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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Family of Alabama College Student ‘Struggling to Come to Terms’ as They Confirm His Death (WVTM13)

The family of Jimmy Gracey said they are heartbroken at news the student visiting Barcelona had been found after falling from the breakwater into the sea.

Two Years After Fatal Explosion, Alabama Mine Regulator ‘Letting the Fox Guard the Henhouse’ (Inside Climate News)

Under the Biden Administration, federal regulators had forced the state toward stricter regulation of methane emissions. Under Trump, they appear to have lifted the pressure.

Samford University Named One of America’s Most Beautiful Campuses (Bham Now)

U.S. News & World Report has selected Samford University as one of its 35 Most Beautiful College Campuses in the nation. U.S. News recognized the 247-acre campus in Homewood for its Georgian-Colonial architecture, towering oak trees that line the quad and striking bell tower that tops the Harwell Goodwin Davis Library.

Birmingham’s BJCC Reports $113 Million Increase in Economic Impact (WVTM13)

The Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex generated more than $463.5 million in economic impact in central Alabama last year, marking a $113 million increase from the previous year. A report released last week includes spending and jobs numbers connected to events and activities at BJCC’s venues, the Uptown Entertainment District, and the Coca-Cola Amphitheater.

‘It Doesn’t Need to Be Here’: The Right Vilifies a Muslim School in Alabama (New York Times)

The Islamic Academy of Alabama quietly operated in a small cinder block building in Homewood for the past three decades. But when it tried to move to a larger location in Hoover last summer, the City Council rejected the plan after protests. The pushback against the Birmingham school plan reflects anti-Muslim sentiment in conservative enclaves in America as well as among GOP officials in Washington.

‘I dodged death’: Sitting down with Sonny Burton (Tread)

“I dodged death,” Sonny Burton said during an interview inside the visitor’s room at Holman Correctional Facility, the maximum-security prison where death row is housed. Burton talked about his experiences facing execution before and after Gov. Kay Ivey in a rare move recently commuted his death sentence to one of life in prison without the possibility of parole. Ivey said she could not sanction putting Burton to death considering that he was not the one who killed Doug Battle during a Talladega robbery in 1991, and the shooter died in prison after being sentenced to life without parole.

Alabama’s biggest cities are pushing to save a tax credit that turns vacant buildings into economic engines (Yellowhammer)

The mayors of Alabama’s 10 largest cities have thrown their collective weight behind legislation to extend and expand the state’s historic rehabilitation tax credit program, which is currently set to expire at the end of 2027. The group, known as the Alabama Big 10 Mayors, represents a nonpartisan coalition of the state’s 10 largest cities: Huntsville, Mobile, Tuscaloosa, Hoover, Dothan, Birmingham, Auburn, Decatur, Montgomery and Madison.

Alabama Senate Republicans Continue to Stonewall Dem Legislation (Alabama Political Reporter)

On Thursday, the Alabama Senate’s special order calendar — the slate of bills offered by the Senate Rules Committee determining which legislation will be voted on that day — once again contained no bills sponsored by Democratic lawmakers. In response, Sen. Rodger Smitherman, D-Birmingham, took to the Senate floor to criticize the Republican majority for refusing to work across party lines, having similarly decried the absence of any Democratic legislation on the calendar two weeks ago.

Closed Primary Bill Advances Out of Alabama House Despite Bipartisan Opposition (Alabama Reflector)

The Alabama House of Representatives passed a bill last week that would create state party registration and make it a requirement that residents register before participating in primary elections. An hours-long debate over the bill revealed divisions in the GOP caucus over the measure. It now goes to the Senate for consideration.

What Passed in the Alabama Legislature: March 17-19, 2026

Action last week as the Legislature nears the end of this year’s regular session.