Virginia Martin

Sewell Kicks Off Tour Promoting Benefits of the Infrastructure Act

U.S. Terri Sewell, D-Selma, visited Birmingham on Friday to tout improvements coming to the state and region under the $1 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The act will fund not only road and bridge work in the state, but it also will pay to provide broadband service statewide and improve water infrastructure in areas where residents do not have access to clean drinking water, according to a press release issued by her office. Read more.

by BirminghamWatch

Omicron Variant Found in West Alabama Resident; State’s COVID-19 Numbers on Increase

Christmastime is here, and now the omicron variant of COVID-19 is as well. The Alabama Department of Public Health announced Thursday that the fast-spreading variant, first reported in November in southern parts of Africa, has been found in a patient in Alabama. The ADPH was vague on details because of federal privacy laws but did say that the infected person was tested after noticing symptoms earlier in December. The resident had not traveled outside the state recently and lives somewhere in the West Central Public Health District — an area that includes Tuscaloosa, Bibb, Walker, Lamar, Fayette, Pickens, Sumter, Greene, Hale, Perry and Chilton counties. Omicron arrives as COVID numbers in the state already have started to rise. Alabama and Jefferson County both were on the cusp of dropping into the ‘low’ category for community transmission just a month ago. Now both are listed in the substantial transmission category, the third-highest of four risk levels. Under health department recommendations, the change means that everyone, even those who are fully vaccinated, are advised to wear masks in public indoor settings. Health officials also have stepped up their efforts to encourage those who are not vaccinated to get a vaccine. Read more.

by Robert Carter

JeffCo Commission Compromises, Buys 100 CPR Devices to Distribute

Jefferson County commissioners approved the purchase of 100 Lucas CPR devices Thursday, bringing to 238 the county has or will buy with federal funds related to COVID-19. The sheriff’s department initially sought 250 devices to go into patrol cars on remote beats. That number was whittled to 138 and then 100. Commissioners debated how many devices to buy, considering the purchase would have to meet the criteria for spending of federal COVID funds. Read more.

by Solomon Crenshaw Jr.

Families in need received more from the social safety net in 2021. How helpful was it?

On paper, families in need in the Gulf South have access to a lot more government aid this year, but it’s hard to say those families are better off when looking at the line of cars at the Saint Luke’s Food Pantry parking lot in Tupelo, Mississippi. On a clear-skyed Thursday morning in December, drivers arrive more than an hour before the pantry opens. By the time food boxes start being handed out at 8 a.m., six rows of cars fill the small lot — with dozens more parked on the road waiting to get in. By noon, the pantry will serve 559 cars. That’s been the standard for 2021, according to volunteer Lee Stratton. “They’ll be in the streets with the parking lot full probably for the next three hours,” Stratton said. “People need help, you know?” The social safety net received some important upgrades in 2021 — SNAP benefits, better known as food stamps, went up about 25% in October; From July to December, the Child Tax Credit gave out monthly payments to families for each kid under 18; Mississippi also raised TANF for the first time in 22 years. The increase in aid is especially important in Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi, which have some of the highest poverty rates in the country. But experts warn the changes don’t do enough to remove barriers keeping people from accessing that aid. Read more.

by Stephan Bisaha, WBHM

One News Media Bias That Isn’t Debatable

The innocent, young, attractive, white woman was missing, and presumably dead, the victim of homicide. Local and national media pounded the story with daily coverage. This is, of course, the case of Gabby Petito. And Mollie Tibbetts. And Natalee Holloway. And Chandra Levy. And others. The equivalent case of a missing Black woman? Couldn’t find one. HBO is currently showing a documentary series called “Black and Missing.” It features the founders of the Black and Missing Foundation and makes the basic point that news media and law enforcement pay more attention to missing white people, especially females, than to missing Black people. Sociologists and media often call this Missing White Woman Syndrome. Read more.

by Tom Arenberg

Jefferson County Commission Considers Buying CPR Devices

The Jefferson County Commission will likely approve the purchase of at least 123 Lucas chest compression devices. The sheriff’s office requested the funding from American Rescue Plan Act funds to purchase 250 of the automatic CPR devices at a cost of $17,980. The plan was for 138 of the devices to be deployed to 49 entities throughout the county. The timing of the matter is sensitive as a price hike of 7% per unit is expected after the first of 2022. Another 138 Lucas devices were previously purchased with monies from the Care Act. Commissioners were concerned that the devices need to be in more isolated locations where ambulance response times have been especially long. Commissioners noted the need to have devices in county senior centers and in schools. Read more.

by Solomon Crenshaw Jr.

Birmingham to Spend $2 Million to Recruit Grocery Stores to Underserved Areas

The office of Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin has announced a $2 million grocery store recruitment plan focusing on West Birmingham and other underserved communities. The plan will be funded out of $12.9 million recently recovered from the refinancing of the city’s Commercial Development Authority bond debt. According to a press release, the money will be used “to lure at least two” grocery store chains to the city. Read more.

by Sam Prickett

Carpenter Added to Transit Authority Board, Four Members Reappointed

The Birmingham City Council voted Tuesday to reappoint four members of the Birmingham-Jefferson County Transit Authority board whose terms had expired. The council also appointed one new member, Becky Carpenter, to replace outgoing board member Kevin Powe. The city of Birmingham appoints five of the BJCTA board’s nine members; Vestavia Hills, Hoover, Homewood and the Jefferson County Commission round out the other four appointments. Four of the city’s 2017 appointees — board Chairman Theodore Smith, Vice Chair LeDon Jones, Darryl Cunningham and Willie S. Davis — have all been reappointed to a second four-year term on the board; their terms will expire in September 2025. But board member Kevin Powe, who was also appointed to the BJCTA board in 2017, will not be back for a second term. He’ll be replaced by Becky Carpenter, a project manager at Corporate Realty Associates. Through her job, Carpenter has worked on several major redevelopment projects in the city, including that of the former Carraway Hospital and Southtown Court housing project. Read more.

by Sam Prickett

Field Trips Look a Lot Different for Students This Year. But That’s Not Entirely Bad.

For Birmingham K-12 students, the McWane Science Center has been a key field trip destination where students climb on interactive exhibits, touch stingrays and learn about fossils. It’s a place students look forward to going to every year. It’s especially exciting for 8-year-old Olivia Ragland and her friends. “I mean this is my second field trip this year, and it’s already been fun,” she said. “So, I’m just happy.” It is a complete 180 from last year, when Olivia said she felt sad that school was boring. Many students in Birmingham spent the 2020-2021 school year online because of the pandemic. Many field trip destinations were closed as well. But with schools adapting to the pandemic, in-person field trips are back too. Read more.

by Kyra Miles, WBHM

Delta New Cases Are Trending Upward as Alabama Anticipates Its First Case of Omicron

Omicron has still not made an appearance in Alabama — yet. But the delta variant of the COVID virus is going strong, and new cases are increasing after a three-month downtrend. In BirminghamWatch’s periodic analysis of the spread of COVID through Alabama, the number of daily new cases has nearly doubled over the past 10 days, and hospitalizations also have ticked upward, though not by much. The increases have moved Alabama back into the substantial risk category, the highest of four categories used to classify community transmission of COVID, according to information from the Alabama Department of Public Health. The virus had backed off enough that the state was almost into the low risk category one month ago. Read more.

by Robert Carter