Talkline for Wednesday July 10, 2024

Today Hoppy is joined by Nancy White, Ryan Schmelz, Steve Wendelin, Christina Mullins, Erika Kolenich, Jared Halpern, Wren Baker, and Brad McElhinny

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
M Good morning, Welcome to talkLine on the Metro News Radio Network.

(00:30):
Agency radio turned off from the studioso w v RC Media and the Metro
News Radio Network, the Voice ofWest Virginia comes the most powerful radio show
in West Virginia. This this isMetro News Talk Live with Happy Kerchible.

(00:51):
So it's not worn from Charles standby you, Hoppy. You're on Metro
News talk Line with Hoppy Cerchiable is. That's brought to you by Incovia Insurance,
encircling you with coverage to protect whatyou care about most. Visit in
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in the Dale Miller Building. TalkAlient on Metro News. I'm your host,

(01:14):
Tompy Kerchival Ethan confins as our producerAustin Wright, with a video stream
you can watch at wv metronews dotcom. The phone numbers one one hundred
seven sixty five A two five five, text me, three oh four Talk
three oh four. I read allthe texts, respond to most and read
a few on the air three ohfour Talk three oh four. I'm not

(01:34):
sure if there's a bigger issue inWest Virginia than all things education. It's
in the state constitution a requirement thatthis state provide for a thorough and efficient
system of free schools. And certainlyevery day there are countless examples of young
minds achieving great things, and we'llgo on to do great things for themselves,

(01:57):
for their community, for the state, for the country, whatever.
So don't get me wrong. Thereare a lot of good things that happened,
many many good things happen in publicschools. But there are also many
challenges that we talk about here alot. There's the issue of teacher pay.
There's the issue of not having enoughcertified teachers in all the classrooms,
staffing issues, having enough bus drivers, absenteeism issues, behavioral issues in the

(02:25):
classroom, homeschooling. We've talked aboutsome of the issues there over the last
couple of weeks. So it goeson and on. Now, West Virginia
has a State Board of Education.It's sometimes called the fourth branch of government.
It's a powerful board that oversees ourfifty five counties. And there is
a new president of the State Boardof Education. Her name is Nancy White.

(02:46):
Nancy White has assumed the presidency.She was elected by the board.
She had been vice president. She'sa thirty six year career employee of school
systems in West Virginia's She's worked inMorgan, Taylor, Lewis, and Jefferson
Counties. I think mostly on theadministrative side. Now she's the president of
the State Board of Education. Shejoins us on Metro News talk line Nancy,

(03:07):
good morning. First of all,congratulations to you. Well, good
morning, Hope, and thank youso much. I appreciate it. Well,
thank you for coming on. Look, as I said, there are
I don't want to diminish the successstories that are out there and great teachers
and great students and those kinds ofthings. But as you know, typically
school officials have to address the challenges, and there are many. What has

(03:31):
inspired you to a want to beon the board and be want to be
in this position of president and takeon some of these challenges. Why,
I absolutely agree with you there forthe first comment that you made that there
are some wonderful, great things happeningin our schools and we need to celebrate
those things more. And yes,there are a lot of challenges as well.

(03:53):
My career in school business actually beganin Taylor County a long, long
time ago, and over the yearsI have gained so much insight into the
different challenges throughout the state. Iwas in Jefferson when they were booming.
We had no room in Jefferson HighSchool for many many of those students.

(04:15):
And I've seen the other side whereschools had to be closed in accounty and
finances were difficult and couldn't get anexcess levey passed, and those kinds of
things. I'd retired from Morgan intwenty fourteen, and then I went on
to be the executive director of theSoutheastern Association of School Business Officials, which

(04:35):
encompasses the twelve Southeastern states. SoI gained even more perspective from what's going
on with them. We are comparedmany many times with Mississippi and Alabama and
some of those places, and I'vejust gained so many colleagues, and we've
talked so much and I've learned somuch from them. Well go ahead,

(04:58):
I'm sorry. So when I finishedthat position, it was a contracted position,
and I the traveling was getting alittle bit too me and somebody heard
I had a little extra free timeand ask if I'd like to serve on
the board and there you are,so let's talk. Okay, So you
have all this, you have allthis experience, and you certainly should know
well the challenges in our school systems. And again I don't want to diminish

(05:19):
the success stories, but you're goingto spend most of your time dealing with
the challenges. Let's start with teacherand staff vacancies and shortages, school bus
drivers, staff, certified teachers inthe classroom. What are your observations about
that challenge that is so critical,so critical right now? We need to

(05:41):
well, we need to find away to get certified teachers into these positions
and retain them, especially the countiesthat are on our borders. It's so
easy for teachers to just drive afew extra miles and make a lot more
money. And I experienced that aswell. But you know, we have
a depart and are still efforting togrow your own apprentice pathway to give high

(06:03):
school students a direct pipeline to teaching. We are providing cohorts of service personnel
too, who have college hours,to provide them a pathway to help covering
costs and design and coursework that makesit easier for them to navigate the process,
and you know, nationwide, we'reseeing so many teachers even leaving the

(06:26):
profession. It's just not as attractiveas it once was. And I'd like
to see some mutual respect rekindled amongour communities. Well, let's tell you
what. Let's go there, becausethat is a consistent theme among those who

(06:46):
are reluctant to get into education orleaving education early or before retirement, and
that is respect, respect for authority, respect for the teacher. That ties
into discipline issues. What are yourconcerns there and how does a school system
deal with that? Well, Ihad the opportunity actually yesterday to be in

(07:10):
on an interview and speak with thefinalists for the twenty twenty five Teacher of
the Year, and I ask themkind of the same kinds of questions,
and they believe that there has beenkind of a wedge between communities and parents
in the schools that has just gottenwider since the pandemic. For whatever reason.

(07:34):
You know, you would think thatduring the pandemic, when the parents
had to be the teachers, thatthey would have had much more respect for
what they do. But the oppositeis happening, and it's confusing. Why
the department works with a lot ofinitiatives to try to rekindle those connections.
They have parental engagement and initiatives likethe Healthy Grandparents Communities and Schools. VES

(08:00):
is now in all fifty five counties, which I'm so thrilled to know that.
So there are psyche coordinators there andstaff that are doing so much to
support the children. And you know, pre pandemic, this work is so
important, but now it's even morecritical. So we need to get we
need to get more parents in theschools to see what's happening. And I

(08:22):
know this is anecdotal too, butwhat you consistently hear is that now not
in every case, certainly, butoften that parents are reluctant to back up
the teachers if the teachers are youknow, tough, grading a kid tough
or holding them accountable. What aboutthat? That is probably one of the

(08:43):
worst situations that teachers have. Really, you know, my child would never
do this, and then you findout they are never doing something that they
never thought they'd be doing. They'redoing. But yeah, the parents kind
of blame the teacher their students' failure, especially behaviorally. Nancy White is a

(09:05):
grades Yeah, Nancy White is withthe new stage school board president. Let
me pivot over to homeschooling, andWest Virginia has expanded its homeschool opportunities.
It's like twenty seven thousand children nowin homeschooling. But a lot has come
out lately about some challenges on thehomeschool front, particularly accountability. Accountability that

(09:28):
only about a third of these reportsthat are due after four grades are coming
in, and I don't know ifthat's because they're not being done or the
school system is over bird and can'thandle it. What is your thought about
accountability and homeschooling. Well, thisis a very very serious issue that's captured
everyone's attention, and rightfully so,we have to work in the best interest

(09:54):
of all children. And we're happywith families that are homeschooling successfully and you
know, within the guy lines established, they are to be commended and I'm
glad that they can have that choiceto do that. However, we have
a lot of children being moved intohomeschool as an extension of chronic absenteeism,
and in those cases, I'm afraidthe child's education and developmental interests are not

(10:18):
being served at all. And thisis not an attack on homeschooling, But
it's just trying to keep eyes ona chill on a child and see if
they are learning and progressing in ahealthy environment. But I think our data
shows that seventy percent of the childrenmoved to homeschool were chronically absent last year,

(10:39):
and we had less than twenty fivepercent of the families submit the required
assessments. So perhaps changing the languageand the legislation from shall to will that
we were obligated to follow up onthose obligations, on those assessments, that
we need to make sure that ouraccounting offices are ab able to fulfill those

(11:01):
obligations and getting those assessments turned ina policing if you will, to have
some eyes on these kids from timeto time, we need to have more
conversations and collaborations as well to whatthis is going to look like. And
I understand and I think that's avalid point, and it gets into the
language. But it's true that rightnow superintendents just have an option of following

(11:24):
up if there's a strong suspicion thatthey're not fought, that homeschooling is not
being done. And there's a movementto change that to instead of may follow
up, that will that will followup which was the language you're referring to.
But you're probably going to hear ifyou all want to crack the whip
on that, you're probably going tohear from county school systems to say,

(11:45):
look, we don't have the personnel. We're too busy trying to account for
the chronically absent students in our publicschools to deal with the homeschool students.
Fair. That is a fair,a very fair statement, because the county
attendance director are stretched to the limitwith just trying to keep our kids from

(12:05):
being chronically absent. And chronically absentis if a student misses ten percent or
more of West Virginia's required one hundredand eighty days of destruction, So that's
eighteen days. And there's so manylevels of notification to parents, you know,
in different tiers to try to interveneand support them in some way.

(12:30):
But there is a direct correlation betweenregular school attendance and student achievement for sure,
absolutely, And I don't know,you know what the reasoning is for
some of these kids to be chronicallyabsent. You know, if we just
try to get to the root issue, I think the department is establishing a
collaborative, the West Virginia Attendance Collaborative. It's in the process right now to

(12:56):
support counties on a regional level ifthey can identify some strategies and resources to
address this issue. I understand.New state school Board President, Nancy White.
Nancy, congratulations on your election toschool board president. You have a
full plate. You have a fullplate, and we look forward to staying
in touch with you on these andother critical issues. So thank you very

(13:18):
much and wish you best of luck. Well, Thank you happy, appreciate
being on all right. Thank youtalk soon. Nancy White, new school
Board President, West Virginia. Alot there to deal with during her term.
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You're listening to your talk line onMetro News. The Voice of West
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(16:52):
Insurance, encircling you with coverage toprotect what you care about most. Visiting
Covia dot com to learn more.Talk live from the co Insurance studios.
Ron Schmels, Fox News Radio,Capitol Hill. I know Ryan's been busy
sticking his microphone in the face ofany Democrat he can track down, saying
what do you got on Biden?So how's it going? What have you
heard? What have you heard?Well, that's a pretty accurate statement,

(17:12):
I would say, Yeah, it'sbeen an interesting last couple of hours.
I think the big thing, Hoppythat just came out not too long ago
is that Speaker Pelosi went on tothe Morning Joe and she had a very
fascinating statement that she made So shesaid that it's up to the president to

(17:33):
decide if he's going to run.We're all encouraging him to make that decision
because time is running short. Andthen the follow up question was do you
want him to run? She says, I want him to do whatever he
decides to do. And that's theway it is. Whatever he decides,
we go with not exactly a ringingendorsement from the former speaker there, and
she's probably one of the leading voicesin terms of somebody who could actually influence

(17:56):
a President Biden's opinion on any givenissue. Yeah, Ron, that is
a great point because, as yousaid, how many people really have that
kind of influence and Pelosi is seenas one of them, along with Joe
Biden, Barack Obama, Jim Clyburn, and a couple others, and going
on Morning Joe, which is ashow that is seen as sympathetic even supportive
of Joe Biden. So run that, run that pass me again. Let's

(18:18):
hear that again what she said,and let's parse that out. It's up
to the president to decide if heis going to run. We're all encouraging
him to make that decision because timeis running short. And second, let's
let's start with that, because again, that does that not suggest and I'm
sure she chose her words carefully,that the president needs to make a decision.

(18:41):
It's not a for it's not aforegone conclusion that he's the nominee and
out of the way, get onboard. Right? Is that fair?
Yeah, that's what it sounds liketo me. Absolutely, it's something that
very easily it could be dissected andcertainly does not seem like it was exactly
a ringing endorsement, that's for sure. Yeah, let's go go the second
part. Then, I want himto do whatever he decides to do,

(19:03):
and that's the way it is.And she said, do you want him
that? Still there? Go ahead? I lost you for a second.
Go ahead, read that again.I lost you. She said. So
the question was do you want himto run? And she said, I
want him to do whatever he decidesto do, and that's the way it
is. So she didn't exactly justsay, oh, yes, I want
him to be the nominee. Shehad a tiptoe answer right there where she's

(19:26):
putting the ball in President Biden's court, which is what a lot of Democrats
have been doing over the last fortyeight hours, they've been even the ones
that have been doubtful of President Biden'sability to beat former President Trump, they're
kind of just putting the decision upto him. So I think it was
just fascinating for her to not reallyjust go out and declare him as the
nominee. Instead, she has thesekind of open ended answers that the other

(19:48):
kind of tiptoeing around the issue alittle bit. Yeah, I think you're
exactly right, because if Biden couldcome back and again we're really parsing this,
but Biden could come back and say, wait a minute, already said
I'm running. I'm not getting out, I'm running. I'm running. And
in this Pelosi I don't think justspeaks for herself. This suggests that that
Democrats such as herself are saying,okay, but you need to that they

(20:10):
are, that they are not allin for the most part, right right,
I'm sorry. There that that thatthat suggests that even though Biden may
say, of course I'm running,I'm all in, you know, but
that this suggests that there Pelosi Ithink speaks for others than just yourself saying

(20:32):
yeah, you kind of just signshere and what you're doing. Yeah,
yeah, I think somebody just hada tweet not too long that it says
it's like President Biden says, I'mrunning, I'm staying in the race.
For the Democrats say, you needto make a decision. Guys, I
made a decision, I'm running.I'm staying the race. Like, no,
you still need to make a decision. And it's just that that's kind
of the what you're hearing on CapitolHill right now. The President Biden is,

(20:55):
you know, said he's staying inthe race, but you know,
based off what Speaker Pelosi said andwhat's some other democ has just said,
it almost seems like they want himto to, you know, make some
type of decision about running, eventhough he said over and over again,
I'm still the nominee. So look, I know, again you've been sticking
the mic and everybody's face and it'sbeen a little bit inconclusive coming out of
these meetings. But what what doesthe feel that you get. Is it

(21:17):
pretty much what Pelosi is saying,or is it mostly like yeah, I'm
with Biden one hundred percent, oris it what is it? What's the
temperature? Well, it's been it'sbeen fascinating to see a lot of progressives
really passionately defending President Biden. AOCwas one of them. Robert Garcia,
who's a surrogate for President Biden,just like AOC is, was very has
been very passionately defending President Biden.But you know, you're starting to see

(21:41):
the doubts start to creep in,and I think yesterday was kind of telling
that. You know, you havemembers like Steve Cohen from Tennessee and some
others who say that it was verydivisive in the room and everyone is not
on the same page when it comesto this. And you know, there
was one Democrat I was talking tosays that that you know, he isn't
going to call on President Biden steppeddown, but he does think that a

(22:03):
different candidate would be a better optionfor beating former President Trump. And a
number of Democrats who've spoken anonymously oreven some who's spoken on the record,
think that there are more Democrats outthere who are secretly wanting President Biden to
step aside for a different candidate totake over. And I think something else
that stands at Hopy is that yousaw more Democrats start to show concerns after

(22:30):
these meetings happened, it didn't seemlike they got more confident. And then
example is Mikey Cheryl from New Jerseycoming out and saying that she now wants
President Biden to step aside. That'sthe seventh House Democrat to do so.
Michael Bennett going on CNN and sayingthat in becoming the first senator to raise
concerns about President Biden's ability to winin November, those things got worse for

(22:52):
President Biden after these meetings happen.So I think that's substantial. Ryan Schamells,
Fox News Radio Capital Who Ryan,you're on top of it. We
appreciate it. Thank you very much. Hey, thank you. Opy.
I have to go on you too. Yeah, that is significant because every
time there's Biden or Biden, somebodyclosely associated with Biden is of course I'm
running. I'm not good. I'mrunning. I'm running. Get on board.

(23:14):
This is let's move on, moveon, I'm running. And then
Nancy Pelosi a significant voice in allthis. He has a decision to make.
Well, he made a decision.He has a decision to make.
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three million dollars. Back after thisnews update. This is talk Line on
Metro News. Metro News is thevoice of West Virginia. It's ten thirty.
Let's get a news update. Checkingwith the Metro News radio network.
Find out what's happening statewide this hour, all across the great state of West

(24:00):
Virginia, Western Virginia. Metro Newsand signed Kerry Houda, SAX State Center
President Craig Blair says he's not surethe state can afford another five percent reduction
in the personal income tax on topof what could be a three to four
percent cut caused from a previously agreedto trigger. Blair on Tuesday's Metro News
talk Line says he's still interested intalking about the additional cut if Governor Jim

(24:22):
Justice proposes one. This is howwe got here by all of us being
seated at the table, working togetherand compromising with each other. That's exactly
what will happen in this instance aswell. A special session could come.
In August or September, a DoddridgeCounty family had to cut their vacation plans
short after a two year old girldied while they were in Myrtle Beach.
The girl, identified as Lilah Dillonof New Milton, was pulled from a

(24:45):
Lazy River attraction Sunday evening. Shewas pronounced dead at a local hospital.
The State Department of Human Services isout with the first comprehensive study on homelessness.
Deputy Secretary Christina Mullen says the studyshows nearly half of those experiencing homelessness
in West Virginia or between in theages of twenty five and forty four.
It is fairly younger. It alsokind of aligns with what we see in

(25:07):
some of our overdose patterns, sowe know that folks are going to be
a lot more vulnerable in that agegroup to addiction and potential overdose as well.
Mullen says the state has to doa better job of meeting people where
they are and making services more accessible. The survey was conducted as a requirement
by state law. Read more atwv metronews dot com. You're listening to

(25:27):
Metro News, the Voice of WestVirginia. An official message from Medicare.
A new law is helping me savemore money on prescription drug costs. You
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Help paid for by the US Departmentof Health in Human Services. Summer is
almost here, and that means moremotorcyclists enjoying West Virginia's country roads. When
we're on the road, it's everyone'sresponsibility to keep each other safe. So

(26:11):
give motorcycles a full lane width,check your blind spots and use your blinker
when changing lanes, and allow morefollow distance behind motorcycles because it takes them
longer to stop. These simple ruleswill help keep everyone safe on the road.
Share the road with motorcycles. Thismessage is brought to you by the
West Virginia Governor's Highway Safety Program.A summer camp for nonverbal and autistic children

(26:33):
continues at the University of Charleston thisweek. One of the three founders of
the organization, Morgan Goodall, saysthey focus on three core words with the
kids and they practice using those wordswith them throughout the day. Today we
are practicing play and stop. Andso we have a wonderful music teacher in
there that came in and volunteered hertime as well to play instruments and let
our kids play instruments. And we'repracticing play and stop. Read more at

(26:56):
wb metronews dot com from the MetroNews bank or desk on Kerry Huda Sac
talkline for Me and Co Insurance Studios. Did you know that small businesses are

(27:18):
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more at citynet dot net. Thereis a race for the second District congressional
seat that's the northern half of WestVirginia and the eastern Panhandle. That's because

(27:42):
Alex Mooney, who's the current secondDistrict Representative, vacating that seat, he
ran for the well, he's stillthe congressman, but he ran for the
Republican nomination of the US Senate andlaw. So that's an open seat.
The Republican running for that seat isRiley Moore. Currently, to say treasured,
the Democrat is Steve Windlin and hejoins us on Metro. Who's talking
b Steve, good morning, howare you? Good morning, Hopey,

(28:03):
and good morning West Virginia. Andthanks for having me on board. I
think I feel like like I've arrivedat as a true candidate now that I've
been on your show. Well now, let's not get carried away, Steve.
But Steve is a retired naval officer, he's a combat veteran. He
describes himself as an independently minded bluedog Democrat running for Congress. So let's

(28:26):
expand on that a little bit.Why are you in this? So I'm
in this because when I first movedto West Virginia. Let's just call Alex
Mouning an inspirational leader. He inspiredme to run against him. I wasn't
happy with the level of representation thatwe were getting, and then compounding it

(28:49):
just the dysfunction that I'm seeing,and it kind of came to a head
with the January sixth attacks, andI just I realized, I am retired,
I don't need a job, andif I don't do this, I
am just compounding the problem. Theold adage if you don't if you don't
vote, you can't complain. Well, now that I am in a position

(29:11):
where I can run for public officepretty much unfettered, I feel that it's
my duty to run Steve Winland's withhis Democratic Kenna for Congress in the second
Congressional district. Let's run through somethings. The biggest story right now,
which you're well aware of, isthe status of President Biden as the nominee.
Do you support President Biden continuing asthe nominee or do you think you

(29:32):
should step aside? So, firstoff, full disclosure, I am a
pledged, a pledged delegate. Tothank you, thank you, I lost
the word that's right, pledged delegatefor the DMC for the convention, and
that pledge is my pledge. Andyes, the voters of West Virginia have
spoken and I will relay that vote, and yes I do support him.

(29:57):
I think a better question. Imean, I know this is on the
topic everybody, but where are theRepublicans in asking about the fitness of their
candidate? You know, it's it'sjust, you know, I know this
is a very very imperfect situation.But the Biden administration has really pulled its

(30:18):
weight. It has shown us overand over again that it can deliver for
the American people, and really forWest Virginia. I mean, who right
now has not passed some sort ofconstruction zone while they've been driving to and
from work. All right, that'sall the infrastructure dollars that are happening.
I've seen more bridges get repaired inWest Virginia than I've seen any at any
time in my life. And sowe need to give credit where credit is

(30:44):
due. The economy is good,all right, despite all the people saying,
well it's so bad, it reallyisn't. Unemployment record lows. So
you know, let's get credit wherecredit is due. And it's the entire
administration, it's the Biden and I'mconfident that President Biden, though he has
slips of someone that is eighty oneyears old with speaking that he can still

(31:10):
make decisions and he makes sound decisions, and he leads that team, and
he leads our country. Steve Iam all in Okay Steve Wyndlin, who
is Democratic candidate for Congress in thesecond district. Let's touch on a couple
of issues. Abortion is an issuenow. There's some talk about Republicans and
maybe there should be in a nationallaw on abortion. States are acting independently.

(31:32):
What is your position? You're obviouslypro choice, what is your position?
Can you define your position on abortion? So the one thing I hear
consistently from West Virginians is they aretired of government overreach. I can't think
of anything other than the ultimate overreachof reaching into somebody's pants. These are
really hard decisions that need to bemade by individuals with the support of their

(31:53):
family, a medical professional, maybetheir clergy. The government at any level
doesn't have any business in making thesedecisions. So that's where I'm at with
this. If you're trying to nailme down on hey, at what point
you know should you know? Youknow? Am I in favor of something

(32:14):
like late term abortions, and ofcourse I'm not, but I'm not a
medical professional, and we need toput this back in the hands of the
professionals and the individuals who are beingaffected by it, not by a bunch
of legislators. Steve, you alsomentioned on your website that one of your
main concerns is climate change. WestVirginia is an energy state, gas cole,

(32:36):
do you believe that the country shouldmove away even more rapidly from carbon
based fuels, So first of all, we need we need something that's an
alternative. You know, I thinkwe really need to be dumping the amount
of research dollars into nucular fusion aswe did for let's say, the Moonshot,
because that is a game changer forour entire world that will save this

(33:00):
world. Do we need to justsay no to gas and oil. No,
of course not. You know,the time's not right there. And
quite frankly, with how some ofthe renewables have been operating in West Virginia,
I've got some concerns there too.You know. For the solar panels
and the wind turbines, they needto be in the manufacturers here in the

(33:22):
US, the companies that install themneed to be US based companies, and
we need to really harness that inbecause right now a lot of people are
jumping on these suberal programs, butI'm afraid that they are not necessarily backed
by US investors. So go ahead, I'm sorry, go ahead. No,
there's a fun one, okay.Steve Wendlin, Democratic Canada for Congress

(33:45):
in the second congressional district. RileyMoore is the Republican. Steve, you
also say on your website you wantto end partisan politics. Wouldn't it be
pretty to think so we'd all liketo know, eliminate some of the tribalism
that goes on by doing what whatdoes one individual from one district in West
Virginia do if he or she getsto Washington to try to end partisan politics.

(34:07):
So here's the thing. I firmlybelieve this that eighty percent of us
can agree on eighty percent of thepolicies, and that same eighty percent majority
can probably find workable compromises for theother twenty percent. It's the extreme ants
that are constantly pulling the megaphone andare shouting down to everyone else, and

(34:27):
those people need to be pretty muchjust pushed to the side of the herd
and let the adults get in thereand start working out compromises. How can
one person do that, Well,it's got to start with one, and
I think there's a lot of otherlike minded people out there. First of
all, our founding fathers never intendedfor there to be a permanent political class.
Going to Congress should not be yourvocation. Okay, that's why we

(34:52):
have elections every two years for theHouse. It's supposed to they're supposed to
be high turnover, and we havepeople that go in there and then make
entire careers out of it, Sowe need to and they don't answer to
the people. When you are anincumbent, you have a ninety percent chance
of being re elected. You haveto be really, really bad to get

(35:15):
knocked out of and quite frankly,we need to start cycling people through,
people that are willing to work withone another and don't have that tribal as
baked into them. Steve. Finally, you also support balancing a federal budget,
as many do, getting a handleon federal spending. The debt now
is up to whatever it is,thirty four trillion dollars deficits out of control

(35:35):
annually, most of the budget Ithink, like seventy five percent is just
in code, and Congress then fussesand fights to try to come up with
twelve appropriations bills for the remaining twentyfive twenty four percent, and it's just
out of control. How do youget it under control? So we've got
to do two things. First ofall, we need to redefine what provides

(35:58):
for the common defenses. The vastmajority of that money that the Congress wrangles
over goes into defense, and inthirty nine years in the United States Navy,
you're not gonna find any way morehawkish on a strong defense. However,
I've seen so much waste, andif we can simply clean up that
waste, that's the step one,and then reappropriate where we put that money.

(36:22):
Quite frankly, I consider health andhuman services part of the common defense.
You know this is not gonna bepopular, but I'm gonna say it.
The EPA is part of the commondefense. So, boy, I
just heard all the all the votersoff off right there. But you know,
I'm gonna be truthful here. Now. The other side of it is,

(36:44):
we need to restructure our taxes.It is so unbalanced right now.
The middle class, the working classis takes all that tax burden. We
need to get people to pay theirfair share. And giving tax cuts to
corporations and to billionaires who don't needit. You know, we need to

(37:07):
and wee needs to pay their fairshare. I'm not talking about taxing them
to death. I'm talking about simply, hey, pay your fair share.
And it's a rigged game right now, all right, I'll tell you what
we're going to leave it there.Steve Windlan, who is Democratic candidate for
Congress in the second Congressional district,retired naval officer taking on Republican and state
treasured at Riley Moore. Steve,good to talk to you. Good luck

(37:28):
with the campaign. We'll stay intouch, Thank you, sir. Yeah,
you're welcome. Good all right.As Governor Justice always says, West
Virginia is a diamond in the rough. That diamond just got a bit shiny
er with the state being named oneof the top travel destinations in the world.
Our scenic beauty, natural wonder andunique culture are unsurpassed, and it's

(37:49):
no surprise people are catching on.And for those visiting, we hope you'll
decide to stay in West Virginia jobopportunities abound, especially in the coal industry.
Coal mining is a high tech,high growth industry that exists side by
side with exceptional hiking, biking,climbing, kayaking, hunting, fishing,
and so much more. With stateof the art mining operations, West Virginia's

(38:10):
coal industry is recognized as the bestin the world. We produce the coal
that makes the steel that built thisgreat country while continuing to power America Today,
join one of America's most honorable professionswhile living in one of the top
travel destinations in the world. Joinus in almost Heaven, West Virginia.
A message from the friends of Coal. This is talk Line on Metro News,

(38:34):
the voice of West Virginia. Wvmetronewsdot com, the only website you
need to stay informed in the Mountainstate. Get the latest news and sports
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(38:59):
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only hook and bullet radio show dedicatedto the more than quarter million hunters and
anglers across the state. Award winninghost Chris Lawrence has been tracking down hunting

(39:19):
and fishing stories for more than twentyfive years. Stockfish for repatriation purposes to
that's reintroduction, re establishment of brookstrout, and two of those streams,
the oldest that we have worked on, the earliest ones that we started putting
fish into. We've noticed natural reproductionin both of those streams, whether it's
hunting and fishing news or just compellingstories about the enjoyment of the great outdoors.

(39:42):
It was a pretty good flight.It takes me about ten minutes to
get it in. My dad actuallyhad to run to the truck and grab
ant because there's my way I couldlist him up over top of the rail.
West Virginia Outdoors covers it all Saturdaymornings at seven oh six am,
and for your daily fix Outdoors Today, he brings you two and a half
minutes of news and notes from thewoods and water every weekday morning on Metro

(40:05):
News. The Voice of West VirginiaIt's two hours of sports conversation to wrap
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(40:28):
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Insurance, encircling you with coverage toprotect what do you care about most?
Visit in Coca dot com to learnmore. Talk Line from the and Cove
Insurance studios in the Miller Building.I like when we talk about some of
these issues, or many of theseissues, to be data driven, data
driven, and in this instance,and we talk about the homeless issue,

(41:15):
the opioid issue associated with homelessness,the mental health issue associated with homelessness,
housing prices, et cetera, etcetera. Well, there's a new study
out in West Virginia might be thefirst of its con to try to get
some demographic issue about homelessness in WestVirginia. We're joined on Metro News talk
Lin by Christina Mullins, Deputy Secretaryfor Mental Health and Substance Abuse Disorders at

(41:37):
DOHS. She joined us on MetroNews talk Line. Christina, good morning,
Thank you for joining us. Goodmorning, and thank you for having
me. What stood out to you? There's a lot of data here.
We won't be able to go throughit all, but of all the data
that was collected, and again it'snot easy to collect the data from people
who are homeless. What stood outto you to form a basis to start

(41:58):
to further a day, defied theproblem and deal with it. What stood
out to you? What stood outto me the most right away was how
diverse the population was. I thinkthat I didn't understand really that it was
as diverse as it is. Fiftyeight percent of the individuals were male.
But what surprised me the most wasthat thirteen percent self identified as black or

(42:22):
African American, which is notably higherthan the three point seven percent of the
total West Virginia population, So thatwas really surprising to me, And I
was also surprised at how it's affectingpeople that I would consider to be younger
at twenty five to forty four yearsof age. About half of everyone that

(42:44):
we studied was in that age group. Did you see in that? So
it's typically younger or young to middlewho are the most likely to be homeless
in West Virginia. They are alsomost likely the group to have some distance
abuse issues. Is that causation orcorrelation? What connection, if any do

(43:05):
you see there? So I thinkwe can't argue that mental health and addiction
is at least partially driving the homelessnessin West Virginia that we're seeing. But
those issues are also really complex,and while we didn't look at what specifically
caused homelessness, the people that weinterviewed reported experiencing domestic violence, abuse of

(43:30):
childhood's illness and disability, sexual violence, and other traumas or catastrophic illness.
So we really saw a lot ofoverlap though with the addiction and mental health
issues, but it was other thingsthat kind of piled on that really contributed
to the homelessness. That's to me, that's very significant because it's too easy

(43:51):
to frankly, look outside my buildinghere mortgage down and say, well,
there's somebody who's injecting himself or herself. That person's homeless, and that person
has substance abuse issues. Therefore oneis the other. But they're all.
Then you're saying, there's all kindsof things that manifest themselves. Yes,
it's complicated, and I think thisstudy does a nice job of presenting some

(44:15):
really you know, empirical data andpairing it with because we interviewed thirty three
individuals experiencing homelessness and hearing their stories, that helped us understand that goes much
further than just mental illness or addiction. You know, some really bad things
also happen to kind of land themin the situation that they were in.

(44:37):
Does that make trying to solve oraddress the problem even more complicated because it's
not just one thing or another.I think we knew it was a complicated
problem to solve. If it wereeasy, I think people been trying really
hard. I think there's a lotof services out there, But I think
what this does is it gives ussome insights so that we can start talking

(45:00):
about it more as a complex issueand start developing programs or policies or interventions
at either agency levels or you know, at the policy level or the city
level. I think it gives usthat opportunity. Christina Mullins is with his
Deputy Secretary of Mental Health and SubstanceAbuse Disorders at DHS on this conference of

(45:21):
report. This is the first onelike it, right to try to gather
this data. It's definitely the firstone like it. And from West Virginia,
Yes, yeah, are we likethe rest of the nation any idea?
So there are some maps in thereport that kind of show that when
you when you use rates and canlook at it at across the nation,

(45:45):
our homelessness population is not as muchas other states. Based on our population,
we're actually doing pretty well. Butthat doesn't mean it's not a significant
issue for us. Yeah. Howabout housing and affordable housing? How many
of those who were interviewed mentioned thatas a contributor, we did hear that

(46:06):
in the report. The affordable housingis certainly a problem. It's definitely a
barrier when you're looking to get someonerehoused, and it's you know, I
think it's impacting the state across youknow, state wide, and it's you
know, going to disproportionately impact thispopulation. Okay, so you have this

(46:29):
data, what do you do withit? So next steps for us is
going to be to make sure thatwe get it in front of people.
We really want to get it out. We want to meet with some of
the community groups, the stakeholder groups. We're planning to meet with the people
who helped us put this study togetherso that we give the data back to
them. And I'm sure that we'llbe sharing it with the legislature as well,

(46:52):
since they commissioned the report. Now, Christina Mudlin's Deputy Secretary for Mental
Health and Substance Abuse Disorders at DOHS, on this first of its kind in
West Virginia survey of the homeless inWest Virginia. Christina, thank you very
much, appreciate your time. Thankyou. All right, we can all
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(47:37):
for over seventy years. Winning thelottery would be the start of my race
dream. Hitting the open road attop speeds, hugging turns. It's intense.
Are you dreaming of racing again?Not dreaming? I'm practicing and I'm
checking my tickets. It's a mower, It's a dream. West Virginia Lottery.

(48:06):
What if it could happen to you? Please pay responsibly. You're listening
to talk Line on Metro News,the Voice of West Virginia. West Virginia
Outdoors is the Mountain states only hookand bullet radio show dedicated to the more
than quarter million hunters and anglers acrossthe state. Award winning host Chris Lawrence
has been tracking down hunting and fishingstories for more than twenty five years.

(48:30):
Shawt him he ran over to theedge of the field. He made it
about five ten yards out of theedge of the field and fell over there.
Whether it's hunting and fishing news orjust compelling stories about the enjoyment of
the great outdoors. He stuck hishead through the blind into where you were.
Yeah. Yeah, well he hadjumped, he leaped in. Okay,

(48:50):
the blonde oh gosh, yeah,he had. His whole body was
in the air for a couple ofseconds and is the only thing that landed
in the blind was at Bartley.West Virginia Outdoors covers it all Saturday mornings
at seven oh six am and foryour daily fix, Outdoors Today brings you
two and a half minutes of newsand notes from the woods and water every

(49:12):
weekday morning on Metro News, theVoice of West Virginia. Hey everybody,
it's Tony Courritty, I'm Greg Hunter, and I'm Brad Howe, and we
invite you to join us Sunday throughFridays right here on the Metro News radio
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(49:35):
text line available every night. Sowe invite you to join us the Senator
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(49:58):
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(50:36):
Talk line from me and COVID ChurchStudios in the Miller Building. If
you would see Dale Miller, founderof Metro News, founder of West Virginia
Radio Corporation now WVRC Media, wishhim a happy birthday to our founder.
You know, the weekend's almost here. It'd be great to relax on a
pontoon boat from lou Wendell Marine thisweekend. Check out the inventory at lou

(51:00):
Windel Marine Sales dot com. Textthree oh four talk three oh four,
hoppy ask window a Windlin. Uh, what is a fair share? It's
undefined. Yeah, I never likedthat term, like pay their fair share?
What does that? What does thatmean exactly? I mean I think
that tax rates should be philosophically shouldbe fair. Okay, there should There

(51:25):
must be a fairness aspect to taxation. That is one of the principles,
one of the bedrocks of a taxsystem that it is fair. And I
think you could micro down and getinto what constitutes fairness. But when when
somebody says fair share, then Iget a little bit like, well,

(51:45):
wait a minute, now, who'swho's defining that you have too much and
it should be reallocated to something orsomebody who has too little. That's when
I start to get a little bit, a little bit wobbly. Three h
four talk, three oh four.Hope. If the government's going to pay

(52:07):
for the abortion, the government constituentsshould have a say in the policy.
Abortion is not covered in the Constitution, so it should be left to the
states. Well, that was theSupreme Court ruling that it is not that
overturning row is that it is upto it is up to the states.

(52:27):
By the way, do I havethat here? I had something on that.
Let me try to find that becauseI thought it was very interesting and
very relevant. It was about formerPresident Trump and Trump's influence on the Republican
platform. And I know that lotsof times people don't pay any attention to

(52:51):
the platform, but they probably shouldbecause in this instance, here it is
here. It is here. Itis that Trump got a change in the
Republican platform. This is from Axios. So the Republican platform does not call

(53:12):
for a nationwide ban on abortion forthe first time in forty years, so
Trump got a change. According toAxios, Trump got a change in the
abortion platform and for the first time, it does not call for a nationwide
ban. Also, it does notreference traditional marriage between a man and a
woman for the first time. SoTrump got those changes into the platform,

(53:37):
which according to Axios, he wentover page by page. Talk line on
Metro News the Voice of West Virginia. Alrighty hour number two talk line on

(54:01):
the Metro News readio network all acrossthe great state of West Virginia. Heard
back from Steve Wendland, who wehad on earlier, who's a veteran and
second District Democratic Congress. Money wantsme to alert folks because we also had
that segment on homelessness in West Virginia. There is a hotline for homeless vets
and it's eight seven seven four totwo four three eight three eight. That's

(54:25):
a VA homeless veterans hotline. Eightseven seven four two four three eight three
eight. Steve, thank you.We're joined by a libertarian gubernatorial candidate,
Erica Kleinitch. Erica is I thinkshe's originally from Ohio, but she went

(54:47):
to West Virginia Westleyan. She's nowa practicing attorney in Buchanan and she's running
for governor of West Virginia as alibertarian. Erica, good morning, How
are you? Good morning, I'mgreat, happey, Thanks for having me
on, Thanks for coming on.You ran for governor before twenty twenty,
did not get a lot of votestwenty two thousand, about three percent of

(55:07):
the vote. Why are you atit again? Well, you know,
I'm at it again because the Democratswere in control of West Virginia politics for
decades and then, you know,a few years back we got a Republican
supermajority in West Virginia. And whenwe look at the lists that rank states
for things that are bad, WestVirginia in Democratic control is always at the

(55:31):
top of the bad lists, andthen we got the Republican supermajority and the
state of West Virginia continues to beat the top of the bad lists and
at the bottom of the good list, which indicates to me that when the
Republicans were elected in West Virginia,they continue to bring us the same things
that the Democrats did. So I'mback at it again in twenty twenty four

(55:55):
because I think West Virginians deserve somethingdifferent than the two party systems. Well
are they to fight for that?Erica clintch is with his Libertarian Party candidate
for governors. So what are acouple And I have some specific issues I
want to get into, but whatare the What are a couple of the
libertarian principles that you believe will benefitWest Virginia. Sure? Well, first

(56:16):
of all, lower taxes. Wethink that lower taxes are something that is
a libertarian principle that Republicans promise,but that Libertarians will actually deliver on.
The second thing are unnecessary licensing andregulations. And I know when I say
that, people get very scared andthink that we're talking about you know,

(56:37):
coal industries and other industries running rampantin West Virginia and hurting people. We're
just talking about things like license tobecome a barber and barber's having to drive
physically to Huntington to be able tofile their licenses. One of the things
that I'm doing in West Virginia isa barbershop tour, and I'm doing that
because barbers have to have just asmuch licensing as police officers in Westerngin,

(57:00):
which is a little bit crazy,I think, and I think a lot
of people don't know that. Iwas just talking to a barber who said
that he came to West Virginia toopen up his shop in Charlestown for Maryland,
and he was shocked at how hardit was for him to get his
license in West Virginia. And thoseare things that libertarians want to change about
operating businesses in West Virginia that Republicanshistorically hadn't really cared about or given much

(57:23):
attention to. Chicle. Let mego to the tax issue, because over
the last X number of years,the state has lowered its corporate net income
tax from like nine and a halfto six and a half percent. It's
gotten rid of the business franchise tax, It's lowered the state income tax rates
by twenty one and a quarter percent. It's getting rid of the final part
of taxing on social security benefits inWest Virginia. So haven't earlier Democrats now

(57:47):
Republicans, haven't they followed through andactually lessened the tax burden on West Virginians
not enough, hoppy, and youknow they do that, but they continue
to spend. I mean, let'slook at the State of the State address
that Governor Justice gave. He wasstanding there and he was talking about cutting

(58:07):
taxes and he was talking about aflat budget. Meanwhile, he was talking
about increasing spending and creating new governmentprograms, and the Republicans' supermajority from the
floor of the Legislative slature was givinghim a standing ovation. I mean,
you just had Senator Blair on andhe was talking about, you know,

(58:30):
can we decrease taxes? And whatyou didn't ever hear him talking about is
is there a way to decrease spending? So what the Republicans are never looking
about is do we still need allthese governmental programs? Mean, one of
the things about government programs is oncewe create it in West Virginia, we
never go back and look and sayis it something we still need? Is

(58:53):
there a way to run it withless money? And if there is,
we should be giving it back toWest Virginia. When we're talking about a
government surplus, which we hear allthe time in the news, right I
listen to your show, we hearabout a surplus, that's not a surplus.
That's money from the pockets of WestVirginians that they should have in their
pockets so they can give back totheir own communities to help their own communities.

(59:16):
It's not the State of West Virginia'smoney. Erica Kalinich is with US
Libertian Cannon for governor in West Virginia. Let me try to put a face
on your economic principles. I knowyou said on your website you do not
like government picking winners and losers.I get that. So let's say you're
the governor because this does happen.This does happen that there's an entity,
a business that is meeting with youand they say, you know, we

(59:37):
want to come to West Virginia.We want to come to Buck Canon.
We're going to We're a reputable company, been around for years. We're going
to create three hundred jobs, butwe need the state to put up twenty
five million dollars to prepare the site, do some infrastructure there, and then
we'll build our plant. Would youdo that deal? Absolutely not. Under

(59:59):
my my West Virginia, we don'thave to offer that sweetheart deal because our
walls, our regulation, our taxcode has already created an even playing field.
The reason that we have to offerthose sweetheart deals is because we don't
create an even playing field for businessesto begin with, so we find ourselves

(01:00:23):
in these bidding wars with other states. If we created an economic environment in
West Virginia where taxes were low,regulation was minimal, just what it had
to be to, you know,create an environment where businesses weren't harming people

(01:00:45):
and were held accountable when they wereharming people, it would be so easy
for businesses to operate. They wouldwant to come to West Virginia and you
wouldn't have to offer them savers andchoose winners for them to come operate here.
Every business would want to come operatehere, from your local mom and
pop shop on Main Street to yourbig, large, out of state corporations

(01:01:08):
without those favors. Let me turnto some of the sometimes controversial issues with
libertarian views, and that is Ithink it was on your website or a
libertarian website that actions that do notinvolve force or fraud should not be criminalized
or penalized. Actions that do notinvolve force or fraud should not be criminalized
or penalized. What about drug use? Sure, well, drug use is

(01:01:35):
drug use is a decision that anindividual makes. And you know, it's
no secret that libertarians believe that druguse is a decision that one makes with
their own bodies. You know,seventy five percent of our prison population is
serving time for nonviolent drug possession.Since twenty ten, West Virgin's led the
nation in prison population growth, andthat growth is mainly attributed solely to drug

(01:02:00):
possession crimes. And you know,in in West Virginia, like most places,
we continue to increase penalties and drugoverdoses go up as we increase penalties.
To me, that means increasing penaltiesdoes not treat addiction. And in
as long as we continue to treataddiction as a crime, it takes our

(01:02:24):
focus off. You know what whatwhat creates an addict? It's it's a
social issue. You know, Iheard your earlier talk about how homelessness gets
wrapped up in addiction, and aslong as we say that addiction is a
crime, we can't actually help folksrecover. Did would you would you?
Would you? Would you support thelegalization of the use of any and all

(01:02:47):
drugs that are currently elicitor illegal?Sure? I would? I mean I
I don't pretend you know that I'mgoing to become governor in the next day.
You know, heroin is going tobe legal. But you know what
I say to everybody, hoppy,is that back during prohibition, if I
would have said to you, let'smake gin legal, you would have looked

(01:03:07):
at me like I was crazy,just like folks would look at me now
like I was crazy. If Iwould have said to you, the reason
that gin makes people sick is becausethey're making it in their bathtubs. But
if we make gin not a crime, then bad people aren't making gin,

(01:03:29):
and you could go down to yourlocal corner store and buy it, and
people would drink it after work andit would be it would be okay.
It would be safe because companies wouldmake it, they would be held accountable
to the people they were selling itto. People wouldn't be buying it in
the alley. The mob wouldn't beselling it, It wouldn't be associated with
violence, it wouldn't be associated withcrime. You would think I was out

(01:03:52):
of my mind if I said itduring prohibition, just like you think them
out of my mind if I sayit now. But the fact of the
matter is what creates the drug cartells, what creates a market percentinel,
what creates violence, What makes people, you know, steal your bikes to
get money for drugs, is thatit's illegal. If you were able to
go down to cvs and purchase drugsthat are currently illegal, they would be

(01:04:16):
safe. They would be made bythe same manufacturers right now that make day
quill, and people would use itjust like they use beer, oor gin
or whiskey. Now, I tellyou what, well, I'm going to
have you back at some point becausesome of these ideas that are provocative,
and I want to do a littledeeper dive. Today's kind of introductory.
You're a long shot here. GrantedI won't interview as much as the others

(01:04:40):
who are leading candidates, but Iwill have you back and we'll put poke
and prod some of these issues.How about that. I like that,
and I appreciate that, and Iwill tell you that, you know,
I approached Patrick Morrisey in person lastweek and asked him and invited him to
a debate. He, essentially becausehe presumes he's the winner of this election,
indicated to me that there probably wouldn'tbe a debate. So you know,

(01:05:03):
I've been traveling the state of WestVirginia and I've been meeting people on
the streets in you know, atfairs and festivals in counties, trying to
get my message out there. Soyou know, I like that. I'm
happy to talk to you about myideas whenever I can. Well, look,
I appreciate the fact that you're outthere campaigning. Libertarian ideas are provocative
and different, certainly than traditional views. I always get hamstrong Erica by the

(01:05:27):
fact that I've covered a lot ofelections, and frankly, libertarians never get
more than about three or four percentever. Ever, And I'm not I'm
not I'm not dissing you for yourviews or your effort. I'm just saying
that's the reality. So that's there'sthat. But anyway, I appreciate you
coming on today. Good discussion,and I will have you back. How
about that. Thank you, HappyI appreciate that I'm going to get more

(01:05:49):
than three or four percent. How'sthat? Okay? All right, okay,
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(01:06:56):
your legacy, winning the Lottery wouldbe the start of my race, hitting
the open road at top speeds,hugging turns. It's intents. What are
you dreaming of racing again? Notdreaming, I'm practicing and I'm checking my
tickets. It's a mower, It'sa dream West Virginia Lottery. What if

(01:07:25):
it could happen to you? Pleaseplay responsibly. This is talk Line on
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website you need to stay informed inthe Mountain state. Get the latest news
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(01:07:49):
and Three Guys Before the Game.Make a bookmark now and visit WV metronews
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(01:08:11):
Award winning host Chris Lawrence has beentracking down hunting and fishing stories for more
than twenty five years. Stockfish forrepatriation purposes to that's reintroduction, re establishment
of Brooks trout and two of thosestreams, the oldest that we have worked
on, the earliest ones that westarted putting fish into. We've noticed natural
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(01:08:32):
compelling stories about the enjoyment of thegreat outdoors. It was a pretty good
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I could list him up over topof the rail. West Virginia Outdoors covers
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(01:08:54):
Today brings you two and a halfminutes of news and notes from the woods
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(01:09:16):
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(01:09:46):
Kirchiple is brought to you by IncogaInsurance, encircling you with coverage to protect
what you care about most. VisitingCOVA dot com to learn more. Wfused
Department of Athletics just looking into addingdreemium seating and quote unquote fan enhancements to
mylond Push Carr Stadium. What willthey be? Well, it depends on

(01:10:08):
what fans want and I'm sure whatthey're willing to pay for. Rin Baker's
the athletic director of WVU. Hejoints us on Metro News talk Line.
Rin, good morning, what doyou so, how are you going to
find out what ticket holders what fanswant? Well, first of all,
good morning, good morning, being, good morning, every good morning everybody
out there. Beautiful day in WestVirginia. I know it's warm, but

(01:10:31):
somebody who's spent most of their lifein Oklahoma and Texas. This would be
a cool day, So enjoy enjoythe sunshine. You know, you and
I have talked about this before,and I've said publicly before. You know,
mylond Pushcar Stadium and for that matter, the Coliseum are two great venues
where we enjoy tremendous support and agreat home court home field advantage. But

(01:10:55):
when you look at the two venuesare our opportunities for premium seating, clubs,
suites. You know, the lowstyle seating is really minimal. And
when you look at our challenge froma budget standpoint, our budget has not
grown proportionally with a lot of ourpeers. It's because we've not brought any

(01:11:18):
new premium seating on board, particularlyat Pushcar Stadium, in over two decades,
and so we're really starting to divedeeply into that. But what you
don't want to do is build somethingthat is not marketable, there's not a
demand for. And so this surveyis really really important. You'll see us
really pushing our base to answer itbecause we want to know what kind of

(01:11:43):
amenities are people interested in, whatkinds of things. For instance, one
of the questions is about a privateclub inside of Pushcar Stadium, not unlike
the two that we've opened here atw Coliseum with Club thirty five and then
the Clark Family Mountaineer Club. Bothof those have done extraordinarily well. Here

(01:12:03):
is there an appetite for something likethat at Pushcar. So if a wide
ranging survey a very thorough survey,it's a survey that's tailored for the individual.
So if you answer that you're interestedin a club membership, it's going
to ask you a bunch of clubquestions and questions on amenities. If you

(01:12:24):
answer that that's not something that wouldinterest you, it goes on to another
series of questions and is really tailoredjust for you. And so I think
it's going to be very helpful forus as we think about the future,
as we think about making sure thatPushcar Stadium remains a great viable venue for

(01:12:45):
the long term future of our footballprogram, which is so important to our
athletic program in the university and statefor that matter. Collecting this data and
getting good data aggregated is very veryimportant. This survey will go to ticket
buyers, donors, and other andother stakeholders. So I see this,
I see two levels here I seeone as you're trying to meet demand or

(01:13:10):
gauge demand that's out there and thenadjust appropriately. But also, look,
you need a revenue and it wouldbe a and it would ultimately be a
revenue raiser. Is that correct?That is correct? And I've said this
before. You need it to bea revenue enhancer. Now, so we
we know we're going to go outif we do a major renovation to this

(01:13:30):
stay, and we're going to tryand raise a bunch of money, and
we're going to try and get thatto where not only does the revenue that
comes in annually pay for any debtservice, but that it's added. We
were entering this new era of collegeathletics with nil and rev share and all
of the things that we know we'refacing. We've got to find a way
to add to our bottom line.But but it's also when you look at

(01:13:54):
the future, you know you cutyourself off from from some significant expecting when
you can't provide those amenities and thingsthat people want and and that people get
at other professional venues. They goto a lot of our fans also attend
Pirates games and Steelers games and othergames around the country. I know we

(01:14:14):
had a lot of fans going fromhere to see the Celtics play this year,
and so you know, we wewant to make sure that we offer
those those same amenities. Do youhave do you have excuse me, do
you have you looked at various plans? Again, you're doing a survey to
see, but have you looked atsome plans? Have some ideas like those
seating in the in the you know, the south end zone or the east

(01:14:35):
side or throw something out there.What do you look at? Yeah?
We we we do. And soin my mind, I think I have
a good idea and our staff thingshave a good idea of the kinds of
things that would interest people. Butyou know, every every venue is different.
But every time we go somewhere,when we were at Charlotte last year
for the Bowl Game, we weretaking pictures and videos. We went in

(01:14:58):
every seating area that they that theyhave. You know, anytime that uh
I was out in Arizona this summerand I went through a lot of the
Diamondbacks facility with Ken Kendrick's team.And so even time we're around, we
do that. We've got it.Architects engaged, they're they're out of Atlanta,
and they've worked on a lot ofbig, big projects for universities like

(01:15:20):
Notre Dame and and Tennessee and otherplaces. But but also you want to
make sure that you're that you're buildingsomething that fits your fan base and that
you understand what the demand is andand also that there's a trickle down effect.
Right, So let's just say thatthe scope of this takes us to
a place to where we we doaway with our press box side and we

(01:15:43):
rebuild that. We need to know, Okay, if we open up this
new area, how many people thatare gonna pull from diversified energy terrace in
the suites that are in that endzone and does that open up and is
there demand for those or do weneed to rethink those. So you know,
it's a series of levers and dominoesthat affect each other and you really
have to understand the demand that that'sout there. But I do challenge you

(01:16:05):
know, one thing that I've heardsome since I've been here, and that
is that you know, we havemore of a blue collar fan base and
there isn't the demand for this premiumseating. I look around the country and
specifically our conference at places like OklahomaState and Kansas State. Those are not
places that are known for having realwealthy, affluent alumni bases, and they've

(01:16:29):
been able to Oklahoma State has moresuites I believe than any any college football
stam in the country. Kansas Statehas opened up a bunch. So you
think there will be demand, Therewill be demand, and we hear it
a lot. We could sell Iknow, another dozen or so sweets today
if we had them, because I'vehad that many people asked to buy them
since I've been here. So wejust want to make sure that we know
what kind of things, what kindof numbers. You know, is there

(01:16:53):
more of a market for two eightperson suites or is it a sixteen person
suite? And we just want toknow all of that so that as we
firm up plans and start to figureout, Hey, is this project viable?
Can we raise the money to getthis off the ground. But I'm
not hidden from the fact that Ibelieve the lack of premium seating at Pushcar
Stadium in the Coliseum for that matter, is a huge threat to our future

(01:17:16):
viability because I think we're on thelower end in Power conference athletic programs.
Ben I got to leave it there. I got to hit the hard break.
Thank you for coming on. Iappreciate your time. Hey, thanks
happy you have a good one.All right, take care, got to
get a place in the Tony Creedisuite. We'll be right back. Talk
line on Metro News, the Voiceof West Virginia. It's eleven thirty.
Let's get a news update. Checkingwith the Metro News Radio network. Final

(01:17:40):
was happening statewide this hour, allacross the great state of West Virginia.
West Virginia Metro News. I'm JeffJenkins. Authority say. Two West Virginia
residents have drowned of vacation spots inother states in recent days. A two
year old girl from Dodgers County drownedin a lazy river earlier this week at
Myrtle b and a Logan County manageround late last month, and a riptide

(01:18:02):
at Daytona Beach. Looks like thingsare patched up in Cable County, where
there's a controversy for the past severalmonths over school system excess levee funding for
public libraries and parks. The schoolboard voted last night to restore the funding
and the excess levey that'll be upfor voters for November. New Cable County
School Superintendent Tim Hardesty says it's timeto move forward. After the levee that

(01:18:24):
reduced funding was defeated in May.There is a bit of healing we have
to do in the community, andthat can start now. We can start
coming together as a community. Ithink it's important that they see the school
district as part of that community,and so I think it's going to cause
a division within the community. Thelibrary and parks boards are expected to sign
off on the levee later this week. US Senator Joe Manchin taking to the

(01:18:46):
floor of the Senate this week tomake some comments on the life and legacy
basketball great Conaw County native Jerry West. He was a very dear friend to
me and a proud ambassador of theMountain State from the coal fields of West
Virginia to basketball's big stage, asJerry always demonstrated his mastery of the sport
with grace and humility. West diedon June twelfth, at the age of

(01:19:08):
eighty six. You're listening to MetroNews, the Voice of West Virginia.
An official message from Medicare. Anew law is helping me save more money
on prescription drug costs. You maybe able to save too with Medicare's Extra
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able to graduate from college using thepost nine to eleven GI bill debt free.
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(01:20:11):
Not all veterans are eligible for thetyper amount of benefits mentioned You. Cruise
with the State Division of Highways willbe keeping an eye on a section of
years throughout one nineteen in Boone Countyafter part of that highway buckled under the
extreme heat. Tuesday afternoon, Cruisewere able to repair the damage, which
was near Julian overnight last night.Ww football coach Neil Brown, quarterback Garrett
Green, offensive lineman Wyatt milem willbe among those speaking with reporters today at

(01:20:33):
Big twelve Media Days in Las Vegas. At preseason media poll picked the Mountaineers
to finish seventh in the sixteen teamconference. From the Metro News anchor desk,
I'm Jeff Jenkins, talk line fromme and Co Insurance Studios. The

(01:21:04):
Charter Board Charter school board met thismorning. Bran maclaney joins us. He
covered that meeting. Bragg, Goodmorning, Thanks for joining us. So
what issues are confronting charter schools inWest Virginia that they took up this morning,
Hey, good morning. Well,the same issues as every other public
school in West Virginia and probably acrossthe country. Charter schools, as you

(01:21:25):
know, are public schools. Theyget funding from the state education system,
but they can they have broader flexibilityon some of the requirements on other public
schools in exchange for the possibility thatthey might lose their charter. The other

(01:21:45):
way that they are different is thatthey are not technically part of any particular
county. They are often regional innature, whether they are what they call
brick and mortar schools or whether theyare virtual schools, And so when there
are chronic absences within the charter schoolsystem, it is possible that those students

(01:22:08):
in the situation could fall through thecracks. If there are five absences,
there is a layer of required checkingin on the family. If there are
ten absences, there is an evenstricter requirement to check in on the family.
If these charter schools have those kindsof problems, they have to cooperate
with the county school systems. Thecounty attendance directors, who is you have

(01:22:30):
discussed many times on this show,including in the first segment, are overloaded.
So you then add on charter schoolstudents who may reside in the county.
But either the school is virtual onlineor is a more regional and nature
school, then it would be Ithink natural for an attendance director, even

(01:22:55):
if it's their duty to say,oh, I am overloaded. I'll get
to this one. I can.So the discussion this morning, led by
James Paul, the executive director ofthe West Virginia Professional Charter Schools Board was
just reiterating that it's important to keepthose kids in the charter school system up
to speed with their learning, tocheck in on them, and to meet

(01:23:17):
that challenge of the charter schools havingan additional layer of communication with county attendance
officers to make sure that the kidsare on track. I'm seeing a theme
here, and it's as you said, We've talked about it here. A
lot other media have covered it aswell. Charter schools today follow them just

(01:23:41):
like we want to make sure thatif kids aren't in school, we're following
up to find out why they're notand ensure they are in school and learning,
et cetera. Is that this overall, and I think it's a problem
nationwide attendance issue of this absentee issue. I mean, what's the figure that
I'm going to migrate over to publicschools? Now? That's was it twenty
five or twenty seven percent or something? Or a third of public school students

(01:24:05):
are chronically absent, which means ina school year they missed more than ten
at least ten percent of the schooldays. So this is a and you
heard the new school board president onlast hour talking about that too. I
mean, this is a constant andchronic issue, don't you think, or
as the governor would say, isit not? Yeah? Well, I
mean I think you're right. Iam uncertain about the statistic. I just

(01:24:27):
don't know one way or another.But you know, I followed up from
this meeting this morning by asking JamesPaul, the executive director of the West
Virginia Professional Charter Schools Board, whatbrought this up? What was the context
the impetus for having this discussion aboutabsenteeism in the charter schools? And he
said, he pointed to the samefactor as you said. He said,

(01:24:50):
school absenteeism is a problem across thecountry, all right, true? And
you know, then he brought upa related issue, one that has been
the subject of West Virginia's debate,you know, the the chronic absenteeism apparently
of Kennedy Miller before she left theBoone County school system, and then the

(01:25:15):
failure of authorities to check in onher after that. She went officially homeschooled,
but did not her family did notturn in the required assessments, and
therefore there was never any follow upby apparently by the county attendance director.
So in the realm of charter schools, James Paul told me, I'm aware

(01:25:36):
of the recent tragedy in West Virginiawhere the public school system simply lost track
of a student, and he saidhe wanted to reiterate charter school's responsibility to
comply with compulsory school requirements and publiccharter school by laws, and he wanted
to underscore how seriously the Professional CharterSchools Board takes these requirements. That's a

(01:26:00):
interesting phrase that he used, whichI do think applies in general, and
that has lost track, lost track, and that's what's happening in some of
these instances. It culdically happened inthe case of Kennedy Miller. And again
we're not saying not saying that shedied because she was homeschooled. No,

(01:26:20):
she was. The allegation is shewas neglected by her mother and by her
grandparents. They're criminally charged. Weunderstand that we're not making connection, Oh,
she was homeschool therefore she died.We're not making that connection. However,
the case has kind of peeled backinterest in look in taking a closer
look at the accountability which is whatwe're which is what we're talking about,

(01:26:41):
and there it is. Now ithas become self evident that there are children
don't have a number yet, butthe data now supports that there are children
brad that are simply falling through thecracks. They're chronically absent, and as
a remedy, the parent or guardiantakes them out of school so they don't

(01:27:04):
have to deal with CPS or thelocal department of local county board of education
takes them out of school, andthen there's no accountability after that. They're
not turning in the reports that they'vebeen quote unquote homeschooled, and then they're
just maybe they're fine, maybe they'renot just falling through the cracks. And

(01:27:28):
you can see where even if avirtual charter school were to follows its own
guidelines to the TEA, even ifthere were nothing wrong, it would be
a real challenge, just as bythe nature of it to determine if a
kid enrolled in virtual charter school dropit off the grid just didn't show up
anymore, then how do you keeptrack of that kid who checks on them?

(01:27:51):
It does require this interaction between inthis case, virtual charter schools and
the county of residents of the kidenrolled and the attendance directors there, and
that would require an extra effort ofcommunication and follow up to make sure that
somebody is checking in on that studentto find out where they are, their

(01:28:14):
condition, and at least how theyintend to follow through on their academic advancement.
But you know, Brad, thinkabout this. Let's just say it's
a small county and there's what wouldbe and there's three there's only there'd be
more, and there's six hundred kidsin the county going to the schools.
Okay, there's six hundred kids goingto all the schools, and you know

(01:28:38):
twenty five to thirty percent of themare chronically absent, because that's what the
statistics show. And you have anyou have an attendance director. I don't
know how big he or she hasin terms of a staff. Maybe it's
one person. Maybe I don't knowwhat they have. So they're what they're
following up on two hundred kids,they're falling up one hundred fifty kids because
every day, you know, dozensand dozens of kids chronically absent. How's

(01:29:00):
that even possible? I mean how? And then you know you're calling well,
they don't don't get any answer ifyou and then like, well they
move, how do you how doyou do that? I think it's impossible,
impossible to do. And some ofthese counties are rural, so maybe
you're making a home check, butit's out the holler, not easy to
do, and there are increased requirementsfor these county attendance officers. So I've

(01:29:24):
given several examples of interactions with thecharter school system. The homeschool system similarly
has requirements for checking in on kids, and then the Hope Scholarship where students
uh leave the public school system orpretty soon maybe don't enroll at all.
There are requirements there that were requiredcheck ins by county attendance directors. So

(01:29:47):
that is that is a significant workload. Yeah, you know before and I
know that the national narrative brand onthis is people get worked up like,
oh, they're teaching them what wasthis? What was the big content adversity?
They're teaching woke subjects in the schools. We got to make sure they're
not teaching woke subjects in the schoolThey're not teaching what was the big thing

(01:30:09):
that they said? They were teachingcritical race theory? Yeah, which now
has moved to DEI yeah, thatwe got to make sure they're not teaching
critical race theory, and we gotto make sure they're not doing it.
That is so far down the list. First of all, I don't think
it's happening in West Virginia. Ifit is, it's on a very very
limited basis. That is so fardown the list when you think about not
having certified teachers in every classroom,having trouble getting bus drivers, the behavioral

(01:30:33):
issues in the classrooms, teachers gettingburned out, not having certified teachers in
every classroom, as I said,the staff shortages, the attendance issues.
You know, just because a kidcomes back to school after missing five days
doesn't mean they're media is well,what happened over those last five days?
Are they caught up? Are theybehind? How's the teacher managed that?
I mean, you want to talkabout issues, there's the issues. There

(01:30:56):
are the issues. Forget about criticalrace theory, forget about all this other
stuff. That's that's nothing. That'snothing compared to the fundamental issues that are
making it increasingly more difficult to meetthe constitutional requirement for thorough efficient education.
How's that for a rant that waspretty good, and you know it boils
down to are you learning at all? Maybe the kids were spending their five
days on accountant for reading the Communistmanifesto, but that is unlikely. Brad

(01:31:23):
Maclay Metro News Date Why, corresponding, thank you, Brad, appreciate it.
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We are here for winning. Thelattery would be the start of my
race dream. Hitting the open roadat top speeds, hugging turns. It's
intense. What are you dreaming ofracing again? Not dreaming, I'm practicing

(01:32:14):
and I'm checking my tickets. It'sa mower, It's a dream. West
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You're listening to talk Line on MetroNews, the Voice of West Virginia.
West Virginia Outdoors is the Mountain statesonly hook and bullet radio show dedicated to

(01:32:39):
the more than quarter million hunters andanglers across the state. Award winning host
Chris Lawrence has been tracking down huntingand fishing stories for more than twenty five
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He made it about five ten yardsout of the edge of the field
and fell over there. Whether it'shunting and fishing news or just compelling stories
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(01:33:02):
into where you were. Yeah,yeah, well he had jump. He
leaped in okay, the blonde.Oh gosh, yeah, he had.
His whole body was in the airfor a couple of seconds and is the
only man that landed in the blonde? Was you know? Of course his
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(01:33:26):
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(01:33:47):
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forty one million dollars, the MegaMigius jackpot two hundred and three million dollars.
Let me get in some texts Hoppyconcerning your interview with the Libertarian,
I don't know if I agree,says the Texter. With those statistics,
she says, seventy five percent ofpeople in the prison system are there for
drugs. I doubt if it's forusing drug it's probably selling drugs. Well,
I did a quick research here onchat GPT quick research. According to

(01:35:33):
the Bureau of Justice Statistics and theNational Institute of Drug Abuse, about fifty
to eighty percent of individuals in thecriminal justice system have substance abuse problems.
Now, that's not saying they're therebecause of drugs. That's not saying that
that most of the people are therebecause they are drug users, but they

(01:35:57):
have substance abuse issues, so correlationright, causation. They are involved in
criminal activity that gets them in prison, but also they may have drug issues
as well, but they're probably therefor some serious offense as opposed to I

(01:36:19):
was selling cocaine. Maybe, Idon't know, I'll check on that,
But the point is that a lot. The point is that I disagree with
Erica on just legalizing illegal drugs likeheroin or I mean right now, I
mean, fentanyl is a poison.Fentanyl is a poison. Now. I

(01:36:40):
know, if you're talking about legalization, then you're talking about supposedly eliminating the
whole covert industry of shipping the precursorsto Mexico and then get him across the
border. And presumably then you wouldjust have prescriptions where people could go buy
it in the store ever they're gonnabuy, and you wouldn't have elucid drug.

(01:37:01):
I'm just not sure that works.I understand the libertarian principle. I
just don't know if that works.It's been a disaster in Portland where they've
tried it, So I don't likethat idea. Do not like that idea
happy as a recovering addict. I'mthankful that I can't just go to Walgreens

(01:37:24):
and buy Heroin Happy. By notvoting for either, you are voting for
one. Choose your poison. ButI'm sure a SEC wouldn't vote for Donald
Trump. No. I again,I defend my position on that, is
that on a couple levels. Oneis that practically speaking, my vote for

(01:37:47):
the presidency in terms of the data, the statistics, the outcome makes no
difference, makes no difference. DonaldTrump will win West Virginia. Whether I
vote, it doesn't matter. Itdoes not matter in terms of the outcome.
So if it doesn't matter in termsof the outcome, now if I

(01:38:08):
vote for somebody in the House ofDelegates or state Senate, it may well
matter in the outcome, right becauseit could be a much much closer race.
But in terms of the president,it makes whether I vote or not
makes no difference in the outcome.So you go to the second level,
is what is my who do Iwant to give my personal endorsement to,

(01:38:29):
even though it has no effect onthe outcome. And as I've said before,
none of those three and whoever elseis on the ballot, right,
now that I don't know anything aboutnone of those three, and yes,
I still would reserve my right toobserve and complain Hoppy. The reason drug
users steal, commit violence or crimesto get drugs is not because they are

(01:38:51):
illegal. They commit crimes because drugsare addictive. Once they get addicted,
they will do anything to get thedrugs. Yeah. Again, I am
not in on the libertarian view ona legalization of drugs. Not in on
that, I'll be How can youhave a democratic presidential candidate that no one
voted for? People keep saying DonaldTrump's going to in democracy. Putting somebody

(01:39:15):
on the ballot without people voting forthem is the end of democracy? Well,
now, I don't think so,because there was not a serious challenge
to Biden. It was a foregoneconclusion. And what did the primaries really
do on the Democratic front for president? Nothing? Nothing right. There really
wasn't There really wasn't any contested primary. So I don't think the primaries did

(01:39:39):
anything in terms of choosing Biden tobe the nominee. I mean, look,
he's gonna if he's on the ballot, he's gonna lose Iowa. And
that was the first state with thecaucus. So I do not buy into
this whole thing. I mean,back in the day, it wasn't that
long ago that the convention decided itanyway, there weren't that many primaries,

(01:40:03):
So I still think you can switchif you want to. Now, this
is a huge week. This isa huge week and what Nancy Pelosi said
today is extremely significant because she's oneof a handful of people of leading Democrats
that people listen to on this issue. I mean, everybody's got an opinion,
but people listen to. I mean, she Barack Obama, Jim Clyburn,

(01:40:27):
people like that. And she saidtoday on MSNBC on Morning Joe,
I don't have the exact quote infront of me, but he has a
decision to make. Don't think aboutthat for a second, because Biden said,
I'm in, I'm all in,I'm running, I'm in. What
are you talking about? Move on? But here's Nancy Pelosi saying he has
a decision to make. I thinkthis is a huge week on this because

(01:40:50):
next week and Biden's probably thinking,if I can survive this week and hang
on here for another week or twoto be too late to do anything at
the convention, will be fine,So I think he's just trying to hang
on, hang on until this thingdies down, because remember, next week
is the Republican Convention, and that'llthat'll change the news cycle. The news

(01:41:12):
cycle will be a lot because thenetworks will all be at the convention.
There'll be all this news coverage fromthe Republican Convention, and this Biden stuff
will and typically the other candidate doesn'tdo anything during the convention, so there
just won't be as much news onBiden's mental acumen. It will all be
about the Republicans and the convention.Huppy that should be the Hoppy kerchival and

(01:41:42):
Tony Creedy's suite. I'm just joking. There have a Tony Creedy sweet,
but Creedy should put that in hiscontract. Hey, I'm the play by
play announcer. I should have aswite. If you're going to put in
suites, I should have a sweet. I'll leave it up to mister Creedy
and the powers that be at WVand we'll be right back. The high
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(01:42:27):
the new Metro News TV app.Download it today. We get almost Pontoon.
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(01:43:10):
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(01:43:33):
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(01:43:55):
Brooks trout, and two of thosestreams the oldest that we have worked on,
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It takes me about ten minutes toget it in. My dad actually

(01:44:15):
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(01:44:40):
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or watch the show at wb Metronewsdot com talk line from the and Co

(01:45:31):
Insurance Studios. Text at three orfour talks three or four. Hoppy.
I am a teacher, says theTexter. At a large high school in
Berkeley County. We have such ashortage of teachers, service staff, and
bus drivers. It's all we cando to keep track of the students we
do have. The low pay,high stress, overcredit schools are driving teachers
away or into retirement, not tomention the extremely high cost of living here

(01:45:55):
in the Eastern Panhandle. I takethat as gospel as the challenges that are
out there right now in our schoolsystem. Happy score one for Brad mclinny.
Haven't heard about the Communist Manifesto inyears? APPI we read the Communist

(01:46:17):
Manifesto and anthropology class good to readit, so one can see why it's
no good Happy. It seems themore you look into homeschooling, the more
problems you find. I thought yousaid last week that thirty seven percent of
homeschoolers were chronically absent when they werein regular public schools. Was it twenty

(01:46:39):
five or thirty percent you're talking abouttoday, the same kids. I may
get my numbers all crossways, butthe number of students who are chronically absent
in the public schools is something liketwenty five or thirty percent, and that
students who miss at least ten percentof the days. The meanwhile, about

(01:47:02):
seventy five percent of the students whogo into home schooling were chronically absent prior
to going into homeschooling. Okay,sorry if I've confused some of those numbers
or conflated some of those numbers.All right, see you tomorrow. This
has been talk Line on Metro News, the Voice of West Virginia.