Birmingham leaders officially opened the city's Real Time Crime Center Tuesday, a project intended to give the Birmingham Police Department new technological tools to help resolve crime more quickly. Read more.
Alabamians should get their first looks at proposed new State House, congressional and state school board voting districts next week, two days before the Legislature begins debating and voting on them. Read more.
The city of Birmingham is taking part in a pilot project to provide guaranteed minimum incomes to 110 female-identifying heads of households with at least one child. The Birmingham City Council gave final approval Tuesday to the Mayor Randall Woodfin Administration initiative, Embrace Mothers. The program is in partnership with Mayors for a Guaranteed Income, which is giving the city a $500,000 grant to execute the pilot program. Read more.
Huntsville businessman and “Black Hawk Down” veteran Mike Durant announced his campaign for U.S. Senate Tuesday, entering an already crowded Republican primary field. In a press release, Durant labeled himself as a “pro-Trump conservative Republican” and criticized many of the actions taken by the Biden Administration. Read more.
Jefferson County commissioners said during their committee meeting Tuesday that they want to be informed about federal rescue funds that they ultimately will be asked to approve. Commission President Jimmie Stephens told County Manager Cal Markert that the commission wants to know who has applied for the latest brand of COVID funds from the federal government and where those applications are in the system of approval. The commission also heard an update on the talks about the USFL being reestablished with its headquarters in Birmingham. Read more.
The Birmingham City Council bid farewell to three of its members Tuesday, as well as to outgoing city finance director Lester Smith. Council President William Parker and District 9 Councilor John Hilliard lost their re-election bids in a runoff earlier this month, while District 8 Councilor Steven Hoyt decided not to seek reelection. Smith’s departure from Birmingham’s city government, meanwhile, was announced by Mayor Randall Woodfin at Tuesday’s meeting. Parker was praised for his work to bolster the city’s entertainment industry, Hoyt for his Education with a Purpose scholarship initiative and Hilliard for his work in economic development. Read more.
A north Alabama lawmaker wants to prohibit Alabama businesses and agencies from requiring their employees or patrons to be immunized. House Bill 31 also says that anyone fired or discriminated against because of their immunization status — it doesn’t specifically mention COVID-19 — can sue the business or entity, which range in the bill from amusement parks to zoos. “I feel like it’s my body, my choice,” Rep. Ritchie Whorton, a two-term Republican from Owens Cross Roads, told Alabama Daily News on Monday. “No one is going to tell me I have to put something in my body. It’s not right.” The bill isn’t yet available on the Legislature’s website, but copies are floating around Montgomery — and drawing opposition from some of Alabama’s most influential organizations. “(The Business Council of Alabama) is opposed to HB 31 and any similar legislation that opens Alabama businesses up to frivolous lawsuits,” BCA Vice President Susan Carothers told ADN. “Very few, if any, laws have been introduced in the Alabama Legislature with more onerous provisions against business than HB 31,” the Alabama Civil Justice Reform Committee said in a letter opposing the bill. Read more.
Katie Boyd Britt, former chief of staff to U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby, holds a huge fundraising advantage over U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks and three other candidates for the Republican nomination to succeed Shelby in Alabama’s 2022 GOP primary election, according to reports filed Friday with the Federal Elections Commission. Brooks, who is giving up his 5th District seat after five terms representing the Tennessee Valley area, held a commanding lead in recent polls and has been endorsed by former President Donald Trump. In financial reports for the three-month period ended Sept. 31, Britt listed $1.53 million in net contributions during the period and $3.76 million since she resigned as president and CEO of the Business Council of Alabama and entered the race during the summer. She reported expenditures of $394,448 during the quarter and had a cash balance of $3.34 million at the end of September. Brooks reported net contributions of $663,074 during the three-month period and a total of $1.79 million overall. He listed expenditures of $507,623 and an account balance of $1.86 million. He had entered the race with $1.1 million left over from previous campaigns for the House of Representatives. Montgomery business executive Lynda Blanchard, who served as Trump’s ambassador to Slovenia, reported contributions of $1,958 but listed refunds of $12,100 for a net of minus $10,142 during the quarter. She made loans totaling $5.11 million to her campaign earlier this year and ended September with a cash balance of $4.51 million. Read more.
Lawmakers will be back in Montgomery starting Oct. 28 to decide new congressional, state Senate and House and state school board district boundaries in a special session. The proposed maps, still being drafted, aren’t likely to be made public until late next week, raising some concerns about how much community reaction could be heard in a fast-paced special session. Read more.
The commission deciding what changes should be made to Alabama’s constitution is close to a final vote, with most members agreeing Wednesday about alterations to three sections containing racist language. The group decided to take another week to review all of the final suggested revisions before taking a final vote, most likely during the special session on reapportionment, which could happen as soon as the last week of October. “I just want to make sure that we're all on the same page because at the end of the day, I'm going to take this document back to the Legislature, and I want to say that this is a document that was bipartisan,” said Rep. Merika Coleman, D-Pleasant Grove, who chairs the commission. Read more.
