Virginia Martin

Neighborhood Revitalization Remains a Defining Issue in Tuesday’s Birmingham City Runoff

• The city is streaming voting results as they come in tonight. Keep up with the numbers here. • Birmingham city runoff elections are today. • The mayor’s office, three seats on the City Council and five seats on the city Board of Education are on the ballot. • Polls are open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Throughout the Birmingham mayoral race, candidate Randall Woodfin has challenged Mayor William Bell’s record on neighborhood revitalization, contending he has neglected struggling areas of the city in favor of developing the downtown area. Bell, however, maintains that downtown development should be prioritized over some neighborhoods because it is an economic engine that brings money into the city, though his actions have been both lauded and criticized by various neighborhood officials. The issue of neighborhood revitalization has remained an issue in the mayoral campaign even as the number of candidates was cut from 12 to two. Birmingham voters will go to the polls today to finally pick the man who will take over the mayor’s office for the next term. Also on the city runoff ballot are three City Council seats and five city Board of Education seats. Read more. Birmingham City Runoff Voter Guide Three Birmingham City Council Seats Are up for Grabs Birmingham School Board Candidates Answer BW Questions, Talk Improvement Goals and Difficult Decisions Birmingham Runoff Ballot and Candidate Profiles Find Your Polling Place Research Campaign Finance

by Sam Prickett

Getting Media Savvy: Judging the Difference Between Real News and Fake

Almost as if it were planned, news about fake news headlined national media coverage the same day that Alabama media experts and citizens who care about staying informed gathered for a Media Savvy discussion Thursday evening at Birmingham’s Civil Rights Institute. Aimed at understanding and navigating today’s changing and confusing media landscape, the forum began and ended with “Real News or Fake News?” games, included tips for telling the difference, and featured open discussion by audience members and presenters with decades of news reporting experience. The event was sponsored by BirminghamWatch and the Alabama Humanities Foundation. The conversation continues next week. Reserve your seat now. The events are free but space is limited. Read more.

by Jackie Romine Walburn

2 Lawyers, Drummond Exec Indicted in Corruption Probe

A six-count indictment filed by a federal grand jury Wednesday charges two partners in a Birmingham law firm and a vice president of one of the world’s largest coal companies with conspiracy, bribery, wire fraud and money laundering. Investigators in a press conference Thursday alleged that the scheme, involving the bribery of a former state legislator from Birmingham, was designed to thwart EPA action on a toxic waste cleanup in the city of Tarrant and the adjacent Inglenook neighborhood of Birmingham. Joel Iverson Gilbert and Steven McKinney, both partners in the Birmingham law firm of Balch and Bingham, and David Roberson, vice president of government and regulatory affairs of Birmingham-based Drummond Company, are accused of paying bribes through a non-profit foundation to former Rep. Oliver Robinson Jr., also a former UAB and NBA basketball player. U.S. Attorney Jay Town announced the indictments in a news conference Thursday. Robinson was indicted last month, accused of taking bribes from the two attorneys in exchange for his help to keep the federal Environmental Protection Agency from putting the 35th Avenue Superfund site on a national priority list. The idea was to have the matter handled by the Alabama Department of Environmental Management, instead, which potentially would save Drummond “tens of millions of dollars,” Town said. Read more.

by Robert Carter

Grand Jury Indicts 2 Lawyers, Drummond Exec in Corruption Probe

A federal grand jury on Wednesday indicted two Birmingham lawyers and an Alabama coal company executive on charges of conspiracy, bribery, wire fraud and money laundering. The indictment charges the three paid former state Rep. Oliver Robinson to take official action favorable to their interests in connection with EPA actions in north Birmingham. Read more.

by Robert Carter

In Their Own Words: Birmingham School Board Candidates Answer BW Questions, Talk Improvement Goals and Difficult Decisions

A majority of seats on the Birmingham Board of Education still are up for grabs in the Oct. 3 runoff election. BirminghamWatch asked the 10 candidates in runoffs for five seats a series of questions about their intentions toward the new school superintendent, the possibility of closing schools, their goals for city school graduates, improvements they’d like to see in city schools and the role they think the mayor and City Council should take in relation to the schools. Races on the runoff ballot are Districts 1, 4, 5, 7 and 8. Read what the candidates have to say about the issues in their own words.

by Jackie Romine Walburn

Moore Gets More: Former Alabama Chief Justice Defeats Luther Strange in Republican Senate Runoff

Luther Strange had almost everything that a candidate could ask for in the race to retain his seat in the U.S. Senate. Besides being the incumbent, the former state attorney general had the endorsement of President Donald Trump, something he mentioned to voters repeatedly in the week leading up to Tuesday’s GOP runoff election. He also had millions of dollars in advertising support from the Senate Leadership Fund, controlled by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, as well as the National Rifle Association’s political action committee. Both PACs flooded Alabama television and radio stations with commercials, and they were omnipresent on the internet as well. But Roy Moore had more. In particular, he had more votes. Read more.

by Robert Carter

U.S. Senate Election Results

Roy Moore has beaten out Luther Strange in the race for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate. With about two-thirds of the polls reporting, Moore led Strange 56 percent to 44 percent. Strange conceded the race and called Moore to “wish him the best,” he said during a speech at his after-election gathering. Moore in a victory speech that sounded much like a sermon gave the credit for his win to God. He said he will support President Trump even though Trump did not support him – provided that Trump’s actions are constitutional. “We want to bring our country back to its greatness, and we can and we will,” Moore said. Moore will face Democratic nominee Doug Jones in the general election Dec. 12.

by Virginia Martin

JeffCo Commission Closing Its Books on Time and on Budget

Sept. 26, 2017 – Jefferson County Commissioners will have a brief meeting Wednesday to deal with a “good” problem, according to Commission President Jimmie Stephens. Wednesday’s meetings, arranged during today’s committee session, will be conducted to close the financial books as the fiscal year comes to a close. “Really, that’s a good problem to have because

by Solomon Crenshaw Jr.

Birmingham City Council Passes Non-Discrimination Ordinance

Sept. 26, 2017 – The Birmingham City Council voted Tuesday to approve a human rights ordinance that was first proposed more than four years ago. In a 7-0 vote, the council passed the City of Birmingham Non-Discrimination Ordinance, which would put into place protections against discrimination based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability or familial status. Read more.

by Sam Prickett

At the Polls

Polls will be open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday Registration and Polling Place: Verify your registration and polling place, and check the status of your provisional or absentee ballot at the Secretary of State’s AlabamaVotes.gov site. You also can verify your registration status via the state’s new smartphone app, the or on the mobile

by Virginia Martin