that shut down in 2018 after the chain filed for bankruptcy. In 2020, former NFL player Karlos Dansby announced plans to open a new grocery store in that location, but those plans fizzled ignominiously.
Food Giant, owned by the Albertville-based Mitchell Grocery Corp., will receive $640,000 from the city for property improvement, in particular to divide the existing 50,000-square-foot building into two units; the Food Giant will take up only an estimated 22,000 square feet. Read more.
A Year Into Striking, Alabama Coal Miners Are Frustrated but Defiant as Ever
Coal mines are, unsurprisingly, a tough place to work. They’re dark and dirty and every breath brings in toxic chemicals.
And Brian Kelly wants to be back there.
“I love it,” Kelly said. “It’s paradise to me.”
Kelly fell in love with the mines because of the brotherhood he forged 2,000 feet underground. Over the past year, that bond has been tested. Friday marks one year since Kelly and 900 other coal miners went on strike in Brookwood.
The strikers demand that Warrior Met Coal, the company they’re striking against, restore the pay and benefits miners gave up in 2016 when the mines were in danger of shutting down.
As the months crawled on, the miners stuck with a slogan — “one day longer” — as in, they’re willing to hold out on this strike one day longer than Warrior Met Coal will. But a year without their old paychecks has caused a few workers to cross the picket line. The hundreds that remain still defiantly say “one day longer,” though they admit that it requires deep sacrifice and it’s building resentment. Read more.
