COVID Stalls Storm Shelters; JeffCo Commission Discusses Road Projects on Grants Mill, Lakeshore

January 18, 2022

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.

Shades of Gray? Not When It Comes to Bingo in Jefferson County

January 6, 2022

The Jefferson County Commission today denied a rezoning request for a private club in Corner, suspecting that the establishment would be used for bingo.

“The applicant wasn’t here but we kind of got a little birdie telling us that may be a bingo hall,” Commissioner Joe Knight said after the meeting. “We don’t want bingo halls. We’ve got plenty. We don’t need all the bingo halls where these cities are passing ordinances prohibiting them coming to the county.”

Knight said some may have viewed unincorporated Jefferson County as a gray area beyond the jurisdiction of cities that have expressly forbidden bingo businesses.

“We don’t want to be the gray area and we need to tighten that up a little bit with our ordinances as far as what we allow and what we do,” Knight said. Read more.

UAB Surgeons Transplant Pig Kidneys Into a Human Body for the First Time

January 20, 2022

A team of scientists at the University of Alabama at Birmingham is the first to successfully transplant the kidneys of a genetically modified pig into the body of a brain-dead recipient. Read more.

Pettway Announces Reelection Run for JeffCo Sheriff

January 11, 2022

Jefferson County Sheriff Mark Pettway has announced he’s running for reelection to a second term.

Speaking Sunday to a room of supporters and followed up by a band playing a campaign song with the chorus, “If he did it before, he can do it again,” Pettway talked about his accomplishments during his first term and how he would continue with the same priorities if he won reelection. Read more.

Some Parents Express Frustration With Schools’ Responses to the Omicron Surge

January 8, 2022

WBHM
As students across Birmingham return to classrooms after the winter break, schools must contend with the COVID-19 omicron variant. With cases surging, some parents are frustrated with the response from school leaders. Read more.

They Were the Pandemic’s Perfect Victims

December 31, 2021

With the advent of COVID-19, nearly 18,000 more dialysis patients died in 2020 than would have been expected based on previous years. That staggering toll represents an increase of nearly 20% from 2019, when more than 96,000 patients on dialysis died, according to federal data released this month.

The loss led to an unprecedented outcome: The nation’s dialysis population shrank, the first decline since the U.S. began keeping detailed numbers nearly a half century ago.

They were COVID-19’s perfect victims.

Read more.

Prison Visits Are Back; Many Have Not Seen Loved Ones for Nearly 2 Years

December 22, 2021

This holiday season, many incarcerated people are seeing their loved ones for the first time since March 2020 due to COVID restrictions. Read more.

Sewell Kicks Off Tour Promoting Benefits of the Infrastructure Act

December 17, 2021

U.S. Terri Sewell, D-Selma, visited Birmingham on Friday to tout improvements coming to the state and region under the $1 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The act will fund not only road and bridge work in the state, but it also will pay to provide broadband service statewide and improve water infrastructure in areas where residents do not have access to clean drinking water, according to a press release issued by her office. Read more.

UAB Partnership to Study Cancer Disparities Gets Grant Renewal

December 6, 2021

UAB’s O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center is one of three research institutes collectively awarded a five-year, $18 million grant to study and address cancer disparities in underserved communities across the South. Read more.

After Mass Shootings, Public Safety and Good Journalism Collide

December 5, 2021

In the aftermath of the fatal shootings at Oxford (Michigan) High School last week, CNN’s Anderson Cooper continued his practice of recent years of not reporting the name of the shooter. This is becoming an increasingly popular editorial decision among news media.

The main reason for this is that, according to research and anecdotal evidence, most mass shooters commit their acts in large part to gain notoriety. Further, there’s evidence that fame for one mass shooter can motivate future ones.

But naming the shooter can serve a public benefit, as well. Read more.

After a Blowout Pilot Season, High School Girls Flag Football Could Be an Official Sport in Alabama

December 2, 2021

The Alabama High School Athletic Association’s pilot season of girls flag football culminated Wednesday with a championship game between Hewitt-Trussville and Smiths Station high schools at Birmingham’s new Protective Stadium. The Lady Huskies of Hewitt-Trussville defeated the Lady Panthers of Smiths Station in a thrilling overtime game.

“These athletes out there, they’re good,” said Jeff Segars, assistant director of the AHSAA.

Earlier this year, the central board for the association voted to make girls flag football a pilot program this season. Hundreds of students competed on 40 teams across the state. The sport isn’t officially sanctioned by the association just yet, but Segars said they’re hoping to move in that direction.

“Based on our bylaws, if we have enough member schools who are going to sponsor a team for 2022-23, we will sanction it,” Segars said. Read more.

Birmingham Loosens Rules on Taxis to ‘Modernize’ Service

November 30, 2021

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.

Vestiges of the Past Carry Ingrained Racism Into the Modern Age

September 1, 2020

Vestiges of segregation still thread through the systems and processes with which we engage throughout our lives, influencing Black Alabamians in large and small ways, including economic opportunities and lifetime wealth, relationship with law enforcement, health care and even projected lifespan. BirminghamWatch has an ongoing effort to analyze how these sometimes unrecognized vestiges of segregation are playing out in people’s lives today. Read stories in The Legacy of Race series.