Latest / The Dave Allen Show / 04/22/2025 The Dave Allen Show on 580 Live - Greg Clutter, Tristan Leavitt

Transcript

04/22/2025 The Dave Allen Show on 580 Live - Greg Clutter, Tristan Leavitt · The Dave Allen Show

0:00
Speaker 1: Unlock your dream property with Meeks Realty Group, where Rich
0:03
Speaker 1: the realtor makes real estate dreams a reality, whether it's
0:05
Speaker 1: residential or commercial. We've got Charleston to Huntington covered. Your
0:09
Speaker 1: key to exceptional real estate experience is start here Meek's
0:12
Speaker 1: Realty Group. Contact us at Meeks dot us.
0:15
Speaker 2: The views and opinions expressed on this program do not
0:18
Speaker 2: necessarily reflect the views and opinions of five ADWCHS, its employees,
0:23
Speaker 2: or WVRC Media. From the studios of WVRC Media. The country,
0:29
Speaker 2: the United States of America, the state West Virginia, the
0:35
Speaker 2: city Charleston. This is the Dave Allen Show on five
0:40
Speaker 2: eighty Lives and your host.
0:43
Speaker 3: What we've got here is fail with Newcas.
0:48
Speaker 2: Kind of a big deal.
0:49
Speaker 4: I have come here to chew bubble gum and kick
0:53
Speaker 4: out at a fall out of bubbling.
0:56
Speaker 2: Dave Allen.
0:59
Speaker 3: Again Tuesday morning, Thanky to you, Welcome to the show.
1:01
Speaker 3: Ryan Nicholson, Senior Producer in charge of things this morning,
1:04
Speaker 3: big Ley Piggley Wiggly Hotline three zero four three four
1:07
Speaker 3: five fifty eight fifty eight. Tony the Taylor Text three
1:10
Speaker 3: zero four nine three five five zero zero Wave Dave
1:13
Speaker 3: Alan Show in five eighty Live comes to you from
1:15
Speaker 3: the Jarrett Construction Studios, Right on time, right on budget.
1:18
Speaker 3: Visit Jarret dash Construction dot com. Phone calls of the
1:21
Speaker 3: show the service of Big Lee Piggy Wiggley, Spring Street, Charleston.
1:24
Speaker 3: Texting services provided by a West Virginia's Finalists Men's Store.
1:27
Speaker 3: Tony the Taylor on Virginia Street in Charleston, Dressed to
1:30
Speaker 3: and press for the Kentucky Derby with a visit to
1:32
Speaker 3: Tony and don't forget the suits for graduation too. Visit
1:36
Speaker 3: Tony the Taylor on Facebook or Bestmaster Taylor dot com
1:39
Speaker 3: for more information. Welcome to the Show. Tuesday edition of
1:41
Speaker 3: the show. Our continuing series of interviews with legislators about
1:44
Speaker 3: the recently wrapped up session we'll continue today. Today we'll
1:47
Speaker 3: speak with Delegat Tristan Levitt, Republican from District fifty three.
1:51
Speaker 3: That's coming up. Also last night and we have a
1:54
Speaker 3: story posted about it, Aaron Parker does at wv Metronews
1:57
Speaker 3: dot com. Charleston City Council last night a green to
2:00
Speaker 3: pay out the settlement in one of the cases having
2:03
Speaker 3: to do with a former police chief. Tight hunt again
2:07
Speaker 3: Aaron's got the story about to post another website. I'll
2:09
Speaker 3: get into that coming up a little bit later on
2:11
Speaker 3: in the show. Pleasure calls and text are always welcome.
2:13
Speaker 3: Big Ley Piggy Wiggly Hotline three zero four three four
2:16
Speaker 3: five fifty eight fifty eight. Tony the Taylor Text three
2:19
Speaker 3: zero four nine three five five zero zero eight. We
2:22
Speaker 3: all know and have read and seen about the issue
2:25
Speaker 3: with foster care. Foster care systems in West Virginia spend
2:28
Speaker 3: a lot of time at the legislature talking about that.
2:33
Speaker 3: For the fourth straight year, a summit is going to
2:35
Speaker 3: be held here in Charleston to try to address some
2:37
Speaker 3: of those issues. It's happening May seventh at River Ridge
2:40
Speaker 3: Church and Charleston. Greg Clutter is the director of foster
2:42
Speaker 3: care Initiatives at Chestnut Mountain Ministries, and he joins us
2:46
Speaker 3: this morning in the Jery Construction studios. Welcome to the show.
2:48
Speaker 3: Good morning, it's great to be here. Thanks for having
2:51
Speaker 3: me having us, Dave, thank you for being here. We have, sir,
2:54
Speaker 3: in West Virginia, the highest rates per capita of kids
2:59
Speaker 3: in fall care in the entire country. Absolutely, why if
3:05
Speaker 3: you could solve that?
3:06
Speaker 5: We if we can solve that we'd be off to
3:08
Speaker 5: a great start day. We not only have the highest
3:11
Speaker 5: per capita rated children in foster care DAVE, we have
3:13
Speaker 5: the highest removal rate of children from their primary families
3:18
Speaker 5: in the nation. It's about four times higher than the
3:21
Speaker 5: national average. Largely that can all be traced back to
3:25
Speaker 5: something we're all familiar with, and that's the opioid epidemic.
3:27
Speaker 5: Right addiction has has ravaged many of our cities throughout
3:32
Speaker 5: the cities and communities and families throughout the entire state,
3:36
Speaker 5: and a result has been broken families, families breaking down
3:39
Speaker 5: at an absolutely alarming rate. So what we're doing at
3:42
Speaker 5: Chestnut Mountain Village is where we're taking a little bit
3:46
Speaker 5: different approach to this situation, and that is we're going
3:50
Speaker 5: throughout the state and we're guiding and equipping local churches
3:54
Speaker 5: in terms of how to care for foster, adoptive kinship
3:59
Speaker 5: and other vulnera children and families that may be teetering
4:02
Speaker 5: on the edge. And we're doing that using some very
4:05
Speaker 5: proven Christ centered methods that have been used all over
4:07
Speaker 5: the country. We're not we're not recreating things. So the
4:11
Speaker 5: Foster Care Summit comes out of that spirit that we're
4:14
Speaker 5: that we're trying to rally communities. We're trying to not
4:18
Speaker 5: only rally the local church, but we're trying to build
4:21
Speaker 5: this collaborative spirit amongst the church, amongst child welfare, amongst
4:25
Speaker 5: local nonprofits. Uh. And we're doing that with a very
4:30
Speaker 5: simple mantra, and that is, we know everyone's not going
4:33
Speaker 5: to be a foster family. Not everyone should be a
4:35
Speaker 5: foster family. A lot of us won't ever take ken nieces, nephews, grandparents,
4:40
Speaker 5: grandkids into their homes.
4:43
Speaker 2: But we believe everyone in West.
4:45
Speaker 5: Virginia can do something that doesn't have to be fostering,
4:48
Speaker 5: but that can be helping the local foster family. That
4:51
Speaker 5: can be taking meals, that can be providing very practically.
4:54
Speaker 3: Yeah, and it's kind of like you know, with anything
4:56
Speaker 3: else again, as you said, and it's a very good point, Greg.
4:59
Speaker 3: Not everybody in a position to be able to take
5:01
Speaker 3: in foster kids, and they have the kids of their own,
5:04
Speaker 3: they're a little bit older, whatever, but everybody can do
5:06
Speaker 3: something to help.
5:08
Speaker 5: Absolutely, it could be as simple as taking a meal.
5:11
Speaker 5: We find that throughout the nation, we all see these
5:13
Speaker 5: little signs they're never enough foster families. We all see
5:16
Speaker 5: these little signs if more foster families needed. That's a
5:18
Speaker 5: well known fact throughout West Virginia, and a lot of
5:21
Speaker 5: things are changing to try to make that better. But
5:24
Speaker 5: something that we don't see very often, we don't talk
5:26
Speaker 5: about it very often, is the fact that not only
5:29
Speaker 5: do we need more foster families, we need to keep
5:31
Speaker 5: the ones we have. It is one of the hardest
5:33
Speaker 5: jobs in the entire world, and they turn over at
5:37
Speaker 5: staggering rates. Fifty percent of them do it for about
5:40
Speaker 5: one year.
5:41
Speaker 3: Or less, and then what happens, and then they quit
5:43
Speaker 3: their hands. They throw out their hands.
5:45
Speaker 5: They're too exhausted, they're too frustrated, they're isolated, they're insulated.
5:50
Speaker 5: What we find throughout the nation is when the local church,
5:55
Speaker 5: which was the original solution to foster care until about
5:57
Speaker 5: nineteen twenty, the church carried load for foster care into
6:01
Speaker 5: in the entire nation. When the local church comes around
6:05
Speaker 5: and supports a family in very practical ways, that number
6:08
Speaker 5: goes from fifty percent of them leave in one year
6:12
Speaker 5: to only ten percent of them leave in one year.
6:14
Speaker 5: If we can keep more of them and keep them healthy,
6:16
Speaker 5: we have a lot better outcomes for children.
6:18
Speaker 3: I'm talking about this fourth annual All in Foster Care.
6:21
Speaker 3: Some of that's going to be happening next May. Greg
6:25
Speaker 3: Clutter is here. Let's talk about your work within this organization,
6:28
Speaker 3: Chestnut Mountain Ridge, the work that you.
6:30
Speaker 5: Do Chestnut Mountain Village on village right there, it's quite okay.
6:33
Speaker 5: There's a lot of chestnuts in the Morgantown area and
6:36
Speaker 5: not one are roasting on an open none of them are.
6:40
Speaker 5: So Chesnut Mountain Village is ministry where statewide ministry, and
6:44
Speaker 5: we're going throughout the state rallying and guiding and equipping
6:47
Speaker 5: churches to get involved in the space. What we find
6:51
Speaker 5: is when the local church learns, they just learn more
6:54
Speaker 5: a little bit more about what's going on in foster
6:56
Speaker 5: care in their own communities. First of all, when they
6:59
Speaker 5: feel because on their own communities it's not this overwhelming
7:02
Speaker 5: number of six thousand kids in care. It ends up
7:04
Speaker 5: being a few hundred. It ends up being something that's
7:06
Speaker 5: more manageable. When they find that, and then they reflect
7:10
Speaker 5: on what they should be doing. Biblically, they all look
7:14
Speaker 5: and go, we want to help, but they don't know how.
7:17
Speaker 5: They absolutely don't know how to start. And that's where
7:19
Speaker 5: we step in. Where we Chestnut Mountain Village takes them
7:22
Speaker 5: by the hand and says, here's step one. Let's start
7:24
Speaker 5: with something. So what is what is step one? So
7:26
Speaker 5: step one very often will be finding somebody that can
7:29
Speaker 5: lead it up. It always comes down to leadership. So
7:31
Speaker 5: step one very often would be who who in your
7:34
Speaker 5: church would be interested in helping? Do you already have
7:37
Speaker 5: foster families?
7:38
Speaker 2: What do they need?
7:39
Speaker 5: Step one is just open up that awareness and start
7:41
Speaker 5: the conversation within a church and get those conversations going,
7:46
Speaker 5: and then maybe someone steps up and says, I'd be
7:48
Speaker 5: really interested in leading this. Because pastors can't do everything,
7:51
Speaker 5: especially in West Virginia where we have a lot of
7:52
Speaker 5: bivocational pastors, they can't do everything. So it usually takes
7:56
Speaker 5: someone to step up within the church. Then we come
7:59
Speaker 5: around that person and we train and we guide and
8:02
Speaker 5: we equip them on how do you do this, how
8:04
Speaker 5: do you identify families to support, how do you get
8:07
Speaker 5: into what the church may be particularly passionate about, And
8:11
Speaker 5: then we just guide them. We meet with them monthly,
8:13
Speaker 5: we provide them with training through national organizations, and we
8:17
Speaker 5: give them structure and approven model. And that is so
8:20
Speaker 5: much about what Wednesday, May Seven's is going to be
8:23
Speaker 5: here at the All in Foster Care Summer here at
8:26
Speaker 5: Riverdge Church in Charleston. Is bringing in people from other places,
8:31
Speaker 5: national speakers who do this work across the country very successfully,
8:36
Speaker 5: have done this work across the country. They're going to
8:38
Speaker 5: be presenting and running workshops. It's going to be a
8:41
Speaker 5: lot of time during the day where from people from
8:45
Speaker 5: churches and social workers and local nonprofits and others can
8:50
Speaker 5: just start collaborating and forming kind of a common vision
8:53
Speaker 5: for what this looks like. It's going to be a
8:55
Speaker 5: day of training, it's going to be a day of inspiration.
8:57
Speaker 5: It's going to be a day of connection, because this
9:00
Speaker 5: problem is too big for government to solve alone. It's
9:03
Speaker 5: going to take all of us pulling the rope.
9:05
Speaker 3: Greg, How how do you if somebody is interested in this?
9:09
Speaker 3: How do you folks go about and and you got
9:14
Speaker 3: to be careful as you well know you do this
9:16
Speaker 3: for a living, You know this, But you got to
9:17
Speaker 3: be careful and say, well, these folks have all the
9:20
Speaker 3: all the want to in the world, but they but
9:22
Speaker 3: they may not be right for this. How do you
9:25
Speaker 3: how do you make that determination in.
9:26
Speaker 5: Terms of the people that may want to volunteer and
9:28
Speaker 5: help or yeah, either it is or to be foster parents.
9:31
Speaker 5: It is to be foster parents. That's a hard one
9:34
Speaker 5: to make the determination. They might have a lot of
9:36
Speaker 5: want to, but but they might they might burn out
9:39
Speaker 5: very quickly. Uh when when when they get ready to start?
9:42
Speaker 2: Uh.
9:43
Speaker 5: We don't sugarcoat when someone wants to wants to foster.
9:47
Speaker 5: We never, We never sugar came the good and the bad. Yes,
9:51
Speaker 5: it can be the most rewarding thing you ever do.
9:53
Speaker 5: But we're also inviting people to step into a very
9:56
Speaker 5: hard place, uh, to very hard work.
9:59
Speaker 3: Many of these kids who don't have the basics that
10:02
Speaker 3: you teach a kid when they're three or four about
10:04
Speaker 3: how to behave in public and things of that nature,
10:07
Speaker 3: and how to how to interact with siblings. Maybe they
10:09
Speaker 3: didn't have siblings and those things, and a lot of
10:11
Speaker 3: them have been through very deep trauma. Day they've been
10:14
Speaker 3: through people can't even again, they.
10:17
Speaker 5: Don't understand, and very often we encourage One of the
10:19
Speaker 5: first things we do is we encourage people to when
10:21
Speaker 5: they see a child that's misbehaving that may have been
10:23
Speaker 5: through a foster care situation or broken family situation, Uh,
10:28
Speaker 5: don't ask what's wrong with the child, start to think
10:30
Speaker 5: about I wonder what happened to that child, because those
10:34
Speaker 5: are the things that create the trauma, that create things
10:37
Speaker 5: that we may not understand at all. But that's a
10:41
Speaker 5: that's a big part of the day that we're going
10:42
Speaker 5: to be doing on May seventh is thinking about trauma
10:45
Speaker 5: and secondary trauma for folks like social workers, social workers,
10:49
Speaker 5: foster families, they experienced that trauma just by living through
10:52
Speaker 5: what the what the children have had have experienced over
10:56
Speaker 5: the years.
10:57
Speaker 3: But Dave Island showing five eighty life Bright to you
10:58
Speaker 3: apart by Live Healthy West Virginia presented by WVU Medicine
11:02
Speaker 3: Healthy tackles pressing health issues, heart disease, diabetes, Alzheimer's and RSV.
11:06
Speaker 3: It's a podcast offering insights into medical breakthroughs and preventative
11:10
Speaker 3: care featuring WVU Medicines expert physicians aimed at fostering healthier
11:13
Speaker 3: lifestyles than to be on the state great resource. Check
11:16
Speaker 3: Avealatest episodes wv metronews dot com to the podcast menu
11:20
Speaker 3: and start your journey towards better health today. This is
11:22
Speaker 3: the fourth, fourth, ten or fourth year that you've done
11:25
Speaker 3: this have we made? What kind of progress have we
11:27
Speaker 3: made in this four years?
11:28
Speaker 5: So what we've really made is we've seen more and
11:30
Speaker 5: more local churches stepping up and saying we're going to
11:33
Speaker 5: get engaged and we're going to make a we're going
11:35
Speaker 5: to make a serious commitment to that. So we've got
11:37
Speaker 5: around fifty churches throughout the state, across sixteen counties that
11:40
Speaker 5: have stepped up in some way and said we're in.
11:43
Speaker 5: Some of them are absolutely all in, where they're supporting
11:45
Speaker 5: a dozen or more families. You've seen more and more
11:48
Speaker 5: foster families come out of those churches. Some of them
11:51
Speaker 5: have done very small things because that's what they can do.
11:53
Speaker 5: Maybe they've gone and they've supported local child protective service
11:56
Speaker 5: workers because those folks often feel lost themselves and invisible
12:01
Speaker 5: in the community. Or maybe they've done something just like
12:03
Speaker 5: a rest at night for foster family. So we've gone
12:06
Speaker 5: from none doing anything in an organized way, or not
12:10
Speaker 5: a lot doing anything in an organized way just a
12:12
Speaker 5: few years ago to now we've got over fifty doing that.
12:16
Speaker 5: We're seeing we're seeing people show up every year in
12:19
Speaker 5: new groups of people. We move this we move this
12:21
Speaker 5: summit around every year into a different part of the
12:24
Speaker 5: state into a different city. So we're continuing to spread
12:26
Speaker 5: the message.
12:27
Speaker 3: Where has it been in the year's pas.
12:28
Speaker 5: The first one was in Morgantown, then we did one
12:31
Speaker 5: in Tays Valley close to here, and then we went
12:33
Speaker 5: to Fairmont, and now we're back here Charles Year. Yeah,
12:36
Speaker 5: so we're we've kind of been hitting North Central and
12:38
Speaker 5: the Metro Valley area, but we'd love to see people
12:41
Speaker 5: show up. It's gonna be a great day of inspiration.
12:44
Speaker 5: If anyone's interested in registering, they can go to CMVWV
12:49
Speaker 5: dot org. That's a Chestnut Mountain Village wv SMVWV dot
12:54
Speaker 5: org and register for the summit and also learn about
12:57
Speaker 5: our speakers and where they're coming from and kind of
13:00
Speaker 5: the day's events.
13:01
Speaker 3: I don't want to as we close, I don't want
13:03
Speaker 3: to turn this political, but I do have to ask
13:05
Speaker 3: you though, and with the with the session that recently
13:09
Speaker 3: wrapped up, one of the well, I guess one of
13:13
Speaker 3: one of the criticisms of the last sessions was that
13:16
Speaker 3: there there was a lot of talk about child care issues,
13:20
Speaker 3: be at foster care, whatever, but they didn't get anywhere.
13:23
Speaker 3: Now there are going to be several sessions. The governors
13:25
Speaker 3: talked about that there will be several sessions two and again,
13:28
Speaker 3: I'm not I promise you, I'm not going to make
13:30
Speaker 3: this on you. But what would you say to a
13:34
Speaker 3: legislator right now, somebody in a position of power about
13:38
Speaker 3: foster care, because this is something obviously that you're very
13:41
Speaker 3: passionate about. What would your message to them be.
13:44
Speaker 5: My message would be, whatever we do, it can't be
13:48
Speaker 5: a single point message. No single point, no single policy
13:52
Speaker 5: change is going to fix this. No single new hire
13:56
Speaker 5: uh and in child protective services.
13:58
Speaker 3: Is going to fix this.
14:00
Speaker 5: This is a community issue. My suggestion would be that
14:04
Speaker 5: we go about and we do this in a very
14:06
Speaker 5: collaborative way. It's gonna take everyone pulling the rope. And
14:10
Speaker 5: that collaborative way would look like pulling in local churches.
14:14
Speaker 5: And I think the church is a big part of
14:16
Speaker 5: this because there are so many people that want to help.
14:19
Speaker 3: They have no idea, so.
14:20
Speaker 5: Collaborative, collaboratively, pulling in the churches, pulling in legislators.
14:26
Speaker 2: Pulling in the courts.
14:27
Speaker 3: It's gonna take.
14:27
Speaker 5: Everyone doing this. No single point solution in absolutely you got.
14:33
Speaker 3: It, give it, give us the details, the where's the winds?
14:37
Speaker 5: Absolutely so. It's gonna be Wednesday, May seventh. It's gonna
14:41
Speaker 5: kick off at about eight thirty that morning. It's at
14:43
Speaker 5: River Ridge Church in Charleston. We're gonna have three nationally
14:47
Speaker 5: known speakers there. Brian Maavis of America's Kids Belong, Jamie
14:51
Speaker 5: Finn from Foster the Family, and also Jason Johnson from
14:55
Speaker 5: Christian Alliance for Orphans. All just amazing knowledgeable folks that
15:00
Speaker 5: have a chance to spend some one on one time
15:01
Speaker 5: with To register, you can go to CMVWV dot org.
15:06
Speaker 3: All right, wish you the best of luck. Thank you
15:08
Speaker 3: God blessure for what you're doing out there. All right,
15:10
Speaker 3: all right, we're going to take a break. Nine to
15:12
Speaker 3: twenty two. We'll take a quick break. The Dayvland showing
15:15
Speaker 3: five any Live is brought to you a part by
15:16
Speaker 3: Bridge Valley offering custom tailored training to supply skilled graduates
15:20
Speaker 3: and apprenticeships for your company. Visit Bridge Valley Dot. Ed
15:23
Speaker 3: you back after this on the Voice to Charleston WCCHS.
15:26
Speaker 6: Are you a physical therapy assistant and looking for an
15:28
Speaker 6: opportunity in orthopedics, wellness and athletic care? If so, generations,
15:32
Speaker 6: physical therapy is offering flexible work holories and an upbeat atmosphere.
15:37
Speaker 6: With seven convenient locations, Generations may have a job designed
15:41
Speaker 6: for you. Visit Generations pte dot com.
15:43
Speaker 7: Poka Valley Bank has a new name. We are now
15:46
Speaker 7: simply Poga Valley and here is While we're changing, our
15:49
Speaker 7: place in the community goes beyond banking. While we still
15:52
Speaker 7: provide the finest in banking services, we also bring excellence
15:56
Speaker 7: in wealth management and financial planning, accounting and bookkeeping services.
16:00
Speaker 7: Whether you're planning for the future or managing today, we
16:04
Speaker 7: offer the expertise you need. With eight convenient locations, we're
16:07
Speaker 7: here to help you thrive discover the difference At PoCA Valley.
16:11
Speaker 3: Relationships Matter Member FDIC.
16:14
Speaker 8: Life is full of challenges finding out your teenage dotter
16:16
Speaker 8: got a full arm tattoo or your next door neighbor
16:19
Speaker 8: took up the drums. One challenge you shouldn't face being
16:22
Speaker 8: delinquent with your property taxes. The Kanauk County Sheriff's Department
16:26
Speaker 8: reminds you that the deadline is May first. After May first,
16:28
Speaker 8: you'll pay penalties and pay to have your name published
16:31
Speaker 8: in a big newspaper ad so everyone will know talk
16:34
Speaker 8: about a challenge. Call three zero four three five seven
16:37
Speaker 8: zero two ten before May first and pay your taxes
16:40
Speaker 8: three zero four three five seven zero two ten.
16:43
Speaker 1: All law firms are not the same Morgan and Morgan,
16:47
Speaker 1: America's largest injury law.
16:49
Speaker 6: Firm, Office two twenty two Capitol Street, Charleston cases will
16:52
Speaker 6: be handled by West Virginia licensed attorneys.
16:54
Speaker 2: The attorney in the sat is not licensed in West Virginia.
16:57
Speaker 6: For the People dot Com.
16:58
Speaker 1: The latest news talking sports on five eight w cochs
17:02
Speaker 1: is brought to you by Jarrett Construction.
17:04
Speaker 2: Visit Jarrett Dashconstruction dot com for more information.
17:07
Speaker 1: Time right on the budget, Come on Jerit's Construction.
17:21
Speaker 3: Nine twenty four, Bigley pigg League, Wiggly Hotline three zero
17:25
Speaker 3: four three four five fifty eight fifty eight, Toty The
17:27
Speaker 3: Taylor Text three zero four nine three five five zero
17:30
Speaker 3: zero eight, Todave Valance showing five Vidieline brownshepart by Snap
17:33
Speaker 3: Fitness that they have a wide selection of equipment including
17:36
Speaker 3: free weights, cardio machine, weights and more. Five convenient locations
17:39
Speaker 3: to Charleston, Hurricane, Winfield, Barbersville at Milton. For more, visits
17:43
Speaker 3: Snap Fitness dot Com. Delegate Tristan Levittz is here, Republican
17:47
Speaker 3: from the fifty third. Good morning, sir, how are you
17:49
Speaker 3: welcome to the show. Great, thank you for having me.
17:51
Speaker 2: I'm doing well.
17:52
Speaker 5: How are you.
17:52
Speaker 3: I'm doing well. I appreciated the exchange there that people
17:56
Speaker 3: don't see on camera with you and and Greg Clutter
17:58
Speaker 3: there because one of the big as I told him,
18:00
Speaker 3: And I didn't ask him to get political, you know,
18:02
Speaker 3: I said, but one of the big I don't know
18:06
Speaker 3: what's the word I'm looking for. One of things that
18:07
Speaker 3: has to gay people pause about the session is that nothing,
18:10
Speaker 3: in some people's eyes, you may disagree, nothing meaningful was
18:14
Speaker 3: done for childcare issues for foster care in West Virginia.
18:18
Speaker 3: And I liked his answer to when you agreed with him,
18:21
Speaker 3: this cannot be fixed by government. I mean, government's a
18:24
Speaker 3: part of it, but churches are a part of it. Individuals, businesses,
18:28
Speaker 3: everybody can be a part of it. That's absolutely right.
18:30
Speaker 9: And frankly, probably the biggest fundamental dynamic is we need
18:33
Speaker 9: more foster parents. Yeah, right, And that's not the government
18:35
Speaker 9: can't provide that.
18:36
Speaker 3: And the burnout level with foster care parents is so
18:39
Speaker 3: and and childcare workers too. I mean, you know what
18:41
Speaker 3: they I can't imagine what you know, what the folks
18:45
Speaker 3: that Child Protective Services and these people what they go through.
18:48
Speaker 2: But it's incredibly hard.
18:49
Speaker 9: I don't know if you know, but my wife is
18:50
Speaker 9: actually the victim advocate at the County Prosecutor's office.
18:53
Speaker 3: I didn't know that.
18:54
Speaker 9: And they had that White Feather trial recently, right, and
18:58
Speaker 9: again you see the the people in this community that
19:01
Speaker 9: are willing to step up are just there's so many
19:03
Speaker 9: phenomenal foster parents, but it's so hard, and then you
19:05
Speaker 9: get these really bad actors and it's it's a really
19:08
Speaker 9: hard job.
19:08
Speaker 3: CPS has well. I think those people, uh and talking
19:12
Speaker 3: to folks that were involved in that court case, I
19:14
Speaker 3: think those people thought they just I'm just you know,
19:17
Speaker 3: riffing a little bit here. They thought they could get
19:19
Speaker 3: by with it in West Virginia. They were wrong. They
19:21
Speaker 3: were wrong.
19:22
Speaker 2: Vortually.
19:23
Speaker 3: There was a lot of neighbors that just said, on,
19:25
Speaker 3: something ain't right here, we're stepping in.
19:27
Speaker 9: That's exactly right. So that was a success. It's horrible
19:29
Speaker 9: that the one the way they did. But but again,
19:31
Speaker 9: we need we need way more people uh to step
19:34
Speaker 9: up for foster kids.
19:36
Speaker 3: Give us the good, the bad, the ugly your breakdown
19:38
Speaker 3: of the session from your perspective. You can start with
19:41
Speaker 3: one and go to the other. I'll let you lead,
19:43
Speaker 3: all right, that sounds good.
19:44
Speaker 9: One of the things I was really excited about, and
19:46
Speaker 9: I know that it's been controversial, their mixed views on it,
19:48
Speaker 9: but I think that the microgrid bill to facilitate AI
19:51
Speaker 9: data centers could be a really big thing for West Virginia.
19:53
Speaker 9: And we again we don't know for certain how that
19:56
Speaker 9: will play out, but this is something that we have
19:59
Speaker 9: not benefited from so far. Virginia, Pennsylvania, other states have them,
20:04
Speaker 9: but nobody has them on the scale that this bill
20:06
Speaker 9: would help to facilitate. So it's over ninety megawatts. I'm
20:09
Speaker 9: on the Energy and Public Works Committee. I think this
20:12
Speaker 9: is a really exciting potential thing for West Virginia. So
20:15
Speaker 9: that to me is really high on my good list.
20:18
Speaker 9: What do you say that there were those and I
20:20
Speaker 9: think you would. I think you would probably understand their
20:26
Speaker 9: mixed feelings on this just because what questions answered. I
20:28
Speaker 9: know that we had different county commissions that came in
20:31
Speaker 9: from development authorities that came in just with questions, and
20:33
Speaker 9: you could completely understand that, absolutely completely understand what was
20:36
Speaker 9: your message to those folks. You know, some of the
20:40
Speaker 9: things got addressed. So some of the questions from county
20:42
Speaker 9: commissioners and others had to do with the tax revenue
20:44
Speaker 9: right where that went, and I think that did get
20:46
Speaker 9: addressed in the final breakdown where more of it went
20:48
Speaker 9: to counties. Some questions like local ordinances being overridden. I think,
20:54
Speaker 9: you know, I'm sympathetic to the concern. I hope it
20:56
Speaker 9: won't be an issue. I've heard people say, you know,
20:57
Speaker 9: they could PLoP a data center in the middle of
20:59
Speaker 9: your neighborhood, but this bill only relates to data centers
21:02
Speaker 9: again that are over ninety megawatts, which is a really
21:05
Speaker 9: really you know, it takes a real chunk of space
21:08
Speaker 9: to do that, so they're not going to be in
21:09
Speaker 9: the middle of residential areas or whatever else. So, you know,
21:12
Speaker 9: I hope that I you know, it's it's past now.
21:16
Speaker 9: I hope counties will just welcome these and work with
21:18
Speaker 9: the people that they need to. If they need to
21:20
Speaker 9: work with the company to to say, hey, we think
21:22
Speaker 9: that this should be in a different place or something else.
21:24
Speaker 3: I hope they'll work that out. But I think there's
21:26
Speaker 3: a lot of potential with it all right, So that
21:28
Speaker 3: was a that was a home run. That was an
21:29
Speaker 3: home run. Now let's talk about maybe a single or
21:33
Speaker 3: a double, you know, let's talk about let's talk about
21:36
Speaker 3: something that it was it could have possibly, but then
21:39
Speaker 3: we'll talk about failures.
21:40
Speaker 9: But go ahead, sure, well. And a couple of things
21:43
Speaker 9: I have not heard people talk a lot about. I know,
21:45
Speaker 9: Kayla yesterday mentioned the universal licensing. I think the one
21:48
Speaker 9: stop permitting thing has some real potential to be good
21:51
Speaker 9: home based businesses.
21:52
Speaker 3: I haven't heard anybody say anything negative about that about
21:54
Speaker 3: that one of those.
21:56
Speaker 9: But I don't hear enough people talking about it, right,
21:58
Speaker 9: I think, I think these are some really good things
21:59
Speaker 9: for business community potentially that I think will be really beneficial.
22:03
Speaker 9: So you know, again, I hope that they fulfill the
22:07
Speaker 9: potential there. Again, this home based businesses, there was a
22:11
Speaker 9: bill to make that easier to start those businesses at home.
22:13
Speaker 9: Something that I think could have a really good impact
22:17
Speaker 9: is the Prompt Payment Act. I was a co sponsor on.
22:19
Speaker 9: It got kind of watered down, but there are a
22:21
Speaker 9: lot of people that don't get paid, including foster homes
22:24
Speaker 9: very swiftly by the state. So the state owes them
22:27
Speaker 9: money they're they're owed the money. No one disputes that,
22:30
Speaker 9: but they are. They are waiting and waiting and waiting
22:32
Speaker 9: for paychecks. And so I think this even though in
22:34
Speaker 9: order to get it across the finish line, we had
22:37
Speaker 9: to cut out a provision that would have added penalties
22:39
Speaker 9: for the state agencies. But so I think that's a
22:42
Speaker 9: I think that's a solid devil. I think that could
22:43
Speaker 9: be a really good thing for ensuring that again contractors,
22:48
Speaker 9: folks working on our roads or all things like that,
22:49
Speaker 9: because it gets it makes it hard to get people
22:51
Speaker 9: willing to do that if the state doesn't pay them
22:53
Speaker 9: in any timely fashion.
22:55
Speaker 3: Talking again with the Delegate to Tristan Levett, Republican from
22:58
Speaker 3: the fifty third of a day allan show in five
22:59
Speaker 3: eighty line, brought to you in part by your hometown
23:01
Speaker 3: baseball team, the Charleston Dirty Birds, Mount Andeer Dirty Day
23:04
Speaker 3: happening with Mount that Deer, a little league and softball
23:07
Speaker 3: teams to Saturday over Gomart Ballpark Place. Starts at nine
23:09
Speaker 3: in the morning, will continue throughout the day. Admission is free,
23:12
Speaker 3: but donations for the Mountaineer the Little League will be accepted.
23:14
Speaker 3: For more info, is it Dirty Birds their Facebook pages
23:18
Speaker 3: of either the Dirty Birds or Mountaineered a little league
23:20
Speaker 3: and get more information on that. All right, some things
23:23
Speaker 3: under the dome that gives Tristan Levitt a little pausing. Yeah,
23:27
Speaker 3: we could have probably done this better, or we could
23:28
Speaker 3: have done this at all. What do you think I
23:30
Speaker 3: would have loved to see?
23:31
Speaker 9: I think there were a lot of bills that got
23:32
Speaker 9: left in the final analysis that didn't make it through
23:34
Speaker 9: both chambers. So I would love to see, you know,
23:36
Speaker 9: more coordination between the House and Senate. I know that
23:39
Speaker 9: there were some you know, hard feelings over certain bills,
23:42
Speaker 9: but you know, I think I think seeing more good
23:45
Speaker 9: legislation not held up just because of who sponsored it
23:48
Speaker 9: or other things like that, you know, really would benefit
23:50
Speaker 9: every everyone. Similarly, it's hard to see. You know, you've
23:54
Speaker 9: got you've got a Republican House, Republican Senate, Republican governor.
23:57
Speaker 9: You know, there's a lot, there's a lot of mixed
23:59
Speaker 9: views and fe on that, but you know, at the
24:01
Speaker 9: end of the day, we're sent there to help the
24:03
Speaker 9: people West Virginia.
24:04
Speaker 3: So I would I would.
24:06
Speaker 9: I hope next year will be in a better place
24:07
Speaker 9: to be able to coordinate more and uh, and not
24:11
Speaker 9: spend time on you know, drama or the things that
24:14
Speaker 9: don't matter to most people.
24:15
Speaker 3: There was a little drama, especially there towards the end
24:19
Speaker 3: of the closing night. I've talked about it on the
24:20
Speaker 3: show before I was I was watching and there was
24:22
Speaker 3: a lot of questions about the parliamentary issues and so
24:25
Speaker 3: on and so forth, going back between the Senate, between
24:27
Speaker 3: the House and whatever. You're taking any of.
24:29
Speaker 2: That, I don't, I don't.
24:31
Speaker 9: I don't know the I haven't read the letter, the
24:34
Speaker 9: multipage letter from from Center Garcia and Center Wolfe full I.
24:39
Speaker 9: So I don't know parliamentary at the end of the day,
24:41
Speaker 9: there are I don't know what the nub of the
24:43
Speaker 9: issue is. There are things that people you know, you can,
24:47
Speaker 9: for instance, consider a bunch of amendments in a block, right,
24:49
Speaker 9: that is a parliamentary, permissible thing to do if you
24:52
Speaker 9: do it properly. I don't know whether they what they
24:54
Speaker 9: did in the Senate. I haven't looked at that or so,
24:56
Speaker 9: I don't know one where you were concerned about the
24:58
Speaker 9: other side, Well, that's right, we were. We are trying
25:00
Speaker 9: to figure out. There was a lot of time on
25:01
Speaker 9: the House side. You know, if it ends up in
25:03
Speaker 9: the courts, then it does, right, So they'll sort through
25:06
Speaker 9: it one way or the other. But you know, I
25:09
Speaker 9: think at the end of the day, there's the details matter.
25:13
Speaker 6: Right.
25:13
Speaker 9: It's one of those things where just the without without
25:16
Speaker 9: knowing the specifics and watching it, it's hard for me
25:18
Speaker 9: to know one way or the other.
25:19
Speaker 3: We've got a text here, and this is something you're
25:21
Speaker 3: talking about, data centers, something that probably hasn't been explored
25:28
Speaker 3: a lot. And I'll put a little bit of blame
25:30
Speaker 3: on the host here. What is West Virginia getting from
25:33
Speaker 3: data centers? What's the upside in your opinion?
25:35
Speaker 2: Revenue?
25:36
Speaker 9: Massive, massive revenue potentially, So if data centers come, I
25:40
Speaker 9: mean a data center of the of the magnitude that's
25:42
Speaker 9: contemplated in the Microgrids bill, potentially bring in hundreds of
25:46
Speaker 9: millions of dollars a year for West Virginia. And obviously
25:49
Speaker 9: we want to bring jobs, we want to bring people,
25:51
Speaker 9: but also revenue is really helpful here, right, And so
25:54
Speaker 9: every to me, almost every problem when you look at
25:57
Speaker 9: teachers wanting to receive more EMT workers, so many of things.
26:01
Speaker 9: We can use more money in our foster care system.
26:03
Speaker 9: But the pie is only so big, and so usually
26:05
Speaker 9: you say we need to get more people to move here.
26:06
Speaker 9: A bigger tax base would do that. But if we
26:09
Speaker 9: can get revenue from these data centers tax revenue, then
26:12
Speaker 9: that's a huge upside for West Virginia.
26:14
Speaker 3: Let me finish reading that text, because they ask about that,
26:17
Speaker 3: and you can answer this. They said the first part
26:20
Speaker 3: of the question which I read, which is what is
26:21
Speaker 3: West Virginia getting from the data centers? But it go
26:23
Speaker 3: on and the texture goes on to say they'll provide
26:25
Speaker 3: temporary construction jobs and a dozen or so jobs to
26:28
Speaker 3: work the center, and with the Republican legislature, the data
26:31
Speaker 3: center taxes will eventually be reduced from where they start.
26:34
Speaker 3: I'm not saying a good rationale to put a gigantic
26:36
Speaker 3: building on a scarce flat land or farmland.
26:40
Speaker 9: Well, for one, I'm not so sure that we have
26:43
Speaker 9: a lot of land, and especially in the southern part
26:44
Speaker 9: of the state, I don't know that it's all that scarce.
26:46
Speaker 9: I think we're looking for ways that we could usefully
26:49
Speaker 9: use some of that. For two, Again, if the revenue
26:51
Speaker 9: comes in, I think that's right. I think that there
26:53
Speaker 9: will be a boom of kind of construction and doing
26:55
Speaker 9: that and more jobs. Those construction jobs won't be there forever,
26:58
Speaker 9: but and it'll scale down to the final number of jobs.
27:01
Speaker 9: Is that a data center employees. But again, if they
27:02
Speaker 9: are able to bring in large number amounts of revenue
27:05
Speaker 9: to the state on a regular, you know, each year,
27:07
Speaker 9: I don't see what the downside.
27:09
Speaker 2: Is of that.
27:10
Speaker 3: Governor has alluded to the fact that there will be
27:12
Speaker 3: special sessions. We don't know exactly how many or when.
27:17
Speaker 3: What are some of the things that you would like
27:19
Speaker 3: to see addressed in a special session.
27:22
Speaker 9: I think that the question of foster care is still
27:25
Speaker 9: one that again that this this legislature didn't see a
27:29
Speaker 9: lot put into that necessarily, and it was tough. There
27:32
Speaker 9: were some good bills on both sides House and Senate
27:35
Speaker 9: that didn't move. So I hope that if we, if
27:39
Speaker 9: we do come back, that's one area where I would
27:40
Speaker 9: love to see some focus there. I'm sure the I'm
27:43
Speaker 9: sure the governor will you know there are are.
27:49
Speaker 3: I don't know there.
27:49
Speaker 9: Again, there was a lot that was left on the
27:51
Speaker 9: cutting room floor. I'll just say that, and so you know,
27:53
Speaker 9: whether what what his priorities would be, I don't know,
27:57
Speaker 9: But anything that relates to bringing jobs and people and
28:00
Speaker 9: business and tax revenue to the state is where I
28:03
Speaker 9: think our focus should be.
28:04
Speaker 3: So that's what I hope you would do. What since
28:06
Speaker 3: the session has been over for you know, a week
28:08
Speaker 3: and a few days now, what's some of the things
28:10
Speaker 3: that you've heard from your constituents about this session or
28:13
Speaker 3: I have you had an opportunity to get out yet?
28:15
Speaker 3: I have for sure.
28:16
Speaker 9: I think I think people have had questions. Again, I think,
28:18
Speaker 9: to me, what were some of the big wins A
28:19
Speaker 9: lot of people aren't talking about. And so you know,
28:22
Speaker 9: people are saying, you know, a big chunk of people said, well, again,
28:25
Speaker 9: there's nothing that would help bring jobs in business and
28:27
Speaker 9: so again, micro grids, these things we've.
28:29
Speaker 3: Talked about here.
28:30
Speaker 9: I think people have asked about what would focus on
28:32
Speaker 9: our education system. I think you've heard me say before
28:34
Speaker 9: that I think the Third Great Success Act a couple
28:36
Speaker 9: of years ago was one of the best pieces of
28:38
Speaker 9: legislation the state has ever had. The Third Great Success
28:43
Speaker 9: Act refocuses our school system on the science of reading.
28:46
Speaker 9: It does dyslexia and dysgraphia screening for students and make
28:50
Speaker 9: sure that there are aids in the classroom and so
28:53
Speaker 9: just the for instance, the dyslexia screening alone. My daughter
28:56
Speaker 9: has dyslexia. That's a huge you know, you look at
28:58
Speaker 9: these behavioral issues. A big portion of that, no doubt,
29:01
Speaker 9: comes from students who are struggling to keep up with
29:04
Speaker 9: what's going on in the class.
29:05
Speaker 3: Sometimes they're just frustrated too.
29:07
Speaker 6: Yeah.
29:07
Speaker 3: I mean the teachers have told me that, Tristan, they
29:09
Speaker 3: look around and they see that their other classmates maybe
29:12
Speaker 3: are excelling, and you know how kids can be, you know,
29:15
Speaker 3: and a lot of that just comes from frustration.
29:17
Speaker 6: That's right.
29:18
Speaker 9: So we're still waiting to see the impact of that.
29:20
Speaker 9: But I think the Behavioral Bill and Senator Grady spoke
29:23
Speaker 9: about that in the last I don't know, a few
29:25
Speaker 9: days or a week or something on here, cell phones
29:28
Speaker 9: being banned in the school. That also, those are some
29:30
Speaker 9: good things that I think come from that. So again,
29:32
Speaker 9: I think a lot of the stuff that could have
29:34
Speaker 9: an impact just hasn't been talked about a lot. So
29:36
Speaker 9: when I talked to my constituents, whatever their issue is,
29:39
Speaker 9: I said, well, we did this and this and this,
29:40
Speaker 9: and they say, oh, I had no idea about that.
29:42
Speaker 9: And so I think that's unfortunate that they it's not
29:44
Speaker 9: percolating out well.
29:45
Speaker 3: And I think sometimes what happens is is people only
29:48
Speaker 3: get excited about the sexy stuff, the ones that make
29:51
Speaker 3: all of the noise. And and I've had Republicans, Deliott
29:56
Speaker 3: and Democrats on the show that has said, you know,
29:59
Speaker 3: a lot the majority of what we do, of what
30:01
Speaker 3: we do is bipartisan, as bipartisan as you can be
30:04
Speaker 3: when you have a super duper majority. Sure, but it
30:07
Speaker 3: doesn't get a lot of the attention because it's not
30:10
Speaker 3: the quote unquote sexy stuff. You know, it's it's just
30:12
Speaker 3: that's the way this is talk about. This was the
30:15
Speaker 3: first session under under Governor Morrissey, and there was a
30:20
Speaker 3: lot of change. There were a lot of new members
30:22
Speaker 3: in both chambers. You had new leadership on the Senate side.
30:26
Speaker 3: Talk about some of the changes this year. And I
30:28
Speaker 3: know you haven't been around there forever, but I mean
30:30
Speaker 3: other people that you've talked to about about the different styles.
30:34
Speaker 9: Yeah, so you definitely have very different personality styles in
30:37
Speaker 9: the Governor's office also in the Senate, and new new
30:42
Speaker 9: chairs of all the Senate committees. On the House, we
30:44
Speaker 9: had a whole new committee process and that really was
30:46
Speaker 9: a learning curve for everybody.
30:47
Speaker 3: Did you like that new committee process?
30:49
Speaker 9: I did like it a lot. It it does slow
30:51
Speaker 9: things down, there's no question of that. But from you know,
30:54
Speaker 9: my background is oversight, and I think I think it
30:56
Speaker 9: really facilitated digging into some bills, and not just into bills,
30:59
Speaker 9: but into shoes. And I think that's one of the
31:01
Speaker 9: challenges in the past for anyone to be speaking in
31:03
Speaker 9: a committee, it had to be about a specific bill.
31:05
Speaker 9: We were able to have hearings to just say this
31:07
Speaker 9: is the problem. We don't know what the right solution is,
31:09
Speaker 9: but let's hear from witnesses and let's get a better
31:11
Speaker 9: sense for what the legislation should be to address this.
31:14
Speaker 9: So I thought that was very effective and was useful
31:16
Speaker 9: in kind of targeting some problems, you know, for instance,
31:20
Speaker 9: government spent, government spending, you know, some other areas like
31:23
Speaker 9: that where we were able to get down in the
31:24
Speaker 9: weeds in a way you wouldn't with a typic with
31:26
Speaker 9: the old committee process.
31:27
Speaker 3: So I thought that was good.
31:28
Speaker 9: But again, like most people, I just think the upshot
31:31
Speaker 9: of this is that it was a learning curve on
31:32
Speaker 9: a lot of fronts for a lot of the people
31:34
Speaker 9: who were there, even people who had been you know
31:36
Speaker 9: who were longtime members of the legislative rules for them too,
31:39
Speaker 9: new rules, new processes again, a lot of new personalities.
31:42
Speaker 9: So I'm hopeful that next year we'll be able to
31:45
Speaker 9: take the good that happened and the lessons that we've
31:47
Speaker 9: learned and be able to use that to hone in
31:50
Speaker 9: on where we think the biggest problems are that still
31:53
Speaker 9: need to be addressed.
31:54
Speaker 3: So the session is behind you. Of course, there'll be
31:56
Speaker 3: special sessions where pretty much that's pretty much a done deal,
32:00
Speaker 3: we just don't know when and where and that sort
32:02
Speaker 3: of thing. Well, the win, I guess would be the
32:04
Speaker 3: that would be the where is easier for me? It's
32:06
Speaker 3: in my backyard being here and cannot can't. Yes, I
32:08
Speaker 3: got you. But so let's get a little personal for
32:11
Speaker 3: a moment. What's what's up for the family. I know
32:13
Speaker 3: you're a big family guy, because I say a follow
32:14
Speaker 3: you on social media you always get pictures of the
32:16
Speaker 3: of the wife and the and the kids and whatnot.
32:18
Speaker 3: What's what's on the agenda for the Levett family.
32:21
Speaker 9: Well, this is my son's last summer before he goes
32:23
Speaker 9: to college, so we are trying to spend as much
32:25
Speaker 9: time together this summer as we.
32:26
Speaker 3: Get as much work out of him as you can. Yeah,
32:28
Speaker 3: that's right.
32:29
Speaker 9: Seventeen and a half years hasn't quite been enough. If
32:31
Speaker 9: I can get more out of the grass. The grass
32:33
Speaker 9: just still needs mode, right, the grass still needs mode.
32:35
Speaker 10: Yeah.
32:36
Speaker 9: So so yeah, a lot a lot of good family time,
32:39
Speaker 9: which you know, spend spending time. My parents are actually
32:41
Speaker 9: in town right now from out of town and uh so, yeah,
32:44
Speaker 9: that time is precious, So any anything we can My
32:47
Speaker 9: wife and I are taking a trip ourselves. Also, it's important,
32:49
Speaker 9: even with that many kids, frankly, to spend time with
32:51
Speaker 9: just the two of us.
32:52
Speaker 3: So, how many kids you got wet five five? I
32:54
Speaker 3: thought you. I thought you had kind of a high
32:55
Speaker 3: number of kids there.
32:56
Speaker 6: Yeah.
32:57
Speaker 9: Yeah, so those is a senior all the way down
32:58
Speaker 9: to a first grader. And they are the biggest blessing
33:01
Speaker 9: in my life. They are such a joy and they're
33:03
Speaker 9: really the reason that I, you know, that I wanted
33:04
Speaker 9: to be in the legislature that in the day to
33:07
Speaker 9: day really impacts them in their schools, in our community.
33:11
Speaker 9: I want them to be able to, you know, to
33:13
Speaker 9: have jobs that they could find here, to be able
33:16
Speaker 9: to stay and raise their own families in West Virginia.
33:17
Speaker 9: But so, yeah, we'll be spending a lot of time
33:19
Speaker 9: together this summer, which will be great and it makes
33:24
Speaker 9: up hopefully for the for the time that I was
33:26
Speaker 9: essentially a wall for the last couple of weeks.
33:28
Speaker 3: People and I talk about this all the time. We'll
33:30
Speaker 3: let you go after this. But I think people don't
33:31
Speaker 3: realize that when you serve in the legislature, or in
33:36
Speaker 3: any governmental office for that matter, you're not the only
33:38
Speaker 3: one that's serving. The wife's serving, the kids are serving
33:41
Speaker 3: because dad or mom is away from home. And people,
33:45
Speaker 3: I think also think that when you serve in the
33:47
Speaker 3: legislature the way you gabble in at eleven, you go
33:50
Speaker 3: to a couple of committee meetings and go home. They're
33:52
Speaker 3: committee meetings held at six, six thirty in the morning. Well,
33:55
Speaker 3: especially as you get toward the end of the session
33:58
Speaker 3: eleven twelve, one o'clock in the morning, out of there.
34:00
Speaker 3: Then you're back again at six the next morning. You're
34:02
Speaker 3: a Kanawh County guys, So it's not as difficult maybe
34:04
Speaker 3: for you because you are going home every night. You're
34:06
Speaker 3: not staying in a hotel or staying or staying wherever
34:09
Speaker 3: it's a it's a big ask of everybody involved.
34:12
Speaker 9: It is, and as you point out, as much as
34:15
Speaker 9: my family felt the impact of this, uh, I really
34:18
Speaker 9: appreciate those who coming from the panhandles. I mean, it's
34:20
Speaker 9: a huge sacrifice to uproot your life for two months
34:22
Speaker 9: to go live in a hotel room. But I tried
34:25
Speaker 9: to fill all of my time right to go to
34:27
Speaker 9: j just share committee meetings in the morning, to government
34:29
Speaker 9: organization in the afternoon, to energy in the evenings. And
34:32
Speaker 9: you know, there's a lot that goes on during the
34:35
Speaker 9: during the session, a lot of time people put in.
34:37
Speaker 3: So I think families understand that and appreciate that.
34:41
Speaker 2: I know mine.
34:41
Speaker 9: Mine was very supportive. But for everyone it's a it's
34:44
Speaker 9: relief to have their their other family member back.
34:48
Speaker 3: All right now't get to Tristan Levett, Republican for the
34:50
Speaker 3: fifty third. I appreciate you being here, sir, thanks a lot.
34:52
Speaker 9: Thanks for having me.
34:53
Speaker 3: Dave, but Ave Allen showing five adye line brought to
34:55
Speaker 3: you in part by Morgan and Morgan. If you're injured,
34:56
Speaker 3: hired Morgan to Morgan, America's the largest injury law firm.
34:59
Speaker 3: Back after this, Yes, I'm the Voice to Charleston WCCHS.
35:02
Speaker 2: Brought to you by the Eric Jtar Family Businesses. Eric
35:06
Speaker 2: Jtar Family Businesses bring first class businesses.
35:09
Speaker 4: To your community, whether you're starting your career or looking
35:13
Speaker 4: to advance. Bridge Valley Stackable Credentials let you earn certifications
35:16
Speaker 4: and credentials while working toward a degree. Flexible, affordable, and
35:20
Speaker 4: one hundred percent online. Learn work and achieve your goals
35:24
Speaker 4: on your own time. Get certifications like QuickBooks, Lean, Sike,
35:28
Speaker 4: Sigma and more, and stack those credits toward a degree,
35:31
Speaker 4: and you may be eligible to go to WISH and
35:33
Speaker 4: free with West Virginia Invests Bridge Valley Stackable Credentials for
35:37
Speaker 4: career growth Enroll today.
35:40
Speaker 3: I was running until I wasn't.
35:42
Speaker 11: My hospital stay would have cost nearly forty eight thousand
35:45
Speaker 11: dollars even with insurance, but with VA, I'll pay zero
35:50
Speaker 11: and VA's the best most affordable healthcare in America for
35:53
Speaker 11: veterans like me. Knowing that my family is waiting at
35:56
Speaker 11: home and a surprise medical bill isn't that's good for
35:59
Speaker 11: my heart. My service was then, my benefits are now.
36:03
Speaker 3: Get what you earned.
36:05
Speaker 11: Visit choose dot VA dot gov.
36:07
Speaker 2: Not all veterans are eligible for the hyper amount of
36:09
Speaker 2: benefits mentioned here.
36:10
Speaker 12: I'm John Carruthers, the owner of Best Virginia Heating and Cooling.
36:13
Speaker 12: Here at Best Virginia, we believe in providing a five
36:16
Speaker 12: star experience for your family. That's why we're always looking
36:19
Speaker 12: for hungry, humble, smart people to join our team. Our
36:23
Speaker 12: technicians are drug tested and background checked. If you want
36:26
Speaker 12: to work with a locally owned and operated company that
36:29
Speaker 12: truly values you and our customers, we want to hear
36:32
Speaker 12: from you. To apply, simply visit Best Virginia HVAC dot
36:36
Speaker 12: com or indeed to view our open positions.
36:39
Speaker 10: Adventure is boundless. Adventure is a journey that never ceases.
36:44
Speaker 10: When you hit the open road or the open water,
36:46
Speaker 10: time stops and adventure begins from anchors away to kickstands up.
36:50
Speaker 10: A continuous tradition of adventure is the spirit that drives
36:54
Speaker 10: Trojan Landing Marine and Power Sports featuring Lund Fishing Boats.
36:58
Speaker 10: As you the morning softness and sheer glass catch endless adventure.
37:03
Speaker 10: Discover more at Trojan Landing dot com or visit Trojan
37:06
Speaker 10: Landing Marine and Power Sports in Charleston today.
37:28
Speaker 3: Well direct the show sixteen minutes away from ten Bigley
37:32
Speaker 3: Pigley Wiggly Hotline three zero four three four five fifty
37:35
Speaker 3: eight fifty eight Tony the Taylor Texts three zero four
37:38
Speaker 3: nine three five five zero zero eight. If you're worried
37:40
Speaker 3: about paying for college, Metro News proud to present the
37:42
Speaker 3: eighteenth annual West Virginia Scholar Program. One high school junior
37:45
Speaker 3: in the state's gonna get a full scholarship to West
37:48
Speaker 3: Virginia Wesleyan College, including room, board, tuition, and fees. For details,
37:52
Speaker 3: go to wv metronews dot com click the apply now button.
37:54
Speaker 3: Deadline is April twenty seventh at twenty twenty five. West
37:58
Speaker 3: Virginia Scholar Program presented by the West Virginia Hospital Association
38:02
Speaker 3: and Friends of cole Go to wv metronews dot com
38:05
Speaker 3: now to apply. The deadline is April the twenty seventh.
38:09
Speaker 3: Let me knock out some text here. Text says, and
38:13
Speaker 3: you know I'm open line on text, you can't talk
38:15
Speaker 3: about anything you want, even things we're not talking about.
38:17
Speaker 3: An MS thirteen gang member being treated better than many
38:20
Speaker 3: January sixth defendants nod there to mister Garcia. Well seems
38:26
Speaker 3: to be a question on whether he's an MS thirteen
38:28
Speaker 3: gang member or not. I don't know. I don't know.
38:32
Speaker 3: Excuse me, I'm sorry, I am I'm battling pollen issues.
38:39
Speaker 3: Like a lot of people are mine that don't come
38:41
Speaker 3: in the form of puffy eyes. Mine come in the
38:44
Speaker 3: form of me having a scratchy throat. So I do
38:47
Speaker 3: not have any serious illness. I just caugh a lot.
38:53
Speaker 3: Text says going back to yesterday's show, in regarding to
38:56
Speaker 3: highway safety, there's practically no enforcement of aggressive drive and speeding.
39:00
Speaker 3: I drove to Ashland on Saturday. Didn't see a single
39:02
Speaker 3: police vehicle going down or coming back. I drive the
39:05
Speaker 3: speed limit, that didn't pass a single vehicle. However, I
39:08
Speaker 3: was constantly being passed by vehicles traveling in high rates
39:11
Speaker 3: of speed. This is a reference to yesterday's show. When
39:19
Speaker 3: I was a kids is a texture. We caught fish
39:22
Speaker 3: and put them in my neighbor's swimming pool. They called
39:24
Speaker 3: the police. That guy does and they called him the mayor.
39:27
Speaker 3: This was the Metro News midday show yesterday when we
39:30
Speaker 3: were talking to the mayor of Kaiser and he talked
39:33
Speaker 3: about we do a segment every Monday on the show
39:36
Speaker 3: called Mayor Monday where we go around the state and
39:37
Speaker 3: talk to a different mayor, and the mayor of Kaiser
39:40
Speaker 3: talked about that they closed the community pool for one
39:43
Speaker 3: day and they stocked it with fish. So that's a
39:46
Speaker 3: mention a nod to that, if you will. Coming up,
39:50
Speaker 3: speaking of which later today on Metro News Midday, thirteen
39:52
Speaker 3: News and Tonight Live anchor Amanda Baron and myself, Welcome
39:55
Speaker 3: to Attorney General J. M. Mccusky. There is a gentleman
39:58
Speaker 3: from Charleston that did pretty well for himself in yesterday's
40:01
Speaker 3: Boston Marathon. We're going to introduce you to him. Plus
40:04
Speaker 3: a horrible story out of a gasaway, West Virginia. Two
40:08
Speaker 3: parents are accused of giving their infant rubbing alcohol to
40:12
Speaker 3: ease the child's fussiness. Well, the baby died and the
40:17
Speaker 3: parents from now being held without bond. We'll get into
40:19
Speaker 3: that story and more coming up on Metro News Midday
40:22
Speaker 3: presented by Selango Law On this and other Metro News
40:24
Speaker 3: stations around the state with thirteen News and Tonight Live
40:27
Speaker 3: anchor Amanda Barron and myself. Do you want to mention
40:30
Speaker 3: a traffic situation? And we told you about this on
40:33
Speaker 3: the Morning News and all the other stations into building
40:35
Speaker 3: we got started getting reports about an hour and a
40:37
Speaker 3: half ago that there was a major traffic tie up
40:40
Speaker 3: on Route sixty near Jefferson here in Kanawha County. Apparently
40:44
Speaker 3: they're doing some utility work there, and I don't know
40:46
Speaker 3: whether that's still going on right now, but we started
40:49
Speaker 3: getting