Virginia Martin, Author at BirminghamWatch - Page 393 of 480
Donate About Subscribe

Virginia Martin

Sen. Jones Proposes Easier Access and a Central Clearinghouse for Civil Rights Cold Cases

U.S. Sen. Doug Jones introduced a bill on Tuesday that would make it easier to obtain records for unsolved civil rights cases. The proposed legislation, the Civil Rights Cold Case Records Collection Act of 2018, would mandate that criminal civil rights records held by the government be gathered and maintained by the National Archives and Records Administration. The collection would be available for public viewing. The proposal also would establish a Civil Rights Records Review Board, made up of impartial citizens, that would facilitate the review and transfer of records going into the collection. Jones said the improved accessibility would allow a wider range of people to participate more easily in unearthing details related to unsolved civil rights cases, many of which are more than 50 years old. Read more.

by Cheryl Slocum

With Its Finances Tight, Fairfield Seeks Help From Jefferson County to Protect Its Residents

Less than a month after Brighton’s mayor and a council member asked the Jefferson County Commission for help, another distressed western city is seeking aid. This time, the city in trouble is Fairfield. Officials from that city told commissioners George Bowman and Sandra Little Brown recently that they need help protecting their citizens during the next three months, and they were worried about being able to make it through their next pay period. Read more.

by Solomon Crenshaw Jr.

Coosa River Gets Help: Federal Court Overturns Alabama Power’s License to Operate 7 Dams, Orders New Look at Waterway’s Environment

Alabama Power Company is mulling how to proceed after a federal appellate court on Monday threw out its license to operate seven dams on the Coosa River. The ruling called the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s decision to issue the 30-year license “arbitrary and capricious.” The court said the decision was based on reviews and opinion that “were unreasoned and unsupported by substantial evidence.” The decision by the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia requires the case be returned to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to perform a more extensive environmental impact assessment. The decision was a rare reversal of a FERC dam licensing ruling. In an emailed statement, Alabama Power expressed disappointment, arguing that FERC’s findings “fully support the licensing decision.” Read more.

by Hank Black

Birmingham Council OKs up to $1.762M for Shipt Expansion

A proposed incentives package for grocery delivery company Shipt nearly stalled over procedural questions at Tuesday’s Birmingham City Council meeting. But after an impromptu presentation by Mayor Randall Woodfin’s office, the council voted unanimously to approve the measure. The incentives package gives Shipt up to $1.762 million from the city to “expand and grow” its Birmingham headquarters, according to the resolution. This will come in the form of reimbursing the costs the company incurs in finding and developing new hires . The city will pay Shipt $2,000 for each new employee, for an expected total of 881 employees. The average salary of these new jobs would be $50,000 per year, Shipt representatives told the council. Read more.

by Sam Prickett

2018 Election Calendar

Election Dates Primary Runoff Election, July 17: July 12 – Last day for voter to make application for an absentee ballot. July 16 – Last day for voter to hand-deliver or postmark an absentee ballot, except for voters who are overseas. Their deadline is election day. General Election, Nov. 6: Oct. 22 – Voter registration

by BirminghamWatch

2018 Runoff Voter Guide: What Races Are up in the Air and Who Are Those People on the Ballot?

Campaigns leading up to next Tuesday’s runoff elections may have been quieter than the sexy, top-of-the-ballot races that were in the June elections, but that doesn’t make the outcome any less important. Up for grabs in this round of voting are Republican nominations for lieutenant governor, attorney general, an associate justiceship on the Supreme Court and judgeships on the state civil and criminal appeal courts. There are no Democrats running for the Supreme Court Place 1 seat, either courts of appeal, or the agriculture and industries commissioner’s job. That means that whoever wins the Republican nomination in those races is almost assured of winning the office in November. In Jefferson County, there are only the statewide races still undecided on the Republican side. But there are several county and court races on the Democratic ballot, some in which the winner will have no competition in November. In this edition of the BirminghamWatch Voter Guide, you will find lists of candidates on the ballot and their profiles, which include basic information about each of the candidates such as the top contributors to their campaigns, the main issues they’re citing in their campaigns and links to their web or social media sites. It also has sample ballots for Jefferson and Shelby counties, which also link to the profiles. The toolkit has information about the process of voting, what you’ll need at the polls, what to do if you suspect trouble and what the new no crossover voting rule means for the July 17 runoffs. It’s all in one package on BirminghamWatch. Read more.

by Virginia Martin

Voters’ Toolbox for the Runoff

The Secretary of State’s AlabamaVotes.gov site and other resources offer several tools that let voters look up their polling places, check which races will be on their specific ballots, get information on absentee voting and even research candidates more deeply.

by BirminghamWatch

Profiles of Candidates in the July 17 Election, by Race

BirminghamWatch has put together profiles of each candidate, including biographical information, the main issues they’re citing in their campaigns and links to their web or social media sites. You can look up profiles for candidates by race below. Or you can look at the Jefferson County Republican ballot, the Jefferson County Democratic ballot and the

by Virginia Martin
1 … 391 392 393 394 395 … 480