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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ALGOP Opens Tuberville Hearing to Press After Closure Concerns (Alabama Political Reporter)

The Alabama Republican Party will be conducting a hearing beginning at 2 p.m.  Sunday regarding whether Republican nominee for governor Tommy Tuberville lives in the state and is qualified to appear on the ballot in November. The party announced Friday that the press would be allowed to attend, reversing a previous decision to close the meeting to the public. After the hearing, the party chairman will announce its decision.

This challenge was filed by former Republican primary opponent Ken McFeeters, who contends Tuberville does not meet the seven-year resident requirements to run for governor. But McFeeters told CBS 42 News that he is not confident the hearing will go his way because he has not been given time to conduct depositions he wanted.

Juneteenth: A Celebration of Freedom, Community and Remembrance (Birmingham Times)

Juneteenth, short for June Nineteenth, marks the day in 1865 when federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, to enforce the freedom of enslaved people. This came 2½ years after the Emancipation Proclamation had already declared them free. The delay itself tells a story of suppressed information, deliberate resistance, and the long, complicated distance between a promise and its fulfillment. Birmingham is marking the holiday with a range of events across the city.

A Birmingham Charter Is Alabama’s First to Receive This Award for Getting Kids Ready for College (AL.com)

I3 Academy Middle School has become the first charter school in Alabama to receive the A+ College Ready’s School of Excellence Award. The award celebrates the eighth-grade students at i3 Academy Middle School who exceeded their program’s goal on the PSAT, a standardized college readiness practice test.

TrimTab Closing Taproom After 13 Years in Birmingham (Bham Now)

After more than a decade in the Magic City, TrimTab Brewing announced it will close its Tasting Gallery for good July 4. TrimTab plans to continue sales of TrimTab IPA and Paradise Now in select markets.

Auburn University Trustees Dissolve Faculty Senate, Take More Direct Curricula Control (Alabama Reflector)

The Auburn University Board of Trustees has dissolved the university’s faculty Senate and replaced it with a body appointed by university officials, a move that drew criticism from educators at the school. The board also voted to give the board and university officials more direct control of the curriculum, changes a university statement said are “intended to advance academic quality, transparency, consistency and institutional alignment while preserving meaningful faculty participation.”

The Auburn Plainsman wrote more about immediate action being taken in its story Transition Underway for Switch to PAAC, Provost Says.

Alabama Posts Large Gain in Fourth-Grade Math Scores (ABC 33/40)

Alabama education leaders are highlighting new student achievement data they say shows years of investment in reading and math instruction are producing results. According to results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, often called the Nation’s Report Card, Alabama recorded the largest increase in fourth-grade math scores in the nation between 2022 and 2024. Results in other measures were a mixed bag, however.

District 52 Runoff Pits Two Community Advocates After Upset of Incumbent (Birmingham Times)

Attorney and educator Gigi Hayes and longtime political organizer LaTonya Millhouse made their cases for election to the Alabama House District 52 seat in the days leading into the June 16 primary runoff election.

Alabama Seeks to Execute Man by Lethal Injection After Court Ruled Against Nitrogen Method (Associated Press)

Alabama is asking the Alabama Supreme Court for permission to execute a man by lethal injection after court rulings blocked the use of nitrogen gas and cast doubt on the future of the state’s gas method. The U.S. Supreme Court earlier had stopped the scheduled Thursday execution of Jeffery Lee, who was convicted of killing two people during a 1998 robbery, after a lower court ruled that the state’s nitrogen protocol violated the ban on cruel and unusual punishment.

Alabama Medical Cannabis Dispensary Sees Over 100 Patients in First Week (Alabama Reflector)

Over 100 qualifying patients have purchased medical cannabis since Alabama’s first dispensary opened, the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission said Thursday.

The state’s first legal medical cannabis provider, Callie’s Apothecary, opened its first location in Montgomery on June 4 following a “soft opening” the day before. Justin Aday, general counsel for the commission, said Thursday that 102 patients have purchased medical cannabis products in 111 transactions. Those transactions have generated about $14,600 in pre-tax sales with the average transaction being $131.56, Aday said.