A Message from Mayor Stimpson - January 29
Jan 29th, 2021
Good evening,
It is 7:30 p.m. on Friday, January 29, and I am writing to give you an update from the City of Mobile.
Today, the Mobile County Health Department reports 32,875 COVID-19 cases, an increase of 196 cases. To review the most recent detailed report, click here.
This morning Governor Kay Ivey and the Alabama Department of Public Health announced that beginning Monday, February 8, ADPH will extend eligibility for COVID-19 vaccinations to include people 65 or older, and additional groups of frontline workers.
The frontline critical workers included under this expanded eligibility include: First responders, Corrections officers, Food and agriculture workers, U.S. Postal Service workers, Manufacturing workers, Grocery store workers, Public transit workers, People who work in the education sector (teachers, support staff, community college and higher education), Childcare workers and those who work in the Judiciary (including but not limited to) circuit judges, district judges and district attorneys.
There are also several first-dose, drive-thru vaccination events happening throughout Mobile County in the coming days. You can find more about those and other information about COVID-19 vaccines on the City of Mobile’s website. We have created a page dedicated to COVID-19 vaccine information and will be updating it regularly with new information about vaccine availability and upcoming clinics.
During road construction projects, it is common to unearth hidden historic infrastructure. Recently, as construction workers were working near the roundabout at the intersection of Canal Street and Broad Street, a previously unknown manhole was found with an expansion plug seal beneath the lid. This lid was stamped with the letters “MLRRCO.”
After some research, our team realized this was an old electrical manhole for the Mobile Light and Railroad Company, which operated the old trolley downtown between 1897 and 1939. In 1939, the streetcar system was renamed Mobile City Lines. During this time, buses were coming onto the scene, and would eventually replace all streetcars. Today, Mobile City lines is known as The Wave, Mobile’s main public transportation system.
This manhole lid was a neat bit of history that we didn’t expect to uncover. This speaks to the extensive and detailed work that is happening during the Broad Street Redevelopment Project. This isn’t just repaving a road. We are rebuilding decades-old infrastructure beneath Broad Street and totally redesigning this major thoroughfare to be more pedestrian, bicycle and business friendly.
Leadership Promises for Every Day, author J. Maxwell writes that “you have to help people believe that they can succeed, and to show them that you want them to succeed.”
It seems like a small thing, but people working alongside you need to know you believe in them and that you want them to succeed. When people believe you want them to succeed and are committed to helping them, they begin to believe in themselves. None of us reach our biggest goals alone, so let’s all remember to vocally support and uplift those working by our side day in and day out.
Sleep tight,