City Offers Emergency Shelter For Hundreds Escaping Cold

 ========= Old Image Removed =========Array
(
    [_wp_attached_file] => Array
        (
            [0] => 2018/01/IMG_0683-scaled.jpg
        )

    [_wp_attachment_metadata] => Array
        (
            [0] => a:6:{s:5:"width";i:2560;s:6:"height";i:1485;s:4:"file";s:27:"2018/01/IMG_0683-scaled.jpg";s:5:"sizes";a:14:{s:6:"medium";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:20:"IMG_0683-336x195.jpg";s:5:"width";i:336;s:6:"height";i:195;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:5:"large";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:20:"IMG_0683-771x447.jpg";s:5:"width";i:771;s:6:"height";i:447;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:9:"thumbnail";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:20:"IMG_0683-140x140.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:20:"IMG_0683-768x445.jpg";s:5:"width";i:768;s:6:"height";i:445;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:9:"1536x1536";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:21:"IMG_0683-1536x891.jpg";s:5:"width";i:1536;s:6:"height";i:891;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:9:"2048x2048";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:22:"IMG_0683-2048x1188.jpg";s:5:"width";i:2048;s:6:"height";i:1188;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:9:"wbhm-icon";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:18:"IMG_0683-80x80.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:20:"IMG_0683-600x338.jpg";s:5:"width";i:600;s:6:"height";i:338;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:20:"wbhm-featured-square";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:20:"IMG_0683-600x600.jpg";s:5:"width";i:600;s:6:"height";i:600;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:18:"wbhm-featured-home";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:20:"IMG_0683-536x311.jpg";s:5:"width";i:536;s:6:"height";i:311;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:22:"wbhm-featured-carousel";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:20:"IMG_0683-457x265.jpg";s:5:"width";i:457;s:6:"height";i:265;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:28:"ab-block-post-grid-landscape";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:20:"IMG_0683-600x400.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:20:"IMG_0683-600x600.jpg";s:5:"width";i:600;s:6:"height";i:600;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:14:"post-thumbnail";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:20:"IMG_0683-125x125.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:{}}s:14:"original_image";s:12:"IMG_0683.jpg";}
        )

    [_media_credit] => Array
        (
            [0] => Sherrel Wheeler Stewart
        )

    [_navis_media_credit_org] => Array
        (
            [0] => WBHM 90.3 FM
        )

    [_navis_media_can_distribute] => Array
        (
            [0] => 
        )

)
1655098723 
1514912523

Brutal cold prompted the City of Birmingham to open an emergency warming shelter over the weekend. City officials say they’ll keep it open through Friday, but they need more volunteers and supplies.

Hundreds of Birmingham’s homeless found food and warm refuge inside the South Exhibition Hall at the BJCC. They spent the night in the makeshift shelter Monday and many stayed throughout the day Tuesday.

Don Lupo, director of the Mayor’s Office of Citizens Assistance, says about 200 people checked in during the weekend nights. Monday night, when the temperature dropped even lower, the number of people almost doubled.

Lupo says it’s part of a bigger problem.

“We only have three emergency shelters – the Salvation Army, First Light and the Firehouse Shelter, and none of them have enough beds,” he says.          

Volunteers help staff the warming center and area restaurants provide food. But there are other needs, he says.

“We need grilled cheese sandwiches, soup. We need chili, personal-hygiene-type items, Chapstick. They go through Chapstick like crazy,” he says.

The warming station will be at the BJCC through Wednesday morning. It will close at 9 a.m. and reopen at 5 p.m. at the Boutwell Auditorium. Lupo says donations can be delivered to the warming station at the BJCC and at the Boutwell.

 

Israel strikes Iran and braces for retaliation

Israel launched an airstrike on Iran overnight. Blasts were heard in the capital Tehran around 3am local time. Israel's defense ministry warned it expects missile and drone retaliation.

Judge issues a temporary ruling against Trump using the National Guard in LA

The White House could appeal the injunction issued by the judge but the decision in a federal court is a setback for President Trump.

DHS vows immigration raids will continue as resistance mounts

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the Trump administration will continue to build up its deportation operation in Los Angeles. Nationwide protests are planned for this weekend.

Trump warns a strike on Iran ‘could very well happen’ if no nuclear deal is signed

President Trump warned that a "massive" war could break out in the Middle East over Iran's nuclear program, after the U.N. nuclear watchdog said Iran wasn't complying with its nonproliferation duties.

Protests erupt in Kenya’s capital over blogger’s death in police custody

Demonstrators take to the streets in Kenya's capitol over the suspicious death of a popular blogger in police custody — a flashpoint of outrage in a country still reeling from last year's deadly crackdown on anti-tax protests.

Denounced by GOP lawmakers, blue state governors defend immigration policies

GOP lawmakers on Thursday blasted Democratic immigration policies as coddling violent criminals. Democrats portrayed Trump's escalating migrant sweeps as a dangerous assault on civil liberties.

More Front Page Coverage