Alabama Public Television

[upbeat music] From the Alabama Public Television studios in Montgomery, welcome to Capitol Journal.

I'm Jeff Sanders, filling in this week for Todd Stacy.

Coming up later, I sit down with the two candidates in one of Alabama's most closely watched races this election year.

There is a chance for people to find quality of life, even living with dementia.

So we're grateful that we get to be a part of this work that is spreading all over the country.

Alabama Public Television has also been proud to help share the story of Respite For All with viewers across the state.

Last year, APT aired the documentary Respite For All: A Place of Belonging, which takes an intimate look at the program, the volunteers who make it possible, and the families navigating the challenges of dementia.

The documentary has also been made available to public television stations across the country and can be streamed through PBS.

Yeah, Chris Blackshear is the Alabama House Representative from District 80, which is Phenix City, where Chris is from.

He is also the sideline reporter for the Troy Sports Media Network, and on, uh, Yellowhammer News, he has, um, at yellowhammernews.com, he, uh, there's an article about him from, um, a drop-in he did on Alabama Public Television's Capital Journal, which is a good program, about gambling legislation, and particularly how it, um, regulates prediction markets.

We'll talk with him about that.

State Representative Chris Blackshear joins us in about an hour and 12 minutes.

So I mean, you have other organizations in this state that are just basically like, they may be against it, but are they against it for the, are they against it from a moral perspective, or are they against it because they don't want somebody else sitting at their table with them that thinks they may have more influence in the state of Alabama going forward?

All of that influence, wherever it comes from, what you're talking about, Chris, what that has meant more than anything else is that the issue is not being addressed.

You have said before, you were on, um, you were on Alabama Public Television, uh, a little while ago on Capital Journal, and you called it the elephant in the room.

Sooner or later, you believe that in the, in the, in the legislature, somebody's gonna have to bring it to a boil, right? I mean, this is a conversation that you say sooner or later it's gonna have to happen, and I think it would be healthy for this state for at least a conversation to take place, right?

We'll be right back.

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That's our show for this week.

Thanks for watching.

All right.

Yellowhammer has an article that came out today, Ivey replaces five Alabama Public Television commissioners after months-long PBS debate.

Do y'all remember when this started?

No.

So the commission did ultimately vote to continue paying for PBS programming and study the issue further, and I think Ivey just said, "I'm done.

I'm done." So good on her.

I don't know where this goes from here, but it looks like Logan Glass is probably the new, uh, chairman of the PBS Public Television, not PBS, but Alabama Public Television Commission.

I, I have a question.

The group says its rankings give parents a resource for evaluating school policies and holding elected leaders accountable.

Governor Kay Ivey says replacing, uh, five Alabama Public Television board members was intended to give the board a fresh start.

She removed William Green, Farris Stevens, Les Barnett, Pete Conroy, and BB Williams, retaining Logan Glass and Tijuanna Adetunji.

The new appointees are Wallace Gilberry, Rick Smith, Neil Lamb, Sally Smith, and Samarie Pruitt.

I mean, it's been decades of that show, and if you like our state and seeing different places and how they explore, it's a really cool show, and Dr. Doug's a good, good host.

Um, but it, they did the survey about the relationship between Alabama Public Television, APT, and PBS, right? The same way your local Fox affiliate will have a Fox show, right, that kind of...

So they did a Si- Signal, the name of the survey group, which I don't say they're, they're perfect, but I think Signal has shown themselves to be the best at surveying Alabama.

I don't know why that is, but politically or other things, Signal has shown up to be more accurate.

So the Signal survey found 54.2% of respondents to this poll that I didn't get, I got nothing for.

54.2% of respondents said APT, so Alabama Public Television, should continue its relationship with PBS, compared with 17.7% that said it should end the relationship.

Another 28.1% were unsure.

Well, thank you for unsure.

[laughs]

... [laughs] Alabama Public Television, IMS, and All Things Considered, National Public Radio.

She also writes self-help books and provides workshops and speaking engagements on topics of recovery, near-death experiences, and natural spirituality.

Charles Whitfield, MD, is a physician, psychotherapist, and internationally recognized expert on mental illness, behavioral problems, and recovery.