Women will hold the majority on the Birmingham City Council over the next four years
The Birmingham City Council's newest members: (left-right) Carol Clarke, Jonathan 'J.T.' Moore, and LaTonya Tate.
Starting this Tuesday, the Birmingham City Council will look a little different after swearing in three new members.
Last week, Mayor Randall Woodfin said goodbye to Council President William Parker and Councilors John Hilliard and Steven Hoyt.
“Truly, it’s been an honor to serve with you over these last four years. I know the citizens you represent are grateful for your service, and I just want to publicly state thank you for your service,” Woodfin said.
The new members joining the council are Jonathan J.T. Moore representing District 4, Carol Clarke for District 8, and LaTonya Tate in District 9. For the first time since 2013, the council will be mostly occupied by women, with five of the nine seats held by women.
Steven Hoyt, who decided not to run for reelection, said that he knows the women will get the work done.
“I think it’s wonderful. I think they’re going to do a great job if you want it done right in a way, you will get a woman right,” Hoyt said.
Council President Pro Tem Wardine Alexander said that she’s excited Birmingham voters kept inclusion and equity in mind when they went to the polls. She also mentioned that the councilors will vote for new leadership positions. Alexander said the field for president and pro tem is wide open.
“I think all nine of us are looking to what that leadership will be, and so we’ll just be able to see on Tuesday which direction the council takes,” she said.
The swearing in and election of new council officers will happen during Tuesday’s regular meeting at Birmingham City Hall.
PBS and Minnesota public TV station sue Trump White House
PBS and Lakeland PBS in rural Minnesota are suing President Trump over his executive order demanding that the Corporation for Public Broadcasting kill all funding for the public television network.
Why did Alabama families drop their challenge to an anti-transgender law?
Alabama parents sued the state over a law banning gender-affirming care for minors, but they dropped the suit earlier this month.
Trump nominates official with ties to antisemitic extremists to lead ethics agency
President Trump nominated Paul Ingrassia to lead the Office of Special Counsel, a government agency that enforces ethics law and protects whistleblowers, despite Ingrassia's links to extremists.
Billowing smoke from Canadian wildfires wafts into the U.S.
The Manitoba wildfires have forced 17,000 people to flee the province. Plumes of heavy smoke are expected to drift into the United States over Friday and Saturday, affecting millions of Americans.
Taylor Swift buys back the rights to her first 6 albums
The pop star's early catalog was acquired in 2019 and sold again in 2020, igniting a years-long saga in which Swift set out to re-record new versions of the albums to compete with the originals.
Former Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams wins libel case against BBC over spy murder claim
Adams sued over an allegation in a 2016 documentary that he sanctioned the 2006 killing of a British spy in Ireland. A jury in Dublin's High Court awarded Adams damages of 100,000 euros ($113,000).
