No Decision in the Case of the Covered Confederate Monument
The base of a Confederate monument in Linn Park will remain covered for now. Jefferson County Judge Mike Graffeo did not make a decision after hearing arguments from the City of Birmingham and the state Attorney General’s Office.
The state sued Birmingham last year, saying that the city violated the Alabama Memorial Preservation Act in 2017 by covering the base of the monument to Confederate Soldiers and Sailors. It also said Birmingham should pay a fine of $25,000 a day for that violation.
Birmingham argued that the city, at the direction of former Mayor William Bell, covered the monument to protect it, following an outbreak of violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, connected to controversy over Confederate Monuments. Lawyers also said the monument was offensive to many in Birmingham, a city whose population is 70 percent black.
Graffeo asked lawyers to present additional written arguments within the next month. He will make a ruling after reviewing the arguments.
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.
Birmingham Museum of Art’s silver exhibit tells a dazzling global story
Silver and Ceremony is made up of more than 150 suites of silver, sourced from India, and some of their designs.
Mentally ill people are stuck in jail because they can’t get treatment. Here’s what’s to know
Hundreds of people across Alabama await a spot in the state’s increasingly limited facilities, despite a consent decree requiring the state to address delays in providing care for people who are charged with crimes but deemed too mentally ill to stand trial. But seven years since the federal agreement, the problem has only worsened.
Ivey appoints Will Parker to Alabama Supreme Court
Parker fills the court seat vacated by Bill Lewis who was tapped by President Donald Trump for a federal judgeship. The U.S. Senate last month confirmed Lewis as a U.S. district judge.
