Talk of the Town November 6, 2025

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Now 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 five five. Now Here is your host
for the Talk of the Town, Mike Nolting.

Speaker 2 (00:18):
Good Thursday morning, fair skies and forty three degrees in
the University City of Metro Newsaki Weather says, got ourselves
a nice day today. Expect more sunshine and I have
fifty three degrees on this Thursday. Welcome to Talk of
the Town. Mike Nolting. You'll find me out on ACX
as your news guy. Hope to meet up with you

(00:40):
there now producing the program today, We've got Ethan Collins,
the voice of the Clay Battel CBS, and you'll be
able to get Ethan at eight hundred seven six five
eight two five five. The text line up and running.
It has been tested by the CRACK staff this morning.
That number three zero four Talk three zero four West

(01:03):
Virginia five to one one is reporting an incident or
a vehicro crash on I seventy nine southbound at mile
marker one point fifty three. Expect delays there and at
this hour, Secretary of State Chris Warner, he's on the
ground in Morgantown University High School.

Speaker 3 (01:23):
They're talking to the high school students.

Speaker 2 (01:26):
In fact, the best county clerk in the state, that
would be Kerrie Blaney. She is there with Secretary of
State Chris Warner. They're talking to kids, registering kids to vote.
They're talking about I guess they're getting a Civics lesson
would be what I would say today that is happening
at this hour now, also in this area today, Governor

(01:49):
Patrick Morrissey, he'll be in the City of Fairmont on
the campus of Fairmont State University talking about rural health.

Speaker 3 (01:57):
Let's hit a couple of.

Speaker 2 (01:57):
Headlines, and after that, we're going to welcome Assistant City
Manager Emily Mazzarelli and the Director of Communications for the
City of Morgantown, Brad Riffi, into the program and we're
going to spend a few minutes going to get some
details on the legal Reservoir and dam I'm going to
talk about some of the new amenities that will be

(02:18):
available to the public very soon. A Mond County broadband
build out program is fostering competition and that Commissioner's hope
will lead to lower prices. Frontier Communications has completed a
fiber trunk line to serve residents in the Halleck Road,
Gladesville Road, and the Grafton Road area. Frontier is now

(02:40):
working on a similar project in the Suncrest area. All
the hope gas rate increase case, there has been a
settlement reached. Now the deal won't be as costly as
first thought. The original request from the Morgantown based utility
company that now serves one hundred and thirty one thousand
customers and third seven counties sought eighty million dollars through

(03:03):
rate increases. That number now cut in half. The average
customer will see an increase of about ten dollars a month.
A PSC Chairwoman Charlotte Lane ordered the final order to
be presented to the commission December the fifteenth. Then, if
it gets the green light there, those rates will then
be reflected on your March bill. They're actually going into

(03:26):
effect in February. And breaking news out of Marion County
attorneys representing L. J. Maxi, a former bridge Bridgeport City councilor,
accused of working as a private investigator without a license
while working for the mccardal Law office on the Henry

(03:46):
Silver murder case. Well, they have now filed an emergency
request for a hearing to drop those charges based on
a social media post by Marion County Prosecutor Jeffrey Freeman
on the Armunt Marion County, West Virginia Public Information and
Arrest group page on Facebook. Prosecutor Freeman ordered offered his

(04:09):
opinion on why Maxie failed to meet the legal standard
for an exception in that case, and he also said
that they really don't have time to pursue personal vendettas
while citing the caseload in the office now. In court filings,
Maxi's attorney, Michael Hissim claims that Freeman is ethically prohibited

(04:29):
from making extra judicial comments that have a substantial likelihood
of heightening public condemnation of the accused, and the people
of Marion County deserve better from their elected prosecuting attorney.
That request for an emergency hearing presses the point by
saying the engagement by the senior law enforcement official in

(04:50):
the county heightens the urgency of dismissing that charge. We'll
follow that and bring you the latest when we have
it right now it's not fair forty three. When we
come back, I'm going to take a trip out to
the Fleegal Damon Reservoir.

Speaker 3 (05:05):
That's next on Talk of the Town.

Speaker 2 (05:07):
AM fourteen forty f M one oh four point five
w A jr.

Speaker 4 (05:20):
Now back to the Talk of the Town.

Speaker 3 (05:24):
Good Thursday morning.

Speaker 2 (05:25):
It is nine to fifteen fair skies and forty three
degrees in the University City.

Speaker 3 (05:30):
Glad you're with us in the studio.

Speaker 2 (05:32):
We have Assistant City Manager for the City of Morgantown,
Emily Mazzarelli.

Speaker 3 (05:36):
Emily, how are you.

Speaker 5 (05:38):
I'm good, make thank you so much for having me today.

Speaker 2 (05:40):
It's a pleasure to have you in studio. It's been
a while since I've seen you. Actually, now, Emily, the
Fleegal Damon Reservoir. That has actually been a project that
I guess you could go back what four years.

Speaker 5 (05:54):
Actually the first time this was brought to me was
within the first week I started, so that was about
seven years ago.

Speaker 2 (06:02):
And now we're I guess getting ready to maybe celebrate
a grand opening. Tell us about where we are today,
and then let's go back over that seven years.

Speaker 5 (06:13):
Absolutely, so where we're at today, we are finishing the
main loop around the flegal reservoir. So the reservoir will
have hiking, biking trails, access to fishing, non motorized boating,
a lot of recreational activities. But we are hoping to
open by the end of the calendar year for phase

(06:35):
one of the recreation, so that'll be primarily the main
loop around the reservoir.

Speaker 2 (06:40):
Now, give us an idea of what that main loop is.
How long is it? And I think from talking with
Drew Gatlin, it's kind of a mix of different levels.

Speaker 5 (06:53):
So the main loop is just shy of about two
and a half miles. It is primarily a single track
dirt path. But there are currently two bridges in the backwater,
and then those are fiber reinforced bridges, and then there

(07:13):
is a bridge that's going to be closer to the
main roadway. It'll be sort of like a similar floating
dock with some gangways. And then there are a couple
areas that are rock anchored, so kind of different tread
that you'll be walking or biking on. And then some
areas a little bit steeper, some areas are a little
bit more flat.

Speaker 2 (07:32):
Okay, Now, the reservoir itself, don't want to get into
too much technical detail, but the purpose of the reservoir
is to provide a thirty day water supply from the
city in case there's an emergency.

Speaker 3 (07:45):
But in this particular case.

Speaker 2 (07:47):
It's being stocked and it'll have a recreational value.

Speaker 5 (07:51):
Absolutely, so it is very high quality water. So again,
the primary point of the reservoir is to have that
drinking source for mub and for the residents. But we
have partnered with DNR to stock. They've been stalking over
the last year and a half two years, primarily stocking

(08:12):
with bait fish. But there will be really great fishing
opportunities from both the shore and then if you take
a kayak or a canoe or something out like that
as well being able to fish from the center of
the reservoir as well.

Speaker 3 (08:27):
Now, what about the public use of the waters.

Speaker 5 (08:32):
The public will be able to fish and use any
kind of non motorized boats on the water. Again, once
we open this to the public, which we anticipate by
the end of the year, that'll be just another amenity
for the residents and visitors here.

Speaker 2 (08:48):
Okay, then I remember talking with Drew Gatlin about that
loop and the trails and the bridges and things, and yeah,
I think the way you described it were there would
be like maybe different points where you could walk down
to the water, like there would be the main loop
and then maybe off the loop you could go down
to the water there or go down here.

Speaker 5 (09:10):
Yeah, so we will have a number of kind of
side loops or alternative ways you can go, but a
couple prime areas we'll have we'll call them fishing access trails,
or even if you're not fishing and want to get
a little bit closer to the water, there'll be secondary
loops or offshoots where you can go down closer to
the water, and then right actually at the main bridge
that gets you over one of the tributaries nearest the road,

(09:33):
that will actually be all the way down on the water.
So where the boat ramp boat launch is, you'll be
able to be right on the water there as well.

Speaker 2 (09:42):
Okay, now I guess from the boat launch, can you
maybe give us a visual picture of what you see
from there?

Speaker 3 (09:48):
Can you see the dam? What does it look like?

Speaker 5 (09:51):
So the boat launch is actually we were able to
use the prior road, so they had to relocate Coben
Creek Road as part of the dam project. So they
were able to keep part of that old road and
that is what became the boat launch. So once you
walk down the boat launch, which is maybe about ten
to fifteen foot wide kind of gravel road, it goes

(10:15):
right down into the water, just a slow slope, and
once you're at the bottom there, if you look left,
you see kind of all the backwaters of the reservoir.
You see the beautiful hills and landscape and the open water.
And as you look to the right, you'll be able
to see the intake tower, which is actually where the
water comes in from the reservoir and gets into the

(10:36):
pipes that go to the treatment facility for the drinking water.
And then you'll see the dam crest itself, which is
it just looks kind of like a big grassy hill.

Speaker 3 (10:47):
Okay, okay, now how do you get there?

Speaker 5 (10:50):
So it is right off of the Kingwood Pike. There
are two entrances, Cobin Creek Road and Upper Cobin Creek Road.
As we look towards opening, we will have signage ideally
on Kingwood Pike that tells you how to get to
the Fleegol Lake Recreation Area.

Speaker 2 (11:07):
Now, this was I guess a multi agency project, took
a lot of took a lot of partnership. You know,
we had to get that thirty inch raw water main
done first. Once we got that done, then we're kind
of able to get things going. And part of the
deal of that water main were the recreational facilities. I

(11:29):
think a lot of American Rescue Plan money went to
fund some of those things as well.

Speaker 5 (11:35):
Yeah, so all the recreational amenities that have been put
in were funded through the city's ARPA dollars. So there
was one point five million dollars set aside for that
project that went into design and then the construction that
is happening now. MUB had been working on this project
for a number of years and as they have been

(11:58):
building out the dam itself, that is where we worked
with them, with Beaupark and the Utility Board to come
up with the recreation plan around it.

Speaker 2 (12:09):
You know what, this was a seven year project. You
said that when you got here. Seven years later, now.

Speaker 3 (12:16):
We're preparing to open this facility.

Speaker 2 (12:18):
But you know, there's also been like a seven year
evolution with the relationship between the city and MUB and
it's actually I'd.

Speaker 3 (12:27):
Like for you to talk a little bit about that because.

Speaker 2 (12:29):
I think the lines of communications are open wider than
they've ever been.

Speaker 5 (12:35):
I really have enjoyed getting to work with MUB more closely.
So when I first started, actually Drew Kantis, who's our
current chief building official and an avid fisherman, came to
me and said, you know, the Local Utility Board is
building this reservoir. I've talked to dn R. They have
an interest in stocking it if that would be something
that we would be allowed to do. So that's kind

(12:58):
of where it started. And then working with them, working
with MUB on the construction of the raw water line
to get the water from the reservoir all the way down.
But you know, MUB does really great projects and there
can be a lot of co benefits. Obviously it's vitally
important to have good drinking water and good sewage treatment,

(13:22):
but there's so many projects that we can work together
on to have greater good for everyone in the community.

Speaker 2 (13:28):
Absolutely, we've got assistant City Manager with the City of Morgantown,
Emily Muzzle, really with us. And now you know one
other thing, Emily, when you take a look at the reservoir,
the dam and some of the possibilities that this could
present in the future, I envisioned I was thinking about
this yesterday that you know, on a free fishing weekend,

(13:50):
I guess the possibilities are endless. You know, you can
have like a fishing derby or something. I think are
there possibilities for the city to maybe capitalize on.

Speaker 5 (14:00):
Absolutely, So we're going to be working very closely with
Bopark on the actual operations and maintenance of the recreational
amenities itself. But below the dam there's a very large
parking area, so we can accommodate quite a large crowd
if needed, And in the agreement between the city, Bow
Park and mub we did leave some opening and availability

(14:23):
for having some larger events there. Again, everything on the
water would be non motorized. But the city also has
a really great relationship with Adventure West Virginia. We have
the kayak rental facility down along the river, and there
may be opportunities if you wanted to try kayaking in
a different way, we may be able to partner with

(14:44):
them and have them bring kayaks up to the reservoir
because it's a lot different of a feel kayaking on
a flat water body as opposed to in the river.
Even Cheat Lake, there's a lot of very fast boats
so it's a lot less stressful of an environment if
you're learning to kayak.

Speaker 2 (15:00):
You know, I've seen the renderings and the pictures of
the bridges that are included in the trail system, and
I've actually got two questions. What you mentioned a fiber bridge,
Is that what you said?

Speaker 5 (15:13):
Yeah, so FRP bridges, they haven't really been used a
hot whole lot by the city, but there are much
lighter weight. Typical bridges might be made out of stale
or concrete, but these are essentially made out of fiberglass.
And so what that allows us to do. These bridges
are all the way in the backwater, So typically you

(15:34):
might have to take out concrete or float a barge
or something to get bridge pieces all the way in
the backwater, or you have to cut down a bunch
of trees to get there. Well, obviously neither of those
were desirable in this instance. So they essentially come in
a bunch of pieces and you screw them all together.
But they can be all carried by hand and constructed

(15:57):
completely by hand. In the contract. D Nature Trails that's
working on the project was able to utilize existing rock
and some of the other construction materials left by the
dam construction itself to be able to do that without
having to lug in a bunch of concrete for the abutments.

Speaker 2 (16:14):
Now, let's see, I think everybody chipped in some money.
What does that share look like?

Speaker 5 (16:21):
All the recreational amenities were funded through the city's ARPA program.

Speaker 2 (16:24):
Okay, and then what where who funded the bridges?

Speaker 5 (16:29):
The city did?

Speaker 3 (16:30):
Okay?

Speaker 5 (16:30):
I think there's a as part of the raw water line.
That project was in White Park, so the other reservoir
in White.

Speaker 3 (16:39):
Park Okay, Okay. Now let's see. You've got a civil
engineering background.

Speaker 2 (16:44):
I do, and and I've I've always found, you know,
the pursuit of civil engineering to be kind of fascinating,
and I think that this project is really kind of
amazing because what you've done, you've created a third what
do they supply of fresh water in the event of
an emergency, You've got a residential or a recreational amenity area,

(17:09):
and then at the same time you're actually protecting or
enhancing the cop and Creek watershed.

Speaker 5 (17:16):
Absolutely, so you'll see a lot of times around reservoirs
recreational use or kind of passive recreation use, and that
really is intended to ensure water source protection, so you
don't have a lot of erosion or development happening in
those areas. So it kind of creates kind of it

(17:40):
keeps a clean and natural state around the reservoir. And
you know, it's really exciting. It's not every day you
get to have a new lake in your community, and
especially in an urban area like Morgantown, to have such
new recreational opportunities in outdoor recreation, it's really awesome.

Speaker 2 (17:58):
You're absolutely right. You mentioned the word clean, and I
just wanted to clarify that. You know that everything coming
out works as a filter, the grass, the rocks, the everything.

Speaker 5 (18:12):
Yes, absolutely so when you have these really undeveloped areas
and there's one thousand acre parcel upstream of this which
is almost completely untouched, so it just it helps filter
everything into the reservoir and it's some of the best
water you have in the county, Okay.

Speaker 3 (18:29):
So what day do we cut the ribbon?

Speaker 5 (18:31):
Well, we are still waiting on the main bridge. That'll
be the main entrance into the trail again. That'll be
a floating dock of sorts. It will have the kayak
launch and have two gangways going down to it. That
has to be installed before we can do the initial opening.
So and that bridge itself was it's a challenge because

(18:54):
there's such potential fluctuation in the level of the water,
if you know, if mub needs to pull a lot
of water if we haven't got a lot of rain.
So really excited about how that's going to turn out.

Speaker 3 (19:08):
Okay, well, uh spring.

Speaker 5 (19:11):
We're hoping that the kind of a soft opening will
be able to happen before the end of the year.

Speaker 2 (19:15):
Okay, well, great, great, Hey Emily, it's really great to
catch up with you.

Speaker 3 (19:19):
Thank you for your time.

Speaker 5 (19:21):
Thank you so much.

Speaker 3 (19:21):
Mike, Absolutely take care of yourself.

Speaker 2 (19:23):
Beirsky's forty three degrees in the University City. When we
come back, going to be talking about a Veterans Day
program at a local school that's coming up next on
Talk of the Town. But first, there's a lot going
on throughout the state of West Virginia and especially in
the north central portion of the state, and to find
out exactly what's happening, we'll head to the Metro News

(19:47):
anchor desk on the Voice of Morgantown one oh four
point five FM and AM fourteen forty WAJR.

Speaker 1 (20:07):
We are talking about your town. Now back to the
talk of the town.

Speaker 2 (20:12):
Good Thursday morning, fair Sky's forty five degrees of West
Virginia five to one one is reporting a crash I
seventy nine northbound between exits one fifty two and one
fifty three, and looking at the map, it's definitely causing
some issues in that area. So if you can avoid
that area, please do. I guess if you're stuck in it,

(20:35):
you're stuck in it. Right now on the phone, we've
got the principal from the Mountaineer Middle School, Jennifer Potts,
with us.

Speaker 3 (20:43):
Let's see. Good morning, Jennifer, how are you.

Speaker 6 (20:47):
Good morning, How are you Mike.

Speaker 3 (20:49):
Hey, I'm doing good. Thank you very much for asking.

Speaker 2 (20:51):
Now, coming up on Monday, you will conduct a program
to honor area veterans.

Speaker 3 (20:57):
Tell us about it please, Yes, we're.

Speaker 6 (21:00):
Very excited to be doing this. We are going to
be honoring the veterans in our local school community on Monday.
We have a program taking place from twelve thirty to
two pm. Our school orchestra, choir and band are going
to be performing and we're inviting in some special speakers,
including Wilbur England, who's the commander of BVFW Post nine

(21:20):
to nine one six in Westover and also Terry Vance,
the Veteran Partnership coordinator and peer support specialists with Valley Healthcare.

Speaker 2 (21:28):
I know those guys, You've made some pretty good selections
there for a speaker.

Speaker 3 (21:33):
For speakers, rather, we've.

Speaker 2 (21:35):
Got the principal the Mountaineer Middle School, Jennifer Potts, with us,
and now Jennifer tell us about the band and the
choir that we'll be entertaining the group.

Speaker 6 (21:43):
Yeah, so we're very excited to have our students performing
in front of everyone. We're going to be hearing the
Star Spangled banner as well as the medley from our
different military branches, so we're excited about that. We're also
going to have lots of parents, veteran parents who are
coming to be recognized by their students, so it should
be an awesome event.

Speaker 2 (22:04):
Now, you know what, when it comes to schools, it
can get a little complicated.

Speaker 3 (22:08):
But is this open to the public.

Speaker 6 (22:11):
Unfortunately, we're not able to have this open to all
of the public. We don't have the parking, our capacity
to do it. But we are very excited to be
able to bring in the veterans, parents and family members
so they can be recognized. We want to make sure
that all of our students understand the importance of recognizing
our veterans.

Speaker 2 (22:27):
Yeah, I wanted you to address that very topic next.
How important is it, especially in today's world, for people
to maybe understand a little bit about what veterans do
in our world and you know where we fit in
all that.

Speaker 6 (22:44):
Absolutely, I personally find it to be incredibly important that
we're recognizing what our veterans have done for us and
for our country. I'm a military veterans wife and proud
to be so. Montgelia County Schools as a district is
considered a Purple Star district, which means we are recognized
for our support of military connected students and families. As

(23:05):
the assistant principal at Mountaineer Middle I also serve as
our military point of contact for those Purple Star school activities.
So I'm very proud to honor our veterans and we
want our students to be so too.

Speaker 3 (23:16):
Well. We appreciate your work.

Speaker 2 (23:18):
How many military students or how many military families do
you have in your school?

Speaker 6 (23:24):
We have about twenty military families in our school. Actually,
I'm sorry, we have about twenty military family members coming.
We have more like forty eight, forty eight to fifty
somewhere in there connected families.

Speaker 2 (23:35):
Okay, great, all right, Jennifer, you a Morgantown native.

Speaker 6 (23:40):
I am not. I'm from the Charleston area, but I
am a West Virginia native.

Speaker 2 (23:44):
Okay, well, perfect, Well you're I guess nobody's ever from Morgantown,
isn't that what they say?

Speaker 6 (23:50):
I've been here about twenty years, so I'm hoping that
they'll accept me these days.

Speaker 2 (23:54):
There you go, Hey, Jennifer, really do appreciate your time
and have a good time on Monday.

Speaker 6 (24:00):
We look forward to it.

Speaker 2 (24:02):
Thank you for your time, Mike, absolutely take care of
yourself right now, fair and forty five Now coming up tomorrow,
we will be at the University Town Center with Titan
Roofing and with the United Way of Montinglia in Preston Counties. Now,
this is a WVRC Media Cares for Community event, and

(24:23):
what we're going to do is we're going to gather up.

Speaker 3 (24:26):
Some cans for the community.

Speaker 2 (24:28):
In light of Day number thirty six, the federal government
shut down, the suspension of SNAP benefits, the Supplemental Nutrition
Assistance program benefits and we'll be collecting food at the
University Town Center Giant Eagle from six am until six pm.
And it's also your chance to possibly win a one

(24:49):
thousand dollars price courtesy of Titan Roofing. When we come back,
we're going to talk with Courtney Summers with the United
Way about the need in the area and the importance
for you to get involved. We'll do that next on
Talk of the Town AM fourteen forty FM one oh
four point five WAJR.

Speaker 1 (25:19):
Join the conversation at one eight hundred and seven sixty
five eight two fivey five.

Speaker 4 (25:23):
This is the Talk of the Town.

Speaker 3 (25:26):
Good Thursday morning.

Speaker 2 (25:27):
It is nine forty four fair skies and forty five degrees.
Is set the stage for tomorrow. We'll be at the
University Town Center at the Giant Eagle collecting food to.

Speaker 3 (25:39):
Head off food insecurity.

Speaker 2 (25:41):
Here in our community in studio, we have Courtney Summers
from the Montengelia in Preston County, United Way, and also
every agency, company organization has one.

Speaker 3 (25:53):
We have one.

Speaker 2 (25:55):
Our version of the Doet Girl is someone by the
name of Rachelle Beaiti.

Speaker 3 (26:00):
Good morning, good morning. How is everybody doing? Good? Okay?

Speaker 2 (26:05):
Good Okay, uh, Courtney, what do you do over there
at the United Way?

Speaker 7 (26:09):
So I'm the community impact director, So I work with
our funded partners and our impact team, which includes the
program for the Helpful Harvest Food Program, which provides free
resources to local pantries in modern Preston County.

Speaker 3 (26:22):
So you know the folks over at Mountaintop Beverage pretty well?

Speaker 7 (26:24):
Probably we do know some of them. Yes, yes, we do.

Speaker 3 (26:27):
Good people, aren't they?

Speaker 7 (26:28):
They are?

Speaker 2 (26:29):
Okay, So as a community impact director, you've got to
have your fingers pretty close to the pulse.

Speaker 3 (26:35):
What are you feeling?

Speaker 7 (26:37):
I mean, partners are telling us that they've seen like
a fifty percent increase in need at their pantries. They
can't keep things in stock fast enough. I mean, we
have the two one one line for resource referrals in
our office, and we've seen a drastic increase about I
would say probably like ninety percent of the calls are
because of this not benefit suspension.

Speaker 3 (27:00):
Does any of that surprise you?

Speaker 7 (27:03):
I mean West Virginia, you know, one in six last
year was on snap benefits. With the nationwide it was
one in eight, So, I mean it's a huge need.
A lot of people face food and security, even if
they're working.

Speaker 3 (27:15):
Right right now.

Speaker 2 (27:16):
You know what, we all always put out the list
of what we would like for you to bring to
an event like this. But again, as the community impact director,
you have your fingers on the pulls.

Speaker 3 (27:27):
What do they like? What do they want?

Speaker 7 (27:30):
So the pantries have reported because I try to survey
at least once a year, like what they need. Well,
right now it's pretty much everything as long as it's
unopened not expired. But typically they want things like peanut butter, jam,
they need instant coffee, like treats, like something to just
you know, bring some joy into their life and rice

(27:51):
quene wha. Things that are easy to cook up.

Speaker 2 (27:56):
Now, you mentioned peanut butter and jelly, and I was
thinking the other day that maybe things that you don't
have to cook might be might be something to think about.

Speaker 3 (28:09):
But am I off base.

Speaker 7 (28:10):
On that, No, you're not, because not everyone has access
to a stove and oven, a microwave, so things that
are ready to eat are a huge help. Can openers
is another thing, because not everyone has access to a
can opener. So if you're going to be donating canned
goods that aren't the pop tops, it might be good
to bring a can opener too.

Speaker 2 (28:29):
Okay, all right, now the other thing that I thought,
I'm weird, so I'll just throw that out there to
begin with. But well, what if you got somebody a
jar of mayonnaise and some tuna salad.

Speaker 7 (28:41):
I mean, that would do something great. I mean you
got a meal, if you have some bread or crackers.

Speaker 2 (28:49):
Yes you do, that's exactly right. Okay, Now let's see
Rachelle Baby. She is the person that is involved with
actually the nuts and bolts and putting this stuff together
in order so that people can get what they need. So, Rachelle,
what are the logistics for this particular operation?

Speaker 3 (29:08):
What do you have lined up?

Speaker 8 (29:09):
Well, we will be set up in the parking lot
up towards the road at Giant Eagle in the University
Town Center tomorrow morning from six am to six pm.
It's a drive through. You don't even need to get
out of your car, so just pull up, we'll get
your stuff out, and you're on your way. But what
you really want to do while you're there is register
to win one thousand dollars cash grand prize drawing that

(29:32):
we're having courtesy of Titan Roofing, and you don't even
you don't have to donate, Just stop buy, hang out
with us and sign up.

Speaker 2 (29:38):
Okay, Now had James Sanders in And of course this
is in the DNA of both Titan Roofing and WVRC
Media because this is obviously another WVRC Media cares for
a community event. What are you hearing in terms of
support people coming out. I'm hearing that this could be

(30:01):
a pretty important event.

Speaker 8 (30:03):
I've heard a lot more about this one than I
have any of the ones we've done in the past,
so I'm pretty excited about it.

Speaker 2 (30:10):
You know, I got a call yesterday and I've been
asked to keep my mouth shut, so that's what I
have to do. But coming up on Monday, we're going
to be making a very important announcement about food insecurity
right here on this program. We're going to do it
at nine fifteen in the morning, and I would certainly

(30:33):
encourage folks to tune in because I think you might
be surprised of what we've been able to pull together.
And I say we've been able to pull together, I
think what someone has agreed to do that would be
a better way to put that.

Speaker 8 (30:50):
You're going to keep us in suspense.

Speaker 3 (30:52):
You bet, I am going to be a long weekend.
I know, yeah, yeah, exactly.

Speaker 2 (30:57):
Okay, So let's see Courtney in closing here right now.
Will you be out at food pantries?

Speaker 8 (31:06):
What?

Speaker 3 (31:06):
What? What? What is your day to day?

Speaker 7 (31:10):
So day to day, I'm a little bit of everywhere.
Sometimes I'm meeting with fun and partners. Sometimes I'm in
the office, Sometimes I'm at healthlet harvest. Sometimes I'm out
in the community talking to people. So honestly, it just.

Speaker 3 (31:22):
Varies with the with the current state of need.

Speaker 2 (31:25):
Do you find yourself at food pantries more often checking
things out and kind of figuring out what's where?

Speaker 7 (31:31):
So I'm trying to send out survey so I can
get like written feedback as well, so I'm not necessarily
visiting them in person. I'm trying to connect with them
when when they're available, kind of like asynchronously.

Speaker 2 (31:44):
Okay, is there what what can they do between? I
guess maybe now leading up to the distribution time to
help you understand their needs. Is there an online form?
Is there anything like that?

Speaker 7 (31:58):
So we have the agent. He's addressing food and Security
in Monteglia County committee, so everyone on that committee. I
sent the form to them includes pantries like Christian Help
Pantry plus more so, if they you know, got my email,
make sure to respond to it. But if a pantry
is not connected with us, already reach out to our
office and make sure to talk to me.

Speaker 2 (32:20):
Okay, perfect and special thanks to James Sanders and Titan
Roofing Rachelle. Did I leave anything out? Is there anything
else that you wanted to add or that I didn't
give you an opportunity to say.

Speaker 8 (32:32):
I don't believe though. Just look for the giant inflatable turkey, John,
that's where we'll be collecting food.

Speaker 3 (32:39):
Okay.

Speaker 2 (32:40):
Now, you know, just the other day I just about
got ran over by a turkey in the office and
that no I'm not kidding.

Speaker 8 (32:47):
I know that would be the giant turkey.

Speaker 2 (32:49):
And then upon further review, I realized that that giant
turkey was like the granch a couple of days ago.

Speaker 8 (32:58):
The heck, multiple personalities.

Speaker 2 (33:02):
Yeah, hey, thank you both for coming in. Really do
appreciate it.

Speaker 7 (33:06):
Thank you.

Speaker 3 (33:06):
You'll see you tomorrow, Absolutely, you sure will.

Speaker 2 (33:09):
Okay, it is tomorrow. WVRC Media Cares for Community will
be at the United University Town Center at the Giant
Eagles there. We'll be back to wrap things up coming
up after this fair forty five in Morgantown, AM fourteen
forty f M one oh four point five W A
j R.

Speaker 4 (33:41):
Now back to the talk of the town.

Speaker 2 (33:46):
Because Thursday morning it is nine thirty five West Virginia
five one one does show the accident the traffic situation
there at mile marker one fifty two northbound I seventy
nine easing, there was an accident reported at that location
this morning. That accident report came in at just about

(34:08):
eight fifty seven a m. According to West Virginia five
to one one. But it looks like traffic beginning to
loosen up and move freely there. Now, don't forget about tomorrow.
We certainly hope to see you up at the University
Town Center Giant Eagle for the Cans for Community event.

(34:31):
Certainly encourage you to make a donation of either nonperishable
food or a cash donation. And once again of our area.
We work with Mountaineer Food Bank, and that is one
of the food banks that the Governor's matching program is
good for. So any cash donations I believe will be

(34:53):
matched one hundred percent by the program. That was announced
by the governor. And then of course Zach Morton, the
pastor over at the first Presbyterian Church here in the
city of Morgantown. He is going to be working with
four drop off locations and they'll be handling food donations

(35:14):
tomorrow as well. Certainly appreciate the help and support of
area churches and the clergy, especially Pastor Zach Morton, who
seems to be involved in a lot of community pursuits
of that regard. And that is from six am until
six pm. Don't forget one thousand dollars grand prize. It's

(35:38):
an awful nice thing, but of course it's not the
reason that we're there. But if that's the reason that
you picked to come up and make a donation, stop
buy and say hello, well we'll take it, and you
can do that, and all you have to do is register.

Speaker 3 (35:53):
At the end of the day they.

Speaker 2 (35:54):
Will be drawing for that one thousand dollars prize courtesy
of Titan Roofing and James Sanders now Titan Riffing. They're
also bringing up a truck and a trailer in order
to help us truck some of these donations off. I
believe the United Way is also offering a vehicle as well,

(36:15):
and I believe Mayor Patty Lewis from Granville. She has
reached out and they are offering if we need it,
the space maybe one of their buildings to store some food.
So the entire community, whether it's been the churches, the
nonprofit groups that will benefit from this, the people in need,

(36:36):
and of course elected officials throughout the area. Mon County
Commissioner Tom Bloom would be on that list. And I'm
sure that in the coming days we'll be able to
add more community partners to that list. But once again,
that event is tomorrow, six am to six pm. As
Courtney Summers told us just a few minutes ago, you

(36:58):
might want to consider things that people don't have to cook.
Maybe not everybody has access to a microwave or a
stove or an oven, so keep that in mind when
you're making your donations. Coming up next it is Metro
News Talk Line with Dave and TJ on the Voice

(37:20):
of Morgantown one oh four point five FM and AM
fourteen forty WAJIR. It looks like Secretary of State Chris
Warner will be able to make it in studio after
his appearance at University High School, Earlier Today, Metro News,
talk Line, Next,