Birmingham City Council Approves The Council President’s Trip To Meet With Legislators
The Birmingham City Council has approved its first official travel since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic last year.
During a virtual meeting Tuesday, the council approved last-minute funding for Council President William Parker to take a two-day trip to Montgomery to meet with Alabama legislators.
Councilors approved Parker’s travel without many details. His request paperwork, submitted Monday, was not provided in the council’s meeting packet; instead, he briefly held a copy of the document in front of his webcam.
The trip, which will cost $225.30, will be focused on instituting the Jefferson County cemetery board, which was established by state lawmakers in 2017 as an authority over all for-profit cemeteries in the city. The board still hasn’t met, and appointees say they haven’t received official notification from lawmakers.
Parker said the “last piece of the puzzle, the last thing to make sure it’s fully functioning and fully enforceable” is for the Jefferson County House and Senate delegations to appoint a chairman to head the board. But the delegation has been unable to reach a quorum to do so.
Parker also said his trip will involve meeting with the Alabama Historical Commission to discuss naming Legion Field a national landmark.
The council also approved funding to send several police officers, including Chief Patrick Smith, to Montgomery next week. Smith, along with Deputy Chief Ronald Sellers and Assistant Chief Darnell Davenport, will attend the Alabama Association of Chiefs of Police winter conference, which will cost an estimated $1,019.05 each. Smith is currently attending an FBI-run training program in Quantico, Virginia.
UAB building among Alabama’s first to feature ‘bird safe’ glass
Advocates hope the new glass will prevent window collisions, a leading causes of bird mortality.
Researchers look into community health impact of wood pellet production in rural Mississippi
Brown University and Tougaloo College students are testing for potential air and noise pollution near the Drax wood pellet plant in Gloster, Mississippi.
Alabama coal company sued for a home explosion is delinquent on dozens of penalties
Crimson Oak Grove Resources has been cited for 204 safety violations since the March 8 blast, many involving “significant and substantial” safety violations.
The United Auto Workers faces a key test in the South with upcoming vote at Alabama Mercedes plant
The United Auto Workers is aiming for a key victory at Mercedes-Benz in Alabama. More than 5,000 workers at the facility in Vance and nearby battery plant will vote this week on whether to join the UAW.
Gambling, ethics bills fall short as legislative session ends
Alabama lawmakers closed the books on this year’s regular legislative session Thursday. While Republican leaders passed many of their priority bills, perhaps the most talked about issue – gambling – died.
A look at what passed and failed in the 2024 legislative session
Alabama lawmakers have ended a 2024 legislative session that saw the Republican majority win approval for a number of their top priorities.
