Government

Eyes in the Sky: Birmingham Partners With Alabama Power, JeffCo Sheriff’s Office for New Surveillance Program

Big Brother might be watching you. That’s the intended message, at least, of a new agreement between the City of Birmingham and Alabama Power Co. that will allow for the installation of nearly 100 surveillance cameras at undisclosed points throughout the city. The $672,000 annual contract is part of a pilot program intended to deter crime in Birmingham neighborhoods and to provide data to the Jefferson County Metro Area Crime Center, which serves as a communications hub for 16 local law enforcement agencies. The cameras are intended to combat violent crime in the city, which has seen a marked uptick in violent crime — homicides in particular — since 2015. Read more.

by Sam Prickett

As the World of Washington Thrashes About Him, Attorney General Jeff Sessions Keeps Doing His Thing

In a crowded hotel ballroom in Hoover, Jeff Sessions got something he rarely gets in Washington, D.C., these days — approval and adulation. Hundreds of law enforcement professionals gave the embattled attorney general a standing ovation during his introduction to a symposium, and the Alabama native took note. “That is a warm welcome. I appreciate it, and it’ll make my day. Who knows? I may need this, going back to Washington. You never know in the Capital City, that’s for sure,” Sessions joked. The crowd chuckled nervously, as if they understood precisely why Sessions said that. He’s been the target of plenty of criticism and outright derision from President Trump, who picked him to head the U.S. Department of Justice partly as thanks for early support of his campaign — and who has since repeatedly castigated Sessions for recusing himself from the federal investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 elections. While Sessions was addressing attendees of the National Public Safety Partnership’s symposium at the Hyatt Regency Birmingham-The Wynfrey Hotel on Monday, the Washington whirlwind was spinning at full force. Read more.

by Robert Carter

Birmingham Council Replacement Delayed by Trip

The search for Jay Roberson’s replacement on the Birmingham City Council will stretch on for at least another week. Interviews to fill the council’s empty District 7 seat were slated to begin Thursday, but they have been pushed back a week due to the absence of District 9 Councilor John Hilliard. Hilliard asked that interviews be delayed because he already had been scheduled to be out of the country Sept. 27-29 for an “economic venture … on city business.” “I want to be here for those interviews,” Hilliard said. “I thought my colleagues would be accommodating.” Council President Valerie Abbott agreed to push the interviews back a week so that Hilliard could attend. Read more.

by Sam Prickett

Can Cooperation Combat Crime? Birmingham-Area Agencies Teaming up on Problem

Despite the city’s rising homicide rate and a recent rash of highly publicized violent crimes, Birmingham-area law enforcement officials say they are optimistic about the city’s long-term crime-fighting prospects, due in part to an array of government agencies working together. After a violent start to September, which saw seven homicides in its first eight days, Birmingham is on track to have its deadliest year in decades. As of Sept. 20, there have been 86 reported homicides this year, compared to the 79 counted at this point last year, which was the deadliest year for the city since 1994. “It’s too high for sure,” said Jay Town, U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Alabama, which is centered in Birmingham. “It makes you wonder if we weren’t putting all of this effort … I shudder to think where those numbers might be.” Town, who has been on the job for roughly 13 months, said he has worked to develop a “vertical” model of law enforcement that includes federal, state, county and local departments. It’s a model, he said, that can serve as a crime-fighting method going forward. “The only promise I can make is that we are establishing long-term processes, and it takes time,” he said. “As much as we would like in the Magic City to have crime disappear overnight, we are taking the painstaking efforts to make sure that there are systems and methods and processes in place that are going to last a lot longer than any of us.” Read more.

A Deadly Week: September Homicides Could Foreshadow Record Year in Birmingham

Six homicides happened in Birmingham during the first week of September, putting the city firmly on track for its most violent year in more than two decades and pressuring city leaders to improve their strategies for responding to such incidents and to focus on preventing them. The first homicide of the month was the highly publicized death of 16-year-old Woodlawn High School student Will Edwards, who was killed in his North East Lake home just after midnight Sept. 1. The following evening, seven teenagers were shot during a gunfight at the downtown music venue WorkPlay, though none were killed. Mayor Randall Woodfin described the weekend’s incidents of youth violence as a “devastating blow to our community.” By the end of the first week, five more homicides had been reported by the Birmingham Police Department, four of which happened within a 24-hour period. Just minutes after the week ended, the city already had logged its first homicide of week two. It wasn’t the most homicides that have taken place in a single week this year — that would be an eight-homicide stretch between July 29 and August 4 — but it has placed Birmingham firmly on track to have its deadliest year in recent memory. Read more.

by Sam Prickett

SPLC Calls on Court to Hold Alabama Prison System in Contempt

The Southern Poverty Law Center wants the state prison system held in contempt for failing to fill mental health positions. Contempt hearings began Tuesday in U.S. District Court involving the Alabama Department of Corrections and lawyers representing inmates. The issue comes a year after a judge ruled mental health care in Alabama prisons was “horrendously inadequate.” A federal court ordered the Department of Corrections to have more than 260 mental health workers on staff by July 1. The state failed to meet that and previous deadlines. Read More.

by Mary Scott Hodgin, WBHM

Congressional Votes for the Week Ending Sept. 14

WASHINGTON – Alabama’s U.S. senators and representatives, with the exception of Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Huntsville, threw their support behind a $147 billion appropriations bills for next year. The bill increases money for veterans’ programs and includes money for energy and water programs, including a revolving loan fund to help communities upgrade drinking-water systems and outlays to help schools replace lead-poisoned drinking fountains. Read how area members of Congress voted on major issues during the week ending Sept. 14.

by Voterama in Congress

Amazon Breaks Ground Oct. 2, Laying Path for Western-Area Development

The official groundbreaking on the new Amazon development in Bessemer will be Oct. 2, Jefferson County commissioners said Thursday. “Amazon is a game-changer,” Commission President Jimmie Stephens said. “It’s going to open up the western Jefferson County corridor to much more development and opportunity for our citizens.” Amazon and other developments in western Jefferson County already are starting to have an effect. West Jefferson Mayor Charles Nix told the commission his town is ready to grow with a new garden home subdivision on more than 23 acres being annexed at 6700 Quinton Road. “We don’t think there’s a better place than the town of West Jefferson to start that growth,” Nix said while asking for the property to be rezoned for the homes. Commissioners approved his request. Read more.

by Solomon Crenshaw Jr.

County Could Decide on Balanced Budget, Revamped Money for Distressed Cities Thursday

The Jefferson County Commission put a balanced budget on its Thursday agenda as it assembled in committee on Tuesday, putting a framework in place that could result in more road and infrastructure work in distressed cities. The budget would continue to provide each commissioner with $250,000 in grants to go to their districts. In the new budget, $150,000 would be set aside for each to use on infrastructure and roads within his or her district. A city receiving aid would pay an as yet undetermined percentage of the project; an 80-20 match is among the ideas under consideration. The remainder of the money, $100,000 per commissioner, would be earmarked for use on 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations. Read more.

by Solomon Crenshaw Jr.

Birmingham Library Board Back in Executive Session Addressing Complaint Against Employee

The Birmingham Public Library board of trustees met in executive session Tuesday evening to address a complaint against an employee governed by the board. No action was taken following the 45-minute executive session, which was called for by the board’s attorney, who said the grievance involved an alleged violation of Alabama ethics law. Assistant Birmingham city attorney Veronica Merritt said the formal, written complaint discussed in private by the board accused an employee of violating a state law that prohibits public employees from receiving or soliciting anything for the purpose “of corruptly influencing official action.” Tuesday night’s session is the latest in a series of closed door executive sessions for the library board since April. Earlier executive sessions were held after employee complaints about library Executive Director Floyd Council were made public. Read more.

by Jackie Romine Wilbur

Ensley Shell Station May Remain Open Despite Killings, Council Decides

After nearly two months of debate, an Ensley gas station where three homicides have taken place will remain open, the Birmingham City Council decided Tuesday. Antonio Jerrell Taylor was fatally shot at the Shell at 800 Third Ave. W. on June 10. Taylor was the third person to be killed there since 2015, leading the council to consider revoking its business license.

by Sam Prickett