BW Recommends is a rundown of stories you might have missed this week. It offers insight into issues important to our area and sometimes tickles your curiosity.

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Alabama Arise Launches Worker Power Campaign to Advocate for Labor Rights Statewide  (Alabama Political Reporter)

Alabama Arise last week launched a new campaign with the goals of creating a stronger labor movement in the state, restoring Alabama’s union density, and reducing the economic imbalance between Alabama’s working class and corporate power.

Miles College Purple Marching Machine Wins ESPN Band of the Year Title for Second Consecutive Year (WVTM-13)

Miles College took home the ESPN 2025 Red Lobster HBCU Division II Band of the Year title on Friday night after a competition in Atlanta.

Here Is Where Alabama’s First 12 Medical Marijuana Dispensaries Are Planned (AL.com)

After more than a two-year delay, Alabama regulators last week awarded licenses to three companies to operate medical marijuana dispensaries and will consider a fourth early next year. The companies can operate up to three locations each. Two of the proposed dispensaries would be in Birmingham.

Supreme Court Hears Arguments Over Intellectual Disabilities in Alabama Death Penalty Case (Alabama Reflector)

The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments Wednesday in an Alabama death penalty case in which the state is challenging multiple federal courts’ determinations that a death row inmate is intellectually disabled and ineligible for capital punishment. The Attorney General’s Office is arguing that the state should be allowed to execute Joseph Clifton Smith despite federal court findings that his low IQ and lack of functional ability should exempt him from the harshest punishment.

14 Cities, Schools Join Tuscaloosa’s Lawsuit Over SSUT; 207 Counties, Cities Want Dismissal (Alabama Daily News)

There are now about 225 Alabama cities, towns, counties and school systems involved in a legal fight over one of the state’s fastest-growing revenue sources. Fourteen cities and local school systems have joined in support of a lawsuit that alleges they are shortchanged by the state’s formula for collecting and distributing tax revenue from Alabamians’ online purchases. That pits them against 140 cities and towns, along with every county in the state, that are arguing the lawsuit should be dismissed and the system should continue operating as it has been.

Birmingham Bowl Is Back on Dec. 29 — Details on the 2025 Matchup (BhamNow)

Georgia Southern University and Appalachian State University will take the field at Protective Stadium for the annual Birmingham Bowl, training millions of eyes on Birmingham with the TV audience and in-person visitors.