Government

Birmingham City Council bogs down in debate over Ensley gas station

For the second week in a row, the Birmingham City Council found itself mired in a debate over the proposed closure of an Ensley gas station where three homicides have occurred. In contrast to July 24’s meeting, though, the discussion Tuesday was more procedural than emotional, with District 8 Councilor Steven Hoyt launching what he characterized as a “protest” against the public safety committee’s decision to keep the matter from coming before the full council. The Shell station in question is located on the 800 block of Third Avenue West in Ensley — which is in Hoyt’s district — and has been the site of three homicides since 2015. Most recently, Antonio Jerrell Taylor was shot and killed there on June 10. Read more.

by Sam Prickett

Peace Program is on President’s Budget-Cut List. Here’s Why Alabama Teacher Values Its Help.

A Birmingham-area teacher is among four selected from across the country to participate in a national program aimed at “empowering their students to see peace as something practical and possible.” Social studies teacher Ryan Adams of Chelsea High School, who focuses on Advanced Placement American History, is one of the next cohort of instructors to become Peace Teachers, a program of the United States Institute of Peace. USIP is one of several federally funded organizations proposed for substantial cuts in President Donald Trump’s wish list for 2019, “An American Budget.” In the case of the USIP, the president wants to cut its budget almost in half. BirminghamWatch is examining possible impacts on Alabama if the president’s proposals – which Congress has the power to accept or reject – are enacted. Under the Peace Teacher program, Adams joins teachers from Franklin, Tennessee; Hartford, South Dakota, and Silverdale, Washington, who “will spend the next school year bringing pressing international issues of conflict … to life,” according to a USIP press release, citing the Trump-Putin summit, annual summer protests in Iraq, and potential talks between the U.S. and the Afghan Taliban as examples that could be addressed. Adams is excited about the prospect. “Every teacher at some point in time … got into this profession to make a difference,” he said. “If I can be allotted an opportunity to be able to … make an impact beyond just the walls of my classroom, honestly, for those who got into this profession for the right reasons, who wouldn’t want to take a shot at that?” This is the second in the Trump's Budget Wish List series, detailing programs on President Trump’s chopping block and the effect cutting them could have on Alabama.

Trump’s Budget Wish List: What It Could Mean for Alabama

If President Trump were to get the federal budget he proposed in February, people in Alabama would stand to lose programs designed to improve distressed neighborhoods, provide affordable housing in rural communities, assist small manufacturers, support the training of nurses, provide legal assistance to low-income residents and veterans, pay for economic and workforce development in Appalachia and support farm workers.

by Nick Patterson

Jones Visits Mercedes-Benz, Deflects Comment on Possible Shift of Production to Asia

VANCE — Sen. Doug Jones, D-Alabama, has co-sponsored a bill along with a Republican colleague from Tennessee that would delay President Donald Trump’s proposed imposition of tariffs on vehicles and parts imported into the United States. But in a press conference held Friday morning at Mercedes-Benz’s factory complex near Tuscaloosa, Jones deflected comment on a report that the company may move some production from the Alabama plants to Asia because of tariffs already levied by China. The report by Reuters quoted the head of Daimler, Mercedes-Benz’s parent company in Germany, saying the tariffs have forced the company to consider a shift overseas. Read more.

by Robert Carter

Unpaid Debts: Cities Owe Jefferson County More Than $800,000 for EMA and Personnel Board Costs

Cities and towns in Jefferson County owe the county more than $800,000, according to a report given at the County Commission meeting Thursday in Bessemer. Commissioner David Carrington said he’s been working on the report for a while. It shows six cities owe the county $400,231.54 it paid on their behalf to the Personnel Board and $410,668.58 in outstanding balances for the Emergency Management Agency. “What discourages me most about this is some of these monies have been due since 2005, even before our watch,” Carrington said during the meeting. “I wonder what attempts have been made to collect these monies.” Read more.

by Solomon Crenshaw Jr.

Another Legislator Indicted in Corruption Case Involving Diabetes Health Clinic

Alabama Rep. Randy Davis has been indicted on allegations he was involved in a plan to pressure Blue Cross Blue Shield to cover diabetes treatments at a string of health clinics with which he was involved. Davis, a Republican from Daphne, was charged by federal prosecutors in Montgomery with several counts of bribery, according to the indictment. The allegations are part of the corruption case brought against state Rep. Jack Williams, R-Vestavia Hills; lobbyist Martin J. “Marty” Connors of Alabaster; and G. Ford Gilbert of Carmichael, California, who owned the Trina Health company. Read more. More stories about the new indictment: • Rep. Randy Davis Indicted on Bribery Charges (Montgomery Advertiser) • Outgoing State Rep. Randy Davis Indicted in Bribery Case (AL.com) • Lawmaker Indicted On Bribery Charges (AP) BirminghamWatch in April ran stories published by fellow nonprofit news site inewsource, which had spent months investigating Gilbert and Trina Health operations to produce its Hustling Hope series.

Hustling Hope: Doctors Debunk Diabetes Treatment as Fraud Charges Hit Clinic Executive

Just imagine: A nonsurgical treatment that helps millions of people with complications from diabetes restore vision, repair damaged kidneys, and reverse heart disease and cognitive decline. A treatment that heals wounds in their legs and feet, repairs damage from stroke, and eliminates a common type of diabetic nerve pain called neuropathy. That’s what lawyer G. Ford Gilbert and his network of Trina Health clinics have been promising with his IV insulin infusions offered through his Sacramento-based company. The Trina CEO calls the procedure “miraculous,” and he has not been deterred by the nation’s top experts in diabetes, who aggressively debunk his procedure, calling it outright fraud and a scam. Read more.

Hustling Hope: San Diego Doctor Runs Controversial Diabetes Clinic

Just about every Tuesday morning around 7:30, John McCreary of Poway can be found waiting for Dr. James Novak’s office to open. Almost always, McCreary said, he’s the first one there. Novak’s practice is listed as the only one in the San Diego area offering Trina Health’s “Artificial Pancreas Treatment,” a four-hour IV insulin infusion procedure for people with diabetes. Some people like McCreary, 69, who has wrestled with diabetic nerve pain for years, said they think the procedure is working for them. Read more. You can find more segments in the Hustling Hope series on inewsource.org.

by Virginia Martin

An Open (Check)book. Birmingham Launches Site to Look up Financial Reports

Birmingham residents can now see detailed financial reports for the city at its new Open Checkbook portal. The website is part of the effort to increase transparency and accountability in city government, according to a press release from the city. Read more.

by Virginia Martin

Broken Air Conditioners at Brighton Senior Center Focus JeffCo Commission on City Services

The Jefferson County Commission waded back into the issue of small cities’ providing for their residents after learning that the air conditioners at Brighton’s senior center were not working and seniors were being subjected to 90-degree temperatures. Read more.

by Solomon Crenshaw Jr.

‘Gentlemen!’ Gas Station Safety Debate Turns Heated, Ends With Rebuke

Tempers flared on the Birmingham City Council during Tuesday’s meeting over a proposal to revoke the business license of a gas station where several people have been killed. Item 53 on the council’s agenda would have revoked the business license of the Shell station on the 800 block of Third Avenue W. The station of three shootings. District 8 Councilor Steven Hoyt, whose district includes the Shell station in question, unilaterally placed the item on the meeting’s agenda despite the recommendation of the council’s public safety committee, which is headed by District 2 Councilor Hunter Williams, to keep the issue of the gas station in committee. The committee voted during its July 17 meeting to keep the station open after an attorney for the business owner, Mohamed Nasher, presented a safety plan that included extra “no loitering signs,” additional security from off-duty police officers, and an increase in cameras and lighting at the gas station. The station will remain under committee review for a year. Read more.

by Sam Prickett

Congressional Votes for the Week Ending July 20, 2018

WASHINGTON – Alabama’s members of the U.S. House of Representatives split along party lines when voting on a Republican statement of opposition to a tax on the use of coal, natural gas and petroleum products. All three are produced in different areas of Alabama, but the state also has had to grapple with pollution caused by the production and use of fossil fuels. The House approved the Republican statement opposing the tax, which was a nonbinding statement expressing the House’s opinion on the issue. Here's how area members of Congress voted on major issues in the week ending July 20. Read more.

by Voterama in Congress

Relatives of Unaccompanied Minors Fear Deportation

Thousands of unaccompanied minors remain detained a week out from the deadline for the Trump administration to reunite children with their parents. The Office of Refugee Resettlement says 453 children have been resettled in Alabama this year through April. It isn’t known how many since then. Children released from detention are placed into foster care shelters or with relatives who are approved as sponsors. The problem is, many relatives are afraid to come forward to take in these children. That’s because they’re required to disclose their immigration status to private resettlement agencies and the Department of Homeland Security. Isabel Rubio, director of the Hispanic Interest Coalition of Alabama, says relatives are still worried. “People are concerned that if their information is sent to the Department of Homeland Security that they are at higher risk for deportation because now immigration knows exactly who they are and where they live.” Read more. Read more coverage on immigration: Unaccompanied Immigrant Children Find Foster Homes in Alabama Some Immigrant Children Being Reunited With Families Separating Immigrant Families Violates Country’s ‘Belief of Faith and Family,” Jones Says Amid Immigration Controversy, More Hispanic Students Arrive in Alabama Classrooms

by Alexander Richey, WBHM