Alabama Steel Town’s Bad News; Richmond’s Bad Bet on Washington’s Football Team
The statue of Vulcan in Birmingham, Alabama. Darryl Vest / Shutterstock.com
Also: An Idaho wildfire’s impacts on sensitive wildlife and more misery for New Jersey commuters.
Here’s some of what we’ve been reading today …
FAIRFIELD, Alabama: U.S. Steel delivered some unwelcome news to the Birmingham area, where steel manufacturing has been big business: The historic Fairfield Works, which opened its doors nearly 100 years ago, is shuttering its operations later in the year and will put about 1,100 people out of work. It’s especially unpleasant for the city of Fairfield, which was built as a company town adjacent to the plant. Adding to Fairfield’s woes is the significant acrimony within the city’s leadership: Mayor Kenneth Coachman, who had been the subject of a previous impeachment petition, and members of the city council don’t really get along. A scene from a recent Fairfield City Council meeting, according to AL.com:
Councilwoman Gloria Matthews declared herself ashamed of the way the council had conducted itself and spoke of praying for the Lord's forgiveness.
And [Councilwoman Paralee] Britt punctuated the end of the meeting by lashing out at [Council President Darnell] Gardner and storming out of the room.
The mayor said the closure of the Fairfield works is “no good news at all,” according to the Associated Press. That’s an understatement. [AL.com; AP]
RICHMOND, Virginia: Did the city make a bad bet on the NFL team from Washington, D.C.? According to The Washington Post, there is some consternation that a summer practice facility the city built for the team isn’t turning out crowds that leaders had hoped would pump millions of dollars into the city’s restaurant and tourism industry. According to The Post:
The financial windfall has yet to materialize, forcing the city to borrow to meet its payments. Richmond officials also built the Redskins a $10 million practice facility, believing the main portion of the two-story complex could be leased for commercial purposes. Three years into the deal, two-thirds of the upper floor remains vacant with no tenants.
In somewhat related news about disappointments involving Washington’s football: RGIII says he feels like he’s “the best quarterback in the league.” [The Washington Post]
SITKA, Alaska: The failure of valve on a secondary containment area for spilled diesel fuel at a power plant that provides electricity to the borough-controlled power utility caused 30,000 gallons of diesel fuel to spill into Sitka’s stormwater sewer system with some the fuel reaching Sitka Sound. [Alaska Dispatch News]
NEWARK, New Jersey: Monday was another miserable day for commuters heading between New Jersey and New York City. A New Jersey Transit train malfunction in one of Amtrak’s twin Hudson River tunnels and a Cadillac Escalade that caught fire in the Lincoln Tunnel snarled two of the most important tunnel connections in and out of midtown Manhattan. The commuting woes highlighted the vulnerability of the region’s strained and aging transportation infrastructure, a problem that will persist until additional rail tunnels are constructed under the Hudson. Amtrak’s Gateway tunnel proposal was the topic of a Tuesday morning meeting between U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, U.S. Sens. Cory Booker and Robert Menendez Notably absent: New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who has said “it’s not my tunnel.” [The New York Times; Politico N.J. Playbook; AP]
OWHYEE COUNTY, Idaho: With wildfires, some of the greatest damage doesn’t necessarily happen during the fire itself but happens in the aftermath. As the Idaho Statesman reports, the 283,000-acre Soda fire tore through sensitive wildlife areas, including 37,000 of “core” sage grouse habitat. Wild horses are being rounded up because there’s no grass to eat. State and federal officials are assessing the impacted areas to see what locations can be rehabilitated as quickly as possible, including seeding strategies to help restore the ecologically sensitive habitats. [Idaho Statesman]
(Photo by Darryl Vest / Shutterstock.com)
Michael Grass is Executive Editor of Government Executive’s Route Fifty.
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