A Canopy of Protection: Initiative Plants Trees to Shield Urban Heat Islands
In the face of rising temperatures and enduring environmental inequities, Cool Green Trees is reshaping Birmingham’s urban landscape one tree at a time. Read more.
Science
Take a Peek Inside the New Cooper Green Mercy Health
The new Jefferson County clinic and medical facility is set to open in mid-December. Read more.
Catch It If You Can: New ‘Litter Gitter’ Installed to Capture Trash Before It Reaches Bayview Lake
Jefferson County installed its fifth device to collect trash from area waterways, this one on Village Creek to keep trash out of Bayview Lake. Read more.
Pandemic Funding Streams Are Down to Their Last Trickle, JeffCo Warns
The end is near. Well, the end of Jefferson County’s ARPA funds, at least. Read more.
UAB Prez: Purchase of Ascension St. Vincent’s to Ensure Health-Care Access
The UAB Health System is set to take over Ascension St. Vincent’s Health System properties in Central Alabama in a $450 million deal officials said would ensure continuing quality health care for people in Birmingham and surrounding communities. Read more.
EPA Formally Denies Alabama’s Plan for Coal Ash Waste
The federal agency says the state’s plan was not as protective as federal standards, allowing toxic waste to remain in unlined pits that may contaminate groundwater. Alabama officials say they will appeal. Read more.
Alabama Coal Company Sued for a Home Explosion That Killed a Man Is Delinquent on Dozens of Penalties, Records Show
Crimson Oak Grove Resources has been cited for 204 safety violations since the March 8 blast, many involving “significant and substantial” safety violations. Read more.
Birmingham Council Approves $421K in Tax Incentives for Japanese Restaurant
The Birmingham City Council on Tuesday approved $421,833 in incentives for a planned Japanese restaurant in downtown Birmingham, and it changed landscaping, buffering and screening ordinances to increase landscaping requirements and protect trees, among other changes. Read more.
A ‘gassy’ Alabama coal mine was expanding under a family’s home. After an explosion, two were left critically injured
He’d said he thought his home would explode. He was right. W.M. Griffice, 78, had told his granddaughter, Kenzie, in the days leading up to March 8 that he felt like his house was going to explode, she recalled. Company representatives with Oak Grove, a nearby coal mine, had visited Griffice’s home in Adger, a small town 25 miles southwest of Birmingham, multiple times. Once, according to the family, they’d found methane gas in Griffice’s water well, which the mining company capped. Then there were the loud booms that Griffice heard over and over. Sometimes they were enough to shake the ground underneath his feet, his granddaughter said. It all left Griffice uneasy. Earlier this month, it happened. As Griffice relaxed in his recliner and his grandson lay in bed, his home exploded, leaving only its small, scorched footprint in the Alabama clay. Read more.
Alabamians Want Public Officials to Mitigate Landslide Risk as Climate Change Makes Extreme Precipitation More Frequent
In Birmingham, residents want two properties shielded from development and turned into parkland. Councilors decided to protect one parcel years ago. The vote never stuck. Read more.