The Birmingham City Council on Tuesday voted to sell the old Scott Elementary School and a neighboring community center to a group planning a health clinic at the property. The measure passed despite some pushback from community members, particularly those already involved in operating a community center there. Read more.
Alumni of Birmingham-Southern College have again received a call to contact state legislators, this time to seek a rewrite of last year’s legislation that had been designed to provide a reprieve from the college’s possible closing. Read more.
Southern Research this week expanded its efforts to encourage the growth of the biotech industry in Birmingham by opening its Station 41 biotech incubator. Read more.
The Birmingham City Council on Tuesday voted to spend $150,000 on a project to transition junior developers and engineers in the tech industry into more senior-level positions. The group tasked with developing this program, called the Birmingham Upskill Partnership Initiative, is the regional technology association TechBirmingham. Deon Gordon, president and CEO of TechBirmingham, said stakeholders in the tech industry have noticed a dearth of workers with senior-level skill sets. Read more.
A resolution moved to the agenda of Thursday’s Jefferson County Commission meeting would forgive more than $1 million owed to the county from Jefferson County Economic and Industrial Development Authority. The county would also execute a purchase agreement with JCEIDA for land in the Lakeshore Jeffmet Park for the new office space of the Jefferson County Coroner/Medical Examiner. The purchase agreement for the land, valued at $700,000, would not be a cash transaction but would help offset the remaining JCEIDA debt being forgiven. County Manager Cal Markert called the authority “one of the most successful economic development groups in the state, if not the most.” Read more.
A flier promoting the program began hitting mailboxes in November. In this new arrangement, HomeServe wants to sell what it calls an emergency home repair program to Alabama Power customers. Read more.
Last year, 110 Birmingham residents received $375 a month for a 12-month period through the Embrace Mothers guaranteed income program funded by Mayors for a Guaranteed Income. Forty-eight mayors have adopted these pilot programs, so what have we learned about guaranteed income? Community members can find out at a program Tuesday that will include screening of the new film “It’s Basic.” Read more.
The Birmingham City Council on Tuesday approved selling a former AmSouth Bank building in Ensley to Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity so it can establish a community center there. The Mu Psi Lambda chapter of the fraternity intends to refurbish the building and transform it into a multi-purpose outreach center to serve as a resource to the Ensley community by eliminating blight, providing youth and community training programs and other services. Read more.
The Jefferson County Commission on Thursday authorized its support of Innovation Depot and the Birmingham Business Alliance, but not without Commissioner Sheila Tyson voicing her objection. “I feel like both of those organizations do not address the businesses in the minority community,” she said. “(They) don’t reach farther out from downtown.” Read more.
Dolabriel Curry-Hurst’s January power bill in Alabama jumped above $700 — more than twice of what she owed the previous year. Read more.
