Birmingham Extends Shelter-In-Place Order Through April
The city of Birmingham has extended its shelter-in-place order until April 30th in an attempt to slow the spread of the coronavirus. The city council passed the extension Friday, the day the original order would have expired. The measure requires residents to stay home except for essential activities such as buying groceries, seeking medical care, working for an “essential” business or exercising.
“People need to remember that people are dying, that this has the potential to continue to spread,” Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin says. “If you can’t take this serious[ly] and police yourself, then we will gladly assist and help you.”
Woodfin says law enforcement has not fined or ticketed anyone since the order went into effect. But, he adds, people were congregating in city parks the previous weekend in violation of social-distancing practices that require individuals to stay six feet apart.
The city has now restricted parks to “solitary activities” – only, including walking, running or biking. Barricades have been placed across the entrances to some parks to prevent people from parking vehicles and gathering.
“If they cannot comply with this order, we will take the necessary step to shut our parks down,” Woodfin says.
Big-box stores remain open under the order, but Woodfin says they too must abide by social distancing rules, which will be enforced by police if necessary.
“I am convinced that if we attempt to tiptoe around this, skirt around this ordinance … we will have to extend ourselves in this shelter-in-place,” Woodfin says.
Shelter-In-Place Order From April 3 by WBHM News on Scribd
Judge orders new Alabama Senate map after ruling found racial gerrymandering
U.S. District Judge Anna Manasco, appointed by President Donald Trump during his first term, issued the ruling Monday putting a new court-selected map in place for the 2026 and 2030 elections.
Construction on Meta’s largest data center brings 600% crash spike, chaos to rural Louisiana
An investigation from the Gulf States Newsroom found that trucks contracted to work at the Meta facility are causing delays and dangerous roads in Holly Ridge.
Bessemer City Council approves rezoning for a massive data center, dividing a community
After the Bessemer City Council voted 5-2 to rezone nearly 700 acres of agricultural land for the “hyperscale” server farm, a dissenting council member said city officials who signed non-disclosure agreements weren’t being transparent with citizens.
Alabama Public Television meeting draws protesters in Birmingham over discussion of disaffiliating from PBS
Some members of the Alabama Educational Television Commission, which oversees APT, said disaffiliation is needed because the network has to cut costs after the Trump administration eliminated all funding for public media this summer.
Gov. Kay Ivey urges delay on PBS decision by public TV board
The Republican governor sent a letter to the Alabama Educational Television Commission ahead of a Nov. 18 meeting in which commissioners were expected to discuss disaffiliation.
A proposed Bessemer data center faces new hurdles: a ‘road to nowhere’ and the Birmingham darter
With the City Council in Bessemer scheduled to vote Tuesday on a “hyperscale” data center, challenges from an environmental group and the Alabama Department of Transportation present potential obstacles for the wildly unpopular project.
