Mold Remediation in Birmingham, AL

This is an opinion column

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“Birmingham booster struggles with mass shooting.”

Well, you guessed it.

I’m that Birmingham booster.

I’m that guy that who writes columns and gives speeches promising a better future for Birmingham.

But after the mass shooting in Five Points South, where am I?

Where are you?

I’ve walked the streets of Five Points South hundreds of times.

I’ve been there with my wife,

I’ve been there with my children and grandchildren.

Many of you have done the same.

So how do we stay safe?

How do we keep our families safe?

Avoiding Five South is not going to guarantee our safety.

Avoiding the City of Birmingham is not going to guarantee our safety.

Criminals with guns don’t exclaim, “I’m about to leave the city limits of Birmingham, I better turn around.”

I live in Vestavia Hills, but I can’t live my life never leaving my city.

But staying in my city may not be safe either. It’s been two years since the mass shooting at St. Stephens Episcopal Church in Vestavia Hills that resulted in three deaths.

When I’m out-of-state, and people ask me where I’m from, I don’t say I’m from Vestavia Hills. I say I’m from Birmingham.

You do the same.

You don’t say you’re from Mountain Brook.

You don’t say you’re from Homewood.

You don’t say you’re from Hoover.

You’re from Birmingham.

To the rest of the world, we are all from Birmingham.

Whether we like it or not, people judge us for living in Birmingham.

This makes it difficult for us to recruit thriving companies.

This makes it difficult for our businesses to recruit talented employees.

I gave a speech last week at The Club about the future of Birmingham.

There were about forty people in the audience from our Birmingham region, but only one lived in the City of Birmingham.

Only 17% of the population of our Birmingham-Hoover metro area live in the City of Birmingham.

Birmingham’s population is shrinking.

It would not be good if everyone moved out of the city of Birmingham.

It would not be good if everyone quit going into Birmingham.

Some folks may say I’m being hypocritical for not living in Birmingham. But for everyone to move into Birmingham is not the solution.

We must understand that we are in this together and that what happens in Birmingham has a major impact on our lives.

We all chose to live outside the city limits of Birmingham so we get no vote and no say so.

This does not absolve us of the consequences.

This is not just a Birmingham problem.

This is an ‘all of us’ problem.

David Sher is the founder and publisher of ComebackTown. He’s past Chairman of the Birmingham Regional Chamber of Commerce (BBA), Operation New Birmingham (REV Birmingham), and the City Action Partnership (CAP).

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Invite David to speak for free to your group about how we can have a more prosperous metro Birmingham. dsher@comebacktown.com .

TRACKING THE STORM | MAPS AND MODELS | WVTM 13 LIVE DOPPLER RADAR | HOW TO GET WEATHER ALERTS | UPLOAD YOUR WEATHER PHOTOS

Helene will impact Alabama Friday in the form of wind and some heavy rain. Conditions improve through the afternoon and into this weekend. Check the video forecast for the latest.

HURRICANE HELENE: ALABAMA IMPACTS

The heaviest rain and strongest wind gusts (20-40 miles per hour) will occur over the eastern part of the state: especially near and east of US Highway 431 from Huntsville to Gadsden, Anniston, and Roanoke.

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Wind Advisory in Effect Until 10 PM CDT Friday

What: West winds 10 to 20 mph with gusts up to 35 mph.

Where: Blount, Calhoun, Clay, Etowah, Jefferson, Shelby, St. Clair, and Talladega Counties.

Including the cities of Moody, Columbiana, Sylacauga, Pelham, Oneonta, Pell City, Birmingham, Talladega, Ashland, Gadsden, Anniston, Alabaster, and Hoover.

When: Until 10 PM CDT Friday

Impacts:

WVTM 13

Flash Flood Watch in effect Until 7 AM CDT Friday

What: Flash flooding caused by excessive rainfall continues to be possible.

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Where: A portion of central Alabama, including the following counties:

A large part of Central and West Alabama will see little to no rain at all on Friday and Friday night, but it will be blustery all day and into the evening.

For the latest Birmingham weather information and Central Alabama's certified most accurate forecast, watch WVTM 13 News.

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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC) - Election Day 2024 is almost here and there are things you need to know before you go to the polls Tuesday.

Polls in Alabama will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 5.

If you’re not sure where to find your polling location for the upcoming election, click here to input your address and view your polling location.

To vote in Alabama, you will need to bring and show a valid photo ID.

The state of Alabama offers several options for approved forms for photo ID, including the following:

If a voter does not have one of these, he or she may receive a free Alabama photo voter ID from various locations.

You can view a sample ballot for the 2024 General Election by clicking here and selecting the county you live in.

There will be a statewide Amendment 1 on all ballots.

State Amendment - Alabama Amendment 1 is a YES/NO vote on whether to transfer control of land to the Franklin County Board of Education.

The amendment in its entirety reads as follows:

To review a summary of the amendment and what a YES or NO vote would do, click here.

Make your voice heard, go vote!

You Decide 2024

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As of Nov. 1, 2024, the University of Alabama at Birmingham Health System Authority has assumed ownership of Ascension St. Vincent’s Health System in central Alabama to sustain patients’ access to the highest-quality care in Birmingham and surrounding communities.

After thorough study and due diligence, UAB announced in June that the University of Alabama System Board of Trustees approved an agreement with Ascension to seek the necessary approvals and work toward satisfying closing conditions.

Under the agreement, the UAB Health System Authority has assumed ownership of all Ascension St. Vincent’s sites of care, including the hospitals at Birmingham, Blount, Chilton, East and St. Clair, as well as the One Nineteen Campus, the Trussville Freestanding Emergency Department, and imaging centers and other clinics that are part of Ascension Medical Group. The transaction includes Ascension St. Vincent’s services, facilities, caregivers and associates, including a robust network of providers serving the region.

Former St. Vincent’s sites of care and operations are now officially UAB St. Vincent’s.

“We are thrilled to welcome St. Vincent’s patients, caregivers and associates to the UAB Medicine community,” said UAB Health System CEO Dawn Bulgarella. “We are grateful and excited for how well this acquisition has been received by patients, as well as the St. Vincent’s and UAB teams. I look forward to seeing how the combining of these two great health systems enhances patients’ access to a larger network of care, creates exciting opportunities for our people and makes Alabama’s healthcare system more sustainable.”

UAB St. Vincent’s patients will continue to have access to the health care services and providers they’ve come to trust, and they will also gain access to a larger care network. The goal of the transition team made up of UAB, Ascension and St. Vincent’s team members has been to make the transition smooth for UAB St. Vincent’s patients, caregivers and associates, as well as the broader UAB Medicine team and the communities both health systems serve.

“A significant amount of work and dialogue has gone into this effort, and Ascension has been a great partner throughout, demonstrating a shared commitment to a smooth transition for everyone we serve,” Bulgarella said. “We exist to improve lives, and that purpose will continue to drive our actions.”

At a time when hospitals are closing across the nation, UAB Health System has made it a priority to strengthen Alabama hospitals, support care providers, and increase community outreach and service through innovative partnerships that improve the state’s health care ecosystem.

“Today we are celebrating the beginning of an exciting, more sustainable new era of health care in Alabama,” Bulgarella said. “We look forward to investing in our people, facilities and systems to enhance the caregiver, associate and patient experience across UAB Medicine and UAB St. Vincent’s.”

Ray Watts, M.D., who chairs the UAB Health System Authority Board in addition to serving as UAB president, says UAB Health System is uniquely positioned to deliver on that commitment to sustain patient and employee success.

“UAB Health System is recognized among the nation’s best for innovative, world-class, people-first care, as well as among the best places to work in health care,” Watts said. “As an Alabama-operated health system, we love, understand and meet the needs of our local communities, and we deeply respect Ascension St. Vincent’s caregivers’ and associates’ similar community- and mission-focused commitment.”

That commitment is shared by the University of Alabama System Board of Trustees and System Office. During the June Board meeting at which the agreement passed with unanimous support, UA System Interim Chancellor Sid J. Trant — who, along with Bulgarella, recommended the resolution for approval, said “As you all know, the University of Alabama System and the UAB Health System exist to improve the lives of Alabamians and beyond. This acquisition will go a long way to that end and will move the UA System toward fulfilling its vision of becoming the preeminent public system of higher education and health care in the United States.”

Showers are likely in some spots while other remain bone dry. It will stay warm into the weekend, too. Check the video forecast for the latest.

RECORD-SETTING OCTOBER

If it does not rain at Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport before 11:59 p.m., we will, for the first time in a century, have a completely rain-free October.

Birmingham’s driest Octobers on record include these:

At this point, there is no sign of a big or widespread rain in Alabama’s near future, nor are there signs of a return to the chilly air that visited the state back in mid-October.

SPOOKY SHOWERS FOR SOME

Hearst Owned

When will it rain?

WVTM 13

Rain will slowly spread eastward through the evening. Some steadier rain is possible west of I-65 into the late evening hours.

How much will it rain?

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The best chance of meaningful rainfall will be generally north and west of the Birmingham area. Some isolated spots could get over one inch of rain in Marion, Walker, Winston, Fayette, and Cullman Counties while others get next to nothing.

Rain looks sparse east of Interstate 59 in the Birmingham, Gadsden, and Anniston areas.

It would take a whole lot more rain than that to have any effect of the dry conditions across Alabama.

Hearst OwnedWVTM 13

Some spots need more than a foot of rain to relieve the current drought!

FRIDAY AND THE WEEKEND

Some spotty showers will persist into Friday morning. Where it is not raining, the sky is mainly cloudy and temperatures are mild.

Hearst Owned

Like on Thursday, the best chance of meaningful rainfall will be generally north and west of the Birmingham area.

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Any showers should fade by the evening setting up for a pleasant Friday evening forecast.

HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL

For the high school football games Friday night, the weather will be mild. The kickoff temperature will be pleasant near 70 degrees under a mostly cloudy sky. Temperatures dip into the mid-60s by the end of the game.

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Get ready for another warm and dry weekend! Afternoon highs will approach record levels in Birmingham for the first days of November:

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COLLEGE FOOTBALL

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Auburn hosts Vanderbilt at Jordan-Hare for an 11:45am kickoff. The temperature at the start of the game will be in the upper 70s under a mainly sunny sky. We will warm into the low 80s during the game with no threat of rain.

UAB hosts Tulsa at 1:30pm at Protective Stadium. The sky will be mainly sunny with a kickoff temperature close to 80 degrees. We will be warm and dry through the game.

EXTRA SLEEP THIS WEEKEND

The Great Debate: Daylight saving time

Daylight saving time ends Sunday, Nov. 3, at 2 a.m., and the sun will rise at 6:08 a.m. and set at 4:53 p.m. Clocks will "fall back" an hour, meaning we gain an hour of sleep!

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As fall continues and winter draws closer, the sun will rise later and set earlier. We will lose a little more than one minute of daylight each day through November.

With the change of the clock, it is also a good reminder to change the batteries in your smoke detector and weather radio.

DROUGHT DEEPENS INTO NOVEMBER

Excluding the rain brought by Hurricane Francine in early September, Birmingham has received just 1.84 inches of rain over the past two months. The rain from the hurricane is considered an outlier, as it fell rapidly and failed to significantly replenish groundwater reserves, which have been gradually depleted by a prolonged hot summer.

WVTM 13

Looking ahead, North and Central Alabama are unlikely to see any meaningful change in rainfall. The probability of receiving at least one inch of rain over the next two weeks is a mere 10 to 20 percent. Most areas won't even accumulate a quarter inch of rain through mid-November.

The reason for the dryness and the warmth? It's a strong ridge that just does not look like it will break down anytime soon. It will keep the jet stream (main storm track) far enough from Alabama to prevent heavy, widespread, soaking rain or storms for the next 7 to 14 days.

WVTM 13

For the latest Birmingham weather information and Central Alabama's certified most accurate forecast, watch WVTM 13 News.

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