August 14, 2025 • 38 mins
American Federation of Government Employees Local 420 President Justin Tarovisky on dangerous drugs at FCI Hazelton and how he believes they are getting in.
The Principal of the West Virginia Academy Holly Honeycutt on their operations for the upcoming year.
Ethan Moore on the Clay District Fair
The Principal of the West Virginia Academy Holly Honeycutt on their operations for the upcoming year.
Ethan Moore on the Clay District Fair
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
This is the Talk of the Town from Morgantown to Klucksburg.
If it's happening, we're talking about it. Call the show
toll free at one eight hundred seven sixty five eight
two fivey five. Now Here is your host for the
Talk of the Town, Mike notlting Well.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Good Tuesday morning.
Speaker 3 (00:28):
It is nine oh six, fair skies and seventy seven
degrees in the University City Metro Newsaki Weather says sunny
and warm today, high near ninety degrees. Couple of incidents
to tell you about on the Morgantown area roadways as
we start the program this morning. An incident is under
(00:48):
investigation a tyrone road in the Old Cheat Road looks
like a vehicle crash. There also another minor crash. It
would appear to be at the intersection of one nineteen
and West Run Road, So keep that in mind throughout
your travels here this morning. This is Talk at the Town,
(01:09):
your program where we highlight you, your family the things
that are important to them. This morning, we're going to
be speaking with Justin Torovisky. He's a guard at the
Hazelton Prison. We're going to talk about the recent exposures
to car Fentanahl in the secure women's unit there. Then
at nine thirty classes, Well, they're already underway at the
(01:32):
West Virginia Academy. We've got board member Holly Honeycutt coming
on and we're talk a little bit about how things
are going over at the West Virginia Academy. Of course,
the brick and mortar Charter School here in the city
of Morgantown, the first one in the state, by the way,
and the Clay District Fair gets underway later this week.
(01:52):
Will welcome Ethan More to the program and we'll hear
more about their famous pies and the eat stand that
will be operational later on in the week. Let's take
a look at a couple of headlines. Well, let's see
the Metro News Radio network turns forty years old today.
Happy Kerchievell delivered the first newscast across the statewide satellite
(02:17):
network back on August the twelfth of nineteen eighty five.
You can read more about the anniversary at wvmetronews dot com.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
Just before eleven am on Monday.
Speaker 3 (02:32):
There was an explosion at the US Steel Coking plant
in Clareton. Two are confirmed deceased. Ten more hurt Following
that explosion just outside of Pittsburgh along the Mond River.
One worker was found alive in the rubble hours after
the blast was reported. That was again just before eleven
o'clock on Monday morning. That investigation is ongoing. State officials
(02:58):
have confirmed a fatality from a Saturday afternoon fire in Mountclair.
Additional details are expected to be released later this morning.
On two occasions in the last week, three guards at
the Secure Women's Unit at FCI Hazelton have been treated
for an exposure to carfentanahl the corrections officers three in
(03:21):
total have been treated now carfentanol has an official use
as a tranquilizer for elephants. Guard just Torrevisky, he's the
president of the American Federation of Government Employees at Local
four twenty's going to join us in just a few
minutes to provide us with an update on that situation.
(03:41):
Rich Rodrigez talks about his quarterback room and a story
at wv metronews dot com and the importance of that.
Mountaineers will entertain Robert Morris in Morgantown on August thirtieth.
That will be contest one of the Rich Rodriguez two
point oh era. If you go out to wv metronews
(04:04):
dot com, Dave Wilson has a commentary out there about.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
The moral proposal. I urge you to take a look
at that.
Speaker 3 (04:11):
He talks about how West Virginia is somewhat of an afterthought,
and if I pick up what Dave is trying to
put down here, I believe what he's trying to say
is that it's time for West Virginia to stand up
and maybe try to bring some of these industries into
the state rather than wait to be.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
Prey or victim.
Speaker 3 (04:32):
However you would want to look at it, wait to
be the I guess the alley way for this economic
development rather than the home for it. That commentary is
at wvmetronews dot com.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
You ought to check that out.
Speaker 3 (04:48):
Right now, Fair Skies and seventy seven degrees in the
University City. When we come back, we're going to learn
more about what's going on over at FCI Hazleton. I'm
going to do that with the president of a FGE
Local four to twenty, Justin Tarowski. It's coming up next
on AM fourteen forty FM one oh four point five
w A j.
Speaker 4 (05:08):
U join the conversation at one eight hundred seven sixty
five eight two fivey five. This is the talk of
the town.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
Good Tuesday morning. It is nine fifteen.
Speaker 3 (05:33):
Things over at the Federal Correctional Institution, Hazelton over in
the last week they've had some issues over in the
secure women's unit. On the phone, we've got the president
of AFGE Local four to twenty, Justin Tarowski, justin, Good morning, sir,
how are you.
Speaker 5 (05:53):
I'm brave, my brother trying to stay cool in this weather.
It's great to hear from you.
Speaker 4 (05:56):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (05:56):
Absolutely, Well, you know what, first off, thank you for
your service us and bring us up to speed. What's
been going on over there maybe over the last ten
days or so.
Speaker 5 (06:08):
Well, it's just not really been the last ten days,
but it's been highlighted by you know, calling the hazmat
team out the last two times, which was last Wednesday,
two of our officers works post to a drug called
carpetent carpetanol and also one over the weekend on Saturday
at the secure female facility. And it only highlights at
(06:29):
at a large complex like Hazelton, in the Federal Bureau
of Prisons, which is across the entire country. The immediate
as we face with the drug trade, and right now
it's a lot of it's coming through the mail, and
a lot of you guys might ask, well, how the
heck is it coming in through the mail? Well, right now,
we're limited in our capacity on stopping legal mail. That
(06:51):
means legal mail it comes from law offices or courts
or whatever else. And what they're doing right now is
they're really soaking a lot of these drugs into legal now,
which we are not able to take or search too
well because of the legal rights of what inhabits that
and a lot of it is getting circumvented through this process.
A lot of these inmates know that, and they're taking
(07:12):
advantage of it. And the only way to put a
stop to this is through our law makers, which is
you know, Ursus Capital Justice and Riley Moore. And then
you know, you have the state of Pennsylvania, which we
have a lot of officers to come from Uniontown area,
and also the state of Maryland. So again this has
been a this has been a problem over the last
year dating back to Mark Fisher, who is a Proational
(07:34):
Services officer out of United States Penitentiary Victorville in California,
who died from the same type of exposure, So this
hasn't been a you know, not a glaring effect for
people to know about. It's something that needs to be
acted on immediately and stopped because it's a serious problem
with these drugs coming through the legal capabilities.
Speaker 3 (07:53):
And now justin Tarvinsky's with a season guard out at
f C Hazelton. Definitely want to get into the problem
a little bit deeper. But first though, how are the
correctional officers, those three officers, how are they doing.
Speaker 5 (08:09):
They were amused, immediately released after the hospital. They checked
them and they checked on our vitals and they were okay.
On what last Wednesday, and then again on over the
weekend on Saturday, the ward and at the time did
the right thing and locked the institution down, and we're
going to take steps to try to get all those
drugs off of the yard on the secure female facility.
(08:33):
I can't say enough about the hazmat team and the
first responders that came to Hazelton and worked with our staff,
because they did an amazing job trying to, you know,
make sure anybody that was exposed or could have been
exposed was treated properly. So I can't say enough sperlatives
about the response time and those teams and live especially
the firefighters in the MS that responded to the Hazelton
(08:55):
to help us out without that.
Speaker 3 (08:56):
Now, when we get down into the meat of the problem,
justin you know, attorneys are considered officers of the court.
You refer to this as legal mails. So I guess
there has to be maybe some collusion or something going
on between the attorney and the inmate.
Speaker 2 (09:14):
Am I reading that part right?
Speaker 5 (09:16):
Yeah? A lot of times it could be you, or
a lot of times it could be you know, attorneys
are just you know, someone says, oh, we need to
get these legal docs, and you know they're paying a
fee for them to send it to them, and they're
oblivious to that. But again, as you know, Mike, I mean,
regardless of either of these situations, we can stop it. Again.
If I go to the bank just and it is
an illegal issue. If I go to the bank just
(09:38):
to get a loan, don't I don't sign papers and
sit there for five hours anymore. I get it sent
to my email, I get it sent to a secure box.
Everything's done through my tablet, my cell phone, my laptop,
and I'm sure here's as well, and even if I
get a lawyer for something legal, that's all it's all done.
And to see that we're in a twenty century right
(10:00):
now and these capabilities aren't being utilized and shutting down
something that we could really control and it could save lives.
It's oblivious to me why these things aren't happening, you know,
within our lawmakers and the Bureau of Prisons who sometimes
are behind the times on getting things done. So again,
as the Union is always going to say, we want
(10:22):
it safer, insecure for our officers and the people we represent,
this is an easy fix that we can shut this
down and these and then we're not gonna be violating
their rights. They could still get their their stuff because
they have computers through UH through Hazelton and the secure blocks,
and they also have tablets now, so it's not something
that they we would be restricting them in their civil rights.
Speaker 2 (10:43):
Now.
Speaker 3 (10:44):
I'm not really sure what kind of relationship you've developed
with Jim Justice during his early service in the Senate,
but I do know you've got an open line of
communication with US Senator Shelley Moore Capital, so I would
think that you know the path is already they kind
of created for you to approach her with this situation.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
Is that not true?
Speaker 5 (11:06):
Yeah, I mean we've been trying to work with our
representatives for a while on the subjects. Again, like a
lot of things sometimes get lost in the sauce, and unfortunately,
like I said, I don't want to say that something
has to happen at Hazelton, which I don't have hope.
So but I mean, that's what happened in Victorville last
year and an officer was killed, and that was that's
one of our sister complexes, as you could say, they're
(11:27):
they're Hazelton out in California. So someone's already died out
there from this. And again we haven't stopped the legal
mail from coming in. So here we are almost a
year later and we're still talking about the same thing.
Speaker 3 (11:39):
So so it sounds like it sounds like you're telling
me that there you're very limited in I guess proactive
measures that you can take because of the legal.
Speaker 5 (11:49):
Absolutely, absolutely you said it better than me, Mike, and
I appreciate that. But yeah, we need our lawmakers to
come together and stop it. I mean, plain and simple,
and it shouldn't be this. This isn't brain surgery. I
mean me and you were talking about this. Flew asleep
on the phone right now. Stop the legal mail. It
could go through electronically, it could be done. Now again
like everything it's it's it's bogged down by the system
(12:11):
and everything else. But uh, you know, less hope Mike,
that one of our people from this community and around
states don't have to lose a life or even an
inmate because of this, because of the inaction of just
everybody on the front lines.
Speaker 3 (12:25):
Certainly, Now, what if anything, because we've established that that
you're very limited in terms of going through the mail,
But what other safety procedures, if any, are the officers
taking with this hazard?
Speaker 2 (12:40):
Now that's pretty prevalent.
Speaker 5 (12:43):
Well, our officers are very vision I mean again that penitentiary,
learning from up there and learning from their sci and
also the SSF that you got to have a proper
pee and you know, you know, we have it available
to our officers and if you don't have it, you know,
you don't search something that you think that could have
(13:05):
that exposure, you know, step away from it. Let's security area.
And as the hazmat team has told us, you know,
if we feel that then they'll be right on the
scene and we'll take care of it. So again we
have to be cognizant, our own officers knowing, and we
are to step away, to step away from that stuff
and make sure and also make sure you have the
pe I might be searching something and I have no
(13:28):
idea that it could be drugs until bam, it's already
open and wait a minute, now I might have been exposed.
So again, it could be in a cell, it could
be out in the Calmon area, it could be in
our mail room. Our mail room people do an amazing
job trying to stop the drug flow from getting in,
but again they're limited with some certain things which can
be stopped. So again, Mike, you bring up a good point.
Officers got to take that right step, which they do
(13:49):
ninety nine point nine percent of the time, having a
proper mask, gloves, and being vigilant on what you're opening
and what you're not and just staying in line with
the procedures with that.
Speaker 3 (14:00):
Justin Torrovisky, guard at FCI Hazelton is with us. And
now you know, when things like this happen, it doesn't
maybe do a whole lot for you to solve staffing
issues that you have when people hear about things like
this going on. But what is your current staffing situation.
Speaker 5 (14:19):
We're you know, we've gone backwards in the last few months.
Not gonna lie to you with our incentives that you know, Mansion,
Capitol and them helped us secure last year. You know,
they were taking a few months ago that we went
from twenty five percent that was cut in half, and
now we no longer have officer bonuses, you know, which
was twenty five percent, trying to be competitive with the field,
(14:42):
you know, including the Pennsylvania State Police, West Virginia State Police,
and you know, other law enforcement entities surrounding our state.
And we're currently on a hiring freeze. Mike, don't know why.
I have no clue. I've asked Capitol, I've sent emails,
I've reached out to Justice and staff and Rally Moore.
Why as the Bureau of Prisons on a hiring freeze?
No one can answer me. I don't know if it's
(15:02):
coming from the Department of Justice or the Trump administration,
but I can tell you that from the people that
say they got law enforcements back, I mean, we're on
a hiring freeze. And again I'm gonna ask that same question,
like I've been banging on the doors and our staff
up there, why are we on a hiring freeze in
the Bureau of Prisons, especially the complex late the United
(15:22):
States Penitentiary. And again we were down one hundred some
officers at this time, I believe it was about a
year ago. And you know, we got some new leadership
in there, and they've done an excellent job knocking that
number down. We got to about seventy and now we're
back over over eighty, looking to be in the nineties
range because we can't we can't continue to hire. And
(15:45):
again we lost those retention cutting half not completely, and
then we lost the high the officers, you know, the
extra hirre on bonus to get twenty five percent, so
you accompanyed the three of those things. And again right
now we're going backwards, not fulls with it. We're just stagnant,
you know what I mean. And I think I think
(16:05):
we were.
Speaker 3 (16:06):
No I think right now when we start to talk
about augmentation, I'm sure that that process is back. And
that is where mandatory or overtime and even people pulled
out of administrative areas into say the prison area. What's
the status of augmentation.
Speaker 5 (16:26):
It just kicks up in the gear even more. And
you're talking about right now, as you know, vacation time.
You know, we're over the summer too, you know, officers
and our staff get vacations just like you or anybody
else on the street. When you use your vacation. A
lot of times it's over the summer, so all our
spots are taken, people are out, and it gets even
worse and worse and worse with that, which entices officers
(16:48):
to get mandated even more and more. And as you said,
augmentation kicks in more and more and more and again,
we don't want that, you know, we don't want officers
to be working three or four shifts and row and
we don't want you know, we want to officers work
in the housing against everybody's a crushing officer first, but
I know our case managers, counselors and other facilities workers
would rather be doing their job or than sitting in
(17:10):
a block where they're not usually at you know, So
again that that that that that that hurts our safety
and security from an aspect. Yeah, do they have those
options to do, yes, but those aren't the typical easy
options to utilize you should be again pro pressing for
more staffing, and we were on that. I'm a a Lotti, Mike,
we were. We weren't want a heck of a job
getting that down from where we were last year. And
(17:31):
now we're again stuck.
Speaker 3 (17:32):
So you know, again, just a few months ago, the
federal government did announce a plan to maybe phase out
the prison camp here in Morgantown, moved some of those
people up there.
Speaker 2 (17:43):
What's the status of that plan.
Speaker 5 (17:45):
It's no longer happening. The director went to Morgantown, the
new director when Marshall, former d C here in state
of West Virginia, went and visited there, and then again
they made this statement that they are being closed down,
So more in town is good to go. Those staff
are not getting closed They're staying there. You know, I
(18:07):
didn't initially report on it to you you guys might
and everybody else because I'm not the president there. But
I will tell you for sure, officially it is not
being shut down. I don't know the bure of Prisons
with as far as the union, we were notified that
they are not being shut down. So they're good to
go now. Their staff, you know, I know a lot
of their staff they lost though, for transferring out because
they thought they were getting shut down. So that was
(18:28):
really it, really, you know, messed up some of their
lives with that. Some of them had a transfer thinking
they were going to get shut down. But again, most
of them are still there and they're happy to see
that they are not being closed.
Speaker 2 (18:41):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (18:42):
I tell you so many things. With the government, it
appears as if it is ready fire. Aim, But I
don't want to be too critical.
Speaker 5 (18:51):
No, you have a good saying there. I might have
to get that tattooed on some of our arms. You
can't be any true with that statement, but that's kind
of the life we live right now. And I'm laughing hysterically.
I'm sorry, but you couldn't have said it better with
that quote, Mike.
Speaker 3 (19:08):
Okay, Justin Tarvisky is a guard out at FCI Hazleton.
To appreciate the effort and the work that you do
for the community in the state of West Virginia. Keep
up the good work and do appreciate your time.
Speaker 5 (19:22):
Thanks again for having me on. I appreciate your listeners.
Guys are great. Thank you, Mike.
Speaker 3 (19:26):
Absolutely, you take care right now. It is fair and
seventy seven degrees in the University City, and Metro News
ACU Weather says, we actually have a pretty dog gone
good day today, although if you are one of the
folks that have to work outside or be outside a lot,
you certainly will want to be drinking plenty of water
(19:48):
with the high approaching ninety degrees. A very special day
for Metro News celebrating forty years of network news across
the Mountain state.
Speaker 1 (20:09):
Now back to the talk of the town.
Speaker 2 (20:12):
Well, good Tuesday morning.
Speaker 3 (20:13):
It is nine thirty four in the University City, and
on the phone, I've got board member of the West
Virginia Academy, Holly honeycut A. West Virginia Academy is the
first brick and mortar charter school in the state. You'll
find them online at West Virginia Academy dot org. Holly,
good morning and welcome to the program. How are you, ma'am?
Speaker 6 (20:37):
Good morning. Thank you for having me. I'm doing well.
Speaker 3 (20:40):
How are you, hey, I'm doing good. It's a pleasure
to have you on board. Now, you guys are already
in school, Yes, sir.
Speaker 6 (20:49):
We are in school. I'm currently the principal of West
Virginia Academy This is my third year and we started
school yesterday. Yesterday was our first day. It was a
resounding success.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
Well that's great to hear.
Speaker 3 (21:04):
Now, how many students do you have and how glad
were they to get back into classroom.
Speaker 6 (21:10):
Well, we're currently sitting at an enrollment about two hundred
and eighty students, that is pre K through twelfth grade.
We will actually be having our first graduating class this year.
I know that we as a staff, we're so excited
to see all of the students walk through the door. Yesterday.
Some of the kids just ran right through those doors
(21:31):
as if they never really even went home for the summer.
And then of course you had those little sleepy heads
that didn't want to, you know, come in the normal
you know, stragglers. But I'm telling you, it was such
a wonderful day. Our students just are the best. Our
families are amazing. You know, it's all about school choice.
(21:53):
Our families choose to bring their kids here. This is
our fourth year and I'm telling you every year are
just keeps growing and growing.
Speaker 3 (22:02):
You know, Holly, address your staffing situation, because like in
any industry, there is a lot of competition for good people,
and I think that you've experienced that competition as well.
Speaker 6 (22:17):
Absolutely. Yeah, we definitely always are looking for, you know,
qualified leaders to teach our scholars. So staffing can always
be a tricky thing, you know, I don't think it's
just in you know, the typical public schools. Staffing around
the world can be a challenge. But we are currently
(22:40):
just have we have one open position right now that
we're interviewing for and then once we hire that person,
we are we're fully staffed and ready to go.
Speaker 3 (22:49):
Principle of the West Virginia Academy, Holly Honeycut is with us.
Speaker 2 (22:53):
And now, Holly, I guess help us.
Speaker 3 (22:56):
Understand as you work your way through through this term
and with some of the changes in vaccine rules, how
does that change your job?
Speaker 6 (23:07):
So it doesn't really change our job, you know, we
are we're mandated to follow what is set forth by
the PCSB. So what what our requirements are are is
that students have to have a proof of required vaccines
to enroll. But if they have an exemption letter from
(23:28):
the West Virginia Bureau of Public Health, if they give
that letter to us, they are allowed to be admitted
into school.
Speaker 3 (23:37):
Okay, Now, there is some change in the air at
the West Virginia Academy.
Speaker 2 (23:42):
What can you tell me about moving the campus.
Speaker 6 (23:46):
That's a pretty exciting topic. So we are looking, you know,
breaking ground soon on our new campus, which is going
to be out on the backside of falling Water, so
it's going to be ready just a couple of years.
A new campus style environment for all of our scholars
to be able to experience that full educational day of learning.
(24:11):
And what we are all about is really bringing West
Virginia our culture, our values to all of our family
alms and to experience those types of learning situations.
Speaker 3 (24:25):
Will you then expand to two campuses and maintain the
Chestnut Ridge Road location.
Speaker 6 (24:31):
That's a good question. I would like to do that. Yes,
I don't get to make that decision, so that will
be a decision made amongst our board members as well.
But I really like it out here at the Chestnut
Ridge location. It's really centralized. A lot of families enjoy
that too. But if the enrollment shows the need for it,
it would be definitely something we would consider.
Speaker 3 (24:54):
Okay, now, speaking of enrollment, I realized classes have already started,
but how do people enroll with your institution? And is
it too late to enroll this year.
Speaker 6 (25:07):
That's a great question. No, it's not too late to enroll.
We're actually still scheduling tours. So what we do is
we ask you just to call us here at the school,
go on our website West Virginia Academy dot org, and
just call for a tour. And we love bringing the
families on campus showing them what we're about. What makes
(25:29):
us so unique, and those are you know, our STEPS program,
which is STEP stands for Supplemental Tiered Education Program for Success.
So what sets us apart from the traditional public schools
is kindergarten through sixth grade. We're able to teach our
students at their level several different times throughout the day,
(25:49):
so English, math, writing, we're able to kind of work
with them at their ability level, but then still throughout
the rest of the day they're learning grade level matie,
so the gap does not grow. We also are known
for our school wide expectations. We use a program called CHAMPS,
so this is a school wide initiative, so we teach
(26:11):
our children what the expectations are and then we practice
all throughout the year and we have experiential learning days
on Fridays, so Monday through Thursday, we're bell to bell learning,
but Friday is our experiential learning day. It's we put
into practice what we've learned all week, and then throughout
the year, all of our students go on four field
(26:32):
trips because we like to get, you know, take what
we're learning in the classroom and then put it into
action throughout the community. We also do a lot of
service learning at our school as well.
Speaker 3 (26:42):
One thing I've had the opportunity to take a tour
of your school and one of the things that I
found very very interesting that I'd like for you to
share with the audience is the way music is taught
at the West Virginia Academy.
Speaker 6 (27:00):
Known for our music program. So we have some wonderful
professors on staff. We call our teachers professors, we call
our students scholars. We kind of just take that bar
and we raise it. So the way that music is
taught at our school is we have several different classes.
We have a choir class, we have orchestra, we have
garage band which is really neat, and then we are
(27:22):
also doing like an Appalachian music class as well with
some of our students this year, so they get to
get in there, they have the instruments they're learning, they
get to play and perform for our families during our
culminating events, so it's really like an immersive experience for them.
Speaker 3 (27:42):
Well, Holly, you keep up the great work and such
a pleasure to talk with you. I guess when is
your first break of the year.
Speaker 6 (27:51):
Our first break's going to come at the end of September.
Of course, we have, you know, the Labor day off,
but we kind of run a nine week schedule, nine
weeks on, two weeks off, and then we offer really
a wonderful break programming classes. So towards the end of September,
we will be off for really the first two weeks
(28:13):
of October and then back into school and ready to
go again. So we just encourage anybody to come over,
take a tour, you know, learn learn all about us.
We have a brand new executive director this year, Jason Pauley.
He's wonderful, so we we invite everyone to come over
and just get involved.
Speaker 3 (28:33):
You could take a look at him online too, West
Virginia Academy dot org. Hey give us your phone number, Holly,
if you don't mind, sure, it's.
Speaker 6 (28:41):
Three oh four four four nine four three seven five.
Speaker 3 (28:45):
Okay, perfect, Holly, Thank you very much, and I'm sure
there's probably about two hundred and eighty kids wondering where
you are.
Speaker 6 (28:52):
Right now that they are. Thank you to the listeners,
and thank you so much for having me on the program.
We really appreciate eat it.
Speaker 3 (29:00):
Absolutely, it's a pleasure. Have a great day, Holly, and
thank you very much.
Speaker 2 (29:05):
Holly.
Speaker 3 (29:05):
Honeycut Principal the West Virginia Academy. Check them out online
West Virginia Academy dot org. Right now it is nine
forty four. When we come back, we're gonna be talking
about fair pies, food and more. Fair that's coming up next.
On top of the Town AM fourteen forty f M
one oh four point five waj R.
Speaker 1 (29:37):
We are talking about your town. Now back to the
talk of the town.
Speaker 3 (29:42):
Well, good Tuesday morning. The Clay District Fair. You'll find
that on day Brook Road in Fairview. It's where old
friends meet. They're going to get things going on Wednesday.
On the phone, we've got Ethan Moore with the Clay
District Fair. Good morning, Ethan, how are you.
Speaker 5 (29:59):
Morning night.
Speaker 7 (30:00):
I'm well. Thank you for having me on.
Speaker 3 (30:02):
Absolutely, it's a pleasure to have you on. Okay, so
give us the initial schedule of the fair please.
Speaker 7 (30:10):
Well, we've got four nights of family fun entertainment. We
start Tomorrow night with our parade and the official opening.
Then we've got live entertainment on the main stage. Thursday
night them and night special half off our gate price.
We've got pageantry that night with our team miss Play
District Fair and then our miss Play District Fair. Entertainment
(30:32):
that night will be Stoniker Hill and then Friday we've
got our Darkness Bake Steak Dinner starting at four pm
until we're sold out, and then we have our little
girls competing for Tiny Miss Play District, Little Miss Play
District and Junior mess Play District. That same night, we've
got a mechanical bowl, a magician on the fairgrounds and
(30:52):
then the band Recoil playing from nine to eleven. Saturday,
we're open for a full day. We've start at ten
am with the Bengas fand and our concession stand open
and we have a baby show and ride that day,
kids games, adult games, a pet ship show, hyating contests
and live entertainment that night. Our big headliner that night
is Cooky with Line Okay, very nice title artists.
Speaker 2 (31:17):
Now, what is admission, Ethan.
Speaker 7 (31:21):
Well, we're proud to say that we're one of the
most economical pairs in the region. We're still only eight
dollars to get in the fair and that includes a
ride all night risk dands for all guests. That's for
everyone for and over. If our guests are three and
under one to come on the fairgrounds, they can do
so for free. That if they want to ride, they
do have to buy the eight dollar risk damp. This year,
(31:43):
our ride company is going to have several rides that
are that are tailored towards our little guests, and so
we think there'll be several wanting to ride this year.
Speaker 2 (31:51):
So okay, it's perfect.
Speaker 3 (31:53):
Now, I know a lot of fair goers are going
to be interested in the eat stand and the burgers,
hot dogs, rolls and everything there, so tell us about that.
Speaker 5 (32:04):
Yep.
Speaker 7 (32:04):
So that's too that. You know, everybody goes to the
fair to find good fair food, and we're pretty well
known for a fair food. Hit our concession stand, or
like you said, our eat stand is people call it locally.
We've got a full menu Burger's, hot dogs, pepperoni rolls, nachos,
French fries, the star of the show in our eat
stand or our homemade pies. They're homemade by a lady
(32:27):
here in our community with a recipe that's been the
same recipe for decades on our fairgrounds. And so she
does a chocolate pie, a butterscotch pie, a lemon pie,
and a coconut cream pie. And they're just they're heavenly, hope,
I do say so myself. They bring people on the
fairgrounds but nothing else, just for the pie.
Speaker 3 (32:47):
You're choking me up with that, I would certainly agree.
Heavenly is probably a very good way to put that. Now, also,
you did bring up but they we'll have steak and
sausage sandwiches there outside of the Friday night baked steak dinner.
Speaker 7 (33:08):
Right so nightly on the fairgrounds, we've got a vender.
Their armors there have been a long time supporter of
our fair. They've been to our fair since the early sixties.
Jeff Omer and his dad were coming to our fair literally,
he remembers coming there in the ear in the sixties
of his dad. And so he brings a sausage sandwich
(33:30):
and a steak sandwich and they are a big head
on the fairgrounds every year. We're glad to have them
back and couldn't have our fare without them, it seems like.
But you're right, that's that's going to happen nightly when
our guts are open, their truck is open, and then
Friday night beginning at four pm, we do have our
baked Steak dinner, which is one of our primary fundraisers
(33:54):
who helps us raise funds to continue.
Speaker 5 (33:56):
With the fair.
Speaker 7 (33:56):
So we appreciate our community support.
Speaker 2 (33:58):
That absolutely.
Speaker 3 (34:00):
Now Ethan tell us how maybe just somebody off the
street could end up with one of those heavenly pies
in their hand. Did we lose you, Ethan? Are you there, Ethan?
(34:21):
Let's see, well I think that we lost Ethan. But nevertheless,
the Clay District Fair gets underway tomorrow with the parade,
and don't forget about those heavenly pies. And let me
tell you he is absolutely I've never had one. I've
only heard about him, but I've never heard anyone say
(34:41):
anything other than there, absolutely heavenly. And then there is
a pie eating contest on Saturday, so we definitely have
to get more information about these pies, that's for sure.
But nevertheless, Clay District Fair, it's where old friends meet.
They'll get things started tomorrow with the parade lineup that'll
(35:05):
start at five thirty and then the parade we'll kick
off at six thirty. Right now, fair skies and seventy
seven degrees in the University City Metro new Zaki weather says,
sonny and a warm one a high near ninety today,
So keep that in mind and stay hydrated and maybe
(35:28):
even inside if you can.
Speaker 2 (35:30):
Coming up next, we'll be back.
Speaker 3 (35:32):
To wrap things up on Top of the Town AM
fourteen forty FM oneh four point five WAJR.
Speaker 4 (35:54):
Join the conversation at one eight hundred and seven sixty
five eight two fivey five. This is the talk of
the town.
Speaker 3 (36:00):
It's a very special day across the Metro News Radio network.
We are turning forty years old today the Statewide News
Network and coming up Metro News talk Line, they're going
to take a little bit of time to talk about
that fortieth anniversary and a couple of voices that you
might recognize. As a matter of fact, you might want
(36:22):
to tune in at about ten forty five when Kay Murray,
the former host of Morgantown AM for runner of this program,
will spend some time on Metro News talk Line to
talk about the very beginnings of Metro News. I'm not
going to spoil anything, but as I understand it, Kay
(36:43):
has seen it and written about it, and she's now
going to tell us about it. Then, coming up at
eleven thirty, retired Metro News president Dale Miller will come
to the program and talk about forty years of broadcasting
and news excellence across the Mountain State. Certainly a huge
(37:05):
day for Metro News. There's more out at wvmetronews dot
com for you to take a look at and perus.
But it was on this day back in nineteen eighty
five that the Metro News Network began a network of
satellites to connect the entire state to the news radio network.
(37:30):
Certainly a big day for Metro News. So once again,
Kay Murray, she'll join the program at ten forty five,
and Dale Miller, retired Metro News president, he'll join the
program at eleven thirty three. Make it a great Tuesday.
Metro News talk Line coming up next,
This is the Talk of the Town from Morgantown to Klucksburg.
If it's happening, we're talking about it. Call the show
toll free at one eight hundred seven sixty five eight
two fivey five. Now Here is your host for the
Talk of the Town, Mike notlting Well.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Good Tuesday morning.
Speaker 3 (00:28):
It is nine oh six, fair skies and seventy seven
degrees in the University City Metro Newsaki Weather says sunny
and warm today, high near ninety degrees. Couple of incidents
to tell you about on the Morgantown area roadways as
we start the program this morning. An incident is under
(00:48):
investigation a tyrone road in the Old Cheat Road looks
like a vehicle crash. There also another minor crash. It
would appear to be at the intersection of one nineteen
and West Run Road, So keep that in mind throughout
your travels here this morning. This is Talk at the Town,
(01:09):
your program where we highlight you, your family the things
that are important to them. This morning, we're going to
be speaking with Justin Torovisky. He's a guard at the
Hazelton Prison. We're going to talk about the recent exposures
to car Fentanahl in the secure women's unit there. Then
at nine thirty classes, Well, they're already underway at the
(01:32):
West Virginia Academy. We've got board member Holly Honeycutt coming
on and we're talk a little bit about how things
are going over at the West Virginia Academy. Of course,
the brick and mortar Charter School here in the city
of Morgantown, the first one in the state, by the way,
and the Clay District Fair gets underway later this week.
(01:52):
Will welcome Ethan More to the program and we'll hear
more about their famous pies and the eat stand that
will be operational later on in the week. Let's take
a look at a couple of headlines. Well, let's see
the Metro News Radio network turns forty years old today.
Happy Kerchievell delivered the first newscast across the statewide satellite
(02:17):
network back on August the twelfth of nineteen eighty five.
You can read more about the anniversary at wvmetronews dot com.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
Just before eleven am on Monday.
Speaker 3 (02:32):
There was an explosion at the US Steel Coking plant
in Clareton. Two are confirmed deceased. Ten more hurt Following
that explosion just outside of Pittsburgh along the Mond River.
One worker was found alive in the rubble hours after
the blast was reported. That was again just before eleven
o'clock on Monday morning. That investigation is ongoing. State officials
(02:58):
have confirmed a fatality from a Saturday afternoon fire in Mountclair.
Additional details are expected to be released later this morning.
On two occasions in the last week, three guards at
the Secure Women's Unit at FCI Hazelton have been treated
for an exposure to carfentanahl the corrections officers three in
(03:21):
total have been treated now carfentanol has an official use
as a tranquilizer for elephants. Guard just Torrevisky, he's the
president of the American Federation of Government Employees at Local
four twenty's going to join us in just a few
minutes to provide us with an update on that situation.
(03:41):
Rich Rodrigez talks about his quarterback room and a story
at wv metronews dot com and the importance of that.
Mountaineers will entertain Robert Morris in Morgantown on August thirtieth.
That will be contest one of the Rich Rodriguez two
point oh era. If you go out to wv metronews
(04:04):
dot com, Dave Wilson has a commentary out there about.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
The moral proposal. I urge you to take a look
at that.
Speaker 3 (04:11):
He talks about how West Virginia is somewhat of an afterthought,
and if I pick up what Dave is trying to
put down here, I believe what he's trying to say
is that it's time for West Virginia to stand up
and maybe try to bring some of these industries into
the state rather than wait to be.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
Prey or victim.
Speaker 3 (04:32):
However you would want to look at it, wait to
be the I guess the alley way for this economic
development rather than the home for it. That commentary is
at wvmetronews dot com.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
You ought to check that out.
Speaker 3 (04:48):
Right now, Fair Skies and seventy seven degrees in the
University City. When we come back, we're going to learn
more about what's going on over at FCI Hazleton. I'm
going to do that with the president of a FGE
Local four to twenty, Justin Tarowski. It's coming up next
on AM fourteen forty FM one oh four point five
w A j.
Speaker 4 (05:08):
U join the conversation at one eight hundred seven sixty
five eight two fivey five. This is the talk of
the town.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
Good Tuesday morning. It is nine fifteen.
Speaker 3 (05:33):
Things over at the Federal Correctional Institution, Hazelton over in
the last week they've had some issues over in the
secure women's unit. On the phone, we've got the president
of AFGE Local four to twenty, Justin Tarowski, justin, Good morning, sir,
how are you.
Speaker 5 (05:53):
I'm brave, my brother trying to stay cool in this weather.
It's great to hear from you.
Speaker 4 (05:56):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (05:56):
Absolutely, Well, you know what, first off, thank you for
your service us and bring us up to speed. What's
been going on over there maybe over the last ten
days or so.
Speaker 5 (06:08):
Well, it's just not really been the last ten days,
but it's been highlighted by you know, calling the hazmat
team out the last two times, which was last Wednesday,
two of our officers works post to a drug called
carpetent carpetanol and also one over the weekend on Saturday
at the secure female facility. And it only highlights at
(06:29):
at a large complex like Hazelton, in the Federal Bureau
of Prisons, which is across the entire country. The immediate
as we face with the drug trade, and right now
it's a lot of it's coming through the mail, and
a lot of you guys might ask, well, how the
heck is it coming in through the mail? Well, right now,
we're limited in our capacity on stopping legal mail. That
(06:51):
means legal mail it comes from law offices or courts
or whatever else. And what they're doing right now is
they're really soaking a lot of these drugs into legal now,
which we are not able to take or search too
well because of the legal rights of what inhabits that
and a lot of it is getting circumvented through this process.
A lot of these inmates know that, and they're taking
(07:12):
advantage of it. And the only way to put a
stop to this is through our law makers, which is
you know, Ursus Capital Justice and Riley Moore. And then
you know, you have the state of Pennsylvania, which we
have a lot of officers to come from Uniontown area,
and also the state of Maryland. So again this has
been a this has been a problem over the last
year dating back to Mark Fisher, who is a Proational
(07:34):
Services officer out of United States Penitentiary Victorville in California,
who died from the same type of exposure, So this
hasn't been a you know, not a glaring effect for
people to know about. It's something that needs to be
acted on immediately and stopped because it's a serious problem
with these drugs coming through the legal capabilities.
Speaker 3 (07:53):
And now justin Tarvinsky's with a season guard out at
f C Hazelton. Definitely want to get into the problem
a little bit deeper. But first though, how are the
correctional officers, those three officers, how are they doing.
Speaker 5 (08:09):
They were amused, immediately released after the hospital. They checked
them and they checked on our vitals and they were okay.
On what last Wednesday, and then again on over the
weekend on Saturday, the ward and at the time did
the right thing and locked the institution down, and we're
going to take steps to try to get all those
drugs off of the yard on the secure female facility.
(08:33):
I can't say enough about the hazmat team and the
first responders that came to Hazelton and worked with our staff,
because they did an amazing job trying to, you know,
make sure anybody that was exposed or could have been
exposed was treated properly. So I can't say enough sperlatives
about the response time and those teams and live especially
the firefighters in the MS that responded to the Hazelton
(08:55):
to help us out without that.
Speaker 3 (08:56):
Now, when we get down into the meat of the problem,
justin you know, attorneys are considered officers of the court.
You refer to this as legal mails. So I guess
there has to be maybe some collusion or something going
on between the attorney and the inmate.
Speaker 2 (09:14):
Am I reading that part right?
Speaker 5 (09:16):
Yeah? A lot of times it could be you, or
a lot of times it could be you know, attorneys
are just you know, someone says, oh, we need to
get these legal docs, and you know they're paying a
fee for them to send it to them, and they're
oblivious to that. But again, as you know, Mike, I mean,
regardless of either of these situations, we can stop it. Again.
If I go to the bank just and it is
an illegal issue. If I go to the bank just
(09:38):
to get a loan, don't I don't sign papers and
sit there for five hours anymore. I get it sent
to my email, I get it sent to a secure box.
Everything's done through my tablet, my cell phone, my laptop,
and I'm sure here's as well, and even if I
get a lawyer for something legal, that's all it's all done.
And to see that we're in a twenty century right
(10:00):
now and these capabilities aren't being utilized and shutting down
something that we could really control and it could save lives.
It's oblivious to me why these things aren't happening, you know,
within our lawmakers and the Bureau of Prisons who sometimes
are behind the times on getting things done. So again,
as the Union is always going to say, we want
(10:22):
it safer, insecure for our officers and the people we represent,
this is an easy fix that we can shut this
down and these and then we're not gonna be violating
their rights. They could still get their their stuff because
they have computers through UH through Hazelton and the secure blocks,
and they also have tablets now, so it's not something
that they we would be restricting them in their civil rights.
Speaker 2 (10:43):
Now.
Speaker 3 (10:44):
I'm not really sure what kind of relationship you've developed
with Jim Justice during his early service in the Senate,
but I do know you've got an open line of
communication with US Senator Shelley Moore Capital, so I would
think that you know the path is already they kind
of created for you to approach her with this situation.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
Is that not true?
Speaker 5 (11:06):
Yeah, I mean we've been trying to work with our
representatives for a while on the subjects. Again, like a
lot of things sometimes get lost in the sauce, and unfortunately,
like I said, I don't want to say that something
has to happen at Hazelton, which I don't have hope.
So but I mean, that's what happened in Victorville last
year and an officer was killed, and that was that's
one of our sister complexes, as you could say, they're
(11:27):
they're Hazelton out in California. So someone's already died out
there from this. And again we haven't stopped the legal
mail from coming in. So here we are almost a
year later and we're still talking about the same thing.
Speaker 3 (11:39):
So so it sounds like it sounds like you're telling
me that there you're very limited in I guess proactive
measures that you can take because of the legal.
Speaker 5 (11:49):
Absolutely, absolutely you said it better than me, Mike, and
I appreciate that. But yeah, we need our lawmakers to
come together and stop it. I mean, plain and simple,
and it shouldn't be this. This isn't brain surgery. I
mean me and you were talking about this. Flew asleep
on the phone right now. Stop the legal mail. It
could go through electronically, it could be done. Now again
like everything it's it's it's bogged down by the system
(12:11):
and everything else. But uh, you know, less hope Mike,
that one of our people from this community and around
states don't have to lose a life or even an
inmate because of this, because of the inaction of just
everybody on the front lines.
Speaker 3 (12:25):
Certainly, Now, what if anything, because we've established that that
you're very limited in terms of going through the mail,
But what other safety procedures, if any, are the officers
taking with this hazard?
Speaker 2 (12:40):
Now that's pretty prevalent.
Speaker 5 (12:43):
Well, our officers are very vision I mean again that penitentiary,
learning from up there and learning from their sci and
also the SSF that you got to have a proper
pee and you know, you know, we have it available
to our officers and if you don't have it, you know,
you don't search something that you think that could have
(13:05):
that exposure, you know, step away from it. Let's security area.
And as the hazmat team has told us, you know,
if we feel that then they'll be right on the
scene and we'll take care of it. So again we
have to be cognizant, our own officers knowing, and we
are to step away, to step away from that stuff
and make sure and also make sure you have the
pe I might be searching something and I have no
(13:28):
idea that it could be drugs until bam, it's already
open and wait a minute, now I might have been exposed.
So again, it could be in a cell, it could
be out in the Calmon area, it could be in
our mail room. Our mail room people do an amazing
job trying to stop the drug flow from getting in,
but again they're limited with some certain things which can
be stopped. So again, Mike, you bring up a good point.
Officers got to take that right step, which they do
(13:49):
ninety nine point nine percent of the time, having a
proper mask, gloves, and being vigilant on what you're opening
and what you're not and just staying in line with
the procedures with that.
Speaker 3 (14:00):
Justin Torrovisky, guard at FCI Hazelton is with us. And
now you know, when things like this happen, it doesn't
maybe do a whole lot for you to solve staffing
issues that you have when people hear about things like
this going on. But what is your current staffing situation.
Speaker 5 (14:19):
We're you know, we've gone backwards in the last few months.
Not gonna lie to you with our incentives that you know, Mansion,
Capitol and them helped us secure last year. You know,
they were taking a few months ago that we went
from twenty five percent that was cut in half, and
now we no longer have officer bonuses, you know, which
was twenty five percent, trying to be competitive with the field,
(14:42):
you know, including the Pennsylvania State Police, West Virginia State Police,
and you know, other law enforcement entities surrounding our state.
And we're currently on a hiring freeze. Mike, don't know why.
I have no clue. I've asked Capitol, I've sent emails,
I've reached out to Justice and staff and Rally Moore.
Why as the Bureau of Prisons on a hiring freeze?
No one can answer me. I don't know if it's
(15:02):
coming from the Department of Justice or the Trump administration,
but I can tell you that from the people that
say they got law enforcements back, I mean, we're on
a hiring freeze. And again I'm gonna ask that same question,
like I've been banging on the doors and our staff
up there, why are we on a hiring freeze in
the Bureau of Prisons, especially the complex late the United
(15:22):
States Penitentiary. And again we were down one hundred some
officers at this time, I believe it was about a
year ago. And you know, we got some new leadership
in there, and they've done an excellent job knocking that
number down. We got to about seventy and now we're
back over over eighty, looking to be in the nineties
range because we can't we can't continue to hire. And
(15:45):
again we lost those retention cutting half not completely, and
then we lost the high the officers, you know, the
extra hirre on bonus to get twenty five percent, so
you accompanyed the three of those things. And again right
now we're going backwards, not fulls with it. We're just stagnant,
you know what I mean. And I think I think
(16:05):
we were.
Speaker 3 (16:06):
No I think right now when we start to talk
about augmentation, I'm sure that that process is back. And
that is where mandatory or overtime and even people pulled
out of administrative areas into say the prison area. What's
the status of augmentation.
Speaker 5 (16:26):
It just kicks up in the gear even more. And
you're talking about right now, as you know, vacation time.
You know, we're over the summer too, you know, officers
and our staff get vacations just like you or anybody
else on the street. When you use your vacation. A
lot of times it's over the summer, so all our
spots are taken, people are out, and it gets even
worse and worse and worse with that, which entices officers
(16:48):
to get mandated even more and more. And as you said,
augmentation kicks in more and more and more and again,
we don't want that, you know, we don't want officers
to be working three or four shifts and row and
we don't want you know, we want to officers work
in the housing against everybody's a crushing officer first, but
I know our case managers, counselors and other facilities workers
would rather be doing their job or than sitting in
(17:10):
a block where they're not usually at you know, So
again that that that that that that hurts our safety
and security from an aspect. Yeah, do they have those
options to do, yes, but those aren't the typical easy
options to utilize you should be again pro pressing for
more staffing, and we were on that. I'm a a Lotti, Mike,
we were. We weren't want a heck of a job
getting that down from where we were last year. And
(17:31):
now we're again stuck.
Speaker 3 (17:32):
So you know, again, just a few months ago, the
federal government did announce a plan to maybe phase out
the prison camp here in Morgantown, moved some of those
people up there.
Speaker 2 (17:43):
What's the status of that plan.
Speaker 5 (17:45):
It's no longer happening. The director went to Morgantown, the
new director when Marshall, former d C here in state
of West Virginia, went and visited there, and then again
they made this statement that they are being closed down,
So more in town is good to go. Those staff
are not getting closed They're staying there. You know, I
(18:07):
didn't initially report on it to you you guys might
and everybody else because I'm not the president there. But
I will tell you for sure, officially it is not
being shut down. I don't know the bure of Prisons
with as far as the union, we were notified that
they are not being shut down. So they're good to
go now. Their staff, you know, I know a lot
of their staff they lost though, for transferring out because
they thought they were getting shut down. So that was
(18:28):
really it, really, you know, messed up some of their
lives with that. Some of them had a transfer thinking
they were going to get shut down. But again, most
of them are still there and they're happy to see
that they are not being closed.
Speaker 2 (18:41):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (18:42):
I tell you so many things. With the government, it
appears as if it is ready fire. Aim, But I
don't want to be too critical.
Speaker 5 (18:51):
No, you have a good saying there. I might have
to get that tattooed on some of our arms. You
can't be any true with that statement, but that's kind
of the life we live right now. And I'm laughing hysterically.
I'm sorry, but you couldn't have said it better with
that quote, Mike.
Speaker 3 (19:08):
Okay, Justin Tarvisky is a guard out at FCI Hazleton.
To appreciate the effort and the work that you do
for the community in the state of West Virginia. Keep
up the good work and do appreciate your time.
Speaker 5 (19:22):
Thanks again for having me on. I appreciate your listeners.
Guys are great. Thank you, Mike.
Speaker 3 (19:26):
Absolutely, you take care right now. It is fair and
seventy seven degrees in the University City, and Metro News
ACU Weather says, we actually have a pretty dog gone
good day today, although if you are one of the
folks that have to work outside or be outside a lot,
you certainly will want to be drinking plenty of water
(19:48):
with the high approaching ninety degrees. A very special day
for Metro News celebrating forty years of network news across
the Mountain state.
Speaker 1 (20:09):
Now back to the talk of the town.
Speaker 2 (20:12):
Well, good Tuesday morning.
Speaker 3 (20:13):
It is nine thirty four in the University City, and
on the phone, I've got board member of the West
Virginia Academy, Holly honeycut A. West Virginia Academy is the
first brick and mortar charter school in the state. You'll
find them online at West Virginia Academy dot org. Holly,
good morning and welcome to the program. How are you, ma'am?
Speaker 6 (20:37):
Good morning. Thank you for having me. I'm doing well.
Speaker 3 (20:40):
How are you, hey, I'm doing good. It's a pleasure
to have you on board. Now, you guys are already
in school, Yes, sir.
Speaker 6 (20:49):
We are in school. I'm currently the principal of West
Virginia Academy This is my third year and we started
school yesterday. Yesterday was our first day. It was a
resounding success.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
Well that's great to hear.
Speaker 3 (21:04):
Now, how many students do you have and how glad
were they to get back into classroom.
Speaker 6 (21:10):
Well, we're currently sitting at an enrollment about two hundred
and eighty students, that is pre K through twelfth grade.
We will actually be having our first graduating class this year.
I know that we as a staff, we're so excited
to see all of the students walk through the door. Yesterday.
Some of the kids just ran right through those doors
(21:31):
as if they never really even went home for the summer.
And then of course you had those little sleepy heads
that didn't want to, you know, come in the normal
you know, stragglers. But I'm telling you, it was such
a wonderful day. Our students just are the best. Our
families are amazing. You know, it's all about school choice.
(21:53):
Our families choose to bring their kids here. This is
our fourth year and I'm telling you every year are
just keeps growing and growing.
Speaker 3 (22:02):
You know, Holly, address your staffing situation, because like in
any industry, there is a lot of competition for good people,
and I think that you've experienced that competition as well.
Speaker 6 (22:17):
Absolutely. Yeah, we definitely always are looking for, you know,
qualified leaders to teach our scholars. So staffing can always
be a tricky thing, you know, I don't think it's
just in you know, the typical public schools. Staffing around
the world can be a challenge. But we are currently
(22:40):
just have we have one open position right now that
we're interviewing for and then once we hire that person,
we are we're fully staffed and ready to go.
Speaker 3 (22:49):
Principle of the West Virginia Academy, Holly Honeycut is with us.
Speaker 2 (22:53):
And now, Holly, I guess help us.
Speaker 3 (22:56):
Understand as you work your way through through this term
and with some of the changes in vaccine rules, how
does that change your job?
Speaker 6 (23:07):
So it doesn't really change our job, you know, we
are we're mandated to follow what is set forth by
the PCSB. So what what our requirements are are is
that students have to have a proof of required vaccines
to enroll. But if they have an exemption letter from
(23:28):
the West Virginia Bureau of Public Health, if they give
that letter to us, they are allowed to be admitted
into school.
Speaker 3 (23:37):
Okay, Now, there is some change in the air at
the West Virginia Academy.
Speaker 2 (23:42):
What can you tell me about moving the campus.
Speaker 6 (23:46):
That's a pretty exciting topic. So we are looking, you know,
breaking ground soon on our new campus, which is going
to be out on the backside of falling Water, so
it's going to be ready just a couple of years.
A new campus style environment for all of our scholars
to be able to experience that full educational day of learning.
(24:11):
And what we are all about is really bringing West
Virginia our culture, our values to all of our family
alms and to experience those types of learning situations.
Speaker 3 (24:25):
Will you then expand to two campuses and maintain the
Chestnut Ridge Road location.
Speaker 6 (24:31):
That's a good question. I would like to do that. Yes,
I don't get to make that decision, so that will
be a decision made amongst our board members as well.
But I really like it out here at the Chestnut
Ridge location. It's really centralized. A lot of families enjoy
that too. But if the enrollment shows the need for it,
it would be definitely something we would consider.
Speaker 3 (24:54):
Okay, now, speaking of enrollment, I realized classes have already started,
but how do people enroll with your institution? And is
it too late to enroll this year.
Speaker 6 (25:07):
That's a great question. No, it's not too late to enroll.
We're actually still scheduling tours. So what we do is
we ask you just to call us here at the school,
go on our website West Virginia Academy dot org, and
just call for a tour. And we love bringing the
families on campus showing them what we're about. What makes
(25:29):
us so unique, and those are you know, our STEPS program,
which is STEP stands for Supplemental Tiered Education Program for Success.
So what sets us apart from the traditional public schools
is kindergarten through sixth grade. We're able to teach our
students at their level several different times throughout the day,
(25:49):
so English, math, writing, we're able to kind of work
with them at their ability level, but then still throughout
the rest of the day they're learning grade level matie,
so the gap does not grow. We also are known
for our school wide expectations. We use a program called CHAMPS,
so this is a school wide initiative, so we teach
(26:11):
our children what the expectations are and then we practice
all throughout the year and we have experiential learning days
on Fridays, so Monday through Thursday, we're bell to bell learning,
but Friday is our experiential learning day. It's we put
into practice what we've learned all week, and then throughout
the year, all of our students go on four field
(26:32):
trips because we like to get, you know, take what
we're learning in the classroom and then put it into
action throughout the community. We also do a lot of
service learning at our school as well.
Speaker 3 (26:42):
One thing I've had the opportunity to take a tour
of your school and one of the things that I
found very very interesting that I'd like for you to
share with the audience is the way music is taught
at the West Virginia Academy.
Speaker 6 (27:00):
Known for our music program. So we have some wonderful
professors on staff. We call our teachers professors, we call
our students scholars. We kind of just take that bar
and we raise it. So the way that music is
taught at our school is we have several different classes.
We have a choir class, we have orchestra, we have
garage band which is really neat, and then we are
(27:22):
also doing like an Appalachian music class as well with
some of our students this year, so they get to
get in there, they have the instruments they're learning, they
get to play and perform for our families during our
culminating events, so it's really like an immersive experience for them.
Speaker 3 (27:42):
Well, Holly, you keep up the great work and such
a pleasure to talk with you. I guess when is
your first break of the year.
Speaker 6 (27:51):
Our first break's going to come at the end of September.
Of course, we have, you know, the Labor day off,
but we kind of run a nine week schedule, nine
weeks on, two weeks off, and then we offer really
a wonderful break programming classes. So towards the end of September,
we will be off for really the first two weeks
(28:13):
of October and then back into school and ready to
go again. So we just encourage anybody to come over,
take a tour, you know, learn learn all about us.
We have a brand new executive director this year, Jason Pauley.
He's wonderful, so we we invite everyone to come over
and just get involved.
Speaker 3 (28:33):
You could take a look at him online too, West
Virginia Academy dot org. Hey give us your phone number, Holly,
if you don't mind, sure, it's.
Speaker 6 (28:41):
Three oh four four four nine four three seven five.
Speaker 3 (28:45):
Okay, perfect, Holly, Thank you very much, and I'm sure
there's probably about two hundred and eighty kids wondering where
you are.
Speaker 6 (28:52):
Right now that they are. Thank you to the listeners,
and thank you so much for having me on the program.
We really appreciate eat it.
Speaker 3 (29:00):
Absolutely, it's a pleasure. Have a great day, Holly, and
thank you very much.
Speaker 2 (29:05):
Holly.
Speaker 3 (29:05):
Honeycut Principal the West Virginia Academy. Check them out online
West Virginia Academy dot org. Right now it is nine
forty four. When we come back, we're gonna be talking
about fair pies, food and more. Fair that's coming up next.
On top of the Town AM fourteen forty f M
one oh four point five waj R.
Speaker 1 (29:37):
We are talking about your town. Now back to the
talk of the town.
Speaker 3 (29:42):
Well, good Tuesday morning. The Clay District Fair. You'll find
that on day Brook Road in Fairview. It's where old
friends meet. They're going to get things going on Wednesday.
On the phone, we've got Ethan Moore with the Clay
District Fair. Good morning, Ethan, how are you.
Speaker 5 (29:59):
Morning night.
Speaker 7 (30:00):
I'm well. Thank you for having me on.
Speaker 3 (30:02):
Absolutely, it's a pleasure to have you on. Okay, so
give us the initial schedule of the fair please.
Speaker 7 (30:10):
Well, we've got four nights of family fun entertainment. We
start Tomorrow night with our parade and the official opening.
Then we've got live entertainment on the main stage. Thursday
night them and night special half off our gate price.
We've got pageantry that night with our team miss Play
District Fair and then our miss Play District Fair. Entertainment
(30:32):
that night will be Stoniker Hill and then Friday we've
got our Darkness Bake Steak Dinner starting at four pm
until we're sold out, and then we have our little
girls competing for Tiny Miss Play District, Little Miss Play
District and Junior mess Play District. That same night, we've
got a mechanical bowl, a magician on the fairgrounds and
(30:52):
then the band Recoil playing from nine to eleven. Saturday,
we're open for a full day. We've start at ten
am with the Bengas fand and our concession stand open
and we have a baby show and ride that day,
kids games, adult games, a pet ship show, hyating contests
and live entertainment that night. Our big headliner that night
is Cooky with Line Okay, very nice title artists.
Speaker 2 (31:17):
Now, what is admission, Ethan.
Speaker 7 (31:21):
Well, we're proud to say that we're one of the
most economical pairs in the region. We're still only eight
dollars to get in the fair and that includes a
ride all night risk dands for all guests. That's for
everyone for and over. If our guests are three and
under one to come on the fairgrounds, they can do
so for free. That if they want to ride, they
do have to buy the eight dollar risk damp. This year,
(31:43):
our ride company is going to have several rides that
are that are tailored towards our little guests, and so
we think there'll be several wanting to ride this year.
Speaker 2 (31:51):
So okay, it's perfect.
Speaker 3 (31:53):
Now, I know a lot of fair goers are going
to be interested in the eat stand and the burgers,
hot dogs, rolls and everything there, so tell us about that.
Speaker 5 (32:04):
Yep.
Speaker 7 (32:04):
So that's too that. You know, everybody goes to the
fair to find good fair food, and we're pretty well
known for a fair food. Hit our concession stand, or
like you said, our eat stand is people call it locally.
We've got a full menu Burger's, hot dogs, pepperoni rolls, nachos,
French fries, the star of the show in our eat
stand or our homemade pies. They're homemade by a lady
(32:27):
here in our community with a recipe that's been the
same recipe for decades on our fairgrounds. And so she
does a chocolate pie, a butterscotch pie, a lemon pie,
and a coconut cream pie. And they're just they're heavenly, hope,
I do say so myself. They bring people on the
fairgrounds but nothing else, just for the pie.
Speaker 3 (32:47):
You're choking me up with that, I would certainly agree.
Heavenly is probably a very good way to put that. Now, also,
you did bring up but they we'll have steak and
sausage sandwiches there outside of the Friday night baked steak dinner.
Speaker 7 (33:08):
Right so nightly on the fairgrounds, we've got a vender.
Their armors there have been a long time supporter of
our fair. They've been to our fair since the early sixties.
Jeff Omer and his dad were coming to our fair literally,
he remembers coming there in the ear in the sixties
of his dad. And so he brings a sausage sandwich
(33:30):
and a steak sandwich and they are a big head
on the fairgrounds every year. We're glad to have them
back and couldn't have our fare without them, it seems like.
But you're right, that's that's going to happen nightly when
our guts are open, their truck is open, and then
Friday night beginning at four pm, we do have our
baked Steak dinner, which is one of our primary fundraisers
(33:54):
who helps us raise funds to continue.
Speaker 5 (33:56):
With the fair.
Speaker 7 (33:56):
So we appreciate our community support.
Speaker 2 (33:58):
That absolutely.
Speaker 3 (34:00):
Now Ethan tell us how maybe just somebody off the
street could end up with one of those heavenly pies
in their hand. Did we lose you, Ethan? Are you there, Ethan?
(34:21):
Let's see, well I think that we lost Ethan. But nevertheless,
the Clay District Fair gets underway tomorrow with the parade,
and don't forget about those heavenly pies. And let me
tell you he is absolutely I've never had one. I've
only heard about him, but I've never heard anyone say
(34:41):
anything other than there, absolutely heavenly. And then there is
a pie eating contest on Saturday, so we definitely have
to get more information about these pies, that's for sure.
But nevertheless, Clay District Fair, it's where old friends meet.
They'll get things started tomorrow with the parade lineup that'll
(35:05):
start at five thirty and then the parade we'll kick
off at six thirty. Right now, fair skies and seventy
seven degrees in the University City Metro new Zaki weather says,
sonny and a warm one a high near ninety today,
So keep that in mind and stay hydrated and maybe
(35:28):
even inside if you can.
Speaker 2 (35:30):
Coming up next, we'll be back.
Speaker 3 (35:32):
To wrap things up on Top of the Town AM
fourteen forty FM oneh four point five WAJR.
Speaker 4 (35:54):
Join the conversation at one eight hundred and seven sixty
five eight two fivey five. This is the talk of
the town.
Speaker 3 (36:00):
It's a very special day across the Metro News Radio network.
We are turning forty years old today the Statewide News
Network and coming up Metro News talk Line, they're going
to take a little bit of time to talk about
that fortieth anniversary and a couple of voices that you
might recognize. As a matter of fact, you might want
(36:22):
to tune in at about ten forty five when Kay Murray,
the former host of Morgantown AM for runner of this program,
will spend some time on Metro News talk Line to
talk about the very beginnings of Metro News. I'm not
going to spoil anything, but as I understand it, Kay
(36:43):
has seen it and written about it, and she's now
going to tell us about it. Then, coming up at
eleven thirty, retired Metro News president Dale Miller will come
to the program and talk about forty years of broadcasting
and news excellence across the Mountain State. Certainly a huge
(37:05):
day for Metro News. There's more out at wvmetronews dot
com for you to take a look at and perus.
But it was on this day back in nineteen eighty
five that the Metro News Network began a network of
satellites to connect the entire state to the news radio network.
(37:30):
Certainly a big day for Metro News. So once again,
Kay Murray, she'll join the program at ten forty five,
and Dale Miller, retired Metro News president, he'll join the
program at eleven thirty three. Make it a great Tuesday.
Metro News talk Line coming up next,
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