Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin addresses the city council.
By Sam Prickett
Birmingham has placed a May 15 deadline on its mask and public safety ordinances, bringing them in line with Gov. Kay Ivey’s safer-at-home order.
The face covering order — which requires Birmingham residents to cover their faces in public to slow the spread of COVID-19 — was originally passed by the City Council on April 28, but with no expiration date; that omission led District 2 Councilor Hunter Williams to vote against the bill.
At a special-called meeting on April 30, the council revised its shelter-in-place order — which had placed a 24-hour curfew on all nonessential public activity — to an overnight ordinance to accompany Ivey’s statewide reopening of retail stores and other businesses.
“The council, in consultation with the Mayor, finds that, with the reopening of retailers, it is reasonable to reduce the daytime restrictions on the City’s citizens and visitors but advisable to maintain an overnight curfew,” reads the measure approved by the council today. It adds that bars, nightclubs and other social and entertainment venues will remain closed.
The May 15 deadline may be temporary; the council will consider extending both ordinances during its regularly scheduled meeting on May 12.
Pearl Slay is one of more than 2,300 Alabamians who have died from COVID-19.
Protesters gathered outside Birmingham City Hall on Tuesday morning, but they weren’t allowed to speak at the City Council meeting going on three stories above them.
A proposal to close 12 of Birmingham's recreation centers is facing pushback by city council members.
A proposed budget for the city of Birmingham wants to cut funding to the Birmingham Public Library for the third time.
Dauphin Island was hard hit by Hurricane Sally causing flooding on the already nearly two mile wide island. But the effects of climate change on the island have been taking place for years.
Voters return to the polls next month for municipal runoffs around Jefferson County.
