Down in Alabama with Ike Morgan

Today: A note to listeners, Adam Telle's appointment and a Honda expansion. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mobile is likely to end a program over political statements. Also: record high temps, a singer named Pynk Beard, and more Red Lobsters going away. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We have a second legal challenge over whether a candidate for statewide office; Musician Jason Isbell is suing an AI platform; the New York Times gets break in damages owed thanks to a state law. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ella Langley's "Choosin' Texas" has officially done what no other hit song has ever done. From any artist, in any genre. We also have an execution scheduled, a spat over a behemoth campaign contribution for ... lieutenant governor? ... Phenix City Little League's homecoming and a dying wish in the ICU that took some Alabama ingenuity to fulfill. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Why are analysts saying Regions Bank is ripe for acquisition? Who will be in the "Days of Thunder" sequel? Those are two very different questions but we'll get to both of them and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We'll talk about Tommy Tuberville's explanation over not debating in the governor's race, get you caught up on the latest prison construction bond issue, and look at which high school team is trying to make it two wins in a row ... after 101 losses in a row. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We have a new disaster-alert system, a new hunting-and-fishing licensing system, how Phenix City did in the Little League World Series and what big factory might be built in the state. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Why did Bessemer officials fail to release election results last night, then apparently refuse to talk about it? Also, we're still following one of our Little League teams in Williamsport, and flags in Alabama are lowered for Dolly Parton. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We have the U.S.-Canada spat and the lose-lose trade-war scenario in a few seconds. Also, our Little League representation is still representing, and a popular World War II veteran has passed away. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Will the state move against Flock cameras? We'll address that. We'll also talk about how Trump's ground-beef announcement has landed so far and what UAB is doing about nearsightedness. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The New York Times has lost a defamation case in Alabama ... and if it stands it'll mean millions for a former Alabama basketball player. We also have an alternative name for the future bridge in Mobile and the passing of a big Alabama name in craft beer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Political debates seem harder and harder to come by, but we might have us a statewide debate this campaign season. No, not the one you were wondering about. Also, we have guilty pleas in that Hanceville police corruption case and Clay Travis pulling a familiar sports show into his new media venture. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What would you name the I-10 bridge and Bayway project when it's all done? Some want President Trump's name on it. Today we also have the Mardi Gras Amtrak service turning 1 year old, Auburn University leaning into space and defense, and who the Sporting News ranked as the top college football personalities. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Time Magazine ranked the top 100 privately owned companies, not just by size and profit but also by how good an employer and neighbor they are. Alabama landed four on the list. We also have how Alabama and Auburn fared in the AP preseason football poll, and we have the death of a man who was in the newspaper business for half a century. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Psychedelic help for veterans with depression? It's being studied, and the "magic mushroom" drug is what researchers are looking at. Also, we have an unsurprising weather update and a town in the running to host a Hallmark Christmas movie. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Alabama put a convicted child killer to death yesterday, and there wasn't much debate about this one, even from the condemned man himself. We'll also update you on one of the troubled school systems the state took over a couple years ago. And we might as well do something on gas prices to put you in a really good weekend mood. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Why is John Rich jumping into an Alabama debate? We'll let you know. We'll also talk about the broadening of an indictment against the Southern Poverty Law Center and the passing a physician who probably met some of y'all when you were too young to know which end was up. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A former major leaguer's daughter pitched an Alabama team into the Little League World Series. In just a minute we'll talk about which Alabama team's going this year, which Alabama Little Leagues have ever sent a team to Williamsport, and which one actually won it all. We'll also go over yesterday's election unofficial results, then talk deer hunting and an invasive species and how those two things are overlapping in parts of the country. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We'll finish previewing today's (Aug. 11, 2026) special primary election, tell you why Fox Weather is coming to Gulf Shores, then have updates on a former batting champion's retirement and a youth baseball team that's close to reaching the Little League World Series. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is it a new day for Alabama Democrats? Well, it's a day with a new state party chair, at least. We'll tell you who that is on today's episode. We also have another city throwing up a stop sign for data centers, how Alabama's U.S. senators voted on Attorney General Todd Blanche, and a special primary election on Tuesday. But, really, aren't all our elections special in their own way? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How many law-enforcement agencies in Alabama are partnering with ICE, what are they getting out of it, and why did at least one quickly pull out of the deal? We'll also talk about Tommy Tuberville's limits on data centers and his call for a utility-rate freeze extension. The Space and Missile Defense Symposium is returning to Huntsville. And I had low-level economics stuff on my brain to share with anyone who thinks inflation has or is going to reverse itself. I mean, maybe $20 college-cafeteria burritos could fall. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

To support the energy needs of a big ol' data center there are big ol' solar farms, and a contract has been approved to build another one to support the coming Meta facility in Montgomery. We also have a poll on the governor's race and a legal update on Dog the Bounty Hunter's son. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Alabama's virtual-school students are not where you'd hope they would be, particularly in math. We'll talk about what some virtual schools face and what some plan to do about it. We also have news out of this past weekend's state GOP Executive Committee summer session and some local TV station shakeup. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I'm going to talk a little PSC/data-center politics. That's two of Alabama's biggest political flashpoints of 2026 wrapped into one. We also have Gee's Bend quilts making a splash in the fashion world and a high school football rivalry already heating up -- over which day of the week the teams will play in October. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Did a botched sting operation of Natalee Holloway's killer lead him to commit another murder five years after her death? Today on Down in Alabama, we're discussing a trove of new documents released by journalist Greta Van Susteren, the fate of the Birmingham Stallions, and a new law that may delay some Alabama teenagers from getting their driver's licenses. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sen. Tommy Tuberville said that if he's elected governor, he'll put Dr. Anthony Fauci on trial because he "killed millions of people." Today we’re gonna unpack those claims with AL.com senior political reporter Ruth Serven Smith. And we’ll also look at the economic impact of music in Huntsville, as well as a strange new creature lurking in the waters in North Alabama. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today on Down in Alabama, we’re covering the mounting frustration over a massive new data center in Mobile County, delays at the $1.25 billion megaprison complex in Elmore County, plus the future of Gulf Shores’ longtime Mardi Gras parade and the condition of Birmingham’s civil rights signage. We also hear from AL.com columnist John Archibald on why preserving that history matters. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we’re talking about Tuberville’s “Golden Action Team,” a fancy new school in Madison County rumors that the state’s largest water utility may be leaving Birmingham, and a false allegation against a prominent politico made by an Alabama woman. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the future, everyone will live 15 minutes from a data center. Or however that saying goes. Today on down in Alabama, we're covering the politics of data centers, graphite mines, golf and crude jokes at the White House Correspondents Dinner. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we'll talk about the Connected Vehicle Security Act, Tutwiler prison's finally being compliant, and a measles case. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We have a story today on a fake Randy Owen. Also, the state's considering ways to regulate AI and social-media to help keep kids safe, and a police chief is facing charges. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We'll talk about the political line developing in the data-center debate, some statewide housing data, and the passing of Birmingham author Charles Gaines, who played roles in the rises of paintball and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We have what a house in Huntsville area might cost you on average. We've also had our first gambling/lottery mention for the next legislative term. We'll do a cyclosporiasis update. And we'll talk a little tropical weather with weather reporter Leigh Morgan. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We'll talk about a swordfish study and what the government might do about those not-so-cheap-to-make nickels. And forecasters anticipate Tropical Storm Bertha. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Debt lawsuits are way up in Alabama; Tuberville is claiming that some of his Senate colleagues won their seats during rigged elections; and an AI company is being sued over a suicide. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we have cyclosporiasis cases in Alabama, some data-center love from the president and a senator, and a gold-colored Trump coin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We'll talk about the latest on the Tommy Tuberville residency story, the latest on daylight saving time, and the latest on the growth of Milo's Tea Company. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We'll update you on "AI Love Irondale Day" as well as some island-rebuilding on the Gulf Coast, another tax holiday and a little southern pronunciation guide fun (during which I defend my own honor over a correct pronunciation). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Let's talk about sunrises, sunsets, Mitch McConnell, data centers and dogs. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We have a police department under pressure, a couple of big road projects, an investigated softball coach out of a job, and an AI reference that may or may not go over very well in a city's celebration. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We have the latest on the death penalty in Alabama, an annual Clotilda commemoration, and the Trussville major-leaguer who delivered base hit after base hit and base hit ... after base hit. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we have an update on a professor suing over her dismissal, which came after she criticized a recently killed Charlie Kirk. We also have a former political rising star in trouble with the law and a grand opening in Gee's Bend. All in all, it's a pretty solid news report from a mediocre white man (you'll get that reference after you listen). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today's briefing we'll talk about the Protect Sports Act, a Jon Erwin film about the first president, and the passing of a longtime Lower Alabama lawman. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we'll talk about limestone for oysters, rent prices and a patriotic stretch of highway. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We'll help you navigate through a list of things to not do, then we'll celebrate the things we CAN do and the 250th birthday of America's freedom. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Names such as Ozzy Osbourne and Mitch McConnell will show up in today's report, as will the not-universally-beloved Canada goose. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville hasn't said whether he donated his salary; President Trump nominated an Alabama Supreme Court justice for the federal bench; 30 were arrested in an immigration bust. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we have items on PFAs in court, Katie Britt's husband's new job, a firefighter's death and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we have tragedy on the water, a federal Lulu's Law, and an attempted rescue mission at around 300 miles high. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we have Sens. Britt and Tuberville split on the housing bill, the state's food-stamp program in trouble, the Tuscaloosa BF Goodrich plant closing (eventually) and Lionel Richie not feeling well. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices