Jefferson County Layoffs: Wes Gregory’s Story

 ========= Old Image Removed =========Array
(
    [_wp_attached_file] => Array
        (
            [0] => 2009/04/budget.jpg
        )

    [_wp_attachment_metadata] => Array
        (
            [0] => a:5:{s:5:"width";i:240;s:6:"height";i:210;s:4:"file";s:18:"2009/04/budget.jpg";s:5:"sizes";a:3:{s:9:"thumbnail";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:18:"budget-140x140.jpg";s:5:"width";i:140;s:6:"height";i:140;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:9:"wbhm-icon";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:16:"budget-80x80.jpg";s:5:"width";i:80;s:6:"height";i:80;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:14:"post-thumbnail";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:18:"budget-125x125.jpg";s:5:"width";i:125;s:6:"height";i:125;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}}s:10:"image_meta";a:12:{s:8:"aperture";s:1:"0";s:6:"credit";s:0:"";s:6:"camera";s:0:"";s:7:"caption";s:0:"";s:17:"created_timestamp";s:1:"0";s:9:"copyright";s:0:"";s:12:"focal_length";s:1:"0";s:3:"iso";s:1:"0";s:13:"shutter_speed";s:1:"0";s:5:"title";s:0:"";s:11:"orientation";s:1:"0";s:8:"keywords";a:0:{}}}
        )

    [_imagify_data] => Array
        (
            [0] => a:2:{s:5:"stats";a:3:{s:13:"original_size";i:0;s:14:"optimized_size";i:0;s:7:"percent";i:0;}s:5:"sizes";a:1:{s:4:"full";a:2:{s:7:"success";b:0;s:5:"error";s:77:"WELL DONE. This image is already compressed, no further compression required.";}}}
        )

    [_imagify_status] => Array
        (
            [0] => already_optimized
        )

    [_imagify_optimization_level] => Array
        (
            [0] => 1
        )

)
1657936038 
1249257600

News headlines are filled with stories about Jefferson County’s budget crisis. The county put nearly a thousand employees on unpaid administrative leave over the weekend. The Birmingham News reports long lines for drivers’ licenses and car tags. The New York Times says the county-run nursing home doesn’t enough money to bury indigent residents.

But behind the public headlines, there are the personal stories of hundreds of county employees who find their lives turned upside down. Wes Gregory is one of them. He’s been working in the county road department for 12 years, until this week. He talked with WBHM’s Tanya Ott.

 

 

Attorney General Bondi brushes aside questions about her handling of Epstein files

Pam Bondi sought to move past questions about her handling of the Justice Department's files from the Jeffrey Epstein investigation, as pressure continued to grow for her to release them.

Increase in military aid to Ukraine marks a shift in White House policy toward Russia

The Pentagon and U.S. military officials in Europe are working with NATO members to ship more Patriot missile systems to Ukraine and release more munitions that were briefly halted.

U.S. senator wants DOGE out of sensitive payment system for farmers

Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., wants the USDA to revoke high-level access granted to the Department of Government Efficiency to a database that controls payments and loans to farmers and ranchers.

Lawyer says an Alabama teen who was killed by police was shot in the back

Authorities have not released police body camera video of the June 23 encounter or disclosed the name of the officer who shot 18-year-old Jabari Peoples in the parking lot of a soccer field in the affluent Birmingham suburb of Homewood. They also haven't released the findings of the county's official autopsy.

An Israeli restaurant owner quits a controversial Gaza food program after criticism

Shahar Segal, who runs popular restaurants around the world, has left his role as a spokesman for the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation amid calls to boycott his businesses.

Trump’s pick for U.N. Ambassador grilled over Signal chat scandal

Former national security adviser Mike Waltz, who was removed from office amid the Signal chat controversy, spent Tuesday in the Senate confirmation hearing for his nomination as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

More Government Coverage