DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY CANDIDATES U.S. Senate Will Boyd Brandaun Dean Lanny Jackson Victor Keith Williams U.S. House House qualifying has been extended indefinitely while the courts decide whether the state’s newly drawn House districts are constitutional. State Offices Governor Yolanda Rochelle Flowers Patricia Salter Jamieson Arthur Kennedy Chad “Chig” Martin Malika Sanders Fortier Doug “New Blue”
Birmingham Police Chief Patrick Smith resigned Friday, saying he wanted to focus on personal matters. Birmingham Mayor Randall L. Woodfin appointed Capt. Scott Thurmond, a 23-year veteran on the force, to replace Smith on an acting basis, according to a statement issued by the mayor’s office. In a letter to Woodfin on Friday, Smith resigned effective Feb. 25, but he asked to be put on administrative leave with pay until then to allow him to conclude some personal business and to allow for a smooth transition to new leadership. Read more.
The Birmingham City Council voted Tuesday to allocate $540,000 of American Rescue Plan funding to subsidize an affordable housing development in the city’s Belview Heights neighborhood. Read more.
Tracking Birmingham's homicides for 2021 should have been straightforward. Here's why it wasn't. Read more.
The Jefferson County Commission on Thursday approved spending $200,000 in relief funds to establish a COVID-19 testing and vaccination site to service the Bessemer Cutoff area. Commissioners subsequently approved a resolution for additional testing/vaccination sites as recommended by the Jefferson County Department of Health. "We want to make sure that testing is available throughout Jefferson County and that the citizens are best served by the actions of the commission,” said President Jimmie Stephens, who represents the Cutoff. “We want to make sure that if they want to be tested, if they want a vaccination, there is a convenient testing site where they can get to.” Stephens said the county serves many residents, some of whom are affirmed. He said mass testing sites may be a 20- or 30-minute drive for some residents. Read more.
The city of Birmingham has hired a local consulting service to review and potentially redraw City Council district lines in accordance with 2020 census data. When the city opted to shift to single-member districts in 1989 — meaning that each district is represented by a specific councilor and school board member — it included a provision ensuring that the districts would be responsive to changes in census data so that the populations of each district would remain roughly equal. “If you’ve got unequal districts, the weight of one person’s vote in a smaller district bears a heavier weight than if you’ve got a very large district,” assistant city attorney Julie Barnard told councilors Tuesday. “The goal is to try to get the population between districts as balanced as possible. That’s the primary thing driving this.” Read more.
COVID-19 is known to make people sluggish. It has had the same effect on some storm shelter projects in Jefferson County. Commissioners today moved to the agenda of Thursday’s commission meeting in Bessemer a resolution to extend for 365 days a contract with Williford Orman Construction LLC to build storm shelters in Graysville, Bagley and Glenwood. These storm shelters will be paid for through the county’s general fund. “It's really been two things,” said Frederick L. Hamilton, director of the county’s Department of Community Services and Workforce Development, “the supply chain delay in getting materials as well as staff, some of their staff catching COVID and not being able to work at full speed because of COVID.” Read more.
The Birmingham City Council voted Tuesday to approve more than $500,000 in grant funding for five local nonprofits as part of the city’s Building Opportunities for Lasting Development initiative. Mayor Randall Woodfin launched the BOLD program in 2018 as a mechanism for distributing city funds to local nonprofit and economic development organizations. The council also voted on its legislative agenda. At the top of the list for councilors is expanding the city’s number of entertainment districts from five to 15. It also approved $500,000 in in-kind services to the new United States Football League, which this year will be playing its entire season in Birmingham, including eight to 11 games at Legion Field. Read more.
The COVID-19 pandemic will be an undercurrent to this year's legislative session. So too will the fact it's an election year. Read more.
Guaranteed income programs are coming to three cities in the Gulf South including Birmingham, which is set to launch soon. Read more.
