Our Town with host Andy Ockershausen - Homegrown History

Matheos Mesfin, Founder and Executive Director of the Institute for East African Councils, on IEA Councils' mantra for their work~ "I always say that the mantra for our work is that there's no growth in comfort, and so the more concentration you have with the same kind of people, the more your comfort zone will cement. So we interject and we take them out of that comfort zone and say, "Go to school in rural Massachusetts." Matheos Mesfin - Founder and Executive Director of IEA Councils with host Andy Ockershausen in-studio interview Andy Ockershausen: This is Andy Ockershausen, and this is Our Town with a very special conversation with a young man that I happened to... I mean literally this was an accident. I was at an affair in the city and Our Town about Washingtonian of the Year and Donald Graham, who has been a friend for 50 years, says to me, "There's a young man here that's being recognized today I want you to meet. He is going to make a huge impact on parts of Our Town." When Donald asks, we all react. I don't care what we do because he's such a big part of Our Town and a great guy and a wonderful man. I said, Donald, okay, what do you got?" He said, "This young man is from East Africa. He's a resident of the United States now, and he's got a program that we're rewarding here today at the Washingtonian." Matheos Mesfin is a young man who's well dressed. He looks like a million dollars. He's getting an award that day. I said, "Donald, when you ask, I can't refuse," and he introduced us. I was so overwhelmed by your presence because you make a great impact, a great presentation as a wonderful guy. Without even knowing you, I thought we had some good vibes, and with Donald involved I couldn't avoid it. So Matheos, welcome to Our Town. You're making an impact, and we love it. Matheos Mesfin: It's such a pleasure to be here. Thank you for taking your time inviting me, and I hope that we'll make this presentation worth it. Thank you so much. From Ethiopia to Our Town to Grinnell College in Iowa and back to Our Town Andy Ockershausen: You're from Ethiopia. Matheos Mesfin: Yes. Andy Ockershausen: You were born in Ethiopia. How long have you been in Our Town? Matheos Mesfin: I immigrated here in 2007, end of 2007. Andy Ockershausen: That's no time at all. It's 12 years. Matheos Mesfin: That's no time at all, absolutely, and so 12 years. Spent three years at a DC public school before I settled in Iowa for undergrad. Andy Ockershausen: The Grinnell College. Matheos Mesfin: The Grinnell College. Andy Ockershausen: That's a very famous school. Matheos Mesfin: Famous for its hipsters and its very liberal views. I settled there four years, came back, and I got my first job in DC in higher ed, and the rest is history. So I've been here ever since. Andy Ockershausen: You're the director at IEA Councils. Matheos Mesfin: Yes, yes. I- Andy Ockershausen: Did you create the position? On Founding the Institute for East African Councils on Higher Education Matheos Mesfin: I did. I did. I established the Institute for East African Councils on Higher Education. It is a mouthful, so the abbreviation's what we commonly refer to as IEA Councils. It really stemmed from the idea that this area as hub for a lot of East Africans. It has hundreds of thousands of Ethiopians, a very robust Eritrean, Somali, Sudanese students and just diaspora all together. So we have seen that these students have created these cultural enclaves and they're not really reaching their full potential because they're limited to what their communities say or how their communities define college and school all together. With that in mind, I saw my transition to Grinnell as a very unique opportunity, and with that came the obligation to make sure that these wonderful students also reach their potentials by matriculating to top notch schools. Andy Ockershausen: That is a wonderful, wonderful... I hope it's going to work through fairly well,

Jimmy Lynn on what went into his decision to stay in Our Town after grad school ~ "When I was coming out of AU after grad school, a couple mentors pulled me aside and said, you think you might need to move to New York or LA? I wasn't sure. And they said, you might be a small fish in a big pond. Why not stay here in DC where you can be a big fish in a medium sized pond." Jimmy Lynn, Entrepreneur, Servant Leader and Georgetown Professor and host Andy Ockershausen in studio interview Andy Ockershausen: This is Our Town. This is Andy Ockershausen. And this is such, I say this in all sincerity, a great, great opportunity and a pleasure to talk to a friend for many, many years. At one time, a big part of WMAL radio. Things have changed, Jimmy. The big days that you and I grew up are gone. But to have you in this studio to me is special and Jimmy Lynn, welcome to Our Town. Jimmy Lynn: Thank you, Andy. It's so great to be back to see you. To see Janice. To be back at the studios from back in the 80s when WMAL and Q107 were the kings of media. Andy Ockershausen: Jimmy, at one time we were the kings of media and we're still ... And Janice is the queen of media now. Jimmy Lynn: We know that. Andy Ockershausen: But Jimmy, if you recall, and I know you do, you got started in the business here. You were fortunate at the time as I was, because I started as you did. I started at the bottom and worked my way down. And you have done so much with your life and I want to talk about it but your DC career, to me, is special. You're a local guy that grew up here and made something out of being a local. Doing Business in Our Town – Big Fish, Medium Pond Jimmy Lynn: Yeah. No, that was very important to me. When I was coming out of AU after grad school, a couple mentors pulled me aside and said, you think you might need to move to New York or LA? I wasn't sure. And they said, you might be a small fish in a big pond. Why not stay here in DC where you can be a big fish in a medium sized pond. And you and Charlie Brotman told me the importance of networking and relationship building, shaking hands, and once you look someone in the eye to do business. So they said stay in DC. You're going to make friends. You're going to business together. You're going to celebrate together. You're going to go to funerals together. You have a chance to become the old boy network which you and Charlie were. Andy Ockershausen: Well, Jimmy, you're so right. And I had an opportunity yesterday to talk to a bunch of young people in something called Leadership Greater Washington. I happened to be one of the founders of the organization in 1986 and '87 was our first class. Nothing has changed, Jimmy. That's over 30 some years ago and it's still networking, getting around, connect the dots. There's no secret to be a success. Show up. Return your phone calls. Andy O, Jr. Jimmy Lynn: I don't think I've told you this but a couple of people have told me, Jimmy, you have one of the top five or top 10 rolodexes in the DC business community. And people used to call me Andy O, Jr. I always took that as a big compliment because you were the most connected guy in town. Andy Ockershausen: Well, because, I still use the old Rolodex. I can't use this thing that you have, Jimmy. And Janice does it. Ken does it. But I'm a dead duck. I can't do it. But my Rolodex is important to my life because I pop up names on there that I haven't talked to in years and suddenly there they are in my Rolodex. And people use me for references and I appreciate it so much. But Jimmy you learned the lesson. But learning it is one thing, executing it in which you did, your career, I never understood what a double alumnus is. American University Communications and Marketing Jimmy Lynn: I went to American University. I have my Communication degree as undergrad and then MBA in Marketing. Andy Ockershausen: I went to American University myself when I was an intern at WMAL.

Phil Hochberg on revenue generation in Major League Baseball today ~ "Well, interestingly, Major League Baseball is now suffering attendance losses over the past few years, but Major League Baseball is making more money than it ever had because of the media rights and everything . . . everything has just changed so much. It is no longer just radio. It is no longer radio and television. It is not radio, television and cable. It is the Internet. It is the streaming services. It is just everything." Phil Hochberg - Former Voice of the Redskins and Lawyer with host Andy Ockershausen in-studio interview Andy Ockershausen: This is Our Town. This is Andy Ockershausen. In a conversation with not only a friend, but I would say a world known friend from doing his work as the public address announcer for so many of Washington sports teams that they could hear you all over the world because of the coverage. Welcome to Our Town, Phil Hochberg. Phil Hochberg: Thank you Andy. Thank you very much. Andy Ockershausen: And a local guy that made good. Phil Hochberg: Well, I don't know if I made good, the old Frank Sullivan line, the Frank Sullivan picture with the Boston Red Sox. He said, "I'm in the twilight of a mediocre career." So I don't know if made good is the right word, but, thanks a lot. Andy Ockershausen: Well, I had a friend said that but a difference is, I'm in the top three of the mediocres, you know, so I can live with that. But Phil, you went to high school here at Wilson? Wilson High School | American University | Syracuse | George Washington Law School | Federal Communications Commission Career Start Phil Hochberg: I did. I did. Andy Ockershausen: And I had thought you had gone and switched to the University of Maryland, but you didn't. Phil Hochberg: No. I went to Wilson and then one semester at American U, and then I transferred to Syracuse. Graduated from Syracuse, came back here, went to GW law school and began practicing law in 1965 with the FCC. Andy Ockershausen: TC or CC. Phil Hochberg: FCC. Andy Ockershausen: The Federal Trade? Phil Hochberg: The Federal Communications Commission. Andy Ockershausen: Oh, federal, I know it quite well. Phil Hochberg: Your friend Dick Wiley. Andy Ockershausen: Oh yeah. We had a ton of friends on the FCC that was involved. Dean Burch. Phil Hochberg: I guess you did. Harry was a communications lawyer himself. Andy Ockershausen: Absolutely. But Phil, I had really never knew about you in those days because my very relationship with you has always been through the sports world, not through the legal world, but you've had quite a career in the legal world as both a rep and an adviser, correct, to leagues and sports teams? Practicing Law 54 Years | Member of Firm to Sole Practioner | NFL, NBA, NHL, Nascar Phil Hochberg: I have represented, and still do represent the National Football League, the National Basketball Association, the National Hockey League, NASCAR in a very limited area dealing with communications and cable, satellite, copyright, very limited. People ask me when I'm going to retire, been practicing now for 54 years, and I say that right now I'm looking at 2021 so that I can be able to say I've represented the National Hockey League for 50 years. Andy Ockershausen: Wow. Phil Hochberg: Which is a pretty good relationship with the client. Andy Ockershausen: Well, wait a minute. It's a good relationship anytime. That is great Phil. You obviously have delivered a service that they appreciate. It's been 50 years. Phil Hochberg: Yeah. Yeah. Andy Ockershausen: But you are representing them as a agent or representing them as a lawyer? Phil Hochberg: As a lawyer representing the league. Andy Ockershausen: The league, right. Phil Hochberg: In terms of regulatory and administrative issues and legislative issues affecting the National Hockey League and some of the other leagues too. Andy Ockershausen: But you operate as a member of the firm. Correct?

Lisa Baden on internal conflict of the overwhelming desire to be first to report, and the discipline to verify before: So I had to confirm it and I was like chomping at the bit. We're calling M Dot. We're calling Transportation. We're calling the police. Well finally we got confirmation. Yes. A tar truck just turned over and that was hours of cleanup. I mean hours but so although I would love to be first, I desire accuracy more. Lisa Baden, Traffic Reporter and Radio Personality, with host Andy Ockershausen in-studio interview Andy Ockershausen: This is Our Town. It's Andy Ockershausen and what an absolute treasure and pleasure it is for Janice and I to welcome a very, very famous person in our life and a life of broadcasting. Miss Lisa Baden. Lisa Baden: Aw. Thank you. Andy Ockershausen: Lisa, you know to see you in the flesh after all these years of watching you on camera, because I grew up in the business as you know and to see what you had you matured and all the good things you had done. I had the opportunity to hear I traffic reporter in Chicago and a policemen riding around in a helicopter. And I thought that would be a great idea. And it came back and with our program director we started, we got a policeman out of the DC police department, a sergeant, in the traffic division and put him in a helicopter. We paid for the helicopter. The city provided the cop and we did airborne traffic in like 1962 or 63 can you believe that? Lisa Baden: Really? Andy Ockershausen: That is many years ago. It's 55 years ago. We were doing it and it started the whole traffic war because after we did it, Captain Dan came along. Lisa Baden: That's right. Andy Ockershausen: You remember Captain... On Captain Dan Lisa Baden: Captain Dan. Sure. He landed his helicopter at my elementary school. And I'll never forget it. Andy Ockershausen: Was he great? Janice Iacona Ockershausen: That was the beginning of your career. You said that's what I want to be when I grow up. Andy Ockershausen: Well, he originally was in a helicopter and then we had him in a fixed wing, he had his own airplane. But we always believe Lisa, when we could afford it traffic and how important it is. And you've epitomized the importance. You did yours, your big stick here at WMAL WTOP. I mean, the call letters are magic. So Lisa, we're so happy to have you live and in color. Lisa Baden: Thank you. It's an honor to be here. Really is. Andy Ockershausen: Well, you grew up in the business and you've been at it a long time and the changes you have incurred are unbelievable to me. And I'm a native born raised or maybe you're not raised, but it's certainly a native. The city is exploded now. I hate to go out and traffic cause there's traffic everywhere. On Evolution of Traffic Reporting in Our Town Lisa Baden: Yes, it is everywhere. It's a matter of fact. The thing I hate the most about my job is what pays my mortgage. And that's the traffic. It's just crazy. Andy Ockershausen: And there's no drive time. We had a drive time in radio, it was between seven and nine when it was really...and no, no, now it's between five and 10 now. Lisa Baden: Right. Andy Ockershausen: Or more. And you've seen it. Lisa Baden: That's true. As a matter of fact, I was the first overnight traffic reporter in Washington, DC and that was for WMAL. Because they had the forethought. Thinking wait a minute we're missing the boat here. Because not everybody works nine to five. And there's a lot of people who work overnight shifts, in the government and everything. And it was amazing. So they started with overnight and I remember doing that for WMAL years and years... Andy Ockershausen: Was Bill Mayhugh still here? Was that what you were doing? Lisa Baden: Yes. Absolutely. Andy Ockershausen: Because when Bill first started, I found out through the grapevine, his popularity was with the military because there's so many people work all night in a greater Washington area.

Marianne Haney Brennan on the importance of manners today ~ "We need to get back to being kind to each other. . .we're in a sad state of affairs right now and it breaks my heart. And that's why I teach etiquette from A to Z. I don't care. You know what? Time goes on but manners don't change. Manners are manners. Whether they were the 1800s or they're the 2019." Marianne Haney Brennan, Etiquette Coach, and host Andy Ockershausen in studio interview Andy Ockershausen: This is Andy Ockershausen. This is Our Town speaking and I wanted to explain to her, this is not an interview. We are having a conversation. Marianne Brennan, welcome to Our Town. Marianne Haney Brennan: Andy I am so just excited to be here and honored. I can't tell you anything else other than that. Andy Ockershausen: Well I'm afraid to say Haney because nobody will know what that mean. Marianne Haney Brennan: Oh no, I love it call me Haney. Andy Ockershausen: But you know, Marianne Haney. Marianne is local, a local girl. As a matter of fact, she's fifth generation Washingtonian and her daughter is now six generation. I'm only third and I feel like a newcomer. Haney, it's amazing to see you and you look great. Marianne Haney Brennan is Fifth Generation Washingtonian Marianne Haney Brennan: Oh my gosh. Andy Ockershausen: And I've have known you for so long and follow your many different careers. But this one now is made for you, etiquette. Marianne Haney Brennan: Etiquette. It is. Andy Ockershausen: And you have a class in Georgetown. Where do you teach? Etiquette Coach | Custom Classes for Schools and Corporations Marianne Haney Brennan: No, actually I go all over. I custom make my classes. I'll do anything that parents want me to do. I've actually in the last six months been called in to places like Merrill Lynch and Smith Barney to talk to the young guys. Andy Ockershausen: To the guys. Marianne Haney Brennan: About proper dressing, shined shoes, all that good stuff that has seemed to be lost in the shuffle. Andy Ockershausen: I don't think so Marianne. Because guys need help too. Marianne Haney Brennan: Oh totally. Andy Ockershausen: As you well know, this etiquette is not just important to the young ladies, but I found it's true that most men are very rude and they need etiquette. And these companies you mentioned are big, big companies. Marianne Haney Brennan: Big companies, yeah. Andy Ockershausen: So you don't travel to school, you travel you. Epidemic of Undisciplined Children Marianne Haney Brennan: Well because I'm sort of connected in the Catholic school system, being a Catholic graduate, I know a lot of people in that realm. I was trying to get into some of the public schools, but it's a little tougher to get in there. There's so many rules and regulations and they all need it. Listen, we have an epidemic, epidemic of undisciplined children. And I don't want to sound negative or anything but- Andy Ockershausen: No it's not negative. It's important. Marianne Haney Brennan: I was sitting and having some yogurt around the corner here before I came over, and I'm watching people who are sitting with each other having lunch and they've got headphones on and they're not even in conversation. Andy Ockershausen: You're preaching to the choir with me. They don't pay attention. Marianne Haney Brennan: Not at all. No. And part of the problem is we're all moving too fast. We're moving too fast. We've got too many electronic things going on. Nobody wants to take time out to say hello or smile or be considerate. Andy Ockershausen: You know, I'll tell you my story in a minute, but we were just talking to Tom Davis who has been a congressman and did a great job for northern Virginia, talking to the fact that social media is really, the culprit has changed our world, forever. Marianne Haney Brennan: Absolutely. Absolutely. Andy Ockershausen: I don't think we'll ever go back. Marianne Haney Brennan: Absolutely.

Tom Davis on politics today in Northern Virginia~ They've done it to themselves because they've emphasized these social issues, in an area that's becoming much more widely diverse, instead of focusing on the bread and butter and the economic issues that basically decide the success or not of every jurisdiction. They just priced themselves out of the market. So even where they were right on a number of issues, you had young people, people of color, just pushing the mute button when you had the Republican label. Tom Davis - Retired Congressman and Rector, George Mason University and host Andy Ockershausen in-studio interview Andy Ockershausen: This is Our Town and this is Andy Ockershausen and we're so fortunate to have a friend for many, many years who sort of disappeared part of our life, but thank God, not totally. Congressman Tom Davis, welcome to Our Town. Tom Davis: Andy, it's great to retire from my life of quiet anonymity to come on to your show. Andy Ockershausen: Tom, I can't tell you Tom, how much I miss you and seeing your career and being a part of your life, whether you like it or not, WMAL was because- Tom Davis: Absolutely. Andy Ockershausen: And I was involved with the Alexandria Group there and the good old days when we elected people, but you can't get a Republican elected in Alexandria now with a search warrant. But Tom, you've done so well. 14 years in Congress? Tom Davis - 29 Years of Public Service | Former United States Congressman and Fairfax County Board Member Tom Davis: Right, and I was 15 years on the County Board in Fairfax before that. Andy Ockershausen: You were? That's 29. That's half your life. Tom Davis: 29. Yeah, I know. Well it was more than half- Andy Ockershausen: The Arlington County board? Tom Davis: I mean, less than half my life now. Andy Ockershausen: That was the ABC guy? Tom Davis: No, this was the Fairfax County. Andy Ockershausen: Oh, Fairfax County? Tom Davis: Yeah, yeah. Andy Ockershausen: I remember my friend Bob Peck was on the Arlington Board for a while. Reminiscing - Local Political Races Tom Davis: Oh my goodness. I remember all those races, because I grew up on those races in Arlington. Andy Ockershausen: You're an Arlington guy, right? Tom Davis: In Arlington, yeah. I remember Hal Casto. Do you remember Hal Casto? He was on the Board. Andy Ockershausen: Very well. I remember the name. Tom Davis: Ned Thomas, they owned the cemetery. He was on the County Board. Andy Ockershausen: The cemetery? He lived on the cemetery? Tom Davis: He did. He did. Andy Ockershausen: He and his wife lived on a cemetery? The Cemetery Story Tom Davis: In fact, we ran a registration drive there one year on the cemetery, and we get to this really old tombstone to get it appropriately registered and we couldn't read the name. We're putting the flashlight on. We're trying to put a paper over it and engrave it, and figure out what's the name. Somebody comes and says, "Davis, we gotta get outta here. The cops are going to be here in a few minutes." I said, "Wait a minute. This man has just as much right to vote as everybody else in here." Andy Ockershausen: He's one of us, the good Republican. You couldn't find one now with a search warrant, I'll guarantee you. Tom, but you're a local guy. You grew up in Arlington. Tom Davis: Right. Andy Ockershausen: And that's a big part of your life is Northern Virginia. It's been there your whole life, your whole college career was in Northern Virginia. On Growing Up | Family and Education | Full Scholarship to Amerherst Tom Davis: Except for army, college, and basically law school. Yeah, that's it. Andy Ockershausen: Where was college? Tom Davis: Amherst, in Massachusetts. Andy Ockershausen: Amherst, a good school. Wow! Tom Davis: They gave me a full scholarship. It was not a hard choice. Andy Ockershausen: Amherst is one of the schools for the, you know, the silver spoon. Tom Davis: I was lucky.

Mahan Tavakoli on connecting and networking in Our Town region~ Leadership Greater Washington . . . brings people from different backgrounds, different industries, and different parts of our region together. But there's also a connection to meaning . . . All of us want to connect and network, want to do good and have meaning in our work lives, in our networking. So Leadership Greater Washington allows for the senior leaders in the region to address those issues and have meaning in terms of their involvement. Mahan Tavakoli, Servant Leader, Strategic Leadership Ventures and Leadership Greater Washington, and host Andy Ockershausen in-studio interview Andy Ockershausen: This is Andy Ockershausen. This is Our Town, and I have the opportunity to talk to a wonderful, wonderful man who means so much to this community, to Our Town. He was one of the leading business executives in my estimation. Mahan Tavakoli, welcome to Our Town. Mahan Tavakoli: Andy, thank you very much. I am super excited to be here with you as your guest. Andy Ockershausen: Well, yeah, I know you've been telling me that and I am so flattered because you're an important man, Mahan. You've made a tremendous impact on this town. So let's talk about pre WMAL, and pre Washington D.C. What was Mahan doing? Are you a native of D.C.? Mahan Tavakoli - A Washingtonian from Iran Mahan Tavakoli: Yeah, so Andy, my parents are from Iran and the first few years of my life I actually lived in Iran. Andy Ockershausen: Oh, you did? Mahan Tavakoli: I did. Yes and- Andy Ockershausen: Of all these years, Mahan, I never knew that. I never knew that. That's wonderful, I think for your parents. Mahan's Dad - A Servant Leadership Attitude Mahan Tavakoli: It is. It is. And we settled. My Dad traveled a lot for his work, but we settled right here in Bethesda on Wilson Lane. Andy Ockershausen: Wow, a thoroughfare. What business was your dad in? Mahan Tavakoli: He was with ITT when ITT was more of a telecommunications company. So he- Andy Ockershausen: ITT Worldwide. Mahan Tavakoli: They were worldwide. One of the best that eventually lost some traction. I tend to believe post my dad, they lost some traction. Andy Ockershausen: I heard a story about the man that was the president of ITT used to drive himself to work and brought his lunch. That's when he made that company great. I'll think of his name, very famous name, head of ITT, International Telephone and Telegraph. Nobody has a telegraph anymore, do they, Mahan? Mahan Tavakoli: No, they don't and Andy, what you mentioned is actually one of the things that had a big impact on my life. My dad also had a servant leadership attitude with respect to the role of the leader to the organization. So I think that had a big impact for me, as I ended up getting into the business community, I try to emulate a lot of what my dad had done. Andy Ockershausen: What a great role model though. Listen Mahan. Andy Ockershausen: When did you move to D.C.? You spent the first four years of your life in Iran? Mahan Tavakoli On Growing Up in Our Town Mahan Tavakoli: Yes. So right about middle school, right before middle school moved to D.C. Went to Washington International School right out there on Macomb Street. Andy Ockershausen: Oh yeah, that's right. Mahan Tavakoli: From there to Whitman, Maryland, Georgetown. So- Andy Ockershausen: A real local guy. Mahan Tavakoli: Absolutely. I said I'm not moving anywhere else for the rest of my life. I love it here. Andy Ockershausen: All these years I've known you, I never knew that, but I know you were involved in everything. So your dad must have taught you that to get involved and you have done that to a fare thee well. You brought so much to the table. Our Town Business Leaders Espouse Responsibility to Give Back to Community Mahan Tavakoli: Yeah, there's a big sense of responsibility, Andy, that I have. There is a great privilege that all of us have living in this region,

Deborah Marriott Harrison on Marriott's culture of putting people first~ And my grandfather started it by making a sign he put over the kitchen doors in the Hot Shops that says, "If you take care of the employee, the employee will take care of the customer and the customer will come back again and again." And we really pride ourselves in taking care of our associates. Deborah Marriott Harrison, Global Cultural Ambassador Emeritus Marriott International (r) and host Andy Ockershausen (l) in-studio interview Andy Ockershausen: This is Our Town. And I'm so delighted to have in one of the most important people in representing the families and I could probably, the number one family in Washington was the Marriott family, and I'm so delighted to have Debbie Marriott Harrison on Our Town. Welcome to Our Town, Debbie. Deborah Marriott Harrison: Thank you Andy. I'm delighted to be here. Andy Ockershausen: Well, our relationship, my relationship personally goes back to Marriott for many, many years before you were born, probably. Because being a big part of Our Town growing up at WMAL and Channel 7 and the Washington Star is my background, and you know what the Star was like when you were growing up in Our Town and- Deborah Marriott Harrison: Yeah, my brothers used to deliver the paper. Andy Ockershausen: I say, right. It was Our Town. It was a small town. What's happened now has been an explosion. But thank you for remembering that there is a WMAL that was in Our Town and thank you for what you have done for the Marriott Corporation and particularly when you worked at ... your story was working at the Key Bridge Marriott? Marriott's First Two Hotels - Twin Bridges and Key Bridge Hotels - A Bit of Our Town History Deborah Harrison: Yes. Andy Ockershausen: How many years? Deborah Marriott Harrison: Oh, just one summer after I had finished my freshman year. Andy Ockershausen: Oh, you just did it in the summer time. Deborah Marriott Harrison: Yes. I just did it for the summer and that was our second hotel and it is still our oldest hotel in our portfolio because the first hotel was the Twin Bridges Hotel. Andy Ockershausen: Do I remember that well. Deborah Marriott Harrison: Yeah. Opened in 1957 near the 14th Street Bridge and we sold that in the late 80s and there's nothing on that lot right now. It's an empty lot. Andy Ockershausen: The Windjammer Club. Deborah Marriott Harrison: Yes, The Windjammer Club. And- Andy Ockershausen: It was a bottle club I remember that well. Deborah Marriott Harrison: Sirloin and Saddle, the restaurant. Andy Ockershausen: Well, the motel opened up where it used to be a national airport and before national airport there was another field there- Deborah Harrison: Right. Hoover. Andy Ockershausen: Were Marriott had a catering business. Deborah Marriott Harrison: Yup. Hoover Field. And the Pentagon is, and the Pentagon is there now. Andy Ockershausen: And yeah. Right. And so that was the beginning of the catering business, but the hotel business, your grandfather opened that hotel, I remember it had a sign. It was the only sign I've ever seen on the 14th Street Bridge and the Washington signs, at the exit to get to the Marriott Hotel. Can you ... you were too young to know that. Deborah Marriott Harrison: I don't remember that. You're right. I don't remember. That's really neat. Andy Ockershausen: There was some political pressure to get that done. But it was done. The only motel that was highlighted on the bridge leaving town, was the Marriott Twin Bridges. And there were twin bridges and then Marriott got into the hotel business and then opened up in Rosslyn. Was that your next big hotel? Deborah Marriott Harrison: The next one, two years later was the one was Key Bridge in Rosslyn overlooking Georgetown and the river. Andy Ockershausen: And it was a real, a motor hotel. It was a small structure. Marriott Started Out in the Hotel Business with Motor Hotels

Caroline Carter, Author of Smart Moves, and Founder and CEO of Done in a Day, Inc., on the process of transitioning from home to home~ "But the reason I wrote the book was to allow people to say, okay, I get it. We all dread this process but we don't have to. Okay. There is a way that we can go through this and make very solid emotional, financial and physical decisions that will affect us over time." Caroline Carter, Founder and CEO, Done in Day, Inc. | Author, Smart Moves with host Andy Ockershausen in-studio interview Andy Ockershausen: This is Our Town and this is Andy Ockershausen to talk to a friend of many years who has shocked me beyond belief because I lost track of her, what, 10, 15 years ago in our neighborhood and now she's turned out to be a fabulous writer, I think. Caroline Carter, welcome to Our Town. Caroline Carter: Thank you, Andy. I'm pleased to be here. Andy Ockershausen: It is unbelievable what you have done in this book. Like you're new to me and yet you're not. You're ... we're friends for many years, but you've established a life about moving and everybody in the world eventually is going to move. Smart Moves - Demystifying the Moving Process Caroline Carter: Absolutely. Andy Ockershausen: So everybody's a potential client or potential to need your help and your book is fabulous. Caroline Carter: Oh, thank you. I'm so glad. Thanks. Andy Ockershausen: I'm not anxious to move because the problem of doing it, it's scary, but what you have written and for me to understand, man, it's terrific. Just terrific, Caroline. Caroline Carter: Well, I appreciate that. I think that the purpose of writing the book was to demystify this process. You know, when you say to someone or when you look at this statistic, for instance, that the US Census Bureau says that the average American moves 11 times throughout their lifetime and that's a lot of moving. Andy Ockershausen: That's just average. Caroline Carter: That's just average but Americans move more than any other culture. Andy Ockershausen: I saw that. Caroline Carter: And if you say to someone, you know, what do you think about moving? Well, the first thing they say is, I dread it. I absolutely dread it. So part of the reason why I wrote Smart Moves was to demystify the process for people. Andy Ockershausen: And showing the mover how to save time and money while transitioning your home and life. Caroline Carter: Exactly. Andy Ockershausen: Now that's important. The life thing. Caroline Carter: Sure. Andy Ockershausen: You've almost been, and in a lot of your work and your career, you've done some marriage counseling too. Caroline Carter: Oh, well no, no doubt about that. No doubt about that because everybody ... this is a very emotional process. Andy Ockershausen: It's always a strain on marriage, isn't it? A strain? Moving is a Strain on the Entire Family Caroline Carter: Well it's a strain actually on the entire family, including the pets and I say that because selling your home, okay, preparing it to sell and moving is one of the most stressful life changing events that a family can go through and everybody acts out because they don't know what to expect. They don't ... it's like being on a roller coaster, right? You kind of do in general know what to expect, but every ride is different and we all will go through this packaging of our homes to sell if we want to sell it at top dollar right, and then moving. But the reason I wrote the book was to allow people to say, okay, I get it. We all dread this process but we don't have to. Okay. There is a way that we can go through this and make very solid emotional, financial and physical decisions that will affect us over time. Andy Ockershausen: One of the not surprises because I can understand what you do after reading the book and the fact that you're not in the sales business, you're not trying to help somebody sell their house. You're having to get them ready to sell that.

Tom Sherwood on what he tells journalism students when asked about making Journalism a career: I tell every journalism student intern that I meet that one thing about being journalist, it opens doors to everything and anything that you want to see or do. I mean, I've been places and seen things . . . I never would have access to had I not fallen into the news business." Tom Sherwood, Analyst, WAMU's Politics Hour and Former WRC TV Politics Reporter and host Andy Ockershausen in-studio interview Andy Ockershausen: This is Our Town. This is Andy Ockershausen, starting part of what we hope will be a long fifth season. We are especially, especially... I mean this because I've been trying to get this guy for two years, and he finally agreed to do it, to be part of Our Town, because he's such a big part of Our Town. That's my friend, and ex-neighbor, and a guy I've admired for so many years. Welcome to Our Town, Tom Sherwood. Tom Sherwood: I see you had to read my name, so, so much for that introduction. Andy Ockershausen: Well, I could have called you Tom intro. Sherwood: Well, that's true. Yeah, Intro Tom. Andy Ockershausen: Intro Tom. Tom Sherwood: Thank you very much for having me. I'm sorry I couldn't come. I was busy in TV, but I'm happy to be here today. Atlanta and South Carolina | Tom Sherwood's Southern Family Andy Ockershausen: Now, he was a TV guy and he's still a TV guy as far as I'm concerned, because they miss him. Tom has a new life, and I'm so delighted that he stayed in our town, because he could have moved on. Tom, you're a media guy. You grew up in a lot of media. How did you ever get an accent, like a southern accent? Tom Sherwood: Well, having my mother give birth to me in Atlanta helped. I'm a southern family, through thick and thin. Family members came from South Carolina. I think they were indebted people from England, who came over to America to- Andy Ockershausen: To pay off the debt. Sherwood: To pay off the debts. Andy Ockershausen: Oh yeah. Tom Sherwood: And some of them... My great- Andy Ockershausen: Was it Oglethorpe, or something like that. Sherwood: Yeah, it wasn't any name like that. It's Sherwood. But anyways, yes. Andy Ockershausen: Sherwood Forest. Tom Sherwood's Distinct Voice Tom Sherwood: I have nothing to do with my voice. My brother, he's a year older. He has a completely different voice. Andy Ockershausen: People recognize the voice, Tom, of course because you've been in broadcast air for years, and years, and years. Sherwood: Yes, I would never rob a bank- Andy Ockershausen: With a TV career. Tom Sherwood: The police will say, "Just go pick up Sherwood," because they would know what the voice was. Andy Ockershausen: Why would a young boy from Atlanta, Georgia... How did you end up here? You went to high school and college in Georgia? On Growing Up in Atlanta, Georgia and Working for the Atlanta Journal Constitution Sherwood: Well, I went to high school, and I kind of went to college. I think I was a freshman for six years at Georgia State. It didn't really work out. Andy Ockershausen: That's in Atlanta, right? Tom Sherwood: Yeah, we have very similar things. You got your start as an intern, or an office clerk at WMAL? Andy Ockershausen: I got started at the bottom. Sherwood: Right. Well, right out of high school- Andy Ockershausen: Right out of high school. Tom Sherwood: I worked as a copy boy- Andy Ockershausen: Eastern High School. Sherwood: For The Atlanta Constitution. Andy Ockershausen: There you go, a great, great newspaper. Tom Sherwood: Yes. I saw an ad in The Atlanta Constitution, "Copy boys wanted," they didn't hire girls. I was a department store called Richs, which is like Woody's here in town. I looked up, and I could see The Atlanta Constitution sign. I thought, "This is kind of cool. I'll go see if I can work at the newspaper." They said, "Can you start tonight?" Andy Ockershausen: That is incredible.

Stephen S. Fuller, Ph.D. on Amazon and future job and economic growth in Our Town~ They worked together to make this happen, and it will benefit the region broadly, but it isn't the final, it isn't all that is coming. This is just the beginning. We expect there to be almost 400,000 new jobs in the next 15 years and this is just 25,000 of them. Stephen S. Fuller, Ph.D. and Our Town host Andy Ockershausen in-studio interview Andy Ockershausen: This is Andy Ockershausen and this is Our Town. I have been so excited to know that we could talk to this man and we could talk to him away from his usual role as the head of some meeting or group because I have been following him through the Washington Board of Trade since he first worked for GW. It was way back in the '60s I guess. Steve Fuller, welcome to Our Town. Stephen S. Fuller, Ph.D.: Pleasure to be with you. Andy Ockershausen: You know, we think Our Town and we created the show - my Janice recreated it. We had a television program on channel 50 called Our Town. So Janice dug it up three years ago and said, "Why don't we do it again?" about the people that have impact in Our Town and we think Our Town is Upper Marlboro, it's Vienna, Virginia, it's as far north as Baltimore, it's as far south as Richmond. That's Our Town. We go all over and Steve Fuller, you've had such an enormous impact on that geographical selection, Our Town. Rutgers and Cornell Stephen S. Fuller, Ph.D.: Well, I've been studying it for 50 years and I try to share some of my knowledge. So this is a great opportunity. Andy Ockershausen: I love your resume. I love your background. You grew up in New Jersey, I would take it. You went to Rutgers. Stephen S. Fuller, Ph.D.: I did go to Rutgers. Andy Ockershausen: That's a state school, isn't it? Stephen S. Fuller, Ph.D.: A state school. It's the sixth oldest university in the country. Andy Ockershausen: It's older than Princeton. Stephen S. Fuller, Ph.D.: 1766, Queens College, it was then. Andy Ockershausen: Queens College. Well, wasn't William and Mary King's College at one time in Southern Virginia? I think it's something like that. There were only one of each, I know that. And you graduated from Rutgers in '62, but then it took you seven years to graduate from Cornell. Stephen S. Fuller, Ph.D.: Well, I worked, I went out and worked. Andy Ockershausen: Oh, it didn't say that. Stephen S. Fuller, Ph.D.: I took a few jobs. Andy Ockershausen: The way I read your resume, you graduated in '62 and then went to Cornell, high above Cayuga's waters, right? Stephen S. Fuller, Ph.D.: That's right. Andy Ockershausen: And that launched you into a career by going to Cornell. Was that a special school for you? Stephen S. Fuller, Ph.D.: I went there to get a PhD in Urban and Regional Planning and Economic Development, and I was there just for two years. Then I came to Washington in 1967, because I lucked out to get some financing from a small agency to fund my dissertation research on rural redevelopment. Andy Ockershausen: Wow! On Coming to Our Town Stephen S. Fuller, Ph.D.: So I came down here with the promise of one year paycheck to do my research and write my dissertation, and then they hired me to stay on for a year and after that I went to GW in '69. Andy Ockershausen: And you became whether you planned or not, you became part of Our Town, a big part of Our Town. Stephen S. Fuller, Ph.D.: I did. Andy Ockershausen: And you had had all the training to better urban development and training about how to judge markets and growth and so forth. So you were prepared to help at GW. Were you're the first one in that category at George Washington? George Washington University Opportunity - New Urban Regional Planning Department Stephen S. Fuller, Ph.D.: There was a new department at George Washington that offered a master's degree in Urban Regional Planning, and it just started up in 1968 and they needed a third faculty member,

Our Town podcast Season 4 through a millennial's eyes. Liz Bubes shares her views on Season 4 of Our Town podcast interviews~ "Well, as a millennial and for someone who had never heard of a vast majority of these people but learned way more than I thought. . . I think that the highlight of Our Town podcast for me was having Monique Samuels on and getting on the Real Housewives of Potomac. . . Getting all the cameras all set up, and getting mic’d up and you know, being near a celebrity." Our Town Season 4 Wrap Up - Andy and Janice Ockershausen in studio, Looking Forward to Season Four Andy Ockershausen: This is Andy Ockershausen. This is Our Town podcast and unfortunately this is the last of our Season 4. Our Town, we'll be starting Season 5 sometime in this late Summer, early Fall. But this has been a wonderful, wonderful ride for us, especially since Janice has been in charge of the whole program. But to have Liz Bubes take over and work with us as sort of our finding producer. It's just been a great, great Season and I'm so glad that the three of us . . . the four of us with our extraordinary producer Ken. Ken Hunter: Can't forget me, that's right. Andy Ockershausen: We've been trying to forget you, but it still works. But Lizzy, thank you for being here and Janny you're the best, honey. Highlights - Season 4 Our Town Podcast Guests Janice Iacona Ockershausen: Yeah, so what we wanted to do is we wanted to do a Season wrap up, and during this wrap up we just wanted to give our impressions, all of us, Liz, Andy, Ken, and I, about what was meaningful and what we learned in this Season, Season 4. So, I just wanted to start with Liz because she had a great impression... Andy Ockershausen: What was that great impression Liz, in Season 4? Monique Samuels Liz Bubes: Well, as a millennial and for someone who had never heard of a vast majority of these people but learned way more than I thought. . . I think that the highlight of Our Town podcast Season 4 for me was having Monique Samuels on and getting on the Real Housewives of Potomac, Andy, that was definitely a thrill. Getting all the cameras all set up, and getting mic'd up and you know, being near a celebrity. Andy Ockershausen: All of us being on Bravo was a big hit, it was amazing. Liz Bubes: I kept waiting for that episode to come out. Janice Iacona Ockershausen: I remember that day because they brought their camera crew and they took over the studios, both studios. Liz Bubes: We had to get a bigger studio, just for Monique Samuels. Andy Ockershausen: And her part. Liz Bubes: And her 9 producers who flocked along with her. Andy Ockershausen: And the amazing thing about Monique, she's not the biggest celebrity. You would think so because of Bravo, but her husband is a much bigger celebrity. But nevertheless, she was so great and great to have and Janny who impressed you in the beginning of this thing? Steve Buckhantz Janice Iacona Ockershausen: A couple of people that stand out because we're in the broadcast business and they're friends, but I remember Steve Buckhantz. I listened to Steve occasionally when he was doing the Wizard's games, what was most impressive was his personal journey, the journey he went from town to town as he was developing.. Liz Bubes: I agree he is a very inspiring person. Janice Iacona Ockershausen: Yes... Andy Ockershausen: He worked to get where he is at. Janice Iacona Ockershausen: He certainly did... Liz Bubes: And now he kills it at what he does. Janice Iacona Ockershausen: But he's a good storyteller, so when you hear the clips of him talking about the Wizards game, it's play by play, that's something else. But he as an individual storyteller was excellent. Liz Bubes: Right. Al Koken Janice Iacona Ockershausen: Al Koken is another example, hard working guy, worked his way to Washington, has got a great role now.

Monique Samuels on being the only one on Real Housewives of Potomac with babies~ "I can't wait for someone else to have a baby on this cast. I can't be the only one because it is very difficult trying to navigate, just making sure that your family feels whole and they don't feel like they're being left out and then trying to give your all to the show as well. I've never had a nanny until I joined the show. So I had to spend more money. Get somebody to take care of my babies while I'm off filming and doing other things that I need to do. So it's been a transition for our family but I think we're handling it pretty well." Monique Samuels - Real Housewives of Potomac and Not for Lazy Moms founder - with host Andy Ockershausen in studio interview Andy Ockershausen: This is Our Town, Andy Ockershausen with the unique Monique Samuels. Monique an absolute super pleasure for us to have you as part of Our Town. Monique Samuels: Thank you, I'm so excited to be here. I'm so honored to be here. Andy Ockershausen: You have your television show, you have a career that's so important to Our Town because you put us on the map and we know about Potomac but you've made it bigger than that. M Samuels: Ah, thanks. Andy Ockershausen: But to see your star is rising in the ten years you've been doing the show. Has it been that long? Monique Samuels: No. Not this long for the show. The show, let's see, this is year four for the show; year three for me. Andy Ockershausen: That's it. M Samuels: Yeah. Growing up in Pleasantville, New Jersey Andy Ockershausen: Monique you're so unique and I use that word and you're not from Washington D.C. I found out in your resume you're from Pleasantville New Jersey. M Samuels: Yeah. Andy Ockershausen: I think I know ... Isn't Pleasantville close to the bridge? Monique Samuels: Yep. It's right outside of Atlantic City. Andy Ockershausen: And it's wonderful in that part of New Jersey, right? Monique Samuels: Yeah, it's pretty cool. I'm not mad at it, it raised me pretty good. Andy Ockershausen: But that's important, it's your roots. M Samuels: Yeah. Andy Ockershausen: In New Jersey and Pleasantville. M Samuels: Small town. Andy Ockershausen: Now why would a woman with talent obviously looking for help want to go to Pittsburgh to Duquesne? College | Pittsburgh, PA | Full Academic Scholarship | Duquesne University Monique Samuels: Yes, so I wanted to be a lawyer and Duquesne had a great law program where you could do your undergrad in three years and your fourth year of undergrad is your first year of law school. So that was my plan. I got a full academic scholarship to Duquesne University, that was another reason why I went. Andy Ockershausen: That's a good reason. Monique Samuels: Oh, yeah. They paid for everything. Andy Ockershausen: They paid the full scholarship? That's great. Valedictorian to Salutatorian, Senior Year High School Because of Unexpected Rule Change Monique Samuels: Yeah, full academic scholarship. I graduated from Pleasantville High School, I was the Salutatorian ... Andy Ockershausen: First time I've ever seen that word in writing. Does that mean your second in your class? Monique Samuels: Yes. Which is interesting story ... Andy Ockershausen: Tell me that. Monique Samuels: I was really the Valedictorian all four years of high school I was always number one. My senior year, they normally lock in the ranks after the first semester, because you know you have two semesters. So after first semester they lock in the ranks. My guidance counselor told me, he said, "Well, you technically only need one class so that you can just be enrolled for the second semester ...

Tyler Balderson, Tree Hugger and Arboriculturist at Bartlett Tree Experts, on the importance of knowing your trees~ "Being a board certified master arborist, the most important part is to be able to identify the tree. Each tree has either its mechanism of growth, or its concerns that I need to identify for the client, but there's also bad trees, there are trees we don't want on your property, and we call those invasive species. . . they can impact the health and growth of a tree that we do want." Tyler Balderson - Tree Hugger and Arboriculturist, Bartlett Tree Experts and host Andy Ockershausen in-studio interview Andy Ockershausen: This is Our Town, and this Andy Ockershausen. And I'm just so excited to welcome a very special guest, my favorite tree hugger. And I use that term in all affection. This man is a very, very famous forester. He's famous because I think he's famous. We found him as the local manager at Bartlett Tree Experts about probably 15 to 20 years ago, Tyler. It's been a great relationship. Tyler Balderson, welcome to Our Town. Tyler Balderson: Thanks for having me. Andy Ockershausen: Isn't this a great town to have Our Town? Tyler Balderson: It's a great town. Andy Ockershausen: Even though we're familiar with you with Anne Arundel County, that's part of Our Town. We've always considered it that. Odenton where you had some ... that's where your office is, in Odenton. Tyler Balderson: That is correct. Andy Ockershausen: But you're a local yokel. Tyler Balderson is Homegrown, A Local Yokel Tyler Balderson: I'm a local yokel. Born and raised. Andy Ockershausen: In Bethesda. Tyler Balderson: In Bethesda, yep. Andy Ockershausen: Went to the school in Bethesda, and your family ... and your father, Andy, is a business man in Bethesda, he had your company before you were born, I would imagine. Tyler Balderson: He did. He's a landscape architect. He's been practicing it for over 40 years now. Andy Ockershausen: And he decided that you'd be a tree person, but you're not an architect, you're a forester. Balderson is a Natural Born Tree Hugger Tyler Balderson: That is correct. Yeah, I was born and raised in a nursery, where he founded our house, and so born and raised around trees. Naturally, I'm going to take care of them. Andy Ockershausen: Did you cut down trees to build your house? Tyler Balderson: No. I'm a tree hugger. I don't cut trees. Andy Ockershausen: You did just the opposite. You would've loved George Washington, right, he cut down a tree and his parents put him in trouble. Tyler Balderson: That is correct. Andy Ockershausen: That's part of Our Town, too, Mount Vernon, you know. First Professional Gig - Elm Trees at Mount Vernon Tyler Balderson: Mount Vernon, we take care of the trees at Mount Vernon. Andy Ockershausen: Is that right? Tyler Balderson: Absolutely. Andy Ockershausen: Your company does? Tyler Balderson: Yep, I personally have been injecting those elm trees for years before, when I got started in tree care, so I personally had taken care of those trees for Mount Vernon. Andy Ockershausen: When you were in Bethesda? Tyler Balderson: Mm-hmm (affirmative), Bethesda, yep, when I first started out. Andy Ockershausen: Well, you've always lived in Bethesda before you went to college, correct? Tyler Balderson: Correct. Our Town Legacy - Three Generations Andy Ockershausen: And the family is back, and your grandfather was born in the city, correct? Tyler Balderson: Correct, yeah. Andy Ockershausen: Within the city limits.

Peter Abrahams on a priority for him right now in his new role as Publisher of the Washington Business Journal~ "I'm on a listening tour, really, talking to a lot of the business leaders in the city. Trying to get to meet with our clients, our stakeholders, really understanding what's important to them. I have some ideas . . . " Peter Abrahams - Publisher, Washington Business Journal and Andy Ockershausen in-studio interview Andy Ockershausen: Well this is Our Town. This is Andy Ockershausen with an old friend. He'll never be old, and he's a wonderful friend. His name is Peter Abrahams, he's just taken over the job at head of the Washington Business Journal, but I knew him when he was selling magazines here in the studios of WMAL. Peter, welcome to Our Town. Peter Abrahams: Thanks Andy. Good to be here. And by the way, you said I'm an old friend, let's just be clear. I'm not that old. Andy Ockershausen: Yeah, I've been around a long time. Peter I've had some people that are older than me, believe it or not, in this business. Peter Abrahams: I do believe that. You're not that old. Andy Ockershausen: I'm not going to be either, Peter, but I'm so happy to have you and have you back at Our Town, but we met long before I found out that you were an important guy, through a mutual friend that grew up with you in Boston. Is that correct? Peter Abrahams On How He and Andy Met Peter Abrahams: You know, as I was thinking about seeing you today, we have known each other for so long- I'm trying to remember how we actually met the very first time because I didn't, but it's been 25 years. I mean you were one of the very first people I met when I landed here. My first time here was in '89 and I can't even remember, but through the years, it never goes about a month or two months without seeing you running around somewhere. I mean running, you don't walk, you tend to move pretty fast so, and I have short little legs, so it was always hard to catch up with you. Andy Ockershausen: Yeah, but you make an impression everywhere you go, Peter. I always was so impressed, Scott Langerman went to- Peter Abrahams: Oh, was it Scott? Yeah. Andy Ockershausen: School with him and then Longwood somewhere up with the rich people in the Boston area. I knew that. Peter Abrahams: Yeah, Chestnut Hill, Baker Elementary. Andy Ockershausen: Isn't that something? It's incredible and then you run back into him in the Capitol, but Peter, having you and seeing you operate because I went to a lot of things, as you did, and that was so important, you made an appearance in Our Town, and people knew Peter Abrahams. And you have represented an important part of Our Town with your publication. Peter Left Our Town, But Not Actually Peter Abrahams: Yeah, you know it's funny, people always ask me that and they ask me, I didn't actually leave. I was still here, but I was never here. I was spending about three days a month here over the last couple years. I was- Andy Ockershausen: Kept your home here? Peter Abrahams: Kept my home here. But I really wasn't here and so a lot of people have welcomed me back. I didn't leave, but it's interesting because when you talk about the impression, for me, this area has always made an impression upon me. So, I feel fortunate coming back because I've been welcomed back, which was surprising, and you know, I am going to take that people think I physically left. It's great, because they're buying me coffees and they want to see me. Andy Ockershausen: Oh wow. From Boston to Washington, DC - Abrahams Instantly Felt at Home Peter Abrahams: But, you know, when I moved here, I was in Boston, it was shortly after school. I ran my own business, which failed, I was bankrupt. Got in my friend's car and we drove down here.

John Lyon on finding his way after WMAL ~ "For two years . . . I floated around . . . It wasn’t the same, what I’m used to all these years being here. Strangely enough, I connected with Montgomery County to work in the Victim Assistance Program. I was on the air at WGAY on a Sunday morning. . . I picked up this card and the card said, 'Volunteers needed for the Victims Assistance Sexual Assault Program of Montgomery County.' . . . put that one in my pocket. The next day I called the number on the card . . ." John Lyon, Retired Announcer and WMAL Swingman, and host Andy Ockershausen in-studio interview Andy Ockershausen: This is Our Town. This Andy Ockershausen, and what a pleasure and what an extreme, extreme happiness for Janice and I to be with the original WMAL Swingman. We call him The Swingman 'cause he could swing on every show on WMAL. John Lyon, welcome to Our Town. John Lyon: Thank you very much. I've been looking forward to this. Andy Ockershausen: I first remember that people said, "It's not Lyons." John Lyon: That's right. Andy Ockershausen: John Lyon, and when he came . . . I was at WMAL. I'd been there so long I was part of the furniture or the fixtures. When John first came as a young man, but he left as an old man, but he never really left. I'm sure he's got WMAL in his heart. John Lyon: Oh sure. Sure. Andy Ockershausen: Like we all do, John. Channel 7 - Lyon's First Audition in DC John Lyon: It's ... I came here in 1967. Auditioned after three years at a station in Peoria, CBS station there. The odd thing about that was the guy that I replaced in Peoria was the same guy I replaced here. I'd been there three years and I said to the boss ... His name was Bob Beneke, I don't know if you remember. Andy Ockershausen: I remember the name. John Lyon: Bob Beneke. When he left here, he got out of the business. He went into some financial dealings and stuff. Andy Ockershausen: Well, you were hired as an announcer, correct? John Lyon: I was hired- Andy Ockershausen: Not as a talent and not as a performer but an announcer? John Lyon: I'm not sure now. Andy Ockershausen: Well ... That's where ... Jack Weaver and Frank started as announcers on WMAL. John Lyon: Yeah. We had a TV audition, Channel 7 audition and Frank Ford maybe- Andy Ockershausen: Absolutely. John Lyon: Was the Director- Andy Ockershausen: He's our guy. John Lyon: It was me and like six other guys for this audition and I had to borrow some dough to come out here. I had to borrow money to come out here. I had four kids back in Peoria, that I said to the boss, "Look, I've been here two or three years now. I'm kind of getting to the end of the scale, you know?" I said, "Is there any chance you can give me some more dough?" "No, that's it," he said, "You've come to the end of the road." He said, "That's how we kind of do it here. We're a medium-sized market." Andy Ockershausen: It's a market price. John Lyon: We got a chance to do a lot of stuff there. Did TV, nighttime radio program, and he says ... I said, "Well, okay. I'll be honest with you. I'm gonna start looking for work." He says, "Okay, good luck." I put audition tapes out to all the stations where I thought I could fit in, mainly in the Midwest 'cause that's where I was. Andy Ockershausen: Sure. John Lyon: I went to WGN Chicago, WCCO Minneapolis - Andy Ockershausen: Powerhouse. Fate? - Lyon Intended to Work in Midwest, DC Never Crossed His Mind John Lyon: KMOX St. Louis, WOW Cincinnati, 'cause I thought, "I know these stations and I think I could work there." Well, I didn't hear anything from any of 'em. Somehow a tape ended up out here in Washington, D.C. I had no idea where Washington D.C. was. I said, "Point to the east and keep going." That's what I did and I think it was Harold Green called me and he said, "We're gonna have auditions", on whatever the date was. I said, "I'll be there." I made arrangements and I went and got a few bucks together and came out...

Ray Benton on the current state of Tennis~ "A lot more to be done. We've gotta rebuild the base of our sport. I mean, tennis participation's been going down in the United States for 40 years. It's ridiculous." Ray Benton - Mr. Tennis - CEO of Junior Tennis Championship Center (JTCC) Andy Ockershausen: This is Andy Ockershausen, and this is Our Town. I'm welcoming an old friend who's not old. He's a young man. He's the CEO of the Junior Tennis Championship Center in College Park, Maryland, but before that, he was Ray Benton and will always be Ray Benton, Mr. Tennis, to me. Ray, welcome to Our Town. Ray Benton: Thank you Andy. Great to see you. Andy Ockershausen: Well, you know, you've done so much, Ray, in your career and realized that you're from Iowa. I keep wondering, how did you get connected with all the people you got connected with in Washington? You went to school there. You were born there in Iowa? Ray Benton: No, but I lived there since I was eight years old. Andy Ockershausen: Is that it? Ray Benton: I wish you'd say Iowa with a bit of respect. You're very degrading. Iowa Undergrad and Law School | Vietnam | Wharton Business School Andy Ockershausen: I remember State Fair was a great movie about Iowa. Now how did you get to Pennsylvania, to Wharton? Ray Benton: Well, I grew up in Iowa City, where the University is, of course. My parents were actually professors there. Andy Ockershausen: Wow. Ray Benton: And so I went to undergraduate and law school there, and then I decided that I'd rather not go to a place called Vietnam. So I went to business school at Wharton and got drafted right out of there. Andy Ockershausen: Did your time anyway. Ray Benton: I did my two years. Andy Ockershausen: But the war was winding down, I'm sure. Ray Benton: No, no, no, no. Andy Ockershausen: It was still hot when you- Ray Benton on serving in Army as Legal Clerk in Alabama during Vietnam War Ray Benton: I was on orders for Vietnam as an infantry rifleman in 1967, which is like a death sentence, but I was very fortunate I had been working as a legal clerk in the legal office at Fort McClellan in Anniston, Alabama. Andy Ockershausen: Alabama, yeah. Ray Benton: And I was waiting for my commission in the JAG, and all of a sudden, pending my security clearance, so all of a sudden I was on orders as an infantry rifleman, which I had just taken advanced infantry training. And my commission to JAG came through, which had been four years, and I said, "I really don't wanna spend four years, and I really don't wanna go to Vietnam as an infantry rifleman." And my boss, who was the judge advocate said, "God, I'd like to keep you." I said, "Why don't you make me a legal clerk?" 'cause I was an infantry rifleman just- Andy Ockershausen: That was your MOS, right? Ray Benton: My MOS, and 11B10. And I was just waiting for my order to become an officer. Andy Ockershausen: Right. Ray Benton: And so he looked in the Regs, and he found 90 days on the job training, I can make you a legal clerk. And I had been there four months. So he made me a legal clerk, which got me off the orders, and I dropped my commission. Andy Ockershausen: Did you ever get the commission? Ray Benton: No, no. I dropped it because I didn't wanna spend four years. So by then, I'd been in for, what? Four, eight months, so I can get it out as a enlisted man for another 16 months. Andy Ockershausen: And you did? Ray Benton: I had a great time. Andy Ockershausen: In Alabama, or they move you around? Ray Benton: No, no. I was in Alabama the whole time. I'd go to work at five in the morning, be done at one in the afternoon. Andy Ockershausen: And play golf. Side jobs while in Army in Alabama - Tennis Pro and Subsitute Business Law Professor Ray Benton: And after one o'clock, I was the varsity tennis coach at Jacksonville State University. I was the head Tennis Pro at the Anniston, Gadsden Country Clubs and a substitute Business Law Professor.

Cathy Hughes, the first African-American woman to head a publicly traded company and voice for Black community in Our Town, tells Donald Graham what she learned from her "Take It Back" protest in 1986 against the Washington Post for its disrespect of the Black community with its choice of the first Black person for its Sunday magazine cover~ "But let me tell you something that I've learned from this demonstration. It is not your job to tell the story of me and my people. It is my job to tell the story of the Black community." I said, "So I thank you." I said, "Because throughout this demonstration, the best thing that was learned was that to have my own voice for my own people is the most important thing I could do." Cathy Hughes, Media Mogul, Urban One and host Andy Ockershausen, in-studio interview Andy Ockershausen: This is Our Town. This is Andy Ockershausen. I don't know how this has come about, but this lady has been the most important person I can think of in the broadcast world for many, many years. And being part of that world has been so important to me, to know her, to watch her, to get so much excitement from her, who started a radio company, a world of her own, Cathy Hughes. As they say, "Mrs. Hughes is in charge." Welcome to Our Town, Cathy Hughes. Hughes and Ockershausen - Mutual Admiration and Respect Cathy Hughes: Andy O. Now, the part you forgot in the introduction was that during those formative early years, you helped train me. You were my advisor. You were my mentor. You were my, "Let me call Andy O. and see what his opinion on this would be." Andy Ockershausen: You bring tears to my eyes because to see what you have accomplished, to be a part of it even from an outside, Cathy. But I recall your complaint to me, and you were right at the time. "We've got to be careful with AM, because FM is eating us alive." Cathy Hughes: Yes. Andy Ockershausen: You thought WMAL, because of the power of the AM station, could help bring people's attention to WOL at 1450. On Buying WTEM AM980 and Unhappy Washington Football Fans Cathy Hughes: Yes, absolutely. It's so interesting now, because we just bought an AM, WTEM 980. All right. I was like, "Alfred, did you read the articles?" Okay. But it's such an institution. Andy Ockershausen: Absolutely, Washington Redskins means so much to both of us, Cathy. Cathy Hughes: If they go back to being a team. Did you happen to see Sunday there was no one in the stadium. I've never seen that in all- Andy Ockershausen: That's a message. Cathy Hughes: Oh, my God. All these years I've been in Washington, D.C., even when they were losing before, the fans- Andy Ockershausen: There's a big difference. Cathy Hughes: Yeah, the fans would go there and drink beer and eat vinegar french fries. They would be happy, unless we won, but they certainly did not desert the team. But Sunday, you could have shot a cannon up in that stadium and not hit anybody. They wouldn't be happy, unless we won, but they certainly did not desert the team. But Sunday, you could have shot a cannon up in that stadium and not hit anybody. Andy Ockershausen: Cathy, it's been building up, and it may have come to a head now. There's something that strategically, drastically wrong with that organization. Where fish always stinks is at the top. Cathy Hughes: That's true. Humble Beginnings in Omaha, NE Andy Ockershausen: And this top brings down whatever has brought it down. I don't know what can be done about that. But you have proved what the top can do and that is the top. A poor little girl from Omaha, Nebraska. When I found that out, I couldn't believe you were from Omaha. I said, "What is that girl doing here in Washington?" Cathy Hughes: Yeah, yeah. Grew up with the Fondas. The whole Fonda family's from there. Andy Ockershausen: Oh, big, big time. Cathy Hughes: Yeah, the whole Fonda and also Marlon Brando's mother ran the ...

Roger Mitchell, Jr, MD on hope, and why becoming a minister is so important to him ~ "It's not enough for me just to speak to families. It's extremely important for me to be on sides where we can really promote hope in a way that frees people so that we can make the best choices in this city." Roger Mitchell, Jr., MD, Chief Medical Examiner, Washington DC, with host Andy Ockershausen in-studio interview Andy Ockershausen: This is Andy Ockershausen and this is Our Town. I say this from the bottom of my bottom heart, it's so delightful to have Roger Mitchell on Our Town. Do you realize Roger that you are one of the most important persons in the city of Washington? You're the Chief Medical Examiner for the Capitol City of the United States if not the world. What a title. Roger Mitchell, Jr, MD: Listen, I made it to Our Town and the word on the street is if you can make it to Our Town, then you might very well be an important person. I'm excited about being here, Andy. Andy Ockershausen: This program's so important that we don't have any commercials, but we do have some, but these are people in Our Town but Roger, you have such a career. What you've done is amazing to me because you're a learned man and you paid the price to learn what you're doing. But that is a great title, Chief Medical Examiner. Roger Mitchell, Jr, MD: Yeah, Chief Medical Examiner. I'm a young chief, too. Andy Ockershausen: I bet you are. Roger Mitchell, Jr, MD: There's not many young chiefs out here and it's just good. I've been here about five years now. Andy Ockershausen: But you're not a native. You didn't grow up here of course, but you went to Howard University. THE Howard University and New Jersey Medical School - Smart and Lucky Roger Mitchell, Jr, MD: I did go to Howard, THE Howard University. Andy Ockershausen: You went to New Jersey for medical, are you from Jersey? Roger Mitchell, Jr, MD: I am from Jersey, born and raised. New Jersey Medical School is a state school. It's Rutgers New Jersey Medical School. It's fantastic. Andy Ockershausen: Fabulous institution, Rutgers, too, right? Gotta be smart. Roger Mitchell, Jr, MD: You gotta be smart or lucky. Andy Ockershausen: It's a tough school. You're both! Roger Mitchell, Jr, MD: I think on the bottom of my certificate, it might've said lucky but we won't look at the fine print. Andy Ockershausen: Luck follows speed, Roger. That's something I learned many years ago. You gotta be fast in this world. Roger Mitchell, Jr, MD: That's it. Andy Ockershausen: But, you have a background in forensic medicine which, to me, is so impressive and you continue to do it today. OJ Trial Takes Forensics to New Level - Mitchell Becomes Interested in Forensics as a High School Junior Roger Mitchell, Jr, MD: I started forensics early. You remember the OJ trial, right? Andy Ockershausen: Oh yeah. Roger Mitchell, Jr, MD: The infamous OJ trial, right? Andy Ockershausen: Oh my, yeah. Roger Mitchell, Jr, MD: And so, forensics really, in this Country, was catapulted into the forefront. Andy Ockershausen: I believe what you're saying. Roger Mitchell, Jr, MD: This Country really wasn't thinking about blood stain pattern and proper evidence handling really until the OJ trial. And so, when I was, I think I was in my junior year- Andy Ockershausen: In medical school? Roger Mitchell, Jr, MD: No, it was in my junior year of undergrad at Howard University and I was doing- Andy Ockershausen: Our Town. Roger Mitchell, Jr, MD: Washington, D.C., yes, your town. Andy Ockershausen: Great,

Mary Gavin, Chief of Police Falls Church Police Department, on what's it's like to work in law enforcement ~ "Once I got into the profession, I tell you I loved it. It's like the front seat of life you see people at their very best. You see a lot of people at their very worst, but the camaraderie within the profession, is very real and genuine." Mary Gavin - Chief of Police Falls Church Police Department with host Andy Ockershausen in-studio interview Andy Ockershausen: This is Our Town, Andy Ockershausen, and I have the pleasure today to talk to a wonderful lady who is a cop. I used that term in admiration. She's a wonderful, wonderful example of somebody that really worked hard to get what she's got. She's the Chief of Police for Falls Church. Mary Gavin welcome to Our Town. Mary Gavin: Thank you, Andy. Thank you for that nice introduction. Andy Ockershausen: Well, it's so incredibly important that we try to be diversified in our life and we try to diversify with our podcast and you know we had Chief Newsham on and we had Tom Manger and I said, we got to have a female because that's the right thing to do. Lo and behold, there you were with WRAP. And, I found you through the Washington Regional Alcohol Program, which I was one of the founders of when we started the thing 40 years ago. Can you believe that? It's been a great effort and WRAP has done a good job, Mary. Washington Regional Alcohol Program (WRAP) Saves Lives Mary Gavin: WRAP has done a phenomenal job. WRAP saves lives and we just had our recognition back last week, last Friday. Andy Ockershausen: Yup. It was a breakfast and I didn't go ... Mary Gavin: It's one of the most meaningful award ceremonies we have. Andy Ockershausen: Maggiano's. Mary Gavin: Yep. Yep. Maggiano's and we get to celebrate as a region. All of the successes of the effort against the- in the fight against drunk driving and we also get together with those that have lost loved ones and reflect on the lives of those in this region that oh so tragically have been taken from us. But the best part of it is actually the camaraderie between all of the departments, the Chiefs, in recognizing the young officers that are out on the front-line every day making arrests and making people safe. Andy Ockershausen: Well, it's an incredible organization to bring all these people together and yet knowing it and being a part of it for all of these years. I've been lucky to know all these people. We still have an enormous problem with drunk driving. It just drives me crazy, but I don't know how you stop it. It's just incredible people still get in a car drunk. Takes Commitment from Every Discipline to Drive Drunk Driving Numbers Down Mary Gavin: You're right and it takes the whole town, the whole region ... Andy Ockershausen: Everybody. Mary Gavin: And from every discipline, from the entertainment world to like Lyft has come into this, Uber has come into this, Budweiser, Miller, Coors. There's a lot of entities that are involved and that's what it takes. It takes every discipline to kind of think through what's their responsibility in driving the numbers down and creating ... Andy Ockershausen: It's incredible. Mary Gavin: A safety net . Andy Ockershausen: Mary, I'll give you a little trivia. Our first real sponsor of drunk driving was Anheuser Busch. They jumped in it with both feet in the early 70s and they knew it was in their self protection to protect themselves with this drunk driving thing. But Mary, I'm so interested in you because not only are you a female and a cop, but you're an important person. You're Chief of Police and you also served in other jurisdictions. So you really have an overview of Our Town. And I think that's fortunate. You went to school here. You went to grammar school and high school. Correct? In Virginia? Mary Gavin - Fairfax County, Virginia, Born and Raised Mary Gavin: I did. I grew up in Fairfax County, born and born in Fairfax Hospital and raised in Fa...

Tom Quinn on the service provided by the Special Operations Warrior Foundation ~ "So whenever today, if you’re a Navy Seal, or Army Special Forces, or Ranger, or Air Force Combat Air Control, or a Marine Special Ops, you know that you have our enduring promise that we will educate your children if you don’t come home. And it gives them a great deal of confidence going in to the hotspots that they go into." Tom Quinn - Former Director, Federal Air Marshals Service and Ret. Secret Service with host Andy Ockershausen in-studio interview Andy Ockershausen: This is Andy Ockershausen, this is Our Town, and I have a great pleasure to talk to the great Tom Quinn today. For those of you who don't know, he is a man, the first one started with the Air Marshals. Tom Quinn led that effort to put air marshals on airplanes. Is that right, Tom? Tom Quinn Re-enters Government to Head Up New Federal Air Marshal Service Tom Quinn: That's right, Andy. I came back into government to stand up the Federal Air Marshal Service as a federal law enforcement organization, based on the National Transportation Security Act that was passed after 9/11. Andy Ockershausen: And so you had to start from scratch to hire people, to provide protection on American aircraft. Did you do any foreign aircraft too, or just US? Mandate to Grow Service from 33 to Several Thousand Security Officers Tom Quinn: Just US-flagged air carriers and there was a small federal air marshal contingent that was ... they were security officers in the FAA, very small number. On 9/11, there were 33 and that's all. Andy Ockershausen: In the whole flying industry, 33 marshals. Tom Quinn: 33. And the mandate was to create a Federal Air Marshal Service of several thousand to provide a deterrent on US-flagged air carriers, both domestically and internationally. It still is a robust organization today. Andy Ockershausen: How many marshals would there be today? Tom Quinn: The number's classified, but suffice it to say, there are several thousand operating from field offices that we created, all over the country. And their mission is essentially to promote confidence in federal aviation through the deployment of federal air marshals to detect, deter, and defeat hostile acts on aircraft, airspace, and airports. Andy Ockershausen: It must be one of the more successful ventures ever attempted by the federal government because, and maybe I'm wrong, but I don't recall any hijacking since these marshals have been in place. Monumental Task - Six Months to Get the Job Done Tom Quinn: Well, there certainly hasn't been any hijackings. They are a significant deterrent along, with the rest of what TSA does in terms of the screening. None of us like it, but it is a fact of life if you're going to fly. And the Federal Air Marshals really is the law enforcement component of that. But if you can imagine standing up an organization with a time certain. The commitment to that was made to the president, President Bush, 43 at the time, was that they would be stood up by the end of July of 2002. So from the time TSA was created, the Federal Air Marshal Service was essentially being stood up. You had roughly six months to select, hire, train, and deploy several thousand into offices that didn't exist around the country, with no leadership to speak of in terms of the numbers of- Andy Ockershausen: Nobody's ever done it before, correct? You didn'tt have any model to follow. Tom Quinn: And, you know, how do you go about ... Most federal law enforcement agencies, the Secret Service, for example, the FBI, if they had a thousand agents to hire in a year, it would be a monumental task for an established organization. We were a new organization with little or no management,

John Matthews, WMAL News Director, on the benefits - all of these years - getting up and being at work by 4:30 in the morning at the latest~ "I don’t know what morning drive traffic is like and I don’t know what afternoon drive traffic is like and I consider that a blessing. I love the hours that I work. And that’s when decisions are made. The decisions except for breaking news, the decisions on stories that you’re hearing at 6:00 at night were made at 5:00 in the morning." John Matthews, WMAL News Director, and host Andy Ockershausen in-studio interview Andy Ockershausen: This is Our Town, Andy Ockershausen with a special guest who's really not special. He's a big part of the woodwork here at WMAL, he's a big part of the station and it's success, a big part of my life because I've known him since he was a kid, and I hired him at WMAL, it's maybe one of the biggest mistakes I ever made, but I lived with it for years and all of a sudden John Matthews became a star. John, welcome to Our Town. John Matthews: Oh my goodness. You are really blowing it up this morning. Andy Ockershausen: Your skirt, blows your skirt up. Whatever blows your- John, what a great thing though that you came here as a kid, a young man out of school. Why did you pick Syracuse to go to school? Education - Syracuse University John Matthews: Well there's a couple of reasons. Number one they had a great broadcast program, but number two my sister went there before I did. Andy Ockershausen: Your talented sister. John Matthews: My talented sister, Julie. She was there before I went and being she's a couple of years older than me, I really hadn't toured a lot of college campuses, so when she went there, one of the only college campuses I'd ever seen was in Syracuse, New York, Syracuse University, so I ended up going there and they had a great broadcast program too. Andy Ockershausen: Where did you grow up, in Washington or Frederick? On Growing Up in Our Town John Matthews: I grew up in Silver Spring, Maryland. Andy Ockershausen: Oh you did? Right here? John Matthews: Oh yeah. Absolutely. Andy Ockershausen: Your dad was a builder and lived here. John Matthews: My dad was a builder. He built the first house that he ever owned, he built in Silver Spring. And I grew up- Andy Ockershausen: What was your relationship to Frederick? Your grandma- John Matthews: My grandparents lived in Frederick. Andy Ockershausen: That's what I thought. John Matthews: Lived in Frederick, Maryland. And my dad grew up in Gallipolis, Ohio. And- Andy Ockershausen: I know it well. John Matthews: Yeah. He grew up in Gallipolis, Ohio, and moved his family here, moved us here. Andy Ockershausen: Were you born in Ohio? John Matthews: No. I was born in Richmond, Virginia. I was born in the- Andy Ockershausen: That's on the way to Ohio, of course. John Matthews: He had a construction job down there. And he was a builder and he had construction work down there. He had my two sisters and I and shortly after I was born, I was less than a year old, we moved up here to the D.C. area and we lived in Langley Park and Takoma Park in apartments. We moved to a house near downtown Silver Spring and then my dad built a house in the White Oak, Hillandale area of Silver Spring and that's where I grew up. Andy Ockershausen: John, that's great to hear you, think I've known your dad for 40, 50 years, I didn't realize all these things. I knew he was a local guy, and I consider Frederick Our Town because we had more listeners in Frederick than Frederick stations had at one time. John Matthews: Sure. Andy Ockershausen: There was a reason for that, our signal. But John, you've had a great experience in Our Town. The moves, obviously you learn things, you knew things, and did you try any other school before Syracuse? John Matthews' WMAL Internship John Matthews: Not for college. I went to Springbrook High School and then I went to Syracuse and then I got my internship at WMAL.

Richard Wiley on what's next in high def TV ~ "Ultra high definition is great. Then there's an even ... double that, coming up in Japan. Super high vision. So, it's just going to keep going. The only problem is, there's only so much that the human eye can absorb." Richard Wiley Chairman Emeritus Wiley Rein LLP and Former FCC Chairman, with Andy Ockershausen in-studio interview Andy Ockershausen: This is Our Town. This is Andy Ockershausen, and we're introducing to our podcast one of the more famous regulators in the history of broadcasting. The man was a Commissioner, he was a General Counsel, he became Chairman of the FCC. He is one of the most important people in the history of broadcasting, and we're so delighted to have Dick Wiley here in Our Town. Richard Wiley: Andy, thank you. It's a pleasure and a privilege to be with you once again! And we're still clicking, you know? Andy Ockershausen: You're clicking, I'm clicking, thank God Janice keeps me clicking. But Dick, you've had such an illustrious life, career, and everything, before you went to straight-when you left the government. But you were such an important part of the growth of broadcast to me, and Our Town, and in the world. And what you did as Commissioner, and if you remember the days that I would call on you with Dick Chapin- Richard Wiley: Absolutely. Andy Ockershausen: ... from Nebraska. We were always interested in what the Commission was doing, and what you were doing. And it helped our industry tremendously. Richard Wiley and others at Federal Communications Commission Worked to Eliminate Outmoded Regulations in the 70s Richard Wiley: Well, we were trying to eliminate some of the old, outmoded regulations. The industry had changed and grown, and prospered, and the regulations remained the same. So, you and Dick were bringing in good ideas to try to make some changes. Andy Ockershausen: And before you would make them, Dean Burch was trying the same thing- Richard Wiley: Absolutely. Absolutely. He was my predecessor. Andy Ockershausen: Yeah, well he was your predecessor- Richard Wiley: Great guy. Andy Ockershausen: But he was never General Counsel like you are. Richard Wiley: No. Andy Ockershausen: I remember when you were the General Counsel- Richard Wiley: I was his General Counsel. Andy Ockershausen: That's it. That's correct. That was quite a team at the time, because you were on the same team, everybody's trying to get rid of these ridiculous restrictions. In addition ... Restrictions are good but when they're ridiculous, they're awful. Richard Wiley: Well, as life goes on, the industries change, technology changes, the regulation can't stay the same. And I think that's what we started. They've certainly gone much beyond where we were in the '70's. This was the '70's, Andy- Andy Ockershausen: Oh, I know! I remember that. Oh my God. But there was such a growth period in the industry in the '70's- Richard Wiley: Really was. Andy Ockershausen: ... was incredible, with the networks and- New Technologies Entered Market in the 70s | Satellite | Cable | Internet Richard Wiley: And other technologies were coming in at the time. Satellite, you know- Andy Ockershausen: We didn't know what they were. Richard Wiley: ... television, and cable, you know - nobody wondered whether cable was going to do anything, became of course, a very dynamic industry. And now we've got the internet, which has changed everything. Andy Ockershausen: Just the modest changes that we made in radio at the time, because everything was on a little disc and we had no tapes. It was ancient. Now all that is gone, Dick. Everything is gone up here somewhere, and we don't know where it is, but it works. We could watch a tape in a tape recorder, but we can't watch it now. Richard Wiley: Absolutely. Andy Ockershausen: But Dick, tell me now, you've had such an illustrious career,

Eshauna Smith on how it is that Urban Alliance students are able to compete in the workforce~ When they take on the Urban Alliance internship, they are working nine months of their senior year. It is 600 hours of work. It is every day after school. They're going three hours a day during the school year, and then in the summer it becomes a full-time job. They do this during their senior year where there are many other obligations and things, everything from college applications to prom to all kinds of senior dues. They make a huge commitment, and they follow through with it. Eshauna Smith - CEO of Urban Alliance in-studio interview Andy Ockershausen: This is Andy Ockershausen. This is Our Town. Speaking to an absolutely gorgeous young lady who has one of the high profile jobs, to me, in Our Town, and that's Eshauna Smith, the head, the CEO of Urban Alliance, or The Urban Alliance, I think is the correct pronunciation. Is that right, Eshauna? Eshauna Smith: It's Urban Alliance. Andy Ockershausen: I don't want to say the? Eshauna Smith: You don't want to say the. Andy Ockershausen: Okay. Eshauna Smith: Our website is www.theurbanalliance.org, but the organization is Urban Alliance. Andy Ockershausen: Well, it was a new word to me and I learned it through the Washington Board of Trade's publications that I read religiously, because it's about Our Town. And what you're doing is so great for Our Town, what the Urban Alliance is doing. How old is the Urban Alliance? Eshauna Smith: Urban Alliance is 22 years old. We began here- Andy Ockershausen: About your age. Eshauna Smith: Well, double. I am 43. Andy Ockershausen: No way. Urban Alliance - When and How it Was Started Eshauna Smith: To make it official, yes, I am. But Urban Alliance was born 22 years ago in Washington DC in 1996. And it was born at the hands of a young person, or several young people who spoke about the need for jobs in the city, and to have jobs while in high school, and to have jobs that helped them to connect what they were learning in the classroom to the real world. And one of those young people happened to say, "What I really need to make my experience better is a real job." And we were lucky that one of our founders said, "Great. I am gonna help you to find that job." Andy Ockershausen: Who might that be? Eshauna Smith: Well, that maybe- Andy Ockershausen: A banker? Eshauna Smith: He is now a banker, but at the time, he was a young attorney with the Department of Justice who had been at an event around stemming youth violence, that was pretty rampant in 1996. And not that the youth were doing that, but just the city was having a lot of challenges where young people were being victims of violence and lots of things going on to that extent. And he happened to be a young attorney at this event where youth were speaking up about what would make this better. And so Andrew Plepler is our founder. He is today a banker, but at that time, he just wanted to help. And when this one young woman said, "What I really need is a job," and when he said, "I will get that for you," she then responded and said, "And I have five additional friends who need jobs." Andy Ockershausen: Wow. That's a landslide for jobs. It's always been about jobs. And what the Urban Alliance seized upon something, or did seize upon something, is we have a connection problem, I think, in Our Town. I think there are jobs, but we've gotta put the people with the jobs. And I hope that's what the Alliance is focused on. We go way back to summer jobs for needy youths. And Marion Barry started in the early 70s. We were involved with him and with George Allen and the Redskins, and it was a great thing to see for Our Town. But that was just summer. What you've done now is expanded, and you need a job, not just in the summer. Urban Alliance - Focuses on First Time Job Experiences and Support Eshauna Smith: That's right.

Al Koken on what started his career ~ "All because I jumped out of an airplane." Al Koken, Capitals Reporter and Host, NBC Sports Washington, and host Andy Ockershausen in-studio interview Andy Ockershausen: This is a special, special treat to me on our podcast, a man, and I know that's a cliché and I'm going to say it anyway, needs no introduction, but he likes it. So I'm going to introduce you to a wonderful, wonderful great broadcaster, Smokin' Al Koken. Al Koken: We're using my biblical name then? Is that what we're doing? Andy Ockershausen: Who came up with the "Smokin'"? Glenn Brenner and a True Badge of Honor - "Smokin'Al Koken" Al Koken: It was given to me, and I wear it with a true badge of honor, by the late great Glenn Brenner. Andy Ockershausen: Glenn did that? Al Koken: When I was working with him at Channel 9, it was back in the day. Remember when the third-string quarterback held the clipboard, as opposed to being inactive? Glenn called me the clipboard guy. If he was on vacation, Ken Mease would go Monday through Friday, and I'd fill in for Ken Mease. I was kind of their third guy. Back in the day when the Redskins were on CBS as opposed to Fox, after Redskin home games they would do a Redskin post-game show with Glenn in the studio, and I would be down at RFK Stadium interviewing players. During one of the broadcasts, we come back from commercial, they're going to come down to me, and I'm going to interview a player. Glenn comes back and says, "All right, let's go back down to RFK Stadium and rejoin," and he paused. I'm thinking, did he forget my name? He goes, "Smokin' Al Koken." I kind of laughed, you know. Andy Ockershausen: First time you heard it? Al Koken: Yeah. Of course, the next day, because it was given by Glenn Brenner, people, "Hey, Smokin' Al Koken. Smokin' Al Koken." That's how it stuck, but because it was given to me by somebody who I respect and love so much- Andy Ockershausen: Everybody. Everybody loved Glenn. Al Koken: Yeah, I treat that like a real badge of honor. Andy Ockershausen: One of the things, and, this isn't at all for you, Koken, but it's important. One of the things Janice and I would really look forward to, because they were friends, was the Redskins show on Saturday night. Well, they taped it on Thursday, but John Riggins and Sonny, of course, and George. Before that it was Glenn. It was all those guys. It was about fun. It was a fun show. Stuff I'm watching now, not fun. Al Koken: Right, and directed by our great friend, Ernie Baur, and produced by Ernie Baur. He was a guy who always made sure that the best of what Glenn did, which was off-the-cuff, ad libbing, as you said, having fun, that had to shine through. You couldn't sit there with John Riggins and Sonny Jurgensen and ask serious questions and get people to watch for 30 minutes. You had to have fun with it, and the more off-script they went, the better the show. Andy Ockershausen: You were right, and it doesn't happen anymore. But Al, you are a Missourian. You're from Missouri, but you've gotta be shown. St. Louis. I remember you, we're trying to get you on the phone. They said, "Don't call him during the World Series. He's in St. Louis." That's was the first time I knew you were connected by a lot of things to St. Louis. St. Louis, Missouri Fan - Baseball, Football and Hockey Al Koken: Grew up in St. Louis, and obviously I was a huge St. Louis Baseball Cardinal fan, football fan, St. Louis Blues. That's where I really fell in love with hockey, seeing the St. Louis Blues for the first years of expansion. They came in 1967, and I remember my uncle had some season tickets, and going down and seeing the games, and just mesmerized. I tell everybody- Andy Ockershausen: You lived in the city? Movie "Back to the Future" Based on University City Al Koken: Lived just on the edge. It's called University City. In fact, I'll give you a very quick story about University City.

Bob Milkovich on the good fortune to have have worked for top-notch "Flagship" companies~ "I consider myself incredibly fortunate to have come here and worked and met people like you, and Ernie Fears, and Tony Renaud at WMAL. And then I went to work for Oliver Carr Company. And then I was able to go and work for Goldman Sachs. Then from that I went to First Potomac Realty Trust and now I'm with Rand* Construction and Linda Rabbitt." Bob Milkovich, CEO of Rand* Construction in-studio interview Andy Ockershausen: This is Andy Ockershausen, this is Our Town, and this is sort of like nostalgia day for me and for Janice and for Ken, because, one of our great, great, I mean that, great, great friends, from the early days of the success of the greatest radio station in the world was a man named, a young man named Bob Milkovich, who I had heard of and discovered when he was a quarterback for the University of Maryland. Len Klompus told me about him. At the same time he had us hire Ken, not Ken, Ken Beatrice. He came down from Boston, and Bob Milkovich, welcome to Our Town. Bob Milkovich: Well, thank you Andy. Thank you Janice. It's so good to be here and I feel so welcomed. I'm back in a place that I called home back in the early '80s when I first came here as a college intern. And I- Andy Ockershausen: From the University of Maryland. From the University of Maryland to WMAL Bob Milkovich: University of Maryland. I actually was introduced to the station by Johnny Holliday so there's a, you know, a- Andy Ockershausen: We're all in this thing together. Before that there was ... What's his name from University of Maryland? Janice: Tim Brant? Andy Ockershausen: Timmy. Tim came here but the athletic director- Bob Milkovich: Russ Potts was a big promotion guy. Andy Ockershausen: Russ Potts. He was a promoter wasn't he? Bob Milkovich: Russ Potts. Andy Ockershausen: Oh my God. Bob Milkovich: He was a big promoter and, you know, he always had promotional campaigns well ahead of his time. Some of the people we were talking about earlier, Andy. Andy Ockershausen: Oh my God. Bob Milkovich: Everybody was kind of ahead of their time. Andy Ockershausen: I kept asking how he got to be an athletic director but Dick Dull, all those people were friends of ours, Bob. But Milkovich is here that's because we're so excited, he has become and just been named the President of the Rand* Company, which for Washingtonians, that those of us that know about it, is great, great position, and great for Bob Milkovich to run this company. Bob Milkovich - New Position as CEO of Rand* Construction Bob Milkovich: Yes. Thank you, Andy. I'm honored. Linda Rabbitt- Andy Ockershausen: She's a wonderful, wonderful woman, Bob. Linda Rabbitt, Chairman of Rand* Construction Bob Milkovich: She is and I enjoy working with her, and she is so talented, and her community involvement is above everybody's standard. Andy Ockershausen: I started with Linda ... She went to college with some friends of mine that went to University of Michigan and they were all in the same sorority. So I go back to her with the early '80s. About your time as a matter of fact, when she worked for Steve Harlan. She was Steve's assistant well before she got into the building trades. But Linda is a magnificent example of a female that really made it big. And she was doing it back in the early '80s when not many other females were doing what she was doing. Bob Milkovich: That's right. That's right. And, you know, back at- Andy Ockershausen: Starting her own company, Bob. Bob Milkovich: She did, and after I left radio I actually went to work with the Oliver Carr Company which I'm sure you know Oliver well. Andy Ockershausen: Oliver T. Bob Milkovich: Oliver T. Yeah, he's very civic-minded and quite a visionary. Andy Ockershausen: Ollie, great guy. Bob Milkovich: And, you know, interestingly enough, the intersection of all of us. Linda, actually,

Patrick Burke on the toughest thing he ever had to do in his career ~ "Tell somebody that their child or their husband or wife or a loved one wasn't coming home because of a traffic fatality. And that's 100% preventable. It still is, these incidents, and there's so much more we can continue to do to make sure that people aren't drunk driving or paying attention to what they're doing on the roads." Patrick Burke - Executive Director Washington DC Police Foundation and host Andy Ockershausen during in-studio interview Andy Ockershausen: This is Andy Ockershausen. This is Our Town. I'm so, so, so happy for a lot of reasons to welcome a very important man in the city of Washington and Our Town, a public servant. I mean, he has been in the police department or connected with it for 27 years on the force. But even since he left the force he's been still in law enforcement. He's just a terrific guy, an important part of Our Town, and a member of the ... He was [sic] the Executive Director at the Washington DC Police Foundation. Pat Burke, welcome to Our Town. Patrick Burke: Thanks, Andy. Good to be here. Andy Ockershausen: You have been amazing to me in all the things I've seen you do over the years. I remember you in uniform, I remember when you started wearing neckties like the rest of us. Now, none of us wear ties anymore, Pat. Isn't that great? Patrick Burke: It is great. It's nice to not have to worry about that every day. Andy Ockershausen: But you always dressed like $1 million, and you had that clean white shirt. and I wouldn't say this unless she was here. I would have loved to have Cathy Lanier. I know you worked close with Cathy. She was such a big, important part of Our Town because of what she did. Patrick Burke: And she's back in town pretty regularly. Her mom still lives out in Maryland, so ... Andy Ockershausen: She had a house in Maryland, I know. Patrick Burke: She still does, so she's still back in town pretty regularly, and she'll actually be at an event in December back in DC. So glad to hear she's doing well with the NFL, and we're glad to have Chief Newsham here, as well. Andy Ockershausen: Well, Cherrie Doggett is having a cocktail Christmas party, and I'm sure she's invited. Cathy was always there, and we got to know her through Bud, as we got to know the police department. But Pat, you're a New Yorker. Not from Buffalo, but from Rochester. Patrick Burke Hails from Rochester, New York Patrick Burke: As I tell my wife, who's from New York, New York I'm from the real part of New York, Western New York. And most of my family is still Rochester, Buffalo, Syracuse. But I have to say, as much as I love them, there's six inches of snow right now in Rochester, and I'll see my mom and dad in the spring. Andy Ockershausen: Yeah, but it'll be gone by July. Patrick Burke: By usually March. I remember Lake Ontario was frozen through St. Patrick's day. Andy Ockershausen: Yeah, they close the lakes off, and everything up there was frozen. But Pat, how did you end up in the police department? You went to school in New York in the State University of New York? In 1989, Burke Chose DC Police Department over Law School Patrick Burke: Yep, I did my undergrad at University of Buffalo, started grad school up there, actually came down to look at American University in DC, law school, and one of my good buddies was working vice for the second district. They said, "Pat, save money. Join the PD." It was the height of the crack epidemic in 1989, so he said, "Come on down and save some money." So I joined the police department. I fell in love with it, and 27 years later I woke up and I had a great career, and my last nine as Assistant Chief. Andy Ockershausen: Well, it's not over. You've still got a great career. But what you're doing is great for the police department and great for Washington PD, but your wife, you say from the other New York, she's a New Yorker? A Long Islander?

Bobby Goldwater, Innovative Sports Executive and Consultant, on when he realized he could come up with a strategy to bring a Major League Baseball team back to Our Town~ "The first five people, Andy, that I met with inside baseball, did not know a basic fact about Washington DC and the light bulb goes off, this is a marketing project. I can do that." Bobby Goldwater, Innovative Sports Executive and Consultant, and host Andy Ockershausen in-studio interview Andy Ockershausen: This is Our Town. This is Andy Ockershausen and a conversation with a very dear friend and a very important person to me and to Our Town. His name is Bobby Goldwater. Many, many times. I have thought to ask you this question, are you related in any way to the Arizona Goldwaters? Senator Barry Goldwater Distant Relative Bobby Goldwater: Yes. I am told, that there is a distant relation. My sister, once upon a time did a family tree. We are, this is what she told us, fourth cousins twice removed, from the Arizona Goldwaters. I never met Senator Goldwater. My father and my brother did, but I did not. Andy Ockershausen: Well, a fabulous human being, to me- Bobby Goldwater: Yes indeed. Andy Ockershausen: ... and a member of Our Town, he lived in Our Town in an apartment complex, and I used to go into the drug store, he went into the druggist all the time, but I met him and then I had the misfortune fortune, I was a delegate to the Republican National Convention to support Barry Goldwater because he was such a, at the time a fresh breeze and a thing. He was a Westerner as you know, and he lived it and breathed it. His family lived it. I went to his department store in Phoenix one time, just to make sure it was there, but he didn't have anything to do with it. I think his brother ran that. The Goldwater's Fine Department Store Bobby Goldwater: Well, the family did, and the first time I was in Phoenix I said to myself, “You know, I've got to go to the department store because it has my name on it.” So I went in, I did some shopping, and I hand my credit card to the clerk, and she sees my last name, and she calls the assistant manager, and the assistant manager is going, “Oh, Mr. Goldwater, Mr. Goldwater, was everything okay?” I'm trying to convince her that I am not that Goldwater, I am not part of that part of the family, and I couldn't convince her so I just let it go. She was very nice, she couldn't have been nicer, but it was just funny, but I took a shopping bag with my family name on it. It was great. Andy Ockershausen: And your own Goldwater. Bobby, that's a great story, but that was a big part of your life. The name I'm sure when you were growing up in the business and you're a New Yorker. Scarsdale High School. Scarsdale High School Alumnus | Scarsdale, New York Bobby Goldwater: Yes sir. Andy Ockershausen: That's a very wealthy neighborhood, Scarsdale, I would say. Bobby Goldwater: People think that, yes. Andy Ockershausen: Scarsdale High was sort of like Hollywood High on the east. I mean they had all the celebrity. And you went to Miami University of Ohio, which is a long way from Scarsdale but not. Scarsdale is the upper grade high school as I remember. Bobby Goldwater: Mm-hmm (affirmative), it is. Andy Ockershausen: And the University of Miami is fabulous. Miami University of Ohio Alumnus Bobby Goldwater: Miami University. Andy Ockershausen: I mean, I mean- Bobby Goldwater: We're very sensitive about that. Andy Ockershausen: And they make a big thing of that too. Bobby Goldwater: Yes, we do. Andy Ockershausen: Donna Shalala, right? Donna Shalala Attended the University of Miami Bobby Goldwater: Yeah. She was at the University of Miami- Andy Ockershausen: I know that. Bobby Goldwater: ... in Florida. Other Ohio Universities Andy Ockershausen: But Ohio is such an important part our culture because there's an Ohio school, it's not Ohio State, right? Bobby Goldwater: Nope. Andy Ockershausen: University of Ohio.

Sue Palka, Fox 5 DC's Chief Meteorologist, on what makes a successful on-air weather forecast~ "It's a combination of a teaching experience, from my teaching years, which were only about seven years. I remember that you have a main idea that you have to deliver, and I feel like I've failed as a forecaster if you don't know the weather when I'm done." Sue Palka and Joe Palka with host Andy Ockershausen in-studio interview Andy Ockershausen: This is Andy Ockershausen. This is Our Town. It's such a pleasure. I mean, it so sincerely to have two of my favorite people in broadcast and life in Washington, DC, Joe and Sue Palka. Welcome to Our Town! Sue Palka: Andy, I know you say that to every guest, but we are delighted to see you because you're the real star of this podcast and we are so excited. Joe Palka: That's true, how many people say to you that you are my hero, Andy, and you continue to be my hero, you really do. Andy Ockershausen: It sounds like hero worship, but it's true. They don't worship me, they worship those call letters. Joe Palka's First Impression of WMAL Personalities, 1980s Joe Palka: It's true, but well, they were great call letters. The most outstanding among a handful in the entire country. And boy, I can remember when I was a young broadcaster back in the 70s and early 80s and I would think of WMAL. Around 1980 when we were first married, we came to visit some people in Washington. I was still in Erie at WRIE, and I heard this guy, John Lyon on the air in the afternoon, and he was, he picked up a guitar and he started singing. I'm just, "Oh my God." And then there was a guy Tom Gauger on and he was playing piano with somebody from the philharmonic. Then I found out that John Lyon was just a fill in, I thought, this is the greatest radio station I'd ever heard in my life. Andy Ockershausen: Joe Palka, you are a fountain of information. What you have done and you've accomplished is amazing, 'cause your wife has out gamed you, like my wife has out gamed me. That's so great, I'm so proud of Sue Palka, what she has accomplish and what Janice Ockershausen has accomplished, and we're lucky to have two great women in our lives. Joe Palka: Who had no taste in men, right? Andy Ockershausen: That's right. Sue Palka: Well, I'll tell you, honestly- Andy Ockershausen: Well I'll tell you, reading about you guys in Erie, Pennsylvania, the snow capital of the world, they tell me. Sue Palka: My gosh, they had 13 inches of snow on November 10th this year. My dad- Andy Ockershausen: In Erie. The Palkas Live in Our Town Thanks to Andy O Sue Palka: -and he said, I gotta get out of here. They had over about 200 inches last year. But before we get into Erie, Andy, I've got to just say Joe and I would not be in DC if it weren't for you. And I never forget that. And when you invited us on the podcast, I told Fox 5, "I'm absolutely doing this, I have to do it because I owe Andy." We would not even be here if it weren't for you and WMAL offering Joe the job. Joe Palka: Let's toss a couple of bones to a couple of people who are no longer with us, Jim Gallant and Eileen Griffin. Now they were also responsible for my departure, but guess what, had they not brought me here, our life would have changed entirely. Andy Ockershausen: Everything was timing. Was on my way out when you came in, but that happens too. Joe Palka: Yeah, well, God works in funny ways. Andy Ockershausen: But that's life. But to have Sue remain in our lives has been terrific for Janice and I cause we knew her as a fresh face kid doing weekends, and all of a sudden she's a major, major star. And I say that, I know what I'm talking about. I know what the public reflects about Sue Palka. Joe Palka: Well, I have a feeling that had television not been invented in 1985 when Sue first started, they would have invented it just for her. Sue Palka: Oh, stop. Joe Palka: Oh no, you were a school teacher.

Dana Lawhorne, Sheriff of the City of Alexandria, VA, on the 1998 Woodrow Wilson Bridge jumper negotiations ~ "We went out there. Derek Gaunt’s talking to the guy. As a team leader my responsibility is to watch him and sort of manage what’s going on. Anyway, we’d been out there about six hours, sun went down. We got a little cold, but it was a threat that he’d had a gun. That’s why we backed off." Dana Lawhorne, Sheriff of the City of Alexandria, VA and host Andy Ockershausen in-studio interview Andy Ockershausen: This is Andy Ockershausen. This is Our Town. I'm delighted, I say that all the time Dana, but I really mean it in your case because you approached me and we were at a Heroes meeting and you brought up WMAL and the fact that you grew up with it, and that impressed me more than your badge and more than your stars because you are part of Our Town. I'm so delighted to have you with us. Dana Lawhorne: Thank you for having me. What an honor and a privilege. My life is complete. Andy Ockershausen: As a listener and a purveyor of the scene you knew what WMAL was about and I was impressed that you can remember those people and those names. Alexandria, VA Born and Bred Dana Lawhorne: Yes, I grew up in Alexandria, been there my whole life. The house I live in now I look out the back door and see the house that I grew up in. Every household ... I'm 60 so you're going back to the early '60s, every household was on AM630. That's how I just kind of thought that that's what everybody listened to. Growing Up with WMAL AM630 Dana Lawhorne: I'd always wake up in the morning to Harden and Weaver, so when you first wake up you're kind of in a daze and I'm like, "There's them guys again." I said that. My mom must've rented my room to somebody. I thought they lived in the house actually. I just thought they were part of the family. I grew up on AM630 and all the greats, the personality radio back in the day. The radio was based on personalities. Andy Ockershausen: Your family named you Dana. To me, when I grew up Dana was a girl's name, but I love it. Dana Andrew was my first experience of an actor. Remember him? Dana Lawhorne: Oh yeah. Andy Ockershausen: Great actor. What's In a Name, Literally! Dana Lawhorne: I can tell you two things about that real quick. I suspect that's where they got the name. I was born in 1957 and that was his heyday. I mean he was big. Andy Ockershausen: Oh boy. Dana Lawhorne: I'm a big Dana Andrews fan. That's the story I like to tell. Growing up there were no male Danas. They were all girl Danas. Dana Lawhorne: It was tough. It was tough. Andy Ockershausen: I'll bet it was. Dana Lawhorne: Let me tell you, and it's still tough at age 60. Andy Ockershausen: It's tough in Alexandria too. Lawhorne Finds the Humor in His Name Dana Lawhorne: Look, they still think I'm a girl. I go to the doctor and I'm the only one sitting in the waiting room. They walk out and they go, "Dana Lawhorne," they like looking all round they go, they turn around and they go to the back. I'm like knocking on the door, "I'm Dana Lawhorne." They're like, "Oops." They do. They go, "Oops, sorry." I'm like, "I'm used to it. Don't worry about it." Andy Ockershausen: I knew it. It had to be. Dana Lawhorne: All the coupons I get from CVS, the rewards, they're all for ... Andy Ockershausen: Dana, you impress me so much in our conversation. You really knew about Our Town. You know about growing up here. You knew how important WMAL was to everybody, not just to Alexandria. You grew up as a cop in Alexandria, so you had a dose of what we were and what we were doing. You're such a great friend of WMAL. We appreciate you. AM630 WMAL Good Memories of Days Gone By Larry Krebs Dana Lawhorne: Somebody told me about your podcast show and I longed for the days of true radio talk, if you ask me, where the talk radio was based on personalities. You were just part of our home.

Steve Buckhantz on one of the biggest scoops in Washington football history~ "I broke it and it was before it was supposed to come out. But it did and it was a fabulous day for us, for all of us because it was just so filled with adrenaline." Steve Buckhantz, TV Play by Play Announcer for Washington Wizards in-studio interview Andy Ockershausen: This is Andy Ockershausen, and this is Our Town. Janice said to me one day, "Andy, you're a has been, but maybe you could get back into action by doing a podcast." And I said to her, "What is a podcast?" That was it, seriously Steve. Two years ago, and she put me on the road to recovery. Janice is a- Janice Iacona Ockershausen: So do you want to introduce Steve so people know who you're talking to? Andy Ockershausen: I'm sorry. Buckhantz needs no introduction. I thought everybody knew he was here. I told everybody he was. Steve Buckhantz: If it were TV they'd know, but radio has no pictures. Andy Ockershausen: Steve Buckhantz is such a absolute icon, and that's a terrible say for a man this young, but it was a time there was Glen Brenner, and there was Gordon Peterson, and there were names everywhere. They're all gone now. Thank God we still have Buckhantz, and we have Buckhantz and the world champion, I hope, Wizards some day. Steve Buckhantz: That's nice of you. That's nice of you, Andy. I go back in DC to 1984 is when I came back here, but I'm born and raised here as you know. Steve Buckhantz: Washington-Lee High School Alumnus Andy Ockershausen: Washington-Lee High School. Steve Buckhantz: Washington-Lee High School. Born at Columbia Hospital for Women, which is no longer. Andy Ockershausen: Aha, so was I. Steve Buckhantz: Yeah. A lot of people were. It's incredible isn't it? Andy Ockershausen: Had one of my sons born at Columbia. Steve Buckhantz: Yup, they- Andy Ockershausen: It was for women at one time, but then it turned into general. Steve Buckhantz: Yeah, that's what they called it, and they tore that down after I was born I think. I don't think they wanted to make the same mistake twice. Andy Ockershausen: The weather department bought that building and tore it down and built a new one. But Steve- Steve Buckhantz: Yeah. Raised in Arlington and W&L High School, a very famous high school, which they're getting ready to change the name of, but a very famous high school that- Andy Ockershausen: They're dropping Lee? Other Well-Known Washington-Lee High School Alumni Steve Buckhantz: Well, they're not dropping it. They're getting rid of the whole Washington-Lee, and I don't know what the new name will be, but at any rate you had Warren Beatty and Shirley MacLaine grew up in Arlington and went to that high school. Sandra Bullock was nine years after me. Janice Iacona Ockershausen: Ken Hunter. Steve Buckhantz: Ken Hunter, yes. Forrest Tucker from F Troop, great sports athletes like Jake Scott who was a super bowl MVP went to W&L. Eric Sievers, John Lippold was a kicker. Reggie Harrison was great running back. Andy Ockershausen: God, Steve, you've got them all. Steve Buckhantz: John Hummer who was a great basketball player here, he and his brother Ed at Princeton, and John went on to play for the Buffalo Braves. Andy Ockershausen: I'm gonna one up you with a guy that you don't know, but his name was Myron Gerber. His father was, they started Drug Fair. How about that? Steve Buckhantz: Oh really? How about that? Andy Ockershausen: He was Washington-Lee, he went to Naval Academy. Steve Buckhantz: Stanley McChrystal. Andy Ockershausen: A Jew in the navy. He was the first one, I'm serious.

David Blair, Entrepreneur and Political Activist, on his experience running for political office for the first time ~ "It's an incredible experience. It's a life changing experience and the amount of gratitude that I feel for having been through that process, no regrets with running. It was that phenomenal...It was the hardest thing I've done. I ran a public company for 15 years and I thought that was hard. . .." David Blair, Entrepreneur and Political Activist, and host Andy Ockershausen in studio interview Andy Ockershausen: This is Andy Ockershausen and this is Our Town. And I am so delighted to welcome a young man to Our Town, who I met on cold morning for breakfast at a place in Bethesda, and welcome to Our Town, David Blair. David Blair: Thank you Andy, it's great to be here. David Blair's Experience Running for County Executive Andy Ockershausen: It was such a great morning 'cause Doro Koch and Eric Shuster, Eric said "you gotta come and meet David Blair". I didn't know you from the man in the moon, and Doro called and said you gotta do it and her sister in law, and we met for breakfast and they announced to me that you were planning to run for Montgomery County Executive. And I was impressed. David Blair: That's right. I remember that breakfast well. Andy Ockershausen: And you did. David Blair: Yeah. Andy Ockershausen: And you couldn't have had a better supporter than Doro Koch and Eric Shuster. David Blair: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Andy Ockershausen: 'Course it didn't help you win the seat. Or win a position, but you must have had a wonderful time, David. David Blair: It's an incredible experience. So it's a life changing experience and the amount of gratitude that I feel for having been through that process, no regrets with running. It was that phenomenal. Andy Ockershausen: Well for no other reason than just in the race, that politicians deserve a lot of credit. I don't wanna, it's bigger than credit, but they really throw their lives into it. It's not a causal job. It's full time. David Blair: It was the hardest thing I've done. So I ran a public company for 15 years and I thought that was hard and we used to say oh wow, we have to work for a week on this project or we have to pull an all nighter. Running for office was up early, 7 a.m., home you know 9 or 10 o'clock and then it was seven days a week. And so one of the challenges was you never got a chance to exhale. Like you would look at your calendar at like 10 o'clock the night before the next day and you just went all day. It was an extremely hard thing to do. Andy Ockershausen: But you were managed, 'cause you have to do that. Before we get to your political career, I'd like to talk about the early David Blair. David Blair: Sure. Andy Ockershausen: Are you a native of Montgomery County? Blair is Lifelong Resident of Montgomery County, MD - It's in His Blood David Blair: I am. Born and raised here. Andy Ockershausen: And where'd you go to high school? David Blair: So I was born in Silver Spring. Most of my life I was in Darnestown, as a kid growing up and went to the Darnestown elementary school and there was a middle school out there and I ended up going to high school at Bullis which is in Potomac. Andy Ockershausen: Yeah, great school. David Blair: Yeah, it was. Andy Ockershausen: It used to be in the city years ago, but that was before your time. David Blair: That's right. Andy Ockershausen: But Bullis is a fine school and a lot of great graduates of Bullis that went to college and so forth. And then you decided to stay in Montgomery County. I mean you opened your first business in Montgomery County? David Blair: I did. So I went to school at Clemson University in South Carolina. Andy Ockershausen: Oh that's right. Oh we gotta hear about Clemson here again. David Blair: Well now it's easy to talk about them because of the football team. Andy Ockershausen: Wow. Follows His Dad's Footsteps

Hillary Howard, Reporter, Co-anchor, WTOP, and "It's Academic" Host on what it means to her to host "It's Academic" ~ "I really am. It's an honor to be a part of a legacy program with those wonderful people who produce it, and the kids. And that we're giving props to education. Knowledge is sacrosanct."

Lew Strudler credits the late George Michael and Ken Beatrice for much of the success of the Caps 1982 "Save the Washington Capitals" 30-day campaign~ "If it wasn’t for the two of them at that particular period of time, who every night got on the air for that 30 days. They came out to The Capital Center at that point, helped us when we were doing all kinds of special events to get the city involved, especially the corporate city..." Lew Strudler, Vice President Global Partnerships, Monumental Sports and Entertainment, and Andy Ockershausen in studio interview Andy Ockershausen: This is Andy Ockershausen. This is Our Town, and I've had the opportunity to talk to a man I've known for many, many years. A big part of WMAL incidentally, never as an employee, but as an in-house important friend: Lew Strudler, Vice President of Global Partnership for Monumental Sports. Lew, you could've knocked me over with a feather when somebody told me that. That's your title. Lew Strudler: That is my title. Andy Ockershausen: It's incredible, and I go back to you when you were working for the Wizards. You could've even been a player. I don't remember, and that was in the early '80s. Lew Strudler: In '82, I go back. It wasn't even the Wizards, it was the Bullets and the Washington Capitals when I started in July of 1982 with Abe Pollin. Andy Ockershausen: You know the Washington Capitals at one time was a basketball team, you knew that of course. Lew Strudler: That goes ways back even before that. That is correct. Andy Ockershausen: I mean, a very good basketball team. Lew Strudler: That's when you were a young boy, absolutely. Andy Ockershausen: At Uline Arena, I remember it all, Lew, but you're a big part of Our Town because of your association with Abe and with the organization for many years in my position at WMAL. You were the image of talking to people with Abe. Talk to Lew and then you'll get to Abe, and that was very important to our growth at WMAL. Lew Strudler Signed on with Abe Pollin and Company to Create with 30-Day Campaign to Save the Washington Capitals Lew Strudler: I started with Abe and he called me in the summer of '82 and was really distressed about the financial state of the Washington Capitals, and at that point in time, wasn't sure he was going to keep the team in Washington. And he called me to come onboard and put together a campaign called Save the Washington Capitals. Andy Ockershausen: Who were you with then, Lew? How Lew Strudler Met Abe and Irene Pollin Lew Strudler: I was working at the National Mental Health Association. I was their Director, but I was really staffing Rosalynn Carter in terms of her doing special events, fundraising events around the Country as First Lady, and Abe and Irene Pollin were on the Board of Directors of the National Mental Health Association, and that's how I got to meet them for a good period of time. Andy Ockershausen: You know, when we had Irene here as one of our first guests on Our Town, because she represented Abe and the city so well as a big part of us, but you bring up names, Lew, that were so important, but where did you start? Did you start in Hyattsville? You didn't start life- Lew Strudler: I was in Landover. I was working in DC. I grew up in New York City. Andy Ockershausen: That's what I thought, you were a New Yorker. Lew Strudler: I was a New Yorker and I came down here, was working at the Mental Health Association for about four years, and then got a phone call one night from Abe Pollin to come and have lunch with him on a Wednesday, and he started talking to me about the state of the Capitals and how he was either going to sell them, disband them, or give it a 30-day effort to try to make it work. And he asked me at that point in time would I come onboard totally outside the world of sports, even though I loved all sports, if I'd come on- Andy Ockershausen: But you were not in sports at the time. Lew Strudler: No.

Neal Augenstein on how he views his job, as a reporter ~ "Story telling is just what we do. Reporters have to boil things down to make it so anybody can understand it... if I could figure out the simple things. If I could understand something, if I could ask enough questions so I could understand the concept, it will be something that I could pass along to the audience. That's what I've tried to do. I don't mind looking like an idiot, and asking my question, if I can come away from there being a temporary expert on whatever it is." Neal Augenstein, Reporter and Tech Editor WTOP, and host Andy Ockershausen in studio interview Andy Ockershausen: This is Our Town. This is Andy Ockershausen, and I am so delighted. I say that because I mean it. To talk head-to-head, person-to-person with a man that I've listened to on the radio for so long, and has the most memorable voice, and that is a supreme compliment, Neal Augenstein.Neal Augenstein: Thank you, Andy. Has it really been that long that you've been listening? It really sounded like it's been years and years and years- Andy Ockershausen: Well, it has been because I've been around a long time. I grew up in the radio and television business, but my love has always been radio. Voices are so important to me and so important to talent. You have an enormous talent and one of them is your voice. Neal Augenstein: Thank you.Andy Ockershausen: You know that. Jim Farley Made an Investment in Augenstein's Talent and the Rest is History Neal Augenstein: To be honest, it's actually a miracle that I'm even on the air. I spend so much time in my career having bosses tell me, "you don't belong on the radio." When I started here at TOP in 1997, I had a lisp, and I couldn't say the letters 'L' and I couldn't say the letter 'S'. One of the things that Jim Farley did before he would hire me full-time is he said, I'm going to send you to a voice coach." He sent me to Ann Utterback. Andy Ockershausen: I've heard that name. Neal Augenstein: ... who historically, she's a voice coach- Andy Ockershausen: You were probably fortunate that Farley recognized your talent, and then wanted to expand on it, rather than just let you go. He's an amazing man. Neal Augenstein: I was very lucky that he made ... I considered it an investment in me. I also worked for a couple of years with a speech pathologist who helped make it a little easier for me to say those 'S's' and 'L's'. Even to this day, I have to think about it when I say them, but thankfully, I guess I had other talents or other tools in story-telling that were able to compensate. Andy Ockershausen: I compliment you on the ability. I don't want to say story-telling so much as you sell what you're covering by emphasizing it. I noticed that and I appreciate it so much. I know your work and I know how busy you are, but you still sell that story. "Storytelling is just what we do." Neal Augenstein: Thank you. Really, story telling is just what we do. Reporters have to boil things down to make it so anybody can understand it. In fact, when I started in this business, or actually before I started in this business, I went to American University and got a degree in broadcast journalism. I realized that I really did not like politics. I thought to myself, "I must be in the wrong business." Andy Ockershausen: In the wrong city, that's for sure. Neal Augenstein: Certainly, in the wrong city. Eventually, when I got the chance to do some news, I thought to myself, "you really don't know very much about politics, and you're not that interested in it," but if I could figure out the simple things. If I could understand something, if I could ask enough questions so I could understand the concept, it will be something that I could pass along to the audience.

Joanne Alper, Retired Judge, 17th Judicial Circuit Court, Arlington, certified Mediator Supreme Court of Virginia, and trailblazer for women in the legal profession on private mediation in divorce cases ~ "But it's still more humane than throwing it all up in front of a judge who's a stranger. This way these people make their own decisions. So I've become a huge fan of the process." Hon. Joanne Alper (Ret.), Trailblazer, and host Andy Ockershausen in studio interview Andy Ockershausen: This is Andy Ockershausen and this is Our Town. I have greatest, greatest news for you that has ... I hope you're regular listeners because you're gonna hear from a unique, wonderful, special individual and a very dear friend, who happens to be a sitting judge, but she doesn't sit any more because she's too busy now. But Joanne Alper is a legend in Northern Virginia legal cycle. Joanne Alper: Thank you. Andy Ockershausen: What do you think of that? Joanne Alper: Well, that's ... I never thought of myself as a legend. Andy Ockershausen: But you are. Think about it, Joanne. You're a trailblazer. Maybe it wasn't meant to be that way, but isn't that not the way it's happened? Trailblazing Joanne Alper: To some extent, yes. As a woman lawyer starting out in the mid-70s, it was like being a trailblazer. There were very few of us. You could probably count on the fingers of one and a half hands how many women there were. Andy Ockershausen: The only other female I ever knew in the law was Betty Thompson, who is a very dear friend of yours, I know. Joanne Alper: Yes. Yes. Brooklyn Born Andy Ockershausen: But you have a wonderful story about how you got started and we wanna hear that, but before that ... I didn't know you were born in Manhattan. Joanne Alper: Born in Brooklyn, actually. Andy Ockershausen: Oh, you were? But that's part of New York City, of course. Joanne Alper: Yes. Andy Ockershausen: A lot of people don't realize it. They think it's another world. But, Joanne, and your dad and mom are New Yorkers? Joanne Alper: That's right. Andy Ockershausen: And you're a native New Yorker? That's a great song, incidentally. Joanne Alper: I grew up in New York. I was a native New Yorker, but I've obviously lived a whole lot more of my life in Virginia than I ever lived in New York. Andy Ockershausen: Well, we consider that Virginia's . . . Our Town, you understand that, though? Joanne Alper: Yes. Andy Ockershausen: So even it's Arlington or Vienna, it's Our Town. And Joanne, you've lived that in Long Island with your parents. Joanne Alper: That's right. G.I. Bill Benefits, Baby Boomers, and Growing Up in Valley Stream Andy Ockershausen: Your dad was in WWII, correct? Joanne Alper: Yes. He was a veteran of World War II. Andy Ockershausen: So he probably got the G.I. Bill? Joanne Alper: That's right. Andy Ockershausen: When you think about it, you're too young. Janice in the military. She's too young. I lived through what the G.I. Bill meant to America. It was incredible. Joanne Alper: It was. My dad- Andy Ockershausen: It jump-started our country. Joanne Alper: My dad grew up, his parents were immigrants from Russia. Came over in 1912 or '13. He was born here. Some of his older siblings were born in Russia. But he, by getting the G.I. Bill and having the money, he could have gone to college, but he met my mother and wanted to get married. So he took the benefits he had after a few years of living ... When I was about three years old, they bought a house out on Long Island in a new development that everyone in the neighborhood were G.I.s who were doing the same thing. So we were all about the same age, all baby boomers, sort of growing up together. Andy Ockershausen: Very even, correct? I mean, the whole neighborhood and the environment was even. Joanne Alper: Exactly. It was amazing. In fact, as I said, we just had our 50th high school reunion two weeks ago, and just to see some of these people that I've know...

Bill Lord's underlying reason for writing, "50 Years After Vietnam: Lessons and Letters from the War I Hated Fighting"~ "I think a lot of us retired and thought, 'I've to get this off my chest.' Because remember, I got back from Vietnam on a Friday and started school again on the next Monday. I put it out of my mind. Honestly, I didn't talk about it much at all. Lots of people didn't even know I'd been to Vietnam." Bill Lord, Author and Retired News Director at WUSA and WJLA, and host Andy Ockershausen in-studio interview Andy Ockershausen: This is Andy Ockershausen and this is Our Town. One of the great privileges we have in Our Town is to talk to a lot of people who've made a great impression on Our Town. May not have been natives, but they've been here long enough almost to be involved with natives. The gentleman with Bill Lord. Bill Lord wrote a book called "50 Years After Vietnam" and it's a fabulous book, I read an excerpt from it, and I want to talk to you about ... you started your war here at Channel 7, Bill and welcome to Our Town. Bill Lord - University of Washington Huskie Football Fan Bill Lord: Thank you, I'm happy to be here. Andy Ockershausen: Well, looking back at your career though, I see you're University of Washington, a Huskie. Bill Lord: I am a Huskie. As a matter of fact, an intense football fan even to this day. Andy Ockershausen: Most magnificent stadium in America, I think, is on a lake. Bill Lord: It is, it's beautiful. Andy Ockershausen: It's a fabulous place. Bill Lord: One of my old houses used to look across the lake into that stadium from a couple miles away, but it was a beautiful, beautiful place and I have only the fondest memories of it. Andy Ockershausen: Now they got to play Washington State though in the big game, I think it's two weeks coming up. Bill Lord: We always were pretty confident going into the Apple Cup. Andy Ockershausen: That was a gimme wasn't it? Bill Lord: But it's no more. They are really good. Washington State is really good and it's a crap shoot. I mean honestly, whoever wins that game goes to the championship game and I would not bet, as much as I love the Huskies, I wouldn't bet on them in this one. Andy Ockershausen: No, heard they'd probably play Stanford in the championship game. That's what it looks like now. Bill Lord: Yeah, yeah. Andy Ockershausen: Well Bill, you're from Seattle area or- Bill Lord: No, I grew up in the Seattle area. Andy Ockershausen: ... Seattle's Best. You are! Bill Lord: Thank you. No, it was a great place to grow up and we had nothing but great experiences there. The University of Washington was a wonderful place to go but once you get into the media, you move. Andy Ockershausen: How'd you get in it though? I mean, you started at KRIO? Bill Lord: No, I started in Medford, Oregon but honestly, I got- Andy Ockershausen: I know Medford, Oregon. Reporter for the University of Washington Daily Bill Lord: ... I got into it at the University of Washington because I was just back from Vietnam, I was in school, and I was looking for a way to kind of being involved in things. But we were so splintered in those days, if you think the nation is divided now, it was completely divided then. Andy Ockershausen: Absolutely, I lived through it, I know what you're saying Bill. Bill Lord: And I actually found, by working on the University of Washington Daily, that I could be involved in all of the events of the day without having to be the advocate for some radical cause. I think it was like I kind of found my calling there and you know, for the next 50 years I spent working in news rooms. Andy Ockershausen: You started as a writer with the- Bill Lord: Yeah, I started as a writer on that paper. Andy Ockershausen: ... street writer? I mean, you were a reporter? Bill Lord: Just regular old reporter. Andy Ockershausen: Slogging around the streets of Seattle? Bill Lord: Well we didn't do that much slogging around.

Steven Portnoy, CBS News Correspondent covering the White House, on WMAL's influence in Our Town while under host Andy O's direction~ "But it speaks to the influence that the radio station had in this marketplace. I mean this radio station was listened to inside the White House. Harden and Weaver were part of, I’m sure, Ronald Reagan’s morning." Steven Portnoy - CBS News Correspondent and host Andy Ockershausen in studio interview Andy Ockershausen: This is Andy Ockershausen. This is Our Town and I've been ordered to do a great intro for this man, but he doesn't need a great intro because he's a great broadcaster and a great radio guy and I'm so delighted that one of the WMAL graduates has made it big, big, big time is Steven Portnoy of ABC. That's the American Broadcasting Company, which is now Disney. Welcome to Our Town, Steve. Steven Portnoy: Thank you sir. It's good to be with you. I should amend that. I was with ABC for many years and now I'm with CBS. Andy Ockershausen: What? Steven Portnoy: So now I've worked for two networks. Andy Ockershausen: You dumped our network? We're still ABC people here. I don't know why, but we are. We go along with the flow of course, but Steven, you've had a great, great career both, while you were here and why you left here and now you're with CBS. But you can look back and think of the great days of WMAL because you were at the tail end of it, but you were here never the less. Steven Portnoy's Connection to WMAL and Other WMAL Alumni Steven Portnoy: Well, I feel like I was saying earlier to the lovely Janice here. I feel like I've come back to college because I spent my formative years in our business right here in these studios here at WMAL Radio. Actually, talking through these same Sennheiser microphones. But I was here for about three and a half years for WMAL Radio news department and then, made the move to ABC network news and was on this radio station still for another 11 years or so. So I have a pretty long connection with this station, and it is- Andy Ockershausen: You moved down to downtown with another WMAL graduate in charge of news. Janice Iacona Ockershausen: Robin Vierbuchen Sproul Andy Ockershausen: Robin Vierbuchen Sproul started right here in that news room right behind you. Steven Portnoy: Robin Vierbuchen Sproul. Charles Gibson also another- Andy Ockershausen: Oh yeah, Charlie. Steven Portnoy: ... very famous voice who rose through the ranks from WMAL to ABC News. Andy Ockershausen: Let me tell you how important I was. I'll fly in a red eye from Los Angeles and I needed somebody to give me a ride and pick me up. So the news director sent Charlie Gibson. Giving me a ride from the airport. He never forgot it. He loved it. He talks about it now and he remembers the good old days. People love to help each other. Steven Portnoy: Sure. Well, I mean, very famous names have passed through these halls. I mean, we can talk about the legends of WMAL radio. We just lost one, Bill Mayhugh in the last couple of weeks. Andy Ockershausen: I know, so sad. But Bill hadn't been well for a while and Shirley had died before him. But we were just talking with the chief of police at Montgomery County about Johnny Holliday. Another one of our guys out of this studio and working with Janice in the morning. They're still around, thank God. Steven Portnoy: Well, Harden and Weaver. We had Trumbull and Core. Big names. Janice mentioned that I came in sort of at the tail end of that epic era of WMAL Radio. Andy Ockershausen: Era, right. Portnoy Begins His Career at WMAL at the Tail End of Station's Epic Era | From General Mass Appeal to Narrow Interest Level Steven Portnoy: When I first joined,

Dave McConnell on women in politics ~ "They have gotten a raw deal in politics, in the Senate, in the House, for a long, long time and I'm glad to see things are changing." Dave McConnell, Capitol Hill Reporter for WTOP and host Andy Ockershausen in studio interview Andy Ockershausen: I'm Andy Ockershausen. This is Our Town and I'm getting a wonderful, wonderful, opportunity to talk to an old friend. He's really not old but he's been around longer than I, almost as long as I have, Dave, which is pretty spectacular. Dave McConnell, the star of WTOP, the number one reporter on the Hill. You've been there longer than anybody. Dave McConnell: I probably have by now on the radio television side. I think there are a couple of print guys that have longer times in than me. Hill Reporting | Joe McCaffrey Andy Ockershausen: You have ingrained yourself so much into that Hill, and I have been a fan of yours since. Thank God you got that good WMAL training before you went out on the street and work with a lot of professionals. And all these years you work with a lot of pros. It helps you, David. Dave McConnell: It does. Andy Ockershausen: It keeps you on your toes. Dave McConnell: Absolutely. Andy Ockershausen: I'm sure you remember it was our friend, Joe McCaffrey. Dave McConnell: I do indeed. Andy Ockershausen: He got into the newspaper business and we lost track of him. I don't know. He died or whatever. He was down in Virginia somewhere. Dave McConnell: When I first came to the Hill I used to see Joe, yeah. He was still there. Eddie Gallagher | Mark Evans Andy Ockershausen: Yeah. Well, I think he got out of the army here and didn't leave. WTOP, one of my favorite sounds. I remember when it was WJSV. I remember the lineup was Eddie Gallagher. Who was following them? The morning man was, oh God. Well Eddie did that moonlight show. What was it called? Dreams or something? Dave McConnell: Well, there was- Andy Ockershausen: Mark Evans! Dave McConnell: Yeah, that's right. Mark Evans. Housewives protectively. Andy Ockershausen: HPL, right? Dave McConnell: Yeah. Andy Ockershausen: I was a CBS guy and I was at his funeral and had a chance to talk about him a little bit. Jim Gibbons, who had been working for us along with. But WTOP was such a powerhouse with that 1,500 signal and nobody could compete with that. Then FM came along. Then FM was made by WTOP-FM, by switching at FM station. They bought the station, right? Dave McConnell: Yes. Andy Ockershausen: WGMS. Dave McConnell: Our original FM station, we gave away to Howard University. Andy Ockershausen: And Mrs. Graham? Dave McConnell: Well, Katherine Graham, Larry Israel, was running the station then I'm thinking. Larry Israel | WTOP Went All News and WMAL Made Deal for Games Andy Ockershausen: Yeah. I was talking about Larry, paying him a compliment because I got to know Larry quite well because it was a small town then, Dave. Ain't that way anymore. Dave McConnell: No. Andy Ockershausen: You knew everybody, everybody knew you. Management, talent, whatever. We were all together, you know the hangouts were the same; the Dancing Crab, or Duke's Restaurant, or whatever it was. It doesn't exist anymore, the camaraderie. But Larry Israel called me one day and said that they were broadcasting Maryland football, and he said, this is like 1968-70, said, "We're going all news and I'm not gonna be able to do any more play-by-play because you can't do both. You can't be all news and do play-by-play." It was his theory. Dave McConnell: Mm-hmm (affirmative) Andy Ockershausen: And I supported that because he's right, you can't have a baseball game on and say you're doing all news. And he couldn't have a football game. So, he tipped us and we called over there and made a deal to take the games off of WTOP. And that's when people were close, I don't think that exists in radio anymore. Lot of competitiveness, but work together. Dave McConnell: Well, yeah,

Monsignor Salvatore Criscuolo, St. Patrick's Catholic Church Pastor and DC First Responders' Chaplain, on his experience at the historic church in Washington DC ~ "It's been an amazing experience and to this day, I have been there since 2004. I will work around in the church every so often by myself and I look around and I look after the heavens, and I say to the good Lord I still can't believe you put me in charge of this. So he has a great sense of humor. " Reverend Monsignor A. Salvatore Criscuolo and host Andy Ockershausen in studio interview Andy Ockershausen: This is Andy Ockershausen. This is Our Town and this is our first opportunity to talk to this gentleman on the air, and I'm so delighted, because the Reverend Monsignor Salvatore is today with us and he is the head man, I say the head man, the head priest from St. Patrick's. I think St. Patrick's could be the oldest Catholic church, is that correct? St. Patrick's Church - Washington DC Monsignor Salvatore Criscuolo: It is, Andy. It is the first church established in the federal city, goes back to 1794. Andy Ockershausen: It's just an incredible history of St. Pat's. Monsignor Salvatore Criscuolo: It is. Andy Ockershausen: It was a celebrity church too, for awhile. A lot of people got married there, but I guess they moved to new parishes and so forth, but I've known St. Pat's ... I'm from Northeast Washington. My grandfather was here, he was a baker. I never knew him, but someplace at 5th and G, and I think his parish might have been St. Patrick. Monsignor Salvatore Criscuolo: 5th and G, it probably would have. Andy Ockershausen: That's close, isn't it? Monsignor Salvatore Criscuolo: Very, very close. Andy Ockershausen: There wasn't a lot downtown in those days, and there wasn't much to downtown. But Sal, we're so delighted to have you and to talk to you. In addition to your work with the clergy. You are the chaplain for the police and fire departments of the greatest city in the world, Our Town, Washington, DC. Monsignor Salvatore Criscuolo - Chaplain to DC's First Responders Monsignor Salvatore Criscuolo: I am. I've been very blessed for the last 32 years to serve the First Responders in the District of Columbia, as well as some of the federal agencies that are here. Andy Ockershausen: Do you do work, any county work? Do you help out if they need you? Monsignor Salvatore Criscuolo: I don't do anything in the county. There's enough going on in Our Town. But I work with Metropolitan Police, is when I first came on, back in 1986 as their chaplain and then it's expanded over the years where I work with Capital Police, the Park Police, Secret Service, do some work with ATF, Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. Andy Ockershausen: You've got a lot of people depending on you in bad times. Because that's when they call for you mostly, in bad times, correct? Monsignor Salvatore Criscuolo: Well, thank God, they don't only call in bad times. They call- Andy Ockershausen: I know that. You're an entertainer, I know that. Monsignor Salvatore Criscuolo: ... when there's graduations and when there are promotions. They also call when they want to get married, they call when they want to have their children baptized. So it's a parish, it's just it's a unique parish. Andy Ockershausen: The whole departments are your parish. Monsignor Salvatore Criscuolo: Right, right. Andy Ockershausen: And the same thing with the Fire and Rescue people? Ordained in 1978 and Assigned to Our Lady of Sorrows, Takoma Park, MD Monsignor Salvatore Criscuolo: Correct, yeah. So it's an amazing ministry that when I was ordained back in 1978, never thought that I would be doing this kind of ministry. In my first assignment in Takoma Park, the volunteer fire department in Takoma asked me if I would come and be a chaplain to their fire department. Andy Ockershausen: Did you have a parish out there? Monsignor Salvatore Criscuolo: I did. I was brand-new,

Chief Manger responds to comments about his demeanor and personality ~ "I tell this to the community all the time, that when we hire cops, we're looking for people that are good communicators. And have a spirit for public service. I will tell you that any empathy or compassion that I have, I got from my parents. And I credit my mom for a lot of the way I am and the way I approach situations, and the way I approach people." Chief Manger, Chief of Police, Montgomery County MD, and host Andy Ockershausen in studio interview Andy Ockershausen: This is Our Town. This is Andy Ockershausen. And as I have the great, great honor to talk to a gentleman that I've admired from afar for many, many years. Chief J. Thomas Manger of Montgomery County. And the first question, Chief, is what does the J stand for? Family Legacy Chief Manger: It stands for John. I'm actually named after my dad, and I'm very proud of that. Andy Ockershausen: You're a junior? Chief Manger: Actually I'm the third. So, named after my father and grandfather, and I have even saddled my son with the same name. Andy Ockershausen: But you were born ... You went to the University of Maryland, were you born in Maryland? Growing Up in Maryland - Baltimore and Silver Spring Chief Manger: I was born in Baltimore. Andy Ockershausen: Oh, in the city? Chief Manger: Yes, I was. And grew up in Baltimore City until I was 14. And my dad got a job with the federal government, and then that landed us in Silver Spring. Andy Ockershausen: And then how did you ... Well, I don't wanna ask ... I'll get to that, but you eventually came back to Maryland, but you went across the river to Fairfax. Chief Manger: I did. Andy Ockershausen: Opportunity? From Maryland to Virginia - A Career Opportunity Chief Manger: It was. I ... When I graduated from the University of Maryland, I applied to every police department in the Baltimore and the Washington, DC region. And when ... I was actually going through the process for a number of different police departments. And Fairfax County just happened to hire me first. They called me and offered me a job, and I said okay. I actually had never been to Fairfax before I went there to take the test. But made a 27 year detour to northern Virginia. Andy Ockershausen: That's incredible, but I guess your Virginia experience was ... Did you a lot more good in Maryland than you realized at the time. But- Chief Manger: Well, I did okay. Andy Ockershausen: You were a cop then. Chief Manger: I was. Andy Ockershausen: On the beat. A Cop on the Beat in Fairfax, VA Chief Manger: I was. And spent a lot of time getting to know the folks in the community over in different areas in Fairfax. I worked almost every district station in the county. And then was able to come up through the ranks and in 1998 was appointed the police chief there. Andy Ockershausen: That's incredible. What a career. And that's in northern Virginia of course. And you then knew all the other jurisdictions and so forth, but what made you decide to go to Montgomery County? Back to Maryland - A New Opportunity in Montgomery County, MD Chief Manger: Yeah, I think it was again, it was just an opportunity. I mean, I was eligible to retire from Fairfax after I had 29 years service credit. And so, I loved the DC area, and I was working with Chuck Ramsey and a lot of folks that people would certainly recognize their names. And so, I had no desire to leave this area. It's where my family was, my parents were here. And- Andy Ockershausen: It's your home! Chief Manger: It was. And is. And so, I thought, gee I can go to another job that I would enjoy and only have to move 20 minutes away from where I was living. So, it worked out very nicely. Andy Ockershausen: Well,

Tycely Williams, President of Junior League Washington, discusses her comfort level in connecting with people ~ "Growing up in the deep south, we spent lots of times on a porch and there wasn't television or radio. You were encouraged to connect person to person and there was oral history and the elders who would recount stories in comical ways. Things were animated and it was just lovely and lively, like our exchange has been today. So I just grew up in a culture that created that type of environment and as a result, I just feel very comfortable connecting with people." Tycely Williams, Development Consultant to Non-Profits and host Andy Ockershausen in studio interview Andy Ockershausen: This is Andy Ockershausen. This is Our Town, and I am so excited to be here at this time in this place with this lovely lady. I'm gonna tell you about it, but this is so special to me and to Our Town. I met Tycely, and Tycely is a combination of Cicely and Tyson. And I love it. I was introduced to her by a story I saw in the Washington Business Journal. I give them credits, and I was so impressed with this young lady, with her face and her demeanor and the fact that she was working for an organization I've heard of all my life, had no idea what they were doing. But I knew about Georgetown 'cause that's where our offices are. So I walked down the street and walked in this building, and said, "I'm here to see the new head of the Junior League of Washington, Tycely is the one." And Tycely Williams, welcome to Our Town. Tycely Williams: Andy, thank you for having me, and thanks for the kind words. That really means a lot. Andy Ockershausen: Well, you know, seriously, that's how I discovered you and how important ... I had no idea what the Junior League was doing. Tycely Williams: Yes. Andy Ockershausen: I think I've talked to you about that. My image of Junior League goes back 50, 60 years, but I thought it was a very, very volatile group of lovely women that met at the Mayflower and had teas. And they had a lot of involvement in the city. I knew that, and I knew about the building in Georgetown. Tycely Williams: Yes. Andy Ockershausen: And to be in Georgetown, I think, is a coup. Tycely Williams: Yes, it's fantastic. Andy Ockershausen: And to find out the Junior League is down the street from our office is opened the door for me, and I found out a lot about you by doing that. I'm so delighted that you are Junior League. First African-American President of The Junior League of Washington Tycely Williams: Aww, Andy, thanks so much. It's been a great opportunity to lead the organization. I'm learning a lot, and I'm having the opportunity to connect with people within Our Town that are doing great works. So it's just a really exciting time to lead an organization that's focused on volunteerism and developing the potential of women because that's who we are, and that's what we do. Andy Ockershausen: It's more important every day, Tycely, and what I discovered about you is that you were the first woman, or female, or girl of color to head this organization. And I am so delighted for them to have you because I know what you bring to it. Tycely Williams: Oh, Andy, thank you. That means- Andy Ockershausen: You bring a difference, and differences are important. I really believe that. Diversity Exists Within The Junior League in Various Forms Tycely Williams: Absolutely. The organization is celebrating 106 years of service this year, and we are all collectively excited about the opportunity to have a woman of color leading the organization. Like you said, diversity exists in various forms. So also within the Junior League, we have women of all ages. Andy Ockershausen: I know that - that's amazing. Tycely Williams: So you referenced- Andy Ockershausen: That's amazing. Tycely Williams: Yeah. So you referenced earlier that you've known of the Junior League of Washington for quite some time. Andy Ockershausen: Forever.

Fred Smoot on the beauty of star gazing~ "It's so free. All you got to do is get away from some lights. So you've got to get out of the city a little bit to really gaze ... and look up. And it's free. It's free. People don't understand the best things in life are free." Fred Smoot, Inimitable with host Andy Ockershausen in studio interview Andy Ockershausen: This is Andy Ockershausen and this is Our Town and I'm absolutely, positively say this all the time but I'm so delighted to have, to talk with someone that really needs no introduction to people who've been aware of what goes on this world. But, I've known this gentleman for at least 10 to 15 years. We have been talking about it to Comcast SportsNet about doing a TV show. We never got around to it but Fred Smoot, you are a hoot and I am so delighted for this industry that you've decided to do some radio work. Fred Smoot - Life's Philosophy Fred Smoot: Oh most definitely. I love to talk. I've never met a mic I didn't like. This thing about me, I love to conversate with people and I was saying earlier that I'm an only child so when I do get around people I got good energy and I like to talk. I like to converse. I never met a stranger in my life. Andy Ockershausen: Fred it's so ... Because when you put it out people give it back to you. Fred Smoot: That's what I ... I'm one of those people, I really believe in good energy. If you come around with good energy, keep a smile on your face, you can change the way somebody's day is going. You can make them feel better. And we ain't on this earth long so every day that I get up I'm smiling. I'm having fun. Andy Ockershausen: Besides being a philosopher, which you are, you have a tremendous sense of humor. I've listened to you do some of your radio shows and it comes through. Fred, you're a different person. You're not a dumb football player. You're not even a football player anymore. You're one of us. Fred Smoot: I'm a person and I like to talk to people. That's what entertainment is. It's communicating with people. It's showing common ground and the one thing that brings us all together, that's colorless is sports. There's two things that does this, sports and music. It brings us all together, no matter what, so when we talk and have a common ground yes, I want to talk about sports most of the time but I also want to talk about people and I want to see how they're feeling. Andy Ockershausen: That's what I'm so impressed with you, what you do on the air. I've heard you on Sports Talk. But one of the things we do with this little bit of podcast that we put together is finding out and talking to people away from whatever it is. I'm not interested in Smoot football. That's on the record somewhere. Fred Smoot: You want to know the real Fred Smoot. Andy Ockershausen: I'm meant the Smoot that grew up in Mississippi. Fred Smoot: Collard green cooking for you Smoot. Andy Ockershausen: Church's Chicken. Fred Smoot: Oh you know it. That's down south right there. You got to go down south to Church's Chicken though. Andy Ockershausen: But there's so much to you Fred. You grew up in Jackson. That's a pretty good sized town in Mississippi. Growing Up in Jackson, MS Fred Smoot: Well, it's the capital city. It's a city that goes through it's ups and downs. Things could be a lot better there. It's a city that you would love the people and the food's so good Andy O. You know you're going to get diabetes and you still going to eat the food Andy O. Andy Ockershausen: That's an attitude. But Jackson, Mississippi means a lot to a lot of people and you went to Provine. Provine High School - Pro Sports Factory Fred Smoot: Yes sir, we are the football factory of the city. I was lucky to play with three or four more pros on my team alone. Good at football, good in basketball. We got a couple of Olympians. We put out a lot of athletes at Provine. Andy Ockershausen: Were you a good student also?

Chris Isleib on why the United States entered WWI and the tremendous sacrifice of American lives ~ " ... democracy was under very real threat and America joined in, in order to help save democracy, in order to keep them from that threat, and also to just end this fighting. They did so successfully, but enormous human cost. Americans lost 116,516 men and woman." Chris Isleib - Director of Public Affairs - United States WWI Centennial Commission in studio interview with host Andy Ockershausen Andy Ockershausen: This is Andy Ockershausen. This is Our Town. Because of my relationship with history, I'm so, so excited to have someone who is connecting this generation, or these generations, to something that's sort of lost in our life, and that's WWI. I'm so delighted to introduce Chris Isleib. Did I do that right, Chris? Chris Isleib: Perfect pronunciation. Thank you. Andy Ockershausen: Chris, as a man, I don't know his complete title, but as far as I'm concerned he is Mr. WWI, to do this publicity and to do the PR, and to get this community turned on to what's happening. This year is a big year. It's 100th anniversary of WWI. United States World War I Centennial Commission Chris Isleib: Thank you for your generous words. I'm part of a team. We have a WWI Centennial Commission, which was created by Congress in 2013. It consists of 12 appointed Commissioners, and they're appointed by the President of the United States, by the Senate, and the House members as well as by ... there's one each from the American Legion and from the Veterans of Foreign Wars. Andy Ockershausen: By getting into one of our military academies, then right? You have to have an appointment. Chris Isleib: Yes, sir. Andy Ockershausen: Do you have any Congressmen or Senators on the commission, or are they all outsiders? Chris Isleib: No, these are all people who have demonstrated history in working with Veterans Affairs, Cultural Affairs, or Historical or Military Affairs. Andy Ockershausen: Being a Washingtonian and having a picture of my father in his WWI, they must be ... I guess they were called fatigues at the time, because he didn't do anything. He wasn't in the Army. He ended up in the Navy. It made me aware of WWI and the fact is, that it's sort of forgotten in Our Town and it's forgotten in our society. That's a shame. WWI in the Shadows of WWII Chris Isleib: It's not entirely forgotten, luckily. There's starting to be a ground swell. We've been doing a lot of outreach to try and turn that. However, for the longest time WWI just wasn't talked about. It was always in the shadow of WWII, and that's for a couple of reasons. Historians tell us that the veterans, when they came back, it was such an awful war that they didn't talk about it that much at the time. The other thing was for Americans especially, the narrative is complicating and very cloudy. Unlike WWII, which started with the bombing of Pearl Harbor and this awful- Andy Ockershausen: A shock. It started definitely with a shock. Chris Isleib: And similarly ended with a shock. Unfortunately, WWI it started with some disgruntled Serbian guy, and many people can't find Serbia on a map, assassinating a crowned prince of Austria and the next thing you know Australia is invading Turkey. So it's just like this, "What just happened here?" moment. On the other end of the narrative, at the end of the war, there was a huge amount of fighting, a huge amount of death, a huge amount of loss, and then they just voted to not do it anymore and it became not even really a Peace but an Armistice. Andy Ockershausen: Yeah, they got it over. That's right. It wasn't Peace, an Armistice. Chris Isleib: Yeah. Andy Ockershausen: Both said said, "We've got to get this thing over." Enormous Loss Suffered in WWI Chris Isleib: Yeah. And it was after an enormous, enormous loss. I'm not a historian, but so many countries lost so many people. I read a statistic while I was in France this p...

Robin Ficker on how his engineering degree from Case-Western Reserve prepared him for his recent meeting with Amazon HQ1 in his capacity as 2018 Candidate for County Executive in Montgomery County, Maryland ~ "You had to be an engineer, a scientist, but I learned a lot there. And that's why I was really happy to take some of that knowledge with me when I went out to Seattle a couple weeks ago to talk to the guys that work for Amazon HQ1, to learn about that because we want to bring Amazon here, to Montgomery County." ~Robin Ficker " Robin Ficker - Legendary Attorney and Political Activisit, in studio interview Andy Ockershausen: This is Andy Ockershausen and this is Our Town. And this is our 4th Season of this podcast, which has been a great, great thing for the marketplace, I'll tell you that 'cause a lot of people have appeared with us talked about things people did not know about before. We're so delighted today to give, to have a meeting and a discussion with a man who's got the most famous name, I think, in Northwest Washington and Montgomery County and he's a legend and he's everything you've heard about and plus more. And it's Robin Ficker. Welcome to Our Town, Robin. Robin Ficker: Thank you very much Andy. I'm almost as well known as you are. Andy Ockershausen: Yeah, well don't forget I had Harden and Weaver. And you got stuck with me. But they were our powerhouse guys, as you know. So Robin, tell me, I didn't know about Robin Ficker background. Were you born in Maryland? Robin Ficker on Growing Up in Our Town Robin Ficker: I was born in Maryland. My dad was a Rhodes Scholar. He worked in the Library of Congress for 40 years in the Congressional Research Service. It was very interesting because he would bring me home the Congressional Record in addition to the six books a week that I had to read. But in the Congressional Record, he would show me a speech given by a Senator and then say he'd written the speech. Then he would show me in the same Congressional Record another speech on the opposite side of the same subject given by another Senator and he had written that speech too. Andy Ockershausen: Is that unusual today? Robin Ficker: I think so. Andy Ockershausen: I think you're probably right. Robin Ficker: Yes. Andy Ockershausen: Statesmen were statesmen then, but the world has changed. Robin Ficker: Yes. Andy Ockershausen: But Robin Ficker, you went to school in suburban, where were you, Frederick? Robin Ficker: No, I graduated from Montgomery Blair High School. Andy Ockershausen: Oh did you? Robin Ficker: Yes, which and ... We won the State Championship in everything but chess and that's, we didn't win in chess because we didn't have a chess team. Andy Ockershausen: Let me tell you, when I grew up it was just Blair High School. Montgomery was added later. I can tell you that. Robin Ficker: Yes. Andy Ockershausen: So that let you know it was in Montgomery county of course. Robin Ficker: They built that new gym right there on Wayne Avenue and they'd leave the very top window open and we'd climb up and get in there and play basketball. Andy Ockershausen: Many times I did that at Eastern High School in Washington, going in the top, getting into school and getting down the steps. But Robin, you grew up in suburban Maryland. You're really close to our city, our town. But you left our town to go to college for a while, did you not? U.S. Military Academy, Vietnam and Tragic Loss Robin Ficker: Yes, I went to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. I was the second youngest in my class there and I remember thinking, wow, we're gonna get a lot to eat when we're there in the Army. And for our first meal we had to sit up attention and cut our peas, each one into four pieces. And I left that lunch quite hungry because I hadn't eaten breakfast in anticipation of having a big lunch. Andy Ockershausen: Robin, they do things differently at the Academy, both of them.

Gary Cohen, WRAP Chairman, on drinking responsibly~ "Let's just do it and have a plan. The world has changed. When I have a party at my house ... my neighbors walk, but my friends, they'll take an Uber or a Lyft because they want to have a few cocktails at my house and they want to get home safe . . . it's the right thing to do and I do it myself as well." Gary Cohen, WRAP Chairman and Restaurateur in studio with host Andy Ockershausen Andy Ockershausen: This is Our Town. This is Andy Ockershausen with a wonderful, wonderful opportunity to me to talk to a man that I've envied from distance because I didn't know what he was doing until recently, but in reading his resume, I found out so much. Gary Cohen, welcome to Our Town. Gary Cohen: It is my pleasure to be here, thank you for the invitation. Andy Ockershausen: What a background, all you've done, right? Say all these restaurants, but we want to find out about you. You grew up in Long Island. Are you a native? Were you born in the Island? From New York to Northern Virginia Gary Cohen: I was born on Long Island in Glencove Hospital. I grew up in a town called Plainview. Andy Ockershausen: I know Glencove. Gary Cohen: I grew up there until I went away to college, upstate New York in 1979, SUNY at Oneonta. Andy Ockershausen: Yeah, what is that, an Indian name? Gary Cohen: It's an Indian name. It's a small college somewhere between Binghamton and Albany and I got my degree- Andy Ockershausen: Otesaga, I know. I've been to Cooperstown, of course. Gary Cohen: Yeah, it's very close to Cooperstown. I still go back to visit ... Every couple of years I go to Cooperstown, see the Hall of Fame and I stop back at my college town. It's not quite the same anymore, but it was a great experience there. Andy Ockershausen: Cooperstown, I think is wonderful. For our young people and I hope everybody can visit because I know you're a baseball fan and that didn't bring you to Washington, but you moved to Virginia in August of what, 1979? Gary Cohen: That's correct. Andy Ockershausen: Why would you leave SUNY and come to Northern Virginia? Gary Cohen: I got my first my first job experience, my first job offer, excuse me, from the Marriott Corporation. They ran a group of restaurants down here. Some of you that have been around a long time might remember them, Joshua Tree and Phineas Prime Rib and some of those old restaurants. I joined them out of college and it's a funny story when I joined them. People said to me, "Why do you want to move to Washington? You've never left Long Island in your life?" I said to them- Andy Ockershausen: Yeah, that is strange. Gary Cohen: I said to them, "I don't want to spend my life on 495, the Long Island Expressway," so I come down here and now I spend my life on 495 the Beltway. Andy Ockershausen: Well, you picked the right people to go to work with because they are farsighted and they were growing. That's part of Our Town is Marriott, of course. Gary Cohen: Sure. Andy Ockershausen: The children were born here. The family was here. I knew Mr. Marriott through a lot of charity work that we did with him and he was a fine man. A Start with Marriott - The Joshua Tree Gary Cohen: In those days, they were trying to diversify and they had their hotel division. They had what they called their "dinner house restaurant division." I worked. I was by the dinner house restaurant division. It was run by a separate group of people, but the Marriotts because first job they lived in the Marriott … My first job was at Joshua Tree in McLean. I ran the kitchen there and Mr. Marriott lived down the street for a while there,

Janice Ockershausen, and host Andy Ockershausen, on scheduling Joe Theismann as a guest~ "And don't forget, speaking of Charles, we've had Charles Mann, we've had Shawn Springs, we've had Mark Moseley. We're hoping to get Joe Theismann so if anybody knows Joe Theismann and can get us Joe Theismann for Season 4 that'd be much appreciated." Janice Ockershausen, with host Andy Ockershausen, in studio Our Town DC Podcast How and Why Our Town? Andy Ockershausen: This is Our Town, this is Andy Ockershausen. I think back to that wonderful, beautiful summer day we were driving down to Rehoboth Delaware to visit some very dear friends for a weekend and Janice said to me, "Honey we're losing touch and we're losing track of a lot of good things going on. Why don't we do a podcast about Washington?" I said, "What is a podcast?" That was the first time, Ken, I ever heard that word, podcast. I know it had been in our vocabulary somewhere, but I hadn't paid attention to it. Janice started me thinking and made my life, we have really established something that I never thought possible and that was we started all over again. Radio without a transmitter. Janice Ockershausen: We liked the idea of the intimate one on one conversation between two friends, whether it's at a bar or over dinner that you haven't seen somebody in a while. So that concept of sharing a relationship with either people you know or people you used to know or people you want to come to know. Andy Ockershausen: Well the thing that made it so possible was your ingenuity in planning this and planning WMAL in the picture. But because of my years in the business and because of all the people I've come in contact with it was easy for me to talk to people because I knew so much about them, maybe things they didn't think that we knew about, but we knew about. The other side of it is they were comfortable with it because they knew who I am and who I was and who I am now is you. Janice Ockershausen: Well a lot of the people that we talked to over Season 1, Season 2, and Season 3 we've had relationships with. You've lived through the news stories with people. We had Maurice Cullinane on in Season 1. You lived through the ... It was just the 50th anniversary of the Resurrection City and the death of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.. Andy Ockershausen: Well and being part of what happened and the shooting at the Blair House because of WMAL, way back where I was fortunate enough to start at WMAL and live through all of these things and all these talented people. People in the audience would come and say, oh I know your name because I hear it, I hear it on Harden and Weaver. I hear it on Trumbull and Core. Occasionally Ken Beatrice will talk about you. I hear you during the Redskin games, they drop your name in. So, I was known as WMAL without being a performer. WMAL Always a Breaking News Channel Janice Ockershausen: Still to this day people come up to you and say, "What's going on with WMAL?" It's been what? 30 some years. Andy Ockershausen: Who was it that was just asking me the other day? He said, you're the radio guy? I said yeah. He said, I used to- Janice Ockershausen: That was your doctor. Andy Ockershausen: Yeah and I said, this is my wife Janice Iacona. He said, oh I know that name. I remember listening to Harden and Weaver talk about Janice. I mean this was out of the blue. Janice Ockershausen: Right. I guess the biggest compliment I ever had being the producer for the Harden and Weaver show was an operator, I was calling 411 for information. Or somebody was calling to find out, getting my phone number and they said, "Oh you mean Janice Iacona? The one that works for Harden and Weaver?" So that was the C&P operator I think that it was. So that was my biggest- Andy Ockershausen: That wasn't about the Air Florida crash was it? Janice Ockershausen: No the Air Florida crash was something we both lived through. Andy Ockershausen: Right.

Burt Cohen on what happened 30 years after his experience with Charles Gibson of ABC News after Gibson's first on air newscast at WMAL ~ "I just thought of a funny story, there was a young newsman, came and did his first newscast on the air, he finished up and I said, 'Man, you better find another line of work, you're never going to amount to anything in this business.' 30 years later, my retirement party, I get an email,'Dear Burt, thank you for your advice, I'm glad I didn't listen to you. Good luck on your retirement. Charles Gibson, ABC News.'" Burt Cohen - Retired, WMAL Engineer and The Duke of Derwood and Andy Ockershausen in-studio interview Andy Ockershausen: This is Andy Ockershausen, this is Our Town. And I'm so delighted that the producer and executive producer and the money person behind Our Town, is going to take over this show and I'm going to sit here and listen to her. So, Janice Ockershausen its all yours. Janice Iacona Ockershausen: Thank you honey. Today we are recording the final episode of Our Town, Season Three. Andy Ockershausen: Save the best for last. Rounding Out Season Three - Our Town Janice Iacona Ockershausen: That's right, that's exactly right. We interviewed over 160 guests over the last three seasons. So, I said, "We've got to get this guy because he's going to really round out, bring it full circle, gotta round out our Season Three podcast." Andy Ockershausen: He's been around too. Janice Iacona Ockershausen: He has been around. Preparing for this interview today, it brought back so many memories, I was up at 3:00 in the morning thinking and laughing to myself about how great this interview was going to be. That nostalgia is really good and it's good for the soul. I was really up for this interview today. Without further adieu, he's a great guy, his wife, we've known as friends for so many years, Andy Ockershausen: Forever! You think of one you think of the other. Janice Iacona Ockershausen: That's right, he hasn't worked at WMAL for the past 14 years, but he was such an instrumental part of our product. His name is Burt Cohen, often referred to as the Duke of Derwood. He's a good friend and we're so glad to see you back Burt for a little while from Florida, as a snowbird. We welcome you back to your studio. Burt Cohen That's right. Janice Iacona Ockershausen: At WMAL. Ken, Burt Cohen, Burt Cohen, Ken Hunter. Ken Hunter: I've been waiting for the introduction. Burt, hey Burt. Andy Ockershausen: When he started with this Derwood, so many people had no idea where Derwood was. I know that for a fact. The Duke of Derwood Burt Cohen Do you know where the Duke of Derwood came from? Janice Iacona Ockershausen: No. Burt Cohen Whenever Trumbull and Core would end their show at 7:00 they would thank me and put in a little soundtrack of some funny things. They wanted to thank the Dude from Derwood. One day, we're sitting out in the kitchen eating lunch. The Lunch Bunch Andy Ockershausen: The lunch bunch. Burt Cohen Yeah. The lunch bunch. Janice Iacona Ockershausen: Yeah, that's right. Burt Cohen Had the house monitor on and a song comes on, "Duke, Duke, Duke of Earl..." "Trumbull say's, that's it! The Duke of Derwood." Janice Iacona Ockershausen: Oh that's great, at the lunch bunch. I think I was probably there that day. Andy Ockershausen: Yeah, that was a big part of the history of WMAL, was the lunch bunch. I was not privy to be part of it. Janice Iacona Ockershausen: You bought pizza every once in a while though. Andy Ockershausen: Yes occasionally, particularly on snowy days, I'd buy pizza for the group. They were low lifes, I didn't want to spend time with them. They were talent and engineers and news people, I wanted to spend my time with leaders. Burt Cohen (laughing) Andy Ockershausen: So, I couldn't find a leader. So I spent my time at Alfios. Janice Iacona Ockershausen: We just spent the last couple of minutes with Ken, playing some bloopers,

Tom Buckley on what to do with broadcast "stuff" that you find but can't identify, or don't know what to do with ~ "You would contact me, my email is eyeondc@gmail.com. Most of the material we get are from talents, sons and daughters, people around in the business. They have stuff maybe in the closet. 'I don't know what this is.' . . . A lot of that. There's people, there's stuff all around." Tom Buckley - EyeOnDC and Broadcast History Buff in studio with host Andy Ockershausen Andy Ockershausen: This is Andy Ockershausen. This is Our Town. I have an opportunity to talk to a man that knows more about radio and TV than I do, which is spectacular because I've been around a lot longer. Tom Buckley: That's a stretch. Andy Ockershausen: He and I both share that ability to remember things. Tom Buckley, welcome to Our Town. I'm so pleased that you and I can chat about what has been our lives, this Washington Broadcast. Tom Buckley: Thanks. Happy to be here Andy. I know when Andy called, I was thrilled to be on the show, because when Andy calls, you can't say no. You have to be here and hopefully share some knowledge and get some other sources. People that hear this, because we're always looking for new material, and that's the thing. It's the hunt to find this stuff. Andy Ockershausen: Always. Video Tape in Broadcasting | Allen B. DuMont (WABD) and Thomas T. Goldsmith (WTTG) Tom Buckley: Julian Barber. You remember Julian Barber? Andy Ockershausen: Oh yes. Tom Buckley: Julian Barber who was the lead anchorman at Channel 9 in the 60s. His son called me out of the blue. He had all kinds of two-inch video tapes that he made. At his own expense, had them digitized. They were just terrific. Andy Ockershausen: Julian Barber was a great anchor, great anchor on Channel 9. Tom Buckley: We've got a show called City Side, which was a public affairs show and a half hour show with Wright Patman, a congressman from Texas. There's two Channel 4 seven o'clock newses from 1971, which were really a hoot. Andy Ockershausen: Where do you have them, on video tape? Tom Buckley: No. Video tape now, we just have them on MP4s. Andy Ockershausen: I got it. I don't know what that is, but ... Tom Buckley: Two-inch video tape, because we're racing the clock. There's very few places that you could actually get transferred anymore. It costs several hundred bucks an hour to get that done. Andy Ockershausen: That video tape was bought by Chuck Percy. Chuck Percy worked with a big video company. Did you know that, in California? Then he became a US Congressman. His daughter married money. Married a Rockefeller. We get video tape very late at Channel 7 because the boss that we had at the time said, "We're not going to buy it yet until we find out if this thing as perfected is going to work." It's a true story. They eventually did it, but he was convinced. He was right. There's going to be something better than video tape, but it took forever to get it. That's what Ken is doing now. There's no tape here as you can see. Tom Buckley: Right, it just goes on servers. There's no tape. The first tape machine, as far as we know in Washington, was Channel 5. Andy Ockershausen: Oh yeah . . . Then it was an engineering guy, right? They were WTTG men, Tom somebody. Tom Buckley: Thomas T. Goldsmith who was the R & D Andy Ockershausen: The engineer, right? Tom Buckley: Our engineer ... Andy Ockershausen: A technician. Tom Buckley: ... in charge of research and development for DuMont, for when DuMont started, it was WABD in New York, which was Allen B. DuMont and WTTG in Washington, which was Thomas T. Goldsmith. They named it after him, the R&D guy. He was very . . . Andy Ockershausen: . . . engineering oriented organization, correct? Tom Buckley: Right. I've got a picture of that thing being loaded off the truck and it's Milt Grant, Ms. Connie, I think Captain Tugg and everybody is, "Hey, we got a video tape machine.

Larry O'Connor on reaching out to Andrew Breitbart to join his new website~ "And I reached out to him and said, 'Listen, I'm not in TV or film, I'm in theater but I'm conservative and I have stories to tell,' and he immediately responded and said, 'Let's see what you can write,' and I did some writing for him and he published me right at the beginning . . . and then I started doing this live stream radio show on the internet that was on the Breitbart sites and that got a lot of attention and I ended up getting a lot of high profile guests on my show." Larry O'Connor - Talk Radio Host - 105.9 FM & AM 630 WMAL with Andy Ockershausen in studio interview Andy Ockershausen: This is Andy Ockershausen and this is Our Town, and we have a unique opportunity today to talk to a unique individual because he works at this radio station where we're doing our recording. In fact, he is the radio station. Larry O'Connor, a man- Larry O’Connor: Yeah, everybody was waiting to go, "Oh, my God. They got Chris Plante." Andy Ockershausen: -who knows it all. Larry O’Connor: This is great." Andy Ockershausen: Oakie. I love that name. Oakie and Ockee. We could do a show. Larry O’Connor: You gave me permission to call you Ockee. Will you forgive me for a minute, Andy, because honestly, this is going to be so weird for me because, you know, I usually ask the questions? Andy Ockershausen: I know. Larry O’Connor: Let's face it. You're a much more fascinating person that I am. While we're doing this, I might end up asking you questions. Andy Ockershausen: Well, ask anything you want, I don't have to answer. Larry O’Connor: Well, where'd you get that sweater because that is a really cool sweater vest. Andy Ockershausen: Isn't that nice? I don't know where I got it, it's an old sweater, but I'm an old sweater to because I perspire. But I'm working on it. Larry O'Connor, Oakie. What a career you have had, when I read your resume, I am stunned that you've done so much and you're still a young man. Larry O’Connor: Well, thanks. Andy Ockershausen: And so you must owe a lot of money or people owe you a lot of money because you've had a lot of jobs. Larry O’Connor: Exactly. Andy Ockershausen: But Detroit, Michigan is a long way from southern California. From Detroit, Michigan to Southern California Larry O’Connor: It is, and thank God for the internet, I still have brothers in Michigan and they get to listen all the time and- Andy Ockershausen: It's still snowing there, you know that? Larry O’Connor: It is, yes, I believe the Tigers' game will be snowed out on July fourth. Everybody says, "Oh, of course, you moved out of Detroit because of all the violence and the poverty and the economy," no, it's the weather. It's absolutely the weather, that's the only reason to get out of that place, because Michigan's cool. Andy Ockershausen: Corona del Mar. Larry O’Connor: Yeah, Corona del Mar, this beautiful subdivision in Newport Beach, California, what shift. Imagine being in the Detroit suburbs, Andy, in the eighties and then suddenly I wake up the next morning and I'm going to school at the beach at Corona del Mar high school, it was amazing. Andy Ockershausen: You're walking by the Balboa Bay Club everyday, you've got access to the slot. Larry O’Connor: Yeah. Andy Ockershausen: We have a very dear friend that we lost last year, died, he lived in Newport Beach and he was, John Kluge's partner with MetroMedia. John Kluge - The Shubert Organization and MetroMedia Larry O’Connor: MetroMedia, yeah. He was on the board of the company I ended up working with, The Shubert Organization. Andy Ockershausen: Bob Bennett was? Larry O’Connor: No, Kluge was, on the board of the Shubert Organization which owns all the Broadway theaters. Andy Ockershausen: Kluge somehow, he was a food broker here in Washington. Larry O’Connor: What's that how? Andy Ockershausen: And a friend of his, said there was a station available here so they talked J...

Bob Levey on Katharine Graham ~ "If you look back at what Katharine Graham accomplished, it is really, as the kids say, awesome. She built a Fortune 500 company centered around this newspaper. She made it profitable. I ate breakfast today, thanks to Katharine Graham, and the profit sharing plan that she put into place. Thank you, Mrs. Graham." Bob Levey, Washington Post Columnist, Retired and National Champion Bridge Player with Andy Ockershausen in studio interview Andy Ockershausen: This is Andy Ockershausen. This is Our Town. I keep saying this from time to time, but I mean it. This is very special to me, and for Our Town, to have Bob Levey come back to WMAL, where he starred for years and years in radio, but also everything else he did. Bob is an icon in Our Town, of a man that's been around for a long time, and is still active. I'm so very delighted for us to have this chance to talk about what you and I grew up in as radio television. Bob Levey: Andy, I appreciate the chance to be here, but what are we going to do? My ears are burning from that introduction. Do you have a fire extinguisher? Andy Ockershausen: No, no money. Bob Levey: Well that's no different from the old WMAL, right? Andy Ockershausen: The old WMAL. I used to have the argument all the time about the talent, and I said look, we're not in business to make you money. We're in business to make The Evening Star money to keep ‘em alive, and we did for a while. Bob Levey: You did for a long while- Andy Ockershausen: That's another story. Bob Levey: It is a long story, it is another story. The Washington Post - How Bob Levey Became Ben Bradlee's First Hire Andy Ockershausen: But you lived through it. You lived through the golden days of The Washington Post, and every day I think about how great The Post has been to Our Town, and to our people. Like it or love it, some people hate The Post, some people love it. But it's been a rock in Our Town. Bob Levey: A lot of people don't understand exactly why it has been a rock in Our Town. It certainly had to do with the unbelievably great Ben Bradlee, whose first hire at The Washington Post, by sheer accident, was me. Andy Ockershausen: No way. Bob Levey: Yeah. It did happen. Andy Ockershausen: He realized he made a mistake. Bob Levey: Here was the story: I had a job interview lined up with J. Russell Wiggins, who was the Editor of The Post, and a couple of weeks out, he said come in on Monday morning at 9 a.m. But over the weekend, President Johnson named him the Ambassador to the United Nations, so this new dude took over at 9 a.m. Monday morning, and he inherited Wiggins' calendar. The first guy he had to see was me. I walked in, and we didn't know quite what to do with each other, so he hired me on the spot. It was the first of a lot of lucky breaks in my life. Andy Ockershausen: To think about the great life you had up until then, I mean you were not out of the business. You started at six years old. That's kind of young to start in the journalism business, but you did. Then, when I'm reading about you, Bob, I didn't know ... You grew up in New York- From Growing Up in New York City to College at University of Chicago Bob Levey: New York City. Andy Ockershausen: High school and New York in the city. Then, going to the University of Chicago, which, to me, never meant journalism. Bob Levey: There was no journalism program at the University of Chicago, but on my first day on campus somebody said, "You really ought to check out the student newspaper for two reasons. One, it's a whole lot of fun; and two, there are a whole lot of girls there." I said, "You got the value of this backwards, but I'll show up." That began my serious, absolutely over-caffeinated, overwhelming love for the business. Andy Ockershausen: You had not done that in New York. You discovered that at Chicago? Bob Levey: No, I was too busy being other things when I was in high school.