In Focus with Carolyn Hutcheson

A quarter century ago, the first brick dwelling in Alabama's capital city was moved for the construction of the new Federal Building.  Pat Clark, Executive Director, and Ruth Ott, Board member of the Montgomery County Historical Society, talk with Carolyn Hutcheson, In Focus host, about that event and the history of the Figh Pickett Barnes House.  

On The Exchange, with shoppers gearing up for the holiday gift-giving season, Nancy King Dennis, Director of Public Relations for the Alabama Retail Association, talks with Carolyn Hutcheson, In Focus host, about tips for safe shopping.

November is Eye Donation Month, and Kristin Beauchamp talks with Carolyn Hutcheson, In Focus host, about her beloved son, Patrick.  After serving his country in the U.S. Army, Patrick at age 25 was killed in a motorcycle accident.  On his driver license, he had registered as an organ donor, and his corneas and eye tissue were given to two recipients.  Advancing Sight Network and the Eye Bank Association of America are working to raise awareness of eye donations.

Historian and educator Dr. Wayne Flynt was a friend of acclaimed author Harper Lee during the last dozen years of her life, when he and his wife would visit her in the rehabilitation facility and assisted living. He talks with In Focus host Carolyn Hutcheson about the recollections he placed in his own book, "Afternoons with Harper Lee."

With the economy in flux, Rosemary Elebash, Executive Director of the National Federation of Independent Business, talks with Carolyn Hutcheson, In Focus host, about how Alabama's economy depends on small business owners.  This is a program for The Exchange.

Dothan's National Peanut Festival is underway, so today Dr. Edith Powell, Retired Professor of Immunology and Hematology, talks with Carolyn Hutcheson, In Focus host, about the early 20th century partnership between scientist George Washington Carver and Columbus, Ga., businessman Tom Huston.  The result was the introduction of the peanut to Southern farmers, bringing relief from the onslaught of the boll weevil and its destruction of the cotton crop.  Dr. Powell is author of the book, "More Than Peanuts, the Unlikely Partnership of Tom Huston and George Washington Carver."

Retired U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Luke Murphy of Tallahassee, Florida, talks with In Focus host Carolyn Hutcheson about his experience as a member of the 187th  Infantry Regiment during Operation Iraqi Freedom, when he was wounded.  He is the author of the book, "Blasted by Adversity, The Making of a Wounded Warrior."  He will deliver the Helen Keller Lecture at Troy University's Claudia Crosby Theater on Nov. 10th.

Alabama Securities Commission Director Joseph Borg joins In Focus host Carolyn Hutcheson on The Exchange from In Focus, to talk about student loans and debt relief.

Carole King, historic preservationist and curator at Landmarks Foundation Old Alabama Town in Montgomery, talks with Carolyn Hutcheson, In Focus host, about the Belshaw Clock, an astornomical regulator from the 1800s that was recently acquired by Landmarks Foundation.

Voters in Alabama's November 8th General Election will be faced with a ballot full of decisions about the state's future leadership and its Constitution.  Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill talks with In Focus host Carolyn Hutcheson about the ballot's proposed Amendments to the Constitution.