Government

Jefferson County Commission Considers Buying CPR Devices

The Jefferson County Commission will likely approve the purchase of at least 123 Lucas chest compression devices. The sheriff’s office requested the funding from American Rescue Plan Act funds to purchase 250 of the automatic CPR devices at a cost of $17,980. The plan was for 138 of the devices to be deployed to 49 entities throughout the county. The timing of the matter is sensitive as a price hike of 7% per unit is expected after the first of 2022. Another 138 Lucas devices were previously purchased with monies from the Care Act. Commissioners were concerned that the devices need to be in more isolated locations where ambulance response times have been especially long. Commissioners noted the need to have devices in county senior centers and in schools. Read more.

by Solomon Crenshaw Jr.

Birmingham to Spend $2 Million to Recruit Grocery Stores to Underserved Areas

The office of Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin has announced a $2 million grocery store recruitment plan focusing on West Birmingham and other underserved communities. The plan will be funded out of $12.9 million recently recovered from the refinancing of the city’s Commercial Development Authority bond debt. According to a press release, the money will be used “to lure at least two” grocery store chains to the city. Read more.

by Sam Prickett

Carpenter Added to Transit Authority Board, Four Members Reappointed

The Birmingham City Council voted Tuesday to reappoint four members of the Birmingham-Jefferson County Transit Authority board whose terms had expired. The council also appointed one new member, Becky Carpenter, to replace outgoing board member Kevin Powe. The city of Birmingham appoints five of the BJCTA board’s nine members; Vestavia Hills, Hoover, Homewood and the Jefferson County Commission round out the other four appointments. Four of the city’s 2017 appointees — board Chairman Theodore Smith, Vice Chair LeDon Jones, Darryl Cunningham and Willie S. Davis — have all been reappointed to a second four-year term on the board; their terms will expire in September 2025. But board member Kevin Powe, who was also appointed to the BJCTA board in 2017, will not be back for a second term. He’ll be replaced by Becky Carpenter, a project manager at Corporate Realty Associates. Through her job, Carpenter has worked on several major redevelopment projects in the city, including that of the former Carraway Hospital and Southtown Court housing project. Read more.

by Sam Prickett

Blanchard Begins Run for Governor

WETUMPKA — Former U.S. Ambassador Lindy Blanchard officially launched her campaign for governor Tuesday, switching from running for the U.S. Senate to challenging incumbent Gov. Kay Ivey in the Republican primary. Speaking to a crowd in her childhood home just north of Montgomery, Blanchard called herself the “conservative outsider” candidate. “I will stand up for our rights against not just the liberal left, but the go-along-to-get-along, so-called conservatives who have run things in Montgomery for way too long,” Blanchard said. Read more.

by Caroline Beck, Alabama Daily News

Birmingham Council OK’s Agreement With ICE, Disturbing Advocacy Groups

The Birmingham City Council has approved an agreement between the city’s police department and U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement that would deputize several BPD officers as customs officers for ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations jurisdiction. The agreement was approved unanimously despite tense opposition from several advocacy groups worried that it could lead to more deportations in the city and give ICE too much power. The agreement — a continuation of a previous 3-year deal — went before the council Nov. 2 but was delayed due to councilors’ concerns that it would require the police officers involved to participate in the deportation and removal of undocumented Birmingham residents. Read more.

by Sam Prickett

Blanchard to Announce Candidacy for Governor Tuesday

MONTGOMERY — Lynda Blanchard, the former U.S. ambassador and current candidate for the U.S. Senate, will officially switch races and announce her candidacy for governor Tuesday, she confirmed to Alabama Daily News. Blanchard is planning an announcement in Wetumpka, the small town north of Montgomery where she was born and raised, according to an event invitation. Read more.

by Todd Stacy, Alabama Daily News

Tim James Running for Alabama Governor

Running for governor in Alabama is a full-contact sport, two-time candidate Tim James says, and he’s ready to play again. James, who unsuccessfully ran for governor in 2002 and 2010, filed paperwork with the Secretary of State's office to run for a third time in 2022. And it’s not just the sitting governor he wants to take on. “The Republican leadership in Alabama are not Republicans as we know it,” James, son of former Gov. Fob James, said in an interview with Alabama Daily News. “The Republican leadership in large part are what we call RINOS (Republicans In Name Only) or Democrats disguised as Republicans.” Read more.

by Mary Sell, Alabama Daily News

State Leaders: Focused Plan Needed for ARPA Money Allocations

The money is coming. But how it will be spent is still an open question. Alabama leaders have a rare chance to use federal money to make significant improvements to the state’s broadband networks and other infrastructure systems, but leaders need to plan carefully for its spending in order to stay competitive with states that have the same opportunities, Alabama Finance Director Bill Poole told a panel of lawmakers Thursday. “Every state in this country is going to spend an enormous amount of federal funds on broadband, on water and sewer infrastructure, on health care …,” Poole said during an update on the Alabama Rescue Plan Act and Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, two federal laws that will infuse billions into the state. Poole said the state’s objective “should recognize that we’re in a competition with other states and we have to take this opportunity of a lifetime to advance further than those other states do in their investments so that, when the dust settles, we’ve improved our competitive position. Read more.

by Mary Sell, Alabama Daily News

Not Us: JeffCo Commissioners Not Responsible for JCCEO

Jefferson County Commission talked about media reports that said the commission was taking action regarding the nonprofit Jefferson County Committee for Economic Opportunity. Commission President Jimmie Stephens made it clear that is not the case. “The commission has no purview over any nonprofit organizations in the county, much less the JCCEO,” Stephens said following the meeting. Read more.

by Solomon Crenshaw Jr.

Birmingham Loosens Rules on Taxis to ‘Modernize’ Service

The Birmingham City Council voted Tuesday to “modernize” the city’s taxicab ordinance, loosening restrictions on the appearance of taxis and allowing them to use third-party GPS technology to calculate fares. The change comes as traditional taxi companies compete against ride-sharing operations that aren’t under the same rules as cabs. “The goal of this is updating, modernizing some of the (ordinance) to the way the industry operates now,” Assistant City Attorney Julie Barnard told the council. “There’s a lot of changes. The primary thing is, this opens the city up to more modern operations and taxis, and that’s the goal here.” Read more.

by Sam Prickett