Virginia Martin

Birmingham Council Delays Selecting New Pro Tem After Roberson’s Departure

The eight members of the Birmingham City Council spent much of Tuesday morning’s meeting focused on the daïs’ sole empty chair, stuck on the question of how to replace former President Pro Tempore Jay Roberson. Roberson, who had represented District 7 on the council since 2009, announced his resignation last month, citing his wife’s new job with Alabaster City Schools. He officially left office Monday, meaning that Tuesday’s meeting was the first in which the remaining members of the council could vote on his replacement. They didn’t, though. The deadline for applications to fill Roberson’s seat had been extended to Tuesday afternoon. Council President Valerie Abbott attempted unsuccessfully to hold a vote for Roberson’s replacement as president pro tem. Read more.

Health Department Gives More Time for North Birmingham Residents to Weigh in on Air Quality

The Jefferson County Department of Health has extended the deadline for comments on the proposed renewal of the air emissions permit for ABC Coke. The move comes at the request of residents and environmental groups. Concerns about the permit heightened following a federal corruption trial where an executive with ABC Coke’s parent, Drummond Company, and a lawyer were convicted in a scheme to thwart testing for pollution near the Tarrant plant. Read more.

Congressional Votes for the Week Ending Sept. 7

WASHINGTON – Alabama’s House delegation voted together, and with the vast majority of other representatives, to pass a bill that would require couseling of parents and students participating in federal student-loan programs. Students receiving loans and Pell grants also would have to go through online counseling on their loan obligations. The House split, however, on a proposal to expand the bill to offer specialized counseling for veterans. Rep. Terri Sewell, Alabama’s only Democratic representative, also was the only member of the state’s delegation who voted in favor of the proposed provision, which failed. Here's how area members of Congress voted on that and other major issues during the week ending Sept. 7. Read more.

A Deadly Week: September Homicides Could Foreshadow Record Year in Birmingham

Six homicides happened in Birmingham during the first week of September, putting the city firmly on track for its most violent year in more than two decades and pressuring city leaders to improve their strategies for responding to such incidents and to focus on preventing them. The first homicide of the month was the highly publicized death of 16-year-old Woodlawn High School student Will Edwards, who was killed in his North East Lake home just after midnight Sept. 1. The following evening, seven teenagers were shot during a gunfight at the downtown music venue WorkPlay, though none were killed. Mayor Randall Woodfin described the weekend’s incidents of youth violence as a “devastating blow to our community.” By the end of the first week, five more homicides had been reported by the Birmingham Police Department, four of which happened within a 24-hour period. Fifty-year-old Antonio Pettaway was stabbed to death in his North Birmingham home Sept. 1 and his girlfriend was taken into custody. The remaining four homicides all took place Sept. 5: 26-year-old Briana Young was shot to death while driving in South Pratt; an unidentified male was found shot to death behind the wheel of a car in Roosevelt; 24-year-old Tarrell Antone Watson was also found dead behind the wheel of a car in North Pratt, ruled a homicide by police; and 30-year-old Preston Lemar Robinson was found shot to death in Green Acres. Just minutes after the week ended, the city already had logged its first homicide of week two. Marqueze Green, 21, died at UAB Hospital after being shot while sitting in a car on Steiner Court S.W. Another victim also was shot but is expected to recover. It wasn’t the most homicides that have taken place in a single week this year — that would be an eight-homicide stretch between July 29 and August 4 — but it has placed Birmingham firmly on track to have its deadliest year in recent memory. Read more.

AIIJ/BirminghamWatch Selected For NewsMatch 2018, National Campaign to Encourage Donations for Journalism

More than 150 nonprofit newsrooms across the country, including Alabama Initiative for Independent Journalism in Birmingham, will participate in this year’s NewsMatch, the largest grassroots fundraising campaign to support nonprofit news organizations. The national effort will launch Nov. 1. In 2017 NewsMatch helped to raise more than $4.8 million from individual donors and a coalition of private funders. Sue Cross, executive director and CEO of the Institute for Nonprofit News, which serves as one of NewsMatch’s nonprofit partners, said, “We are encouraged to see such strong growth in community support of news … NewsMatch makes it easy for communities and individuals to find and fund their local sources of trusted news.” Read more.

Ainsworth Leads Boyd by Wide Margin in Lt Governor Fundraising

Republican nominee for lieutenant governor Will Ainsworth continues to outpace Democratic rival Will Boyd by a wide margin in fundraising, according to August reports filed Wednesday with the Secretary of State’s Office. In August, the Ainsworth campaign raised $144,775, more in a single month than Boyd has raised during the entire 2018 election cycle. Boyd during the month raised $9,286 in cash donations and $32,800 in in-kind contributions. Read more.

Vance’s Campaign Coffers Swell in Chief Justice Race

Democrat Robert S. “Bob” Vance Jr.’s campaign coffers swelled in August in the race to be the next chief justice, continuing his lead in fundraising for the high court seat he nearly won in 2012. During the month, Vance raised $208,969 in cash and $733 in in-kind contributions. The campaign spent $27,972 in August Republican challenger Thomas “Tom” Parker of Montgomery, an associate justice on the state’s high court, raised $3,910 in cash during the month and ended the month with $17,509 in the bank. Read more.

Merrill’s SOS Campaign Leads Milam’s Almost 3-to-1 in Contributions in August

Incumbent Secretary of State John Merrill, a Republican, out-raised his Democratic challenger, Heather Milam, by about a 3-1 ratio in August, according to monthly campaign finance reports filed Wednesday. For the month, Merrill raised $28,110 in cash contributions and $4,010 in in-kind contributions, and Milam raised $11,310 in cash. Read more.

Marshall Maintains Big Fundraising Lead Over Siegelman in AG’s Race

Attorney General Steve Marshall maintained his fundraising lead over Democratic opponent Joe Siegelman in August. Marshall, a Republican, raised $133,566, according to his campaign’s monthly disclosure report filed with the Secretary of State’s Office. Siegelman, a Birmingham lawyer and son of former Gov. Don Siegelman, reported raising $94,449. Read more.

Ivey Continues to Outraise Maddox in Governor’s Race; Maddox Reports 892 Smaller Donations in August

Gov. Kay Ivey nudged out Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox for the top spot in campaign contributions in August, which leaves her in the position of having raised more than three times as much as her Democratic challenger for the governor’s office. In reports filed this week with the Alabama Secretary of State’s Office, Republican candidate Ivey reported having raised $402,000 in cash donations in August and, after spending more than $435,000, ending the month with $337,964. She has raised close to $5.4 million since her campaign started last year. Maddox reported raising $337,742 in donations last month, and after spending $180,549, ending the month with $476,459. That brings the total raised for his campaign to $1.7 million. Read more. More contribution reports in state races:

Ainsworth Leads Boyd by Wide Margin in Lt Governor Fundraising

Vance’s Campaign Coffers Swell in Chief Justice Race.

Marshall Maintains Big Fundraising Lead Over Siegelman in AG’s Race

Merrill’s SOS Campaign Leads Milam’s Almost 3-to-1 in Contributions in August