Author: Virginia Martin
From Cotton Fields to LED Panels: JeffCo Plans to Pair Electronic Art With Depression-Era Murals to Tell the County’s Story
Walking into the Jefferson County courthouse from Linn Park, you’re flanked by murals depicting the county’s history.
On the right is the “Old South” mural, dominated by a woman in antebellum dress with slaves harvesting cotton and sugar cane at her feet. On the left is the “New South” mural, anchored by a man dressed in a suit and hat with industrial workers at his feet.
The 17½-foot-tall murals may have shown an overview of the county’s progression when they were painted in 1931. But that was 86 years ago.
Now the murals periodically draw protests by people who say the artwork enshrines a racist era and does not bear a resemblance to the Jefferson County of today.
County commissioners have been debating that issue, but they don’t plan to remove the murals. Instead, they are commissioning an artist to design three-dimensional electronic LED panels to be installed in the same lobby and bring the county’s history up to date. Read more.
JeffCo Commissioners Hire Artist for New Courthouse Mural, Won’t Remove Historic Murals From Lobby
Aug. 29, 2017 – The Jefferson County Commission on Tuesday approved hiring artist Ronald McDowell to produce a mural depicting modern-day Jefferson County.
The mural would complement, but not replace, two old murals in the lobby of the courthouse that have been controversial over the years. One of those murals includes images of slaves harvesting cotton and sugar cane.
Commissioner Sandra Little Brown presented the resolution at the commission’s committee meeting on Tuesday. She said the project predates the national furor over Confederate monuments. Read more.
Michal Claims Birmingham School Board District 2 Seat
Terri Michal has been declared the winner in a tight race for the Birmingham City Board of Education District 2 seat.
Just 10 votes separated her from Brandon McCray after provisional ballots were counted and the vote certified Tuesday. Michal got 1,719 of those to McCray’s 1,709. Read more.
Birmingham City Council Continues Questioning of House-Building Contract
Aug. 29, 2017 — An ongoing debate over a District 9 construction contract dominated Tuesday’s meeting of the Birmingham City Council, though the only outcome was the promise of more debate.
Outgoing Councilor Marcus Lundy continued his criticisms of Bethel Ensley Action Task, an organization that had been contracted by the city to build two houses in Lundy’s district over two years — a project Lundy says remains unfinished.
Tuesday’s discussion centered on a proposed resolution, which appeared as a late addendum to the meeting’s agenda, to rescind another contract with BEAT that the council had adopted earlier this year. That contract would allocate a further $1.5 million for BEAT to construct nine more three-bedroom, two-bathroom houses in the Enon Ridge community, where the two houses from the previous contract had been built. Lundy said the proposal to rescind the second contract was based on allegations BEAT failed to fulfill the first. Instead, he argued, the second contract should be opened to bids from other contractors. Read more.
Court Rules Sabal Trail Gas Pipeline Ignored Greenhouse Impact, Orders Environmental Assessment
In a case that touches Alabama, a federal court ruled this week that a government regulatory agency has to estimate the probable effect energy use has on climate change.
Environmentalists in Alabama and elsewhere are applauding this “surprising” victory. The 6th District Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., ruled Monday that, when licensing natural gas pipelines, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission did not fully consider the potential greenhouse gas effects of burning natural gas.
The court ordered a new environmental impact study of the Southeast Market Pipelines Project — a network that includes the new Sabal Trail pipeline. The 515-mile line carries fracked gas from a point near Alexander City through southwestern Georgia to central Florida, where it fuels generators for electricity there. Read more.
Five Birmingham School Board Races Headed to Runoffs
Voters seemed ready to side with newcomers in Birmingham City Board of Education elections Tuesday, as board President Wardine Towers Alexander was defeated in District 7 and another incumbent, Daagye Hendricks, must face former board member Edward Maddox in the Oct. 3 runoff for the District 4 seat.
Only two incumbents – Sandra Kelly Brown and Cheri Gardner – won re-election, Gardner with 79.24 percent of the vote and Brown with 68.1 percent. Read more.
Six Incumbents Win Re-Election to the Birmingham City Council, Three Races Will Be Decided in Runoffs
Voters on Tuesday chose to keep the Birmingham City Council’s current lineup mostly intact. Six councilors won re-election outright, while two more garnered enough votes to head to a runoff.
The one council seat without an incumbent vying for re-election also is headed to a runoff — though with a familiar face in the lead. Read more.
Bell, Woodfin Advance to Runoff in Birmingham Mayor’s Race
Birmingham Mayor William Bell may be in for the fight of his political life.
Bell failed to win a majority of votes cast in the Aug. 22 mayoral election — in fact, he wasn’t even the leading vote-getter — and now will go head-to-head against Birmingham Board of Education member Randall Woodfin in a runoff Oct. 3.
Woodfin took the top spot in the returns with 15,656 votes; at 40.84 percent, he was well short of the majority needed to avoid a runoff. Bell trailed Woodfin by a wide margin in early returns but closed the gap as the night wore on and finished with 14,011 votes, or 36.55 percent.
Woodfin attracted a diverse following in his campaign, and Bell ended the night vowing to focus in on his base before the next round of voting. Read more.
Birmingham City Election Results
Check here for results from Tuesday’s election. Many races, including the mayor’s race, are headed to runoffs because no candidate got more than 50 percent of the vote.
