Podcasts about national airport

In the 6 AM hour, Larry O’Connor and Mercedes Schlapp discussed: Gabbard fires top National Intelligence Council officials National Airport, Pentagon hotline had been disconnected for three years Trump's Saudi speech ripping on neocon policy Where to find more about WMAL's morning show: Follow podcasts on Apple, Audible and Spotify Follow WMAL's "O'Connor and Company" on X: @WMALDC, @LarryOConnor, @JGunlock, @PatricePinkfile, and @HeatherHunterDC Facebook: WMALDC and Larry O'Connor Instagram: WMALDC Website: wmal.com/oconnor-company Episode: Thursday, May 15, 2025 / 6 AM HourSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Co-host: Nicholas "FOD" Tupper. Awkward Start... National Airport?... UPDATE DC Midair... UCAP Newsletter... Purge... UCAP at Sun n Fun... ADS-B data abuse... Unleaded AvGas... Fafner Smoke. All this and more on Uncontrolled Airspace Podcast. Recorded Mar 13, 2025. () [#750] [UCAP1103] {15}

We start this monumental legal exposition with the great hero-attorney STEVE DONZIGER & the high-profile corporate attack on Greenpeace & the Indigenous community. Greenpeace has been sued by Energy Transfer in a North Dakota court with a jury dominated by fossil-fuel workers and a pro-corporate judge. Hawaii-based attorney NATALI SEGOVIA gives us detail on the particulars of this rigged indictment in a case meant to “target the environmental movement as a whole.” Natali emphasizes that the land devastated by the contested pipeline is, by treaty rights, still Indigenous land. Much-revered long-time campaigner CHARLIE CRAY explains that Greenpeace's role in the Standing Rock demonstrations was to train people in non-violence, and that the corporate attack on the Greenpeace organizational structure has been misguided. Steve Donziger then explains where the next legal battles will go amidst the long-standing campaign to weaponize the law against the human attempt to preserve our ability to live on this planet. Charlie Cray explains that the courts refused to allow a live broadcast or official transcript of the court proceeds while the corporations used “pink slime journalism” to propagandize the local North Dakota population. Natalie Segovia confirms that the willingness to ignore tribal sovereignty and fight against movement solidarity is at the core of the corporate attack, as she calls for courage among all of us. Charlie & Steve remind us that a Dutch court will hear anti-SLAPP proceedings against the corporations trying to kill Greenpeace & its pro-ecological campaigning.  To start our second hour, we then get an on-the-ground report from journalist/filmmaker ROGER RAPOPORT about Michigan's insane attempt to re-start the Palisades nuclear reactor. An expert on air travel, Roger also reports on the real horrifying & infuriating reasons for the recent deadly crash at Washington DC's National Airport. Performance Artist TOM ENGLISH gives us a great poem about try to humanize our nation's billionaire CEOs. We then move into the nightmare of lithium battery storage & the horrifying disaster of a major fire at Moss Landing California. Nationally syndicated Flashpoint host DENNIS BERNSTEIN talks to us about the human damage being done by this terrible fire & its fallout. MICHELLE A. gives us a heads-up on water based batteries called Aqueous Metal batteries. Western Massachusetts activist & no nukes organizer ANNA GYORGY tells us of her great victory over an unwanted lithium battery center in her neighborhood. Activist/film-mater JILL LONG makes the connection between Moss Landing & the horrors of Three Mile Island. Thanks to MYLA RESON we touch on upcoming supreme court election in Wisconsin, which we will revisit NEXT WEEK! We sign off with PAUL SHERMAN & the Budapest Memorandum that should have prevented to war in Ukraine.

In our news wrap Friday, the Senate advanced a bill by the GOP-led House that would fund the government through the end of September, the FAA announced permanent restrictions on non-essential helicopter flights around Washington's National Airport and the Trump administration is expressing 'cautious optimism' after a U.S. envoy met with Russian President Putin about a 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders

--- NOVITA'! Supporta Ultimi Attimi, unisciti al Patreon! CLICCA QUI --> Contenuti esclusivi di questa puntata! Tutti i link della community: linktr.ee/ultimiattimi ---- I Patreon che producono questa puntata (livello "Equipaggio" o superiore): Mattia Zambon (CAPITANO) Simona Sbardella Fal06 Ilag78 --- 13 gennaio 1982. Un Boeing 737 della compagnia low-cost Air Florida decolla dal National Airport di Washington in condizioni climatiche proibitive. La neve cade fitta, il ghiaccio si accumula sulle superfici, e l'equipaggio si prepara a una partenza complessa. Ma qualcosa non va come dovrebbe. In pochi attimi, il volo 90 si trasforma in una delle tragedie aeree più drammatiche della storia. Tra errori umani, condizioni estreme e decisioni cruciali, la storia prende una piega inaspettata, dando vita a momenti di paura, coraggio e incredibile determinazione. Personaggi e ruoli Larry Wheaton – Capitano del volo Air Florida 90 Roger Pettit – Primo ufficiale del volo Air Florida 90 Kelly Duncan – Hostess dell'Air Florida Marylin Nichols – Hostess dell'Air Florida Donna Adams – Hostess e amica di Marylin Josè Tirado – Passeggero, in viaggio con la moglie Priscilla e il figlio neonato Jason Priscilla Tirado – Passeggera, madre di Jason, moglie di Josè Jason Tirado – Neonato di 9 settimane Edward Krzanowski – Medico in viaggio con la famiglia Karen Krzanowski – Moglie di Edward, in viaggio con i figli per Disneyworld David e Christine Krzanowski – Figli della famiglia Krzanowski William Liddle Jr. – Dottore in viaggio per una conferenza Jo Ann Blake – Segretaria di Liddle Leon e Harriet Murek – Anziani passeggeri, sopravvissuti all'Olocausto John Ventura – Ex mitragliere della Seconda Guerra Mondiale, imprenditore, passeggero dell'Air Florida 90 Chalmers Mellwaine – Imprenditore del Montana, passeggero John Bush – Passeggero che non si presenta all'imbarco Jane Dodge – Insegnante che perde il volo a causa del maltempo Joseph Stiley – Passeggero, pilota in volo di trasferimento Bert Hamilton – Passeggero Patricia "Nikki" Felch – Passeggera austriaca Arland D. Williams – Passeggero Roger Olian – Primo soccorritore, operaio Lenny Skutnik – Impiegato governativo, soccorritore Don Usher – Pilota dell'elicottero Eagle 1 della US Park Police Melvin Windsor – Copilota dell'elicottero Eagle 1, esegue i soccorsi dal Bell 206 Ray Bowles, Michael Saunders, Joe Pringle, Mariella Spriggs – Vittime dell'incidente sul ponte Larry Nichols – Marito di Marylin Nichols Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For the week of Feb. 10, 2025, host Dawn Vaughan talks to Washington correspondent Danielle Battaglia about the fire hose of President Donald Trump orders, comments and decisions over the past few weeks, including giving Elon Musk power, and the subsequent protest in downtown Raleigh against it all. Plus what people should know about Washington-area federal employees. After the break, they talk about the recent Black Hawk helicopter and commercial airliner crash at National Airport, and the North Carolinians who were killed in the tragedy. Host: Dawn Vaughan Guests: Danielle Battaglia Executive Producer: Laura Brache Want even more North Carolina politics news? Our Under the Dome newsletter dives deep into all things #ncpol and legislative happenings. It's sent to your inbox Tuesday to Friday and Sunday. Sign up here. Please consider supporting local journalism with a subscription to The N&O. If you're already a subscriber, thank you! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this interview from December 2024, Director of Marketing Carolyn Woodard talks with Ramunda Lark Young about her journey from growing up in Tulsa Oklahoma to working in Washington DC to founding an online Black bookstore during the 2007-2008 recession. In addition to a website where you can find curated lists of books to fit any interest, Mahogany Books now has 2.25 in-person stores in DC and hosts author events and a podcast.What did it take for Ramunda to believe in her vision of owning a bookstore where Black Books Matter, and how did she follow that vision to success? What does Ramunda do to stay grounded and mentally healthy, and what lessons has she learned on this journey about the importance of seeing ourselves celebrated in the communities around us? We know nonprofits are facing challenges in a challenging time, and we could all use a little inspiration. Join Carolyn and Ramunda for a few minutes to talk about books, entrepreneurship, and community.---Ramunda Lark Young is Co-Founder and Co-owner of Mahogany Books online and with 2.25 locations in Washington DC, including National Harbor, National Airport, and a new location in Anacostia. Unapologetically Black-owned, family-run and operated, Mahogany Books is a local independent bookstore that believes in social entrepreneurship. They take a leadership role in the African American community by promoting reading, writing, and cultural awareness as tools to improve self-esteem, self-love and ultimately our communities to enrich the lives of motivated individuals.With over 20 years of combined retail book industry experience, Ramunda has witnessed a variety of market highs and lows which helped develop a bookstore model capitalizing on technology while staying true to the independent community bookstore roots that define the core values of the owners. _______________________________Start a conversation :) Register to attend a webinar in real time, and find all past transcripts at https://communityit.com/webinars/ email Carolyn at cwoodard@communityit.com on LinkedIn Thanks for listening.

As of Sunday, 55 bodies from last week's air catastrophe over the Potomac had been recovered. The investigation is ongoing. But a lot of the conversation is already focusing on just how crowded the space is around National Airport, and whether that makes it inherently dangerous. Aviation expert Ian Petchnick, who runs the Avtalk podcast, is here with us to explain DCA's complicated geography and politics.  Want some more DC news? Then make sure to sign up for our morning newsletter Hey DC. You can also become a member, with ad-free listening, for as little as $8 a month. Learn more about the sponsors of this February 3rd episode: District Bridges Interested in advertising with City Cast? Find more info HERE. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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On Wednesday night, a Blackhawk helicopter collided with a regional passenger jet over the Potomac River landing at National Airport in Arlington. There are no survivors, and 67 people are believed to be dead. U.S. Senator Mark Warner (D-Virginia) discussed the latest on the deadly plane crash.He said the crash has further heightened his concerns over air traffic control staffing. A preliminary F-A-A report confirmed staffing levels at National Airport's air control tower were below what they should have been on Wednesday night. It's been the case for years, with a workforce nearly a third below-targeted staffing levels per a 2023 workforce plan. Warner is also warning that President Trump's push to shrink the federal workforce could further deplete staffing levels. He worried about workers taking the White House's delayed resignation offer. “If a few thousand aircraft controllers say ‘we're done with this, too much stress, too much hassle'... I don't know how we operate airspace in America," Warner said.Plus, we asked his warnings against adding flights at DCA.Prince George's County is also helping with recovery and is closing sections of National Harbor as officials continue to recover debris. We asked Prince George's County Councilmember Wala Blegay about her county's role. And what does the White House's push to shrink the federal workforce mean for Prince George's County? The District continues to offer support in the plane crash recovery operations. But it's doing so without an ice-breaking fire boat that's been out of service since 2022. We asked D.C. Ward 6 Councilmember Charles Allen his thoughts. Plus, how does the confusion over the White House's federal funding freeze impact D.C?And Allen talked about D.C. Council's vote next week on whether to expel Ward 8 Councilmember Trayon White. He was arrested in August on federal bribery charges and the Council is expected to vote in favor of dismissing him from the legislative body. While Allen is saddened to have to make this choice, he said the penalty is needed."All of the rules of our code of conduct was violated. And I think it is clear as day and, obviously, on video," Allen said.Become a member of WAMU: wamu.org/donateSend us questions and comments for guests: kojo@wamu.orgFollow us on Instagram: instagram.com/wamu885

Pulmonologist Dr. Ray Casciari joins the show to kick off hour 3 talking about the severity of the impact of the fires on air quality and as a result, our lungs. Dr. Ray provides common sense rules about how to tell if the air quality is impacting your lungs. // Tim continues the conversation with Dr. Ray Casciari turning to the subject of tuberculosis, and why the cases in Kansas City are a bit concerning. Tawala Sharp from Later with Mo'Kelly joins Tim to talk about an event at The Los Angeles Mission that is benefitting Altadena wildfire victims and takes place this Saturday (02/01) in Pasadena. // Tim wraps out the show with breaking news regarding multiple casualties after a regional jet crashed into a river near D.C. National Airport.  

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Hour 3 - We wrap up a Monday with some business news from The Wichita Business Journal.

Yesterday it was reported that “unauthorized drone activity” over the White House caused aircraft to be re-routed before landing at the National Airport in Washington, DC. In recent years, mysterious “drones” have hovered with impunity above sensitive government facilities, spurring urgent briefings at the White House and the highest levels of the British government. The objects involved in these incursions can evade detection and sophisticated countermeasures and demonstrate extraordinary flight characteristics. These drone incidents have even fueled speculation about the possibility of “disclosure” which is the official statement from the government that we are not alone. Tonight on Ground Zero (7-10 pm, pacific time), Clyde Lewis talks with Stephen Bassett, Executive Director of the Paradigm Research Group, about UAP R US. Listen Live: https://groundzero.radio Archived Shows: https://aftermath.media

Stephen oversees Baldi Management Group (BMG), an airport concessions and management consulting company that manages restaurants in Reagan National Airport, JFK International Airport and Dulles International Airport. Established in 2008, BMG operates various food and beverage outlets, including franchises like Dunkin’ Donuts, Potbelly, and Smashburger. Stephen is an alumnus of Georgetown University, where he was a Community Scholar and student-athlete. He attributes his success to mentorship and now mentors young people, aiming to provide growth opportunities within his company. As founder-led company, Stephen has formed connections with other DC-based founder-led restaurants like Founding Famers and Timber Pizza as well as with larger national brands. About 15-20% of BMG's customers are employees from the airport itself. Stephen is a strong advocate of mentorship and helping employees grow and advance within an organization, even if it means the employee leaving the organization for a better opportunity. QUOTES “My commitment to making meaningful connections with people comes from way back then when I was forced to do it, not only because of who I am but my circumstances and I've tried to carry that out through my career and my life.” (Stephen) “There's something different about a founder-led company, because you've built it.” (Stephen)“Airports are a wonderful place to work. Once you end up in this ecosystem, it's hard to walk away.” (Stephen)“(In airports), the passengers are dynamic. We get to meet and connect with them all. We have the privilege of participating in whatever journey people are on every day and the following day, we get a whole new group of people.” (Stephen) “The (airport concessions and restaurant industry) is about an $8 billion a year industry nationally but the industry is controlled by about 20 key companies. It's a small ecosystem.” (Stephen) “Operating a streetside restaurant versus a restaurant in an airport is a completely different sport. The speed, the requirements, the logistical challenges (of being an in airport), all of our crewmembers have to go through background checks. Unless you're a serious player, you're not trying to participate in airports.” (Stephen) “We encourage our crewmembers just to meet people where they are. It may be the 50th time you've welcomed someone to our restaurant but it's the first time you've spoken to the person in front of you. You should be additive to their experience and not add additional stress or complications.” (Stephen) “We welcome the chaos. When it's raining and snowing outside and your flights are delayed, we kind of welcome that because that means we get to hang out with you a little bit longer.” (Stephen) “If I bring in someone as a front line worker who's pouring coffee, if they're still pouring coffee in three years, both them and the organization has done something wrong. We want to scale people up.” (Stephen)  TRANSCRIPT 00:01.9900:01.99vigorbrandingHey folks, welcome to Fork Tales, and I’m excited. Today’s guest is Stephen Baldi He’s the founder and president of Baldi Management Group. Baldy Management Group is an airport concessions and management consulting company. It’s a mouthful there. ah Manages concessions in Reagan National Airport, JFK International Airport, and Dulles International Airport. Stephen, welcome to Fork Tales, and thank you so much for joining us.00:25.82Stephen BaldiMichael, thank you for having me. I’m looking forward to the conversation.00:29.01vigorbrandingSo for those that don’t know, all of these are located in the sort of DC Metro, Baltimore or down at DC Metro area, right?00:36.21Stephen BaldiCorrect.00:37.04vigorbrandingYeah.00:37.19Stephen BaldiYeah, even though Philadelphia is my hometown, I’ve been in Washington DC for almost 30 years. um So this is home base for us.00:46.37vigorbrandingyeah Well, you you you know, I have a little trick question because that was going to be my first question. Are you still a Philly sports fan? I mean, do you bleed Eagle Green?00:53.03Stephen Baldiif If you cut me, it would be nothing but green. I live in Washington, DC.00:56.48vigorbrandingOK, beautiful.00:57.88Stephen BaldiMy heart is in Philadelphia.00:59.81vigorbrandingBeautiful, beautiful. Wow. There’s, there’s guys, I don’t even know what they call themselves these days. these’s The commanders, the Washington football club.01:04.91Stephen Baldioh The Washington football team, they’re all.01:05.40vigorbrandingI mean, they’re just, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Just, it’s irrelevant. It’s irrelevant.01:10.11Stephen BaldiYeah, Michael, my family would disown me if anything other than my ah zip code changed as far as my hometown affiliation.01:10.06vigorbrandingSo that’s fantastic. Hey, it’s awesome. You got to bring, I had a gentleman come in, uh, from, uh, Oregon last week to speak to a bunch of advertising agencies from North America. We hosted them in Philadelphia and this guy was so excited. He was, he, he, he came from there, but he was Philly through and through. So everything in his presentation tied back to a Philly icon, something about Philadelphia that was iconic. And, you know, ah in our company, we’re,01:44.34vigorbrandingWe’re very proud that we’re an independent advertising agencies. We have an agency called Vigor and an agency called Quench. Vigor’s restaurant branding. Quench is food and beverage marketing. And the whole thing was around independence and how it’s how important it is.01:57.06vigorbrandingAnd he had all these great icons from like Nick Foles to, ah you know, ah Mike Schmidt to the Fanatic to, I mean, Will Smith.02:07.11vigorbrandingI mean, he just went through all the Philadelphia stuff, you know, the Liberty Bell and everything else. and So it was cool. It was cool.02:11.77Stephen Baldium I love it. I’ll tell you an interesting story about Nick Foles. So I had a really good feeling about our Super Bowl run, even though you know Carson Wentz, who was leading as the MVP that year, went down. And the Friday before the Super Bowl, something told me to go online and buy a Nick Foles autograph helmet.02:33.57vigorbrandingWow.02:34.10Stephen BaldiAnd I did. Now, I did not expedite the shipping, Michael. So it was not in my possession on Monday after we had won the Super Bowl. And many of my friends said that helmet’s never going to show up, but it did.02:47.65Stephen BaldiSo I bought it for $99.02:47.77vigorbrandingThat’s awesome.02:49.77Stephen BaldiAnd I can tell you, it’s it’s worth a lot more than that.02:51.92vigorbrandingThat’s awesome. Yeah, it’s worth a lot to people in Philadelphia. So it’s fantastic. And the pride of that city runs deep. So alright, so tell us about Baldy enter Management Group and what it does what inspired you to get into the airport concession games. I mean, you started I think in residential property, right?03:06.90Stephen BaldiI did. I started in residential property management in 2002. And I started in airports in 2005. And it was all kind of serendipitous. I had a really ah prickly history before starting in 2002.03:23.22Stephen Baldiat Kettler Management, which managed tax credit properties, but also Class A luxury communities.03:29.04vigorbrandingOkay.03:29.23Stephen BaldiAnd I had a tenant coming to my office. And she said, Steven, I see you engaging with the residents and how you handle issues. And I think you should be doing more. And I thought to myself, like this woman doesn’t know me.03:39.92Stephen BaldiYeah, I just fixed her fireplace. But who are you to come in my office and tell me what I should be doing? And at the time, I was making $22,000 a year with a Georgetown degree. And the job that they wanted me to interview for paid $85,000 a year.03:54.21vigorbrandingwow03:54.39Stephen BaldiSo as you can assume, Michael, goal I took the interview, I got the job. And so for three years, I worked in development for Westfield, which most people know as shopping mall developers, they have an airport division.04:05.82vigorbrandingHmm. Ah.04:07.99Stephen BaldiAnd so I was responsible for the redevelopment of national airport here in Washington, DC from 2005. to 2008. And then I leveraged a relationship with OTG Management, which has a very large presence at Philadelphia International, um into a joint venture relationship and actually launched the company, BMG, in 2008. And two thousand and eight and it’s we’ve not looked back since.04:31.36vigorbrandingThat’s fantastic. you know It’s funny. I really i don’t know you. we’re We’re really talking for the first time. I can tell right away, like youre you have a positive attitude, and I can tell you’re engaging. And so I could see how someone would see you in action and be like, hey, you know you you could do more. like You can be a part of something bigger. And it’s obviously what’s happened, which is it’s awesome. I’m a big proponent of attitude. I mean, i I love to know where people went to school. I mean, if you if I interview you, I want to see your brains on the table.04:58.39vigorbrandingBut I really want to know what your personality is like. I want to know about your attitude. I want to know ah how ah how much of a ah person you are that wants to win and be engaging and help people. And it’s ah like it comes through with you right away.05:09.91vigorbrandingAnd that’s ah it’s cool.05:10.18Stephen BaldiI appreciate that.05:11.03vigorbrandingnow it’s it’s05:11.32Stephen BaldiYeah, i’ll I’ll take it back if you if you want me to. So ah back in 1988, I was turning 13 and I begged my mom for a pair of Air Jordan sneakers.05:24.58Stephen BaldiAnd you’ll remember when Gordon’s first came out, ah they were the first shoe over a hundred dollars.05:25.72vigorbrandingOh, yeah.05:29.85vigorbrandingOh, yes, they were.05:30.36Stephen Baldiyeah I grew up in a upper lower class household and it was a stretch for my mom to purchase these shoes.05:31.49vigorbrandingYep.05:37.09vigorbrandingMm hmm.05:38.21Stephen BaldiBut I begged her and I begged her and I begged her and and she ended up buying them for me. And she said, you know, I just want you to be safe. Well, you probably can assume where the story goes. Within like a month of getting these sneakers, I was an attempted robbery, and I acted very violently to defend myself, and it resulted in me getting expelled from the school that I was at.05:59.94Stephen BaldiAnd as a punishment, ah rather than letting me play basketball for the entire summer, my mom forced me to go to the reading math and basketball clinic at Friend Central, which is a very prominent independent school on the main line of Philadelphia.06:14.39vigorbrandingMm hmm.06:14.96Stephen BaldiAnd that decision changed my life. um I went from living in a predominantly all-Black neighborhood to a private school that I was the only Black male in my class.06:25.11vigorbrandingWow.06:25.74Stephen BaldiAnd what it did was it changed my perspective of what was accessible. like I had never seen a computer before.06:31.75vigorbrandingRight.06:32.14Stephen BaldiAnd at this school, there was in a computer lab where we could sit down and navigate things.06:34.40vigorbrandingYeah.06:36.15Stephen BaldiAnd so going to Friends Central, having my mom make that leap of faith changed my trajectory in many ways. I matriculated from there to Georgetown University here in Washington, DC, which is how I got.06:48.20Stephen Baldito Washington DC. So I am a super Philadelphia sports fan, because not only am I from Philly, but Allen Iverson was my classmate at Georgetown University.06:51.93vigorbrandingThat’s awesome.06:55.50vigorbrandingIs that right?06:56.61Stephen BaldiYeah, we were the same class.06:56.89vigorbrandingWow.06:57.61Stephen BaldiAnd so, yeah, very cool.06:58.33vigorbrandingThat’s so cool. Yeah.07:00.38Stephen BaldiAnd so maya my commitment to making meaningful connections with people comes from way back then when I was forced to do it, not only because of who I am, but my circumstances.07:00.74vigorbrandingAI. It’s legendary.07:12.75Stephen BaldiAnd I’ve tried to carry that out through my career and my life.07:15.84vigorbrandingThat’s fantastic. what a great That’s great. That’s a great story. you know it’s like It’s funny that on the Air Jordans, at that time, when they came out, and I can follow you on that. i know you You nailed it. You said the first sneaker that was over $100. My dad had ah this like mom and pop retail sporting store. We sold mostly like hockey stuff. We were from Hershey, Pennsylvania.07:35.39vigorbrandingAnd I was working in a store in in Camp Hill and outside of Hershey. It’s up in the West Shore, they call it. Anyway, long story short, I was in the mall and we sold some sneakers and the Air Jordans came out and we had them on the wall.07:48.37vigorbrandingAnd it was like, it was insane. $100 for a pair of sneakers.07:52.08Stephen BaldiYeah.07:52.28vigorbrandingAnd I mean, like, whereas I’ll say the average then was probably like on the high end was probably like 50, 55.07:57.40Stephen BaldiYeah, for sure.07:58.58vigorbrandingAnd this went right to 100. And it was funny, my dad, maybe that’s where I started learning about, and I really did learn a lot about marketing, working in retail, because you have to talk to people, you have to sell. And I think that’s the most important skill a person can learn. Communicating with people and learning how to sell, like, you know, at least present yourself, right? So I put these sneakers at the very top. I said, dad, you know what? ah I said, everybody wants the Air Jordans. Most people can’t afford them.08:21.42vigorbrandingbut everyone wants to come and look at it. So I always sell them the white, the white, men’s the body they’re like but you know, so for every one Air Jordan, I saw, I used to sell like 30 other pairs of shoes.08:25.49Stephen Baldiah yeah08:30.65vigorbrandingYou know what I mean?08:31.05Stephen BaldiIt’s been up in the store. It’s like a newspaper. People don’t necessarily want just the newspaper, at least the retailer does it, but they come in to buy the newspaper and then they buy the water, the soda, the candy.08:33.13vigorbrandingThat’s right.08:39.73vigorbrandingThat’s right. yeah I lured them in with the Air Jordans. I think we had like five parrot the most. I mean, we couldn’t afford, you know, it’s a little mom pop store.08:46.41Stephen BaldiProbably two sizes.08:47.56vigorbrandingYeah, right. That’s exactly right. So that’s funny. So okay, you talked about sports and and and you know, Philly and all that you you pride yourself on um being a local company and playing in front of the home crowd.08:58.99vigorbrandingTalk a little bit about the the local connection in DC that you have.09:02.34Stephen BaldiYeah, so I’ll tell you, when you fly into most airports, what people don’t automatically see, but being a former developer, I understand that any airport authority, when you land in their airport, they want you to know what city you are in.09:18.24Stephen BaldiSo national brands are extremely important. So you’ll have your Dunkin’ Donuts. You’ll have your Pop-Belly’s, which are ah franchises that we operate.09:22.12vigorbrandingMm hmm.09:25.89Stephen BaldiBut every airport wants you to have a sense of place. So when you fly into Philadelphia Airport, you’ll have a Jim Stakes, because that’s you know historical to that region.09:34.38vigorbrandingYeah.09:34.93Stephen BaldiWhen you fly into National Airport here, or Dallas International, you’ll have your South Blocks, which is an ASE base. com concept here in the DC.09:45.49Stephen BaldiYou’ll have Ben’s Chili Bowl, which has been around since the 60s.09:45.90vigorbrandingMm hmm. Mm hmm.09:49.41Stephen BaldiAnd so we’ve prided ourselves from identifying and connecting with other founder-led brands, because I’m a founder. And nothing against a hired gun.09:56.93vigorbrandingMm hmm.09:58.81Stephen BaldiI know they are often effective at their job. But there’s something different about a founder-led company because you’ve built it.10:06.95vigorbrandingYeah.10:07.27Stephen Baldiit probably has more ah meaning to you behind just the bottom line um results that you drive. It’s personal.10:15.52vigorbrandingYeah.10:15.69Stephen BaldiAnd so we’ve developed very deep relationships with companies like founding farmers, with timber pizza, who are all local based companies here. And we expect to continue to grow it, not just in this region that we’re in, but as we grow into other markets to do the same.10:30.68vigorbrandingYeah, that’s that’s fantastic. And you nailed it. I mean, like, I’m a founder, I’m an entrepreneur. And you know, and ah again, wonderful folks that that work with me, I’m very, very, very lucky. But you know, for for most people, it’s their job, you know, their career, and and hopefully there’s a sense of of a family and a real relationship.10:49.53vigorbrandingBut for me, it’s my life. I mean, i am I am defined personally by this, which is probably pretty shallow.10:51.05Stephen Baldiright10:54.86vigorbrandingI mean, i mean look, um I love my daughters. I’m a dad. I’m ah a husband. I love my family with all my heart, but I feel like I’m defined by my company and the what I’ve built. and and all of that And I just, you know, so again, I don’t know if that’s a bad thing or a good thing or whatever, but it’s just, it’s ah it’s a lot deeper, right?11:11.93vigorbrandingWhen you found something and ah it’s it’s a lot deeper, everyone thinks it has to do with like money and stuff, and it really doesn’t.11:12.49Stephen BaldiRight. For sure.11:17.73vigorbrandingIt’s a it’s really about, you know, sort of like your life’s life’s work. and You know, you know, I get I get the most excitement out of seeing the growth of the folks in the company. ah It’s great to see the brands grow and the companies grow.11:30.42vigorbrandingBut I really get a kick out of of seeing the folks that have been here a long time and and all that. So anyway, that’s just that’s me.11:35.91Stephen Baldiright11:36.26vigorbrandingBut I just I totally I totally concur with what you’re saying as far as the founder led. I mean, that’s that’s fantastic.11:41.40Stephen BaldiYeah, at some point as a founder, you most likely had to put something at risk that meant something to you.11:47.14vigorbrandingYeah.11:47.50Stephen BaldiWhether it’s personal guaranteeing, first leverage to build the company or, you know, having to bail it out because you run into a pandemic, which we all face back in 2020.11:47.75vigorbrandingOh, yeah. Yeah.11:55.18vigorbrandingAll right.11:57.80Stephen Baldium Oftentimes you can’t just walk from that business and matriculate to another W2 position because this is yours. And so I love when I can connect with founders.12:04.69vigorbrandingYeah.12:07.41Stephen BaldiI’ll work with non-founders also, but there’s something unique about the journey we’ve all been on.12:09.54vigorbrandingSure.12:11.88vigorbrandingYeah, absolutely. So let’s let’s talk a little bit. I just so folks know, I mean, what’s really cool about this conversation is I, ah you know, with vigor, we work with restaurant brands, right?12:22.32vigorbrandingSo we’re very familiar with restaurant brands. And you you have brands like Potbelly, Smashburger. You said founding farmers soon to come. ah Timber Pizza, Dunkin, I mean, some some household names.12:33.94vigorbrandingI don’t know if I’m um yeah any ants.12:34.26Stephen BaldiOn the end, don’t forget on the end, this is what else we have.12:35.99vigorbrandingNo, I can’t actually. Yeah, we actually worked on any answers. We have an agency called quench that a branding agency, Food and Beverage, that that actually worked with Auntie Anne’s because they started here in Lancaster.12:40.96Stephen BaldiOkay.12:45.88vigorbrandinghu Yeah, and I got to meet Anne Byler in the beginning.12:45.98Stephen BaldiThey did.12:48.81vigorbrandingSo, Auntie Anne is actually a person and she’s a wonderful lady and It was a really really awesome to meet her and and and what a she was so she’s a very philanthropic lady very very ah ah Generous and very successful very so she’s got a phenomenal story as well. But so yeah, I certainly won’t leave the auntie hands out But you so you have all these great brands um Talk a little bit about I mean, you know, you said somewhere founded by they you know the founders and all that what’s it like to to manage all these different brands and13:18.00Stephen BaldiI’ll tell you, it’s a dynamic environment. Airports are a wonderful place to do business. Again, I share with you briefly how I matriculated into them, but once you end up in this kind of ecosystem, it’s hard to walk away.13:33.35Stephen BaldiWe get the privilege of serving the traveling public every day. And what’s special about that are the passengers are dynamic. There are people who are going on business trips. There are people who are going on vacations. There are people who are going to be celebrated and there are people who are going to, you know,13:51.28Stephen Baldiusher people off into a transition of life. And we get to meet and connect with them all. And so I tell our crew members that we have the privilege of participating in whatever journey people are on every day.14:03.68Stephen BaldiAnd then the following day, we get a whole new group of people coming through.14:06.48vigorbrandingyeah yeah14:07.36Stephen BaldiSo that’s dynamic in the industries are small. I will tell you it’s about a $8 billion industry nationally in the United States, food and beverage and airports.14:14.57vigorbrandingYeah. Yeah.14:19.40Stephen BaldiBut the industry is really controlled by about 20 key companies. And within those 20 companies, you probably have 50 total key players.14:23.32vigorbrandingyeah14:27.50Stephen BaldiAnd so we know each other. you know You typically don’t leave the industry. Your business card may change. So you may go from company to company, but it’s a small ecosystem. And so I’ve enjoyed being in the industry now.14:40.58Stephen Baldi18 years. I started when I was two. ah But it’s a buy it’s been an extraordinary 18 years, except for some of the challenges like COVID. But you know for the people who were able and blessed to push through it, I think we have a different perspective on what we can be and what we should be in the businesses that we lead. To your point,15:00.50Stephen Baldium being defined by your business is not necessarily shallow, but there’s levels, there’s there’s depth to what we do.15:08.62vigorbrandingYeah.15:08.91Stephen BaldiAnd I’ve been fortunate enough to be able to swim in those depths ah for many years.15:14.41vigorbrandingThat’s awesome. We’ll get to COVID in a second, but I want to go back to airports. ah I’ll say, fortunately or unfortunately, I’m a customer. I’m in an airport every single week. So when you’re describing the people you see there, it’s like, yeah.15:21.70Stephen BaldiAwesome.15:24.71vigorbrandingI mean, you know there’s it’s every single walk of life. Everyone seems to have a higher level of stress.15:30.65Stephen Baldiyeah15:30.77vigorbrandingEveryone’s in a hurry, even when they’re not, or even worse, if someone’s really not in a hurry and they’re walking slow in the airport, that can actually be more frustrating and stressful. but ah So how do you how do you deal with that chaos? I mean, you got all these people that are amped up and nervous and they have anxiety or whatever, and then all of a sudden you’ve got to serve them and take them, you know, and represent these great brands and and and actually make the stuff and and in a and a fast time because they’re always running late, even if they’re not, they just think they’re always stressed.15:56.04Stephen BaldiRight.15:59.20vigorbrandingTalk about airport concessions. Talk about that chaos.16:02.08Stephen BaldiYeah, so you meet people where they are. And I will tell you, operating a street-side restaurant versus an airport, it’s a completely different sport.16:09.79vigorbrandingI cannot imagine.16:10.73Stephen BaldiI tell ah these founder-led companies when they’re thinking about matriculating in the airports, I tell them you know it’s like playing high school varsity basketball.16:10.80vigorbrandingyeah16:19.70Stephen BaldiAnd then you get drafted to the and NBA, like the speed, the requirements, you know, we have to go through the logistical um challenges of having every box that comes into your restaurant scan.16:20.40vigorbrandingYeah. Yeah. Yeah.16:31.21Stephen BaldiLike Cisco’s not pulling up to our back door and delivering our ground beef for Smashburger.16:31.53vigorbrandingYeah.16:34.05vigorbrandingRight.16:35.85Stephen BaldiLike it’s going through an X-ray, just like your luggage is.16:38.86vigorbrandingYeah.16:39.39Stephen Baldium All of our crew members have to go through a 10 year federal background check.16:44.03vigorbrandingSure.16:44.19Stephen Baldium There’s complexities to the business, which are to our challenge. But to me, it’s also kind of to our benefit, Michael, because it reduces my competition. Because unless you’re a serious player, you’re not trying to participate in airports.16:54.14vigorbrandingMhm.16:56.81Stephen BaldiAnd so for me, understanding those barriers and be able to navigate them are great. But from a day to day operation standpoint, We encourage our crew members just to meet people where they are.17:07.93Stephen Baldium It may be the 50th time you’ve welcomed someone to our restaurant, but it’s the first time you’ve spoken to the person that’s in front of you. And again, you don’t know if they’re going on vacation or they’re going to a celebration of life to send a family member home.17:16.31vigorbrandingright17:22.96Stephen BaldiRegardless, you should be additive to their experience and not adding additional stress or complications. Just try to deliver them fast, friendly, exceptional,17:34.09Stephen Baldiservice because that’s our standard. That is our vision for the company, which is being exceptional is our standard. It’s not something that happens intermittently.17:42.84vigorbrandingAll right.17:44.59Stephen BaldiIt happens all the time. And so we welcome the chaos.17:45.78vigorbrandingYeah.17:48.05Stephen BaldiYou know, when it’s raining and snowing outside, even though your flights are delayed, we kind of welcome that because that means you get to hang out with you a little bit longer.17:54.78vigorbrandingYeah. Yeah.17:55.63Stephen BaldiSo as long as we’re not canceling flights, if they’re just delayed, that’s kind of our sweet spot.18:00.01vigorbrandingThere you go.18:00.65Stephen BaldiSo we welcome it all.18:02.58vigorbrandingThat’s awesome. You know, you you said something really interesting. So as I mentioned, Vigor is our agency that that does branding and marketing for restaurants. I know, and it’s not, you know, it’s common knowledge that turnover and and employees in the restaurant industry is like the biggest hassle, right? and Everyone’s dealing with that that turnover. But you just said something. they They have to go through this long, arduous process to get through. So do you find that you have, I’ll say, maybe better better qualified, better quality,18:32.38vigorbrandingah team members in your restaurants?18:34.64Stephen BaldiI would tell you that our hourly and even our salary leadership ah on some levels, they’re more committed because it is a personal investment to get through the process.18:39.98vigorbrandingMm-hmm.18:45.54Stephen BaldiAnd so, you know, typical food and beverage turnover is anywhere from 100 to 150%. And only ours is closer to like 30.18:51.64vigorbrandingRight.18:54.91vigorbrandingthat’s hey That’s fantastic. I never thought that that would have never dawned on me that that would be ah an unfair advantage. you know It’s funny, like yeah I was telling someone the other day, you know the higher the barrier to entry in business, actually the better the business is because you don’t have just everybody and anybody competing.19:12.66vigorbrandingSo you you have a higher barrier of entry.19:13.25Stephen BaldiCorrect.19:15.58vigorbrandingum And with that, you have you sort of have ah have a capture to a degree ah group of people, right? ah But the one thing that is interesting, I think if I remember correctly, I think there’s like 30%, I’ll say of ah if it’s a Dunkin Donuts on the street corner, 30% of their their ah customers will probably repeat, right?19:35.43vigorbrandingah you You are not, I mean, you know you might have the same business guy that flies every Thursday out to you know wherever,19:37.58Stephen BaldiNo?19:40.80Stephen Baldiwe have We’ll have our Michaels.19:41.81vigorbrandingYeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.19:42.16Stephen BaldiWe have our Michaels.19:43.59vigorbrandingI’ll hit your place and at the airport get a coffee on the way out, but that’s it. Yeah, that’s it. So that’s.19:48.43Stephen BaldiI will tell you, though, we do have outside of the the traveling public, we do have recurring customers who are the people who work at the airport. I mean, at National and Dulles Airport, you get anywhere from five thousand to ten thousand employees that are there every day.19:56.97vigorbrandingNo, that makes sense. Sure.20:03.65Stephen BaldiAnd so ah they are also extremely important to us.20:03.75vigorbrandingMm hmm. Hey, they got to eat and drink, right?20:07.86Stephen BaldiThey got to eat and drink and they have to do it fast.20:09.70vigorbrandingRight. That’s right.20:10.84Stephen BaldiWell, we have different incentives to get them in and out, but they are our recurring customers and they’re about 15 to 20 percent of our business.20:15.10vigorbrandingYeah, that makes sense. Hey, going back to the old mall days that I was talking about the sneakers, I sold a lot of sneakers to people that worked in the mall, not many Air Jordans, but a lot of the, you know, a lot of the lower end sneakers.20:22.26Stephen BaldiYeah, for sure.20:27.36vigorbrandingSo, we talked to you hit on earlier and I know we, we inevitably, hopefully one day we, we don’t, and we don’t have to talk about, we always go back and talking about COVID and, uh, you know,20:35.54Stephen BaldiOh, yeah.20:37.21vigorbrandingOne of our companies and our holding company is a company called Varsity. And Varsity does retirement communities around the country, we market retirement companies. Well, that that industry shut down. I mean, no one was going, no one was visiting, and people were sick. It was bad. Restaurants, another one of our our agencies, right? We marketed restaurants. No one was going. It was basically shut down. you know Your hospitality Uh, and your restaurants, I mean, and your travel, I mean, you’re, you’re combining it all and how, talk about that a little bit.21:06.75vigorbrandingI mean, you were hit from both ends.21:07.11Stephen BaldiOh, I had the privilege of double dipping.21:11.81vigorbrandingYeah.21:11.93Stephen BaldiSo we were in hospitality beverage, but we were also in travel.21:12.41vigorbrandingIn turmoil.21:15.47vigorbrandingYeah.21:16.03Stephen BaldiAnd so I remember very specifically on March 11th, 2020, President Trump came on television and he announced a 30-day travel ban to Europe.21:27.16vigorbrandingMm-hmm.21:28.65Stephen BaldiAnd at the time, ah most people only thought about the impact of air traffic travel to Europe, places like London, Paris.21:37.58vigorbrandingright21:38.31Stephen BaldiBut I anticipated that this was really the big moment for our industry.21:43.00vigorbrandingRight.21:43.21Stephen BaldiI know a lot of people associate kind of their aha moment with COVID becoming a significant thing when the NBA shut down and more importantly, when the NCAA tournament shut down.21:53.85Stephen BaldiBut that announcement on March 11th signified for me that things were about to change for my business.21:58.60vigorbrandingYeah.21:58.72Stephen BaldiNow, I didn’t know it was going to be 18 months.22:02.21vigorbrandingRight.22:02.55Stephen Baldium But within about two weeks, we lost 85% of our top line revenue. And so on March 18, we shut the company down for 18 months. um And it was a challenge to what we talked about earlier, where a lot of my identity was tied up in this company that I built.22:20.39Stephen BaldiWell, there was no company to have an identity he tied to. And so for me as a leader, It really pushed me during that time to redefine who I was in that moment and who I was going to aspire to be if we were privileged enough to come out of it. And we did. We’ve come out very strong, stronger than actually we went in. um We actually sold 35% of the business last year to some strategic, but then also some individual investors. And so I’ve had the privilege of surrounding myself where before I was the only voice in the room and now there are many.22:55.69vigorbrandingRight.22:55.77Stephen BaldiAnd it presents some unique challenges, but also some extraordinary opportunities for me to low to learn and grow from other individuals and institutions that have built companies to scale, not all in food and beverage, many not.23:10.17Stephen Baldium But it’s really given me the opportunity to become a better leader um and to take our company into the next five to 10 years of what we will be.23:20.35vigorbrandingThat’s fantastic. you know i the the The COVID obviously affected everybody. It affected everybody in different ways. and like For us for a business, it was and it was really interesting in that you know because we have several different agencies in our holding company, it was sort of a little bit of a like a mutual fund where one or two stocks could be really down, but then others can be up. Our CPG agency, Quench,23:40.72vigorbrandingyou know we’ We’re doing we’re doing brands national brands like you know Sunmade Raise and Stark Institute. To me, COVID, to to that to that company and those brands, COVID was like the greatest sampling program in the history of Earth. i mean If you put it in a package back then, it was on a shelf. People bought it. They stuck it in their pantries. They ate it. They bought more of it. i mean They couldn’t get enough of it. i mean It was just ah an insane time.24:01.94vigorbrandingfor those companies. and then the other the The negative side obviously was the restaurants and everything else. i mean It’s a really interesting time. and and you know You said about how you it can define things. the other thing One of the other things we did was we took adversity. We had all these CEOs that were like, what is everyone doing? i mean like you you know This just happened. It was unprecedented. What is everybody else doing? so We thought, well,24:23.89vigorbrandingAll right, we’re not making i mean and and again it’s not we’re not making revenue businesses down, but we still have these relationships. They’re our clients. So what can we do? So it wasn’t my idea, but one of our guys said, hey, let’s create sort of a round table. of that And our agency is called Varsity. So we called it the Varsity Round Table. So we got all these CEOs that were just like,24:41.34vigorbrandingWhat’s everyone doing? And they were able to talk and it was so successful that we did it the next week. And then they talked more and then more and more CEOs jumped in. They weren’t even our clients and became this open source sharing that has now been, we are on about, I think it’s like 250th.24:58.49vigorbrandingroundt We’ve been doing them every week since the first month of COVID.25:04.38Stephen BaldiWow, impressive.25:05.19vigorbrandingAnd what’s done for a company, for us, i mean again we don’t make any money from it. And it wasn’t about that. It was just a place for people to really vent and help. And now we have speakers come in and talk, and everyone’s obviously well beyond COVID.25:16.71vigorbrandingBut it’s really allowed us to be a thought leader and assist these folks. And you know at the end of the day, it’s what it’s all about. And I know a big thing for you is is mentorship, right? I mean, you know talk about giving back. you want you Do you want to talk a little bit about that?25:27.81Stephen BaldiYeah, I’ll talk about that but I’ll also talk similarly to your roundtable so in February of 2020 I had the privilege of joining the organization YPO, which is Young President Organization, which is very similar to what you define there’s 35.25:42.82Stephen Baldi1,000 YPO members globally. And it’s really for business leaders who have decided that they want to walk towards betterment as a person, as a leader, as a family member, as someone contributing to their community in partnership with other leaders.25:58.55Stephen BaldiAnd so I am in the Washington DC Baltimore chapter here ah in the region.25:58.93vigorbrandingMm hmm.26:04.18Stephen BaldiAnd I’m in leadership. And I can tell you that organization was really critical in me navigating everything that I had to go through ah during COVID.26:14.98Stephen BaldiNow, we didn’t we didn’t meet weekly, um but we do meet monthly in a small group of seven to 10 people, and we have forum.26:15.26vigorbrandingSure.26:19.82vigorbrandingMonthly forum.26:22.81Stephen BaldiAnd, oh, there you go.26:22.85vigorbrandingI didn’t know I’m i’m YPO, too. I didn’t know your IPO. Yeah, I’ve been.26:25.92Stephen BaldiYeah!26:26.21vigorbrandingYeah.26:27.01Stephen BaldiSo YDO is really what sustained me during COVID.26:27.03vigorbrandingSo Oh.26:29.86Stephen Baldium And I’m privileged to be on the ladder now in leadership.26:32.72vigorbrandingDo for you.26:35.01Stephen BaldiAnd so, yeah, as far as mentorship, when I started the company, you know it was a priority for me to give opportunity to underrepresented populations. um Now, as I started to grow the company, my focus started to turn inward, Michael, if I’m being honest. And you know the beginning of 2020, it was difficult for anybody to tell me that I wasn’t the shit. I built this company from zero to something much larger than I had ever aspired to as a young person.27:04.34vigorbrandingRight.27:06.68Stephen Baldium But COVID took all of that away.27:08.81vigorbrandingYeah.27:09.14Stephen BaldiAnd so what it reminded me of is that there was a mission that I started this company with. And it was something that I needed to recommit to when we reopened.27:19.90Stephen BaldiAnd so now um we’re really pouring into our crew members um When I hire someone, specifically, let’s take Dunkin Donuts.27:30.76Stephen BaldiIf I bring in someone as a frontline worker that’s pouring coffee, if they’re still pouring coffee for us in three years, both them and the organization has done something wrong.27:34.59vigorbrandingMmhmm.27:41.17Stephen Baldium We want to scale people up. It is not cost effective for us to have people in the same position for multiple years. So if we’re not scaling someone up to take on additional responsibility inside our company and sometimes even outside of our company, then we’ve done something wrong. you know My mentor told me a good leader ah expects or wants people to leave. A great leader expects them to.28:08.64vigorbrandingYeah.28:09.01Stephen BaldiAnd so either they’re leaving the position that we’re hiring them for or they’re leaving to go to another organization. But either way, we have to invest in our hourly crew members because we can’t afford not to.28:20.86vigorbrandingYeah.28:21.76Stephen BaldiAnd so that’s something that we really communicate out and share out. to our community and our organization and people know that we’re gonna invest in them in ways that other companies might not to and we feel like that gives us a competitive advantage and as a leader it makes me feel a good about not only our bottom line results but also the success that we can feel. I have a manager who’s been with us for eight years.28:46.57Stephen BaldiHer name is Marta. And she started as a single unit manager. And now she’s a multi-airport director.28:53.24vigorbrandingawesome.28:53.39Stephen BaldiAnd to see her growth and to understand the impact that that has has had on her family is tremendous. And I want to do that a hundred times over.29:00.50vigorbrandingSure.29:00.79Stephen BaldiAnd I have the privilege of being able to do that as a leader of our company.29:01.01vigorbrandingYeah.29:04.70vigorbrandingand And think of it this way, I mean, and that’s what’s so great about this country, I’ll say is like, you were making whatever $22,000 a year, I think you had free room or board or whatever you were managing, right?29:12.60Stephen BaldiI did.29:13.65vigorbrandingSo you you’re probably like, I’m getting by, this is okay. And look, you and you know, obviously, you’re you’re very well educated, you have a great drive and personality, but you you created a a huge company. And that’s, that’s, that’s really super cool, really super cool.29:25.90Stephen BaldiWell, Michael, I can tell you specifically in that first year, 2002, I made $19,117 and 43 cents. I can tell you that specifically because that W2 still sits on my desk.29:36.80Stephen BaldiI have it framed.29:36.84vigorbrandingYeah, yeah.29:37.68Stephen BaldiI look at it every day just to remind me of where all of this started and where now we’ve grown the company to I’m, I’m extremely proud.29:45.15vigorbrandingYeah. And you know, you mentioned YPO and I’ve been very privileged to be in that organization for, gosh, I think at least 20 some years.29:53.06Stephen BaldiSo you joined when you were 17.29:54.45vigorbrandingYeah, no, but yeah, it’s one of those things, is we you know, it used to kick you out when you’re 50. In fact, I did, I got the rocking chair and showed up at the front door.30:02.59Stephen BaldiOh, there you go.30:03.68vigorbrandingYeah, that was the thing. And then they decided to have YPO Gold, WPO and all that. stuff So I stayed in and now we’re like a forum for life. So my guys, we meet once a month and we are together. ah we A lot of it’s virtual because these guys, a lot of it, we’re retired and stuff.30:15.91vigorbrandingSo um I’m old. I mean, the it’s YPO o Gold, but I always say it’s Silent G, you know, YPO old. So, but it’s a, it was the greatest thing I’ve ever done for me.30:26.29vigorbrandingMaybe a better husband, better father, better businessman, a better employer, better ah a friend. I mean, and I i mean that.30:32.27Stephen Baldiand human30:33.29vigorbrandingYeah. It’s just a better human. And I think a lot of people see it from the outside and think it’s all, it’s a bunch of guys didn’t talk about how many cars they have and where they want vacation. It’s not that at all.30:40.24Stephen BaldiIt’s not that it’s a transformational community, you know, having a high trust network is invaluable.30:40.92vigorbrandingYou know, it’s, you know, it’s a, it is, it is.30:47.41vigorbrandingYep. Yeah. Someone’s got your back, right? You can always pick up that phone and call your, one of your folks and just, they got your back. No, that’s yeah.30:54.39Stephen BaldiAnd it’s nobody, and it’s nobody, nothing, never. And to have that level of confidentiality is special.30:57.03vigorbrandingThat’s right. Yep. Yeah. Yeah, that’s that’s awesome. That’s all good for you. I had no idea. That’s fantastic. um So, but now I’m going to do a little ploy here. You got to go and you should go to Austin this year to the food and beverage round table.31:10.60vigorbrandingI mean, if you can check it out, it’ll be, I think it’s in in January, you know, I’ll probably be speaking there, but you should go.31:14.55Stephen BaldiOK.31:16.84vigorbrandingI mean, you know, I’d love to meet you in person. It’d be fantastic.31:18.67Stephen BaldiYeah, I’d love that.31:18.88vigorbrandingAnyway, so could we do,31:20.42Stephen BaldiMaybe we’ll be celebrating a Phillies World Series by then.31:22.74vigorbrandingOh man, you’re making me nervous. um I hope so. I hope you’re right. I hope you’re right. But our company, we do it we do an annual food and beverage trends report every year. We’ve been doing them for like, jeez, 15, 16 years. And so a lot of times we launched it at the food and beverage round table. So it’s always really cool stuff.31:40.96Stephen BaldiAwesome, send me an invite and I’ll be there.31:41.00vigorbrandingum Yeah. All right. Well, definitely. I’ll make sure you get it after this, after our conversation here. So, okay. When you go to a restaurant, you you have a choice between human interaction or self ordering kiosks. I know that, you know, you guys need to be really ah high speed, efficient and all that. What what do you, what do you prefer?31:58.57Stephen BaldiWell, it depends, right? Deploying technology is a strategy that ah should be done with intention and asking the question, and then what, right?32:12.55Stephen Baldium I will tell you a story. So the first time we experimented with self ordering technology was in 2008 at JFK airport terminal five.32:24.65Stephen BaldiAnd we deployed at the time iPads um at our Dunkin Donuts because we thought, you know, technology is moving in this way and it’s fun and it’s cool, but nobody wants to walk up to a counter and order a coffee by pressing buttons.32:29.75vigorbrandingMm-hmm. Yep.32:39.85vigorbrandingMm-hmm.32:44.46Stephen BaldiYou know, communicating to a cashier, ah medium cream and sugar takes about 15 seconds. When you are forcing someone to press hot coffee, then medium, then sugar, then extra sugar, like that’s just, we found that that was a ah strategy that wasn’t ah successfully deployed at that time.32:58.57vigorbrandingwho33:05.34Stephen Baldinow That was back in 2008. I will say trends have matured since then and so there is an opportunity to have self ordering technology at a place like Dunkin Donuts and people have learned to navigate it quickly. um You have hot buttons for certain high usage items and so I say to people all the time because my friends question me, whenever they see an iPad, they assume that that means that that technology has taken someone’s job. And what I try to educate people on is that you know if you deploy technology in a intentional way, in a smart way, it allows you to redirect33:45.29Stephen Baldiwhat you would have otherwise spent on front of house and the back of house.33:46.57vigorbrandingMm33:49.72Stephen BaldiOr maybe you’re deploying it at a ah leadership level that’s multi-unit capable.33:49.78vigorbrandinghmm.33:55.24Stephen BaldiAnd so it’s not necessarily ah replacing jobs, but allowing savvy business leaders to take that investment and redeploy it in other ways. I will tell you that the benefit is you know technology doesn’t call out. Sometimes you have to reboot the system, but it always upsells. It always asks you if you want a dessert and always ask you if you want to package your burger with fries. And so to be able to grow your top line ticket, ah that’s only going to drive bottom line outcomes, which allows a business owner like me to look at expansion, to go into other cities, to be able to bring other people along with us because the business is growing. And so there’s opportunity beyond just taking someone’s order. And so34:40.31Stephen BaldiTechnology is something you have to look at in parallel kind of decision making. But I enjoy it. There’s some concepts that it resonates more significantly than others. But I think there’s a balance and there needs to be a balance of both going forward. I don’t think we’re ever going to have an industry that is exclusively technology or self ordering driven. um And I think you go in with a bunch of assumptions, you understand how your customers respond to it, and then you be agile enough to adjust appropriately.35:08.96vigorbrandingYeah, I mean, it makes a lot of sense. And i I concur. I mean, you know, I don’t want to wait in a massive line, especially from an airport. But, you know, just ordering, pre-ordering and all that kind of stuff isn’t all that funny either.35:19.32vigorbrandingSo it’s just you with that happy balance. You know, I do like talking to somebody and, you know, because I talk a lot, I guess. But plus, I always ask for some ice in my coffee just a little bit. I don’t want nice coffee.35:27.30Stephen BaldiThere you go.35:27.67vigorbrandingSo it’s a little tough to explain to an iPad, you know, so very soft.35:31.57Stephen BaldiTo drop it into a couple of cubes, yeah.35:32.20vigorbrandingWhoops. Yeah. Yeah. I don’t want to burn my, burn my mouth. So now I know you have at least one daughter, correct?35:38.70Stephen BaldiI’d have two daughters and a son.35:39.87vigorbrandingTwo daughters. right All right. Sorry. There we go.35:41.61Stephen Baldi26, 25, and eight.35:41.75vigorbrandingThis will be great then. Wow. Wow.35:45.67Stephen BaldiI started over, Michael.35:45.74vigorbrandingA little gap here.35:46.59Stephen BaldiI started over.35:47.16vigorbrandingYou had a little gap here.35:48.55Stephen Baldihad I had a couple of gap years.35:48.93vigorbrandingA couple of gap years. i well so I have two daughters, 26 as of last week and coming coming up on 29. The reason I bring up these families is you know we all know we love all our kids the same.36:01.78Stephen BaldiNo, we don’t.36:01.79vigorbrandingBut on any but okay but on any given day on any given day, depending on the phone call, depending on the visit, there’s certainly ones that we like other better than others.36:02.97Stephen BaldiNo, we don’t.36:09.94vigorbrandingMichael Alex, it happens it back and forth all the time, just in case you’re listening. Those are my daughters. um36:14.34Stephen BaldiLove it.36:15.04vigorbrandingso you know, we talked about pot belly, we talked about smash burger, we talked about dunking, we talked about timber, we talked about founding farmers, am I missing any any ends?36:25.21Stephen BaldiThere you go.36:27.03vigorbrandingWhich one?36:27.28Stephen BaldiIt’s the end. Yeah.36:27.84vigorbrandingWhich one’s your favorite? What’s your favorite kid there?36:29.64Stephen BaldiMy favorite. Wow. You’re going to force me to say that.36:33.77vigorbrandingYeah, yeah.36:34.15Stephen BaldiWell, I will tell you, because I don’t know if any of our franchisors are going to listen to this part. I love them all equally, and I am privileged to be able to operate them. I will tell you the one that probably um sits deeply in my soul as a person ah is probably Dunkin’ Donuts.36:55.45vigorbrandingNice.36:55.85Stephen Baldiand And I’ll tell you Dunkin’ Donuts because when I was growing up ah in Southwest Philadelphia off of Cobbs Creek Parkway, I had family that lived out by the airport. And in order to get into that area of the city, you have to travel on Cobbs Creek Parkway.37:11.63Stephen BaldiAnd there’s a Dunkin Donuts on the corner of Cobbs Creek Parkway and I can’t remember the cross street, but it’s been there for close to probably 30 or 40 years. I’m 48 and I can’t remember a time when it wasn’t there. And I remember seeing that Dunkin Donuts and thinking how rich that franchisee must be to have that score.37:30.65Stephen BaldiNow I know that owning a single franchise is not necessarily a path to generational wealth, but it did, that Dunkin Donuts did put in my mind like what was possible.37:40.22vigorbrandingYeah, that’s cool.37:40.70Stephen Baldium And so to be able to be now a 14 year franchisee of that brand, um which is our longest franchise relationship, it’s pretty special.37:46.48vigorbrandingSuper.37:50.20vigorbrandingThat’s cool. And you know, I’ll say this from the, from the branding side of the world. Uh, what a phenomenal job. I mean, Duncan’s been around forever. I mean, at one point time it was getting a little tired. It was sort of just fading in the woodwork.38:01.35vigorbrandingAnd we know, I mean, all these brands, I mean, they come on strong. They’re, they’re always started somewhere. There’s this regional thing. And then they become these big brands and is they, they struggle to stay relevant.38:10.04Stephen BaldiRight?38:12.62vigorbrandingRight. And I think Duncan has just done a remarkable job.38:16.08Stephen BaldiWe have, yeah.38:16.24vigorbrandingof staying relevant i mean from their graphic design from their marketing their branding to their advertising and all the cool stuff they’ve done that you did you did they blew it away they they absolutely did and yep38:22.42Stephen BaldiI mean, we had the best Super Bowl commercial in my opinion. I mean, Ben Affleck and J.Lo, they did their thing. And Mark Wahlberg, it like it was it was a beautiful commercial.38:33.65vigorbrandingYeah, and you know, it just shows like when you have passion for something, and those guys certainly have passion for for for that part of the world and ah from the Boston area. I just think it’s it was exceptional. In fact, ironically, we have at at our holding company level, Pavone Group, we have the longest running, okay, this is no kidding, the longest running Super Bowl commercial voting mechanism called spotbowl.com.38:56.66vigorbrandingSo every year we get38:57.28Stephen BaldiOK.38:59.26vigorbrandingyou know, thousands and thousands and thousands of votes from around the world, and people vote for their favorite Super Bowl commercial as it’s being played, as the game is being played. And then the the national media outlets reach out to us, and then we tell them the results.39:13.08vigorbrandingAnd Dunkin Donuts was was certainly a stellar winner.39:13.26Stephen BaldiOK.39:16.02Stephen BaldiIt was and had to be at the top.39:17.26vigorbrandingYeah, it was awesome.39:17.88Stephen BaldiCome on out. Tell me Michael it was at the top.39:19.04vigorbrandingYeah, yeah. It was, well, I’m looking over here at my guy that runs it. it was It was the top one. Yeah, it was, it definitely was.39:24.42Stephen BaldiIt was, it I thought it was.39:25.10vigorbrandingOh, yeah, yeah, yeah.39:25.89Stephen BaldiThere you go. Thank you for, thank you for phoning your friend and getting confirmation.39:26.59vigorbrandingIt was it was awesome.39:29.55Stephen BaldiIt was a pretty special advertising.39:31.41vigorbrandingYeah.39:31.85Stephen BaldiAnd yeah, I didn’t get a chance to order my Duncan jumpsuit, but I’m sure it’s in the mail somewhere.39:36.72vigorbrandingYeah, there you go. there That’s that that everything.39:38.41Stephen BaldiMaybe Duncan corporate will see this and they’ll send me one.39:38.96vigorbrandingAlthough. yeah Yeah, all the merch, everything they did around that was super cool. and the take the outtakes from the39:43.99Stephen BaldiSuper cool.39:46.35vigorbrandingyou know It’s funny too because when it comes to this marketing stuff, like it used to be just a TV spot. and The reason I looked over to ask Dave, Dave’s the guy you spoke to. He’s the one that that kind of heads up this podcast. He’s also the one that really runs Spopple. We’ve been doing this so long that In the beginning, we didn’t know anything.40:03.48vigorbrandingIn other words, they would the game it was all about the game. The game was played. And then people realized, well, people love the commercials. So we never knew, like like you and everybody else, we just sit there and watch the game, cut the commercial. Oh, it’s a commercial for fill in the blank.40:15.61vigorbrandingNow, they release the commercials to us ahead of time.40:15.73Stephen BaldiYeah.40:18.45vigorbrandingThey tell us what it’s about. They send us outtakes. They give us information. Because they realize it, because it’s a couple million dollars for 30 seconds, that they need to get as much juice out of the you know squeeze as much juice out of this as possible so they want to know they put stuff online they do teasers and it’s it’s turned into a an event unto itself and uh we’re really proud to have been a part of it so it’s kind of funny that you brought that up that’s cool stuff all40:39.58Stephen BaldiYeah. Now I will tell you my all time favorite Super Bowl commercial.40:44.35vigorbrandingright uh40:45.67Stephen BaldiNow I remember the star, but I don’t even remember the brand.40:49.95vigorbranding-oh40:50.06Stephen BaldiRemember the the commercial with the kid and the Star Wars mask and he was going around zapping things and he went and he zapped the car and the car started.40:55.24vigorbrandingVolkswagen. Yeah. Yeah.40:58.28Stephen BaldiThat was my all-time favorite more commercial.40:58.46vigorbrandingYeah. Yeah. Yeah. That’s great. Yeah. That was ah that was a Volkswagen spot. That was a fantastic spot.41:03.91Stephen BaldiFantastic commercial.41:03.93vigorbrandingIt was a fantastic. You know, I’ll i’ll tell you mine next. i’m I’m a simp and I, you know, ah the Budweiser commercials and41:11.83Stephen BaldiOh yeah.41:13.17vigorbrandingThere was one though in particular where the guy, you know, he raises these horses and it goes on to be a Clydesdale and it it takes off and the horse leaves and there’s a parade. And I almost get choked up thinking about it.41:24.28vigorbrandingIt was so well done. There’s a parade, the guy standing there to parade and the horse sees him, breaks away, chases him down on the road. Oh my gosh. It was, it was, I had to do a live TV commercial. I had to do a live segment on the news about the the best TV spot and and they they, you know, they played it and I wasn’t expecting them to play it.41:40.60vigorbrandingI’m like, I had tears going down my face.41:42.56Stephen BaldiOh, you got emotional.41:42.51vigorbrandingI’m like, That’s my favorite.41:43.64Stephen BaldiOh, look at you.41:45.41vigorbrandingI still get emotional. i think but i think it I think it was the best all-time i mean story. It was just cute. so anyway That’s right, man.41:50.70Stephen BaldiAnd the best story always wins, Michael. Best story always wins.41:53.25vigorbrandingThat’s right. right yeah Yeah, you know, we always tell people a brand is a promise, ah but you have to tell a story. You have to draw a motion, make them laugh, make them cry, make them feel something about your brand. And that’s how you break through. And it’s always important, you know, a lot of times clients will say stuff, um you know, hey we just want to sell more, we got to do this, we got to do that. And and really it comes down to ah the fact that you’ve you got to do great creative to break through to get people’s attention.42:19.09vigorbrandingSo, well, I have a couple more questions for you and I want to hit them for sure.42:21.03Stephen BaldiOkay.42:22.25vigorbrandingSo now look, ah we talked about the airports you’re in, in the in the in the greater DC area, some of the most, I mean, they’re they’re busy, they’re they’re important, they’re huge. Other airports, I mean, you have great concessions in those airports.42:34.37vigorbrandingOther airports that you think have great concessions in the country?42:37.16Stephen BaldiYeah, I will tell you, Atlanta, one of the busiest airports in the world, definitely in this country.42:42.95vigorbrandingOh yeah, oh yeah. yeah42:45.86Stephen Baldium And then Houston, Orlando, Chicago, Charlotte, these are all markets that we kind of look at.42:49.80vigorbrandingMm hmm. Oh yeah.42:54.54vigorbrandingMassive hubs.42:56.51Stephen Baldium It’s important for us to be in high demand airport systems, because you never know how the world’s going to,43:02.80vigorbrandingYeah.43:05.21Stephen Baldirespond. And Morgan Hausl is one of the people who I look to for kind of strategic direction.43:12.04vigorbrandingMm hmm.43:13.49Stephen BaldiI’m thinking about my business. And one thing he always says is that as a business leader, if you’re only planning for the risk and threats that you can predict, you’re probably missing the biggest one.43:24.90vigorbrandingOh, yeah.43:25.41Stephen Baldium And so how we kind of shelter ourselves from that is we go into high demand markets. So even if an airline, a legacy airline like an American or United or a Delta or a Southwest ah decides that they no longer want to operate in that market, there’ll be another legacy carrier chomping at the bit together.43:44.09vigorbrandingSure.43:44.40Stephen BaldiAnd so that’s one of our strategy when we’re looking to grow nationally is to look at high demand airport markets.43:44.77vigorbrandingSure. Mm hmm.43:51.29Stephen BaldiAnd those are just a few that I named.43:53.58vigorbrandingI’m a big fan of Morgan has effect. We have him speaking at our, at our YPO. He’s, he’s one of, I think he might even be next month’s speaker. So I’m really, really, are you really, that’s all his book.44:00.64Stephen Baldiah We’re bringing them in on the 13th of November. Yeah.44:04.00vigorbrandingHis book’s incredible. Incredible. I made my daughter’s read it. So, um, what’s next for balding management group. And mean we talked about in other airports. What’s, what’s next for you? What’s what’s your vision? Where are you were are you hoping to go?44:13.26Stephen Baldimy My vision is to grow the tent and plant trees that I may never even know their shade, um because that’s when I think a community and when a business is thriving is when you’re willing to do things that you might not be able to see to fruition. And so we’re trying to build a company, not trying, we are building a company that will rise the tide for all the boats. I want to create another 20, 25 stories just like mine.44:41.46vigorbrandingYeah.44:41.62Stephen Baldium I can invest and grow my company so that it’s beneficial and creates generational wealth for me, but I also have the opportunity to listen to the individuals whose stories might not necessarily be taken to the top because they’re not fully formed or well articulated.44:59.34Stephen BaldiI try to look for those people, because I was once that person.45:00.66vigorbrandingyeah45:02.15Stephen BaldiI was the property manager in the office, and Cynthia Garber came and tapped me on the shoulder, which she did not have to do.45:02.50vigorbrandingyep45:08.96Stephen BaldiAnd so I’m trying to identify those voices in our companies, the people in leadership, but also the people who we don’t necessarily identify with immediately, because a lot of our workforce our ESL where English is a second language.45:24.24Stephen BaldiAnd so verbal communication is a challenge, but I don’t want that to get in the way of us knowing or ide

Stiff Person Syndrome (SPS) is treatable if managed correctly from the outset. It is essential to distinguish SPS spectrum disorders from disease mimics to avoid both overdiagnoses and misdiagnoses. In this episode, Allison Weathers, MD, FAAN, speaks with Marinos C. Dalakas, MD, FAAN, author of the article “Stiff Person Syndrome and GAD Antibody–Spectrum Disorders,” in the Continuum® August 2024 Autoimmune Neurology issue. Dr. Weathers is a Continuum® Audio interviewer and associate chief medical information officer at the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio. Dr. Dalakas is a professor of neurology and director of the neuromuscular division at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; a professor of neurology and chief of the neuroimmunology unit and the National and Kapodistrian at the University of Athens in Athens, Greece. Additional Resources Read the article: Stiff Person Syndrome and GAD Antibody–Spectrum Disorders Subscribe to Continuum: shop.lww.com/Continuum Earn CME (available only to AAN members): continpub.com/AudioCME Continuum® Aloud (verbatim audio-book style recordings of articles available only to Continuum® subscribers): continpub.com/Aloud More about the American Academy of Neurology: aan.com Social Media @ContinuumAAN facebook.com/continuumcme Full episode transcript available here Dr Jones: This is Dr Lyell Jones, Editor-in-Chief of Continuum, the premier topic-based neurology clinical review and CME journal from the American Academy of Neurology.  Thank you for joining us on Continuum Audio, which features conversations with Continuum's guest editors and authors who are the leading experts in their fields. Subscribers to the Continuum journal can read the full article or listen to verbatim recordings of the article and have access to exclusive interviews not featured on the podcast. Please visit the link in the episode notes for more information on the article, subscribing to the journal, and how to get CME.   Dr Weathers: This is Dr Allison Weathers. Today, I'm interviewing Dr Marinos Dalakas about his article on stiff-person syndrome and GAD antibody-spectrum disorders, which is part of the August 2024 Continuum issue on autoimmune neurology. Dr Dalakas is a world- renowned expert in neuromuscular diseases and, really, the first name any neurologist thinks of when they hear the diagnosis of stiff-person syndrome. Dr Dalakas, this is such an honor to be able to speak to you today. Welcome to the podcast, and would you please introduce yourself to our audience?   Dr Dalakas: Yes, thank you very much. I'm so happy to participate in this interview. I'm the Chief of the Neuromuscular Division at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, and I am interested in autoimmune neuromuscular diseases for many years and also on disease mechanisms and immunotherapy.   Dr Weathers: Thank you again for talking with me today. So, given how very rare stiff-person syndrome and the GAD antibody-spectrum disorders are, prior to December 2022, I would have started our time together by asking you to explain this collection of diagnoses to our listeners and by also talking about how often they occur. It feels like that's a bit unnecessary ever since Celine Dion went public with her diagnosis - that moment really changed the public awareness of what was previously outside of neurology and almost unheard-of disease. So, instead, I'll start with, what is the key message of your article? If our listeners are going to walk away remembering one thing from our discussion, what would you like it to be?   Dr Dalakas: Well, I think the publicity has been very good for the disease, this disease spectrum. On the other hand, there have been some misleading messages, like, it's extremely rare, it's untreatable, it's disabling – which, they are partially correct, so, my message is, first, to make sure the neurologists make the correct diagnosis, because there are a lot of diseases similar to stiff-person, but they are not stiff-person. So, to make sure the diagnosis is correct and to make the patients aware of what to expect when they have this disease and what therapies we have and what we may have in the future. So, the number one message is the correct diagnosis and then to avoid overdiagnosis or misdiagnosis, because now we see both - we see overdiagnosis and misdiagnosis.   Dr Weathers: I think that's such a critically important point, and one you really delve into really beautifully in the article, so I encourage our listeners who do have access to it to really read through it. As I said, you do a great job really explaining that - and, actually, to go into that further, could you explain how you approach the diagnosis of a patient with possible stiff-person syndrome or one of the other GAD antibody-spectrum disorders? And I know you probably get asked that on a daily basis. As I was telling you before we actually formally started recording, I remember back when I was a resident and saw my first case of a suspected patient with stiff-person syndrome, my mentor advised me to look up your case series, your articles at the time, and really use that to guide my diagnosis. What do you feel is the most challenging aspect of diagnosing a patient with one of these conditions?   Dr Dalakas: Well, the first is the clinical symptomatology. We say the patients present with spasms and stiffness, but also, there are phobias. They are very hyperexcitable to sudden stimulations, to sudden noises, to unexpected touches, and all of them can cause spasms, and then when you examine the patients, they have stiffness. Now, the stiffness (if there is a true stiffness) results in gait abnormalities (the patients are falling because they're so stiff), and also, the hyperexcitability causes a lot of anxiety and a lot of phobias (they're afraid to cross the street, they're afraid to make a destination promptly) – so, all these things are sort of suggestive of stiff-person. So, these are the symptoms that you hear, you listen, and you ask the patients, and then, when you examine the patient, you look for certain signs that there are, specifically, like stiffness of what we call agonist muscles and antagonist muscles, which means there is stiffness of the abdominal muscles and at the same time, stiffness of the back muscles - so, this concurrent stiffness of these opposing muscles is very specific, very characteristic of the stiff person, so if you see that, and then you listen to the history, you're very close to the diagnosis, and then you do the antibodies. And the antibodies (the specific antibodies, the GAD antibody), but it is specific as we say in the article, and we tried to make this very clear to the neurologists, that it's the high titers that matter, because low titers are not necessarily specific. So high titers of antibodies in the serum, above 10,000 by ELISA (or whatever method they use; but it has to be this many times above normal), and then if you have high serum titers and all the symptoms they mentioned, it is stiff-person. On the other hand, if the titers are low, then you may want to do a spinal tap to see if there is synthesis of antibodies in the spinal fluid. That helps you. Now if the GAD antibodies are negative, then you start wondering, is this seronegative SPS? And how do you confirm the seronegative SPS? You do electrophysiology, and the electrophysiology is, again, to see if there is activity (muscle activity) concurrently from the agonist and antagonist muscles - in other words, from the, let's say the tibialis anterior and the gastrocnemius (so, it's two opposing muscles, eg, biceps and triceps) - and if you see activity in both of these opposing muscle groups, and you see also hyperexcitability (you touch the patient, you stimulate just a little, and you see activity in other muscle groups). So, the electrophysiology is very important if the patient's antibody negative, but they have the other symptoms that I mentioned before.   Dr Weathers: I can imagine how challenging those must be (those seronegative cases) to try to really make sure you're identifying and carefully determining that you have the right disease as you alluded to at the beginning. I know how hard it must be for patients to want to at least have some answers to have a diagnosis.   Dr Dalakas: And this is the main thing today, because the publicity, as I mentioned, the beginning, increased the receipt of some information, so they overdiagnose it, like, “Oh, you have this and this and this, so it may be stiff-person”. And so, in fact, recently, we had a series of patients together with the Mayo Clinic Group of out of 173 patients referred to the Mayo Clinic for stiff-person – that's referred to them - only 28% had stiff-person. It's a low percentage, but it is an indication that the neurologists now refer patients to us for stiff-person, but we need to be very careful to correctly make a diagnosis.   Dr Weathers: On one hand, it's good that people are aware and considering the diagnosis, but it does highlight that risk of overdiagnosing.   Dr Dalakas: Yeah. It's the opposite of when I started this stiff-person syndrome (was close to 30 years ago at NIH) - at that time was underdiagnosed. This was the most rare disease, and I collected patients because at the NIH, I was also the Chief of the neuromuscular division there, and I was doing a study, so it was easy to collect patients (I collected more than 100 patients), but at that time, it was misdiagnosed. So, we had patients that I was seeing and they're really disabled, because they have been having the disease for many years, but they had been diagnosed either for Parkinson disease, for anxiety disorder, for psychiatric diseases, or for MS, or for myelopathies, or for myelitis - so many different things, and of course, they didn't have the correct diagnosis and they were disabled.   Dr Weathers: The side effect of having one of the most famous celebrities in the world having this rare disease - you know, the downside of the increased awareness, as we've said. So, moving on from the diagnosis to treatment - again, you do a, obviously, you know, an incredible job in the article, really going through the treatment options and your algorithms - what would you say is the most common misconception you've encountered in treating patients with this disease?   Dr Dalakas: The most common is now (with the publicity) is that it is a disabling disease. Well, it is disabling, but if you treat the disease correctly and early on, I'm not saying we're curing the disease - many diseases (autoimmune diseases), we help a lot, so there are some we make the patient feel normal, but the disease is there - so, if we start the correct therapy early, a good number of patients respond very well. But by the time the patients come to us, they are so stiff, they walk like a statue, or they come in a wheelchair - of course, it's difficult to reverse this, although we have been very happy to see patients with immunotherapies to get out of the wheelchair, to walk, to enjoy normal activities. So, we have made enough progress with the therapists to help a good number of patients. Now, what is the first therapy we do? Well, is what we call the antispasmodics - these are drugs that relax the stiffness that patients have, sort of a symptomatic therapy. It's not going to address the disease itself, but we address the symptoms. And of course, the symptomatic therapy in SPS is not just to relax the patients - it is related to the so-called GABAergic inhibition. So, the drugs that we use (like the benzodiazepines, or the baclofen, et cetera), these are the drugs that work on the GABAergic pathways. So, it is symptomatic therapy, but it works also on the mechanism, so it's not just a relaxing basis - but since the patients have a lot of phobias, the benzodiazepines also help the phobias. The anxiety and the phobias make the patients worse - they make them more stiff. And in the beginning, they go to psychiatrists because they are so phobic - they're phobic to walk. They hear something, they get so stiff. And I have patients coming at the National Airport in Washington to come to there needing aids in getting out of the plane - some of them get so stiff, they have to get an ambulance to come to the hospital because they're stiff everywhere. So, these phobias and anxiety have triggered a lot of my interest to the point of asking the investigators at the National Institute of Mental Health to see if there is any such thing like autoimmune phobias, because these patients have an autoimmune disease, so, well, maybe we can treat the phobias of immunology - well, we did not find anything, but I just sort of brought the idea maybe we have an autoimmune phobia. But on the other hand, when the patients get better, the phobias are reduced and they're more comfortable to walk. So, it's a very interesting complexity of the symptoms altogether.   Dr Weathers: That is – and, actually, that leads into my next question somewhat, that, as I mentioned in your introduction, you are the world expert in this rare disease. How did that happen? You talked about it a little bit just now. But how did you develop this particular interest and expertise? What drew you to this particular disease?   Dr Dalakas: Yes. It's interesting. I was interested in autoimmune neuromuscular diseases (many of them) and neuropathies and myopathies, and one day, I had a good friend of mine who was the clinical director of NINDS at that time, Dr Hallett. So, he saw patients in the movement disorder clinic and they had stiff-person (I don't know why they went to the movement disorder, but they went there), and Dr Hallett said, “Well, this is an autoimmune disease. You should work on this.” And then, I started seeing one or two patients, and I was very impressed. Really, the symptomatology is so interesting. The patients are suffering, and they sort of give the impression that they're neurotic. So, it's just a combination of when you listen to the symptoms, I was very impressed with the depth of the discomfort that they have and without seeing anything - but, when you examine the patient, you see the stiffness and nothing else. They're not weak, like, we see patients with MS, with myopathies, with neuropathies - they have weakness. They may use a cane, they may use two canes, they may use a walker, because they're stiff. So, it's a different disability than you see in patients who are weak. So, this really made me so interested to understand the mechanism - what's going on here - and that's the reason I started and I put the protocol. And then, we did a lot of immunological studies to understand the mechanism, electrophysiological studies to look at these agonist and antagonist muscles - and of course, we named it also. You know, in the beginning, the syndrome was described as stiff man (stiff-man syndrome), and they're all women. They are most of them, women. In fact, there is an article in a major journal, three women with stiff-man syndrome - and this was many years ago. So, stiff-person will be a more proper term. And then we're seeing a lot of patients or more women, but also we have enough men.   Dr Weathers: So, we've talked a lot about the change with this disease in public awareness. How has that changed your day-to-day life - has it (with the change in public awareness)? Are you bombarded with media requests?   Dr Dalakas: Well, it has stimulated me to write more about the disease and more articles, but also to highlight certain things that were not known before. For example, I had recently a paper on late-onset stiff-person. So, people, we see now patients who develop stiff-person at the age of seventy - they are above sixty or so, overall - and they have more severe disease. These patients also have not good tolerance to the medications we use - so, it's a more challenging group, so it is important to make the diagnosis even in patients with late-onset. These people do less well, because, first of all, they're all misdiagnosed, because if you're a little stiff at the age of sixty-five or seventy - well, you have a bad back, so you all have degenerative disc disease, so you don't think of stiff- person in that age. So, the stimulus was to identify some other issues with the stiff-person. The other is to think of new trials - and I have been working on two new trials. They're not out yet. I'm working to see how best to apply the new therapies. And also, it came up the idea of what are the best ways to assess, objectively, to assess the response, because this is an issue from the beginning. When I did controlled trials at the NIH, and we had established the so-called stiffness index to see how stiff they are measurably, but it is still subjective. It's not really objective, it's not (weakness to measure). So, we have gait analysis, we have the time to walk. So, I think establishing objective criterion to assess response to therapy, it's an important one - and so, I have been working on this how to make it more objective or as subjective as we can.   Dr Weathers: I think that's fantastic. And you actually, I think, have already answered my question - which is, what is the next breakthrough coming in the diagnosis and management of patients with stiff-person syndrome and the GAD antibody-spectrum disorders - and I think it's going to be the outcomes of these trials. Is there anything else that you're really excited about coming along in this field?   Dr Dalakas: Well, I think that the hope is, then, better immunotherapy, because the patients respond to IVIG based on the controlled study. We did one with anti-B-cell therapy - it was not statistically positive, but we had some placebo effects, because that second trial included some patients who did not have severe disease, so it was difficult to assess mild response. So, I'm interested in other similar immunotherapies, and we were approaching companies to see if they can sponsor such a trial. I think the publicity helps a lot, because if I was going to approach a company before the publicity, nobody would be interested in - there's no, you know - it's money-driven, so they will not do it. But at the NIH, I did it, because NIH had the grants there to sponsor the trials. So, I think the publicity will help us. And I know talking to companies, there are one or two companies that they have expressed a lot of interest, and, hopefully, we can do some new trials and go work on it, but I don't have any clear drug at the moment. I cannot discuss a real drug.   Dr Weathers: Of course, of course, more to come, but still very exciting. And so, still to learn more about you - again, you're so well known, obviously, for what you've done for the field of neurology. What do you like to do outside of seeing neuromuscular patients in your research career? What do you do for fun for your hobbies?   Dr Dalakas: Well, I have two hobbies. One is I'm an art collector of abstract expressionism. So, I go to a lot of auction houses, and I bid often for certain artists that I'm very interested, some French artists, some at the New York School of Modern Art. The eras of the forties and fifties of the abstract expressionism - so that's my collection and my interest in not missing auctions. And the other was I have a interest in wine collection – but, so, most of the time, I read art and I collect art.   Dr Weathers: That is a great answer. I appreciate art. I am not (fortunately) at the auction and collecting stage yet, but that I will have to learn from you. That's wonderful.   Dr Dalakas: Yeah. I'm originally from Greece, and I have also a professorship at the University of Athens, and also I go there. I also have some European artists in my collection.   Dr Weathers: That's wonderful. We have one more modern piece that we've been lucky enough to have.   Dr Dalakas: Yeah, I started with the impression impressionistic art, but I evolved into abstract.   Dr Weathers: Who is your favorite artist?   Dr Dalakas: Well, it's, you know, Rothko and Newman. So, these are very expensive artists, of course, so I can, but in that school, so these artists are not alive now, but people who are working with Rothko and Newman in the other group - so, there are four or five of them that I collect.   Dr Weathers: I feel like we need a whole separate interview just to talk about that.   Dr Dalakas: But, they are very stimulating, because the colors talk to you, and it's not like an impressionistic piece that, sort of, their flowers are nice, et cetera - so the colors talk to you differently.   Dr Weathers: They do. I love Rothko. Well, thank you, Dr Dalakas, for joining me on Continuum Audio. This has been a wonderful conversation. Again, today, I've been interviewing Dr Marinos Dalakas, whose article on stiff-person syndrome and GAD antibody-spectrum disorders appears in the most recent issue of Continuum on autoimmune neurology. Be sure to check out Continuum Audio episodes from this and other issues, and thank you to our listeners for joining us today.   Dr Monteith: This is Dr Teshamae Monteith, Associate Editor of Continuum Audio. If you've enjoyed this episode, you'll love the journal, which is full of in-depth and clinically relevant information important for neurology practitioners. Use this link in the episode notes to learn more and subscribe. AAN members, you can get CME for listening to this interview by completing the evaluation at Continpub.com/AudioCME. Thank you for listening to Continuum Audio.

Welcome to Hazel's special birthday show, live from a top secret location in London. Yes London not wherever the people in chat though we were. I can't believe that we got through this with minimal technical issues somehow. I forgot to update the end credits this week because I was travelling but everything else seemed to more or less work. One or two prisoners tried to escape though. This week Ron deals with a lady and her package delivery woes, a lady who had a broken car but did not think she should have to pay for it, a stripper who didn't like her meat, a weird man who didn't want to pay his customer service charges, a banchode with missing golf clubs, a lady who tried to rent a car from a national airport and we had to cancel a cancellation. Plus lots more banter than usual since doing these shows in hotel suites is harder than being in the studio. Normal service resumes as of tomorrow and we have a great week ahead. Thank you to all the people that listened live on YouTube and everyone checking out our podcast. I love you very much and keep it locked to macronshow.com where Ron will be doing more supporter's shows!

Cherry blossoms are peaking early thanks to climate change and there's a fight over D.C.'s busiest airport. The City Cast team is here to sum up the latest news and laugh at some hilarious one star reviews of the Jefferson Memorial.  Make sure to sign up for our morning newsletter Hey DC, to keep up with all the latest in the city. You can also become a member, with ad-free listening, for as little as $8 a month. Interested in advertising with City Cast? Find more info HERE Keep up with us on Twitter! Follow us at @citycast_dc And we'd love to feature you on the show! Share your DC-related thoughts, hopes, and frustrations with us in a voicemail by calling 202-642-2654. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Christopher Browne is the John and Adrienne Mars Director of the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum. Browne joined the museum as deputy director in 2017 and served as acting director from 2021 to 2022, when he was named director. He has helped lead the museum's multi-year renovation of its flagship building in Washington, D.C. Browne served as a naval flight officer in the U.S. Navy, flying F-14 Tomcats off the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, making numerous deployments to the Mediterranean, North Atlantic and Caribbean during seven years of active service. Browne amassed over 1,400 flight hours and more than 300 carrier landings, and he is a graduate of the U.S. Navy's “Top Gun” Fighter Weapon School. In 1988, Browne joined the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority where he served in Operations at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport until selected as the airport manager in 1998. He managed National Airport for seven years; a period that included significant construction and the events of Y2K and 9/11. In 2005, Browne accepted the airport manager position at Washington Dulles International Airport where he led the airport through a pronounced phase of significant growth and development. In addition to managing a staff of over 500 employees, Browne was responsible for an aviation revenue stream exceeding $400 million, as well as the revenues generated on the Dulles Toll Road used to construct the WMATA Metrorail line to Dulles. Browne was awarded the Virginia “Airport Manager of the Year” in 2002 and served as the president of the Southeast Chapter of the American Association of Airport Executives. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in history from Dartmouth College and a Master of Science in aeronautics from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, and he serves on the Space Foundation and Aero Club of Washington Boards.

Hour 3 - Airport officials say the aircraft reported engine issues that prompted the emergency. The aircraft was traveling from New Jersey to Denver with 199 people on board. There were no injuries.

Thunderstorm season is in full swing across the country and with it comes the threat of lightning. Unfortunately, there's lots of bad information floating around about this weather hazard. The Lee Weather Team is here to help! This week, the meteorologists debunk the top five lightning myths and share their advice on the best ways to stay safe during a thunderstorm. They also debut a new segment on the podcast, answering your weather questions. It's an “electric” episode you don't want to miss! We want to hear from you! Have a question for the meteorologists? Call 609-272-7099 and leave a message. You might hear your question and get an answer on a future episode! You can also email questions to podcasts@lee.net. About the Across the Sky podcast The weekly weather podcast is hosted on a rotation by the Lee Weather team: Matt Holiner of Lee Enterprises' Midwest group in Chicago, Kirsten Lang of the Tulsa World in Oklahoma, Joe Martucci of the Press of Atlantic City, N.J., and Sean Sublette of the Richmond Times-Dispatch in Virginia. Episode transcript Note: The following transcript was created by Adobe Premiere and may contain misspellings and other inaccuracies as it was generated automatically: Hello, everyone, and welcome to another episode of Across the Sky, our National We Enterprise Weather podcast. I'm Matt Holiner, covering weather for all of the Midwest websites and apps from Chicago. And I'm joined by my fellow meteorologist Joe Martucci in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and Sean Sublette in Richmond, Virginia. Our fourth co-host of the show, Kirsten Lang, is still on maternity leave. But if you follow her on social media, it looks like she's doing just fine now, spending time with the new baby. Now, technically, it's not astronomical or official summer yet, but it is June and meteorological summer has begun. And that means it's thunderstorm season and it's the lightning in those thunderstorms that we want to focus on. For this episode. We're going to talk lightning safety. Share some lightning stories. But the main thing we're here to do is bust some lightning myths. Now, there are quite a few out there, but we've narrowed it down to five that seem to be the most common. So without further ado, here's our top five lightning myths. And that number five, when it gets real hot, a special kind of lightning with no thunder occurs called heat. Lightning. Oh, boy. Guys, which one of you wants to tackle this or I'll jump all over. All right, guys. John, you sound more enthusiastic about this. I want you to take it. I totally am. Because I'm an old man. Because I remember this. Because I remember in the seventies being a kid here in Virginia and seeing the flashes out in the in the distance. And, you know, my parents are all that heat. Lightning. Oh, what does that mean? Oh, it's just heat. Lightning. And, you know, they didn't know. So it's okay for people to not know. But now we do know what's going on. I mean, that, you know, it's 45, 50 years ago. It's just thunderstorm that's too far away to hear the to hear the thunder. I mean, obviously, you're going to see lightning from a much longer distance at night because there's no other light around. The sun's not out. So you could see the flash from lightning from dozens and dozens of miles away. I think I've told this story before. There was one time I got out of a baseball game, and when I was working Lynchburg, I saw Flash on the eastern horizon. I'm like said a thunderstorm. And I checked my radar. I'm like, yeah, it was a thunderstorm 110 miles away. I clearly you're not going to hear that thunder. But yeah, I think it's one of these things that people are like they expect to hear thunder if they see lightning. And for them, it's really tough to to imagine one without the other. But yeah, it's just it's just a thunderstorm, those too far away. And that happens most often during the summer. A lot of times like I'm coming back from work, I'm on this road called the Garden State Parkway, which I knows about. Oh yeah, very nice road. I spend many, many miles on it, but when you're by the office, it actually gets very flat because you have a river running through. There's a lot of marsh land. You got some of a barrier island. So you're east the west, you have Pine Barrens. So it's it's very flat there as well. And I've seen, you know, lightning like way in the distance. And I'm like, where the heck is that lightning coming from? Like, I don't remember seeing any storms nearby. And there's a couple of times where, like I checked, you know, when I got back home and I'm looking on radar scope, a great weather app. 999 if you guys are interacting, those are lightning in a lightning in like near Philadelphia. And that's like 60 miles away. So you can see lightning for a long distance. Granted, the ground is flat and, you know, you can you have the world to see around you. But, you know, the thunder won't always come there. And especially if you're looking out over the ocean, I mean, you can't get much more flat and calm than the ocean there. So a lot of times if you're out at sea, you know, you could see mile, you could see lightning for, you know, tens and tens of miles away. And it's one of my most favorite things to do when I have been at the beach and looking offshore and to see thunderstorms out over the Gulf Stream current ocean current, they're just at night and they're just putting on a show, you know, you're 60 miles away from them and you could see the outlines of the clouds, sit down on the porch and just watch those things for, you know, half an hour until the beer is gone. You know, I mean, it's just a great show out there. And. Yeah, so, yeah, that that's my story. I think people just associate heat, lightning, this idea of heat, lightning, because it often does happen the summer when it's hot outside in the evening, it's very muggy and humid and they just see lightning, but they don't hear thunder. And so this whole concept is like, well, maybe it's just because it's hot and just lightning spontaneously occurrence. I know there is a real thunderstorm. It's not just lightning in the sky. It may not be raining where you are. You may not hear the thunder. The light is just traveling farther in the sound, but there's a real thunderstorm. Somebody is getting some rain. It's just not you. Okay. Moving on to our number four lightning myth. Water and metal attract lightning. Now, attract is the key word here. Now, it is true that water and metal and duct, electricity and therefore lightning, but they don't attract lightning on their own. And I think what people get confused is that when we're talking lightning safety, we tell people to get out of the water, get that metal golf club out of your hand. And we say that because if lightning strikes the water, you're in or strikes the golf club, you're holding it. We'll travel through the water and metal and strike you. But it's actually not the water or metal that's making it more like lead that you'll get struck. What lightning is really attracted to are tall, pointy objects. So when the lightning is coming out of a cloud, it wants to connect with something as soon as possible. So it typically goes the tallest object around. Now, if you're standing on a golf course with your club raised in the air, there's a good chance you'll be the tallest object around. And that raises your chances of getting struck. So the biggest thing when it comes to lightning safety is don't be or be near the tallest object. Our guys do have anything to add here? No, I like how you said a track is that. That's definitely the key word there. But I think you hit it spot on there. You know, you definitely don't want to be in water or near metal when there's a thunderstorm, but it's not necessarily increasing your your chances of getting struck. But it will. Yeah, it's just not a good place to be. Don't be in the pool when there's a thunderstorm. Is the short story with it. Yeah. And that's the other thing if you're out on a lake, lake is flat and you're on a boat, you're the only thing sticking up. So you're also closer to the to the electricity that's coming down out of the sky. Yeah. So it isn't so much it isn't so much the, the conductivity attracting the lightning. But once the lightning gets there, it's very conductive. Yeah, I know. Another lot of lightning strike victims are people that are fishing out a lake. And you've got that fishing rod in your hand and you're Hold it up in the air. And if you're on a flat lake and they're not many trees around, suddenly guess why you're the tallest object holding that fishing rod in the air. And so that's where the lightning is going to go. But, you know, I think because of all the you know, we hear about all the lightning strikes that occur near bodies of water, but oftentimes just because you're the tallest object, you're in a flat area and you're the tallest object. And certainly water does conduct electricity. And if you're standing in the lake and say lightning strikes in the middle of the lake, which could happen, that lightning can travel to the sides of the lake. So you don't want to be in water, but it's not the water attracting the lightning. I think that's where the confusion comes of are the metal attracting lightning? They conduct electricity. They don't necessarily attract it. Okay. So moving right along, our number three, lightning, this lightning never strikes the same place twice. So if your house has been struck by lightning or you've been struck by lightning, it's never going to happen again. No, no, no. Martucci should take this one first because you're closer to New York and there's a place in New York that I think about immediately. Yeah, The Empire State Building sometimes strikes the same place in, like an hour. The value of what happens, I think with this, it's a matter of the earth is a very big place and lightning is a fairly small phenomenon, and the chances of it hitting the same place twice are low. However, if you have a lightning rod like the Empire State Building or some other places, it will attract more lightning. Now, I do have a story though, with this. In high school we actually had a meteorology class. You guys are have you guys have a meteorology class in high school? Not at high school, no. It was combined with oceanography. I think what was the other thing was like it was a combine and they threw meteorology and with a couple of other subject and geology I think it was w o or weather and earth science class, weather, geology and oceanography I think. Okay, yeah, okay. Well we had our own semester of meteorology and astronomy too, and our professor alerts claims that he got struck by lightning twice in his life. So he says that one time he was like working on a sink or something at his house and lightning hit the house and they like, travel through. And he briefly got struck by lightning. And then another time I can't remember, most of us kind of believed it because and I'll answer that very nice guy. I've talked to them a couple of times, but he has that like mad professor, you know, nutty professor, kind of love to terms. They're like, Oh, maybe he's on something there. And his hair is like, you know, up and all over the place. But no, it's similar to tornadoes to, you know, tornadoes can be big, right? It can be a mile wide, but a mile is very small when it comes to the size of the earth. And as a result, you know, it's hard for a tornado to really hit the same place twice as well. It's kind of the same concept here. So can it happen? Sure, it could happen. But unless you're at somewhere with a lightning rod, the chances of it actually hitting the same place twice are very low. But another good example is right here in Chicago, the Willis Tower. It gets struck dozens of times a year. It's the tallest building in Chicago. So guess where the lightning likes to strike the the tallest building as a it's a good target for it. So, yeah, it happens in dozens of times the Willis Tower in Chicago in the other skyscrapers. But oftentimes it's the Willis Tower because it's a Dallas. Okay. Well, on that note, I'm going to take a short break, but don't go anywhere because we still have two more lightning myths to discuss. So stick around. More across the sky right after this. Welcome back, everyone, to the Across the Sky podcast will release new episodes every Monday on all our leads news app websites, but also on all podcast platforms. So wherever you like the browser podcasts, you can find us there and subscribe and give us a rating. We sure appreciate it. Okay. We are counting down the top five lightning myths and our number two, lightning myth is one that can definitely be dangerous if you believe it. If it's not raining, you're safe from lightning. Now, a lot of times people hear thunder or see lightning and they're in the middle of something. And if it's not raining yet, they try and squeeze in a little bit more of that activity. Boy, that's not a good idea, I guess. I know. And it's actually ties into your point number five here about heat like that, because you can not you can have lightning without the rain, as we just said so. Exactly. It ties in very nicely with our our fifth myth here. I'll toss it over to Shaw because I know he had something to say, too. Yeah. I remember earlier on, about a year or so ago, we had our our pal Christopher Gorski, who was with Bisola talking about this, and I think he posted very recently on Twitter the correlation between rainfall and and lightning injuries and you see that most most lightning injuries or fatalities happen when it's not raining because, you know, one people it's not raining yet. So they do want to be outside a little bit longer. So if there's a big thunderstorm and it's pouring down rain, you're not running around outside anyway. So and then sometimes people will go outside too early. Rain is done now. I guess it's over. But it but it's not so. And the most of the most of the injuries and fatalities happen Wednesday. Streaming people are going or trying to get one more thing in or they don't think it's that close or they left too early after the storm they think is over. But we we always remind people lightning can easily strike ten miles away from the center of the storm. So as as the rhyme goes, when thunder roars, go indoors. Sounds a little cheesy, but that's kind of it. Once once you hear the thunder, just just go inside. I try to tell people not to be dramatic, just thunder. Time to go inside. So just go inside, you know? And then the question I get is, well, how long do I have to wait? How long do I have to stay inside? And the rule of thumb is, well, keep listening for that thunder and then wait 30 minutes after the last rumble of thunder, and then it's safe to go back out and resume the activity. So that's why it takes a while. But you do have to be patient, and that is to ensure your safety. So wait 30 minutes after the last rumble of thunder and then it's safe to go back outside. Is that still I I'm actually curious, is that still taking a 30 minute rule? Yeah, that's totally still the thing. I mean, I've heard some arguments about now you're probably okay after 15 and that that's probably true depending on how fast the particular storm is moving away. But I think the catch. All right now is 30 minutes is safest. Yeah. Has a lot to do with how quickly the storm is moving. You know, some of these storms just roar, you know, and that's thing it's not really getting that far away for you. Now. You've got a big squall line long, a cold front. Thunderstorms are going to clear the area a lot faster. And so, you know, 30 minutes is probably maybe a little bit too much, especially for, you know, you get in the southeast and those little pop up storms that just kind of want to hang out in one spot and just linger and feed off all that humidity. So it's really out of abundance. Caution just we want to avoid those those lightning strikes that do occur ten, 15 miles from the storm. Those bolts, alga, blue, as they're called, but sometimes cause of a thunderstorm has already been ongoing. It's not out of the blue anymore. It's just like, when is this thing going to end? Is this storm ever going to end? Because I know there are some storms that just go on and on and on. Ashley in the thick of summer when humidity is really, I think, just wildfire smoke or have having here just goes on and on and on and on. This week, it's rare that I went away to Italy. There was smoke when I left. I come back, there's smoke. It's a bad scene. And that's another discussion for another time. I think maybe a future podcast episode. I think that is that is correct, yes. Yeah, absolutely. But for now, we still have one more myth for you. Our number one lightning myth. Rubber tires or rubber shoes if you save from lightning. And guys, I have a good story about this one. So I'm study on a plane in Oklahoma City waiting to take off and the pilot comes on the speaker and he says, well, folks, we've been delayed due to thunderstorms in the area. So we're going to be on the ground a little bit longer. But don't worry, we're sitting on rubber tires. We don't have anything to worry about. Okay, guys, let me tell you, when I heard that, I mean, it took everything in my body, everything in my body to stop myself from standing up and said, no, stop spreading weather myths. I mean, guys, I'm assuming you've dealt with this one, too, now, so you're safe because you're in a Faraday cage. Has nothing to do with the damn tires. The lightning hits the plane, it's going to arc around the plane and the and the exterior and the fuselage, and you're fine inside. It's not going to. Yeah, I'm surprised you didn't just storm the cockpit mad after that kind of stuff. I was just like, Oh, it was just boiling up. And you're like, No, stop, please. So what do people believe that one? I really do. Now, I'm actually surprised that the it took everything in your body to stop you from standing up and go there because you must had a pretty big seat on the plane for you to actually, like, want to, like, get up and get out of the plane and then start moving down. You must have been flying first class. You fly in first class for this one. Oh, no, I am not a first class person at all. You mean those economies, right? Yeah, I laugh. I would laugh when you were talking about the Rubber Soul is how you shoot. Because the rubber soul, like your shoes are so small compared to the power of the the lightning. You have no shot. Unfortunately, the the even even the most pumped up Jordans aren't going to save you on that one. But yes, as Shawn said, it's going to go around the plane or around, you know, your your car. It's not going to be about that because that's the other thing is it will it will hit the car and go around the car. You may never be able to drive the car again. Right. But as long as you're not hanging out of the window, you're going to be okay. Again, the car is going to be a mess. Some of the stuff might melt, the tires might get messed up, but the tires aren't saving you. The fact that you're in kind of a safety cage where the lightning will hit the metal and kind of follow the metal and not jump into the cab where you are is what keeps you say, Yeah, yeah. So to be clear, motorcycle not safe, not a safe place to take shelter now doesn't it? Just get on your motorcycle or get on your bicycle and say, Oh, I've got the rubber tires, I'm good to go. But also there's one thing that I think often gets overlooked. We always say, you know, a safe place to be if you can't get inside a building is to get in your car and you'll be safe as long as you're not touching anything metal in the car and the windows are rolled up. Well, that's not true of it's a convertible or a soft top vehicle because suddenly you don't have that metal roof anymore and that lightning bolt can come right through that soft top. So I used to have a Jeep Wrangler, and I always got nervous when I was driving in a thunderstorm because I'm like, This is not safe. I need to come through this roof. Fortunately, never happened. But convertibles soft top's not safe. You have to get in a vehicle with a hard top. That is important. You know, Matt, you've had some pretty cool cars because, don't you? A mustang right now, too. No, no, no, no. It's a Camaro. I come in. I'm sorry. I didn't mean. Let us be clear to shortchange you whatsoever by there. But things are pretty good, but not as good. A whole Chevy versus Ford thing coming back. Oh, my heavens. I thought I was Chevy guy, too. I just thought my Camaro. I was Chevy Trailblazer. But you're pretty cool now. You're pretty cool. You must be a really cool guy in high school, going from Wrangler to the to the Camaro. Only cool cars here. And I was there one day. There may be kids, and the coolness is going to have to be downgraded, but not yet. Dang it. Well, what was your first car, Joe? What was your first car? Was my first. I had a 1991 Toyota Camry. That's 1008. In 2008, you got to start somewhere. I got voted. Sorry. Know over what got voted what I got voted. Third worst car in the parking lot in high school. Well, what was your first car mat? I know the Jeep Wrangler was my first. Okay. The jeep was. Yeah. Yeah. All right, so on this car, Sean, I've got all y'all B So my first car was given to me by my grandfather. Same here, same here. Just for everybody's. For his 1977 brown Buick Regal. Wow. After having it for ten years, he gave it to me in 1987. And people I went to college with Remember what that car looks like or look like. And I drove it until it would drive no more. Well, so make yourself you had Sean and you're like, Oh, wow. That's a really good question. So after that, after that, I bought an I used Oldsmobile. Oh, man, you're like the RV. You were like the at time I did. Oh, absolutely. It was the classic you hear it called Oldsmobile because it was so huge. But when that finally died, I got my first new car in 1994, Chevy Cavalier. Okay, cool. So, yeah, it was my first new car. Nice, natural improvement. You know, all those cars will keep you safe from from lightning. That's true. Up and down the road. Convertibles. So, yes, they all kept me safe. Is your Camaro a hardtop? Yes, I did. I did not get the. Because I remember remembering my lightning safety. I said I'm not going to go through the anxiety of having a soft top anymore. It's going to be top. And I'm going to say safe and fun. If Matt can do it, you guys can do it, too. Exactly. You got your next car. And with that, there you have it. That's our top five lightning mitts. Now, we're going to take another quick break, but stick around because we've got a new segment we're debuting on Across the Sky Listener. Questions. And our first one is an interesting one, so don't go anywhere. More across the sky coming right up. Welcome back, everyone. And before we wind things down today, we're going to review something new here on across the sky. Now all three of us get questions on social media and email from viewers asking questions about the weather. And since some of the same questions keep popping up, we said why not make this into something for the podcast? So that's what we've done. And Joe, you've got the first question this week, right? Yeah, I do. It's the first question this week. It's from my Twitter buddy, Glen Donahue. Now, he was asking this morning a New Jersey perspective, but we're going to expand this nationwide. He want to know how come we don't ever have a temperature from the beach? How come the temperatures from he's saying homeowner now I'll fill in what he means. He's saying that the major weather recording site in my corner of New Jersey is inland at Atlantic City or National Airport. He wants to know how come we don't get a major reporting site on the beach like, you know, Atlantic City or Ocean City or Cape May? So that's a very good question because this can actually be parlayed. It's really anywhere in the country here. It doesn't have to be in New Jersey. You can be in Virginia where Sean is. You can be, you know, in even in Illinois where Matt is, because it really goes to show or I'll kind of give you a little bit inner workings on how these stations come about. So official reporting stations are typically in the weather world, we call them F six stations are typically located at airports or other major reporting sites. So, for example, New York City Central Park is also one of these sites. You know, it's not an airport. However, there's only so many of these in the world because they need to meet a certain standard and criteria. In some cases, these are observers with human input. There's human observers that are actually there as well, and they're just not everywhere. So when it comes to beach in inland areas, you have to really look and make sure that the temperature, you know, what you're getting your temperature from is from this area that's representative of your climate. If you're in a microclimate region, anywhere along the water can be one of those. Sometimes those numbers are misleading, like in Chicago, right? I think we have O'Hare and Midway. They're both inland. They're not on the lakeshore. So you could be, you know, 62 degrees right on the lakeshore. But you go inland a couple of miles to O'Hare and you're at 79 and the official Chicago temperature is 79 degrees. You know, when you break record highs and record lows and record rainfall, it comes from these major reporting stations that may or may not be representative of where you are. And your phone app might not tell you that. But we will we will tell you that here at all of our Lee Enterprises publications, others. I'll flip it over to you, Sean, because I know you know, you got Virginia, you got the shoreline there. I'm sure there's probably something like that going on in Virginia. Yeah. As you alluded to, a lot of this goes back to how the equipment, you know, where it has to meet a certain standard. And there are a lot of places in the last 20 years that have plopped up, you know, weather stations, but no one can can vouch for their accuracy or how consistent a record is. You know, so for a lot of these places where we do, quote unquote, the official temperature, there is a climate record of that site that goes back dozens and dozens of years, some places even more than a hundred years, like Central Park in New York City, for example. So that's why we will look at those, because they have to have a very long term record of temperature, humidity, you know, and all we did, all those types of things. But, you know, in the last ten or 15, 20 years, a lot of the a lot of the technology has increased dramatically so that weather sensors are more accurate than than they have been. And I've got one in my backyard, and it's wonderfully accurate in terms of the temperature and humidity. But, you know, we got a lot of trees and it doesn't do the wind very well. And that's the other thing you have to think about when you're looking at some of these other, you know, weather observations, are they cited properly? Again, I wouldn't look at the data I have in my backyard about wind at all. But, you know, at an airport, for example, it's pretty wide open. So you get a very representative sample of what the wind is like. So I think that a lot of that is it goes back to siting. It goes back to to the equipment. It goes back to how long the period of record is. And the reason that they're at airports anyway is because, well, it's very important when you're flying a plane and you want to put that thing down to know what the weather is doing. Exactly. And everything is, too. They also have a lot of open land around you. I think you need 100. Is it 100 foot radius without trees? Now, I know that was Fishel. I don't remember offhand. I don't remember air. We could really do a whole podcast episode about how to properly set up my own weather station because there could be a lot of people do it, but there are mistakes made along the way that can have a really big impact on the kind of temperatures and getting on the wind speeds that are being registered. There is definitely some some instructions to follow to set up accurate weather station. And so that's that's the issue is getting good quality data and there actually is a pretty involved process. So that's why they're not even more weather stations that are considered official. And we don't have more observations because they get accurate information. It does have to be set up in a certain way and in a certain location. So yeah, yeah. This is a great first question for us. Now, Joe, I think this one came in via Twitter, but we do have a more fun way for people to get in touch with us now, right? We do. We do. Before we get there, I just want to clarify one thing on the one specific point. I don't want to describe it with the National Weather Service as done in New Jersey with this, because Atlantic City now, they do break out records for Atlantic City and Atlantic City International Airport, even though the airport is inland in the in the Atlantic cities on the coast. They just started doing that about two years ago. But before that, you did it. You had this kind of convoluted system of where the records were coming from. So that issue has been resolved locally here for us in New Jersey. But in other places, you may still have you know, you might not have a reporting station there or you may have some kind of system where it's not accurately shown records for those coastal and inland locations. But, yes, we do have a phone line for you to call in and ask your questions here. We will be listening to we'll be answering them in the weeks and years ahead. The phone number is 6092727099 again at 6092727099. So call leave your name where you're coming from. Give you your weather questions you can last know about the podcast to maybe if we're feeling a little wonky will answer some of weather question content too but we're going to keep it mostly the weather here on the voice mail. We appreciate any and all voice mails about your weather or climate questions. We'll definitely try to answer them during the show. So thanks a lot in advance for for giving us the ring and for sticking with us here at the Across the Sky podcast. We've done well with our numbers here. And, you know, we've only been around for about 14 months. And yeah, we're happy with our progress and listenership and expanding into new regions and other ways to listen to us. We have a YouTube channel as well. You can look up across the sky for that too, if you want to listen on YouTube. So we're giving you more options to interact with us. Yeah, we'll be sure to put that phone number in the show notes as well. Just a note. Yeah, exactly. Another way, what I start hearing from the audience a little bit more, another way for you to interact with the show, you know, and besides calling in with questions, if there's a certain weather topic you'd like to hear us talk about on a future episode, all about that too. We'll be sure to cover it. Now, before we wrap up, Sean, what do we have coming up next week? Yeah, next week we are very happy. We're getting closer to the start of summer and then summer heat and then more and more discussion about about climate change. Of course when we get into the summer because it tends to be hotter. So next week we've got a very special guest, climate scientist Kate Marvel, part of Project Drawdown. Dr. Marvel I worked for about seven or eight years at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in suburban DC. She's a very well-respected climate scientist. She's done a lot of outreach. She's got a TED talk. And so we're going to talk about Project Drawdown and their drawdown roadmap, which is something they've recently released. And and we're not going to get too deep into the weeds, but they're this drawdown. Library highlights 93 science based solutions to stop climate change. We will tackle all 93 of them, but it is very, very detailed. And the science, science based solutions they put together. So we're going to talk to her about the roadmap next week, right ahead of the first day of summer. That's right. That'll be our episode. Also the day after Father's Day, June 19th and up with looking forward to that one. Well, that's going to do it for this week's episode of Across the Sky on behalf of Lee Enterprises and my fellow meteorologist Joe Martucci in Atlantic City, John Sublette in Richmond and myself, Matt Holiner in Chicago. Thanks for listening, everyone. We'll catch you again soon.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hour 3 - We wrap up a Wednesday Steve and Ted with business news from The Wichita Business Journal.  Need a job, several entities are hiring at the airport, and Dillons as well.

“Banking on our Future” Day of Action; Protect unionizing nurses!; Nurses file charges against GW University Hospital; CPD Staff Union standing strong; National Airport security officers authorize strike. Today's labor quote: Emma Goldman. Today's labor history: San Francisco brewery workers strike. @wpfwdc #1u #unions #LaborRadioPod @AFLCIO @ThirdActOrg @NursesHealDC @ATULocal689 @NursesHealDC @NationalNurses @cpdunion @WBNG32035 @newsguild @cwaunion @32BJSEIU Proud founding member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network.

Wages and health care are at issue; officers could walk off the job as soon as next week. Today's labor quote: Cesar Chavez. Today's labor history: Groundbreaking on the New York City subway system.     @wpfwdc #1u #unions #LaborRadioPod @AFLCIO #1u @32BJSEIU Proud founding member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network.

Mayor Maddox joins Jeff Powell to discuss the Tuscaloosa National Airport. To stay up-to-date with the City of Tuscaloosa, visit Tuscaloosa.com and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Nextdoor.

Airport workers and their supporters rallied for paid sick leave and health care at National Airport on Wednesday. Today's labor quote: Paul Blair.   Today's labor history: California becomes first state to offer workers paid family leave.    @wpfwdc #1u #unions #LaborRadioPod @AFLCIO @32BJSEIU @unitehere23 @SEIUVA512 @Reagan_Airport @MWAAHQ #UnionsForAll @Dulles_Airport #HotLaborSummer Proud founding member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network.

Airport workers and their supporters rallied for paid sick leave and health care at National Airport on Wednesday. Today's labor quote: Paul Blair.   Today's labor history: California becomes first state to offer workers paid family leave.    @wpfwdc #1u #unions #LaborRadioPod @AFLCIO @32BJSEIU @unitehere23 @SEIUVA512 @Reagan_Airport @MWAAHQ #UnionsForAll @Dulles_Airport #HotLaborSummer Proud founding member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network.

On November 11, 1987 and major snowstorms struck the nations' capital. During the Veteran's Day Storm almost a foot of snow fell at National Airport. Prince Georges County, MD was hard hit with up to 13 inches of snow falling in a short amount of time. It caught motorists off guard and stranded cars on the Capital Beltway. There were so many cars that snow plows could not get through to open the clogged arteries. Cars littered the roadway for more than 24 hours. The event precipitated the development of the Washington Metropolitan Area Snow Plan to facilitate preparedness and response to future storms. The storm struck before the days of lightning detection networks and Doppler weather radar. Thunderstorms began dumping heavy snow over Fredericksburg VA, then the storm moved northeast across the southern Metropolitan area and fast accumulating snow hit Camp Springs. The result was a singular localized event. Outside of the Washington DC immediate area not more than a few inches of snow fell from the storm. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

CONTRACTS - DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE SIGNING? Do you know how it could impact your career? EP - 59 For this author, contracts are a sensitive topic. Almost a hot button. My major in college was law enforcement….I was facinated by reading case law, often which is developed because of contracts. As a Certified Insurance Counselor, that's 90% of the training….what does the insurance contract say and how does it relate to what we as the agent do, what the insurance company does and what the insured does. Most people don't ready the insurance policy very often and in and in a digital world, that contract is often sent in the middle several other emails and just gets filed….not like the piece of paper that we once received and put in a filing cabinet.  I'm a stickler for reading contracts and I think a lot of it is my background. As an insurance agent, you have a few important contracts that you are signing, and it's important that you understand what you are signing where you put your signature could impact your career. For this discussion, I'm primarily going to focus on employment contracts, because that is what will impact you, the insurance agent, the most.  I'm at a place in my life that I won't sign another employment contract. In my world, also known as a non compete.  Before I talk more about contracts, I want to introduce you to our podcast sponsor, Insurancemailboxpower.com. I'm so excited to have them as a sponsor and if you haven't checked them out, please take a few minutes to go to insurancemailboxpower.com.  They've agreed to be the sponsor for a few episodes, so I want to provide you with ideas on how you can use this platform to grow your business. Since we are talking about contracts and potential new employees, let's say you are the owner hiring someone new. You want to make the experience of working for your agency one that is welcoming, where the new employee is excited to come to work and be part of your organization. What if you send them a welcome packet before their first day, include a coffee mug with their name on it, include a greeting card that talks about how excited you are to have them on your team and you send them some brownies to get them through the afternoon slump! You could just do that or you could create a drip campaign for all new employees where you sent them some love every few weeks or months depending on your budget and what you feel is appropriate. Maybe you send them a gift card, a personalized pen (with their name on it) a personalized water bottle, game set or even some sweet treats. Insurancemailboxpower.com has a lot of gift items to choose from and they are adding more every week. What is really nice about this is that you can brand what you send with your company information but you can also personalize it with the employees name on it, you can automate the campaign so that once you set it up, you can forget about it. But you can send the goodies throughout the year and make your employees feel like  you appreciate them.  Go to Insurancemailboxpower.com to get your free 14day trial and tell them debbie DeChambeau sent you! Now, let's get back to talking contracts When I first started in the industry, I worked for my dad and as a high school student, I don't think he was worried about anything. Also, he was just learning the business himself, so an employment contract was the farthest thing from him mind.  I stopped working for my dad after about 10 years and the next agency I worked for hired me on as a CSR/Account Manager. I was responsible for servicing the accounts, I didn't have much of a relationship with the clients, other than processing paperwork. I believe I had to sign an employment contract / non compete, but can't remember. It was the next 3 agencies I  worked for that had me sign contracts and it's something I'll probably never do again.  The first contract I had to sign was when I was hired as a producer. Every producer had to sign one and honestly, I was so happy to have the position, so it wasn't an issue. Until some things happened inside that agency that I couldn't stomach any longer and I needed to leave. The issue was I had built a relationship with a lot of people that I was their insurance advisor, they counted on me for my advice and it had taken me awhile to earn their business. The document I signed said I couldn't contact those clients for a certain number of years. This was pre internet, so they couldn't find me as easily as they could today, but I know a few of them tried and did eventually find me. I still couldn't write their business until the time had passed but they were not happy about that!, at all! And I felt I had lost some friends. When I left the first agency, I had an attorney review the contract so I had a full understanding of what I could and couldn't do. Why did I invest the money into having an attorney review? Because I'm not an attorney, I know how to read the contracts but I don't know the laws. I live very close to the MD/VA line. The employment laws between those two states are very different. ….Paying an attorney for one or two hours of service is much better than paying them to defend you in court if you are sued for violating the contract!  Contracts are real life. Employers have you sign them because they are serious about keeping their business. They will sue you if you violate them and then you will have to pay to defend yourself. Depending on how big the company you worked for is, could depend on how vigorously they pursue you….but they have deep pockets. You might not! The second place I worked for I thought was going to be a forever home, so again, signing the contract wasn't as big of a deal, but I did have it reviewed by an attorney before I signed it and the attorney offered a few suggestions to help me modify their contract to make it a little easier on me. They gave up one or two items, but they weren't anything of significance.  When I left the second agency, I again faced the same issue that I faced the first time...I had clients that trusted me, that wanted to work with me and that couldn't because of my contract. The good news / bad news is that I had not written that much business with the second agency before I realized what a crazy business it was. I'm serious when I say crazy…..their staff punched a time clock and literally lined up 10 minutes before it was time to leave waiting to clock out at 5:00. No one gave any extra at that agency. It was like a ghost town at 5:05. Completely the opposite of anything I had ever seen in the companies I had worked for in the past.   On Fridays we started the 5:05 club with the producers because we were the only ones left in the office. The 5:05 club was our in house happy hour. We had some great beer tastings then! The one really good thing about that agency was its location. It was an hour away from my home, but it overlooked National Airport...many of you listening might know it as Ronald Regan Airport, right outside of Washington DC. I saw Bush Sr. leave office and learned that when a president leaves office, they take a helicopter ride around the Capital ...at least up until #45 they did this, I could see that from my office. I also saw the funeral procession for Jacquie Kennedy Onassis as it arrived at Regan Airport. It was a stunning view looking at the Potomac River! It was easy to leave that agency but it was hard to leave that view! When I left that crazy office, I started my first agency. While being my own boss had been in the cards since I worked for my father, it was a lot harder to get started then what someone starting today has to go through.  I had been offered a position with Nationwide Insurance as an agent, but their contract stated that I had to sell a certain number of life products in order to maintain my contract. My issue then as it would be today is that what if their product wasn't the right fit for my client. I've clearly been on the independent side for too long, having access to all of the options that need to be explored for clients! What I remember saying since I started my own agency is that I would never sign an employment/non complete agreement again. I never want to leave the people who have built their trust with me because of a piece of paper. I don't think I am unique with this feeling but at the same time, clients come and go. So it shouldn't be the only driver in what we do but it definitely can have an impact.  There are a lot of industries that require their employees to sign an agreement, it isn't just insurance agencies. I'm perfectly ok with it so long as it's fair. There are some contracts that are very unfair and potentially worth fighting, if you have the resources. If you have listened to some of the earlier episodes, I talked about the business groups that I run in addition to running my insurance agency. For those of you who are familiar with BNI, my business groups are similar, but more about business development and creating opportunities inside and outside of your business. One of my members is a mortgage broker. After about a year of being a member, he decided he was going to start interviewing other lenders to work for because he wasn't having a good experience with the company he'd been with for 15 years. He was very mythological with his interviews and narrowed it down to two companies. The one that he decided to join really impressed him. The CEO flew in to meet him and his wife for dinner, discussed how he could reach him personally if he had issues, confirmed everything that was discussed with respects to office, salary, benefits, etc. .Mike, the mortgage broker, signe the contract and was so excited to work for the new company. He had a new role, felt really comfortable, was transitioning his business then we went into lockdown. Then the new business he brought to the new company wans't getting processed. He was told 60-90 days before he could get anything done. At his old company he was getting things done in 30-60 days. Some other lenders were getting things done in less than 30 days and he was having trouble competing. After 6 months of this, Mike was very frustrated. He decided to leave and was hit with a cease and desist letter from the company owner. The document he signed, which he did not have an attorney review for him, basically said that he could not get out of working for the company for a certain amount of time without having to pay back a certain amount of money and that he could not work for any other mortgage company for several years. I don't have the specifics but the big picture is that he is being held hostage with that company because of the contract he signed. He's now working with an attorney to get out of the contract which has cost him more than a few thousand dollars and he's not finished yet! He's a smart, educated man and he didn't have an attorney review the contract because he didn't think about it. I feel bad for him because I know he's feeling horrible about the situation and his life would be completely different if he had spent a few hundred dollars to get the contract reviewed. I'm sure the attorney would have told him what he was getting himself into and Mike probably would not have signed the contract as written. No body would! Now, you might be thinking, this is mortgage, not insurance and nobody in insurance would do that. Trust me, they will. You just have to decide how much you are willing to spend to defend yourself.  Earlier in the episode I mentioned an agency I went to work for as a CSR when I left my dads agency. This agency had 5 locations and the two managers at one of their locations decided to break off on their own after a few years. I know the agency had them tied up in legal work for close to 10 years. It was a mess! I believe one of the principals eventually left the insurance business completely and is now a legislator in some state out west. He just started his life over!. He also had like 15 kids, so he couldn't really afford a lot of legal bills for too long! Insurance agencies want to protect their business. It's their survival mechanism. As someone who consults with business owners, I understand and agree with this. But there needs to be a middle ground where people can leave and pay for their business at a known price ahead of time.  Not long ago I learned that lawyers don't operate this way, which surprises me, but they are so ethically bound that it does make sense. In the legal world, if an attorney leaves a practice, the firm must send a letter to all the clients, announcing that the lawyer is leaving and giving the clients their choice where they want to go. As a business consultant, I struggle with this because of the impact it can have on revenue, but as someone who sold insurance and had to walk away from friendships and people who trusted me, I love the way lawyers have to do this.  I sold my agency in the late 90's and focused on my business development groups, insurance and marketing consulting along with doing some public speaking for different organizations. In that time period, I had to take a job because of getting divorced and low an behold, another employment / non compete was put in front of me. This one I did sign and without any regret because I was not writing any insurance, My job was to build relationships with realtors and encourage them to use the insurance agency within the real estate company. Since I wasn't selling insurance, I knew there was nothing to worry about with that contract. When management changed and they wanted me to start selling, I knew my time there was short. Also, I really didn't get along with the new management. Not to bash anyone, but I'm about working for an organization where they treat their employees like people who have a brain, not treat them like they are idiots. There I go digressing again! I'm sharing with you some real life examples of contracts but what I want you to take from this is that you will be asked to sign contracts. You must read them, understand them and probably have an attorney review them for you so that you understand what happens if you want out of the contract. It only costs a few hundred dollars to pay an attorney to review it. If you don't have the money for that, ask your future employer if they would pay the attorney bill as part of your compensation if you join the company. If you don't join the company, there's probably a good reason that came out of the contractual review and you would then have to pay the attorney bill yourself but you'll be a happier camper because of it! The contracts you sign are written for a reason. Don't think they'll never enforce it, because if you violate the contract you signed, most likely, you will be sued! If for no other reason, the company will want to make an example of you to deter other employees from doing the same thing! There is one more thing that I want to say about getting your contracts reviewed and that is to make sure you are using the right type of attorney. What a lot of people don't know is that just like most insurance agents specialize in one area, so do attorneys.  So have your employment contracts reviewed by an employment attorney Have your business contracts reviewed by a business attorney If you need to sue someone use a personal injury or litigator type of attorney Hire an attorney that specializes in the area that you need and isn't a general attorney that does what you need once in a while. Read the website. If they say they do a lot, keep looking until you find the specialist! That wraps up this episode of the Business of Insurance Podcast. Don't forget to check out the sponsors website insurancemailboxpower.com. Tell them Debbie DeChambeau sent you. Thank you for listening. Until next time, keep creating opportunities! SHOW THE LOVE If you haven't done so already, please follow, like or subscribe to this podcast on your favorite podcast player. The terminology for this has been changing, but we want you to get our podcast when new episodes are published, so check the platform where you listen to podcasts and make sure we are in your playlist!  We are on all of the platforms including spotify, IheartRadio and Apple podcasts.and Google Podcasts. If you are listening to this podcast online and don't know how to listen to podcasts on your phone, reach out to our host, Debbie DeChambeau and she'll help you. SPONSOR 2021 sponsor: This episode of the Business of Insurance Podcast is sponsored by Insurancemailboxpower.com.  CONNECT WITH THE PODCAST ON SOCIAL FACEBOOK GROUP FACEBOOK PAGE TWITTER ABOUT THE HOST This episode of the Business of Insurance podcast is produced and hosted by Debbie DeChambeau, CIC, AAI, CPIA - an entrepreneur, business advisor, insurance professional  and content creator. Her goal is to inspire you to think differently and explore ideas that disrupt the status quo.  Debbie has an extensive business and marketing background with a focus of helping insurance professionals be more successful.  She is the co-author of Renewable Referrals and produces three other podcasts, Business In Real Life and Divorce Exposed and Seniors We Love.  Connect with Debbie on LinkedIn, Twitter or Instagram.  

Local business news from the Wichita Business Journal See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Arkansas Department of Transportation and Federal Highway Administration have cleared a final hurdle to construct a new northwest-bound limited access road to Northwest Arkansas National Airport in Benton County. The preferred route, which has cleared an environmental assessment, will extend northwest from the Springdale Northern Bypass and Arkansas 112 interchange. Planners are hosting a virtual public forum on March 2 to discuss the project.

On November 11, 1987 a major snowstorms struck the nations' capital. During the Veteran's Day Storm almost a foot of snow fell at National Airport. Prince Georges County, MD was hard hit with up to 13 inches of snow falling in a short amount of time. It caught motorists off guard and stranded cars on the Capital Beltway. There were so many cars that snow plows could not get through to open the clogged arteries. Cars littered the roadway for more than 24 hours. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today's Sprint interval session is led 73 year old pickleball player Andy Leighton.   For those unfamiliar with Andy he was diagnosed with Parkinson's 10 years ago and is the leader of Andy's Army, which continues to grow and provide support with his mission of Pickleball over Parkinson's.  We discuss how his decision to choose movement and playing pickleball has positively impacted his life and disease process.  He provides great insight into how pickleball challenges everything that Parkinson's is trying to take away from him.  He describes the role that music plays in his life including his time playing French horn at National Airport in DC His attitude towards life and competition is inspiring and can be a lesson for anyone going through any challenges.  I hope you enjoy.

Local business news from The Wichita Business Journal See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Local business news from The Wichita Business Journal See omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information.

Airline catering workers plan sit-in at National Airport; supermarket workers to rally at dozens of Giant and Safeway locations. Today’s labor history: women workers die in factory fire in Newark. Today’s labor quote by Harry Bridges.

It’s a very special Democracy in Color with Steve Phillips Thanksgiving episode! Where else can you get caught up on the latest in presidential politics (Bloomberg, Buttigieg, Biden and more!) and also hear Thanksgiving stories from listeners who span the cultural spectrum of the rainbow? And speaking of the Rainbow, we share a special story of Steve’s recent encounter with Jesse Jackson at Washington’s National Airport. All of that, plus a Hidden Figures segment on an inspiring Native American leader who has helped elect Congresspeople, advise major donors, and parlay her experience working at Nordstrom into a “styling” business for women leaders.

Supporters will rally in solidarity at National Airport at 4:30p. Today’s labor history: Michigan copper miners strike. Today’s labor quote by Alexander Berkman.

Protesting health and safety concerns, wage theft and belittlement by supervisors. Today’s labor history: Labor Day declared a national holiday. Today’s labor quote by Gene Debs.

Tony opens the show by talking about the Texans win over the Titans, and also about the Wizards win over Houston. Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports calls in to talk more NFL, Nigel gives the news, during Old Guy Radio, Torie tells a story of being trapped in the garage at National Airport, and Tony talks about changes at GM and about the science of genetic engineering, and they close out the show by opening up the Mailbag. Songs : The Geb "Ordinary Lives" ; Vim and Vigor "Ride This Wave"

Pat Collins Snow Stick ~ "My career sort of morphed into two things, okay? I cover murders, and I measure snow. I have the official Pat Collins Snow Stick. It’s the only way to officially measure snow in Washington. I’m more accurate than National Airport, you just ask people." Pat Collins - Award Winning Reporter - NBC4 A Ockershausen: This is a special day for me for a lot of reasons, which I'll get into, but News 4 viewers know this man as the guy with the yardstick. I know them as the consummate professional, the go to guy to get the real story behind the story. The reporter that you lean into to really listen to what he has to say. He's an official member of Our Town, a native Washingtonian, a good Catholic. There's no such thing as a bad Catholic. He graduated from Notre Dame. He's a Vietnam vet. Not to mention that he's a Silver Circle winner. He has ten Emmy's, two Clarion awards, and he's the winner of the Chesapeake AP Award for the best featured reporter. I'd love to welcome my very good friend from Channel 4 and WRC-TV, Pat Collins. Pat Collins: Thank you. It's great to be here. A Ockershausen: Did you know, Our Town started as a story about Our Town, because we did a TV show that was short lived but it was popular at the time. So, Janice says to me, why don't we bring back some of the people and give them a view to the public of people we grew up with. And the names you'll know, and we're so delighted that, Pat, everybody has felt something about Our Town is on this show. And this is tour Town, 'cause you were born here. Growing Up on H Street NE - Swampoodle - Washington DC Pat Collins: Yeah, I love this city. I grew up on H Street NE, they call it Swampoodle. A Ockershausen: Wonderful place though. Pat Collins: 324 H Street NE, I grew up in the house that my grandfather had. My grandfather was an engineer on the B&O railroad. A Ockershausen: Wow. Pat Collins: And that's why we live so close to Union Station. My grandfather ... A Ockershausen: Could walk to work. Pat Collins: Could walk to work. And then my father, he went to school, and he became a doctor. And so what he did, is he set up his office on the first floor of the building, and then we lived on the second floor of two row houses. And that's where I grew up, 324 H Street. A Ockershausen: H ... Pat Collins: It's a Giant Food store now. In fact, if you go to that Giant down there, and you walk into the produce section, you'll be in my bedroom. It was H Street, you know, it's not ... A Ockershausen: Where are Little Sisters of the Poor? Pat Collins: They were right down the street ... A Ockershausen: Yeah, they were on H Street. Cottage Industry: Steal Pat Collins' 2 Watchdogs for Reward Pat Collins: They were patients of my father, Little Sisters of the Poor. And you know, it wasn't all that fashionable back then. It was pretty rough back in ... you know, we had two watch dogs. They were stolen three times. It was sort of a cottage industry: steal the Collins' dogs, wait an appropriate time, knock on the front door, and you get a 20 dollar reward. I mean, we bought those dogs back so many times, it was sort of funny. And then we park in the back, there was a parking lot back in the alley. I used to play in the alley. A Ockershausen: Now they're called rear driveways. But you and I know them as alleys. Pat Collins: Or muse. They call them muse. They actually put homes in them, call them muse. We call them as alleys. I'd rollerskate back in there, but ... A Ockershausen: Trash. Back When Trash Pickup was done with Burlap Pat Collins: Oh, the trash. And how they picked up trash back then, they didn't have those big ... A Ockershausen: They hustled about, didn't they? Pat Collins: They had these big burlap cloths they'd put down, and they'd dump the trash onto these burlap bags, and the men would have to hoist it up into the big trash trucks, and take ... A Ockershausen: They were hard working guys.

We keep it local again today with Arlington County, Virginia's newest County Board Member, Christian Dorsey, who started his term on January 1. Arlington is just across the Potomac River from Washington, DC and at 26 square miles is the smallest county in the nation in size but one of the most dense and diverse and home to the world's largest office building, the Pentagon, and National Airport. As a lifelong activist, Mr. Dorsey explains that running for County office was the next step for him in becoming more deeply involved in the community where he's lived since 1993, although he jokes that you "must disassociate yourself from rational thought in order to run." While working to set an example for his kids on how to be involved and active in their community, he is working for all residents, with a special focus on affordable housing -- which is increasingly becoming more rare around the country, but especially in the Washington, DC area. To learn more about this fascinating place and hear more about Mr. Dorsey's strong background in public service, don't miss this episode. Christian Dorsey has dedicated his efforts to improving our community, most recently as a new member of the Arlington County Board beginning in November 2015. Mr. Dorsey has a focus on continuing to enhance the quality of life for all Arlingtonians by charting a course toward sustainable growth, to figure out how we meet our present needs and overcome current challenges without compromising the ability of current and future residents to enjoy our great community. The Arlington County Board is composed of five at-large members that establish policies, and oversee governance, growth and development.

Summary of today's show: This Sunday, Cardinal Seán is taking the unusual step of asking every parish in the Archdiocese of Boston to play a video or audio of a special homily he's written to talk about the attempt to legalize physician-assisted suicide in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts on the November 6 ballot. Scot Landry, Fr. Mark O'Connell, Fr. Chip Hines and the listeners of The Good Catholic Life get an exclusive advance look at the homily and our panel discusses the Cardinal's appeal to the moral law, the good of society, love of the most vulnerable, and our Christian duty to be a family of faith for those in need. Listen to the show: Watch the show via live video streaming or a recording later: Today's host(s): Scot Landry, Fr. Mark O'Connell and Fr. Chip Hines Links from today's show: from on . Today's topics: Cardinal Seán's homily on Assisted Suicide 1st segment: Scot Landry welcomed everyone to the show and welcomed Fr. Mark O'Connell and Fr. Chip Hines back to the show. Fr. Chip is back for the first time since becoming pastor of St. Joseph parish in Medford. Fr. Mark said he had a pretty normal week. Scot said the Pastoral Center is busy getting ready for the Social Justice Convocation tomorrow. He said the Daughters of St. Paul are setting up their bookstall in the lobby of the Pastoral Center right now. Scot said we're starting this week with this Sunday's Gospel and then hear Cardinal Seán's homily that will be heard in all the parishes of the archdiocese this weekend. Gospel for the Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Mark 10:46-52) As Jesus was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a sizable crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind man, the son of Timaeus, sat by the roadside begging. On hearing that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, son of David, have pity on me.” And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he kept calling out all the more, “Son of David, have pity on me.” Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” So they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take courage; get up, Jesus is calling you.” He threw aside his cloak, sprang up, and came to Jesus. Jesus said to him in reply, “What do you want me to do for you?” The blind man replied to him, “Master, I want to see.” Jesus told him, “Go your way; your faith has saved you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed him on the way. Scot said Cardinal Seán pronounces Bartimaeus differently, probably the way it's pronounced in one of the other languages he speaks. They now played the beginning of Cardinal Seán's homily. People often find beggars annoying. Some will cross the street to avoid them. A man who was raised during the depression told of how the hobos, the knights of the road, would constantly arrive at their kitchen door asking for a handout. His mom would prepare sandwiches, a piece of fruit and a cup of coffee. They wondered why their back door seemed to attract more beggars than the rest of the neighborhood. One day they discovered that there was a mark on the curb in front of their house that indicated that this family would give something. The little boy asked his mother if he should erase the markings. His mom told him to leave them alone. It was a lesson that the boy never forgot. Today's Gospel is about a Beggar named, Bartimaeus, which means Tim's son. Bartimaeus is a blind beggar who has placed himself on the side of the road where all the pilgrims will pass on the way from Jericho to Jerusalem for the celebration of the Passover. Everyone over 12 years of age who lived within 15 miles of Jerusalem was expected to go to Jerusalem for the feast. I cannot hear this Gospel without remembering a young man from South America by the name of Segundo who arrived at National Airport in Washington and was referred to the Travelers' Aid Desk. Segundo did not speak English. He knew no one in Washington, he had no money and he was blind. Someone who worked for an airline had gotten him an airplane ticket and a visitor's visa. Travelers' Aid sent him to me at the Centro Católico Hispano. As politely as I could, I asked “What possessed you to come to Washington without knowing anyone, without a plan, with nothing?” He said: “Padre in my country there are no seeing eye dogs, no schools for the blind, and not much medical attention. Blind people in my town spend their whole life sitting on the steps of the Church begging from the people going to Mass.”” I said: “Segundo, welcome to Washington. Welcome to the Spanish Catholic Center.” In today's Gospel, Bartimaeus, the blind beggar, is there hoping to get a handout from the Church goers. The Gospels often describe for us two categories of people; the crowd and the community. The crowd is a collection of individuals who are quite content to put their own personal interest first, and to mind their own business. This group is often portrayed as pushing people away from the Lord, like the crowd in today's Gospel who keep telling the beggar to shut up. The community are those who share Jesus' mission and are calling people to draw near, to be closer to the Lord, to be a part of their family of faith. The community are the ones in the Gospel who say: “Take courage, get up, Jesus is calling you.” We want to form not a crowd, but a community; a family of faith, a community that cares for the blind beggar, the helpless child, the sick and the dying. Scot said Cardinal Seán will tie in the Church's care of the needy with the need to care for the dying. Of the story of Segundo, Scot said it reflects our welcoming of the immigrant. Fr. Chip said Cardinal Seán often speaks about Centro Catolico and you get the sense that was some of the best times of his priesthood. Scot said from the time of Cardinal Seán's ordination to the priesthood until becoming a bishop in the Virgin Islands, nearly every single Mass he celebrated was in a language other than English. The Centro Catolico was formed to help care for the influx of immigrants to the United States in that area. Fr. Mark said the Centro is a safe haven. He said as a priest it's easy to become overwhelmed by all the people that need help. He told a story of a man approaching him after Mass one day and how he pre-judged someone as wanting to ask for money when all they wanted was to tell him what a good homily he had given. Even priests can become wearied of the work. Scot noted that the beggars and hobos and Segundo and Bartimaeus were able to advocate for themselves. But Cardinal Seán will speak to those who are unable to speak for themselves, like the unborn or the terminally ill. The family of faith, the People of God, the Church needs to be their voice. He distinguishes between two categories of people in society and in the Church. Sometimes we're the crowd and sometimes we're the community of faith. We could sit back and be judgmental of many things and of people. Other times we can be a family of faith caring for the blind, the helpless child, the sick, and the dying. Over the next 11 days we need to ensure we're going to be a family of faith. Fr. Chip said the people expect priests to be available and it's part of who they are. There are times he's in the middle of something, but he makes the time for the person. St. Francis loved beggars and became a beggar himself and wanted us his friars to be beggars because being a beggar reveals a lot about our human condition, our dependence upon God, and our interdependence among ourselves. At periods of our life, we are completely dependent on others for our basic needs; at the beginning and at the end of life. Somewhere in between, we get to be caregivers. The Elizabethan poet, John Donne, wrote that no man is an island, that we are diminished by each death because we are part of humanity. The poet bids us: “Inquire not for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.” We cannot ignore the impending legalization of Physician-Assisted-Suicide as if it did not affect us. It would bring spiritual death, a cheapening of human life, and a corrupting of the medical profession. PhysicianAssisted-Suicide means making the pharmacists, doctors, nurses, family members, friends and society itself, accomplices in a suicide. Our task is to help prevent suicide and provide the very best palliative and hospice care for our terminally ill loved ones. You will hear many emotional arguments in favor of Assisted-Suicide. We all get emotional when we talk about the death of those whom we love the most. Laws must not be born out of emotions. Laws need to reflect the moral law, the common good and the protection of the most vulnerable. Scot said what jumps out to him that in periods of our life we are completely dependent on others, but in the middle of our lives we often get to become caregivers. Being dependent is not a bad thing. When your children are dependent on you as a parent because it gives an opportunity to share love. At the end of life, even if in a diminished physical capacity, you can experience that love. Fr. Mark said before the show he was with his father, just holding his hand for 20 minutes and reflected on the doctors and nurses caring for him so well. That's how our seniors should be treated; with love and a place to call home and freed from pain. On the fact that we can't ignore assisted suicide as if it doesn't affect us, the Cardinal is saying it impacts us because it affects others and affects society. Fr. Mark said the Church has a duty to speak up against immorality because we are part of society. The cardinal then outlines how it would affect society. Fr. Chip said at funeral Masses, the last caregivers are there. How would they deal with contributing to the death of the person? How would we be able to comfort them? The people who care for others at the end of life need to be cared for too. Scot said suicide by those we know affects us deeply even if we don't think it will. This law would allow someone to kill themselves without even notifying their spouse or children. How would that leave them after death? Fr. Chip said he celebrated his own uncle's funeral who took his own life and he remembers seeing his father and his siblings and his cousins and wondering how it will affect them all. Fr. Mark pointed out that it's not going too far from the topic to talk about all suicide, not just assisted suicide. In Oregon, the overall suicide rate has gone way up and it's because of the cheapening of human life. Scot said assisted suicide sends the message that suicide is sometimes a solution to our problems. Fr. Mark said there is a copycat effect. Scot said we're hearing the Question 2 advocates are emotional arguments. Cardinal Seán is saying that laws must not be born out of emotions. Your heart goes out to some of the key spokesmen for Yes on 2, because they obviously went through difficulty with a loved one who wanted to take their life. But the emotion in those individual cases should not make laws for everyone. Laws should reflect the moral law and common good for the most vulnerable. Fr. Chip said the response to suffering is not death, it's love. Jaymie Stuart Wolfe wrote that in her column in the Pilot this week. Our response should be love to those who are elderly, dying, going through a hard time. There are many citizens of this State who do not share our faith and for whom the clear Biblical teaching is not a convincing argument. To them, we make an appeal to reason: that this is bad legislation because it puts vulnerable people at risk and it promotes suicide. Some of the perilous flaws of this legislation that need careful reflection even by those persons who favor physician assisted suicide are: Doctors agree that terminal diagnoses of 6 months or less are often wrong. Many people with a terminal diagnosis live for years. Patients requesting suicide do not need to be examined by a psychiatrist before receiving a lethal prescription, despite that many of them are suffering from the depression. This prescription is for about 100 capsules of Seconal. Of course, people can't ingest 100 capsules all at once. So they pour the contents into juice or applesauce to consume it. Poisoning is never a dignified way to die, especially with no doctor present. There is no requirement that the patient notify family members. Compassionate care at the end of life should involve the loving support of family members. We should be supporting improved hospice and palliative care statewide, not legalized suicide. It is also important that some people in Massachusetts oppose Question 2 because they believe that a ballot initiative process is not a good way to deal with a complex, ethical issue involving life and death. The legislature exists to be able to review proposals, hold public hearings and build consensus on complicated issues. Scot said that the Cardinal is saying we are a people of life. To defeat assisted suicide, we need people who may not be pro-life to be with us. We as mass-attending Catholics need to have the facts and arguments that would be persuasive to those who won't hear this homily. It's bad legislation because it puts vulnerable people at risk without safeguards. Scot said every newspaper in Massachusetts that's taken up Question 2 in its editorials has said Vote No. One of the major arguments has been that such an important law should be taken up by the Legislature. If there's going to be a real discussion, make it a real discussion. Fr. Chip said it's not really physician-assisted suicide. You fill a prescription and go home alone. This law is so flawed with so many problems that even appealing to just logic and sense and the process will work. Scot points out that most doctors in Oregon want nothing to do with this and so doctors affiliated with the pro-suicide group Compassion in Dying write the prescriptions and they barely know the patients. In Massachusetts, the people go to the neighborhood pharmacy and get a lethal dose in between all the flu medication and asthma inhalers. Fr. Chip asks what happens if they change their mind halfway through. Fr. Mark points out that the law doesn't prohibit someone with a financial or other interest in spooning the poison into the patients. He said in many cases people get the prescription to keep around in case they want it and so the pills are laying around with the possibility of someone else getting them. Scot pointed out that no one is saying most people would do this, but if it happens once, it's too many times. We are asking our Catholic parishioners to help in this very challenging time. We feel confident that if the voters have a chance to hear about the flaws in this proposed legislation, they will vote No on Question 2. It all hinges on our ability to get the message out. Please take copies of the hand out cards, and distribute them to your family, friends and neighbors at the events you attend over the next week. You might ask people if they have heard about Question 2, and tell them you would like to read the card with some of the reasons that medical organizations, disability groups, and other community leaders are voting no. There are also sample texts on that you can use to e-mail folks, post on Facebook, Twitter or Google-Plus. I would not be asking this of you if it were not so critical. I would hope that each of us would try to reach at least 10 people with this message. This is not partisan politics, it is simply exercising our right to contribute to the exchange of ideas that the Constitution of the United States guarantees. The Churches perform an important service by weighing in on moral and ethical issues. Many people objected to Archbishop Romero advocating for the poor and objected to Reverend Martin Luther King's work on behalf of social justice. They both gave their lives to make their countries better places where human dignity was respected. We are all called to work for a more just society where the weak and the vulnerable are nurtured and protected. Our faith demands that we not be guilty bystanders. That's why I am asking you to join me and partner with so many medical and disability groups to stop assisted suicide by Voting No on Question 2 on Election Day. Scot added that if you're on Twitter follow and retweet what he posts there. He said the Cardinal is specifically asking everyone who hears this to reach out to one person per day until the election that Question 2 would be a tragedy if passed. You don't have to persuade or convince them. Just let them know, send them a link, and ask them to consider this. Fr. Mark said we need the Catholic vote, but we need more as well. Our neighbors need to hear about this. We can pass out the literature and even talk to those leaning in that direction. Fr. Chip said people can follow him on Twitter too . The beggar Bartimaeus was ignored by the maddening crowd. They tried to silence him, but Bartimaeus refused to be intimidated. It took courage to cry out: “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me.” It was interpreted as a political statement by some, no doubt. It was rather a cry to escape from the world of darkness. Jesus heard Bartimaeus' cry and called him over and asked what he wanted. Bartimaeus said: “Lord that I might see.” Jesus who spent his ministry trying to heal blindnesses of minds and hearts says to the beggar: “Go your way, your faith has saved you.” The Gospel said, he immediately received his sight and followed Jesus on the way. What a beautiful ending to this Gospel. Bartimaeus did not disappear when he received what he asked for. With faith and gratitude he became Jesus' disciple and followed the Lord to Jerusalem where Jesus was crucified ten days later – and three days after that, rose from the dead. Let us beg the Lord to cure all our societal blindnesses and help us to follow Jesus with the faith and gratitude of Bartimaeus. Following Jesus is never easy, but it always leads to deeper love and joy. Just ask the beggar. Fr. Chip said he sometimes wonder if assisted suicide is more for the people around the sick person to relieve their burden. Scot said with the exception of the main signatories of the ballot question, he's yet to see any doctor appear on TV or in print in favor of it. Doctors he talks to say that a massive majority of doctors are strongly opposed to this. Fr. Mark pointed out that there are great advances in palliative care in our day and we have compassionate ways to treat people with love.

(Listen to audio here)From the bottom of the Yellow or Blue lines on the Metro, the track shoots out of an underground tunnel and up at least ten stories high as it twists around to the National Airport. You might catch glimpses of natural and man made flight experiences, with The Monument providing a background conversation piece.

WTOP radio in Washington, DC interviewed Dr. Todd Curtis about the issues raised in a March 30, 2011 article in the Washington Post newspaper about the relatively high rejected landing rates at Washington's National Airport. For more information on airline safety, visit http://www.airsafe.com or http://www.airsafenews.com.

Survivabililty of Peanut the Cat near National Airport