Waiting for a Plan for Alabama’s Budget, and Birmingham – Destination City or Not?

| June 17, 2015 

 ========= Old Image Removed =========Array
(
    [_wp_attached_file] => Array
        (
            [0] => 2007/08/Birmingham_Alabama_Night.jpg
        )

    [_wp_attachment_metadata] => Array
        (
            [0] => a:5:{s:5:"width";i:900;s:6:"height";i:439;s:4:"file";s:36:"2007/08/Birmingham_Alabama_Night.jpg";s:5:"sizes";a:12:{s:6:"medium";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:36:"Birmingham_Alabama_Night-336x164.jpg";s:5:"width";i:336;s:6:"height";i:164;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:5:"large";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:36:"Birmingham_Alabama_Night-771x376.jpg";s:5:"width";i:771;s:6:"height";i:376;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:9:"thumbnail";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:36:"Birmingham_Alabama_Night-140x140.jpg";s:5:"width";i:140;s:6:"height";i:140;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:12:"medium_large";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:36:"Birmingham_Alabama_Night-768x375.jpg";s:5:"width";i:768;s:6:"height";i:375;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:9:"wbhm-icon";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:34:"Birmingham_Alabama_Night-80x80.jpg";s:5:"width";i:80;s:6:"height";i:80;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:13:"wbhm-featured";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:36:"Birmingham_Alabama_Night-800x439.jpg";s:5:"width";i:800;s:6:"height";i:439;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:20:"wbhm-featured-square";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:36:"Birmingham_Alabama_Night-600x439.jpg";s:5:"width";i:600;s:6:"height";i:439;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:18:"wbhm-featured-home";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:36:"Birmingham_Alabama_Night-638x311.jpg";s:5:"width";i:638;s:6:"height";i:311;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:22:"wbhm-featured-carousel";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:36:"Birmingham_Alabama_Night-470x229.jpg";s:5:"width";i:470;s:6:"height";i:229;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:28:"ab-block-post-grid-landscape";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:36:"Birmingham_Alabama_Night-600x400.jpg";s:5:"width";i:600;s:6:"height";i:400;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:25:"ab-block-post-grid-square";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:36:"Birmingham_Alabama_Night-600x439.jpg";s:5:"width";i:600;s:6:"height";i:439;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:14:"post-thumbnail";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:36:"Birmingham_Alabama_Night-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_optimization_level] => Array
        (
            [0] => 1
        )

    [_imagify_data] => Array
        (
            [0] => a:2:{s:5:"stats";a:3:{s:13:"original_size";i:284585;s:14:"optimized_size";i:146664;s:7:"percent";d:48.460000000000001;}s:5:"sizes";a:10:{s:4:"full";a:5:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:8:"file_url";s:64:"https://news.wbhm.org/media/2007/08/Birmingham_Alabama_Night.jpg";s:13:"original_size";i:280778;s:14:"optimized_size";i:142884;s:7:"percent";d:49.109999999999999;}s:9:"thumbnail";a:2:{s:7:"success";b:0;s:5:"error";s:77:"WELL DONE. This image is already compressed, no further compression required.";}s:6:"medium";a:2:{s:7:"success";b:0;s:5:"error";s:77:"WELL DONE. This image is already compressed, no further compression required.";}s:5:"large";a:2:{s:7:"success";b:0;s:5:"error";s:77:"WELL DONE. This image is already compressed, no further compression required.";}s:9:"wbhm-icon";a:5:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:8:"file_url";s:70:"https://news.wbhm.org/media/2007/08/Birmingham_Alabama_Night-80x80.jpg";s:13:"original_size";i:3807;s:14:"optimized_size";i:3780;s:7:"percent";d:0.70999999999999996;}s:13:"wbhm-featured";a:2:{s:7:"success";b:0;s:5:"error";s:77:"WELL DONE. This image is already compressed, no further compression required.";}s:20:"wbhm-featured-square";a:2:{s:7:"success";b:0;s:5:"error";s:77:"WELL DONE. This image is already compressed, no further compression required.";}s:18:"wbhm-featured-home";a:2:{s:7:"success";b:0;s:5:"error";s:77:"WELL DONE. This image is already compressed, no further compression required.";}s:22:"wbhm-featured-carousel";a:2:{s:7:"success";b:0;s:5:"error";s:77:"WELL DONE. This image is already compressed, no further compression required.";}s:14:"post-thumbnail";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] => success
        )

)
1675984219 
1434564308

The State General Fund is still a hot topic in Alabama, with no clear remedy in view to cover a $250 million dollar deficit. Meanwhile, the lists and boasting about ranking and pride in magazines and on social media has led to a new debate about Birmingham.

WBHM’s Scott Hanley and Kyle Whitmire, political commentator from AL.com and the Birmingham News discuss the search for a plan for the deficit, and the Magic City.

 

Nancy Guthrie search enters its second week as a purported deadline looms

"This is very valuable to us, and we will pay," Savannah Guthrie said in a new video message, seeking to communicate with people who say they're holding her mother.

Immigration courts fast-track hearings for Somali asylum claims

Their lawyers fear the notices are merely the first step toward the removal without due process of Somali asylum applicants in the country.

Ilia Malinin’s Olympic backflip made history. But he’s not the first to do it

U.S. figure skating phenom Ilia Malinin did a backflip in his Olympic debut, and another the next day. The controversial move was banned from competition for decades until 2024.

‘Dizzy’ author recounts a decade of being marooned by chronic illness

Rachel Weaver worked for the Forest Service in Alaska where she scaled towering trees to study nature. But in 2006, she woke up and felt like she was being spun in a hurricane. Her memoir is Dizzy.

Bad Bunny makes Puerto Rico the home team in a vivid Super Bowl halftime show

The star filled his set with hits and familiar images from home, but also expanded his lens to make an argument about the place of Puerto Rico within a larger American context.

Japan’s Takaichi to pursue conservative agenda after election landslide

Japan's first female Prime Minister, Sanae Takaichi, brought the ruling Liberal Democratic Party its biggest-ever electoral victory, fueling her ambitions to pursue to a political agenda which she says could "split public opinion."

More Front Page Coverage