Jefferson County Commission members expressed concern when they learned of a July 10 deadline to respond to plans to cut phosphorus emissions allowed at the county’s water treatment plants. The changes could cost the county millions, commissioners say. Read more.
Alabama ranked in the bottom tier of states on each of the measures of child well-being assessed in the 2017 Kids Count Data Book. The report, released Tuesday by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, ranked Alabama 44th in the country for overall child well-being, an improvement from the state’s 46th place ranking in last year’s report. Read more.
The Birmingham City Council voted Tuesday to transfer ownership of the 27-acre Trinity Steel site in the Titusville community to the Greater Birmingham Humane Society to develop a new animal care and control facility. Despite several speakers who voiced opposition to the move during a public hearing, Councilor Sheila Tyson, who represents the district, said she supported the project because the majority of people she has spoken with support it. “The community has voted yes for this three times,” Tyson said after the vote as people crowded the hallways outside the council chamber. Before the vote transferring ownership of the property, the council also voted in favor of another resolution that rezoned Titusville land for residential use, potentially complicating the process the GBHS must go through to begin construction on the new facility. Read more.
When the Mayor-Council Act was modified by the state Legislature last year amid continuous jockeying for power between the elected officials representing Birmingham’s legislative and executive branches, city councilors lamented that the changes would give too much power to Mayor William Bell. Today, even as the mayor and some councilors continue at odds over various issues, one thing is clear: how the mayor has used his broadened powers in the past year has not eased the tension. One example: Bell’s office has paid nearly half a million dollars to one lobbying firm, and at least $122,000 of that was done without the council’s approval as of January 2017. Read more.
A largely uneventful meeting of the Jefferson County Commission ended Thursday with an effort by a resident to get commissioners to rescind their appeal of a federal judge’s decision to hear the county’s bankruptcy case. The commission president told the visitors they could not present a petition because they were not on the agenda. “You can rescind the appeal,” Bob Friedman of Committee to Save Jefferson County told commissioners who remained to listen. “As a result of all the chaos that’s going on with the Water Works, collection issues and (people) having their water cut off, you’re a part of it.” Read more.
June 6, 2017 – Two matters on the Jefferson County Commission’s committee agenda Tuesday showed that the county is on better footing than it had been. Commissioners talked about reinstating agreements to provide service for through roads in some area cities and renewing a resolution for the county to again participate in the back-to-school sales tax holiday. “The county has turned the corner and we’ve established a new baseline for service within Jefferson County,” Commission President Jimmie Stephens said. Read more.
The takeover of two elementary schools by the Gardendale Board of Education will not happen in the coming academic year, after a federal judge issued a stay of her original ruling in the city’s attempt to break away from the Jefferson County Schools. U.S. District Judge Madeline Haikala agreed to motions filed by both Gardendale officials and by the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, which represents the original plaintiffs in the landmark Stout v. Jefferson County Board of Education case that resulted in racial desegregation of the county system in the early 1970s. Both parties had asked Haikala to delay the ruling she issued on April 24 and amended a few days later. That order allowed Gardendale to do a partial takeover of the schools inside city limits; Snow Rogers and Gardendale elementary schools would have been under city control beginning this summer, while Gardendale High and Bragg Middle schools would have remained part of JefCoEd for at least three years, until Haikala was satisfied that Gardendale had made sufficient progress toward desegregation. Read more. Students Purportedly Wearing “Blackface” in Online Photos Rekindle Racial Allegations in Gardendale’s Bid to Form Its Own School System Earlier Stories Gardendale School Board Appeals Federal Court Ruling, Asks for Full Control of All Schools in the City Right Away What’s Next? Residents Speak out About Next Steps for Gardendale’s New School System Judge Stands with Order: Gardendale Can Take Steps Toward Separate School System NAACP Asks Judge to Reconsider Allowing Gardendale to Start Its Own School System NAACP Plans to Ask Judge to Reconsider Gardendale School Order; Ruling in Case Defies Conventional Procedure Judge Haikala Is No Stranger to the Spotlight Federal Judge Gives Gardendale Control Over City’s Elementary Schools, Lets JeffCo Keep Middle and High Schools for Now. Read Haikala’s May 9 order Read Hiakala’s initial ruling.
Mayor William Bell last week revealed his proposed operating budget for the fiscal year 2018. At $428 million, the budget is Birmingham’s largest ever, which appeared to be a point of pride for the mayor. But what is in the proposed budget? How is the growth the mayor spoke of reflected in spending choices? And what are the points of contention that will likely influence not only the budget talks but the upcoming municipal elections? Read more
Ten Republicans and eight Democrats are running for the open U.S. Senate seat vacated by Jeff Sessions when he took the U.S. attorney general job. Wednesday was the deadline to file papers qualifying to run for the office. See the list.
An incident involving students at Gardendale High School has taken social media by storm and once again raised the issue of race as the city seeks to separate from the Jefferson County Schools and form its own system. Read more.
