Alabama Labor Department Discontinues In-Person Unemployment Assistance
WBHM Labor officials cite safety concerns as the primary reason for moving to a phone-based system. Read more.
Virginia Martin
Most of Alabama’s Delegates in Washington Vote for Coronavirus Relief
Voterama in Congress WASHINGTON — The U.S. House and Senate on Dec. 21 gave approval to a $900 billion COVID-19 relief package that would start delivering benefits immediately. The House voted 359 for and 53 against HR 133 and the Senate voted 92 for and six against. U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks, R-5, was the only member of Alabama’s delegation who voted against the bill. Read more.
Alabama Averaging 4,100 New COVID Cases a Day as Deaths Spike
Workers on the front lines of Alabama’s battle with the COVID-19 virus lined up in the past few days for vaccines as the number of patients they are trying to help continues to increase sharply. In BirminghamWatch’s weekly analysis of pandemic data, the number of daily new cases has reached new highs yet again, with the 7-day moving average topping the 4,000 mark for the first time. Both moving averages set all-time records Wednesday, with the 7-day average standing at 4,132.71, an 80% hike since Dec. 1. The 14-day average is at 3,817.57, up 66.7% since the beginning of the month. For the first time since the pandemic began in March, the number of daily new deaths reached triple digits. The Alabama Department of Public Health reported 135 additional deaths Wednesday, and the 7-day moving average was 55.57 per day — an 82.6% increase in just one week. The 14-day average also reached a new high of 43.0, up 23.6% for the week. Read more.
One Black Artist’s Quest to Shake Up the Comics World
Lashawn Colvin recently opened her very own comic book store in Montgomery, becoming the first known Black woman in the South to do so.
Birmingham Revenue Appears Stable, Council Extends Funding for Rickwood, McWane and Ruffner
Birmingham’s finances appear to be holding steady despite COVID-19’s impact on city revenues, finance director Lester Smith told city councilors Tuesday afternoon — though he warned that a clear picture of the city’s financial health won’t be visible until March. Read more.
Jefferson County Emerges From Consent Decree After 45 Years
After 45 years of scrutiny, five years in receivership and two years in monitorship, Jefferson County has been released from its consent decree governing hiring and employment practices. Senior U.S. District Judge Lynwood Smith signed the order that brought the decree to an end. “It is a validation of what we have done since we've arrived here in Jefferson County,” Commission President Jimmie Stephens said at a hastily called press conference Monday afternoon. “It validates the actions that we have shown you and shown the citizens of Jefferson County, that our hiring practices are progressive, they are color blind, they are gender blind and they represent the population of Jefferson County, whom we serve.” Read more.
These companies took $1.8 billion in federal aid to save jobs. They laid off 90,000 workers anyway.
This article was originally published by the Center for Public Integrity, a nonprofit investigative news organization based in Washington, D.C. Rosa Rodriguez spent eight years ironing and hanging bathrobes for guests at the Mirage, the Bellagio and other five-star hotels on the Las Vegas Strip. But as COVID-19 spread through the United States and kept tourists away, there were fewer and fewer robes for her to press. In March, Rodriguez and about 800 of her co-workers were laid off from Brady Linen Services, a laundry service provider for hotels in Las Vegas, Mexico and the Bahamas. Rodriguez said her boss told her he would call her back when more work was available. Brady Linen was approved for a loan of $4.6 million from the federal Paycheck Protection Program, according to data from the U.S. Small Business Administration. The government-backed loans were supposed to help small businesses that struggled during the pandemic pay employees’ salaries and benefits for up to six months, among other things. But Brady Linen did not use the money to rehire Rodriguez and all the other laid-off workers, which the program requires if companies want their loans forgiven. It is just one among hundreds of companies that reported layoffs right before, or soon after, receiving a government loan through the Paycheck Protection Program, according to an analysis by Public Integrity. Read more.
Bus Rapid Transit Line Coming to Birmingham
A new, faster bus line is on its way to the city of Birmingham. The Birmingham Xpress will run roughly 10 miles from Five Points West, through downtown Birmingham, to Woodlawn, connecting 25 city neighborhoods. Read more.
State Officials Cryptic About Plans for New Prison in Rural Bibb County, Including How Water and Sewer Would be Provided
Alabama plans a 3,100-inmate prison in the Brierfield community of Bibb County, but officialdom holds all the cards and the governor isn't showing her hand. Even Bibb County administrator Derek Reeves responds to questions about the proposed prison by saying: "I don't know anything about that. We are not involved with the prison.” Gov. Kay Ivy has disclosed three general locations for prisons that the state will lease from their private developers. Brierfield, the last general area revealed, has received the coolest reception from the residents of Brierfield Estates, who are leading the opposition. Big questions loom involving how infrastructure would be provided in the rural area, such as treated water, sewage disposal and access roads. The precise site of the new prison has not been officially announced. But signs point to it being built at the intersection of A. Arker Road and Brickyard Pass about a mile west of Alabama 139, in the Ashby area. Such a large prison calls for about 500 acres, and the parcel at that location, which has been cleared to bare earth, fits the description released by the governor’s office. A road potentially suitable for heavy construction vehicles also has been cut into the site. Equipment and activity now at the site are of the type suitable for well drilling or environmental testing. A source with knowledge of the prison development confirmed that the site is, indeed, the intended location for the prison and that contractors are drilling a well there. Read more.
Coronavirus Deaths Mount in Alabama Prisons
Coronavirus cases continue to surge in Alabama prisons, with corrections officials announcing a number of inmate deaths in recent weeks. Between Aug. 27 and Dec. 16, the Alabama Department of Corrections reported 29 inmates had died while positive for COVID 19, bringing the total number of inmate deaths associated with the virus to 50. Read about them.