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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Court Hearing in Case Challenging Birmingham Data Center to Resume Next Month (WBHM)
It will be almost a month before a Jefferson County court will resume a hearing in a lawsuit that aims to halt construction of a hyperscale data center in Birmingham’s Oxmoor Valley neighborhood. During two days of testimony last week, lawyers discussed details surrounding Birmingham’s permitting of the massive project in an area with a mix of residential and commercial uses.
The Birmingham Family Business Built on Peanuts (Alabama Public Radio)
Birmingham is known as a foodie town. That can mean barbeque or dinner at a James Beard Award-winning restaurant. But, the Magic City also has a history with the humble peanut. The Cassimus family settled in Birmingham after leaving Greece in 1907. Soon after, D.J. Cassimus was selling fresh roasted peanuts on downtown’s bustling Morris Avenue. Now, you’ll find boiled peanuts there, too.
Trump EPA Moves to Approve Alabama Coal Ash Program Rejected by Biden Administration (Inside Climate News)
The Trump administration is moving to approve a controversial program in Alabama that could allow millions of tons of toxic coal ash to remain buried in place alongside the state’s rivers, even though much of that material is sitting in groundwater where it can leach into the environment.
How the SWAC and City of Birmingham Created Inaugural Classic at Legion Field (Birmingham Times)
It’s been a year and half in the making, and on Aug. 29 at Legion Field, Alabama State will go to battle with Southern on the gridiron in the inaugural Birmingham Classic. SWAC football has a 10-year schedule, and every two years a team will roll off the schedule. The Hornets and Jaguars knew that roll off was coming and utilized the relationship both have built with Birmingham to push for a Classic at Legion Field that wasn’t the Magic City Classic.
Tutwiler Hotel Teases Grand Reopening as New DoubleTree by Hilton (Bham Now)
After more than a year of renovations, the Tutwiler Hotel has begun teasing its reopening as The Tutwiler Hotel, a DoubleTree by Hilton. DoubleTree is a premium, full-service brand that offers more upscale accommodations, expanded dining options, meeting and event spaces and additional guest amenities than the Hampton brand, under which the Tutwiler previously operated.
Fairfield City Councilor Wants People to Keep an Open Mind About a Proposed Data Center (WBHM)
A town hall has been set for July 28 to talk about a proposal to build a data center in Fairfield. The facility would be a colocation data center, meaning multiple companies would rent space for their computer servers, and those generally are smaller than the hyperscale centers that have drawn criticism nationwide. The project could be a boon for the financially strapped city.
Adiõs Co-Owners Planning New Bar in Lakeview (Bham Now)
Adiõs co-owners José Medina Camacho and Jesús Méndez will be opening a new bar called Mañana in the former Nana Funks space in Lakeview.
To Win Their Races, Black Politicians Confront a New Landscape (New York Times) As majority-Black districts are blown up one by one in the wake of court rulings weakening the Voting Rights Act, Black representation in government will depend less and less on Black voters. Instead, Black politicians will have to win more votes from people who do not look like them, whether by appealing broadly to a multiracial, multiethnic electorate, or ideologically to just enough like-minded voters to give them a majority.
