Virginia Martin

Residents of 27 Jefferson County Municipalities Are Choosing Leaders in Elections Today

Residents of 27 cities and towns around Jefferson County are deciding today on leadership for the next four years. Mayors and city council members are on the ballots for most of the municipalities. Runoff elections will be held Oct. 6 for any races in which no candidate gets a majority of the ballots cast. Polls are open from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. in each of the municipalities. Birmingham and Bessemer do not hold elections this month. Voters’ Toolbox for Aug. 25 Municipal Elections. For a list of cities and towns with elections and information about who is on the ballot, read more.

Voters’ Toolbox for Aug. 25 Municipal Elections

Where do I vote? You may find the precinct at which you should vote here. Where can I find my information? You can check your registration status and see your political districts and absentee ballot status at this site on the Secretary of State’s website. When are absentee ballots due? If you’ve applied for an

William England

Adamsville Mayor Race William England Occupation: Employed by Georgia Foods Political experience: None Main issues: Wants an answer as to why the city allows the sale of CBD at a store in the city, but he had to pay a fine for having a pipe bought from the store.

County Crew Must Move a Small Mountain to Put Out Underground Fire in Forestdale

Roads and Transportation Department workers from Jefferson County have taken on the task of moving a “small mountain” in their efforts to battle an underground fire that has annoyed Forestdale neighbors with smoke for more than a month. Jefferson County deputy county manager Cal Markert said the steeply sloped terrain of the property off Timber Ridge Drive and Forestdale Bend Road makes battling the smoldering illegal dump site particularly tough. “We can't work at it from the top because it won't hold heavy equipment, and the slope is so steep on the backside you can't climb up on it with heavy equipment,” Markert said. “We're basically going to start at the bottom and just very slowly excavate out with our equipment and try to get it separated that way.” Read more.

Albert Trousdale’s Son Points COVID-19 Skeptics to a Tombstone

This is the third installment in BirminghamWatch’s series Not Forgotten: Alabama’s COVID Dead In the weeks since Albert Trousdale became one of the first people in Alabama to die from COVID-19, his son has been struggling with a haunting question. Matt Trousdale wonders if the survivors of other coronavirus victims face the same kind of social stigma that confronts his family on a regular basis. Although many people are kind to him and his relatives, he said, far too many digress onto a less compassionate path. They claim the disease is a hoax, or part of some political conspiracy, or a way for hospitals to make more money by chalking up every ailment to the coronavirus. He has overheard other people in his small community in east Lauderdale County talking about his grieving family and questioning their belief that COVID-19 killed his father. Had his dad died of suicide or some other tragedy, he wonders, would people show the same lack of empathy? “I know if they are going to say something about my dad, they are going to end up telling me their political affiliation,” Matt said, emotional pain bleeding through his voice. Read more. More of Not Forgotten: Alabama’s COVID Dead

Almost 1,900 Alabamians Have Fallen to COVID-19. Who Were They?

The First Person Known to Die in Alabama After Contracting COVID-19 Never Let Her Disability Define Her

Accounting Contract Leads to Squabble on the Jefferson County Commission

A contentious meeting of the Jefferson County Commission led to verbal sparring in the commission chamber after the meeting ended. Commission President Jimmie Stephens and President Pro Tem Lashunda Scales lingered on the dais Wednesday as most who had been in the session exited. Stephens said he felt he was being disrespected as Scales discussed a proposed extension of the county’s contract with an accounting firm to perform annual audits. At one point, Stephens said Scales implied that he was being racist in performing his duties as a commissioner. “I’m going to administer government in this county like it’s colorblind,” Stephens said as he left the chamber. Replied Scales: “I know dead presidents are colorblind,” referring to money. A resolution seeking a three-year extension of the county’s contract with Warren, Averett, Kimbrough, and Marino, LLC was pulled from the consent agenda for separate consideration. Commissioner Sheila Tyson repeated the concern she expressed during Tuesday’s committee meeting that Warren Averett lacked the diversity that the county should display as it seeks to escape the cloud of a decades-old consent decree for past hiring practices. Read more.

A Year in the Life of a Dying Alabama Mall

A generation ago the mall was THE place to be. But with the rise of online shopping, many indoor malls have suffered. A documentary playing at the Sidewalk Film Festival later this month looks at one dying mall here in Alabama. It’s called “Jasper Mall” and is named for the shopping center in Walker County, northwest of Birmingham. Read more.

Political Suicide: Jefferson County Commission President Opposes Extending Trash Contract

Commission President Jimmie Stephens said he would be committing political suicide if he agreed to extend the contract of Advanced Disposal, the company that provides single-family residential garbage and trash services in unincorporated Jefferson County. David Denard, the director of Environmental Services, presented the Jefferson County Commission with a resolution to renew the county’s contract with Advanced Disposal until April 2021 to give the county enough time to lock in another vendor. Stephens said he gets complaints three times a week about Advanced. Read more.

COVID-19 Tracking App Available to the Public

A phone app built by UAB and Birmingham-based MotionMobs that anonymously tracks COVID-19 exposure became available today to all Alabama residents. "Alabama is the first state to launch the app," said Dr. Karen Landers, district medical officer for the Alabama Department of Public Health. Read more.

Coronavirus Spread Continues to Slow but 25 More Deaths Were Logged Today

Alabama added just 516 COVID-19 cases to its tally today, more evidence that the spread of the new coronavirus is slowing throughout the state. But 25 more people died of the disease, according to this morning’s coronavirus update filed by the Alabama Department of Public Health. Since the pandemic began in March, the state has reported 104,595 confirmed cases of the virus and another 4,409 probable cases. Of those, 13,973 cases have been reported in the past 14 days. Read more.