Talkline | Sept. 8, 2025

Marshall President, Brad Smith, highlights the accomplishments of the Ascend WV program. The Cardinal Institute weighs in on possible improvements to PEIA. Brad Howe breaks down the Mountaineers' loss at Ohio and more information on Appalachian Power rate increases. 

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:12):
Well, we'll talk college football. You don't want to, but
we'll talk about it. Metron's Talk Line is Underway Radio.

Speaker 2 (00:29):
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. This is Metro News Talk Line with Dave
Wilson and t J. Meadows.

Speaker 1 (00:48):
ACTI switch that. Where can we hold from.

Speaker 3 (00:51):
Charles stand by to David t J. You're on Metro News.

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Speaker 1 (01:14):
Good morning, Welcome into the program, Mentioneer's Talk Line from
the Encoba Insurance studios. Yes, we will get into the
weekend that was in college football. I told you, I
told you Athens is awful. You didn't believe me, you
do know. We'll get into that later. Brad Howell will
join us. Marshall did not have a good weekend as well.

(01:37):
All of that straight ahead. Also later, the Cardinal Institute
has a proposal out for possible fixes to Peia. We'll
dive into that and we'll remember the life and career
of former Agriculture Commissioner and Senator Walt Helmick. We will
do that as the show unfolds this morning. Jake link
is running the video stream and Ethan Collins is handling

(01:59):
the audio this morning. TJ. Meadows in Charleston, Good morning, TJ.
Good morning, sir.

Speaker 4 (02:05):
Also, in addition to that painful weekend of college football
and what happened in Athens and in Huntington, did you
see Thomas Massey on the Sunday shows yesterday? Says he
has two eighteen Dave.

Speaker 1 (02:18):
You know what that means. No, I did not. Thomas
Massey was not on the radar yesterday.

Speaker 4 (02:24):
He says he has to eighteen to release the files,
so we'll see what happens there. There's that happening as well.
Karen with the Phillies.

Speaker 1 (02:32):
What a weekend Karen with the Phillies. Ah, that was enjoyable.
That was enjoyable. I did see that. You couldn't have
missed that on the social media's over the weekend. I
did see that.

Speaker 5 (02:44):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (02:44):
No, I was busy caught up with the college football
stuff over the weekend. I was stunned. I was surprised
at the West Virginia was all a surprise at the
martial result. We'll get into that with Brad Howe a
little bit later on The good news is A, it's
early b it's non conference in there, at least on
the Marshall side. All of these things are fixable, things
that can be addressed. How can it be fixed? That's

(03:08):
a whole other story. Your reactions are welcome. How did
you feel about the game in Ohio? How did you
feel going in? And how do you feel now? That's
my question. Eight hundred and seven to sixty five talks
the phone number, eight hundred and seven to sixty five,
eight two five five, that's the text line. Three oh
four talk three oh four. That's the text line, and

(03:29):
that is the phone number. Sorry, multitasking here, trying to
get connected with Marshall. President Brad Smith. Big announcement on Friday,
the Ascend West Virginia program is expanding. Ascend West Virginia
City has already include Morgantown, Eastern Panhandle, down in the
Greenbrier Valley, and now Charleston has been added to that list.
And this program TJ. We've talked about it. This is

(03:50):
a little bit of the best of both worlds where
you bring people in at minimum expense to the state.
You bring them in, you bring the jobs, you bring
their taxes, and you start to grow the state and
really promote what we have, and that is tourism, that
is recreational activity, that is quality of life. That's a
cheaper cost of living. So you can log into your

(04:12):
office in midtown Manhattan or Washington, DC, or Chicago, or
wherever the case may be, but enjoy all the benefits
of living here. It's a pretty good deal and it
apparently has been very popular. It's really a great strategy.

Speaker 4 (04:25):
Brad and Elise Smith putting twenty five million dollars day
into this program originally to help get it off the ground.
The success rate, the retention rate somewhere around ninety seven percent.
I don't have the exact figure, but let's just call
it ninety nine out of one hundred, ninety seven out
of one hundred stay here, who come and to your point,

(04:45):
they bring the job with them. And in a state
where we have limited capital, we have limited resources to
go after a lot of these big companies, we want
to do the best that we can. When you can
go after someone and sell them on the nature of
West Virginia, the opportunity that is here for outdoor recreation
and the lifestyle that we have, and they bring the

(05:06):
job with them. They're bringing a tax base with them.
And to your point, it's really efficient in terms of
you get someone that is spending their earnings here, so
there's your sales tax, right, You're driving more businesses in
the community because they patronize those businesses. And in addition,
you've got income taxes. You've got all of these things.

(05:27):
They bring the job with them. Such a good idea
and frankly one I think we probably need to double down.

Speaker 1 (05:33):
On joining us. So Much News talk Line this morning.
Marshall University President Brad Smith. Of course, as we said,
he and his wife Elise founded the in West Virginia
program back in twenty twenty one. He joins us on
Much News talk Line. Brad, good morning, good to talk
to you again.

Speaker 6 (05:50):
Good morning, gentlemen. It's great to be with you as well.

Speaker 1 (05:53):
How big of a milestone is it to add Charleston
to this program.

Speaker 6 (06:00):
Oh, this is a significant milestone. They are our sixth
destination now as a host community. As you heard and
just spoke about, we were excited to see that we
have now reached five hundred and nine ascenders who have
actually come to West Virginia with their jobs. They spend
in our small businesses, their income is taxed here, they
contribute in our communities. But with them they brought family members.

(06:22):
Over nine hundred and fifty one different family members are
now in New West Virginians with thirteen babies. So this
is an exciting opportunity for us. Our vision was one
thousand remote workers plus family members, so it'll be well
over twenty five hundred when we get them all in,
and we need additional facility to do that. Charleston met
all the criteria. They've worked very hard to make sure

(06:43):
the eyes were dotted and teaser crossed, and now we're
ready to rock and.

Speaker 1 (06:46):
Roll, Brad.

Speaker 4 (06:47):
In some instances, we've had Corporate America pull back on
work from home WFH. They want to return to the office.
How will that be a challenge for the ASCEND program
and how can we mitig eight what some of these
companies are doing and making people return to the office.

Speaker 6 (07:05):
Well, there's no question that before COVID there were already
remote workers. They were called digital nomads at the time,
and then COVID forced almost everyone into remote work except
for those who needed to physically be delivering goods. And
now you've had some of those companies that were pre
COVID working in an office wanting their employees to return.

(07:25):
But that being said, the Pew Research Center estimates through
US with twenty three million Americans still have fully remote jobs,
and forty six million Americans work in a job that's
called hybrid where they only have to go into the
office once every month or once every quarter. So this
is a phenomenon that is not going away. With the
advent of cloud computing and digital products, we're going to

(07:48):
have the ability for people to live anywhere they want.
It may not be the same numbers during COVID, but
still twenty three million people for a state of one
point eight million, we've got plenty of opportunities for people
to move here and grow our population.

Speaker 1 (08:00):
Talking to Brad Smith, Marshall, University President, the Ascend West
Virginia program expanding adding Charleston as one of its host cities, Brad,
how much of this program as it starts to grow,
you bring in more people, You start to get the
word of mouth, People talk to their colleagues and say, hey, look,
I live in West Virginia. I don't have to do
this daily commute into the downtowns. How much does that

(08:22):
grow the program.

Speaker 6 (08:25):
Significantly? In fact, that's one of the main reasons why
we continue to see applications and website visits grow. We've
now had over a million people visit the website since
April twelfth, twenty twenty one, when we launched sixty five
thousand applications from one hundred and eight countries in all
fifty states. And when you talk to an ascender, they
will say I heard about this program from one of

(08:46):
my friends or from someone that I saw on TV.
And that word of mouse just continues to grow. It also,
as you said earlier, attracts companies. Companies follow talent, and
so does venture capital. And so if we get great
talent wanting to live here, and then they end up
getting other people excited. Eventually a company says, hey, I've
got fifteen of my employees working in Charleston. I should

(09:08):
probably just open up a remote office there so they
all have a place to go. So this becomes a
flywheel effect where it builds upon itself, whether it's word
of mouth or it's companies following their employees and setting
up an office right here in our state.

Speaker 4 (09:22):
So many of our so many of our companies today
that we want to recruit, Look, they require big time dollars.
I'm thinking about a deal Virginia just did with Astrazenica.
I mean, they spent billions in incentives to get that
company to locate there in West Virginia. We just don't
have that kind of capital. So why not take this
program and go beyond those five hundred people and try

(09:45):
to morph it into what we do with economic development
and put more state money into it. Is that something
that you'll press for when the legislature comes back to town.

Speaker 6 (09:54):
Well, the good news is the legislature and the State
of them with us from day one. So they've leaned
in with the Department of Tourism Secretary of Chelsea Ruby,
and they have done a lot of the marketing and
the website and some of the maintenance in that area.
Of course, w the U has been our partner from
an operational side, and our Foundation has been the financial
arm and then we've worked with them on the vision
and strategy. So I would say to you that it

(10:16):
is already alive and well in that regard. The legislature
passed some laws a couple of years ago to make
it easier for remote workers to move here, and it's
also easier for those companies who have remote employees to
do business here. We now have visions for assin to
West Virginia to go to Teachers ASSND, so we now
have a couple of counties testing how we pay teachers

(10:37):
to come and fill our empty classrooms. We're looking at
Military ASSIND as the next derivative. Those who served our
country can move to West Virginia with their families and
make this their forever home and will help them with
remote work with DC jobs and others. And then we
also have First Ascent, which is providing incentives to those
who grew up here that are here graduating from Marshall

(10:58):
and WVU. We're given them access to amenity said they
don't have to leave. We're going to connect them with
remote jobs so they don't have to lead to the
coast to get a job. So we're trying to both
stop the brain drain by keeping our existing news here
and then we're moving into new areas like teachers as
SIND and Military of SIND and others to try to
make it more of a core program. I think it

(11:19):
is a key to economic development going forward.

Speaker 1 (11:22):
Brad Smith joining US Marshall University President talking about the
Ascend West Virginia program. What do we need in West
Virginia to really take this to the next level? Are
there infrastructure needs as it housing needs? How can we
really take this program to the next level.

Speaker 6 (11:39):
It's a great question, and as you know, we want
the first to launch a program. We went and studied
those who had launched before us, so Tulsea Remote, the
remote program in Dentonville, Arkansas, up in Vermont, and we
did a lot of analysis on why they did or
didn't retain the remote workers after the two year period
was up, and we found that every community that qualified

(12:00):
need to have four things. They need to have a
good education system, they need to have good health care,
they need to have broadband and infrastructure, and they need
to have affordable housing. Those are the four foundational elements.
Once you have those in place, you need to have
a diversity of restaurants and an active downtown with diversity
in arts and culture. And then last, for not least,

(12:20):
you need to have something distinctive like the moth Man
or the Pumpkin House or Harpers Ferry, something that makes
you different than everyone else. And so we have since
day one, had a vision of fifty five county strong.
Unlike all the other programs, we're not just one city.
We're now in six cities. But we've been working with
the local economic development and business development arms in these

(12:42):
counties to say, get your community ready. In the case
of Charleston, the missing gap from day one was affordable housing,
and they've been working on that. It took us a
while to get the same place. In New River Gorge,
we didn't have enough houses down there, but once we
got that going, we were able to open up a
remote host site down there. So we are working with
all of the communities and the answer is different for

(13:02):
each one. Sometimes it's broadband, sometimes it's housing, sometimes it's
access to healthcare. But as we work with them, we're
filling this gap so we can make different opportunity throughout
the state.

Speaker 4 (13:14):
As entertaining as the Pumpkin House is, Brad, I would
say some good old Austin's ice cream would do the
trick too, but I don't want to go too far
down that rabbit hole.

Speaker 6 (13:22):
And we'll throw in Averaroni's Pizza and then maybe a
trip down to Dreamland Pool and you can take some
rides at Camden Park and you're all set.

Speaker 4 (13:28):
There, you go exactly. You mentioned our competition. You talked
about Tassa. I think Vermont's a couple others. How do
we stack up with those competitors? And I would think,
as states like West Virginia and those that you mentioned
that we're doing this, before I see success, you're going
to have even more people come in. So how do
we continue to outcompete our competitors?

Speaker 6 (13:49):
The secret is retention. All those programs are successful in
their own right, and in the case of Tulsa, they
were the originators, so they have more total people in
Tulsa than we do and ascend because we launched a
couple of years after them. With that being said, our
retention rate is ninety six point four percent, and the
last number I saw reported for some of those other

(14:10):
programs were more around eighty percent, so they were keeping
eight out of ten. We're keeping literally one hundred percent
of our people, or almost within four percentage points. So
I would say the answer is exactly what we're doing.
It is white Glove concierge service to help them through
the decision making process, then welcoming them into the community.
Then we have monthly social gatherings where they not only

(14:31):
get together as a cohort, but they get integrated into
the community. And then we take them once a year
on something called a Country Roads Tour where they get
to view and visit all different parts of the state
and find out other things that West Virginia has to offer.
That has been the secret sauce. Those who've actually gone
through the full two years are staying because they have
become ingrained as the next generation of West Virginians, and

(14:53):
that's what we're going to continue to do.

Speaker 1 (14:55):
Were there doubters when you took this to people, you
know outside West Virginia? Were there doubters? And what did
it take to convince them?

Speaker 6 (15:04):
Absolutely? Doubters in two regards? First of all, most of
it was internal. When my first talked about the concept
of Greenbrier before we partnered up with WV and others,
someone said to me, are you kidding me? Who wants
to move here? You've seen the turnpike and you've seen
all the orange construction tones. And my answer was, only
when you've lived elsewhere, do you realize how good we
have it here. We do not have a monopoly on problems,

(15:27):
but we do have a monopoly on whitewater rapids and
beautiful vistas and sunsets that go over the mountains. And
so as soon as we announced Assant West Virginia on
April twelfth, twenty twenty one, within two hours, we had
ten thousand applications and we only had twenty five spots.
Now we're up to ober a million people visiting in
sixty five thousand applications. So the first is we have
to realize that we have a lot more to offer

(15:49):
than people may here fully appreciate. And then the second
was why are we paying people to move here? Why
don't you pay me to stay here? And I get
that question, and people feel like at times this is
a zero sum game. We're not taking jobs from anybody.
We're bringing people here with their jobs, and then they're
spending in our businesses. And as you said earlier, you

(16:09):
know the taxes here in the whole nine yards, and
so this is about keeping the ones we have with
First Ascent, bringing people in from the outside who have
their jobs and want to stay in Watch Virginia. And
then have their generations follow them here. And it's additive.
It's not taking anything away. So the two detractor positions
have historically been who would want to live here? And

(16:29):
I think we can now show people a lot of
people do. And then the second is, well, why don't
you just give it to me? And the answer is
this benefits all of us because when they come and
they spend in our communities and they become a part
of our community, it makes everyone's boat rise when that
tide rises, and so everyone wins in this process.

Speaker 1 (16:46):
Brad, you may have a better number.

Speaker 4 (16:48):
But Maura Boggs from the Charleston Area Alliance, was on
the local show here in Charleston this morning with Dave Allen.
She said, by Friday night, I mean just launched Friday afternoon.
By Friday night, one hundred people had already applied for
the Charleston program. That sounds outstanding to me.

Speaker 6 (17:03):
It's unbelievable. I will tell you, I am so proud
of who we are and I am so proud of
what we have to offer. And when Good Morning America
talked to one of the earliest senders and said, why
did you choose to relocate from Chicago here, and she said,
because when I got here, I felt like I was
baptized in kindness. John Denver didn't get it wrong. This

(17:27):
is almost heaven, and God placed his kindest angels here.
And when people come and experience who we are and
what we have to offer, you will be stunned. How
many people would trade gladly where they live right now
to live right here. I certainly was ten states thirty
six years, every single day looking for a way home.
And now that I'm here, You're never going to get

(17:47):
rid of me. I stuck forever, happy right here.

Speaker 1 (17:52):
Brad Smith Marshall University, President of the Assended Program, continuing
to thrive, expanding, adding Charleston to its list of cities. Brad,
always a pleasure to talk to you. Best of luck,
keep up the good work.

Speaker 6 (18:04):
Thank you, gentlemen, We appreciate you too.

Speaker 1 (18:06):
Have a great day you as well. Talk Line continues
in a moment. Football season is here.

Speaker 7 (18:10):
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Speaker 1 (19:32):
We'll talk p e i A coming up next segments.
Jessica Durbinsky with the Cardinal Institute going to join us.
They have a proposal, or at least ideas on how
to improve p e i A will get into that.
State lawmakers will not be talking pe well, they may
be talking about it, but there's not going to be
any special session lawmakers are in Charleston for interim committee meetings,

(19:54):
and after all the scuttle button rumors, maybes and possibilities
a special session to deal with peia and reading between
the lines and take a look at the tea leaves
quickly here, TJ. If there was wide ranging consensus on
what to do or what needed to be fixed or
how to approach it, there would have been a special session.

(20:16):
I would say, there's not. And that's a good thing,
because if you don't have that, you don't need to
call in a special session. We've seen that kind of
a debacle in the past. So okay, good, let's if
you're going to get something, get something you could all
agree on. Don't don't create more problems for yourself. Would
be my piece of advice there.

Speaker 4 (20:34):
And I think the question turns to what if any
political fallout will occur for lack of such a session.

Speaker 1 (20:40):
Either none, What would be the political fallout? I don't know, No,
I mean you bring it up, what would it be?

Speaker 4 (20:48):
Look, you have teachers that aren't going to be happy
about that, plain and simple.

Speaker 1 (20:51):
They're not.

Speaker 4 (20:52):
You have state employees who aren't. Now whether or not
they have the political muscle to do anything. It's not
for me to say. I don't represent them, but they're
not going to be happy about lack of session because
they heard, oh, we're going to do a special session.
We're going to do a special session. Falls flat to
your point. I don't disagree. Don't come in if you
don't have consensus, But somebody will own that. I don't
know who it'll be.

Speaker 1 (21:10):
I think that's a I think it's a lot. Look,
let's live sessions three months away, four months, three or
four months, whatever it is January. There'll be in sessions
soon enough. If there's no need to go try to
cram something in. If you don't have the consensus, then
you're just going to create bigger problems for yourself. We'll
get the Cardinal Institute's take on it. Jessica Durbinski will
join us. Coming up on the other side of the

(21:32):
news break. Yes, we will get into college football from
the weekend. Not good would be the short summary of that.
This is talk line on Metro News for forty years,
the voice of West Virginia. It's ten thirty. Let's get
a news update and check out with the Metro News
radio network.

Speaker 11 (21:53):
Western Virginia. Metro News I'm Jeff Jenkins. The State Department
of Environmental Protection will host a public meeting on September
eighteenth and Gilbert on a proposal by Transgas for an
air quality permit to operate a power plan and data
center in the county. Mingo County Commission and President Nathan
Brown says he can see both the positives and concerns
being aired out about the project.

Speaker 10 (22:11):
Currently Indian County. We want to protect and preserve the
resources we have and we care about our sentatives. And
also on the other nity can be vetted and it
can be a happy meeting and some type of resolution
to those issues. We welcome the jobs and the industry
in the county.

Speaker 11 (22:26):
And Brown says hopefully the public meetium will get more
information out about the project. A hearing set in Raleigh
County Circuit Court for Wednesday on combined cases from Raleigh
Kanawa Counties on the school entry vaccination controversy may not happen.
Metter a new state wide course by A Brad Mclelhenney says,
both the plane is and the defendants agree the hearing
isn't needed.

Speaker 12 (22:43):
Both sides jointly entered a motion to stay this week's
hearing because they all want to go to the Supreme
Court at this point. The motion indicates both sides believe
any further action in the local courtroom would have limited
influence elsewhere, so they want to date level review this day.

Speaker 11 (23:01):
Supreme Court issued a scheduling order last week indicating oral
arguments on the case would not take place until sometime
in mid February next year. Eight interim committee meetings today
at the state Capitol. State lawmakers there for interim committee meetings,
but no special session on Peia. You're listening to Metro
News for forty years. The voice of West Virginia.

Speaker 7 (23:21):
Football season is here. 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 Lines, Sports Line, three Guys Before the Game,
Metro News, Middays Hotline, and our new feature State of Minds,
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(23:43):
powered by Dan Caaba, gmc go, Mark Loue Wendell, Marine Stike,
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Speaker 13 (23:51):
When we think about substance use disorder in West Virginia,
we need everyone to come together and motivate change. Artists
and recovery activists throughout the state have teamed up to
paint murals that inspire hard conversations. It may seem small,
but everyone played a role in breaking through stigma and
turning these murals into something vibrant and meaningful. When it

(24:13):
comes to how we think about recovery, it takes all
of us to break through addiction. Learn more at back
to Life WV dot org.

Speaker 11 (24:21):
Those who work for the WV Research Corporation in Morgantent
are having their jobs transferred to the employees of West
Virginia University. Officials say that that's more a part of
the university's mission and infrastructure is going to impact about
five hundred workers. Read more at WV metronews dot com.
And a twelve member Nawak County jury has returned to

(24:42):
the kanaw County Judicial Building this morning. Possible deliberations today
and the murder trav of fifteen year old boy from
the Metro News anchored Ask, I'm Jeff Jenkins, three.

Speaker 1 (25:11):
Or four Talk three or four. That's the text line.
Eight hundred and seven sixty five eight two five five
the phone number. Brad Howe will join us top of
the hour. Tough weekend, tough weekend of college football. Will
get into all of it. Where do you go from here?
Pitt coming to Morgantown on Saturday. We'll get into all
of that with Brad Howe at the top of the hour.

(25:32):
Eight hundred seven and sixty five talks the phone number
and again three or four talk three oh four the
text line. Jessica Durbinski is chief of staff at the
Cardinal Institute. She was the author of a report on
their ideas to address and improve the public employees insurance agencies.
She joins us in the Charleston Studios with TJ. Jessica,

(25:54):
Good morning, Glad you could join.

Speaker 14 (25:55):
Us, Good morning, Thanks so much for having me.

Speaker 1 (25:58):
Appreciate you coming by.

Speaker 6 (25:59):
So pe E.

Speaker 1 (26:00):
Everybody agrees it needs to be fixed. I don't know
that we have a broad consensus on what exactly needs
to be fixed about it. We just know it needs
to be fixed. So what's the Cardinal Institute's perspective.

Speaker 14 (26:12):
Yeah, So, in the last week we put out a
PIA brief authored by myself, and it's just kind of
a high level overview what's really going on with PIA,
and so we offer a couple of different solutions. We
don't have like a one size fits all approach quite yet.
But something that I noticed that was really quite concerning
is that the way that the state code is written
as it relates to PIA is different than any other

(26:34):
state around US and really the country. And what it
is is that it sets a floor for what providers
in the hospital networks or other healthcare systems are allowed
to charge for PIA, and it's one hundred and ten
percent of that Medicare rate. And so creating this floor
but not creating a ceiling or really just kind of
giving them over kind of a base to work with,

(26:57):
is not really going to control costs. And so when
we're talking about deficit in PEIA, it's really not wise
to kind of hand over this blank check. And so
it's something that I'm super super concerned about, and it
really doesn't up put the state in a position to
have any sort of power and fiscal responsibility.

Speaker 4 (27:12):
I think if you talk to a lot of hospitals
right now, Jessica, they would say even at one hundred
and ten percent of Medicare Medicaid.

Speaker 1 (27:17):
They're losing money. It's not enough.

Speaker 14 (27:19):
And you say to that, yeah, I mean I think
that one hundred and ten percent, maybe it's not quite enough, right,
Sure I can concede with that perhaps. But something that's
really interesting is that in order to fix this, Montana
has actually had a really good approach to this. And
so they were facing similar issues that West Virginia was having.
They were having budgets shortfalls, and they were really at
risk of losing their program for state employees. And so

(27:40):
what they did is they eliminated any kind of floor
ceiling whatsoever, and instead they use reference based pricing. And
so this is looking at the charge that is provided
for service. So let's say an MRI. They look at
the Medicare rate that is given out for specific states
and regions, so it accounts for what's paid for, what's
going on and demographically as well, and they say, okay,

(28:02):
fifteen hundred dollars let's say for an MRI machine or
MRI scan. And from there you get to as somebody
who is benefiting from PEI, shop around a little bit,
and you know, the hospital systems and other healthcare providers
in the state have made it abundantly clear they don't
want a free market system, and so this is a
new way to intercharge free market principles into our state,

(28:24):
allowing these beneficiaries of PI to shop around, look and say,
fifteen hundred dollars, where can that get me? An MRI
And the nuance of this is that it's going to
allow health providers that are currently existing to really compete
on price to make sure that patients are picking them
over someone else.

Speaker 1 (28:42):
Jessica Dorbinski joining US Chief of Staff Cardinal Institute, talking
about proposals to improve PEIA. How do you strike the balance?
Because there are two perspectives here. One is obviously what
the state has to do, it's fiscal responsibility, and you
also have to take into consideration the teachers and state
employees and public employees on this. They can only handle

(29:03):
so much cost. So where do you strike the balance there?

Speaker 14 (29:06):
Yeah, I think that premiums are going up because there
is no cost control mechanism. Knowing what a service could
be charged is going to give the state a lot
better of a position to understand budgetary constraints. Right now
when it's just kind of a roaming free chaos charging environment.
How is the state ever going to predict what these
healthcare costs you're going to be And so really, when

(29:27):
you have ballooning health care costs with no an enforcement
or incentive to improve on quality, access and costs, then
you're not as a state going to be able to
ensure that premium stay down and these beneficiaries are going
to be able to access healthcare in the way that
fits their specific needs.

Speaker 4 (29:43):
We're going to talk about some of the alternative models
in your proposal. You call it direct primary care. I've
heard it referred to as concierge of medicine. I think
we're talking about the same thing there, in that someone
would pay a monthly flat fee for all the primary
care that they can use. They would pay that every month,
whether they go to the doctor or not. Get into
the details of that and make your case for why

(30:04):
that's something the state should entertain.

Speaker 14 (30:06):
Yeah, it's certainly an option. Again, these are just kind
of high level overviews. So direct primary care is actually
something that a lot of private insurers do. And so
again you're just paying kind of premium so that you
can visit primary care as much as you want. And
the reason that a lot of private insurances are doing.
This is because access to specialty care it kind of
removes the burdens of doing that and allows people to
have more touch points with their primary care provider if

(30:28):
they have something a little bit more serious rather than
these just annual visits.

Speaker 4 (30:32):
Well, I've even seen doctors forget the health of the
insurer for a minute. I've seen doctors here in West
Virginia advertise that to say, hey, pay me. I don't
know what it is, one hundred dollars a month, I
don't know what they're charging in the market, but it's
almost like you're putting that a doctor and retainer and
they agree to provide you service when you need it,
and you don't even need insurance for that. And I
think in some instances it would be cheaper than what

(30:55):
you pay for the insurance. Maybe you take and combine
that with a high deductible plan.

Speaker 1 (30:58):
Yeah.

Speaker 14 (30:59):
Absolutely, And you know, I think that we're really on
the cusp of a really interesting moment right now West
Virginia and really across the nation when it comes to healthcare.
I think people are realizing that systems don't protect patients,
and patients are wanting to have more autonomy in the
way that they engage.

Speaker 1 (31:12):
With their health care.

Speaker 14 (31:13):
And the same is true for doctors, nurses and the
people that are providing this care. And so empowering everybody
in this system while doing it in a fiscally responsible
way and injecting as many free market principles into this
as we can is just going to create better outcomes.

Speaker 1 (31:27):
Jessica Rabinski joining us a cardinal institute, you also bring
up health savings accounts and shifting beneficiaries to high deductible
health plans paired with health savings accounts. What would that do?

Speaker 14 (31:39):
Yeah, so this is actually sort of provided right now
under PIA. I believe it's Plan C and so hsas
are really really interesting because it allows the state to
implement money put money into an account again known as
an HSA account, and the unique piece about this is
that again it allows patients to decide where their money
is spent, how it's spent to fit their spcific needs.

(32:01):
Another interesting piece about hsas is that if you know,
someone were to get a new job or change, that
money actually follows them. So it's really a better investment
for the patients.

Speaker 4 (32:10):
And we don't have if I recall I haven't looked
at the numbers, but I mean it's it's maybe in
the hundreds of people in the pei A program, those
members out of hundreds of thousands that we ensure that
are actually using the HSA point utilized.

Speaker 1 (32:24):
Yeah, yeah, So why is that?

Speaker 14 (32:27):
I mean, yeah, I think that you know, a high
deductible health plan in HSA isn't a good fit for
every single person, right But I think that maybe as
a state, we haven't done enough to really talk about
that plan option and really look at ways to expand.
And again, I think PIA, I don't think it has
to go away, but I think what we have to
understand is that this is not structurally sustainable right now,

(32:49):
and we really need to go back and look at
the way that you know, as a state, we can
flex our physical responsibility to ensure that people don't get
kicked off and that they get to make sure to
have the benefits that they choose while also retaining cost.

Speaker 1 (33:01):
Well, you mentioned the insustainability of it. We talked to
ronder hand, So we bring this up all the time.
Healthcare costs continue to run and there's nothing the state
of West Virginia is going to be able to do
about that, and I'm not certain how we address that
other than teacher pay, and that's a separate but related
issue to all of this. So you know, some of
that's just out of your control that you have to

(33:21):
deal with.

Speaker 15 (33:22):
Yeah, yeah, certainly.

Speaker 14 (33:23):
But again, you know, Montana had the same exact issue.
And what's interesting about Montana is that they were having
huge ballooning costs. Again, healthcare is rising across the nation,
and they were really as a state facing a lot
of the brunt of this. And then the three years
that they implemented it, they saved fifty million dollars. And
so this is you know, reference based pricing is a
super interesting option. I'll throw another one out too. Oregon

(33:47):
they had a similar thing as Western Virginia, but instead
of a floor, they had a ceiling. And so they
worked and they had a whole methodology and worked with
providers on what that ceiling should be for the state
to health plans on what they're charging, and they ended
up saving one hundred million dollars in twenty seven months.
So I promise it is possible. It might be a
little bit difficult and time constraining, but you know, the
legislaature should absolutely, you know, commission a study to look

(34:10):
at what these PEI rates are to help determine, you know,
ways we can strain costs.

Speaker 4 (34:14):
Well, certainly we need to be efficient. Certainly we need
to save money where we can, but can't lose sight
of state employees.

Speaker 6 (34:21):
Absolutely.

Speaker 4 (34:21):
What would you tell a state employee who listens to
this debate and they have been intently listening as you know,
what would you tell them to calm their fears about
this because I think what they hear is, oh, we're
going to lose our benefit.

Speaker 14 (34:34):
Yeah, well, I don't want anyone to lose their benefit,
of course. I mean I think that it's a totally
rational fear to have. But I think at the same
time that we have to understand why these things are occurring,
why premiums are going up, And it's because we can't
control costs, and it's because West Virginia does not have
a free market in healthcare. And again, hospital systems and
other healthcare providers have made it abundantly clear that they
don't want that to occur. So in order to do that,

(34:55):
we have to look at other mechanisms.

Speaker 1 (34:57):
So quickly would con have fixed PA or help it?

Speaker 14 (35:00):
No, But it certainly affects the market, and again, you
know we have to you know, deal with the market
that we have and looking at other opportunities that can
help make this as competitive as possible.

Speaker 1 (35:10):
Jessica Debnski, Cardinal Institute. Always an interesting conversation. Thanks for
stopping by.

Speaker 14 (35:14):
Yeah, thank you.

Speaker 1 (35:15):
Coming up, we will remember the life and career of
Walt Helming, former Agriculture commissioner, former State Center will do
that right after this.

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Speaker 1 (37:16):
Over the weekend news broke that former State Agriculture Commissioner,
former State Senator for member of the House of Delegates,
Walt Helmick had passed away at the age of eighty one.
He was Agriculture Secretary from twenty thirteen to twenty seventeen.
He was a member of the state Senate from nineteen
ninety to twenty twelve. He was chair of the Senate
Finance Committee for eight years. Before that, he was in

(37:37):
the House of Delegates after he left the position of
Agriculture Secretary. He also was on the Pocahontas County Commission
in twenty eighteen, where he served as president. He got
his start back on the Pocahontas County Board of Education,
where he served from nineteen seventy six to nineteen seventy eight.
Chris Farrow was his chief of staff during his time

(37:58):
as Agriculture Commissioner, and he joins the So I'll mention
News talk Line this morning. Chris, good morning, Good morning, Dave,
morning TJ.

Speaker 10 (38:06):
I think the last time I was on talk line,
I was with your predecessor, Hop Kirchill talking about the
Dangerous Wild Animals Bill, which we were doing the rule
making and for the record, Commissioner hell MC did not
want the bill and we were struggling with that. But
you guys had big shoes to fill and I just
want to tell you guys are doing a fantastic job.

(38:27):
So but just to start out, I want to say
that my heart goes out to Walt's family, his wife, Rita,
his sons Brian, Sam and Tim, and obviously the rest
of his family. And I think we all take comfort
that his spirit is now with his daughter that he
lost about twenty thirty years ago when she was in college,

(38:50):
that he referred to ASSISI. So I just wanted to
start out by past all my condolences to the family.

Speaker 1 (38:57):
For those who did not know Walt personally, how would
you describe him?

Speaker 10 (39:02):
Oh, she's I mean, Dave you you talked about you
just ran off the list of all the different things
he did. You know, he was a renaissance man and
a lot of a lot of respects. But the way
I remember Commissioner Helmick was he was a numbers person,
always falling around with numbers. And for those folks that

(39:23):
knew him, uh in the legislature especially, knew that he
knew the budget inside and out. His only rival, I
think would be Governor Earl Ray Tomlin in that respect.
He told me a story one time that you know
that the numbers were always always flying around his head,
even so much that on a Sunday in church, Miss

(39:44):
Reeda had to slap slap him on the wrist for
taking a pencil to the to the to the church
bulletin when he was trying to figure out some budget numbers.
So he just he was a fantastic numbers guy. And
the way I remember him too, is he was kind
of the last of the old time politicians, if you

(40:06):
know what I'm talking about. He knew the history of
West Virginia, traveled the state, knew everybody, knew someone in
every county, and he'd loved to sit on a porch
and and and sip pice tea and and talk politics
with people.

Speaker 4 (40:22):
If I recall it, I was reading he did the budget.
But he did it all without a computer. You know nowadays, Well,
let me go to look at this Excel model or
that spreadsheet. He did it all without a computer.

Speaker 10 (40:33):
He did dj And that's where I think that story
of the of the church bulletin and miss reads slapping
the pencil out of his hand came from.

Speaker 18 (40:41):
Yeah.

Speaker 10 (40:42):
Yeah, he was not not a technology person. Spent a
lot of time mowing grass and driving around and thinking.
And that's where a lot of the budget was done
was in his head. And then he'd sit down on
the staff and they'd put it the paper. It was
pretty amazing.

Speaker 1 (40:58):
Chris calling him a renaissance man might be a bit
of an understatement. Let's see, he was president of welding company.
You mentioned a medical supply company. He graduated from the
A School of A. Mendern Hall School of Auctioneering, went
on to get a bachelor's degree at w Tech. Graduated
from University of Oklahoma Economic Development Institute in ninety six.

(41:19):
You're you're you're short selling them. There just a little.

Speaker 18 (41:23):
That he did.

Speaker 10 (41:23):
I forgot about the auctioneering part. And we would always
try to get him to do to do one of
the calls, and every once in a while we could
get him to do it. But of those positions, you
guys will appreciate this, he said, the best position. And
I asked you this one, Tom, I said, you've done
it all everything. Who was school board? You know, the
highest highest positions in state government? You know you run statewide.
What's the best position? He said? The best political position

(41:46):
you can get is a county commissioner. I said, why
is that?

Speaker 2 (41:50):
You know?

Speaker 10 (41:50):
Wald? He said, because all you got to do is
convince one other person to vote with you, and you
win every time. I said, two to one. So you
put it out there. Appreciate that.

Speaker 4 (42:01):
I think he's pretty rare in that I'm trying to remember.
I don't remember anybody on the Board of Public Works
that later after they sat on that board, became a
county commissioner.

Speaker 10 (42:10):
Yeah, I think that would be pretty rare, and I
think he was happy to do that, you know, going
back home into the mountains. And I think he got
his start up up in Polk Collins County a while,
you know, early early on. Maybe it was the board education.
But yeah, you're you're probably right. I'm hard pressed to
think of anyone else who went back to that level

(42:31):
of public service.

Speaker 1 (42:32):
Did you ever ask him why he got into public service?
With his talents and his background and his ability to
do all these different things, why run for office?

Speaker 18 (42:42):
Yeah?

Speaker 10 (42:43):
You know, he just he just loved West Virginia and
his roots were here.

Speaker 3 (42:49):
You know.

Speaker 10 (42:50):
He would tell stories of back in the days of
up in Burgou and uh, you know, all the all
the history of of everyone. He just loved the state.
And I think given back, and of course, you know,
legislature handles so many different things, I think that was
the only thing that could wet his appetite for knowledge,
and I think that's what really drove in towards that
and you like people, so you know what better you know,

(43:14):
better position than you know, perhaps a salesman to get
around and talk to people.

Speaker 1 (43:20):
Chris Pharaoh, he was Walt Helmick's chief of staff when
he was the Agriculture Commissioner. Walt Helming passing away over
the weekend at the age of eighty one. Chris, thanks
for sharing some memories. Our condolence is certainly to you
and the Helmic family.

Speaker 10 (43:33):
Thanks so much.

Speaker 1 (43:34):
Guys, you take care, appreciate it very much. Thank Chris.
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Speaker 1 (46:22):
Let's get in a couple of texts here before top
of the hour, Brad Hall's going to join us. We'll
get into the weekend that was in college football. Texter says,
felt terrible after the w and martial losses on Saturday,
and only a little bit better today. Horrible losses, says
the texter. This one says Dave, after this past weekend.

(46:43):
I think that you need to hear this. The herd
will be back. Go heard and sends along Festivus meme
of Frank Costanzas saying Festivus is your heritage. It's part
of who you are. I'll be there for Festivus. Don't worry.
I bet your drive home was a tough drive Saturday night.
Oh you know I I've been in this business long enough.
I try not to take things too difficult, too hard. Hey,

(47:04):
hey man, I got a job to do. I did
my job and go home. But they are better. The
visits to the waffle house after the game are a
lot more fun when you win. I'll also that am
all right? Coming up? Brad Howell joins us, we'll dive
into college Football's talk line of Metro News, the voice
of West Virginia.

Speaker 2 (47:26):
Metro News talk Line is presented by Incova Insurance, encircling
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Visit incova dot com to learn more.

Speaker 1 (47:36):
Second hour of Metro News talk Line. Dave Wilson, Morgantown,
TJ Metis and Charleston work together. We're in the cob
Insurch Studios. Ethan Collins is handling the audio today. Jake
link is managing the video stream on Metro News Television.
Eight one hundred seven six five eight two five five.

(47:56):
That's the phone number, eight hundred seven to sixty five.
Talk line is three h four talk three oh four.
Going to get into college football, Brad Howell joins us,
what happened in Athens? We'll get into that. Where do
we go from here? And a little bit later on
more on that rate increase from Appalachian Power. We'll talk
to George Porter with AEP coming up a little bit
later on TJ. Meadows joins us from the Charleston Studios.

(48:19):
Good morning, TJ. Good morning.

Speaker 4 (48:21):
Things catching my eye smp up, Dave, that's always a
wonderful thing. And the President speaking right now saying we're
eradicating anti Christian bias. So I look forward to being
able to hear that on more of that speech here
when we get off the air. But that happening as
we speak.

Speaker 1 (48:36):
West Virginia left Peton Stadium Saturday after the seventeen to
ten loss to Ohio, first of all, marked the first
regular season set back to a group of five opponents
since two thousand and eight, but also left with injury
concerns and a lot of concerns. Brad Howell is one
of the three guys before the game. He is also
one of the guys we'll hear later today on Metro
News Sports Line at six oh six on many of

(48:57):
the same Metro News radio stations. He joins us on
Meta News talk Line, Brad, what happened?

Speaker 21 (49:03):
Good morning guys. More, it was a tough day in Athens, Dave.
I think as everybody saw it. Just the offense just
couldn't get itself on tracked and get anything going in
that game. And that was ultimately what cost you. It
was struggling to begin with, and then you lose Jahim White,

(49:23):
your your clear best playmaker and a guy you really
needed in that game, and he goes out and then
it just went from bad to worse. So just just
a real struggle on the offensive end, if you want
to boil it down to one sentence.

Speaker 1 (49:36):
So, Brad, I like numbers. I know you do too.

Speaker 4 (49:37):
I'm looking at the box score. Did we win anything offensively?
Was there a glimmer of hope? I mean, they just
beat us around the offensive side of the ball. They
had it all.

Speaker 1 (49:46):
We didn't have much.

Speaker 21 (49:48):
Yeah, And that's the tough part of that. And I'll
give you a number here that just really jumps out
to me is the fact that you ended up with
three interceptions and didn't get the win. That's an anomaly
in and of itself. So first and foremost credit to
the defense that had some initial struggles containing Parker Navarro,
and we knew that was coming. He's a very talented

(50:08):
quarterback when the pocket breaks down, and that was a
struggle early, but that West Fortinia defense settled in nicely,
didn't allow a point in the second half, and then
force those three turnovers. But then the offense gets it
back after each one of those turnovers and not only
goes three and out guys, but had nine plays for
minus seven yards on the plays immediately following the interception.

(50:29):
So you probably don't need to go any deeper than that.
You got turnovers, you were down by a score each time,
you were right in position to go down and tie
that thing up and then have a chance to steal
one and get out of there, and you just could
not move the ball. So offensive line struggled to get
push again without Jaheem, you lost your dynamic playmaker in
the backfield that can make people miss. And then certainly

(50:50):
the quarterbacks just struggled with their accuracy and just couldn't
find the receivers downfield that you needed to. So just again, overall,
it was just everything we're going to talk about to
analyze that game just comes back to the offensive struggles,
and I think that's the bigger concern going forward, Brad.

Speaker 1 (51:05):
Is this a perfect storm situation trap game pit coming up?
You're going to Ohio. It's a different atmosphere, it's a
small stadium. Athens is terrible town. We've talked about all that,
is that this anomaly of having all of those factors,
or are there structural issues that need to be addressed.

Speaker 21 (51:22):
Well, I wish it was that easy. I wish you
would have had a team in West Virginia that when
you talk about trap, that's usually mentally based, right where
you're not quite into it mentally because you're looking ahead
to the next game. I don't think that was the case,
and I don't think Rich Rodriguez thought that was the case,
And so that would be a much easier fix. If
that's all it was, was motivational, I don't think it was.

(51:43):
I think what it was, guys, if you have to
try and put it on one thing, it's that offensive
line coming into the season was just in experience. And
I've used this stat a couple of times that the
five starters had one hundred and one snaps played last
season at offensive line outside of Walter young Bear. So
four of those five one hundred and one snaps and

(52:03):
eighty six of those came from Landing Livingston. So you
have a group that just didn't play a whole lot
of offensive line last year, and so that's going to
take some time, and that's going to take some getting
used to. And I think that was just a games
on Saturday where they just were still learning. They're not
quite there. They didn't quite have the strength to move
the front out of the way. And listen, I know
that's a concern moving forward because you're going to face again,

(52:24):
all due respect to Ohio you but you're going to
face better defenses most of the rest of the season,
and that's certainly true against this pit team. So I
think that's what it is is is you wonder where
this offense is and you try and find some playmakers.
And so that's why this injury news about team that
will hopefully get later is so impactful. If that's something
that's going to keep him out for a few games,

(52:46):
the lack of playmakers on that side of the ball
is a concern. Certainly.

Speaker 4 (52:50):
What does this tell you about the new paradigm of
the game where you go get seventy eighty players out
of the portal, they don't have time to gel, they've
never played together. I mean, does that show is that
a problem? Was that apparent on the field or am
I overthinking it?

Speaker 3 (53:07):
No.

Speaker 21 (53:08):
I think that's an obvious challenge. And you know, for
decades as we've always ranked teams in the preseason based
on returning production, and there's a reason for that. It
just puts you further ahead when you have guys that
know your system and know how you want it done.
And certainly West Virginia is the leader this offseason in
new guys, and that takes some time. And that's certainly

(53:29):
been the case with richest teams in the past, that
it takes some time to come together. And I think
that's even more true when you add all of these
new pieces in and guys. It's one thing. You know,
we've seen this in basketball, but as you sit and
watch basketball, at the end of the day, a guy
can take the ball and the whole offense can break
down and one guy can go make a play and
make a shot. That's harder in football, and it's especially

(53:49):
hard when it's your offensive line that's one of the
most inexperienced groups. If that group isn't working in sync together,
it is extremely difficult to be effective. So I just
think that's something we've got to watch and see how quickly.
Those guys can gel and get up to speed and
improve quite frankly, and that's something you expect. You're allowed
to get better. I say that all the time. You're
allowed to get better throughout the course.

Speaker 3 (54:10):
Of the season.

Speaker 21 (54:10):
The challenge with this Big twelve is you've got to
get better quickly. And now with Pick coming in, you
don't have any easy games left on the schedule, and
it's it's going to be a challenge to get that
much better quickly.

Speaker 1 (54:21):
But you've got to find a way, Brad and TJ.
To illustrate your point even further. I saw the same
things you're talking about with regards to Marshall on Saturday
night where there were breakdowns, big breakdowns in the secondary.
There were breakdowns some protection on the offensive line where
the tackles run a twist to bring a linebacker and
you end up guys doubling a tackle because you don't

(54:44):
have that feel, you don't have that familiarity with those
guys next to you where you can communicate without saying
a word. Same thing in the secondary, Brad, where you
think the safety is going to be over the top,
but he's out of position, or the corner gets out
of position, the safety thinks he's going to have help.
That's communication, that's familiarity, and these guys just haven't been
together long enough. And you see that. You see that

(55:04):
manifest with trouble on the offensive line, breakdowns and coverage
in the secondary that lead to big plays. Will you
breakdowns and pass protection. Football is a hard game. It
takes a lot, It takes time. Although time is not
something you have a lot of these days in college football.

Speaker 21 (55:20):
Yeah, I think that's perfectly said. It does take time,
and there's just fewer games, right, so you have fewer
opportunities to go live in a game situation. And I
do think that's what was impressive. We's going to talk
about something positive for a second. Back to that defense
for a second. I thought, through two games, and certainly
game one, you just overwhelmed your opponent, so I get it,
But just structurally, to use your words, structurally, I think

(55:41):
this defense has been pretty sound and done a nice
job of adapting to a new system, of adapting of
a new way to play, and for a group that's
requiring great effort and speed and aggressiveness, I thought the
defense has shown it knows where to go through two games,
and has done an outstanding job, and now it's just
a matter of can the offense get to that point
or how long will it take for the offense to

(56:03):
get to that point.

Speaker 6 (56:04):
I agree with you.

Speaker 21 (56:05):
I think this is the hardest sport there is to
get guys to play together, and it is so critical,
and the most critical and difficult piece of that is
the offensive line. And I think that really showed itself
on Saturday.

Speaker 4 (56:17):
Your points well taken. You're allowed to get better as
the season goes on. As a fan of WVU bred,
I hope they get better. I'm pulling for them to
get better. The business guy in me, i'd shore them
all day long. I wouldn't bet on him at this point.
It just doesn't There's not a lot of hope there.

Speaker 3 (56:31):
Man.

Speaker 1 (56:31):
I hate to be mister pessimistic, but that's what I
walked away with on Saturday.

Speaker 21 (56:35):
Yeah, we'll see I just I mean, I get it,
and you just hopefully hit your low point there. So
it's hard to buy into positive when you've just seen
something that looked like it did. The flip side is TJ.
I would just counter that with we see it all
the time in sports. That's the beauty of sports, you
don't know what's going to happen, and that's what keeps
us coming back each side. And sometimes that works in reverse,

(56:56):
where you have about as bad a game as you can,
but yet now here's the post apart. You're returning home
into what will be a bonkers environment. It gets a
pit team that hasn't been tested yet either in its
first two games. It's a game last year where you
had a defense that really struggled all year, yet you
held pitch scoreless for thirty four minutes of that game,
and it's got some of the same offensive pieces back.

(57:18):
So I think that's again I would just say this
without absent of any hard evidence from the most recent game,
that it's going to get better. That's the beauty of sports.
And you keep the belief and you line up and
you play, and that's why you play the games instead
of just talking about them afterwards. Are on paper Brad.

Speaker 1 (57:35):
Hal Metro New's sports line and three guys before the game.
They have their podcast up recapping the Ohio loss over
at wv metro news dot com. How concerned are you
about the injuries to Jaheem White and Jaden Bray?

Speaker 21 (57:49):
Extremely concerned and start with jem White again. I think
he's just a difference maker in the backfield, and it's
one of those guys if you're struggling to move guys
up front, you still have a shot to get on
the perimeter and he can make guys miss, so you
still retain some of that dynamic offensive playmaking if he's
in there. If he's out. We've talked about the lack
of depth at running back for months now. That's a

(58:10):
real concern. And Jayden Bray, I think he was ready
for a breakout season. I think you've seen him do
some fantastic things through two weeks. And if you don't
have a quality depth at running back, what do you
need to do? Probably throw it more. You know, cam
Vond's really good, but you'd love to have two receivers.
So those are big potential injuries. Read Kariko going out,
one of your stalwarts on defense. He was out as well.

(58:32):
So yeah, injuries mounted early in the season, which is
certainly a big concern.

Speaker 1 (58:37):
Brad Haw he is metro to his sports line and
three guys before the game. One last question. It's pit week,
it's backyard brawl. You mentioned the bonkers environment, but you
got to reset, Brad. There was a bunch it felt
like the air got taken out of the room here
in Morgantown following Saturday's loss. It's tough to reset.

Speaker 21 (58:57):
There's some short term some of that. There's no question
most people thought game day was on its way here
had you got that win. So you don't have that.
But I think as fans do and Mountain Near fans
are resilient. As this week goes on and you flush
this from your system, I'd be willing to say, Dave,
you come around here Thursday, Friday, Saturday. This place is
going to be hopping again and it will be a
great environment on Saturday. So that's what we do, is

(59:19):
sports fans, Dave, you dig down, you stand back up,
and you go play the next play. Let's go.

Speaker 1 (59:24):
I like the positivity, Brad.

Speaker 10 (59:25):
I like it. I like it.

Speaker 1 (59:28):
That was not according to the postgame text lines. By
the way, whether you were wearing green and white or
blue and gold on Saturday. I'm just throwing it out there.
If you saw the text lines, they disagree with you.
The world was coming to it in Brad.

Speaker 21 (59:41):
Tough days, better days ahead. Rich's first season. You lost
the Temple at home. Less than five years later, you
were on the brink of a national championship. Things can turn, boys.

Speaker 1 (59:51):
Brad How eternal optimist. All right, you'll talk more about
it tonight on the sports line. I would imagine we will.

Speaker 21 (59:56):
Yeah, we'll dive into it, all right.

Speaker 1 (59:58):
Of course you can go check out three Before the
Game podcast over at Metro News Television and on your
favorite podcasting device and get their take on the weekend.
That was Brad. Always appreciate it. Look forward to talking
to you again soon.

Speaker 21 (01:00:11):
Okay, guys, thanks for having me.

Speaker 1 (01:00:13):
Brad How Metro News Sports, Metro News, Metro News Sports Line.
He's on like seven different shows, podcasts, social media, darling
all the above. You can read recaps of the weekend
over at WDV metro news dot com both Marshall and
Wview's losses from the weekend. Take a break, get to
your text back at a moment. This is talk line

(01:00:33):
from the Inencoba Insurance Studios.

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Did you know that the Robinson Grand has played host
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Explore more at Come Home to Clarksburg.

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Dot com.

Speaker 1 (01:01:56):
Text line three oh four talk three oh four. How
are you feeling here on a after the weekend that
was in college football here in West Virginia? Tough one
for the Mountaineers that I like, Brad, I like the optimism. Well,
that's tough. It's tough when you lose games you should win.
And West Virginia should beat Ohio at peedeon Stateium. Marshall

(01:02:18):
should beat Missouri State when you're at home, that's what's tough.
Those are games you're supposed to win because TJ, there
are tough games coming that you're not going to be
favored in. You gotta win the ones you're supposed to win,
and when you don't, it just sucks to be honest.

Speaker 4 (01:02:35):
And if Jehem White is done, I'm not saying he is,
but it's questionable, then it's tough to bet on a
positive future moving forward.

Speaker 1 (01:02:42):
I have to tell you the Dave.

Speaker 4 (01:02:43):
I took the Marshall game in this weekend, the Missus
and Iron. We left at halftime because we wanted to
grab some dinner, We had a babysitter, all that kind
of thing, so we took advantage.

Speaker 1 (01:02:51):
I thought they had it though it was seventeen seven
at the half. I thought they had it. I thought
they had it at twenty to seven. There were a
couple of key moments in that game down on the
goal line, the incomplete pass missing the field goal that
changed momentum. But it's the Marshall's dealing with the same
things that WVU is dealing with. All the newness, all
the new guys, all the new coordinators, the new culture,

(01:03:12):
and that takes time to gel. And you saw that
in defensive breakdowns. You saw that in breakdowns in the
offensive line Saturday night in Huntington, where I was same
thing with the Mountaineers offensive line. Oh boy, I'm gonna
go on the offensive line, Soapbucks. That is tough because
it's not just a position. You've got five guys all
within like what ten to fifteen yards of each other,
and you have to function as a cohesive unit. And

(01:03:35):
if you are not, it is going to be glaring.
If one guy misses an assignment, that's going to affect
the guy next to him, is going to affect the
guy next to him, and somebody's going to come for
either going to get to the quarterback or the hole
is not going to be where it's supposed to. And
that takes time to build that familiarity. You have to
be able to communicate without talking to each other without
you have to know where the guy's going to be.

Speaker 4 (01:03:57):
It takes time well, and it would seem that factor
you're talking about, that necessity that's going to be a
commodity that teams that are able to pay more are
going to be able to have and retain compared to
teams that aren't. That have to go back to the
portal and rebuild and rebuild year after years. So it's
just going to become it's gonna become more of a problem.
Right to remind thinking about that the wrong.

Speaker 1 (01:04:16):
Way, you're thinking about it. I thought about it like this,
and not to get two down in the weeds of
x's and o's. But schemes can be very complex and
be very intricate offensively and defensively. But if you are
rebuilding rosters year after year, and look both both situations,
you have new coaches sort of new coaches, new schemes,
new players. But if you're rebuilding and these players are

(01:04:38):
not in these systems for three or four years, you
have to simplify. You really have to simplify what you're
doing locking schemes, what you're doing offensively passing schemes, what
you doing defensively in schemes. And I think that's what
we're going to see, especially you know, at the mid
major level, and you're probably going to see that at
the major conference levels as well. All right, let's get

(01:04:58):
in a couple of texts here throughout four talk three
or four Texter says Dan Saint Mary's Pat McAfee, please
go buy us some offensive lineman Dave and TJ. Fairmont
State Fighting Falcons or two and oh Mountain East conference
football as good. Uh, Mountaine's conference football, real football, as
many NFL players as w Marshall. Mountain's pretty good. It's

(01:05:20):
good football. Go watch it. Good for Fairmont? Uh, guys,
have you considered that maybe W is not the powerhouse
it thought it would be. Maybe W is now an
easy warm up team. No, they're not a warm up team.
I mean that's uh. Look what was it? Three and eight?
Riches first year and Rich Rodriguez the first tenure. It

(01:05:41):
takes time, unfortunately time. We don't give anybody time to
do anything now, right football coaches, basketball coaches, politicians three
or four talk three or four? The text line texter
sends a picture, says Rich rod is back and sends
a picture of Neil Brown of a cheap shot. Three

(01:06:02):
or four Talk three four? There was one here? Where
was it?

Speaker 3 (01:06:09):
See?

Speaker 1 (01:06:09):
I hate this. I saw a text I wanted to
bring up, and they retexted and it got shuffled and
I can't find it. So we will move on your
thoughts on the football games this weekend at eight hundred
seven to sixty five Talk eight hundred seven to sixty
five eight two five five three or four talk three
oh four? Is the text line? Oh here it is? Uh,

(01:06:29):
that was a cheap shot to broadcast the WU game
at the Jone. Yeah, they put the game up on
the big screen. I don't know if you were still.
Was that the first half of them? I've been in
the second half. That was second half. I wasn't there.
They put the game up. Here's my problem with that.
I don't mind them doing that because they do that
around college stadiums. But news flash, Ohio is a rival

(01:06:52):
you want to celebrate. I guess the idea you want
to celebrate your real rival beating somebody else. There was
no winners in that game. If you're a Marshall fan,
it's Ohio. So I have to go on the Ohio
rant again about how awful Ohio is. They literally have
a sign. They had a sign when they played on
a regular basis. In the locker room, they would count

(01:07:12):
down to the Marshall game. I thought, you know, somebody
clearly does not know the history here of who's the
bigger rival in this particular matchup. Didn't I didn't like
it either for that reason.

Speaker 4 (01:07:23):
I mean, maybe somebody got excited and oh, this would
be great. I'll get a big fan rise. Totally get that.
I wonder if they think about royalties and that nice
check they're gonna get from ESPN. You now that they
popped that sucker up there.

Speaker 1 (01:07:36):
They did that. They did that in Georgia, by the way,
when we were down there and Florida State was beating Alabama.
And of course that's totally different, by the way, Georgia Alabama,
there's a little bit of you know, you know, some
love loss there, no love lost there, and they got
a big rise out of the crowd when they did that.
But nonetheless, Ohio's your rival. Ohio's the one we had

(01:07:59):
the trophy with wee big Marshall that you you don't
want to allow to ever win a game ugly colored green. Anyway,
what did the what did the crowd? I was gone?
Did they respond? I think they did. I think there
was a cheer. I believe there was a cheer at
that time, which again I get, I get it, but
it's Ohio, Ohio. Man, I'm afraid I'm going to get

(01:08:25):
you some counseling. This really torn up about Ohio at Athens.
I'm frankly concerned about you. That's okay. Look for mountaineer fans,
it's pit right. I mean it's not. I don't want
to I don't want to say the two were the same.
I'm just saying that's how I feel about makes sense, right,

(01:08:46):
all right? We'll move on. Coming up, three or four
talk three or four mare of your text. We'll get
some more information on this rate increase with Appalachia Power.
We'll do that on the other side of the news
break more of your text as well. Three or four
talk three O four eight hundred seven six five eight
two five five. That's the phone number. This is talk
Line on Metro News. Metro News for forty years, the
voice of West Virginia. It is eleven thirty in time

(01:09:10):
to get a news update, Let's check in with the
Metro News radio network. Find out what's happening across West Virginia.

Speaker 23 (01:09:16):
West Virginia Metro News.

Speaker 1 (01:09:17):
I'm Chris Lawrence.

Speaker 23 (01:09:19):
Changes are coming for some Morgantown based employees of WVU.

Speaker 20 (01:09:22):
Hundreds of WVU Research Corporation employees will transition from the
nonprofit entity to university employment effective October thirty. First officials
said the move will better align the mission infrastructure and
improve access to resources. In twenty twenty four, the Research
Corporation took in two hundred and seventy four million dollars

(01:09:43):
in grants, with about one hundred million dollars of that
coming from the federal government. Through DOGE and other cuts
from the federal government, the corporation could lose more than
ten million dollars per year in federal funding moving forward,
I'm Mike Nolting for wv metro dot Com.

Speaker 23 (01:10:00):
Meanwhile, WU President Michael Benson continues his effort to visit
all fifty five West Virginia counties by next summer. Benson
will take his inaugural Welcome Home Tour East, this time
with Stobson Tucker Pendlton in Grant County. Those will include
a number of historical sites to take in business locations,
and visiting with WVU alumni and supporters as well as
local community leaders. It would bring Benson's total to twenty

(01:10:23):
two counties since he became president in July. West Virginia's
hoping to get a COVID shot this year would face
a more difficult time because they need to have a
prescription for a COVID shot West Virginia one of sixteen
states that will require a prescription to get the vaccine
this year. You're listening to mytro neews for forty years
the voice of West Virginia.

Speaker 16 (01:10:44):
Governor Patrick Morrissey has set a very bold goal fifty
gigawats of new energy capacity by twenty fifty. Thanks to
House Bill twenty fourteen, West Virginia's coal plans will be
upgraded to run longer, stronger, and more efficiently, thus delivering reliable,
affordable base load power. Our families and businesses will be

(01:11:05):
able to count on. West Virginia Coal Association President Chris
Hamilton stated Governor Morrissey's plan to grow West Virginia's energy
generation capacity to fifty gigawatts by twenty fifteen is a
dynamic approach to economic development which will.

Speaker 1 (01:11:20):
Supercharge our state's coal industry and broader economy.

Speaker 16 (01:11:24):
With Governor Morrissey's leadership and the action of the legislature,
West Virginia is once again America's energy leader. Coal is
powering progress. Coal is powering West Virginia. Brought to you
by the West Virginia Coal Association.

Speaker 23 (01:11:42):
Mingo County Commissioned President Nathan Brown says there are mixed
reviews about a proposed data center for his county. Transgas
wants to put that facility and the accompanying power plan
in the Adams Fork.

Speaker 10 (01:11:52):
Area, and it's certainly into a county. We want to
protect and preserve the resources we have, and we care
about our citizens, as you know. Also on the other
nity can be that and it can be happy meeting
and some type of resolution to those issues. We welcome
the jobs and the industry in this country.

Speaker 23 (01:12:07):
D EP is considering an air quality permit application from
the Metro News anchordisk I'm Chris Laurence.

Speaker 1 (01:12:32):
Three or four talk three oh four. It's not clear
to me, Dave. Do you not like Ohio University? No
Hawking Valley vacation for you? Probably not. I may not
be allowed back in Athens ever. Again, WHI should be
just a darn shame, darn shame, I say, all right.

(01:12:52):
Last week we told you about the State Public Service Commission.
It turned out more than half of Appalachian Power Company's
request for a two hundred and fifty million dollar base
rate increase, but the PSC approved seventy six million dollars
in order to in order issued late Thursday, at the
same time told the utility it cannot collect on the
increase through traditional means, that instead the PSC will approve

(01:13:14):
Appalachian Power's securitization plan in order that the PSC rolled
out last week as well. Got all that, got your
whiteboard ready? Good? George Porter is joining US communications director
with Appalachian Power to help explain more of what will
be happening. George, good morning. Glad you could join us.

Speaker 3 (01:13:33):
Morning guys, thanks for having us.

Speaker 1 (01:13:34):
Appreciate you coming on. So this is a little bit different,
This is not something that we've dealt with much before
in the past. To explain how this is going to
impact Appalachian Power customers.

Speaker 3 (01:13:45):
We hope positively.

Speaker 8 (01:13:46):
You know, that was the goal once this legislation was
passing twenty twenty three, to find a way to take
items or assets that were on the books and customers
were currently paying for and find a way to be
innovative and figure out how we can reduce those calls
for customers and keep costs down.

Speaker 3 (01:14:01):
And that's always been our goal.

Speaker 8 (01:14:03):
You know, we're trying to provide power, we're trying to
ensure reliability, but we're trying to do all this through
customer affordability.

Speaker 3 (01:14:09):
So looking at fat, looking at the race.

Speaker 8 (01:14:10):
Looking at things continue to increase, we felt as though
the best way for our customers to keep things flat
and hopefully even have a decrease come sometime next year
was through securitization.

Speaker 4 (01:14:21):
George seventy six million in base rates approved out of
as Dave said, a two hundred and fifty million dollar
ask what got chopped off, what didn't get approved or
what will you not be able to do as a
result of that order?

Speaker 8 (01:14:33):
Well, you know, when you look at the order, it's
about eighty pages of a lot of different suggestions from
the Commission, and all of them are in favor of customers,
So we never want to say that, you know, we're
not in favorite customers as well. We just kind of
went about a different approach. There were some things that
we were trying to help customers but also keep those
rates down through securitization. We were hoping that they were

(01:14:55):
going to take all of those base rates and approve
a good chunk of what we were asking for because
these were investments that we've already made into the system
and investments we plan to continue to make. So you know,
rick are just gonna have to go back to the
drawing board and look at how we continue to invest
in the state. You know, our customers, you know, our
goal obviously is to continue to provide them with the
service that they deserve, that they require. But you know,

(01:15:17):
we've got to take a look at some of the
things that we're doing as far as investing and reliable
service and kind of move some things around and hopefully
hopefully that we can continue to provide our customers with
what they deserve.

Speaker 1 (01:15:28):
What are some of the challenges you have to overcome
providing services in southern West Virginia in particular, I would
imagine just terrain and topography are two of the biggest challenges.

Speaker 3 (01:15:39):
You're right on point.

Speaker 8 (01:15:40):
You know, the thing that makes our territory beautiful is
also the things that makes it complicated for us. You know,
when we're looking at trying to restore power after major
storms or guys just even after on a sunny day.
A lot of our infrastructure was building in early teens
and twenties and thirties, and it's just time for upgrade.
You know, anything that's been around for seven eighty years,

(01:16:01):
while it's still holding strong, it's probably could use an upgrade.
And that's what we're trying to do. We're trying to
find those areas where we can get in and improve
their reliable service. But for a lot of this a
lot of these lines were built by mules in the
twenties and thirties, so we just can't get there. So
if something happens, the power does go out, you know,
we have to take a step back, and we're trying
to be creative. We're using drones, we're using helicopters. A

(01:16:23):
lot of our men and women in certain situations just
walking it on foot, so they can be challenging. So
you know, like I said, the thing that makes O
area beautiful is also you know, certain conditions can be
challenging for us.

Speaker 4 (01:16:35):
George, I want to preface this next question with disclosure,
full disclosure, transparency. For a numbers of years I worked
for American Electric Power, that is the holding company of
Appalachian Power. Some would say I know enough to be dangerous,
We'll leave it at that, But man, I have to
tell you we've got challenges here.

Speaker 1 (01:16:52):
I don't think a lot of folks realize just the.

Speaker 4 (01:16:55):
Cut and dry fact that doesn't really matter if it's
profitable for a to serve certain customers.

Speaker 8 (01:17:01):
You have to.

Speaker 4 (01:17:01):
You're obligated to serve every customer in a state where
we have dwindling population, in a state where we have
the challenges like Da've just described and you elaborated on.
I mean, man, it's not necessarily a recipe for success here.
And I'm not trying to say poor, pitiful aep. But
you guys have a job to do it. It's a
tough job.

Speaker 3 (01:17:21):
I mean, I'm glad you mentioned that, TJ. And it's
your right.

Speaker 8 (01:17:24):
It's a balancing act, you know, how do you keep
rates affordable by also trying to grow the state, because
that's what we want, you know, we want We don't
want this just to stay pad. We want to try
to increase economic development and increase workforce development for our neighbors.

Speaker 3 (01:17:38):
So we do have a challenge.

Speaker 8 (01:17:40):
It's difficult, you know. You look at our income level
within the state as well. You know, we rank in
the bottom quartile. So every increase impacts customers, you know,
like you said, but we have an obligation that if
a new company, a new business, new residential customer comes
to our area and they're requesting power, we have an
obligation to serve that.

Speaker 3 (01:17:58):
So we're always trying.

Speaker 8 (01:17:59):
To boal instead of providing service for customers, keeping rates affordable,
helping to grow the state, you know, So it's a
balancing act and sometimes, you know, one area, one aspect
of that can feel like they're probably getting the short
end of the stick. But we're always looking at ways
to try to be creative and try to be innovative
and try to make as many parts of our business

(01:18:21):
profitable as we can as well as help those customers.

Speaker 1 (01:18:23):
George Porter is joining US communications director with Appalachian Power
of the PSC proving the securitization part of that plan
last week and TJ you've talked about this, you kind
of touched on it there just a moment ago. But George,
the bottom line is we're running out of people, especially
in the southern part of the state, and that's going
to have an impact. If there are fewer people paying
into the pot, that's going to impact rates.

Speaker 8 (01:18:46):
And you're one hundred percent correct, and you know that's why,
you know, as we look at rates and our customers
are always have been telling us, you know, rates are unaffordable.
You know, what can we do? What are you guys doing?
You know, we can, and we can try to address
some of those rate issues, but we're also try trying
to address affordability through other areas, and that's what I
mentioned workforce development. We can help our customers that help

(01:19:06):
our region to grow and bring other industries into the area.
That way we can spread those cost out over customers.
We're also trying to work in workforce development, trying to
help our customers who desire better education, better opportunities. You know,
we're trying to help that so we can get those
high paying jobs back to our region. Then everything becomes

(01:19:27):
affordable because we understand we get a brunt of it,
but we know it's not just electric bills. It's housing,
it's medicaid, it's a lot of different things that customers
are struggling with every day. So you know, solving the
electricity rate won't solve our regional problem. So we got
to try to think a little bit deeper than just
fix the rates. How do we fix the overall long

(01:19:47):
term problem, which is trying to improve our region through
bringing new businesses and helping workforce development.

Speaker 4 (01:19:53):
George, I want to double click a second into securitization.
If I have any of these facts wrong, please correct
me leave. We're taking twenty year bonds here, so we're
taking it's it's more than that seventy six million.

Speaker 1 (01:20:05):
It's a lot of a lot of a lot of dollars.
What was that final tally? Do you have that in
front of you?

Speaker 3 (01:20:09):
By a chance?

Speaker 4 (01:20:10):
We're a billion one point four billion with a B
to two point four billion with two point four billion
with a BEE A lot of money. We're going to
spread that out over twenty years. So essentially Wall Street
will buy that debt, somebody will buy that debt, and
then customers will pay it over time a little portion
on their bill rather than taking that all up front
in a rate increase.

Speaker 1 (01:20:30):
What happens if we continue.

Speaker 4 (01:20:32):
To lose population and we get into this could that
be recasted so folks may end up paying more in
the long run, or if we get more people into
the state, like we're talking about, folks could pay less.

Speaker 1 (01:20:44):
Do I have that right?

Speaker 3 (01:20:45):
Yeah, you're right on point there, and that's something that
we've thought about.

Speaker 8 (01:20:49):
You know, what happens if you know, things don't turn around,
And that's one of the reason why we're you know,
or securitization is fantastic.

Speaker 3 (01:20:56):
We love it. But our job isn't done. It's just
the beginning part of it.

Speaker 8 (01:20:59):
You know, we have a long haul here within the
state to try to help build the area because just
securitizing doesn't solve the problem. You know, we got to
go through securitization. We got to keep these rates down,
and we got to figure out a way how to
keep them where they are because if we don't, then
we're just going to be going back in each year
and asking for a base rate increase next year, and
then two years after that and two years after that.

(01:21:20):
So you know, we've got to try to think of
the bigger picture. We're not trying to solve customers rates
in twenty twenty five. We're trying to solve this issue
long term, and we feel like long term we have
to work with our development, with our organizations, our legislators
to try to bring businesses in as well as try
to help increase the.

Speaker 3 (01:21:38):
Income level for all of our customers throughout the state.

Speaker 8 (01:21:40):
So, like you said, TJ's, it's not a now problem,
it's a you know, we're trying to fix now as
well as into the future.

Speaker 1 (01:21:48):
How much does generation power generation factor into that, whether
it is fuck whether you're using fossil fuels, cold natural gas, renewables,
how does that factor into base rates and trying to
keep those affordable.

Speaker 8 (01:22:01):
Well, that's a great question, and it's it's almost as though,
you know, it depends on the administration. You know, right
now we're being told to do one thing, and you know,
the shot the tide shifts that we could be told
to do another. So the only thing we can do
right now is adhere to whatever rules and guidelines that
are being placed on us of what we need to
do as far as making our plants usable through a

(01:22:23):
certain timeframe or not usable. We may hear later on,
but a lot of the industries that are looking to
move to not just West Virginia, but our territory in general,
you know, they want renewables as part of their diverse portfolio.
So you know, in order to get these businesses here,
we got to be able to offer them what they're requesting.
So if a large company wants to come and they
want thirty fifty eighty percent of their generation to be renewable,

(01:22:47):
you know, we have to have the ability to provide that.
And as you guys know, it's not easy to just
build a new generation facility overnight.

Speaker 3 (01:22:55):
So you know, we have to think long term.

Speaker 8 (01:22:56):
We have to try to manage those costs now for
something that could take eight, nine, ten, twelve, fifteen years
to even buield, you know, so we have to try
to manage those costs now and keep that as part
of our mindset.

Speaker 3 (01:23:07):
How do we take care of today while planning for
the future as well.

Speaker 4 (01:23:12):
There were criticisms by interveners in the case that app
Co bought too much coal and that coal was on
the ground, wasn't used, and you got too much of
it you had to burn it when you know, in
the market it wouldn't have been as attractive answer that criticism.

Speaker 3 (01:23:28):
We appreciate the criticism. We always appreciate constructive feedback, you know.

Speaker 8 (01:23:33):
But you know, for us, when we look at our
cold quantities, you know, we had obligations through contracts, through
our contractors that we wanted to hear to. You know,
we felt it was it was very important for us
to keep our word with our partners. We had agreed
to receive a certain amount of coal and we were
going to do that. You know, a lot of everyone
was affected by COVID, you know, in different ways. For us,
we were really impacted by our cold inventory and how

(01:23:56):
much we were able to burn, as well as those
market prices from PJAM. So we understand the criticism, but
you know, I'll support our team. We have a lot
of smart people here who work every day to try
to figure out the best way to be cost effective
and to try to do things the right way.

Speaker 3 (01:24:11):
So we believe we did things the right way.

Speaker 1 (01:24:14):
There, George Border, communications director Appalachian Power. We appreciate it. George,
Thank you so much for joining us.

Speaker 3 (01:24:19):
Thank you, guys. Anytime coming up, we'll.

Speaker 1 (01:24:22):
Open up the text line. The rest of the show
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Speaker 1 (01:26:00):
City dot Fiber is expanding across West Virginia from basics
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(01:26:22):
I glance up, you know, at the monitors. They're to
my left here in my studio. And I got CNN
on one, I got one that doesn't work, and I
got Fox and I'm TJ. I look up CNN, Epstein files, Fox,
Biden not open. That's all I can say about that.
That's all I can say talk about. I mean, know

(01:26:42):
your audience, know your audience. I guess. Texter says two
possible trolls here. One at Ohio Gate. Two Dave has
o DS Ohio derangement syndrome. Man, you're making me twitch
Ohio Gate. Uh hey, Dave and TJ. My family from
one that's Virginia, Florida, Alabama, North Carolina are meeting in

(01:27:02):
Orlando for the UCF game on October eighteenth. How can
we be sure to get about twelve tickets in the
same area of the field. Call Ticketmaster. I don't know.
Stub Hub. Stub Hub is a good, good option, good option,
find a really good scalper. I mean there could be
some people selling their tickets at this point. Uh see,

(01:27:24):
President Trump said Chicago will learn why it is now
called the Department of War. Says the Texter. Yeah, I
think there's a lot of rhetoric being thrown around there.
I know that that's a big limb. I just went
out on right a lot of rhetoric being thrown around there.

Speaker 4 (01:27:40):
Friday afternoon in the Oval. I mean, he hits on
a ton of topics, one of which vaccines. He said,
I'll be careful Florida. You can go listen to the
comments yourselves. But I thought that was particularly interesting that
he's not jumping on board with what Florida is doing.
He said the polio vaccine was outstanding, amazing, I think

(01:28:02):
is what he said.

Speaker 1 (01:28:03):
He's never been ants a vax No, he hasn't.

Speaker 4 (01:28:06):
I mean, that's why I don't understand why people try
to make him out to be that he never has been.

Speaker 1 (01:28:09):
He he ran operation where he ran. He was president
when Operation Warp Speed was implemented to develop the COVID
vaccine and the Chicago and I know you wrote about
the vac's Trump's comments over at we mentions dot com
this morning, and with the Chicago thing, I get it.
I get it. There's a lot of virtue signaling in rhetoric,

(01:28:30):
but he continues to end up putting his opponents in
a weird opp position where they're defending they're defending crime. Ah,
it's not that it's I mean, the political acumen's pretty good.
I mean, I don't know that rhetoric really helps anybody,
but politically he keeps putting people in a weird spot
and they keep taking de bait.

Speaker 4 (01:28:50):
How would it be different if someone flipped it on him,
if the mayor of Chicago or Governor Pritzker or anyone said, Okay,
bring some of your federal agents in here as consultants
to work with our apartment, and dah dah dah, and
tried to play the game more than he does. I mean,
how would that flip the dynamic into your point in
fact that he just keeps suckering them into it.

Speaker 1 (01:29:09):
It would be more interesting, right, Yeah? But doesn't it?
It just seems the only position they can take, and
they being many Democrats when it comes to Trump, is
you just have to be opposite of whatever he is,
and that that's where you get yourself painted into this
weird corner of going that crime doesn't really matter, that

(01:29:29):
it's that many people. It's not really that bad. There
was only eight people that got shot, whatever the number was.
But to your point, wouldn't that be I think that'd
be a great political move ago you know what, You're right,
mister President, our talent. We need to fix crime in
this city. Send us some help in the form of
filling the blank there.

Speaker 4 (01:29:47):
I mean, at this point, why not. You've tried every
other way to beat him. To your point, you haven't
done it right?

Speaker 1 (01:29:52):
Why not? And you're right.

Speaker 4 (01:29:55):
Look, I don't want to be pejorative of all Democrats,
but they have this thing around their neck. It's not
going anywhere. It's been there before Trump. It remains that
they're soft on crying. People buy into that.

Speaker 1 (01:30:07):
TJ pulled a neo from the Matrix on that last question,
says the Texter, what do you mean? I'm not sure. Oh,
I assume that's where he's bending. Further explanation please. During
Superstorm Sandy, I heard mom power worker saw his way
up to my house. When he finally made it up there,

(01:30:29):
he said, bleeping, that's a bleeping mountain. I gave him
a beer and said, welcome to Tucker County. Brother, clean
that up as.

Speaker 4 (01:30:41):
Best I could true story, remember the big D word,
the dray sho Oh gosh. We had guys in here
from Texas that had never seen mountains. We had to
teach them how to walk up the side. I'm kidding,
I'm not joking, you man. We had to teach him
how to walk up the side of mountains because they
just get equipment and everything.

Speaker 1 (01:30:57):
It was so foreign to them.

Speaker 19 (01:30:58):
It was.

Speaker 1 (01:30:59):
It was absolutely a doonishing to them. Texters, says Dave
and TJ. Have you guys ever taken ever been to
a local dirt race? You should come check out Elkins Saturday,
or go watch West Virginia Motor Speedway football. Okay, but
racing more funll Yes, yes, I've been to the dirt
track before Tyler County been out. It's been a while.
We used to go out to Tyler County Motor Speedway

(01:31:19):
watched the dirt track races out there. His mineral wells
still open. They had one day that we have reconfigured
that into a three eighths mile and I there's a
race coming up soon, but they've reconfigured that. I think
it was about a half mile down to three eighths
three eights now pretty cool. We'll try all right, Gotta
take final break back to wrap it up. Talk line
from the Cove Insurance Studios.

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(01:33:21):
three hundred and fifty eight million, So go ahead play today?
Did see they sold two tickets for the one point
eight billion dollar jackpot, one of Missouri and the other
in Was it Texas? Yes, it was Texas. There was
a million dollar winner here West Virginia. You see that
over in Hedgesville.

Speaker 4 (01:33:41):
We just got to claim it now, didn't our last
million dollar winner? Somebody failed to claim it? I think
it was done clean.

Speaker 1 (01:33:45):
Props did it. They were talking about it. I know
Dave and Amanda were talking about it on midday. The
time was running out. So wow, wouldn't that be your luck?
You know, you buy all Larry two? Oh, I didn't
win the power ball. Didn't realize you hit five numbers
and just throw the ticket away. That would be my lock.

Speaker 4 (01:34:02):
In about a year or two, somebody is finally going
to clean out their work truck. Find it in the
global We find that and just kick themselves all over
the parking lot.

Speaker 1 (01:34:12):
You know what. That's that's one you don't tell anybody about.
You just throw it away. Yeah, act like it never happened,
and maybe go to a therapist and explain why you
can't stand O High University. Yeah, exactly, make your day better.
All right, that's going to do it for us. We're
out of time. David Amanda coming up on many of
these same Metro News radio stations with Metro News Midday.

(01:34:33):
We're back tomorrow morning at ten oh six. Have a
great day, everybody. This is talk Linel Metro News for
forty years, the voice of West Virginia.