Judge's Fluoride Ruling Questioned

0:00Central Alabama water, just filed a motion, asking a Jefferson County judge to step down from a lawsuit over putting fluoride back in the water supply. The city of Birmingham sued the utility to force them to resume fluoridation and circuit judge Frederick Bowling hit them with a temporary restraining. Order last week, making them restore it until a hearing on April 2nd. Turns out, Bowling has a complicated history with the utility back when it was called the Birmingham Water Works Board. He represented them in cases from 2020 to 2021, but got his contract terminated, leading to some heated emails where he called out their billing practices. Attorneys for the water companies say his past work plus some strong comments in the restraining orders slamming their costs in layoffs make his impartiality questionable. He wrote about not risking public health while exec salaries balloon and workers get cut. This isn't the first time Bowling voluntarily recused himself last May from another billing case against the utility saying he wanted to avoid extra media drama from old opinions.

1:06A hearing on the recusal motion is set for Thursday at noon, so we'll see if Bowling stays on the case or steps aside keeping this fluoride fight. Bowling over, local news, powered by AI, this is Birmingham News Today.