Alabama Democrats Face Saturday Deadline for new Bylaws and Party Elections
WBHM
Virginia Martin
Development Fills the Cahaba River With Sediment
WBHM Cahaba Riverkeeper David Butler often has to convince people that sediment can be a problem. “You know rivers are remarkably resilient,” Butler says. “They can handle a normal amount of mud.” But he said the amount of mud in the Cahaba is not normal. Walking along a section of the river in Hoover, Butler leans over and scoops up a handful of rocks. “So if you see how much dirt there is in it,” he says, “there’s not a lot of space in between the rocks for bugs and mussels and snails to live.” Butler said it is now more common to see large mounds of dirt and gravel that pile up in the middle of the river, the result of sediment pushed downstream. Over the years, he said, parts of the river and its tributaries have accumulated as much as 20 feet of extra sediment.
Jefferson County Commission Asks Water Board for Pledge to Help Needy Customers
A trio of Jefferson County commissioners met today with the Birmingham Water Works Board, asking the board to consider matching the county’s $1.25 million commitment to help residents who struggle with rising water and sewer rates. Read more.
Expanding First Class Pre-K: A Bessemer day care joins Alabama’s lauded preschool program. Thousands more 4-year-olds statewide also stand to benefit from expansion.
When school started in Bessemer Aug. 12, a faith-based child care center, Trinity Love Center, had something many Alabama public schools don’t yet have — a First Class Pre-K. Trinity Love Center is one of nearly 200 new classrooms to have the pre-kindergarten program, cited as best in the nation, after the Alabama Legislature this year passed a major funding increase — $26.8 million, bringing the total budget to $122.8 million. “I researched Bessemer for child care centers and I knew we didn’t have that anywhere in Bessemer or even Brighton,” said Latonya Bender, director of Trinity. “This is going to be great for the downtown Bessemer area.” Trinity was awarded a $120,000 grant, which will help Bender take her center to a different level. “When we were there the other day, they were actually receiving all of the supplies, the beautiful toys and classroom equipment for a state-of-the-art First Class Pre-K classroom as part of that $120,000 grant that pays for the teacher, the assistant teacher, and in recruiting teachers with those credentials and the salaries that are required by the program, as well,” said Allison Muhlendorf, executive director of the Alabama School Readiness Alliance. The overall funding increase in Alabama will greatly expand the reach of the First Class Pre-K program, she said. That translates to serving 3,000 more 4-year-olds. “And that’s going to bring the percentage of children served statewide to close to 40 percent,” she said. The state still was adding classrooms just before the start of school, so final numbers will be reported in the fall, she said. Alabama’s voluntary pre-K program is expected to reach 21,636 children in the 2019-2020 school year, with more than 1,202 classrooms statewide, representatives for Gov. Kay Ivey’s office said recently. Jeana Ross, secretary of the Alabama Department of Early Childhood Education, told BirminghamWatch earlier that reaching 70 percent of all the state’s 4 -year-olds with First Class Pre-K is a long-term goal. Read more.
More pre-K reporting from BirminghamWatch
First Class in More Than Name Only: Why Alabama’s Preschool Program Is Best in the Country on National Standards
The excitement in the room is hard to miss – and it’s coming from the kids as well as the teacher. “Kiss your brain for knowing that!” Dr. Stephanie Parker exclaims to her students at Huffman Academy Pre-K. There are two teachers in each of the First-Class Pre-K class at Huffman Academy, and that is just one of the reasons Alabama’s public pre-K program got high marks from the National Institute for Early Education Research. Read more.
In Reversal, EPA to Add ‘Very Important’ Expertise to Air Quality Panel
More scientific help is on the way for the committee charged with providing independent advice to the federal government on whether to change its air quality standards. Local air quality expert Corey Masuca, one of the seven members of the committee, said he “is delighted” with the decision by Andrew Wheeler, administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, to add consultants for the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee, known as CASAC. CASAC is under a tight deadline to trudge through hundreds of new studies and advise Wheeler on potential changes in National Ambient Air Quality Standards for particulate matter and, later, for ozone. Read more.
Woodfin Brags on Birmingham Promise, Entreats Business Leaders to Work With the Internship Program
Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin announced Tuesday that the pilot program of his Birmingham Promise Education Initiative had been successfully completed, though he entreated members of the city’s business community to partner with the internship program as it expands. Read more.
Voting Rights Vigils Held Nationwide Tuesday
Voters in Alabama and across the country attended Voting Rights Vigils on Aug. 6 to mark the 54th anniversary of the signing of the Voting Rights Act and call on Congress to pass the Voting Rights Advancement Act. Read more.
Senators Approve Two-Year Budget Deal That Will Suspend the National Debt Limit
WASHINGTON – The Senate in two votes last week approved a two-year budget deal that will suspend the national debt limit and possibly raise interest payments to more than $400 million a year. One of those votes was to pass the budget; the other was to kill an amendment to prohibit increasing the national debt. Both of Alabama’s senators — Richard Shelby, R, and Doug Jones, D — voted for the budget and against the amendment. Read more.
EPA Overrides Civil Rights Complaint About JCDH, Adding to Residents’ Frustration
The Environmental Protection Agency and Jefferson County’s Department of Health have settled civil rights complaints over air permits the department awarded to coke manufacturers in north Birmingham and Tarrant in recent years. But the EPA response has added to frustration over recent environmental developments in the heavily industrial part of Jones Valley, according to residents and officials at Gasp, a clean-air nonprofit group that has been involved in antipollution efforts there for most of the past decade. “I am totally disappointed. It’s a slap in the face,” said Jimmy Smith of the Collegeville neighborhood, one of the complainants. “It makes no sense that we taxpaying citizens cannot (experience) happiness because we live in a ZIP code (35207) where toxic chemicals and metals poison our air and ground.” Smith said the community’s relationship with the health department is broken. “I would trust strychnine poison to not hurt my body more than I’d trust anybody at the health department now,” he said. “They are duty bound to protect citizens’ health, but it’s my experience that, from the head of it on down, they give decisions against us and for big business.” The “informal resolution agreement” brokered by the EPA’s External Civil Rights Compliance Office instructs JCDH to enhance communication procedures and update nondiscrimination processes, but it does not include additional, targeted monitoring of air emissions and reduction in particulate matter and odors, which have been called for by the complainants. Read more. Read BirminghamWatch’s earlier investigation:
County’s Major Air Polluters Concentrated in Low-Income, Minority Neighborhoods
Prison Re-Entry Program to Expand With $6 Million Grant
Michael Bryant has served time in prison twice. The 40-year-old didn’t want to be locked up a third time. So months after he was released, Bryant finished the Dannon Project’s adult re-entry program. It helps non-violent offenders successfully return to the community. Bryant is proud of himself, and every now and then he goes by to let people in the program know he’s doing okay. “I feel like a small celebrity when I come through,” he says. “They’ll be like ‘man you’re doing good.’ I’ve been out eight months. I got a car, I’m driving, I’m working. I got my own spot and they helped me do that.” The Dannon Project helps formerly incarcerated people like Bryant avoid future involvement with the justice system. Recently the nonprofit received a $6 million grant from the U.S. Department of Labor to expand its adult re-entry program. It’ll also launch a re-entry program for young adults in October. Read more.