Birmingham restaurants will now be able to use sidewalks and parking spaces for outdoor dining, the City Council decided Tuesday. The decision, described by District 2 Councilor Hunter Williams as a “Hail Mary from the mayor’s staff,” is intended to give restaurants greater seating capacity during the COVID-19 pandemic. Read more.
A request to rezone parcels in the Rocky Ridge area for a 25-unit condominium and a 10-lot single-family residential subdivision was delayed Thursday for two weeks for the developer and residents to settle on a possible revision. The Jefferson County Commission met for 2½ hours, with two hours spent on the requested rezoning. Overton Investments LLC asked to rezone property at 2468 and 2466 Rocky Ridge Road. Read more.
The Birmingham City Council voted Tuesday to approve economic incentives for a new student housing development near the UAB campus, and Jefferson County commissioners indicated they would do the same Thursday. The seven-story development, which is expected to house up to 400 residents, will be built atop a brownfield site bordered by 13th and 14th Streets South and Fourth and Fifth Avenues South. Read more.
Jefferson County Commissioner Lashunda Scales said she’s been left in the dark concerning development projects despite being vice chairwoman of the development committee. She knew nothing about a plan that came up before commissioners Tuesday to build more apartments near UAB. Read more.
Voterama in Congress WASHINGTON — The House last week took up three bills that would provide help for child care providers or parents returning to work. The first, HR 7027, was passed on a vote of 249 for and 163 against. It would appropriate $50 billion to help child care providers stay in business during the pandemic so that parents can return to work. The funding would be used to subsidize in-home services as well as licensed child care operations of all sizes, and it could be used to prop up functioning centers or reopen those forced to close because of the pandemic. Bradley Byrne, R-Ala., opposed the bill. "Child care is essential as parents begin returning to the workplace; however, this bill spends too much taxpayer money and places an undue and unworkable regulatory burden on facilities, federal agencies and, yes, on families," he said. Read more.
Tommy Tuberville, in Washington this week as he campaigns for Alabama’s U.S. Senate election, ignored the city’s orders for people visiting from states with COVID-19 outbreaks to quarantine, The Washington Post reported. Read more.
WBHM — For teachers and students preparing to enter the classroom next month, masks will now be required for anyone in second grade and above. Governor Kay Ivey issued the new mandate Wednesday as an amendment to the statewide mask ordinance and Safer at Home order. The orders, originally set to expire Friday, have been extended through Aug. 31. Read more.
The Birmingham Civil Rights Institute will receive $250,000 in emergency funding from the city of Birmingham to continue operating for the next four months. But councilors warned that BCRI needs to find more sources of money, particularly since the city has lost significant revenue during the pandemic. Read more.
The Birmingham City Council may soon start making new appointments to city boards and agencies before incumbents’ terms are up, thanks to a newfound power several councilors appear eager to use. The council previously had waited until after board members’ terms had expired to appoint their successor. In fact, several councilors, including Council President William Parker and District 8 Councilor Steven Hoyt, appeared to believe that was the law, only discovering that it wasn’t when Parker attempted to delay two mayoral appointments to the Birmingham Airport Authority. Read more.
Voterama in Congress KEY VOTES AHEAD: The House will take up fiscal 2021 spending bills in the week of July 27, while the Senate will vote on judicial nominations. Both chambers are expected to start work on a coronavirus-relief package. WASHINGTON — Alabama’s representatives in the U.S. House split along party lines on a vote last week to remove from the Capitol building a bust of former Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger B. Taney, the author of the Dred Scott vs. Sandford ruling in 1857 that Blacks could not be citizens of the United States or sue in federal courts. Under the bill, the Taney bust on the Senate side of the Capitol would be replaced with one of Thurgood Marshall, the first Black Supreme Court justice. The House on July 22 voted 305 for and 113 against to pass HR 7573 and send it to the Senate. Read more.
