MetroNews Talkline LIVE | Scott MacFarlane, Jack Woodrum & Jason Huffman

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[00:00:04]Today's Metro News television forecast is brought to you by Sango Law. Get results, not excuses.

[00:00:12]It was a well warmer than average day yesterday. Had a low of 60 and a high of 88 in Charleston. Shy the record by 3 degrees, but 12 above average. Average high 76. Uh be mindful of some hotter than average temps. So we have some increasing humidity next two days and nights. Some near daily record heat that could be tied or broken. So take precautions with that with the sunglasses and sunscreen sunshine.

[00:00:33]Northeastern areas of West Virginia too underneath the heat of the day. Can't rule out an isolated severe thunderstorm. Some isolated damaging winds are possible. Again, northeast areas of the state there included a marginal risk because of that. Flies here to be forecast. It starts at home.

[00:00:48]Areas of the central plain states, a regional severe weather outbreak is going to be expected there later today.

[00:00:56]areas of states like Kansas and Missouri where some strong to intense tornadoes can't be ruled out out there. From panhandle to panhandle, heating up near 90 or so, upper 80s to low 90s. So again, a warm and humid day with a southwest breeze. And overnight tonight, a low chance of a shower and storm with lows in the 60s. Again, uncharacteristically warm to hot for highs and overnight lows. Northeastern areas again that marginal risk for isolated severe weather. Damaging winds and some localized brief heavy rain can't be ruled ruled out and lows well in the ranks of the 60s tonight. From east to west we got 90s on the board here again. Tight or breaking some daily record highs for some areas of the state and some warm record lows possible. Down to the south. Uh Charleston 92 that would tie a daily record high for you today. 92 91 in Huntington. Uh again, eastern areas, a couple of isolated showers and storms are possible.

[00:01:49]Charleston near 92 and forecasting near 66 tonight, 91 tomorrow. Cold front swings through and we'll watch for showers and storms likely Wednesday and then some chances Thursday through the weekend. Highs a lot of 70s. This is Ben Sango with Salango Law. Sango Law has earned a reputation for getting excellent results for our clients. With decades of experience handling thousands of cases, we know what it takes to deliver. Proudly voted best in the valley for three consecutive years by readers of the Charleston Gazette Mail, Selang Law is deeply committed to giving back by investing in our community. From supporting local programs to making our region a better place to live, Sangalaw is proud to be your trusted legal and community partner. Check us out at sangangeraw.com.

[00:02:34][music] >> [music] >> Lots of stuff happening here on a Monday morning, so let's [music] not wait around. Metro news talk line is underway. Do >> not have to change the station. You are surrounded.

[00:02:58]>> We interrupt this program. The radio and emergency news button. Repeat, this is an emergency button. Keep your radio turned on. From the studios of WVRC Media and the Metro News Radio and Television Network, the voice of West Virginia comes the most powerful show in West Virginia. This [music] is Metro News Talk Line with Dave Wilson and TJ Meadows.

[00:03:20]>> Check out activated telephone. Switch network control from Charleston.

[00:03:26]>> Standby Q. Dave and TJ, you're on.

[00:03:33]Metro [music] News Talkline is presented by Enkova Insurance. Encircling you with coverage [music] to protect what you care about most. Visit enkova.com to learn more.

[00:03:43]>> Good morning. Welcome inside the Enco insurance studios. Dave Wilson of Morgantown, TJ's in Charleston, and you are listening in on one of our great radio affiliates across [music] the state or watching on the Metro News television app, Facebook Live, YouTube Live as well. [music] 800765 talk 8007658255 that's the phone number if you would like to be part of the show you [music] can text us 304 talk 304 got a loaded up first hour coming up bottom of the hour Scott McFarland will stop by our Washington correspondent at least that's what we're going to call him from now on Joe Bcato will spend five good minutes with Joe a lot of high school and college athletics to get caught up on second hour Senator Jack Wood from Summers County going to join us He wrote a very thoughtful oped, if you will, and posted it on social media late last week. We'll talk to him about that as he opined on the primary election season.

[00:04:38]We'll get to all of that and more. Your calls, texts, and tweets are always welcome. 800765 talk 304 talk 304. TJ Meadows in Charleston. Good morning, TJ Meadows.

[00:04:50]>> Good morning, sir. Good weekend.

[00:04:52]Uh, you know, the rain on Saturday, it rained just enough to throw all my plans off on Saturday, which involves, you know, washing cars, doing some outside chores, but I caught up to all those yesterday. Got a lot I got some sun, too. By the way, I got like a Trumpian tan going on over [laughter] here to start the week, man. It was nice. It was nice to be outside.

[00:05:11]>> It was nice to be outside. Sunday was a beautiful day. Same here. It was raining. We just kind of hung out and did whatnot. But, uh, yesterday was absolutely beautiful. Got out on the smoker, smoked some wings. You know, it was a good day.

[00:05:22]>> Sounds like a nice weekend. Well, this week not slowing down really to start off here on a Monday morning. House interim meetings going on. Brad Money is keeping a close eye on those. Governor Morrisy just wrapped up a news conference from the state capital where he outlined I wouldn't say he detailed uh outlined audit reports looking at three of the biggest departments um within the West Virginia state government do uh department of h human services but TJ he outlined this and a couple of things stood out to me one the topline headline was potentially and I would underline that bold that and italicize it potenti potentially $168 million in uh savings identified through these audits. So, couple of thoughts.

[00:06:10]Number one, credit where credit is due.

[00:06:13]The governor said he was going to come in uh review these agencies, take a look at them, find inefficiencies, and they found some inefficiencies within these departments. Certainly, that's exactly what he said he was going to do. Now, I haven't had a chance to look at the reports. I know you you haven't had a chance to look at the reports either, but devil is always in the details when it comes to these things, but and and maybe you can expound on this a little bit. $168 million sounds like a lot, TJ, to you know, you and me. I would love to find $168 million lying around. But >> in the grand scheme of things, this was my thought listening throughout the news conference. Did the governor actually demonstrate tremendous inefficiencies within these departments or has he actually demonstrated there's a lot of actual efficiency in this department and we are really getting to the end of the belt tightening phase of shrinking state government. And I'm not sure what the answer to that is.

[00:07:16]>> Yeah, there's an old saying in business, you can't cut your way to prosperity.

[00:07:19]With that said, [clears throat] I appreciate the efficiencies. I appreciate the audits. uh the idea of continuous improvement, always trying to sharpen the blade is something that needs to be rooted in state government.

[00:07:31]That is typically not. So, to your point, kudos for that. Here's the problem.

[00:07:35]You look at the numbers. $168 million.

[00:07:39]So, we have an upcoming state budget of $5.8 billion.

[00:07:45]168 million bucks. That's 2.9% of the budget. You're not even covering inflation. Don't forget though, we're talking about health and human services.

[00:07:52]There's a lot of Fed dollars there. So when you combine the federal dollars with the general revenue, you're talking $16.27 billion, David, that's $1.03%, that $168 million cut. It's tough to get excited about something creating efficiencies and a cost curve that doesn't even match inflation. So my thing would be we didn't spend a lot of time on growing revenue. That's the problem in this state. Now, there was a mention at the top of the broadcast talking about this $12 billion. I've written about that. We can get into that. I think a lot of that is grant money. I think a lot of that, frankly, was in the pipeline before the administration got here. Some wasn't. I gave the governor his due for that. But it's it's really hard to see and get excited about a cost curve that doesn't even keep up with inflation. That's the numbers and sense of it.

[00:08:42]>> And that's why I pose the question, TJ.

[00:08:44]Did he really demonstrate today these tremendous inefficiencies? 168 million sounds like a lot again, >> but did he really demonstrate tremendous inefficiencies or kind of demonstrate that these departments are doing about what they can with as little as possible? They're running efficiently.

[00:09:01]When you put it in the terms you put it that this doesn't even cover inflation.

[00:09:05]Sounds like a somewhat efficient operation. Look, government's always going to be inefficient, right?

[00:09:10]>> Doesn't matter what it does at its its nature. Contractors are going to take advantage of contracts. they're going to overcharge. Look, all that happens. I get it. But if we're talking about savings like you point out that don't even equal inflation, I I think and like, hey, this just happened. So, I'm just digesting this like you are.

[00:09:32]I I would actually feel pretty good. I think if that's all you were able to find through those audits of those three departments.

[00:09:39]>> Well, I think there'll be more to come.

[00:09:40]I think there'll be additional audits.

[00:09:42]Um, and $168 million. I don't want to discount that. It's nothing to sneeze at. And you know, you want to grab that money because that's another pep project or that's more money that you can put into roads and potholes. Economic development money that we could use to go chase clients and entice them to want to come to West Virginia. We talked about, well, how are we going to fund teams West Virginia? Well, there you go.

[00:10:05]You just found another funding source, right? So, it's about an efficient use of government dollars and where they are getting a return. So audits are helpful in that. Uh but it's just not enough to solve some of our ongoing problems which again lie on the revenue side of the equation. I would have liked to have heard more about that today. I mean we heard about what's already come in. What are we doing to get the next one? What's our process? What's our scorecard look like? How many clients every month are we going out? How many meetings is the governor taking with potential economic development interests, people who want to put money into the state of West Virginia? How many meetings is he taking every month with those kinds of clients? Where are we at? What's our close rate? Those are the things that are more important from a business perspective, from a business guy's opinion than this cost cutting efficiency exercise with an auditor. And look, consultants are great. Used consultants all the time. Um, if consultants do well, everybody's a fan.

[00:11:11]If they don't do well and the initiative falls flat, guess who's to blame? The consultant. So, consultants are kind of the biggest CIA you're ever going to find, at least in corporate America. But look, I I I don't want to be negative, but I I wanted to hear more about how we're going to grow, and I didn't hear that.

[00:11:27]>> And to your point, TJ, to take this into the business terms, you can you can cut back. You can save money on office supplies. You're not going to provide pencils, whatever. Yeah, I'm sure you've been through this as we all have at some level in corporate America, but >> at some point you got to make money.

[00:11:43]>> And I know the state doesn't make money, but you've got to grow revenue. You've got to grow economic development. If the economy is growing, the revenues are going into the state coffers. And you're able to cover more of these both programs and inefficiencies there. And we didn't get a lot of detail. We had heard a lot of rumors and we've just got a couple minutes here about the TANF funds, the temporary assistance for needy families. seems like there's going to be some changes there. The governor certainly hinted that he wants to make some administrative adjustments to make that program more efficient, but uh a few details there in the news conference this morning. And I want to say those details, those documents haven't been published yet. So, a lot of what they were talking about today, we had some screenshots to look at, some slides, but the actual documents that they kept referring to haven't been put on the website yet. Supposedly, that's supposed to happen, I think, today by noon. So, look, I'll take a look at all those documents and go in and and maybe I should revise my statement afterwards.

[00:12:38]So, caveat there, but given the information that we have today, um, great kudos. Not going to make a big difference in the long run.

[00:12:47]>> Boy, that's some exciting afternoon.

[00:12:49]Nothing like reading an audit report.

[00:12:53]>> I appreciate it. I [laughter] appreciate I am married to an auditor, I believe.

[00:12:56]As are you.

[00:12:57]>> Yes, I am. Yes, I am.

[00:12:59]>> So, I You better You better watch out, Dave. You're going to, you know, it was the jacket thing last week and you get home today, it's going to be, hey, why you got to disparrage auditors?

[00:13:06]>> She knows it's boring. That's [laughter] >> 304 talk 304 is the text line. We'll get more of your thoughts coming up. Uh, all of our capital reporter friends are occupied this morning. There was that news conference. House emphasis on the House of Delegates having meetings today and tomorrow. A couple of dozen are scheduled, including uh a finance meeting going on at the same time as the governor's news conference. So, we'll try to keep you updated on all of that happening this morning at the state capital. Coming up next, we got word late on Friday about an arrest involving the disappearance and death of a Wood County woman back in 2022. Parkersburg Police Chief Matthew Bour going to join us next. We'll tell you about that story later. Jason Huffman, Americans for Prosperity will join us in the second hour. Just off and running, this is Metro News talk line from the Inkov insurance studios.

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[00:16:43]What were your thoughts on that performance?

[00:16:45]>> I said it was funny. We were sitting with a guy last night and he said, "All right, I'm going to go put $1,000 on it." Well, down the stretch of that ball game, he's looking at us like, "Are you kidding me?" And sure enough, the Mount came back. I swim today cuz yep, I'm putting another grand on them tomorrow.

[00:17:00]>> Sports Line on Metro News television.

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[00:17:56]>> In December 2022, Gretchen [music] Fleming, who lived in Vienna in Wood County, disappeared. She was last seen leaving My Way Lounge and Restaurant [music] in downtown Parkersburg in the early early morning hours of December 4th, 2022. She was reported missing a couple of days later. Since then, police have continued to investigate her death and disappearance and it was announced on Friday that an arrest had been made in that 2022 disappearance. Joining us on Metro News talk line this morning is the chief of police in Parkerburg, Matthew Bour. Chief, good morning and thanks for joining us.

[00:18:33]>> Good morning, sir. Thanks for having me.

[00:18:35]>> Absolutely. It was announced on Friday that 58-year-old Preston Pierce had been arrested in Asheville, North Carolina. So, if you could just briefly, can you walk us through the investigation, why Pierce was a person of interest, and what eventually led you to make the led you to uh make the arrest?

[00:18:55]>> Sure. um the best I can um you know kind of was as we talked about there's a a limited amount of information we can still release because we still have to go through the adjudication process but um you know from the onset the detectives uh and actually quite honestly I I have to give a a credit to the entirety of the department at the onset of this this report being taken um this was u attacks from uniform division uh the the detective bureau even our drug task force were out and um you know to to the take you to the early moments of of of that that evening the report was taken and and the the day following it was to the goal of the the department to set up a timeline of of where Gretchen had been what had happened who she was with and just kind of get a timeline of what had transpired and and through doing that it was determined that the last person that she had been seen with was Preston Pierce. So, um, detectives were able to locate him, speak with him, and as we started piecing things together, that's when he he kind of came to the forefront as a a person of interest. So, of course, you don't you don't stop there. You continue to gather facts, evidence, start using multiple investigatory means to to kind of, you know, see where the evidence takes you. And as we followed that trail, it it kind of profered what you we had found at the onset of he was a person of interest and a suspect. So over the next three years, um more especially Detective Zimmerman who has done a tremendous job um has has just really continued to chip away at this and and use multiple different facets to to build a case. and um you know uh September of 25 human remains were located in Work County, West Virginia, which is adjacent to Wood County. Um upon hearing that um we contacted the state police because they were the ones who had initially responded to to the call of the human remains and and offered any assistance that we could provide. Uh we worked very well with all local law enforcement in Wood County. So it it's not uncommon that that we would offer services or if we had a situation that other agencies offer services to us. So we went out and uh helped them with the uh you know you you process it as a crime scene. You you treat every every situation like that as a crime and until you know otherwise.

[00:21:30]So, um, we we assisted in W County. Um, the remains were sent for, uh, forensic testing and, uh, you know, here here not too long ago, it came back that unfortunately that we've had been it was it was Gretchen and War County. So, uh, in collaboration with Wood County Prosecuting Attorney's Office, with everything that had been gathered, uh, over the last 3 years, uh, and in lock step with the fact that it was Gretchen and and Work County, we felt comfortable moving forward with, uh, the arrest and, uh, pursuit of prosecution of Mr. Pierce.

[00:22:07]>> Chief, good morning. TJ Meadows here.

[00:22:09]Was there any evidence discovered with the body, forensic, etc., that directly tied Pierce to the murder? I I I'm I'm unable to comment on anything of that nature in regard to evidentiary uh findings or or value. Um but just the fact that we able to definitively determine that that Miss Fleming was deceased at that point was evidence in and of itself.

[00:22:34]>> Talking to Parkersburg Police Chief Matthew Bour, three and a half years to investigate this crime. That's a long time, Chief.

[00:22:42]Uh, in police investigation terms, what kept your detectives and investigators going throughout this entire investigation ultimately leading to this arrest?

[00:22:52]Well, the the the two main driving forces is obviously we wanted to find we wanted to find Gretchen um in whatever uh capacity that may be whether uh you know you the the kind of some questions we had faced at the onset is uh from the public and and and quite frankly the media and just common sense questions is you know there's a few different things is did she leave of her own valition you know is there foul play and and she's still alive or you know um unfortunately did something of of a malicious nature happen to her that that would had taken her life and prevented her from returning home. So um we wanted those answers and and we wanted answers not only for her but for her family and you know I I've said a thousand times her her family are very special people you know that that that's not the driving force. We we help anybody um that that is uh encumbered by a situation like this, but the Fleming family are they're they're just all just tremendous people from the grandparents down to cousins and aunts and uncles. They're just all great people. So, you wanted you wanted to help Gretchen. Um and you wanted to help the family. And you know, I guess you can encapsulate that by saying it's just the right thing to do. Sheriff, he was arrested quite quickly in the Asheville, North Carolina area. That being Pierce. I'm curious, had you been working with local authorities in North Carolina? Did you have him under surveillance for some time there?

[00:24:28]>> Um, Mr. Pierce had moved around the uh southeastern portion of the United States over the last couple months. Um, but as we drew closer to the the grand jury convening and anticipation of the the potential indictment being handed down, we zeroed in on his location and we had been in communication with the United States Federal Marshals. Um, not because we picked them over anybody else. it just was a better fit because he had been uh bouncing from place to place a little bit and and they have uh you know federal jurisdiction to to have a little broader range to travel in the event that he would have left the Asheville area and went to an adjacent neighboring uh jurisdiction they would have been able to go there too. So, um, we utilized, uh, their services and, uh, yes, they they had, uh, you know, had an eye, uh, just for, you know, a couple different reasons. Number one, he had moved around some and two, uh, you get a pattern of life, uh, you know, habit, um, from from the person that that you're going to apprehend and and that provides a safety component as well as it facilitates a quick apprehension.

[00:25:43]Parkersburg Police Chief Matthew Board.

[00:25:45]Chief, uh good work by you, your department, and uh your detectives uh on this case for three and a half years. We appreciate your time this morning.

[00:25:53]>> Yes, sir. No problem. Thank you very much for having me.

[00:25:56]>> Absolutely. You can read our story from Friday's news conference over at the website right now, wv metronews.com.

[00:26:02]Coming up, we'll check in on what the congressional delegation is up to in DC.

[00:26:07]Scott McFarland going to join us on the other side of the break and Summers County Senator Jack Woodram at the top of the hour. He pinned a very thoughtful op-ed on Facebook. You can read that in preparation. We'll talk to him about it at the top of the hour. This is Talkline on Metro News, the voice of West Virginia.

[00:26:25]It is 10:30. Time to get a news update.

[00:26:28]Let's check in on the Metro News Radio Network. Find out what's happening all across the great state of West Virginia.

[00:26:34]Today's Metro News television forecast is brought to you by Sango Law. Get results, not excuses.

[00:26:43]It was a well warmer than average day yesterday. Had a low of 60 and a high of 88 in Charleston. Shy the record by 3 degrees, but 12 above average. Average high 76. Uh be mindful of some hotter than average temps. So, we have some increasing humidity next two days and nights. Some near daily record heat that could be tight or broken. So take precautions with that with the sunglasses and sunscreen sunshine.

[00:27:04]Northeastern areas of West Virginia too underneath the heat of the day. Can't rule out an isolated severe thunderstorm. Some isolated damaging winds are possible. Again, northeast areas of the state there included a marginal risk because of that. Flies here to be forecast. It starts at home.

[00:27:19]Areas of the central plain states, a regional severe weather outbreak is going to be expected there later today.

[00:27:26]areas of states like Kansas and Missouri where some strong to intense tornadoes can't be ruled out out there from panhandle to panhandle heating up near 90 or so upper 80s to low 90s. So again a warm and humid day with a southwest breeze and overnight tonight a low chance of a shower and storm with lows in the 60s again uncharacteristically warm to hot for highs and overnight lows. Northeastern areas again that marginal risk for isolated severe weather. Damaging winds and some localized brief heavy rain can't be ruled ruled out and lows well in the ranks of the 60s tonight. From east to west we got 90s on the board here again.

[00:28:02]Tight or breaking some daily record highs for some areas of the state and some warm record lows possible. Down to the south. Uh Charleston 92. That would tie a daily record high for you today.

[00:28:13]92 91 in Huntington. Uh again, eastern areas, a couple of isolated showers and storms are possible. Charleston near 92 and forecasting near 66 tonight, 91 tomorrow. Cold front swings through and we'll watch for showers and storms likely Wednesday and then some chances Thursday through the weekend. Highs a lot of 70s. This is Ben Sango with Sango Law. Sango Law has earned a reputation for getting excellent results for our clients. With decades of experience handling thousands of cases, we know what it takes to deliver. Proudly voted best in the valley for three consecutive years by readers of the Charleston Gazette Mail, Sanglaw is deeply committed to giving back by investing in our community. From supporting local programs to making our region a better place to live, Sangalaw is proud to be your trusted legal and community partner. Check us out at sangangerlaw.com.

[00:29:04]>> On the next State of Minds, >> I think if it wasn't for West Virginia, I wouldn't be doing what I'm doing.

[00:29:19]Ryan has been rising over Synica Rocks for millions of years. I wanted to [music] capture it in a way that was authentic and maybe different than people have ever seen it before.

[00:29:42]>> [music] >> 304 talk 304 is the text line. 800765 talk 8007658255.

[00:29:58]That is the phone [music] number.

[00:29:59]Summers County Senator Jack Wood coming up top of the hour. Joe Marcato stops by about 10 [music] minutes from now. Five good minutes with Joe on all things sports. We've got baseball, [music] softball regionals, softball state tournament sets, mountaineers getting ready for the Big 12 conference baseball tournament. A lot of things happening here. We're at the end of the year, believe it or not, TJ, we're at the end of the year as far as athletics and academics goes. Hard to believe. Goes by quick.

[00:30:25]>> My kids are done Friday.

[00:30:28]>> Geez.

[00:30:29]>> Friday.

[00:30:30]>> When's our summer break start?

[00:30:32]>> It's funny you mentioned that. My daughter, uh, what, two days ago, I think I was, she pulls me aside. Dad, what are we doing for the summer? or you're going to be home, right? You're home like mom. I'm like, no, dad dad works during the summer. And unfortunately, mom's got that good job where she's off with you guys in the summer, but I don't get to do that. And she's like, well, that's just not fair.

[00:30:49]I'm like, well, [laughter] welcome to life. Welcome to life.

[00:30:52]>> It's not fair. We'll talk to we'll talk to the boss about our summer break after the show today. See what he thinks.

[00:30:57]>> All right.

[00:30:58]>> And Jake gets a summer break. Did you know that?

[00:31:00]>> No, I didn't. [laughter] Of course.

[00:31:02]>> Apparently, he has a better uh agent than I.

[00:31:04]>> Yeah, that's right. He's got a better deal. Got a better gig.

[00:31:08]Speaking of Got a Better Gig, Scott McFarland is the chief Washington correspondent for Midas Touch. You can watch him on YouTube. Scott McFarland Reports is the show on YouTube. He joins us from DC this morning. Scott, good morning.

[00:31:22]>> Good morning. That game, the Mountaineers baseball game, that's single elimination, right? That's do or die.

[00:31:26]>> Yeah, Big 12 tourn there's no uh no messing around out there at the Big 12 tournament. And they have to wait till Thursday to play.

[00:31:33]>> Yeah. I tell you what, though. You empty the bullpen if you have to. You got to win the game. It's >> two seed and look since you brought it up, Scott and this might be more interesting than Washington stuff. They got a chance to host a regional here in Morgantown uh coming up. So perform well, win a conference, bring the NCAA baseball tournament to town. Everybody will be excited here. So in the prettiest time of year, it's the visiting team's lucky day.

[00:31:58]>> Scott, what's uh what's going on in DC this morning as we get the week rolling?

[00:32:02]>> Some breaking news. Um, the court filing was just submitted by President Trump in Florida to drop that $10 billion lawsuit he filed against his own IRS over the leaking of his tax returns a couple years ago. It's kind of a controversial case to put it charitably. Um, but the dismissal means he's not going to proceed with it, but it doesn't preclude him coming up with a settlement that's been reported by ABC News, a 1.776 billion dollar settlement that could be used to pay people. he says were the victims of weaponization by the Biden Department of Justice. That's going to be a piece of political nitroglycerin, too. And I think that's where we start the week.

[00:32:42]>> How do you get an armslength transaction with the IRS in a suit when you're the president of the United States? I don't think that's possible, >> TJ. That I think that's why it's been dismissed today. I think that's why Trump says, "Go ahead and dismiss it."

[00:32:54]Because he knew he was going to take a big loss in front of the judge Wednesday when they heard arguments because there's no what they call adversarial party. you're you're suing yourself and taxpayers funded. Judge had a lot of concern about that. So now the case gets dismissed, but it doesn't stop taxpayer money from being used to pay a settlement. And I don't know how that lands politically. I really don't. At a time we're paying $5 a gallon for gas to see our tax money go to people the president thinks were victims of prosecutions, whether they were or not.

[00:33:25]>> Scott McFarland joining us. Chief Washington correspondent Midas Touch.

[00:33:28]Speaking of taxpayer dollars, are they going to go to build this ballroom or not? Scott, >> it's going to get tricky. They had earmarked this $1 billion fund that they were going to debate tomorrow in the US Senate to pay for the security apparatus of the ballroom. To think of the stuff that's below ground, not the marble or the showrooms or the ornate pieces up top, but a billion dollars for what's underground. Bulletproof glass, drone proof this, bunker that. That's been complicated though because the Senate parliamentarian whose work would make you just fall asleep in the middle of the day determined that it's going to need 60 votes in the Senate to get that ballroom approved. There's a better chance of the three of us each winning the Power Ball separately than this thing getting 60 votes in the Senate.

[00:34:14]So, they're going to have to find another way to fund this thing. And I don't know what to make of the politics of that either because initially the president said this was going to be either his money or donated money, not a penny for taxpayers. That really quickly changed to a billion dollar expense.

[00:34:32]Politics of that are complicated, too.

[00:34:35]>> Practically, I mean, politics aside, what do you do? The White House has a hole in the side of it. I I mean, I'm sure it's boarded up, but there's no east wing anymore. What What do you do?

[00:34:44]So the judge who is hearing the litigation over the ballroom, you got to remember TJ that that historic preservation is sued to stop this construction saying it's unlawful because Congress didn't approve it. It didn't go through the normal system. The judge says, "Okay, we'll consider pausing it, but you're going to have to keep building the stuff below ground because I don't want to have a security issue either from halting construction or from not putting in things the White House thinks are necessary to secure the president." above ground. They've talked about stopping it, but they haven't actually stopped it. It's still moving forward. I don't think it can muster any legal challenge to altogether stop the construction. How to pay for it? That's a whole different matter.

[00:35:24]>> I have openly mocked the ballroom story.

[00:35:27]I have said I don't care about the ballroom story. And guess what, TJ? Here we are. What are we talking ballroom?

[00:35:33]>> Talking about that stupid ballroom.

[00:35:34]>> You can't get away from it. You can't get away from it.

[00:35:36]>> But well, the story's changed though. If we're talking about a billion dollars in taxpayer funding, that's a whole other story than what we were talking about whenever he started tearing down the old east wing. And I still didn't care then.

[00:35:47]>> Yeah.

[00:35:47]>> The thing about the ballroom story, the reason why it's sticky with people, the reason why people can't turn the pages, other than in the board game clue, when's the last time you talked about a ballroom and it's just I'm sorry, it's just tricky to to defend when people are going broke on food, fertilizer, and fuel. And speak speaking of which, and I don't mean to pivot on you here. I spoke at length with Riley uh more about gas prices. We talked off the House floor for a while last week, and he's keen on this federal gas tax holiday of pausing collection of federal gas taxes. That's that's that's both, you know, regular gas and diesel for about a month. Try to chop off 20 cents a gallon and every little bit helps every family in the state. um he's probably part of a bipartisan coalition. This is not a one party idea. There's actually a really unique unicorn constituency behind pausing the gas tax. That could happen as early as this week.

[00:36:47]>> When was the last time the gas tax was raised, Scott? It's been quite a while, right?

[00:36:52]>> It is hard to raise that tax. It's hard It's hard to raise any taxes, but that's when people feel every time they fill up. But that money goes to something important. And it goes to the federal highway trust fund which goes to do trivial things like build roads, fix roads, regest handle potholes, problems, off-ramps. I mean, it's critical stuff. If they starve that fund of gas tax money, it can be a problem in the long term, but Congressman Moore told me in the short term he thinks it's going to be fine.

[00:37:24]And others agree with him and this could be at least a patchwork of a solution to get people to have to pay less at the pump. But I mean, at this point, guys, at 450, 4.75 a gallon, what does that 18 cents mean to you?

[00:37:37]>> Well, if you got a 24- gallon tank, you're filling up two or three times a week. It adds up, Scott. It adds up quickly, >> especially for those. And look, they floated the idea here in West Virginia to uh pause. In fact, Democrats have brought it up uh pretty loudly recently to pause the state gas tax. But it's the same thing. The state gas tax goes to what? Paving and fixing roads and bridges. So a pause could be detrimental somewhere down the road. So I don't know what the right answer to that to to that dilemma would be.

[00:38:07]>> I would bet on this thing getting the federal gas tax getting waved for a while. It's bipartisan. The president's keen on it. So I think it's going to move forward. But it's really important, you know, in our state because obviously there are communities in America where the commutes are short, where mass transit's abundant, where people can literally get to work on foot. It's really not the case in in large chunks of America, in our state included. You really need to have affordable gasoline, affordable fertilizer, affordable fuel to make the day and the week go by. This is something that is an emergency issue.

[00:38:43]>> Scott, here's an interesting juxtiposition. Dave alluded to it. Riley Moore, I heard your soundbite. He's all in on this as a Republican. Yet Republicans in West Virginia, the Democrats here are bringing up suspension of the state gas tax and it's crickets, man. When it comes to Republicans, they don't appear to want to do it. So, it's interesting that uh one of their own in Washington is all about it yet locally, they're not. I don't know if that manifests into anything politically. Probably not in Washington, but it will be interesting to see how that is used against Republicans here in West Virginia.

[00:39:14]>> There's two reasons why this is wildly more interesting than the ballroom.

[00:39:17]First of all, because it actually matters to people. It actually impacts our day-to-day. It's much more important than the stinking ballroom. But secondly, it has weird political coalitions. Trump wants the gas tax frozen. That makes life hard for Democrats in Washington to get on board.

[00:39:31]They can't get on board anything Trump wants right now, but their constituents want it. And you see the contrast in West Virginia. We have the state Democrats and the federal Republicans seem to be a lock step in a certain way.

[00:39:43]It's a really tricky, thorny political issue. And that's one of the reasons why I find it much more interesting than the conservatory, the lead pipe, and the ballroom.

[00:39:53]>> Hey, the ballroom did give us a reference to Colonel Mustard in the lead uh of your story this morning. So, at least they gave us that, Scott. At least they gave us that. Hey, where can people >> working when I'm working them in?

[00:40:04]>> Where can people track you down? Check out what you're doing.

[00:40:07]>> Scott McFarland reports. Every morning, every evening on YouTube, the Substack has a daily editorial note, which always includes something from West Virginia.

[00:40:15]signed the guy who's got many friends in West Virginia and lives a stones throw from the state line.

[00:40:20]>> Scott's going to be joining us on a regular basis these days. Scott, we appreciate it. Thanks for the update.

[00:40:24]>> Looking forward to it. Coming up, we'll get an update from Metro Newports Joe Bado. This is Talk Line from the Inov studios. For over 30 years, High Technology [music] Foundation has been committed to building a stronger West Virginia. Our mission economic diversification. By fostering innovation and supporting [music] tech initiatives, we pave the way for a brighter future.

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[00:42:02]>> You're listening to Talkline on Metro News, the voice of West Virginia.

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[00:44:30]>> Text line is 304 talk 304. Get some of your texts coming up next segment. Top of the hour. Senator Jack Woodram from Summers County will join us. A little bit later, Jason Huffman, Americans for Prosperity, West Virginia. Lots over at the sports page of wvmetnews.com.

[00:44:46]Joe Bcado is the hardest working man in sports media. He joins us on talk line this morning. Good morning, Joe.

[00:44:53]>> I know everybody obsesses over Monopoly as the best board game, but I think Scott McFarland is right. The clue is on another level above all else. [laughter] >> Joe Bcato coming in with hot takes to start the show there, Joe. All right, maybe we should do a Twitter poll, Joe.

[00:45:08]Get the uh see if what the audience thinks.

[00:45:11]>> That's a solid idea.

[00:45:12]>> All right, Joe, let's start with the Big 12 Conference Baseball tournament.

[00:45:16]That'll get underway uh in fact tomorrow, but W the two seed Joe won't be in action until Thursday. How's Coach Sabin's feeling going into the conference tournament?

[00:45:25]>> Feeling confident and he likes the single elimination format and this is just the second year that they've gone to this single elimination format.

[00:45:32]Previously, it was modified double elimination. And you know, you're you're talking about lots and lots of games stacking up. If you're able to advance through a double elimination tournament, West Virginia is in a good position for this single elimination tournament because it basically sets up like a weekend series. You if you get to the championship, uh you have the chance to use your number one, number one, number two, and number three starters just like a normal weekend series.

[00:45:56]>> I know it's early and obviously we don't know, but if you had to pick it, who do we get on Thursday? What do you think?

[00:46:02]>> Probably TCU. I think that's a You can probably make the guess that you're looking at a rematch of what we just saw with the Horn Frogs coming to Morgantown. I mean, that's you you have to probably assume that the team in TCU as a number seven seed that's coming off of a day where their opponent is going to have to play a game on Tuesday. The way the bracket lays out, I think you're probably looking at a rematch with the Horn Frogs on Thursday. Joe, does WVU host a regional in the NCAA tournament?

[00:46:32]What's the feeling there?

[00:46:33]>> I'm glad you asked that, Dave, because I asked Steve Savings that exact question on Saturday. I asked him, you know, how many wins do you think you need in the Big 12 conference tournament to be able to host NCAA tournament play for the first time in 20 or for the first time since 2019. And his answer was pretty emphatic. He believes that they've already done the necessary work to have uh NCAA hosting rights. Now, obviously, they can help their cause by making a good run in Arizona this week, but he's confident that the body of work, winning 21 games in this league, which was uh second best to Kansas, but the most ever that the mountaineers have ever won in a Big 12 season. Um that that kind of speaks for itself. The RPI, all the metrics that they have, the fact that they have one of the nation's best pitchers in Max Yale, their number one weekend starter. uh he was very confident that they've already done the work, but certainly they can help their cause by winning one, two, or possibly the whole thing this weekend.

[00:47:30]>> Well, if that happens, no doubt a sellout, right? I mean, I would think the place will be packed.

[00:47:35]>> It was in 2019. I mean, tickets for that first game and of course you had Alec Manoa who went on to the big leagues taking the ball uh for for that team. He was a main attraction in and of itself and uh the atmosphere in 2019 was fantastic. Of course, Mounters weren't able to get out of that regional, but they've gone to two super regionals since. So, given the fact that West Virginia University has already announced that they're accepting pre-sale applications for uh NCAA tournament play, I think there's pretty good confidence that they haven't played their last home game just yet.

[00:48:06]>> Talking to Metro Sports, Joe Bado over the weekend, Marshall softball in the NCAA tournament. It season came to an end in the Raleigh Durham Regional.

[00:48:15]Marshall baseball headed to the Sunb Belt Conference tournament as well.

[00:48:19]Here, Joe, the athletic season starting to wind down. Softball regionals, are they all complete now? Do we have our full bracket for the state tournament yet?

[00:48:27]>> So, we have all of the class quad A qualifiers. All eight teams have advanced there. Uh, statewide, 27 of the 32 spots have been earned. So, there's still five regionals that are or still five spots that are still up for grabs.

[00:48:41]Could be finished as early as tomorrow.

[00:48:44]uh possibly as late as Wednesday, but uh there's still a couple of spots that are still up for grabs.

[00:48:49]>> And baseball regionals start this week.

[00:48:52]>> Double elimination play starts today.

[00:48:54]Every team across the state makes it to regional play and uh the teams will be then selected from there based on how uh their regionals unfold.

[00:49:04]Uh again, much as we've seen for softball, you're looking at now a four class state tournament for baseball and an eight team four class uh single elimination tournament for baseball.

[00:49:16]>> Tells me you haven't got to swing a lot of golf clubs. Joe, you're a busy guy.

[00:49:19][laughter] >> Well, TJ, I actually got 36 holes in Canain Valley yesterday. And Cana Valley at this time of year is one of the rare places in the state where you can get all four seasons in one round of golf.

[00:49:29]And we did have that yesterday. Can >> Yeah. What'd you do? How'd you shoot?

[00:49:34]Uh I I I shot reasonable. You know, it's early in the season. We can't set our level of expectations too high. The course record was safe, but uh a fun time was had by all >> good. He is the hardest working man in sports media, Joe Bado. You can keep up with everything that is happening here down the stretch over at the website wvmetnews.com.

[00:49:53]He and Greg Kerry burning the midnight oil. Greg, uh Joe, thank you very much.

[00:49:57]Appreciate it, buddy.

[00:49:58]>> You got it. Thanks, guys.

[00:50:00]>> Take a break, get some text, wrap up hour number one. This is talk line from the inco insurance studios.

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[00:53:53]304 talk 304. Hey Dave and TJ, did you use real man bar soap over the weekend?

[00:53:58]I just heard potholes and gas taxs.

[00:54:00]There's hope yet from the Northern Outpost.

[00:54:05]Uh, I'll do you one better, Bill. Didn't use any soap over the weekend. How's that? This is just >> more than I needed to know.

[00:54:11]>> It's just me, buddy. Just me. Uh, the first amendment to the Constitution of the United States reads in part, "Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."

[00:54:23]In other words, the United States was not founded as a Christian religiononly nation.

[00:54:28]That text kind of came out of the blue.

[00:54:31]I don't want any gas tax temporarily removed. Besides the obvious loss of tax revenue for roads and infrastructure, I want maggots to feel the pain in their wallet and retirement accounts for voting for Trump. They were warned this would happen and chose the guy who flubbed the response to CO and tanked the economy because of it, says the texter. Follow me here.

[00:54:53]>> Could this have multiple reasons?

[00:54:56]You lower the tax now to be able to open a conversation about raising it later.

[00:55:05]It was last raised in 1993. It's 18 cents. It's what it is today. You need 41 cents to even keep up with the same buying power. Less roads, less maintenance. Got to raise it. No.

[00:55:21]How dare you apply logic and reason.

[00:55:23]>> Well, I know >> we were talking about retribution here, TJ.

[00:55:26]>> I'm saying though, but but would that hold? I mean, could could you lower it now? And then maybe it's opens a conversation of, well, you know, we looked at this. We need to be a little more fiscally responsible, so we need to raise it. [laughter] Did you see this text? With all this ballroom talk, consider the following sponsorship. And it's uh for underwear.

[00:55:48]All right. Tell you what. [laughter] Yep. Uh there you go. Best audience in broadcasting. All right. Coming up top of the hour, we'll be joined by Senator Jack Woodram. He pinned a very thoughtful op-ed. We'll talk to him about it. Coming up in 6 minutes, this is Talk Line on Metro News. for 40 years. The voice of West Virginia.

[00:57:52]Heat. Heat.

[01:00:04]Today's Metro News television forecast is brought to you by Sango Law. Get results, not excuses.

[01:00:12]It was a well warmer than average day yesterday. Had a low of 60 and a high of 88 in Charleston. Shy the record by 3 degrees, but 12 above average. Average high 76. Uh be mindful of some hotter than average temps. So we have some increasing humidity next two days and nights. Some near daily record heat that could be tight or broken. So take precautions with that with the sunglasses and sunscreen sunshine.

[01:00:33]Northeastern areas of West Virginia too underneath the heat of the day. Can't rule out an isolated severe thunderstorm. Some isolated damaging winds are possible. Again, northeast areas of the state there included a marginal risk because of that. Flies here to be forecast. It starts at home.

[01:00:48]Areas of the central plain states, a regional severe weather outbreak is going to be expected there later today.

[01:00:56]Areas of states like Kansas and Missouri where some strong to intense tornadoes can't be ruled out out there. From panhandle to panhandle, heating up near 90 or so, upper 80s to low 90s. So again, a warm and humid day with a southwest breeze. And overnight tonight, a low chance of a shower and storm with lows in the 60s. Again, uncharacteristically warm to hot for highs and overnight lows. Northeastern areas, again, that marginal risk for isolated severe weather, damaging winds, and some localized brief heavy rain can't be ruled ruled out. And lows well in the ranks of the 60s tonight. From east to west, we got 90s on the board here. Again, tight or breaking some daily record highs for some areas of the state and some warm record lows possible. Down to the south, uh Charleston, 92. That would tie a daily record high for you today. 92 91 in Huntington.

[01:01:46]Again, Eastern areas, a couple of isolated showers and storms are possible. Charleston near 92 and forecasting near 66 tonight, 91 tomorrow. Cold front swings through and we'll watch for showers and storms likely Wednesday and then some chances Thursday through the weekend. Highs a lot of 70s.

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[01:02:49]Welcome back inside the Enco insurance studios. Dave Wilson in Morgantown. TJ's in Charleston. Jake Link runs the video stream. If you're watching on the Metro News television app, Facebook Live and YouTube. or you can listen in on one of our great radio affiliates across the state and you can thank Sophia Wasik for that, our audio producer today. She's also on the phones at 800765 [music] talk 800 7658255.

[01:03:15]You can text the show at 304 talk 304.

[01:03:18]Jason Huffman, executive [music] director, Americans for Prosperity West Virginia will join us at the bottom of the hour. We'll get his take on the primary election. Little postmortem coming up here in the second hour. Also, we'll revisit our conversation from earlier. Governor Morsey holding a news conference earlier today announcing after audits of three of the state's biggest departments potentially, bold that, italicize it, underline it, potentially $168 million in savings.

[01:03:49]We'll revisit that coming up in the next segment. Once again, say good morning.

[01:03:53]TJ Meadows anchors our coverage from Charleston. Good morning, sir. There's something for the prediction markets to, you know, get on. Will the 168 million be realized? Yes or no? Take your bet.

[01:04:03]Now, >> you think Koshi's on that right now?

[01:04:05]Poly markets on that.

[01:04:06]>> They're on everything else. I mean, >> you can make a lot of money. So, >> we'll get more into that coming up uh in about 10 minutes from now. Last, I think it was Friday, at least that's when I first saw it posted on Facebook, Senator Jack David Woodram uh wrote what essentially is an op-ed entitled What is Gained? a reflection on governing, campaigning, and institutional trust.

[01:04:29]Here's a paragraph that stuck out to me.

[01:04:31]Politics today increasingly treats victory itself as the highest virtue. If an election is won, if headlines are captured, if a few additional seats are secure, then the methods used to achieve those outcomes are often treated as secondary. Escalation becomes strategy.

[01:04:48]Conflict becomes branding. institutions themselves become casualties of political conflict and anyone unwilling to participate in perpetual political warfare is often viewed with suspicion but governing is not campaigning.

[01:05:03]Joining us on Metro News talk line this morning is the senator from Summers County. That's in the 10th district, Senator Jack David Woodrram. Senator Woodrum, good morning and thanks for joining us.

[01:05:13]>> Uh good morning. Thank you for having me.

[01:05:15]>> Absolutely. Thought it was a very thoughtful piece that you uh pinned.

[01:05:19]What motivated you? Why did you decide to write this article and post it on social media?

[01:05:24]>> Well, we've all all lived through the um the turmoil of the election, but quite honestly, I was sitting in church and the uh the opening line for that uh for what shall profit a man if he gained the whole world and lose his own soul uh popped in my head and the rest of the article sort of followed.

[01:05:44]>> So, I think you were speaking to the governor here. I don't want to be too bold, but you say in the end, history rarely judges leaders solely by what they conquered politically. It judges whether they strengthened the institution, entrusted them, or weakened them in the pursuit of power. Is that fair? Are you speaking to the governor here?

[01:06:03]>> Well, the governor certainly has a role in it. Uh I'm not not trying to uh pick on the governor, but you know, in in general, institutional knowledge is important. And the the public and uh many factions that are trying to influence these elections, uh they're they're not looking at long-term goals.

[01:06:24]They may be looking at specific issues, uh often one or maybe two issues that they focus everything on. And it takes a lot more to run a state than um one or two issues. And I I I keep going back that the the knowledge is lost. So say in this this election we lost a house finance chair. Uh that's a position that takes uh time to learn uh to be effective at it. Uh it takes a very specialized skill set. There's not many people in the legislature that can fill a seat like that effectively. And there are a number of committee chairs um uh specialized issues. You know, if you think about PEIA, uh, you know, roads, any of any of the things that are put out there that that government's mandated to do, you have a variety of people, >> [clears throat] >> uh, all of which are sort of specialized in different areas, and they've spent years working on these issues, studying these issues, and when we, um, when we attack them, uh, put them out of office, uh, you know, who who is left to fill Ed void >> talking with Summers County Senator Jack David Woodram joining us here on Metro News Talkline. You point out reform and destruction are not the same thing. Have we conflated those two things when we talk about government and how state government, even local government should operate?

[01:07:59]>> Well, I I think it I think we're we're getting there. Um we we're we're at a point where uh there there seems to be a litmus test for what a Republican is. And and that's troubling to me. Uh the people that are uh being targeted right now are the very people that built the Republican party in West Virginia as we know it today.

[01:08:26]uh they're the ones that uh flipped us to the majority whose uh principled leadership has brought us to where we're at and and I did an analysis of the last um last several legislative uh sessions and and they were much more effective and the policy positions uh really reform the state and move the state forward compared to what we're doing now which uh isn't getting the same kind attraction. Uh the positions are are are weaker and very few things are actually getting done. Now, I I think the governor blames that on the members of the legislature, but I [clears throat] I look at it as we're uh co-equal branches of government that are supposed to work together. We're not here to uh take orders from the executive branch. So, those are those are some of the things I keep coming back to. We need to have a collaboration and take advantage of the uh uh the skill sets of all these members that we have. We have 134 people that are very very accomplished people and we need to take advantage of them and and not rely on just a handful of people within the executive.

[01:09:39]Senator, forgive the blunt question, but I feel like understanding who is at the who is leading this charge is important. And I do think it's more than just Governor Morrisy. Uh the pack mountaineer conservative action has been tied to Senate President Randy Smith and others uh in the Senate. Blunt question again, sir. Are you disappointed in the way he behaved during this election?

[01:10:07]Well, you know, Ry's a gentleman. Uh I have a lot of respect for Randy. Uh I think some of the influences around him have led him down this path. I don't think he uh went there on his own. Um but the fact is he he did go there. So I don't think it's helpful. Uh I think it hurts the Senate. You know, you have to be able you can't be everywhere and do everything and read every bill. So, you have to be able to trust your committee chairs. And I'm at the point right now that I can't trust my committee chairs.

[01:10:41]And and that's a that's a really devastating thing for me to be able to say. I need to be able to trust the people I work with. And I need to know that their best interest are for West Virginia, not for their own uh political advancement. And and often I feel like that's what we're seeing are people that are uh either advancing themselves personally or politically. And that and that's troubling. Now, I don't think Ry's one of those people, but I think Ry's being uh uh being pressured maybe to do things that he wouldn't necessarily do on his own.

[01:11:15]>> Talking to Jack David Wood, Summers County State Senator, he pinned um what's I would call an oped. He posted on his Facebook page and it's entitled, "What is gained?" We often, and I will I will raise our raise our hand here in the media using air quotes there. We like disagreement when you senators argue with each other and it and there's a little bit of uh conflict there, if you will, uh, Senator, but is disagreement actually a healthy thing for the legislature to engage in when we're talking about these policy issues.

[01:11:51]>> It It's absolutely healthy. Uh, disagreement is important. The debate is important. Um, you know, that's that's one thing I miss now that we're a super majority is quite honestly it's debate with a minority. Um, now I know that sounds strange coming from a Republican, but I always thought that the debate and the discussion was valuable and it created better legislation um when it was all said and done. And so I I think the debate is good. I think different points of view are good. Um, and and I and I honestly I think it's healthy. I also think turnover's healthy. I'm not advocating that we keep the same people all the time. Uh there's nothing wrong with turnover, but it it's the way we conduct ourselves during the course of it. And it it it shouldn't be about u you know control. It should it should be about putting the best people in office to do the best things for the state of West Virginia.

[01:12:50]>> Jack, this has become personal. Uh that's unfortunate and that makes it a harder road back. Do you believe we can get back to a better place and what steps need to happen to make that reality?

[01:13:05]>> Well, you don't ask easy questions.

[01:13:07][laughter] Uh it it it's it's going to be u difficult.

[01:13:13]Um I I believe we can. I think it's going to take time. I'm concerned that we uh may have uh effectively uh damaged our institutions.

[01:13:28]Uh time time will tell. Uh trust is is like I said, it's very important and um you know, I'd already had the feeling that agency heads um were reluctant to speak to members of the legislature uh for fear of retaliation. I I don't know if that's true, but that that's the feeling I had during the last session.

[01:13:51]So, if that's the case, if that's the culture we're turning into, we're not going to be very productive, and it's going to be difficult really to accomplish anything of substance.

[01:14:01]>> Your closing line of your piece is history rarely judges leaders solely by what they conquer politically. It judges whether they strengthen institutions entrusted to them or weaken them in the pursuit of power. So, Jack, I I'll toss this question for you personally. What can you do to make certain the legislature is strengthened when you're all said and done in the legislature uh serving in the state senate?

[01:14:31]>> Are you talking for me personally or just you personally? You personally, what can you do?

[01:14:37]>> Well, in in in my case, I I I do contemplate that a lot. Um, so I think we need to go back to basics as to what the true functions of government are and we need to make sure we're accomplishing those things. Uh, you know, sound bites on the evening news are dangerous. Um, in my [clears throat] mind, we uh we have people that are focusing on um, uh, social issues and not so much on the more difficult work of actually running government. And we, you know, for me personally, my goal is to put people in office and in those positions that actually um know how to run government that understand business. Um you know, this is a uh you know, we're in into the billions of dollars. So, this isn't running a small business. And uh having the right people with the right expertise in place to actually run our government effectively is is is my goal.

[01:15:34]and and I'm not advocating for any role in any of this. I'm I'm not really interested in that. I I just want to be in the best place I can uh with the skills that I have to try to move our our state forward.

[01:15:50]>> Senator Jack David Woodram from Summers County. You can read his piece over at his Facebook page. Very thoughtful, very well written. You could give us all a run for our money. Uh Senator, we appreciate the time this morning. Well done.

[01:16:03]>> Thank you, gentlemen. and thank you for the work you do.

[01:16:05]>> Absolutely. We appreciate the time.

[01:16:06]Senator Jack David Wood, Summers County, that is the 10th district. 800765 talk is the phone number. 304 talk 304 is the text line. We'll get to some of your texts when we return. This is Talk Line from the Inov Studios.

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[01:20:39]Earlier today, Governor Morsey held a news conference just prior to the start of this program. announced the or outlined the findings of a couple of audits, three audits or the audit of three departments I should say uh within the state government and revealed that they had found through those audits potentially atalicized bolded and underlined potentially $168 million in savings. We talked about it right at the top of the show and TJ uh you did a very quick analysis and kind of puts I like how this works. I have a thought. You put data to thoughts, but [laughter] but you put some data behind it. Again, this very quick analysis. We haven't got the reports. Haven't had a chance to read them. But $168 million sounds great. And look, credit is due to the governor and his staff for going through reviewing these departments, finding that money.

[01:21:31]Every little bit helps, don't get me wrong. But in the grand scheme of things, how does that factor in? Add some context to that.

[01:21:38]>> Yeah. and helping to understand whether or not it is meaningful. If we're cutting this money, you have to take a look at what our total budget is. 5.8 billion with B dollars in general revenue for the state. Well, if you cut out 168 million, you're talking about 2.9% just under inflation. But federal dollars, because we're talking about programs that could potentially and do uh deal with federal dollars, add in all the Fed money we get, $16.27 27 billion is now our annual budget. $168 million of that is like 1.03%.

[01:22:14]It is hard to get excited about a cost curve that you are bending that doesn't at least cover inflation because there's really no net gain at that point.

[01:22:24]Secondly, I have never been in a business and I've been in many I've never been around any organization that cut its way to prosperity. you're either growing or you're dying. Revenue is the side of the equation I think where we need to be focused on. Didn't hear a lot of that today. So kudos, but I don't know that it gets us anywhere.

[01:22:42]>> And my mind wandered during that news conference again. Was the governor demonstrating terrible inefficiencies within these departments or when you start to put it in the context you did TJ, are we really demonstrating that we have tightened and made things about as efficient as they're going to get? I know, again, it sounds silly. It's $168 million, but in the grand scheme, in that context that you put it in, we've really, I think, done a, dare [clears throat] I say, a pretty good job of controlling costs, the legislature certainly has held the line on spending for the last several years. Cuz remember, Governor Morrisy didn't step into a situation, I'm going to pick on the Democrats for a minute, where it's been under Democrat control for 50 years and spending was out of control. He steps into a situation the legislature had been in Republican control since what 2016 a decade now. Spending has been held in check. Agencies have had to cut back.

[01:23:40]>> Maybe actually inadvertently or advertently, I don't know, demonstrated that a lot of these departments are actually running about as efficient and as lean as they could. Could they do better? Sure. Always can. But seems like they're running pretty lean if that's what you found. a lot of flatline budgets and that has been a good thing for us. Think about it like this though.

[01:24:00]Don't think about it as a business budget or a government budget. Think about your household budget. If you were looking at efficiencies and you could only cut 1% of your household budget, you were already that efficient to your point. Would you feel like, "Oh man, I was really overspending." No, not really. And and the only difference is zeros. A government budget has a lot more zeros than your household budget has. So again, if you wanted to better yourself and your situation in your household, what would you do? You'd try to go get a side hustle to make more money or get a better job that pays you more money. Again, you grow the revenue side of the house. And I just don't think there was enough focus on that today. There was a bit of talk about it, but it was all historic looking back.

[01:24:44]What's the future look like? That's what I think is missing from this equation.

[01:24:48]304 talk 304 is the text line. 800 7658255. Let's get a couple of texts in.

[01:24:53]Texture says they're citing the waste so they can privatize all of it. Speculates the textter. Uh the average salary of West Virginia teachers 52,000 per year.

[01:25:03]158 million pays for it. 3,000 teachers for one year. Not at all how that works, but I get your point. Uh more stubborn facts. When Democrat Anne Richards was governor of Texas, Texas ranked ninth in education proficiency. Today, nearly after 30 years of Republican rule, Texas ranks 40th in education and 47th in reading proficiency. Sounds like the good news is we can catch Texas.

[01:25:28]Uh, why do you two bash the governor? It is simply because he wasn't born here.

[01:25:33]Uh, no. Has nothing to do with that at all. That's just providing some, you know, rudimentary analysis by a couple of dunderheads here on the radio. No offense. I just called you a dunderhead.

[01:25:44]Sorry.

[01:25:44]>> No. Like [laughter] I bashing is really hammering someone. Bad language. Talking about their mama.

[01:25:52]We're not doing that. We're just bringing the way I Look, folks. I'm calling it like I see it. Talking about [laughter] We're not doing that.

[01:26:02]No. No, we're not talking.

[01:26:06]I wasn't [snorts] expecting that line.

[01:26:07]That's a pretty good one. Not bad.

[01:26:08][laughter] Not bad. Coming up, Jason Hoffman, executive director, Americans for Prosperity West Virginia, joins us from the Charleston studios. More of your text as well. 304 talk 304. This is talk line on Metro News for 40 years. The voice of West Virginia.

[01:26:25]It is 11:30 and time to get a news update from the Metro News Radio Network. Find out what's happening all across the great state of West Virginia.

[01:26:33]West Virginia.

[01:26:35]Today's Metro News television forecast is brought to you by Sango Law. Get results, not excuses.

[01:26:44]It was a well warmer than average day yesterday. Had a low of 60 and a high of 88 in Charleston. Shy the record by 3 degrees, but 12 above average. Average high 76. Uh be mindful of some hotter than average temps. So we have some increasing humidity next two days and nights. Some near daily record heat that could be tight or broken. So take precautions with that with the sunglasses and sunscreen sunshine.

[01:27:05]Northeastern areas of West Virginia too underneath the heat of the day. Can't rule out an isolated severe thunderstorm. Some isolated damaging winds are possible. Again, northeast areas of the state there included a marginal risk because of that. Flies here to be forecast. It starts at home.

[01:27:20]Areas of the central plain states, a regional severe weather outbreak is going to be expected there later today.

[01:27:28]areas of states like Kansas and Missouri where some strong to intense tornadoes can't be ruled out out there. From panhandle to panhandle, heating up near 90 or so, upper 80s to low 90s. So again, a warm and humid day with a southwest breeze. And overnight tonight, a low chance of a shower and storm with lows in the 60s. Again, uncharacteristically warm to hot for highs and overnight lows. Northeastern areas again that marginal risk for isolated severe weather. Damaging winds and some localized brief heavy rain can't be ruled ruled out and lows well in the ranks of the 60s tonight. From east to west we got 90s on the board here again. Tight or breaking some daily record highs for some areas of the state and some warm record lows possible down to the south. Uh Charleston 92 that would tie a daily record high for you today. 92 91 in Huntington. Uh again, eastern areas, a couple of isolated showers and storms are possible.

[01:28:21]Charleston near 92 and forecasting near 66 tonight, 91 tomorrow. Cold front swings through and we'll watch for showers and storms likely Wednesday and then some chances Thursday through the weekend. Highs a lot of 70s. This is Ben Sango with Salango Law. Sango Law has earned a reputation for getting excellent results for our clients. With decades of experience handling thousands of cases, we know what it takes to deliver. Proudly voted best in the valley for three consecutive years by readers of the Charleston Gazette Mail, Sanganger Law is deeply committed to giving back by investing in our community. From supporting local programs to making our region a better place to live, Selang Law is proud to be your trusted legal and community partner. Check us out at sanglaw.com.

[01:29:06]>> On the next State of Minds, >> I think if it wasn't for West Virginia, I wouldn't be doing what I'm doing.

[01:29:21]Ryan has been [music] rising over Synica Rocks for millions of years. I wanted to capture it in a way that [music] was authentic and maybe different than people have ever seen it before.

[01:29:42][music] More of your text coming up. Got a little of a climp there. 304 talk 304 is the text line. 800 7658255 is the phone number.

[01:29:59]It may feel like it today and tomorrow.

[01:30:02]That is boat weather, but not quite yet.

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[01:30:31]Jason, thanks for stopping by.

[01:30:32]Appreciate it.

[01:30:33]>> Hey, thanks for having me. So, you've had a you've had a few days to uh decompress and digest everything that happened last week in the primary election. What are your thoughts and observations? What do you how do you think it all went?

[01:30:47]>> Well, I think, you know, overall for the state of West Virginia, I think um pretty good night for a couple of reasons. One, uh if you look at the state senate, uh obviously moderates attempted to pretty much primary every sitting incumbent. Uh they didn't get a single one. Not a single Senate incumbent uh lost to a moderate this election cycle. So team Randy pretty much shut out Tom Dubo's team uh ensuring that their leadership team is going to remain in place. Um I think that's a positive. And then in the house, you know, you see basically um moderates did not gain any ground over there in the house. And in fact, a couple of uh the key lieutenants there in the house who have, you know, stood against things like school choice and and tax cuts uh lost in their elections, that being Vernon Chris and Scott Heckard and a couple of others. So, I think overall, listen, voters pretty sent a pretty clear message, and that message was we're paying attention to how you vote. We want you to abide first principles, uh and we will vote accordingly.

[01:31:43]>> Isn't it status quo? I mean, I don't see anything changes in the Senate and nothing's going to change in the House.

[01:31:48]There's not the numbers there. Well, I think uh yeah, probably a little bit in the center, right? But the the aggressors were the moderate side in that regard. Um so them being basically shut out uh I find that to be extremely positive. Um and then, you know, I think another big takeaway is that uh we had sort of a crystallizing moment. There are no free lunches anymore in Republican politics and Republican primaries in the state. And I think that's a good thing. You know, like we talked about last time, competition is good for the health of policy and politics in the state. Um, when lawmakers get complacent, uh, I think that they kind of forget, uh, who sent them there, their voters, their constituents, uh, and in some instances, like I said, you know, you can get a little bit of a case of arrogance going on where this is my seat. Nobody's going to take this seat from me. When in in reality, it belongs to the people that put you there. Talking to Jason Huffman, Americans for Prosperity, West Virginia.

[01:32:40]Are you confident this message from the voters will translate in November? And the reason I ask, it seems, we're still digging into the data, but it seems a lot of unaffiliated voters, independent voters went over to the Democrat ticket.

[01:32:54]And does this open the door for Democrat gains in November possibly?

[01:32:59]>> Um, if you look at the map, I think there are a couple of spots where Republicans uh even in 2024 uh in that general election where you had a pretty good um environment for conservatives to go and win. Uh a couple of them, you know, won by a razor thin margin. So, there's a handful of seats, I think, where Republicans might be in trouble in November. But, um, you know, this this idea that somehow conservative independents are going to all of a sudden start voting for Democrats. I I don't really see that. Um, it would be pretty shocking if that's the case. Uh, I I don't think that there's any precedent for that, especially in a, you know, a state where, you know, Donald Trump won, you know, 70, what was it, 70%, something like that.

[01:33:37]>> Trump endorsed the other guys in this election. He endorsed Capo. He endorsed Miller. Here's here's my thinking. I think they will do that because they're long-term thinkers. What's one election cycle if you get the right to vote in the primary back and they bring that back? I mean, that's why why would you give that up? If you're an independent, why would you not go ahead and send another message? The only place they had to express their displeasure was the court. They did.

[01:33:59]>> Why would you not continue to throw an elbow in order to get your ability to vote in the primary?

[01:34:04]>> You know, I'm glad you brought the court up. Uh, and I think it was very clear that there was a pathway for the the sort of center left in that race because listen, uh, at the end of the day with a closed Republican primary, you had conservative independents not able to really turn out and vote in that. So, you had left-leaning independents and Democrats carve off enough of a a Republican um, registration to get across the finish line in that. Um, listen, if you're talking biggest losers on election night, West Virginia Chamber of Commerce, that's their lane, man.

[01:34:32]They've always been the ones that are supposed to engage in these Supreme Court races uh and make sure that conservatives win. And >> why is it their role to do the court?

[01:34:39]I'm not sure I >> just traditionally has been them and citizens against lawsuit abuse. That has been traditionally the lane that they are supposed to be in and they abdicated that lane because they were wrongly focused on taking out conservatives in the Senate. So, uh if I'm their board of members, uh I am asking for heads to roll this morning.

[01:34:56]>> Talking to Jason Huffman, Americans for Prosperity West Virginia.

[01:35:01]Can we put the divisiveness of this election behind us? The the general we, the legislature, the governor, the population, all of West Virginia, because this was this was a pretty divisive primary season. How do we get past it, Jason? We are [snorts] past it.

[01:35:14]The election's over. Tada. Look, it worked. [laughter] Um, you know, but seriously, I mean, I I hear some of these comments, you know, from like a Speaker Roger Hansshaw and others in his leadership team who I I don't find them helpful. like, oh, we're going to remember this uh in, you know, the upcoming legislative session and the upcoming elections. Listen, uh if you guys wanted to protect some of your key lieutenants, you should have tried harder because at the end of the day, these these sour grapes, they don't help anybody. You're just demeaning the voters because they're the ones that decided. And so, I think it's very important um that you know, again, like Governor Morrisy's come out and said, "Let's unify. Let's come together."

[01:35:48]Like, we had a we had a knock down drag out in the primary, but at the end of the day, we have to be adults and we have to govern. Now, >> what does unifi? What does that mean though, unify and come together?

[01:35:57]>> Well, I think it means that you focus on the policy priorities that are going to fix the state. Uh we're very clear about what those are. We have a roadmap to prosperity. Um that is going to guide us. You know, there are proven policy principles from all across the country that have worked. We're going to implement them here and we're going to raise the standard of living. We're going to uh help people every West Virginia thrive. Again, back to the summation that nothing has really changed.

[01:36:25]I don't think anybody's views have changed on policy either. We're get Look, we're going to argue about the same stuff and at the end of the day, nothing's going to get done. And I don't look, I don't necessarily see that as a bad thing. If people have policy convictions, then fine, you're right.

[01:36:38]The people spoke, but if there's not enough votes there to get these over the hurdle, then we move on. It's another session where we don't see some of these things that you may want to see implemented. I disagree with your premise because I think a tremendous amount of work has been done. Uh, a lot of meaningful policy transformation has happened. Listen, I mean, you had a legislature in the last two legislative sessions where um, essentially the House leadership was at the governor's throat.

[01:37:01]And guess what? He still got pretty much everything he wanted. And so now you change the trajectory uh, of politics in the state by implementing some common sense competition. And I think that changes incentives for lawmakers. Um because again at the end of the day uh voters are paying attention now to how they're voting on these issues where they stand on the issues of the day. And you got to think uh you know you say let's say a house member uh is approached by a member of leadership and says you're going to vote this way on against a tax cut. I don't think they're going to do that now. I don't think they're going to be in a position to say um you know there's going to be political retribution for you from House leadership. Not going to happen because they couldn't even protect their own people. So now you have members of the House who I think are stalwart conservatives and lean pretty far to the right who are going to say, "You know what? No, I think I'm good. I'm going to vote the way that my constituents want me to."

[01:37:53]>> Jason, do you believe there's a mandate?

[01:37:55]20% total voter turnout. Republican turnout was less than that. Do you actually do you believe there's a mandate from voters on some of this stuff?

[01:38:03]>> Absolutely. I mean, school choice was on the ballot. That's why Vernon Chris lost. um you know, people that want the government to run your healthcare, that was on the ballot and certificate of need. Scott Heckard lost. Um and so when you think about uh up and down the ballot, listen, we talked about before the election issues that are salient. Um I don't think it's very complicated.

[01:38:21]It's not rocket science to know what primary voters in the Republican primary want to see. They want to see bold conservative action, not tinkering around the margins.

[01:38:29]>> Well, school freedom, that's their big thing, the school freedom pack. It was obviously in my opinion it it was everything to do with uh school choice.

[01:38:38]That is their issue. All the races they were in plus two. They won plus two. I wouldn't call that a clear mandate.

[01:38:46]>> Uh I'm not as familiar with what what they did, but I I'll say we went 18 and 11 and I feel like the mandate's pretty clear from our activists and voters in the races in which we engaged. Um, a lot of these races, you got to realize, particularly in the House side, uh, they were open seats where a member was retiring and you had two challengers come into the fray. Um, we'll see how the policy majority in the House aligns after some of that uh, action is concluded. But at the end of the day, and I think you're you're not wrong, TJ, to say that there's a little bit of a stalemate in the House. But I look at it in terms of, you know, like on the Senate side, uh, if if the bad guys are trying to storm the castle and you keep the castle, you won. Uh, and likewise in in the House, I don't see moderates making any inroads there. In fact, I think they had some pretty big gut punches on election night, which I think will be favorable to policy moving forward.

[01:39:36]>> Jason Huffman, Americans for Prosperity, West Virginia. So, what do you do now?

[01:39:40]What what are you going to do over the summer now?

[01:39:43]>> Oh, you know me.

[01:39:44]>> Did you take a break? Did you take a vacation at any point, Jason? Or [laughter] >> I'm sure my wife would like me to, bud.

[01:39:49]Um, no. At some point, listen, you know, we're going to release our 2026 legislative scorecard uh as we do every single year in the in the spirit of transparency in government and holding lawmakers accountable and celebrating our champions on uh on, you know, true policy wins. And you know, we're going to get ready for 2027 in which I think uh we're going to have a a fairly impactful legislative session. Uh we're going to there's a lot of tough challenges that we need to tackle in this state and so we're going to begin to rally lawmakers around some of those core ideas uh so that we don't tinker around the margins and we do go and meet that mandate that I think the voters gave us on election night. Jason Huffen, executive director, Americans for Prosperity West Virginia. Appreciate you stopping by, buddy. Thank you.

[01:40:29]>> Hey, thanks for having me. Take a break.

[01:40:31]We'll get some more of your text. 304 talk 304 is the text line. 800765 talk 8007658255.

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[01:45:20]Everybody likes to take the idea of the hey, we won an election or we won a few seats here. We've got a mandate. Feels good to say it. You know what? You probably don't. 20% 20% of all voters voted in this primary election. Fewer than that percentage-wise voted in the Republican primary. I'm not going to call a mandate there to the voters. And if you keep it up, here's my warning, TJ. Here's my little warning. Keep it up, Republicans. Keep it up. And you will see Democrat gains eventually, little bit by little bit by little bit.

[01:45:55]And you're going to see this thing eroded away if you keep going down this path of divisive civil war type politics. The bad guys, did you hear that? Stood out to me. He referred to half of the Republican party as the bad guys. Guess what the bad guys are going to do? They're going to vote for somebody else.

[01:46:12]>> Yeah.

[01:46:13]>> Keep it up. Keep it up.

[01:46:15]This is far from over. And uh it's personal.

[01:46:21]And look, independents, those who would think that independents by voting Democrat are somehow being unfaithful to their conservative values, they're thinking long term. And any vote that they cast now is meant to rectify the status quo and allow them to participate again in the primary. It's not vindictive as much as it is just a consequence. I mean, it's a political consequence. has nothing to do with forgiveness or who's to blame. It's just a consequence. I mean, it's it's almost like physics.

[01:46:55]It's a given. It's going to happen. And the only way to make this better, and there's a movement, I wrote about it today underway. You got to reopen this thing again. You have to reopen it until the far dark red has 50.01% that they can have a majority, which they're nowhere near when it comes to the polls.

[01:47:17]It's the only way. Nothing else works.

[01:47:20]You get those light colored red Republicans. You get independents who are conservative. You get Democrats.

[01:47:25]They can run the table on you if they want to. What is I mean it breaks down a third. It's each about a third now.

[01:47:32]Isn't that the breakdown? You got about a third Republicans, third Democrats, and a third unaffiliated slash all the other parties.

[01:47:38]>> Yeah. May maybe a little maybe a little bit more in the Democratic camp, but because excuse me, the Republican camp, but because it's fractured Yeah. I mean, no one has an effective majority in terms of voting roles to be able to run the table.

[01:47:51]>> My point being, if you're going to win in November, which should be the goal, right?

[01:47:56]>> Mhm. You're going to have to have independent unaffiliated voters, probably a few Democrats to come vote on your ticket as well. And I don't know if you keep if if the status quo is what we saw this past primary.

[01:48:11]I don't know how long you maintain I I don't know how long you maintain that because look at our text line. Look at our text line. How many independents say nope, not going to do it.

[01:48:20]I know that's a small sample size for whatever it's worth, but [sighs] we'll see. We'll see how it all plays out as we head into the 28 prim. And look, there are probably, and I'm not saying Democrats are going to take any majorities anytime soon in 28,30 or 32, don't get me wrong.

[01:48:36]>> No. But there's probably five Senate seats at play. When's the last time five Senate seats have been at play in the state senate?

[01:48:42]>> Quite a while. If there was a way that I could be assured as someone who is a pro business conservative who understands we have to grow our way out of the problems that we have. If there was some waving of a magic wand that could assure me that a higher degree of Democrats would counterbalance these Republican factions and somehow put the focus back on getting companies here, getting people to stay here, population, our biggest issue. I'm all for it because I understand and I think many independents do as well. We're broke and there's not enough money coming through. There's not enough people here. It will not work. We don't have any golden goose in terms of a a natural resource extractive uh commodity that can prop us up. We are dying in this state. Either figure it out and not just stop it, figure out how to grow or continue to die. That is the biggest thing. We're not even talking about that. We're worried about all these social issues.

[01:49:46]>> Well, we're not even talking about [laughter] Forget about the social issues. We're talking about issues that have already been done. Teaching, we have a plan to eliminate the state income tax through what? Growth.

[01:49:58]>> Growth. We have a plan. We have already instituted the most robust school choice program in the country, which, oh, by the way, might need to reign the spending on. The mere suggestion of that got people unelected from the House of Delegates or at least that were they were targets because of that mere suggestion. We've done all of these things. Republicans did all these things in the last decade. But here we are.

[01:50:21]>> Here we are.

[01:50:22]>> And the hard part the hard part is like you said, growing the business, growing the economy. What can you do to grow state tax revenue? The Well, the only way you're going to do that is if the economy grows.

[01:50:33]All right. Ran over 304 talk 304.

[01:50:36]Actually, we got to take a break. Woo!

[01:50:37]We almost pushed that just a little too long. Late late soapbox. [laughter] But guess what? We're not talking about anybody's mama. As TJ pointed out ago, [laughter] >> we're back right back in a moment.

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[01:55:05]>> [music] >> Textter says, "Good show today. Thanks for not talking about anyone's mama."

[01:55:17]Well done. Remember your uh your mama jokes in the 90s? The 90s? Your mama jokes?

[01:55:23]>> Place pool with the planets? [laughter] >> That was uh Whoa. Was that Homie the um homie the clown on 11 color?

[01:55:34]>> Oh, now there's a flashback.

[01:55:36]>> Yeah, Damon Damon Wayans played him, right? Homie don't play that. [laughter] >> Great show. Uh, politicians are more worried about less than 1% of the population, which is LBGT, gay abortion, and someone's taking your guns. The 99% of us get nothing, says the texter.

[01:55:55]You're not bashing the governor, Mr. 33%. You provide constructive analysis of what's going on around the state.

[01:56:01]Text says Larry Pack for governor. All right, we'll be back tomorrow. We'll try to do a little bit better than we did today. This is Talk Line on Metro News for 40 years, the voice of West Virginia.