Came from AP Studios in downtown Montgomery.

I'm Todd Stacy.

Welcome to Capitol Journal.

We have a full show for you tonight covering the week that was in Alabama government and politics coming up in our interview portion of the show.

I'll sit down with Montgomery Mayor Stephen Reed to talk abou the future of Jackson Hospital, his ambitious bond issue pla and crime in the capital city.

After that, state Representative Chris Blackshear of Phenix City joins me for a conversation about college athletics and legislation addressing the Nil and transfer portal issue.

We might also talk a little gambling.

And finally, Todd Schmidt and Quinn Gresham of the Alabama Shakespeare Festival will join me to promote beautiful, the Carol Kin musical that opened last night.

And we'll discuss the exciting 2026 2027 ASF season.

So you'll want to stick around for that.

But we begin our coverage thi week in Washington, where U.S.

Senator Katie Britt has bee in the thick of multiple issues.

She's helping to renew a push for a Russia sanctions bill as a tribute to the late Senator Lindsey Graham, who died unexpectedly last Sunday.

She also questioned acting Attorney General Todd Blanc during his confirmation hearing, as he seeks to become the full time AG.

Alex Engle recaps the week for us in the U.S.

Senate.

The Senate returned this week to a growing legislative to do list, all while grappling with the death of their colleague, Senator Lindsey Graham.

And Senator Katie Britt was in the middle of much of that legislative action.

Bipartisan senators unveiled a revised Russia sanctions and tariffs bill Tuesday, honoring Graham's key legislative priority.

Lindsey is looking down on this moment and with a big smile.

He said that this would be the most consequential piece of legislation that he ever had an opportunity to get behind.

Just before he died, Graham said the white House approved the bill to impose tariffs on major purchasers of Russian oil.

Brant says she spoke with him just after the late Senator received the go ahead.

I talked to him after he had spoken with President Trump, and he was overjoyed at talking and and landing the plane in a place that we could all get behind that would hold Putin accountable.

More than 60 bipartisan senators, including Tommy Tuberville, support the bill to cripple Russia's economy in the wake of its war against Ukraine.

Also this week, Attorney General nominee Todd Blanch faced scrutin during his confirmation hearing.

Democrats and some Republicans hammered him on the anti weaponization fund and Epstein files.

When Congress forced the administration to release the files.

Hundreds of survivors personal information was unredacted.

Victimizing them again.

While Brett offered Blanch praise on his handling of the Epstein files, she questioned him about restricting access to abortion pills by mail.

It allows it to literall be dispersed across state lines.

All across the country.

We are losing children and we are putting women in harm's way.

Blanch said that he would commit Department of Justice Resources to stopping the disbursement of abortion pills online.

Brett and Tuberville both plan to support Blanche' nomination on the Senate floor.

But two key Republic and senators remain undecided on his nomination.

Reporting in Washington Alex Engle, Capital Journal.

Thank you Alex.

You may have heard the term cyclosporiasis lately.

That's the intestinal illness spreading in some states, causing explosive diarrhea in those who catch it.

This week, the Alabama Department of Public Health announced that Alabama has 11 confirmed cases of the illness.

That's not anywhere close to the outbreak seen in other states like Kentucky, Ohio and West Virginia.

In fact, some of Alabama's cases are linked to those states.

Public health officer Doctor Scott Harris.

So the illness is threat is spread through produce contaminated with feces.

Bagged lettuce has been the most common culprit.

He recommends taking precautions like washing any vegetable thoroughly before eating them.

Better yet, Agriculture Commissioner Rick Pate encourage Alabamians to buy local produce.

And we should say the illness is rarely fatal, s there's nothing to truly fear.

But obviously, nobody wants to get explosive diarrhea.

Over the past few weeks, Randy Scott has been covering the plight of Jackson Hospital, a major health facility in downtown Montgomery.

This week he takes us to a rural Alabama where residents are also facing healthcare infrastructure challenges.

Here's his story from Greene County.

The prospect of not having an ambulance service that has to be scary.

It is.

State Representative Curtis Travis says he was shocked when Greene County was about to lose a very important part of his health care system, its ambulance service.

Think about trying to transport patients right now.

And this environment is not working properly.

So that was a delay in service and everything that we had to get resolved.

The system based in Utah.

Alabama, saw several vehicles develop problems that all needed repair at the same time.

Right.

When things started looking bad, a plan was put into motion stemming from some work done during the previous legislative session.

The system charged with saving lives.

So it's our life being saved.

But through some legislator we passed this past year, dealing with the rural ambulance servic and getting them reimbursable.

There was also some funds put to put a sign out to allow this agency to purchase ambulance.

In fact, two new ambulance units were purchased with help from the State Ambulance Service.

As you can see, one is already on the road working.

We were able to interact with the agency and the donor and give them some money.

And then in working with governor, our office came up with some additional funding to get, to Everlas to deliver it to Greene County.

Over the past few months, we brought you stories, including the closing of a hospital in Thomasville, Alabama, last week, the almost closing of a hospital in Montgomery, Alabama.

And while that was going on in the capital city here in Utah, Alabama, they almost lost their ambulance service, all pointing to the needs to help shore up health care in the state of Alabama.

And one representative says something needs to be done and done soon.

It was $35,000 was a dollar for for each ambulance.

So $35,000 came from a, private individual, and then $35,000 came from the governor's office.

He adds the work isn't done.

While this does help things now, Representative Travi is already looking down the road for the long term funding for Greene County and other counties and everything.

That's one of the solutions to try to work back faster than neighboring Pickens County.

They just passed some of this past year and voted when they gave an increase on medical car license t to help fund ambulance service, opening the doors for more ways to avoid this crisis if it comes up again.

I don't know what Greene County is looking at.

We will have to sit for it to work with them in the next legislative session, where they can come up with some additional fundin to make sure that they continue to keep the operation, the ambulance and operations.

Travis also says while funding from the federal government is tight, there are other ways to make sure citizens get health care issues addressed.

This telehealth unit in biology is meant to help people get examined without having to travel or visit an emergency room.

It's able to help people who have to go in and do diagnostic care without having to go to the emergency room.

But one of the other things which is so important to our health care arena is the with the Affordable Care Act, which would help people to be able to have insurance.

So that they can afford to go to a doctor and not have to b the last resort emergency room to seek health care in Utah.

Randy Scott, Capitol Journal.

Thank you.

Randy.

Some concerning news this week for the health care program insuring more than 100,000 state employees.

The state employees insurance Board is expecting revenue to fall short of expenses for fiscal year 2026, a trend that could create serious problems for the long term stability of the program at its quarterly meeting this week.

CIB Executive Director Stephanie Azar told board members the program is projected to come up $38.5 million short by the end of October, because the program was already in the black.

It won't bankrupt the fund, but if the revenue trends continue, the program could virtually run out of mone by the end of next fiscal year.

Azar said the revenue problem is the result of increasing health care costs and changes in the federal health care landscape, including a cut to Medicare payouts and a reduction of the federal government's cost share for prescription drugs.

Board members discussed potentially dipping into the trust fund to shore up the program.

And while it wasn't explicitly explicitly discussed, board members hinted at possible premium premium increases for state employees in the future.

State employees haven't seen their premium increase in more than 20 years.

This week, more than thousand teachers and principals gathered at Hewitt Trust for high school for A-plus College ready E3 training.

E3 stands for equip, empower and Expect More.

A-plus College Ready provides high quality professional learning for teachers and leaders to prepare students for success in Advanced Placement coursework, while building a strong foundation in middle schoo to prepare students for success.

Participating school create cultures of high academic expectations for all students, teachers, and administrators.

Aptos Rod Richardson and Trish Craine got to tag along at this week's training to give us a peek at what the teachers are learning ahead of the school year.

So this training this summer is over 1000 teachers are here this week.

It's really over the course of the summer, it's nearly 2000 teachers that we're supporting across the state.

It's really about empowering them to make sure that they're serving their students well.

A strong curriculum that's fully aligned to Alabama standards and making sure that we're providing that training and support so that the teacher has everything they need to be successful with their students.

So our program, it is a grant program, and schools are able to engage with us for three years.

And so within those three year we build throughout those years we look at instruction, we look at culture.

And what happens is we believe that we are all stakeholders and everyone has an investment in the students of Alabama.

So we grow collectively.

We learn together.

And that support evolved from having supplies, equipment, incentives.

We have content directors that support the teachers when a teacher may have a question.

We have support fo administrators and counselors.

So basically we're trying to make sure that everyone has a voice in this process and that there's by at that six families.

We also learn and we grow wit the communities that we serve.

So the ATF program, which is part of the A-plus college rating system, they came to the school and they were recruiting people for it.

And so they've sent me their training in the last three years.

And, each year it gets better and better.

The first year is kind of tough but don't let it scare you off because it's it's worth coming to you.

Because you know what I learned?

You don't have to be an expert.

And then here I am to year three.

I really enjoyed it.

And I'm finding out that I think I'm actually a computer science teacher at heart.

You know, what we've seen over the last several years is that Alabama has moved up in the rankings for Advanced Placement.

We're now 17th in the country in terms of AP, our success on AP exams and our middle school schools are outperforming, their, their peers and we're beginning to close that achievement gap, which is which is the overall goal.

That's just great to see.

Here we are in the middle of summer, and educators are spending a week getting trained up for the new year.

And there's more good new to share on the education front.

Our own Trish Crain reports that Alabama students made strong gains in the last Icap test.

That's the assessment given to all students from second to eighth grade to track proficiency.

A particular note was the improvement of the state's middle schoolers.

Statewide, eighth graders improved their proficiency in science from 41% to 51% over the last year.

For math, the proficiency increased from 25% to 27%.

And in English language arts, which includes reading proficiency, improved from 55% to 59%.

In fact since 2023, reading proficiency in eighth graders has improved by nine percentage points.

Scores improved in the lower grades as well, but we specifically highlight middle school because that's where scores have been stagnant or even going backwards for years.

State Superintendent Eric Mackey said the progress is undeniable, especially in science scores.

Today, our statewide test scores we're releasing we feel really good about some, you know, their mixed results, as there always are.

And statewide data science is the real winner this year.

So we saw almost across the board gains in science in some cases a four point game between 25 and 26.

And everybody remembers just few years ago we went to new science standards, new science textbooks.

So, and of course we have to realign the tests to that.

So I feel really good about that.

I think that what it shows is our, our, investment in science, Stem courses, w keep talking about these things, but what we're seeing is our students are doing better and better in science.

And, of course, science is a lot about reasoning.

When you look at the science test, it's not just science facts.

It's about science reasoning.

And and our students seem to be doing better and better at science reasoning, mathematics.

We, you know, some some area we showed some growth and some we plateaued a little bit and kind of the same with with writing English language arts in some areas.

We showed, pretty significant growth.

Second grade was one of those that showed some pretty significant growth.

But then in some areas we showed, that we had plateaued.

And by plateaued, I mean, you know, it was 27 last year, 2 this year, that kind of thing.

I think the legislature including, gifted ed in the Rise Act, sent a messag that we really want to make sure that all students, including our accelerated students, are growing.

And, and teachers have picked up on that, and we're seeing some significant growth there.

Doctor McKee was speaking there at the conclusion of the Alabama State School Board meeting.

And the school board now has a new leader, Kelly Mooney, who represents district three on the board, was elected as vice president.

The governor serves as president by virtue of the office.

So vice president is the highest office of its elected leadership and Kelly Mooney happens to be married to State Representative Arnold Mooney, who you've seen speak o the House floor during session.

Congratulations, Mrs.

Mooney.

Well, the school year is about a month away, and that means Alabama's annual back to school sales tax holiday is underway, giving shoppers a break on everything from school supplies to clothing and computers.

This year's holiday also includes higher spendin limits on many qualifying items.

Capita Journal's Jeff Sanders reports.

For man Alabama families, back to school shopping is already underway, and this weekend offers a chance to save a little money along the way.

The annual Back to School sales tax holiday runs through Sunday, and exempts a variety of school related purchases from Alabama's 4% state sales tax.

Shoppers are getting back out.

They start preparing for the school year.

It's an opportunity for stores to welcome them back in.

Brittany Peters is wit the Alabama Retail Association.

The tax holiday applie to qualifying clothing, school supplies, books, computer and other school related items.

More than 300 cities an counties are also participating by waiving their local sales taxes.

This year's holiday als includes a significant change.

Last year, Alabama lawmakers approved legislation increasing the spending limits on many tax free purchases, allowing shoppers to buy more.

Things cost more than they used to in the legislature.

Recognize that and increase those cap this year, and moving forward, they'll adjust based off the CPI, the consumer price index.

So hopefully we won't ever be in a predicament again where these numbers don't reflect what customers are paying at the register.

While shoppers benefit from the savings, retailers say the holiday is also an important boos for businesses across the state.

Brian Stroll is the owne of Name Dropper in Montgomery.

We get a lot more foot foot traffic this weekend and people buying and you know there's 10% off.

So what it is, it helps, especially with stuff going up recently and, it helps the consumer.

This is like Christma in July for our local retailers.

They provide local job and reinvest in the community.

So it's always important for us to remember to shop there and keep our local revenue.

And remember, the sales ta holiday is not just for families with children in school.

It applies to anyone in Alabama.

Maximizing the savings statewide side.

Reporting in Montgomery I'm Jeff Sanders for Capitol Journal.

Thank you Jeff.

Some of the state's smartest middle schoolers came to the capital city this week to compete in the state finals for the National Civics.

Be not the spelling bee, but the civics bee.

It's a live competition where students demonstrate their civics knowledge and answer rapid fire questions on American history and democracy, and present solutions to real community problems.

All for a chance to represen Alabama at the National Civics Bee Championship in Washington, D.C.. The national champion wins a $100,000 Education Savings prize, and Alabama's champion is J. K from Auburn.

General civics education.

Things that people should know.

Students talked about different subjects, that were a challenge or a opportunity in their community.

And then they competed in quiz rounds as well.

The winner will go to Washington, D.C.

to represent the state, later this fall.

They are, six seventh and eighth graders competed.

It was amazing.

The whole experience was wonderful.

I got to, meet some of my, competitors.

They were really wonderful to talk with.

We had a lot of conversations together.

Was very entertaining.

Overall, the competition itself is wonderful.

I highly recommend to those who haven't tried it.

It's really fun.

Thank you to the Alabam Chambers of Commerce for hosting the Civics Bee.

Need to get that, get on the show.

We'll take a short break and be back with Montgomery Mayor Stephen Reed.

Stay with us.

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

App tv.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.

Welcome back to Capitol Journal.

Joining me next is Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed.

Mr.

mayor thanks for coming on the show.

Hey, thank you for having me.

Lots to talk about.

Lots of issues that the capital city, you know, are ripe right now.

But I want to start with Jackson Hospital.

We then we get a sigh of relief, I guess, for the city and for the state that, Jackson and Blue Cros had reached this tentative deal.

A handshake, maybe you call it.

Of course, there' a lot bigger picture than that.

But just from your perspective, you've been dealing with this issue for two years or more.

Yeah.

How confident are you that we can actually get to a place where Jackso remains open for the long haul?

You know, I think, first of all, we want to thank everybody has been involved.

Governor Ivey, list him or her team.

They've all been great.

We've had great, you know, partnerships with our county commission, city council, and, you know, you get caught between two behemoths like, Jackson Health Care Corporation and, Blue Cross Blue Shield.

It's not something that one wakes up seeking to do, but somehow the city and the community, the county found themselves trying to represent the community, in these negotiations.

And I think, to see them get to a point where I'll call it a temporary reprieve is positive, but it's just that it's temporary.

We know that we have to have a long term solution, for health care in our city, in our region, in our state.

And I think for us, the big thing is to make sure not only are we looking at the now, bu we're looking at, the tomorrow and the week after that, the month after that, the year after that, to make sure we aren't jus coming up with stopgap solutions that don't address the long term issues.

Yeah.

Because it seems like there's been like this blame game for a while.

I mean, I remember at one point people were blaming the city.

You know, blaming the county, blaming the state.

You're not given enough now.

Now Blue cross became the the bad guy and all that.

That's at a certain point.

You know, there's got to be some responsibility on the entity itself.

And I you know, I think, I'm starting to hear more and more of that.

Well, I think it's important for people to understan that the city has no statutory obligation to fund, health care, that, you know, indigent care is usually the domain of the county, per the, the code of, of Alabama.

So I think for us, you know, we have to to make sure that not only are we working with our county but we're working with our state and our private sector partners to address the acute need with certainly is keeping Jackson open.

And again, I'm glad that, a verbal agreement has been reached, between Blu Cross Blue Shield and Jackson.

I just know it's not something that I go to sleep easily.

Thinking will last us very long if we don't make some substantial changes to the set up and the funding mechanism of health care in the river region, and in this case, certainly Jackson Hospital.

All right.

We'll keep watching that.

I appreciate that.

Let's talk about this big investment plan you've rolled out.

350 $375 million in terms of, you know, bond issue, things like that.

You're talking about, economic development, a big, you know, expanding the convention center, major expansion.

You're talking about public safety.

Talk about give your elevator pitch, if you will, about this 350, $375 million investment in the capital city.

Well, we worked very hard under my administration to make sure our finances are strong and robust, and we're in the best financial position the city has been in in well over 30 years.

So we have been doing that.

You know, money, the taxpayers dollars to reinvest in our communit in a way that will transform it for the long term.

We think that, tourism has been great and we want it to continue and it doesn't continue.

If you sit back, you just kind of ride the gravy train.

We know that we have lost conventions because we don't have enough space.

And it's great that people want to come to Montgomery.

It's not so great when you lose because you don't have enough floor space to host.

What?

Our organization should.

It may be.

So we've lost enough of those to understand that we need to do something to change that.

We did a study, brought about three years ago, around on expanding, the convention center and with a multi-purpose use, which includes major sporting events, whether it be SEC volleyball tournament, other conference tournaments for other indoor sports, maybe women's basketball, gymnastics, all these things that we want, in addition to 100,000 plus square feet, to do well on a conservative.

And that brings in about $70 million annual in terms of revenue.

That's money back into the coffers.

Now, to pay down debt service, but also to make sure that as a city, which doesn't have, an occupational tax and doesn't have some of the other revenue streams that some of our peer cities in Alabama have that we can reinvest in our public safety, community centers, sidewalks, our bike trails, infrastructure, that we can provide the type of sporting venues that we see around the state.

And the type of things we want to really come back to Montgomery.

Be glad that they are calling Montgomery home.

And I think finally, to round that out, when you look at part of this bond, money will go to, public safety initiatives, as well as affordable and attainable housing.

I look at this as a transformational, bond deal that really is around $350 million not to exceed, probably 75.

And I don't think we'll get close to that, but something that really sets for the future of Montgomery for 2030 and beyond.

It's interesting you mentioned, conventions that you missed out on Montgomery missed out on because a lot of our, our state leaders are at the Southern Legislative Conference, this past week in Lexington.

You know, last year we hosted in Alabama.

It was our turn.

And typically those, you know, legislative conference, they go to capital cities.

But to your point, the space just wasn't there.

Convention space, hotel rooms, things like that.

So they had to go to Birmingham.

So that's a big, big one we missed out on.

You know what is big again?

Tourism.

You know, we're the, number one, city for international tourists in the state.

We're second overall.

It is a big driver in our economy.

So for us, it's something we have to consistently think about and reimagin and be willing to reinvest in.

But also, when you think about quality of place so many Gen Z is now are picking, their city before their job.

It's importan for us to make sure that we have the amenities that we have the, social and, entertainment events that young professionals and mid-caree professionals are looking for.

Or else we don't get that teacher.

We don't get that architect.

We don't get that volunteer for the Boy Scouts or for the YMCA because they're choosing other cities where they can work hard, but they can go out wit their friends and their family and have a great time.

We have to continue to reinvest in ourselves, thinking about what the future of Montgomery looks like.

Ten years from now, and not just thinking about whether or not the vote is going to be popular ten minutes from now.

You mentioned public safety because when I went to the website, it's high up on the list in terms of priorities.

That would be addressed by this bond issue.

What does that mean practically?

Because public safety is obviously a huge concern in the capital city, most major cities.

So what specifically do you want to do with funds to enhance public safety?

Well, one, we know we have to increas our technology infrastructure.

It's very important for us to have, more, cameras around our city to make sure that we're providing the, the eyes and in some cases, the ears that are needed to prevent crime, much less, respond to it.

But the other thing is, we're in an outdated, facility right now with our EMA.

Is really under, I might say under water, but it is sinking, literally, where EMA is located, both city and county.

And we also have an outdated municipal jail and municipal office.

So what this will allow us to do is look at thing from a comprehensive standpoint to mayb put all of them under one roof, and if not, put them under one roof.

Certainly get our 911 operators, and our EMA service out of a building that we have been told by architects and engineers is no longer feasibl and would take us twice as much to build it, or repair versus what it's worth right now.

Okay.

Well, speaking of public safety, let's go back to the legislative session where that bill from Senator Barfoot, Barfoot and Representative Reid was up, essentially, forcing it would force the cit of Montgomery not specifically, but that was, you know, essentiall forcing the city of Montgomery to increase the police ranks.

You oppose this bill said it was an overreach from the state.

It did not pass.

At the end of the day, it came close.

They did not pass.

So, I'll ask you to explain your opposition to the bill.

But more importantly, with that in the rearview mirror, how are our police ranks?

What can you tell me about what kind of progress the capital city has made?

And because that was the issue they were trying to address.

Right.

Hey, let's get more cops on the street.

Yeah.

And let's say, getting more cops on the on the street isn't hard.

Believe it or not, it's getting quality people to serve and protect our communities who have the right menta make up, the right disposition to respond, to respond to a Break-In, much less a homicide but also can deal with something that doesn't need to be escalate.

Somebody who's in mental distress, somebody who's having another, drug related issue that doesn't call for heavy handed approach.

And so it takes a special person to really be on the frontlines of public safety the way so many of our men and women are right here in Montgomery and around, the state of Alabama.

So we wanted to be sure that, we didn't see local control to the legislature.

Based on staffing numbers, ar we all want to see the numbers be as high as they can?

Everybody feels safer.

My mom feels safer.

My church members feel safer.

My neighbors feel safer.

So we all want to see that.

But it has to be done the right way.

And I believe then, and I believe now that that was a bad bill and it was a bill that was, a power grab, in my opinion.

There wasn't any in particular without conversation with fellow state senator, Kirk Hatcher, who represents, two thirds of Montgomery, much less myself.

And we said that to Senator Barfoot.

And what we have been doing now is really focusing on recruitment and retention.

So we have a $15,000, ou recruiting incentive out there that has been great to attract quality law enforcement officers, many of them, who are now in first time or who are laterals coming from other departments and bringing their, experience with us.

But it also shows, you know, our men and women in blue that we support them.

We're proposing another pay increase, in this year's budget.

And when you look at where we are right now, we would be over 30%.

Just as I took office, for pa increases for first responders.

That's significant.

And so it shows, I think each and every person that we're investing in, our men and women, we're investing in their safety and their protection and their ability to care for their job, not just through salaries, but also through equipment, technology, body worn cameras, tasers, new, guns, as well as new, vehicles that really put them in the best position to serve our communities.

Certainly those that are visiting, whether it be the legislators or tourist or people who work here as well and go back home in the evening.

Yeah, well, mayor, we're out of time.

I look forward to having you back.

Hey, I look forward to it.

Thanks again.

All right.

We'll be right back.

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And you.

Welcome back to Capitol Journal.

Joining me next is Stat Representative Chris Blackshear of Phoenix City.

Mr.

Blackshear thanks for coming on the show.

Todd, always a pleasure to be on with you.

Well, how's the off season legislative and otherwise?

It has been what I would say would be a need.

It, break.

We worked on a lot of big issues during the regular session, also in the special when we came back, but also lead into the primary elections, which was held in May.

Now, looking forward t the November general elections.

So well spent time back home in the districts, visiting with people, catching up on some things that you miss sometimes when you're here, in session.

So it's been a good offseason so far.

It's also football off season and it'll it'll be here before we know it.

Of course, you're part of the broadcast team fo a game of the Week on Thursday.

So are y'all getting ready for that as well?

You want to give a plug to that right now?

Absolutely.

A great segue into that.

Thursday night, August 20th actually starts the broadcast here on Alabama Public Television.

And we're going to start with a doubleheader and a great place to town for Phenix City.

Absolutely.

We're going to go back there.

We're Montgomery Catholic ladies will play the central flag girls and a flag game tha afternoon starting around 3:00.

On Alabama Public Television.

You got to think about it.

Catholic made the state championship last year for flag girls and Central's own back to back state championships and national championships.

Got that game first, then it rolls directly into the first tackle game of the season, which will be the 1578 championship, which now will be six AA classification tops.

And at central when that gets us kicked off and that will run all the way through whatever the championships are going to be.

Call now we know it' not going to be the super seven.

It's going to be maybe the.

So the ace AA Championships in Mobile will be all the way through.

So always a fun time.

Yeah we love it.

We love having it here on repeat.

And yeah definitely looking forward to that.

Those are some big, big matchups.

Well, speaking of sports, some news recently about the issue of neo national.

I mean, name, image and likeness and the transfer portal.

They kind of go hand in hand in terms of the issue.

It was interestin because both Auburn and Alabama came out in a joint statement, kind of rare, saying that they oppose what's going on in Congress in terms of the Ted Cruz bill.

I mean, the details are ou there into too much to get into, but they they, they want the issue fixed.

They want the issue of nil and transfer portal fixed.

But they don't agree with his approach, saying it leads to more litigious stuff.

So that just setting the table and someone who's been involved in this, this issue and knows this issue, what do you think needs to happen?

What what what is a honest to God fix that?

People could actually get it, get their heads around.

We personally, for me, this is one that I think if you ask 50 people, you may get up to 50 different opinions.

Correct.

But I think you have to address if you're going to have a piece of legislation.

Number one, I do agree with it being at the federal level.

I think when you get down to the state level, you're playing whac-a-mole.

If you go around and look at the different states now that that have some type it in, I'll just specifically close to two.

Just go to Georgia.

We'll just compare them.

That already gives them potentially a competitive recruiting advantage at the high school level.

So it's not even just an A, it's not even at the collegiate level.

They made decisions to make, you know, legal at the high school level in a lot of states.

And, you know, we've seen some legislation, all that I'm in the past, I'm wholeheartedly, 100% against amateur athletes at the high school level receiving, name, image and likeness, pay at the college level.

I do support it, but I think within the correc framework and I think you got to address it at the level.

And I think with the federal level having to get involved also shows you the inefficiency of the NCAA.

You would think that's your governing body, of al sports at the collegiate level, this is basically completely rendered ineffective on this issue, in my opinion.

I think, though, when you address it, some of the things it wa missing in the current Ted Cruz, Senator Cruz's piece was you didn't address everything you've got to address from the name, image and likeness.

You got it.

I think it has to be one size across the board.

Here's the max number you can make.

Also, I think you got to look at it as well.

Two of what happens all the way down.

You kno you got to break it down Todd.

There's two different issues.

The issues that roll up.

There's an entire piece of it, which is the pain.

Sure.

That's one issue you're dealing with.

The other issue you're dealing with, let's say you're dealing with this.

Most of the coaches and administrators, the transfer portal is a completely separate beast on its own that has to be corrected as well.

Right.

And the transfer portal is what I think may be easier to get a hold on, because right now it's fairly unlimited.

And and that doesn't make any sense.

I've heard coach Tuberville Senator Tuberville talk about, you know, maybe one transfer you get one transfer, maybe two.

But after that, you know, kind of like the old days, you get to sit out a season or something like that.

But I know that y'all had som legislation at the state level.

Really just kind of trying to keep up with the Joneses, maybe remind us of what your bill did.

So we had a piece of legislation that representative Garrett represented, LeBron myself, co-sponsoring in drop last year, which with no plans for it to go anywhere.

But we were following suit.

Georgi dropped a piece of legislation that said, okay, any nil mone acquired by collegiate athletes in the state of Georgi would not have to pay any taxes.

Keep in mind, these players now that get that, get in.

I owe money or 1099 employee.

They were 1099 to start with on their their contracts.

Welcome t you know work tax bill income.

Let's make sure the taxable income brackets there.

So you're like okay well that automatically gives another competitive advantag to Georgia.

If you're go do it.

We're go do it.

Well there was conversations had chairman LeBron had on with the chairman the rules chair of Georgia.

Like you don't know yours for we're not gonna move ours forward.

And it kind of went away.

But our point was made, right?

It was something has to be done at the state level.

We're playing whac-a-mole.

Yeah, at the national level, that' where it needs to be addressed.

With that.

So we'll see how things play out.

But it's completely out of hand at this point.

while I have you, I wanted to ask you about the issue of gambling because you were heavil involved in that bill that came up, passed the House I guess that was 24, a couple of years ago.

Eventually, dad, in the Senate, it's going to be a new legislature It's going to be a new governor.

You know, who knows what that's all going to shake out to be.

But do you expect something lik that, or maybe just different?

Maybe the issue of gambling, you expect some big gambling push to happen next yea when the legislature comes back?

I'll say this.

We're not currently working on anything, but I will say I don't want to say next session, but I will say this next quadrennial.

I still think it' a conversation we have to have.

Todd.

And the opponents of it is, you know, you still hear we can't afford the expansion of gaming in the state.

Well, there's two parts to that.

My thoughts on that is and I would love anybody on the the opposing side of thing to come to us with a solution of how do we then stop what's already existing.

You can't you can't touch what's on tribal land, right.

But there's a lot of other, some would argue, legal illegal gaming that exists across the state.

So it's growing every day.

It's popping up every day.

What's the solutio to real that in and control it.

There's got to b some type of control parameter.

So I think it's absolutely, going to be addresse in the second prong in that is, is there's revenue just sitting there and the way or it's easy to forget about hard times when your budgets have been so flush and, you know, you've been hearing his say for several years on the ETF sid and the general fund side, the the extra money in the budget are coming to an end with that truly is coming to an end.

So it'll be a conversatio that I look forward to having.

I think it absolutely will happen.

And I think yet again, we're going to have to do something that I think continue to avoid.

The elephant in the roo is not going to be the answer.

Well, I'll look forward to that debate.

I agree with you that it would.

Who knows if it's going to be first or first year or second year.

A lot of that depends on, you know, who's governor, what their agenda is going to be.

And I am curious about the enforcement side, because we were just talking about sports and you've seen this creep of you can't turn onto a college game even without odds here.

And you know, this FanDuel and DraftKing and all this kind of stuff, it's kind of seem to taken over.

And I'm curious about how enforcement and things like tha to to keep the gambling element from just completely taking over what we love about athletics.

Yeah.

And obviously right now there are no guardrails in the state, right.

If you want to, you and I can pull the phone out right now and go to the legal site to make a sports bet.

However, if you go back and study what's happened recently at the federal level based relating to predictive markets, they basically match to predictive markets.

Oh yeah, it's legal on that.

So you and I can go right now and we can put a go to set us up an account.

Predictive marketing Kashi or whatever you want.

And we can do anything we want to right now and place a bet right now.

And when you do that, in this state, unregulated, untaxed.

But is existing.

So it's it's again, it's a, it's again a conversation of when, you know, the ellipse in a room, you're sitting there looking at it, but you choose not to continue, not to address it.

I think we're way past time on that.

And I think it's time to let the people vote.

It'll b a whole different conversation with with just that poly market thing to take into account.

Well, look, we're out of time.

Look forward to having you back.

And we'll look forward to football.

Thank you.

Always a pleasure, Todd.

We'll be right back.

Montgomery native Percival Julian was an internationally acclaimed chemist, the third African-American to receive a Ph.D.

in chemistry.

He specialized in the chemistry of natural products and their synthesis in the laboratory.

This technology is very important in medicines, food products, paint and firefighting foams, among other things.

Julian received many awards, including election to the National Academy of Sciences and the National Inventors Hall of Fame.

Welcome back to Capital Journal.

The Alabama Shakespeare Festival has announced the new season for 2026 and 2027.

And joining me next to talk about it is executive director Todd Schmidt and artistic director Gwen Gresham.

Gentlemen, welcome back to the Capital Journal.

Thank you for having us.

Great to be here.

Well, I want to get to the 2026 2027 season.

Some exciting shows.

But tonight, is the opening for, beautiful The Carole King Musical.

I know you all ha a first performance last night.

How did it go?

It went really well.

It's, It's a fantastic show.

It's a big show.

Peopl sometimes think when they hear beautiful The Carole King Musical that it's, a woman sitting at a piano and there is some of that, but there's also this giant cast of actors.

And, it's it's interesting.

People do think of Carole King as a solo singer songwriter, but the early part of her career, when she was a kid growing up in Brooklyn, she worked, writing music for the greats of the time the Drifters, the Shirelles, the list goes on and on.

And they're in the show and they're all in the show.

So you'll get to hear songs that you didn't even kno she wrote, like The Locomotion.

Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?

Natural Woman is another one we think of Aretha.

But Carole actually wrote it.

And it's fantasti to see an audience experiencing the show live, applauding when they recognize a song at the very beginning of it.

And, by the end of the show, I think the audience completely forgets that they're not watching the actual Carole King.

They're they're respondin to her as though she is a star.

And Julia, who plays the role, certainly lives up to that.

Well that's fantastic.

I'm actually going tonight.

I can't wait.

But also, you know, a great way to see this is not just to buy a single ticket, but to participat in a subscription to ASF.

Right?

Yes.

We're currently selling subscriptions for that new season that you mentioned that starts in September.

We have single ticket sales, tickets right on sale now for beautiful The Carole King Musical.

And for subscription who want to buy either a seven, which is every show we're doing on the, you know, a regular rotation or a five show package where you can pick five out of the seven.

You get the best seats at the best prices.

And it's also a way to put it on your calendar so you don't go, oh, I wanted to see that, but I missed it.

You know, you buy the package, you pick your dates.

If a date doesn't work, you can exchange it for free.

But it really.

I think it's a great way to start.

First off, save wonderful theater and to make sure you're going to see it and not miss it, because we're all busy and things come up right.

And sometimes what I've done is, oh, I'm not going to be in town that day, but I'll give them away t friends that they can come in.

And what I try to do is expose new people that, you know, maybe haven't been to so many shows and they become fans of the show.

That's a great, great way to help us out.

We appreciate.

Well, the great thing too, about being a subscriber is inevitably, you're going to see a show that you didn't even know you wanted to see.

It's a part of the package.

You get to discover something that you might not have see as just a single ticket holder.

And I find more often than not, The Undiscovered Place, the ones that people saw as a part of a subscription package end up being their favorites.

Well, let's talk about this 2026, 2027 season.

It's exciting.

I'm I'm particularly excited about fences.

From August Wilson.

That's a famous playwright.

This was made into a movie talk.

Start there and talk about this great season you've got coming up.

Yeah.

Fences is, one of the one of the greatest, modern classic plays that exists.

August Wilson's writing is unparalleled.

His his story about Troy Maxson, and the, the opportunities he was denied as a young man and the the the echoes of that that exist through generations of his family.

It is, it is powerful.

It is moving.

It is unexpectedly funny.

And, we're doing this production in collaboration with a theater in Atlanta.

So the the actors who will be in the show are Atlanta based.

And I got to tell you, I went over to audition these folks, and those were some of the finest actors I've ever seen in my entire career.

So it's going to be a really dynamite show.

Yeah, sounds like a real treat.

Now, you've also got Elf th musical for the Christmas show.

This year.

Yes.

Based on that hilarious Will Ferrell movie.

It is really just a terrific show.

It's a great stage adaptation of that story.

It is funny.

It is moving.

Great music.

And a lot of, holiday spectacle that the audience can look forward to.

Well, yeah, I mean, that's that's a tradition at ASF going back to its founding.

Right.

The Christmas show.

I mean, I just remember growing up, we looked forward to it.

I mean, I think my first was Peter Pan a long time ago.

And big River, you know, wa always the big Christmas show.

So I think and last year it was frozen.

That was a big show.

So yeah I think that's really exciting.

Also, as always, some Shakespeare as.

You like it?

You bet.

We're going to travel to the Forest of Arden for, Shakespeare's, most whimsical romantic fantasy.

And and the thing that I love the most about the play beyond the beautiful language, is that it reminds us, if we can just step out of our comfort zone for maybe even just a second, we're going to have a much better sense of who we are.

And ultimately, that's what happens to all of the characters.

They wander into the woods and they come back.

More fully understanding who they are, what they want and who they love.

Well, I just I want to take a step back because we don't want to forget the show we're opening with, which is one of the funnies shows I've seen in a long time, called The Play That Goes Wrong.

Oh, yes.

Okay, talk about that.

Have you ever been to, a show?

I hope this hasn't happened a lot at HSF.

But where something has clearly gone wrong.

The scenery didn't get to where it was supposed to get to.

An actor didn't walk out on stage when they showed they forgot their line, whatever it might be.

Or when the stage manager comes on the mic and says, folks, we have to hold.

It kills us when these things happen.

Well, the play that goes wron is an entire evening of nothing but that the actors can't remember what they're supposed to say.

They can't remember to get on stage at the same time.

And then the the scenery falls apart.

I mean, every single thing that could happen, you will laugh from beginnin to end with this hilarious show.

And when does it start?

That's the opening of our 2627 season in October.

How about that?

I look forward to that.

Well, I also have to say, speaking of the Shakespeare, if anybody has these, you know, preconceptions that, oh, man of Shakespeare might be hard to understand.

You should have seen Much Ado, because that was such an interesting adaptation and funny and just, I mean, you didn't think five minutes into the sho you're not thinking about.

Yep.

You know, old English and all that kind of stuff.

I also have to congratulate y'all.

We're talking about the 20 2627 season.

But this season that y'all are finishing up, I think was a real accomplishment.

I mean, I think the Lehman Trilogy was one o the best shows I've ever seen.

So many amazing shows.

I just feel like y'all have upped the ante in terms of the depth an breadth that y'all are offering.

At a is, it just I don't know it.

So congratulations on that.

I think y'all deserve, some kudos.

Thank you for that.

We we both agree that, if you can, if you can set a high bar, the only thing you can do beyond that is raise it again.

And, that, that that's.

We have such an incredible team here that is so capable of presenting fantasti entertainment, moving theater.

And and it, it's exciting to utilize those skills and, and see what we can do.

I mean, you think about this past season, beginning with murder on the Orient Express.

They had that train moving on and off stage.

We had all of the magic and frozen.

And now we have this fantastic rock musical.

Beautiful.

The Carole Kin musical reconstruction was also, incredible.

Thank you.

Todd, I wanted to ask you about.

I just want you to remind our audience abou the educational mission of as, because we're lucky here in the capital city that it's physically located here.

But there's a statewide impact where students from around the state get to take advantage of the resources, whether it's through Summerfest and all these camps they'll provide.

Can you speak to that mission of education?

Well, it's core to, as you said, it's part of our mission.

It's really core to what we do, which is educating its kids all over the stat and really all over the region.

We'll get schools who come in for our student matinees series, School Fest from 50, I think 53 of the counties.

How many counties are there?

67.

Yeah.

So last yea we had 53 counties represented who brought their kids down here to Montgomery to see shows.

You know, more than 25,000 students over the course of a season It's a big part of what we do.

We have summer camps that are going on right now.

We're in the middle of Camp Shakespeare.

You know, other camps, Broadway, South.

There's some great camps going on.

We've got a couple more weeks of that going on for kids in this area who come in and have a great time and learn a lot.

Then throughout the year, we have afterschool classes for adults and children, and then we go out and take things out into the state and other places.

We were just in Selma for th first time doing a summer camp.

So we took our great teaching artists over there and did a week in Selma, and it was an amazing experience.

Those kids had a great time, got exposed to really professionals who work, you know, do this all the time.

So it's important for us to represent not just Montgomery and the River region, but to get out and do things in the state.

It is the state's theater.

It is the state theaters we're going up to, you know, up to Athens State and Calhoun Community College with some workshops.

We've got a lot of things planned to, to get out in the state.

And we're very grateful that we get support from the state of Alabama and the city of Montgomery and the county, as well as individuals, corporations, foundations, and individual donors.

It's, you know, we need all those people, all those groups, to help make it happen.

Absolutely.

And the best way to really sell it is to, or to be sold is, is to be there and to be in the sea and experience that live theater that is just unlike anything you can experience anywhere in the state.

I'm looking forward to tonight.

I get to go see, beautiful The Carole King Musical, and I will, yeah, I' really looking forward to that and might see it a couple of times.

It's great.

It's really good.

You're going to have a great time this cast, as Quinn said, which is big.

22 people.

I think there's over 80 different wigs in the show because they keep changing.

You know, Carole King has, I think, three wigs.

She goes through a lot of hair, a lot of hair, different she has from her teenage years til, you know, later in her life.

And, you know, there's a lot, a lot of costumes, a lot of flash, a lot of spectacle.

It's a big musical.

And so folks can go online to buy tickets.

ASF dot net right now you can go and buy tickets.

You can look up our educational programs.

You can look into the remaining summer camps.

You can buy that subscription for next year season.

And you can read all about all of the shows that will be a part of our season.

We haven't had a chance to talk about all of them, but this time next year, we're very excite to be opening Disney's Hercules.

Oh yeah, this is a brand new stage version of that great 90s cartoon, featuring, comedy, great gospel themed music as Alan Menken as it is.

Yeah.

And, then also, you got to have Hercules battling some full scale monsters as well.

So the geek in me, the kid that loved mythology, is incredibly excited about that.

Yeah, that will be exciting.

Well, gentlemen, we're out of time.

Congratulations on completion of this season.

Good luck on the on the upcoming season.

And thanks so much for what you do.

Always a pleasure.

Thank you.

We'll be right back.

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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 Stacey.

We'll see you next time.