Virginia Martin

Relief Fund Set Up for Small Businesses Damaged in Protest

A coalition of community groups, in partnership with the city of Birmingham, has set up the Birmingham Business Relief Fund to give grants to small businesses affected by protestors’ vandalism Sunday night. “Many businesses were already suffering from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, and these funds will assist businesses as they rebuild, repair and renew their operations,” Ivan Holloway, executive director at Urban Impact, said in a statement announcing the program. Read more.

Vestavia Hills Protestors Mark the Death of George Floyd

Protestors took a knee Friday during a protest in front of Vestavia Hills City Hall, mimicking the posture former Minneapolis Police officer Derek Chauvin took when he kneeled on George Floyd’s throat. Floyd’s death sparked nationwide outrage and protests. Chauvin has been charged with second-degree murder, and three officers with him that day are charged with aiding and abetting a second-degree murder. Read more.

George Floyd’s Death Has Stirred Sympathy and Outrage in Diverse Groups From Birmingham to Hoover

People across Birmingham and its southern suburbs gathered Thursday to honor George Floyd and protest his death at the hands of police in Minneapolis. In Mountain Brook, hundreds of protestors sat on the ground and covered their noses and mouths for more than eight minutes, the length of time Floyd laid on the ground with an officer’s knee on the side of his throat. The scene resembled another carried out in Homewood earlier in the week. Groups have gathered in Hoover almost every day since Saturday. Read more.

Read more about protests, curfews, removal of the Confederate Soldiers and Sailors Monument and other actions in the Birmingham area.

COVID-19 Cases Being Undercounted Because of Computer Glitch

(Updates with comments urging people who take part in large gatherings such as protests to take precautions against spreading the coronavirus.) COVID-19 cases reported by the Alabama Department of Public Health have been incomplete this week, and more people have contracted the disease than the numbers being reported on the department’s website show. The problem comes from an overwhelmed national surveillance system, which has caused delays in obtaining information, according to an email from Assistant State Health Officer Dr. Karen Landers in response to BirminghamWatch questions. “Once the issue is resolved, more cases will be added to the data set which will show an increase in cases,” she said. Read more.

UAB, Some Downtown Businesses Close in Response to Rumors of Violence; Woodfin Stresses City Will Enforce Protest Rules

Anxiety grew in downtown Birmingham Thursday afternoon as rumors spread of potentially violent protests. These rumors — which included that a Ku Klux Klan rally would take place in Linn Park — led several businesses, including the University of Alabama at Birmingham, to shut down earlier than usual. Mayor Randall Woodfin dismissed these rumors as false in a video address Thursday afternoon, but he said his curfew — which includes significant restrictions on public assembly in the city — would continue to be strictly enforced by police. Read more.

Fencing Erected Around Downtown Parks to Discourage Gatherings

Fencing has been placed around Birmingham’s Linn Park “to ensure unregistered gatherings do not occur,” Mayor Randall Woodfin’s office announced Thursday, and fencing is going up around Kelly Ingram Park. Linn Park, which lies between City Hall and the Jefferson County Courthouse, was the location of violent protests Sunday night over the police killing of Minneapolis man George Floyd, which led to the city taking down a Confederal monument there. Meanwhile, rumors have been rampant that violence is expected in downtown today, but whether that is based in fact is unclear. Woodfin’s office earlier today denied that there were plans to “shut down” the city Thursday afternoon “due to potential unrest.” Read more.

Finding A Way Forward in Birmingham After Violence and Destruction

A Confederate monument that stood in a downtown Birmingham’s Linn Park for 115 years is now gone. Crews removed the structure following protests over police treatment of black Americans that turned destructive on Sunday, damaging many buildings. This happened in a city that prides itself on its history of nonviolent protest during the civil rights era. Rev. Thomas Wilder leads Bethel Baptist Church in Collegeville. It’s the same church Birmingham civil rights leader Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth once led. Wilder spoke with WBHM’s Andrew Yeager. Read more.

FunnyMaine Talks About New Monument, How Second Protest Happened

Jermaine "FunnyMaine" Johnson, Birmingham native and comedian involved in Sunday night’s protest over the Confederate monument in Linn Park, said Wednesday that whatever replaces that monument should represent what Birmingham is all about — "unity, strength, resilience." He called for the removal of the monument during an earlier rally in Kelly Ingram Park but did not foresee the response that his call would receive. Read more and watch two videos.

Woodfin Adds Exception to Demonstration Ban

Mayor Randall Woodfin has walked back his total ban on public gatherings and demonstrations in Birmingham, allowing permitted demonstrations in one park in the North Avondale neighborhood. In a statement released Wednesday afternoon, Woodfin said his office would allow permitted demonstrations to take place from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in W.C. Patton Park, at 1200 Sipsey Street. “We want to balance the right to assembly with the absolute need for public safety,” Woodfin said in the statement. Read more. More stories on the protests in Birmingham: Curfews Imposed Across Birmingham Area Over Protests Jefferson County Sets Curfew to Curb Violence Confederate Monument Taken Down in Linn Park Cleanup Begins After Looting Damages Downtown Birmingham Businesses Birmingham Protestors Vandalize Downtown Buildings, Try to Take Down Confederate Monument

Alabama Adds 228 Cases of COVID-19, 7 Deaths Tuesday

Alabama ended Tuesday with 18,474 confirmed cases of COVID-19, up just 228 cases from Monday’s total. The state also listed 297 probable cases of the disease. Seven more people died Tuesday, for a total of 651 confirmed deaths and 2 probable cases since the pandemic began. Read more.