Parishioners and elected officials gathered Sunday to commemorate the 56th anniversary of the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham. The theme for the memorial observance was “a love that forgives.” During her speech, U.S. Air Force chaplain Lt. Col. Ruth Segres said a love that forgives does not call us to forget. “We have
Key Votes Ahead The House this week will take up a bill to eliminate mandatory arbitration in employment, consumer and civil rights litigation, while the Senate will debate judicial and executive-branch nominations. WASHINGTON — In the legislative week ending Sept. 13, members of the U.S. House passed a bill (HR 205) that would permanently prohibit the federal government from awarding leases for oil and gas drilling in the eastern Gulf of Mexico. The bill, which passed 248 for and 180 against, would replace a temporary moratorium slated to expire June 30, 2022. The protected waters extend at least 125 miles from the Florida coastline and include a 122,000-square-mile military testing range stretching from the Florida Panhandle to the Florida Keys. Read more.
WBHM The Birmingham Jefferson County Transit Authority recently rejected a proposed budget that would have increased bus fares from $1.25 to $1.50. It would’ve also cut some bus service. Executive Director Frank Martin recently signed a contract to lead the transit authority. Some say he has a tough road ahead. The bus system is plagued with problems around efficiency and revenue. Martin, in part, blames the transit board, saying they’ve been unwilling to compromise. He tells WBHM’s Janae Pierre riders aren’t paying enough into the system, and neither is the city of Birmingham.
The Birmingham Public Library’s central building will close Monday as construction begins on a long-awaited staircase. “I think we can all agree that today has been a long time coming,” Mayor Randall Woodfin said Tuesday during a press conference, drawing laughter from a crowd comprised mostly of BPL staffers and board members. “I thank each and every one of you for your patience. It’s been overwhelmingly tested.” The stairs will replace a pair of escalators that extend from the building’s lobby to the fourth floor. Both escalators have been defunct -- and roped off to prevent injuries -- since December 2014. Read more.
Commissioner Lashunda Scales today asked for an update on Protective Stadium, which is being built near the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex. Jefferson County invested $30 million in the project. Scales said she had been told by someone on the stadium design committee that VIP seats are being added that would lower the total number of seats in the venue. Also, commissioners saw a presentation from Helen Hays, the county’s director of public information, concerning efforts to promote the 200th anniversary of Jefferson County, including a pair of videos. While the presentation appeared to be well received from most in the board room, Scales was less than satisfied, saying that the county’s story was not being fully told. She cited a Sloss Furnaces event on Monday that memorialized two men who were lynched in the 1890s. Read more.
The Birmingham City Council voted Tuesday to allocate an additional $290,274.39 toward construction on the city’s Negro Southern League Museum. But many councilors, including those who voted in favor of the funding, weren’t happy about it. “There are so many things that I vote on that I have to hold my nose while voting,” said council President Valerie Abbott. “Sometimes you have to vote for things that you don’t really want to vote for, but we need to complete this project.” The Negro Southern League Museum, which first opened in 2015, is part of a downtown development that includes the adjacent Regions Field. But much of that building has remained unfinished since then, representatives from the city’s planning, engineering and permits (PEP) department told the council. With a new restaurant slated to move into the building, extra funding to complete construction was needed. Read more.
Birmingham is one month away from a citywide election that will not only determine the future of funding for city schools but also whether up to one-third of City Council seats change hands. The election, which will be held Oct. 8, will determine whether to renew three ad valorem property taxes that benefit Birmingham City Schools. Voters also will determine council members for districts 1, 6 and 7, replacing councilors who were appointed to the posts. Read more.
It’s increasingly difficult for rural hospitals to make ends meet. Many have had to freeze or cut salaries, said Danne Howard, chief policy officer with the Alabama Hospital Association. Some have eliminated services, like obstetrics and gynecology. Howard said others partner with outside groups or bigger health systems to take some of the financial pressure off. “It’s clear to see that we’ve got a number of hospitals that may not survive in the current financial environment,” she said. In the past decade, seven rural hospitals have closed in Alabama, and of those that remain, 88% operate in the red. But Howard said Medicare is throwing the state a lifeline. The federal health insurance program, primarily for senior citizens, recently approved a plan to start paying rural hospitals a little more money. Read more.
With pressure mounting from national party leaders and the Democratic National Committee, the state’s highest-ranking Democratic officeholder says the state party needs new leaders. Sen. Doug Jones told Birmingham Watch on Thursday that he is frustrated with the Alabama Democratic Party’s direction, or lack thereof, and he would like to see Chairwoman Nancy Worley replaced. Jones’ comments came after a student forum held at Miles College in Fairfield. “Leadership needs to be changed, and I think it’s going to be changed. I think there’s still some things that will have to be done,” Jones said. “We don’t even have a delegate selection plan right now. It's been rejected. I think once we can get bylaws done, soon we’ll get a new election. We're going to expand. I believe the membership of the party will include more youth, more diversity and opportunities we haven’t had in a long, long time. I’m very, very optimistic about where we're going to ultimately go with the party.” Read more.
Doug Jones mentioned early in his remarks before an audience of students from Miles College that when he went to Washington, D.C., after winning a special election to the U.S. Senate, he didn’t realize that he was going to be a part of a government that functioned according to what someone says on Twitter — an oblique reference to President Donald Trump’s penchant for tweets that make the nation’s capital go topsy-turvy. Then he opened the floor for questions, which were submitted via Twitter using the hashtag #DougMeetsMiles. Students could therefore be forgiven for working on their smart phones during Jones’ appearance Thursday at Pearson Hall on the campus of the historically black college in Fairfield. It was one of several town hall meetings he held at universities and colleges across the state during the Senate’s recess. Jones faced a friendly crowd, who asked him mostly about issues that are part of the Democratic Party agenda. Restoration of voting rights for felons, abortion rights, ways of combating the recent wave of mass shootings and help for those with heavy debt loads from student loans were among the topics the students posed to Alabama’s junior senator. Read more.
