Birmingham Mayor Proposes Budget With Employee Pay Raises, More Neighborhood Funds
Birmingham City Mayor William Bell wants to give employees a pay raise, spend more money tearing down dilapidated houses and buy body cameras for police.
In his fiscal 2017 budget presented to the council Tuesday, Bell proposed a 1 percent cost of living raise and 5 merit raise for employees.
The mayor also proposes increasing the amount allocated to each of the city’s 99 neighborhood associations from $2,000 to $5,000. A total of about $2.7 million would be spent on weed abatement and the demolition of dilapidated houses. In an effort to combat crime, the mayor said he wants to spend $840,000 expanding the Shot Spotter systems that detects the discharge of weapons and equip police officers with body cameras. This would cost $1 million.
The $420 million budget represents an increase of about 4 percent over the previous year.
Under the city’s Mayor Council Act, the may is responsible for presenting the budget, but it must be approved by the council and there must be public input.
A public hearing on the budget is set for May 25th. The city’s budget year begins July 1.
Trump administration plans to deport migrants to Libya
A U.S. official has confirmed to NPR that the Trump administration is planning to deport migrants to Libya, another step in a crackdown on illegal immigration.
JD Vance’s half-brother advances in his uphill quest to become Cincinnati’s mayor
Cory Bowman, who shares a father with Vance, says he was inspired to enter the race after his half-brother's inauguration. A Republican last ran for Cincinnati mayor, unsuccessfully, in 2009.
On his surprise piano EP, André 3000 continues to play with our expectations
Few music icons have consistently pulled magic — or unpredictable pivots — out the hat like André 3000. 7 piano sketches, his newly released surprise EP, follows up the instrumental turn he took on 2023's New Blue Sun with another non-rap project.
Federal court rules Rümeysa Öztürk must be transferred to detention in Vermont
Rümeysa Öztürk has been detained at a federal facility in Louisiana after being arrested on the street in Sommerville, Massachusetts on March 25 by six plainclothes agents of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Alabama lawmakers approve tax cuts for food, diapers and other items
The food tax reduction, if signed into law, will lower the state sales tax on food from 3% to 2% beginning Sept. 1. The reduction comes as lawmakers in both parties said families are being hurt by soaring grocery prices.
How a post #MeToo law opened the floodgates for allegations against Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs
The New York Adult Survivors Act gave alleged victims of sexual violence a one-year window to file civil claims, even after the statute of limitations had lapsed. It's a law that may have opened the doors for the federal investigation that landed Sean Combs in custody.
