Approximately 10% of Birmingham’s public works employees have tested positive for COVID-19, causing delays in city services such as trash pickup and grass cutting. Mayor Randall Woodfin, who recently required masks to be worn on city property, urged residents to get the vaccine and asked for patience while public works employees continue to catch up on their work. Read more.
Jefferson County commissioners in their meeting Thursday said illegal dumping has gotten worse throughout the majority of unincorporated Jefferson County and something needs to be done. “We’ve been continuously having a really big problem of illegal dumping and it has gotten out of control,” Commissioner Lashunda Scales said. “Even though we clean it, we seem to have to go back often to rectify it.” Read more.
Alabama fiscal leaders should soon know how much of the state’s federal COVID-19 relief funds can replace lost revenue and potentially fund new prisons. Read more.
Alabama is one of 29 states that has some restrictions on campaign contributions to candidates for state office during legislative sessions, but that “blackout” window is shrinking to two weeks next year. Read more.
Birmingham’s efforts to distribute millions of dollars of federal American Rescue Plan funding hit a snag Tuesday after councilors took issue with the vagueness of Mayor Randall Woodfin’s proposed allocations. Woodfin proposed to divide $53.1 million of the funds into broad “buckets:” $3 million for community-based public safety initiatives, $1.5 million to COVID-19 response, $18 million for neighborhood revitalization projects, $18.75 million for public transportation, $4.5 million for small business support, $1.1 million for employee vacation buyouts, $4.75 million for tourism and $1.5 million for grant writing and professional services to pursue other federal funding sources. Read more.
Hundreds of Birmingham residents went to Boutwell Auditorium hoping to get their cases settled by getting their warrants removed and receiving a new court date to pay off a ticket, or pay it off then and there. Read more.
MONTGOMERY -- Democratic State Sen. Priscilla Dunn won’t be running for reelection in 2022, and at least two current state representatives plan to run for the vacant seat. Dunn’s husband, Grover Dunn, told Alabama Daily News on Monday that his wife would be retiring after finishing her last year in office. State Reps. Louise Alexander, D-Bessemer, and Merika Coleman said they plan to run for the seat. Rep. Rod Scott, D-Fairfield, said he has been considering running for the Senate seat but has not officially decided. Read more.
Birmingham police will no longer use no-knock warrants such as the one that led to the death of Breonna Taylor in Louisville last year. Mayor Randall L. Woodfin, Police Chief Patrick Smith and Thomas Beavers, senior pastor of The Star Church, announced that and several other revisions to police policies and procedures during an event Tuesday. Read more.
Residents of Mountain Brook may be relatively few in number, but they sent a message about their views on the Republican Party in campaign finance reports filed last week by candidates running to replace retiring U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby. Although Mountain Brook’s population is just more than 20,000, people who live in the affluent Birmingham suburb contributed far more than any other municipality in the state to Katie Boyd Britt. Donations from residents of Mountain Brook signal support for Britt from the traditional, business-oriented wing of the Republican Party. Read more. Also read: Britt Leads Rivals in Fundraising for GOP U.S. Senate Nomination
The following are contributors of $5,000 or more this year to the campaigns of candidates for the Republican nomination to the U.S. Senate in Alabama next year, according to reports filed July 15 with the Federal Elections Commission. Read more.
