Talkline | Dec. 28, 2025 - MetroNews Talkline

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:10):
Counting down the days left in twenty twenty five. What
have we learned? Probably nothing. Let's mentioned his talk line
We're underway, your radio turned off.

Speaker 2 (00:29):
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 Line with Dave Wilson and TJ Meadows.

Speaker 3 (00:46):
Activated so it's network can hold.

Speaker 2 (00:49):
From Charles stand By to David TJ.

Speaker 4 (00:53):
You're on.

Speaker 2 (00:57):
Metro News talk Line is presented by you Covi Insurance,
encircling you with coverage to protect what you care about most.
Visiting covia dot com to learn more.

Speaker 1 (01:08):
Good morning, Welcome into the program Metro News talk Line
from the in Cove Insurance Studios. Thank you for being
part of our day. If you're checking in on one
of our great radio affiliates crossed the state of West Virginia,
or if you're watching the Metro News television app. Jake
Link is our video producer. Sophia Wassick is handling the
audio side of things. TJ has a couple of days off.

(01:29):
He'll join us again on Friday in twenty twenty six,
eight hundred and seven, sixty five Talk, eight hundred and
seven sixty five, eight two five Five's the phone number
you can text the show at three or four Talk
three oh four, coming up bottom of the hour. What
if I told you the first time the song country

(01:50):
Roads was played on the air on the radio in
the United States in North America was at a radio
station in Ravenswood, West Virginia, and he wasn't spoken, and
the disc jockey who played it was not supposed to
do it. We'll talk to that disc jockey. Coming up
bottom of the hour. Matt Lewis will join. A second hour.

(02:10):
We'll talk to Matt about what did we learn, if anything,
in twenty twenty five. We'll take your calls, text and
tweets as well. Eight hundred seven to sixty five Talk
eight hundred seven sixty five, eight two five five and
three or four Talk threeh four. But let's begin with
a ruling from federal Court Judge Irene Burger that came
down right before Christmas last week. The US district judge

(02:32):
granted a preliminary injunction that would halt enforcement of portions
of the state's newly passed law banning certain artificial food dies.
She issued the thirty page ruling last Tuesday. The legal
challenge was brought by the Association of Color Manufacturers. The
judge found that the law was unconstitutionally vague. Capboll County

(02:52):
Delegate Evan Warel chairs the Health and Human Resources Committee
in the House of Delegates, and he disagrees with the
ruling and he joins us on Metro News time line
this morning, Delegate, we'rel good morning. I'll give you one
more Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Speaker 5 (03:07):
Sounds good. Good morning, yes, and Merry Christmas and happy
New Year to you as well.

Speaker 1 (03:11):
Appreciate you coming on. So you disagree with the judge.
So where did she get it wrong in your opinion?

Speaker 5 (03:17):
Well, I don't think it's unconstitutional, first of all, and
you know, I mean, I understand where the judge is
coming from. But look who's bringing a lawsuit. You know,
the International Association of Color Manufacturers literally a lobbying arm
of some of the food manufacturers across the country. And
you know, I mean, I think our law saw it.
But when it's clarified too, this law doesn't take effect
or didn't plan to take effect till January one of

(03:38):
twenty twenty eight, still two years away. So you know,
this allows us to come back during the legislative session
and you know, look at this law and take into
consideration this judge is ruling, and how can we effectively,
you know, make sure that it does pass the muster,
you know, for what this judge had to say, if
at all, we need to do something, and you know what,
worked closely with the government's offices well to ensure that

(04:00):
we have a solid law to stand on. But you know,
we're one of many states doing this. I mean, this
isn't the first time it's been done. California kind of
started this, and there's a host of you know, twenty
or twenty other states that are looking at legislation very
similar to this, and so we're confident that this will
you know, we might have to tweak to a confidential stand.
But more importantly, you know, the school portion of this

(04:22):
was upheld as well.

Speaker 1 (04:23):
Yeah, that's important to note the school portion of the
bill was upheld, and reading through that thirty page ruling,
most of the arguments made by the plaintiffs in this case,
evan she sided with the defendants and now it actually
they weren't able to prove this, weren't able to prove this.
It seemed the judge was hung up on this phrase
in the bill poisonous or injurious being vague and too broad,

(04:48):
and that opening the door for arbitrary enforcement. And then
including a list of band additives for food.

Speaker 5 (04:55):
Yeah, and I don't necessarily think I disagree with that.
I think maybe it is big and we need to
artfully define that and of course with studies, and we
need to make sure that we're cropping up. You know,
whatever laws we have the Department of Health has to enforce,
they are you know, accurately worded, so they can't enforce them.
So we'll take a look at that. You know, a
council will look at that as we go into new
session and you know, tweak whatever may have to do.

(05:17):
But yeah, she was kind of hung up on that
portion of the law, and you know, we'll take a look.
I'll tell you this. So there is an Oe Hall report,
you know, done a few years ago that did show
you know that these are you know, I guess that's
a that's a quite a phrase, right, What is the
definition of poisonous injurious? So we will look at that
as we go in the new session. But you know,
we do know that these added is these synthetic patrolling

(05:40):
and bas synthetic food dies do you know, cause near
behavioral issues or reports and studies out to show that
and look, this was done, you know, this isn't new
twenty ten. The European Union was Actually they.

Speaker 6 (05:51):
Didn't ban it.

Speaker 5 (05:51):
What they were going to do is they said you
must put a warning label on there to say that
you know, it says this could be caused what to
behavioral issues and children? And how did the manufacturers respond.
They all responded by reformulating. They said, we're not putting
that package that labeling on our package. We're going to
reformulate everything. So you know, we heard those arguments during

(06:12):
session that it's going to take a lot to reformulate.
They've already done this. They did this fifteen years ago.
They just need to do the same thing here in
the US and stop. You know what, I would consider choosing,
you know, poison for profits, these synthetic controllum food dies
or they cause issues in our children, and definitely different
ranges of them as they received more and a lot
of people aren't even aware of them. That's probably the

(06:33):
biggest portion of what's come out of this this year
is the education you know, to the public that these
things are you know, can cause harm, can cause problems
with inside you know, when your body's cut, you know,
the risk for cancer with them as well, and so
we want to make sure that we are you know,
what I was consider protecting public health in this In
this instance.

Speaker 1 (06:51):
Evan Warrell is joining us here is Capital County Delegate
and chair of the House and Human Resources Committee in
the House. Evan, why is this a state of West
Virginia issue and not something better left for the FDA
to deal with?

Speaker 5 (07:05):
Yeah, I think what we've seen is the fd hasn't
done anything over the course of many years, and I
think there's a strong, you know, lobbying firm in DC
that's pushed on that for a long time. We've seen
multiple FDA people go and work for these same manufacturers
or come from them to go to the FDA, and so,
you know, the states that kind of just as we
learn more and there's more studies being done, states are

(07:25):
standing up and saying, you know, this is enough, this
is crazy that we're allowing this type of you know,
these type that is in our food and like I said,
we're just you know, one of many others. And you've
seen that response. Right through twenty twenty five, we've seen
a host of manufacturers have come out and voluntarily say
they're going to remove you know, synthetic food dies from
their products. So it's important because you know, we are

(07:47):
one of the least healthy, we are the least healthy
est state in the country, and this is just one
small step we need to go forward to help, you know,
ensure that our that our population is protected. In this sense,
you know, it's not about against many in the sense
we're not trying to ban products. These are ingredients that
they have alternative methods to do these things. They can
use natural food dyes, and I want to clarify, these

(08:09):
food dyes don't do anything about paste or flavoring like that.
They are simply made to make it look brighter, that's it.
And they have alternative methods, natural methods that they can
utilize that they're doing in other countries to make these
foods look the same.

Speaker 1 (08:24):
Should we just leave it up to the consumer though, Evan,
And if the consumers say we don't want these things
in our foods, will buy other things that eventually the
companies will follow.

Speaker 6 (08:35):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (08:35):
I think that's the problem though, is that they don't know.
I mean, how are you to know that these percent
you know, these petroleum based and food dyes are causing
issues in your children, and that there's different levels of them.
I mean, it's you have to do a lot of
research on this. I mean, it's not like it we're saying,
you know, it's not like saying it's you know, nicotine
and cigarettes or things that nature. I mean, we're allowing
these things to be in our food that people are

(08:56):
just unaware of. And that's that's been very opening for
me through this course of this year because I've had
so many conversations with parents and once they're educated, once
they are understanding. But listen, you know, my wife is
a mother of six children going in the grocery store
and she does a great job of ensuring that, you know,
she buys organic food, things that don't have these synthetic

(09:16):
food dies. And you know, but I'm telling you what.
You know, it's a busney lifestyle right now, running out
and grabbing food for your families, going in grocery stores.
You should be able to trust that the food's on
the counters that you're grabbing. If you think you're grabbing
even something that says healthy on it, for example, that
happens a lot of times that you should have to
trust that is true that the ingredients inside of that
product are healthier. Let's say this, Maybe they're not healthy,

(09:39):
but what you need to know that they're not going
to actually harm your children. And a lot of times
consumers just don't even know that that's happening and the
things that they're buying.

Speaker 1 (09:48):
Delegate Evan Warrel joining us here at metrodo's talk line.
He's a Cable County delegate, chair of the Health and
Human Resources Committee. Things are already, as you mentioned, they're
trending that way. There's also been some nudges from the
administration to get them to trend that way. Evan, I
was I was curious that I was doing some reading

(10:09):
the differences between the European Union and how we do
things in the US. They take a much more cautious approach.
It appears in Europe where if there's the possibility that
a food additive can cause a problem, could be poisonous
or injurious, it gets banned until it's proved safe. We
kind of do it backwards here, it seems.

Speaker 7 (10:29):
Yeah, that is true.

Speaker 5 (10:30):
We allow our manufacturers to rely on some studies they
seeking back in the sixties and seventies to kind of
say that these things are safer until we've proven that
they're not. And you know, that's upsetting that we allow
that to happen. I think, you know, we're the most advanced,
you know, nation in the world. We should ensure that
when it comes to food safety. Listen, they this isn't

(10:51):
just you know, natural or synthetic food dies. I mean
we're seeing this in ultra processed foods and seed oils
and hyper.

Speaker 7 (10:57):
Just corn syrup.

Speaker 5 (10:58):
Right, there's a host of things, you know, even inside
of our builders, proprepaarabin and BHD another additive, you know,
or preservatives that are really bad for you that have
been proven to cause cancer. It's unfortunate we have to
go down this road. I don't want to do this
from a state level, I'll be reroll honest with you,
but you know, as states are learning more and more
about this, we're kind of getting fed up. We don't

(11:21):
know what else to do but to try to enforce
bands or enforce you know, taking these things out, especially
school food when it comes to that, and a lot
of states are doing that. Our NIGHBI Virginia just did
that last year too.

Speaker 4 (11:31):
You know.

Speaker 5 (11:31):
It's just it's more learning that we're coming across. And
unfortunately the FDA is not stepping up quick enough to take.

Speaker 6 (11:37):
Care of this.

Speaker 5 (11:37):
And once again, I believe that's doe. The strong lobbying
efforts there. We saw that in twenty twenty five session.
We had the DC lobbyists you know, come down to Charleston,
West Virginia and really push against this band. And you
heard it right on the news station. There was constant
commercials run about how the store show is going to
be empty and I was going to cause all these

(11:57):
increases and prices, which none of those things are true.
Is a fear monitoring effort, and so I think we're
just you know, parents have had enough. I'm hearing this
from parents, and I'll be honest with you. As we
went through this in twenty twenty five session, I heard
from so many parents, text messages, basic messages, running people
in the grocery store, the church, out in the use
sports things, thank you, thank you. You know, we've we've

(12:18):
just learned about this, or you open our eyes to this.
We can't believe this is allowed. We can't believe I
had no idea. So this is a parent response.

Speaker 4 (12:26):
Is what this is?

Speaker 5 (12:27):
You know, a community response to standing up against these
manufacturers sure allowing these you know, harmful additives in our food.

Speaker 1 (12:34):
Evan, what would the difference, what's the difference between this
type of banning these certain food additives and food dies
from the manufacturing process, or coming back to the legislature,
coming back and saying, hey, you know what, we've got
a high rate of diabetes in the state. We need
to ban sugary drinks. Is there a difference or is
that the same thing?

Speaker 5 (12:52):
You know, it's a good question. I would say there's
difference because, you know, a sugary drink. We're talking about
a product there, and let's use Mountain New for example. Okay,
no one's trying to not do but the but the
actual dyes that are used inside of that Mountain Do.
When there is an alternative method, there's an alternative natural
food die that makes Mountain Do look the exact same.
There's no nutritional difference, no taste difference. You know, why

(13:13):
aren't this manufacturers using that and it's because they're allowed
to use the patroleum basynthetic food dies in the US
where they're not maybe in other countries. So it's different
than in the way I describe it, and you know,
people can disagree with me. I'm looking at it from
an ingredient standpoint, not as a product standpoint. You know,
I'm not trying to ban sugary dreams. You know, I
would like to make sure that we have proper warning

(13:33):
labels on them, to be honest with you, or we
don't allow them in school systems, you know, when it
comes to that, because you know, sugar is a problem.
It has been widely you know, studied and understood from
you know, adolescents to old age. Sugar is a problem.
But I'm not actually trying to ban sugary dreams either,
that these are ingredients that are harmful for our children.

Speaker 1 (13:53):
That like Evan werel Cabal, County Chair of the Health
and Human Resource committing the house. We'll be talking more
about it just a few weeks from now, Evan. We
appreciate it to Happy new Year. We'll see in Charleston
real soon.

Speaker 5 (14:05):
Sound great, Dave, Thank you very much.

Speaker 1 (14:06):
Happy New Year to you as well, absolutely. Coming up,
we'll get a check in from Fox News Radio the
President toasting Ukrainian President Voldemir Zelensky at his mar Lago estate.
We'll talk about that right after this.

Speaker 8 (14:18):
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the holiday hitmaker. No one saw coming.

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It's showtime.

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The holiday hitp maker walks the office halls with West
Virginia Lottery holiday scratch offs and an unstoppable spirit.

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Speaker 1 (15:04):
Bringing the holiday hype here?

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Enjoy scratch off?

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It's on me.

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Speaker 2 (16:00):
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Visit Kova dot com to learn more.

Speaker 1 (16:12):
President Trump hosted Ukraine President Voldemir Zelenski at his state
tomorrow Lago and says we're closer than ever to a
Russia Ukraine peace deal. Fox News Radios Ryan Schmels joins us, Ryan,
good morning, Happy new year. Are we closer than ever?

Speaker 12 (16:29):
Well, happy new Year? Well we say this often, uh,
and we'll have to wait and see now. President Trump
painted a very optimistic and dire picture all in one
statement when he said that the war is either very
close to being over or were it's going to drag
on for a long time and millions or more people
are going to die. So quite a statement there from

(16:50):
the President in terms of the city the stakes that
are at hands here. But it does appear that, you know,
the United States and Ukraine as well as European leaders
are about ninety percent of the way towards agreeing on
Zolensky's twenty point piece plan according to Zolensky himself, and
that includes security guarantees for Ukraine membership to the European

(17:12):
Union at a later date and some other territorial disputes
as well.

Speaker 1 (17:17):
Ryan Trump and Zelensky can agree. What about put Where's
where are the Russians in all these discussions?

Speaker 12 (17:25):
Well that's a million dollar plan, right, They're a million
dollar question, And I think Trump has pretty much made
it clear that, you know, they can't come to an
agreement unless they talked to Russia too, And so that's
going to be probably the next step is President Trump
getting on the phone with Putin and seeing what he's
willing to agree to and if he's going to say yes.
And even if he does say yes, I think there's
always this underlying concern that you know, Putin's not going

(17:48):
to follow through on whatever he agrees to.

Speaker 1 (17:50):
Now, those two did have a phone call apparently prior
to the meeting with Zelensky. Do we know what was
discussed or how the call went.

Speaker 12 (17:58):
I do not know as of right now, but it
seemed like it was just so unproductive. But of course,
I think the post the Lensky discussion phone call with
Putin is probably going to be the one that matters
the most.

Speaker 1 (18:09):
Fox News Radios Ryan Schmell's joining us this morning. If
they are able to strike some sort of a deal,
Russia's going to Russa's going to end up getting land
out of this deal, isn't it. I mean, Russia is
not going to retreat and concede any territory that it's won.
I can't imagine Ukraine wants to concede any more territory.

(18:33):
I'm not sure. I just I don't know if I
see how this deal gets done.

Speaker 12 (18:36):
Ryan, Yeah, based on what it sounds like, it doesn't
look like it looks like Russia would not be overall
giving up or withdrawing from this territory that's taken. But
it would kind of establish a neutral zone, you know,
kind of like a line in the sand in many
ways where where the site would be you know, not
exactly Ukrainian, but it also wouldn't be Russian. So you know,

(18:58):
a lot of people kind of view this maybe another
Berlin Wall situation or you know, North Korea South Korea
like situation. But you know, land Is, as according to Trump,
has still been the biggest you know, sticking point or
or biggest issue that needs to be resolved here.

Speaker 1 (19:15):
And as of right now, it's not resolved any details
on what US security backing or what kind of US
security would be provided.

Speaker 12 (19:25):
Not specifically, it would it would be in conjunction with
Europe and I guess the entire European Union, but it
would you know, potentially it lead to troops being utilized
and whatnot. Right now, there's some type of agreement and
this didn't really relate to the deal, but you know,
the United States is making weapons for Ukraine and the

(19:45):
European countries are essentially paying the United States to do so.
And that was kind of an idea that spawned from
a the Trump administration, but also Republicans in Congress who
are very pro Ukraine as a way to you know,
still supply Ukraine with with with A in its fight
against Russia, but also a way to kind of take
the politics out of it. Because the money that's being
used is going is coming from the Europeans. The United

(20:08):
States is just supplying the resources and making the equipment,
which can be good for the local economies, especially if
your district or your area is making some of that equipment.

Speaker 1 (20:18):
Fox News Radios, Ryan Schmells, Ryan, appreciate the update. Happy
New Year in case we don't talk again before twenty six.

Speaker 12 (20:25):
Hey, happy new Year to you as well, and it's
always great to be on.

Speaker 1 (20:28):
Take care. Fox News Radios, Ryan Schmells. A couple of
texts here three or four talk three four. Hey Dave,
I'm in my fifties. I was on an eight day
trip to Ireland. I had three meals a day along
a dessert each day. I didn't gain a pound. Let
that sink in, says the texter. By the way, trip

(20:50):
to Ireland sounds fantastic. That's on the bucket list of
places I'd like to go. Uh, Dave, I don't believe
that sugar is a problem. I believe corn syrup is
the problem. And when they switched things from sugar to
corn syrup. Our nation began to balloon, says the Texter.
Uh three or four talk three or four. Okay, we'll
get to some more texts coming up. We'll have some

(21:11):
open line opportunities in the second hour when we get
back on the other side of the news break. What
if I told you the first time the song Country
Roads you ever heard of it? The first time that
it was played on the radio in America, in fact,
maybe even in the Western Hemisphere, was right here in
West Virginia, kinda by accident. We'll tell that story when

(21:33):
we come back. Eight hundred and seven to sixty five.
Talk is the phone number, three h four Talk threeh four.
That is the text line. This is talk line from
the Cove Insurance Studios on Metro News for forty years,
the Voice of West Virginia. It is ten thirty time
to get a news update. Let's check in with the
Metro News radio network. Find out what's happening across the

(21:53):
great state of West Virginia.

Speaker 3 (21:54):
West Virginia Metro News. I'm Chris Laurence, a Pennsylvania man
charged with the murder of his mother and wounding of
his dad in is in custody in West Virginia. Eighteen
year old Jed Knowell was arrested at a home one
hundred West Virginia a day after those shootings in neighboring
Green County, Pennsylvania. He's in a West Virginia jail this morning,
a waiting extradition back to Pennsylvania to face the charges.

(22:15):
In Ohio County, a woman's recovering from a gunshot wound
and the man suspected of shooting her is dead. Incident
occurred early Saturday morning in the Tridelphia community, Ohio County.
Deputies say the victim drove with a gunshot wound to
a local gas station for help. The suspect, of sixty
five year old man also fled the scene in his vehicle.
He was later found at a car wash in Marshall

(22:36):
County dead of a self inflicted gunshot wound. Deputies have
not released any names, but say the two were previously
in a relationship. The twenty twenty five Teacher of the
Year winding down his tenure in the position in West
Virginia with a look back at visiting all fifty five
West Virginia counties, Seth Skiles, who teaches music in Putnam County.
He says it was a good opportunity to expose some
of those schools.

Speaker 15 (22:56):
I wanted to shed light on people and things that
may have not been known to the public and unless
it would have been for me going to visit them
and bringing those to attention. And I've been thrilled with
the community support for all of those teachers, commenting on
my interviews with them and really supporting each teacher within

(23:17):
their own district. I've been really pleased.

Speaker 3 (23:20):
With that you're listening to matter to who's the voice
of West Virginia.

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Speaker 3 (24:24):
A fully mature bald eagle is recovering after being struck
by a car in Jackson County. Wuty say the eagles
found badly heard from that impact on Friday on US
Route thirty three outside of Ripley. They were able to
call in the Avian Conservation Center of Impalasha to help out.
That facility is a bird rescue and is working on
nursing the bird back to full health with hopes of

(24:45):
eventually releasing it back into the wild. From the Metro
News anchored ask, I'm Chris Lawrence.

Speaker 1 (25:12):
Text line is three or four talk three oh four,
Give me a call at eight hundred seven sixty five
Talk eight hundred seven sixty five eight two five five.
TJ's out for a couple of days. He's back on
Friday Live shows today, tomorrow and Wednesday. Best of on
New Year's Day and we'll be back live on the
second to finish out the week and jump start twenty

(25:34):
twenty six. We'll get to your text coming up. I
got some more thoughts on the judges ruling regarding the
food ban food die ban. We'll get to that coming
up in just a bit. Well, what if I told you,
I know it sounds like I'm starting a thirty for
thirty promo. What if I told you Country Roads the
song many of you. I know at least one person

(25:55):
who doesn't love it, but most of you love it.
It's sung after West Virginia Games, It's sung at Mylon
Pushcar Stadium over at Hope Coliseum. It's an international hit.
It's even been used in a Super Bowl ad that
went viral last year and certainly caught our attention. But
what if I told you The first time that song
hit the airwaves here in America was right here in

(26:16):
West Virginia before RCA had authorized its release, by young
disc jockey who didn't really know any better. He just
knew it was a hit and people would love it. Well,
David Hoyt was that young man. He was working for
WMV Radio in Ravenswood back in the day, and he
joined us on Metro News talk Line this morning, David,
good morning, going to talk to you again.

Speaker 6 (26:37):
Well, good morning, Dave. Thanks for the invitation. Always good
to hear from you.

Speaker 1 (26:41):
I appreciate you coming on. So how does a young
guy who's just spinning records down on MV and Ravens
Wood come across John Denver and what would become one
of his biggest hits.

Speaker 6 (26:52):
Well, I guess we should start with the album Poems,
Prayers and Promises was already finished back in December of
nine teen seventy. The songs were recorded ready to be
pressed on the vinyl, but Country Roads was not going
to be on That hadn't been written yet. Bill Danoff
and Kathy Nivert were songwriters and they also served as

(27:13):
John's backup band, called themselves Fat City. They later gained
one hit wonder status as a Starland vocal band, But
that's another story. They had written most of the song
and John helped them finish it, and I think they
did it at a like a DC nightclub or something
near the end of the year and it got a
huge ovation. So Denver says, well, we have to put

(27:33):
it on the album. They hurried, they got some studio
musicians together recorded put it on the album, and it
was released in Europe only just as John was beginning
a tour there. He already had a big following in Europe.
And well that's where I came in. When I was
a wmv A listener's son had been stationed overseas. She

(27:56):
saw him perform the song, or rather he did, saw
him perform the song, and bought the album, brought it
home with him, so he and his mom brought it
to the station for me to hear. I only got
through one course before I started getting ready to make
a copy of it. I may have only been like
fifteen at the time, but I knew what it hit,
songs sounded like. We started playing it on WMOV and

(28:19):
the response was just amazing, off the charts, so to speak.
So I made a copy for a friend of mine,
Randy Damman at WCW, and other copies for I think,
WVRC and WWVA. It got RCA's attention. They contract contacted
Denver's people and next thing I know, I get a

(28:40):
call from his manager God but the name of Jerry
Wintrob and he said, I'm looking for the guy who's
making copies of Take me home, I confessed, and I'll
never forget what he said, Where in the huble did
you get that? Because it hasn't been released here, you
can get in a little bit of trouble for on
that in those days. But hoping he was feeling charitable,

(29:04):
I told him the song was lightning at a bottle
and told him he needed to call RCA and tell
him to release it's here, because I really felt the
song would sell a million copies just in West Virginia.
I mean, back then we had two point five million
or so people, so I thought that's a safe death.
Well he did, They did, and it did. It climbed

(29:25):
the charts once it fell off and and came back
on and climbed up into the top ten. I probably
played the darn thing that we finally several thousand times,
but I never get tired of hearing it anyway, finished
the story. I saw a feature on CBS Sunday Morning
in twenty twenty two about this book Sarah Morris was

(29:45):
working on concerning the enduring popularity of country Roads. She
had said Bill Danoff told her the song well owed
its breakout to one DJ at a small station in
West Virginia, but he never found out who it was.
So I got in touch with Sarah and said, hey,
I'm your guy. I sent her the details. She did
the research, and I feel fortunate she included in the book.

(30:09):
It's a well researched book and the good read.

Speaker 1 (30:12):
David Hoyd joining us here on Metro News talk Line.
So take me back to here you are. What were
you fifteen sixteen years old at the time.

Speaker 6 (30:20):
I was just between fifteen almost sixteen, Yes, okay.

Speaker 1 (30:23):
And you get a call from an RCA rep. What's
going through your mind when you pick up the phone
and have to take this call.

Speaker 6 (30:31):
Well, I kind of thought I might be in trouble, because,
like I said, you could get in a little bit
of trouble playing what was called an embargoed album, one
that hadn't been released in this country. But you know,
like I said, he apparently was feeling charitable, so he
went along with it, and I actually had several conversations
with the guy over the next few years. Fascinating dude.

(30:54):
He produced the movie Karate Kid, he produced Oh God,
he produced a Legend of Tar, plus a bunch of
TV shows. He's actually considered the father of the modern
day concert tour. He organized the first nationwide concert tour
for Jefferson Airplane back in the sixties. So the dude
is like a legend. So that was really neat.

Speaker 15 (31:16):
You know.

Speaker 1 (31:17):
Did he ever tell you or explain how they found
out that the songs getting played unauthorized down in West Virginia.

Speaker 6 (31:24):
Well, apparently people were contacting RNCAA Records of trying to
find copies of it, and I guess they got so
many calls that, you know, they called Wintrob and said,
you need to check this out.

Speaker 1 (31:38):
So he did, David Hoyd joining US former radio DJ.
So did you ever get a chance to meet John
Denver or did did he ever hear the story?

Speaker 6 (31:48):
Well, yes he did as a matter of fact, when
they flew into Mountaineer Field to do the song for
the opening of Mountaineer Field. I was supposed to get
to meet him, but I got stuck in traffic somewhere
around Shinstone, I think, and I walked into the field
just as his helicopter took off. But I did get
an autograph picture from him and some memorabilia years later,

(32:13):
So yeah, it was it was a neat thing. He
wrote on the John wrote on the picture he sent me.
He said, thanks for breaking country roads, which was the
term for you know, when you were the first one
to play a song, So it was pretty neat. It
didn't seem like that big a deal back then, but
it's become more significant as the song has become ingrained

(32:34):
in so many cultures. You know, I had a good
career thirty five years in radio, bit of TV and newspaper,
interviewed a lot of famous people. But if this is
what I get remembered for, well that's fine by me.

Speaker 1 (32:47):
That's not too bad. I mean, it seems like a
no brainer now looking back, Dave, But back then, did
did the company? Did the record company believe in the
song and what jumped out to you?

Speaker 6 (32:58):
Well, it's interesting. They released it, and as I said,
it dropped off the charts after a few months, and
they wanted to go ahead and release something else, and
I guess John Denver convinced rcaate to stay with the song.
So it eventually came back up on the charts and
you know, climbed to the top ten, and course ever
since then it's just grown by leaps and bounds in popularity.

(33:22):
I guess it's one of the top karaoke songs in
Japan according to the book.

Speaker 1 (33:28):
Yeah, I've read before it China and Japan they use
it to teach English and everybody knows the song over there.

Speaker 6 (33:36):
Yeah, who would have thund that?

Speaker 4 (33:37):
Huh?

Speaker 1 (33:39):
What is it about that song?

Speaker 18 (33:40):
Dave?

Speaker 1 (33:41):
And I know it was inspired by was it the
Maryland or Massachusetts? But man, you listen to it, and
even though even though that may be the case, it
takes it takes you home.

Speaker 6 (33:53):
It does. There are several references that are to West
Virginia about the radio, reminding me he used to damn off,
used to listen to WWVA all the time, so that
part is true. Some of it was inspired by the
actor Chris Sarendon. I guess he was in a commune
with those guys and he's the one who ended up
playing Prince Humperdink on The Princess Bride. But he told

(34:17):
him a lot about West Virginia and that serves as
some of the inspiration. So I don't you know, it
just it has such an appeal. I know, my brother
lives in Stanton, Virginia, and you know, he's a confirmed
West Virginia dude, and every time he hears a song,
he said, you know, it just kind of stirs something there.
So it has a meaning for people from West Virginia,

(34:39):
but it goes beyond that.

Speaker 1 (34:42):
David Hoyt, Well, I mean clearly you have an eye
for talents. I mean you've identified other great talents in
your career, Dave. So I mean, if people don't know,
David Hoyd hired me for my first gig in radio,
actually that was my very first job in radio working
for you overnights.

Speaker 6 (34:58):
Very proud of that fact. And uh, you know, I
followed you throughout the years and watched you grow and
good job, Buddy Mason crowd not.

Speaker 1 (35:07):
Too bad hasn't worked out too bad. I must say. Well, Dave, hey,
appreciate you coming on sharing that story. I think that
is cool. That young guy playing records in Ravens Wood
said hey, well I'm gonna go ahead and play this
one anyway. The heck with it? Look hout. It turned out.

Speaker 6 (35:21):
Yeah, we had liberties back in those days that you
don't have now on radio, so it worked out well.

Speaker 1 (35:27):
Hey, David, good to hear from me, Good to talk
to you. Thanks for sharing that story this morning. I
appreciate it.

Speaker 6 (35:33):
You're welcome Dave, Happy New Year, Brother.

Speaker 1 (35:34):
Happy New Year. Take care. David Hoyt broke country roads
here in America. Three or four talk three or four
is the text line. Eight hundred and seven sixty five
eight two five five. That's the number. Take a break
back in a moment.

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advancing health, ensuring access to care, and powering West Virginia's
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Visit Encova dot com to learn more.

Speaker 1 (37:40):
Three or four Talk three or four is the text
line eight hundred and seven to sixty five. Talk is
the phone number. No need to look for all that
pot of gold at the end of the rainbow when
you can pick up the ten dollars Lucky Pot of
Gold scratch off. The supersized ticket offers three games for
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(38:01):
gold if you win that, so be sure to get
yours at a participating West Virginia Lottery retailer today eighteen
plus to play Please play responsibly. Yeah, i'd heard that story,
or I was that story was shared to me through
a family friend, and I said, I know Dave. Dave
Hoyd hired me back in the day. He was on

(38:22):
w r r R ninety three R radio in Saint
Mary's had hired me, so I knew him. And when
I heard this story, is like, it was one of
those stories where you go, did I know that? I
don't think I did, And I was fascinated by it,
And I think that's pretty cool the things you used
to be able to do back in the day. I mean,
could you imagine that that would never happen today, where

(38:45):
somebody would play an unauthorized song, and then the fact
that RCA actually tracks him down to WMV in Ravenswood
and wants to know what in the world's going on.
Can you imagine being fifteen, sixteen years old talking to
an RCA exac who goes on to be this legendary figure,

(39:06):
you know, in show business and saying, hey, you know,
if you release it, I think it's going to be
pretty good. Looking back, that seems like a no brainer,
But at the time, you don't know, and I get it.
I get it. That's you know, partly above Virginia or Maryland,
and that there's conflicting reports how much it inspires, But man,

(39:32):
it's West Virginia song. Look how excited we got last
year during the Super Bowl when that was used in
a Super Bowl commercial. We spent like three days talking
about that. But got it start broke it on the radio.
W MOV thought that was pretty cool. Three or four
Talk three or four text. He says, I was at
Mountaineer Field on the day that song was sung by
John Denver. One of the best memories ever. That was

(39:54):
actually my favorite part of the story is Dave Hoyt's
driving to Mountaineerfield. He's supposed to be John Denver, He's
the guy who broke the song, and he gets stuck
in traffic in Shinston. That could happen today on a
Mountaineer game day, you get stuck in traffic in Shinston.
Three or four Talk three oh four textas is a

(40:14):
very good interview. Thank you. This Texter sends along a
link to a story from WES Virginia Public Broadcasting on
whether or not Westernie inspired country Roads. I'll take a
look at that during the break. Three or four Talk
three or four. Thanks so much for your great interview
with Dave Hoyts. I'm Sarah Morris, the author of the book.

(40:36):
He mentioned lessons from Take Me Home Country Roads. I
was so grateful to have his story for the book.
If listeners want to read it, they can order copy
from w Press and use the discount code H I
R A E T H twenty five or twenty five
percent off the cover price. Oh there you go, a
little free promo there. Three four Talk three oh five.

(41:02):
Let me see this asking about transfers from North Texas,
I will pass along your text about transfers from North
Texas to the sports line guys. I have no idea.
The transfer portal irritates me greatly. It just irrit I
covered a bowl game this past weekend, and it was
it was East Carolina pit. Half of East Carolina's offense

(41:27):
is out there, starting quarterback who threw for three thousand yards,
didn't play top receiver, tight end, running back. They don't
show up. The offense coordinator's gone, the defense coordinator's gone,
and they still beat Pitt and East Carolina fans. One
of the best lines I heard coming out of the
weekend was that pitt fans were so confused because they're

(41:50):
not used to seeing pirates win. I thought it was
a good line. I thought it was a good line.
Eight hundred and seven to six five talk three or four?
We talk three?

Speaker 24 (42:00):
Four?

Speaker 1 (42:00):
Hey, what's coming up? Second part of the show when
we return. This is Talk Life from the Cove Insurance Studios.

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(42:59):
twenty seven.

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Speaker 1 (43:25):
You News talkline for the COVID Insurance Studios. We'll be
with you today, Tomorrow, and Wednesday, Best of show on
New Year's Day, and then back on Friday the second
to jumpstart twenty twenty six. Also, while I'm thinking about it,
from the Department of Future Planning, the regular Legislative session

(43:50):
will begin January fourteenth, and we will be taking talkline
to the belly of the Beast as we always do,
so we will be down their first day of session.
Show will be originating from the State Capitol, and we
will be with you through all said. Well, we won't
be down there all sixty days, but we will spend
two or three days a week down there through the

(44:10):
regular legislative session covering the state legislature that starts, hard
to believe two weeks from Wednesday, three or four Talk
three or four is the text line eight hundred and
seven six five eight two five five the phone number.
We'll get more into this discussion. We're gonna do some
open lines coming up in the final half hour of
the show, talk a little bit more about this food
additives food die ban. The bill passed the legislature, Governor

(44:33):
Morrisey signed it into law, and last week Judge Irene
Berger US District Judge Irene Berger said part of it
was just unconstitutionally vague. We'll get into that discussion a
little bit. I'm not going to sit here and tell
you I'm some great legal scholar whether the judge got
it right or the judge got it wrong. But the

(44:57):
idea that there is a legislative fix, and that's what
I took away from the conversation with Delegate Evan Warrel,
is that there is a legislative fix to make the
law more specific so that it passes constitutional must remember,
enforcement doesn't even start until twenty twenty eight, so it's
not as if this was supposed to be enforced starting

(45:18):
January one, twenty six, and the part that regulates school
meals stays intact. So we'll get into that a little
bit more coming up second half of our number two.
We'll discuss get your thoughts on it as well. There's
also part of me that still wonders why the state
legislature needs to get involved in this particular subject and

(45:42):
regulate this particular get into the regulation of this particular
ingredient into these products. We'll get into that discussion coming
up second half of our number two. Matt Lewis is
going to join us. At eleven oh six. We'll talk
to maut about twenty twenty five. What we learn possibly nothing,

(46:02):
kind of a year in review discussion and a look
ahead to twenty twenty six with Matt. Also Fox News
Radio is Jared Halper will stop buying. President Trump already
met with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelenski and is preparing to
meet with Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Nett Yahoo. We'll
talk to Jared halpern about that meeting coming up a
little bit later today. So that is all ahead. In

(46:24):
our number two plus, we're going to over up the
phone lines. Take the biggest risk in broadcasting the open
lines segment. We'll do that at eleven thirty, eight hundred
and seven to sixty five. Talk is the phone number
eight hundred and seven six five eight two five five,
or you can text the show at three or four
Talk three o four plus plus. I teased it last week.
I forgot to get to it. We were kind kind

(46:46):
of got signetracked talking about Christmas movies and whatnot. But
I do have in the STACKO stuff a UFO story,
which at least one Texter is constantly clamoring for Dave
more UFO stories. Got one, I'll have that for you
in the second hour of the program. Eight hundred seven
six five Talking three or four Talk three oh four
is the text line. It is Metro News talk Line

(47:09):
from the Encoba Insurance studios. Back for our number two
on Metro News for forty years. The voice of West Virginia.

Speaker 2 (47:27):
Metro News talk Line is presented by Encova Insurance, encircling
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Visit Encova dot com to learn more.

Speaker 1 (47:38):
Second hour of Metro News talk Line here on one
of the weirdest weeks of the year. Eight hundred seven
to sixty five. Talk is the phone number eight hundred
and seven to sixty five eight two five five. You
can text the show three or four Talk three oh four.
TJ's off for a couple of days, You'll be back
on Friday. Jake Link is our video producer and Sophia
waik Is handling the audio side of things. Jared Halpern

(48:01):
Fox News Radio will join us, tell us what to
expect when President Trump meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Nett and Yahoo. Coming up later today, we'll get to
your text three or four Talk three oh four, we'll
talk more about our discussion with Delegate Evan Warrel regarding
the food die ban and the ruling from US District
Judge Irene Berger, plus some open lines coming up a

(48:23):
little bit later this hour as well. Join us on
Metro News talk Line. Friend of the program, Conservative columnists
and an Eastern panhandler Matt Lewis joins us on mech
News talk Line this morning. Matt, good morning, Happy new year.
Hang on, Matti Aeron the host. There we go, Happy
new year, Matt, Hey, Happy new year. Glad you could

(48:44):
join us. Are you ready for twenty twenty six?

Speaker 21 (48:47):
Uh?

Speaker 24 (48:47):
Yeah, I think so can't be any worse than twenty
twenty five.

Speaker 1 (48:50):
Well, I mean, I mean you can always you can
always set your sights high. So what do we learn
in twenty twenty five from your perspect.

Speaker 15 (49:01):
Uh?

Speaker 24 (49:01):
But to me, the big, the big political story is
just Donald Trump. I mean, he dominates everything. He's the
story of the decade, but certainly of the year. And
to me it was how great of a start he
got off too, and then how low he ends the year.
I don't know if you remember, but back a year
ago Donald Trump, He's inaugurated, what January twentieth, and man,

(49:24):
he just hits the ground running, and it's sort of
it reminds me of like a football team where they've
scripted every play and they just marched down the field,
rolling over their adversaries. And sometimes you think, wow, is
this gonna Is every drive going to be this easy?

Speaker 4 (49:43):
Is it?

Speaker 24 (49:43):
Is it going to be you know, one hundred to
nothing at the end of the game. And it almost
always is the case though, that you can't script every play,
that every drive isn't as good as the first drive.
And I think that's the case with Donald Trump. He
got off to this amazing start. I think a lot
of people were like, is you know, is he just
going to completely dominate and just take over. He's rolling

(50:04):
over academia, he's rolling over the media, the media, the
tech firms are showing up at his inauguration. You know,
people like Elon Musk, who had supported Barack Obama, and
even Mark Zuckerberg, who had been a big liberal, are
now so Trump has everything. And I think as the
year went on, he started to drop some passes and

(50:26):
make some forced errors.

Speaker 1 (50:28):
So where was the turning point? Was there a key moment?

Speaker 24 (50:32):
Several key moments. I think the first big one was
the so called Liberation Day, the day that Donald Trump
imposed those very steep so called reciprocal tariffs. I think
that was the first sign that things were a ride.
In fact, Donald Trump about a month later ended up
reversing most of those tariffs, I think because he saw

(50:56):
the writing on the wall.

Speaker 1 (50:58):
Matt Lewis is joining us here on mitche News talk lines,
taking a look back at twenty twenty five. Where does
affordability factor into Well, it's going a factor into twenty
twenty six, but how did it play a role in
twenty twenty five?

Speaker 24 (51:12):
Affordability is involved in everything, right, So first, in terms
of policy, affordability is part of tariffs. Tariffs are a tax.
They actually raise the cost on goods for consumers. So
the tariffs rose made prices rise. And if you were
an American who was already worried about inflation, about the
cost of things. Trump's tariffs exacerbated that. I would say

(51:35):
the immigration crackdown also hurt consumers. You know, if you're
trying to add onto your house right now or buy
a house, the cost of you know, lumber because of
tariffs went up, but also labor. Trying to find somebody
who can come and fix your house when with an
immigration crackdown became much more difficult. And so I think

(51:58):
it has policy emptions, but look from a political standpoint,
affordability is the issue of our era era. It's the
reason that Donald Trump won in twenty twenty four. I
think Joe Biden got blamed for rising costs and inflation
and that's why Trump won. And I think it's also
why Trump ends this year in trouble because affordability is

(52:21):
still a problem. That's the biggest thing you can you
can sort of I don't want to say trick people,
but you can spin people into believing anything. But if
they show up at the grocery store and it costs
them a lot more this week than it did last
week to buy something, it's very hard to convince them
that everything's okay.

Speaker 1 (52:41):
And Matt I would add, with affordability, Democrats have finally
hit and Democrats haven't hit good on haven't done well
on messaging the last decade in my opinion. But with affordability,
they have a message that resonates with people. And it's
such a broad term. What's affordable for me is different
for producer Jake, is different from Matt. So it's this

(53:03):
broad term that works kind of with everybody because everybody
experiences this different level of well, whether something is affordable
or not. And they've got a message that resonates with
voters rather than some of the other messages that clearly
did not resonate with voters that led to President Trump's
election twice.

Speaker 24 (53:21):
Yeah, look, I mean I think it resonates with everybody. Yeah,
just anecdotally speaking. I remember when I went to Shepherd
College when I was a kid. You can swing by,
you know, McDonald's for like less than five dollars and
get like supersize French fries and Big Max and you know,
it was like almost free, like going out to lunch.

(53:43):
I mean, dinner might have been a little more, we
going out to lunch was nothing. It costs you like
two or three dollars and you could get all this food. Now,
you know, my wife dropped something like seventy seventy five
dollars buying three chicken salad sandwiches and Shepherd's down.

Speaker 1 (53:58):
The other month.

Speaker 24 (53:59):
It's in just to go to any restaurant at lunch
to get a sandwich, you can drop like fifty bucks
or something. You Chick fil A is pricey, and so
everybody sees this. You can't hide it. It's happened in
my lived memory. And not all of it, of course,
is Donald Trump's fault. But I think it's sort of
coming to a head. And here's where I think Democrats

(54:22):
have an extra a little bit of spice where it
actually benefits them because not only is affordability an issue
that Democrats can talk about and Trump can get blamed
for because guess what, He's in power and Republicans control everything,
so they can't blame anybody else. It's their rodeo. But
there's two other factors. One is the optics. Donald Trump

(54:43):
is a billionaire who is building a huge ball ballroom
at the White House, who is throwing Gatsby themed parties
at mar A Lago and Palm Beach at his fancy resort,
and so Donald Trump just the optics of Trump's lifestyle.
If you're a poor, working class Joe sixpack guy, it

(55:04):
kind of flies in the face of your lifestyle. And
then I think, look at people who are actually succeeding
in this economy. It's not people who work for a living,
it's people who invest for a living. If you're invested
in they're called the Magnificent Seven, the big seven sort
of tech firms right now that are making all the money.
If you're invested in these seven tech firms on Wall Street,

(55:25):
you're richer than ever. But if you're working for a living,
you're actually losing pace right now. And so for all
those reasons, I think affordability is it's not just an issue,
it is the political issue right now.

Speaker 1 (55:39):
Matt Lewis is joining us here on Metro News talk line. Matt,
are Republicans making some of the same mistakes that Democrats
made over the last let's look five ten years where
Democrats really went hard into social causes DEI the trans
issues that turn voters away. Are Republicans making the same
mistakes with say the conspiracy theory, some of the fringe

(56:03):
things that are happening out there not being disconnected from
the guys, the men and women who are out there,
you know, blue color men and women who put them
in office, losing that connection with them. Same mistakes, just
different party.

Speaker 24 (56:16):
Well look, I think both parties are guilty of being
too online or very online. In fact, I think the
reason that Joe Biden. Remember this is before Joe Biden
really lost it, but back in twenty twenty when he
was first running for president, the reason that Joe Biden
became the Democratic nominee instead of Kamala Harris or Pete

(56:37):
Boudha Judge or Beto O'Rourke is that Joe Biden was
too old to be on Twitter. They were all following
kind of this left wing, progressive woke stuff, and Joe Biden,
by virtue of being too old and not really being
on Twitter, was running a more common sensical campaign. So
the Democrats have certainly been guilty of being too online.
Right now, I think Republicans there is some weird stuff

(57:01):
going out there.

Speaker 26 (57:02):
Man.

Speaker 24 (57:02):
You just google like Candice Oens versus Tucker Carlson and
read all about it, or if you already know about it,
I would tell you please log off and take the
week off because you and unless you're getting paid to
do this, it ain't healthy. For even if you are
getting paid, it's not healthy. So look, I think it's
a fact that both sides are guilty of getting a
little bit too online into some weird conspiratorial rabbit holes

(57:26):
that doesn't resonate with real Americans. But to me, the
bigger problem, and the bigger issue where both sides have
been stupid, is denying reality. So you remember when Joe
Biden was president, he denied reality. You came to him
and said, inflation's a problem. He said it's transitory. It's

(57:46):
just transitory. They said the border's a problem. He said,
it's just cyclical. This time of year, immigration is always high.
It I'll go back like they denied reality. They spun us.
They told us, don't believe you're lion eyes. That's exactly
what Donald Trump is doing now. He says affordability is
a hoax. There's no bigger way to be out of

(58:07):
touch than to deny, not only to say no, no,
it's not a big deal, but to say it's not
even happening. You're imagining this. Affordability is not even an issue.
It's a hoax. And so I think that that's the
big problem. It's like you, the first step toward recovery
is to admit you have a problem, and if you're
not willing to do that, you're never going to fix

(58:29):
the problem.

Speaker 1 (58:30):
Matt Lowe's joining us here on Metro News talk line.
Since May mean, I was sitting here thaking Trump is
the number one story. He's dominated headlines for what a decade? Now,
with all that being said, is he going into twenty
twenty six with the same grip on the Republican Party
that he has had for the last decade.

Speaker 18 (58:48):
No.

Speaker 24 (58:49):
I think one of the second big story of twenty
twenty five maybe that. I think it was Churchill who said,
we're not at the end, We're not at the beginning.
We're not at the ending, but we might at the
beginning of the end, something like that. It's not over
for Trump, but we're starting to see past Trump. We're
starting to imagine life past Trump, right, And this is important,

(59:11):
by the way. I think this is why Trump has
flirted with the idea of a third term, which obviously
would be unconstitutional. I think part of the reason he's
flirted with it is not just to troll the Libs,
but It's also because as long as you believe he
might have a third term, you're going to be afraid
of him. He's going to have power. Once you start

(59:32):
to think, oh, this old guy is he'll be gone
in a couple of years, he loses a tremendous amount
of leverage. But that has happened this year. At the
beginning of the year, I think everyone was afraid of Trump.
There was a sense he's omnipotent, He's never going away,
He's omnipresent. Now everyone knows we can wag him out.

Speaker 1 (59:52):
And I'm not just me.

Speaker 24 (59:54):
The Republicans know this right And I'll give you just
two examples. One, Susie Wilds, that's Donald trump chief of staff,
gave this very infamous interview to Vanity Fair where she
said that Marco Rubio has said that he will step
back and allow JD. Vance, his friend, to run for president.
He won't oppose him. So they're already thinking about twenty

(01:00:17):
twenty eight. Donald Trump's chief of staff is thinking about it,
his vice President's thinking about it. And then there was
another story as well where Erica Kirk, that's Charlie Kirk's widow,
Erica Kirk at a recent I think it's called America
Fest Conference endorsed JD. Vance to be the next president.
So Republicans, whether Trump likes it or not, his own team,

(01:00:40):
they're already basically coronating JD. Vance and looking past Donald Trump.
That is a huge development that I didn't think would
have happened this soon if you'd ask me eleven months ago.

Speaker 1 (01:00:53):
All right, so get out the crystal ball. How does
that factor in? As far as Democrats are probably going
to win, there's the biggest statement of the year. Probably
going to win the House in twenty twenty six, We're
gonna have a deadlock Congress, it feels like more so
than we already do. So if Republicans already looking past Trump,

(01:01:14):
if Congress is split Democrats in the House Republicans in
the Senate by a slim majority, what impact does that
have on policy for the next couple of years.

Speaker 24 (01:01:24):
Well, I don't think it's going to have a big
impact because Donald Trump is already not using Congress to
pass legislation, and so if Trump had an aggressive or
an ambitious agenda, legislative agenda, then it might make a difference.
I don't think it's going to make a big difference
because Trump is already not passing legislation much. He's doing
things by executive order and tackling the administrative state, and

(01:01:50):
he's doing a lot of he's a lot of activity
and a lot of truth social posts, but it's not
generally passing laws. And so to me, if if I'm sorry,
if Democrats were to win the Senate, which is possible
but unlikely, that would have an effect that means that
Trump can't get another Supreme Court justice, for example, if

(01:02:11):
a vacancy were to arise. But if Democrats simply take
the House, maybe they impeach him, maybe they launch investigations.
But honestly, I think it's more of a psychological thing.
Democrats need a win, they you know, and we actually
saw in twenty twenty five they started to get their

(01:02:31):
mojo right. They won in Virginia, they won in the
gonomatorial ship, the governorship in New Jersey, New York City,
and then we had these no Kings rallies, and so
I think winning the midterms is crucial for Democrats, but
I think it's more symbolic and psychological than it is
actually like going to deliver, you know, new legislation or

(01:02:55):
something Matt.

Speaker 1 (01:02:56):
Where can we find your newsletter? Your podcast? Where can
we find mind.

Speaker 13 (01:03:00):
You all over?

Speaker 24 (01:03:02):
I'm on substack. It's called Matt Lewis in the newsletter.
Check me out there. I got a weekly column in
the La Times. And I'm on Twitter at Matt kay Lewis.

Speaker 1 (01:03:11):
He's Matt Lewis. He's over in the Eastern Panhandle. Matt
always appreciated. Happy New Year. Good to talk to you again, buddy,
Thank you. Happy New Year coming up. Jared Halpern joins
us from DC. This is talk Line on Metro News
from the Encode Insurance Studios.

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Speaker 1 (01:05:12):
Let's check in with it. Jared Halbert, Fox News Radio.
President Trump is set to meet with Israeli Prime Minister
Benjaminette Yahoo later today at mar A Lago. Jared joins
us on Metro News talk line. Jared, good morning, what
can we expect from the meeting?

Speaker 23 (01:05:26):
Well, this is really a meeting that Benjaminette Yahoo, the
Prime Minister of Israel had hoped to have with President Trump,
and so it comes at a pretty critical time. Is
the President in the US, Arab partners or Europeans are
trying to move forward on implementing this second phase of
the gads a ceasefire. Remember this is a ceasefire that
is in place right now. There is not a peace agreement,

(01:05:48):
a piece deal between Hamas and Israel, and implementing the
second phase is much more challenging than that first phase,
which required obviously Hamas to release all of the remaining hostages,
both alive and decease. Israel withdrew from parts of Gaza.
There have still been pockets of fighting. Israel continues to

(01:06:11):
target what they say are legitimate terror threats to Israel.
There have been some Hamas and other terror groups engaged
with IDF forces, but by and large that ceasefire is holding.
But the next phase is supposed to include an international
stabilization force that would require other countries to put their

(01:06:37):
troops on the ground to begin training a Palestinian police
and insecurity force. It requires a MOSS to demilitarize something
that the terror group has not yet committed to or
at least committed to under the same terms that Israel
demands that it commits to. It would require Israel to
further withdraw from areas of Gaza.

Speaker 12 (01:06:59):
All of this.

Speaker 23 (01:07:00):
Coming at a time where Benjaminette Yahoo has expressed some
reluctance to some of these ideas and proposals and implementations,
and at the same time is sounding the alarm about
Iran and whether or not they are trying to rebuild
the ballistic missiles program that was largely taken out by

(01:07:20):
those Israeli air strikes. If you recall earlier this year
in kind of that Eleven Day war, there is concern
about what Iran plans to do with its nuclear program
following those US strikes, and so I think a lot
of this is going to Benjaminette Yahoo trying to share
his intelligence make his case the President Trump for how

(01:07:42):
he views this next phase going in President Trump making
his case forgetting this rolling, because the concern from US
officials is the longer that it takes for a Phase
two to be implemented, the less likely it is to
be implemented, and that would of course mean a resumption
of the war in Gaza and into this ceasefire that
President Trump is desperately trying to keep in place.

Speaker 1 (01:08:03):
Jared about thirty seconds. Where are the biggest differences between
net and Yahoo and Trump right now?

Speaker 23 (01:08:10):
Right now, the biggest differences I think are kind of
on the pace of implementing the security Force. President Trump
wants to get this on the ground immediately. Another issue
that has again been nettlesome, not just for the Trump administration,
but previous American administrations is Natan Yahoo's view on the
West Bank. Trump has made clear there will not be
an annexation. At the same time, the Kannesse at the

(01:08:31):
Israeli Parliament has continued to approve these West Bank settlements.
I bet that's an issue that comes up today as well.

Speaker 1 (01:08:37):
Fox News Radios, Jared Halper and Jared, we appreciate it.
We'll check in and see how this meeting goes. Thanks buddy.
Sure thing coming up. We're going to open up the
phone lines open segment for you. Eight hundred and seven
to sixty five. Talk is the phone number. Three oh
four Talk three h four is the text line. We'll
get to your texts, we'll get to your phone calls.
And I got a UFO story to share with you
as well. This is talk line for the Encove Insurance

(01:08:58):
Studios on Metro new News. Metro News for forty years,
the voice of West Virginia. It is eleven thirty times
to get a news update. Let's check in with the
Metro News radio network. Find out what's happening all across
the great state of West Virginia.

Speaker 3 (01:09:17):
West Virginia Metro News. I'm Chris Laurence, a West Virginia
is settling into his role with the Trump administration.

Speaker 22 (01:09:24):
Former State Senator and US Attorney for Southern West Virginia
Mike Stewart is taking a hands on approach to his
new role as General Counsel for the Department of Health
and Human Services, working with Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Junior.
Stuart says one of his focuses is making healthcare more
affordable for American families.

Speaker 18 (01:09:39):
One of the great concerns every American has is the
cost of pharmaceuticals and the cost of healthcare. These are
incredibly expensive, in many cases the most expensive item of
a family's budget. And so to be able to work
on these things every single day and negotiate a better
result for American families, it's very gratifying.

Speaker 22 (01:09:57):
Stuart was confirmed for the position in October. I'm Daniel
WOODSWV Metro News dot Com.

Speaker 3 (01:10:01):
And Jackson County. A man has been charged with malicious
wounding after another man was shot in the back. Criminal
complaint charges twenty four year old Philip Goodwin of Ripley
shot the unididentified victim in the back with a forty
five caliber handgun. Investigators say the bullet exited through the
victim's front torso. Now the victim is recovering at Jackson
General Hospital in Ripley and Goodwin is lodged in the
South Central Regional Jail. The criminal complaint also claimed that

(01:10:24):
Goodwin provided inconsistent statements to investigators from both the Sheriff's
Department and the Ripley Police Department. The DMV at Carneysville
in Eastern Panhandle is closed today. Official say a car
drove into the side of the building around four o'clock
Sunday afternoon. Damage minimal. You're listening to Metro News for
forty years the Boys of West Virginia.

Speaker 26 (01:10:45):
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Speaker 3 (01:11:44):
The IRS has renewed lions filed against US Senator Jim
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Collect timely refouled lean routines, its original filing date and
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Speaker 3 (01:12:09):
From the Metro News anchored desk, I'm Chris Lawrence.

Speaker 1 (01:12:33):
Open lines the rest of the way. Not quite like
Steam release, but sort of. But we can have a discussion.
Can't do that on Fridays three or four? Song three
or four is the text line at eight hundred seven
seven sixty five eight two five two days left in
the year, and I forget the number. Hey over at

(01:12:53):
ww metrodewstv dot com check out the latest episode of
State of minds Hoppy Kirchbille sits down with Morgan O'Brien,
I'm president and CEO of Hope Gas to discuss the
company's revitalized role in West Virginia's energy sector and community.
Watch it right now, go to WV metronewstv dot com
or the Metro News TV app, which is available for

(01:13:14):
your iPhone, Android, Apple TV, Roku, Fire TV, and select
smart TVs. State of Mind check out the latest episode
there eight one hundred seven to sixty five Talk eight
one hundred seven sixty five eight two five five three
or four talk three. Before we get to your text,
let's first go to the phones. Hey, Bob, what's on
your mind?

Speaker 28 (01:13:33):
I enjoyed your session there with the guy own Country
Roads and reminded me of a story that my son
gave me back in the summer. He travels all over
the world, and he was in Dublin, Ireland, and had
to catch a plane when he finished to Switzerland. And

(01:13:56):
it's so happened that the cab driver showed up was
a Polish guy who had left Poland fifty years earlier
to escape communism. And when he got in the cab,
he asked my son if he carried played country music,
and my son tolding no, he didn't mind, so he

(01:14:21):
turned the radio on and the second song that came
on was Country Roads, and he said the Polish cab
driver reached over and turned the volume up, said that's
my favorite song in all the world.

Speaker 15 (01:14:40):
He said.

Speaker 28 (01:14:40):
The song's about yearning to go home, and after fifty years,
I still have a yearning to go home. Well, they
listened to the song and after it was over, my
son informed the guy that he was from West Virginia,
and he said, the guy just about went bonkers knowing
he was listening to tent three Roads and writing with

(01:15:04):
someone from West Virginia.

Speaker 2 (01:15:07):
OW.

Speaker 1 (01:15:07):
Cool, Bob, Thanks for sharing that story. I appreciate it, buddy,
Thank you appreciate it. Eight hundred seven sixty five talk
eight hundred seven sixty five eight two five five. And
that's the real hook of the song, right, and I
get it. People will criticize, well, it was written about
you know, Maryland or Virginia, or the original lyric was
supposed to be Massachusetts, whatever. But that's the hook of

(01:15:28):
the song. Is it takes you home. You start thinking
about that drive to your hometown. If you live out
of states, you start thinking about that drive back to
West Virginia and in the memory. That's the hook of
the song. That's what makes it so popular. Let's go
back to the phones, Jim and Morgantown.

Speaker 4 (01:15:46):
Hey, Jim, the food additide that you're talking about earlier? Yeah,
it's I mean if you just do a real quick
search and look to see how many ingredients are approved
for human consumption by the FDA in the United States,
your mind will just flip. It's every ten thousand and
then if you google how many food ingredients are approved

(01:16:08):
for human consumption in Canada by their equivalent to the FDA,
and it's five hundred. The exact same foods that are
being manufactured that here in West Virginia the United States
cannot be sold in Canada or in the UK. And
those same manufacturing plants are making the exact same food

(01:16:30):
items for Canada, and the exact same manufacturing plant without
the attitudes that they use in the United States. Why
is that allowed?

Speaker 21 (01:16:40):
What are we doing?

Speaker 1 (01:16:42):
Well, it comes down to Jim and I don't know
if this is going to be a satisfactory answer, but yes,
it comes down to the way we approach the regulations.
And if you look in Europe, and I was reading
about this this morning and kind of preparing for this
interview with Evan Roll, the delegate from Capital County a
little bit earlier in the show, they have a much
more cautious approach, like if there is the possibility that

(01:17:05):
a food additive or a dye or an ingredient can
have a detrimental impact a detrimental effects, it gets banned
until it has proved safe. We kind of do it
the opposite way. In the United States. Is that right
or wrong? Better or worse? I don't know, but that
seems to be just the difference of approaches there, Jim.
Like I said, that may not be a satisfactory answer,

(01:17:26):
but that's that's kind of where we are.

Speaker 4 (01:17:29):
Can I add a coupletser thinks real quick?

Speaker 15 (01:17:31):
Sure?

Speaker 13 (01:17:31):
Sure?

Speaker 4 (01:17:32):
So if you look at artificial dies, the gred forty
to all of those, right, and even it's really bright colored,
those are associated with attention deficit disorder. And we lay
all of our kids up every morning with cereals, pop tarts,
all these breakfast foods that have these artificial dyes them,
and then we send them to school, and then we

(01:17:53):
wonder why they can't pay attention and then what do
they get put on?

Speaker 1 (01:17:58):
Oh you pick your adhdmen, yeah?

Speaker 5 (01:18:01):
Yeah?

Speaker 4 (01:18:02):
Or is there a circular pattern here on purpose? That's like,
that's conspiratorial thinking, as you all would say that, is
there is there some sort of a pattern that we're
doing on purpose to put our kids in these situations
that then requires and to become medication.

Speaker 1 (01:18:22):
I don't know if I'm willing to take that step, Jim,
but I will say this. I will say this. I
don't believe, or I guess I believe you can't. I'm
using negatives. I'm trying not to use negatives here, Jim.
If you are ingesting chemicals, artificial chemical, synthetic chemicals, naturally
occurring chemicals, it's got to have some sort of an impact.

(01:18:44):
I don't know what that impact is, but common sense
would tell you it would have some sort of an impact, right.

Speaker 4 (01:18:50):
I know what I'm saying. And then they got that
called it about about corn syrup. Are you familiar with
around up pretty ground up pretty coin?

Speaker 1 (01:18:59):
Are you you talking about round up the pesticide, Yes, sir, okay, yes,
go ahead.

Speaker 4 (01:19:05):
They modified corn that it doesn't die from round up.
So what they do is they instead of just going
through and spraying the weeds around the corn, they just
cropped us the entire cornfield with round up, with the
corn doesn't die and it grows, and then they put
that corn into facilities that make high frutose coinsyrup. And
they also feed all the animals that we ingest as

(01:19:27):
well with round up reready corn. So everybody's got a
high level of life, I say, in their systems as well.
So I don't know if it's the coin syrup or
that the life iss at Hey.

Speaker 1 (01:19:37):
Jim, let me pose this question to you, and this
was kind of the philosophical question. If this is all
the case, and you're a very concerned consumer, is it
up to the government to regulate these things or is
it up to you as the consumer to avoid them
and buy your beef from the local guy up the
road who's you know, is feeding it corn straight out

(01:20:01):
of the ground or is feeding grass fed beef. Is
it up to the government or is it up to
the consumer.

Speaker 4 (01:20:07):
Well, that's the that's the problem that we have here.
Ninety percent of the population believes it that the government
has the best interest at our at our at our heart.
And that's not the case, because if that was the case,
then the FDA would not approve round up being put
into our corn. So the average uninformed, considerate citizen of

(01:20:28):
the country has zero understanding of what's being put into
our food, and we'll just go and consume it. They
can that it's safe. So for me and my family,
we're trying our best. But living in West Virginia, how
hard it is to find organic food at the grocery store?

Speaker 1 (01:20:42):
No, sure, Yeah, it's tough. Yeah, very difficult.

Speaker 4 (01:20:46):
So until until, until until the government gets back to
being an organization or an entity that we can trust.
There's nothing that we're going to do as far as
our health is concerned. So that's why RFK Junior is
as controversial as he may be. He is. He's trying
to get these things out of our food. And you

(01:21:07):
think that the average uninformed citizens out there, some light
would come on and say, you know, what should I
be eating?

Speaker 1 (01:21:15):
Round up, Jim, Jim boy. There's a lot of different
directions I want to go, but I'm coming up against
the commercial break. Thank you so much for the call.
Always appreciate you. Weining in, Jim, Thanks for listening, Buddy,
all right, thank you. Eight one hundred and seven and
sixty five talks. The phone number three or four talk
three h four is the text line. Got to take
a break back at the moment. Open lines the rest

(01:21:36):
of the way. This is talk Line from the Encode
Insurance Studios.

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Speaker 1 (01:23:02):
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(01:23:27):
and perfects three ozho four talk three oh four. Dave
Jim has common sense about round up your poison, says
the Texter. Dave, I want you to know that gas
is two dollars and forty five cents in Martinsburg. That's
the eastern Panhandle. Walmart has rolled back several of their
prices on groceries and other items because I shop there
and I don't shop in Shepherdstown because people are crazy

(01:23:49):
about the prices. Send that, says the Texter. West Virginia
now has the highest utility cost in the nation. A
lot of good are cold does. I have solar panels
and have had no electric bills for eight years. I'm
good on you. Three A four talk three h four.
Good grief on top of bad, on top of bad.

(01:24:10):
Jd vance in there. That kid got no experience, although
he's been shown. I guess you don't need an experience.
You just surround yourself with a bunch of thugs and
they'll push through whatever needs to get done. Because Congress
and the Senate has been nothing but ostriches with their
head in the sand. Must be enjoying the view down there,

(01:24:31):
says the Texter three of four talk three or four.
I'm a Democrat, but I'm not sure the government is
going too far. Even people in California are complaining now
because the government has made them use booster seats for
kids up to sixteen years old starting this year, depending
on weight and height. Boy, that would be tough. Could

(01:24:51):
you imagine having ride in a booster seat on the
way to high school?

Speaker 4 (01:24:56):
Oo?

Speaker 1 (01:24:57):
That that could not be good. That could not be good.
And I pose that question to Jim about is it
up to the government ors up to the consumer? Because
that is kind of the heart of the question.

Speaker 27 (01:25:10):
Is where.

Speaker 1 (01:25:13):
Where does regulations? How far do regulations need to go?
Is it up to you to know what's in your
food and then if you don't want to consume food
that has certain dies or additives in it, to not
consume it, or is it up to regulators to say, no,
you're not going to put that in the food. I

(01:25:36):
think it's a legitimate. It's a bit of a philosophical question,
I guess to some degree. And I pose the question
to Delegate, Well, is it a state issue, Is this
a West Virginia issue, or is this something that should
be handled at the federal level with the FDA. And
Europe does take a much more cautious approach than the
US does. I'm not going to sit here and tell

(01:25:58):
you I know all the ends and outs of the
regulatory process for the European Union, but it is a
much more cautious approach when it comes to regulating food
dies and food additives. There before talk three or four,
what exactly is the school lunch rules and what year
does that go into effect? It would seem that would
be important to start the right way. That would be

(01:26:22):
important to start right away for the kids. What the
kids are reading? Let me see. So talking about the
food die ban bill that was approved by the legislature
and signed by Governor Morrissey, Judge Irene Berger's ruling last
week granting that preliminary injunction on the enforcement of that bill,

(01:26:43):
it does not impact the section dealing with West Virginia
schools in the West Virginia Feed to Achieve Act. Now,
all of that does is prohibit a list of unsafe
food additives. According to the bill, Red diye number three,
Red Die number forty, Yellow die number five, Yellow dye

(01:27:04):
number six, Blue ye number one, number two, and green
dye number three. Those are banned from foods being served
in school cafeterias. That is not impacted by Judge Berger's
preliminary injunction that she granted last week. And that's all
the bill does. It says these these cannot be in

(01:27:27):
school lunches, and that went into effect August first, twenty five,
so that that is already in effect and being enforced.
Three or four talk three or four of the text
line back to the phones bill. What's on your mind? Bill?
Happy New Year?

Speaker 7 (01:27:43):
By the way, Well it was, well, they ain't quite
here yet. I got a couple more days where I
go to bed at eight o'clock on New York's Eve.
That's my double bedtime. I don't go sleep right away,
but anyway, that's when you get my age to day.
You'll know what that means. Or it was fifty five
fifty two de grease one o'clock. That's more than just

(01:28:06):
about twenty two out here now. So this front's coming through.
Get used to it. Pizza. I want to talk about pizza.

Speaker 1 (01:28:13):
Okay.

Speaker 7 (01:28:13):
I went to wu I started WU in nineteen seventy one. Okay,
pizza at that time was a convenient way to feed
quote your friends unquote at a five dollar pizza, a
three dollar peck, any pizza gout and I for all
you people out here who don't imbibe an alcohol, beer

(01:28:35):
and pizza just that was just the norm back in
the day. Not all the time people had soda pop whatever.
Pizza's grown now to uber Eats is football sells food.
So just muliply all the number of years and all
the commercials about pizza and pizza is easy. It comes

(01:28:56):
in a cardboard box. You'd need no utensils except napkins,
paper towels or whatever to clean up, and red solo
cops if you will. So into the convenient status. How
it got to this point now you could hardly watch
any sports games over the last X number of years. Well,

(01:29:18):
pizzas commercials coming up.

Speaker 6 (01:29:21):
Now.

Speaker 7 (01:29:21):
Talk to any medical you know, doctor that deals with diabetes.
They will say carbohydrates are the issue that people have
to deal with when it comes to type two diabetes. Okay,
that the pre diabetes or whatever they want to do it.
Because I talked to a number of people first thing
to tell you is cut out some of your breads,

(01:29:44):
you know, and you know the wheat and the flowers
that make the breads. So if we're going to correct
the government situation about food, it's a hard job. Until
you convince people you don't need pizza as the fill
in for every gathering. It's got to go somewhere else.

(01:30:06):
Pizza is almost a staple of American society. It'll be
like the prohibition if they try to take away alcohol.
If you got rid, get rid of it. But if
they abandoned, so to speak. Just think about the commercials
about pizza.

Speaker 4 (01:30:24):
You know.

Speaker 1 (01:30:24):
Bill, I'm just sitting here thinking I could go for
a pizza right about now.

Speaker 7 (01:30:29):
Yeah, but you've got to go to Wheeling or wherever.
That firewall says, you gotta get Carlo Jesus cold and separated,
whatever that thing. But if you give your thinking about
you got to go there because firewall says that's it.
There is no other pizza besides that.

Speaker 1 (01:30:47):
Bill, always appreciate it, Buddy, Thanks for calling in today.

Speaker 7 (01:30:51):
Pizza. I'm telling pizza today, pizza.

Speaker 1 (01:30:54):
Bill, take it easy, Thanks, Buddy, take her final break
back to wrap it up. This is talk line from
me and COVID church studios.

Speaker 20 (01:31:01):
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Speaker 1 (01:32:45):
All right, I promise the UFO story. I'm going to
give you a UFO story. The pilot of a private
jet reportedly made an eerie discovery while flying thousands of
feet over Rhode Island, marking the latest and unexplaining counter's
baffling with the experts and civilians alike. Newly reservice video
shared on YouTube in October by vas Aviation vas vass

(01:33:10):
Aviation chenneral. Reveals the head scratching moment the pilot radioed
to the ground team at Rhode Island T. F. Green
International Airport regarding a mysterious small silver cylinder hovering near
the wing of his aircraft, telling air traffic control it
appears to be standing still. Looks like a strange small
object that we just floated by the pilot told ATC,

(01:33:31):
according to the clip, a small silver canister. Do you
know what that could be? A pilot to a private.
ATC went on to inform the pilot there were no
other reports regarding an object in the area, and asked
a pilot if he could be a drone or a balloon.
He said, I saw nothing attached to it. It was
sort of hovering there. It was astonishing. I don't know
what it was. Let me see. One potential explanation of

(01:33:53):
the mysterious object could be that it was a weather balloon,
which often carry cylindrical payload codes and hover at high altitudes.
According to the Daily Mail, it's always a weather balloon.
It's always a weather balloon. No need to look for
that lucky pot of gold at the end of the
rainbow when you can pick up a ten dollars lucky
pot of gold scratch off. The super sized ticket offers

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three games for your chance to at fifty thousand dollars.
You'll be good as gold if you win, so be
sure to get yours at a participating in West Virginian
Lottery retailor today eighteen plus to play. Please play responsibly.
It's always a weather balloon. Never doubt. All Right, Beta
New's Midday coming up next. We're back tomorrow morning at

(01:34:36):
ten oh six for Jake and Sophia. I'm Dave. This
is talk Line on Metro News for forty years, the
voice of West Virginia,

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