‘TELL IT LIKE IT IS’ Surpasses 2 Million All-Time Views, Marking Major Digital Milestone

WTLS Radio’s news and public-affairs platform reaches 2,000,601 all-time views as its audience continues to grow across news, politics, community affairs, sports and original commentary.

TALLASSEE, Ala. | 'TELL IT LIKE IT IS', the news, public-affairs and digital media platform associated with WTLS Radio, has officially surpassed 2 million all-time views, reaching 2,000,601 views and marking a significant milestone in the program’s continued digital growth.

The achievement represents more than a number. It reflects an expanding audience that has turned to 'TELL IT LIKE IT IS' for coverage and discussion of local and national news, government and politics, military and veterans affairs, sports, aviation, entertainment, and issues affecting communities across Alabama and beyond.

Marine One Radio Breakdown Preceded Reagan Airport Safety Incident, NTSB Says

Presidential helicopter crew attempted to provide required departure notice, but communications failures left controllers unaware as a passenger jet departed nearby.

WASHINGTON | A communications breakdown prevented the flight crew of Marine One from successfully notifying air traffic controllers before departing with President Donald Trump aboard, contributing to an Aug. 4 loss-of-separation incident near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, according to federal investigators.

The National Transportation Safety Board said the military helicopter crew attempted at least twice to provide the required three-minute notice before departure. Those calls, however, did not reach controllers responsible for coordinating traffic around the airport.

Without receiving the notice, controllers allowed a commercial passenger jet to depart Reagan National as Marine One entered the surrounding airspace. Commercial aircraft operations are normally paused during presidential helicopter movements to maintain required separation and reduce the risk of conflicting flight paths.

The incident did not result in a collision or reported injuries, but it renewed concerns about air traffic control communications and the coordination of military and civilian aircraft in some of the nation’s most congested and highly restricted airspace.

Investigators determined that Marine One and the regional passenger jet came within approximately 0.8 miles horizontally and 700 feet vertically. Although federal officials said President Trump was never in immediate danger, the aircraft were closer than the prescribed separation standard. Associated Press

Iran War Tests the Conscience of U.S. Troops as Some Question Missions, Civilian Harm

Service members describe a growing moral struggle over targeting decisions, civilian casualties and the purpose of the conflict, while groups assisting conscientious objectors report a sharp rise in troops seeking to leave military service.

WASHINGTON | Nearly six months into the U.S. war with Iran, a deeply personal challenge is emerging among some of the American troops carrying out the mission: whether the operations they have been ordered to support remain consistent with the moral and ethical principles that led them to serve.

New reporting published Aug. 26 describes five U.S. service members who said their recent experiences involving military operations against Iran and suspected drug traffickers have challenged their moral beliefs. Their concerns range from the destruction of infrastructure they questioned as legitimate military targets to civilian casualties and uncertainty about the intelligence used to authorize lethal strikes.

The accounts do not establish widespread opposition throughout the armed forces, nor do they necessarily indicate that the missions described were unlawful. But they highlight a difficult issue for military commanders during a prolonged conflict: what happens when troops begin to question not simply the risks of combat but whether their own participation can be reconciled with their conscience.

The NRSC’s Weak Ties Between Brown and Deadly Interstate Crash in Ohio

In the Ohio Senate race, a Republican ad blames former Sen. Sherrod Brown for a deadly crash in April on an Ohio interstate in which an immigrant was charged with vehicular homicide. But there’s no evidence of any tie between Brown’s votes on immigration, as the ad suggests, and the suspect in this incident.

“Because of him, Ohioans paid the price,” the ad, from the National Republican Senatorial Committee, claims, referring to Brown, who was elected to the U.S. House in 1993 and then served in the Senate from 2007 to 2025. Brown is challenging Republican Sen. Jon Husted in the toss-up race.

We’ve seen campaign ads in the past trying to tie a deadly incident to the policies of a politician. But the links can be tenuous, at best, as is the case here. Most of the votes the NRSC cites didn’t make a difference in terms of whether legislation was ultimately enacted, and it’s hard to know how the bills would’ve affected this particular case.

Trump’s ‘No Tax on Tips’ Claim Doesn’t Add Up

The White House has provided no federal data to support President Donald Trump’s claims that because of his “no tax on tips” policy, “440,000 tipped workers” in Nevada “saved an average of $10,000 on their taxes,” and “130,000 tipped workers” in Georgia “saved an average of more than $7,000 on their taxes.”

Instead of actual tax savings, the president may have been referring to the average amount some workers in those states were able to deduct from their federal taxable income in 2025. The actual savings would be a fraction of that, depending on a person’s tax rate.

The president also may be exaggerating the number of Nevadans and Georgians who were able to claim a tips deduction.

Trump talked about the savings for tipped workers in Nevada during an economic speech at the Red Rock Casino Resort and Spa in Las Vegas on Aug. 5.

“This past filing season, 440,000 tipped workers right here in Nevada saved an average of $10,000 on their taxes,” he said. “Think of that, just on the no tax on tips. So, that means every worker saved — this is put out by the government, check it out. … They say, ‘Oh, it wasn’t $10,000. It was $9,912.’ Think of it, every worker made $10,000 more money. That’s all because of the fact that I said I was going to do it and I got it done.”

He made a similar claim in a July 22 speech in Georgia, in which he said, “This past filing season, 130,000 tipped workers right here in Georgia saved an average of more than $7,000 on their taxes. And that’s because of no tax on tips.”

Dolly Parton, Country Music Icon and Global Entertainment Legend, Dies at 80

The singer-songwriter behind “Jolene,” “9 to 5” and “I Will Always Love You” built a seven-decade career spanning country, pop, Hollywood, television, business and philanthropy — becoming one of America’s most enduring cultural figures.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. | Aug. 25, 2026 | Dolly Parton, the rhinestone-clad singer, songwriter, actress, entrepreneur and philanthropist whose extraordinary journey from rural Tennessee poverty to international superstardom made her one of the most recognizable entertainers in American history, has died. She was 80.

Parton died peacefully Tuesday in Nashville, according to a statement from her family. Her nephew Bryan Seaver announced her death in a video shared through Parton’s official social-media account on behalf of the Parton and Owens families. A cause of death was not immediately disclosed.

The announcement brought to a close a remarkable seven-decade career that stretched far beyond country music. Parton became a crossover recording star, Hollywood actress, television personality, producer, businesswoman and philanthropist while maintaining an image and public persona that were unmistakably her own.

Her family remembered a woman whose influence extended well beyond the stage.

“A rhinestone life that shone bright enough for the world to see, Dolly will forever stand as an inspiration not only through her timeless music and prolific songwriting, but also her wit, warmth, and kindness that made us all feel like family,” the family's obituary said.

Parton leaves behind a catalog that became part of the American songbook: “Jolene,” “Coat of Many Colors,” “9 to 5,” “Here You Come Again,” “Islands in the Stream,” and perhaps most significantly, “I Will Always Love You.”

But her legacy cannot be measured by hit records alone.

From Dollywood and Hollywood to children's literacy programs and international stages, Parton transformed celebrity into an unusually durable cultural institution.

Kennedy Distorts Stat in Celebrating Obesity Drop

In recent public appearances, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has said obesity dropped 3% “in the last year” and suggested the Trump administration deserves at least some of the credit. One poll shows obesity falling by about that much — but the decline happened over several years and began well before President Donald Trump’s current term.

And there’s little evidence it’s because of Kennedy’s focus on chronic disease prevention or his push to get Americans to eat better, experts told us.

According to Gallup polling, the rate of obesity among U.S. adults peaked in 2022 and has fallen every year since. The decline started during the Biden administration and has continued under Trump.

Experts also told us that, if obesity is declining, there’s little evidence it’s due to changes in diet or lifestyle. Some said it may be related to a factor Kennedy isn’t highlighting — the rise of new GLP-1 weight loss drugs.

Kennedy — who has made eating “real foods” a core part of his Make America Healthy Again movement and sometimes disparaged GLP-1 drugs in recent years — has trumpeted the purported decline in obesity several times in recent months.

“This year, obesity rates dropped in this country, for the first time in 40 years, by about 3%,” Kennedy said during an Aug. 24 event on childhood nutrition. “Consumption of real foods went up by 7 to 10% this year. And there are many, many other indicia [that] show that what we’re doing is actually working.”

He referenced the same stat while speaking at a community health center in California on Aug. 13.

Trump’s Misleading Crime Drop Claims

In announcing the latest FBI annual report on nationwide crime, President Donald Trump wrongly cast the decline in crime in 2025 as a dramatic turnaround and made misleading claims about the impact of his administration’s policies.

Speaking to an audience of law enforcement officers at the Nassau County police academy on Aug. 14, Trump said that his speech was meant to “celebrate the historic progress our administration is making together with law enforcement partners nationwide to restore law and order in America.” The FBI that day released data collected from local law enforcement agencies showing that both violent and property crime nationwide declined from 2024 to 2025, with the largest one-year drops in the violent crime and murder rates since the FBI began publishing these estimates in 1936.

The president accurately cited those large one-year reductions, but he ran afoul of the facts and available evidence in taking credit for them:

• Trump claimed that the decline happened “because of what the federal government’s doing.” Criminology experts say there are many plausible factors and the exact reasons are unclear.
• He claimed that the U.S. experienced “a horrible four years” of violent crime during the Biden administration. But violent crime fell during the second half of Biden’s presidency and was lower in the last year of Joe Biden’s term compared with Trump’s final year in office.
• Trump vastly overstated the decline in crime since his deployment of National Guard troops in Washington, D.C., Memphis and New Orleans, citing 70% or 80% reductions that don’t match up with police data. Experts also say the troops aren’t the primary reason for crime dropping in those cities.
• The president suggested that an executive order he signed upon taking office in 2025 contributed to a significant decline in police officers dying in the line of duty that year. However, the law enforcement organization that keeps records of such deaths said the decrease was “likely” due to other factors.

Trump’s speech embracing the FBI’s report for 2025 is noteworthy because he previously disparaged the FBI reports as “fake,” “phony,” and “a fraud” when they showed a decline in crime under Biden.

RFK Jr. Falsely Claims New Evidence Supports Splitting MMR Vaccine

Following an executive order that called for breaking up the combination measles, mumps, and rubella, or MMR, vaccine, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said that a “recent” study “just came out” that “very strongly supports” the idea. But there’s no evidence of any such credible study, past or present.

In a CNN interview that aired on Aug. 15, Kennedy defended President Donald Trump’s Aug. 10 executive order on childhood vaccines, which, among other things, asked officials to begin pursuing a way to offer single-disease shots. Those vaccines have not been available in the U.S. for nearly two decades. The combination MMR vaccine has been in use for more than 40 years.

The order did not present a scientific reason to split up the shot, but while signing the document, Trump falsely claimed that in contrast to single vaccines, the combination shot is “quite lethal” and that breaking it up “will have a huge impact on autism.” 

The president doubled down the next day, claiming that given separately, the MMR is “fine,” but when combined, the vaccine is “sort of like a nuclear weapon, according to some.”

In the CNN interview, after the host noted that the current Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s website says there is no evidence showing a benefit to separating out the MMR vaccine, he asked Kennedy who was right — Trump or the CDC.

Kennedy replied that the CDC website “probably is outdated.”

CENTCOM Official Referenced a Secret List of Journalists to “Disregard”; Command Denies Blacklist

The reported exchange intensifies scrutiny of Pentagon media policies as press-freedom advocates question whether military officials are selectively withholding information from critical reporters.

WASHINGTON | U.S. Central Command is facing new questions about its treatment of journalists after a public-affairs employee reportedly warned an investigative reporter that he could be placed on an internal “list of people to disregard.”

The disclosure was reported by The Intercept, which said Richard Allee, identified as an executive assistant in CENTCOM’s public-affairs office, acknowledged the existence of the list during a contentious telephone exchange. CENTCOM subsequently denied maintaining a journalist “blacklist,” leaving conflicting accounts about whether the command formally tracks reporters whose questions or calls officials intend to ignore.

According to The Intercept’s account, Allee warned reporter Nick Turse that repeatedly contacting the command could result in his being added to a “list of people to disregard.” When Turse asked whether such a list existed, Allee reportedly answered affirmatively but declined to identify the journalists or news organizations included.

“It’s not a list that we publicize,” Allee reportedly said.

CENTCOM later disputed that characterization in a written response, stating that the command does not maintain a “blacklist.” The command’s response did not fully explain what Allee meant, whether an informal do-not-engage directory exists or whether personnel receive instructions to avoid responding to particular journalists.

The competing statements raise broader questions about transparency, press access and the military’s responsibility to respond equitably to legitimate news inquiries—particularly during wartime.

Navy Orders Personnel and Families to Scrub Social Media as ‘Epic Vigilance’ Threat Warning Takes Effect

Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao directs Sailors, Marines, reservists, civilian employees and military families to hide Department of the Navy ties amid doxing, drone surveillance, cyber threats and suspected physical-security probes.

WASHINGTON | The Department of the Navy has issued an urgent force-protection warning directing personnel and their families to review social media accounts, restrict public access and remove information that could expose their military connections or daily routines.

The Aug. 19 message, titled “Epic Vigilance: Immediate Actions for Force Protection and Personal Security,” describes what Navy leaders characterize as a coordinated, multidomain threat campaign targeting Department of the Navy personnel, installations, warships, aircraft and families.

Released as ALNAV 050/26 by Acting Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao, the directive applies broadly to Sailors, Marines, reservists, civilian employees and family members. It warns of online harassment, doxing, uncrewed aircraft surveillance, suspicious activity near installations, attempted physical-security breaches and campaigns intended to test the endurance of security forces.

The Navy’s central message is direct: Personnel and their families should assume that adversaries are collecting publicly available information and combining seemingly harmless details to identify military affiliations, movements and vulnerabilities.

“Adversaries are actively mining this data,” the notice states.

The official ALNAV 050/26 force-protection message does not identify a single triggering incident or name the foreign governments, extremist organizations or individual actors believed to be responsible. Instead, it describes a pattern of activity that naval leaders say has intensified since the beginning of Operation Epic Fury.