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September 2024 | Volume 15 | Issue 4
Serving the Birmingham area since 1958. HOMEWOOD’S COMMUNITY NEWS SOURCE THEHOMEWOODSTAR.COM | STARNESMEDIA.COM
Education Guide
Explore educational services in and around Homewood.
See page 18
Fall Medical Guide
Meet providers in your area and discover services near you.
See page 22
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The power to save Why talking about mental health matters By SARAH OWENS
K
enny Blackmon is no stranger to a crisis situation. In fact, it's his job to de-escalate them. Blackmon is a crisis negotiator for the Homewood Police Department, a title that often requires him to talk people off a ledge, both literally and metaphorically. He has been with the department for 15 years and previously served with the Birmingham Police Department, for a combined total of over 35 years in law enforcement. His official title used to be hostage negotiator, but he says they changed the language to better describe the situations they handled. “You’re not always going to a hostage. Most of the ones I’ve talked to, if not all, didn’t involve a hostage,” he said. “It was just them. I’ve talked to people on bridges, I’ve talked to people in their homes, talked to people in a hotel room that had a gun on themselves.” Blackmon has unfortunately witnessed some of these situations end in suicide or responded to scenes where someone has taken their life. In these scenarios, his mind immediately wonders if he could have done more to prevent it, but his focus eventually shifts to the family
experiencing the loss of a loved one. It’s a tough gig, but Blackmon chose to be part of this unit for a reason. As September is National Suicide Prevention Month, he shared his motivation for working to prevent these deaths.
Inside this issue: ► Suicide among senior citizens on the rise, see page 30. ► Homewood Schools support and educate students on mental health issues, see page 30.
See MENTAL HEALTH | page 28
City gears up for Sept. 24 vote on new form of government By EMILY REED A citywide referendum has been scheduled for Sept. 24, which could alter the government structure for the city of Homewood. “We now have a date specifically set,” said Alex Wyatt, the Homewood City Council president. “This vote will be for any resident living in Homewood. It doesn’t matter if you have been a lifelong resident or you just moved here, if you live in Homewood, you can vote in this special election.” The city has defined the purpose of the election as “determining whether or not the qualified voters of the city of Homewood approve the adoption of the ‘council/manager’ form of government.” After collecting more than 600 signatures from Homewood voters in support of the election, the Probate Court certified them on July
Possible Change in Government Structure Current: council/mayor form of government
Proposed: council/manager form of government
11 city councilors
4 city councilors
Mayor and council president are separate positions
Mayor is also council president
No full-time executive position
Full-time city manager
29 and set a date for the election. After the approval, the city had to quickly get things in order to meet the deadlines necessary to hold the September vote. At a special meeting on Aug. 5, council members authorized a resolution to contract with Jefferson County to rent voting
machines and equipment for the referendum, costing $11,027. A subsequent resolution adopted the election equipment as the official electronic vote counting system for Homewood elections.
See CITY MANAGER | page 26