The Birmingham City Council on Tuesday approved a deal to support a nonprofit aiming to redevelop the former Graymont School to provide affordable housing for senior citizens. Read more.
The city hopes to help about 500 people avoid eviction if it gets the grant as well as fund technological upgrades and computers for the Police Department. Read more.
The Birmingham City Council on Tuesday passed a resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza after months of lobbying from local pro-Palestinian groups. In a joint statement released Wednesday, four of those groups called the measure “lukewarm,” saying it failed to add important context about the bloodshed in that region. Read more.
Saying homicide suspects often are protected by a culture of silence, Woodfin announced a new tip line to go after criminals where they live. Read more.
A pilot Safe Streets Initiative launched Monday in East Lake is blocking off key entry and exit points in an attempt to curb crime. Read more.
The Birmingham City Council on Tuesday scheduled a public hearing for July 30 to discuss amending a moratorium passed earlier this year that prohibited automated car wash businesses. Read more.
The March computer network disruption that interfered with the city of Birmingham’s operations for weeks caused further confusion Tuesday, with the City Council voting to delay approval of several budget amendments. The city will be operating at 2024 levels until the budget is finished. Read more.
The fate of a downtown Birmingham nightclub criticized for attracting crime remains unclear after the City Council held a public hearing Tuesday to discuss revoking the company’s business license. Read more.
The Birmingham City Council on Tuesday approved $1 million to create a mental health program for students at Birmingham City Schools. The money is part of a yearlong agreement with the Birmingham Board of Education, under which the board will increase the number of school-based licensed counselors and provide students with school-based consulting services. Read more.
Birmingham residents who attended a budget hearing Monday night expressed concerns about many of the issues they said they bring up every year, including street paving, blight and the neglect of less prosperous communities. They weren’t debating line-items in a budget proposal for fiscal 2025 because there isn’t one. As Birmingham Council President Darrell O’Quinn explained, for the time being, the spending plan for next year is identical to this year’s budget. City officials are using the $554 million 2024 budget as a stand-in for the coming year to allow staff to catch up on work lost due to what the city called a computer network disruption, which several news organizations have reported as a ransomware attack. Read more.
