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  Jefferson County Commission

  • JeffCo Commission Seeks Info About Relief Fund Status

    Jefferson County commissioners said during their committee meeting Tuesday that they want to be informed about federal rescue funds that they ultimately will be asked to approve.

    Commission President Jimmie Stephens told County Manager Cal Markert that the commission wants to know who has applied for the latest brand of COVID funds from the federal government and where those applications are in the system of approval.

    The commission also heard an update on the talks about the USFL being reestablished with its headquarters in Birmingham. Read more.

  City of Birmingham

  • Birmingham Takes Part in Embrace Mothers Guaranteed Income Pilot

    The city of Birmingham is taking part in a pilot project to provide guaranteed minimum incomes to 110 female-identifying heads of households with at least one child.

    The Birmingham City Council gave final approval Tuesday to the Mayor Randall Woodfin Administration initiative, Embrace Mothers.

    The program is in partnership with Mayors for a Guaranteed Income, which is giving the city a $500,000 grant to execute the pilot program. Read more.

  PARCA

  Economy

  About News

  • Sources Should Be Sources, Not Editors

    I’d have posted this sooner but I was waiting on Adam Schefter to edit it.

    Schefter, a National Football League “Insider” reporter for ESPN, became a target of widespread derision within the journalism community this week when the LA Times reported that Schefter sent an entire draft of a pending news story about NFL collective bargaining to a key source for review. It happened 10 years ago but is in the news now because Schefter’s action was revealed in emails that are part of current court litigation involving the key source. Read more.

  U.S. Military

  Education

  Alabama Legislature

  • Who’s Running? 2022 Alabama House Races Update

    There are about 20 open Alabama House seats ahead of the 2022 election cycle and several incumbents have announced primary challengers. Here’s an update on who is and isn’t running. Candidates have until Jan. 28 to qualify. Meanwhile, legislative districts could change, some likely significantly, when lawmakers later this month or early next month redraw lines with new census data.

    GOP Rematch in HD73?

    Recently elected Rep. Kenneth Paschal, R-Pelham, may again face Republican Leigh Hulsey of Helena for House District 73 seat in Shelby County. Read more.

  Health Care

  • Work Scheduled to Tear Down Cooper Green Parking Deck, Building New Clinic

    Demolition of the old Cooper Green Hospital parking lot is expected to begin later this year or early next year to make way for building a new indigent care clinic in that location, officials with Jefferson County and the University of Alabama at Birmingham Health System announced Tuesday.

    Designs for the new clinic, planned to be about 150,000 square feet, are being worked on, and those involved hope it will be ready to open in 2½ to 3 years, David Randall, chief strategy officer for the UAB Health System, said during a press conference.

    The project is expected to cost between $55 million and $65 million, Randall said. Read more.

  COVID-19

  • COVID Hospitalizations in Alabama Drop Below 1,000 for First Time in 12 Weeks

    The number of COVID-19 patients in Alabama hospitals has fallen below 1,000 for the first time since mid-July as case numbers continue to tumble since the peak from a summer surge of the delta variant.

    There were 970 patients being treated for the coronavirus in hospitals around the state on Friday, according to the Alabama Hospital Association. That is the lowest since a total of 957 on July 16, and down by about 66% since the inpatient count reached a peak of 2,890 on Sept. 1.

    The Alabama Department of Public Health reported 919 new cases of COVID in its daily update on Saturday. The state averaged 1,097 new cases a day over the past week, almost 77% below the average of 3,962 cases per day on Sept. 8. ADPH has reported 807,479 cases since the pandemic began in March 2020.
    Read more.

  BirminghamWatch

  • AIIJ Announces Retirement of Founding Executive Director Carol Nunnelley

    The Alabama Initiative for Independent Journalism has announced the retirement of Carol Nunnelley, founding executive director of the organization. Nunnelley joined Jerry Lanning and Mark Kelly to found AIIJ in 2014 and became its first executive director in 2015.

    Nunnelley led AIIJ through the creation of its publishing arm, BirminghamWatch, and fostered steady growth in reporting and readership. Key projects included nonpartisan voter guides for local elections and a series on the Legacy of Race. Read more.

  Education

  Alabama Legislature

  • Melson: Proposed Changes Coming to Medical Marijuana Law

    MONTGOMERY— Proposed changes to Alabama’s medical cannabis law will be coming soon.

    Sen. Tim Melson, R-Florence, the sponsor of the cannabis bill that became law earlier this year, said he will file legislation to make technical changes to some of the wording around timing and deadlines in the law, including starting the licensing process for growers earlier. Read more.

  COVID-19

  Government

  • What Is Going On With Tarrant’s City Leaders?

    There’s been an overwhelming amount of drama this past year in Tarrant, a small town with fewer than 7,000 people. Many believe the tensions are rooted in racism and Tarrant’s changing demographics.

    In less than a year, the city of Tarrant has seen its fire chief get fired, its police chief resign, a councilmember blurt out a racial slur and its first Black mayor arrested twice.

    “We’re trying to bring about change to a 100-year-old city. People are used to doing things a certain way and it’s resistance,” said Mayor Wayman Newton, 41. Read more.

  UAB School of Medicine

  Sen. Tommy Tuberville

  • Tuberville Bill Would Nix Proposed IRS Bank Monitoring Measure

    A new bill by U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville would prohibit the Internal Revenue Service from requiring banks and credit unions to report customers’ transactions or account balances beyond current statutory requirements.

    Currently, the Bank Secrecy Act requires financial institutions to report transactions of $10,000 or more. A new proposal floated as part of President Joe Biden’s “Build Back Better” taxing and spending overhaul would lower that threshold to $600.

    In an interview with Alabama Daily News Monday, Tuberville called the proposal “an outrageous intrusion of the government into people’s lives.”

    “We want everybody to pay their fair share. I’ve got no problem with that. But I don’t want the federal government, ‘big brother,’ to be harassing private citizens. I don’t want them harassing banks,” Tuberville said before introducing his bill, dubbed the Protecting Financial Privacy Act. Read more.

  Alcohol Delivery

  Jefferson County Commission

  Historic Sites

  Birmingham City Council

  Vaccines

  Retain Alabama

  Redistricting

  • Town Hall Meeting Encourages People to Pay Attention to Redistricting

    Jefferson County Commissioner Sheila Tyson hosted about 75 people at Lawson State Community College Tuesday night to talk about redistricting of legislative and congressional districts and what citizens can do to affect it. “This is not a county initiative,” Tyson said. “This is a people initiative.”

    The town hall meeting was done to answer questions about redistricting and to let citizens know what they can do to possibly affect how districts are redrawn to account for population shifts documented in the 2020 Census. Read more.

  Alabama Prisons

  • Majority of House GOP Said to View New Prison Bill Positively, Democrats Still Discussing

    MONTGOMERY — State Representative Steve Clouse, R-Ozark, who is set to sponsor the new prison building legislation for a likely special session, said he has about 70% of House Republicans responding positively to the bill as of Tuesday afternoon. Read more.

  • Two Construction Companies in Position to Build Alabama Prisons

    Two Alabama construction companies could be in the best position to get state contracts to build two men’s prisons under a proposal lawmakers are now weighing.

    Montgomery-based Caddell and Birmingham-based BL Harbert were both part of teams expected to build prisons under Gov. Kay Ivey’s earlier plan to lease from private developers three new facilities. That plan fell apart in the spring, but some legislative leaders say Caddell and Harbert have been vetted and put in the groundwork to quickly move on construction, if the Legislature can pass a bill that includes borrowing as much as $785 million.

    “It would be problematic if we tried to move out and get somebody else,” Sen. Greg Albritton, who has helped lead discussions on new prisons over the summer, said. “(These companies) are in the best position to do this work.”
    Read more.

  Arf, Arf!

  • Animal Shelters in the Gulf South Are Overflowing With Animals

    When Alie Dennis laid her eyes on Copper at the Metro Animal Shelter in Tuscaloosa, it was love at first sight. Dennis, a University of Alabama student, came to the shelter in hopes of adopting a dog before her final year of school. After playing with the 3-month-old German shepherd Labrador mix for about an hour, she knew he was the one — asking for a 24-hour hold on the dog to talk the adoption over with her family.

    But for Metro Animal Shelter, even 24 hours can be a long time if people are willing to take home a new pet. Last year, shelters in Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi were running out of so-called “pandemic puppies.” Now, they are overflowing with dogs, cats, and even hamsters. Read more.

  Schools and COVID

  Jefferson County Commission

  Kingston

  Prisons

  • Counties Ask for $10M Reimbursement From State for County Jail Strains

    The Association of County Commissions of Alabama is asking for a $10 million reimbursement from the state for the increased strain on county jails taking care of state inmates.

    The association approved a resolution last week requesting Gov. Kay Ivey and the state Legislature to “retroactively reimburse county governments for their extended care of an increased number of State-responsible inmates throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, a consequence of the Alabama Department of Corrections’ decision to drastically reduce its intake activities in 2020 and 2021.”

    The reimbursement amount is for the time from Jan. 1, 2021, to July 31, 2021, and accounts for all counties, Abby Fitzpatrick, director of communication and engagement for the association, told Alabama Daily News.
    Read more.

  COVID-19

  • COVID Vaccines Coming to a Football Game Near You

    WBHM

    The Alabama Department of Health is trying to reduce the risk of COVID-19 spread by offering the vaccine at college football games across Alabama. Read more.

  • Leave Situation Could Become ‘Crisis’ for Some State Employees

    As COVID-19 cases continue to increase in Alabama, a state employee group is asking for flexibility for workers who may have to quarantine.

    The Alabama State Employees Association is asking state agencies and departments to be “as creative as they can in helping all state employees through this pandemic,” Executive Director Mac McArthur told Alabama Daily News.

    “If this goes on for a while or gets worse, I would say this becomes a crisis issue for some of our members,” McArthur said.

    If in another month the delta virus is still increasing in case numbers and causing schools to close, “then I think our members will be looking to the administration (for assistance),” he said.
    Read more.

  • As COVID Cases Rise, Emergency Leave Unavailable for Teachers

    Most Alabama school teachers who are temporarily sent home this school year because they contract COVID-19, are exposed to it or are caring for their own children in quarantine will have to use their personal leave time to do it.

    A few weeks into the academic year, some schools have  had to move students temporarily to virtual learning as COVID-19 cases prevent in-person learning.

    The Alabama Education Association is asking local systems to extend paid emergency leave to staff.
    Read more.

  Higher Education

  • Fewer Alabama High School Grads Going Straight to College; Higher Ed Advertising Options

    The number of students graduating from Alabama high schools and entering state universities and colleges dipped by 5% in 2020 to 41%.

    While that decrease can in part be blamed on COVID-19-caused disruptions, it’s also part of a larger decline that education officials say is a sign of a strong economy. In 2011, 53% of high school graduates went directly to in-state colleges.

    “I think it mostly can be attributed since 2011 to an improvement in the economy,” Jim Purcell, executive director of the Alabama Commission on Higher Education, said. Post-Great Recession, more jobs have been available to people right out of high school.

    But as the state works to find more skilled workers, higher education leaders are trying new ways to reach them. Purcell said that as people’s careers advance or manufacturing jobs become more automated, training and courses are available.
    Read more.

  The Arts

  Corrections

  • Commission on Reentry: Further Discussion Needed on Recidivism Definition

    MONTGOMERY –  A new state commission studying how to help released inmates stay out of prison spent much of a meeting Wednesday working on a definition of recidivism that all state agencies can use.

    One of the goals of the Joint Commission on Reentry is to create a definition so the state can implement best practices to aid those leaving prisons and create a safer Alabama.

    Cam Ward, director of the Alabama Bureau of Pardons and Parole, said during the meeting that since every state agency defines recidivism differently, it is a nearly impossible task to settle on a singular meaning and mission.
    Read more.

  Food Stamps

  Census 2020

  Jefferson County Commission

  • Jeffco Commissioner Cautions About Travel Expenses

    Jefferson County Commissioner Steve Ammons urged county employees and department heads Tuesday to be careful of excessive spending when traveling on behalf of the county.

    “I was just making sure that employees understand that we’re still keeping an eye on travel,” Ammons said following the commission’s committee meeting. “It’s not a vacation.”

    Ammons’ eye was drawn to a trip someone from the county compliance office will take Sept. 18-22 to the Compliance & Ethics Institute Conference in Las Vegas. That trip will cost $3,354.55. He said some trips are to places that are expensive, but supervisors should be keeping an eye on expenses.
    Read more.

  Education

  City of Birmingham

  Alabama Prisons

  Public Safety

  • Birmingham Police Revise Policies to Disallow No-Knock Warrants

    Birmingham police will no longer use no-knock warrants such as the one that led to the death of Breonna Taylor in Louisville last year. Mayor Randall L. Woodfin, Police Chief Patrick Smith and Thomas Beavers, senior pastor of The Star Church, announced that and several other revisions to police policies and procedures during an event Tuesday. Read more.

  2022 State Elections

  2022 U.S. Senate Election

  Hate in Alabama

  • Alabama is Home to 20 Hate Groups, 838 Operate Nationwide, SPLC Says

    The Southern Poverty Law Center released its annual list of hate groups nationwide Feb. 1, and while the number of groups has gone down from last year, there are still 20 Alabama groups that made the cut. Altogether, the SPLC tracked 830 organizations defined as hate groups in 2020. “The number is a barometer, albeit only one, of the level of hate activity in the country,” the website says. Read more.

  The Legacy of Race

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