The pandemic had blown a $63 million hole in the Alabama city’s finances, and the costs were piling up: furloughed workers, slashed salaries, cuts to programs as varied as the arts and the zoo. On the day last fall that the city council passed its red-ink-streaked budget, angry librarians protested outside.
But the atmosphere abruptly changed this month when the city’s Democratic congresswoman came to town bearing an outsized $148 million check . The symbolic bank note, bearing President Biden’s signature, reflects the city’s allotment of federal coronavirus relief funds. It also represents, said Mayor Randall Woodfin (D), an opportunity […]
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