Virginia Martin, Author at BirminghamWatch - Page 166 of 480
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Virginia Martin

Sin and Confession: Newsrooms Revisit Some Major Failures

The Washington Post on Nov. 12 took the highly unusual step of overhauling two articles that had been posted on its website since 2017 and 2019, respectively. Recent events had suddenly called into question the accuracy of the articles, which reported on the identity of a confidential source who supposedly contributed salacious information about Donald Trump that was contained in the infamous and since discredited “Steele dossier.” The Post removed large portions of the articles, changed the headlines, removed a companion video, and appended editor’s notes. About a dozen other, related stories were corrected, as well. The Post’s editor offered public explanations on various platforms. This got me to thinking about previous famous situations in which a news organization belatedly found fault with its coverage of a high-profile subject and decided it needed to take corrective action. Read more.

by Tom Arenberg

Woodlawn Stadium Bid Approved; Stadium Could Be Built by Fall

Karlos Dansby had one more reason to be thankful this Black Friday morning when he learned that the Birmingham Board of Education had accepted the bid to build a football stadium and fieldhouse on the campus of Woodlawn High School. “Without a doubt, I’m thankful,” said Dansby, a 2000 alumnus of Woodlawn who went on to play at Auburn University before playing in the National Football League. “Happy Thanksgiving to everybody and I look forward to seeing this project come to life.” The board of education on Tuesday unanimously approved a bid of $8.7 million with Argo Building Company for a new stadium and fieldhouse at Woodlawn High. Work on the project is expected to be completed in fall 2022. It initially rejected the bid Nov. 9 with five members voting no, two voting yes and one abstaining after the estimated base project cost more than doubled from the initial $4.2 million estimate. Read more.

by Solomon Crenshaw Jr.

Now or Later? What Will Happen With Remaining Rescue Funds?

Alabama lawmakers, particularly those on the General Fund budget committees, will have a larger task in the legislative session that begins in January. But it’s still unclear how much of the remaining about $1.6 billion American Rescue Plan Act will be allocated in the Legislature’s spring meeting. “We’ve got a lot more to figure out than just the Education Trust Fund and General Fund,” Sen. Greg Albritton, R-Range, said about lawmakers’ normal annual budgeting process. The state’s more than $2 billion in ARPA money comes in two tranches, about half this year and half likely in June 2022, according to the Department of Finance. By May, lawmakers have will already ended their 2022 session. Whether they’ll allocate all the money in the spring session or wait to distribute the 2022 share is still being discussed. Read more.

by Mary Sell, Alabama Daily News

Birmingham Mayor Woodfin Sworn in for a Second Term

Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin began his second term in office Tuesday, continuing his tenure as the city’s 30th mayor. The inauguration took place at Linn Park on a stage in front of city hall with the American flag and the mayor’s image as backdrop. Jefferson County Judge Ruby Davis swore in Woodfin, who was accompanied by his mother, Cynthia Woodfin-Kellum. In a 20-minute speech, he spoke about his administration’s accomplishments over the past four years, such as investing in infrastructure and creating the Birmingham Promise college scholarship and apprenticeship program. He talked about continuing to reimagine public safety in the next four years, wanting to create opportunities for citizens to live their best lives and make Birmingham the best city it can be. Read more.

by Cody Short, WBHM

Birmingham Council Transfers Two Sewer Stations to Jefferson County

The Birmingham City Council has approved the transfer of two sanitary sewer pump stations in the city’s Fairmont neighborhood to Jefferson County. Operations of those stations already had been turned over to the county as part of a 1998 unification agreement, but the properties themselves had remained under city ownership. Read more.

by Sam Prickett

Researchers Probing Effects of “Long COVID”; Cases and Deaths Continue Decline

While COVID-19 infection numbers have turned downward over the past couple of months, there are multiple symptoms of the virus that are causing problems over extended periods of time. Health officials are just starting to get a handle on how extensive the problem, appropriately called “long COVID,” is and what the longstanding effects are. Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo, director of UAB Medicine’s Division of Infectious Diseases, said more research is being done to try to pin down what causes some COVID patients to suffer symptoms for months at a time. Loss of the senses of taste or smell are probably the best-known symptoms affecting those who were not hospitalized for COVID, but the range of symptoms is much wider than that for both those who were hospitalized or not. “It became pretty clear after the first wave, last spring, starting in the Northeast and in Europe, that there was a significant subset of people who really took a long time to get better from COVID, didn’t get better, or got better but had relapses of some very distinct symptom complexes,” Marrazzo said. Read more.

by Robert Carter
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