Virginia Martin

Uncovering Elder Financial Abuse? It’s Tricky.

Timothy Townsend offers loans for a living in north Alabama. It’s kind of like a middle ground between a payday lender and a bank. He remembers one time when a 19-year-old applied for a truck loan. The young man didn’t have any credit and had only been working a few weeks. So he got his grandfather to co-sign the loan application. “When I talked to the older gentlemen he was like ‘Well, I guess. I really don’t want to, but they’re saying it’s the only way he can get it,’” Townsend says. That hesitation was a red flag for Townsend, but it’s awkward because, as much as he wanted to do right by the young man and his grandfather — and follow the law — he’s in business. Read more. Read the first in the series: Seniors Find Opportunities and Challenges Trying to Return to Work

by Andrew Yeager, WBHM 90.3

Birmingham Council Debates Whether a Rezoning Would Ruin Druid Hills or Help Make It a Village

Two small residential properties in Birmingham’s Druid Hills neighborhood took on much larger significance during Tuesday’s City Council meeting, as a chaotic debate over whether they should be rezoned to accommodate their owners’ legal practice ballooned into a discussion of the economic future of Birmingham’s black neighborhoods. Read more.

by Sam Prickett

Fairfield Mayor and Council Come Together to Ask for Financial Help From Jefferson County

Jefferson County Commission members received packets from the mayor and council of Fairfield on Tuesday spelling out help that city is seeking from the county. This isn’t the first time officials from the financially strapped city have talked with commissioners about helping them provide services to the public, particularly concerning public safety. Commissioners last month said they would consider helping the city, but only if the mayor and council members could resolve their differences and present the commission with a joint resolution outlining their request, which they have done. “I think this is a good opportunity and example of regional cooperation that I think is a real solution not only for Fairfield but the other municipalities in Jefferson County, especially on the western corridor who are experiencing some of the same financial difficulties,” Mayor Ed May said. Read more.

by Solomon Crenshaw Jr.

Congressional Votes for the Week Ending Aug. 3

Alabama’s senators split their votes on a bill to extend the National Flood Insurance Program through Nov. 30, giving lawmakers more time to consider proposed reforms. The program runs a significant deficit, but it offers citizens access to flood insurance that otherwise is expensive and often not available at all. Here's how the senators voted on that and other major issues in the week ending Aug. 3. The House was in recess. Read more.

by Voterama in Congress

Seniors Find Opportunities and Challenges Trying to Return to Work

It’s a good time to be in the market for a job in this state. That goes for older adults, too. Alabama’s overall unemployment rate is low – just 4 percent. It’s even lower among seniors. But the older adults who are most likely to be hired are those who are willing to adapt and learn new skills or try on a whole new career. “I’m a 25-year-old. I’m just trapped in an 81-year-old body,” said Johnny Ward. “I’ve got a lot of energy, and I’m saying, why waste this knowledge and experience I have. Why not use it?” Here in Alabama and across the U.S., there are many like Ward. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, senior citizens represent a growing demographic in America’s work force. Many still need jobs. It can be difficult to make ends meet with a Social Security check or disability payment. And some want to work because they enjoy it. Read more.

by Sherrel Stewart, WBHM 90.3 FM

The Biggest Donors Eclipse the Rest in Gubernatorial Campaigns

Hundreds of thousands of dollars from Alabama’s richest person and a group of Tuscaloosa-based political action committees are fueling the race for governor as the campaign enters its final three months. Incumbent Republican Gov. Kay Ivey and Democratic challenger Walt Maddox, mayor of Tuscaloosa, have gotten most of their campaign money from PACs, businesses and other groups since the campaign began last year. Ivey reported $4.97 million in cash contributions and Maddox listed $1.38 million in reports filed late last week with the Secretary of State’s Office. Ivey’s contributions consist of 39 percent from individuals, 31 percent from PACs and 30 percent from groups and businesses. Maddox reported 44 percent from individuals, 38 percent from PACs and 18 percent from groups and businesses. The heaviest hitters so far are a group of six PACs chaired by Michael Echols of Tuscaloosa. Together, those six PACs have given $403,400, almost one-third of his collections, to Maddox. Read more about the people behind the biggest contributions to the candidates.

by Glenn Stephens

Cahaba Beach Road Project: Too Dangerous for Our Drinking Water? River Advocates Say Yes.

The ongoing fight over extending Cahaba Beach Road from U.S. 280 across the Little Cahaba River will heat up with another public meeting scheduled for Tuesday. Highway engineers will present an update from a meeting a year ago concerning the project’s impact on the river. The Little Cahaba is a vital link in the area’s drinking water supply, connecting the Lake Purdy reservoir to the main Cahaba River. Environmental groups are rallying forces with the intent of preventing the estimated $10 million to $20 million project of the Alabama Department of Transportation. The department announced it would present a modification of the plan floated a year ago. The Cahaba River Society, Cahaba Riverkeeper, Alabama Rivers Alliance and Southern Environmental Law Center have joined to object to it. The public involvement meeting will be from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Liberty Park Middle School, 17035 Liberty Pkwy. ALDOT representatives and project designers will be available, with maps of proposed routes, to answer questions. Interested persons can make verbal and written comments on the project and indicate preference for a route or no route. Read more.

by Hank Black

Peace Program is on President’s Budget-Cut List. Here’s Why Alabama Teacher Values Its Help.

A Birmingham-area teacher is among four selected from across the country to participate in a national program aimed at “empowering their students to see peace as something practical and possible.” Social studies teacher Ryan Adams of Chelsea High School, who focuses on Advanced Placement American History, is one of the next cohort of instructors to become Peace Teachers, a program of the United States Institute of Peace. USIP is one of several federally funded organizations proposed for substantial cuts in President Donald Trump’s wish list for 2019, “An American Budget.” In the case of the USIP, the president wants to cut its budget almost in half. BirminghamWatch is examining possible impacts on Alabama if the president’s proposals – which Congress has the power to accept or reject – are enacted. Under the Peace Teacher program, Adams joins teachers from Franklin, Tennessee; Hartford, South Dakota, and Silverdale, Washington, who “will spend the next school year bringing pressing international issues of conflict … to life,” according to a USIP press release, citing the Trump-Putin summit, annual summer protests in Iraq, and potential talks between the U.S. and the Afghan Taliban as examples that could be addressed. Adams is excited about the prospect. “Every teacher at some point in time … got into this profession to make a difference,” he said. “If I can be allotted an opportunity to be able to … make an impact beyond just the walls of my classroom, honestly, for those who got into this profession for the right reasons, who wouldn’t want to take a shot at that?” This is the second in the Trump's Budget Wish List series, detailing programs on President Trump’s chopping block and the effect cutting them could have on Alabama.

Trump’s Budget Wish List: What It Could Mean for Alabama

If President Trump were to get the federal budget he proposed in February, people in Alabama would stand to lose programs designed to improve distressed neighborhoods, provide affordable housing in rural communities, assist small manufacturers, support the training of nurses, provide legal assistance to low-income residents and veterans, pay for economic and workforce development in Appalachia and support farm workers.

by Nick Patterson

Jones Visits Mercedes-Benz, Deflects Comment on Possible Shift of Production to Asia

VANCE — Sen. Doug Jones, D-Alabama, has co-sponsored a bill along with a Republican colleague from Tennessee that would delay President Donald Trump’s proposed imposition of tariffs on vehicles and parts imported into the United States. But in a press conference held Friday morning at Mercedes-Benz’s factory complex near Tuscaloosa, Jones deflected comment on a report that the company may move some production from the Alabama plants to Asia because of tariffs already levied by China. The report by Reuters quoted the head of Daimler, Mercedes-Benz’s parent company in Germany, saying the tariffs have forced the company to consider a shift overseas. Read more.

by Robert Carter

Unpaid Debts: Cities Owe Jefferson County More Than $800,000 for EMA and Personnel Board Costs

Cities and towns in Jefferson County owe the county more than $800,000, according to a report given at the County Commission meeting Thursday in Bessemer. Commissioner David Carrington said he’s been working on the report for a while. It shows six cities owe the county $400,231.54 it paid on their behalf to the Personnel Board and $410,668.58 in outstanding balances for the Emergency Management Agency. “What discourages me most about this is some of these monies have been due since 2005, even before our watch,” Carrington said during the meeting. “I wonder what attempts have been made to collect these monies.” Read more.

by Solomon Crenshaw Jr.