Tag: Birmingham Times
Barnett Wright Stepping Down as Executive Editor of The Birmingham Times
Wright shepherded the paper through a decade full of changes.
What Closing of Birmingham-Southern College Means to Residents in Surrounding Communities
If anyone knows the importance of Birmingham-Southern College, it would be Joanice Thompson, president of Bush Hills Connections, a nonprofit organization to pool resources and forge partnerships to benefit their neighborhood. One of the neighborhood’s biggest achievements, the Bush Hills Community Garden and Urban Farm, came about with the help of BSC students, she said. Read more.
Read more about BSC’s closing.
Birmingham-Southern College Closing After 168 Years Educating Students
For the First Time in 37 Years, Jefferson County Makes Major Change to Tax Maps
For the first time in 37 years, the Jefferson County Tax Assessor’s Office has completed a comprehensive countywide resurvey that has modernized parcel data that will impact more than 600,000 residents and departments such as the Board of Equalization.
The tax map is the foundation for some of the county’s most important functions, from emergency services to the U.S. Postal Service and every municipality in the county. Read more.
How Jefferson County Pulled Off a Billion-Dollar Refinancing to Help Stabilize Sewer Rates and Regain Trust
Jimmie Stephens remembers he wasn’t proud of Jefferson County when he took office as a county commissioner in 2010.
“I was embarrassed and ashamed of what Jefferson County had become and what its reputation was, in the state and in the nation,” recalled Stephens, now the president of the commission.
Jefferson County had become by most accounts one of the worst financially managed governments in the nation laying off more than 1,000 of its employees and filing the then-largest municipal bankruptcy in November 2011.
But Stephens, his fellow commissioners, county manager and department heads no longer feel that sense of shame and embarrassment, they say.
Last month, Jefferson County got positive reviews from investors and financial publications that would have been unimaginable more than 10 years ago. Read more.
Birmingham Mounts Full Court Press to Get Third Graders Up to Reading Level
Birmingham City officials are beginning a full court press to get all third graders reading on grade level or proficiency by the end of the year. “This is it everybody,” said Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin in an interview last week. “The test is less than 90 days away, and every third grader in the state of Alabama, including the 1,300-plus third graders in Birmingham City Schools will take this test.” Read more.
Birmingham Sues Jefferson County Sheriff Over City’s Jail Inmates
The city of Birmingham today filed a lawsuit against Jefferson County Sheriff Mark Pettway for not accepting city inmates, according to a filing in Jefferson County Circuit Court.
It’s an extraordinary step in a dispute between the two sides that dates back nearly two years and involves the city and county jails, money and politics. Read more.
