Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce

If I were to say the words “Do’h!” or “excellent,” or “okely, dokely, neighborino!” You know what I'm talking about, right? Of course, it's “The Simpsons,” good for you. Now, longtime viewers of that show know this, but for that one person out there who doesn't…“The Simpsons” is a spin-off. Back when Fox was just getting going, one of the programs they offered was “The Tracy Ullman Show.” And “The Tracy Ullman Show” had these little animated vignettes featuring Bart, Lisa, Homer. and Marge, and the rest is history. Emmy award-winning actor Carrie Preston knows a little bit about spin-offs.

If I were to say the words “Do’h!” or “excellent,” or “okely, dokely, neighborino!” You know what I'm talking about, right? Of course, it's “The Simpsons,” good for you. Now, longtime viewers of that show know this, but for that one person out there who doesn't…“The Simpsons” is a spin-off. Back when Fox was just getting going, one of the programs they offered was “The Tracy Ullman Show.” And “The Tracy Ullman Show” had these little animated vignettes featuring Bart, Lisa, Homer. and Marge, and the rest is history. Emmy award-winning actor Carrie Preston knows a little bit about spin-offs. She played Ophelia in the Alabama Shakespeare Festival's production of “Hamlet” back in 1994. But, she's come a long way since then. Arguably, you could say her big break was playing Elsbeth Tascioni in the CBS series “The Good Wife” and "The Good Fight." That's where she got her Emmy for Best Guest Performer. But now, she's the star of the spin-off series, "Elsbeth." We'll talk to her about her days in Alabama and more coming up on APR notebook.

A second person has been charged with murder in connection with a shooting that killed two people and injured 12 others in a crowded downtown nightlife district in Alabama’s capital city in early October, police said. Montgomery police announced that Dantavious McGhee, 19, was arrested a day earlier and charged with one count of capital murder, nine counts of assault in the first degree and three counts of assault in the second degree.

For the first time in 108 years, Chris’ Hot Dogs is reportedly changing hands. The owners of the Montgomery eatery confirmed the sale in a Facebook post over the weekend. The restaurant with its distinctive green awning has a client list that includes Doctor Martin Luther King, junior, country music legend Hank Williams, and writer F. Scott Fitzgerald.

A juvenile male was arrested Friday for his part in a shooting that killed two people and injured 12 others in a crowded downtown nightlife district in Alabama’s capital city this past weekend, police said. Montgomery police announced that the boy has been charged with capital murder and 12 counts of assault. His name wasn't immediately released.

The winners of the 2025 Primetime Emmy Awards are set to be announced this Sunday. One category that’s getting attention this year is for “guest performer” in a comedy. The program “The Studio’ with Seth Rogen, includes guest nominations for Ron Howard, Martin Scorsese, Dave Franco, Anthony Mackie and Zoë Kravitz. Taking home “Emmy gold” in a guest category is familiar for one actor who performed in one play for the Alabama Shakespeare Festival, and directed another show there.

The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat is coming for the television industry. This year’s Primetime Emmy awards will be handed out this coming Sunday. Actor Michael Emerson has two of the gold statuettes. He earned his M-F-A degree from the University of Alabama while acting with the Alabama Shakespeare Festival.

The summoning to Paris of Ambassador to France Charles Kushner, following his allegations that the country had not done enough to combat antisemitism, marks his host country's formal displeasure with its top diplomat from the U.S. Kushner — the father of Jared Kushner, son-in-law to President Donald Trump — wrote a letter to French President Emmanuel Macron alleging the country did not do enough to combat antisemitism. It’s a far cry from Kushner’s time in an Alabama prison.

The Alabama Public Radio news team is known for its major journalism investigations. We've been doing them for over a decade. Our most recent national award winning effort was an eight month investigation into Alabama's new U.S. House seat in the rural Black Belt region of the state. The new voting map was ordered by the U.S. Supreme Court so Alabama would be more fair to black residents. Now, anybody who follows the news might reasonably be thinking— what? The same high court that overturned Roe versus Wade and ended affirmative action in the nation's universities told Alabama that they needed to treat black voters better. Even the plaintiffs in the legal case of Allen versus Milligan told APR news they were gobsmacked they won. The goal after that legal victory was to make sure the new minority congressional district works. The point there was to keep conservative opponents from having the excuse to try to flip the voting map back to the GOP. And that's a moving target that could change at any moment, even as we speak, the job of managing all of these issues now falls to Congressman Shomari Figures. He was elected last November as the first US House member in Alabama's redrawn District two. Shomari figures joins me next on APR Notebook.

Federal judges will weigh a request to bring Alabama back under the pre-clearance requirement of the Voting Rights Act after ruling the state intentionally diluted the voting strength of Black residents when drawing congressional lines. The three judge panel will hear arguments on July 29th over whether any future changes to the state’s voting map should be made under federal review. The current fight resulted in a redrawn District two, now held by Democrat Shomari Figures, will be the subject of tonight’s APR Notebook at 7 p.m. on Alabama Public Radio.