Digital Media Center
Bryant-Denny Stadium, Gate 61
920 Paul Bryant Drive
Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0370
(800) 654-4262

© 2024 Alabama Public Radio
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Birmingham approves tax increase, after school care and Montgomery ticket amnesty

Randall Woodfin
Randall Woodfin, President of Birmingham's Board of Education

Voters in Birmingham overwhelmingly approved a tax increase yesterday that will go toward Birmingham’s City Schools.

According to Birmingham Board of Education President Randall Woodfin, the extra tax will cost the average homeowner an additional $1.83 a month.

Money from the tax increase will be used to put a preschool classroom in every Birmingham city elementary school. Some schools that already have preschool programs are expected to expand them. The money will also go toward funding music and other fine arts programs as well as foreign language education.

Just over 7500 citizens voted in the referendum. Over 75% of the voters approved the tax increase.

Alabamians appear to be questioning whether quality or quantity should be the focus of after-school programs for at-risk students.

The Alabama Department of Education is working to draw attention to its after-school meal program. A recent survey commissioned by the Afterschool Alliance says in 2013, 20% of Alabama schoolchildren are unsupervised after class. About 40% of students say they'd participate in an after-school program if one was available.

State Department of Education spokesperson Kimberly Bowen says more after-school programming may bring benefits to Alabama communities.

"You have a lot of children in the state of Alabama that are going home to homes by themselves and if they had a place that provided them with a safe place to go and then with a nutritious meal, we'd improve our society as a whole."

Alabama is currently ranked as one of the lowest states in the nation at providing after-school care.

Drivers in Montgomery County can get a break on outstanding traffic tickets. The county is hosting its second annual traffic ticket amnesty program today.

Drivers with arrest warrants due to parking tickets more than ninety days old can clear their records during the amnesty period.

This applies to residents and non-residents who have received a ticket from a sheriff’s officer or a state trooper in Montgomery County.

Tiffany McCord is the Montgomery County Circuit Clerk. She says the amnesty program provides options that weren’t previously available.

“If you needed payment plans before, you would have to go to court, see the judge, take a day and come into the courthouse. This way, you get an automatic payment plan if you can pay half of what is owed, you’ll have another six weeks in which to pay the other half.”

Citizens must go to the district courthouse on South Lawrence Street between 8 am and 5 pm to clear their warrants. Citizens who were ticketed by the Montgomery Police Department aren't eligible for this program since their tickets are handled in municipal court.

An Alabama woman is facing a disorderly conduct charge after offering to perform the wedding of a same-sex couple in the Autauga County Courthouse.

The Autauga County Sheriff says a dispute occurred between Probate Judge Alfred Booth and Anne Diprizio of Prattville, after two women received a marriage license from Booth.

Autauga County is one of the few counties in Alabama that is granting same-sex marriage licenses, but Booth has stopped officiating wedding ceremonies or even allowing weddings in the courthouse since gay marriage became legal Monday.

The sheriff says Diprizio identified herself as a minister and offered to marry the two women, since Booth wouldn't.

In response, the probate judge called deputies who found the woman kneeling and refusing to leave. She was arrested for disorderly conduct.

Diprizio is currently free on bond.

News from Alabama Public Radio is a public service in association with the University of Alabama. We depend on your help to keep our programming on the air and online. Please consider supporting the news you rely on with a donation today. Every contribution, no matter the size, propels our vital coverage. Thank you.