Virginia Martin

UPDATED: Advisory Panel, JeffCo Air Pollution Expert Take on Controversial Role at EPA

The federal Environmental Protection Agency has appointed a Jefferson County air pollution expert to the seven-member panel charged with giving the agency administrator independent technical advice for setting federal standards under the National Ambient Air Quality Standards. EPA Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler named Corey M. Masuca, principal air pollution control engineer for the Jefferson County Department of Health, to the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee on Oct. 10. The CASAC will lead a review of recent science to advise whether any changes are necessary to the standards for ground-level ozone or particulate matter to provide public health with an adequate margin of safety. That panel may take on added importance with the EPA’s move last week to dismiss two larger outside advisory panels of scientists who were to evaluate emissions for harmful public health effects. Read more.

Jefferson County Commission Will Begin Negotiations to Set up Healthcare Authority With UAB

Jefferson County commissioners gave the go-ahead Thursday for the county manager to begin negotiations with UAB Health System to establish a joint healthcare authority. The authority would manage indigent healthcare in the county. Commissioners passed the measure without discussion after talking about it in a meeting Tuesday. At that time, county manager Tony Petelos said the only difference patients should see if the authority is established would be a more efficient operation.

Opportunity Zones Pull Investors Into Low-Income Areas

Alex Flachsbart’s business cards were hot properties at the Jefferson County Courthouse Tuesday after his presentation to the County Commission about opportunity zones in the area. The founder and CEO of the nonprofit Opportunity Alabama briefed the commission on his group’s work with Opportunity Zones, which encourage investment in low-income areas. “Our goal is to rally the ecosystem here in the state of Alabama around opportunism,” he said. Flachsbart, a former tax attorney, said the zones were created with the passage of the tax bill in December. The idea is to give tax breaks to investors who put their money into a fund that then invests in businesses and real estate projects in low-income areas. The incentives grow the longer the money stays invested, he said. “(It goes) all the way to the point where if you’re an investor who keeps their money in a fund that’s invested in the local community for 10 years or longer, you don’t pay any tax at all on the appreciation of your investment,” he said. “If I make a good bet on a place like Ensley, or a place like East Lake or a place like Fultondale, the good news (is) that, if my investment substantially improves, I get to walk away tax-free after 10 years.” Read more.

Sports Tourism Is Big Business in Birmingham, but Not Big Enough, Study Says

Even with more athletic fields at the Hoover Met Complex, greater Birmingham needs additional sports facilities to compete with cities such as Westfield, Indiana and Elizabethtown, Kentucky. Never heard of those cities? If you have a child who competes on a “travel ball” team, you probably have. A study commissioned by the Greater Birmingham Convention and Visitors Bureau says that those two cities are Birmingham’s primary competitors for large sports tournaments. The bureau released the study’s findings Sept. 27. It was conducted by Phoenix-based Huddle Up Sports and is based on a survey of available sports venues in metro Birmingham. The company also conducted interviews with various stakeholders in the sports tourism industry, a segment of the local economy that caters not just to college and professional sports organizers and fans but also to followers of youth and amateur sports tournaments that bring in hundreds of teams, competitors, families and officials. Although metro Birmingham has made a big push in sports tourism, it still is falling behind other cities, some of which are much smaller in population but which have gone all-in on the burgeoning sports tourism sector. Read more.

Are You Ready to Vote?

After nearly a year of campaigns, the general election is right around the corner. Polls will be open Nov. 6 for voters to choose people to represent them from the statehouse to the courthouse. Up for grabs is the governor’s office, legislative seats, judicial positions and county offices, to name a few. If you want to vote in these races, important deadlines are looming: Oct. 22 is the deadline to register to vote. Nov. 1 is the last day to apply to vote by absentee ballot. Nov. 5 is the last day to deliver or postmark an absentee ballot. Nov. 6 is election day. Polls are open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. across the state. If you need to register to vote, you can apply online through the Secretary of State’s Office or print an application to be mailed to your county Board of Registrars. You also may call 800-274-8683 to have an application mailed to you or apply in person through your Board of Registrars. If you’re in doubt about whether you’re registered to vote, you can check your status through another SOS web page or call your county’s Board of Registrars. In Jefferson County, the board’s office is in the courthouse downtown and can be reached at 325-5550.

Birmingham Public Library Atmosphere ‘Toxic’ ‘Hostile,’ Employees Say. Leadership ‘Not for Faint of Heart,’ New Director Responds.

Nearly 20 Birmingham Public Library employees addressed the library’s board of directors Tuesday night, expressing concern over what they described as a “hostile” work environment that has emerged under the library’s new leadership. The group, speaking through spokesperson Monica King-Slater, did not mention anyone by name, but it was clear that their frustration was directed toward Floyd Council, the library’s executive director, who is nearing the end of his probationary period in the position. Council’s leadership has been the subject of controversy since he started the job in November 2017. With Tuesday marking the board’s last regular meeting before the end of Council’s yearlong probationary period, the employees warned board members that the “toxic” environment was “a time bomb waiting to explode” and urged the board to “do the right thing.” Read more.

Hurricane Michael Not on Route to Threaten Mobile Bay, Coal Ash Basin

Hurricane Michael is not expected to score a direct hit on Mobile Bay, relieving concern that the coal ash basin at Alabama Power Company’s Plant Barry could be threatened, according to Cade Kistler, program director for Mobile Baykeeper, an environmental organization. Kistler and Casi Callaway, Mobile Baykeeper’s executive director, citing a report issued by Baykeeper, earlier raised questions about a hurricane’s effect on safety of the coal ash storage basin. Alabama Power spokesman Michael Sznajderman said in an email that the company is prepared for the storm. The coal ash stored next to Plant Barry is virtually surrounded by the Mobile River 25 miles upstream from where it enters the bay. Baykeeper officials say they worry that the earthen dams holding back the river could be breached. Read more. For more on coal ash concerns:

An Alabama Scenario: Hurricane Florence Raises Questions About Coal Ash and Mobile Bay.

Jefferson County Commission Pursues Healthcare Authority Plan

Jefferson County is moving closer to establishing a healthcare authority to manage indigent healthcare in the county. During their committee meeting Tuesday, commissioners moved a resolution to the agenda of Thursday’s commission meeting that would direct county manager Tony Petelos to begin detailed discussions with UAB Health System to establish University Health Authority. Petelos said the only difference patients should see is a more efficient operation. “Is Cooper Green going away? No. Is UAB absorbing Cooper Green? No,” Petelos said. “This is going to be a separate healthcare authority and the Jefferson County Commission will be a part of that process. But the healthcare authority will be responsible for the day-to-day operations of Cooper Green Health Services.” Read more.

Birmingham Lawyer Appointed to Replace Former Mayor Kincaid on Park Board

The Birmingham City Council voted Tuesday to appoint attorney Carly Miller to the city’s five-member Park and Recreation Board, replacing former Birmingham Mayor Bernard Kincaid. Kincaid had served on the board since 2011, and his second term on the board expired Oct. 8. Miller is an associate at Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP with a legal focus on construction, government contracting and energy. Her term on the Park and Recreation Board will last through Oct. 8, 2022. Read more.

Jones, Shelby Split on Kavanaugh Confirmation

Alabama’s senators, like most of the senators from across the country, split along party lines this weekend as the body voted to confirm Brett Kavanaugh as the newest U.S. Supreme Court Justice. Sen. Doug Jones, a Democrat from Alabama, decried the process that he called a “rush to confirmation” during a 25-minute address to the Senate before Friday’s vote to limit debate on the nomination. He lamented that millions of dollars had been spent both on campaigns to get Kavanaugh confirmed to the court and to block that confirmation. “I think that this kind of political campaign for a seat on the Supreme Court of the United States, a political campaign run by either political party, should be condemned as completely contrary to the independence of the judicial branch of our government,” Jones said in his speech. He said he believed Americans from both parties were “disgusted” by the political process. “I am deeply disappointed and concerned by the process, the posturing and the partisanship that has degraded what should be one of the most serious, deliberate and thoughtful decisions that we as the United States Senate are entrusted to make,” he said. Republican Sen. Richard Shelby, who at first took a “wait and see” approach to Kavanaugh’s nomination after allegations of sexual misconduct surfaced, supported the confirmation in the end. “During the hearings, I found Judge Kavanaugh’s testimony to be credible,” Shelby said in a statement after the vote. “It is evident that the accusations against Judge Kavanaugh are uncorroborated, and there is no confirmation of any of the alleged misconduct,” he said. Read more about the Senate’s 50-48 vote to confirm Kavanaugh’s nomination and how senators voted on other key issues in the week ending Oct. 6, 2018. The House was in recess. Read more.