NPR All Things Considered Host Michel Martin and her team are in town to broadcast the show from the Troy Public Radio studios on Saturday and Sunday. Carolyn Hutcheson spoke with Martin about her experiences reporting in Alabama and Montgomery.

Be sure to hear ATC this weekend at 4PM on Saturday and Sunday at troypublicradio.org.

For twenty years Catherine Coleman Flowers has been an environmental activist seeking justice for rural homeowners who contend with wastewater seeping in their yards.  The issue was profiled on "60 Minutes" on Dec. 19, 2021.  She talks with In Focus host Carolyn Hutcheon about seeping untreated sewage, and its link to disease, in rural communities across the U.S.  Flowers is author of the book, "Waste, One Woman's Fight Against America's Dirty Secret."

The Montgomery Symphony Orchestra has been a mainstay in the River Region's artistic community for more than forty years.  Jamie Reeves, the Interim Music Director and Conductor, talks with Carolyn Hutcheson, In Focus host, with an update on the orchestra's music season, its educational outreach, and the protocol for audience members during the pandemic.

When Kristy Meanor, Artistic Director of the Wetumpka Depot Players, read Doug Segrest's novel, "A Storm Came Up," she knew it could be adapted to the stage.  She and Segrest talk with Carolyn Hutcheson, In Focus host, about their collaboration,  turning a novel about the Jim Crow South into a play.

Although February is known for Valentine's Day and romance, sweetheart scams are proliferating on the Internet.  Joseph Borg, Director of the Alabama Securities Commission, talks with Carolyn Hutcheson, In Focus host, about how the scams work to part vulnerable people from their money.  

The Alabama Securities Commission stands ready to help with information and examples of cases on their website, asc.alabama.gov.

Hummingbird science has changed over the past twenty-five years, thanks to research by master bird banders like Fred Bassett with the nonprofit Hummingbird Research.net organization.  He talks with In Focus host Carolyn Hutcheson about the  hummingbirds he has banded this winter.  Fred credits the help of the "citizen scientists," TPR's radio listeners in the Alabama, Florida, and Georgia coverage area,  since he bands winter hummers in their yards.

From 1942 to 1946, Camp Gordon Johnston, an Army amphibious training camp in Carrabelle, Florida, trained a quarter of a million soldiers.  Two African American amphibious truck companies were deployed from there to Europe and the Pacific, distinguishing themselves in both theaters during World War II.  Lisa Keith-Lucas, volunteer archivist, talks with Carolyn Hutcheson, In Focus host, about the companies and the museum's February Black History Month exhibit.  

The museum welcomes information about the soldiers to add to the rosters.  More information at campgordonjohnston.com.

CPA Jeffrey Kintz, a Tax Supervisor at the Wilkins Miller business advisory firm in Mobile, talks with Carolyn Hutcheson, In Focus host, about tax information for individuals.  The Alabama Society of Certified Public Accountants maintains a CPA referral list for those needing the help of a CPA.

"Leave No Trace" is a principle that campers follow, and so does Bigfoot.  Renee Raney, District Manager and Education Coordinator for Alabama State Parks, talks with Carolyn Hutcheson, In Focus host, about those principles in the context of Cheaha State Park's Peace, Love and Bigfoot Weekend planned for Feb. 19-20.

Rural Alabamians are at a disadvantage because of a lack of Broadband access. Judson Edwards, Dean of the Troy University Sorrell College of Business, talks with Carolyn Hutcheson, In Focus host, about plans by the State of Alabama for broadband expansion into rural areas. 

Judson Edwards is host of the new podcast, The Double Dome.