September 17, 2025 • 36 mins
Monongalia County commissioner Tom Bloom on the difference between protests in the 1970's and the 2020's
Morgantown Mayor Danielle Trumble on the warming shelter and the possibility of othermunicipalities in the county helping with the effort
Morgantown Mayor Danielle Trumble on the warming shelter and the possibility of othermunicipalities in the county helping with the effort
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:13):
This is the Talk of the Town from Morgantown to Klerksburg.
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.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
A good Wednesday morning.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
It is nine oh six of cloud's sixty four degrees
in the University City.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Welcome to Talk of the Town.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
And how about Wednesday halfway through the week now metronewsz
Aki Weather says another drive mostly sunny day highs in
the upper seventies. Ethan Collins is the man behind the
controls producing the program this morning. He is at eight
hundred seven sixty five eight two five five. And please
consider the text line three oh four Talk three oh
(00:58):
four as your exclusive access to the program, because we
really do want to hear your thoughts. Coming up at
nine to fifteen, going to spend a few minutes with
Mont County Commissioner Tom Bloom.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
Nope, we're not.
Speaker 3 (01:11):
Going to be talking about politics, not going to be
talking about the transmission lines, and we're.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
Not going to be talking about homeless issues.
Speaker 3 (01:19):
We're going to be talking about the difference in contrast
between protests of the twenty twenty era as to those
in the nineteen seventies era during the Vietnam period.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
I think that will be a very good conversation.
Speaker 3 (01:36):
Talk to Tom about that. Coming up at nine point fifteen.
Of course, we'll welcome Sheriff Todd Forbes to the program today.
It is a wanted Wednesday. We'll find out who the
featured felons are from the Montgelia County Sheriff's Office. Now
you can get a head start. You can go to
Monengelia Sheriff dot gov and get a sneak preview of
(01:59):
who those felons are. Then, after we speak with Sheriff Forbes,
we're going to spend a few minutes with Mayor Danielle
Trumpell from the City of Morgantown. We're going to talk
about maybe how what that effort looks like when we
add Star City and Grandville into that mix of municipalities
(02:19):
helping to deal with the area's homeless population. Let's take
a look at a couple of headlines. We'll jump right
into the program. A Deputy Mayor Brian Butcher is calling
for other municipalities in the county to help with the
homeless issue, specifically with the warming shelter. Now, as we
have this conversation this morning, the location for the shelters
(02:42):
not been determined. In addition to the location, there are
concerns about supplies and having the structure in place by
the end of the month. How that structure would include
the staff to be able to manage a twenty two
bed setup similar to what Catholic Charities of West Vine,
Virginia hosted last year at Hazel's House of Hope. I
(03:04):
don't think that hh is out of the question as
a possible location, but as of right now, it is
certainly not on the short list. Butcher hopes that local
municipal officials and the County Commission will get more involved
in that issue moving forward.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
I'm sorry.
Speaker 3 (03:23):
Morgantown City councils approved the ATF trained K.
Speaker 2 (03:28):
Nine City Fire Marshal.
Speaker 3 (03:30):
That dog trained in accelerant detection would be the first
one in the state and one of only about seventy
across the country. A deputy Fire Marshall Lions will attend
that training at the end of the month, and he
will also be assigned as that dog's handler. Detectives in
Fairmont have arrested twenty nine year old Antonio Marquise Evans
(03:53):
in connection with an early Monday morning shooting. A twenty
nine year old Evans was taken into custody on Tuesday morning.
He's been charged with attempted murder and being held on
a one million dollar bond. The victim in that incident
was treated at JW. Ruby Memorial Hospital. Evans also charged
with arson and destruction of property in connection with an
(04:17):
incident last month as well. The leader of the Pagan
Motorcycle Club now has a chance to post bond after
a mistrial was declared in his murder case in Marion County.
The judge has now set bond at a half million
dollars for Ryan Lane. He's accused in the October twenty
twenty two killing Henry Silver in Carolina. The jury heard
(04:40):
nine days of testimony earlier this month, but couldn't reach
verdict after two days of deliberations.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
Now, the judge, as a precaution, not knowing.
Speaker 3 (04:50):
What the decision that the prosecutor's office will make, has
set a time has set time aside in the trial
schedule for January to accommodate a second trial if needed.
United Mine Workers Union has announced its members have approved
a new five year contract with American Consolidated Natural Resources
(05:12):
and Iron Synergy. American Consolidated has mines in West Virginia.
The two contracts cover just about two thousand coal miners.
I think Iron Synergy that's the Pennsylvania mine right across
the border. Donations are being collected for the family of
a Mon County for a family in Mont County whose
(05:34):
home was destroyed by fire this week.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
I believe that was Monday afternoon.
Speaker 3 (05:38):
The Clinton District Volunteer Fire Department that is the collection hub.
Eight fire departments battled that house fire on out Creek
Road back on Monday. That was a three story structure.
And once again you can drop off things at the
Clinton District Volunteer Fire Department. And let's see in sports,
(06:03):
the first SSAC football playoff ratings.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
Have been released.
Speaker 3 (06:07):
You can get the get a look at them at
wv Metronews dot com. We do know Morgantown and University
are tied for the number one spots in Class four A.
After Week three, coming back to spend a few minutes
with Mont County Commissioner Tom Bloom, it's coming up next
on Talk of the Town AM fourteen forty FM one
(06:30):
oh four point five W.
Speaker 4 (06:32):
A j R.
Speaker 1 (06:43):
Now back to the Talk of the Town.
Speaker 3 (06:47):
Good Wednesday morning, Idiot is nine seventeen, some clouds and
sixty four in the University City.
Speaker 2 (06:53):
Good morning.
Speaker 3 (06:54):
On the phone, we have mont County Commissioner Tom Bloom
with us.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
Now.
Speaker 3 (06:59):
What got my attention and got me thinking about this
topic was a series of posts on x with Commissioner
Bloom meeting WVU President Michael T. Benson for the first
time taking a ride on the PRT. Let's welcome to
the program. Mond County Commissioner Tom Bloom, Tom, good morning,
how are you hey?
Speaker 4 (07:20):
Good morning, Good morning Montague County because everyone is doing well.
Speaker 3 (07:23):
Absolutely Now, Tom, I guess, first off, why meet the
new WVU president on the PRT in the first place?
Speaker 4 (07:31):
Well, I was really he stood out an invitation and
fortunately I was the only one who could attend at
the time, and he had never been on the PRT.
So we took a ride on it, and I was
fortunate enough to be around when it first started, and
I told them different stories about what was going on,
(07:52):
about the importance of the PRP, and you know, it
was really a good conversation, so we could really learn
a lot more about the community and how the PRT
was an important part of it.
Speaker 2 (08:04):
Okay, now, what's what's the year here?
Speaker 3 (08:08):
Seventy one, seventy two, seventy three, in that timeframe.
Speaker 4 (08:12):
Back in fact, the people who do not know I
was there in October nineteen seventy two, doesn't it. Nixon
daughter Church Nisson was invited down and they were promoting
the PRP and the technology and this what pudn't nd
the stand. This is technology back in seventy two was
so advanced that she was the person who pushed the
(08:34):
button that allowed the PRT to start running and get
it started, and it was way above this time. In fact,
people don't realize about all the programs and trends that
like Disney World and Disneyland use is based on this program,
this people moving mon.
Speaker 2 (08:54):
Counter Commissioner Tom Blooms will listen.
Speaker 3 (08:56):
Now, Tom, if you can, I guess, tell us what
the mood around campus wons Well.
Speaker 4 (09:02):
Ne wasn't really good. I mean, I will be honest.
What you were in at the Vietnam More there was
a lot of negativity, a lot of concerns going on,
so you had two different sides who were at these
You know, I was there again. I was a college student,
you know, with my long hair at the time, and
(09:24):
I was voiced in mind. But the difference between then
and now was they were non violent protests. And and
I listened to the Center of the Capitol talk about
the rhetoric, and I agree with her one hundred percent.
The quote that she said was we must turn down
the rhetoric. And I believed for sake of our children,
(09:45):
for a family, and our country. And I see right
now there are a lot of similarities with the late
sixties and what's going on now. And I would use
three basic concepts, the turbulence, the divisiveness, and the social
and political up people. And you're seeing it again now
and it is very disturbing, you know.
Speaker 2 (10:07):
Tom My memories.
Speaker 3 (10:08):
I guess I was maybe about ten years old at
that time. And I'll tell you what, Tom, if you
don't mind, we're going to call you back and we're
going to clean up that phone line. Ethan, Let's see
if we can give Tom a call back, maybe get
a better phone line. But in the interim, just to
set this up, about nineteen seventy two, I was about
(10:30):
ten years old. We had just actually had moved off
of the family farm, and actually we had been off
the farm since the late sixties, sixty seven sixty eight,
and that my dad had just gotten a job and
we moved basically into the city, and certainly in the
(10:54):
city we saw a lot of things that we didn't
necessarily see when we were living on the farm. We
were relegated to daily chores and keeping things moving on
the farm. However, I will say that one of the
first things that I realized was had a lot more
time on my hands. And at that time, that was
(11:15):
during the Watergate hearings. I'm sure that a lot of
people have heard about those, maybe many have seen them,
but that's really what drew me into politics, because I'd
been injured and was really unable to participate in sports,
so I was relegated to being inside during the months
(11:39):
of say, June and July, and the Watergate hearings were
on TV. And watched those every afternoon and got to
know the characters that were a part of that particular
chapter of American history. And once I started to learn
(12:00):
about what had happened and what that was all about,
then started to understand maybe a little bit more. And
as I began to understand what was happening with the president,
well that was when that aperture began to open up
just a little bit wider and began to take a
look at some of the protests. And of course, this
(12:23):
is all in the backdrop of the assassinations of Martin
Luther King Junior and Bobby Kennedy, because you know, again
that happened in April fourth, nineteen sixty eight.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
I remember.
Speaker 3 (12:38):
The special report coming on the air that Martin Luther
King had been shot. Now, on that day, April fourth,
nineteen sixty eight, Bobby Kennedy was in the city of
Indianapolis and addressed the city and talked to the city
about unity on the evening of the killing of Martin
Luther King Junior.
Speaker 2 (12:57):
Everybody thought that that was great.
Speaker 3 (12:58):
That inspired the construction of Unity Park in the city
of Indianapolis. One month later, almost to the day, another
special report Bobby Kennedy assassinated. Certainly two events that certainly
shook my young life, that's for sure. Back on the phone,
we've got Commissioner Tom Bloom.
Speaker 2 (13:19):
Tom, good morning, good.
Speaker 4 (13:20):
Morning, And I'm sorry, I don't know what happened, But
you are correct there were numerous political assassinations, like you said, Martin,
Luther King, John and Robert Kennedy, Malcolm X. And what
our concern is, and when I say our would be
anybody who's in the political arena that we are not
able to discuss issues right now. I think what we
(13:43):
now have is both fringes of both parties want to
have their voices heard and those of us who really
want the middle who want to try and work issues out,
we can't even sit down. And that's a major concern.
The other thing I want to playing the difference between
the sixties and now is we're in dealing with an
(14:04):
error of the Internet and the AI area that can
manipulate a picture, a conversation or a quote. And the
difference is is now difficult to figure out what is
actually factual and what is misinformation. And then somebody goes
on the internet. You could always find somebody to support
(14:26):
your views, no matter what they are, and we've lost
quote the art of debating, and that to me is
what worries me. And I think Senator Capital by saying
she's concerned about going places, so am I here? It
has really changed even in this community.
Speaker 3 (14:44):
You know, Tom had an opportunity to talk with Joe
Manchin last Friday, and one of the things that he
said that got my attention was that growing up in Farmington,
they never knew a Republican that wasn't their friend. But
maybe their approach to solving a certain an issue or
their views on a topic might not have matched theirs,
(15:04):
but it wasn't necessarily caused to fight.
Speaker 4 (15:08):
And that's exactly right. I mean, some people have called me,
you know, a Joe Manchin Democrat, but I think people
need to understand he reached out to both parties. I
may not agree with everything Senator Capital says, but she
will reach out to me when we need to try
and solve a problem. And the problem right now is
people don't want to reach out. They just want their
(15:30):
side to win. And because of this, the country is losing.
And I think we need to get back to debating
discussing issues, and I think that's really important and we've
lost that right now. And I'll say this and people
may not want to hear it, but back in the sixties,
a lot of people didn't have access to guns. We
(15:53):
do now for whatever reason, and people think, well, you're
either on my side or else, and we have to
move away from that kind of mentality and say what
can we do that, you know, in a compromise. Both
people don't get everything what they want, but they move forward.
And I think we need as a nation to sit
back down and say, let's stop all this horrible rhetoric
(16:17):
and blame and what can we do to sit down
and find things that we can work on together and
move this country forward. And I'm very worried about the
children because they see this every day and they then they,
you know, do this as a guidance council. I saw
this all the time. They would see this and bring
it back from the community into the school system. And
(16:39):
that's not how we solve problems, you.
Speaker 3 (16:41):
Know, Tom, I think the sad reality of what I'm
hearing hearing you say is the fact that human life
is not as important as issues.
Speaker 2 (16:52):
To some people.
Speaker 4 (16:54):
You're exactly winning the conversation is more important than what
you're actual goal is, which would be to work together
to improve the area, to prove the city, the county,
the state, and the government, you know, And we do
not have that right now. And I know people blame
social media. And yes, but I almost blame the internet
(17:18):
because it's easier to say something and argue with someone
on the internet. Then it's out there as if you
don't own the conversation. I can tell you when I
had two students who were fighting on the computer, when
you actually brought them in and sat them down, they
didn't say what they were saying there, and it was
difficult to make those comments in front of someone else.
(17:40):
And that's what we need to get back to, sitting
down at the table talking, not wanting to see who's
the winner and who's louder than the other person.
Speaker 3 (17:50):
Maybe this does spark a trend more face to face debate,
face to face meetings. Maybe this is a renaissance for
the public meeting.
Speaker 4 (18:01):
I hope it is. I mean, but I will say
this too, it starts from the top up. You know,
in the school system, it starts with the teacher and
the principal. And government, it starts with the president. They
set the motion and the attitude. And you can't have this.
Blame all the Republicans, blame all the Democrats. You know
that generic sentence does not solve the problem. Hey, get
(18:25):
your votes, but that's a difference to me between an
elected official who really wants to do something and a politician,
and hopefully we can start getting more elected officials who
want to do the right thing.
Speaker 3 (18:40):
Again, I would go back to Joe Manchin. Joe Manchin
would say his first impulse is to be able to
get to yes.
Speaker 2 (18:47):
Yes, yes.
Speaker 3 (18:49):
His first impulse is to, hey, how can I find
a way to work with not against?
Speaker 4 (18:56):
It was funny, I mean, this isn't funny. But when
we finally had the Vietnam peace talks, they spent four
months setting up the table, no lie on how they
were going to sit when they sat, you know, to
discuss it. Once they sat down, it was almost immediately
they got the problem resolved. But you have to get
to that point and say, okay, what do I need
(19:19):
to do to sit down with both sides and I
will pull this. I blame both the Democrat and the
Republican parties because they lost sight of the community and
the people who they represent.
Speaker 3 (19:33):
Absolutely, I couldn't disagree with you on that, Tom, And
I'm afraid we're out of time, but okay, I do
appreciate your time today, Tom, Thank you very much.
Speaker 4 (19:41):
Hey, and how about those mountaineers still on a high
from that wind.
Speaker 3 (19:46):
Absolutely absolutely, Hey Tom, have a great day, sir, take
care of yourself.
Speaker 1 (20:02):
We are talking about your town. Now back to the
talk of the town.
Speaker 2 (20:08):
A good Wednesday morning.
Speaker 3 (20:09):
Idiot's nine thirty five, some clouds and sixty five degrees
in the University City. We'll welcome mon County Sheriff Todd
Forbes to the program here in just a few minutes,
because it is a Wanted Wednesday and we're gonna be
talking about their featured felons.
Speaker 2 (20:27):
Of the week. We'll get to that just as soon
as we can.
Speaker 3 (20:29):
Though in studio we do have Morgantown Mary Daniel Trumble
mayor good morning, how are you?
Speaker 5 (20:36):
Good morning? Happy to pop down this morning.
Speaker 3 (20:38):
Well, it was kind of on short notice, that's for sure.
We did lay out a net and tried to get
some We reached out to a variety of members and
glad that you're available.
Speaker 5 (20:49):
Hey, Woodburn's close by. I'm always happy to stop in there.
Speaker 2 (20:52):
You go, okay. Now.
Speaker 3 (20:54):
During the meeting on Tuesday evening last night, there was
some talk about getting other municipalities more involved with the
city's warming shelter. Now, before we address that, let's talk
about the warming shelter.
Speaker 2 (21:10):
Where are we at today?
Speaker 5 (21:14):
So during our regular budget season the city and the county,
we kind of thought we were ahead of the game.
This year. We actually got Catholic charities during our normal
budget processes to submit a plan, submit funding request and
those were awarded by the city and county. It became
clear in the last couple of weeks that maybe the
(21:36):
location that was used last year at MCR was not
available for use for that purpose this year. So here
we are in mid September, scrambling like we always are.
Speaker 3 (21:48):
And now that location that's up on Scott Avenue, the
former Ramata Inn or Hazel's House of Hope as we
call it. Now, what are the concerns? Why can't we
go back to Scott Avenue.
Speaker 5 (22:01):
Over the last several weeks there have been some security
and safety concerns with people hanging around on campus, some
nefarious activity. MCR has addressed those concerns raised by some
of the tenants there, and there is security on site.
I talked to our security lead yesterday and he said
he feels that things have gone from like level eight
(22:23):
or nine out of ten down to about a four now,
which is where we're pretty comfortable you know, we want
people to be on site receiving services, feeding programs, dayroom,
but maybe a little less of those other activities. Catholic
Charities is also working They have a long term plan
to utilize that sobering center space that was used for
(22:44):
the warming shelter last year. They have a plan to
use that more in a traditional shelter kind of situation
that they're working on. So I think there's also a
little little hesitancy there to tie that up with warming
shelter in case this other plan can be implemented.
Speaker 3 (23:02):
Now, Gee, I hate to bring up the obvious and
don't mean to put the pressure on you.
Speaker 2 (23:08):
I'm used to it now, Mike, Well, that's true.
Speaker 3 (23:11):
But we're looking at ten calendar days until the end
of the month, and that doesn't necessarily mean that the
warming shelter has to be up and running and ready
to go on that day.
Speaker 2 (23:21):
It just means that we.
Speaker 3 (23:24):
Move ever so closer to the possibility of needing that
shelter at that point.
Speaker 5 (23:28):
Absolutely, we normally open that shelter. I think we usually
plan for about December fifteenth. Usually it opens a couple
of weeks sooner than that. So it seems like you
know we have a lot of time, but when you
actually look at the calendar, it's coming pretty quickly, and
getting staffing and everything in place is a long process,
so we certainly need to start working on that. At council.
(23:54):
At the last meeting, not yesterday's meeting, our previous meeting,
I talked about working to set up up a meeting
with some MCR leadership, City Leadership, MPD, Catholic Charities. We
did have that meeting yesterday morning and Catholic Charities has
indicated they are still ready, willing and able to lead
(24:15):
the effort on the Warming shelter. We're just looking for
a location and they did seem to have a couple
of leads on that. They said they were going to
reach out to a few folks this week and we'd
be hearing back. So hopefully we'll have more information by
next week, but definitely crunch time in my mind.
Speaker 3 (24:31):
Who is the point person for Catholic Charities at this point?
Speaker 5 (24:36):
Aaron Shelton is serving as the interim director of Grace Shelter,
but the Catholic Charities CEO, Mark Phillips, who is headquartered
in Wheeling, has actually been present on site at H
three many many times over the last couple of weeks,
every meeting that I have had there he has been
present for. He is very engaged, He's great to work with.
Speaker 3 (25:00):
You know, I remember a couple of years ago when
we were looking for a location for the warming shelter,
had some meetings I think up in your neighborhood, and
you know, I just I noticed that there are people
that really do want to help. At the same time,
those people are also very very concerned about what they
(25:22):
perceive is what comes with that warming shelter or maybe
you know what we've seen.
Speaker 2 (25:27):
At Hazel's House of Hope.
Speaker 3 (25:29):
So I guess, in the effort to find another location,
what are you hearing from potential suitors.
Speaker 5 (25:36):
That I have not specifically talked to any other locations
at this point. It was just made abundantly clear to
the city yesterday that H three was likely not to
be the location. But as you said, I mean, any
time you are offering services to someone experiencing homelessness, homelessness
(25:59):
comes along with a lot of a lot of different circumstances,
and unfortunately, a lot of times that is a mental
health issue or an addiction issue. So those types of
problems are always going to be president present anytime. Anytime
we're serving this population. We really need the ability to
have trained staff on site in a secure location. We
(26:21):
don't want to introduce that into a residential neighborhood. We
don't want to introduce that into a heavy busy business district.
And the city limits of Morgantown are a little tricky.
When you start looking at other locations.
Speaker 2 (26:33):
You know that they are that they are.
Speaker 3 (26:35):
Okay, well, Daniel, what I'd like to do is work
in a break, and then when we come back, I'd
like to address maybe how Grandville and Star City can
maybe step.
Speaker 2 (26:44):
In and fill a void.
Speaker 3 (26:46):
Absolutely okay, perfect nine forty one Cloud sixty six the
University City.
Speaker 2 (26:52):
We'll be back on AM.
Speaker 3 (26:53):
Fourteen forty FM one oh four point five w AJR
right after this.
Speaker 1 (27:13):
Join the conversation at one eight hundred and seven to
sixty five eight two fivey five. This is the talk
of the town.
Speaker 2 (27:20):
Good Wednesday morning. Mont County Commission.
Speaker 3 (27:22):
They'll be gabbling into their regular meeting at the top
of the hour. You'll be able to check that out
on their YouTube page. ORB you've got time to get
down to the mon County Courthouse on High Street. You
can check that meeting out live in their chambers in
the basement in the studio we have Morgantown Mayor Danielle Trumpell. Mayor,
thank you very much again for coming in. The topic
(27:45):
on the table is the warming shelter for this year
and calls coming out of Morgantown City Council meeting last
night for area municipalities to step.
Speaker 2 (27:56):
Up in a bigger way to help the effort to
deal with.
Speaker 3 (27:59):
What the point in time homeless count determined this year
was a total number of about one hundred and fifty
homeless people on the streets in Montagelia County.
Speaker 2 (28:09):
Mayor, thank you again for coming in.
Speaker 5 (28:11):
Absolutely, I think some of the comments made it council
last night. We're all feeling very frustrated. As I mentioned,
we kind of thought everything was in place, and a
few of my fellow councilors I think got a little,
I don't want to say carried away. They I think
they totally totally meant what they said, but it comes
(28:32):
from a place of frustration where every single year, the
City of Morgantown is looked at as the entity that
is supposed to solve this. As you know, city limits
of Morgantown or like you mentioned, octopus like. And I've
always been a firm believer that what helps one of
(28:53):
the municipalities here in this location really helps us all.
Because when someone thinks of Moretown, they think of you know,
University Town Center as being Morgantown. They think of the
Morgantown Mall, which is actually in Westover, as being Morgantown.
So the reputation of our area is it involves all
(29:15):
of us. And I think that problems and solutions should
involve all of us, just like our celebrations and successes
do Sure.
Speaker 3 (29:24):
Now, when you then open that up a little bit,
look at it a little bit deeper. What are the
things that Star City in Granville could bring to the
table that would help this effort.
Speaker 5 (29:36):
We certainly struggle with location, We certainly struggle with security.
We always struggle with funding, but sometimes that's even you know,
things like transportation or food to provide to folks. There
are a lot of things that don't have to be
monetary that that just a little bit of engagement from
(30:01):
a wider group of people would go a long way.
We are big on building community, and as I said,
this community has the ability to handle these situations. We
just need more folks willing to come to the table
because I am certainly not an expert in social services.
That is not my background, despite the fact that I've
(30:23):
been doing this for the city for a couple of years.
But I know there are a lot of smart people
and a lot of different places around the county here
that probably have much better ideas.
Speaker 2 (30:36):
You know, just a question.
Speaker 3 (30:39):
But if let's just say Star City or Grandville would
get involved, don't we maybe create some of the same
travel issues that we have up on Scott Avenue.
Speaker 5 (30:53):
I think the travel issues have been I don't I
have mixed feelings about that being rectified. But with the
bus pass system that the city in the county is
currently paying for, it's a lot easier for people to
travel to other areas, not only Scott Avenue. So I
(31:14):
think that that's definitely something that could be could be
easily remedied as long as it's not in too remote
of a location. Sure are the Mountain Lion does a
does a pretty good job of reaching lots of different areas.
Speaker 3 (31:28):
Now, one thing that you've brought up a couple of
times has been I guess the unfortunate the unfortunate circumstances
that surround the warming shelter in terms of the population.
Sometimes their problems. Sometimes the population they have problems that
they need to have dealt with. And as you said,
(31:48):
it's maybe not just as simple as giving somebody a
cot and a blanket and a pillow and a warm
place to sleep.
Speaker 2 (31:56):
Certainly, Uh, you know what effect do those issues is
that what is creating the problem of finding a place.
Speaker 5 (32:06):
As I said, we're very strategic about the types of
locations that we would be willing to move a shelter
like this into. As you mentioned last year, the one
of the churches in my ward was thinking of hosting
in the neighborhood kind of came together and indicated that
that was not a reasonable location. So we are very
(32:30):
cognizant of the types of issues that come around with this.
And again, as was even mentioned during council last night
with trained staff last year, Catholic Charities was great and
they actually moved several people out of that warming shelter
and some more permanent shelter into treatment into Lauren's wish actually,
So having a place where people can come for the
(32:52):
winter reliably and engage with services is very important. It
gets them off of the street and it's a conduit
to get them into services. So I think that having
the funding and the ability to have trained staff is
really what's key to kind of mitigating some of those issues.
Speaker 3 (33:11):
You know, this might not be a popular potential solution, however,
this is a vexing problem. It's been going on, as
you said, for three to four years now. There really
hasn't been one solution, and there probably never will be
one solution. But do we then find ourselves at a
point where we do have to have some sort of
(33:34):
residency requirement.
Speaker 5 (33:37):
With different types of funding, the ability to do that
is different. I think certainly if the city and the
county are paying we have had Bartlett House, for example,
in the past, did look to see if you had
been in the Man County area for a certain period
of time. It's a little harder with Catholic charities and
some of their funding streams because they are a statewide organization.
(34:00):
I do not pretend to know the ins and outs
of all of that, so I will leave that up
to the experts. But I do think that we have
a lot of our own people on the street here
that we need to focus on helping.
Speaker 3 (34:15):
I think you're right, and I think that in some
kind of crazy way, if the people, maybe somebody is homeless.
Speaker 2 (34:24):
Here from Massachusetts.
Speaker 3 (34:26):
I think we had one person here from Massachusetts or
a place far away last year.
Speaker 2 (34:33):
Why not get them a ride home and see what
happened to me?
Speaker 5 (34:36):
Maybe we actually did that several times last year. I
would I would call different people or the volunteers working
at the shelter. I work with Alice Meehan a lot.
She is a local church member and volunteer. She is
very good about talking to people, finding out their story,
figuring out if they have family somewhere that they can
(34:57):
get back to, and they're there's funding available for bus
tickets and things like that, if people, if we can
help make that reconnection for people just very quickly. And
this is probably a topic for another day, but I
have been bringing up at the MCR meetings lately that
I think Hazel's House of Hope is kind of in
(35:18):
a bit of an identity crisis. I think it's time
for our board to kind of take a step back
and decide if we are a homeless services provider hub
or if we want to be a general nonprofit Hub,
because we are finding that some of the types of
organizations that are listed there are a little bit like
(35:40):
oil and water I think is the term used yesterday,
maybe non compatible. So I'm going to really be pushing
the Morgantown Community Resources Board to take a step back
and look at the types of organizations that are there
in the best use of some of those empty spaces
moving forward, because we have to have a place for
(36:00):
people to go and where people feel welcome and able
to receive services. I think when we have a taxpayer
funded dayroom and a feeding program, it's hard to say
the winter shelter can't be here.
Speaker 2 (36:15):
Yes, we have to.
Speaker 3 (36:17):
He waited, Yes, he waited until the end to drop
the bomb. But hey, we'll dress that at a later time.
And I appreciate you bringing that up. Morgantown Mayor Danielle Trumble.
I'm sorry, but we're out of time. See you next week, Yes, ma'am,
you take care of yourself, Morgantown Mayor Danielle Trumble. We
will be back to wrap things up coming up right
after this. Right now, mostly cloudy sixty seven in the
(36:40):
University City on AM fourteen forty FM one oh four
point five w ajr
This is the Talk of the Town from Morgantown to Klerksburg.
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.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
A good Wednesday morning.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
It is nine oh six of cloud's sixty four degrees
in the University City.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Welcome to Talk of the Town.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
And how about Wednesday halfway through the week now metronewsz
Aki Weather says another drive mostly sunny day highs in
the upper seventies. Ethan Collins is the man behind the
controls producing the program this morning. He is at eight
hundred seven sixty five eight two five five. And please
consider the text line three oh four Talk three oh
(00:58):
four as your exclusive access to the program, because we
really do want to hear your thoughts. Coming up at
nine to fifteen, going to spend a few minutes with
Mont County Commissioner Tom Bloom.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
Nope, we're not.
Speaker 3 (01:11):
Going to be talking about politics, not going to be
talking about the transmission lines, and we're.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
Not going to be talking about homeless issues.
Speaker 3 (01:19):
We're going to be talking about the difference in contrast
between protests of the twenty twenty era as to those
in the nineteen seventies era during the Vietnam period.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
I think that will be a very good conversation.
Speaker 3 (01:36):
Talk to Tom about that. Coming up at nine point fifteen.
Of course, we'll welcome Sheriff Todd Forbes to the program today.
It is a wanted Wednesday. We'll find out who the
featured felons are from the Montgelia County Sheriff's Office. Now
you can get a head start. You can go to
Monengelia Sheriff dot gov and get a sneak preview of
(01:59):
who those felons are. Then, after we speak with Sheriff Forbes,
we're going to spend a few minutes with Mayor Danielle
Trumpell from the City of Morgantown. We're going to talk
about maybe how what that effort looks like when we
add Star City and Grandville into that mix of municipalities
(02:19):
helping to deal with the area's homeless population. Let's take
a look at a couple of headlines. We'll jump right
into the program. A Deputy Mayor Brian Butcher is calling
for other municipalities in the county to help with the
homeless issue, specifically with the warming shelter. Now, as we
have this conversation this morning, the location for the shelters
(02:42):
not been determined. In addition to the location, there are
concerns about supplies and having the structure in place by
the end of the month. How that structure would include
the staff to be able to manage a twenty two
bed setup similar to what Catholic Charities of West Vine,
Virginia hosted last year at Hazel's House of Hope. I
(03:04):
don't think that hh is out of the question as
a possible location, but as of right now, it is
certainly not on the short list. Butcher hopes that local
municipal officials and the County Commission will get more involved
in that issue moving forward.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
I'm sorry.
Speaker 3 (03:23):
Morgantown City councils approved the ATF trained K.
Speaker 2 (03:28):
Nine City Fire Marshal.
Speaker 3 (03:30):
That dog trained in accelerant detection would be the first
one in the state and one of only about seventy
across the country. A deputy Fire Marshall Lions will attend
that training at the end of the month, and he
will also be assigned as that dog's handler. Detectives in
Fairmont have arrested twenty nine year old Antonio Marquise Evans
(03:53):
in connection with an early Monday morning shooting. A twenty
nine year old Evans was taken into custody on Tuesday morning.
He's been charged with attempted murder and being held on
a one million dollar bond. The victim in that incident
was treated at JW. Ruby Memorial Hospital. Evans also charged
with arson and destruction of property in connection with an
(04:17):
incident last month as well. The leader of the Pagan
Motorcycle Club now has a chance to post bond after
a mistrial was declared in his murder case in Marion County.
The judge has now set bond at a half million
dollars for Ryan Lane. He's accused in the October twenty
twenty two killing Henry Silver in Carolina. The jury heard
(04:40):
nine days of testimony earlier this month, but couldn't reach
verdict after two days of deliberations.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
Now, the judge, as a precaution, not knowing.
Speaker 3 (04:50):
What the decision that the prosecutor's office will make, has
set a time has set time aside in the trial
schedule for January to accommodate a second trial if needed.
United Mine Workers Union has announced its members have approved
a new five year contract with American Consolidated Natural Resources
(05:12):
and Iron Synergy. American Consolidated has mines in West Virginia.
The two contracts cover just about two thousand coal miners.
I think Iron Synergy that's the Pennsylvania mine right across
the border. Donations are being collected for the family of
a Mon County for a family in Mont County whose
(05:34):
home was destroyed by fire this week.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
I believe that was Monday afternoon.
Speaker 3 (05:38):
The Clinton District Volunteer Fire Department that is the collection hub.
Eight fire departments battled that house fire on out Creek
Road back on Monday. That was a three story structure.
And once again you can drop off things at the
Clinton District Volunteer Fire Department. And let's see in sports,
(06:03):
the first SSAC football playoff ratings.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
Have been released.
Speaker 3 (06:07):
You can get the get a look at them at
wv Metronews dot com. We do know Morgantown and University
are tied for the number one spots in Class four A.
After Week three, coming back to spend a few minutes
with Mont County Commissioner Tom Bloom, it's coming up next
on Talk of the Town AM fourteen forty FM one
(06:30):
oh four point five W.
Speaker 4 (06:32):
A j R.
Speaker 1 (06:43):
Now back to the Talk of the Town.
Speaker 3 (06:47):
Good Wednesday morning, Idiot is nine seventeen, some clouds and
sixty four in the University City.
Speaker 2 (06:53):
Good morning.
Speaker 3 (06:54):
On the phone, we have mont County Commissioner Tom Bloom
with us.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
Now.
Speaker 3 (06:59):
What got my attention and got me thinking about this
topic was a series of posts on x with Commissioner
Bloom meeting WVU President Michael T. Benson for the first
time taking a ride on the PRT. Let's welcome to
the program. Mond County Commissioner Tom Bloom, Tom, good morning,
how are you hey?
Speaker 4 (07:20):
Good morning, Good morning Montague County because everyone is doing well.
Speaker 3 (07:23):
Absolutely Now, Tom, I guess, first off, why meet the
new WVU president on the PRT in the first place?
Speaker 4 (07:31):
Well, I was really he stood out an invitation and
fortunately I was the only one who could attend at
the time, and he had never been on the PRT.
So we took a ride on it, and I was
fortunate enough to be around when it first started, and
I told them different stories about what was going on,
(07:52):
about the importance of the PRP, and you know, it
was really a good conversation, so we could really learn
a lot more about the community and how the PRT
was an important part of it.
Speaker 2 (08:04):
Okay, now, what's what's the year here?
Speaker 3 (08:08):
Seventy one, seventy two, seventy three, in that timeframe.
Speaker 4 (08:12):
Back in fact, the people who do not know I
was there in October nineteen seventy two, doesn't it. Nixon
daughter Church Nisson was invited down and they were promoting
the PRP and the technology and this what pudn't nd
the stand. This is technology back in seventy two was
so advanced that she was the person who pushed the
(08:34):
button that allowed the PRT to start running and get
it started, and it was way above this time. In fact,
people don't realize about all the programs and trends that
like Disney World and Disneyland use is based on this program,
this people moving mon.
Speaker 2 (08:54):
Counter Commissioner Tom Blooms will listen.
Speaker 3 (08:56):
Now, Tom, if you can, I guess, tell us what
the mood around campus wons Well.
Speaker 4 (09:02):
Ne wasn't really good. I mean, I will be honest.
What you were in at the Vietnam More there was
a lot of negativity, a lot of concerns going on,
so you had two different sides who were at these
You know, I was there again. I was a college student,
you know, with my long hair at the time, and
(09:24):
I was voiced in mind. But the difference between then
and now was they were non violent protests. And and
I listened to the Center of the Capitol talk about
the rhetoric, and I agree with her one hundred percent.
The quote that she said was we must turn down
the rhetoric. And I believed for sake of our children,
(09:45):
for a family, and our country. And I see right
now there are a lot of similarities with the late
sixties and what's going on now. And I would use
three basic concepts, the turbulence, the divisiveness, and the social
and political up people. And you're seeing it again now
and it is very disturbing, you know.
Speaker 2 (10:07):
Tom My memories.
Speaker 3 (10:08):
I guess I was maybe about ten years old at
that time. And I'll tell you what, Tom, if you
don't mind, we're going to call you back and we're
going to clean up that phone line. Ethan, Let's see
if we can give Tom a call back, maybe get
a better phone line. But in the interim, just to
set this up, about nineteen seventy two, I was about
(10:30):
ten years old. We had just actually had moved off
of the family farm, and actually we had been off
the farm since the late sixties, sixty seven sixty eight,
and that my dad had just gotten a job and
we moved basically into the city, and certainly in the
(10:54):
city we saw a lot of things that we didn't
necessarily see when we were living on the farm. We
were relegated to daily chores and keeping things moving on
the farm. However, I will say that one of the
first things that I realized was had a lot more
time on my hands. And at that time, that was
(11:15):
during the Watergate hearings. I'm sure that a lot of
people have heard about those, maybe many have seen them,
but that's really what drew me into politics, because I'd
been injured and was really unable to participate in sports,
so I was relegated to being inside during the months
(11:39):
of say, June and July, and the Watergate hearings were
on TV. And watched those every afternoon and got to
know the characters that were a part of that particular
chapter of American history. And once I started to learn
(12:00):
about what had happened and what that was all about,
then started to understand maybe a little bit more. And
as I began to understand what was happening with the president,
well that was when that aperture began to open up
just a little bit wider and began to take a
look at some of the protests. And of course, this
(12:23):
is all in the backdrop of the assassinations of Martin
Luther King Junior and Bobby Kennedy, because you know, again
that happened in April fourth, nineteen sixty eight.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
I remember.
Speaker 3 (12:38):
The special report coming on the air that Martin Luther
King had been shot. Now, on that day, April fourth,
nineteen sixty eight, Bobby Kennedy was in the city of
Indianapolis and addressed the city and talked to the city
about unity on the evening of the killing of Martin
Luther King Junior.
Speaker 2 (12:57):
Everybody thought that that was great.
Speaker 3 (12:58):
That inspired the construction of Unity Park in the city
of Indianapolis. One month later, almost to the day, another
special report Bobby Kennedy assassinated. Certainly two events that certainly
shook my young life, that's for sure. Back on the phone,
we've got Commissioner Tom Bloom.
Speaker 2 (13:19):
Tom, good morning, good.
Speaker 4 (13:20):
Morning, And I'm sorry, I don't know what happened, But
you are correct there were numerous political assassinations, like you said, Martin,
Luther King, John and Robert Kennedy, Malcolm X. And what
our concern is, and when I say our would be
anybody who's in the political arena that we are not
able to discuss issues right now. I think what we
(13:43):
now have is both fringes of both parties want to
have their voices heard and those of us who really
want the middle who want to try and work issues out,
we can't even sit down. And that's a major concern.
The other thing I want to playing the difference between
the sixties and now is we're in dealing with an
(14:04):
error of the Internet and the AI area that can
manipulate a picture, a conversation or a quote. And the
difference is is now difficult to figure out what is
actually factual and what is misinformation. And then somebody goes
on the internet. You could always find somebody to support
(14:26):
your views, no matter what they are, and we've lost
quote the art of debating, and that to me is
what worries me. And I think Senator Capital by saying
she's concerned about going places, so am I here? It
has really changed even in this community.
Speaker 3 (14:44):
You know, Tom had an opportunity to talk with Joe
Manchin last Friday, and one of the things that he
said that got my attention was that growing up in Farmington,
they never knew a Republican that wasn't their friend. But
maybe their approach to solving a certain an issue or
their views on a topic might not have matched theirs,
(15:04):
but it wasn't necessarily caused to fight.
Speaker 4 (15:08):
And that's exactly right. I mean, some people have called me,
you know, a Joe Manchin Democrat, but I think people
need to understand he reached out to both parties. I
may not agree with everything Senator Capital says, but she
will reach out to me when we need to try
and solve a problem. And the problem right now is
people don't want to reach out. They just want their
(15:30):
side to win. And because of this, the country is losing.
And I think we need to get back to debating
discussing issues, and I think that's really important and we've
lost that right now. And I'll say this and people
may not want to hear it, but back in the sixties,
a lot of people didn't have access to guns. We
(15:53):
do now for whatever reason, and people think, well, you're
either on my side or else, and we have to
move away from that kind of mentality and say what
can we do that, you know, in a compromise. Both
people don't get everything what they want, but they move forward.
And I think we need as a nation to sit
back down and say, let's stop all this horrible rhetoric
(16:17):
and blame and what can we do to sit down
and find things that we can work on together and
move this country forward. And I'm very worried about the
children because they see this every day and they then they,
you know, do this as a guidance council. I saw
this all the time. They would see this and bring
it back from the community into the school system. And
(16:39):
that's not how we solve problems, you.
Speaker 3 (16:41):
Know, Tom, I think the sad reality of what I'm
hearing hearing you say is the fact that human life
is not as important as issues.
Speaker 2 (16:52):
To some people.
Speaker 4 (16:54):
You're exactly winning the conversation is more important than what
you're actual goal is, which would be to work together
to improve the area, to prove the city, the county,
the state, and the government, you know, And we do
not have that right now. And I know people blame
social media. And yes, but I almost blame the internet
(17:18):
because it's easier to say something and argue with someone
on the internet. Then it's out there as if you
don't own the conversation. I can tell you when I
had two students who were fighting on the computer, when
you actually brought them in and sat them down, they
didn't say what they were saying there, and it was
difficult to make those comments in front of someone else.
(17:40):
And that's what we need to get back to, sitting
down at the table talking, not wanting to see who's
the winner and who's louder than the other person.
Speaker 3 (17:50):
Maybe this does spark a trend more face to face debate,
face to face meetings. Maybe this is a renaissance for
the public meeting.
Speaker 4 (18:01):
I hope it is. I mean, but I will say
this too, it starts from the top up. You know,
in the school system, it starts with the teacher and
the principal. And government, it starts with the president. They
set the motion and the attitude. And you can't have this.
Blame all the Republicans, blame all the Democrats. You know
that generic sentence does not solve the problem. Hey, get
(18:25):
your votes, but that's a difference to me between an
elected official who really wants to do something and a politician,
and hopefully we can start getting more elected officials who
want to do the right thing.
Speaker 3 (18:40):
Again, I would go back to Joe Manchin. Joe Manchin
would say his first impulse is to be able to
get to yes.
Speaker 2 (18:47):
Yes, yes.
Speaker 3 (18:49):
His first impulse is to, hey, how can I find
a way to work with not against?
Speaker 4 (18:56):
It was funny, I mean, this isn't funny. But when
we finally had the Vietnam peace talks, they spent four
months setting up the table, no lie on how they
were going to sit when they sat, you know, to
discuss it. Once they sat down, it was almost immediately
they got the problem resolved. But you have to get
to that point and say, okay, what do I need
(19:19):
to do to sit down with both sides and I
will pull this. I blame both the Democrat and the
Republican parties because they lost sight of the community and
the people who they represent.
Speaker 3 (19:33):
Absolutely, I couldn't disagree with you on that, Tom, And
I'm afraid we're out of time, but okay, I do
appreciate your time today, Tom, Thank you very much.
Speaker 4 (19:41):
Hey, and how about those mountaineers still on a high
from that wind.
Speaker 3 (19:46):
Absolutely absolutely, Hey Tom, have a great day, sir, take
care of yourself.
Speaker 1 (20:02):
We are talking about your town. Now back to the
talk of the town.
Speaker 2 (20:08):
A good Wednesday morning.
Speaker 3 (20:09):
Idiot's nine thirty five, some clouds and sixty five degrees
in the University City. We'll welcome mon County Sheriff Todd
Forbes to the program here in just a few minutes,
because it is a Wanted Wednesday and we're gonna be
talking about their featured felons.
Speaker 2 (20:27):
Of the week. We'll get to that just as soon
as we can.
Speaker 3 (20:29):
Though in studio we do have Morgantown Mary Daniel Trumble
mayor good morning, how are you?
Speaker 5 (20:36):
Good morning? Happy to pop down this morning.
Speaker 3 (20:38):
Well, it was kind of on short notice, that's for sure.
We did lay out a net and tried to get
some We reached out to a variety of members and
glad that you're available.
Speaker 5 (20:49):
Hey, Woodburn's close by. I'm always happy to stop in there.
Speaker 2 (20:52):
You go, okay. Now.
Speaker 3 (20:54):
During the meeting on Tuesday evening last night, there was
some talk about getting other municipalities more involved with the
city's warming shelter. Now, before we address that, let's talk
about the warming shelter.
Speaker 2 (21:10):
Where are we at today?
Speaker 5 (21:14):
So during our regular budget season the city and the county,
we kind of thought we were ahead of the game.
This year. We actually got Catholic charities during our normal
budget processes to submit a plan, submit funding request and
those were awarded by the city and county. It became
clear in the last couple of weeks that maybe the
(21:36):
location that was used last year at MCR was not
available for use for that purpose this year. So here
we are in mid September, scrambling like we always are.
Speaker 3 (21:48):
And now that location that's up on Scott Avenue, the
former Ramata Inn or Hazel's House of Hope as we
call it. Now, what are the concerns? Why can't we
go back to Scott Avenue.
Speaker 5 (22:01):
Over the last several weeks there have been some security
and safety concerns with people hanging around on campus, some
nefarious activity. MCR has addressed those concerns raised by some
of the tenants there, and there is security on site.
I talked to our security lead yesterday and he said
he feels that things have gone from like level eight
(22:23):
or nine out of ten down to about a four now,
which is where we're pretty comfortable you know, we want
people to be on site receiving services, feeding programs, dayroom,
but maybe a little less of those other activities. Catholic
Charities is also working They have a long term plan
to utilize that sobering center space that was used for
(22:44):
the warming shelter last year. They have a plan to
use that more in a traditional shelter kind of situation
that they're working on. So I think there's also a
little little hesitancy there to tie that up with warming
shelter in case this other plan can be implemented.
Speaker 3 (23:02):
Now, Gee, I hate to bring up the obvious and
don't mean to put the pressure on you.
Speaker 2 (23:08):
I'm used to it now, Mike, Well, that's true.
Speaker 3 (23:11):
But we're looking at ten calendar days until the end
of the month, and that doesn't necessarily mean that the
warming shelter has to be up and running and ready
to go on that day.
Speaker 2 (23:21):
It just means that we.
Speaker 3 (23:24):
Move ever so closer to the possibility of needing that
shelter at that point.
Speaker 5 (23:28):
Absolutely, we normally open that shelter. I think we usually
plan for about December fifteenth. Usually it opens a couple
of weeks sooner than that. So it seems like you
know we have a lot of time, but when you
actually look at the calendar, it's coming pretty quickly, and
getting staffing and everything in place is a long process,
so we certainly need to start working on that. At council.
(23:54):
At the last meeting, not yesterday's meeting, our previous meeting,
I talked about working to set up up a meeting
with some MCR leadership, City Leadership, MPD, Catholic Charities. We
did have that meeting yesterday morning and Catholic Charities has
indicated they are still ready, willing and able to lead
(24:15):
the effort on the Warming shelter. We're just looking for
a location and they did seem to have a couple
of leads on that. They said they were going to
reach out to a few folks this week and we'd
be hearing back. So hopefully we'll have more information by
next week, but definitely crunch time in my mind.
Speaker 3 (24:31):
Who is the point person for Catholic Charities at this point?
Speaker 5 (24:36):
Aaron Shelton is serving as the interim director of Grace Shelter,
but the Catholic Charities CEO, Mark Phillips, who is headquartered
in Wheeling, has actually been present on site at H
three many many times over the last couple of weeks,
every meeting that I have had there he has been
present for. He is very engaged, He's great to work with.
Speaker 3 (25:00):
You know, I remember a couple of years ago when
we were looking for a location for the warming shelter,
had some meetings I think up in your neighborhood, and
you know, I just I noticed that there are people
that really do want to help. At the same time,
those people are also very very concerned about what they
(25:22):
perceive is what comes with that warming shelter or maybe
you know what we've seen.
Speaker 2 (25:27):
At Hazel's House of Hope.
Speaker 3 (25:29):
So I guess, in the effort to find another location,
what are you hearing from potential suitors.
Speaker 5 (25:36):
That I have not specifically talked to any other locations
at this point. It was just made abundantly clear to
the city yesterday that H three was likely not to
be the location. But as you said, I mean, any
time you are offering services to someone experiencing homelessness, homelessness
(25:59):
comes along with a lot of a lot of different circumstances,
and unfortunately, a lot of times that is a mental
health issue or an addiction issue. So those types of
problems are always going to be president present anytime. Anytime
we're serving this population. We really need the ability to
have trained staff on site in a secure location. We
(26:21):
don't want to introduce that into a residential neighborhood. We
don't want to introduce that into a heavy busy business district.
And the city limits of Morgantown are a little tricky.
When you start looking at other locations.
Speaker 2 (26:33):
You know that they are that they are.
Speaker 3 (26:35):
Okay, well, Daniel, what I'd like to do is work
in a break, and then when we come back, I'd
like to address maybe how Grandville and Star City can
maybe step.
Speaker 2 (26:44):
In and fill a void.
Speaker 3 (26:46):
Absolutely okay, perfect nine forty one Cloud sixty six the
University City.
Speaker 2 (26:52):
We'll be back on AM.
Speaker 3 (26:53):
Fourteen forty FM one oh four point five w AJR
right after this.
Speaker 1 (27:13):
Join the conversation at one eight hundred and seven to
sixty five eight two fivey five. This is the talk
of the town.
Speaker 2 (27:20):
Good Wednesday morning. Mont County Commission.
Speaker 3 (27:22):
They'll be gabbling into their regular meeting at the top
of the hour. You'll be able to check that out
on their YouTube page. ORB you've got time to get
down to the mon County Courthouse on High Street. You
can check that meeting out live in their chambers in
the basement in the studio we have Morgantown Mayor Danielle Trumpell. Mayor,
thank you very much again for coming in. The topic
(27:45):
on the table is the warming shelter for this year
and calls coming out of Morgantown City Council meeting last
night for area municipalities to step.
Speaker 2 (27:56):
Up in a bigger way to help the effort to
deal with.
Speaker 3 (27:59):
What the point in time homeless count determined this year
was a total number of about one hundred and fifty
homeless people on the streets in Montagelia County.
Speaker 2 (28:09):
Mayor, thank you again for coming in.
Speaker 5 (28:11):
Absolutely, I think some of the comments made it council
last night. We're all feeling very frustrated. As I mentioned,
we kind of thought everything was in place, and a
few of my fellow councilors I think got a little,
I don't want to say carried away. They I think
they totally totally meant what they said, but it comes
(28:32):
from a place of frustration where every single year, the
City of Morgantown is looked at as the entity that
is supposed to solve this. As you know, city limits
of Morgantown or like you mentioned, octopus like. And I've
always been a firm believer that what helps one of
(28:53):
the municipalities here in this location really helps us all.
Because when someone thinks of Moretown, they think of you know,
University Town Center as being Morgantown. They think of the
Morgantown Mall, which is actually in Westover, as being Morgantown.
So the reputation of our area is it involves all
(29:15):
of us. And I think that problems and solutions should
involve all of us, just like our celebrations and successes
do Sure.
Speaker 3 (29:24):
Now, when you then open that up a little bit,
look at it a little bit deeper. What are the
things that Star City in Granville could bring to the
table that would help this effort.
Speaker 5 (29:36):
We certainly struggle with location, We certainly struggle with security.
We always struggle with funding, but sometimes that's even you know,
things like transportation or food to provide to folks. There
are a lot of things that don't have to be
monetary that that just a little bit of engagement from
(30:01):
a wider group of people would go a long way.
We are big on building community, and as I said,
this community has the ability to handle these situations. We
just need more folks willing to come to the table
because I am certainly not an expert in social services.
That is not my background, despite the fact that I've
(30:23):
been doing this for the city for a couple of years.
But I know there are a lot of smart people
and a lot of different places around the county here
that probably have much better ideas.
Speaker 2 (30:36):
You know, just a question.
Speaker 3 (30:39):
But if let's just say Star City or Grandville would
get involved, don't we maybe create some of the same
travel issues that we have up on Scott Avenue.
Speaker 5 (30:53):
I think the travel issues have been I don't I
have mixed feelings about that being rectified. But with the
bus pass system that the city in the county is
currently paying for, it's a lot easier for people to
travel to other areas, not only Scott Avenue. So I
(31:14):
think that that's definitely something that could be could be
easily remedied as long as it's not in too remote
of a location. Sure are the Mountain Lion does a
does a pretty good job of reaching lots of different areas.
Speaker 3 (31:28):
Now, one thing that you've brought up a couple of
times has been I guess the unfortunate the unfortunate circumstances
that surround the warming shelter in terms of the population.
Sometimes their problems. Sometimes the population they have problems that
they need to have dealt with. And as you said,
(31:48):
it's maybe not just as simple as giving somebody a
cot and a blanket and a pillow and a warm
place to sleep.
Speaker 2 (31:56):
Certainly, Uh, you know what effect do those issues is
that what is creating the problem of finding a place.
Speaker 5 (32:06):
As I said, we're very strategic about the types of
locations that we would be willing to move a shelter
like this into. As you mentioned last year, the one
of the churches in my ward was thinking of hosting
in the neighborhood kind of came together and indicated that
that was not a reasonable location. So we are very
(32:30):
cognizant of the types of issues that come around with this.
And again, as was even mentioned during council last night
with trained staff last year, Catholic Charities was great and
they actually moved several people out of that warming shelter
and some more permanent shelter into treatment into Lauren's wish actually,
So having a place where people can come for the
(32:52):
winter reliably and engage with services is very important. It
gets them off of the street and it's a conduit
to get them into services. So I think that having
the funding and the ability to have trained staff is
really what's key to kind of mitigating some of those issues.
Speaker 3 (33:11):
You know, this might not be a popular potential solution, however,
this is a vexing problem. It's been going on, as
you said, for three to four years now. There really
hasn't been one solution, and there probably never will be
one solution. But do we then find ourselves at a
point where we do have to have some sort of
(33:34):
residency requirement.
Speaker 5 (33:37):
With different types of funding, the ability to do that
is different. I think certainly if the city and the
county are paying we have had Bartlett House, for example,
in the past, did look to see if you had
been in the Man County area for a certain period
of time. It's a little harder with Catholic charities and
some of their funding streams because they are a statewide organization.
(34:00):
I do not pretend to know the ins and outs
of all of that, so I will leave that up
to the experts. But I do think that we have
a lot of our own people on the street here
that we need to focus on helping.
Speaker 3 (34:15):
I think you're right, and I think that in some
kind of crazy way, if the people, maybe somebody is homeless.
Speaker 2 (34:24):
Here from Massachusetts.
Speaker 3 (34:26):
I think we had one person here from Massachusetts or
a place far away last year.
Speaker 2 (34:33):
Why not get them a ride home and see what
happened to me?
Speaker 5 (34:36):
Maybe we actually did that several times last year. I
would I would call different people or the volunteers working
at the shelter. I work with Alice Meehan a lot.
She is a local church member and volunteer. She is
very good about talking to people, finding out their story,
figuring out if they have family somewhere that they can
(34:57):
get back to, and they're there's funding available for bus
tickets and things like that, if people, if we can
help make that reconnection for people just very quickly. And
this is probably a topic for another day, but I
have been bringing up at the MCR meetings lately that
I think Hazel's House of Hope is kind of in
(35:18):
a bit of an identity crisis. I think it's time
for our board to kind of take a step back
and decide if we are a homeless services provider hub
or if we want to be a general nonprofit Hub,
because we are finding that some of the types of
organizations that are listed there are a little bit like
(35:40):
oil and water I think is the term used yesterday,
maybe non compatible. So I'm going to really be pushing
the Morgantown Community Resources Board to take a step back
and look at the types of organizations that are there
in the best use of some of those empty spaces
moving forward, because we have to have a place for
(36:00):
people to go and where people feel welcome and able
to receive services. I think when we have a taxpayer
funded dayroom and a feeding program, it's hard to say
the winter shelter can't be here.
Speaker 2 (36:15):
Yes, we have to.
Speaker 3 (36:17):
He waited, Yes, he waited until the end to drop
the bomb. But hey, we'll dress that at a later time.
And I appreciate you bringing that up. Morgantown Mayor Danielle Trumble.
I'm sorry, but we're out of time. See you next week, Yes, ma'am,
you take care of yourself, Morgantown Mayor Danielle Trumble. We
will be back to wrap things up coming up right
after this. Right now, mostly cloudy sixty seven in the
(36:40):
University City on AM fourteen forty FM one oh four
point five w ajr
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