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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Sloss Tech Is Back in Birmingham June 24-26 (Bham Now)

Sloss Tech will bring more than 1,400 founders, developers, creatives, investors and industry leaders to downtown Birmingham for three days of big ideas, networking and hands-on experiences. Among speakers at what has become one of Birmingham’s signature events will be the founder of Wikipedia and the CEO of Kickstarter.

Columbiana Data Center Signs $1B Agreement, Future Plans Revealed (Shelby County Reporter)

Digi Power X signed a $1.1 billion agreement with Cerebras Systems for its AI data center in Columbiana as the facility plans to expand its operations to be in service in April 2027.

A staggering amount of money is being bet on Alabama US Senate race prediction markets. (AL.com)

There’s no independent polling in Alabama’s U.S. Senate GOP runoff but there is another indicator of how the race is shaping up. Nearly $1.5 million has flown into prediction markets Kalshi and Polymarket for wagering on the GOP race, which resulted in a runoff between Trump-endorsed U.S. Rep. Barry Moore and former Navy SEAL Jared Hudson to be decided June 16.

New Food Retail Incubator Batter & Bloom Launches in Birmingham (Bham Now)

Batter & Bloom is opening in Woodlawn with the aim to help early-stage food entrepreneurs and hospitality talent, grow, test and sustain brick-and-mortar businesses while expanding fresh food access in local neighborhoods. The initiative focuses on long-term sustainability and local job creation through a 16-week workforce development program.

Federal Appeals Court Allows Alabama To Use 2021 State Senate Map (Alabama Reflector)

A three-judge panel of the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals Thursday evening allowed Alabama to use a 2021 state Senate map that a lower court judge had ruled racially discriminated against Black voters in two Montgomery-area districts. Two of the judges said the state is entitled to a stay in the state Senate case because the case aligns more closely with the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Louisiana v. Callais in April, which substantially weakened Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, than the state’s ongoing congressional litigation. Earlier in the week, a different three-judge panel upheld a ruling that a congressional map passed by the Legislature in 2023 was intentionally racially discriminatory and required the state to use a court-ordered congressional map in the 2026 midterm elections. Alabama has appealed that ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court.

New North Birmingham Health Center Opens To Address Growing Mental Health Needs (WVTM 13)

Alabama Regional Medical Services, also known as ARMS, held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for its new health and wellness center in North Birmingham, designed to address mental and behavioral health needs in the community. “In Jefferson County, the No. 1 concern of our community is mental health and behavioral health,” Jefferson County Health Officer David Hicks said, highlighting the importance of the facility in providing resources to those in need.

State Offices Closed in Alabama Monday for Jefferson Davis’ Birthday (AL.com)

State of Alabama offices will be closed on Monday in observance of Confederate President Jefferson Davis’ birthday. Alabama is the last state to have a legal holiday set aside solely to commemorate the birth of Davis.

A Family Secret No More (New York Times)

One fateful decision 100 years ago created parallel lives. How does a family broken by the bizarre rules of racism heal itself after three generations apart? A New Orleans journalist tracked her family tree to a white Chicago family when she set out to learn what happened after her grandfather and his brother slipped apart, the latter to live up north as a while man.