Judge Blocks Emergency Order on Alabama Water Utility

0:00It's April 4th. This is Birmingham News Today, powered by AI. A federal judge just shot down an emergency order against Alabama Governor Kay Ivey and a bunch of state senators and county commissioners over the state's biggest water utility, now called Central Alabama Water. The suit comes from two former board members who want to fire up a class action for Birmingham folks, pushing to yank control back from the state and re-higher 135 workers laid off back in March. They hit up officials like Lieutenant Governor Will Ainsworth and others to either bring those jobs back or step down from appointing the board. Crowds of fired employees and supporters pack the courtroom, cheering on the fight after the ruling. Attorneys for the plaintiffs say the state has total grip on the board, but defenders argue those appointees don't answer directly to politicians, and nobody can force re-hiring like that. This ties into a new set up from May 2025 when Ivey signed a law, regionalizing the board, now seven members strong with just two from.

1:02Birmingham and the rest from suburbs, overseeing nearly two billion dollars in assets. Meanwhile, Birmingham's mayor has a parallel lawsuit rolling, and the judge plans to sink the cases, let both sides draw more evidence and hit the next hearing on May 28th, keeping the battle alive right here in federal court.