Government

Jeffco Commissioner Says Cities Must Contribute to Have Transit Service

Commissioner Joe Knight put cities who are getting bus service courtesy of Jefferson County on notice today that they eventually will need to contribute if they are to have transit service. Commissioners heard a proposed resolution to increase the requested $100,000 for new or increased services to some areas to $109,207. Knight said somebody’s going to be short next year and expect the county to ante up again. “We’re going to be the bad guys,” he said during today’s committee meeting. “That County Commission cut your bus service off. That’s what’s going to happen if we don’t get those cities engaged and take care of their citizens.” Read more.

by Solomon Crenshaw Jr.

Birmingham City Council Approves Healthy Food Overlay District

The Birmingham City Council voted Tuesday to establish a “healthy food overlay district,” designed to make healthy food options more accessible for the approximately two-thirds of the city’s population that lives within food deserts. The healthy food overlay district will cover areas of Birmingham defined by the U.S. Department of Agriculture as “low-access census tracts,” where “a significant number (at least 500 people) or share (at least 33%) of the population is greater than half a mile from the nearest supermarket, supercenter, or large grocery store.” The final version of the ordinance also establishes a half-mile “buffer” around the overlay district, within which restrictions on dollar stores will still apply. Read more.

by Sam Prickett

Case Dismissed Against Marshae Jones

A judge has dismissed the case against Marshae Jones, whose fetus was killed during a fight in December. Circuit Court Judge David Carpenter dismissed the case Saturday morning. He dismissed the manslaughter charge on which Jones had been indicted with prejudice, meaning the charge cannot be refiled. Bessemer Cutoff District Attorney Lynneice Washington announced Wednesday that she was dropping the misdemeanor charge. Read more.

by Virginia Martin

Prosecutor Drops Charge Against Woman Whose Fetus Was Killed in Fight

Bessemer Cutoff District Attorney Lynneice Washington announced today that she is dropping a misdemeanor manslaughter charge against Marshae Jones, whose fetus was killed during a fight in December. A grand jury indicted Jones on a manslaughter charge after hearing evidence that she had initiated a fight with another woman, although it was the other woman who shot Jones, which resulted in the death of the fetus. In a press conference this morning, Washington read a statement in which she said she will not prosecute Jones on that charge, and no further legal action will be taken. "This is truly a disturbing and heartbreaking case,” Washington said. “An unborn child was tragically lost, and families on both sides of this matter have suffered. Nothing, nothing, nothing we do today or in the future will change that reality. The issue before us is whether it’s appropriate to try to hold someone legally culpable for the actions that led to the death of the unborn child. There are no winners, only losers, in this sad ordeal.” Read more.

by Virginia Martin

Former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance Accuses Trump Administration of Holding Migrants in Concentration Camps

Roughly 100 people packed the sidewalk in front of the Robert S. Vance Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in downtown Birmingham Tuesday to protest conditions in migrant detention centers across the country. Read more.

by Tanya Ott, WBHM 90.3

Attorney Explains Motion to Dismiss in Case of Alabama Woman Indicted in Death of Her Fetus

Marshae Jones is facing a manslaughter charge for “intentionally causing the death of her fetus.” She was five months pregnant when she got into a fight last December with another woman outside a Dollar General store near Birmingham, Alabama. That other woman fired a gun in self-defense, according to authorities, and the shot ended Jones’s pregnancy. Because Jones started the fight a grand jury opted to indict her. Attorney Mark White is representing Marshae Jones. He spoke with NPR’s Audie Cornish. Read more.

by Tanya Ott, WBHM; Audie Cornish, NPR

Self-Storage Developers Need Not Apply; Council Says Birmingham Is Off-Limits

The Birmingham City Council voted Tuesday to place a temporary moratorium on new self-storage, mini-warehousing developments in the city. The ordinance halts all city involvement in the development of those facilities — including permitting and zoning — except in areas already zoned as M-4 (Planned Industrial) or I-4 (Industrial Park) districts. Read more.

by Sam Prickett

Birmingham Council Increases Lodging Tax to Fund Tourism Efforts

Despite warnings that doing so might backfire, the Birmingham City Council voted Tuesday to increase the city’s lodging tax. The ordinance, which drew fierce criticism from local hoteliers, adds a $3 per night, per room surcharge to the city’s lodging tax code. The revenue generated by that surcharge is to be allocated “exclusively for sports and entertainment recruitment and development, tourism and infrastructure improvements.” That surcharge is in addition to the city’s current 17.5% lodging tax rate, which is above the national average of 13.4%. The ordinance was proposed — and at times angrily defended — by Council President Pro Tempore William Parker, who said the increase would add $4 million in annual revenue. Parker argued that this extra money would make the city “more competitive” in recruiting sporting events, which would in turn increase the city’s tourism. Read more.

by Sam Prickett

“Harsh and Sad at the Same Time” – Residents React to Case of Marshae Jones

New Developments:

Attorney Explains Motion to Dismiss in Case of Alabama Woman Indicted in Death of Her Fetus

UPDATED — The town of Pleasant Grove, about ten miles outside of Birmingham, Alabama is a quiet place with one grocery store, a few restaurants and a gun shop. But recently, it has been in the international spotlight. Last December, in the parking lot of a local Dollar General, Marshae Jones, now 28, got into a fight with 23-year-old Ebony Jemison. Officials say Jones, who was five months pregnant at the time, started the fight, which led Jemison to shoot Jones in the stomach in self-defense, killing the fetus. Initially, charges were filed against Jemison, but two months ago the Jefferson County Bessemer Cutoff grand jury dropped those charges and indicted Jones instead. They wrote Jones “did intentionally cause the death” of her fetus by “initiating a fight knowing she was five months pregnant.” The charges against Jones were made public last week when she was arrested and later released from jail on a $50,000 bond. Since then, the case has drawn outrage from women’s rights groups and legal advocates. Read more.

Related stories:

Lawyers File Motion to Dismiss Charges Against Woman Whose Fetus was Killed in Fight

“Harsh and Sad at the Same Time” – Residents React to Case of Marshae Jones.

Prosecutor Drops Charge Against Woman Whose Fetus Was Killed in Fight

Attorney Explains Motion to Dismiss in Case of Alabama Woman Indicted in Death of Her Fetus

Lawyers File Motion to Dismiss Charges Against Woman Whose Fetus was Killed in Fight

by Mary Scott Hodgin, WBHM 90.3

Lawyers File Motion to Dismiss Charges Against Woman Whose Fetus was Killed in Fight

Lawyers for a Jefferson County woman who was charged last week with manslaughter in the death of her 5-month-old fetus filed a motion to dismiss on Monday. White, Arnold & Dowd P.C. say the charges against Marshae Jones are “completely unreasonable and unjust.” In December, Jones and another woman, Ebony Jemison, got into a fight outside a Dollar General in Pleasant Grove. Jemison shot Jones in the stomach, killing the fetus, and was charged with manslaughter, but a grand jury failed to indict her, believing that Jemison shot in self-defense. On April 12, the Jefferson County Bessemer Cutoff grand jury indicted Jones, saying she “intentionally caused the death of … unborn baby Jones by initiating a fight knowing she was five months pregnant.” Last week, Jones was arrested and charged with manslaughter. In an interview with WBHM, Attorney Mark White said the ruling was manipulated and unprecedented. Miranda Fulmore, WBHM 90.3, July 1, 2019 Read more.

by Miranda Fulmore, WBHM 90.3