A total of eight people have qualified to run for mayor of Birmingham in the Aug. 24 elections. Four of the candidates have drawn far less publicity than the rest, though in combined experience, several of them have decades of service as community activists. Cerissa Brown has never stood on the sidelines. She has been
Scheduling problems between the City Council and mayor’s office have slowed Birmingham’s efforts to spend $74 million in federal relief funding. The city received its money from the American Rescue Plan in May and quickly allocated $17.5 million toward premium pay for city employees who worked through the COVID-19 pandemic. But negotiations over how to spend the rest of the remaining money stalled last month after Mayor Randall Woodfin proposed allocating the money into several different “buckets.” To Woodfin’s obvious frustration, councilors balked, questioning the apparent arbitrariness of those allocations, particularly to public transportation, and delayed the item until a committee of the whole meeting could be convened. That meeting still hasn’t happened. Read more.
Jefferson County Commissioner Steve Ammons urged county employees and department heads Tuesday to be careful of excessive spending when traveling on behalf of the county. “I was just making sure that employees understand that we're still keeping an eye on travel,” Ammons said following the commission's committee meeting. “It's not a vacation.” Ammons’ eye was drawn to a trip someone from the county compliance office will take Sept. 18-22 to the Compliance & Ethics Institute Conference in Las Vegas. That trip will cost $3,354.55. He said some trips are to places that are expensive, but supervisors should be keeping an eye on expenses. Read more.
MONTGOMERY — Community and Alabama Department of Mental Health leaders gathered Wednesday to get their first look at one of the three new mental health crisis centers going up across Alabama. These facilities will provide 24/7 care for anyone experiencing an acute mental health crisis and are meant to ease the burden on local emergency rooms and jails that have become the main receivers of individuals in crisis. The other facilities will soon open in Mobile and Huntsville. There are also plans to open a fourth in the Birmingham/Tuscaloosa area. Read more.
Alabama can be daunting for newcomers, especially when there are cultural and language barriers. More than 20 years ago, Isabel Rubio founded the Hispanic Interest Coalition of Alabama to assist Latinos who migrate to the state and to push for economic equality, civic engagement and social justice. Last month, Rubio announced she would step down as CEO of the organization at the end of the year. WBHM’s Janae Pierre spoke with Rubio about her time leading HICA, who discussed how Alabama's Latino community has changed over the years, the effect of the state's immigration law, and her proudest moments with HICA. Read more. .
MONTGOMERY — The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency is the first state police department in the country to have all of its officers certified in sensory-inclusive practices, Gov. Kay Ivey announced Tuesday. “Too often we have citizens with sensory issues or folks who have PTSD, autism, dementia and a whole host of special needs that, frankly, our heroes in blue haven’t been trained to deal with up to this point,” Ivey said. Read more.
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.
