Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin Holds State of the City Address
Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin announced new fundraising partners for the Birmingham Promise Initiative at Tuesday’s State of the City address.
The co-chairs include Lee Styslinger with Altec, John Turner with Regions Bank and Mark Crosswhite with Alabama Power. This comes after the city announced last year its commitment of $10 million over five years to fund the intitiative.
The Birmingham Promise provides 2020 gradutates of Birmingham City Schools free tuition to all public universities in the state.
“This is not rocket science, but it’s not charity either,” Woodfin says. “It’s the right thing to do.”
Miranda Fulmore, WBHM
Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin address the Kiwanis Club of Birmingham
Woodfin says they also plan to expand the initiative’s apprenticeship program. In 2019, 23 students were allowed to leave school and go to work. Woodfin says moving forward they plan to partner Shipt, Alabama Power, the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and dozens of other employers to offer the same opportunity to 100 students.
Woodfin says he hopes providing resources for the city’s youth is his legacy, but that neighborhood revitalization remains his top priority. He says in 2019 the city spent billions of dollars demolishing blighted buildings, controlling overgrown weeds and repairing the city’s streets and sidewalks. The city also worked with Alabama Power to invest in LED street lighting.
The city also saw improvements in crime compared to 2018. According to the mayor’s office, the city’s homicide rate is down 9%, rape is down 16%, robbery is down 25% and total violent crime is down about 15%.
But Woodfin says the city still has work to do.
“One homicide is too many. One robbery is too many. One rape is too many,” he says.
What are your holiday shopping plans? NPR wants to hear from you
Is this the season of cutbacks or splurges? As we prepare to cover holiday shopping and deals, NPR wants to hear from you, whatever your plans may be.
What does Montreal sound like?
World Cafe is kicking off its latest Sense of Place series with a playlist that offers a glimpse of Montreal's lively music scene.
Dozens of Bob Ross paintings will be auctioned to help public TV after funding cuts
Thirty of Ross' trademark landscapes will be sold at a series of auctions starting in November. He painted many of them live on The Joy of Painting, which started airing on PBS in the 1980s.
Why gold is having its best year since 1979
The price of gold hit $4,000 per ounce for the first time ever. It's a bad sign for the U.S. economy
1 in 5 high schoolers has had a romantic AI relationship, or knows someone who has
A national survey of students, teachers and parents shines a light on how the AI revolution is playing out in schools – including when it comes to bullying and a community's trust in schools.
RFK Jr.’s new dietary guidelines could be controversial. Here’s what to watch for
The Health Secretary's affinity for saturated fat and his ire over ultra-processed foods could influence federal food guidelines, expected out this fall.
