Virginia Martin

PowerSouth CEO Blames ‘Extremist Environmental Ideology’ for Shuttering a Coal-Fired Plant in South Alabama

One of Alabama’s oldest coal-fired power plants will close next year. PowerSouth Energy Cooperative’s chief executive blamed the closure on “extremist environmental ideologies” and “environmental activists” in announcing that the Charles R. Lowman electrical generation plant on the Tombigbee River would be shuttered. In an emailed newsletter on New Year’s Eve, Smith told Plant Lowman’s 150 employees that coal ash regulations, among others, are forcing the plant to end the use of coal to generate power at the Washington County facility. “Good people will soon be looking for new jobs because of extremist environmental ideologies,” he said. Environmentalists disagree, saying PowerSouth created its own problems by continuing to use outdated technologies and dumping coal ash near the water. Read more.

by Hank Black

Ivey Emphasizes Education, Workforce Development and Infrastructure Needs at PARCA Conference

Gov. Kay Ivey told an audience in Birmingham that her administration will focus its efforts on bolstering the educational system so that children will be ready to fill the jobs of tomorrow’s high-tech economy as well as rebuilding Alabama’s infrastructure. Ivey was the keynote speaker Friday at the annual meeting of the Public Affairs Research Council of Alabama, which met to discuss how the state is doing in its job to help both students going into the workforce and adults moving into different fields adjust to the changing needs of the state’s employers. “Alabama is in a position to achieve greater success,” Ivey said. “And as we look to our future, more than ever before, now is the time that we must be sure that our workforce is well-equipped to face the opportunities and the jobs of tomorrow.” Read more.

by Robert Carter

Lawmakers, Advocates Discussing Increases to Teachers’ Retirement Benefits to Battle Teacher Shortage

Education leaders cite changes to teachers’ retirement benefits six years ago as a factor in Alabama’s worsening statewide teacher shortage. Now, they’re asking lawmakers to make adjustments to what’s known as Tier 2 benefits, including allowing retirement after 30 years of service and slightly increasing the benefit amount. Legislators say they’re listening but aren’t convinced retirement changes alone will fix classroom staffing. “Do I think modifying Tier 2 is going to solve our teacher shortage issues? No,” Rep. Bill Poole, R-Tuscaloosa said this week. “But we do want to make sure we are competitive on benefits.” Poole is chairman of the House education budget committee. Evidence of the teacher shortages around the state is plentiful, but concrete numbers are not. A task force set up to study the shortages, the causes and possible solutions hopes to have some recommendations to lawmakers this spring. Last week, BirminghamWatch reported that there recently were more than 1,700 educators in Alabama classrooms who were not certified in the core subjects they were teaching. “Our superintendents identify the current Tier 2 retirement plan as a contributing issue in the shortage of teachers we are facing today,” Ryan Hollingsworth, executive director of Alabama School Superintendents, said this week. “It is a fact that we have teachers graduating from colleges of education in Alabama but going to work in other states strictly due to our current Tier 2 retirement plan." Read more.

by Mary Sell

Local and State Springs, Tributaries, Wetlands May Suffer From Pollution if Proposed Rule Is Finalized

Environmentalists are warning that more than 80 percent of Alabamians receive their drinking water from sources that may lose critical protections under a proposed federal rule. The Waters of the U.S. rule was published Thursday in the Federal Register. The Business Council of Alabama and the Alabama Farmers Federation are among those hailing the proposal, which would greatly reduce the environmental permits required of landowners and developers for discharges of wastewater and runoff of stormwater. The rule will become final following a 60-day public comment period. Submit comments via the federal rulemaking portal. Read more.

by Hank Black

Fairfield Council Gives Mayor the Boot, but Ed May II Isn’t Backing Down

The long-running feud between Fairfield Mayor Ed May II and the City Council has reached a boiling point, as the council voted to remove May from office because he was continually absent from council meetings. Claiming that state law required May’s ouster because he had missed meetings for more than 90 days, the council voted to remove May in January. During a special meeting Tuesday, Council President Eddie Penny was sworn in as May’s replacement. It’s the latest battle in a war between May and the council that has lasted since shortly after May was elected to replace Kenneth Coachman in 2016. The battle began last year when the council voted to hire then-City Clerk Mary Roberson as a city manager — a position Fairfield has never filled before. The council then stripped May of many of his duties as mayor, including hiring and firing personnel, and gave those duties to Roberson. Read more.

by Robert Carter

Merrill to Testify Before Congressional Committee

WBHM Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill heads to Washington to testify before Congress Wednesday about election security. Merrill is one of a handful of state and local election officials giving feedback on a bill meant to improve the nation’s voting laws. He says he has issues with some of the provisions in the proposed legislation. Read more.

by Gigi Douban, WBHM

Birmingham Council Supports Renaming CrossPlex for Langford, Question Parker’s Bid to Bring Oakland Raiders to Legion Field

Mayor Randall Woodfin and members of the Birmingham City Council announced Tuesday that they would support changing the name of the Birmingham CrossPlex to honor former Mayor Larry Langford, who died last month. Langford spearheaded construction of the indoor track and aquatic complex in Five Points West, on which construction began in 2008. The $46 million facility opened in August 2011. Woodfin and District 8 Councilor Steven Hoyt proposed the name change — to the Larry P. Langford Birmingham CrossPlex — during the council’s meeting Tuesday. District 9 Councilor John Hilliard, who did not arrive until later in the meeting, also has advocated for renaming the facility. “We believe it’s fitting for all the work he did and for bringing this to life in our community,” Woodfin said. During his statement, Hoyt alluded to Langford’s controversial reputation, which included a 2009 conviction on charges of corruption and bribery for actions he took during his time as president of the Jefferson County Commission. “We know that, no different than Angela Davis, you have to deal with the body of people’s work,” Hoyt said, referring to the recent Birmingham Civil Rights Institute controversy. “All of us have some issues one way or the other … but when you look at this city and see the things that were done under his leadership ... We are better because Larry Langford came through here.” Read more.

by Sam Prickett

Auburn Yearbook Photo Shows Ivey’s Sorority Sisters in Minstrel Show; Governor Is Not in the Picture

The Auburn Plainsman reported Monday that a photo in the 1967 yearbook shows members of Gov. Kay Ivey’s sorority putting on a minstrel show that appears to have been taken during Rush that year. The photo shows five young Alpha Gamma Delta members wearing black masks and shirts with caricatures of black people on the pockets. The caption on the photo reads "Alpha Gam Minstrels welcome rushees aboard their showboat." Ivey, who was a senior at Auburn University at the time, is not among the women in the photo. Her press secretary, Daniel Sparkman, told the Plainsman: “We talked to the governor this morning. … She knows nothing about the page in the first place, and she does not appear on that page." Read more.

by BirminghamWatch

U.S. Steel Revives Furnace Project in Fairfield

WBHM U.S. Steel Corporation will restart work on its electric arc furnace in Fairfield. The $215 million initiative will replace the former blast furnace at Fairfield Works. The project started almost four years ago, but was put on hold due to poor market demand for steel. Ty West, editor-in-chief of the Birmingham Business Journal, says this is good news. Read more.

by Janae Pierre, WBHM

Drummond to Pay $775,000 Penalty to EPA, Jefferson County Health Department

Drummond Company has agreed to pay a $775,000 civil penalty as part of a settlement contained in a consent decree relating to alleged violations of environmental laws at its ABC Coke Plant in Tarrant. The announcement was made Friday by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Justice and the Jefferson County Board of Health. The consent decree, which was issued the previous day, will not be final until after a public comment period has elapsed. The health department on Tuesday called the settlement “significant” and said it plans to use its half of the civil penalty to benefit public health in the area that was affected by the air pollution at issue. Stanton indicated that the area affected could extend beyond the city of Tarrant. “We’ll have discussions with elected officials and others in the area to figure out what kind of projects will help the environment and the public health there,” Jonathan Stanton, environmental health services director, said. “We really want them to be involved in that process and help to guide us as to what they need.” Read more.

by Hank Black