Author: Virginia Martin
A Ukrainian Dressmaker and His Family Find Refuge and a New Beginning in Vestavia Hills
Mykola Vyshyvanyuk and his family were forced to flee Ukraine when Russia invaded in 2022. Thanks to local support, they’ve found a new place to call home. Read more.
Highland Park Restaurant Plans Set Off Residential Parking Permit Debate
The Birmingham City Council has paved the way for a new restaurant to open in Highland Park, despite residential concerns over traffic and parking capacity.
The council approved Tuesday a request to rezone the vacant property at 2614 Highland Ave. to allow for George’s, a new “city tavern” that developers said would hearken back to the nostalgic age of dining.
Residents said they already have trouble parking and doubt the neighborhood’s capacity for a full-service restaurant. Read more.
If you’re a reporter, how sneaky are you willing to be? Here’s an exercise.
I’ve never seen “sneakiness” listed among the requirements for any reporter jobs but maybe it should be.
A reporter for the McCurtain (Oklahoma) Gazette-News ended up with a flabbergasting story when he secretly left a voice-activated audio recorder in a public meeting room after citizens were told to leave a session of the McCurtain County Commission. The reporter, believing county officials had a practice of continuing to discuss government business in violation of the state open meetings law, retrieved the recorder and discovered comments lamenting that Black criminals couldn’t be lynched anymore and talk of killing local reporters. Read more and take the test..
Increasing Popularity of Alabama’s Pinhoti Trail Sparks Economic Opportunity
A growing number of hikers are tackling Alabama’s longest continuous footpath and trail communities are welcoming the growth. Read more.
Any school can get you a diploma. This school might get you a house.
Fewer young people want to work in trade jobs than ever before, and that’s left a hole in the job market. One charter school in Birmingham is giving some young people skills needed to address that problem. Read more.
A Demon and a Lemon: Big-Name Firings Were Not the Same
You ought to do some soul-searching if you’re a big-time media figure who gets fired and the media reporters have to offer possible reasons in list form
But that won’t happen with Tucker Carlson, who, despite being fired by MSNBC, CNN and now Fox, is incapable of shame. And maybe he couldn’t find his soul anyway.
One remarkable aspect is that Fox even did this to its biggest ratings winner. Read more.
Birmingham City Council Opposes Water Works Bill That Would Dilute Its Influence
The Birmingham City Council has officially announced its opposition to a state bill that would cut two council-appointed seats from the Birmingham Water Works Board, with some councilors saying the Legislature is trying to wrest home rule from the city.
House Bill 177, sponsored by Rep. Jim Carns, R-Vestavia Hills, would reduce the number of BWWB seats from nine to seven, removing two of the four currently appointed by the council. Appointment authority over the remaining five seats on the board — two by the mayor of Birmingham and one each by the Jefferson County Mayors Association, the Shelby County Commission and the Blount County Commission — would remain unchanged.
On Tuesday, the council unanimously approved a resolution of opposition to the bill.
“This bill directly takes away two appointments from the council,” said District 1 Councilor Clinton Woods, who chairs the council’s Governmental Affairs and Public Information Committee. “That basically dilutes our ability to represent our ratepayers, who are the (board’s) largest bloc of ratepayers.” Read more.
Monuments Commemorating Confederacy Persist in Alabama
About 48 memorials honoring the Confederacy were removed in 2022, according to a report from the Southern Poverty Law Center.
However, the report noted that many southern states, including Alabama, make it a crime to remove the monuments, most of which went up in the late 19th and early 20th centuries to celebrate white supremacy.
“This is not what democracy looks like,” said Susan Corke, director of the Intelligence Project for SPLC. Read more.
Ivey Forces Early Childhood Education Secretary to Resign Over Teacher Training Book
Gov. Kay Ivey Friday forced Secretary of Early Childhood Education Barbara Cooper to resign over a book designed to train teachers to be aware of the different backgrounds and challenges of their students.
In a Friday afternoon news release, Gina Maiola, communications director for the governor’s office, said Ivey had accepted Cooper’s resignation after learning of a pre-K educator resource book that included “woke concepts.”
The book is the National Association for the Education of Young Children Developmentally Appropriate Practice Book, 4th Edition. It focuses on teaching children up to age of 8. Read more.
Child Advocacy Group Meets With State Leaders as Economic Security Worsens for Alabama Kids
MONTGOMERY — The nonprofit organization Voices for Alabama’s Children is asking state leaders to expand social services for children who are faring worse economically when compared to over a decade ago.
Meeting with several state department heads – including Barbara Cooper, secretary for the state Department of Early Childhood Education, Eric Mackey, state superintendent and others – Voices is advocating for a number of policy proposals, including Medicaid expansion, increased funding for mental health services and the state’s First Class Pre-K Program, and more. Read more.
