September 9, 2025 • 35 mins
State Senator Ben Queen, R, Harrison, on the budget presentation from Legislative Interim Meetings.
Morgantown Fire Chief Gary Freshour and Fire Marshal Jason Quinn on the ATF canine they will be receiving.
Maggie Blankenship with the state Department of Agriculture on the West Virginia Grown program.
Morgantown Fire Chief Gary Freshour and Fire Marshal Jason Quinn on the ATF canine they will be receiving.
Maggie Blankenship with the state Department of Agriculture on the West Virginia Grown program.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
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 Nolting.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Well, good Tuesday morning. It is nine oh seven, fair skies,
forty eight degrees in the University City and welcome to
Talk of the Town, your program where we focus on
topics important to you and your family. I'm Mike Nolting
and you'll find me out on x's your News. Guy
Kyle Wiggs is producing the program today. He is at
eight hundred seven sixty five eight two five five. The
(00:47):
text line is wide open and available at number three
oh four Talk three oh four today. Well, interim meetings
are wrapping up in the Capital City and Lawmaker's hurt
positive outlook book on the state budget on Monday. That
report is in stark contrast with months ago, after Governor
Morrissey sounded the alarm about a four hundred million dollar
(01:10):
budget hold, it seemingly never materialized. Well Harrison County State
Senator Ben Queen he join us at nine point fifteen
to talk about that presentation Monday, what changed, and we'll
get a reading from him on communications with the Governor's
office as well. Morgantown Fire Chief Gary fresh Hour and
Fire Marshall Jason Quinn'll join us to talk about a
(01:33):
training opportunity for the city canine Force. The city has
been invited to participate in the ATF Accelerant Detection Canine
training course that will begin later this month in the
state of Virginia. Then Maggie Blankenship with the State Department
of Agriculture. She'll call in at nine to forty and
(01:56):
we're going to be talking about the West Virginia Grown
program and those officials would like to enlist more restaurants
into the program. We'll talk with Maggie learn more about
the program and what it might offer restaurants. Interim Committee
meetings continue today, in fact, they will wrap up with
(02:17):
It's a full slate of meetings today. You can get
coverage from the capitol at wvmetronews dot com. A new
WVU President, Michael T. Benson, hits the road again today.
It's part of his efforts to visit all fifty five counties.
Benson's welcome home tour will make stops in Tucker, Pendleton,
and Grant Counties today. The Tucker County visit will be
(02:40):
at the courthouse and Parsons at the bottom of the hour,
the Pendleton County Courthouse in Franklin at three forty five
this afternoon, and then he's got a visit set for
five point thirty at the WVU Medicine Grant Memorial Hospital
in Petersburg. A twenty nine year old I'm sorry twenty
year old Marilyn Mann will serve the maximum sentence in
(03:03):
connection with the murder of Rashad Alton on Mountain Valley
Drive last July in Montegelia County. Twenty year old Arnold
Johnson sentenced to the max by mon County Court Judge
Michael Simms. Investigator said the too knew each other and
this was not a random act. A Clarksburg man, he'll
(03:24):
serve more than seven years in federal prison for insurance fraud.
Thirty one year old Jesse Levi Pumphrey convicted of staging
accidents in Preston County with others, then submitting false medical
and property damaged claims. Now, I don't know if you
remember this, but this got my attention right off the bat.
(03:45):
But Jesse Pumphrey along with his brother Dylan Pumphrey, those
are the fellows that conducted the armed robbery of the
person who was at the Niema Colon casino. They lured
him out of the casino then to Reidsville in order
to quote go to a party. That was when the
(04:06):
victim was robbed of eighteen hundred dollars, a debit card
and some other items. Not known what the disposition of
that particular case is. A Morgantown police officers on patrol
witness to fight in progress Saturday and a parking garage
made two arrests. A police saw a nineteen year old
to Aiden Metheni on top of the victim punching him
(04:26):
in the University Chestnut Street parking garage Saturday. Bystanders were
bystanders were attempting to break that fight up, but before
they could, police intervened and after reviewing surveillance Aiden Metheeni
nineteen year old Aiden Metheeni and twenty year old at
Matthew Balcom, both of Pennsylvania, they were arrested for malicious
(04:48):
assault in Marion County Monday morning just about six thirty
a m there was a collision between a car and
a school bus from Marion County on Morgan I'm sorry
on Margaret Road in Mannington. Five students were on board.
No injuries were reported. That investigation is ongoing, and local
(05:11):
officials celebrated the opening of the Hope Gas Ice Pavilion
at Myland Park. Large grounds showed up for the grand
opening on Monday for the forty eight thousand square foot facility,
it'll be home to WVU Hockey, the Morgantown Hockey Association. Also,
high school teams from both Morgantown and University will use
(05:32):
that facility, and of course president of the Mylond Park
Foundation run Justice Well. He told us to believe it
was last week that this will soon be a centerpiece
on the Club Hockey Travel Tour season. So we'll be
watching for that and yet another reason to phill Myland Park.
(05:53):
Right now, Fair and forty eight. When we come back,
we're going to spend a few minutes with state Senator
from Harrison County, Ben Queen. I'm gonna be talking about
state finances and the presentation they received during legislative interim
meetings on Monday. That's next on top of the Town.
AM fourteen forty f M one oh four point five
(06:13):
w A j R.
Speaker 1 (06:26):
Now back to the Talk of the town.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
Good Tuesday morning. It's nine seventeen fair and forty eight
degrees metro Newsaki Weather says today sunshine and I have
seventy five. Now, let's see, for the last eight years,
under the leadership of Governor Jim Justice, we enjoyed very
high surplus numbers and we were told we were on
(06:54):
a rocket ship ride. And certainly that rocket ship ride
continued until the election of Governor Patrick Morrissey, and then
we learned that there was a possibility of a four
hundred million dollar budget hole. Now that budget hole never
seemingly materialized, and then the state lawmakers received a very
different forecast during legislative inter meetings on Monday. On the
(07:19):
phone to talk about it, we've got State Senator Ben Queen. Ben,
good morning, and thanks for your time, sir.
Speaker 3 (07:26):
Ooh, Mike, thanks for having me.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
Absolutely well. I guess tell us about the presentation and
what is so different this year that we didn't have
last year.
Speaker 3 (07:37):
Well, I think numbers continue to come in positively in
accordance with our estimate. Our estimate is based on a
budgeting tool that the state and the leadership here at
least on our side in the House and the Governor's
office too, were trying to make sure that our spending
(07:57):
continues to be tight. We want that we don't want
to waste tax payer money, and when the new administration
came in earlier this year, we wanted to make sure
that we were all on the same page.
Speaker 1 (08:10):
Right.
Speaker 3 (08:10):
The Governor has his budget priorities, House has their budget priorities,
the Senate has ours. We want to make sure that
we're working hand in hand to figure out how we
can best work the state budget. Sure, the governor thought
that we would have a pretty large deficit heading into
our budgeting season, and we proved that we could all
(08:32):
work together and make a few cuts and make a
few funding priorities, all while continuing to cut taxes. And
I think we're heading in the right direction. We don't
have nearly the amount of money that we had before
due to the nearly billion dollar tax cuts that we're
still implementing and still trying to figure out how that's
(08:54):
affecting our state budget. But I think all in all, good,
positive feedback from our committee meetings down here especially our
Finance Committee understanding. You know, Mike, we're sixteen weeks away
from another legislative session. There's two major holidays, you know,
it's we're back under the gold Dome and very quickly
(09:15):
going to be in twenty twenty six. Just trying to prepare,
just trying to understand what we may face come next session.
Speaker 2 (09:23):
Certainly State Senator Ben Queen is with us, and now, Ben,
we all know that any budget is a balancing act
between doing the things that you want to do doing
the things that you have to do. In this particular
state budget, PEIA is definitely pulling on the perse string.
So I guess how do you fill that void? And
(09:45):
I guess now we know that at the moment we're okay,
but we're told that that could change.
Speaker 3 (09:51):
Yeah, I mean PIA is always going to be predicted.
Our healthcare cost are going to rise. I think every
state is facing that. I think every family is facing that,
whether you're on our insurance program or in a private
insurance program, healthcare costs are going to go up. I
think we have to realize that. I think we have
(10:12):
to make sure that we have a balanced approach to that.
I think pay raises have to come into consideration when
we're doing this. I think, you know, we're estimated that
it's going to cost an additional thirty to forty million
dollars on the state side. Not only our counties and
cities are facing that as well, but our employees are too.
(10:34):
So I think the governor has has presented some options
to our legislative leadership teams. We're trying to go through that.
We're discussing those, trying to figure out what's best, what's
not so politically expedient, and just trying to have those conversations.
PA is very important. There's tens and tens and tens
(10:55):
of thousands of West Corvinias that rely on that each
and every day. So trying to come up with a
plan that sound fiscally but also gives our state employees
the best bank for the buck.
Speaker 2 (11:07):
During these budget debates, Ben, what is the I guess
what's the tone of discussion when they talk about increasing
base budget numbers in order to give corrections workers, state
police teachers raises while maintaining those services as well as
(11:28):
state funded healthcare, and of course Peia, you've got fire
and ems workers that really need some kind of base
budget funding apparatus in order to stabilize their operations. I
know that's a lot, but how can we address those
and do you talk about these things in those meetings?
Speaker 3 (11:51):
I'm absolutely I mean welcome to the stress of being
a legislator. I wish I could say yes to all
of those things. I wish I could put a priority
and everything you just listed and then some. But at
the end of the day, we we only have so
much money to go around. We don't want to raise
taxes on West Virginians. We have a surplus right now,
(12:13):
we have a healthy surplus. What do we put it towards.
Do we put it towards healthcare? Do we put it
towards roads? Do we put it towards pay raises? You know,
I have been so proud that I just happened to
serve at the at the right time over the last
few years where we have given pay raises, but those
are base building expenditures, right. You just can't give a
(12:34):
pay raise this year and decide to roll it back
next year. I mean, I guess you could, but you
know that's not that's not our priority. So so when
when you give a pay raise, when you give a
five percent pay raise that might ballpark one hundred million dollars.
That's one hundred million dollars every year going out. Our
budget is a five point two billion dollar budget. We
(12:54):
have to keep those things in mind when we do
those I think a pay raise is almost necessary to
make sure that we head into the next fiscal year.
Sound listen, Mike. You know I grew up in a family.
I'm still fortunate to have my grandparents alive. I hear
stories when they were my age, when they were thirty
(13:16):
years old, working for the state was an honorable profession.
And I want to get back to where my friends
to have that same passion of working for the state.
We have some wonderful state employees, We have some wonderful
agencies out there who are really doing good work. But
(13:36):
we need to keep them. We need to you know,
I have my generation is begging to stay in West Virginia.
We need to give them as much opportunity as possible.
And some of those jobs are going to becoming to
work for the state, and I think we need to
make sure that those are comparable and that we can
compete and trying to keep them and making sure that
(13:59):
are that our families, our employees that are employed by
the state know that they're valued, and we thanked them
for going to work every day.
Speaker 2 (14:08):
Harrison County State Senator Ben Queen's with us now been
back in July. The Governor came up to Bridgeport to
the DOH office and talked about shifting priorities away from
maybe new construction more towards maintenance and bridge repair. What
in the budget was discussed in regards to that, Well.
Speaker 3 (14:30):
Have we put a surplus budget item in this year's
budget one hundred million dollars that went out the door
in July, Those moneys are being spent. I think one
hundred million dollars sounds like a lot. I can't believe
I'm actually going to say this, but one hundred million
dollars doesn't go very far in the big scheme of
things over fifty five counties and trying to keep up.
(14:53):
I think you will see. I know our Senate President
believes wholeheartedly. From a guy from Preston County, road maintenance
is a top priority for Raneousmith, So will I will
almost predict with ninety five percent certainty that road funding
you will see another surplus road funding part of next
(15:15):
year's budget. I know I say next year, but like
I said, we're coming up very quickly on another legislative session.
The Governor's office is already doing their internal budget hearings
and they'll present a budget to us in fifteen or
so weeks. So, you know, I think road funding is
always a priority, but like I said, you know, one
hundred million dollars goes pretty quick when it comes to
(15:37):
road maintenance.
Speaker 2 (15:38):
Yes, you're absolutely right, and especially when you're talking about bridges,
especially State Senator Ben Queen's with us and now, Ben,
I think there was a high expectation that there would
be a special legislative session in order to address the
public employees and certain insurance agency. However, it appears that
(16:00):
that's not going to happen. I'm picking up the feelings
of disappointment from a lot of folks, So I guess
what are you hearing? And are you disappointed that maybe
there won't be a special session to take this up?
Because you know, during the special or during the regular
legislative session, it'd be nice to have an issue, a
complicated issue like that, addressed before we go into that proceeding,
(16:25):
wouldn't you agree with that?
Speaker 3 (16:28):
I just like that we're talking about it.
Speaker 2 (16:32):
Well, and I respect that, but you know, we had
a series of town hall meetings last year where we
talked about it.
Speaker 3 (16:42):
Yeah, I just if we're going to do a special
session and we're going to pull wallmakers in and spend
additional money, I hope that we would have an agreement
moving forward. I don't think we're quite there, but I
appreciate the Governor's office just talked about it yesterday. The
government did about trying to continue to build so some
(17:02):
coalitions around PA changes. I'd push back on you a
little bit about going into a legislative session and having
that as a discussion point too. I think being able
to focus on PA over sixty days it's a little
bit easier than trying to rush something in a special session.
(17:26):
But it's easier to go into a special session and
focus on on topic. So I also agree with you there.
But understanding what the governor is facing when it comes
to the Finance Board hearings and trying to present a
plan that's fiscally sound for the legislature to consider next
session I think is appropriate. But like I said, there's
(17:47):
a lot of different levers when it comes to our
state employees pay raise is one of them, but also
we have retirees in the bunch, and we have several
different factors when it comes to potentially new high or
new plans or benefits. I mean, I'm on PA so
I UH, I think it's important sometimes that that legislators
(18:09):
have UH may may get the vote on things that
affect them too. So I I totally understand. I think
we have you know, for north central West Virginia, we
have a great healthcare system. I think they probably need
to come to the table as well as as a
provider and trying to understand how we can control costs,
(18:29):
how do we work better with our in state partners
as well to make sure that our state employees have
a seat at the table. Uh and our healthcare costs
start going extremely up to I look forward to discussions
of possibly in October special session. We are here in
four weeks. I believe the Governor's office will will try
(18:51):
and build some coalitions, not just on p A. He's
talked about several issues that he's wanted to champion, maybe
even before the the twenty twenty six regular session. I
think we have a lot of momentum going. I think
everyone has a lot of different priorities, but at the
end of the day, I think PEIA is a cost
(19:12):
pressure that we see. I think it's very important that
we throw everything out of the table, you know, transparency.
We celebrate transparency sometimes, but I think we all need
to be honest with ourselves of where we are and
what the real costs and benefits are to all of
these proposals.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
Absolutely, State Senator Ben Queen, Hey Ben, always a pleasure
to catch up with you.
Speaker 3 (19:36):
Thank you, Thanks Mike.
Speaker 2 (19:38):
Absolutely, you take care of yourself. State Senator or Ben Queen.
Coming up next, I'm going to spend a few minutes
with the Morgantown Fire Department talk about their at FK
nine training coming up later this month.
Speaker 1 (20:02):
We are talking about your town. Now back to the
talk of the town.
Speaker 2 (20:07):
Well, good Tuesday morning. Fair Ski's fifty three degrees metro
Newsaki Weather says sunny today and I have seventy five
West Virginia. Five one one shows an incident on northbound
I seventy nine. This is at the one thirty eight
mile marker and it looks like at least one lane
(20:29):
is closed in the area. That is I seventy nine
northbound so if you're in that area, expect delays and
if you can avoid it, do so. In studio, we've
got Morgantown Fire Chief Gary fresh Hour, and we also
have the city Fire Marshall, Jason Quinn. Good morning, gentlemen,
how are you, Good morning morning. It's pleasure to have
(20:50):
you in. Now let's see the Morgantown Fire Department canine unit.
They'll be attending an ATF training session. Now, this is
accelerant detection training for canines. Jason, tell us about this class.
What does it offer? Why does your canine need to
(21:11):
know this?
Speaker 4 (21:12):
Well, we're we're being awarded a canine. We've never had
a canine in the history of the fire department that
is an accelerant dog. And it was an application process
through the ATF and we were selected to attend the
academy that starts September twenty eighth, and it is the
(21:34):
highest trained canine for accelerant detection known. It's in front
Royal Virginia and it is a new program to us
and it's actually going to be the second in the
state of West Virginia's history. US in Charleston, West Virginia,
(21:55):
also has a canine who is actually in the academy
that we will be going to there in there that
right now.
Speaker 2 (22:01):
Okay, so Jason helped me understand Without a canine, I
guess a human inspector has to go in and collect
samples and then those samples have to be tested and
maybe with a canine, that canine can go in and
point to where the samples should be taken.
Speaker 4 (22:18):
Well, we have we have certain devices hydrocarbon analyzers, which
they act like a sniff a sniffing device, and it's
a tool that we can use. The thing about a
canine accelerant dog is they can measure parts per trillion
and that's equivalent to a drop of gasoline in an
(22:40):
Olympic sized swimming pool. That's how accurate these dogs are.
That puts that into perspective, how trained these dogs are.
Speaker 2 (22:49):
What's a dog like this run?
Speaker 4 (22:52):
So the atf before we even get on on Seene
at the academy, they have about fifty thousand dollars invested
into each dog. That's for the onboarding of the dog,
the training of the dog, the veterinarian care of the dog,
the sourcing of the dog, and by the time you
(23:14):
add the hours spent at the Academy with the instructors.
The dog has a value of up tours one hundred
thousand dollars.
Speaker 2 (23:24):
So yeah, that's Captain Jason Quinn. He is the fire
Marshal for the city of Morgantown. Captain, can you maybe
share with me You don't have to give details, but
have there been instances in the recent past where this
would have been very valuable to you?
Speaker 4 (23:40):
We had a double fatality fire in a condemned structure
last what was this spring? I believe we had a
couple homeless people that perished in a fire that we
needed to determine what could have happened. So we called
(24:04):
the Alligeratey County, Pennsylvania Fire Marshall's Division, who has an
ATF dog, and she came down and ran her dog
through the scene. And that's part of the reason. One
of the pushes for getting a dog is not having
to rely on someone so far away and being able
(24:26):
to provide that service ourselves, and then we can also
then provide that service to others, as we have relied
on that dog for years in Pittsburgh area.
Speaker 2 (24:35):
Sure. Now, I'm familiar with cadaver dogs. I'm familiar with
the explosive detection, drug detection, item detection. But I guess
when did dogs become a fixture in the fire service.
Speaker 4 (24:50):
Dogs in the fire service have been around for many,
many years. Detection dogs another to put it into another perspective.
As of June of this year, there's only sixty eight
accelerant dogs in the United States. We're going to be
an addition to that here in September, so there's not
(25:12):
a lot of us out there. It's a very specialized training.
It puts the city on the map nationally and especially
in regards to the networking that our department will now
have with municipalities that are enormous that will also have
these dogs.
Speaker 2 (25:31):
And now does that put you in the same seat
as the lady from Allegheny County, Maybe you'll be getting
calls from Harrison, Preston, Marion Counties to bring your dog down.
Speaker 4 (25:42):
Part of the agreement, and granted, this all still goes
to council next week and we're hopeful that that has
no hiccups and that they approve this. But we have
relied on other agencies for years to help us and
this dog. As part of the agreement, we have to
(26:03):
then provide if available the same resource back in return.
So if someone in Preston County has a fire and
they need the dog will go if available, and our
handler will actually work with the handler and Allegheny County
once he gets out of the academy. Two, they'll work
(26:27):
together if one wants to take a week's vacation. Because
of the training these dogs go through. Their handler can
watch our dog, and our handler can watch their dog.
It's a really unique situation that we're going to be in,
but it's going.
Speaker 2 (26:41):
To be fun. Yeah, it certainly is. Now, tell me
what this does for recruiting. When you have unique tools
of the trade like this, does that help you maybe
get young firefighters interested?
Speaker 4 (26:53):
I think anytime you can be one of very few
and say you have something that just about it nobody
else has, it's another notch in the belt and there's
going to be someone that might come on the department
that might take that handler's place one day down the road.
(27:13):
And so, you know what, that's something I would like
to do down the road. And it's gonna be a
really fun time. I'm excited.
Speaker 2 (27:21):
Good, I'm excited for you. Now. I wanted to go
off script real quick. I just have one question. You know,
we're at that time of the year where in the
morning it could be like it was this morning, maybe
in the forties, maybe a little chilly in the morning,
warm in the afternoon, and not too cold at nights.
So maybe you don't want to run your furnace. But
you've got a fireplace. But that fireplace has been sitting
(27:44):
for the summer, maybe it was used last winter. What
would you tell people?
Speaker 4 (27:50):
I think anytime you have a heating stores like a fireplace,
you have to you have to do maintenance on it.
Maintenance is the most important thing. So if you have
used a fireplace for a couple of years and you've
never had it inspected or swept, you're asking for trouble
with potential chimney fires. So I would highly recommend getting
(28:14):
with local chimney sweep companies to have your fireplace inspected.
Use season. Would only don't use wet wood, but it's
a product you have to maintain or it can get
out of control.
Speaker 2 (28:28):
Okay, perfect, Hey guys, thank you for your contributions to
the community. Really do appreciate what you do and appreciate
you taking the time to come in today. Now, if
you'd like to stay for the entire show. Gary, we
can arrange. That's okay. No, seriously, thank you guys for
(28:49):
coming in. Really do appreciate it. Thank you the Morgantown
Fire Department. Certainly great sports. Farris Guy's fifty two. It's
nine forty three. When we come back, we've got Maggie
Blank and Shit, we're gonna be talking about the West
Virginia Grown program. It's next on Talk of the Town
AM fourteen forty f N one oh four point five
(29:10):
W A j R.
Speaker 1 (29:25):
Join the conversation at one eight hundred and seven sixty
five eight two five five. This is the Talk of
the Town.
Speaker 2 (29:32):
A good Tuesday morning. It is nine forty seven. Once again,
just a reminder I seventy nine northbound mile marker one
thirty nine all jammed up due to a crash at
this minute. Avoid the area if you can. And if
you're in that particular mess, it looks like at least
one lane if not, both are closed. On the phone,
(29:52):
we've got Maggie Blank and Ship and Maggie's gonna tell
us about the West Virginia Grown program and what this
does it to inform consumers about healthier fresher options that
are made right here in your state. Hey, good morning, Maggie.
How are you.
Speaker 5 (30:11):
Hey, good morning. Thanks for having me this morning.
Speaker 2 (30:13):
Absolutely, it's a pleasure to have you on board. I
guess give us an overview of what the West Virginia
Grown Program is. Please, sure.
Speaker 5 (30:22):
The West Virginia Growing Program is the West Virginia Department
of Agricultures in State branding program. So this is a
logo that ensures that you are getting a product that
is either made, manufactured or grown right here in West Virginia.
It started in nineteen eighty six under Commissioner Gus Douglas
and then was rebranded in twenty seventeen under our current
(30:46):
commissioner Kent Lee and Hart. And it helps consumers and
producers be able to find products that are made right
here within our wonderful state.
Speaker 2 (30:57):
Now, Maggie, this program covers producers, it covers stores, and
there's also a component where restaurants can get involved as well.
Tell us how that works.
Speaker 5 (31:09):
Sure. In twenty twenty three, we launched our partner program,
So any restaurant retailer supporter, So a restaurant has to
serve one West Virginia Grown item and to qualify as
the West Virginia Grown item. It has to be fifty
percent value added in West Virginia. So they could use
(31:29):
local beef for their hamburger, they could use local tomatoes
and their salads, whatever it might be. But they just
have to use one West Virginia Grown item on their
menu to qualify to be a West Virginia Grown partner.
And our hope is that once they are connected with
one farm or producer food producer, that they'll have a
(31:53):
great experience with that and grow their menu to allow
more local products to be on their menus and restaurants
the same thing with retailers, mom talk stores, or even
gas stations. The Parmar is a part of our program
that if they sell one product of West Virginia Grown,
(32:15):
they are eligible to be in our program and we
have a map of them on our website, and then
we also promote them and they get to use our
logo as well.
Speaker 2 (32:23):
That's what I wanted to get to because once that
restaurant makes that commitment to reach out to one or
more farms to include those items, then you pick up
the ball from them and help let other folks know
what they're doing.
Speaker 5 (32:40):
Absolutely, so our hope is that We have a strong
list of over six hundred food producers and growers here
in our state and we're launched. We launched in twenty
twenty three, like I said, our partner program, and we're
still growing that list. But our hope is to has
lists on both sides of the aisle they and be
(33:00):
able to connect them in networking events and via emails
and anything that we can do to help farmers find
places to sell their products, as well as having restaurants
and retailers be able to source local products for their stores.
Speaker 2 (33:18):
Got Maggie Blankenship with us from the state Department of Agriculture.
We're talking about the West Virginia Grown Program. Now it
is fall hard the season. Do you have any maybe
recommendations or can you steer us toward a You mentioned
the map, what would you suggest checking out this fall?
Speaker 5 (33:40):
Absolutely? Well, it is pumpkin season, so we have lots
of pumpkin patches around the states that are opening. We
have the Edge of Farm Market there in Bridgeports. It's
opening and it had been opened, but they are doing
lots of fall type activities. We have a full directory
(34:01):
on our website which is Wvagriculture dot gov, and we
have a full directory of our West Virginia grain products
as well as our agritourism farms that are open around
the state. You can also follow us on our Facebook
at the West Virginia Department of Agriculture and and seek
out some local adventures.
Speaker 2 (34:24):
They are on our on our Facebook and if you
go out there, one of the things that you'll notice
is they have this program divided up into the into
the different sections of the state like the Eastern Panhandle,
North Central, Northern Panhandled, New River, Greenbrier Valley area up
so you can download each individual area and you can
(34:46):
tackle them one at a time. What do you think
about that, Maggie.
Speaker 5 (34:51):
Absolutely, we want people to be able to look up
maybe they're going on a day trip, or just what's
in their back door that they're not that they're not familiar,
be able to source their local eggs, or just shorten
the food supply chain. So you know, we saw during
COVID that this supply chain can get vested up pretty quick,
so we want people to be able to find what
(35:12):
they need closer to home.
Speaker 2 (35:15):
Absolutely. Hey, Maggie, really do appreciate your time today and
it really do appreciate the information as well.
Speaker 5 (35:23):
Absolutely. If anybody has any questions, they can reach out
to us via email wv GROWN at WVDA dot us
and we'll get your answers taken care of.
Speaker 2 (35:33):
Okay, perfect Maggie Blankenship with the State Department of Agriculture.
Thank you for your time, ma'am. I hope you have
a great Tuesday.
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 Nolting.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Well, good Tuesday morning. It is nine oh seven, fair skies,
forty eight degrees in the University City and welcome to
Talk of the Town, your program where we focus on
topics important to you and your family. I'm Mike Nolting
and you'll find me out on x's your News. Guy
Kyle Wiggs is producing the program today. He is at
eight hundred seven sixty five eight two five five. The
(00:47):
text line is wide open and available at number three
oh four Talk three oh four today. Well, interim meetings
are wrapping up in the Capital City and Lawmaker's hurt
positive outlook book on the state budget on Monday. That
report is in stark contrast with months ago, after Governor
Morrissey sounded the alarm about a four hundred million dollar
(01:10):
budget hold, it seemingly never materialized. Well Harrison County State
Senator Ben Queen he join us at nine point fifteen
to talk about that presentation Monday, what changed, and we'll
get a reading from him on communications with the Governor's
office as well. Morgantown Fire Chief Gary fresh Hour and
Fire Marshall Jason Quinn'll join us to talk about a
(01:33):
training opportunity for the city canine Force. The city has
been invited to participate in the ATF Accelerant Detection Canine
training course that will begin later this month in the
state of Virginia. Then Maggie Blankenship with the State Department
of Agriculture. She'll call in at nine to forty and
(01:56):
we're going to be talking about the West Virginia Grown
program and those officials would like to enlist more restaurants
into the program. We'll talk with Maggie learn more about
the program and what it might offer restaurants. Interim Committee
meetings continue today, in fact, they will wrap up with
(02:17):
It's a full slate of meetings today. You can get
coverage from the capitol at wvmetronews dot com. A new
WVU President, Michael T. Benson, hits the road again today.
It's part of his efforts to visit all fifty five counties.
Benson's welcome home tour will make stops in Tucker, Pendleton,
and Grant Counties today. The Tucker County visit will be
(02:40):
at the courthouse and Parsons at the bottom of the hour,
the Pendleton County Courthouse in Franklin at three forty five
this afternoon, and then he's got a visit set for
five point thirty at the WVU Medicine Grant Memorial Hospital
in Petersburg. A twenty nine year old I'm sorry twenty
year old Marilyn Mann will serve the maximum sentence in
(03:03):
connection with the murder of Rashad Alton on Mountain Valley
Drive last July in Montegelia County. Twenty year old Arnold
Johnson sentenced to the max by mon County Court Judge
Michael Simms. Investigator said the too knew each other and
this was not a random act. A Clarksburg man, he'll
(03:24):
serve more than seven years in federal prison for insurance fraud.
Thirty one year old Jesse Levi Pumphrey convicted of staging
accidents in Preston County with others, then submitting false medical
and property damaged claims. Now, I don't know if you
remember this, but this got my attention right off the bat.
(03:45):
But Jesse Pumphrey along with his brother Dylan Pumphrey, those
are the fellows that conducted the armed robbery of the
person who was at the Niema Colon casino. They lured
him out of the casino then to Reidsville in order
to quote go to a party. That was when the
(04:06):
victim was robbed of eighteen hundred dollars, a debit card
and some other items. Not known what the disposition of
that particular case is. A Morgantown police officers on patrol
witness to fight in progress Saturday and a parking garage
made two arrests. A police saw a nineteen year old
to Aiden Metheni on top of the victim punching him
(04:26):
in the University Chestnut Street parking garage Saturday. Bystanders were
bystanders were attempting to break that fight up, but before
they could, police intervened and after reviewing surveillance Aiden Metheeni
nineteen year old Aiden Metheeni and twenty year old at
Matthew Balcom, both of Pennsylvania, they were arrested for malicious
(04:48):
assault in Marion County Monday morning just about six thirty
a m there was a collision between a car and
a school bus from Marion County on Morgan I'm sorry
on Margaret Road in Mannington. Five students were on board.
No injuries were reported. That investigation is ongoing, and local
(05:11):
officials celebrated the opening of the Hope Gas Ice Pavilion
at Myland Park. Large grounds showed up for the grand
opening on Monday for the forty eight thousand square foot facility,
it'll be home to WVU Hockey, the Morgantown Hockey Association. Also,
high school teams from both Morgantown and University will use
(05:32):
that facility, and of course president of the Mylond Park
Foundation run Justice Well. He told us to believe it
was last week that this will soon be a centerpiece
on the Club Hockey Travel Tour season. So we'll be
watching for that and yet another reason to phill Myland Park.
(05:53):
Right now, Fair and forty eight. When we come back,
we're going to spend a few minutes with state Senator
from Harrison County, Ben Queen. I'm gonna be talking about
state finances and the presentation they received during legislative interim
meetings on Monday. That's next on top of the Town.
AM fourteen forty f M one oh four point five
(06:13):
w A j R.
Speaker 1 (06:26):
Now back to the Talk of the town.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
Good Tuesday morning. It's nine seventeen fair and forty eight
degrees metro Newsaki Weather says today sunshine and I have
seventy five. Now, let's see, for the last eight years,
under the leadership of Governor Jim Justice, we enjoyed very
high surplus numbers and we were told we were on
(06:54):
a rocket ship ride. And certainly that rocket ship ride
continued until the election of Governor Patrick Morrissey, and then
we learned that there was a possibility of a four
hundred million dollar budget hole. Now that budget hole never
seemingly materialized, and then the state lawmakers received a very
different forecast during legislative inter meetings on Monday. On the
(07:19):
phone to talk about it, we've got State Senator Ben Queen. Ben,
good morning, and thanks for your time, sir.
Speaker 3 (07:26):
Ooh, Mike, thanks for having me.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
Absolutely well. I guess tell us about the presentation and
what is so different this year that we didn't have
last year.
Speaker 3 (07:37):
Well, I think numbers continue to come in positively in
accordance with our estimate. Our estimate is based on a
budgeting tool that the state and the leadership here at
least on our side in the House and the Governor's
office too, were trying to make sure that our spending
(07:57):
continues to be tight. We want that we don't want
to waste tax payer money, and when the new administration
came in earlier this year, we wanted to make sure
that we were all on the same page.
Speaker 1 (08:10):
Right.
Speaker 3 (08:10):
The Governor has his budget priorities, House has their budget priorities,
the Senate has ours. We want to make sure that
we're working hand in hand to figure out how we
can best work the state budget. Sure, the governor thought
that we would have a pretty large deficit heading into
our budgeting season, and we proved that we could all
(08:32):
work together and make a few cuts and make a
few funding priorities, all while continuing to cut taxes. And
I think we're heading in the right direction. We don't
have nearly the amount of money that we had before
due to the nearly billion dollar tax cuts that we're
still implementing and still trying to figure out how that's
(08:54):
affecting our state budget. But I think all in all, good,
positive feedback from our committee meetings down here especially our
Finance Committee understanding. You know, Mike, we're sixteen weeks away
from another legislative session. There's two major holidays, you know,
it's we're back under the gold Dome and very quickly
(09:15):
going to be in twenty twenty six. Just trying to prepare,
just trying to understand what we may face come next session.
Speaker 2 (09:23):
Certainly State Senator Ben Queen is with us, and now, Ben,
we all know that any budget is a balancing act
between doing the things that you want to do doing
the things that you have to do. In this particular
state budget, PEIA is definitely pulling on the perse string.
So I guess how do you fill that void? And
(09:45):
I guess now we know that at the moment we're okay,
but we're told that that could change.
Speaker 3 (09:51):
Yeah, I mean PIA is always going to be predicted.
Our healthcare cost are going to rise. I think every
state is facing that. I think every family is facing that,
whether you're on our insurance program or in a private
insurance program, healthcare costs are going to go up. I
think we have to realize that. I think we have
(10:12):
to make sure that we have a balanced approach to that.
I think pay raises have to come into consideration when
we're doing this. I think, you know, we're estimated that
it's going to cost an additional thirty to forty million
dollars on the state side. Not only our counties and
cities are facing that as well, but our employees are too.
(10:34):
So I think the governor has has presented some options
to our legislative leadership teams. We're trying to go through that.
We're discussing those, trying to figure out what's best, what's
not so politically expedient, and just trying to have those conversations.
PA is very important. There's tens and tens and tens
(10:55):
of thousands of West Corvinias that rely on that each
and every day. So trying to come up with a
plan that sound fiscally but also gives our state employees
the best bank for the buck.
Speaker 2 (11:07):
During these budget debates, Ben, what is the I guess
what's the tone of discussion when they talk about increasing
base budget numbers in order to give corrections workers, state
police teachers raises while maintaining those services as well as
(11:28):
state funded healthcare, and of course Peia, you've got fire
and ems workers that really need some kind of base
budget funding apparatus in order to stabilize their operations. I
know that's a lot, but how can we address those
and do you talk about these things in those meetings?
Speaker 3 (11:51):
I'm absolutely I mean welcome to the stress of being
a legislator. I wish I could say yes to all
of those things. I wish I could put a priority
and everything you just listed and then some. But at
the end of the day, we we only have so
much money to go around. We don't want to raise
taxes on West Virginians. We have a surplus right now,
(12:13):
we have a healthy surplus. What do we put it towards.
Do we put it towards healthcare? Do we put it
towards roads? Do we put it towards pay raises? You know,
I have been so proud that I just happened to
serve at the at the right time over the last
few years where we have given pay raises, but those
are base building expenditures, right. You just can't give a
(12:34):
pay raise this year and decide to roll it back
next year. I mean, I guess you could, but you
know that's not that's not our priority. So so when
when you give a pay raise, when you give a
five percent pay raise that might ballpark one hundred million dollars.
That's one hundred million dollars every year going out. Our
budget is a five point two billion dollar budget. We
(12:54):
have to keep those things in mind when we do
those I think a pay raise is almost necessary to
make sure that we head into the next fiscal year.
Sound listen, Mike. You know I grew up in a family.
I'm still fortunate to have my grandparents alive. I hear
stories when they were my age, when they were thirty
(13:16):
years old, working for the state was an honorable profession.
And I want to get back to where my friends
to have that same passion of working for the state.
We have some wonderful state employees, We have some wonderful
agencies out there who are really doing good work. But
(13:36):
we need to keep them. We need to you know,
I have my generation is begging to stay in West Virginia.
We need to give them as much opportunity as possible.
And some of those jobs are going to becoming to
work for the state, and I think we need to
make sure that those are comparable and that we can
compete and trying to keep them and making sure that
(13:59):
are that our families, our employees that are employed by
the state know that they're valued, and we thanked them
for going to work every day.
Speaker 2 (14:08):
Harrison County State Senator Ben Queen's with us now been
back in July. The Governor came up to Bridgeport to
the DOH office and talked about shifting priorities away from
maybe new construction more towards maintenance and bridge repair. What
in the budget was discussed in regards to that, Well.
Speaker 3 (14:30):
Have we put a surplus budget item in this year's
budget one hundred million dollars that went out the door
in July, Those moneys are being spent. I think one
hundred million dollars sounds like a lot. I can't believe
I'm actually going to say this, but one hundred million
dollars doesn't go very far in the big scheme of
things over fifty five counties and trying to keep up.
(14:53):
I think you will see. I know our Senate President
believes wholeheartedly. From a guy from Preston County, road maintenance
is a top priority for Raneousmith, So will I will
almost predict with ninety five percent certainty that road funding
you will see another surplus road funding part of next
(15:15):
year's budget. I know I say next year, but like
I said, we're coming up very quickly on another legislative session.
The Governor's office is already doing their internal budget hearings
and they'll present a budget to us in fifteen or
so weeks. So, you know, I think road funding is
always a priority, but like I said, you know, one
hundred million dollars goes pretty quick when it comes to
(15:37):
road maintenance.
Speaker 2 (15:38):
Yes, you're absolutely right, and especially when you're talking about bridges,
especially State Senator Ben Queen's with us and now, Ben,
I think there was a high expectation that there would
be a special legislative session in order to address the
public employees and certain insurance agency. However, it appears that
(16:00):
that's not going to happen. I'm picking up the feelings
of disappointment from a lot of folks, So I guess
what are you hearing? And are you disappointed that maybe
there won't be a special session to take this up?
Because you know, during the special or during the regular
legislative session, it'd be nice to have an issue, a
complicated issue like that, addressed before we go into that proceeding,
(16:25):
wouldn't you agree with that?
Speaker 3 (16:28):
I just like that we're talking about it.
Speaker 2 (16:32):
Well, and I respect that, but you know, we had
a series of town hall meetings last year where we
talked about it.
Speaker 3 (16:42):
Yeah, I just if we're going to do a special
session and we're going to pull wallmakers in and spend
additional money, I hope that we would have an agreement
moving forward. I don't think we're quite there, but I
appreciate the Governor's office just talked about it yesterday. The
government did about trying to continue to build so some
(17:02):
coalitions around PA changes. I'd push back on you a
little bit about going into a legislative session and having
that as a discussion point too. I think being able
to focus on PA over sixty days it's a little
bit easier than trying to rush something in a special session.
(17:26):
But it's easier to go into a special session and
focus on on topic. So I also agree with you there.
But understanding what the governor is facing when it comes
to the Finance Board hearings and trying to present a
plan that's fiscally sound for the legislature to consider next
session I think is appropriate. But like I said, there's
(17:47):
a lot of different levers when it comes to our
state employees pay raise is one of them, but also
we have retirees in the bunch, and we have several
different factors when it comes to potentially new high or
new plans or benefits. I mean, I'm on PA so
I UH, I think it's important sometimes that that legislators
(18:09):
have UH may may get the vote on things that
affect them too. So I I totally understand. I think
we have you know, for north central West Virginia, we
have a great healthcare system. I think they probably need
to come to the table as well as as a
provider and trying to understand how we can control costs,
(18:29):
how do we work better with our in state partners
as well to make sure that our state employees have
a seat at the table. Uh and our healthcare costs
start going extremely up to I look forward to discussions
of possibly in October special session. We are here in
four weeks. I believe the Governor's office will will try
(18:51):
and build some coalitions, not just on p A. He's
talked about several issues that he's wanted to champion, maybe
even before the the twenty twenty six regular session. I
think we have a lot of momentum going. I think
everyone has a lot of different priorities, but at the
end of the day, I think PEIA is a cost
(19:12):
pressure that we see. I think it's very important that
we throw everything out of the table, you know, transparency.
We celebrate transparency sometimes, but I think we all need
to be honest with ourselves of where we are and
what the real costs and benefits are to all of
these proposals.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
Absolutely, State Senator Ben Queen, Hey Ben, always a pleasure
to catch up with you.
Speaker 3 (19:36):
Thank you, Thanks Mike.
Speaker 2 (19:38):
Absolutely, you take care of yourself. State Senator or Ben Queen.
Coming up next, I'm going to spend a few minutes
with the Morgantown Fire Department talk about their at FK
nine training coming up later this month.
Speaker 1 (20:02):
We are talking about your town. Now back to the
talk of the town.
Speaker 2 (20:07):
Well, good Tuesday morning. Fair Ski's fifty three degrees metro
Newsaki Weather says sunny today and I have seventy five
West Virginia. Five one one shows an incident on northbound
I seventy nine. This is at the one thirty eight
mile marker and it looks like at least one lane
(20:29):
is closed in the area. That is I seventy nine
northbound so if you're in that area, expect delays and
if you can avoid it, do so. In studio, we've
got Morgantown Fire Chief Gary fresh Hour, and we also
have the city Fire Marshall, Jason Quinn. Good morning, gentlemen,
how are you, Good morning morning. It's pleasure to have
(20:50):
you in. Now let's see the Morgantown Fire Department canine unit.
They'll be attending an ATF training session. Now, this is
accelerant detection training for canines. Jason, tell us about this class.
What does it offer? Why does your canine need to
(21:11):
know this?
Speaker 4 (21:12):
Well, we're we're being awarded a canine. We've never had
a canine in the history of the fire department that
is an accelerant dog. And it was an application process
through the ATF and we were selected to attend the
academy that starts September twenty eighth, and it is the
(21:34):
highest trained canine for accelerant detection known. It's in front
Royal Virginia and it is a new program to us
and it's actually going to be the second in the
state of West Virginia's history. US in Charleston, West Virginia,
(21:55):
also has a canine who is actually in the academy
that we will be going to there in there that
right now.
Speaker 2 (22:01):
Okay, so Jason helped me understand Without a canine, I
guess a human inspector has to go in and collect
samples and then those samples have to be tested and
maybe with a canine, that canine can go in and
point to where the samples should be taken.
Speaker 4 (22:18):
Well, we have we have certain devices hydrocarbon analyzers, which
they act like a sniff a sniffing device, and it's
a tool that we can use. The thing about a
canine accelerant dog is they can measure parts per trillion
and that's equivalent to a drop of gasoline in an
(22:40):
Olympic sized swimming pool. That's how accurate these dogs are.
That puts that into perspective, how trained these dogs are.
Speaker 2 (22:49):
What's a dog like this run?
Speaker 4 (22:52):
So the atf before we even get on on Seene
at the academy, they have about fifty thousand dollars invested
into each dog. That's for the onboarding of the dog,
the training of the dog, the veterinarian care of the dog,
the sourcing of the dog, and by the time you
(23:14):
add the hours spent at the Academy with the instructors.
The dog has a value of up tours one hundred
thousand dollars.
Speaker 2 (23:24):
So yeah, that's Captain Jason Quinn. He is the fire
Marshal for the city of Morgantown. Captain, can you maybe
share with me You don't have to give details, but
have there been instances in the recent past where this
would have been very valuable to you?
Speaker 4 (23:40):
We had a double fatality fire in a condemned structure
last what was this spring? I believe we had a
couple homeless people that perished in a fire that we
needed to determine what could have happened. So we called
(24:04):
the Alligeratey County, Pennsylvania Fire Marshall's Division, who has an
ATF dog, and she came down and ran her dog
through the scene. And that's part of the reason. One
of the pushes for getting a dog is not having
to rely on someone so far away and being able
(24:26):
to provide that service ourselves, and then we can also
then provide that service to others, as we have relied
on that dog for years in Pittsburgh area.
Speaker 2 (24:35):
Sure. Now, I'm familiar with cadaver dogs. I'm familiar with
the explosive detection, drug detection, item detection. But I guess
when did dogs become a fixture in the fire service.
Speaker 4 (24:50):
Dogs in the fire service have been around for many,
many years. Detection dogs another to put it into another perspective.
As of June of this year, there's only sixty eight
accelerant dogs in the United States. We're going to be
an addition to that here in September, so there's not
(25:12):
a lot of us out there. It's a very specialized training.
It puts the city on the map nationally and especially
in regards to the networking that our department will now
have with municipalities that are enormous that will also have
these dogs.
Speaker 2 (25:31):
And now does that put you in the same seat
as the lady from Allegheny County, Maybe you'll be getting
calls from Harrison, Preston, Marion Counties to bring your dog down.
Speaker 4 (25:42):
Part of the agreement, and granted, this all still goes
to council next week and we're hopeful that that has
no hiccups and that they approve this. But we have
relied on other agencies for years to help us and
this dog. As part of the agreement, we have to
(26:03):
then provide if available the same resource back in return.
So if someone in Preston County has a fire and
they need the dog will go if available, and our
handler will actually work with the handler and Allegheny County
once he gets out of the academy. Two, they'll work
(26:27):
together if one wants to take a week's vacation. Because
of the training these dogs go through. Their handler can
watch our dog, and our handler can watch their dog.
It's a really unique situation that we're going to be in,
but it's going.
Speaker 2 (26:41):
To be fun. Yeah, it certainly is. Now, tell me
what this does for recruiting. When you have unique tools
of the trade like this, does that help you maybe
get young firefighters interested?
Speaker 4 (26:53):
I think anytime you can be one of very few
and say you have something that just about it nobody
else has, it's another notch in the belt and there's
going to be someone that might come on the department
that might take that handler's place one day down the road.
(27:13):
And so, you know what, that's something I would like
to do down the road. And it's gonna be a
really fun time. I'm excited.
Speaker 2 (27:21):
Good, I'm excited for you. Now. I wanted to go
off script real quick. I just have one question. You know,
we're at that time of the year where in the
morning it could be like it was this morning, maybe
in the forties, maybe a little chilly in the morning,
warm in the afternoon, and not too cold at nights.
So maybe you don't want to run your furnace. But
you've got a fireplace. But that fireplace has been sitting
(27:44):
for the summer, maybe it was used last winter. What
would you tell people?
Speaker 4 (27:50):
I think anytime you have a heating stores like a fireplace,
you have to you have to do maintenance on it.
Maintenance is the most important thing. So if you have
used a fireplace for a couple of years and you've
never had it inspected or swept, you're asking for trouble
with potential chimney fires. So I would highly recommend getting
(28:14):
with local chimney sweep companies to have your fireplace inspected.
Use season. Would only don't use wet wood, but it's
a product you have to maintain or it can get
out of control.
Speaker 2 (28:28):
Okay, perfect, Hey guys, thank you for your contributions to
the community. Really do appreciate what you do and appreciate
you taking the time to come in today. Now, if
you'd like to stay for the entire show. Gary, we
can arrange. That's okay. No, seriously, thank you guys for
(28:49):
coming in. Really do appreciate it. Thank you the Morgantown
Fire Department. Certainly great sports. Farris Guy's fifty two. It's
nine forty three. When we come back, we've got Maggie
Blank and Shit, we're gonna be talking about the West
Virginia Grown program. It's next on Talk of the Town
AM fourteen forty f N one oh four point five
(29:10):
W A j R.
Speaker 1 (29:25):
Join the conversation at one eight hundred and seven sixty
five eight two five five. This is the Talk of
the Town.
Speaker 2 (29:32):
A good Tuesday morning. It is nine forty seven. Once again,
just a reminder I seventy nine northbound mile marker one
thirty nine all jammed up due to a crash at
this minute. Avoid the area if you can. And if
you're in that particular mess, it looks like at least
one lane if not, both are closed. On the phone,
(29:52):
we've got Maggie Blank and Ship and Maggie's gonna tell
us about the West Virginia Grown program and what this
does it to inform consumers about healthier fresher options that
are made right here in your state. Hey, good morning, Maggie.
How are you.
Speaker 5 (30:11):
Hey, good morning. Thanks for having me this morning.
Speaker 2 (30:13):
Absolutely, it's a pleasure to have you on board. I
guess give us an overview of what the West Virginia
Grown Program is. Please, sure.
Speaker 5 (30:22):
The West Virginia Growing Program is the West Virginia Department
of Agricultures in State branding program. So this is a
logo that ensures that you are getting a product that
is either made, manufactured or grown right here in West Virginia.
It started in nineteen eighty six under Commissioner Gus Douglas
and then was rebranded in twenty seventeen under our current
(30:46):
commissioner Kent Lee and Hart. And it helps consumers and
producers be able to find products that are made right
here within our wonderful state.
Speaker 2 (30:57):
Now, Maggie, this program covers producers, it covers stores, and
there's also a component where restaurants can get involved as well.
Tell us how that works.
Speaker 5 (31:09):
Sure. In twenty twenty three, we launched our partner program,
So any restaurant retailer supporter, So a restaurant has to
serve one West Virginia Grown item and to qualify as
the West Virginia Grown item. It has to be fifty
percent value added in West Virginia. So they could use
(31:29):
local beef for their hamburger, they could use local tomatoes
and their salads, whatever it might be. But they just
have to use one West Virginia Grown item on their
menu to qualify to be a West Virginia Grown partner.
And our hope is that once they are connected with
one farm or producer food producer, that they'll have a
(31:53):
great experience with that and grow their menu to allow
more local products to be on their menus and restaurants
the same thing with retailers, mom talk stores, or even
gas stations. The Parmar is a part of our program
that if they sell one product of West Virginia Grown,
(32:15):
they are eligible to be in our program and we
have a map of them on our website, and then
we also promote them and they get to use our
logo as well.
Speaker 2 (32:23):
That's what I wanted to get to because once that
restaurant makes that commitment to reach out to one or
more farms to include those items, then you pick up
the ball from them and help let other folks know
what they're doing.
Speaker 5 (32:40):
Absolutely, so our hope is that We have a strong
list of over six hundred food producers and growers here
in our state and we're launched. We launched in twenty
twenty three, like I said, our partner program, and we're
still growing that list. But our hope is to has
lists on both sides of the aisle they and be
(33:00):
able to connect them in networking events and via emails
and anything that we can do to help farmers find
places to sell their products, as well as having restaurants
and retailers be able to source local products for their stores.
Speaker 2 (33:18):
Got Maggie Blankenship with us from the state Department of Agriculture.
We're talking about the West Virginia Grown Program. Now it
is fall hard the season. Do you have any maybe
recommendations or can you steer us toward a You mentioned
the map, what would you suggest checking out this fall?
Speaker 5 (33:40):
Absolutely? Well, it is pumpkin season, so we have lots
of pumpkin patches around the states that are opening. We
have the Edge of Farm Market there in Bridgeports. It's
opening and it had been opened, but they are doing
lots of fall type activities. We have a full directory
(34:01):
on our website which is Wvagriculture dot gov, and we
have a full directory of our West Virginia grain products
as well as our agritourism farms that are open around
the state. You can also follow us on our Facebook
at the West Virginia Department of Agriculture and and seek
out some local adventures.
Speaker 2 (34:24):
They are on our on our Facebook and if you
go out there, one of the things that you'll notice
is they have this program divided up into the into
the different sections of the state like the Eastern Panhandle,
North Central, Northern Panhandled, New River, Greenbrier Valley area up
so you can download each individual area and you can
(34:46):
tackle them one at a time. What do you think
about that, Maggie.
Speaker 5 (34:51):
Absolutely, we want people to be able to look up
maybe they're going on a day trip, or just what's
in their back door that they're not that they're not familiar,
be able to source their local eggs, or just shorten
the food supply chain. So you know, we saw during
COVID that this supply chain can get vested up pretty quick,
so we want people to be able to find what
(35:12):
they need closer to home.
Speaker 2 (35:15):
Absolutely. Hey, Maggie, really do appreciate your time today and
it really do appreciate the information as well.
Speaker 5 (35:23):
Absolutely. If anybody has any questions, they can reach out
to us via email wv GROWN at WVDA dot us
and we'll get your answers taken care of.
Speaker 2 (35:33):
Okay, perfect Maggie Blankenship with the State Department of Agriculture.
Thank you for your time, ma'am. I hope you have
a great Tuesday.
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