Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce

The nation is remembering the eighty first anniversary of the D-Day landing during World War Two today. The invasion of Europe by allied forces was supported by navy ships like the U.S.S. Nevada at Utah Beach. Military historians say one other vessel providing cover that day was the cruiser U.S.S. Tuscaloosa.

Memorial Day is next week and that means the start of Alabama’s summer tourism season. Budget cuts from the new Trump administration and beach safety may seem miles apart. But concerns are being raised about how safe Alabama’s beaches may be when visitors flock to the state’s Gulf coast. The Washington Post reports the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is scrambling to fill forecasting job ahead of the June first start of the Hurricane season. APR explains these forecasts are also for Alabama beach goers and the lifeguards that look after them

The retired luxury liner the SS United States may be the rustiest ship in the Port of Mobile. But she’s also having a moment as the belle of the ball – generating lots of attention from both locals and visitors. The iconic ship is in port so crews can ready it for its final resting place off the Florida panhandle where the United States will be sunk as an artificial reef. APR joined a Mobile River cruise to find out why so many are suddenly drawn to the United States’ last hoorah.

Alabama’s Catholic community is celebrating the selection of Pope Leo the fourteenth. But, it was another Pope Leo who made a substantial impact on the state. The website Encyclopedia of Alabama says it was Pope Leo the twelfth who helped spread Catholicism in the state in 1825.

Alabama Public Radio newsroom student intern Barry Carmichael recently reported on a bill before the state legislature that would widen the incentives to bring entertainment projects to Alabama. That list of films also feature “The Life of Chuck,” based on a novel by Stephen King, which was shot along the Alabama Gulf coast. That includes a tie-in to “Star Wars” and the observance of Sunday's “May the 4th Be With You” Day, which is followed by Monday's "Revenge of the 5th." Both are a play on words related to the Sci Fi film classic series.

Labor leaders, politicians and civil rights activists are mourning the death of Mobile, Alabama native Alexis Herman, the first Black U.S. Secretary of Labor and a fierce advocate for workplace equality. She died last week at the age of 77.

Rail passengers can soon buy tickets to ride Amtrak between Mobile and New Orleans. The service announced the resumption of travel between the two cities for the first time since Hurricane Katrina halted Amtrak’s route along the Alabama Gulf coast back in August of 2005.

A Mobile, Alabama woman and toddler whose remains were discovered scattered along an oceanfront highway not far from the victims of Long Island's infamous Gilgo Beach killings. The two were identified Wednesday as a U.S. Army veteran from Alabama and her daughter.

We’ve all heard of dogs sniffing for bombs or drugs. But what about sniffing for bacteria? APR headed to south Alabama where an environmental group is training man’s best friend to find untreated wastewater in local rivers and streams.

African American church leaders are speaking out over budget cuts being proposed by the Trump White House. The Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African American History and Culture features artifacts from, and has sponsored research into, the slave ship Clotilda. The double masted schooner carried the last kidnapped Africans to be held as slaves at the time of the U.S. Civil War.