Virginia Martin

Council Votes Down Zoning Change for Planned East Lake Business Over Parking

Courtney Jones said he was surprised when the Birmingham City Council voted on Tuesday to deny a zoning change as part of his plans to create an events center in the East Lake community. “I was floored, to put it in layman’s terms,” he said in an interview after the meeting. Jones owns the building at 6900 Second Ave. S., where he hopes to establish Atlas 360, a business hosting weddings, corporate events and private parties. Read more.

by Daniel Gaddy

Birmingham Nears Year’s End With Mixed Crime Numbers

The city of Birmingham released its most recent crime stats Friday, showing that, while nonviolent crimes such as burglary, auto theft and theft numbers have increased this year, violent crimes still are down somewhat. Read more.

by BirminghamWatch

What Experts Recommend to Encourage Childhood Literacy at Home

Alabama has been trying to raise the literacy scores for younger readers in the state through legislation and support from the Alabama State Department of Education. The Alabama Reflector asked experts in the state what parents and guardians should be looking for and doing for their own children’s literacy. Read more.

by Jemma Stephenson, Alabama Reflector

In Alabama, What Does It Take to Shut Down a Surface Mine Operating Without Permits?

Nearby residents and environmental activists complained to state regulators without redress about an unlicensed sandstone quarry along Rock Creek. Alabama officials initially fined the company, but now it has signaled a green light ahead. Read more.

by Lee Hedgepeth, Inside Climate News

JeffCo Plans for New Coroner’s Office as It Forgives Development Authority’s Debt

The Jefferson County Commission on Thursday forgave about $1 million of debt owed by a development authority, setting the stage for the county coroner’s office to move to that authority’s industrial park.  County Manager Cal Markert said Jefferson County Economic and Industrial Development Authority developed the Jefferson Metropolitan Park Lakeshore industrial park on Lakeshore Parkway. One of its three remaining lots was targeted as the new home of the coroner’s office.  “Instead of paying for it, we're forgiving the debt,” Markert said. “It's all ours anyway. We loaned them the money. They bought all the property, set it up, developed the whole industrial park and created a tremendous number of jobs.”  Read more.

by Solomon Crenshaw Jr.

JeffCo Considers Forgiving Development Group’s Debt, Moving Coroner’s Office to Park

A resolution moved to the agenda of Thursday’s Jefferson County Commission meeting would forgive more than $1 million owed to the county from Jefferson County Economic and Industrial Development Authority. The county would also execute a purchase agreement with JCEIDA for land in the Lakeshore Jeffmet Park for the new office space of the Jefferson County Coroner/Medical Examiner. The purchase agreement for the land, valued at $700,000, would not be a cash transaction but would help offset the remaining JCEIDA debt being forgiven. County Manager Cal Markert called the authority “one of the most successful economic development groups in the state, if not the most.” Read more.

by Solomon Crenshaw Jr.

A Books-to-Prisons Program Creates Connection Behind Bars

Cornell Nobles has spent the last 13 years in the Alabama prison system. Like many incarcerated individuals, he feels disconnected from the outside world and frustrated by the stigma incarcerated people face. “We just want to be treated equally. We want to be known as people,” he said. “A lot of times we get looked

by Claire Trammell, WBHM Reflect Alabama Fellow

Birmingham Council Extends Timeline to Build on Old Ramsay-McCormack Property

The Birmingham City Council on Tuesday extended an agreement with developers tasked with constructing a five-story commercial building at the former site of Ensley’s Ramsay-McCormack tower, a long-derelict structure that the community lobbied for decades to have destroyed. The council voted unanimously to extend the agreement with Ensley District Developers from Dec. 31 to June 30, 2025. Read more.

by Daniel Gaddy

Alabama Power Partners With a Company Accused of Misleading Customers

A flier promoting the program began hitting mailboxes in November. In this new arrangement, HomeServe wants to sell what it calls an emergency home repair program to Alabama Power customers. Read more.

by Richard Banks, WBHM

Alabama Public Schools Overall Graded B on State Report Cards; JeffCo Schools Score B and Birmingham Schools C

Alabama’s K-12 public schools received an overall grade of B on new school and district report cards released Thursday by the Alabama State Department of Education. More than half of Alabama’s K-12 schools received As or Bs in this year’s evaluations, the first ones to come out under the changes to the Alabama Accountability Act, which reclassified schools with D or F grades as priority schools and eliminated language labeling schools as “failing.” In the Birmingham area, Jefferson County schools earned a B overall and Birmingham City Schools earned a C. Scores for other school systems, individual schools and charter schools in the area ranged from As to Fs. Read more.

by Alabama Reflector and BirminghamWatch