National & International

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Birmingham--Birmingham's proposed 2010 operating budget is about $6 million dollars less than the current budget. It includes major cuts to some outside groups such as the downtown revitalization organization Operation New Birmingham and Child Care Resources. Mayor Larry Langford says "times are tough and the cuts are necessary". But some of the groups being cut from the budget say they were given no warning. Birmingham Weekly's Kyle Whitmire joins us to talk about the city budget, Jefferson County's economic woes and the Richard Scrushy Trial. He tells WBHM's Michael Krall that Mayor Langford's budget caught many people off guard.

Kyle Whitmire writes the column War on Dumb for Birmingham Weekly. He spoke with WBHM's Michael Krall.

We mentioned that many of the organizations that got zero-budgeted in Mayor Langford's proposal were caught off-guard. One of those organizations was Kid One Transport ...a non-profit group that provides free transportation to medical appointments for children and expectant mothers. So far this year, Kid One Transport has provided more than four-thousand rides. But executive director Karen Peterlin tells WBHM's Tanya Ott that if the City Council doesn't restore funding for her group it will have to turn away hundreds of people.

Karen Peterlin is president and C-E-O of Kid One Transport. The organization provides free transportation to medical appointments for low-income children and expectant mothers. It learned this week that its usual $70,000 allotment in Birmingham Mayor Larry Langford's budget has been eliminated. Budget hearings begin next week.

~ Tanya Ott & Michael Krall, May 20, 2009.