Podcasts about iup

In this episode, we delve into the intricate world of the Chicago Outfit’s informants, featuring insights from my late friend, Cam Robinson, and Paul Whitcomb, a well-respected expert on the mob. This special compilation draws from past interviews and shorts that once highlighted various informants who operated during the notorious 1980s era of organized crime in Chicago. Through a series of concise segments, we explore the lives of key players who chose to turn against the Outfit, revealing the complex motivations and consequences of their decisions. We kick things off by revisiting the tale of Paul “Peanuts” Pansko, an influential figure leading the Polish faction of the Outfit. Pansko's criminal activities, including a racetrack heist, not only placed him in dangerous territory but also set into motion a chain of events that would later link to the infamous Family Secrets trial. It's during this journey that we outline how interconnected the informants’ narratives are, showcasing how Pansko’s actions inadvertently unraveled parts of the organization.   The discussion shifts to more dramatic stories, including Mario Rainone. Rainone's infamous decision to cooperate with the authorities opened the door to significant revelations about Lenny Patrick, one of the highest-ranking Outfit members to switch sides. Rainone's tapes ultimately led to the dismantling of major sections of the Outfit’s operations, including political connections that had long shielded them from legal repercussions.   We also explore the tale of Ken “Tokyo Joe” Eto, a Japanese mobster who thrived within the Outfit’s ranks. His attempts at self-preservation after surviving an assassination effort highlighted the stark realities faced by those who navigated the perilous landscape of organized crime. As he eventually became a witness for the prosecution, Eto’s insights illuminated the internal workings of one of Chicago’s most feared organizations. The episode further examines dramatic betrayals and deadly encounters that shaped the Outfit’s legacy. From the chilling events surrounding the murders of the Spilotro brothers, orchestrated by their own associates for reasons steeped in loyalty and betrayal, to the grim fate that met informants like Al Toco and the impact of domestic discord on organized crime, each tale is a window into the bleak realities faced by both mobsters and informants alike. As we round out the episode, we reflect on the cultural dynamics surrounding informants, particularly how personal relationships and family ties heavily influenced their decisions to cooperate. It becomes clear through the interviews that while fear of retribution often compels loyalty, the specter of betrayal looms large within the mob. This multifaceted examination blends personal stories with historical context, providing a deeper understanding of the Chicago Outfit’s complexity and its operatives. Join us in this retrospective journey through the shadows of organized crime as we pay homage to those who bravely shared their stories, revealing the inner workings of a criminal empire that continues to fascinate and terrify in equal measure. Hit me up on Venmo for a cup of coffee or a shot and a beer @ganglandwire Click here to “buy me a cup of coffee” Subscribe to the website for weekly notifications about updates and other Mob information. To go to the store or make a donation or rent Ballot Theft: Burglary, Murder, Coverup, click here To rent ‘Brothers against Brothers’ or ‘Gangland Wire,’ the documentaries click here.  To purchase one of my books, click here. Transcript [0:00] Well, hey, guys, after listening to Bob Cooley, one of the more damaging sources and witness and informant to the Chicago Outfit outside of the Calabrese family, [0:13] Nick and his nephew, Frank Jr., I got the rest of the Chicago Outfit informants on tap here. No, not really. They’re not coming in. But I did do a story. I did a series of shorts a few years, or I don’t know, two or three years ago, maybe. [0:32] I interviewed my late friend, Cam Robinson, rest in peace, Cam. So you get to hear from him again. And Paul Whitcomb, who is a Chicago outfit expert, he’s been on this. They used to have some kind of a round table show up there. I don’t know if they still have it or not with the Seiferts. But anyhow, I got these guys to sit down with me and talk about all the different informants in Chicago during the, it was during the 80s. So this is just kind of a series of shorts that I put up before. They’re six or eight minutes long, I think, each one of them, that they talk about different informants. This kind of threw it together as another little bonus episode we’ve done. And I went to Chicago, if you notice, after Johnny Russo, which I apologize for in a way, I don’t know. I mean, the guy’s got some crazy-ass stories, doesn’t he? Who am I to say that he didn’t do it? But most people know that he didn’t do most of that stuff. Anyhow, so I threw up another Chicago right away about the guy that had the race wire that they killed, James Reagan. [1:38] Then i had this interview that i’d been doing during those last couple weeks with bob cooley who’s appeared uh out of nowhere and he’ll maybe see him on some other shows now he’s he’s wanting to do shows he tells me so after hearing bob cooley talk i thought well i’m doing do one more i want to just throw it up as an extra uh from some of my old chicago outfit stuff and that’ll finish me off on the Chicago outfit for a while. I hadn’t, I hadn’t been in Chicago, uh, doing shows about Chicago for quite a while. And, and I didn’t want to, uh, neglect you guys. You know, I get a lot of books written about New York and I’ve got all these authors that are wanting to do these books about New York. Uh, not so much about Chicago. So if you got anybody that, you know, wants to, got a book and wants to come on the show, uh, talking about the outfit, why steer them to me. So anyhow, just sit back and relax and enjoy. [2:37] My late, great friend, Cam Robinson. One more look at Cam, for those of you who remember him, and Paul Whitcomb. And we’re going to talk about famous snitches from Chicago. Thanks, guys. Well, let’s move along now to, this is kind of interesting, Paul Peanuts Panczko, who was the leader of the Polish branch of the outfield. Is that what you would call Peanuts Panczko, the leader of the Polish branch? If the Polish branch is the Panczko family, which you could easily say there were three brothers, then yeah, that wouldn’t be right. We haven’t really done a show on them. I don’t know a whole lot about them other than they were released at all. So we said non-Italian, Peckerwood, as we call them at Kansas City, professional criminals who did a lot of business with different outfit people. And he did a robbery of a racetrack. I think it’s the Balmoral Racetrack. It’s the name of it. James Duke Basile and then Panczko was in trouble for that and he convinced Basile to come in and they did some talking remember anything about that situation, you know in a lot of ways you. [3:50] Panczko could be considered one of the first dominoes that eventually led to the Family Secrets trial. Panczko, as you said, led to Dookie Bazile, who they had done robberies together. Bazile led them to Scarpelli, who was a much higher guy. I mean, there’s debate, but he was, because there was a making ceremony at this time, but Scarpelli was pretty highly ranked. I mean, he was a known killer, and he was up there. He was in the wild bunch. But Scarpelli then did tell them about a lot of the things that Frank Calabrese had done. [4:28] He wasn’t known as well as Scarpelli had brought him up to be. And a lot of those things dominoed into what would eventually lead to family secrets years later. [4:42] Scarpelli, I think, did not know so much about Nick, but he did know about Frank. And so a lot of that information sort of filled in the gaps. And even though Frank Calabrese Jr. Led them led them to Nick They A lot of seeds were planted And can be traced back to Pianus Pansico Um. [5:01] So it is kind of an interesting line. Basile, he wore a wire on Scarpelli and not even talking about a lot of these things. It’s not the FBI knew about that. They were in a car together. Right. If I remember right, he even talked about a mob graveyard. They went up there and they found two or three bodies. One of them was connected. It wasn’t anybody really important, but one of them was connected to Harry Aleman. So it was a pretty important wearing of a wire on Scarpelli, who then came at himself for a while. And that’s what led to the family secrets. He talked about Frank Calabrese. Is that what you’re saying? Yeah, that’s right. And some of those bodies in that graveyard were 10 years apart, which was interesting. I’ve got, it’s on the map that I created, but some of those bodies, there was years in between them. So it was something they were going back to and they believed that there were a lot of things there they did not find. Yeah, because they built a health care facility or something. They built some big building over where there would have been bodies. Right. Right. And the fascinating thing about this is Scarpelli, like, just like Cam said, this guy was a serious killer. He was a muscle builder. He was a terrifying guy. I mean, he had almost inhuman physical strength. Yeah. And when he flipped, he was completely debriefed by the FBI and the DOJ and then decided to try and change his mind. [6:27] But before he could do that He hung himself in the bathroom Of the Metropolitan Correctional Center With his hands behind his back And a bag over his head, Who was he in prison with? Who was he in MCC with, Paul? Was it anybody? He did happen to be in the MCC with the German at the time. He bound his hands behind his back and put a bag over his own head. He did. He did. And so the outfit continues to somehow persuade people to take their own lives rather than testify against them. [7:07] It’s a hell of a way to die by suicide it is by suicide at least they didn’t have arrows in his back, not as far as we know yeah it was terrible he cut his own head off I saw a cartoon once that the homicide guy liked to go ahead and maybe real suckle of suicide because then you could just walk away from it so there’s a dead body laying there with a bunch of arrows at his back and a homicide detective standing over him with a hand and pencil and says, hmm, suicide, huh? [7:44] Got the inside joke. It worked homicide. You see how those guys sometimes will try to make something into a suicide that probably is a homicide. On the other hand, we had one, we had a mob guy, he wasn’t really a mob associate, who had gone to Vegas. He lost a lot of money and they found his body in his car at the airport parking lot after coming back from Vegas and they found out later lost a lot of money and the car was parked up against the fence and he was shot in the head and there was no gun in the car you know found so just assume that somebody shot him in his head the car kept going and rolling up against the fence. [8:25] But this one detective, I remember Bob Pence is his name. He was dumb. And he started, he went back over and he dusted that car for prints again. And he got some more evidence out of it. And then he went back to the airport and he looked and started asking questions. And he found out later that somebody who had a pickup truck parked there had a week later, three or four days later, come back and got his truck. When he got home he found a pistol inside the bed of his truck and he called the airport or he called somebody turned it in Pinson found that pistol that was a pistol that that shot the guy so Pinson's theory was he was rolling along in his car he shot himself in the head and then he flipped that pistol out is with a reaction he flipped it out and went in the bed in that pickup and then it rolled on up against the fence and they ruled it a suicide wow damn that’s not that different than Scarpelli I mean the fbi to this day insists it was suicide yeah well, Oh, well, right. All right. Let’s move along to Mario. John, the arm. Rainone. [9:41] Is that correct, Cam? That yeah, that’s Rainone. Yeah. So tell us about that. I know we talked about this, you know, a little bit about this one. [9:50] This is kind of a funny one. He was he was sent to kill a building inspector. Raynaud was with the Grand Avenue crew and so he’s en route to kill this guy and this is one of those mob blunders and he sees a couple guys following him and it’s Rudy Fredo and Willie Messino and he recognizes him when he’s driving over there and it’s important to point out who these guys are, Cam, not to interrupt you Willie Messino, was the right hand man and bodyguard for Tony Accardo for 30 years I mean, he was serious, serious business. Rudy Frayto, you know, the chin, but Massino was serious news. If you saw Willie Massino, you knew he were in for trouble. Yeah, he wasn’t there as backup to do anything except clean up after Rainone, including Rainone. So Rainone saw the writing on the wall. He pulls up and he goes straight to the FBI. [10:54] And he informs, he talks to them and gives them his information. And later on, he sort of regrets doing so, denies that he ever did. Uh, there were, there were, uh, articles written about him. There’s a, there’s a Chicago Tribune writer, John Cass, and Ray Nolan had a back and forth with him writing letters. This is how these mob guys in Chicago operate, talking about, I’m, I ain’t no beefer. And, uh. Once he was out of prison in 2009, he was busted several more times. If you can believe it, he stayed in the criminal life. He was robbing a liquor store with another guy. And the guy he was robbing with, this is why I jump ahead a little bit, was a guy named Vincent Forliano. He claimed that he didn’t even know Fratto or Messino. These were guys he didn’t know, so he never would have informed against them. The guy he was robbing the liquor store with and he was committing other robberies with, Vincent Forliano, was Fredo’s son-in-law. [11:56] So he was committing robberies with a guy related to the guy, but he didn’t know who they were. And to say that somebody didn’t know, as Paul said, Willie Messino, is just ludicrous. Anybody in the criminal atmosphere, period, knew who Willie Messino was because you were probably paying money to it. to exist. And this is extremely important because Rainone, at the time this happened, Rainone cooperated long enough to record conversations with Lenny Patrick. That’s right. That’s right. And that set dominoes in place that would lead to the fall of the outfit. Even though he tried to take back his cooperation, to say he never cooperated, I’ve heard those tapes that were played in trials that I participated in, so I I know better. Uh, and that’s why they call him Mario flip flop Rainone because he, uh, would cooperate and uncooperate and then cooperate. But he is the one who got Lenny Patrick on the hook. Yeah. [13:00] Interesting, interesting. Let’s just continue on with this Lenny Patrick because we weren’t going to talk about him. That’s a good lead hand to talk about another, really one of the most important informants that year who testified. [13:13] Can you talk about the domino that led to the end? Rainone really, really flipped the domino that kicked over. Go ahead, Paul. Well, Lenny Patrick was the highest, and even to this day, remains the highest ranking member of the outfit to ever turn state’s evidence. The guy was a capo in all but name. He had been in charge of Rogers Park, the gambling. He was essentially the head of the Jewish arm of the mafia, kind of the Meyer Lansky figure of Chicago. And when the Lawndale neighborhood moved north to Rogers Park, he moved with them, and he had his own crew. He reported directly to Gus Alex, who was, of course, at the very top, and Sam Carlisi. And he was dealing with Marcello and Carlesi in a number of different outfit ventures, loan sharking. He personally had been staked by Carlesi with a quarter million in cash to put out on the street. And he was involved in extortions Bombings of theaters All these things directly at the command of Sam Carlisi Who was then the boss of bosses of the Chicago outfit So when Rainone got him on tape They set up what was the beginning of the end for the outfit And I think people need to understand who Gus Alex is also For people outside of Chicago Gus Alex was. [14:40] Basically, I guess you could call him the equivalent of maybe the consigliere in Chicago. When you look at Chicago, the triumvirate in the 70s, once a guy like Paul Ricca died and several major outfit leaders died in the early 70s. [14:58] Tony Accardo decided that the outfit would be led by himself, by Joy Iupa, and the political wing and all of the non-Italians and all of the grift and a lot of aspects would be led by Gus Alex. So he was essentially on the same level as Joey Iupa, and he was responsible for much more for things of greater import than Joey Iupa. I mean, controlling the political arm and all the payoffs and all of that is much, much more than the streets and the murders. So all the politics and all the anything that had to do was definitely fell under gus alex and he was part of a ruling triumvirate he was a non-italian part of a ruling triumvirate with iupa and uh acardo so he was the the leader top of the outfit and he had been for years going back to going back to the 30s and the 40s 40 he had come up under, the Murray the Camel Humphreys and had made those connections he was the most connected guy in the Chicago outfit, so for a guy like Lenny Patrick to be. [16:15] Rollover against is essentially the political leader, national political leader and political leader of Chicago. This was absolutely crippling to the outfit. That was he wiped out the entire political arm of the Chicago outfit. After Lenny Patrick brought down Gus Alex, this became a basically a street crime organization. It was that those political contacts. I mean, I think that’s a fair statement, right, Paul? Those political contacts and judges, I mean, that was all but eliminated with Gus Alex going away. You’re absolutely right, Cam. And he not only took out Gus Alex, but he took out the boss of the Italians, too. That’s right, yeah. Both of them at the same time. He wiped out the outfit, and you put it beautifully by saying it became a street crime organization. You think about the division of labor and it started with IUP and IUP and. [17:19] La Pietra, Jackie Cerone, they had all the gambling, a lot of the sports gambling, but they also had the skim from Las Vegas, and they ran all that stuff, while Gus Alex, along with Lenny Patrick, ran all that politics, and you can’t have a mob organization if you don’t have cover politically. That’s why even in Kansas City, we’re pretty clean here, but we still never had any real mob prosecutions. [17:47] And it certainly had very few, if any, little, if any mob prosecutions at Cook County. And you couldn’t even get convicted of a real crime, murder, assault, or something. It’s just a straight-out crime. You weren’t even trying to do a RICO, I think, on anybody. So it was, you know, they just operated with impunity. Well, you took out that whole gambling side. That was all the money coming in. And then shortly thereafter, you take out the political side, who then turns back and gets the new boss on the gambling side and loan sharking and all that. [18:23] I’ll tell you, by 1990, the outfit’s gone. It really is. It still exists to a degree, but Sam Carlisi was the last traditional old line boss of the outfit. you, that, in my opinion, that ever ruled. After that, it was never the same. Yeah, I think a guy like Gus Alex, you know, like you said, Gary, you had Aiuppa who was dealing with gambling, but I think that’s a lot of, there’s a lot of optics to that, you know, and you’ve got all these cities who have got characters who are not Italian, Gus Alex in Chicago, and, you know, as Paul said, Meyer Lansky, who was New York, and you had Mashie Rockman in Cleveland, and these characters not italians so they know when to step back and let and let the italians talk but that doesn’t mean that they’re not running things it’s just for the optics of city to city where the italians have to see that they’re dealing with italians they don’t walk in the room it doesn’t mean that behind the scenes they’re not pulling the levers they just because of of the uh uh criminal um. [19:34] The the criminal view of of non-italians in that world sort of sort of their own prejudices these guys don’t always walk in the room when they’re dealing with other cities gus alex is is sitting down with anybody in chicago but you go to kansas city you go to new york, you know meyer lansky would leave the room when they were when they were talking you know italian to Italian. And the same thing with Gus Alex or Mace Rockman or any of those other guys who are not Italian. It was just an optics city to city. It doesn’t mean that they weren’t pulling the levers. Is it Yehuda or Jehuda, Cam? Jehuda. I’ve always heard of Jehuda. Yeah, Jehuda. So he kind of dealed with the IRS that year. [20:23] He must have had some. The IRS was really strong working the mob in Chicago. I’ve noticed several references to IRS investigations. We did not have that in Kansas City, and the IRS did a little bit, but they were not as strong as they were up in Chicago. [20:38] Yeah, he met with an agent, Tom Moriarty, who’s been around and worked Chicago for a long time. He was a pretty well-known guy up here. But Bill Jehota worked under Ernest Rocco Infelice, who was a real powerhouse going back a long time. And out in Cicero, and his crew, a lot of these crews had their own little names, and they called the good shit Lollipop. He was a huge gambling enterprise, you know. And they bought a house up in Lake County, which is north of the city. It’s funny, this house they bought was actually the family that had lived in it. The son had murdered the family. It was a murder house before the outfit bought it. and uh they bought it used it as a as a gambling den and and after that moved out they used it for prostitution and they would park cars at a nearby motel that they ran and then then have a uh a, valet service that drove him to this this gambling house and there was also quite a few uh murders that uhJahoda witnessed i’m sure he took no part in it he just happened to be standing outside of the house when they when they these murders were committed there was a uh was it hal smith and um. [21:57] Oh i can’t remember the they killed somebody else in this home and they burnt these were guys who didn’t want to pay his tree tags, and they were gamblers who refused to give in. And he brought down this entire crew. I mean, Rocco and Felice was… There’s a famous picture of the day after the Spolatros were killed. And it was really the upper echelon of the up that you’ve got. You’ve got little Jimmy Marcello. You’ve got the boss, Sam Wings-Carlesi. You’ve got the street boss, Joe Ferriola. And you’ve got Rocco and Felice, who’s right there. These are the four top guys, basically, in the outfit as far as at this time, the Cicero crew had risen to the top. That was the powerhouse crew. And so he was involved in those discussions because he was such a powerhouse out there with Ferriola being the street boss. So he was, it really can’t be thatJahodatestimony that eventually brought down this crew was really, it really crippled that crew for a long time. Well, those people that went down in that trial have only in the last five years come out of prison. Yeah, we’ve actually had been talking to somebody. We’ve had the… [23:13] Opportunity to meet he brought down uh uh robert um to go beat um bellavia and another guy who doesn’t like to be mentioned who runs a pretty successful pizza pizza chain up in lake county and uh these guys went down for a long time the beat was down for 25 years and he just came out. [23:39] So and billJahoda have if you read his testimony it is kind of kind of odd that he was standing outside of the building and just looked in the window and they were committing a murder and he just he he places himself outside of the house witnessing a murder through the window which is convenient when you’re the one testifying against murderers it certainly is yeah. [24:03] So so that was he was involved in the gambling so that makes sense then the irs got him and millions of dollars millions of dollars a month they were bringing and he met uh, i don’t remember paul and you did he he contacted moriarty right or did moriarty reach out to him because he was under investigation i i thought Jahoda was was worried about himself so he reached out to them i can’t remember the details i think you’re right yeah i i think he was worried about his own his own safety gary and he reached out to moriarty and they met up at a hotel just outside the city on the uh up in the northwest and uh they talked about things i actually found the location and on the little map you can find where where they met each other but he they met each other in disgust and they would meet different locations and and jahuda wore a wire and some of those some of those wiretaps are they really make for that. [25:05] That those conversations come right out of the movie just i love what we’re doing out here and i love my job and and you actually where i’m going to make you trunk music i mean you really hear these things that that you see it right in the movies i mean you you can’t write the dialogue that these guys are actually using it’s it’s it’s you know it it comes straight out of a book i mean You’ve got, you’ve got, uh, this is the toughest dialogue you’ll ever hear. Interesting. How’d you buy it? Where’d you find that at? Is that, uh, it’s probably not the audio in probably anywhere. No book or something. Yeah. You can, if you look up, if you look up different, different, you know, you go on newspapers.com or you go in different, uh, I believe, uh, I’ve got, um, uh, mob textbook by, um, Howard Abedinsky. I’ve got a couple of copies of his, of his textbook, organized crime. And he’s got some clips of it. This guy who owns a pizza shop up north is talking about how he loves his job. He loves what he does. And it’s funny to hear he talk about smashing somebody and loving what you do. Really? I’ve heard a few conversations like that back at the station house. [26:25] I don’t care. It’s on both sides. Is that what you’re saying? When you live in that world. Those guys can go either direction. [26:37] Well, let’s talk about ex-Chicago cops. Speaking of cops, let’s talk about, Vince Rizza, his daughter actually appeared on that Chicago Mob Housewives, or they tried to do a show. And Frank Schweiss’ daughter was on it. And Pia Rizza, who has gotten some notoriety as a model or something, I can’t remember. And she really, she was tight. She would not talk about her dad at all. I read an interview of her. She would just talk about her dad at all. But he came in and he testified against Harry Aleman, of all people, and linked him to the murder of this bookie, Anthony Ritlinger. Remember that one? [27:22] Go ahead, Paul. No, that one I’m not very up on, Cam. I’m sorry. So, Ritlinger, I believe he didn’t want to pay his street tax, if I’m right, Gary. Yeah, you’re right. He had been warned. Rattlinger had been warned that he needs to pay, he needs to pay, and he was making a good deal of money. And Ratlinger was he was brought in just the normal course of action with the wild bunch because he was a wild bunch murder I’m a little rusty but here it comes so he was a wild bunch killing, he was brought in he was warned it was the typical Harry Ailerman and if I’m remembering correctly and people correct me if I’m not it was Butch Petruccelli they sat him down. [28:11] Usually it would be Butch and, um, uh, Borsellino who would do the talking, uh, Tony Borsellino, and they would do the talking. And then afterwards, Butch Petruccelli would just sit down and glare. So he was a pretty scary guy. And he had that, uh, uh, Malocchio, the, the evil eye, and he would just glare at people. And that would send the message and Rattlinger didn’t, didn’t listen. He was making too much money, he’s not going to pay any damn Degos, that kind of line. And so he, of course, fell victim to these guys. And I believe he may have been trunk music. I think I remember this one, Matt, but I can’t remember. Yeah, I got this one. He went to a restaurant. That’s right. That’s right. And he had already, his daughter lived with him. I’m not sure about the wife, but he had warned his family to take all kinds of extra cautious. He knew something was coming. And it was, you know, after reading that thing, it’s, It’s kind of like, well, we talked about Spilotro taking off their jewelry. Ken Eto did this similar kind of a thing and told his wife he may not be coming back. [29:22] I tell you, another guy that did the same thing was Sonny Black. That’s right. It came out about Joe Pistone, the Donnie Brasco story. He did the same thing. He went to a sit-down or a meeting, and he took off his jewelry, I believe left his billfold, when he went to the meeting. this. Ken Eto was the same way. Ken Eto, I think, thought he could talk his way out. I think all of them thought they could talk their way out of it. So Rettlinger went out by himself and sat in a prominent place in this local restaurant that was really well known up there in the north side. It’s north of downtown Chicago, and I can’t remember the name of it. [30:02] And he just sat there and pretty soon a car pulls up and two guys run in kind of like a Richard Cain kind of a deal and just start popping. And that was a Harry Aleman deal. That’s right. He did, I believe. There’s an old guy who married the girlfriend of Felix Adlericio, I believe. He and this woman are sitting out in front of their brownstone, and Aleman and some other dude pull out and get out when guys walk up to him and shoot him and kill him. [30:31] And so that was – Yeah, that was Petrocelli and Aleman walked up, And he had been, he had been dating, uh, uh, Aldericio’s, Alderico’s girlfriend. Now that’s the famous hit from beyond the grave. Because we’re going to go on the old Samuel’s just sitting in the lawn chair thinking he’d got it made. That’s right. You know, Gary, you and I did the show on the outfit, uh, a long time ago. No, I’m sorry. On the wild bunch, a long time ago. So a lot of those, and they did so much work back in the day. A lot of those run together, but yeah, you’re now, uh, now that you’re right, writing her was he was eating in a restaurant. I’m, Uh, I can’t remember the name. It may have been, been Luna’s, but he was, went out in public. He thought he’d be safe. And like you said, a lot of these guys have a six cents because they come up on the street and they know these things. And, uh, like a guy like Sammy and Reno knew it was coming. He was dodging them for a long time, but they, they know that their time is coming. Eventually they just, they stay ahead of it for a while and figure they can fight their way out or talk their way out. And yeah, they, he was blown away right in public. Like it was similar to the, I remember it being similar to the, to the Richard Cain murder. And this was in, it was right around the same time. It was, it was in the mid seventies, 75, 74, 75, 76. It might’ve been 75 that writing or happened right, right in the middle of the restaurant. [31:58] I’ve been a lot cheaper to pay the street tax, I reckon. You know, and it wasn’t, I don’t recall that they’re asking for so much, but once these murder started happening yeah i think it was it wasn’t like it was half or 75 i think they just wanted it was you know it might have been a quarter it might have just been a flat fee across the board but once that street tax was was instituted i mean we’ve talked about this before gary that was when the wild bunch was out there that was that was they really didn’t play around When Ferriola told these guys, get everybody in line, [32:31] they really cracked down and they weren’t playing at all. You pay or you die. And guys like Alem and Patrick Shelley, whether it was right in public or whatever, in the outfit in the 70s, Paul, you know this from Richard Cain and several others. They just write in public would just blow you away. and writing her was just was almost textbook just like the Richard Cain it was it was right in the right in the restaurant yeah I’ll tell you I’ll tell. [33:05] I was conflating him with Hal Smith. Okay. I’ll tell you something about those mob hits. When they kill somebody in public like that in a public way, more than likely it’s because whoever the victim is has been alerted, and they can’t get anybody to get close to them. They will already try to send somebody around to get them isolated, and when they can’t get them isolated, then they want them bad enough. They’ll just lay, as Frank Calabrese, I heard him say once, well, lay on them. And I thought, oh, that’s interesting. Well, lay on them. I read that somewhere else. They use that term when you’re following somebody and you’re trying to set them up, or yet they lay on them. Calabrese even said, you know, you’re like, get an empty refrigerator box and hide inside of it. I mean, it’s just like the kind of stuff we used to do at the intelligence unit to run surveillances on people. And so they’ll lay on them for a while until they can get you somewhat isolated. And if they can’t, then they’ll just take you out in public. It might be to send a message, but I don’t think so because it’s so risky to get somebody in public. You can have a young, all-fitty cop in there that you didn’t even notice, and he comes out blazing. And, you know, it’s just not worth it. Even if you take him out, he’s probably got to get you. [34:21] So it’s kind of a last resort. A desperation. Yeah, it’s desperation because they can’t get you isolated. [34:28] You look at some of these public murderers, guys like Richard Cain or Ridinger, like you said, who was on the watch. Sam Annarino, who was right on Cicero. [34:39] A guy like Chris Carty, who was years later. I mean, these are guys who would have been smart enough and street smart enough to be on the watch, to watch their step, to know what was going on. With the exception of a guy like Michael Cagnoni, who just happened to be difficult to get, and he probably might have had an idea that something was happening, but I think just he was a family guy, and so it was hard to isolate. They blew him up on the interstate, but I think that in general, that’s a good point, Gary. These guys, if they just run up and blow away, it’s just a last resort. That’s an excellent point. I have always been in that camp of, oh, that must be sending a message. But you, with your experience, I think you’re exactly right. One thing, guys, I think we’re mixing up Sambo Cesario with Sam Annarino. I was thinking when they – yeah, you’re right, Paul. I was thinking, though, when they blew away Sam Annarino in the parking lot with his family, though, they had been trying to get him for several months. And they finally just went after him in the parking lot, called in a robbery, and blew him away in the furniture store parking lot. That was what I meant. Yeah, Gary was referring to Sambo earlier. I just meant they had been trying to get Sam Annarino for a long time, and when they couldn’t, they just got him in the parking lot. [36:08] Well, interesting. You know, no matter how much terror these guys strike in the heart of their underlings, in the end, they still will turn once in a while. And I think people don’t really not turn because they’re afraid of getting killed so much if they don’t turn because they don’t want to have their family suffering the disgrace of them being a rat or a snitch. I think that’s more important to be a man and go out like a man in this subculture and believe me I’ve lived in a subculture where being a man and being a tough guy is more important than anything else, I think that’s the most important thing that keeps people from coming in you’re like a wimp you’re a puss, you can’t take it, can’t handle it you know what I mean you can’t handle five years I could do five years standing on my head or a tray like the dude told me so uh you know but even even with all that and still there’s a certain percentage that will end up coming in sure and usually there are people that either don’t care about their family like lenny patrick yeah or that don’t have close family so that they don’t have it so much of that pressure that you’re talking about gary because you make a really valid point that that that cultural value is so strong yeah yeah it’s it’s. [37:36] In a lot of these small towns, you see in Detroit where they’re all family tied in and everything, you don’t see informants. I think they’ve had one. Kansas City, as you said, Gary, you don’t see. But then you look at a place like Rochester where they’re all just lower tier mob guys. Everybody was informing on everybody because they really weren’t as upper echelon sort of mob guys. So I think that, like you said, once you get that culture seeped in, you’ve got those families and all, there’s a lot of factors. But if it’s a deep-rooted mob town, you really don’t see a lot of real informants. [38:11] So, guys, now we’ve got one that I did a show on. I did a couple of shows on him. I talked to the FBI agent who brought him in and dealt with him for quite a while. Ken Tokiojo Eto. He survived a murder attempt. When that didn’t happen for him with the outfit, what happened after that? [38:32] I believe his attempted assassins got killed themselves. So tell me a little bit about Tokyo Joe Eto. There’s a photograph I have from the late 50s, early 60s And it shows Joe Ferriola And a couple of other heavyweights Hanging around with a young Ken Eto, And a lot of people didn’t know who Ken Eto was But he ran the Japanese game, Gambling, Bolita And lots of money Poured into the outfit through Tokyo Joe As they called him And there was a rumor that perhaps Tokyo Joe was going to turn under a little bit of pressure. And so Jasper Campisi put three slugs in the back of his head. [39:22] Miraculously, he survived three slugs at point blank range. And if he wasn’t going to turn state’s evidence before, he certainly had a powerful incentive to do so now. He seems to insist As I’ve heard that he was not His intention was not It’s hard to say at this point But he says he had no intention Of flipping and that he’s not sure What the evidence was against him But he was not going to flip until, It was Yeah. [39:55] I’m drawing a blank, Paul. Who was it that sent? It wasn’t the saint. It was Vincent Solano. He was kind of Vincent Solano, who was a union guy and a made guy up there. He kind of had which one. [40:11] He was a capo. And which crew was it? Do you remember? He was on the north side. North side crew. North side crew. And actually, Ken went to Vince Solano and had a talk with him. Said you know what i can do this he was looking at a tray i had a dude tell me what’s that pressure and tried to get him to talk and he said uh he said what am i gonna get out of this a tray he said man i can do a tray standing on my head and i threw him right then that’s right gotta talk to me so uh and that’s all he had to do but solano for some reason uh who knows what was in his head because uh ken Eto had made him a lot of money a lot of money and he was a tough little dude he had he had survived he had been put in the uh concentration camps if you will during the internment camps yeah internment camps and then came as a young man up chicago and been around for a long time by the time this all came down he’d been with him for a long time and made him a lot of money and all kinds of different gambling operations but particularly the bolita. [41:13] So uh it just didn’t make sense i heard one thing that these guys in chicago got the idea Yeah, to keep the noise down, they were loading their own rounds with lighter loads of powder. I don’t know. They had like a hit car up there. The guys in Chicago were pretty sophisticated or tried to be. And so they used these lighter loads. And when it went into his head, it just didn’t penetrate his skull. I remember I was at the hospital once, and there was a young guy who had gotten shot in the head. And they said that the bullet was not a good bullet because it went in under his skin and then went under his scalp, along his skull, and then lodged up on his forehead. [41:56] Wow. And so Eto was kind of the same way. Those bullets were probably lodged up underneath his scalp. He pulled himself to a neighboring, I believe it was a pharmacy that was right there, a corner store. And then that guy went to help him. I think he had to dial a call of 911 or whatever. 911 was in place then. He had to call for help for himself from a phone booth. You know, he saved his own life by being smart and playing dead. Yeah, that’s right. And you look at Chicago, it’s a city of neighborhoods, and you’ve got the Mexican town, and you’ve got the different towns, and you’ve got Chinatown where there’s so much money and so much gambling. And while Haneda was Japanese and there’s obviously division between Japanese and Chinese, it would be much easier for him to go in and then some of these outfit guys and because of different things going on back in the 50s, 60s, and 70s. But he could go into neighborhoods and represent the outfit in ways in different communities that the outfit wouldn’t go into or a lot of these made guys. [43:12] And that gave him entry into a lot of communities. In the Asian community, there’s a lot of gambling that he was able to tap into. He was smart enough to see that as a route that maybe the Italian guys didn’t, just like Lenny Patrick, who we’ve talked about in other episodes, had that access into the Jewish communities and other Jewish gangsters. There’s a lot of gambling there. If you can get somebody who has an in to different communities, that’s really a way to go and that’s part of why he made so much money. A game like BolEto wouldn’t normally be and that’s huge in the Hispanic communities and huge with Asians also. You know in kansas city that’s interesting that you should point that out camp we had a um large vietnamese community moved in after the the boat peoples when it started and they moved in through the same church uh. [44:09] Sacred Heart Church and Don Bosco Center that the Italians moved in, the Sicilians moved into back in the turn of the century, the same neighborhoods. And Italians are getting successful and they’re moving out the suburbs and the Vietnamese are moving in and creating the Vietnamese restaurants and Vietnamese shops. And they brought, they have a love for gambling. Like you said, they have huge love for gambling. They don’t drink so much or do so many drugs, but they do love to gamble, it seemed to me like. [44:36] And so they had their own book. he was called the king a guy a friend of mine told me a story uh there’s a mob book he got on the periphery that neighborhood’s got a joint and he he was running a sports book and he had a lot of action going in and out of his joint so this one vietnamese guy had a big debt owed to the king so he goes down and talks to this guy’s name was Larry Strada, he ends up getting killed by some other uh mobsters in a deal they thought he was going to testify but i just needed to hear are there, this young, middle-aged Vietnamese guy goes down to the Caddyshack, Larry Strada’s bar. And he starts telling him about the king. He said, man, he said, the king, you take all your business. He said, he got all business down here. He take all your business. He said, you know, you need to do something about the king. He said, you know, we’re close to the river here. And then he made a motion across his throat like he was cutting his throat. So he was trying to get out of his gambling debt to convince this Italian, La Cosa Nostra bookie to go back and kill me yeah king piano. [45:42] You know i’ve heard a lot of stories and some of them are true some are not that one had to ring a truth to it it had a definite ring of truth that that got to do that playing them against each other yeah you bet and you know another thing about tokyo joe and you know he could testify But Ben Solano had Campizé and Gattuso killed right away. Found them in the trunk of their car, I think. Maybe at the airport, even. [46:09] Chicago trunk music, but they have some saying like that. And so Solano knew that they could testify against him, and they didn’t want to go down for attempted murder, more than likely, and he just didn’t take a chance. So he had them killed, and I can’t remember if he went down behind this or not. But another thing Tokyo Joe was able to do, I mean, he certainly could expose all the inner workings of what he knew about to the FBI, which gives you a lot of tips on where to go, who to work on, and maybe where to throw up microphones or some wiretaps. But he also traveled around he came to Kansas City during the skimming trial because they’re working on the Chicago hierarchy. So they just fly him into town. They show him that picture, the last separate picture where everybody’s in the picture. And they say, now, who’s that? Oh, that’s Aiuppa. Okay, then who’s that? Oh, that’s Vince Solano. Yeah, he reports to Aiuppa. You know, and who’s that guy? I can’t remember the other people at all. So the nation said that Joe is up hard. Oh, yeah, he reports to this guy. So to show the organization of the mob in Chicago and that it is an organization that gives orders to have other people carry it to make the RICO case, that he was a storyteller for that. And he didn’t know anything about the skim at all. But he was a storyteller on getting the mob name and the organization in front of a jury. That’s huge, as you know, Paul. [47:35] Absolutely. We had a similar arrangement during the Carlesi trial about how [47:40] the Carlesi crew operated and who was who, and to tell the story. Yeah. You have to make it a story. Let’s take a look at Betty Toco, which, uh, this is pretty interesting. There was a, um, I’m not sure. Albert Toco was your husband. Remind me what his position was at the outfit at that time. So Al Toco was, there’s sort of a division on who was the leadership of, who was the central leader of Chicago Heights. There’s Dominic Tuts Palermo and Al Toco, who was really a powerhouse in Chicago Heights. And Tuts Palermo was definitely highly connected and across the pond too, also in Italy. But uh Toco was involved in the in the chop shop wars really really heavily involved and he had a lot of connections in chicago too he was involved with lombardo and a lot of these chop shops throughout chicago he had a lot of partnerships and so this was a 30 million dollar a year racket stolen cars chop shops international car rings uh car rings throughout stolen car rings throughout the country. Toco was responsible for burying the Spolatro brothers. It was very sectioned off. Each crew had a part in their murder. And then Chicago Heights was responsible for the burial. [49:02] And they were down in Enos, Indiana. They got kind of turned around a little bit. They were down a farm road. They were burying them in a freshly tilled field. And the road where they’re on, there’s a little side road that you would drive down. There’s very little down there. I’ve, I’ve seen it, but a car happened to come down middle of night and they were in a, there’s a, there were a couple of feet off of a wooded area and they see this car coming down and they sort of all panicked and before they had a chance to cover the area or really do anything, it just looked like a freshly dug, it really just looked like freshly dug mound. And so they all fled and three of Toco’s guys went one way and he went the other. They had the car in both radios. [49:46] He’s wandering around barefoot, and he calls his wife finally. She shows up, and he’s screaming and yelling. And he runs to Florida, and he’s waiting for permission to come back from Joe Ferriola. He’s worried he’s going to get killed because they find the Spallachos immediately because the farmer sees his field all messed up, freshly tilled ground, and it looks really suspicious, like somebody had been poaching deer and burying the carcass. Uh but Toco was a tyrant to his wife he was he was horrible to her he was he was when you think of what a mob guy was that was Toco you know tipping the guy who mows his lawn the kid who mows his lawn hundred bucks and wandered around town everybody knows him but he’d come home and unlike a lot of these guys he was he was a real you know a real. [50:36] Real bastard to his wife you know and for years she put up with this sort of abuse and finally after this this happened and it was in the news and all he finally pushed her too far and she began informing on him and and he was arrested later on he was in his jail cell talking about all the murders he had committed and and this and that about his wife and uh his his uh uh A cellmate repeated everything that he said to try and lessen his sentence. So really, Toco got buried by his big mouth and his terrible behavior. He initially fled to Greece before he was arrested, and they extradited him back from Greece. So this is, I mean, Toco is like deep in mob behavior. [51:22] I mean, fleeing the country and all. I mean, it doesn’t get much more mafia than Al Toco. I hesitate to use that word with Chicago, but that was, Al Toco was running deep. and that Betty Tocco’s testimony eventually led to the trial of Al Tocco. And that was really a blow to the Chicago Heights crew that nowadays, I mean, they continued on and had a few rackets, but after the eventual trial that stemmed from that, it really wasn’t, there’s not much activity now. I’m in that area and there’s just, there’s really nothing here. [51:59] Interesting. Now, so Tony and Michael Spilotro had been lured to somebody’s house on the promise that Michael was going to be made. It’s my understanding. I believe that’s what Frank Collada had reported. And some other people, not part of the Chicago Heights crew, killed him. How did that go down? And how did they pass off the body? You guys, is there anything out there about that? Wasn’t that the family secrets trial, maybe? It was. And, of course, it’s been popularly portrayed in the movie Casino. And it’s surprisingly accurate Except for the fact That where they were beaten But what happened was Little Jimmy Marcello called them. [52:41] And said Sam, meaning Sam Carlisi, the boss, wanted to see them. And they knew that that was ominous because of what was going on beyond the scope of this show. But they took off the jewelry. They left. They told their wives, if we’re not back by 930, it’s not good. They really did not suspect that it was to make Michael. That’s what Collada said. You’re absolutely right about that, Gary. But I don’t think that’s correct at all. They knew that it was bad. And they went. He took a pistol, which was against the rules. They hit him a pistol. Tony hit a pistol on his brother, which you do not do when you go to see the boss. And they were picked up by, by Marcello and taken to a house. I, uh, was it Bensonville? Yeah. Up in Bensonville. Uh, in, in the basement, they walked down the stairs and all of a sudden they looked into the eyes of Carlici and, uh, DeFranzo and everybody, the whole, all the couples were there to spread the, the, uh, liability around and they were beaten to death with, with fists and feet, uh, in, in that basement and then transported to that burial ground, which coincidentally was just maybe a couple hundred yards away from Joey Aupa’s farm. [54:00] Right. So I guess that they must have had, uh, Toco standing by, because I don’t believe he was in that basement. I like that. He must have had him standing by to go grab the bodies and take them out. Really interesting. He should have had the old Doug before he got there. You know, that’s what they always say. First you dig the hole then you go do the murder right and i don’t think he had it done before he got there yeah i don’t i really that’s a good that’s a good point gary i really don’t know and nobody’s ever come forward to say what the status of the hole was beforehand uh you know it was a deep it was a deep it was it was a pretty deep hole uh but they may have had a dug ahead of Tom, but, but, uh, cause they knew the location and it’s pretty obscure location. So they had clearly been there before. And, and, you know, everybody knew that that was, I, I hope was, I got it right. Farm. And, uh, So they may have had it dug, and they just did a shoddy job covering it up. [55:05] But I also haven’t heard the specific details about how they handed it off to Toco. I don’t recall seeing that in Calabrese’s testimony. Yeah, it was Nick Calabrese that testified about that. It brought up the light. He named the killer. So he may not have gone that far, probably having Toco and having his wife testify that he did do this. that she picked him up out there. It was just a piece of the entire prosecution on the spot, which it really never was a trial or anything on that. I don’t believe. Another odd thing is he, I believe he ranted and raved the entire car ride back. And from where he was, you would run up with, It’s now turns into Indianapolis. So it’s a good car ride from where they were to Chicago Heights. I believe he ranted and raved about the guys and his crew and the burial and everything, the entire car ride, which was not something most guys would do in front of their wives. But I really, especially when he treated like that. Right. And complained about how long it took her to get there and everything. So she was able to verify a lot of what Calabrese was saying from the final end of it. Interesting. A friend of mine was in the penitentiary, and he said, there’s a guy in there who called himself a verifier. He said, what do you mean? He said, I’m a professional verifier. What he was, he was an informant. That’s what he was, but he called himself a verifier. [56:33] A girl would come to him and say, well, I heard this, this, and this. Is that true or not? He’d say, well, that’s true. That’s not true. [56:40] I guess that’s a more preferable term. Yeah, she was a verifier. Well, that was great. I really appreciate having that on there and Paul. And I really, I still miss Cam. Every time I get ready to do a Chicago show, I think, oh, I want to get Cam or Rochester. [56:58] We did one about Rochester. We did one about Utica. I did several other shows about other families. And he was a good guy and a real great researcher and a real expert on the outfit and other mafia families. So rest in peace, Cam and Paul. I hope to talk to you again one of these days. Guys, don’t forget, I got stuff to sell out there. Just go to my website or just search on my name for Amazon. I can rent my movies about the skim in Las Vegas, about the big mob war between the Savella brothers and the Spiro brothers in Kansas City. Then one about the great 1946 ballot theft in which the mob… Rigged election, helped Harry Truman rig an election. It’s a little harder to find than mine. You need to put ballot theft and Gary Jenkins. I think you’ll find it then. The other two, Gangland Wire and Brothers Against Brothers, Sabella Spiro, were a little bit easier to find. Had to put it up a different way because Amazon changed the rules, but I got them up there. So thanks a lot, guys.

Nicole Bukosky is the founder of Evergreen Stitched Goods, a crochet brand she launched in November 2022 with the philosophy that if a project isn't fun to make it, it doesn't make the cut. Her work blends cottagecore charm with cozy coastal grandma vibes - think soft textures, timeless palettes, and a whole lot of comfort. With a background in higher education and 2 degrees from IUP, Nicole brings an educator's heart to everything she does. She's passionate about building community, from helping lead a local book club at a small business to supporting fellow makers and entrepreneurs across the Greater Pittsburgh area, especially in her hometown of Indiana, PA. A mom, a wife, and an unapologetic lover of coffee and books, Nicole finds joy in the slow, meaningful rhythm of handmade life.IG: @everygreenstitchedgoods

Each week Todd Blackledge and I get to sit down with head coaches, coordinators and players in advance of our games. It's a time where analysts glean insight into scheme, players and the game. This week at Y-Option, Todd joined me to dive into the Big Ten Championship Game as we discussed what questions we would be seeking answers to if we were calling the Ohio State vs Indiana match-up. As always, our conversation is podcast is fueled by our founding sponsor, 76® - keeping you on the GO GO GO so you never miss a beat.It's a fun conversation as Todd has called championship games before and both of us have recently called Ohio State and Indiana games so we try to paint a full picture of what each side is carrying into the biggest stage of their season.We take a detailed look at Fernando Mendoza vs Matt Patricia's defense and Brian Hartline's offense against Bryant Haines' defense, as well as the mental elements led by Ryan Day and Curt Cignetti.The conversation evolves into a deeper look at Indiana's rapid rise under Coach Cignetti, the disciplined way he has built the roster, and what his journey—from Alabama to IUP to James Madison to the Big Ten—reveals about evaluation, culture, and belief. From there, the episode widens into the broader chaos of the sport: championship picks, coaching dominoes, portal season, and the looming sprint toward the Heisman and the College Football Playoff. At its core, this episode is also a window into the fraternity of broadcasting—the camaraderie, the mentorship, and the genuine support that makes the profession special.Be sure to subscribe to Y-Option as we have a lot of detailed analysis behind the paywall coming soon.I'm off to Eugene to watch the title games and spend some time with the Ducks this weekend.Much love and stay steady,YogiY-Option: College Football with Yogi Roth is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.y-option.com/subscribe

Cignetti is a Pittsburgh native who used to coach at IUP. He's turned Indiana into a national championship contender in two seasons. Cignetti is the best option. Matt Rhule is 2-23 against Top 25 opponents.

Hour 2 with Joe Starkey: Penn State fired head coach James Franklin. Franklin's time at Penn State came to a bad end after losing three games in a row. Should Penn State pursue Indiana's Curt Cignetti or Nebraska's Matt Rhule? Cignetti is a Pittsburgh native who used to coach at IUP. Matt Rhule is 2-23 against Top 25 opponents.

In this episode of the Building PA Podcast, co-hosts Jon O'Brien and Chris Martin dive into an engaging discussion about safety education in the construction industry with special guest Tracey Cekada, the chair of the Safety Sciences and Environmental Engineering Department at Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP).We kick off the episode with a light-hearted introduction, where Chris and Jon share their excitement about the topic and the importance of safety in construction. Jon highlights the Keystone Contractors Association's scholarship program, which recently awarded its first scholarship to Mackenzie Daniel, a student in IUP's safety program. This sets the stage for our conversation about the significance of safety education and the opportunities available for students in this field.Tracey Cekada joins the conversation to provide insights into IUP's safety program, which offers a Bachelor of Science in Safety, Health, and Environmental Applied Sciences, as well as a Master's and PhD in Safety Sciences. Tracey explains the recent merger of two departments into one, emphasizing the growing importance of safety education in various industries, including construction, oil and gas, and even sports.Throughout the episode, we discuss the common questions incoming students and their parents have about the job market and career prospects in safety. Tracey reassures listeners that the demand for safety professionals is high, with many medium to large companies employing safety experts. She shares inspiring stories of graduates who have found success in diverse fields, including a student working for Fox Sports, overseeing safety at major events.As we delve deeper into the educational experience at IUP, Tracey outlines what first-year students can expect, including foundational courses and hands-on laboratory experiences. She emphasizes the importance of internships and co-op opportunities, which are integral to the program, ensuring that students graduate with real-world experience.We also touch on the significance of communication skills for safety professionals, as Tracey explains how effective communication can make a difference in promoting safety culture within organizations. The episode wraps up with a discussion on the resources available for those looking to enter the safety field, including certification options and the potential for an associate's degree aimed at smaller contractors.Overall, this episode is a valuable resource for anyone interested in pursuing a career in safety, particularly within the construction industry. Tracey's insights and the experiences shared by Jon and Chris highlight the importance of safety education and the myriad of opportunities available for students in this vital field. Tune in to learn more about how safety professionals are making a difference and how you can get involved!

The state of Michigan hopes new tourism campaign based on its 'scents' will encourage people to visit, Tomorrow will be the 80th Anniversary of 'Tomatina' in Spain...I think that is Spanish for 'Huge tomato fight', IUP cheerleaders disciplined by university after two-year investigation into hazing...University should be investigated for having most confusing college name ever

Thomas Young is the President and CEO of the World Trade Center of Greater Philadelphia, a non-profit focused on helping local businesses thrive on the international stage. Young's current career follows an impressive run playing basketball. He was a star at Plymouth-Whitemarsh High School - he is still the leading scorer in the history of the boys program. In college he started at UMBC, then transferred to IUP, where he led the Crimson Hawks to the Division II National Championship game as a senior. In Episode #262 of "1-on-1 with Matt Leon," Matt welcomes Young In studio to talk about his career. They discuss his current role with the World Trade Center of Greater Philadelphia, look back at his playing days, talk about the impact his mom had on his basketball career and much more. “1-on-1 with Matt Leon” is a KYW Newsradio original podcast. You can follow the show on X @1on1pod and you can follow Matt @Mattleon1060.

Pemerintah telah mencabut Izin Usaha Pertambangan (IUP) empat perusahaan tambang di pulau-pulau kecil di Raja Ampat, Papua Barat Daya. Ada Empat perusahaan yang dicabut izinnya, yaitu PT Anugerah Surya Pratama, PT Nurham, PT Mulia Raymond Perkasa dan PT Kawei Sejahtera Mining. Sebelumnya Presiden telah menugaskan kementerian terkait untuk menghimpun data dan informasi secara objektif di lapangan.Bagaimana Komisi 12 menanggapi pencabutan IUP? Apakah Komisi 12 telah mendapatkan laporan rinci dari kementerian terkait tentang metodologi pengumpulan data objektif yang dijadikan dasar pencabutan IUP ini?Talk: Wakil Ketua Komisi 12 DPR RI, Sugeng Suparwoto.

Kementerian Lingkungan Hidup masih mengkaji potensi kerusakan lingkungan dari aktivitas tambang yang dilakukan di Raja Ampat, Papua Barat Daya. Meski beberapa perusahaan mempunyai IUP dan persetujuan lingkungan, pemerintah akan mengkaji lokasi aktivitas tambang yang dilakukan di pulau-pulau kecil.

Join us as we recap Week 3 of IAYRA Boys action and preview Week 4! We are also joined by IUP's Head Coach Seth Erwin as he looks to lead his program to another national championship while offering his rugby knowledge to us! We cover all sorts of other topics in Iowa, Midwest, Nationally, and Internationally as well!

Welcome to a special year-end episode of the Building PA Podcast! As we wrap up another incredible year in the construction industry, co-hosts Jon O'Brien and Chris Martin take a moment to reflect on the highlights from 2024. With over 200 episodes and 25,000 downloads under our belt, we are thrilled to share some of our favorite moments, guests, and topics from the past year.In this episode, we dive into three main categories and we invite our listeners to participate by voting for their favorites. We encourage you to visit our website at buildingpapodcast.com/vote to cast your votes and help us recognize the standout episodes of the year.Most Interesting Topic/TrendWe kick off the discussion by highlighting some of the most intriguing topics we covered this year. Our first nominee is an episode featuring Steve Powell from Novinger Interior Construction Company, where we explored the evolution of exterior panel construction and its impact on efficiency and safety. Next, we recount our visit to the Carpenters Dive Training School in New Jersey, where we learned about the unique training for commercial divers from instructor Don Gibbons. Finally, we discuss our enlightening conversation with Matt Curry and Chad Stokes from Cleveland Brothers Equipment Company, who shared innovative approaches to workforce development through technology and gaming.Best Advice for BuildersIn this category, we focus on the invaluable advice shared by our guests. Ryan Angland, author of "Hire Better People Faster," emphasizes the importance of storytelling in the hiring process. We also feature Frank Baxter, who provided insights on building a successful safety program, stressing the need for management buy-in and a strong safety culture. Lastly, Darren Rech from Alexander Building Construction Company shares his strategies for enhancing toolbox talks, and making safety training engaging and effective.Best Community Impact/Inspiring StoryWe conclude with a powerful selection of inspiring stories that highlight the positive impact individuals and organizations are making in the construction industry. Makenzie Daniel, a scholarship recipient from IUP, shares her journey and aspirations in construction safety management. We also hear from Dona File, a retired safety professional, who reflects on her groundbreaking career and her commitment to mentoring young women in the industry. Additionally, we discuss the important work of Sonja Bowman from the Construction Industry Alliance for Suicide Prevention, who addresses mental health challenges in the construction sector. Finally, we spotlight the Bethel Village project by the JEM Group, which aims to transform the Harrisburg community through quality housing.As we wrap up this episode, we express our gratitude to you, our listeners, and our guests for their support throughout the year. We invite you to participate in the voting process and help us celebrate the achievements and stories that have shaped our podcast in 2024. Voting will remain open until January 15th, 2025, and we look forward to announcing the winners in a future episode.Thank you for joining us on this journey, and here's to another year of building connections and sharing stories in the construction industry!

Marty discusses a naked man in Oakland, Donald Trump's visit to IUP, the mental health crisis in Pittsburgh, and the high cost of weight loss drugs in America.

Carson Zandroga with IUP news calls in to talk about their live coverage at yesterday's rally.

Back in January 2024, we summarized the SFP's position statement on RH IG use (or rather non-use) under 12 weeks IUP gestations. Then, in February 2024, we released an episode summarizing the more conservative stance from the SMFM. Well now, 7 months after that episode, we have a new Clinical Practice Update from the ACOG on this very issue. That is the focus of this episode...and as we have said better, WORDING matters. We will discuss in this episode.

Join us in this insightful episode of the Back in Session podcast as co-hosts Ryan Stevens and Ryan DeMara sit down with Pennsylvania State Representative and Republican Whip, Tim O'Neal. Dive into the complexities of the recent state budget, explore the dynamics of special vs. general elections, and learn about crucial legislative efforts aimed at transparency and consumer convenience. Whether you're a Pennsylvania resident or a political enthusiast, this episode offers valuable perspectives on state politics and governance. Don't miss out on this great conversation! About Rep. O'Neal:Relying on his private-sector experience, Rep. Tim O'Neal is working to create and protect jobs, improve infrastructure, ensure our energy diversity and independence, and reform state government. He is serving his third full term in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives after assuming office following a May 2018 special election.Tim was elected to serve as the Republican Whip for the 2023-24 Legislative Session.A life-long resident of southwestern Pennsylvania, Tim graduated from Jeannette High School and Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP). While an undergraduate, he served in the ROTC program at IUP and was a member of the Pennsylvania National Guard. After graduation, he served on active duty, including a tour in Afghanistan. He rose to the rank of captain. While in combat, Tim was awarded the Bronze Star with “V” for valor. Once he returned from active duty, he chose to settle back in southwestern Pennsylvania and earned his master's degree in business administration from the University of Pittsburgh's Katz Graduate School of Business. After working in the energy industry, Tim was a human resources director for a construction company.In his spare time, Tim coaches football and enjoys spending time outdoors.Tim resides in South Strabane Township with his wife, Julia, and their three children, Lucy, Daniel and Simon.The 48th Legislative District covers the city of Washington; Amwell, part of Carroll (Districts 3, 4 and 5), East Finley, Fallowfield, Morris, North Franklin, part of North Strabane (Districts 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5), Nottingham, Somerset, South Franklin, South Strabane, and West Finley townships; and the boroughs of Donora, East Washington and Green Hills.

Chad is a Franklin Regional and IUP grad. He helped recruit Russell Wilson to NC State and still keeps in touch with him.

Hour two with Joe Starkey. Derrick Henry is a big addition to the Ravens this season but Rob thinks they need to manage his workload for full effectiveness. Rob thinks Lamar is great BUT he doesn't know a playoff signature moment for Lamar. There are eyes on Lamar and John Harbaugh to be a better team in the playoffs. Chad is a Franklin Regional and IUP grad. He helped recruit Russell Wilson to NC State and still keeps in touch with him.

In the latest episode of Building PA Podcast, co-hosts Chris Martin and Jon O'Brien interview Makenzie Daniel, a sophomore safety science major at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Makenzie shares her journey into the construction industry, highlighting her experiences and successes, including making the Dean's list and obtaining her OSHA 30 card. She discusses her motivations for pursuing safety science, inspired by her family's involvement in the industry and a desire to ensure worker safety. Despite initial nerves about being in a male-dominated field, Makenzie expresses confidence and gratitude for the supportive environment at IUP.

IUP Baseball coach, former major league pitcher and Winfield, PA native, Steve Kline talks with Steve about IUP's outstanding run in the Division II tournament.

Starkey-esque rapid fire of 10 topics in 40 minutes episodic An ode to Starkey with 10 topics in 40 minutes - NFL receivers pay, NFL's overexposure, NBA playoffs, the impact of commentators, NIL and transfers, MLB surprises, WNBA, Aliquippa, WPIAL baseball and softball, and IUP baseball making the college world series 2110 Mon, 27 May 2024 10:27:31 +0000 oTAURkrOrp8suov3boxNTGg17msbM2dX The Fan Early Morning Show sports,whatcom/skagit/island counties,wo category Starkey-esque rapid fire of 10 topics in 40 minutes Fan Morning Show Producer gets your Pittsburgh sports day started bright and early at 5am. Listen to The Fan Early Morning Show on 93.7 The Fan on the Audacy App 2024 © 2021 Audacy, Inc.

SJS Hour 1 - 05-20-2024 - Steve talks about the Non-Power 5 schools being upset about the NCAA settlement, and is it fair? Then Steve Kline, a Lewisburg High graduate, joins the show to discuss his IUP baseball team making the Division II Super Regionals for the first time in school history

Steve, a Lewisburg graduate and former MLB pitcher, joins the show to discuss IUP making the Division II Super Regionals for the first time in school history. Kline discusses  his team, his baseball philosophy and some of the guys in the game that influenced him.

Pemerintah merancang pemberian izin usaha pertambangan (IUP) untuk organisasi kemasyarakatan. Karpet merah untuk ormas itu merupakan bentuk terima kasih Jokowi karena telah mendukungnya. Nahdlatul Ulama sudah mengajukan diri agar bisa mengelola konsesi tambang. Adapun Menteri Luhut dan Menteri Bahlil berbeda pendapat soal pemberian IUP ke ormas. Menurut Tempo, Jokowi sebaiknya berhenti mengakali aturan untuk kepentingan politiknya.  - - - Kunjungi ⁠s.id/tempo199⁠ untuk promo berlangganan Tempo Digital Rp 199 ribu setahun. Unduh aplikasi⁠ Tempo⁠ untuk membaca berbagai liputan mendalam Tempo. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/apakatatempo/message

Kline comes to the Crimson Hawks with 11 years of experience as a Major League pitcher and 15 years as a pitching coach and in player development at a variety of levels of professional baseball. Kline has spent his entire professional coaching career in the San Francisco Giants organization, coaching more than 100 players who would go on to appear in the Major Leagues. He's won three World Series rings as an organizational coach and has been part of two minor league championship teams. Kline and the Hawks had a big turnaround during his first season at the helm of the program in 2022. IUP recorded an improvement of 25 victories, going 27-22 following a two-win season in 2021.

We review threatened abortion and the complexities in its care. Hosts: Stacey Frisch, MD Brian Gilberti, MD https://media.blubrry.com/coreem/content.blubrry.com/coreem/Threatened_Abortion.mp3 Download Leave a Comment Tags: OBGYN Show Notes Background Defined as vaginal bleeding during early pregnancy (before 20 weeks) with a closed cervical os, no passage of fetal tissue, and IUP on ultrasound Occurs in 20-25% of all pregnancies. Initial Assessment and Management Priority is to assess patient stability, establish good IV access, FAST may be helpful in identifying some ruptured ectopics early Broad differential diagnosis is crucial to avoid mistaking conditions like ectopic pregnancy for other emergencies. Importance of a detailed history and physical examination. Diagnostic Approach Essential tests include HCG level, urinalysis, and possibly CBC + blood type/Rh status. Rhogam's use is well-supported in second and third trimester bleeding; however, data is less robust for first trimester bleeding in preventing sensitization Importance of interpreting b-HCG with caution and understanding HCG discriminatory zones. Use of ultrasound imaging, both bedside and formal, to assess the pregnancy's status. Patient Counseling and Management Open and honest communication about the prognosis of threatened abortion. Addressing psychosocial aspects, including dispelling guilt and myths, and screening for intimate partner violence and mental health i...

Well after a long fall, it all comes down to this weekend at the Midwest's cornerstone event, the Midwest Championships. We look at the results from the semi-final round and preview the matchups for this weekend's final matchups. Good luck to all teams involved especially the Pittsburgh Forge women who we have been covering extensively. Also we look at the Allegheny Rugby Union championship results, as IUP and Slippery Rock now move on and have their eyes set on the NCR Quarterfinals.

Hour 4 - Larry and Marty talk more about the attacks on Israel and the long-term effects it will have. They also discuss the shooting at IUP and their bet for High School Football. 

Dr. Adam Katchmarchi (Ph.D.) is an assistant professor in the Department of Kinesiology, Health, and Sport Sciences (KHSS) at Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP). Adam is also Executive Director of the National Drowning Prevention Alliance. Adam completed his Ph.D. in Coaching and Teaching Studies with a cognate specialization in Sport Management from West Virginia University. He received his M.S. in Sport Management from IUP and completed his B.S.Ed. in Health and Physical Education with a minor in Aquatics from Slippery Rock University. Adam carries a very active research agenda all surrounding his passion for aquatics. His research interests focus on aquatic education, swimming and water safety, drowning prevention education, lifeguard training, and sport facility risk management. Adam holds provider, instructor, and trainer certifications from multiple safety and aquatic organizations and is a licensed teacher in the state of Pennsylvania for grades K-12 in Health and Physical Education. He received a National Swimming Pool Foundation Fellowship Award in 2014 and has been recognized twice by Aquatic International as a Power Award recipient, first in 2012 as a “Next Generation Leader in the Field of Aquatics” and again in 2017 as one of the “Most Influential People in the Aquatic Industry.” He has also received a letter of commendation from the National Water Safety Congress in 2011. Most recently, Katchmarchi received a Recent Alumni Award from Slippery Rock University in 2019. Adam is a steering committee member for the U.S. National Water Safety Action Plan, serves as an organizational representative to Water Safety USA and the Aquatics Coalition, represents NDPA in the planning for National Water Safety Month, and serves on numerous industry committees and councils. Nicole Hughes Los Angeles, California, USA After 3 year old Levi Hughes drowned in June 2018 during a non-swim time, his family founded Levi's Legacy, creating Water Guardians tags to help raise awareness about this silent killer. Levi's mom also hopes to encourage others to live intentionally, even when in the midst of tragedy https://ndpa.org/layers-of-protection/ https://ndpa.org/vacation-checklists/ https://www.levislegacy.com/ https://www.infantswim.com/lessons/isr-lessons.html _______________________________________________________ ⁠⁠⁠⁠Become a JOWMA Member!⁠⁠⁠⁠ www.jowma.org  ⁠⁠⁠⁠Follow us on Instagram!⁠⁠⁠⁠ www.instagram.com/JOWMA_org  ⁠⁠⁠⁠Follow us on Twitter!⁠⁠⁠⁠ www.twitter.com/JOWMA_med  ⁠⁠⁠⁠Follow us on Facebook! ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/JOWMAorg/ ⁠⁠⁠⁠Stay up-to-date with JOWMA news! Sign up for the JOWMA newsletter! ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://jowma.us6.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=9b4e9beb287874f9dc7f80289&id=ea3ef44644&mc_cid=dfb442d2a7&mc_eid=e9eee6e41e

Ever wondered how the best high school football teams are built? This episode promises to deliver just that, as we chat with the seasoned coach, Jim Kiernan. Currently an offensive coordinator at Shaker High School, Jim takes us through his journey from playing football at St. Francis Prep and St. Lawrence University, to a vibrant coaching career that spans over three decades. He generously shares some of his top coaching strategies, his summer routines, and how he successfully navigated the complexities of the high school level game.Get ready for an exciting deep-dive into the mechanics of building a formidable college football program. Jim emphasizes the importance of patience and finding the perfect fit when recruiting. He shares how a good staff, the right talent, and something beyond talent propels a team towards being championship players. We also talk about the significance of culture and winning in attracting young athletes - a unique aspect you wouldn't want to miss! Throughout our conversation, a common thread that emerges is the life lessons that sports teach us. Jim's captivating recollections, like the unforgettable playoff game against IUP, not only serve as fantastic sports memories but also as significant life experiences. The power of moments, modeling the behavior we expect of our players, and the different interpretations of the same message at different ages, all come to light in Jim's insightful anecdotes. So, whether you're a football enthusiast or an aspiring coach, this episode is a treasure trove of wisdom waiting to be unlocked!Stupid Should Hurt Link to my Merch store the Stupid Should Hurt Line!Reaper Apparel Reaper Apparel Co was built for those who refuse to die slowly! Reaper isn't just clothing! Buzzsprout - Let's get your podcast launched! Start for FREETactical Brotherhood The Tactical Brotherhood is a movement to support America.Dubby Energy FROM GAMERS TO GYM JUNKIES TO ENTREPRENEURS, OUR PRODUCT IS FOR ANYONE WHO WANTS TO BE BETTER.Shankitgolf Our goal here at Shankitgolf is for everyone to have a great time on and off the golf courseDisclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.Support the show

Governor Josh Shapiro joins Larry and Marty for a check in. They ask him about fracking and how other leaders in the county are against it, the current state of the Democratic Party, budget cuts in higher education - specifically IUP and his solution for this, officials in Allegheny County trying to "take down" UPMC, his plan to hire more cops, and his upcoming steps for the state and how to bring Democrats and Republicans together. 

Today Lou and Dre welcome back friend of the show Kirk Holloway!! The guys start off with a conversation about Lou and Kirk's time at IUP and the Philadelphia vs  Pittsburgh beef (1:00). This leads into a conversation about Kirk's time at West Virginia University and the importance of networking in college (4:02). Kirk then shares his experiences that he's been having with his daughters growing up (22:02). They then transition to a conversation that Dre and Kirk share about their sons tough times with behaviors in daycare (24:44). The fellas then end off with a conversation about kids being snatched while the parents are present (31:30). Thank you for tuning in!!!!!!Do you want to be apart of the show? Ask a question or tell us your story? Email us at info@morethanadad.org or send us a message on Instagram @morethanadadnetworkShop our Merch - https://morethanadad.bigcartel.com/products Follow us on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/morethanadadnetwork/Join our Facebook Group - https://www.facebook.com/groups/963847910880766Subscribe to our Youtube Channel - https://youtube.com/channel/UCr_XZyW1ec8nBOgAF5ol7WQ?sub_confirmation=1

Joe Lombardi discusses the process of building IUP into a perennial Division II power.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In the Tyrone Sports Podcast Network's 11th episode hosts Logan Rumberger and Colton Veres talk Tyrone sports with this week's special guest Ross Gampe, who just committed to IUP for football.

The play-by-play voice of Shepherd Rams football and men's basketball on TV10 and WRNR TV Nick Verzolini joins us for one last retrospective on the party of a regional championship game that was the 48-13 win over IUP for the Rams before giving you the whole-hog breakdown of Shepherd's national semifinal matchup against Colorado School of Mines. How do you stop John Matocha? How healthy are Shepherd's WRs? Will altitude be a big factor? How many hours per year is Chic-Fil-A open?

This is my first episode back and I thought why not talk about the rematch between Shepherd and IUP for the regional championship let me know how yall feel about it. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/gerald-wright6/support

Dylan and Ryan are joined by the man, the myth, the legend Travis “The Beast” Bagent, the father of Shepherd quarterback Tyson Bagent to talk with him about Shepherd making it back to another regional championship game in a PSAC title rematch against IUP. Also on the docket: the legacy of Tyson at Shepherd, his path to the NFL, and the potential future of Tyson's younger brother Ezra as his high school career ends. We wanted to run through a wall during and after this one.

What. An. Episode. We were thankful to be joined by our guest Seth Erwin, who is the head men's rugby coach at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Seth joined us for a very lengthy talk, and gave us a lot of insight on his background in rugby, how he got into coaching, and of course, how IUP has become an absolute powerhouse for D2 Men's Rugby, not only in Western PA, but also on the national level. We wish IUP the best of luck as they travel to Houston next weekend for the D2 National Semi-Finals. If you would like to help a self funded club get there, a link to donate to their program is in our Linktree in our Instagram bio.

HD is live on the scene at the QFs of the PSAC volleyball tournament as Shepherd hosts West Chester. You know what that means: for the first time in a while, it's volleyball talk! Then we break down the PSAC football title game vs IUP on Saturday and find out live on air that Tyson Bagent has made the Senior Bowl.

Episode 76 - Andrew graduated from the Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) with a bachelor's degree in finance.  He also holds the FINRA SIE, Series 7, 66, and life & health insurance licenses.  He was a member of the Student Managed Investment Portfolio throughout his college tenure, where he managed a portion of IUP's assets and nurtured his passion for finance.  Andrew enjoys comprehensive financial planning and helping individuals reach their financial goals.  He focuses on long-term, consistent investing to help others succeed financially. Andrew was a member of the Student Finance Association at IUP and treasurer of the Kappa Sigma fraternity.  Throughout his years, he was very involved in hosting events to raise funds for numerous organizations, primarily the Military Heroes Campaign. Andrew grew up in Sykesville, Maryland, where in his free time, he enjoys golfing, fishing, going to the beach, and spending time with his friends & family.  Additionally, he loves cars and watching his favorite football team, the Baltimore Ravens. Learn more about Andrew here: https://www.contewealth.com/team/andrew-m-wallace/  WEALTH: Not getting enough clients? Book a FREE 15-minute Client Acquisition Consultation with CEO | Carter Wilcoxson to learn how.  HEALTH: Low on energy or overweight? Go to www.chemicalfreebody.com/enrichers and grab GREEN 85 Juice Formula or book a FREE 30-minute Health Strategy Session with Tim or one of his coaches.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Carter Bainbridge and Cam Ezeir are back for this week's Fizz Five to speak on Syracuse's upcoming clash with Notre Dame, men's basketball's exhibition against IUP, and the outlook for Jim Boeheim's squad just over a week away from the regular season. Notre Dame Preview (2:10-9:58) Syracuse beats Notre Dame if ... (10:00-19:28) Syracuse vs. IUP exhibition takeaways (19:30-29:05) Who impressed most against IUP? (29:07-35:35) Is it accurate, inaccurate, or too early to tell if SU is a tournament team this year? (35:37-44:46)

Welcome to the Line of Scrimmage. Ahead of each game this football season, we're giving you insight into Florida State's opponents from those in the know. This week, we welcome Brad Everett, who covers sports at all levels as a reporter for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The Seminoles open the season against the Duquesne Dukes, who have found a relative standard of success in the Northeast Conference on the FCS level. Duquesne is coming off of a 7-3 season that included their first win over an FBS opponent. The Dukes are preseason second in the Northeast Conference, can you speak to the overall success of the program under head coach Jerry Schmidt? Is there a particular area that Schmidt has excelled in during his tenure? Brad Everett: They've just been consistent. I mean, ever since he's been there. You know, this is a program that you know, I mean, I'm sure not a lot of your readers or listeners are very familiar with Duquesne athletics. But I mean, up until, you know, up until 1993, this was the division three program. You know, they weren't even at the division two level. They've only had two coaches since 1993. Jerry Schmidt's been at Duquesne for 18 years, he's actually longer tenured than Mike Tomlin is here in Pittsburgh. On offense, the Dukes enter the season with the always favorite quarterback competition. Do you have a pulse on how this completion shakes out and also some background on Joe Mischler and Darius Perrantes? Brad Everett: Yeah, they're in a unique situation. And, you know, it's not a case, you know, some schools are still trying to, you know, are still trying to figure out how to have one decent quarterback but you know, Duquesne has, you know, not only to decent ones, but two good ones. Both of those guys, you know, have good arms can move. Not your traditional, like dual-threat guys, like, they're not gonna, you know, be doing these 20 - 30 yards runs that Jordan Travis might be pulling off or something, but they can both play and they both have experience under their belt. Switching to defense, the name that sticks out islinebacker Todd Hill. If you could give some details to the listeners on him and also the base defensive formation that Duquesne runs? Brad Everett: This is a team that's been strong defensively in recent years. They went out and they got a new defensive coordinator this year. They went out and got a guy named Mike Craig, who was previously defensive coordinator at IUP up here in the area, a really strong division two program and so he's bringing that three, four defense over there. Todd Hill, he played at a local high school, Still Valley High School, was the day one starter there his freshman year and was just a kid that just produced and produced and produced throughout his career, just made plays every time you saw him. And it's like, man, like this dude, you know, this dude is good enough to play, you know, he can go anywhere. He, I mean, he can go anywhere he wants in college, but there's the size issue, he's not very tall. And you know, and that's what you'll get a lot of these FCS schools, you know, guys that if they were three or four inches taller, they'd be playing on ACC teams. he's going to be playing more of an edge position this year, and they're going to try to deploy him in a lot of different ways. They're gonna try to keep offensive coordinators guessing as far as where he's gonna line up at on defense, but they expect him to have a really, really big year.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to the Line of Scrimmage. Ahead of each game this football season, we're giving you insight into Florida State's opponents from those in the know. This week, we welcome Brad Everett, who covers sports at all levels as a reporter for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The Seminoles open the season against the Duquesne Dukes, who have found a relative standard of success in the Northeast Conference on the FCS level. Duquesne is coming off of a 7-3 season that included their first win over an FBS opponent. The Dukes are preseason second in the Northeast Conference, can you speak to the overall success of the program under head coach Jerry Schmidt? Is there a particular area that Schmidt has excelled in during his tenure? Brad Everett: They've just been consistent. I mean, ever since he's been there. You know, this is a program that you know, I mean, I'm sure not a lot of your readers or listeners are very familiar with Duquesne athletics. But I mean, up until, you know, up until 1993, this was the division three program. You know, they weren't even at the division two level. They've only had two coaches since 1993. Jerry Schmidt's been at Duquesne for 18 years, he's actually longer tenured than Mike Tomlin is here in Pittsburgh. On offense, the Dukes enter the season with the always favorite quarterback competition. Do you have a pulse on how this completion shakes out and also some background on Joe Mischler and Darius Perrantes? Brad Everett: Yeah, they're in a unique situation. And, you know, it's not a case, you know, some schools are still trying to, you know, are still trying to figure out how to have one decent quarterback but you know, Duquesne has, you know, not only to decent ones, but two good ones. Both of those guys, you know, have good arms can move. Not your traditional, like dual-threat guys, like, they're not gonna, you know, be doing these 20 - 30 yards runs that Jordan Travis might be pulling off or something, but they can both play and they both have experience under their belt. Switching to defense, the name that sticks out islinebacker Todd Hill. If you could give some details to the listeners on him and also the base defensive formation that Duquesne runs? Brad Everett: This is a team that's been strong defensively in recent years. They went out and they got a new defensive coordinator this year. They went out and got a guy named Mike Craig, who was previously defensive coordinator at IUP up here in the area, a really strong division two program and so he's bringing that three, four defense over there. Todd Hill, he played at a local high school, Still Valley High School, was the day one starter there his freshman year and was just a kid that just produced and produced and produced throughout his career, just made plays every time you saw him. And it's like, man, like this dude, you know, this dude is good enough to play, you know, he can go anywhere. He, I mean, he can go anywhere he wants in college, but there's the size issue, he's not very tall. And you know, and that's what you'll get a lot of these FCS schools, you know, guys that if they were three or four inches taller, they'd be playing on ACC teams. he's going to be playing more of an edge position this year, and they're going to try to deploy him in a lot of different ways. They're gonna try to keep offensive coordinators guessing as far as where he's gonna line up at on defense, but they expect him to have a really, really big year.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today's sermon from guest speaker David Augustine, of Reformed University Fellowship at IUP, on 1 Kings.

This week Drew sits down with fellow baller Lawrence Baker! Hear LB's story about growing up in Detriot never playing High School ball but getting a scholarship to play at IUP after winning a dunk contest. He's been everywhere from Europe to the Pittsburgh's ABA team the Yellowjackets during his career as well.   The guys also college life and their love lives so I promise you're in for a trip.Tap In and make sure to follow us everywhere! 

Jessica came to Wissahickon in 9th grade, and promptly quit playing soccer to get back at her parents for making her move. We talk about bullying for girls, the best *NSYNC member, and how Jessica's undiagnosed ADD affected her learning. As school went on, Jessica began partying at a different level than everyone else. Jessica talks about how drugs changed who she was, what she lost, and making living amends to repay her family.  Full Video @ youtube.com/REDSHIRTPLAYA Facebook: @WWFINHS IG: @WEWERENTFRIENDSINHIGHSCHOOL

Skip the Queue is brought to you by Rubber Cheese, a digital agency that builds remarkable systems and websites for attractions that helps them increase their visitor numbers. Your host is  Kelly Molson, MD of Rubber Cheese.Download our free ebook The Ultimate Guide to Doubling Your Visitor NumbersIf you like what you hear, you can subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, and all the usual channels by searching Skip the Queue or visit our website rubbercheese.com/podcast.If you've enjoyed this podcast, please leave us a five star review, it really helps others find us. And remember to follow us on Twitter for your chance to win the books that have been mentioned in this episode.Competition ends October 1st, 2022. The winner will be contacted via Twitter. Show references: https://www.iaapa.org/https://www.linkedin.com/in/jakob-wahl/ Jakob Wahl is the Executive Vice President and Chief Operations Officer at IAAPA, the global association for the attractions industry.Wahl has ten years of experience working for IAAPA. He first came to IAAPA as program manager where he served the association for five years in the association's office in Brussels. He then went on to work at Europa- Park in Rust, Germany as director of communications before returning to IAAPA in 2017 as Vice President and Executive Director of IAAPA Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA). He was promoted in November 2021 to Executive Vice President and COO.Wahl holds the German and French master's degree in economics from the IUP of Aix-en-Provence. Transcriptions: Kelly Molson: Welcome to Skip the Queue, a podcast for people working in or working with visitor attractions. I'm your host, Kelly Molson.In today's episode, I speak with Jakob Wahl, Executive Vice President and Chief Operations Officer of IAAPA, International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions. We discuss just why the attractions industry is so exciting, the ongoing labour shortages, sustainability and where the attractions industry is headed in terms of technology. If you like what you hear, subscribe on all the usual channels by searching to Skip the Queue.Kelly Molson: Jakob, thank you so, so much for joining me today. You're a very, very busy man, so I'm very grateful that you could come on and spare some time.Jakob Wahl: It's a pleasure to be with you today, Kelly, so thanks for the invite. I'm honoured.Kelly Molson: The honour is all mine, trust me. But you might not be so honoured once we finish with our icebreaker questions, although I feel like I've been quite kind again, today.Jakob Wahl: Okay.Kelly Molson: All right. I want to know what is the best theme park ride that you have ever been on?Jakob Wahl: Wow. That's difficult... I think it's as difficult as, say, a favourite car; because there's a specific mood for everything. And if I... It also depends on the company. If I go with my buddies, probably I would have said Boulder Dash at Lake Compounce, which is an intense wooden coaster. If I go with my kids, I'd take any kind of Disney ride, or whatever. And if I go with my wife, it's probably no ride at all, but it's a great restaurant in a park. So, it's actually very, very hard to judge.Jakob Wahl: But I have to say, and obviously, the big things in the industry always blew me away; and that was Indiana Jones at Disneyland, Anaheim. It was Spiderman at Islands of Adventure. It was the first Harry Potter rides. It was really kind of those, where I would consider revolutionary developments in the dark ride industry, where you just walk out and say, "Wow. What was that?" And Star Wars was the most recent one.Kelly Molson: Oh, that was a great answer. I think that was a brilliant answer. I love that you gave different answers for the different people that you were with, as well. I think that was-Jakob Wahl: Yeah, but it is.Kelly Molson: Right.Jakob Wahl: I think it's the same thing about favourite parks. I have... I love the atmosphere in a Scandinavian park at night, when it comes alive with the lights, with concerts. But if I would go just for rides, it would be probably the Universal Parks. If I go with my family, it's something else. It really depends on the mood of the day.Kelly Molson: Brilliant. Perfect answer, could not have been better. Right. If you had to listen to one album on repeat, continuously, what would that album be?Jakob Wahl: Wow. It would be a classic album, I think; because as much as I love all kinds of music, if I would need to listen to something continuously, I need something which doesn't stress me and which kind of relax me. I don't know the English term. It's a track called Moonshine Sonata. It's a sonnet of the moonlight, or Tchaikovsky, which I like a lot as well.Kelly Molson: Well, that sounds lovely. I actually do this in the car; so I've started to listen to Classic FM, which is a radio station in the UK, because it's really calming.Jakob Wahl: Yes.Kelly Molson: And if you're just... It's just really relaxing and really calm; and it just puts you in a really kind of Zen mood.Jakob Wahl: Yeah.Kelly Molson: I'm sure that's all right for driving, to be Zen. Sure, that's fine.Jakob Wahl: Especially in a traffic jam, if you have aggressive drivers around you, that is actually...Kelly Molson: Exactly. Just wind the window down, take in my Classic FM. Okay. What would be your favourite tradition? Something that you do every year, or something that you do every month?Jakob Wahl: It's probably a ski weekend with my best friends. I'm moving to Orlando, so that's actually the hard part; because I love skiing, and I probably spend most of my money on skiing because this means... I think it comes back to what you say in music. There's nothing else where I can more relax and unwind, because you're just in the nature, you're doing sports... Well, it's not really challenging as a sport, but it's just wonderful to be out there. And I think that's something I really, really love; to go with my best friend, just for a weekend, and whiskey and ski.Kelly Molson: That sounds pretty cool, doesn't it? That's going to be a big change for you then, moving-Jakob Wahl: Oh, yes.Kelly Molson: ... to Orlando.Jakob Wahl: Yes. I live right now in the Black Forest, and we have the four seasons here. In Orlando, I think it's the four seasons of humidity. But there are other great things about Orlando. So, I will definitely miss the snow, but there will be plenty of other things I'm very excited about.Kelly Molson: Absolutely. Well, yes. For an Attraction Specialist, could there be a better place to be than Orlando? Maybe not. Right. Jakob, what's your unpopular opinion?Jakob Wahl: I don't like special days in theme parks. And this comes from a longer history. We have seen, in theme parks, days for special needs, or days, or so-called gay days. And I think I would like us to be so inclusive that we don't need special days to accommodate those people. It should be a normal thing. It should be just... I don't also like when you go to toilets, and there's a special sign for disabled people. It should be that they are always accessible. And I think it should be a regular part of our business that you don't need to market designated days for designated groups; because we should be so inclusive that it's every day.Kelly Molson: That's a really good opinion. And I'm pretty sure that a lot of people would agree with you on that one, as well. So maybe it's not going to be quite as unpopular as you think.Jakob Wahl: Then I have another unpopular opinion, for sure.Kelly Molson: Oh, well, throw that at us. If you're going to get... Let's have another one.Jakob Wahl: I'm tired of the word immersive. I don't think every attraction needs to be immersive. I think it's totally fine that you have a great thrill ride, that you have a great rollercoaster. It doesn't always need to have a storyline or own soundtrack or a big theme. It's also fine sometimes, to just have a great ride in itself, and to let it stand for itself without any IP, without a branding, without a soundtrack, without all of that stuff.Kelly Molson: Hmm. All right. Well, listeners, I would love to know your thoughts on these. Tweet me, let me know what you think. Thank you for sharing, Jakob. Can you tell us a little bit about your background and where you are now?Jakob Wahl: I'm sitting right now in Germany, where I'm originally from. I work for IAAPA, which I have done now for four and a half years; it's my second time with IAAPA. Beforehand, I worked for Europa-Park. So this is why I still kind of live in that area, because I was lucky enough to meet my wonderful wife here in this region. So I stayed here even, when moving away from Europa-Park.Jakob Wahl: But I have been, what you would consider in this industry, aficionado. You can call me nerd, enthusiastic, whatever you want. But I think, as many people, I started in the industry as a teenager. My first job was when I was 16. I checked tickets Phantasialand at the entrance, the Mexican side entrance to Phantasialand. And I fell in love with this industry. And I never left, for the disbelief of my parents, who still hope one day I have a serious job. But I think I even got them so far that they understand what this is about, and what it means for me, and that we are huge industry.Jakob Wahl: But since then, I think I love this industry, and I'm sometimes like the child in the candy store, because I think we have the privilege of... Actually, our only purpose is bringing joy to the people. And there are not many industries is out there which can say that for themselves. And in that way, you see lots of discussion about human resources, about bringing young talent to the industry.Jakob Wahl: And I think we need to highlight that more; because you see that it's those companies which have a purpose, which have a mission, which are very popular among young people. Patagonia, Oakley, Veja, other sneaker brands. It's those which say that they're doing good for the people. And ultimately, yes, we are. As an industry, as our members, we are commercially driven, but hey, we bring fun to the people. And I think that is unfortunately, today, more needed than ever before.Kelly Molson: Ah, I could not agree with you more. Bringing fun to the people; there could not be a better definition of what the sector is all about. I absolutely love that. What's really interesting is, most people that come on here that are attractions aficionados, as you called yourself, they do start very young in the sector. So it is an industry that... It really, it does retain people. Right? People fall in love with it at a really early age, which is really lovely to see. And I want to ask you a little bit about this later on in the podcast, actually, something that you talked about, in terms of recruitment and getting more younger people into the industry.Jakob Wahl: We always said two things; we said, "Once you work for the industry, you will never work for anything else, for two reasons. Because you don't want to work for anything else." And actually, the second one is, "No one will take you seriously once you have worked with us."Kelly Molson: That's it. You're done in, so you have to stay.Jakob Wahl: Yes, you have to.Kelly Molson: I love that. Okay. Well, let... You are now at IAAPA.Jakob Wahl: Yes.Kelly Molson: And you've just taken on an incredibly senior role there. Can you tell us a little bit about that, and then what that role involves?Jakob Wahl: Yes. My first time at IAAPA was from 2009 to 2014, and I worked with Karen Staley, who was back then the Vice President. Today, she's with Sally Dark Rides. And I fell in love with this association, because I think, again, we fulfill a role in trying to promote the industry and in bringing people together; and I think that's a wonderful thing.Jakob Wahl: I left then for Europa-Park, where I had four amazing years with the Mack family, with Michael Mack, where I learned a lot. And then, this job opened up at IAAPA EMEA, and as the Vice President. And I always had two hearts in my chest. I was very passionate about the association, and then I took that chance, and I have had four and a half fantastic years with IAAPA EMEA.Jakob Wahl: And then, I was lucky enough to have a great CEO with Hal McEvoy. And we discussed, and then one moment, he changed the strategy in saying that he wanted to be also more in presenting IAAPA on a picture, and asked me to take over the role as COO. And this is a great opportunity, and I'm very happy about what we have achieved in the EMEA region. And I look forward to work with the regional leaders, which we have with June Ko in the APEC region, with Michael Shelton in North America, and with Paulina Reyes in Latin America. And my successor now, Peter van der Schans, to try to bring that industry further, and to deliver more membership services and be of help for our members.Kelly Molson: So, what is your role there now? And what is your kind of purpose at IAAPA? What do you drive?Jakob Wahl: So, I lead the operations of IAAPA across the world. And so that means I'm in charge for the four regional offices, for the global sales, for our three expos. We have IAAPA Expo Asia, which unfortunately, we had to cancel due to the COVID situation in Hong Kong, or in the region and in Shanghai, where the expo was supposed to take place. And the one in Europe, which takes place this year in London, Kelly, I hope to see you there.Kelly Molson: Yes, I will be there.Jakob Wahl: And then, obviously, our big ship, the one in Orlando, which always takes place in November. So, I'm ultimately in charge for those big trade shows for the regions, but also for the many regional events across the world, where we try to bring together people, to learn from each other, to inspire each other, to connect with each other.Jakob Wahl: And we have the next upcoming event in Orlando now, where we are going to see the new Ice Breaker coaster at SeaWorld. We are going to have in mayor region, an event in May, in Italy, where we are going to see Cinecitta World, Magic Land, and Zoomarine, where we'll really try to look into things: what's hot? What should be seen? What can we tell, in terms of educating our members about best practices? That really, everyone comes and sees something and walks away back home to say, "Hey, I can apply that in my business to become better." And I think that's what drives us in trying to come up with those events.Kelly Molson: It's been an incredibly difficult time for the attractions industry-Jakob Wahl: Yes.Kelly Molson: ... full-stop. But for you personally, that must have been very difficult. Because I guess that you are used to traveling a lot all over for the world, to all of these incredible places and attractions that you described. That must have been really tough for you.Jakob Wahl: Well, I think... First, I have a very passionate team; and I think the whole IAAPA team is very passionate. And we felt for our members. We struggled because we had to cancel shows as well. It was sad, because we put a lot of work into things which had to be canceled. But I think we suffered mainly seeing our members struggling with changing rules, with being forced to close down, with all of those things.Jakob Wahl: And I tried to look at the good sides of things. And I think during those past 24 months, our industry grew together. And I think when the pandemic first hit, it was in very short notice that we got together the key leading experts, health and safety experts from all the big parks across the world, who developed a paper on safe re-opening for theme parks.Jakob Wahl: And seeing that, how we worked together as, or unity, how we work with national associations; how we tried to support each other, how we sent letters, how we talked to governments; I think that was actually where the association came alive. And yes, it was hard for us to not being able to bring people face-to-face together, but it was, I think, good because we saw stronger than ever before, the value of an association. And it was... We got many feedback from members across the world saying, "Listen. I went to my government with this paper, and they saw that we are safe. And they saw it, and they let me open again." And that was very fulfilling, obviously, for the members, but also for us; because we saw that what we did was of purpose.Kelly Molson: That's incredibly powerful, isn't it?Jakob Wahl: Yeah.Kelly Molson: That document had such a huge effect on attractions all over the world.Jakob Wahl: But that is again, a privilege of this industry, I think. In a way, yes, parks or members or facility members or our supplier members are in a certain way competing. They're competing about the same money, about the same time. But I think if we have certain discussion items of whatever nature, and I call the different members, they all group around the table, they all share their learnings, their best practices. And they walk away, and everyone is kind of doing their thing again.Jakob Wahl: But I'm not sure if this is the same thing in many other businesses: in the car industry, in the computer industry, in the mobile industry. I don't think people are that open with each other. And I think this is where it's special to work for this association; because you feel that. One member thinks, "Listen. If a client, if a guest, has a good time in a different park, it's helpful for me as well. But if they have a bad experience somewhere, they are probably less likely to visit other amusement parks." And I think this is what makes our industry special, because I think we have understood that.Kelly Molson: That's really interesting. And that is something, again, that's come up time and time again, when we've spoken to people in the sector. It's just, one, is how collaborative it is and supportive of each other. But two... Do you think that that... Do you think it's more so since the pandemic? It was prior to, but do you think that that's accelerated because of the pandemic situation?Jakob Wahl: It was always there. I think it was always there. And I think we always have had those dedicated members which have contributed massively through committees, through white papers for all members on best practices, on right commissioning for example, or on right of a creation; those really kind of guidelines where we get safety experts together, creating a document for those parks which might not have the same resources, and trying to level that up.Jakob Wahl: I think what we have seen through the pandemic is that we got those members who might have been inactive before, to get them closer; to get them closer to the association, closer to other members. And I think that has been a benefit. I think we have never talked to so many members throughout the pandemic; and sometimes listening, and sometimes giving advice, and sometimes we only let them vent. But it was good to realise that none of us was alone in that time. And we did some live chats where we had 50 or 60 water park operators; and everyone shared their story. And maybe there were some learnings, maybe there were... But I think it was more important for them to actually see, "Hey, I'm not alone in this. And others go through this as well." And to create that community feeling while we could not have those face-to face-experiences at the events.Kelly Molson: Yeah. Wonderful. It is phenomenal that you've been able to facilitate that level of support for your members. Let's talk about what's coming next, though; because I guess one of the positives from going through that process, is that you did get to speak to so many members. Like you said, some of them had... There was things that you could share to support them; some people just wanted to rant. But I guess all of that knowledge helps you understand what more you can do for your members, and then develop new kind of support programs for them for the future. So what have you got in development? What can you share with us about what's coming next for IAAPA?Jakob Wahl: I think the pandemic has probably been an accelerator to things in the same way it has been to members as it has for us. And we see that with operators across the world, that those past two years have been a huge accelerator for everything digital. And I think that is something which we see for ourselves as well. If I remember trade shows three years ago, we always have the sign at the exit, "See you next year." And I think this is 2019. Today it is, "See you tomorrow on a digital space." Because you need to create those connections all year round; because people have learned to live digitally, and don't want to wait to be face-to-face to be able to do that. And I think that is something where we, for ourselves, and also with our board of directors, have decided, "Listen. We want to invest more into digital options." We already have great, great digital learning availabilities and those offerings. But I think it's really kind of the networking, the connecting part, where we want to become stronger in the years to come.Kelly Molson: Absolutely. Because with digital, we can facilitate conversations like this.Jakob Wahl: Yeah.Kelly Molson: We're in different parts of the world, and we're just having a lovely chat on our podcast. But you can bring together people from all over the place in one central location. It's so incredibly powerful to be able to do that. And it seems crazy that we've only been doing that for the last couple of years because of the pandemic. Right? It wasn't mainstream prior to that.Jakob Wahl: No. No.Kelly Molson: It is crazy. Well, that's brilliant. So we're going to be seeing more digital engagement for IAAPA, bringing people together more frequently; which is absolutely what people, I'm sure, want.Jakob Wahl: And I also think what we are going to see, and what we are already doing, is to try to be more regional. I think we have seen that with the trade shows last year, those in Barcelona and Orlando, that they were good trade shows. They were smaller than they used to be. And they were more regional, because of travel restrictions and because of everything. And I think we have seen that there's a need for the regional presence. And those success stories of the regional offices of IAAPA come from that; because we have people on the ground, they speak the language, they understand the market, they know of the players. And this is where we want to offer more small opportunities of bringing people together face-to-face. Obviously, digital, we do that; but also face-to-face. Because as great as this all is in connecting, it's still a difference also, I think for the two of us, Kelly; if we sit down in front of the screen, how much nicer it would be if we sit somewhere next to each other and talk about-Kelly Molson: Absolutely. Absolutely.Jakob Wahl: And this will never replace it. I think it complements each other. And this is where we try to be closer to actually our members, to go towards them; to see what they're doing, and to highlight what they're doing, what innovations there are. There's so many wonderful innovations, facilities, stories to tell out there. And ideally, I would like to do something every week. We don't have the resources for that, but we want to be closer to our members.Kelly Molson: Brilliant. It's interesting you said about that, the kind of face-to-face and in-person; because nothing will ever replace that whatsoever. But I had this-Jakob Wahl: Especially in our industry, I think; because we are a very social industry.Kelly Molson: Absolutely. And you've got fantastic venues and spaces to do that in as well; so why not?Jakob Wahl: Yeah.Kelly Molson: But I had this conversation with somebody last week, about how it's just kind of cut down a lot of the longevity and travel that was associated with kind of little mini, micro meetings. You want to meet someone for a coffee, and kind of see if you get to know them first. Right? This is a great way of doing that without spending two hours on a train to get wherever they are.Jakob Wahl: So true.Kelly Molson: So, I see this is the first date. The second date is the coffee in real life.Jakob Wahl: Yes. Exactly.Kelly Molson: I want to go back to something that you talked about right in the beginning.Jakob Wahl: Yes.Kelly Molson: You said about you worked in the sector from a young age, and that they're good at retaining people because they fall in love with the sector.Jakob Wahl: Yeah.Kelly Molson: So, in the UK, there's a huge labor shortage in the UK currently. And it is a huge challenge to the sector, especially in the kind of hospitality roles that attractions have.Jakob Wahl: Yeah.Kelly Molson: Is this something that's widespread across Europe and the US?Jakob Wahl: Yes.Kelly Molson: So you're still, you're having those problems as well?Jakob Wahl: Unfortunately, yes.Kelly Molson: What do you see as a solution to that? I don't know if you have seen any kind of interesting examples of attractions that are doing things really well to hire new staff and retain the ones that they have?Jakob Wahl: I think what you said, unfortunately, it's a global problem. And I don't know where everyone went, but for sure, we all lack, and we all lack of workforce. And I think that's a huge problem. And the pandemic has not helped that, because, I think we have seen many people who received furlough money. And they were all okay, but people want to work. And if you have that chef who sits at home and can't work, he might not come back to a theme park, because we were so affected by that. And I think this is something first, where we need to create the circumstances that we can operate and that we can actually employ our people, that we stay open.Jakob Wahl: What I see as several trends; I think one of the things is that many parks try to extend their season, to walk away more from seasonal workforce to all year round; so that creates a better, attractive place. I think then, what we have also seen, is that... How to say, sometimes our jobs lacked a little bit of content, in the external view. I think people have had not the highest regards of our industry. And I think this is where we need to kind of diversify our offering a little bit more, and actually tell people what a great job they can have with our industry. And I'm very impressed by initiatives which you see popping up all across members, to highlight what a great place this is to be.Jakob Wahl: I'll give you two examples; Europa-Park in Germany, and Amelia Mack, one of the family members of the Mack family, she introduced a health program for her staff, so that they have very good health benefits. They all have those values which are of relevance for young people today, where they care about. I think it's less about the money, but it is about, "What can a company offer to me in the overall package?" We will not win the race for money. You can, I think, probably increase the salary; but I don't think that the young generation is about money. It's about what we discussed before; purpose, it's about what does the company deliver?Jakob Wahl: And then, we have a third example, or a second example, from the US. Herschend Entertainment Cooperation, with beautiful parks like Silver Dollar City, Dollywood. They actually introduced free education for all their 11,000 employees; completely free.Kelly Molson: Wow.Jakob Wahl: And this is where you see, they kind of try to work on the benefits; not only on the money side, but really try to make people, young people, understand, "Hey. This is a great place to work. We educate you. We promote you. We give you options." And it is the same way why I'm sitting here. I started at 16, and I checked tickets; and now, I'm sitting here where I am today. And there are hundreds of those stories. And I think that is something where we need to highlight that, "Hey. You might start only putting down seat belts, or checking, or selling burgers, but there's a great career path ahead of you."Jakob Wahl: And we, as IAAPA, sorry for taking that so long, but you feel it's close to our hearts. We, as IAAPA, try to work closely with universities across the world, which specialise in Attraction Management program. We, just like three days ago, we had the first intern in our office from BUas, in Breda, which is a university specialised in attractions classes. And it's those people kind of, when they come in huge groups to the trade show, they usually come with 40 students; you see the passion for that industry. And this is just one example of many, where we are very grateful for working with those universities, to try to highlight how attractive we are actually as an industry.Kelly Molson: Absolutely brilliant examples, then. That'll be really, really useful to our listeners, I'm sure. And it goes back to what we were saying. It is about value driven, purpose driven.Jakob Wahl: Yeah.Kelly Molson: Explaining what it is, that is the benefit of working there. Not just, "This is how much it is, and this is the role that you'll do." "This is where you can go. This is where you can progress." And really showcasing the kind of culture of the attraction as well.Kelly Molson: And now, I know sustainability is something that you like to talk about quite a lot; I've seen some of your posts on LinkedIn. So it is a real big, hot topic now, as it should be. How can attractions start to put sustainability at the heart of what they're doing? And have you seen any great examples of that that you could share with us as well?Jakob Wahl: Yes. I'm actually the staff liaison for the Sustainability Committee. IAAPA, two years ago probably, introduced a Sustainability Committee under the leadership of Andreas Andersen, the CEO from Liseberg. And to be very frank with you, we probably have not been on the forefront of that subject as an industry. And I think we have to pick up a little bit, but I see a huge interest in that. And I see when we started the Sustainability Committee in the past years, we noticed all the big power groups of this world are enthusiastic about collaborating with us. They all want to say, "Listen, we want to do more. What can we do more? We need to step up the game here." And it's very nice to see the growing importance of that.Jakob Wahl: I'm not a firm believer, or it's a thin line between educating people, and still let them have fun. I think you... It's always difficult, because you don't want to spoil the day by kind of delivering all those horror messages. And we just had an event in... Yeah, in end of February at the World Expo in Dubai. And we had a great session with the head of the Sustainability Pavilion, which did a fantastic job about telling a story, telling about what needs to be better, but not kind of being Debbie Downer, and depressing the guests.Jakob Wahl: But I think what we need to understand, is that sustainability is more than just the ecological aspect. And we refer to the 17 goals of the United Nations, in which I think are at the core of sustainability. And there are some beautiful examples in this industry; and it starts with small attractions. One of our board members, Massimiliano Freddi, he has a small attraction called Wonderwood in Italy, which is not the biggest facility, but they only kind of produce food from the local farmers, and they only serve that. And they're very inclusive to everyone; and they really stand up for their values, which is beautiful. Another wonderful example is Miniature Wonderland; that... Craziest place. I'm not sure. Have you heard of that, Kelly?Kelly Molson: No. No. It sounds up my street, though; I'm 5'2". I feel like I would fit in well there.Jakob Wahl: It's absolutely... No, it's absolutely crazy. It's a place in Hamburg, which started as a miniature railway. And it's so in love with details, I think they make more than a million guests every year. It's three brothers, and I think no business plan, no feasibility study would have ever expected this to be successful. But it was their passion and their heart which made them come this way.Jakob Wahl: So what they did, is that they introduced, I think two weeks in spring, weeks where they let in everyone for free, who comes to the entrance gate and says, "I can't afford it." And if you don't feel comfortable in saying that, you can put a paper, and they let you in for free. And interesting enough, I think it's a wonderful gesture in a very social, ethical way, of allowing people to experience what they normally couldn't. But they actually also said, "Listen. This was commercially successful for us because it brought such an attention to our place, such an awareness, that it paid off." And I think this is a wonderful example. And if you have time for one more example.Kelly Molson: Please. Yeah, please.Jakob Wahl: Karl's Strawberry Farms, also Germany. It's a place which grew out of a strawberry farm. They had so many guests that they built a cafe, and then a restaurant, and then attractions. They built a hotel completely up-cycled; so all the material they used is recycled. And I think this is, all those things, examples for wonderful, sustainable policies without hitting you like, "You are a bad person. You must not do that. You must not do that." But kind of showcasing, "Hey. We do something with the right values, and we do it, and it's actually still a beautiful experience for everyone."Kelly Molson: It's about weaving it into the whole experience, isn't it, like it's a story? It's part of, it's at the heart of the attraction.Jakob Wahl: Yes.Kelly Molson: Rather than kind of something that you've stuck on as a plaster at the end of it. "Oh, by the way, this is our sustainability policy, and this is our recycling policy." And it's about kind of living and breathing it.Jakob Wahl: It needs to be lived. Yeah. It needs to be lived, it needs to be led I think also; and it doesn't help to say, "Listen. We do it because we have to. And everyone is doing..." It's a classic greenwashing example.Kelly Molson: Yeah.Jakob Wahl: But I see in our Sustainability Committee, we have wonderful members from all across the world. When you look at what Liseberg is doing, what Monterey Bay Aquarium is doing, what all those fantastic and wonderful places are doing to be more sustainable in what they do, to try to, through their business model, I think it's very impressive. And again, to quote my Chairman, Andreas Andersen, of that committee, he says, he thinks that, "Sustainability will be in five years as important as safety is today for our industry." And I wouldn't disagree with that. I think it will be a basic of our industry. If it's in five years, if it's in seven or in 10, we will see; but I think it will be a basic expectation of our guests.Kelly Molson: Absolutely. Yeah. I think you're absolutely right.Jakob Wahl: One more thing. It comes back to HR as well. That is also something young people look at. And if people today, if the generation that looks for employment, I think they also want to see, or many of them want to see that those values of sustainability are lived within the company.Kelly Molson: Yeah. You're absolutely right. And it's the change in demographic or age brackets of people that will start to visit those attractions. Right?Jakob Wahl: Yeah.Kelly Molson: Because that's what the younger generation are really interested in, sustainability, caring for the environment. And that's what they'll be looking at; places that they come to work for, or places that they come to visit and spend their hard-earned cash. Yep.Kelly Molson: I'd like to just go back to something that you said earlier about the shift in kind of digital advancements in the sector. So, we've seen the kind of contactless economy grow rapidly during the pandemic; the shift to digital ticketing and payments in the attractions industry has rapidly, rapidly accelerated. What do you think is next? And what do you... Because you didn't... Because you said that you need to be at the forefront of what's hot and what's coming next; so I'm testing you now. What do you think is next for the attractions industry, and where do you see these things going in the next kind of three to five years?Jakob Wahl: I think that there are two sides to the story. I think there's a back-end side and the front-end side. I think what we have seen is that people won't get rid of this little thing. It's everywhere; they can't let it go. They're all addicted, including myself. It's horrible.Kelly Molson: He's talking about... Jakob is talking about the phone, just for everyone who can't see it.Jakob Wahl: Oh, the phone, yes.Kelly Molson: Just in case you don't know what he's holding there.Jakob Wahl: Everyone knows. I we say we're all addicted to it, we all know about those smartphones dominating our day. And I think this is where we need to incorporate the smartphone, the mobile, into the experience of day. And that is kind of where I say, "This is the guest excitement." Because while 20 years ago, they only looked at the scenery all day long, now they look at the mobile half of the day. So the question is, "How do you bring the park experience on the mobile?"Jakob Wahl: And I think there are some great examples. There's this wonderful little Danish park called Summerland Sjaelland. And they have a great owner called Kare Dyvekaer. Probably I pronounce it wrongly, but he's a technology aficionado, the same way I'm about amusement parks. And he kind of plays with his app in a way that you can shoot water canons, you can feed the animals, all with your smartphone. And I think this is funny, because it's an enhancement of the experience through your phone; and I think that is something which we will see further.Kelly Molson: That's a really important point to make, is that it's about enhancement and not detraction.Jakob Wahl: Yeah.Kelly Molson: So we... Just to compliment that, we had Jakob Thompson on from Attractions.io a few weeks ago. And this was a question that we posed to him actually, is that, how do you... You want people to engage with the app, but you don't want to distract them from what's actually going on around there. So it has to be an enhancement; it has to be things that you... You use it. For example, he painted a really great picture of... He said, "Okay. Well, look. Imagine that you are in one of the play areas at the park, and your kids are going crazy. They're running all over the place. They're hungry. You are starting to get hungry. Everyone's a bit angry because they're hungry. You can just grab your phone now, place your order for your food, and then five minutes later, go and collect it. You haven't got to trudge around trying to find where it is, or wait in a massive queue.Jakob Wahl: Yeah.Kelly Molson: And it's those little things that make that experience better, and they solve a problem that you have instantly. But they're not detracting you from the experience at all.Jakob Wahl: Yeah. And I think that comes actually, to my other aspect. Because I think there's an experience aspect, in a way of experiencing the fun part. But I think technology is probably even more important today, in terms of the customer journey. I think we have an expectation today, and I always say, "It's the opposite of a car rental company at an airport." You go there, you have booked everything, you have put in all the data beforehand; and still, you need 10 minutes or 20 minutes to give them all the data again.Kelly Molson: Yeah.Jakob Wahl: And that is kind of the worst example of customer flow. And if you think about this as a worst example, you need to think about, "How can I use technology to make it as easy as possible for my guests to come, to book his ticket, to have the best day ever, and in the best way, actually, in the end to recommend it?"Jakob Wahl: And there, I think that there are those very innovative people. I am coming back to what I said before: skiing. I recently went to a ski resort in Switzerland, Laax. And they have an app, which is perfect; because if you don't want to go by a car to the lift station, you can order a shuttle. If you go by car, you can order a parking space. You can buy your lift pass. You can extend your lift pass. You can buy a virtual line. You can order a restaurant table for lunch. You can see, through all cameras, how many people are waiting at which lift, so you can plan your day.Kelly Molson: Nice.Jakob Wahl: You can actually, in the evening, you have kind of the same idea of Uber Eats. You can order your food all through that app. And this is just in one flow, where you really kind of just make it as easy as possible for the guests to enjoy and to have the best time ever.Jakob Wahl: Because I think what we have seen in the past years, that time is limited. And if people, especially now after the pandemic, if they want to get out, if they want to make an excursion, if they want to do a trip to an amusement park, to a ski resort, to whatsoever, they want this to be seamless, to be perfect from A to Zed.Jakob Wahl: And the masterminds in this industry, and I'm happy that they are an IAAPA member, is to Tomorrowland, the Music Festival in Belgium. They are so sophisticated in what they're doing. It always blows me away. Have you heard about it, how they work?Kelly Molson: No. Please share.Jakob Wahl: So, it's a festival which takes place this year on three weekends. I think each weekend is sold out within like 10 minutes, one of 80,000 persons each weekend. And when you book your ticket, when you get one, when you're lucky, you get after probably like eight weeks out; it might be more, but some weeks out, you get a box home with a wristband. On that wristband, everything is safe: your name, your access ticket, wherever you can go, because there's special categories. You can upload money on that wristband through a credit card online. So you don't need anything than this wristband. Two weeks prior to the event, it starts actually living. It breathes, it blings. There are little LEDs on it. And when you go there, this is your only thing which you need all the time. And this is where I think using technology to make things easier, but at the same time, enhancing the experience again; because it is themed, it looks beautiful. Really, Kelly, I will send you a link afterwards. You should have a look at it.Kelly Molson: Please do, yeah.Jakob Wahl: It's so thought through. You can pay. And it's a temporary festival; you can pay everything cashless on site, and everything is settled. And I think it's just fantastic. And we looked at several technologies of that, and you could even, if you want to, you could even use it in a way that if someone comes, I would recognise who that is. And we thought about it, at one moment, how great this would be for Halloween. When you walk into a horror house or into a maze, and I would know, through your wristband, "Oh, Kelly is coming." And I'm the scare actor, and I can say, "Hi, Kelly." I could see you. How great is that? And this is, I think, where digital technology has abounded so much. The only problem is, it advances so quickly that I have no idea, probably in four years, we will laugh about where we stand today.Kelly Molson: Yes. That's true, isn't it? It's an unfair question. We are developing so rapidly in that area, who knows what the next three or four years will hold?Jakob Wahl: Yeah.Kelly Molson: That's been fantastic. Thank you so much for your input today, Jakob. I've really enjoyed talking to you.Jakob Wahl: Same here.Kelly Molson: I always ask my guests for a book at the end of the show, that they would recommend to our listeners though. Now, it can be something that you love, personally, or it can be something that you've read that's maybe helped shape your career in some way. Have you got anything that you'd recommend for us?Jakob Wahl: I have a favourite book, but it has absolutely nothing to do with my career or whatsoever.Kelly Molson: That's fine. That's fine.Jakob Wahl: I really, really enjoyed reading Tender Bar. I don't even know who the author is, I'm afraid to say. But it's a wonderful story about the love of a young boy to a bar. And he grows up with that bar, and it's a beautiful story. They actually made a movie out of it. The movie was not so great. So don't watch the movie, read the book. And then, what I actually also like, from a personal development kind of thing is, there's a book called The Courage to be Disliked.Kelly Molson: Oh, I like it. Okay.Jakob Wahl: It's a very nice book. Not that it helped me, but I enjoyed reading it. And it gave some great inspiration.Kelly Molson: Is it about forming opinions? So, not being scared to state your mind?Jakob Wahl: Yes. And it's also about not trying to set as an excuse where you come from. You shouldn't excuse yourself for the person you are because of your history. You can change every day, and you can decide to be a different person every day. And I think that is something which is very, very interesting.Kelly Molson: That's a great book. I'm going to get that book.Jakob Wahl: You should. It's very interesting. And if you don't like it, blame it on me; and then the drink is on me the next time we see each other. But I honestly, really, really enjoyed it.Kelly Molson: I'll take you up on that. Well, look; listeners, as ever, if you want to win, head over to our Twitter account, and you retweet this episode announcement with the words, "I want Jakob's book," then you can win it. I'm going to go and buy myself a copy and read it before you guys get it. But Jakob, thank you so much for your time today. You're an incredibly busy man, so I'm very grateful that you've been able to come on and share with us. And I look forward to meeting you in person, hopefully at the IAAPA Conference in London.Jakob Wahl: Same here, Kelly; it was a huge pleasure to talk to you. And if I can, and I don't want to do a commercial thing here; but I was just trying to explain what IAAPA does. But we want to be there for our members, and also for those who are not members. So, whenever you thought I said something great, or you thought I said something horrible, reach out to me. Disagree with me on LinkedIn, on Twitter, on wherever; send me an email, and say, "Why did you say that?" An, "Have you ever thought about doing this?" I think we can only serve the industry as good as we know what the industry needs. And this is where I'm always happy for any kind of feedback.Kelly Molson: What we will do, is put all of Jakob's contact details. I might not give you his email address, but I'll put his LinkedIn address in there.Jakob Wahl: Oh, it's out there, anyway, for dealing with me.Kelly Molson: All right. All of his contact details will be in the show notes. You know where to find them. Take him up on that offer, and you'll have a great conversation if you do. Thanks, Jakob.Jakob Wahl: Thank you, Kelly. It was a pleasure.Kelly Molson: Thanks for listening to Skip the Queue. If you've enjoyed this podcast, please leave us a five star review. It really helps others find us. And remember to follow us on Twitter for your chance to win the books that have been mentioned. Skip the Queue is brought to you by Rubber Cheese, a digital agency that builds remarkable systems and websites for attractions that helps them increase their visitor numbers. You can find show notes and transcriptions from this episode and more over on our website, rubbercheese.com/podcast.

He is the head women's basketball coach at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, with next month marking the nine-year anniversary since he was introduced there to that position. Just over three years ago -- during his sixth season -- he became the program's all-time winningest coach. Under his guidance the Crimson Hawks have won two PSAC tournament titles, and back-to-back Atlantic Region crowns and Elite Eight national semifinal berths. He had come to IUP with more than 25 years of coaching, game management and player development knowledge learned after spending time on the coaching staffs of six colleges. At one point during his professional career, he was the Director of Youth and Campus Ministry for the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown. In addition, he founded and directed The Word and the Rock Basketball Camp and was the Director of Camp Zacchaeus. As a student-athlete he had played basketball at two different colleges.

In this episode Ms. Culbreath talks about her time in the Princeton community along with her time at IUP, Ida and Moji also give their opinions and comments on their experience and what they hope to find in college

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