Talkline | Sept. 17, 2025

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:12):
Pam Bondi's comments, drawing criticisms from both sides of the aisle,
Marshall's president of putting his money where his mouth is
and the FBI director on Capitol Hill. Oh yeah, Frek
Persinger stop by as well. It's Mention News talk Line.
We're underway.

Speaker 2 (00:28):
You are surrounded.

Speaker 3 (00:34):
Radio turned off from the studios of w v r
C Media and the Metro News Radio and Television Network.
The Voice up West Virginia comes the most powerful show
in West Virginia.

Speaker 4 (00:47):
This It's Metro News talk Line.

Speaker 3 (00:49):
With Dave Wilson and DJ Meadows.

Speaker 2 (00:53):
Activated switch that where can we hold?

Speaker 5 (00:56):
From Charles stand By to David dj or on.

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Metronews. Talk Line is presented by Encova Insurance, encircling you
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Speaker 1 (01:24):
Good morning, Welcome in met You News talk Line eight
hundred and seven six y five Talk eight hundred and
seven six five eight two five five. That's the phone
number you can text the show three oh four Talk
three oh four got a couple of open line segments
for you planned this morning. Get your thoughts on any
number of issues coming up. We'll talk about Pam Bondi's

(01:45):
comments regarding hate speech and cracking it down on it
that's drawn criticism from both sides of the aisle. A
little bit later on Johnny Jacobs new Corp Vice President,
general Manager. We'll talk to him about the progress of
the steel plants they're in Apple Grove, West Virginia. Also,
Marshall University President Brad Smith will join us in the

(02:07):
second hour of the show. He and his wife making
a major, major contribution to Marshall University and the Marshall
for All program. With that, say good morning to TJ. Meadows.
He is in our Charleston studios this morning. TJ. Good morning,
Good morning.

Speaker 2 (02:23):
I tell you that's putting your money where your mouth is,
Dave to put it mildly, to put it mildly, fifty
million dollars. I mean, yeah, he's all in. So we're
going to learn about that, and you know, kudos, can't
say he's not giving back and just what a fabulous gift,
What a great thing to do.

Speaker 1 (02:39):
I saw Brad and actually interviewed him for the Marshall
football coverage on this past Saturday and talk to him
and the ad. Gerald Harrison comes in right after him,
and I told both of them to get out of
the radio booth because if I had him in there
any longer, they were want to convince me to re enroll,
and which is kind of my running joke. And Gerald
without giving a beat to Jason, Oh, you don't have

(03:00):
to do that, but you could cut us a check
and you need to leave too. So looking forward to
talking to Brad the Marshall for All program again. His
enthusiasm is infectious and he's really making commitment. We'll talk
about that coming up in the second hour, bottom of
the hour. We're going to get into your commentary and

(03:23):
you can give us give us a little teaser, TJ,
because you weighed in on and you talked about this
a little bit yesterday. We brought this up with Robert Bolton,
our friend from Fairmount State University, Pam Bondi's comments regarding
cracking down on hate speech, and since she made those,
she's getting criticism from both sides of the aisle.

Speaker 2 (03:44):
And almost as bad from the right side of the aisle,
depending on who you talk to and what opinion is
out there, as from the left side of the aisle.
Bottom line, Dave, there is such a thing as hate speech,
and it is free speech. It is protected. The courts
have ruled on this, and for the ag of the
United States who suggest otherwise, no matter how vile, no
matter how abhorrent the speech may be, it's protected. And

(04:08):
she also gets into this idea that the employee at
Home Depot was wrong to not print the Charlie Kirk flyers.
That's up to excuse me, office Depot. That's up for
Office Depot to decide. Talking about prosecuting businesses if you're
going to go after businesses for that stance, and look,
I think they should print the posters. That's not what
I'm saying. How are you going to stand up against

(04:30):
that baker in California that said I'm not going to
bake the cake for the gay wedding couple. You got
to have consistency, and if you don't, it's politics, it's
not the law. We'll get into it.

Speaker 1 (04:38):
We'll get into that. I've got thoughts because I think
this is strike at least strike two for Pam Bondi's
career as AG. So we'll get into that coming up.
At the bottom of the hour. We had to pull
him in from his office down the hallway He's a
very busy man, very important man. He is the reigning
West Virginia sportscaster of the Year. He's also the voice

(05:00):
of high school sports in West Virginia. We brought Fred
Persinger in the studio for a few minutes this morning. Morning.

Speaker 6 (05:06):
Fred, I didn't know who you were talking about there
for a second. So yeah, and I don't understand one
thing real quick. I think everyone understands completely now what
President Smith and his wife donated to Marshall University. And
he's getting all of this publicity, and I think that's wonderful.
No one instead of thinking about my five dollars.

Speaker 4 (05:24):
I don't get it. I don't understand.

Speaker 1 (05:27):
I mean, really, well, Fred, what you know what inspired
you to make that large contribution to the university there.

Speaker 4 (05:34):
They still have checks with my name. I'm and my
son went there for five years or whatever.

Speaker 2 (05:38):
You know. I was gonna say, you paid your fair share.

Speaker 4 (05:41):
Rate my deal.

Speaker 2 (05:42):
Yeah, my dad used to say they out to give
me a degree talking about West Virginia University for the
amount of money that he paid.

Speaker 6 (05:47):
But yeah, but you know, hey, that's a tremendous time.
I'm looking forward to listening to that because boy, he
has done a tremendous job since being named president. You know,
I mean, really you talk about going in full way.
He has done well.

Speaker 2 (06:00):
And Freddy didn't have to.

Speaker 4 (06:02):
I'll just be honest.

Speaker 2 (06:03):
He does not need the money, doesn't have to.

Speaker 6 (06:05):
I'm looking at a screen saver on this computer here
in the studio, and I can see Brad. They're owning
that island. You know what I'm saying. I mean, but
good for him, good for him and his family.

Speaker 1 (06:16):
He will join us come up about eleven thirty three
this morning here on talk line. Fred is diligently preparing.
He'll be on the air later tonight. Metro News High
School Sports Line seven oh six till nine o'clock. Hard
to believe, Fred, But we are three weeks in a
third end of the high school football season. Have you
learned anything yet?

Speaker 4 (06:35):
Oh, do not believe any of the polls.

Speaker 6 (06:38):
That you see, even the high school official ratings from
the WDSSAC.

Speaker 4 (06:44):
You know, it's early. It is very very early.

Speaker 6 (06:47):
And if any of us around the state they know
anything about high school football, think that Martinsburg is the
thirteenth best team in the state in Quada, I got
news for you, no way, So this thing will all
work out, as they say, it'll all wash out, and
by the end of week number nine you'll have a
real good feel of the teams that are going to

(07:09):
probably make it a long run in the playoffs, that's
for certain. But you know, when you look at those
ratings real quick and all four classes, hard to argue
with the top three in Quada right now, that's Morgantown
University and George Washington. They are the only three undefeated
teams remaining in Class four A. In Triple A, you look,

(07:31):
you see Bridgeport, Fairmont Senior, and Princeton. Hard to argue
with that. North Marion is a very close in fourth place.
They're three and zero. In Double A, Frankfort Independence, Midland Trail,
they're all undefeated. Single A, Wahama, Meadowbridge, Cameron once again
all undefeated. So that's why you see the ratings. They're
based on a formula that I think is the best

(07:51):
way in the world to decide who makes the playoffs.
And good for this formula that's been in effect for
a while. They've played with it, they've updated it, so
to speak, and it still works. So it will work
itself out, I promise you. Before week nine.

Speaker 2 (08:06):
So in terms of the formula, you talked about that
outlier in Martinsburg. I mean, should we just do that,
let it work its way out, or is there something
that should be done to represent earlier on?

Speaker 4 (08:18):
No, not just let it it will, let it work
itself out.

Speaker 6 (08:20):
It's because it's all depending on who you play, sure
when you plans the whole thing. And they even added
a little additional thing to help teams that were shying
away from playing some really good teams because they didn't
think they could win. Well, now you can still get
points even though they're small, but you still get points
even though you lost the game. If you're playing a

(08:41):
team that's in a higher bracket than you are, so smart,
it's smart. I like it. It's just it's not a
real good accurate view of where the teams really are
right now. Other than, like I say, the top is
looking good. I think those teams that I mentioned in
all four classes will be there in the end. They'll
make the playoffs, no doubt about it. They'll make a
good run into the place else and we'll see how

(09:01):
the rest of it goes. But certainly Martinsburg, it's easy
to pick out because, like I say they're thirteenth right
now and they are.

Speaker 4 (09:08):
One and two.

Speaker 6 (09:08):
They just won their first game, but the first two
teams they played were very, very good teams. Huntington is
right now ranked number six at two and one. They
beat Martinsburg a couple of weeks ago, but they also
lost a huge team out of Tennessee. So, Dave, you
know how this thing works. University. Man, They've got a

(09:29):
good test coming up this weekend.

Speaker 1 (09:31):
Yeah, they're going to take on Wheeling Park. That's over
on the island. Wheeling Park. Let me think, beat spring Mills,
but then Muscleman turns around beats Wheeling Park. That's what's
great about high school football for.

Speaker 4 (09:41):
You gotta love it. You gotta love it man.

Speaker 6 (09:42):
Tonight we had Brian Thomas on the head coach at
Musselman last Friday night on game night, and he was
elated that he got to win. He was believing in
his team even though they were zero to two. He
laid the smack down on the transfer portal again. But
good for him, Good for him. It's not been said
to off and lately has it. We haven't talked about it.

Speaker 2 (10:02):
How do you get these kids to look past these rankings.
I know when I was playing, we always wanted to
look at the rankings, and the coach was saying the
same thing. You already make playoffs, guys, make the playoffs. Guys.
How do you get them to look past it?

Speaker 6 (10:11):
You don't, but you get them put it in perspective.
You know, they understand too that. You know, I said
a long time ago that when I was in high
school and I played basketball in high school, but there
was no such thing as a see average rule. Now
you have to have at least a see in the
classroom in order to be eligible to play. Didn't have
that when I was there. Well, we couldn't read anyways,
It didn't make any.

Speaker 4 (10:32):
Different to that.

Speaker 6 (10:33):
But ever since they had that the average rule, kids
are smart now. But you know, hey, they understand. It's
week three. We just finished three weeks and we've got
eight more weeks in the regular season to go, including
this week.

Speaker 1 (10:45):
Talking to Fred Persinger, voice of high school sports here
in West Virginia, high school Sports line coming up tonight
on many of these same metro news radio stations. Who
do you got coming up on the show tonight? Fred?

Speaker 4 (10:54):
Coming up tonight.

Speaker 6 (10:55):
It's always a full show and tonight. We start off
with Matt Kymes, who is the head coach at Parkersburg.
Can you talking with Matt. We'll be talking also with
Steve Edwards Junior. They won a game on Monday night.
They play again on Friday nights. Stevie's one of those
teams that right now is ranked number three. Also at
seven forty five tonight, one of the more outstanding young

(11:16):
ballplayers in the state. A youngster that's a running back
for the Capitol Cougars, David Robinson Junior, and he's going
to join us at seven forty five. And then the
second hour Darren Hayes, they head coach in North Marion,
Aaron Lepoe, head coach of Clay Bottel, and we'll we're
apt to show out with Mark Caesar, head coach at
John Marshall. And if you know anything about Northern baseball

(11:37):
and you remember the Caesar name, that's for certain. But
here's this for you in high school football, Well, let's
see this. I started in radio in nineteen seventy one. Yeah,
and the first year I really didn't get involved in
anything like that at the radio station I was working

(11:57):
for in Beckley. And then the next year I was
engulfed in Beckley Flying Eagle football and basketball my whole thing.
So h seventy two to twenty twenty five, it's been
a year and a half.

Speaker 2 (12:09):
So which your son does now?

Speaker 6 (12:11):
The voice, he's the voice of the Flying Eagles, and
it's really an honor for me because he broadcasts the
home games from the Fred Persinger broadcast booth.

Speaker 2 (12:23):
That's got to be really special, special.

Speaker 6 (12:25):
Special for me. I don't know what he thinks about it.
It's kind of special for me definitely.

Speaker 1 (12:30):
Well, you know who the real you know, hall of
Famer and all this is TJ, don't you that.

Speaker 4 (12:35):
Jan Jan Jan Jan?

Speaker 6 (12:37):
Yeah, yeah, no doubt. Yeah, Jane and I have been married. Wow,
it will be fifty six years in November.

Speaker 2 (12:44):
Congratulations.

Speaker 6 (12:45):
Yeah. And she's been with me through it all, through
it all, you know. So yeah, she's she's the one
in charge.

Speaker 4 (12:52):
Trust me.

Speaker 6 (12:52):
I start to say large and in charge, but she's
four ten, so she's not not very tall and I'm
not very big at all.

Speaker 1 (12:58):
And Fred, you you know better than I do. But
I know as well. In this business, when you're giving up,
you're going on Friday nights. If you do the college stuff,
you're going on. So you're basically going all weekend from
August through December, right, and you got to have a
very understanding and loving spouse back at home. I'm choosing

(13:19):
my words very carefully for very carefully, because you know, it's, uh,
it's a commitment. But it's so much fun. It's so
much it was.

Speaker 4 (13:25):
Indeed, it's fun for us.

Speaker 6 (13:26):
I mean, you know, I've heard a lot of playoff
play guys or color analysts or whoever say, man, they
don't even have to pay me to do this. I
was never one of those guys. I said, you better pay.
But do you hear that a lot? Because it is
a lot of fun and you make a lot of
you make a lot of friends. I did a thing
for head coach Pete coule Certo from Beckley just a

(13:49):
couple of weeks ago, and I recorded when he was going.
They named the field after him at Beckley and I
did a recording that Pete and I used to I
don't know about I don't know when you do your
pregame show each week, Dave, but I always did my
pregame show with the head coach with home Coach on
Thursday evening doing the pregame show. We recorded and play

(14:12):
it back at the game site on Friday, but doing
the recording of the pregame show took ten minutes. I
was with Pete cole Search for probably two and a
half hours, wow, just sitting in his office talking football
and his wife Nancy, my wife Jan never call, never
wondered where anything was, but they knew where we were.

(14:33):
But that's just what you do. There are a lot
of hours involved, no doubt.

Speaker 1 (14:37):
Fred.

Speaker 2 (14:37):
I got to tell you though, not to embarrass you,
not to put you on the spot. And I know
you're a sports guy in your love for that, but
you and I off the air, I'll stop in your office.
We'll talk politics. I think the world will be a
little better place, man, if people had your politics.

Speaker 4 (14:47):
I'm just so well, I'll tell you what. I'm gonna
keep it too.

Speaker 6 (14:50):
I get asked a whole lot, and I you know,
I don't pat myself on the back never ever, ever, ever.
I've been very, very fortunate in my broadcast career. A
lot of people say, I mean you ought to run
for office. Get out of my office immediately, you know, no.

Speaker 4 (15:04):
Way, no way.

Speaker 1 (15:05):
I've always said, I have said when we're at the
state basketball tournament between you and our buddy Mark Martin
over WHS television. One of you could run for Senate,
one could run for governorent You've went in a landslide.

Speaker 6 (15:17):
No contest, Well, Mark, and have them all because I'm not.
I'm not about to, you know.

Speaker 4 (15:22):
It's just that.

Speaker 2 (15:24):
I love.

Speaker 6 (15:26):
I love the state of West Virginia. I'm probably not
the gym justice love of state of West Virginia that degree,
but I love the State of West Virginia. But I
love doing what I do and talking with young kids.
And I mean, it's just a well Dave knows. Dave's
been around it for a long time doing the same
thing I do. It's just you make some relationships that
are very very special. Two years ago, at the state

(15:48):
high school basketball tournament, real quick, I was getting ready
to do a game. I was sitting there at courtside
and a youngster was warming up with a team that's
getting ready to play. He came out of the warm
up line, came over and we were not on the
air yet, and I didn't have my headset on or anything,
and he said, you're mister Persinger, aren't you. And I said, yes, sir,
and he said, you called the play by play when

(16:11):
my dad played down here.

Speaker 2 (16:12):
That's awesome and that.

Speaker 6 (16:13):
Made me feel good. Now, I promise you one thing,
and I've said this many times. If I ever get
someone coming over and said you called the play by
play when my granddad was here, I'm out. I'm dropping
the headset. I'm done, you know. But I've been very fortunate.

Speaker 4 (16:26):
This will be like fifty.

Speaker 6 (16:28):
Four years coming up in March of the state high
school basketball tournament. It's been a fun ride. It really
has a great ride too. Yeah, no doubt, no doubt.

Speaker 1 (16:36):
He's the voice of high school sports, Fred Persinger. He'll
be joined by Dave Jecklin and Joe Braccado tonight for
Metro News High School Sports Line seven oh six to
nine on many of these same Metro News radio stations. Fred,
thanks for stopping by.

Speaker 4 (16:48):
It's funny time, buddy.

Speaker 1 (16:49):
We'll take a break. We're back at the moment. This
is talk Line from the Cove Insurance Studios.

Speaker 6 (16:53):
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Speaker 7 (17:23):
Football season is here. Get Mountaineer football coverage and watch
live high school football games every week by downloading the
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(17:45):
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Speaker 1 (18:17):
Three or four Talk three oh four Texter says, without
Fred Persinger, it just would not be West Virginia High
school sports agreed. That's why he's the voice of high
school sports. Three or four Talk three oh four Fred,
Morgantown University High School are todd first place in the
four A football standings. Yes, let's plan now to move

(18:39):
this game between these schools to Mountaineerfield. The game is
Halloween and w is Away, says the Texter.

Speaker 2 (18:47):
They used to do that, didn't they. I mean, as
a student there, they had what they're called it the
Mohawk Bowls.

Speaker 1 (18:52):
It's still the Mohawk Bowl.

Speaker 2 (18:54):
Okay.

Speaker 1 (18:54):
Both teams actually have their home own home fields now.
Used to be they had to share Pony Lewis Field.
But yeah, they played it. Oh, what was the year?
It was two thousand, two thousand and one. Maybe was
a legendary game at Mountaineer Field. The lower Bowl was full.
Everybody in Morgantown was there, even if they weren't. Yeah, yeah,

(19:14):
it was great. It was great. After a while though,
the novelty kind of wore off. But now that you've
got now, what's cool TJ is they each have their
home home field, so you have a home field advantage
and you get to host the game at your school.
It's still a lot of fun on the one of
the coolest rivals rivalries in West Virginia.

Speaker 2 (19:32):
Yeah, I bet the kids would like that though, the
opportunity to play on that field.

Speaker 1 (19:35):
I'll tell you what, if you got a one versus
two matchup, that would be it would be intriguing.

Speaker 3 (19:41):
Let me see.

Speaker 1 (19:42):
Texter says, if Pam Bondi is going after hate speech,
then her and then her first target should be Maga
Rapper for gotto. Can I even say that on air?
I don't know, and Maga country singer JJ Lawhorn for
their song Good Versus Evil, which has lyrics that appeared
to promote lynching and white supremacy. Happy to hear you,
guy's finally calling out these frequent threats of unconstitutional violations.

(20:03):
Usually it's dismissive eye rolls. Then on to w or
high school football. Well, first of all, I have no
idea who either one of those artists are. I quit
listening to new music about ten years ago. It's that's
my thought on new country music. Secondly, you will get
your wish because coming up on the other side of
the break, we're going to get into this a little bit.

(20:24):
Mentioned it for a moment yesterday with Robert Bolton. TJ
if you would like a little prequel, wrote about it
in his commentary over at wv metronews dot com. I
have three observations regarding the comments and their implications, TJ.
But certainly she's catching criticism from not just the left,

(20:47):
but she's catching criticism from the right. Both Republicans and
Democrats have problems with her comments that she made. I
believe this was during a podcast is where she made
those initial comments.

Speaker 2 (20:57):
Brit Hume went after her heart Charlie Cook Eric Ericson,
who's a major conservative voice in Atlanta in the South.
I mean, a lot of conservatives are like, wait a minute,
so yeah, we'll get into it, but us irresponsible. I
think she knows better. I think she knows better. It's
one of these things. Could I get away with it? No, No,

(21:20):
you can't.

Speaker 1 (21:20):
Well, if you want to see the answers to the test,
read TJ's commentary while we go to the news break
and we will discuss coming up. Also later, Brad McElhenny
stops by the latest on the legal wranglings in the
vaccine exemption religious exemptions case that continues in Raleigh County.
That's all straight ahead as talk Line continues. Talk Line
on Metro News for forty years, the Voice of West Virginia.

(21:45):
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 great state of West Virginia.

Speaker 5 (21:54):
West Virginia Metro News. I'm Jeff Chank. History citizens groups
are appealing a decision to grant developers in air quality
permit for a data center plan for Tucker County. Tucker United,
West Virginia, Highlands Conservancy and the Sierra Club have all
joined together on that appeal to the State Air Quality Board.
The group's alleged the deep should not have been granted
to permit, but cause the agency wrongfully hid critical information

(22:15):
about the facility and incorrectly classified the project. Virginia Based
Fundamental Data LLC wants to operate the large gas Power
Data center near Davis. Next hearing in the challenge to
the state's mandatory school entry vaccination requirements could include testimony
from the states recently named Acting State Health Officer doctor
Mark McDaniel. Rowley County Circuit as Michael Froeboy is entered

(22:36):
the subpoena calling on McDaniel's testify when the case resumes
in a hearing next month. We'd more in that subpoena.
This morning story posted at WVE metronews dot com. Stay
School Building Authority. We're here from thirty two county school
superintendents during two days and meetings in early November. That's
how many counties had submitted plans to the SBA for
school construction projects. Executive Director Randy Neptune tells Metro News.

(22:56):
These are always tough decisions.

Speaker 8 (22:58):
We will spend time out in the field looking at
those even I even myself go out and look at
those projects to give our authority members the best information
we can for them to vote.

Speaker 5 (23:11):
Those funding decisions will be made in December. SBA has
about forty three million dollars to hand out. You're listening
to Metro News for forty years, the voice of West Virginia.

Speaker 7 (23:21):
Get ready for some hard hitting high school football. The
twenty twenty five season continues Friday night with our Go
Martin Game of the Week Martins Bergen, Hedgesville, Lut's Catch
ok Hill and Shady Spring Williams Town at Ron County
and parkers Burg versus parkersburg'sou all on Metro News TV,
brought to you by that Thrasher Group, Marshall University, and
the Mountaineer Challenge Academy. Download the free Metro News Television

(23:41):
app on your iPhone, iPad, Android, Apple TV, Roku or
Fire TV, or visit DOUBDV Metro newstv dot com for
more information.

Speaker 6 (23:51):
Attention high school football fans. If you're wondering where your
team ranks each week, check out the Tutors Biscuit World
Power Rankings at wv metronews dot com. Each Tuesday morning,
Metro News will update the power rankings for all four
classes and the find out where your favorite team ranks.
Simply go to wv metronews dot com, click on the
high School Sports tab, and then the high School Power Rankings.

(24:12):
Twenty twenty five Metro News Power Rankings are presented by
Tutor's Biscuit World. Start your day the homemade Way. Visit
them at tutorsbiscuit World dot com.

Speaker 5 (24:22):
Today marks a significant anniversary in the United Way of
Central West Virginia's Day of Caring program is the twentieth
Day of Caring whether a thousand volunteers are working on
dozens of service projects today. A kickoff celebration held earlier
today at the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center. Greenboro County
Sharffes Department says a man's in custody on child pornography
and drug charges. Forty four year old Earl Myers of

(24:42):
White Sulfur Springs was arrested last week following an investigation
by the Shares's Department and the Greenbrier Valley Drug and
Violent Crime Task Force. From the Metro News anchored ask,
I'm Jeff Jenkins.

Speaker 1 (25:16):
Three at four Talk three at four text, he says,
Oh gosh, I guess it's that time of year. I
have to hear you all say power rankings over and
over and over again. Yes it is, I'm sorry, question mark, Yes,
yes it is over WWE Metro News dot com. This morning,
mister Meadows, who anchors coverage from Charleston, has his commentary posted.

(25:38):
Pam Bondi's dangerous, disingenuous game. TJ take it from there.

Speaker 2 (25:44):
Please, let's set the stage. On Monday, Bondi told a
popular podcaster, this is quote. There's free speech and then
there's hate speech. And there is no place, especially now
after what happened to Charlie Kirk, in our society. We
will absolutely target you, go after you. If you are
targeting anyone with hate speech. Let's also go further. She

(26:08):
appeared later that night on the Sean Hannity Show making
comments many comments in regard to this, but the one
I honed in on had to do with the fact
that an office depot employee refused to print posters for
a Charlie Kirk visual. This is what she said, quote.
Businesses cannot discriminate. If you want to go in and

(26:30):
print posters with Charlie's pictures on them for a vigil,
you have to let them do that. We can prosecute
you for that. A couple of things, David, Then we
could get into your opinion. One as vile as what
the Westboro Baptist Church does with these military funerals. The
court is ruled, yes, it's hate speech, but it's protected

(26:51):
speech under the First Amendment, protected speech. The government doesn't
have a place of prosecution in this, and for Pambody
to sugg otherwise I think is both disingenuous and irresponsible.
And it's one of these things where you have to
wonder is she testing how far she can go before
someone calls her on it. In terms of the office

(27:12):
depot employee, hearken back to twenty sixteen the case of
a Colorado baker, Jack Phillips, who did not want to
bake a wedding cake for a gay couple. That went
all the way to the Supreme Court. While the court
did not rule specifically on refusing business, it did rule
that you couldn't be dismissive of his personal religious beliefs.

(27:34):
That's a paraphrase of the order. You can go read
it if that is defensible, and that should be defended. Oh,
by the way, Bondi wrote a brief her name's on
a brief as part of that case, saying, Yep, that
guy should be able to do what he wants to
do refuse the business. Then how can you get upset
when somebody at office depot does the same thing. Leave
that the office depot. They dealt with their employee, They

(27:56):
fired the employee. They wanted the business. But it's up
to the business. The government has no place prosecuting or
persecuting private business for those decisions when the marketplace will
better handle it. If people don't like it, they won't
shop it office depot. If they support it, maybe they'll
shop it office depot more. Either way, the government just
MUCKs up the works. That's the gist, sir, and I

(28:19):
agree with you.

Speaker 1 (28:22):
Hate speech is protected speech, like it or not.

Speaker 2 (28:24):
We all know that.

Speaker 1 (28:25):
The Constitution says that. And remember and remember this when
you are going to target speech you don't like, if
that's in fact what she is promising to do. As
Robert Bolton pointed out yesterday, our friend from Fairmont State
University political science professor, remember that when the other party
wins the White House and is in control of Congress,

(28:49):
they could target what you're doing, and you're going to
be on the other side of that. So it's not
not a good idea. Number one, so hate speech is protected,
we know that. But number two, and you touched on
it there just a moment ago. When it comes to
these comments TJ that have gotten so much attention in
the last few days celebrating Charlie Kirk's death. The ones
that are celebratory, the ones where people are posting that

(29:11):
they are glad he was assassinated. Terrible, they're disgusting, they're vile.
But people have the right to make them. However, the
marketplace will take care of that, and we have seen
that happen. We have seen companies move swiftly for people
who have posted those types of celebratory comments, even comments

(29:32):
that weren't celebratory but were insensitive and ill timed and
ill written. Companies have moved swiftly because that is a
bad look on them. They will do that. And here's
the third takeaway from this, TJ. Maybe a little bit
broader to me, this is strike too. You say, possibly
she's testing the waters. That could be. I'm leaning toward

(29:55):
more incompetence that she This is the second big muck
up that she has caused the administration, the first being
the Epstein file saying that I've got the list on
my desk. That's caused a headache and a half and
just added fuel to the fire for the conspiracy theorist
out there who live on whatever particular social media platform. Ah,

(30:16):
she said, she said she's got the list, So that
caused a headache. This has caused a headache and is
drawing blowback from both the right and the left. And
if it's not it's maybe strike two. And maybe she's
filed off a pitch or two as well, And I'm
leaning toward the age old adage TJ. If you're more
of a headache than you're worth, your company will get
rid of you, right, and maybe your president will too.

(30:39):
And maybe the president's looking at this one. I've had enough,
I've had enough of this, or maybe this will be
coming to a head at some point. But I'm with you, though,
the government does not need to get involved in trying
to police speech, whether you like it or not. That's
just that's one of our founding principles in this country.

Speaker 2 (30:58):
And I think that was intentional. Think the founders knew
that they were visionary to some degree in that we
can go back and some may say, and I even
suggested Robert Bolton yesterday Dave Well, was it an accident
or were they really genius and what they're doing? I
tend to agree with him. I think that was purposeful.
I think they knew exactly what they were doing when
it came to government censorship versus letting the public sector

(31:19):
deal with private comments. I will say in fairness, Axios
had a piece out yesterday. I saw it after I
pended this where BONDI was trying to walk back some
of these comments, Okay, fine, but one it didn't walk
anything back about the private sector issue that we're talking
about in terms of this office Depot case and the

(31:40):
fact that, look, if you support the Baker, how can
you not let office Depot do what they want to do. Secondly,
sometimes sometimes and I don't know the case, but sometimes
these walkbacks are because somebody, to your point, has set
you straight, and it's not necessarily what you meant or
what you understood. One of the more broad pieces of
pushback I've received on this piece, and I appreciate the pushback,

(32:03):
But when you go look at some of the comments
on our own social media page, one of them is, well,
she knew you know, no one believes that she really
meant that. What what if you don't mean it, don't
say it exactly? And I just I can't dismiss that.
I can be forgiving of someone for making a mistake
and misspeaking. I do that all the time. We all

(32:25):
make mistakes. But I think that this is the Attorney
General of the United States talking about something, to your point,
that is fundamental to the way our system works. If
she says it, I absolutely should believe that that is
what her intention is, and that's.

Speaker 1 (32:41):
Where I lean into. I'm leaning more toward the endcompetence side.
If you said that and you meant it, then you
either did not know the law or you've disregarded a
fundamental element of our constitution. If you said it and
meant it, or if you said it and you didn't
know it, well that's a that's a problem as well. Yeah,

(33:01):
but you know, I go back. Things will take care
of themselves. I know you you're a big free market believer, TJ.
I know you're a big believer in the free market.
Things will take care of themselves. Office depot, if that
employee did not want to print the signs, then it's
the office depot problem to take care of. To come
down and go either support the work and say no,

(33:23):
we're not gonna do that, or they're gonna come in
and they're gonna go no, your job is to print
the signs. Either print them or you're fired. It's office
depots problem. It's not the government's problem.

Speaker 2 (33:30):
And just to head off a few things, because I
did bring up the baker in California, i'd to bake
the cake. My personal interpretation of scriptures, I do not
believe that that homosexuality is condoned in the scriptures.

Speaker 9 (33:44):
That's me.

Speaker 2 (33:45):
You do you with that said, bake the cake. Bake
the cake. That's what I'd have done. Bake the cake.
And on this thing, print the posters.

Speaker 1 (33:55):
Let's get some comments here. Three or four talk three
h four is the text line, did pot Will you
all please briefly summarize what TJ said that was controversial?
Did you say something controversial? U?

Speaker 2 (34:14):
When?

Speaker 1 (34:15):
Okay, maybe by have the list on her desk. There
was never a list. That's the thing. There was never
a list protected speech unless it incites violence or unrest,
that is not protected. That is true. That is true,
but we're not talking about that, or at least that's
not what she said. She said hate speech, and hate
speech is protected, but it.

Speaker 2 (34:36):
Is what she's backpedaling on. Yeah, that's kind of what
she's backpedaling on. But to the texter's point, let's just
call that out, and I do that in the piece.
So here are the exceptions in their narrow incitement true
threats are fighting words not protected. Other than that, as
it stands today, free game tex that just says office

(35:00):
depot issue was completely different than the Baker. The Baker's
religious liberty was the issue, and he could not be
forced to violate his faith. The office Depot employee was
despicably refusing out of politics and spite, which she cannot do,
asserts the Texter. I don't know that I would agree
with that, if I'm being honest. It's a matter of

(35:22):
personal freedom, is it not. One man's religion is another
man's politics. Gets a little subjective there. I take the point.
I'm just not sure I would fully concur with it.
I do think there's a problem if you know, you
can't have your cake and eat it too on this,
if you're going to be supportive of the Baker office. No,
you see what I did there. Yes, August Depot should
be able to do whatever they wanted, and they did.

(35:42):
For the record, I think you touched on this. They
fired that employee that day.

Speaker 9 (35:46):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (35:47):
Free market will take care of it. Free market will
take care of the.

Speaker 1 (35:49):
DOJ needs to worry about the DOJ's core mission. What's
the core mission upholding the law, keeping the country safe.
That's what the DOJ and needs to focus on, not
what people are posting on social media, unless they're inciting riots,
unless they're inciting violence. That's a different story, that's a
different take. All right, we'll get more of your texts
coming up on this. Plenty of them are rolling in
up Next, Brad McIlhenny will join us. We'll get the

(36:11):
latest on the legal wranglings as the vaccine requirements and
religious exemptions case continues to work its way through court
in Raleigh County. We'll do that right after this. This
is talk line from the and COVID Inshurance Studios.

Speaker 10 (36:24):
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Speaker 1 (38:17):
Text Line is three or four Talk three or four.
Text Or says TJ. I had to bake the cake
and charge double. That's your prerogative, I mean, isn't it.
And then they'd have went somewhere else if they didn't
want to pay double. It would have worked out so
much better. We'll get more of your texts coming up
in just a bit. We got a jammed second our.
Ryan Schmell is going to join his Fox News Radio

(38:39):
Cash Patel, the FBI director, back on Capitol Hill today
for a House hearing. He was on the Capitol Hill
yesterday for a Senate hearing. Corey Booker broke out the
crazy eyes yesterday. We'll get into all that with Ryan
Smells coming up Fox News Radio second hour of the show.
A Raleigh County judge wants to hear from the state's
highest or top ranking doctor as the case regarding vaccine

(39:02):
requirements and religious exemptions continues working its way through court.
Metro News state Line correspondent Brad McElhinney joins us this morning. Brad,
good to talk to you this week.

Speaker 11 (39:12):
Buddy, Oh Hi, good morning guys.

Speaker 1 (39:15):
So what is the latest. Who does the judge want
to hear from as this case continues to work its
way through court.

Speaker 11 (39:21):
H Well, you know, we talked about this case in
Raleigh County. We've talked about it all summer long. But
last week the judge, Judge Froebel, had two days of
permanent injunction hearing.

Speaker 1 (39:34):
It's not over.

Speaker 11 (39:36):
Everybody's coming back to the court room October eighth and ninth,
And in the meantime, Judge Frobil has made a decision
on his own. He put in a subpoena yesterday for
the acting State Health Officer, that's doctor Mark McDaniel, who
was named to that position by Governor Morrissey last month.

(39:57):
You know, in a couple of a couple of reasons
that magnificant one is that none of the lawyers in
the case, to my knowledge, asked for doctor McDaniel, the
new state Health officer, to take the stand. This was
the judge's decisions. So doctor McDaniel must have something that
the judge himself wants to know about. And here's what

(40:20):
I suspect. This subpoena that the judge put in the
system didn't give a reason, but you know, based on
other context clues under the Governor's memorandum for the executive order,
it's the state Health Department that's processing exemptions to West
Virginia's vaccination laws, and I think probably the judge wants

(40:42):
to hear how those are being processed. What is the
reasoning behind the scenes, for are they all approved? Are
only some approved? Does it depend on what you say?
Does it depend at all on what your reasoning is?
That gets to much of the heart art of this case.
It was revealed in court last week that five hundred

(41:05):
and seventy exemptions have now been processed and approved in
West Virginia. The judge expressed concern from the bench that
that is an ever growing number, and you know, it's
anybody's guess what the top amount might be eventually of
of exemptions processed. Finally, you know, this may relate to

(41:29):
another question that the judge really expressed trouble over from
the bench last week, and it's one that TJ has
dwelled upon on this program. What is the difference between
a religious and philosophical exemption? The governor's executive order addresses both,

(41:49):
but the religious Freedom law, which is at the heart
of this case, only addresses religious freedoms. How could you,
and I'm kind of addressing this to the audience today
as well, what would be a way to express in
the law, or to differentiate in the state Health Department
process between a religious and philosophical exemption. And the judge

(42:12):
has let the lawyers in this case know that he
wants them to briefit in writing that question within the
next two weeks. I'll leave it to the audience now.
But I think that's actually a hard question to define
in the sense that your beliefs.

Speaker 9 (42:25):
Are in your heart.

Speaker 2 (42:28):
Not an easy task, Brad, I would agree with you.
I guess a couple thoughts. One, I'm glad we have
a state health officer. Now, that's a good thing, so
there's that kudos there. Two how common is it? I mean,
judges have broad power, I get it, but you've hit it.
Neither side called this guy, and maybe that's problematic. Maybe

(42:49):
they should have. But a judge calling a witness seems
extraordinary to me when neither side had it as part
of their case, and almost seems an easy way for appeal,
which we know this is going to appeal anyway. It
just continues to be extraordinary in a lot of different instances.

(43:10):
But I was sitting here thinking as you said that,
I don't recall a judge doing that recently, at least
maybe not in a case that was high profile. Maybe
it happens more commonly and we just don't know about it.
But have you heard about that, Brad, happening often is
that new on your experience, it.

Speaker 11 (43:25):
Struck me as unique. And I will say that a
few of the things that this judge has done in
the handling of this case have caught me by surprise.
One is that you know, the temporary the permanent injunction
hearing that I just spoke of both sides. Both lawyers
on both sides asked for it not to happen.

Speaker 9 (43:45):
So let's just let's just move on to.

Speaker 1 (43:46):
The Supreme Court.

Speaker 11 (43:47):
We don't need all these days in the courtroom. But
Judge Froebel decided to go ahead, and his reasoning was
that if it does go to the Supreme Court, they're
going to want a more fleshed out out set of
facts that have been developed in the local courtroom. And
you know, if that's his logic, if he's if he's

(44:09):
conducting hearings knowing that it's all headed to the Supreme Court.
I actually just between just between me and you and you,
I don't know that it's a bad idea to get
the state health officer on the stand and say, how
are you making judgment calls about what is what is
a good reason for an exemption? And I mean is

(44:32):
there anything that would not pass the test. I think
that knowing that it's all headed for the Supreme Court,
and if the judge is taking the reasoning that he's
he's fleshing it out and giving the five justices a
lot of good material to go on. I don't know
that it's bad to have the State Health officer, Brad.

Speaker 1 (44:52):
I've only got a second here, but I kind of
land in the same spot as you, you know where
I am. I wish there was an express lane to
the Supreme Court so we could get this done, get
it answered, and we can move on to the next thing.
But giving the judge the benefit of the doubt, he's
trying to fulfill his obligations, his responsibility, his duties as
the elected judge on that circuit in Raleigh County. Let's

(45:16):
get as much information as possible before this goes or
as this goes to the or State Supreme Court, which
we know it will at some point. Brad, we're out
of time. Appreciate the update. Keep us posting. Hey, thanks,
I'll keep your postal coming up. We'll get a couple
more text in. We'll reset for the top of the hours.
Talk line for the encove insurance studios.

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Coming up second hour, we are jam packed box news radios.
Ryan Schmells will stop buy We'll get a recap of
cash Betel's hearing on Capitol Hill. Also, Marshall University President
Brad Smith will join us. He just made a huge
donation to the University. We'll talk about that and the
Marshall four All program. Go get you another cup of

(47:12):
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The Voice of West Virginia.

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Speaker 1 (47:36):
Second Hour Metro News talk Line already in progress. Eight
hundred and seven to sixty five. Talk is the phone number.
Eight hundred seven six five eight two five five. That's
the number. If you'd like to call and participate in
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(47:57):
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he's the operator as well. Sitting by awaiting your phone call.
Coming up Fox News Radios, Ryan Schmells will join us.
We'll get an update and a recap on FBI Director
Cash Ptel's hearing on Capitol Hill. A little bit later
on Marshall University President Brad Smith will join us TJ.

(48:21):
Good morning.

Speaker 2 (48:24):
It works if you turn it up good morning, day,
it works a lot better.

Speaker 11 (48:27):
Though.

Speaker 2 (48:27):
It works a lot better that way if you turn
it up good morning. Yeah, Pttel, I didn't know that
was day two into that. I'm eager to get the
update listened a little bit yesterday, tough questions, but looks
like he's back for round two today.

Speaker 1 (48:37):
So yep, we'll get the latest. Ryan Smells will join
us in just a little bit. So the last couple
of weekends. Not that people are curious about my travel schedule,
but it takes me all over the state, and my
preferred route when I go to Huntington from at least
my mom and dad's house in Saint Mary's when I
stop it there at the B and B for a
Friday night, is to go down Route too. You know,

(48:59):
you get off the four lanes, you get off the highway.
It's kind of nice. And if you've not been down
Route too through Mason County recently, you're not even going
to recognize the area as you drive down route to
New Core has continued. That structure that plant is going
up and it has spawned a lot of local business

(49:21):
around it, and you can see just the massiveness of
that operation going up there on route too. To give
us some more context and talk about the continued development
of that facility, Joining us in the Charleston studios this
morning is Johnny Jacobs. He's vice president and general manager
of New Course Deal West Virginia. Johnny, good morning, Thanks

(49:42):
for coming in joining us.

Speaker 2 (49:43):
Good morning day even TJ.

Speaker 1 (49:45):
Proud to be here.

Speaker 2 (49:46):
Thank you all for allowing me to be on the
show this morning.

Speaker 1 (49:49):
I appreciate it. And actually the last Saturday I purposely
went down too because I wanted to see the growth.
I remember for years I'd go down and those were
corn and soybean fields there on the river. Next year
that saw the dirt moving. This year I come by
and I went, Holy col that is a massive facility.

Speaker 12 (50:07):
Yeah.

Speaker 15 (50:07):
We are so excited about the progress the team's making.
You know, it's been roughly two years since we broke
ground there. We're nearly sixty percent complete on the project.
We anticipate and still on target to start the facility
up at the end of next year. We'll start cold
commissioning of equipment in the coming months with operations beginning
in late twenty twenty six. You know, when you think
about the perspective of the facility, you know, it's two

(50:29):
point five million square feet under roof, but that's almost
sixty acres that the team is going to put under
roof when that facility's up. We've grown the team to
three hundred and fifty direct new core teammates already, so
we are hiring, so as you come by there and
make sure if you want to put your name in, okay,
But we've also got about twenty five hundred contractors that
are helping us facilitate the project.

Speaker 4 (50:49):
Today.

Speaker 2 (50:49):
Could not be more proud of the progress being made.
So I don't know much, frankly about the steel industry.
What kind of manufacturing is going to go on at
that facility. I'd imagine most West Virginia don't know much
about it either. Educate us, Yeah, TJ.

Speaker 15 (51:03):
You know, our almost four billion dollars stay of the
art sheep mill facility is going to produce a wider
array of products. And if you think about the way
we go about making steel, it's different than perhaps what
people in these regions are familiar with. It's not the
old technology of blast furnaces. You know, New Core has
been in the steel industry for about sixty years and
we've been pioneers around electric art furnace still making and

(51:25):
with that we take and we're not only the largest
steel and stel products company in the US, but with
the largest recycler. So we take recycled steel and actually
use electric art furnaces to melt it down and produce
a steel sheep product. And that product actually gets used
in applications from anything from the washing dryer you have
at home to the buildings. And the buildings are going
to be erected in the coming years, the data centers, warehouses,

(51:47):
the construction that's going on out there at New Core today,
along with automotives and the energy sector.

Speaker 1 (51:55):
So who's buying your steal?

Speaker 15 (51:57):
So our principal customers will go to a few different
product lines, I mean the Gees, the Whirlpools, those appliant manufacturers.
When you look at the energy companies that are out
there today, are utilities such as those here in West
Virginia will purchase our still for either transmission lines or pipelines.
And then you also see us providing still into the
auto sector. The GMS of the world, the Toyotas of

(52:18):
the world. The BMW's going both into their parts as
well as their exposed automotive sector, which we're really proud
of because this facility will allow us to take even
a further step into the value chain.

Speaker 2 (52:30):
New core, large company, well capitalized, could have been anywhere.
Why West Virginia great question, and you know we are.
We're blessed.

Speaker 15 (52:38):
You know, we're thirty three thousand teammates strong, We've got
over three hundred operating facilities, roughly twenty seven facilities that
are still making and we chose West Virginia to be home.
And there's several things that go into that. First, when
you're investing four billion dollars, you need to understand is
there a market that's going to have customers there?

Speaker 2 (52:54):
Four billion with a B, four billion with a B.

Speaker 15 (52:58):
So when we looked at this market, Northeast market, the
Midwest market are ample market opportunities for us. So we're
here to serve that market in those customer base. Then
when you look at it, we need a large area
of land, so we will have about seventeen hundred acres
of land that we've purchased me growing on. We needed
transportation opportunities road, rail, and river which West Virginia could
offer us. And then it's just been an amazing partnership

(53:20):
with the state of West Virginia. I mean the welcome
that we've received from the community, the elected leaders the state. Holistically,
we find ourselves in a business friendly environment that have
rules and regulations that support and are conducivef to doing
business here in the state. We also and our most
important thing is that we are able able to attract,
retain and grow the talent here in West Virginia. So

(53:42):
we could not be more excited about calling West Virginia
home for this facility.

Speaker 1 (53:46):
Johnny Jacobs joining US vice president and general manager of
New Course Steal at West Virginia. Let's talk about that
for it.

Speaker 4 (53:52):
Just a moment.

Speaker 1 (53:53):
Recruiting and retaining the talent here in West Virginia. How
are you doing that? Are you reaching out to high schools?
Are you reaching out to any of the colleges, How
are you recruiting the talent?

Speaker 15 (54:02):
All right, So you're really touching on the subject that
I'm passionate about because it's citing to build that facility,
to put that amount of investment into the equipment of
the buildings, But the most exciting part of my role
is building the team. We are transforming lives, and the
way we go about that is we're recruiting in multiple areas.
You know, you touch on the high school areas. We've
had such great relationships, and it doesn't just start with

(54:25):
the seniors of high school. We're starting to build relationships
with elementary schools and high schools because we want to
popeline of talent for the future. Our biggest competitive advantage
is talent and it's our team and so we're very
focused on that. We're working with STEM programs across the state.
We're working with the trade schools. We've got a number
of already team members that are either fame or smart.

(54:46):
Students are coming to us right out of high school,
as well as working with our local universities that partnerships
on some of the professional positions. So it is a
wide spectrum of talent that we need and talent that
we're recruiting for, and we're so proud of what we received.
You know, some of my best stories about today is
the local talent we've hired. You know, I was in

(55:06):
an onboarding class this week and several people in that
class raised their hands that I grew up in Mason County.
I came to work for one of your contractors. Now
I'm getting on with New Corps.

Speaker 2 (55:15):
I meet people in the.

Speaker 15 (55:16):
Grocery store and they tell me about now my son,
or my daughter or my grandchildren get to stay here
in Mason County, get to stay in West Virginia because
their careers that otherwise we're not here.

Speaker 2 (55:25):
Give us a sense of the benefits the pay. Because
jobs are tough here, Johnny, they are. I mean, there's
no beating them. Let's just be straight. Job market isn't
what it should be here. It's tough to get a
good job and stay in West Virginia. What kind of
future can people who join New COREP expect to TJ
A great, great question.

Speaker 15 (55:43):
It's one of the things, you know, we have always
prided ourselves on how we go about taking care of
our team and attracting talent to ensure that we can
be successful. And when you think about coming to work
with New Core, it's not about getting a job, it's
about really having a career. You know, the pay is
going to be on average eighty five thousand dollars a year.
There's benefits on the healthcare side that is competitive with

(56:04):
any of the industries in the region. The other things
that we do is we invest minily in our team
about their continued growth and development. There's tuition reinbursements that
they receive. The other thing that I'm really proud of
is that we provide our team members children with up
to sixteen thousand dollars of money for their own education
when they reach that college year. So there's a lot

(56:24):
of benefits that come into play. The other thing is
that when team members come, they get the fact that
they're going to have a career that's long term. They
get the stability that new core brains. You know, since
coming into the steel industry roughly sixty years ago, we've
never laid off a teammate, and that is something that
we're extremely proud about now. Say that again, since coming

(56:45):
into the steel industry sixty years ago, we have not
laid off a teammate in one of our still making divisions.

Speaker 1 (56:50):
Never.

Speaker 4 (56:51):
Never.

Speaker 2 (56:51):
That's extraordinary.

Speaker 15 (56:52):
Yeah, And if you think about what we recently dealt with,
look at two thousand and eight, two thousand and nine,
the housing crisis, the global financial crisis, look at the COVID.

Speaker 2 (57:00):
We kept our team fully employed. We found a way to.

Speaker 15 (57:04):
Make it through those periods because we know coming out
of those will be that much more successful by insuring
we've got the right talent.

Speaker 1 (57:10):
Johnny Jacobs showing us in the studio, vice president, general
manager of New Course Steel, West Virginia, as the plant
continues construction there in Apple Grove. You've said probably thirty
eight times in this interview team and teammates, there's a
reason for that. That's not just off the cuff.

Speaker 15 (57:28):
Why you know, I shared earlier that our team has
always been our greatest competitive advantage, and when you think
about approaching it from that perspective versus employee, we want
our team to own the facility. We want our team
to own the decisions that are made out of the facility.
And we also recognize the biggest thing that we have
as a family, and we want to ensure first and

(57:48):
foremost that our team go home safe. So when we
think about what we're executing there, you don't execute it
with a relationship necessarily to an employee. You execute it
because we're all rolling in the same direction, and we're
I'm all passionate about being one team striving for a
common mission.

Speaker 2 (58:03):
I want to focus on you for a second, and
I hope you take this as the compliment that it is.
You talk like us. I can tell you fit in here.

Speaker 15 (58:13):
I can tell you fit in here, tell us about
your background, so you know, and I appreciate that, and
I do take it as a compliment. And I have
found Western Virginia to be so much home. You know,
as I've moved around through New corep in my career,
I've always strived to make each of those locations home.
West Virginia has made it very easy.

Speaker 11 (58:31):
You know.

Speaker 15 (58:31):
I grew up in northeast Alabama. I grew up in steel.
My father was in the steel industry before I was
in steel. I graduated from college, went first into steel,
and then were fortunate enough in two thousand and two
to join New Cores. And it's been an amazing ride
since that time. I've operated at several different divisions. This
is my third Greenfield to be part of. And you know,

(58:53):
when I look back about my career, you know, I
think about all the amazing teammates that I've had a
blessing to be around, be part of, and then I
come here and I see what we're doing here at
West Virginia. And what I recognize is how transformational this is.
You know, in each of those areas we offered individuals,
We offered people in those communities careers unlike they perhaps
could have ever even imagined, and that means.

Speaker 4 (59:15):
A lot to me.

Speaker 1 (59:16):
It's not just that region Apple Grove right there in
Mason County. They're talking about expansion and needing to grow
housing as far down into Cabal County, further up the
river you can go east. That is going to be
transformative for an entire region of West Virginia. They're not
just the immediate area. You know, I'm preaching to the
choir here.

Speaker 15 (59:37):
Obviously, great, great point, and I've seen it time and
time again. You know, Mason County is the footprint of
the facility, but this is going to touch lives for
a much broader area, and it's going to have an
economic impact across our entire state. When you think about
good pay manufacturing jobs, and I truly believe they're the
foundation of a solid economy, and you think about the

(59:57):
fact that we're going to hire several hundred direct to
new corps, there will be hundreds of individuals that are
employed through companies that service US upstream and downstream. But
manufacturing job will yield four or five six additional jobs,
six additional careers in the area of well paying opportunities.
So this is going to have a lasting impact and

(01:00:17):
it's going to be generational. You know, the people that
were hiring today, their children, their grandchildren going to have
opportunities to see and work at this facility. You know,
we had facilities that have just recently celebrated their fiftieth
year of being in a community and touching lives throughout
that entire time.

Speaker 2 (01:00:32):
The West Virginia Chamber, who I think you're familiar with,
just came out with some of their legislative agenda for
the upcoming session. One of the things they talk about.
I think it's a great debate is site readiness. I
think that Apple Grove site was somewhat site ready. It
had what you guys were looking for. As someone who's
been in multiple green fields, talk about that element of it,

(01:00:52):
having that site ready location that you can come on
board with.

Speaker 15 (01:00:56):
I do think that our states can create a very
competitive position by having more facilities and more sites that
are site ready. Yes, we were affording some things, but
we're also investing significantly into that community to ensure that
we can grow out the platform of ours. What I
would encourage us though, holistically across the state is how
do we get it? Because it's time to market, it's
an opportunity to come in, it's the opportunity to have acreage.

(01:01:18):
Do you have the infrastructure necessary to support the investment,
and so anything that we can do as a state
to advance that is going to give us even a
better CONVETI competitive advantage against those other states.

Speaker 1 (01:01:29):
Johnny Jacob's, vice president and general manager of New Course
Deal West Virginia. Final question, what do you want people
to know about New Core as that facility continues to grow?

Speaker 9 (01:01:39):
One.

Speaker 15 (01:01:39):
We are hiring and I am so excited and we're here.
I mean we are here. We want to be part
of this community. We don't want to just be the
significant green building as you drive up and down too.
We want to be part of this community that's giving
back through our financial contributions to the community. It's giving
back through our time to the community. We want to
be there because we're bringing careers into into this area

(01:02:01):
and we want to be known for our stewardship to
this region, and that's being a good partner. It's being
a good partner in the community. It's been a good
partner to this state, and it's delivering economic value in
return for the investment the States made in US. And
it's also creating careers for people for generations to come.
So I'm excited about being here. I am blessed to

(01:02:21):
be part of this team here in West Virginia and
could not be happier to be building our new four
billion dollars day of the art facility right there in
Apple Growth website.

Speaker 2 (01:02:29):
Stop buy how do you apply?

Speaker 15 (01:02:31):
Www dot new core dot com and go to our
career page and look because we are, like I said,
we're three hundred and fifty teammates to date. We will
in coming months be doing our first entry level pool,
which will give many people an opportunity.

Speaker 2 (01:02:44):
We'll be advertising that widely and that's coming in the
next couple months.

Speaker 1 (01:02:47):
Johnny Jacob's vice president and general manager New Course still
at West Virginia. Good luck, thanks for joining us, and
stop by anytime.

Speaker 2 (01:02:54):
Thank y'all guys appreciate it.

Speaker 1 (01:02:55):
Ryan Smells Fox News Radio from Capitol Hill.

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Speaker 1 (01:03:58):
What mal season is here?

Speaker 7 (01:04:00):
Get Mountaineer football coverage and watch live high school football
games every week by downloading the Metro News television app.
It's Metro News shows all day, including talk Line, Sports Line,
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(01:04:22):
gmc go, Mart Lou Wendell, Marine Stike, Wealth Enhancement, Panhandle
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Speaker 1 (01:04:48):
Let's go to Washington, DC. Fox News Radios. Ryan Schmelz
joins us on Metro News talk Line.

Speaker 17 (01:04:53):
Ryan, Good morning, Matty, Good morning.

Speaker 1 (01:04:57):
Yesterday, FBI Director Cash Betel was on Capitol Hill for
a Senate hearing. He's back there for a house hearing today.
Things got tints yesterday.

Speaker 17 (01:05:07):
No, not at all, but yeah, no, those civil as
can be.

Speaker 1 (01:05:13):
So what did you take away? Did you take anything
away from that hearing?

Speaker 2 (01:05:17):
So?

Speaker 17 (01:05:17):
I think we definitely learned some stuff. You know, we
learned that there could be more suspects in the Charlie
Kirk case that there were over you know, twenty or
so people who are using the app discord that he
that this suspected killer was on and Bedell said they're
going to run them down. So I think that there
is still a lot more to this investigation. We haven't

(01:05:39):
seen yet.

Speaker 2 (01:05:40):
Any criticisms about how Patel handled the early investigation. You know,
at one point he came out and said, we had
a suspect, we don't information was kind of funneling out quickly.
We'll say, what did senators have to say or members
on the hill I have to say about that?

Speaker 17 (01:05:56):
Yeah, I think they definitely had some issues with it.
But Patel's you know, defend of that was that he
was trying to be a transparent communicator in that time.
Some this administration has been pretty uh steadfast about and
has made a goal is to be a transparent administration.
So Patel was defending that. But you know, we've got
some reporting out there that there are some rumblings and
some some doubts surrounding Cash Pattel. So he had a

(01:06:18):
lot riding on both that hearing and this hearing and
whether or not he was successful in convincing the administration
that he's the guy for the job. We don't know
that yet.

Speaker 1 (01:06:27):
He certainly had some fiery exchanges between he and Senator
Corey Booker and Senator Adam Schiff as well. What were
their criticisms.

Speaker 17 (01:06:35):
I think the main thing was that, well, you know,
Adam the Adam Shiff one. I would say they both
focused a lot on you know, firings and and and changes,
and they were arguing that, you know, Patel is making
decisions especially about personnel for political reasons, and Patel pushed
back on that quite extensively, got to the point that
he called Adam Shiff a buffoon, and so things really

(01:06:56):
did go off the rails at that point.

Speaker 2 (01:06:59):
Buffo, what a great word to you. What else is
happening on the hill today? You're there? What's really catching
your eye?

Speaker 17 (01:07:05):
I'm doing a training that's really important, and guys rescued
me from it. I was originally mad at you guys
for making me for for moving this this hit time
up and causing me to miss some of it. But no,
I really needed to get away from that thing for
at least a couple of minutes. So I appreciate you guys.
So that's that's what I'm following. But also we do

(01:07:26):
have a government shutdown. That's that's quickly approaching. Republicans put
out their plan yesterday. Democrats do not like it, but
Schumer said that they are going to be releasing the
Democrat alternatives soon, so we'll see what that looks like.

Speaker 1 (01:07:40):
I saw an arc. We got about forty seconds here.
I saw an article this morning that Democrats were being
urged to go for the shutdown, that there were people
in the Democrat Party who were all for it.

Speaker 4 (01:07:51):
Yeah, well, you know, I.

Speaker 17 (01:07:52):
Think we're gonna find that out tomorrow. They're gonna have
a caucus meeting Thursday between Republicans and sorry, just between
House Democrats, will see what they come up with and
see if there's any Democrats who might be willing to
jump on this bill.

Speaker 1 (01:08:05):
Fox News Radios, Ryan Schmells. Ryan will let you get
back to your very important training.

Speaker 17 (01:08:10):
Thanks, guys, have a going.

Speaker 1 (01:08:12):
Weir eight hundred seven sixty five talks. The phone number
three or four Talk three h four is the text line.
Coming up. Other side of the news break, Marshall University
President Brad Smith will join us. He and his wife
Elise made a significant dare I say major contribution to
the university and the Marshall four All plan. We'll talk
to the Marshall University president about that coming up, and

(01:08:34):
we'll get to some of your text messages as well.
I promise we will get to as many as we
possibly can before we get to the noontime hour. Eight
hundred seven to sixty five talks. The phone number three
or four Talk three oh four is the text line.
Those are the two ways you can be part of
this program as we continue on. All right, Brad Smith,
Marshall University President, going to join us in just a moment.

(01:08:56):
This is talk line on Metro 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 18 (01:09:15):
West Virginia Metro News. I'm Chris Lawrence. There continue to
be problems with the Caulhun County Commission. Only days after
Commissioner Jacob mccumbers was arrested on charges of sexual abuse
of a child, a second commissioner is now facing unrelated
criminal counts. The latest investigation from the State Tax Department
accuses commission President Craig Arthur of seven counts of failure

(01:09:36):
to pay taxes or file returns or receipts. The criminal
complaint filed with the State Tax Division alleges Arthur went
into business partnership with Nathan Allison and the two co
owned a business. Tax officials say Arthur signed for a
certified letter notifying him of seven delinquent taxpayer periods and
so far has not responded. A special meeting of the
Calhoun County Commission is set for five this evening in Grantsville.

(01:10:00):
The county judge wants to hear from the state's top
doctor in the ongoing case over religious exemptions to the
state's child vaccination laws. Judge Michael Froebel has issued his
own subpoena to doctor Mark McDaniel, specifically looking for how
to differentiate between a religious exemption and a philosophical one.

Speaker 11 (01:10:17):
Froble express concern in the courtroom about how to distinguish
between religious and philosophical exemptions. The judge gave lawyers in
the case two weeks to briefs about religious versus philosophical exemptions.

Speaker 18 (01:10:30):
That is Metro News statewide correspondent Brad McIlhaney, who writes
more about it today at DOUBLEG metronews dot com. You're
listening to Metro News for forty years, the voice of
West Virginia.

Speaker 19 (01:10:42):
If you're on Medicare in West Virginia, this health plan
will be a real game changer. It's called Peak Advantage Medicare,
brought to you by the winning team of WVU Medicine
and Martial Health.

Speaker 13 (01:10:55):
I listen to my patients, and I know how important
it is for them to have an affordable plan that
covers everything they need.

Speaker 3 (01:11:03):
I want you to come home to better medicare Call
one eight six six seven, five four five two seven
eight today.

Speaker 15 (01:11:12):
Hi.

Speaker 20 (01:11:12):
I'm Alex Cook, and I'm a project manager with CEC.
When people ask why I work at CEC, I tell
them it's because we turn visions into reality right here
in West Virginia. I point out the roads, parks, and
bridges we've developed.

Speaker 2 (01:11:24):
And the streams we firstored.

Speaker 20 (01:11:26):
Then I mentioned the team engineers, surveyors, scientists, all working
together in the support of culture.

Speaker 4 (01:11:31):
We share.

Speaker 1 (01:11:32):
It's CEC.

Speaker 20 (01:11:33):
We engineer progress in the great state of West Virginia.
Find out what CEC can do for you. Visit ceci
NC dot com.

Speaker 18 (01:11:41):
A member of the Kanawak Coutty School Board is out.
Board member Tracy Watt announced her resignation during an LSC
meeting in Nitro last night. Signing personal obligations. She said
she has a family that requires a lot of her
attention and she was unable to give the position on
the board the attention it deserved. The United Way of
Central West Virginia celebrating the twentieth anniversary.

Speaker 2 (01:12:02):
Of its annual Day of Caring.

Speaker 18 (01:12:03):
Today, more than a thousand volunteers involved in various public
service projects. From the Metro News anchored Ash Guy, I'm
Chris Lawrence.

Speaker 1 (01:12:37):
Coming up. We will open the phone lines, well, I
mean the phone lines are always open, but we'll get
to calls and text three or four talk three oh four,
eight hundred and seven to sixty five. Talk is the
phone number, eight hundred seven sixty five eight two five five.
If you would like to wag in, we'll get to that.
Coming up in just a moment. Marshall University President Brad

(01:13:02):
Smith and First Lady Elise Smith announcing historic gift Tuesday morning.
The Smith's will be contributing historic fifty million dollars to
the Marshall four All program. The gift is the largest
Marshall University has ever seen, the largest personal contribution made
by a sitting university president to their own institution. Joining
us on Metro News talk line this morning, friend of

(01:13:24):
the program. At this point Metro News are Marshall University
President Brad Smith. Brad, good morning, good morning.

Speaker 9 (01:13:32):
It's great to be back with you, my friend.

Speaker 1 (01:13:34):
Glad, you could be here the big announcement yesterday of
this gift, and I started the show, and I mean
this in the best way possible. You're putting your money
where your mouth is. Here, Brad.

Speaker 9 (01:13:47):
Well, I'd like to say, we're putting West Virginia's money
back where it belongs. Everything that we ever accomplished in life,
as you've heard me say, is because someone in West
Virginia believed in us and believed in me. And so
while I may have gone out for thirty six pures
and found ways to create wealth, our intent was always
come back home and return it to those who actually
helped invest in us.

Speaker 17 (01:14:06):
So it's a.

Speaker 9 (01:14:06):
Pleasure to do so.

Speaker 2 (01:14:08):
Brad Morning, it's TJ. You use a very important word,
and I hear it deliberately in your statement you say
we I don't hear you say. I expand.

Speaker 9 (01:14:18):
Well, first of all, there's my wife and me. We
are co partners in this family and this Wing, the
Wing Foundation philanthropy that we established together. And then there
are all those who contributed to our upbringing, whether it
was her family and my amazing family, it is the
communities in which we were raised. And if it's this
amazing state in this university, so we truly believe that

(01:14:38):
the success we were able to achieve is because of
the blessings we receive from everyone around us. That's why
our foundation is called Wing the Wing Foundation where each
angels with one wing and we fly behold non to
one another.

Speaker 1 (01:14:51):
Marshall President Brad Smith joining us the Marshal for All Program.
We have talked about it previously, but for folks who
may be unfamiliar with it, what is the Marshall for
All Program?

Speaker 9 (01:15:03):
In a headline, it is a commitment that every student
who has the aspiration and grit to try will be
able to attend Marshall University graduate in four years with
the skills they need to get a job, and no
student loan debt. It is based on the best practices
we learn from others like Berea College, where you attend
the university and it's tuition free, but you work for

(01:15:24):
your tuition. In our case, we look for qualifying families
who make sixty five thousand dollars or less. We get
all the federal and state moneys that they're qualified for,
and then we privately fund the last dollar in In return,
the student has to complete a financial literacy course. They
have to sign up for a work study program or
a paid internship to contribute something so they have skin

(01:15:46):
in the game, and then we will make sure we
wrap them with the support they have they need to
get through in four years and graduate with a job. So,
in essence, it is a ladder and a step up.
It's not a handout. It's an opportunity for them to
reach their.

Speaker 2 (01:15:59):
Next financial literacy course. Now you're talking, my friend. You
got me excited with that one. Why is that important?
I mean, I know it is, we all know it is,
but crystallize it for us, Brett, just how much of
a burden is on these folks that have this debt
and what it takes away and what they can't do
because they're paying that debt.

Speaker 9 (01:16:22):
I'll start with financial challenges and poverty or chronic if
you don't teach the skills and the capabilities and then
provide access to new opportunities for families to get out
of that. It persists from generation to generation, and it
begins with a basic understanding of financial literacy. How do
you manage your money? How do you create a budget?

(01:16:42):
How do you make sure that you're not spending more
than your making? And so we wanted to get ahead
of the curve, and now I'm excited the state has
done the same thing. That we're ensuring that every student
comes through Marshall understands financial literacy. They understand how to
make their dollar stretch further. They understand compounding interests. If
you start saving money in your twenties, you will have

(01:17:03):
significantly more money when you graduate than if you wait
to your thirties, and you even try to double it up,
you never catch up. So it begins now and we
want every student to have that basic understanding of financial literacy.
It feels very elementary, but it is amazing how absent
that is in many households around the world today.

Speaker 1 (01:17:21):
How many students are currently in the Marshall for All program.

Speaker 9 (01:17:26):
We have four hundred students today. We took the first
one hundred in the fall of twenty three, the second
one hundred in the fall of twenty four. This past
fall we just admitted two hundred more, so we doubled it.
They're outperforming their peers in grade point average, they're outperforming
their peers in freshmen to sophomore retention. They're more engaged
in the community, and we are excited because these are

(01:17:48):
the ones that people would say, Hey, they don't have
the readiness, they don't have the financial means to go
to college, and in the past people would have said,
you know, they should go do something else. No, they
are fully capable, and they're coming to and they're leaning
in and they're achieving and succeeding at rates that we
knew they were capable of, but others may not have
potentially understood.

Speaker 2 (01:18:08):
Brad, You're keenly aware of the debates in this country.
You follow the news. You know what people are saying.
There's always an undertone of how much money is enough.
People make too much, CEOs make too much. I'd like
your reflections for people who have done well like you
and Elise have. What is your personal belief in terms

(01:18:28):
of how that wealth should be used moving forward, and
what if any requirement or commitment should those that have
similar advantage and similar benefits as you and have done
as well as you should undertake.

Speaker 9 (01:18:43):
Well. That is a big question, and I think it
comes down to people's personal value system and true the north.
I will start by saying I am a capitalist at heart.
I believe if someone works hard and they're able to
create their opportunities and create wealth that is not a
bad thing. That is what our native is based on.
That's what are free market's based on. At the same time,

(01:19:04):
I believe that all of us are put on this
earth to help those around us. One of the favorite
quotes I have is Mahatma Gandhi, who said, if you
want to find yourself, lose yourself and service to others.
None of us create wealth or become successful on our own,
and we have to realize that it's our obligation, our responsibility,
and our privilege to help the next one in line.
So I'm a big believer that I came into this

(01:19:25):
world with nothing. I don't mean my family had nothing.
My family certainly worked very, very hard for what they had.
But I came into this world basically, you know, with
no clothes on my back, as my mother delivered me.
And I want to go out the same way. We
want to give while we live, and I'll finish with this.
I know you hear me many times quote these parables,

(01:19:45):
but I love this Greek proverb that society grows great
when the current generation plants trees under whose shade they
will never sit. That's the way my wife and I
look at life. We want to leave the next generation
better than we found it, and then the hope they
do the same thing for the one that follow them.

Speaker 1 (01:20:04):
Rad I asked you this question. I want to talk
to you this past weekend. I'll ask you again. You
having fun.

Speaker 9 (01:20:10):
I'm having a blast, Dave. We are living our dream.
It is a privilege. I said that I traded an
amazing profession for an inspiring purpose. To be home, to
be in my home state, to see my community, to
hear the accents, and to be wearing Kelly Green. This
is the dream of a lifetime.

Speaker 2 (01:20:30):
I personally liked that you never lost your accent, Brad,
because a lot of people I know went away lost theirs,
whether that was delivered or not. But I like the
fact you never lost your It's just a reflection on
my part, not a question.

Speaker 9 (01:20:44):
Well, you know, TJ. You've heard the story that one
of my employers sent me to New York to a
vocal training coach early in my career to get rid
of it because they were worried that it would impede
my professional performance. And when I came back, I could
tell that they were pretty disillusioned. And after that, I
realized it was a feature, not a bug, and I
never tried to hide it. After that, I was very
proud of who I was, and I let my accent

(01:21:06):
be what it is. And thirty six years later, in
ten States, I came home and people said, wow, you
sound like you're from Wayne County, and I said, that's
because I.

Speaker 1 (01:21:14):
Am along those lines. When you're meeting with your colleagues, people,
your business associates and you bring them to West Virginia,
they get an opportunity to come visit West Virginia, see
the campus, see the region. What kind of reactions do
you get from them when they visit for the first time?

Speaker 9 (01:21:34):
They're in all They're absolutely in all days. I was
just at an Amazon board meeting in Seattle this past week,
and then Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday this week I was
at JP Morgan's board meeting. This time we met in DC.
We usually meet in New York. There is never a
board meeting where I'm not asked about West Virginia and
Marshall and what's going on and the things that are
happening here. It's on everyone's radar. It gives us a

(01:21:55):
chance to have a voice and rooms that we may
not otherwise have, and then they come to visit, and
when they come to visit, they cannot imagine. They just
did not imagine all the natural resources we have, the trees,
the kindness. When they actually get off of planes or
they get off of trains and they walk around and
people greet them, and they literally say to me, every
single time, John Denver had it right, and I tell them, yes,

(01:22:19):
we are the best kept secret, and I'm going to
try my best to let that secret out well.

Speaker 2 (01:22:24):
Brand I don't know if you hear Johnny Jacobs, he
was just on with us at eleven oh six Alabama
Native and yes, there's a lot of similarities, but we
were chatting off air. He basically said the same thing.
It was so easy to come here. I clicked right
from the start. You're right, it's just easy to come here.

Speaker 3 (01:22:42):
It is.

Speaker 9 (01:22:42):
And you've heard me say this. The Ascenders, the Ascend program,
the Remote Worker program has proven this to us over
multiple years. And they get asked all the time, whether
on Good Morning America or some other talk show, and
one of them quoted, I feel like when I came here,
I was baptizing kindness. I know at times we can
get a little bit disillusioned and frustrated with things we
know could be better. We get a little bit upset

(01:23:04):
if the interstate's still under construction or the turnpike and
there's not everything that's going in the right direction. But
if we step back and we look at ourselves through
others' eyes, whether it's what we have in our communities,
in our state, or who we are as people, I
think we would go to bed at Nightville and pretty, Dad,
I'm proud that we're from West Virginia. I know that's
how I feel. I spent thirty six years looking for

(01:23:26):
a way to come back home. And as I said
on the last time we spoke, you're not getting rid
of me.

Speaker 1 (01:23:31):
Marcell University President Brad Smith. Brad, I'd be remiss if
I didn't at least ask, are we gonna get the
video board fixed?

Speaker 9 (01:23:40):
You know, my friend, coming from the tech sector, I
will tell you that we do not have a monopoly
on technology. Glitches just happens to everyone, whether it's scoreboards,
or it's televisions, or it's your iPhone. And the answer
is yes. You know, we'd love to have gotten it
fixed before the season started. Right now, we've had the partner,
the DRAM working on it for multiple weeks, and it'll

(01:24:03):
either get fixed with the one we have or we'll
find one that'll get replaced. But this was a very
good opportunity for us. We had an amazing partner in OVP,
and it was a gift to Marshall and so we
want to make sure that that gift that they intended
to go for generations is going to be fully functioning.
And you have my commitment, in Gerald Harrison's commitment, we
will get that fixed.

Speaker 1 (01:24:24):
By the way, how cool was it to see Tony
Gibson get that first win as a head coach last Saturday?

Speaker 9 (01:24:30):
It oh, it was an incredible you know. I'll tell
you about coach Gibson. There was a quote one time,
I can't remember who said it said that champions behave
like champions long before they've become champions. Tony Gibson is
a champion, and the staff that he's brought on board
and the team that he's put together are champions. And
I know we came out of the gates with a
couple of tough losses, one of them down in Athens,

(01:24:52):
you know, and the second one that we certainly felt
like we could have won. But I will tell you
we have a championship team and if it's not this year,
it will be inevitable. They are champions and I am
so excited and privileged to serve with them.

Speaker 1 (01:25:06):
He's Brad Smith, President of Marshall University. Brad always fun,
catching up, good luck, keep up the good work.

Speaker 9 (01:25:13):
Appreciate today you all.

Speaker 1 (01:25:14):
Take care you as well. Marshall University President, Brad Smith.
We'll be back. This is talk line from the Cove
Insurance Studios.

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Speaker 1 (01:26:45):
Citinget Fiber is expanding across West Virginia from basics to
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sit in at visit sitting at dot net today. Guys,
we are blessed to have Brad Smith as president of Marshall.
Best president I've ever seen at Marshall. He's a giver

(01:27:06):
and a wonderful human being. Did you catch that TJ?
He very casually dropped it there. Oh, he's at the
board meeting for Amazon's over at the board meeting for
JP Morgan. He's an asset. He's an asset not just
for the university, the entire state. He and his wife
Alice assets to this state.

Speaker 2 (01:27:22):
I remember, you know, my wife teaches a Marshall Dave
as you well know. I remember her coming home one
time and telling me about this guy, Brad Smith, who
was just coming in on his own accord to helping
the business school. I think I have the name right.
Showed up one day said hey, I'm gonna bring some
friends in talk with you guys. It was Phil Knight.
Phil Knight, Nike Yeah, Nike Yeah. A huge asset and

(01:27:45):
honestly a sincere guy. He's not espousing, he's living what
he believes. I believe that one hundred percent.

Speaker 1 (01:27:54):
He could just as easily be on a beach drinking
something out of a coconut right now and not doing
what he's doing. He's doing it because he wants to
do it. In that shows and that's contagious, and that's contagious.
Three or four talk three or four listening to President Smith, Wow,
what a leader. It's a mount near fan. Why can't
tell me? Do you have a president like this man

(01:28:14):
instead of past presidents who are nowhere is common? Look,
I think you got one. I think both universities are
in a very good spot with leadership. You look what
Michael Benson has done at his previous stops. There's reason
for optimism TJ. Whether you're wearing the Golden Blue or
whether you're wearing the green and white, there is reason
for optimism for both these universities moving forward.

Speaker 2 (01:28:36):
My humble take, No, I think you're right. We sitting
down with Mike Benson for an hour. I wrote about
that meeting. I came away and look, I'm a tough critic.
Just if I think you suck, I'll say, Man, this
ain't gonna work out. Mike Benson's an eight player. So yeah,
we're there.

Speaker 1 (01:28:50):
I just hope I don't get in trouble. I asked
about the scoreboard. I had to bring it up. I
had to bring it up, did.

Speaker 2 (01:28:55):
You I just thought we were trying to conceal the
ref's identity somewhat. When you looked up there his eyes
or blacked out.

Speaker 1 (01:29:01):
It was like we were trying to It's like a
dateline special where you can't see the identity of the informant.
Texter says uh. A buffoon is a newly discovered species
deep in the Congo, says the texter.

Speaker 2 (01:29:19):
I guess he could have been worse. Try to look
at the upside could have caught him something worse.

Speaker 1 (01:29:23):
I guess. I guess. Congressional hearings so useless, most sometimes entertaining.
They're like WWE promos. I forget what other example we
gave of that this week, But that's really you know,
you got the macho man coming out, remember the old
school promos, and you're flexing and you're facing and all
this kind of stuff.

Speaker 2 (01:29:42):
That's really what these are these days.

Speaker 1 (01:29:45):
You think somebody's back there writing the script. All right,
you ask about and then you go with the crazy
eyes and then you give them the glare, and then
we'll get the macho man coming in late.

Speaker 2 (01:29:56):
You say that tongue in cheek like it doesn't really happen.

Speaker 1 (01:30:00):
Does that really go on? Really? The remarks that.

Speaker 2 (01:30:03):
Are made are absolutely assessed to understand how they can
inflict the most possible damage on your political opponent and
make that opponent look as bad as they possibly can
while making that person who asked the question look as
good as they possibly can. There are absolutely conversations, detailed conversations,

(01:30:26):
and concerted efforts in Washington, d C. To make that happen.
I have seen them, But absolutely do they realize that
at the end of the day.

Speaker 1 (01:30:33):
They all look look at horse's hind end.

Speaker 2 (01:30:36):
No, of course not. Well, you're arguing, but you're arguing
for the French who can rile their base the most
and garner support from it. And if there are some
that are on the French, could you pick up one
way or the other. It's calculated. Lot of people think
they're silly. A lot of people look, they get that.
A lot of people think they're silly and are saying
the same things that we do. But it's absolutely calculated

(01:30:59):
and it's absolutely intentional.

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Speaker 1 (01:32:46):
Let's get in a couple more text messages before we
have to call it a day. Textas is, cash Motel
will not answer questions of both sides yesterday. Oh oh,
I'm glad this Texter brought this up, and I'm glad
I'm only giving you about sixty seconds. Guys, how about
Trump pushing back the TikTok ban another two weeks? How

(01:33:08):
many times has this been pushed back? Trump should call
that policy the fortnite formula, says the Texter teacher.

Speaker 2 (01:33:20):
Just because it's a good business deal, it shouldn't override
the law. Follow the law. That's all I'll say. Otherwise
my blood pressure is going to go through the roof.

Speaker 1 (01:33:35):
Three or four talk three or four text orsay? Is
Dave speaking of donuts, I'm still waiting for the half
dozen you owe me, just saying I thought we cleared
that up, and I was pretty sure you owed me.
You know, be careful when you make a bet with
listeners because they will remember for years to come. TJ

(01:33:55):
just throwing that out there.

Speaker 2 (01:33:57):
What kind of donuts are we talking here?

Speaker 1 (01:33:59):
You don't if we specifically got into which kind or
what they had to be. But one of the things
we would do on the local show when I did
the local show at Morgantown, we would wager on voter turnout,
and if you know, I had a couple of co
hosts and we would bet a box of donuts or
something we'd do over under on voter turnout. And the

(01:34:20):
way I remember it is everybody owes me a couple
of boxes of donuts. That's the way I remember the
whole thing, speaking of donuts. I don't know if that
works or not. Dave Allen coming up with Mandabara Metro
News Midday on many of these same stations. We'll talk
to you tomorrow ten o six. It's talk line on
Metro News. For forty years, the voice of West Virginia,