Talkline | August 6, 2025 - MetroNews Talkline

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:12):
Coming up one Metro negs talk line this morning, the
controversial transmission line that would traverse parts of West Virginia.
Frawl's pretty big crowd for a meeting last night in
Montingalia County. The State Fair starts soon. Bernie Sanders is
coming to town. Plus four w football players suing the
n C double A. All of that and soft football practices.

(00:37):
Metro Nee's talk line is underway.

Speaker 2 (00:42):
You arend.

Speaker 3 (00:49):
Turnoff from the studios of w v RC Media and
the Metro News Radio and Television Network. The Voice up
West Virginia comes the most powerful show in West Virginia.
This It's Metro News Talk Live with Dave Wilson and TJ. Meadows.

Speaker 4 (01:07):
Activated hellophone switch newhere. Can we hold from Charleston to.

Speaker 2 (01:11):
Morga Stand by to David DJ. You're on.

Speaker 3 (01:18):
Metro News. Talk Line is presented by Encova Insurance, encircling
you with coverage to protect what you care about most.
Visit Encova dot com to learn more.

Speaker 1 (01:29):
Welcome inside the Encoba Insurance studios in the bowels of
the Tale Miller Building in Morgantown. I'm Dave Wilson. TJ.
Meadows is in our Charleston Studios. Jakelink running the video stream.
Joe Nelson is our audio producer today. Eight hundred and
seven sixty five Talk eight hundred seven sixty five eight
two five five. That is the phone number three or

(01:51):
four Talk three O four is the text line. Coming up. Later,
Kent Lee and Heart State Agriculture Commissioner. We'll talk about
the state fair with him. Sam brown Song will join us.
Bernie Sanders coming to town later this week or coming
to a couple of towns in West Virginia. We'll talk
to him about that, plus some changes within the DNC

(02:12):
on the presidential nominating process. Later on second hour, John
Ginola will join us, the attorney representing those four w
football players suing the NCAA trying to get eligible for
the current season. All of that, say good morning too, TJ.
Meadows in the Charleston Bureau.

Speaker 5 (02:29):
TJ.

Speaker 4 (02:30):
Good morning, Good morning. Dave Flash from the New York
Times on my phone. President Trump announcing that later today
he'll announce that Apple is pledging an additional one hundred
billion dollar investment in the United States. That's their latest
move to avoid tariffs on the iPhones. One hundred billion dollars.

Speaker 1 (02:50):
Sorry, you got to chuckle out of me. Politicians are
great to announce that they will.

Speaker 4 (02:53):
Announce oly, I know, right, so just announce it.

Speaker 1 (02:56):
Save us all a little bit of trouble.

Speaker 4 (02:58):
Aren't we the ones that are going to pay that
one hundred billion dollars? I mean, I rail about this
all the time in terms of taxes with businesses and
these kinds of things. Businesses don't pay taxes. They wrap
it into the cost of good soul and they pass
it along to you. The consumer probably happened with this too.
So okay, great, Apple's investing one hundred million dollars in
the United States, But we're the ones that are going

(03:19):
to end up paying it. We that buy iPhones anyway.

Speaker 1 (03:23):
We end up paying for everything anyway. So what's the difference?

Speaker 4 (03:27):
Brought me right up there, buddy. I was looking for
a pigmy up there for the day. Thank you appreciate that.

Speaker 1 (03:32):
As I said, what did I say the one day?
Even if the illuminati are running the whole show, my
water tank still broke. I gotta fix it, so I digress.
Kathy Konko is an energy policy expert. She was among
those on hand last night at University High School, where
local residents filled the bleachers in the gymnasium to learn
more about and stand against the proposed mid Atlantic Resiliency Link,

(03:57):
that is, the next air energy transmission line that would
run from Green County, Pennsylvania to northern Virginia, criss crossing
a couple of West Virginia counties, Montagelia, Preston, Hampshire, Mineral
and I'm always leaving one out. Pendleton, I think, is
the other county the line would go through. So say
good morning to Kathy Kunkle. Kathy, good morning, glad you

(04:17):
could join us, Good morning, good.

Speaker 6 (04:20):
To be here.

Speaker 1 (04:21):
Were you surprised by the turnout last night?

Speaker 7 (04:25):
I wouldn't say I was surprised because I was at
a similar meeting in Preston County back in June that
also was really well attended. But I was. I'm pleased
to see so many people there to learn about.

Speaker 1 (04:36):
This line, Kathy.

Speaker 4 (04:38):
Opponents say there's no practical benefit to West Virginia in
terms of this line. Yet, as you well know, this
is a reliability project that PJMS called for. Isn't reliability
of the grid. Doesn't that benefit everyone, including West Virginians.

Speaker 7 (04:53):
I mean, I think the real question here is you know,
why what is driving the need behind this line? And
PJ has made it very clear that this line would
not be needed if not for the major growth in
data centers for northern Virginia. So I think what opponents
are questioning is why West Virginia rate payers and indeed

(05:13):
rate payers across the PGM region are going to end
up footing the bill for this transmission line that would
not be needed if data centers were not building so
much new electricity demand in Northern Virginia. So I mean,
I think that the opponents are seeing a subsidy from
the rate payers to a big tech kathy.

Speaker 1 (05:34):
Why do we need a transmission line or why are
they proposing a transmission line that runs from you know,
Green County to from Green County, PA to Frederick County,
Virginia that crosses West Virginia when the data centers are there.
Why do we need one hundred and five mile transmission
line when the data centers are in Virginia.

Speaker 7 (05:52):
Well, I mean because the data data center industry is
growing across the country and particularly in Northern Virginia. I mean,
if you look at projections for Virginia, like electricity demand
is expected to double by twenty forty just in the
next fifteen years, So they're essentially adding another Virginia's worth

(06:16):
of electricity and more than eighty five percent of that
is due to data centers. So the electricity demand from
data centers is growing like crazy in northern Virginia and
they just don't have the local generation there to cover it,
and so they're looking to import power from other states
and that's crossing West Virginia.

Speaker 4 (06:38):
Transmission cost allocation is something that has been heavily debated
by state commissions for a lot of opinions. A lot
of people say, and maybe you agree that the way
PGM does transmission cost allocation needs to change. What would
you say to that, Yes, I would agree with that.

Speaker 7 (06:58):
The organization I work for, Institute for Energy Economics and
Financial Analysis, put out a report in late May basically
saying exactly that and kind of using moral and the
Value Link transmission line, which is also proposed through West
Virginia as case studies, because you know, when when the
need for a transmission line is so clearly driven by

(07:18):
a small class of customers, in this case, data centers,
it really kind of goes against the bedrock principle. Of
utility regulation, which is that the entities that are causing
a cost on the grid should pay for it. But
the traditional you know, transmission cost allocation methodology in PJM
has essentially everyone pays for transmission lines.

Speaker 1 (07:42):
Is there a case to be made that everyone should
chip in for something like this because I mean, ultimately
the data centers are going to power AI. We're all
going to benefit from AI one way or the other.
Is there an argument to be made?

Speaker 7 (07:56):
I mean, I think you just kind of made it.
One couldn't make that argument. I don't necessarily agree with it.
I mean, I think, you know, traditionally, again the principal
and utility regulation is that the users that are causing
a cost should pay for it. And you know that's
traditionally it goes for industrial customers, even if everyone in

(08:21):
some indirect way benefits from the products that they might
be selling.

Speaker 4 (08:25):
Talk to us about the physical location of the line.
Let's get away from the cost for a minute. Even
if we were to solve transmission allocation today, which we're
not going to, there's still a physical line that goes
through people's backyards, goes through their properties, and they don't
like that. And I can understand that we had a
lady on yesterday would go through her Christmas tree farm.

(08:47):
I'm paraphrasing. I can get why that would upset someone.
But to Dave's point and the point you just made
about the proliferation of AI and data center growth to
power that, I mean, something has to give. We have
to find a sweet spot. We can't not just build
these transmission lines. So, in your opinion, as an expert
in the field, how do we find that sweet spot?

(09:08):
How do we balance preservation of our lands, the protection
of personal property with being able to fuel a modern
American economy that needs electricity more than ever.

Speaker 7 (09:19):
Yeah, I mean I think it's really difficult. I mean,
for the for the reasons that you just stated. I mean,
it does disproportionately impact certain people, uh, the people whose
land it's going to cross, and I think those people
certainly have a right to have their views heard before
the West Virginia Public Service Commission, which is ultimately going
to be making, you know, the decision about whether whether

(09:42):
this line is necessary in West Virginia, and you know,
I think it is. It is difficult to balance those
interests with the interests of the data center industry. But
you know, I think there's there's also been real questions
that have been raised by myself but other people as

(10:03):
well about you know, how much of this build out
of the tech industry of data centers is really going
to occur, and are we at risk of potentially overbuilding
infrastructure that may not end up actually being needed. So
I think like there really needs to be some like
careful analysis of the like what is actually like realistic

(10:24):
in terms of big glows of the tech industry in
Northern Virginia And are there alternative ways to get power
to the data centers? And you know, I think the
landowners have a right to have certainly their voices heard
in that entire process, since they are potentially the most

(10:47):
impacted folks.

Speaker 1 (10:49):
Kathy Gunkle is joining US energy consultant at the Institute
for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis meeting last night in
Morgantown regarding the mid Atlantic resiliency. Kathy, you're not the
first one to bring up that idea that we may
be building too far out, maybe going too far in
on the data center bubble. There what indicators are there

(11:12):
that this that the AI bubble may not and I'll
call it a bubble for lack of a better description,
but it may be too early to go all in.

Speaker 7 (11:23):
Yeah, I mean, I think like one of the one
of the big red flags is just that the the
industry still is not profitable. I mean, if you look
at a company like open Ai, which you know, is
a pure AI company, they lost a lot more money
than they earned in revenue last year. And that has

(11:44):
to do exactly with what we're talking about, which is
how energy intensive it is to run these models.

Speaker 8 (11:49):
So all of the free users.

Speaker 7 (11:51):
Of chat gpt are not contributing anything in revenue to
the company, but they are improving a lot of costs
on the company. And that's kind of their business model
is to put these free models out there and the
hope that some fraction of the users will convert into
paid subscribers, and you know, I think and less they

(12:12):
can figure out how to get their costs down a lot,
which would involve making those models a lot more energy
efficient to run. It's hard to see a path to
profitability with that model. And of course making the models
much more energy efficient to run would mean using less electricity.
Hence also you know, potentially like much less electrical infrastructure

(12:37):
than what the industry is currently projecting.

Speaker 4 (12:40):
West Virginia needs new business, we need growth, we need
more people. With a five hundred kV line running through
the state, doesn't it open the potential for some economic development,
maybe the next new core or some kind of facility
that has a large energy need. Would it make that
area of the state more attractive to development?

Speaker 7 (13:03):
I mean, I'm not sure that it necessarily would, in
the sense that you know, uh, that electricity demand is
essentially being like taken up at the other end of
the line by the data centers. And in fact, I
mean that's a major critique of the data center industry
is that they use so much electricity and they're putting

(13:25):
such a strain on the grid that effectively they're kind
of crowding out less uh, less energy intensive users that
create more jobs. I mean that you know, the job
for make a lot of electricity for a data center
is probably like the lowest of any in this industrial
development that I could think of.

Speaker 4 (13:46):
Kin, this is one hundred percent capacity day one on
this line, it'll be it'll be used one hundred percent.

Speaker 6 (13:53):
Essentially.

Speaker 7 (13:53):
Yeah, yeah, that's I mean, unless you know, something happens
in the northern Virginia data center industry starts tanking. But essentially,
you know, PJM is saying we need this line because
the demand in northern Virginia is so great.

Speaker 1 (14:08):
This may be a totally ignorant question, and I will
pose it to both of you given your energy backgrounds. Uh,
this line will connect to existing power plants in Green County, Pennsylvania.

Speaker 7 (14:17):
Correct, it's going to go right by the Fort Martin
and long View power plants. But I mean, but it's
also like, I think it's an oversimplification to say it's
just going to take power directly from those plants into
Northern Virginia. I mean's essentially like opening up a new
path for electrons to flow into northern into Northern Virginia.

(14:39):
So it's you know, going to you know, I mean,
the grid is a complicated thing right right right, flowing
all over the place, and so it's it's not you
can't really, like one for one, say like oh, the
electricity is going to go from like this power plant
to that data center.

Speaker 2 (14:53):
You know.

Speaker 1 (14:53):
Okay, Well that's my question. That was my question was
if these plants, I assume these plants are running at
or new capacity, Uh, that that would be transmitting the powers.
So do we still have a capacity problem? Or am
I at TJ get that funny look onter fair? I
can see you tjus.

Speaker 4 (15:12):
At the headline. I was looking at our headline. Sorry
that was that was not well?

Speaker 1 (15:16):
Again, like Kathy said, this is a very the grid
is very complicated. Am I conflating things? Or is there
still an issue? You can have a highway, but if
if you know, the car is already full, Uh, do
you still have a problem there anyway?

Speaker 7 (15:31):
I mean I, first of all, I don't actually think
that those power plans are running close to their capacity.
I haven't looked at that recently, but I would be
surprised if they were running close to capacity. But but overall,
there is uh a capacity or potentially a future capacity

(15:53):
shortage in pj M. At least PJN PGM is worried
about potential capacity shortfalls in the near few sure because
of the data centers.

Speaker 4 (16:02):
Yeah, the way I understand this line, Kathy, and you've
looked at it more than me, But there's an in
one condition here, meaning Dave like, there's very little pipeline
of transmission to power Northern Virginia and PJM gets worried
that there's not a secondary flow, so that's one of
the reasons, and you can balance the flow. And in
the worst case scenario, if you had one transmission line

(16:24):
go down, you could still place one hundred percent of
the capacity on this transmission line and avoid congestion and
still keep power flowing. And since the grid is interconnected
in theory and Kathy jump in here, you could prevent
overall reliability issues on the grid as a whole. You
can agree or disagree with my characterization there. It's rather simple.

Speaker 7 (16:43):
I know, I think that's fair.

Speaker 9 (16:46):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (16:47):
Kathy Conkole, energy policy expert. She was among those at
that meeting at University High School last night regarding the
mid Atlantic Resiliency Link. Kathy, thank you for the insights.
We appreciate it. We'll look continue to follow this.

Speaker 7 (17:00):
Thank you very much. Thanks for having me.

Speaker 1 (17:02):
Absolutely got to take a break. We'll have more as
talk line continues to the in Co Insurance studios.

Speaker 10 (17:08):
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(17:28):
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Speaker 11 (17:37):
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(18:01):
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Speaker 3 (18:20):
Metro News talk Line is presented by Encova Insurance and
circling you with coverage to protect what you care about most.

Speaker 1 (18:33):
State agg Commissioner kent Leyanheart will join us bottom of
the hour the State Fair. We'll get cranked up soon.
One hundredth year for the State Fair. We'll talk to
the State Agriculture Commissioner kent Leyanhart coming up bottom of
the hour three or four talk three O four is
the text line, let me get some texts in guys.
The real issue goes beyond transmission lines, but on site noise.

(18:55):
Data centers generate significant noise, primarily from cooling systems like
fans and chill, as well as backup power systems. This
noise can be disruptive to nearby communities, destroy property values,
and even cause health issues for neighbors and data center workers. Dave.
I think the AI argument now for Appalachia is build
your data centers here. Well, that's certainly the argument I

(19:18):
think Governor Morsey was trying to make, and the legislature
was trying to make with the what was that house
build twenty fourteen the data center bill? Build them here,
Let's build the transfer Let's build the transmission line right
through your house and groundwater.

Speaker 3 (19:37):
TJ.

Speaker 1 (19:38):
There's a delicate balance you pretend to want. I'm sure
you would drive the bulldozer that tears through your house
so you can maintain stability of the grid and promote.

Speaker 4 (19:47):
A I thank you for your characterization. I appreciate that look, Dave,
there's two things going on here. There's physical land rights
that we talked about with Bethan yesterday and those impacts,
and then there's cost allocation of how we pay for
transmission costs in these integrated markets in these countries, in
our country rather and they're very complicated and given the

(20:10):
way AI has taken off, we need to look at
those cost allocation methods. And Mark Christi at FIRK, one
of the for Commissioners, prudent, reasonable guy, he has said
as much. There's this idea of what's called a public
policy issue where if Virginia is promoting data centers and
making it friendly for data centers to be there, and

(20:30):
they're coming in hordes as a result of that, then
Virginia rate payers should pay more of that cost. And
that's not happening here because that's not how this line
was proposed. There is that argument that is out there,
and I think that's a fair argument. But you've got
these two issues and there's always going to be a rub.
How do you there's no way for everybody to keep
getting on chat GPT and doing everything that they're doing.

(20:53):
A chat GPT request takes about eighteen times the amount
of electricity that a simple Google search does well.

Speaker 1 (21:01):
I think the question that many folks here have is,
if you're going to build a data center in say,
Frederick County, Virginia, why aren't you building the corresponding plant
to power it in Frederick County, Virginia. Why do you
have to build this transmission line that is going to
cut through a Christmas tree farm or somebody else's farm
in Preston County or a neighborhood in Pendleton County. Why

(21:24):
do you have to build one hundred and five mile
line to connect to power plants in Green County, Pennsylvania.
That's the question I've heard from a lot of people
up here who and as you said, it's the grid
is complicated. It's very complex. But those are the questions
people are having here. They're also asking, Hey, why can't
you just get the power from West Virginia. We can
build a shorter line and get you the power from

(21:44):
West Virginia.

Speaker 4 (21:45):
Let me answer that quickly when we come back.

Speaker 1 (21:47):
Got to take a break this talk line of Metric
News Voice of West Virginia. It's ten thirty. Let's get
a news.

Speaker 12 (21:55):
Update West Virginia Metro News. I in Jeff Jenkins. Morgan
Town residents say they're trying to educate and mobilize opposition
to the Moral Transmission Line project. A puppet meeting held
last night at University High School. Most of those in
attendance say they want nothing to do with that line
plan from Green County, Pennsylvania, to Frederick County, Virginia, through
West Virginia. Dry farmer Kin Hunter says they need a

(22:17):
ground swell support if they're successful in stopping the project.

Speaker 13 (22:20):
The purpose of this was to get the word out
and ask people to help because it's going to raise
our rates if it's in West Virginia, whether it's in
the backyard or in some other part of the state.

Speaker 12 (22:32):
The line is designed to provide energy to a data
center in Virginia. The next few months will bring adjustments
for large and small retailers alike who sell soda, pop
and other sugary drinks in West Virginia. New waiver obtained
by the Morsey administration says that benefits can no longer
be used to purchase those drinks. A number of internal
changes that also have to be made. Metro New state

(22:53):
Wide correspondent Brad Michaelhenney takes a look at that from
the retailer's point of view. Right now at WV metro
news dot com. The Marshall University Board of Governors has
a few new members. They were sworn in as part
of the bog meeting on Tuesday, and the board is
also making changes to comply with a new state law
that takes representatives of faculty, staff and students from voting
members to non voting members. A resolution from Marshall says,

(23:16):
even though they can no longer vote or contributions will
still be key to the board. You're listening to Metro News,
the voice of West Virginia.

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Speaker 12 (24:22):
Federal prosecutors say at Putnam County venarian put a community
at risk when she failed to properly track thousands of
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year old Claire M. Mason of Winfield has been ordered
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Sator Joe Manchin posting on Facebook information about the recent

(24:43):
death of his sister, Janet Manchin Thompson. She died Sunday
at the age of eighty. From the Metro News anchor desk,
I'm Jeff Jenkins.

Speaker 1 (25:12):
State Agriculture Commissioner Kent Lee Hart going to join us
just a moment, but before we get to him, us
want to finish that thought right before the break to you,
J because I had thrown it out there that one
of the questions being asked in this area about this
transmission line. If you're building data centers in Virginia, why
do you need to connect to a power plant one
hundred and five mile or power plants one hundred and

(25:33):
five miles away? Why not build your power plants in
the Commonwealth? And you said you had an answer to
that question.

Speaker 4 (25:40):
Do you know how hard it is to build a
power plant today with all the regulations? Good luck, it's
easier to build a transmission line, and there is adequate
capacity available from a generation perspective, in this case feeding
a substation in Pennsylvania. Somewhere where this connects, there's enough

(26:00):
generation online at that node that it can be moved
and supply and overall demand in the grid. I'm not
saying that's right, but when you make it extremely difficult
EPA and I get we're changing under rule one eleven
to build a natural gas power plant. Good luck building
a coal plant. We can't even agree on nuclear in

(26:21):
this country in SMRs. And the reality is wind has
a place, solar has a place, but it's not baseload
energy minus batteries, and who can afford the batteries to
make it baseload energy? So I mean that's the reality, Dave.
One's easier to build than the other, and even a
transmission line is difficult to build. But a new plant,

(26:44):
good luck.

Speaker 1 (26:44):
Add to that. I will just add to that because
I think you've hit the nail on the head. Remember
in twenty twenty you may not remember, but Virginia, the
legislator there passed the Virginia Clean Economy Act, committing the
state to achieving one hundred percent carbon free electricity by
twenty fifty. And if you do invest in carbon based generation,
you have to figure out ways to offset that or

(27:05):
pay a penalty. So to your point, it's not even
practical if your dominion energy to try to build a
natural gas or coal fire plant in Virginia. It's much simpler,
like you said, to build the transmission line. So another
reason that maybe this public policy writer should take a
look at how we do transmission allocation, because if VIKA
is past and it was and that it's yeah, it's tough,

(27:28):
But if Virginia is placing a burden onto the grid
overall because of Vika. Then we need to talk about
that conversation. And it's a deep conversation.

Speaker 4 (27:36):
But building here, just build them here, Yeah, come on,
build them here. Hey, you get how complicated this is.
Make your head spin? Yes, it can make your head spin.
And we expect, and maybe it's not a fair expectation,
we expect everyday people that are just trying to out
and be out and make a living and run their
businesses to understand all of this. I mean, it's it's

(27:56):
very complicated. I know people that have spent forty years
in this industry and it's still nuanced in many ways.
It's very tough.

Speaker 1 (28:04):
You know, it's not complicated. Going to the West Virginia
State Fair. It opens up tomorrow, runs August seventh through
the sixteenth in fair Lay. It is the one hundredth
year of the West Virginia State Fair. Joining us we'll
mention News talk Line this morning at State Agriculture Commissioner
Kent Lee and Hart Kent, Good morning, good to talk
to you.

Speaker 6 (28:22):
Good talking with you, David. Yes, everybody, if your head's spinning,
come on after the State Fair and we'll help you
on spin your unless you get on some of those
rides that go around and they might spin your head
a little bit, but in a different way.

Speaker 1 (28:35):
What's your favorite part of the fair?

Speaker 6 (28:36):
Kent Oh. Obviously, being the ad commissioner is the agricultural
base of the fair. We have all our youths that
are have put a lot of pride in raising their
coats or their sheep, or their hogs, or their their cattle.
That's what. And the pride and the joy you see

(28:57):
in that youth when they're showing their animals, and then
when the sale subsequent sale comes you see some sadness,
but they all understand this is the circle of life.
And the whole FFA four h program is so wonderful
in the state of West Virginia. The numbers are growing
even though we have a population in decline. It just
shows how valuable this is to the state of West

(29:22):
Virginia and how valuable it is to our citizens. And
it all gets culminists right here at the state Fair.

Speaker 4 (29:30):
Can't let's talk about the food. I want to feel good.
Tell me about all the food that's going to be
at the state Fair.

Speaker 6 (29:36):
Oh my gosh. You know there's always the Ellen's donuts
that people love, the centabuns, the cattleman. State Revice takes sandwiches.
I like to pickle pizza myself. At least I don't
do it every day, but I'd like it at least
once during the fair, so I have it once a year.
There's so many different funnel cakes, you name it. They've
got food, they've got entertainment. The entertainment this year's really

(30:00):
going to be good. You got Miranda Lambert, you get
Jeff Dunham, you got the bull riding. We have all
sorts of great concerts in the evening that for those
that want to stay up and then fireworks. At the
end of the fair. There's a dairy birthing center. There
is the Sea Lions are coming to the state Fair
this year. Pretty good for a landlocked state.

Speaker 1 (30:22):
Kit Lieen Hart is joining US West Virginia Agriculture Commissioner.
But you know you mentioned the heart of the fair
is the agriculture community. We're West Virginia, right, We're not
like the you know, the big Midwest farms, those thousand,
two thousand acre farms, or the wheat fields and cornfields
as far as the eye can see. But when we
talk West Virginia agriculture, what is our claim to fame, Kent, Well.

Speaker 6 (30:47):
Our claim to fame is our poultry industry. That's one
of the largest industries in the state of Western Virginia.
Livestock comes next, and I'm very proud to say now
we had this historic drought last year, but in the
twenty twenty two national statistics they run from seven to
every five years. So I came in office in seventeen

(31:08):
and twenty twenty two, Nationally cattle numbers were down four percent,
but West Virginia was up five thousand head. So West
Virginia is really doing good because people are wanting to
know more and more about the locally grown foods. They
want to know their farmer, know their food. We started
the MAHA movement in West Virginia eight years ago, way

(31:29):
before President Trump started it and Robert F. Kennedy. So
we're on la track and we're doing great with that.
So agriculture has been growing in West Virginia. Again, you
see it in the numbers of the students that are
participating in FFA and four h.

Speaker 4 (31:44):
Ken thurm me a rope here. If I recall, we'd
had some restrictions on chicks or poultry. There were some
issues that were going on. I think in the early
part of the year with disease, we got through all
of that, though right.

Speaker 6 (31:57):
Well, it's not one hundred percent yet. So there's this
thing called avian influenza. It usually pops up. You never
know where or why sometimes. Right now we know this
last outbreak came from the wild waterfowl as they transited
through the state of West Virginia. West Virginia has been

(32:20):
very blessed. I'm proud of my animal health staff. They've
been working with our farmers on biosecurity to make sure
that we don't have an outbreak. So we're one of
two states over the last three years, and that's how
long this outbreak has lasted that does not have an
outbreak of avian influenza and a commercial flock. All the

(32:41):
states around us have had that happen, but not here
in West Virginia. We've had two small backyard flocks. The
disease was contained. We've done a great job. I'm very
proud again the farmers of West Virginia, the poultry graziers,
and the animal health staff at the Department of act
They've done a tremendous job keeping this at day.

Speaker 1 (33:01):
Kent Leehart joining us West Virginia State Agriculture Commissioner. The
state Fair coming up starts tomorrow, runs through August sixteenth, Kent.
This time last year, we were talking about droughts. We
were talking about not enough rain. Seems like this summer
we can't get away from the rain. How are we
doing rainfall total wise? And how are farmers faring well?

Speaker 6 (33:20):
The farmers are fairing. They're struggling a little bit in
some places to get their hay up, but they're eventually
getting it up. From what I hear, most of the
hay crops are in pretty good shape. We've had some
issues with early frost in the apple orchards and the
peaches in certain regions. We had an early frost this year,
but we still have a good crop. We have had

(33:44):
issues with some diseases that have blown up into our
strawberry fields that came in with one of the hurricanes.
These things happen, but the farmers are resilient. They're working
really hard. We're still doing very well. Therought. The floods
the drought really set us back a little bit, but

(34:06):
we had some help from the Federal Farm Service Agency.
The state legislature gave us some funding to help with
pasture renovation to the farmers affected. That's all been put
to really good use and we are going to be
coming back from that. Then the rains come. So in
most areas the water table has come back. Some areas
were still a little bit short, but overall, I think

(34:29):
we're on the right track. It's been a struggle this
year getting some of the gardens and fields, and but
again the farmers got through the drought to get through
this as well.

Speaker 4 (34:41):
We talk and I can't help but remember that old
Paul Harvey narrative God made a farmer, And yes, we
talk about the farmers being, you know, one of the
backbones of the American economy. You hit on this a bit,
but talk about moving forward with that next generation and
and what you're doing and what your aspirations are to

(35:03):
see second, third, fourth generations of West Virginians moving forward
into farming and continuing that tradition.

Speaker 6 (35:11):
Well, we are obviously seeing a lot of advancements in
technology and things that along those lines, and we're working
with many partners to make sure that that information is
getting out to the farmers in the field that want
to actually farm. And the idea is to within the
Department of Ag. Obviously, we do a lot of regulatory

(35:32):
things to make sure the food is safe because when
you go to the grocery store, you have a reasonable
expectation that when you pull that product off the shelf,
it's going to be safe for your family. That's the
basis of a lot of the regulations. But what we
at the Department of Ag tried to do, and we've
been working very hard, is to come across that we're
going to educate before we regulate to bring any of
the agribusinesses into compliance. If we see something that's unsafe

(35:57):
out there, we don't want to put them out of business.
We want to help them succeed in business. And we
also want to make sure that the food that our
citizens are eating is very safe. So given that backdrop,
we also you've seen a decline in the number of farmers. Well,
some of that is because technology has gotten so well
and farmers have gotten more efficient. You know, back in

(36:19):
the eighteen sixty five it was ninety three percent of
the citizens were farmers. Now we're down to three to
four percent, and we're still feeding that many people, or
even more so. The technology, the growing techniques, the partnership
with West Virginia universities and educating the farmer all has

(36:40):
gone a long way, and with all of us working
together and with the USDA, we are seeing tremendous progress.
We've opened up more avatars for the processing of local meats.
That has helped helped us tremendously. When you look at
all the threats around the world, you know, even intentional
or unintentional, the close of the distance is where your

(37:02):
food has grown to where it's consumed, the safer it's
going to be. So the goal of the Department of
Agriculture is try to shorten that distance from where our
food is grown to where it's consumed. Know your farmer,
know your food. Less every time food changes hands, there's
a chance for accidental contamination. We want to eliminate that
as much as possible. That gives us a tremendous opportunity

(37:26):
for growth of agriculture in the state of West Virginia.
We saw a twenty seven percent increase in the last
five or six years of agricultural output. We want to
make and we're going to be able to close that
hopefully the next four years. That one billion dollar mark
that has eluded us all these centuries decades, I should say.

(37:48):
But at the same time, we're consuming about six billion
dollars worth of food, so there's a tremendous potential for growth.
I've asked the legislature every year, hopefully maybe this next
time we'll finally get it to fund our West Virginia
Growing Program that actually helps connect farmers with sellers. Farmers'
markets have tripled over the last few years in the

(38:11):
state of West Virginia, and that's all great news as well.
So what we want to do is make that connection
between the grower and the consumer, and the more. It
can't happen overnight. It's got to be a building block.
You know, the farmer has a market, he's going to
grow it. What we have to do is help the
farmer create that market.

Speaker 1 (38:30):
Ken Lee and hearts State Agriculture Commissioner. The West Virginia
State Fair starts tomorrow, runs through August sixteenth. All kinds
of great entertainment, including comedian Jeff Dunham, Miranda Lambert, Kansas
thirty eight Special to name a few of the entertainers.
Kent appreciate you coming on and hope it's a great fair.

Speaker 6 (38:48):
Oh I hope it's a great fair. The weather looks
like it's going to be good. And if you see
me on the fairgrounds, anybody out there, come just stop
in and say hello. Come on down to the one
hundredth anniversary of the West Virginia State Fan.

Speaker 1 (39:01):
Starts tomorrow, runs through the sixteenth. Thanks Kent, appreciate it.

Speaker 6 (39:04):
Thank you.

Speaker 1 (39:05):
Coming up. What head Coach Rodriguez a little irritated yesterday.
We'll talk about that next.

Speaker 9 (39:12):
A lot of attention has been directed towards something President
Trump calls clean beautiful coal. That phrase often describes the
clean burning aspect of West Virginia coal, but there is
another type of coal, metallurgical coal, which is used to
make the steel our economy depends on, and West Virginia
has some of the highest quality met coal in the world.

(39:33):
West Virginia coal miners produce more met coal than any
other state, and seventy percent of all steel makers in
the United States rely on West Virginia met coal. This
accounts for two hundred billion dollars in economic impact throughout
the country and helps sustain over a half billion jobs.
As President Trump reinvigorates our economy, he will need a
lot of our high quality met coal. So the West

(39:55):
Virginia Coal Association asks you to join with them to recognize,
honor and salute our West Virginia coal miners. They built
this country and will play a vital role in rebuilding
the economy that will power the twenty first century. A
message from the friends of Coal.

Speaker 3 (40:24):
Metro News talk line is presented by Encova Insurance, encircling

Speaker 1 (40:34):
Sam pat Sonic will join us top of the hour.
Yesterday marks ww's first fully padded and contact practice of
preseason camp. Mountaineers did not make it the allotted time.
Head coach Rich Rodriguez intended for the coach after practice,

(40:55):
he was a little frustrated.

Speaker 16 (40:56):
He really was not much different than the last couple days,
other than I was probably about twenty minutes or so,
twenty twenty five minutes of live.

Speaker 2 (41:07):
Didn't have the quarterbacks live.

Speaker 16 (41:08):
Yet, probably have them go live on Thursday. So but
there was some live tackle, which should bring a certain
level of intensity and also a certain level of true football.
Probably would have gone a little bit longer, but then
I got mad at something and just made them run
you know, made him run for fiften or fifteen minutes
and then ended practice, and that was the reason I

(41:29):
got upset at the end. But there's there's way too
many moments of softness. It's not everybody all the time,
and it's not the same guy all the time, but
they can't ever be allowed. And I just love sometimes
that to our guys don't even realize that they're being soft.
I don't want to say it's in their DNA, it's
just their their version of going hard and ours hasn't

(41:52):
quite measured up all the time.

Speaker 1 (41:55):
You can read Greg Carrey's story over at wv metronews
dot com recapping the first fully padded practice. This is
the second time second time coach Rod has brought up
soft as being an issue. He look, I don't know,
as an outsider looking in TJ when you come in
as a new head coach, and he's not a new

(42:16):
head coach, right, he's been around forever. At this point,
you have to establish a standard, and maybe you want
to do things contrary to the guy before you. I
don't know if this is the case, but I do
know that he wants to set a hard edge standard
and part of that is making certain everybody is on
the same page when you say go hard, this is

(42:37):
the level not here, not here, this is the level
of hard. And he's just tried. I think it's just
it seems to me he's trying to get those guys
to that level because he understands what it's going to
take to compete and win in the Big twelve?

Speaker 4 (42:50):
Is any coach ever pleased?

Speaker 7 (42:51):
No?

Speaker 4 (42:51):
Should any coach ever be pleased? Kind of reminds me
of you. Really the old story Bobby Knight used to
tell about Michael Jordan. He was just out there in
the first half of the Olympic Game and he's killing
it and all this kind of stuff, and he didn't
want to tell him how good he was doing. So
he's like, Mike, when you're gonna set a pick that
kind of thing. You remember that story? Is that what
this is? I mean, is any coach ever really pleased?
Are you trying to really push past and get more

(43:13):
and more and more? Now? Are kids also soft today? Yeah?
I think we can agree on that. So there's probably
a middle ground here.

Speaker 11 (43:22):
Dave.

Speaker 4 (43:24):
Here's a question though, that I kind of wonder. I mean,
I don't know if the top of my head. Do
you know how many kids he got out of the portal? Oh,
it's big number.

Speaker 1 (43:35):
Yeah, big number, big number.

Speaker 4 (43:37):
Given that in the way the game works today and
the fact that you know, you don't have to have
three years to get your guys in your recruits. The
way it works got a shorter honeymoon period I think
than you would ever have. Not that he needs one,
but you know it's not one of these three four
years down there. I mean, you better win him win soon.

Speaker 1 (43:55):
Well, uh, and you can. You can in today's environment,
you can win and win soon. But you have to
set that standard. You have to set this is where
we're going to be, not here, not here, this is
where we're going to be. And I've seen coaches do
that where they just go, ah, run how long until
I'm tired? Then you come back and do better the

(44:17):
next day.

Speaker 4 (44:17):
Didn't hurt us, did it?

Speaker 8 (44:19):
Uh?

Speaker 1 (44:19):
Well, it's debatable. You can read Greg's story over at
the website wv metronews dot com. Back to wrap up,
hour number one. This is talk line from the Encode
Insurance Studios.

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and perfect.

Speaker 18 (44:58):
The free Metro News is the place to watch the
voice of West Virginia. See talk Line with Dave and TJ,
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(45:21):
powered by Dan Cabbage, EMC, Go Mart, Blue Window Marine,
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Speaker 1 (45:49):
Jackpots are growing in West Virginia. Jackpots are on the
rise every week, power Ball hits Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays,
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The Powerball jackpot is four hundred and forty nine million dollars.

(46:11):
Mega Million's jackpot is one hundred and sixteen million dollars.
So go ahead, play today. Texter says, great answers and
explanations from our agriculture commissioner. Thumbs up, emoji, You're rich?
Can you run four fifteen minutes anymore? Trying to carry
a ten pound rifle? Five magazines? Fully loaded? A twenty

(46:31):
pound pack? Blank? There's a word there. What do you do?
Carry a clipboard? Says the Texter?

Speaker 4 (46:39):
Wow, fully loaded five magazine? Are we going to war?
Are we playing ball? What are we doing?

Speaker 1 (46:47):
It sounds like somebody was in the military there. Oh man,
I couldn't imagine doing that. Couldn't imagine doing that.

Speaker 4 (46:54):
He's just got to be a blow of the whistle, buddy.
He did his time, all right.

Speaker 1 (46:57):
Coming up, Sam pet SONK will join us. Changes to
how the DNC will be selecting presidential nominees. Plus Bernie
Sanders is coming to West Virginia. Also John g and
all of the attorney representing those four Mountaineer football players
suing the NCAA. We'll talk about that second hour as
talk line continues on Metro News, the voice of West Virginia.

Speaker 3 (47:27):
Metro News talk Line is presented by Incoba Insurance, encircling
Visit incova dot com to learn more.

Speaker 1 (47:38):
Metro News talk Line continuous second hour from the Encode
Insurance Studios. Jake Link is our video producer. Joe Nelson
is handling the phones today. You can give us a
call at eight eight hundred seven sixty five Talk eight
hundred seven sixty five eight two five five Text us
three oh four Talk three oh four. We'll get to
some of your text messages momentarily bottom of the hour.

(48:02):
John gen and Ola will join us. Four WU football
players are suing the NCAA for eligibility. We'll talk to
John coming up bottom of the hour about that case.
We'll get some more of your text and tweets as well.
Eight hundred and seven to sixty five Talk three or
four Talk three four. TJ. Meadows is manning the chair

(48:23):
in the Charleston studios this morning. Good morning, TJ. Good
morning sir, and maybe a bit early. You tell me,
maybe it's a party foul. Made chili last night about
nine thirty. Just decided to make some chili. You know,
not fall yet, not winter, but made some chili. I
put some picks on my social media if anyone wants
to take a look. But you know, nothing fancy.

Speaker 8 (48:41):
But it was good.

Speaker 1 (48:43):
Chili's good anytime.

Speaker 4 (48:44):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (48:45):
Now if you had made like pumpkin bread, we'd have
a problem.

Speaker 4 (48:48):
Yeah, I've seen.

Speaker 1 (48:50):
Where was it? One of my friends had a picture
on the Instagram or whatever of pumpkin stuff out already
in some of the stores. No, no, no, please, let's.

Speaker 4 (49:01):
Look.

Speaker 1 (49:02):
I'm trying to change the world here. We're working on
getting punching tickets out of the vernacular. I don't know
if we'll win the battle on you know, posts Labor
Day pumpkin flavored foods and drinks.

Speaker 4 (49:15):
It's way too early. Coop was talking about this on
Hotline Friday with in or Out, and I guess the retailers,
for a lot of different reasons, are trying to do
this summer scream event type thing they're talking about to
get the Halloween stuff out early. It's ninety five out
and one hundred percent humidity. I don't want to see
Halloween decorations. I'm sorry.

Speaker 1 (49:38):
It's serenity now. That's all I can say for all
of that is serenity now. Sam Brown pounce Stalk joins us.
He's one of the WESTERNI representatives for the Democrat National Committee.
There are some changes to super delegates we're going to
talk about. Also, Bernie Sanders is coming to West Virginia.
He'll be in Wheeling, Charleston, and Leonore August eighth and
ninth on his stop the Oldigarchy Tour. Please welcome to

(50:01):
the show, Sam pet song, Sam, good morning, Good to
see you again.

Speaker 2 (50:04):
Good to see you guys. Thanks for having me on.

Speaker 1 (50:06):
Any thoughts on pumpkin flavored drinks and foods coming out
way too early in the summer.

Speaker 2 (50:12):
Yeah, I know.

Speaker 19 (50:13):
I love me some pumpkin bread, but I don't know
about all those drinks and things.

Speaker 1 (50:18):
It's too early. Let's let's at least let the leaves
change colors first. That's a ram for another day. I
want to get to these changes with the DNC. But
first Sam, I'll get your thoughts on on Bernie Sanders
coming to West Virginia. I threw this question at Chris
stirewaldt last week. I'll throw it at you simply why.

Speaker 19 (50:39):
Well, you know, things are related because Bernie has been
out there pushing for refor I mean, Bernie is an independent.
You know, he does caucus with the Democratic Party in
the Senate, but he's an independent. And like a lot
of Americans, you know, Bernie has been and I put
myself in this category.

Speaker 2 (50:57):
Bernie has been.

Speaker 19 (50:58):
Aggravated with the Democratic Party over the years.

Speaker 2 (51:01):
Now.

Speaker 19 (51:01):
I've always been a Democrat, but I've been aggravated with him.
And Bernie has taken to traveling across the whole country
to voice his frustrations and demand change. And I think
he wants to see that change in West Virginia like a.

Speaker 2 (51:16):
Lot of us do.

Speaker 19 (51:17):
So he's here to try to lift up those concerns
and give representation to people who are frustrated with our
political system here in West Virginia.

Speaker 4 (51:27):
If he's frustrated with the Democrats, why not become a
Democrat and change it from within.

Speaker 2 (51:33):
Well, people have different theories about change, TJ. You know,
and I.

Speaker 19 (51:38):
Think Bernie's been hard to argue with him. He's been
pretty effective at, you know, organizing an opposition and this
is really the whole insight of our political system, and
it's what we do as Democrats in West Virginia. You
could say, if you don't like what the Republican Party
is doing, why not just become a Republican? Well that really,
you know, the dynamics of organizations are such that minority

(52:02):
voices often wind up suppressed, and so we think as
Democrats in West Virginia, the best way to change what
the Republican Party does is by running against him in
a general election and having a public debate. And Bernie's
doing the same thing from the outside to try to
change the Democratic Party.

Speaker 1 (52:20):
You know the numbers, Sam, I don't have to quote
him to you. Trump won by seventy you know, seventy
percent of the vote in West Virginia. You know the
numbers in the legislature. Is there an audience for Bernie
sentaers beyond the hardcore base who are going to turn out,
But is there an audience who might say, all right,
I'll listen to what this guy says. Do you believe that?

Speaker 19 (52:38):
Well, I think the best polls are the election polls.
And you know, Bernie won the primary here in sixteen.
He's been a very popular politician in West Virginia. And
so there are you know, tens of thousands, hundreds of
thousands of West Virginians who have voted for Bernie Sanders
who believe in his message at least in the value

(52:59):
of his opposition and the value of his dissent. So yeah,
we've already seen thousands and thous tens of thousands of
people express interest in these events here. So a lot
of I think a lot of people really do appreciate him,
and they appreciate, you know, the accountability that he tries
to bring to the public discourse.

Speaker 4 (53:18):
We're a capitalist society. He's a democratic socialist. I'll let
you define that, but I just don't know that America
is ready for that. Maybe I'm wrong.

Speaker 2 (53:29):
Well, I don't think that.

Speaker 19 (53:32):
Capitalism and socialism are incompatible. I mean, socialism just means
that there are social supports through the government. We've already
got those, social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, you know, public education.

Speaker 2 (53:47):
These are all basic.

Speaker 19 (53:48):
Institutions that have always been a part of American democracy,
and they support capitalism. I mean, capitalism almost relies on
basic norms so that markets can operate rate. So those
you know, you're Obviously, communism is a very different system
where there's government control of markets and and that is

(54:08):
incompatible fundamentally with capitalism. But that's not what that Bernie's
talking about. And and you know, so I think that
it's important to separate socialism, just mean, think about social security,
think about you know, public insurance. We've got a worker's
compensation through the federal government in West Virginia that protects
the lives of thousands of coal miners. Who's who suffer

(54:31):
who become disabled from mining coal in West Virginia. These
are basic supports that capitalism really relies on in order
to be efficient and to function. You know, the private
sector cannot provide all of the core services that are
necessary for a healthy free market.

Speaker 4 (54:46):
So just to be clear, though, and I don't want
you to carry his water, but I do want to
make sure I understand it. And you know, you know
his philosophy better than me. Sanders is not in favor
of government ownership of the means of production.

Speaker 2 (54:58):
I don't know what he's in f favor of. As
far as that, I really don't TJ. I don't want to.

Speaker 19 (55:03):
I don't think he is, but I don't want to
misrepresent him. I think all what he's talked most people
talk about when when they have his kind of view,
is that, you know, government should support basic social services
so that people don't have to go without basic health care,
so that you know, there is power for working people

(55:23):
to demand good wages and protection in their retirement. You know,
capitalism on its own turns people up and throws them out.
We've seen that thousands of coal miners have been left
within their retirement disabled without healthcare in West Virginia, and
that's not acceptable and in fact, it harms the consumer base,
which is the I mean, two thirds of our economy

(55:45):
is consumer spending, and when retirees are impoverished and disabled,
they they cannot do their job as consumers, and our
whole economy suffers as a result. So you know, these
this there's a big difference between government owning the means
of production and just making a more limited point that
we need some social protections in order for our economy
to function. So I think that's what we're talking about,

(56:07):
saving social security, saving medicare, saving the federal black lung
and workers' compensation programs that our people rely on.

Speaker 1 (56:15):
Sam pat Songke is joining us a representative to the
DNC and was once a candidate for the Democratic nomination
for governor here in West Virginia, Wheeling makes sense for
Bernie Sanders, Charleston makes sense. Why do you suppose Lenore
well I was.

Speaker 19 (56:31):
With Bernie when he came down to macdal County in
twenty sixteen. He has always wanted to be with rural folks.
I mean, he represents a very rural state. He understands
how rural voices get left out of our public discourse.
So anytime Bernie goes anywhere, he says, where are rural folks, working,

(56:53):
folks hurting the most? I want to be with them.
And that's I'm sure that's what brought him to Mingo County.
Mingo County has had a very dynamic community organizing history
throughout our state. They've done a lot of great stuff
to fight for rural communities and that's what they're doing
here by hosting him.

Speaker 2 (57:12):
He wants to lift up those concerns.

Speaker 19 (57:14):
I mean, you know, they have a lot of needs
in places like Mingo County that need to be higher
on the radar screen of our national officials.

Speaker 4 (57:25):
Changes may be a foot in the DNC regarding super delegates.
You can talk about those changes how they may or
may not affect someone like Bernie Sanders, but outline for
us sam what is being considered.

Speaker 19 (57:39):
So two, I'm a member of the Democratic National Committee
representing West Virginia, and a lot of people were frustrated
with the way the presidential elections have unfolded, especially in
twenty sixteen. So I was just elected last year, and
I'm supporting a slate of reforms to make the Democratic
Party more accountable to the voter, to create a more

(58:01):
robust primary election process when we nominate the president of
the United States. The two changes that we will consider
adopting this month at the Democratic National Committee's meeting will
be Number One, there's a group of delegates who are

(58:22):
not directly elected by the people.

Speaker 2 (58:24):
These are called super delegates.

Speaker 19 (58:25):
When you have your presidential nominating convention every four years,
some of the delegates are pledged and elected basically as
the result of the primary elections in each state. So
off West Virginia. In twenty sixteen, we voted for Bernie Sanders.
Our Democratic delegates were pledged to Bernie Sanderson, he had
won our primary election. But there's another group of delegates

(58:49):
known as informally known as super delegates, who are appointed
by party leadership, and they do not Historically, they do
not have to vote the same way that the the
voters voted in their state is and they haven't always
voted the same way that their voters voted in the state.
So a lot of Democrats have said, hey, super delegates

(59:11):
shouldn't get to tip the scales in these national elections.

Speaker 2 (59:14):
We want the people to decide.

Speaker 19 (59:16):
And so we're going to empower the voters to make
the primary decision about who we elect for who we
nominate for president.

Speaker 2 (59:25):
In the Democratic Party, super.

Speaker 19 (59:26):
Delegates will still have a role, but they'll be relegated
to a sort of a second tier status in the
party convention. So this is about ensuring the voters have
the say about who we nominate for president as Democrats.
The second change up for consideration in August.

Speaker 2 (59:48):
Would require that the officers.

Speaker 19 (59:49):
Of the Democratic National Committee stay neutral in primary elections,
so that you don't have party leaders going around and
sort of shake shadow campaigning tip the scales in favor
of one candidate or another.

Speaker 4 (01:00:03):
Do you have that today? Is that happening today?

Speaker 2 (01:00:06):
Well?

Speaker 19 (01:00:06):
People have you know, there's there's actually rules against it, TJ,
and there have been, but this this change is going
to enshrine the rule again of requiring officer neutrality as
a part of the charter in the in the you know,
the by laws of the Democratic Party. So it'll make
it'll it'll clarify that the national leadership of the Democratic Party,

(01:00:28):
their job is to facilitate a fair and a vigorous primary,
so the best people and the best ideas come forward
as our nominee.

Speaker 1 (01:00:36):
Talking to Sam pet Song this morning, he is on
the DNC from West Virginia, let me ask you this question,
Sam Well, broader of a question. Starwalt brings us up
all the time that our primary system is flawed, if
not broken, that both parties are beholden to bases, and
what you end up with with candidates that can win primaries,
but you get them to the general and you go
on both sides on both sides, do you think it's

(01:00:58):
broken and how can we fix it?

Speaker 19 (01:01:01):
Well, in part I do think it has been broken. Yeah,
and that's why we're making these changes. You know, we
don't want the base hand picking the presidential nominees. We
don't want the tail wagon the dog. You know, as
they say, and these changes ensure that that will not happen.
These changes ensure that the Democratic primary is about heeding

(01:01:25):
the voice of the people, and it's really exciting. These
are historic changes. These are changes that will ensure that
the primary candidates actually have to compete to get to
a majority of delegates at the Democratic National Convention. They
can't scratch backs and curry favors with party bosses and
leaders of the base and special interests. These changes ensure

(01:01:48):
that the voters themselves decide and we have a really
open and accountable Democratic Party and that is a major change,
and we hope that it inspires a lot more voters
to come and join the Democratic part already and elect
a real nominee who will give.

Speaker 2 (01:02:04):
You satisfaction to the voice of the American people.

Speaker 4 (01:02:08):
Sam, here's where it gets fun. And we didn't talk
about this, but we're going down a path here. So
I'll ask your opinion. You can take a swing or
you can pass. You know, you have the I Caucuses
they have to go first, and you've got the New
Hampshire primary they have to be on the front end.
You've got Super Tuesday, but got a lot of states
that come later. I've always wondered, why not just have
one Tuesday primary everybody, and everybody gets an equal crack.

(01:02:34):
New Hampshire doesn't get to frame what I think here
in West Virginia or the Iowa caucuses don't get to
frame what voters in Ohio may have in terms of
options as people drop out or not. What are your
thoughts there?

Speaker 2 (01:02:48):
Well, nothing says necessarily that any state has to go first.
These are customs that have evolved over many years.

Speaker 19 (01:02:55):
But there is an importance, I think to having a
couple of states go earlier in the process.

Speaker 2 (01:03:02):
And it's why we've always done it.

Speaker 19 (01:03:04):
Because it enables the nation to focus on very intimate
conversations at presidential candidate. I mean, I've been in New
Hampshire during the primary elections up there, and I don't
know if you guys have been up there, but you
can go out to a hog roast, you know, on
the backyard of some guy aulahol Or in southern New Hampshire,
and you're sitting there with John Kerry or Howard Dean

(01:03:26):
or whomever it might be for three hours and just
talking to him.

Speaker 2 (01:03:30):
And if they had a campaign in fifty states all
at once.

Speaker 19 (01:03:33):
There would not be the time to have that kind
of really rich interaction with the electorate. Now there is
an ongoing conversation, like you say, maybe some other states
should get a turn, and that does make some sense,
And in fact, the Democratic Party has moved up some
of the other states to give a voice to southern
states like North Carolina, South Carolina. We've moved up several

(01:03:54):
states over the years so that southern voices get that
kind of attention earlier in our presidential nominating process.

Speaker 2 (01:04:01):
And I believe that's important.

Speaker 19 (01:04:03):
But it's a beautiful thing, and it enables even the
presidential candidates to be as accountable to the ordinary people
as you would be if you're running for school board
or dog catcher. And it's a great part of our democracy.

Speaker 1 (01:04:16):
Sam, before we let you go, you ran one time,
you got a couple of years. Any interest in maybe
getting your name on the ballot again for a job
in Charleston.

Speaker 19 (01:04:26):
Well not really, buddy, because like so many one thing
I learned from that whole process is this thinking system
is broke. There is a lot that needs work with
this political system. And so my approach, my lesson from
being involved in politics in twenty twenty was let's work
on repairing the system, and that's why I got involved

(01:04:48):
in the Democratic Party. And these major historic reforms to
the presidential nominating process of the Democratic Party are one
thing that I'm proud of that reflects these changes that
should improve our political system and hopefully more people will
vote as a result, more people will participate in this
precious democracy that we have, and we really need that

(01:05:08):
because people have lost faith. People really have lost faith
in our political system, and I understand why, and we've
got to work to change that before it's worth you know,
before the system is even worth participating in again. So
that's my focus, and I appreciate you guys paying attention
to it and reporting on it. I hope Metro News
will continue covering these changes to the presidential nominating process

(01:05:30):
and the Democratic Party process because the people deserve to
know how we are reforming the system to protect them
and to protect our democracy.

Speaker 2 (01:05:39):
I really thank you both very much for that.

Speaker 1 (01:05:41):
Sam, appreciate the time today. Sam pet sonk with the
Western representative on the DNC, and again Bernie Sanders coming
to town on August eighth and ninth, Wheeling Charleston and
Leonor Sam appreciate it. Got to take a break back
in the moment. This stock line from the Encobe Insurance Studios.

Speaker 20 (01:05:54):
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Speaker 2 (01:06:59):
Well.

Speaker 10 (01:06:59):
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to Jurassic World. Must be eighteen year older to play
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Speaker 1 (01:07:44):
Coming up, John g and All, I've gotta join us.
We'll talk about that lawsuit involving four Mountaineer football players
who are suing the NCAA for eligibility. We'll do that
coming up just a couple of minutes from now, after
the bottom of the hour news break. Well, i'll do
the city I read later as well, because I just
dropped the liner sheet behind me and I can't get it.

(01:08:06):
It would be very awkward at this point.

Speaker 10 (01:08:10):
You know.

Speaker 1 (01:08:10):
Sometimes you know, well a video stream, you could see
it if you're watching the video stream, I know on
radio you would have you have no idea that I
dropped that liner sheet. But sometimes you just got to
own it. Sometimes you just got to own it. And
I can see him, they're right down there. I could
sort of kind of read the teaj We'll do it
coming up in the moment.

Speaker 4 (01:08:27):
One of my great mentors used to say, Lacey Neef,
he would say, Baby, the beauty's and the mistakes.

Speaker 1 (01:08:33):
Sometimes the mistakes create the best content. Well, absolutely, I
don't know that this created the best content. I was
going to read some text and do the liner, but
you know I dropped the liner, and then you know
I had to own the mistake. And now we're out
of time. So we're going to go to the news break.
We're going to talk about this lawsuit coming up. We'll
get to your text as well. Three or four Talk
three oh four. That is the text line. Phone calls
are always welcome. Eight hundred and seven to sixty five

(01:08:55):
Talk eight hundred seven six five eight two five five.
John Gene going to join us. Next we'll talk about
this lawsuit involving four w football players. This is Talk
Linel Metro News, the Voice of West Virginia. It is
eleven thirty and time to get a news update. Let's
check in with the Metro News radio network. Find out
what's happening across the great state of West Virginia.

Speaker 5 (01:09:17):
West Virginia Matter News. I'm Chris Lawrence. There does not
appear to be a whole lot of public support for
the mid Atlantic Resiliency link. Among those who would be
most affected by its construction. The high tension power line
to run from Green County, Pennsylvania to Frederick County, Virginia,
would provide exclusive power to a new data center to
be built in Virginia. Last night, a panel heard from
those wishing to talk about it at University High School

(01:09:38):
in Morgantown, and it was a second hearing. Ken Hunter,
whose property would be impacted, said that opposition is growing
as more and more has learned about this project.

Speaker 13 (01:09:46):
We're going to try to get Cheat Lake people here.
We're going to try to even have Preston County people
here who wanted more people for far and why so
in my knowledge of those two, this was much figger
than the other.

Speaker 5 (01:09:58):
Brook Balliard was there, she lives at says it's a
bad deal for the whole state.

Speaker 23 (01:10:02):
And be paying for transmission lines that are going to
be going through crossing our lake and impacting our areas
and our homes and farms that are in the area
that families have been on for generations.

Speaker 5 (01:10:13):
Now the developers need approval from the PSC to build it.
Nice turnout for National Night Out events across the state
last night, and Charleston police are on hand along with
other police agencies visiting with the neighborhood families at gatherings.

Speaker 24 (01:10:26):
It's good to see them interacting with the city. You know,
it brings them more closer together because you know, to
disconnect with between the cops and the community. So to
see them out here actually hands on with the children
and stuff is really good.

Speaker 5 (01:10:41):
Lady was at one of the events in Charleston. You're
listening to Metro News. The Boys of West Virginia.

Speaker 25 (01:10:45):
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Speaker 26 (01:11:14):
When we think about substance use disorder in West Virginia,
we need everyone to come together and motivate change. Artists
and recovery activists throughout the state have teamed up to
paint murals that inspire hard conversations. It may seem small,
but everyone played a role in breaking through stigma and
turning these murals into something vibrant and meaningful. When it

(01:11:36):
comes to how we think about recovery, it takes all
of us to break through addiction. Learn more at back
to Life wv dot org.

Speaker 5 (01:11:44):
The Capital County Board of Education has approved a resolution
updating that district's cell phone policy heading into the new
school year. Superintendent Tim hardest You said the policy now
says that in the upper grades they can have a
cell phone, but it has to be turned off and
in their locker during instructional time. The board already had
its own policy, but this update adjusted to meet the
new rules put together by the legislature. Finally, a preparation.

(01:12:07):
The gates open tomorrow morning for the one hundredth the
State Fair of West Virginia in Greenboro County. From the
Metro News anchordsk I'm Chris Lawrence.

Speaker 1 (01:12:34):
Cyber threats are evolving rapidly. City Nets managed services. Protect
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dot net. For West Virginia football players whose status remains

(01:12:56):
in question for twenty twenty five it have filed a
lawsuit against the n C double A in the Northern
District Court of West Virginia. Plaintiffs ty Edwards, Justin Harrington,
Jamori Robinson, and Jeffrey Weimer are seeking an injunction so
they will be eligible for the upcoming season. Each of
them had transferred to West Virginia. The lawsuit states the
players believe they would have another year of eligibility and

(01:13:18):
chose to stay in school and attempted to play and
attempted to play football at West Virginia and doing so,
the plaintiffs withdrew or for WINT the National Football League draft.
John Gianola is the attorney representing the four players in
their lawsuit. He joins us on Metro News talk Line
This morning, John, Good morning, Good morning. How are you
doing great? So why is the eligibility of these players

(01:13:41):
in question?

Speaker 8 (01:13:43):
So a couple of different things. All these players have
played previously at junior colleges. Generally you have been required
to play. You've had five years to play four, as
the phrase goes in the NC double A. For various reasons,
these have not been able to get four years in
in five years because partially because they've been a junior college.

(01:14:06):
Partially for a few of them, some personal issues have
kept them from participating the NC double A. Recently, in December,
they had sort of announced what I would call blanket
waiver that says your junior college years would not apply
necessarily to some of your eligibility. That would leave lots
of eligibility left for all of these plaintiffs. Then it's

(01:14:28):
sort of got walked back and said, well, we didn't
mean the five year limit. We didn't mean this, and
so really the these kids are being penalized because they
spent time at junior college. And I want to be
clear when I say junior college, I don't mean specifically
junior college, although they did go to junior college. This
applies to any student who would play at a non

(01:14:49):
n C Double A institution for any amount of time.

Speaker 4 (01:14:54):
Does this create a disincentive for players to start at
the JUCO levels?

Speaker 8 (01:14:58):
I think it does. You know, we refer to it
as the JUCO penalty, you know, the sort of you're
paying the cost of NC double eligibility whether you go
to an NC double A institution or not. So of course,
you know, if you can. You know a lot of
these players, whether it's the best for them or not,
are trying to get into the NC double A institution
because you do suffer these penalties, you lose eligibility even

(01:15:22):
though you're not at an NC double A institution. There
are some GPA limits that can limit your transferability out
of JUCO that are different and easier if you're within
an NC double A institution. So there's a whole host
of disincentives kind of baked into the cake to attend,
you know, junior college and the like.

Speaker 1 (01:15:44):
Diego Pavia, the Pavia, Yeah, the Vanderbilt quarterback he sued
over this dot eligible was able to get eligible. Why
did that suit not just set the precedent that, hey,
this is what we're going to go by. Now.

Speaker 8 (01:15:58):
Well, I'll be honest with you, I'm I'm as confused
by that as as anyone. I really shouldn't be here, honestly,
I think that's part of the surprise that everyone assumed,
and it's not just you know, mister Pavia had his case.
Then in December, this sort of blanket waiver came out
from the NC double A, and I think there was
a lot of belief that, okay, well, you know, the

(01:16:20):
junior college wasn't going to count, and then all of
a sudden that started getting walked back in the spring,
you've seen a whole host of complaints. Former w guy
named bram Is in Nevada recently had to get an injunction.
There's another injunction out of New Jersey, so it seems
like there is for whatever reason, the NC double A

(01:16:44):
is he's sort of making these kids fight it out
in every courtroom rather than just saying, okay, look we've
lost a couple of times. The judges have seen this,
we're just going to grant this. Instead, they seem to
be sort of you know too, and fighting tooth and
nail wherever they can.

Speaker 4 (01:17:01):
John Camp's a moving right. We just heard Rich talking
about how some of the kids are soft, apparently not
these athletes because they're not allowed to practice. Don't you
got to get this thing wrapped up quickly? Or I
mean it's going.

Speaker 1 (01:17:11):
To be over We do?

Speaker 8 (01:17:13):
We do. The court in fact, actually just set a
hearing this morning. The hearing is presently set at the
nineteenth for the nineteenth of this month. So, of course
things are moving. I understand not maybe as fast to
some people, but this is about as fast as a
federal court can move. A lot of these things just
take time. They take time to see, Well, okay, well

(01:17:36):
they denied you. THEA denied this waiver. Let's appeal it.
Let's try to you know, maybe talk some sense into
some folks. So things are moving. I would expect a
decision at least on the preliminary injunction. Now that won't
be the whole case, but on the preliminary injunction within
a few weeks.

Speaker 1 (01:17:55):
John Janella is joining US attorney representing the w football
players suing the NCBLE and John, this isn't just about
wanting to play football for another year. There's there are
financial considerations here, because if you knew you would be ineligible,
then you could have pursued these four players, but presumably
could have pursued professional football they thought they would be eligible,

(01:18:17):
they did not, So what kind of you know, financial
considerations also have to be part of this conversation.

Speaker 8 (01:18:25):
Sure, I mean, you know, I love amateur athletics as
much as the next guy. I love you know, amateur
college athletics. We just don't live in that world anymore.
And there's big dollars here involved, and you know, these
kids are making decisions that are going to impact their

(01:18:45):
financial future, perhaps for the rest of their lives for
some of them. Yeah, I'm not talking about my clients specifically,
but you know we often help athletes and things. Some
of these guys, the NIL money might be their best
shot at ever sort of cashing in or making a
decent living playing sports, and it's important to them. So

(01:19:05):
a lot of this goes There are a lot of
considerations that these athletes have. They need guidance, They need
very clear guidance from the nc DOUBLE. A part of
our case is that it might not have been as
clear as it should have been, considering how important it
is to some of these kids' lives. I mean, you know,
you and me, we watch these games. They're fun, you know,

(01:19:29):
it's it's a it's a fun pastime. But for a
lot of these kids, especially kids who have a real
shot at going to the NFL, you know, there's a
very short window within which they can play college sports.
They can you know, make sort of make a living
at it or make any sort of money at it
and then hope a shot in the NFL. I mean,
you know that with the lifetime of a football you know,

(01:19:52):
the career of football player is not you know, there's
nobody in their sixties playing it. These guys have a
very short window. So there's a lot of consideration that
goes into that. And you know, the n C double
A exists nominally supposedly for the benefit of the athletes,
but they're not They're not benefiting anyone if they're not
being clear about who has eligibility and who doesn't.

Speaker 4 (01:20:14):
So let's go to that side of it. You just
laid out the harm to the players. This is an
unfair question to you should be one I should post
at the n C two A. But they're not here.
I assume they have a problem with this because they
feel they would be harmed the n C double A.
What's their rub I'm scratching my head here. I just
I don't understand what the big deal is. Maybe I'm
just missing it.

Speaker 8 (01:20:34):
Well. I don't want to give. I don't want to
put words.

Speaker 1 (01:20:37):
In Sure you don't, but I can still.

Speaker 8 (01:20:39):
I don't want to give. I don't want to give
too much away. But I'm sure, you know, just like
you know we handled the Raykwon battle case a couple
of years ago, I'm sure they'll raise the same things.
These these are the rules. If you don't want to
follow the rules, you know, don't don't play football, don't
do this. You know, this is this is what it is.
I think I think there's something to be said for that.

(01:21:03):
I don't find it convincing, but there's something who said,
you know, there should be rules. We're not advocating that
that there shouldn't be an NC double A, there shouldn't
be any eligibility rules. We're not advocating for that. We're
advocating that, Hey, look, your rules have to make sense,
they have to be applied fairly, and they can't, you know,
unnecessarily harm the student athletes. And so I think that

(01:21:26):
I'll be honestly, I think that's that's probably why courts,
at least the district courts, which are sort of closer
to the facts, tend recently to come out in favor
of the players. That's not overwhelming, it's not total, But
I think the problem is rules. Just for the existence
of rules is not a great argument for for some
of this. So I think that's the biggest issue that

(01:21:49):
they'll have is there's not a lot of economic sense.
You know, the nc double A is sort of a
classic monopsony if you know that term. That's a buyer,
a purchaser that has market power and monopoly power sort
of in purchasing. So the NCAA is really the only
purchaser of labor for college athletics. It's certainly the largest one.

(01:22:13):
And this is sort of I mean it's not sort of.
This is the way that they keep their costs down.
And so I think they're best are well, I don't
say their best argument, but I think that you know,
they're just the idea that rules or rules and they
and they can't be changed, he can't challenge them. Is
just not very convincing.

Speaker 1 (01:22:31):
John gen and Alla, the attorney representing those four w
football players suing the NCAA over their eligibility status. We
have a story at WDV metronews dot com and Johnson
there'll be a hearing scheduled for August nineteenth regarding the case. John,
thank you very much, appreciate it and we'll continue to watch.

Speaker 8 (01:22:48):
Thank you guys, have a great day.

Speaker 1 (01:22:49):
Absolutely your text are coming up next three or four
Talk three oh four and eight hundred and seven to
sixty five talk. That's the phone number. This is talk
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text line three or four talk three oh four, More
and more every day. It seems as if the rules
are followed by nerds and dwebs ICEE use the word dwebs.

(01:25:05):
While to get ahead, a person has to disregard the rules,
morals and ethics. I don't think so, and specifically to
the NCAA case. Look, the NCAA has created its own
problems by not addressing these issues twenty years ago and
not waking up and realizing that the world was changing.
So if you're talking about the NCAA. The NCAA has

(01:25:26):
created its own problems. If you're talking about the rest
of the world. No, you can certainly work within the parameters.
People do it all the time.

Speaker 8 (01:25:35):
Now.

Speaker 1 (01:25:35):
You can't be passive and get ahead. You got to
be aggressive. But you can work within the parameters.

Speaker 4 (01:25:42):
People's improprieties will always find them out at some point.
There's nothing wrong with following the rules. Nice guys can
finish first, so you can nice ladies.

Speaker 1 (01:25:54):
This texter says, TJ. My wife made chili and poured
it over cornbread. You gotta try it, and according to
his description of what happened next, it was really good.

Speaker 4 (01:26:07):
Jake popped the picture of my chili up there. Dave,
take a look at this. See if you like.

Speaker 1 (01:26:10):
All right, let's see it. If you're watching the video stream,
there's a TJ's chili. You went beans, You went beans.

Speaker 4 (01:26:17):
I'm okay with that, but kidney beans, beans, corn, corn
got in there, some pent to tomatoes.

Speaker 1 (01:26:24):
Not bad. I'd try it. I'd try it.

Speaker 4 (01:26:27):
It's pretty good.

Speaker 1 (01:26:28):
I worked with a guy over in Winchester, Virginia, Barry
Lee was his name, did the mornings over on WINK
when WINK was a radio station over there, but he
would have a chili cookout at his house every fall.
He had a what I can only describe as a
witch's cauldron tj M. That he cooked this this chili

(01:26:50):
very very closely held secret recipe wood fire. Cooked this
chili for days on end. Even had a big it
looked like a big mattic that he would use to
stir the chili. So far as is the best I've
ever had.

Speaker 4 (01:27:05):
One of the things I like to do if I
have time I did not yesterday, is you smoke the
hamburger first, okay, and then put it on the stove
and do everything and warm it up in that kind
of you know, I possessed.

Speaker 1 (01:27:17):
You at nine thirty at night to God, you know what,
I'm gonna make some chili.

Speaker 4 (01:27:20):
So you know, the kids wanted to play pickleball last night.
I made them dinner. I missed dinner. It was nine thirty.
I was hungry. We had the ingredients. My wife said, yeah,
you gonna make some chili. I made some chili.

Speaker 1 (01:27:29):
Most people make a sandwich JJ, it makes chili.

Speaker 4 (01:27:31):
At nine three, I decided, you know, well, now they
have lunch today, right thought, So you know, you try
to do that thought.

Speaker 1 (01:27:38):
Uh, three or four talk three oh four. Uh, tell
you what. Let's take our final break. We'll get to
some more of your texts, so we don't pinch it here.
At the top of the hour, we'll get to your
text three or four talk three oh four, eight hundred
and seven six five eight two five five. That's the
phone number. This is talk Line from the ing Cove
Insurance Studios.

Speaker 18 (01:27:54):
The free Metro News TV app is the place to
watch the voice of West Virginia. See talk Line with
dab TJ, Sports Line with Tony Creedy, three Guys before
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Metro News Television is powered by the University of Charleston,

(01:28:18):
the West Virginia Department of Tourism, Dan Caviatoyota, the WVHTC Foundation,
and WVU Medicine.

Speaker 27 (01:28:27):
Did you know that Clarksburg outdoor Amphitheater hosted acts like
Rick Springfield and Scotty McCreary in twenty twenty four. Clarksburg, Yes, Clarksburg.
Did you know that the Robinson Grand has played host
international acts such as Postmodern Jukebox Clarksburg. Yes, Clarksburg. Explore
more at Come Home to Clarksburg dot Com.

Speaker 1 (01:29:14):
Three or four talk three of four is the text
line eight hundred and seven to sixty five eight two
five five the phone number. All right, let's get some
text here before we call it a day. Texter says,
if you want a strong and healthy country, you've got
to take care of your population. Make sure your people
are fed and housed and educated. That's how you stay
a strong country. Not a big Bernie fan, but this

(01:29:36):
gentleman is speaking correct. We are talking basics here. Yeah,
I agree with your assertion. However, isn't it your responsibility
to make certain you and your family are housed and fed?
I mean, up until what ten minutes ago, throughout the
entire history of the world, that's your responsibility. I don't

(01:29:57):
think it's the government's responsibility or any nobody else's responsibility
to make certain my family is clothed and fed or housed.
It's mine, it's ours, it's yours, not to anybody else's.

Speaker 4 (01:30:08):
I would agree, and government should be a priority of
not only last resort, but temporary resort. It can't be perpetual.

Speaker 1 (01:30:17):
I think you listen to Sam pet song there, and
it's not that the ideas are crazy. Having a robust
social safety net program, but having that temporarily to get
you between job A and job B, to get you
so you you know, you don't end up into these
dire sit I think a lot of people can agree
with that, TJ. It is the continued expansion of that.

(01:30:42):
These programs we talk about have gone way beyond just
helping and making certain to get you from point A
to point B, or to make certain you have something
at retirement. These programs have gone way beyond that. And
look at the financial situation we're.

Speaker 4 (01:30:55):
In, Well, it's the age old. I don't know if
i'd call it a problem. I guess as much a
theory of moral hazard. If the government's going to bail
you out, whether your business or whether you're an individual,
what's your incentive to say, for retirement, what's your incentive
to fund an emergency fund before you go out and
buy whatever you want to buy that's not a need

(01:31:16):
but a want. I'm not gonna be popular for saying that,
But no, but it's true.

Speaker 5 (01:31:21):
Though it's true.

Speaker 1 (01:31:23):
H three or four talk. Let's get more of your
text in here. The Democrat entrenched group knew Joe Manchin
would win after Biden dropped out. No way they would
ever allow that. Okay, the term both sides is lazy.
There are so many more than two sides. America is
more like a baskin Robbins. We have thirty one flavors,
not just chocolate and vanilla.

Speaker 4 (01:31:45):
That's a good point. Some people say, give me a
scoop of this and a scoop of that, so it
can be even more than thirty one flavors.

Speaker 1 (01:31:52):
Let me see three or four talk three oh four
Dave and TJ. I would like to hear Bernie Sanders
answer to why health insurance the way they do signed
at aka Obamacare is crushing working families and they end
up on government assistance. Does that guy have a name?
Oh you mean Sam pet Song. That's probably who you mean.

(01:32:12):
That's who we were talking to earlier. If you missed
that interview. By the way, a podcast version of the
show is available for you each and every day. You
can download it wherever you get your popular podcast. I
would recommend you just subscribe that way, were delivered to
you every single day. Now, how much better could life
be than TJ and I are delivered to your smartphone

(01:32:32):
or device every single day.

Speaker 4 (01:32:34):
Get that little ding?

Speaker 1 (01:32:36):
Oh yeah, yeah, about twelve fifteen ish, you'll get that ding.

Speaker 4 (01:32:41):
It's all about the subs too, man, we got to
have the subs. It's all about the subs.

Speaker 1 (01:32:45):
That's what they say. Try getting Bill O'Reilly on your
show and ask him some questions about Bernie. Okay, yeah,
I'm sure. I'm sure Bill O'Reilly's available. We have trouble
getting Brad McElhenny on the show more than once a
week these days. Bill O'Reilly seeing Bernie could be entertaining
that it could be. I am interested at the size

(01:33:09):
of the crowds, the enthusiasm. I'm interested to see what
his what the reaction will be to him. Wheeling makes
a lot of sense. Not only do you get the
Wheeling crowd, TJ, but you're obviously going to draw in
from Ohio and Pennsylvania. Charleston makes sense. Really interested to
see what the Sanders speech will look like when he
gets to Lenore as well.

Speaker 4 (01:33:28):
I'm not gonna go because I don't like crowds. I
wouldn't go if Donald Trump were here, but surely it's
being streamed, right.

Speaker 5 (01:33:35):
Oh, I'd like to watch it.

Speaker 4 (01:33:37):
Oh you hate crowds too, I oh yeah, man.

Speaker 1 (01:33:40):
I'm probably gonna go to a baseball game this weekend
because the Reds are in Pittsburgh. But I'm dreading crowd.
I just I'm hoping it will just be a normal
pirate game. Eight thousand people. Okay, they're giving away Hawaiian
hats one day, so I it'd probably be a big crowd.

Speaker 4 (01:33:58):
I didn't used to be that way. I used to
east crowds. Now, I don't like jostling through people and
sitting in traffic and nah, just na.

Speaker 3 (01:34:09):
I hear you.

Speaker 1 (01:34:10):
I hear you on that one. I see three or
four talk three oh four. Hey, morons, care to explain
how these programs have gone way beyond their purpose? No,
just want to lie and use vague generalities. Great job, Oh,
thank you for the compliment. Appreciate it. We're out of
time for today. We'll try to do better tomorrow morning.
Back at ten oh six for Jake and Joe and TJ.

(01:34:33):
I'm Dave. This is Metro News talk Line on Metro
News the voice of West Virginia,

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