From ou statehouse studio in Montgomery.

I'm Todd Stacey, welcome to Capitol Journal.

We begin our coverage this week in Washington, where the government shutdown is entering its fourth week.

That means federal worker will miss their full paychecks this period.

Last month, the Republican Hous passed a continuing resolution that would extend government funding at current levels through November 21st.

But Democrats in the Senate have rejected that, insisting on an extension of affordable Care Act premium tax subsidie that be included in the package.

They've denied Senate Republican the 60 votes needed to proceed.

Our own Alex Angle reports from Capitol Hill on how Alabama's lawmakers are reacting.

The shutdown is hitting an inflection point.

Programs like Snap are running out of money.

Federal workers will miss their first full paychecks, and open enrollment for the ACA marketplace begin soon.

And yet, Congress is no closer to ending the gridlock than they were in the beginning of October.

The motion is not agreed to.

On Thursday, the Senate rejected dueling bills to pay federal employees guaranteeing missed paychecks during the funding lapse.

Alabama has roughly 41,000 federal civilian workers.

Senator Katy Britt' frustration with this stalemate is growing.

Just incredibly shortsighted.

Incredibly selfish.

Because real hard workin Americans are paying the price.

While Democrats continu their push to make an extension of the expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies part of any funding deal.

Open enrollment starts November 1st.

The ACA premium crisis is not a fixed later issue.

Like Republicans keep pretendin it is, it's a fix it now issue because very soon Americans are going to have to make some really difficult choices about which health care plan they choose for next year.

But Republic kittens like Brit still insist they won't engage on the issue while the government is shut down.

They can't say that you're not going to be able to afford your health care and also say that some of these very same people can afford to go without a paycheck.

Meanwhile, the House remains out of session, pushing back much of the chamber's legislative work.

Congressman Gary Palmer, the chair of an Energy and Commerce subcommittee, says the shutdown has altered the committee's plans.

And yet, he doesn't see a need for speaker Mike Johnson to change course and bring lawmakers back to D.C.. Not and then any context of changing direction on what we're doing on on the, continuing resolution.

I mean, we passed the bill.

It's a clean cr there's there's no, nothing in it.

Political.

The shutdown is now the second longest in U.S.

history.

Senators left Washington Thursday and will return Monday with no deal in sight.

Reporting on Capitol Hill Alex Engle, Capitol Journal.

Thank you.

Alex.

More news on the campaign front this week.

As we get deeper into election season.

Former University of Alabama and NFL quarterback AJ McCarron is runnin for lieutenant governor in 2026.

The mobile native made the announcement on Thursday.

McCarron joins Alabama Commissioner of Agriculture and Industries Rick Pat and Alabama's Secretary of State Wes Allen and Nicole Wadsworth, and Republican primary tide fans will remember McCarron led Alabama to Back-To-Back national championships in 2012 and 2013.

He also played nine season in the NFL, announcing his run for office.

McCarron called himself a fresh, conservative voice who wants to work with Tommy Tuberville, the frontrunner for governor.

The Alabama Public Library Service Board met this week for a public hearing on controversial proposed new rule.

The rule would restrict from the youth sections of state libraries.

Any book that positively depicts transgender procedures, gender ideology, or the concept of more than two biological genders.

Any library that does not comply with that rule would risk losing state funding.

Supporters say the change protects young readers and restores parental control over what their children can see.

Critics argue it is government overreach that discriminates against LGBT youth and their families.

The debate drew an emotional crowd of parents, librarians and advocates on both sides of the issue.

This amendment is unconstitutional.

It's grown to government overreach.

It's blatantly discriminatory, and it is unnecessary.

Parents already have and always have had the right to supervise what their children read, and in a way that does not require open discrimination and violation of others constitutional rights to do so.

The divine plan, though, is for Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve.

And please keep laws in place that safeguard young, pure, innocent children who are chaste and don't understand lust from.

Keep protecting them with these codes.

Amendments from last about gender codified into law and protect the children from homosexual degradation.

We should all agree that parents should be making this decision.

We and that's the goal, for me as chairman of the appeals board, and I think I have to speak for my fellow board members when I say that's the goal of appeals.

We want to put parents in the driver's seat as they're making the decision of what their children should be exposed to.

In Alabama libraries, sexuality is a very complex issue, and there's going to be a wide range of opinions.

And we see that with this in the middle of a culture war nationally.

Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed and Police Chief James Gray Boys offered an update this week on the mass shooting a few weeks ago here in the capital city.

They expressed appreciation for law enforcement working to arrest multiple suspects, but also disappointment that one of those suspects was let out on bond.

I think that the subject bonding out shows that maybe we need to do some reform, attempted murder, which is wha that subject was charged with, does not fall under a nice law.

That's really something that needs to be considered.

$60,000 was the maximum bon you could get for that charge.

So the police can arrest and we will arrest, and we will solve crimes.

We're solving this one.

And and as I said before, 57 other crimes over the last 30 days that were serious felonies that we've solved.

But what happens after they get arrested?

There's a serious conversation that needs to be had.

And I think we need assistance, basically, both legislatively and in the judicial system, about what we're going to do.

I think a nice law is a great law, but maybe it needs to be expanded.

Maybe people need to us the discretion that a nine year law gives them to hold people for trial when they've been arrested for violent felonies.

I'll speak in more detail with mayor Reed later in the show.

The Alabama law enforcement agency is stronger this week, celebrating the graduation of 48 new state troopers.

The ceremony was held at the Montgomery Performing Arts Center, drawing a packed crowd of families, lawmakers and law enforcement leaders.

Officials say it's one of the largest graduating class since the Covid 19 pandemic, a major boost to public safety across the state.

You join the rank of a professional organization that mandates the highes standards to serve, to protect, to make a lasting difference in the lives of the people around the.

And on the path was not easy.

It it required sacrifice, discipline, and unwavering commitment to excellence.

The biggest obstacles, away from family those 24 weeks was a long time.

They definitely, started you off at the bottom and work your way up.

And so the physical aspect of it was pretty rigorous.

The discipline I saw, it was pretty, pretty tough.

And then everything that you were learning, especially coming from a non law enforcement background coming from the military into law enforcement, I had no idea about any of that.

And they taught everything you needed to know and explained it well and go everybody over to the families.

Thank you.

It wasn't for you.

They wouldn't be here.

We had to have your continue support and sacrifice every day to make this possible.

It's been some long night.

Early mornings.

So I thank you for that.

Because they achieved they didn't have the support.

They wouldn't be here.

That' going to make them successful.

Ongoing allegations of abuse and neglect within Alabama's prison system was heard by lawmakers on the Joint Priso Oversight Committee this week.

The meeting drew pastors, advocates and family members of inmate calling for more transparency.

It also came as officials updated lawmakers on the construction of Alabama's new mega prison in Elmore County.

Capital Journal's Jeff Sanders reports.

As family members of inmates filled the largest committee roo inside the Alabama State House, their message was clear they want more transparency and action from lawmakers and prison officials regarding their loved ones behind bars.

While this was not a public hearing, Pastor Robert Wyatt of Montgomery City of Refuge Ministry told lawmakers that violence and sexual assaults remain major concerns.

Rape is a big problem and dealing with the psychological trauma of rape, because if you have people who weren't victimized, you know, when they went in what they call the free world, and then you come into a facility and you get sexually assaulted, and then you get released again where you tend to become an offender.

White said he hoped his remarks would encourage lawmakers to make sure Alabama' correctional facilities provide safe and humane conditions for those in custody.

Committee chairman Senato Clyde Chambliss of Prattville, said the legislature continues to work with the Departmen of Corrections on improvements, but acknowledged that progress takes time.

I don't know, like you do, okay, but I'm trying to know and trying to understand the committee is and we appreciate your patience.

Chambliss pointed to two major steps underway the new Constituent services office, created to improve communication with inmates and families, and the construction of a 400 bed facility in Elmore County.

But committee member Representative Chris England of Tuscaloosa said that while new initiatives are important, lasting change will depend on addressing the culture within the prison system.

When it comes to excessive force and civil rights abuses that I think are not only, allowe but also enabled and encouraged.

Corrections Commissioner John Hamm told the committee that his department continues to recruit staff and address long standing issues within the system.

We've arrested 111 staff members that said that they would tarnish the badge, but it makes me happy that we're we're doing that.

Officials say that new facility in Elmore County should open sometime in 2026, and will serve as a statewide hub for medical, mental health and rehabilitation services.

But for many families with loved ones behind bars, they say the hope for reform remains cautious and that real change will com not by promises but by results.

Reporting from the Statehouse in Montgomery.

I'm Jeff Sanders for Capitol Journal.

Thank you Jeff.

Health care is an issue very much on people's minds these days, from the rising cost of care to the threat of hospitals closing.

Capital journal's Randy Scott takes a look at the issue for his report this week.

Not far from downtown Montgomery, since Health Services incorporated a facility designed to provide citizens quality health care.

We provide primary care Uptown retreat, dental dentistry, behavioral health, a plethora of services.

When a patient becomes ours that they have access to with Gilbert Darrington is city's CEO and says with today's unstable landscape dealing with health care, his facility has seen his workload increased.

So last year, we saw 37,000 unduplicated patients.

That means one patient one visit, but that one patient may be seen 10 or 14 times throughout the year.

But we saw 37,000 different patients.

Health Services Incorporated provide services to the Montgomery County area and several areas around.

We have a total of 11 clinics, five of them here in the Montgomery City and Montgomery County.

We have clinics as far north as Montevallo and as far south as Raymer.

Doctor Corbin Milligan is th chief medical officer for HSC.

She says things have changed, with some hospitals closing and having to find coverage for people in cities and rural areas throughout this area.

We have someone who's available in our clinics Monday through Friday.

We have after hours clinics here in our river region location and Saturday clinics, a river region where we have qualified board certified licensed nurse practitioners and physician that can guide you in your care.

A lot of times we don't think about the far reaching effects of what the rural communities are facing, because a lot of times in Montgomery and Mobile and Birmingham, we don't think about it because we have access to certain things that they don't have in the rural communities.

Times may be hard, but officials with hospitals and other medical entities say they have one common goa to make sure citizens in rural areas or metropolitan areas keep access to health care.

The Alabama Hospital Association is watching the situation and says possible help is o the way from Washington, D.C., specifically for Alabama.

I know it is.

It is enough money.

We hope that will be impactful, but it's not going to fix everything that's wrong.

We can move the needle on a few things, which is why the sustainability is critical to all of this.

Derrington says it's goin to take a meeting of the minds to find solutions for continuing hospital and health care problems.

We as a state, as a community, we have to figure out how to work together to, take care of the citizen of our communities that we serve in Montgomery.

Randy Scott, Capitol Journal.

Thank you.

Randy.

Two highly anticipated additions to the Alabama Capitol grounds were celebrated today.

Statues of Rosa Parks and Helen Keller were unveiled in a ceremony at the Capitol.

The statues are a projec of the Alabama Women's Tribute Statue Commission.

Today, we gather to honor two remarkable Alabama women whose courage, faith and determination changed not only our state, but the world for the very first time.

The grounds of our capital will now feature statues of women.

And what final examples could there be?

Then Rosa Parks and Helen Keller.

These are two Alabama daughters, both born in small towns, who faced extraordinary challenges.

And yet rose to shape history through quad strength and unwavering conviction.

Rosa Parks, a seamstress from Montgomery.

The simple act of defiance ignited a movement for justice and equality.

Helen Keller, a young girl from Tuscumbia who broke through silence and darkness to give voice to millions around the world.

Both women remind u that courage takes many forms.

Sometimes it's loud and bold, and other times it's quiet and steadfast.

But in every case, courage changes the course of history.

And today, these statues stand as symbols of that courage.

Testaments to what one person, especially one determined woman, can do to make the world a better place.

The statue of Rosa Parks sits on the front side of the Capitol near the front steps, and Helen Kelle statue faces is on the backside of the Capitol, facing the statehouse.

Definitely worth a trip.

After the break, I'll sit down with Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed.

And later in the show, we're talking with meteorologist James Spann.

Stay with us.

You can watch past episodes of Capital Journal online any time at Alabama Public Television's website.

aptv.. org.

Click on the online video tab on the main page.

You can also connect with Capital Journal and link to past episodes o Capital Journal's Facebook page.

You're watching Alabam Public Television celebrating 70 years of service to Alabama.

Welcome back to Capitol Journal.

Joining me next is Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed.

Mr.

mayor thanks for coming on the show.

Thank you for having me.

It's good to have you back.

You know we try not to have too much of a focus here locally in Montgomery.

Yeah.

We will remind people this is the capital city.

Yeah.

What happens here affects the whole state.

And obviously, when the legislature meets here and everything and you're the mayor, unfortunately, we've ha some tough news to talk about.

Yeah.

And I wanted to ask you if there's an update on the mass shooting that happened downtown.

Obviously, a tragic event.

Yes.

Four suspects have been arrested.

Yes.

Are there any others at large?

Can you tell u how the investigation is going?

Should we expect any other arrests?

Yeah.

Well, first of all, I want to just, you know, say that our hearts, and prayers continue to go out to the victims of this senseless tragedy.

You know, I thin when you have, people that are not able to resolve conflict without pulling the gun, that's an issue, I think, when we have, the lax gun laws that we have in our state, it compounds that problem in certainly in some of areas like Montgomery, where we have seen too many, shootings, even though our crime is down about 24% year over year, even though our non-fatal shootings are down, about 18% year over year.

We've seen those reductions, bu we know one crime that happens in one shooting, much less one homicide, is one too many.

So we want to make sure that the feeling of safety, you know, corresponds with the data that we have, around public safety.

And our men and wome in Montgomery Police Department been doing a great job, as they have with this investigation, working with the community.

So we expect that this investigation will continue.

We are looking to arres as many people as we can arrest for whatever involvement they may have had, directly or indirectly.

So they don't have to have pulled the trigger.

No about it.

If they've been obstructing justice, if they've been in any way in communication, we have said to them, you should turn yourself i because we're coming to get you, and we're not going to stop until we do.

And we've got great partnerships with our sheriff's office.

Alea, federal partners, ATF, FBI, along with the U.S.

Attorney's office and US Marshals Service.

So we have everybody on this is probably the biggest, investigation we've had, certainly in Martin year.

And I would say, given the resources we have, is probably the most amount of resources we've had dedicated to one crime, that involved multiple people, obviously.

Certainly in recent years, that's for sure.

And we're grateful for everybody in the community showing, sharing their video footage showing us who some people are, the tips that we've gotten from the community.

It has been extremely helpful.

Montgomery has really come to the forefront to say, this is not going to define us.

We're going to help you all Cassie's folks.

You've expressed disappointmen over the bail situation because the suspects got out on bond.

And I mean, what's interesting about that is there is a constitutional amendment is going to be on the ballot about a year from now, a nine year law that remedies that situation.

But for now I guess the law is what it is.

Can you explain for our viewers how that happened?

And because it certainly wasn't a decision from the city or from the, the police to have this, suspect out on bond?

Yeah.

You know, under current law, because, one of the suspects right now is only charged with attempted murder.

He was allowed to post bond.

What should have happened is, he should not have been allowed to post bond, either between city and DA's office.

We could have asked for different circles stands.

And I know our Montgomery County district attorney is now doing that, asking for an excessive bond.

Maybe even making sure that it had to be all cash.

Those are things we have to tweak in our state laws.

And those are things that, you know, from the district attorney's Association to other law enforcement agencies and their associations and those of us in citie where there's a legal municipal, these are the Big Ten mayors.

We have to make sure we're thinking proactively and how to close some of those loopholes in some of the current laws that we have here.

Now, a nice law, hopefully.

And I agree with Governor Ivey on this.

In 2026, we'll vote that way.

Attempted murder will be include among those that does not allow the judge, to issue a bond in that case right now.

Current law allows you to do that.

But I'll say, I think really, this is the one of thos that they have to be exceptions to the rule.

And sometimes you leave things up to the judiciary to make their own, decision.

And we understand that.

But you shouldn't have to have made this mandatory.

The fact is not included in a nice law to me does not, revers what should have been, you know, proper judicial temperament and understanding the mass impact, the impact of this mass shooting on the community that just should not have been there when they came through a magistrate.

And for just a visit, sign off on.

Those are things that just shouldn't have to be told, in my opinion.

And laid out, to judges that on the bench, certainly in an area where we have said repeatedly since I've been in office, we want to work with everyon to keep repeat violent offenders behind bars and off the streets because it's that small subset that's keeping up the large amount of issues that we have in our community.

On the shooting, the one question I keep getting asked and kind of in discussions about it, because obviously it's a very high profile crime, a kind of a psychological, you know, shot for our city.

Yeah.

The one thing I keep getting asked is, di we have enough police presence?

Right.

And I know you've talked about they were 50ft away and in responded in everythin but the just did we have enough because now the state's talking about upping their, patrols and things like that.

But why didn't that happen before I was there knowing that there's going to be thousands of people gathered downtown?

Or do we d we have enough police presence to deter something like that?

That's a great question, and I think it's a fair question.

You know, for me, when something happens, it can be an accident involving a city, vehicle.

We're always kind of going through reviewing the video to say, alright what could we have done better?

What can we teach, our employees and in this case, obviously, what can we teach?

Officers?

I think we had a good presence.

I think we can always have a better present working with outside law enforcement agencies.

One of the things that we're doing is we're going to increase the amount, one, not just liabilit insurance for outside agencies, but also what we're paying outside, law enforcement to come in and help us on special events like this.

When I go to football games with this in Auburn, Alabama, you see these shares of law enforcement from all around the state.

They're helping them out.

I've talked to, Mayor Maddox and Tuscaloosa, about that.

Mayor Woodfin in Birmingham with the Magic City Classic.

You see all of that happening?

And I think for us, we felt good about it.

We were covering Alabama State Fair.

We were covering, Alabama State University's homecoming and then other, areas as well, and making sure that people are still in the community, and that sort of thing.

No one was allowed off.

We knew about it, you know, months in advance.

So we felt very good, about the amount of law enforcement that we had.

But I still think we can do better.

And I think what we've learned is, even with the drone, apparatus that we have, the drone technology is that you had to have more people visible on the ground, dispersing crowds and making sure they're a little bit more active, even if they are in the area kind of overseeing things.

So, it's not to say that, we did everything right.

I just think that there's some things that we can do a little bit better.

And we've already started that, in the subsequent weeks since then.

Well, you know, talking about the state, that that Max, the metro Area Crime Suppression Unit has been in I guess, almost over a year now.

Talk about that because I've had, Secretary Taylor on here talking about it from the state's perspective.

They're looking at not just Montgomery, but other cities to support because, you know, there's a police shortage, right?

Not just in Montgomery, but in a lot of cities.

Talk about it from the city's perspective.

What is it like to work with the state, with the county combined, these resources?

You know, from your perspective as a mayor who, you know, is in charge of the police for sure?

Well, you know our recruiting numbers are up.

So that's the good news for us.

We're going to bring in ou largest class in several years, here in just a couple of weeks.

So we're looking forward to that.

We're going to sweeten that pot on on how much they're paid, and we're going to add some, signing bonuses to that pot as well.

And so we're excited about what that may do to help us not only bring in new recruits, but also lateral law enforcement officers to make sure that we're at the top of the pay scale when it comes to, what we're paying our policemen and women.

That said, you know, Max has been a a tremendous partnership for us, working with Alia, working with, Sheriff Derek Cunningham and his officers to make sure that from traffic enforcement to other initiatives that we have everybody we can pushing in the right direction to make this city safer.

And it made people feel safer.

It's been a difference maker.

We welcome the collaboration and we seek to try to increase it both with the local, state and federal level.

Switching gears, let's talk about Jackson Hospital.

Again local issue here with a hospital that is on the verge of closing, but it's a capital city.

It's actually the hospita closest to the capital complex.

And its closure would be a major, blow to the city and the state.

The city council passed a resolution, essentially a bailout.

You vetoed that?

Talking about some technicalities with the law.

Talk to me about why you vetoed that.

And what are the next steps?

Is there hope for saving Jackson Hospital?

health care in this state is in trouble.

And it has been for some time, talk with mayors around the state about the challenges they're facing for those in rural areas.

I mean, it is an acute challenge for thos that still have their hospitals and their medical centers.

For those of us in some of the larger communities in the state, it's still a challenge, whethe it's health care reimbursement or whether it's how do you recruit and retain top medical professionals.

So just overall cost of health care continuing to rise, outpacin what people can afford to pay, even their premiums and so forth.

So the co-pays, it is a tremendous, tremendous challenge that is not sexy.

Like the lottery is not sexy like, you know, public safety.

But it's one of the foremost issues, I think, facing the stat and our future, moving forward, for us with Jackson Hospital, we know how important it i that the foundation of the city.

I'm born and raised in Montgomery.

The first mayor in well over 50 years to be born and raised here.

So I understand it probably as well as anyone the importance of the hospital.

But we can't solve the healthcare system on the backs of one city budget on the back of one county budget, to bail out a private entity.

That was a challenge along wit how do you reward bad behavior while not incentivizing good behavior?

With those that are running their healthcare systems as well as they can, in this case, in Baptist Healthcare's, instance.

So we wanted to make sure the language, was proper in that it didn't just reflect kind of boilerplate language for economic development, that it reflected the language, one that calls for this.

The county to be responsible for indigent care.

And I think the county has done some support there, but still can do more.

And we want to make sure that Jackson Hospital, under whatever terms and agreement understands that's part of the, agreement with the city and with the county.

They're going to have to do their part when it comes to indigent care.

The second thing is we wanted some accountability in the language that stressed that we're not just throwing good money after bad.

What's the management team going to look like?

What's the real cost of operations, for this, new plan that, the current owners of the current bondholders have for Jackson?

And then what protects the cit and our residents and taxpayers from another circumstance?

A bad man is is board going to be different or they're going to be, timely recording, recording and reporting measures, to the city as well.

What's our recourse as a city for whatever money that may be allocated?

And then the other part of it was, we want to make sur and still want to make sure that if this agreement is fulfilled that will have regional support from, counties and municipalities, around Montgomery, in the River region in central Alabama.

And we want to make sure we have state support written and communicated to us.

Not in terms of hypotheticals.

This is what we may do.

We have to do this with everybody having some skin in the game, because everybody stands to benefit, and unfortunately, everybody stands to lose.

If this doesn't work out, it's an uphill battle.

Even with, the amended version of the agreement, that the council came up with.

And I look forward to signing.

But we have to make sure that we do as much as we can to bring other entities to the table to address the health care problem in the short term, while also thinking about what's the long term vision, and what's the long term strategy for solidifying health care not only in the city of Montgomery or in the River region, but throughout the state?

Switching gears again Montgomery has had some banner years for economic development and tourism.

Really recovered from the pandemic.

Your office has put out all kinds of really encouraging numbers on, on both those fronts, economic development and tourism.

But when things like thi happen, you know, the shooting.

Yeah, the threat of a hospital closing, does that worry you about.

Oh, it's a it's impact on, on these economic development and tourism dollars tha that bring in such tax revenue.

Oh, you can't help but be concerned about it.

I mean, listen, if you if I'm visiting a place, I want to know that if something happens to myself or my family, that there's a, you know, quality medical facility somewhere nearby.

We all want that when we're traveling.

And we certainly we want tha for people that are coming here from around the world.

We're the number one city for international tours in the state.

We understand how important it i that we understand how important the perception is around public safety and the health and welfare of people who live here and those that visit.

It feeds our general fund.

We just passed the largest budget in the city's history.

We continue to see our tourism numbers increase, and we continue to see, you know, economi development opportunities here.

So the perception is reality to people.

And for us, like it or not, it's dollars and cents.

And so we have to make sure that, people feel that way and that when you have an incident, whether it' a, you know, terrorism incident, like in New Orleans where you had a god in the during the super Bowl driving down the sidewalk, you know, killing multiple people during, you know, what is a, you know, safe city who's done that before, or a city like ours where you have something that's never happened here that we respond with resilience and we respond with unity that says this incident does not define our city, and we have to make sure as an administration that we're putting things in place that not only for the business owners, but also for those who are thinking about coming that make them feel safe as well.

And so that's why we have addressed already some of the issues that we thought we were doing very well in to say, well, you know what, if this is doing well, let's let's shoot for a higher standard and let's make sur that if it's number of officers, it's number of cameras and, drones that we're using, let's make sure we have all those things in place.

And then the city council also came in with some ordinances that changed things downtown as well.

So our goal is to make sure residents and visitors alike feel and know that Montgomery i safe and our downtown is safe, because we already we don't only want them to visit, we want them to tell somebody else to visit.

And you have to have those things, in place in order to be successful because we're talking about billions of dollars.

Economic impact from 2019 to 2024 is about $3.6 billion.

When you look at the 4000 jobs that have come from that, it's significant.

Metta doubling the siz of its initial investment to now $1.5 billion from Metta, which owns Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, all of those things.

And then when you look at the amount, of people coming in and the amount of money coming in for tourism, well, over $1 billion, in 2024 alone, placing us in the top three of counties which includes the beach, for, you know, the state of Alabama, that is significant for us.

And really, it's a cash cow that we can't afford to be damaged because 1 or 2 bad apples, spoil an incident.

Well, I've got you report we received some pushback this week from the state person or the city personnel board for, your plans to hire Donald Watkins Jr.

The reason being you know, he was caught up in that, fraud scheme and went to jail as a result of that.

What's the reasoning behind hiring him?

It's a small busines development job with the city.

Yes, it is.

And I think that, for us, we always look for the best talent, in every position, whether it's police chief or economic development director.

We do usually national searches.

This is one that because it's not a cabinet level position, we didn't do as wide of a search as we would for a cabinet position, but I've known Donald Watkins doing his family, I mean, probably since elementary school.

Knowing their legacy here in Montgomery with his grandfather being the former president of Alabama State University, obviously, his father serving on the city council an being a very successful lawyer, but more importantly, the family's willingness and interest in Montgomery has always been there.

Donald Junior has one of the best pictures that I wish we had taken some time ago with Mrs.

Rosa Parks, on our birthday, that he shows, quite often.

And I've met Mrs.

Parks, but we never had the Polaroids back then.

I tell my son now, we'd had the camera phones.

I would add a number of those, but they knew the parks family, through Doctor Watkins.

And they knew them through his father.

And so they have given back to the community, you know, in a lot of ways.

And what I thought about the position, I said, well, you know, I know somebody who started and sold two businesses at a significant profit, here in Montgomery, then went to Birmingham, started their own, insurance practice under the State Farm banner, did very well, and then got into banking.

So what better person to hav for small business development?

There's somebody who has actually practice it and implement it.

Somebody who, not just talks about it in theory or as a, as an administrator or as a bureaucrat, that is that word derogatorily.

But, you know, somebody who's actually don who's got real world experience.

And my thought was, you know, quite simply, he' overqualified for the position.

He's had a significant 30 year career, in small business entrepreneurship and then corporately.

And he's made some mistakes o which he's been accountable for.

He's paid his debt to society.

He's acknowledged, his challenges and what he did wrong.

And I believe, you know, we all serve a God with second chances.

And I believe that we owe that not only to people who we've hired before.

You know, maybe, different types of positions in the city administration.

We have a a conviction or a background there, but if we can have someone who, we ordinarily could not get from the private sector, to help us with small business development, why not do that?

And we know that, you know, other administrations have brought in folks with, you know, a challeng in their past on their record.

And I thought that it would be a good opportunity for us to both get somebody that we otherwise couldn't, but also somebody from Montgomery who has been ingrained, in the process over generations, in Montgomery's, progress to really bring his experience and acknowledge ment of mistakes, and imperfections to that position to help those that are really trying to start their businesses understand from his successes, but also his failures.

Well, thank you for answering that and all these questions, your time and your willingness.

We're out of time, but, I'm guessing we may see yo here, up here at the statehouse come January with the legislative session.

Absolutely.

We'll be here.

We've got some bills we want to introduce.

And, we know it's going to be an active session, in the reelection year.

We know sometime that can be a little sensitive.

But the last session for this building that's out there because, you know, your city's, skyscraper is or, skyline is going to be changing with the new statehouse.

Well, between Doctor Bronner and, pat hair as those folks, I heard a lot about it from, the the conceptual renderings that I saw it.

And now seeing it come out of the ground is fantastic.

I think it's great for the city.

I think it's great for the state to have a new, modern state house that kids will learn about government.

They also learn about government and how these things work in a modern fashion.

And I think that the plans for the Capitol complex are just phenomenal.

So I'm glad we've been able to do it, and gla they've been partnering with us to make sure that as people visit lawmakers, lobbyists and everybod from the all these associations and the members when they com to Montgomery, they feel good.

We got some traffic improvements and some infrastructure.

We're doing, in partnership with the state.

So we really want to make this a draw for the state to come here and people to visit the state capita and know just what happens here and how it impacts their lives each and every day.

So we're excited about that.

Mayor, thank you for your time.

Thank you.

I appreciate it.

We'll be right back.

Since 1997, Alabam Public Television has provided programs, services, and resources to childcare professionals, teachers and parents.

Visit AP tv.org/education to learn more.

The quilters of G spend are world renowned for their traditional quilt designs.

The inhabitant of the small Alabama River town are mostly descendant of enslaved African Americans.

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Quilt making has a long history in Alabama, and there are no finer examples of this art form, and the motifs and craftsmanship of the quilts of G spanned.

Welcome back to Capital Journal.

Alabama's award winning meteorologist, James Spann, has recently started the Alabama Weather Network.

And here to talk about i is the man himself, James Spann.

James thanks for coming on the show.

My pleasure Todd, it's an honor to be here.

Well, we've been looking forward to this ever since you announced the launc of the Alabama Weather Network.

I've been looking forwar to having you on to really share with our audience how they can benefit.

So can you start from the beginning?

How did you how did you come up with the idea for the Alabama Weather Networ and kind of explain what it is and how valuable it can be?

Well, I was born here.

I'll die here.

I'll be buried here.

These are my people.

I would.

I'm originally from Greenville, Alabama, which is a small community in south Alabama.

I've lived in the northern part of the state.

I know the state better than anybody.

Anybody.

And I know these people.

They're my people.

And so my dream has always been to cover the whole state, from the Tennessee state line to Gulf Shores and now in the New World with the ability to communicate without a traditional transmission tower, you can do that.

And so I partnered with the TV station where I've worked in Birmingham for years, ABC 3340, where I still do weather for them, and now I cover weather statewide.

And so it doesn't matter if you live in Pansy, Lower Peachtree, east of Boca Waterloo, I've got your back.

You're covered.

And that's important.

And it doesn't matter if you live way out in the country or live in a city.

We've got you covered with with the with the resources that I've never had before.

And that's the beautiful thing about this is the fact that we have cam, we'll have a camera, at least one in every county, all 67 counties, by the end of the year.

That's the goal in some counties will have ten cameras.

And quite frankly, a lot of them are on Alabama public television towers, which is absolute gold.

Places like Dozier, Jefferson.

These cameras are goal during severe weather to hel us, especially in rural areas.

We will have a team of chasers with dash cams.

People want visual confirmation of weather.

When I stand in front of radar for ten hours, it's boring.

But if I've got radar plus multiple live streams from fixed cameras and camera in the field, including drones, which we'll be using, it's visually interesting, especially for the next generation.

For those that are in their teens and their 20s, they like that visual element of it.

And, I've never had this many resources in my entire life.

And having the people in these cameras and a 2000 volunteers across the state, we call them skywatchers.

And the content that they send us, it's going to be good.

Wow.

Well, and you talked about rural areas, and we hear a lot about that, too, because there are these I don't know whether boundaries we're okay.

We're here in the Montgomery area and so, you know, I'll I'll follow Josh Johnson and Amanda Carr.

And they do a terrific job.

But you know, you know the weather doesn't stop north of Clanton.

And same thing for other parts of the state.

So is that part of the reason that you feel like it needs to be statewide and maybe not even stop at the state lines because we care what's happened was coming from Mississippi.

Right.

Well, we'll start coverage one county road deep in the Mississippi.

So if you're living in Lamar County, Franklin County, Choctaw, Washington will be on the air before the storm gets to you.

And that's an important but right.

These boundaries make no sense.

No.

None whatsoever.

Television market boundaries, those have gone away.

That's an old school thing based on the old transmission days when when the TV signal reached so far with the digital world doesn't matter.

So we're going to take away those boundaries.

It's it's horrible.

You got some counties in Alabama in the Atlanta, Georgia television market, right?

Randolph County and in Claiborne County that makes no sense.

And they've been frustrated for years.

Lamar County, Alabama is in the Tupelo Columbus Mississippi television market.

That makes no sense.

So all those boundaries, all you need to know is what we're doing.

You don't need to worry about boundaries if you live in the state of Alabama, our commitment, if there's a tornado warning, will be on the air and we'll stay on the air with you during the entire warning with the people, resources and equipment, we need to be successful.

And I think that will make a tangible difference in the lives of the people of this state.

And let's get rea traditional linear television.

The days are numbered.

Back when I was working in television in the 80s, prime time television, you pull a 35 rating, a 60 share on a big show.

Now, if you get a 1 or 2, you're lucky people are watching Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, YouTube.

It's a different world.

And they in and so accordingly is local television shrinks.

They don't have the resources to do what we used to do years ago.

But with this new entity, we have the backing and the resources to be successful, to have the cameras and to have the people.

So, and it's going to work out.

And again, you've got a choice.

If you don't want to watch me, you've still got your local television folks.

And you mentioned Josh.

Josh is one of my kids former intern, does a great job.

But, again, you'll have this new choice with what we're doing for the entire state.

And I understand we have the most diverse weather on the planet.

You've lived here for a while You should know this absolutely.

We can have a crippling ice storm in the winter where maybe a million people have no power.

And that goes on for days, if not weeks.

You can have a hurricane on the Gulf Coast where people are disrupted for for literally weeks.

You can have a significant tornado outbreak, you can have river floods, you can have flash floods.

And we're prepared.

We've done simulations for all of these things.

There might be a situation where there's a major hurricane coming up on the Gulf Coast.

We'll be on the air two consecutive days before the event.

The day of the event, two days after the event.

We're prepared to do that.

We have the people to do that.

And this is the same thing with winter storms.

We're overdue for an ice storm.

We are overdue for an ice storm.

Okay, last catastrophic ice storm is 1982, and that's a long time.

We've had snow events.

Yeah.

And I remember one, maybe 2010, 2011, earl 20, but that was only affecting Huntsvill wasn't the whole state, right?

I'm talking a big, big catastrophic ice storm.

We had the blizzard of 93 was a classic.

That was we had sno all the way to the Gulf Coast.

We had hurricane force wind gust on ridge tops.

We had snow drifts to five feet.

That's generational.

But quite frankly, we'll be due for one by generational.

That's 40 years.

So we're due for a blizzard of 93.

We're due for an ice storm of 82.

And I just think we're going to be uniquely equipped.

And what happened April 27th, 2011 affected me.

252 people died on my watch.

That's inexcusable.

These were precious people that died.

That can't happen again.

And we have learned so muc about what went wrong that day.

And quite frankly, the warnings were excellent, but it was mainly the messaging.

And we didn't understand human behavior because we're asking people to radically change their behavior, to take care of themselves.

And we've learned from social scientists how to be better.

And all of that is integrated into what we're doing now that they didn't just change those, messages and tactics, it changed the state policy, money for tornado shelters and things like that never would have been seen before.

Before that day.

I want to get to other things.

But first, how do people tune in and you mentioned YouTube and some of these streaming channels.

How can folks tun into the Live Weather Network?

Right.

So first off we still simulcast on television for those in the Birmingham market on ABC 3340, but away from the Birmingham market, there's an app for television.

So every television comes with an app store.

And the same way you watch Netflix and Hulu and YouTube, you download the Alabama Weather Network app.

And if by chance you want to watch on the YouTube app, that's the option as well.

So you can watch it o the YouTube app or our own app.

And of course, it's available for phones and tablets, and all of the live streams are available there.

So it's very easy in this day and age.

It's very easy.

And we'll stream it on the social platforms too, on Facebook and Instagram and all the other socials I've found your Twitter, feed very helpful during storms.

It gives you you update frequently and I'm a radar guy.

I want to see the radar.

I'm used to that.

I understand the visuals.

You know, for younger generations.

But I want to see that radar and the timing, and I've always appreciated that.

So it sounds like you're just kind of taking that to the next level.

Right.

And then listen.

But most of the young people, when there's a big weather event, they watch YouTubers and and quite frankly, we have to learn from them.

We have to learn from them.

I cannot be a Ron Burgundy Brick Tamblyn, you know, weather gu like we did in the 80s and 90s.

Today we've got to take the best of the new world, which which is what they're watching on YouTube, which is very visually appealin with all of these live streams and the best of what I've done for 47 years, and merge that into something new, where both the younger and the older generation will watch that.

And I think the product is going to be very visually interesting.

So get that app for your phone.

It doesn't cost a dime and it's you just pop it up and there it is.

It's so easy.

I've always been curious about this because you have covered some major weather events.

You obviousl mentioned the tornado outbreak.

I mean countless others.

I've always been curious what goes into prepare ING for one of those majo weather events when, you know, maybe a couple of days in advance with a tornado or a hurricane, it's coming.

So how do you go into preparing that, knowing you're going to be on the air for 24 hours or longer?

Here's one of our biggest challenges now.

It is so busy leading u to a high impact day on social, on a day before a major tornado outbreak, before a major winter storm, I will have at least 500 500 just questions that demand an answer.

On the social side, you have to constantly push out good, reliable information for people on the social side, in addition to television and radio and everything else we've always done.

And what number one, you've got to be careful because you can burn yourself out and before you know it, you're getting to the event and you are drop dead exhausted.

You cannot do that.

You've got to be fresh.

It's like a football game.

You're practicing for that football game.

When you go in there, you got to be fresh.

So the first thing we have to d is somehow, somehow find a way of, if nothing else, closing your eyes, just getting off the grid for a little bit.

To prepare for that, you got to have the right staffing and you got to have the right people that are gifted to serve in the right places a radar operator, a graphics operator, somebody processing content from social media who's going to be working with me.

I'm typically on the green wall.

I'm the guy on the green wall.

But whoever's over ther in that other weather position, they they better be soul mates with me.

And you've got to rehearse and you've got to have the right people in.

What if it's going to go on for 2 or 3 days?

Do you have the right staffing and the ability to do that?

And so it's like getting ready for a football game.

Yeah.

I mean, you like you're right.

A hurricane can last.

I'm thinking about Opal.

It was kind of slow moving up the air.

You know, it lasted for a good week.

Weather in Alabama right in.

And again, Opal can spin off tornadoes inland and flooding inland.

You have people a hal a million people with no power.

And the aftermath coverage can take 1 to 2 days at least after a major hurricane.

I look back on Frederick in 1979.

That was my first week of television weather.

And goodness gracious, that was a horrible, horrible tornado situation.

And you've got to be prepared not only to work before the event, during the event, but after the event as well.

And and the one thing I also worry about mental health, people don't think about us.

They think about first responders.

And that's certainly a valid thought.

They see things they should never see.

But when, for example, April 27th, 2011, when 252 people died on my watch, I regret not seeking, you know, a counselor to help me work through that.

I went six months without talking about it.

I needed to go through all of the steps of grief.

I and this is not like me.

I went through anger and depression and some other phases.

That's just not like me.

But we have to be sur that we have proper assistance on the mental health side if we need that.

And I think we've got that ready to you.

Absolutely.

I'm glad you mentioned that.

And, you know, I'm no therapist, but I know that, every alabamia so many Alabamians are grateful for what you did that day and how much worse it could have been.

So I know you can be tough on yourself, but we were blessed to have you where you were that day.

And continuing.

You are a reliable presence.

Not just in the Birmingham area, but statewide.

It's made you into a something of a celebrity.

You you went on, ESPN the other day to be a celebrity guest picker on the SEC, game day.

That was pretty cool.

I mean, I didn't get to they didn' choose me for college game day.

That's why I'm with Coach Saban and, you know, and I'm.

And I know, I know Reese Davis and of course Coach Saban and I we're pretty tight.

But they picked Theo Vaughn.

So they called said would you be willing to go on SEC nation.

And I've known Paul Finebaum for years.

And so yeah that was funny.

I got all my picks right.

And the one thing going into this I told him, I said predicting the future is hard.

I've been doing it for 47 years, but it's given me a little insight into maybe some analytical techniques maybe.

And so, yeah, I batted a thousand on their show, so maybe I'll make game day next year.

That's that's pretty good.

That's pretty good.

Well, look, thank you for what you're doing.

We appreciate it because we cover state wide.

We have a lot of viewers who need something like this.

And so I really appreciate the vision for it.

And remind us one more time about that out.

Right.

And let me thank Alabama Public Television for allowing cameras on your towers.

That is an incredible resource.

I was looking at the one on Montesano Mountain in Huntsvill this morning.

It was stunning.

I was looking at the one in Jefferson yesterday.

It's stunning.

So you just simply on whatever device you have a phone, a television, a tablet, whatever.

Just get on the App Store, search for Alabama Weather Network, and it's got suspenders and a red top.

There you go.

Suspenders in a red tie on one side of the logo and it's a simple button press.

You just press i and it comes up and there's a 24 over seven stream, even on blue sky days.

And we're and I get to tell some good Alabama stories.

This is an amazing state, and I love the Spanning Alabama feature where I just tell stories about people.

And so we've got that.

And, on the blue sky days, it's interesting.

But during tornado outbreaks, we got your back.

I don't care where you live.

I'm from Rural Butler County, Alabama.

If you live in Chapman, Ebenezer, industry, McKinsey, any of these place like that, we've got your back.

Well, absolutely.

And we want to have you back to share some of those Alabama stories.

That's that's terrific.

James Spann, founde of the Alabama Weather Network.

Thanks for coming on Capital Journal.

My pleasure.

And that's our show for this week.

Thanks for watching.

We'll be back next week at the same time right here on Alabama Public Television for our Capital Journal team.

I'm Todd Stacy.

We'll see you next time.