Snowfall Brings Hazardous Conditions
Snowfall early Friday morning sparked a reaction statewide with schools, government, and medical facilities closing and roads deemed unsafe to drive.
In a statement from Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin, the Warming Station at the BJCC South Hall re-opened early — at 12 p.m. instead of 5 p.m. Requests are also being made for meal deliveries from individuals and businesses in the Downtown area to the BJCC until 2 p.m.
All city streets in Oxford are closed; state and federal roads there remain open. Roads in Vestavia Hills became extremely hazardous but are open. In Pelham there’ve been many reports of downed power lines and power outages, according to the police department. Traffic was moving Friday morning at a crawl along I-65 south near the Shelby County airport. Birmingham City Hall is closed and UAB canceled classes and non-clinical operations; the hospital is open.
According to a tweet from Alabama Power, around 40,000 power outages have been reported state-wide, and crews are already at work trying to restore power:
- 20,000 in the metro Birmingham area
- 13,000 in eastern Alabama counties
- 4,200 in western Alabama counties
- 3,400 in south-central Alabama counties
Government and healthcare facility closures:
- UAB announced the early closure of UAB clinics. UAB Hospital will remain open.
- Cooper Green Mercy Health Services’ clinics, Urgent Care, and Pharmacy have closed.
- Birmingham City Hall and Jefferson County offices will be closed for the day.
US military used laser to take down Border Protection drone, lawmakers say
The U.S. military used a laser to shoot down a Customs and Border Protection drone, members of Congress said Thursday, and the Federal Aviation Administration responded by closing more airspace near El Paso, Texas.
Deadline looms as Anthropic rejects Pentagon demands it remove AI safeguards
The Defense Department has been feuding with Anthropic over military uses of its artificial intelligence tools. At stake are hundreds of millions of dollars in contracts and access to some of the most advanced AI on the planet.
Pakistan’s defense minister says that there is now ‘open war’ with Afghanistan after latest strikes
Pakistan's defense minister said that his country ran out of "patience" and considers that there is now an "open war" with Afghanistan, after both countries launched strikes following an Afghan cross-border attack.
Hillary Clinton calls House Oversight questioning ‘repetitive’ in 6 hour deposition
In more than seven hours behind closed doors, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton answered questions from the House Oversight Committee as it investigates Jeffrey Epstein.
Chicagoans pay respects to Jesse Jackson as cross-country memorial services begin
Memorial services for the Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. to honor his long civil rights legacy begin in Chicago. Events will also take place in Washington, D.C., and South Carolina, where he was born and began his activism.
In reversal, Warner Bros. jilts Netflix for Paramount
Warner Bros. says Paramount's sweetened bid to buy the whole company is "superior" to an $83 billion deal it struck with Netflix for just its streaming services, studios, and intellectual property.
