Podcasts about Roanoke Valley

On this episode we bring back Rocky Mount Mayor Holland Perdue to get an update on how things are going in the heart of the Moonshine Capital. We discussed the recent highlight of a local singer heading to American Idol, a avoidable tragedy in the Roanoke Valley, recent happenings in the town, what we can look forward to in the future, and much more.Support the show

BUZZ creator Michael Hemphill chats with E.B. Smith, the new executive director of the Harrison Museum of African-American Culture in Roanoke, Virginia. E.B. Smith just started the job at a moment of exciting transformation for the museum, which Is committed to promoting, showcasing, and celebrating the art and history of African Americans for Roanoke Valley citizens and visitors.

Kendall Cloeter's passion for affordable housing and community revitalization shines through in her work with the Renovation Alliance. As a self-described "social worker by trade," Kendall brings a deep understanding of the challenges low-income homeowners face in the Roanoke Valley and a commitment to making a difference. Under Kendall's leadership, the Renovation Alliance has grown from a small group of 50 volunteers rebuilding just five homes 25 years ago to an organization that now aims to serve 100 homes annually. Kendall's dedication to preserving affordable housing and empowering homeowners to age in place with dignity is genuinely inspiring. Through a combination of volunteer labor and skilled professional partnerships, the Renovation Alliance tackles a wide range of critical home repairs, from simple tasks like installing grab bars to more complex projects like HVAC replacements. Kendall's insights into the impact of the Renovation Alliance's work are both heartwarming and eye-opening. By preserving homeownership and the equity that comes with it, the organization is helping to address issues of generational wealth and social justice. Moreover, the Renovation Alliance's focus on prioritizing the needs of older adults, individuals with disabilities, veterans, and single-parent households with young children underscores their holistic approach to community revitalization. Kendall's passion for this work shines through as she shares the stories of homeowners who have regained their independence and sense of pride in their homes while strengthening the fabric of the Roanoke community. About Kendall: Kendall Cloeter, a native of Roanoke, Virginia, is deeply connected to her community, where she now raises her family. Holding a Master of Social Work degree, Kendall discovered her passion for affordable housing while serving in AmeriCorps with Renovation Alliance, the organization she proudly rejoined in 2023. Her work in AmeriCorps ignited her commitment to preserving affordable housing and enhancing housing quality. During her time in Richmond, Virginia, Kendall spent five years addressing housing and homelessness issues with the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development. This experience broadened her understanding of housing challenges and strengthened her dedication to making a difference. Returning to Renovation Alliance, Kendall applies her expertise to support her community and advocate for improved housing solutions. Kendall resides in Roanoke County with her husband, two children, and their dog, Franklin. Support the show Confessions of a Reluctant Caregiver Sisterhood of Care, LLC Website: www.confessionsofareluctantcaregiver.com Like us on Facebook! Tweet with us on Twitter! Follow us on Instagram! Watch us on Youtube! Pin us on Pinterest! Link us on LinkedIn! Tune in on Whole Care Network

Kendall Cloeter's passion for affordable housing and community revitalization shines through in her work with the Renovation Alliance. As a self-described "social worker by trade," Kendall brings a deep understanding of the challenges low-income homeowners face in the Roanoke Valley and a commitment to making a difference.Under Kendall's leadership, the Renovation Alliance has grown from a small group of 50 volunteers rebuilding just five homes 25 years ago to an organization that now aims to serve 100 homes annually. Kendall's dedication to preserving affordable housing and empowering homeowners to age in place with dignity is genuinely inspiring. Through a combination of volunteer labor and skilled professional partnerships, the Renovation Alliance tackles a wide range of critical home repairs, from simple tasks like installing grab bars to more complex projects like HVAC replacements.Kendall's insights into the impact of the Renovation Alliance's work are both heartwarming and eye-opening. By preserving homeownership and the equity that comes with it, the organization is helping to address issues of generational wealth and social justice. Moreover, the Renovation Alliance's focus on prioritizing the needs of older adults, individuals with disabilities, veterans, and single-parent households with young children underscores their holistic approach to community revitalization. Kendall's passion for this work shines through as she shares the stories of homeowners who have regained their independence and sense of pride in their homes while strengthening the fabric of the Roanoke community.About Kendall:Kendall Cloeter, a native of Roanoke, Virginia, is deeply connected to her community, where she now raises her family. Holding a Master of Social Work degree, Kendall discovered her passion for affordable housing while serving in AmeriCorps with Renovation Alliance, the organization she proudly rejoined in 2023. Her work in AmeriCorps ignited her commitment to preserving affordable housing and enhancing housing quality.During her time in Richmond, Virginia, Kendall spent five years addressing housing and homelessness issues with the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development. This experience broadened her understanding of housing challenges and strengthened her dedication to making a difference. Returning to Renovation Alliance, Kendall applies her expertise to support her community and advocate for improved housing solutions.Kendall resides in Roanoke County with her husband, two children, and their dog, Franklin.Support the showConfessions of a Reluctant Caregiver Sisterhood of Care, LLC Website: www.confessionsofareluctantcaregiver.com Like us on Facebook! Tweet with us on Twitter! Follow us on Instagram! Watch us on Youtube! Pin us on Pinterest! Link us on LinkedIn!Tune in on Whole Care Network

Are we sharing the Gospel wrong?. What if it's not about reaching more people faster, but about investing deeply in a few and equipping them to do the same? Ready to embrace the power of multiplication? Watch now and discover your role in making disciples! Through powerful Scripture and real-life examples, we'll uncover Jesus' strategy for discipleship and how it can lead to explosive spiritual growth across the Roanoke Valley. Hit that SUBSCRIBE button and turn on notifications to join our growing community of believers passionate about multiplying disciples! Scripture List: Matthew 28.18-20 Genesis 1.28 Genesis 9.7 Genesis 22.17 Acts 6.7 Acts 9.31 Matthew 16.24

Since 1974 the nonprofit RADAR has been providing the Roanoke Valley of Virginia with public transportation for folks who might otherwise be homebound due to disability or inability to own a vehicle. Today BUZZ creator Michael Hemphill chats with executive director Nathan Sanford on the eve of RADAR's 50th anniversary! His first question: what the heck does RADAR stand for?

In this episode, Laurel chats with Gabriel Villarreal, a licensed professional counselor, the owner of LostBoys Strength and Conditioning and ADHD Counseling, and one of our Academy collective members! This is a part 1 of a two-episode series with Gabriel, and in this first part they tackling the topic of ADHD - what's helpful, what's not, what's current in the research, how social media has influenced our and our clients' perceptions of ADHD, and more!Gabriel Villarreal is a Licensed Professional Counselor in the state of Virginia. He owns LostBoys Strength & Conditioning, and ADHD Counseling in the Roanoke Valley, the only facility that houses a mental health practice and strength gym in the country. LostBoys S&C offers coaching to children with special needs (e.g., ADHD, ASD, Depression, Anxiety, etc.). Additionally, with his private practice, Gabriel coaches multiple classes specifically for ADHDers of all ages, which has been artfully designed to give clients the medicine exercise offers. Gabriel is an expert in the topic of exercise and mental health. He is a sought after public speaker for gyms, coaches, athletes, and educators, in the Roanoke Valley and beyond.Where to find Gabriel:Instagram: @gabrielv_lpc, @lostboyssnc, and @academy.imhhttps://roanokeadhd.comhttps://lostboyssnc.comResources mentioned:Dr. Ned Hallowell (Delivered from Distraction, Driven to Distraction, ADHD 2.0): https://drhallowell.com/read/books-by-ned/Weiss Functional Impairment Rating Scale: https://www.caddra.ca/wp-content/uploads/WFIRS-S.pdfVanderbilt ADHD Diagnostic Rating Scale: https://psychology-tools.com/test/vadrs-vanderbilt-adhd-diagnostic-rating-scaleSupport our show: https://www.patreon.com/academyimhGet in touch: https://www.academyimh.comTake a course: https://www.holisticmentalhealthschool.comSupport the Show.Please share your voice with us! We would love to hear from you! Record a voice message here. Send us a comment here.Apply to be a guest on this podcast here. Would you like to share your work with the Conscious Mental Health Community ? We offer both paid and free sponsorship opportunities. To apply click here.

I was born and raised in the Roanoke Valley. Mom is a classical pianist and was the music director at church and dad sang and played guitar so music was a big part of life from a young age. Started playing trumpet and guitar in middle school but the drum kit was always intriguing to me. When our church switched from hymns to “praise music” we needed a drummer. My parents bought me a drum kit and signed me up for lessons with Jeremy at the fret mill. I was hooked right away!  I studied music at college and since then have made at least a partial living through music at almost every point in my life. Around 2010-2011 I started gigging as a side man on the music scene in Roanoke and have been blessed to play with over a dozen local groups including the Ministers of Soul, Welcome to Hoonah, The Jesse Ray Carter Trio, Cory Campbell, the Big Lick Brass Band, Tom Artwick Trio, $5 Shake, Place Called Home, and more.  I moved my family to Pittsburgh in 2020 where I now work as the Creative Video Manager at a church in the South Hills. My time as a musician in the Roanoke Valley was an incredibly impactful part of my life and I use the lessons I learned as a player on the Roanoke music scene nearly every day. It's a major blessing in my life to have been a part of this incredible scene!

You're listening to the Roanoke Valley Church Podcast.   It's Christmas Eve and the long awaited Saviour has been born unto us.  The lowly shepherds were the first to hear this news and we're told “Fear Not, I bring you good news that will cause great joy.”  Fear not? I've never seen an angel face to face, but I'm pretty sure I'd be afraid, too.  But what  about the message the Angel carried?  What is the Christmas message supposed to produce in us?  Not fear; but great joy!  This great news is one that silences even our greatest fears.   www.roanokevalleychurch.org Please visit our website www.roanokevalleychurch.org and on our Facebook page www.facebook.com/roanokevalleychurch for more resources, sermons, and links to help you be apart of what God is doing in the Roanoke Valley. And now, enjoy todays sermon. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/roanokevalleychurch/support

You're listening to the Roanoke Valley Church Podcast.   Today begins our Advent Series with a sermon from Benjamin Hutchins entitled “Mary, Did you know?”  Mary would have known the Messianic prophecy of Isaiah 9, but was struck with fear at the pronouncement from the Angel Gabriel that echoes that very text.  How can this be?  That's impossible!  But is it? How do we respond to the impossible standards and callings from God?  Can we get to where Mary landed with the words, “Let your words to me be fulfilled?”  Listen in to this sermon to how our hearts can be prepared to receive God in our day. Please visit our website www.roanokevalleychurch.org and on our Facebook page www.facebook.com/roanokevalleychurch for more resources, sermons, and links to help you be apart of what God is doing in the Roanoke Valley. And now, enjoy todays sermon. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/roanokevalleychurch/support

Today we conclude our Good Shepherd Series with a sermon from 1st Peter 5.  The Apostle Peter concludes his letter by noting that He has been a witness to the sufferings of Christ and the glory that is to be revealed.  What do you think of when you hear the word glory?  What if I told you that you most likely don't have what Peter had in mind?  Listen in to how “glory”- Hebrew Kavod -  can be yours by witnessing and joining in the sufferings of Christ.  Jesus, as our Good Shepherd, suffered and his glory was revealed in part with the ultimate reveal coming when He returns.  Please visit our website www.roanokevalleychurch.org and on our Facebook page www.facebook.com/roanokevalleychurch for more resources, sermons, and links to help you be apart of what God is doing in the Roanoke Valley. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/roanokevalleychurch/support

“Momma said, I was singing before I was talking.” Terry Brown is a singer who comes to Roanoke Valley from Wilmington. DE. He came to Roanoke to pastor a small in 1986. Terry studied voice at Delaware State University and musical theater from the University of Delaware respectively. Although Terry studied classical voice in college, he grew up singing mainly R&B, Jazz, Show Tunes and Choral music. Terry has had the privilege to perform with some of the finest musicians in Delaware and the Roanoke Valley area. He is the former, male lead singer for the Sway Katz Big Band, and is the current lead singer for The Kings Band. Terry is also the co-founder and lead singer of the now defunct band “The Fire,” as well as The Terry Brown Ascension Project. The brand of music is an eclectic mix of Jazz, Blues, R&B, & Classic Rock with variation – a fusion blend.

Today's sermon continues our Good Shepherd Series in John 10.  This text is one of the most well known passages referring to Jesus as our Good Shepherd.  Here Jesus gives reasons to why He is indeed our Good Shepherd.  Listen in to His bold claims and then consider if you truly have Him as Your Shepherd. Please visit our website www.roanokevalleychurch.org and on our Facebook page www.facebook.com/roanokevalleychurch for more resources, sermons, and links to help you be apart of what God is doing in the Roanoke Valley. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/roanokevalleychurch/support

You're listening to the Roanoke Valley Church Podcast.   Today's sermon continues our Good Shepherd Series in Matthew 18.  This text provides a transition in Jesus' teaching from primarily confirmation of His incarnation as the Good Shepherd, to calling His disciples to be good shepherds, too.  Jesus teaches that the Good Shepherd recognizes and acts accordingly to show the value of each sheep.   The Good Shepherd shows costly love to all the sheep whether they go astray or not. Please visit our website www.roanokevalleychurch.org and on our Facebook page www.facebook.com/roanokevalleychurch for more resources, sermons, and links to help you be apart of what God is doing in the Roanoke Valley. And now, enjoy todays sermon. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/roanokevalleychurch/support

In this sermon our Good Shepherd sermon series in Mark 6 with Jesus feeding the five thousand.   After hearing the news of his cousin, John the Baptist beheading Jesus wanted to find respite along with his disciples.  Grieving, Jesus literally plays the role of the shepherd by providing a banquet for those who are pressed against Him.  This display provides a stark contrast to Israels Shepherd of the day, in Herod Antipas.  Listen in to learn more about Jesus' banquet of life and how we can imitate His decision to provide life to others. Please visit our website www.roanokevalleychurch.org and on our Facebook page www.facebook.com/roanokevalleychurch for more resources, sermons, and links to help you be apart of what God is doing in the Roanoke Valley. And now, enjoy todays sermon. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/roanokevalleychurch/support

From Pastor Charlie Evans of Grace Church. Every year churches all over the Roanoke Valley gather to worship God and celebrate His faithfulness to us and to the gospel of redemption held out since the Protestant Reformation til today!

In this sermon we continue our sermon series on the good shepherd by delving into one of Jesus most famous parables in Luke 15.  Because the Pharisees & Teachers of the Law were criticizing him for eating with sinners and tax collectors, Jesus shares 3 parables in 1 to highlight that the Good Shepherd has indeed come in their midst.  This Good Shepherd is calling out to to seek and save the lost and when they hear and are brought back there will be much rejoicing in heaven! Please visit our website www.roanokevalleychurch.org and on our Facebook page www.facebook.com/roanokevalleychurch for more resources, sermons, and links to help you be apart of what God is doing in the Roanoke Valley. And now, enjoy todays sermon. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/roanokevalleychurch/support

Today's sermon is the from our Good Shepherd Sermon series out of the OT of Ezekiel 34.  The pattern of God's people showcases an unwillingness to learn from previous generations.    God's people are in a constant battle for where they put their trust and affections; their leaders, too, with their shepherding responsibilities have swung from gross negligence to overbearing brutality.  How can we learn from the past and truly turn back to God?  What can break this cycle?  Listen in to how God himself becomes our shepherd.  He promises to seek, find, bring back, bind and strengthen, and bring us to good pasture.   Let us learn and return. Please visit our website www.roanokevalleychurch.org and on our Facebook page www.facebook.com/roanokevalleychurch for more resources, sermons, and links to help you be apart of what God is doing in the Roanoke Valley. And now, enjoy todays sermon. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/roanokevalleychurch/support

Today's sermon is the from our Good Shepherd Sermon series out of the OT of Jeremiah 23.  We have all experienced bad leadership (shepherding) and we've all failed as leaders (shepherds).  It seems as if we will never provide nor receive the perfect care from the around us.  What hope is there for us?   What if God wrote himself into this narrative and provided the answer?  Listen in to explore the implications! Please visit our website www.roanokevalleychurch.org and on our Facebook page www.facebook.com/roanokevalleychurch for more resources, sermons, and links to help you be apart of what God is doing in the Roanoke Valley. And now, enjoy todays sermon. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/roanokevalleychurch/support

In this sermon we are introduced to the Prophet Jeremiah calling out the shepherds of Israel. They have neglected the flock and have turned away from God. Their leadership, or lack thereof, has caused God's people to wander and stray from God. How does God feel about irresponsible leadership? And what can be said about our lives and its impact on those around us? These are humbling questions to consider, but there is hope for us. Listen in and consider two points: 1) God takes shepherding seriously 2) There is always someone watching you Please visit our website www.roanokevalleychurch.org and on our Facebook page www.facebook.com/roanokevalleychurch for more resources, sermons, and links to help you be apart of what God is doing in the Roanoke Valley. And now, enjoy todays sermon. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/roanokevalleychurch/support

oday's sermon is the final lesson in our ReImagine Series - based on Skye Jethani's book, “With - Reimagine Your Relationship with God.”  Today we'll explore the posture of “Living For God.”  Living For God is celebrated throughout scripture.  Faithful Men and Women of the past and today are worthy of celebration and imitation.  Jesus' mission was to save us!  His mission for us to partner with him in brining the Gospel and Kingdom to the world.  The life for God posture errs when what we DO FOR God supersedes our pursuit of God himself.  It is the case of a great thing becoming the ultimate thing.  Listen in to this sermon where Jon Landis discusses the challenges of a “life for God” posture and its impact on  his life as a pastor. Please visit our website www.roanokevalleychurch.org and on our Facebook page www.facebook.com/roanokevalleychurch for more resources, sermons, and links to help you be apart of what God is doing in the Roanoke Valley. And now, enjoy todays sermon. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/roanokevalleychurch/support

Buzz4Good creator Michael Hemphill introduces a new sponsor to BUZZ whose mission is one that impacts – or will impact – all of us: retirement and growing old.Since 1966, Friendship has provided a friendly, safe, and comfortable place for Roanoke Valley residents to live healthier, fuller lives. Michael talks to Friendship president and CEO Joe Hoff about Friendship's history and mission in the Roanoke Valley, and its recent acquisition of Richfield Living. They also chat about how the senior living experience has evolved through the decades, and what the future holds for this growing industry that we all hope to enjoy one day.And in honor of the start of Hokie football on Sept. 2,  we replay our recent conversation with Virginia Tech head coach Brent Pry, along with two of his players. We interviewed them for one of our upcoming BUZZ episodes that features The Hokie Way, a nonprofit that provides opportunities for VT student-athletes to use their Name, Image, Likeness (NIL) to help nonprofits in Southwest Virginia. According to Coach Pry, NIL is among the most important parts of his job today, so you won't want to miss this.

You're listening to the Roanoke Valley Church Podcast.   We all need help remembering.  Jesus wants us to remember his covenant initiated and confirmed by his blood.  This sermon covers Luke's account of he Passover Meal celebration in Chapter 22.  Listen in for 4 details to help us remember.  Please visit our website www.roanokevalleychurch.org and on our Facebook page www.facebook.com/roanokevalleychurch for more resources, sermons, and links to help you be apart of what God is doing in the Roanoke Valley. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/roanokevalleychurch/support

Today's sermon is the fourth and final lesson in our summer series “Covenant” from Jeremiah 31.  This lesson highlights the fourth statement of New Covenant God will forgive sin and remember it no more. Does God really forgive & forget?   How does that align with God's character of omniscience and His heart to deal justly?  The New Covenant points to a better sacrifice in Jesus and through His blood we can be truly forgiven, and it would enable God to no longer call our sin to mind. Please visit our website www.roanokevalleychurch.org and on our Facebook page www.facebook.com/roanokevalleychurch for more resources, sermons, and links to help you be apart of what God is doing in the Roanoke Valley. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/roanokevalleychurch/support

Today's sermon begins our Sermon series on “Covenant” where we look into the specific details of Jeremiahs prophesy of the New Covenant in Jeremiah 31.  Today's sermon focuses on how God promises to write the law on our hearts and minds.  Please visit our website www.roanokevalleychurch.org and on our Facebook page www.facebook.com/roanokevalleychurch for more resources, sermons, and links to help you be apart of what God is doing in the Roanoke Valley. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/roanokevalleychurch/support

Brooke Tolley is a native of Roanoke, Virginia and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Vocal Performance from Liberty University and a Master of Arts in Voice from Radford University. Brooke's opera roles include Kate Pinkterton in Madama Butterfly, Johanna in Sweeney Todd, the Queen of the Night in The Magic Flute, Laetitia in The Old Maid and the Thief and Lucy in Menotti's The Telephone. As a concert soloist, Brooke has performed in Handel's Messiah, DuBois' Seven Last Words of Christ, Schubert's Mass in G, and Pepper Choplin's A Journey with the Shepherd, which she premiered at Lincoln Center in 2017. As an experienced voice teacher, she has maintained a private voice studio for students across the Roanoke Valley since 2012 and has taught lessons at Opera Roanoke, the Jefferson Center's Music Lab and Hollins University. She was a participant in Leadership Roanoke Valley's Class of 2019 and was chosen as one of only three opera administrators across the country to attend The Hart Institute for Women Opera Conductors and Administrators at The Dallas Opera in 2018. Brooke was appointed General Director of Opera Roanoke in 2019 and was chosen by The Roanoker magazine as one of Roanoke's “40 Under 40” in 2021. She is passionate about connecting audiences of all ages with opera in both traditional and non-traditional venues and believes that opera should be accessible to all.

You're listening to the Roanoke Valley Church Podcast.  Today's sermon is from Nehemiah chapters 8.  Entitled, “The Joy of the Lord is your strength”, This sermon highlights the time where God's people have finished building the wall, but the people themselves need to be built.  Here they ask for the word of God, they desire it, they have reverence for it, and they quickly apply it.  Learn how this all plays into how we can have the Joy of the Lord be our strength.  Please visit our website www.roanokevalleychurch.org and on our Facebook page www.facebook.com/roanokevalleychurch for more resources, sermons, and links to help you be apart of what God is doing in the Roanoke Valley. And now, enjoy todays sermon. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/roanokevalleychurch/support

The new director of the National Hurricane Center, Mike Brennan, joined the weather team this week for an in-depth discussion on all things hurricanes. From the biggest concerns, the latest forecast and communication improvements, to the impact of climate change, it's everything you need to know as hurricane season 2023 gets underway. 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! 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, once again, everybody. I'm meteorologist Sean Sublette. And welcome to Across the Sky, our National Lee Enterprises weather podcast. Lee Enterprises has print and digital news operations in 77 locations across the country, including in my home base in Richmond, Virginia. I'm joined this week by my colleague Matt Holiner in Chicago. And both Joe Martucci and Kirsten Lang are taking some time away from the office. Matt, we've got a great yes. This week, National Hurricane Center director Mike Brennan, we're going to talk all about not just what's upcoming this hurricane season. We talk about trends. We talk about communications. Man, there's a lot of stuff to get to today. Yeah, we really did cover a lot of them because we were so happy to actually get him on the podcast. I mean, this time of year he's doing so many interviews in preparation of hurricane season. So we're like, Yes, we got him. And so for the short amount of time that we had him, the 30 minutes, we throw as many questions as we could at him and really did cover everything. And, you know, he just took over the job recently in April. So, you know, it's a bit of a learning curve for him. But he has been with the hurricane center for years and it has been working with him. And you can tell that he's he's just filling right into the role and got all of our questions answered. So it was a fantastic episode. Absolutely. So let's get right at it with National Hurricane Center director Michael Brennan. And we welcome Mike Brennan, director of the National Hurricane Center in South Florida. Shortly after getting his Ph.D. at NC State and his time at the NOAA's Weather Prediction Center in suburban D.C. He began as senior hurricane specialist at NHC in 28 and was selected as Hurricane Center director earlier on this year. Dr. Brennan, thank you for joining us and congratulations. Thanks, Sean. Great to be with you. Now, before we talk about the upcoming hurricane season, step back a little bit. Tell us what got you excited and into the weather in the first place. Yeah, I think like most meteorologist, pretty well bitten with the weather bug at a pretty early age. Something I've always been interested in. I grew up in southwest Virginia, a place with lots of interesting weather, you know, all four seasons at winter weather. It was pretty interested in that, you know, very flash flood prone area, heavy rainfall, remnants of hurricanes, severe weather. So it was a pretty interesting place to grow up. You know, I think one pretty formative moment was a 19 November, 1985, the flood of record in the Roanoke Valley in southwest Virginia. Still, the flood of record, the remnants of a tropical storm that made landfall on the Gulf Coast came up. It rained very heavily for several days, had five or six inches of rain on, I think it was November 5th or sixth that year. And the whole hydro system sort of went into flood and my grandmother lost her home in that event. So it was pretty, pretty impressionable. I was about eight at the time. So, you know, and I think as I got older, I sort of dawned on me that I could actually make it. Yeah, there's a there's a career to have in meteorology if you want to want to do that. I think probably by the time I was 11 or 12, I sort of recognized that and just decided to pursue it from there. Well, we're glad to have you and very happy that you're there at the Hurricane Center. Looking forward to this coming year, whatever it may bring. Can you talk a little bit about what kind of changes have any regarding public and experimental products? I might be coming out of the Hurricane Hurricane Center for for this season? Sure. Yeah. Probably the most notable one is our tropical weather outlook, which is sort of our flagship situational awareness product that we issue every 6 hours to talk about systems that could go on to become tropical depressions or tropical storms in the Atlantic. The period that we cover in that product is now extended out for seven days under the future. It's been five days for for many years we've been experimenting with seven day Genesis forecasts for the last three or four seasons. And they're they're pretty reliable, which means that if over the long term, if we say a system has a 70% chance of development, about 70% of those systems go on to develop so that they're statistically reliable. And so this year we pushed that time window out to seven days. So to give people just a little more heads up, a little better situational awareness that, hey, this is a system, the Hurricane Center is watching, that what could go on and become a tropical depression or tropical storm during the next week. Not every system is going to be in the outlook seven days in advance, though. We still have systems that are difficult to forecast formation, especially when you get out of the deep tropics. But for those systems are more competent and we hope to be giving people more lead time this year going back to those outlooks than once something gets developed into the Atlantic Basin, Gulf or the Caribbean. Talk about how track and intensity forecast have improved over the last 20 years because most of the metrics I've seen show that the track intensity, the track forecasts have just become stellar. But we still have some work to do with intensity forecast. How is that kind of gone last last 20 years or so? Yeah, if you go back and look, say, since the year 2000, our track forecast errors, say for example, at three days or about 65% lower than they were at that time. So you can see our three day track forecast error is now below 100 miles, which, you know, if you would've told somebody that it was more like 250 miles back in 2000. So that's been a tremendous improvement there. And we have for many decades, we've seen the track forecast steadily improving all the way from the 1980s and nineties up till today. And we still continue to see that improving. On the intensity side, that's the story for many years was that the tracks are getting better, but the intensity forecasts are not. But that's really not true anymore. We've started to see significant improvements in our intensity forecast here. And if you look just at our three day intensity error now compared to 2000, it's about 50%. It's about half of what it was then. We're down below ten, about ten knots. Used to be around 20 knots. So we're making progress there. That's pretty much new in the last 10 to 15 years. And we're also making progress in rapid intensity events where we cut our 24 hour forecast error in half for rapidly intensifying systems just in the last like four or five years. And Mike, with the tropical weather outlooks going out to seven days, I think that raises the question, are we at the point where we're going to expand the forecast cones when we have an active storm out to seven days? Is that happening this year? Are there any plans in the future? Not this year, but it's something we've been experimenting with. We've been making six and seven day track and intensity forecasts in-house for the better part of the last four or five years in evaluating them, trying to see when we're going to be ready to make those public. You know, on average, the average errors are pretty good. They're they're pretty close to what the average five dayers were or better than the average five dayers, where we reduce the five day forecast back and I think 2003. But the challenge with seven days is you get about 10% of those cases where the errors are really, really big. And you know, you think of a system where you it's forecast to recur, but it doesn't recurve or you can end up with errors of six or 700 miles a day, seven. So we want to try to be very careful about introducing those forecast and even more careful about how we convey them in a graphical way. I'm not sure we want to just extend the current cone out to seven days. You know, maybe we do something different. So we're working with the social science community on sort of what the cone graphic might become in the next few years, and that'll probably be part of how we go on and convey the six and seven day forecast information at that time. Yeah, Mike, I know there's been a little bit of a buzz to have more of a dynamic statistical cone, if you will. In other words, you know, there's always been, well, this is what our average era is. So this is where the cone is. Yeah. But that that doesn't always work the best. How how is that discussion going along? Yeah, you could tell us about that. I think that's part of a broader discussion we want to have about, you know, what's driving our probabilistic products, not just the cone, but the probabilistic storm surge information and the probabilistic information about tropical storm and hurricane force winds. Right now, you're right, they all use basically historical errors over the past five years or so. You know, what are the typical errors at day one, two, three, four or five in terms of track intensity, How much does the size of the storm vary? We want to start moving towards incorporating real time uncertainty information from ensembles into those into those products. So that's that's a goal that we want to try to work toward. I think it'll probably come first for track because that's where we have the most reliable ensembles. Now we can use global ensembles from the European that GFS that can can start to capture the uncertainty in the track forecast. They're not perfect, but we probably have and we have information we could extract from them getting to the intensity and the structure. Information is going to take more time. We're going to have to have a, you know, a bigger and right now we don't really have a dynamical model hurricane ensemble that really can, you know, capture the uncertainty and the structure and the intensity of the storms. That's something we need to work towards. But my guess is it will be a gradual process over the next several years, maybe 5 to 10 years, where we start to phase in more dynamical uncertainty, information into those types of products there to be able to convey, you know, what the uncertainty is of this particular forecast case. And Mike, I know a lot of people are familiar with the National Hurricane Center, at least hearing the name, but I don't think they know a lot of the details about the hurricane Center. So how many people work at the National Hurricane Center? And then does the staffing change based on during hurricane season and outside of hurricane season? And then if you have multiple storms in the Atlantic and Pacific, does your staffing change even within hurricane season? Yeah, well, certainly the staffing changes on a given shift depending on the levels of activity. But we have about 50 federal employees that work at the hurricane Center. We also have some contractor support. We also have folks from FEMA and from the Air Force that work in the building with us to help coordinate emergency management messaging on the femicide and also help coordinate all the aircraft reconnaissance tasking from the Air Force and Noah, from our Air Force employees that work in the building. So we also have a year round operational Marine forecast branch called Taffy, the Tropical Analysis and Forecast Branch, which issues high seas forecasts, Marine forecast and warnings year round 24 seven Inside and outside of hurricane season. And then we have the hurricane forecast operations that pretty much are running from May 15th to November 30th. But you're right, the level of staffing, especially on the hurricane operations side, is pretty variable because it's it's sort of a activity dependent workload. You know, sometimes we have quiet periods where there's no storms. There might be one storm. We typically have two people scheduled for every shift, regardless of activity. But then we can supplement that staffing when we do get the three or four storms or we get to a big, you know, land threatening storm internationally or in the United States, the workload goes up a fair bit because there's more data to look at from aircraft. There's more coordination to do in terms of international coordination for watches and warnings, internal coordination with the National Weather Service for U.S. threats. So, you know, sometimes we have it can get really, really busy. We have a storm surge unit that activates when we have storm surge threats for the U.S. and internationally as well. So they sort of have an operational piece. So it's not, you know, for a big U.S. landfall threat, we might have five, six, seven people out on the ops for, you know, doing all the different parts of the job which go from data analysis, somebody doing the forecast, doing the coordination, doing the messaging and getting the word out to everybody. So back to that point about what you do during the course of the hurricane season, I think when I was still an undergrad in I believe it was Bob Sheets was the director at the time, once told me that you're actually busier outside of hurricane season than during hurricane season. Is that still the case and why? I think we're as busy, at least, you know, because the off season is is where we do all of our outreach, all of our training for emergency managers, for meteorologists. We have go to hurricane conferences. It's sort of where we do the the yearly run up to the hurricane season. Some of it's just reminding people we have a hurricane awareness tour where we take hurricane hunter aircraft out to different parts of the country. You know, it's it's interesting. This has sort of been the first year where we've gotten fully back into our in-person outreach and training post-COVID. But we still are keeping a lot of the virtual stuff we did during COVID. So we're adding on more and more outreach that we, you know, really wouldn't been able to handle before because there's only so many people to go around. There's only so many weeks, there's only so much travel. But when you have an ability to do virtual outreach, that sort of really expands your your reach and your scale. So we have you know, it's you know, we have outreach that's going to go all the way into even into early parts of the hurricane season. Now, the the the effort to reeducate people, remind people of the threats is constant. We have people moving to hurricane prone areas every year from areas where they don't have hurricanes. Other hurricane prone areas haven't had significant impacts in a long time. But people forget pretty quickly what the what the risk might be. So there's a continual education effort to that that we undertake in the off season. It's not just that, though. We're doing the post analysis from all the storms from last year, writing up all the tropical cyclone reports, working with the modeling community to improve our forecast models that go into effect for the next year. So there's always a continual focus on improving the products and services that is heavily, you know, heavily skewed toward the off season or the outside hurricane season time. And then sticking with the staffing theme, you know, one of the buzzy things that just keeps getting brought up and brought up in so many different aspects of society these days is artificial intelligence. So I'm curious, is the Hurricane Center currently using any artificial intelligence? Are there plans to implement it in the future? We're starting to dabble in it a little bit. We have some some intensity models that are using things like neural networks to try and, you know, pull in different sources of information and come up with different ways to create consensus forecast for tropical cyclone intensity. But I think, you know, that's an area where we're going to have to move going forward into the future simply because the human forecasters ability to absorb information in the time that you have to do the forecast is somewhat limited. And as observations continue to increase and especially model output, you know, you could imagine five, ten years from now we're going to have orders of magnitude more models for forecasters to look at. You're going to have to have some sort of tools that are going to be able to synthesize that information, give you different clusters of solutions to look at, figure out how the human is going to interact with all that data going forward. So I think I could certainly be a part of that as we move into the future. I imagine that's a tool unlike any tool that could be used very well, and sometimes it could be used not so well. So we'll we'll see how that goes. I'm going to take a little bit of a break, then we'll be right back with more with National Hurricane Center Director Mike Brennan on the Across the Sky podcast. And we're back with National Hurricane Center Director Mike Brennan on the Across the Sky podcast. And we're getting into hurricane season on the 1st of June, and there's a lot of buzz, as there always is, about what kind of the season we're going to have. Now without getting too specific, You know, Mike, in general, when we have a positive insight or an El Nino that tends to inhibit tropical cyclone, a hurricane formation, that's that's kind of a baseline. Yeah. But what other kinds of things are out there in terms of clues to what kind of a season we may have in the Atlantic basin? Yeah, and you're right, El Nino and La Nina are two of the biggest is one of one of the biggest factors we see and sort of modulating overall activity in the Atlantic, especially in the deep tropics. But there are a lot of other factors. The Atlantic basin is very warm this year, which would normally be indicative of a potentially busier season. We've been in this active area for many years now, going all the way back to the mid 1990s, and we don't see any signs that that active era has come to an end, certainly based on the last few years of activity. So what we're likely to see this year is just competing factors. Yeah, we don't know how El Nino is going to evolve, how quickly it's going to strengthen, you know, does it does it come on quicker? Does it come on slower or how strong is it going to be? How does that interplay with these other factors in the Atlantic basin in terms of seas and other factors that might be more favorable for an active season? So I would emphasize that, you know, we don't know what the season is going to look like, but we've had plenty of hurricane impacts in the United States and El Nino years and otherwise less active years. We've had major hurricane landfalls, the biggest killer in the last ten years, and tropical storms and hurricanes in this country, as is rainfall, flooding, which has very little to do with how strong storms are. So even if you get weaker systems that don't go on to develop or even become a hurricane, you can still have significant rainfall, flooding impacts. So again, we try to keep people focused on the hazards. And, you know, we always say that it only takes one storm affecting you to make it a bad season where you are. And that's the message we put out there, regardless of what any seasonal forecast might say. And best that we can, we try to re-emphasize that message as well. Yeah, only, you know, I think run from wind, hide from water. I believe it's something along those lines the other way around the run from the water. I hide from the wind. That's it. That's kept me. Thank you very much. But yeah, the water really is is the long term threat. Regarding the outlooks, as you said, it only takes one. So a lot of people have asked, you know, what's what's the value in doing these outlooks? Yeah, I kind of say, well, it's a good exercise and in understanding the right and I imagine there there are other, you know, partners, if you will, that benefit like insurance companies. But who who else may benefit from doing these types of outlooks? Yeah, I think you're right. I mean, there certainly it's a valid scientific effort because, you know, the more you understand about how the basin scale activity works on a season, you know, that may lead to better understanding of how things work on an individual storm scale. And then certainly, you know, utility in trying to predict these larger longer term seasonal the sub seasonal trends. Yeah, there should be a tremendous amount of interest and overall hurricane activity in the basin from insurance companies to the maritime shipping industry. There's so much commerce that moves around on the waters that, you know, are affected by potentially all hurricanes, whether or not they, you know, ever make it to land or not. So, you know, in just general situational awareness, you know, there is benefit in saying, hey, hurricane season is about to start. Here's what here's what we're looking at for this season. It's again, it serves as a really good reminder and sort of a big messaging boost to say, hey, hurricane season is coming, here's the outlook, here's how you can use the outlook, here's how you should use the outlook. You have to get into the details, use it the right way. I mean, looking beyond the outlook, is there something in particular from a preparation standpoint that is concerning for you and this season in particular? Oh, every season you're you're worried about people being complacent. I think again, we've seen a tremendous migration of people in this country moving around the last few years. During COVID, after COVID, we've seen a lot of people moving to hurricane prone states from other places that may or may not be hurricane experience, may not know what the risk is. I mean, I think that's that's always my biggest concern is that you go into hurricane season and people don't know what the risk is, especially if you live in a storm surge prone area. If you don't know, you live in a storm surge area and you might be asked to leave your home, then your whole preparation plan doesn't work. You know, you have to know now if you're going to be asked to potentially leave your home in advance of a storm. So you can make that plan. Now, figure out where you're going to go, how you're going to get there, what you're going to take with you, all those types of things that you need to figure out now. And I think just again, the complacency and the focus on potentially too much focus on how strong the storm is from a wind perspective now, you know, we think we can have tremendous storm surge events from so-called weaker hurricanes that they're big and slow moving, especially in the Gulf of Mexico, but also in other places. The rainfall threat, as I mentioned, has almost nothing to do with how strong a storm is from the wind perspective. And those are the hazards that that really are the deadliest. And what we want to try to hit on as hard as we can. Yeah. Have you noticed any other kinds of long term trends in tropical cyclones slash hurricane development? And, you know, there's a little of the research I've seen that shows that, you know, they're holding their strength that farther north, their latitudes, perhaps that their their forward speed is beginning to slow down in the mean, which also lends itself to heavier rain and flooding. Right. Do you see some of those trends even operationally? Or what could you speak to to those longer term trends? Yeah, I mean, I think, you know, in a warming climate, I think we're most concerned about increasing risk from the water hazards we know that with sea level rise, we're going to see more storm surge, worse storm surge and storm surge in addition, occurring and moving into places where it hasn't been experienced previously. And you think the sort of the best consensus now is that by the year 2100, in some places, storm surge in a nation will be 2 to 3 feet higher than it is now. So you're going to have an increasing risk from surge, which puts more people in evacuation zones, which means you have potentially more people you have to move out ahead of a storm. And the other thing we're seeing is the heavier rainfall. We're already seeing that in hurricanes and in non hurricane, extreme rainfall events are getting worse. They're getting more frequent. We know a warming atmosphere holds more moisture. And it really has to do with how hot, how fast that rain falls in a given area and what the previous, you know, soil moisture conditions are, how that runoff, you know, plays into effect. And we know that that's going to be driving an increasing risk of rainfall, flooding as well. And again, rainfall, flooding is sort of the equal opportunity hazard. It can happen. And everywhere, you know, not just landfall locations, but hundreds of miles away, days after landfall and topography and urban areas. So that risk is is somewhat concerning. The other longer term trends are really less certain in terms of changes in storm intensity. You know, how that will evolve in a in a in a changing climate. So we're trying to keep the focus on those those particular water hazards where we are more confident in how those trends are going to play out. And Mike, as you look ahead at the next five, ten, 15 years, what do you think is the biggest challenge facing the National Hurricane Center looking forward? Well, I mean, I think we've got a few things. We've got an increasing risk and we have, you know, increasing population in hurricane prone areas so that even as our forecast are improving and they are the pace of growth, the number of people that we have to move, the amount of infrastructure along in hurricane prone areas is also increasing maybe even faster than the forecast or increasing. So so we're in a race, you know, against population trends and exposure. That is that is that we're trying to keep up with. I think a lot of it is is again, messaging how do we get through to people about what the hazards are, How do we get people to take action? Because in many cases, the forecasts are good enough now with enough lead time for people to try to generally take protective action. But we see that there are people you know, we know from social science, there are groups of people that are really hard to get to move. And, you know, when we see that play out in every event, you know, one of the great ironies is that the forecast information is so much better now, but people's but the way people consume information is so much more complex. We don't know what messages they're getting or they're getting conflicting messages from a variety of sources. So we have to stay active in that space in whatever emerging communication trends and communication platforms that come up. And we can't leave the old ones behind either. People still watch local television, people are on social media, people are on Twitter, Facebook, other platforms. We have to meet them where they are and we have to keep expanding into those new areas so that we can keep our voice out there and help sort of the hurricane community, you know, have everybody focused on the same message. And and I think those are some of the challenges we face going forward. Yeah, communication is such a huge part of the story. And before we wrap up, just stepping back a little bit, you know, I think for many meteorologists, I know we have a lot to listen to this podcast. I think a lot would say that perhaps their dream job is to be the director of the National Hurricane Center. So was this your dream job and how can you describe the experience that you've had over the last while taking over this role? Yeah, I mean, I think it's a job I've been interested in for a while. So, you know, I'm not sure I ever thought I would get here. You know, when you start your career, you have no ideas about where it might go. And but, you know, things things worked out well for me. And I was in the right, you know, a lot of it just being having the right experiences and having being in the right place at the right time to to take advantage of opportunities. But yeah, I mean, I'm just so excited to step into this role. There's so many things that, you know, I'm so proud of the staff that I lead at the hurricane Center. We've got just got immensely talented people that work there, and they're so dedicated. I think, you know, I think the National Weather Service in general has the best mission in all of government to protect lives and property. It doesn't get any clearer or any more motivating than that. And I you know, the Hurricane Center has such a huge piece of that when it comes to tropical storms and hurricanes. And we've seen that play out. So many times over the last few years. And, you know, we learned lessons. Things aren't perfect. You know, there are challenges. But I think we've seen our role make a difference so many times in these multiple landfalling events in the last few years. You know, it's just a reminder of how important the work we do is. And that's really motivating and inspiring and carries us forward into into the upcoming season. Yeah, no question about that, especially in this day and age with information all over the place. You know, the staff of the hurricane of the Hurricane Center has been very consistent over the years. And I know as a member of the of the weather and climate enterprise, we're very grateful for for the work that you and all the staff do there at NHC before we let we let you go because we know you're busy, are there one or two other key messages you really want to drive home to the public, not just about the hurricane season in general, but things they really need to remember when they're taking in a product from the hurricane center. I've tried to tell people the cone is important. Yeah, but look beyond the cone cone is that everything? There's other things going on. What other kinds of messages do you want to be sure to get out there? Yeah, that's a great one. The cone is kind of like the cover of a book. It's sort of a high level overview of where the center of the storm's likely to go over the next few days. But it's not going to tell you about your risk from storm surge or rainfall or even necessarily tropical storm or hurricane force winds. There are lots of hazards associated with hurricanes. They're complicated events and that's what makes them challenging to communicate. You have different hazards occurring in different places at different times, and the scale and scope of those hazards can evolve during a storm. So focus on the watches and warnings. Focus on what your local emergency managers or government officials are telling you to do in terms of evacuation and preparation. Listen to your find your trusted sources of information through the media, your broadcast meteorologists, your other, your other folks and the weather enterprise that you that you trust and make sure you're connected to them. The other thing I want to touch on is after the storm safety, we lose almost as many people do, fatalities that occur after tropical storms and hurricanes as we do during the storm itself. A lot of these are due to accidents, electrocutions, heart attacks, carbon monoxide poisonings from improper generator use, you know, power issues, heat related fatalities. So when you're asked to evacuate in advance of a storm, it's to keep you safe generally from storm surge, but it's also to help keep you out of an area that might be completely devastated for weeks after where you're not going to have emergency services, You may not have power or water or medical equipment to to take care of yourself. And a lot of these indirect fatalities disproportionately affect older people who may have mobility or health issues that that make them less resilient in the face of the aftermath of a significant hurricane. So we want people to stay safe after the event. We don't want to lose them. And in those days and weeks after the storm, for sure. Mike, thank you so much. Before we let you go, working people find the hurricane Center online. Get real easy. Hurricanes, dot gov. That'll get you to the National Hurricane Center. If you go to Weather.com, that'll get you to your local National Weather Service office that we partner with to get the messaging all the way from the storm scale down to your community. So that's that's where you can start to to search for information. Thank you, Mike. Good luck this season and good luck with everything out there today as well. And take care. Thanks, John. Think about wow, that was a lot to get into. And we did it in less than half an hour, which is a small miracle. But I'm so glad he was able to touch on the communications aspect. He was able to talk about why these hurricane outlook outlooks are important. You know, the climate impacts, the real world impacts of the storm. And, you know, and this is something I hadn't thought that much to to discuss in my external communications map. But after the storm, how many people get hurt after the storm? I you know, I guess one of the things I thought of intuitively, but but I don't talk about. Well, yeah, you know, I think there it often does get overlooked. So it doesn't surprise me that you brought that in because, you know, we get people we so we're so focused on getting people out of the way of the storm. And then after the storm passes, a lot of people who did get out of the way are very anxious to go back home, see what the damage is. You know, what is the state of their house, get back there. But rushing back in after a devastating landfall or a hurricane or even if it's not that big of a hurricane, technically, maybe it's just a tropical storm that was over the same area and a lot of flooding. Think of all the flooded roads that are left behind. You really don't want people rushing back in because it does lead to injuries. It does lead death. So, yes, it's the aftermath and the recovery from it as well. You know, the one thing that that stood out to me and I thought it was so great, you know, with the discussion about the forecasts going, the one comment he made is that the forecast cone is the cover of the book. And I thought that was that was just a perfect way to phrase it, because the cone is not everything. Yes, it's probably the biggest thing. It's what you see the first and what everybody wants to see. But boy, there are a lot more details when you even just just glancing at the cone, there's a lot of details just on the cone. But then it's really going beyond the cone and all the impacts that are not explained on the cone. And so really, that's why I don't want people just to think they see the cone and All right, I know what's going to happen. It's like you need to get into the details and find out all the information because you're not going to get everything from the cone. There are a lot of details that need to be ironed out. So it's always like the cone is just part of the story. Make sure you get all the details. Yeah, I'm probably going to start to steal that line from him that it's that it's like the cover of the book. And you can't judge the entire book by the cover. There is so much more to dig into. I think that is something we're going to see more and more as we go in the decades to come is as our forecast ability does get stronger to be able to resolve these finer structures within the hurricane. Because as you know, and we saw this with Ian last year that are one side of the hurricane, even if you're within ten or 20 miles of the eye wall is very different than the other side of the hurricane. You know, you've got an offshore wind versus an onshore wind and the impacts are very, very different. So we have to remind people it's not a point. All the impacts are not within 20 miles. It's a beast. It is just the cover. This is just a starting point. We pay attention to all the impacts that come with storms like these, you know? Well, you know, the other thing I think that's worth mentioning is that the 2023 hurricane season is already underway because there was a storm in January. It was just re identified. They did a post analysis, the National Hurricane Center identified a storm on January 16th that actually impacted Newfoundland and Nova Scotia with 60 mile per hour winds. Well, it turns out that was a subtropical storm. So we've already even though it didn't get a name, it's already our first storm, the season. So we're already sitting at one storm watch already. So our first named storm is going to be Arlene. But technically when Arlene comes around, it's going to be the second storm of the Atlantic hurricane season. So it's no more about, well, when hurricane season starts. No, it has officially begun. We've already had one storm. Yeah. And we remind people that even though hurricane season season starts on the 1st of June and goes into November, they can and do occasionally come outside of the season. But the core of the season is mid-August to mid-October. That's when you really need to to bring your awareness up to its its highest level is during that 8 to 10 week period there in late summer and early fall. Okay. So with that, we're going to close up shop for this week. Big thanks to Michael Brennan for taking time with us, the director of the National Hurricane Center. We've got a few more things coming up in the pipeline. I know Joe's not here, but I got to plug his dog eating contest. So we've got that working. We also talked to Mike that is here in Richmond about sports betting and and especially baseball to a lesser extent football weather. We're working on a couple of other climate e things I'm hoping that will come through more on those coming up hopefully next week or two but for right now Matt Holiner is in Chicago, meteorologist Sean Sublette in Richmond, Virginia, thanks for joining us for the Across the Sky podcast.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Our conversation today with Jennifer Hall, Senior Director of Community Impact for United Way Northern Shenandoah Valley featured Jennifer Locke, Managing Attorney for Blue Ridge Legal Services. Blue Ridge Legal Services is a nonprofit legal aid society providing free civil legal assistance to low-income residents of the Shenandoah Valley and Roanoke Valley of Virginia. Jennifer explained a popular misconception that everyone is entitled to free legal representation but the reality is that that only applies to criminal matters. Their legal assistance ranges from advice or brief service to ongoing representation in negotiations and litigation in state and federal courts and administrative agencies, depending on the needs of the client, the type of case, and available resources. The most common legal problems handled by Blue Ridge Legal Services include: Family disputes (for example, domestic violence, divorce) Problems dealing with debts and bankruptcy Housing and landlord-tenant disputes Eligibility for various government benefits (such as food stamps, TANF, and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits) Access to health care (for example, issues involving Medicaid and Medicare) Consumer disputes, and Issues affecting seniors (such as exploitation and problems with nursing homes). They do not handle criminal matters, traffic violations, personal injuries or malpractice cases, and other cases outside of their priorities. Learn more about Blue Ridge Legal Services here: https://brls.org  Jennifer Hall gave us details for Project Connect happening at Central High School in Woodstock on Friday, June 2, 2023, from 9am - 2pm. A second event will be held at Virginia Avenue Charlotte DeHart Elementary School in Winchester on Friday, July 28, 2023, from 9am - 3pm. Project Connect is the Shenandoah Valley's one-stop FREE resource fair. Receive assistance from more than 50 service providers, all under the same roof. What often takes months to accomplish can be completed in one day. Project Connect is a project of United Way NSV that strengthens and utilizes collaborations with agencies, businesses, organizations, and the community to provide comprehensive services through an in-person resource fair event for those who are at risk of becoming homeless, are currently experiencing homelessness, or are living on the cusp of making it or not. Attend the Woodstock event: Pre-register for quick access or to reserve a specialized service. Provide a service at the Woodstock event: Are you a nonprofit? Inquire here about setting up at the event. Volunteer at the Woodstock event: Over 18 and looking to give back? See their volunteer needs here. Check out the highlights from Winchester's Project Connect 2022. Or view highlights from Woodstock's Project Connect 2022. Learn more about both events here: https://www.unitedwaynsv.org/projectconnect. Learn more about United Way Northern Shenandoah Valley here: https://www.unitedwaynsv.org/  Enjoy the Memorial Day weekend at: Newtown Heritage Festival in Stephens City - hear that conversation here. Safe at Home Community Day at Bing Crosby Stadium hosted by Reaching Out Now - hear that conversation here. Meet local author Laura Elliott at her Winchester Book Gallery event - hear that conversation here.

Today's sermon is from Nehemiah chapter 2 verses 9-19.  Nehemiah arrives in Jerusalem and gets a first hand look at the destruction of its walls & gates.  After inspecting the walls, he rallies the nobles & priest to begin rebuilding the wall.  Listen in to how we can plan to participate in growing Gods kingdom, to take the time to inspect its walls, and to be reminded that lasting growth only comes through the gracious hand of God.   We invite you to visit our website www.roanokevalleychurch.org and on our Facebook page www.facebook.com/roanokevalleychurch for more resources, sermons, and links to help you be apart of what God is doing in the Roanoke Valley. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/roanokevalleychurch/support

Asia Sawyer, lead singer for the Asia Bronte Band, is an up-and-coming vocalist born and raised in the Roanoke Valley. She's loved music as long as she can remember, but in the last few years she's taken her passion to the next level with the help of her band mate Lewis Stump. Her biggest musical inspiration is Miranda Lambert, but her style isn't confined to any one genre. You can find the Asia Brontë Band rocking the doors off of local bars like the Hangout, where their energetic vibe can take any event to the next level.

Today's sermon is from Nehemiah chapter 2.   Prayer is the most powerful force known to man. Prayer wields the power that unlocks heavens doors and brings the answers that you desire for you, your family, your church, your city, your world.  Nehemiah's heart broke for God's people and he first went about the work with the most important tool he had:  prayer.  We invited you to visit our website www.roanokevalleychurch.org and on our Facebook page www.facebook.com/roanokevalleychurch for more resources, sermons, and links to help you be apart of what God is doing in the Roanoke Valley. And now, enjoy todays sermon. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/roanokevalleychurch/support

Today's sermon introduces the book of Nehemiah where we learn of the dire situation of God's people in Jerusalem.  Nehemiahs heart breaks for Gods people and in response he is determined to engage via prayer, fasting, and to find a solution.    This sermon asks of us to reflect on our own responses to life.  Do we have a desire to know how things are really going in others lives, communities, or church?  How do we respond when we see/hear the despair and difficulties of others?  How can Jesus' love inspire us to have a heart that is willing to break and engage? Consider these points presented in today's sermon:   1) Have A Heart That Is Willing To Break 2) Have A Heart Willing To Engage  We invite you to visit us at www.roanokevalleychurch.org and on our Facebook page www.facebook.com/roanokevalleychurch for more resources, sermons, and links to help you be apart of what God is doing in the Roanoke Valley. Inspired to be help support our church? Please give today via Venmo: www.venmo.com/roanokevalleychurch --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/roanokevalleychurch/support

This episode is about celebrating the culture of Hip Hop. We were able to interview 3 great contributor to the culture as they shared their journey as a student of evolution of Hip Hop. Our first guest is producer Kream Kash, he has spend many years as an artist and producer. He resides in the Roanoke Valley and works with two artist to develop their sound as they make their mark in Hip Hiop. Our second guest is the Legendary Dj Kool. He shares with us his experience growing up in DC and how Go Go music played a role in his journey as a Hip Hop/Go Go dj/artist. Lastly we wrapped things up with our very own Throwback King Dj Trans and his experience growing up around hip and becoming a dj for VA & NC. We hope that you enjoy this epiosde and we want to thank everyone who helped make it possible. More in store as we celebrate 50 years in Hip Hop. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/theetwin/support

Today's sermon concludes our study on the book of Ezra in chapters 9 and 10.  How do God's people distinguish themselves from all others?  How can we be in the world by not of the world? And what does Jesus say is a mark of those who are his disciples?  Ezra faces the challenge of God's people failing to distinguish themselves from their neighbors by joining in their false religious practices and by intermarrying them.  Listen in as Ezra and the people do their best to interpret the Torah for direction.  We invite you to visit us at www.roanokevalleychurch.org and on our Facebook page www.facebook.com/roanokevalleychurch for more resources, sermons, and links to help you be apart of what God is doing in the Roanoke Valley. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/roanokevalleychurch/support

This week we discussed a lot of things that just ain't adding up. We kick things off with our local spotlight where we shed light on two suspects who are being sought out for larceny. Also we are still searching for Jewel Sykes who is a missing person here in the Roanoke Valley and we call for the community to assist with finding her. Then we highlight our national headlines where a man is caught in a missing trackless train cause in Johnston County and that Amazon is doing more layoffs in the weeks ahead. In our entertainment news child star Amanda Bynes was placed on a 72 hour psychiatric hold and there is talks of a new movie from Jordan Peele. Lastly, we have a fooling me with the foolery that will turn your stomach, it did for us. Sources: https://www.rrdailyherald.com/news/local/two-suspects-sought-in-larceny/article_3f1b1b4a-c71b-11ed-a09d-0f93e59f6a16.html https://jocoreport.com/deputies-track-down-train-thief/ NBC News, Politico, TMZ, New York Post, The Blast, Variety --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/theetwin/support

Today's podcast is a special episode.  The Women's Ministry of the Roanoke Valley Church had a women's worship service and welcomed Melina Hutchins in to preach.  She spoke an inspiring message about being “Seen & Heard” by God.  Listen in and enjoy today's sermon from Genesis 21 and the story of Hagar. We invite you to visit us at www.roanokevalleychurch.org and on our Facebook page www.facebook.com/roanokevalleychurch for more resources, sermons, and links to help you be apart of what God is doing in the Roanoke Valley. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/roanokevalleychurch/support

Send us a Text Message.Amber Wilborne is a Southwest Virginia native, and business owner and has been married to Tim, the love of her life, and served as an amazing supporter during her caregiver journey. They have two teenage children and co-own their business. Amber is a member of her local Rotary club and serves communities worldwide. She also served as a caregiver to her mother, who fought breast cancer for over 24 years.Amber's journey as a caregiver began when her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. Despite the struggle, Amber was determined to remain a strong support for her mother. With her husband's support, Amber cared for her mother while maintaining her regular routine with her children. When her mother's cancer returned for the final time, Amber placed her career on hold to care for her mother full time.  Over the years, she supported her mother in a variety of ways but it was during those last two years that she learned the importance of saying "no" when needed. She also had to be honest with her kids and open up to her mother in ways she had never done before. Through this difficult experience, Amber learned to accept her emotions and trust the Lord's timing.In this episode, you will learn the following:1. How Amber attributes her mother's resilient spirit to help her fight off metastatic breast cancer for 24 years.2. How Amber learned to balance caring for her mother while caring for her own family.3. How Amber found solace in her faith while navigating the emotional turmoil of her mother's battle with cancer.About Amber:Amber Wilborne was born and raised in the Roanoke Valley of South Western Virginia. She is married to Tim Wilborne, and they are the parents of two amazing kids, one son, 16, and one daughter, 14. Both kids are active in their high school and attend the Burton Center for Arts and Technology. Amber and Tim have owned and operated their business, TW Controls, LLC since 2006. Both work with local industries and manufacturing companies offering a variety of work, from repairing machinery, building components, control panels, integration, automation, and wastewater. Recently Amber and Tim have added a training facility and troubleshooting courses for Maintenance Technicians in their field.Amber is a member of her local Rotary club and active in her community and worldwide. She has traveled to parts of Africa through Rotary to see international projects. Amber enjoys being a Rotarian since Rotary shares many of the same passions.Amber's mother passed in June, 2022 from metastatic breast cancer. Her mother fought breast cancer for 24 years! Amber had the honor of taking care of and spending time with her mother for 2 years before she passed.Connect with Amber: Support the Show.Confessions of a Reluctant Caregiver Sisterhood of Care, LLC Website: www.confessionsofareluctantcaregiver.com Like us on Facebook! Tweet with us on Twitter! Follow us on Instagram! Watch us on Youtube! Pin us on Pinterest! Link us on LinkedIn!Tune in on Whole Care Network

Amber Wilborne is a Southwest Virginia native, and business owner and has been married to Tim, the love of her life, and served as an amazing supporter during her caregiver journey. They have two teenage children and co-own their business. Amber is a member of her local Rotary club and serves communities worldwide. She also served as a caregiver to her mother, who fought breast cancer for over 24 years. Amber's journey as a caregiver began when her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. Despite the struggle, Amber was determined to remain a strong support for her mother. With her husband's support, Amber cared for her mother while maintaining her regular routine with her children. When her mother's cancer returned for the final time, Amber placed her career on hold to care for her mother full time. Over the years, she supported her mother in a variety of ways but it was during those last two years that she learned the importance of saying "no" when needed. She also had to be honest with her kids and open up to her mother in ways she had never done before. Through this difficult experience, Amber learned to accept her emotions and trust the Lord's timing. In this episode, you will learn the following: 1. How Amber attributes her mother's resilient spirit to help her fight off metastatic breast cancer for 24 years. 2. How Amber learned to balance caring for her mother while caring for her own family. 3. How Amber found solace in her faith while navigating the emotional turmoil of her mother's battle with cancer. About Amber: Amber Wilborne was born and raised in the Roanoke Valley of South Western Virginia. She is married to Tim Wilborne, and they are the parents of two amazing kids, one son, 16, and one daughter, 14. Both kids are active in their high school and attend the Burton Center for Arts and Technology. Amber and Tim have owned and operated their business, TW Controls, LLC since 2006. Both work with local industries and manufacturing companies offering a variety of work, from repairing machinery, building components, control panels, integration, automation, and wastewater. Recently Amber and Tim have added a training facility and troubleshooting courses for Maintenance Technicians in their field. Amber is a member of her local Rotary club and active in her community and worldwide. She has traveled to parts of Africa through Rotary to see international projects. Amber enjoys being a Rotarian since Rotary shares many of the same passions. Amber's mother passed in June, 2022 from metastatic breast cancer. Her mother fought breast cancer for 24 years! Amber had the honor of taking care of and spending time with her mother for 2 years before she passed. Connect with Amber:  LinkedIn  Facebook  Confessions of a Reluctant Caregiver Sisterhood of Care, LLC Website: www.confessionsofareluctantcaregiver.com Like us on Facebook! Tweet with us on Twitter! Follow us on Instagram! Watch us on Youtube! Pin us on Pinterest! Link us on LinkedIn! Tune in on Whole Care Network

Think about all that can happen in 60 years. What major milestones in our lives, our country, or our world have happened since 1963? How much do we see the world needs to change? What is the solution? 60 years have passed in between chapters 6 and 7 of Ezra. Ezra arrives at Jerusalem described as a man who sought God, knows His Law, observed it, and taught it to others. Gods people were not people of the law as much as they were before. And change was needed. Listen in to consider the path of seeking God by knowing His word, doing it, and teaching it to others to bring about lasting change. We invite you to visit us at www.roanokevalleychurch.org and on our Facebook page www.facebook.com/roanokevalleychurch for more resources, sermons, and links to help you be apart of what God is doing in the Roanoke Valley. And now, enjoy today's sermon. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/roanokevalleychurch/support

Joshua was born in raised in the Roanoke Valley. He was surrounded by music at a very early age, as his father played guitar and sang and so did several uncles and cousins. During his senior year, Joshua was awarded the Louis Armstrong Jazz Performance Award, for guitar performance. It was during his 8th grade year of school that he became very serious about playing guitar and decided to start a band. This band, Gypsy Joe, quickly became a popular act in the booming Roanoke County music scene of the time, and won 3 consecutive, Roanoke County Battle of the Bands competitions. The band went on to record 2 albums and enjoy some regional success. In 2002, Gypsy Joe disbanded and Joshua joined local hard rock band, Frotter, and in 2005, Joshua was awarded “Best Lead Guitarist” at the New York International Music Festival (A music festival featuring over 300 bands from around the world), while performing with Frotter. In March of 2016, Joshua found himself with an opportunity to perform again:, this time joining The Low Low Chariot as the new lead guitarist. Joshua Has been performing with this group ever since. The group has recorded one album, Believer, in Nashville, and is working on the material that will become the follow-up album.

There was a lot to cover in this episode but we did our best in getting it all in in a good amount of time. Our local spotlight highlighted the Breaking Ground Ceremony for the new Eastman School(K-8) and newly elected officers in the Roanoke Valley. As for this weeks national news, we addressed the lost of power in Morris County, the return of Brittney Griner to the United States from a Russian prison and Donald Trump's tax issues. KayTeezy was able to shed light on the new documentary on Netflix about Prince Harry & Megan and there was the story about a pastor interested in growing his church members by hiring them to help grow weed at the church. Then there is the Tj Holmes scandal that everyone has been talking about and last but not lest the conversation about Coach Prime(Deion Sanders) leaving JSU. Tap in to this week's episode and enjoy as we interact with our Facebook Live audience about this week's topics. Source: RR Spin Associated Press The Shade Room --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/theetwin/support

In the beginning of this episode we wanted to pay our last respects to our friend Jared Pelle. He recently passed away and we wanted to let him know he is forever with us. Also in our local news we are excited to say that Chick-fil-a is back open in the Roanoke Valley. Then there was the discussion about senseless violence that has been happening on all level. Also we talked about some entertainment news and had some fun during this weeks fooling me with the foolery. We hope that you enjoy this episode as much as we enjoyed creating it with our live audience. Sources: The Shade Room --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/theetwin/support

On this weeks episode we covered a lot in a small amount of time. Our local spotlight was about events in the Roanoke Valley and beyond in our state of NC. We even shed light on the issue of student loan debt being in limbo. Also we strongly pushed people to vote during this election season and highlighted the opening of a new local business Country Sprouts & V's Catering in Garysburg. Then we talked about the "Twitter Takeover", where Elon Musk has became the owner of this social media platform that is now allowing people to say whatever they want. Its free speech.... For our entertainment segment we exalted Tabitha Brown for being nominated for two emmy's for her show "Tab Time" and this week's "Enlightenment" comes from the bible scripture Mark 8:36. We had a great time creating this content and we hope you enjoy. Sources: The Shade Room CBS News RR Spin --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/theetwin/support

In this episode, we explore Virginia's unique “Ready Regions” program, designed to bring unprecedented levels of coordination, accountability, and family engagement to early education programs in every community in the Commonwealth. Host Laura Kassner joins leaders from the state and regional levels in Virginia to discuss the program, developed with support from the Preschool Development Grants Birth-To-Five initiative, and their recommendations for early childhood leaders in states across the country. Guests include Kris Meyers, Associate Director of Quality Measurement and Improvement with the Virginia Department of Education; and Catie Sumner, Preschool Development Grant Coordinator with the United Way of Roanoke Valley. Early Childhood Policy Matters is supported by the National Technical Assistance Center for Preschool Development Grants Birth through Five, funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Child Care. For episode transcripts and more information visit: https://childcareta.acf.hhs.gov/resource/early-childhood-policy-matters-podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We kick this weeks episode off with our local spotlight about the 22 ECU Health nurses who were named NC's Great 100. Also in our local segment we discussed how Tropical Storm Ian impacted the Roanoke Valley and a child that is in stable condition after a parking lot shooting. We then head on over to our national news where we shed light on the serve impact on athletes in the NFL due to injuries that lead to life long effects and who should be held responsible. Shakira is back in our entertainment news this week as we update you on the cases she was going through with her home country and we talk about rap lyrics being used against artist in court. California actually becomes the first state to limit use of rap lyrics as evidence. Kodak black is helping out his community, Coolio passes at 59 and Lil way will be honored at the BET Award show. There is so much more that we shared in this weeks episode and we hope you enjoy. Sources: nbcnews.com theshaderoom.com tmz.com --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/theetwin/support

Biden Administration colluding with social media, Gov. Abbot of Texas bussing illegal immigrants to Chicago, Oregon tells California to hold its beer on electric cars… … and more on today’s CrossPolitic Daily News Brief. My name is Toby Sumpter and today is Friday, September 2, 2022. Blue Ridge Reformed Church, a potential CREC church plant in the Roanoke Valley, will begin worship services on Sunday September 4th at 6:00 p.m. They are located at 6032 Cloverdale Rd, Roanoke, VA 24019. For more information folks can check out our website blueridgereformed.org https://www.theepochtimes.com/over-50-biden-administration-employees-12-us-agencies-involved-in-social-media-censorship-push-documents_4704349.html?utm_source=partner&utm_campaign=BonginoReport Over 50 Biden Administration Employees, 12 US Agencies Involved in Social Media Censorship Push: Documents Over 50 officials in President Joe Biden’s administration across a dozen agencies have been involved with efforts to pressure Big Techcompanies to crack down on alleged misinformation, according to documents released on Aug. 31. Senior officials in the U.S. government, including White House lawyer Dana Remus, deputy assistant to the president Rob Flaherty, and onetime White House senior COVID-19 adviser Andy Slavitt, have been in touch with one or more major social media companies to try to get the companies to tighten rules on allegedly false and misleading information on COVID-19, and take action against users who violate the rules, the documents show. In July 2021, for instance, after Biden said that Facebook was “killing people” by not combating misinformation effectively, an executive at Meta reached out to Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, a Biden appointee, to say that government and Meta teams met after the remarks “to better understand the scope of what the White House expects from us on misinformation going forward.” The same executive later wrote to Murthy saying, “I wanted to make sure you saw the steps we took just this past week to adjust policies on what we are removing with respect to misinformation, as well as steps taken to further address the ‘disinfo dozen,'” including removing pages linked to the group. The White House publicly pressured social media companies to take action against a group officials dubbed the “disinformation dozen,” which a nonprofit claimed were producing the bulk of “anti-vaccine misinformation” on the platforms. Also in July 2021, Murthy said Facebook had not done enough to combat misinformation. Rob Flaherty, director of digital strategy for the White House, told Slavitt and others in April 2021 that White House staff would be briefed by Twitter “on vaccine misinfo,” with the meeting including “ways the White House (and our COVID experts) can partner in product work,” according to one of the messages. In another exchange that year, a Department of Treasury official working on “mis, dis, and mal-information” told Meta workers that the deputy treasury secretary wanted to talk about “potential influence operations.” In a text in February 2021, meanwhile, U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Director Jen Easterly, wrote to another agency official that she was “trying to get us in a place where Fed can work with platforms to better understand the mis/dis trends so relevant agencies can try to prebunk/debunk as useful.” The documents were part of a preliminary production in a lawsuitlevied against the government by the attorneys general of Missouri and Louisiana, later joined by experts maligned by federal officials. “If there was ever any doubt the federal government was behind censorship of Americans who dared to dissent from official Covid messaging, that doubt has been erased,” Jenin Younes, a lawyer with the New Civil Liberties Alliance who is representing some of the plaintiffs in the case, said in a statement. “The shocking extent of the government’s involvement in silencing Americans, through coercing social-media companies, has now been revealed.” Club Membership Plug: Let’s stop and take a moment to talk about Fight Laugh Feast Club membership. By joining the Fight Laugh Feast Army, not only will you be aiding in our fight to take down secular & legacy media; but you’ll also get access to content placed in our Club Portal, such as past shows, all of our conference talks, and EXCLUSIVE content for club members that you won’t be able to find anywhere else. Lastly, you’ll also get discounts for our conferences… so if you’ve got $10 bucks a month to kick over our way, you can sign up now at flfnetwork.com https://www.theepochtimes.com/texas-gov-greg-abbott-begins-busing-illegal-immigrants-to-chicago_4703681.html?utm_source=partner&utm_campaign=BonginoReport Texas Gov. Greg Abbott Begins Busing Illegal Immigrants to Chicago Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Wednesday said that illegal aliens apprehended along the U.S.-Mexico border are now being bused to Chicago in addition to New York City and Washington. Abbott said his strategy to bus illegal immigrants from Texas to the Democrat-led sanctuary cities makes a strategic point about the impact of President Joe Biden’s “open border policies” on American communities. “President Biden’s inaction at our southern border continues putting the lives of Texans—and Americans—at risk and is overwhelming our communities,” the Republican governor said in a statement. “To continue providing much-needed relief to our small, overrun border towns, Chicago will join fellow sanctuary cities Washington, D.C. and New York City as an additional drop-off location.” Acknowledging Chicago’s sanctuary city policies, Abbott said Mayor Lori Lightfoot “loves to tout” that her city welcomes illegal immigrants as a matter of “responsibility.” “I look forward to seeing this responsibility in action as these migrants receive resources from a sanctuary city with the capacity to serve them,” Abbott said. Chicago Calls Busing Program ‘Racist’ The Chicago mayor’s office confirmed that around 60 illegal aliens arrived at Union Square from Texas on Wednesday night and were being provided with essential services while they “navigate the next steps of their journey.” “As a city we are doing everything we can to ensure these immigrants and their families receive shelter, food, and most importantly protection,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “This is not new; Chicago welcomes hundreds of migrants every year to our city and provides much-needed assistance.” The spokesperson also accused Abbott of having no “shame or humanity” and described the busing program as “racist practices.” The mayors of Washington and New York City, Muriel Bowser and Eric Adams, have also criticized the busing program, calling it a political stunt. But Abbott has said the illegal immigrants voluntarily chose to go to their cities where there is more capacity to serve them. The Texas governor first directed the Texas Division of Emergency Management in April to charter buses to transport illegal immigrants who claimed asylum when apprehended along the U.S.-Mexico border to Washington. New York City was added as a second drop-off location in August. Since then, more than 8,900 illegal aliens have been bused out of Texas to those cities, providing “much-needed relief to Texas’ overwhelmed border communities,” according to Abbott’s office. Overwhelmed with the influx of illegal aliens arriving from Texas, Bowser has twice asked the Biden administration to deploy National Guard personnel to help her city cope. Both requests were denied. Lightfoot signed Chicago’s “Welcoming City Ordinance” measure in February 2021 to strengthen the city’s sanctuary policies, which prevented local police from cooperating with federal immigration authorities. “Chicago has been a welcoming city and a city of immigrants since its very founding, and proudly so,” Lightfoot said at the time. Abbott’s office noted that under this policy Chicago doesn’t deny city services to individuals based on their immigration status. “With its ‘Welcoming City Ordinance’ making it a sanctuary city, Chicago will not deny city services to individuals based on their immigration status. The city also does not require local police to cooperate with federal immigration authorities,” Abbott’s office said. Abbott promised to keep busing illegal aliens to so-called sanctuary cities until the Biden administration “does its job” to secure the border. Redballoon Not so long ago, the American dream was alive and well. Employees who worked hard were rewarded, and employers looked for people who could do the job, not for people who had the right political views. RedBalloon.work is a job site designed to get us back to what made American businesses successful: free speech, hard work, and having fun. If you are a free speech employer who wants to hire employees who focus on their work and not identity politics, then post a job on RedBalloon. If you are an employee who is being censored at work or is being forced to comply with the current zeitgeist, post your resume on RedBalloon and look for a new job. redballoon.work, the job site where free speech is still alive! www.redballoon.work https://www.theepochtimes.com/oregon-to-join-california-in-move-to-ban-gas-powered-vehicle-sales_4704534.html?utm_source=partner&utm_campaign=BonginoReport Oregon to Join California in Move to Ban Gas-Powered Vehicle Sales Oregon has joined a list of more than a dozen states vowing to follow California’s lead in banning the sale of new gas-powered vehicles by 2035. The move comes as California urges residents to not charge their electric vehicles during a heatwave to avoid straining the electrical grid. An Oregon Department of Environmental Quality advisory committee is now in the process of creating what it calls “Advanced Clean Cars II Rules,” which will guide the state toward that new goal. California announced on Aug. 24 that it would begin to phase out gas-powered vehicles beginning in 2026, when 35 percent of all passenger vehicles and light duty trucks sold in the state must be zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs). With an anticipated increase of nearly 8 percent annually, the state has vowed that 100 percent of all vehicles sold in California will be ZEVs by 2035. Oregon aims to follow suit. “The transportation sector accounts for more than 40 percent of Oregon’s greenhouse gas emissions,” the Oregon Department of Energy said in a statement. “Moving to cleaner, alternative fuel transportation options, like zero-emission vehicles, can reduce those harmful Green House Gases (GHGs) and help Oregon reach its climate goals.” Oregon had already been working toward a goal set by its legislature in 2019 to have 250,000 registered ZEVs in the state by 2025. As of April, there were approximately 50,000 ZEVs on Oregon roads, falling well short of the pace to meet that goal in the first three years. “We’re committed to getting more electric vehicles [EVs] on Oregon’s roads and 50,000 registered EVs is a major milestone,” said Amanda Pietz, administrator of the Oregon Department of Transportation’s Climate Office. “EVs make up about 8 percent of new cars, trucks, and SUVs sold in Oregon, and we’ll support that growing market through partnerships to build out EV charging stations along major roads and in Oregon’s communities.” The state will also “support” that market by banning gas-powered vehicles and using taxpayer-funded subsidies to prime the pump. Oregon offers as much as $7,500 in taxpayer-funded rebates on top of the federal tax credit of $7,500 toward the purchase of a ZEV. Utilities in the state are offering additional rebates of up to $1,500 for a vehicle purchase and up to $1,000 to install a residential home charger or workplace-commercial charging station. The Go Electric Oregon website encourages buyers to “stack” government incentives to obtain more than $16,500 to use for the purchase of a ZEV. According to Oregon Public Broadcasting, taxpayers have already subsidized the purchase of electric vehicles (at an average cost of $66,000) to the tune of $55 million. One 2018 estimate puts the average income of an electric vehicle driver at $150,000 compared to the U.S. average of $63,000. In May, the Oregon Department of Transportation committed to spending $100 million in federal and state funds over the next five years to expand Oregon’s EV charging infrastructure. The transition to ZEVs seems to overlook increasing concern over their environmental impact and national security implications. Making ZEV batteries requires the use of fossil fuels to process ore and extract minerals, including lithium, cobalt, nickel, copper, and graphite. They also require steel, aluminum, plastic, and other materials. The extraction and processing of these minerals are dominated by China and the Democratic Republic of Congo. According to Bloomberg, China controls 80 percent of the market for EV batteries. The push to convert to ZEVs will also create challenges to the electrical grid. In a 2018 analysis, energy economists at the University of Texas found that if California drivers were to go fully electric overnight, the state would need about 47 percent more electricity than it currently consumes. All the states that follow California’s emission standards will face similar challenges. But California’s electrical grid is already strained and Oregon’s faces uncertainty. With a heatwave looming, California’s grid operator issued an alert on Aug. 31, urging residents to avoid using large appliances and charging electric vehicles between 4 p.m. and 9 p.m. over the Labor Day weekend. “Lowering electricity use during that time will ease strain on the system, and prevent more drastic measures, including rotating power outages,” the alert reads. Oregon Gov. Kate Brown has supported removing or breaching the Lower Snake River Dams to protect fish populations. Carbon-free hydropower from dams makes up 45 percent of the electricity used in Oregon. https://www.breitbart.com/sports/2022/08/31/report-20-mlb-teams-promote-fund-groups-perform-child-sex-change-operations/ Report: 20 MLB Teams ‘Promote or Fund’ Groups that Perform Child Sex Change Operations The magazine reviewed the causes and organizations to which these teams are handing out millions of dollars in donations and found that many support sex-change surgery, hormone treatments, and other dangerous procedures for “transitioning” teens and pre-teens. National Review found that almost every team in the league “promote or fund groups that encourage or provide sex-change procedures and gender-transition hormone treatment for minors as young as 12. Other organizations promote ‘social transitions’ — i.e., nonmedical changes in ‘gender expression,’ including the adoption of new names, pronouns, and clothing — for children as young as three.” Much of the support these teams are lending is organized under the rubric of the widespread LGBTQ “Pride Nights” that the league pushes. Along with the yearly events in the stadiums, the teams also donate money to a number of advocacy groups — usually local groups, but often national groups, as well. The Detroit Tigers, for instance, support the Ruth Ellis Center and Corktown Health in Detroit, the magazine noted. At the checkout page for tickets to the Pride Night game, the Tigers website offered ‘a chance to support a local Pride organization of your choice,’ with a drop-down menu that included LGBT-focused clinics such as the Ruth Ellis Center and Corktown Health, both of which perform medical gender transitions on minors. On top of masculinizing and feminizing drugs, at least one — the Ruth Ellis Center — included irreversible ‘gender affirming surgery’ in its suite of ‘transition care for transgender youth’ options. Another charity promoted by the Tigers, the Trans Sistas of Color Project, was actively funding groups such as ‘Trans Minors Rights,’ which ‘advocates for empowering transgender youth to make their own decisions regarding puberty blockers’ — i.e., ‘without requiring the consent of a parent.’ (The group’s tagline: ‘Unblock blockers.’) The magazine noted that the Tigers are only one example and that the MLB “Pride Resource Guide” promotes a long list of “social justice” groups that also push transgenderism on kids. The report found that five teams promoted groups that push dangerous surgeries on trans kids, including the Detroit Tigers, the Boston Red Sox, the Milwaukee Brewers, Tampa Bay Rays, and the Cleveland Guardians. Four teams partner with organizations that provide counseling and referrals to youths for such medical procedures. That list includes the L.A. Dodgers, Pittsburgh Pirates, San Diego Padres, and the Oakland As. And another five teams promote groups that offer guides and promotion of the transgender lifestyle, including the Cincinnati Reds, Houston Astros, Arizona Diamondbacks, Philadelphia Phillies, and the Colorado Rockies. Finally, six teams support groups that have lobbyists for the trans cause and otherwise advocate for the transgender lifestyle. Those teams include the Chicago Cubs and White Sox, the L.A. Angels, Minnesota Twins, St. Louis Cardinals, and the Washington Nationals. “It’s a classic case of institutional capture by the Left,” the magazine concluded. It is up to the fans to speak out and urge the league to reverse course on this outrageous advocacy. Christ Church Events Coordinator Looking to move to Moscow? Christ Church is hiring a full-time events coordinator to plan and manage all events for our various ministries. Coordinators have to understand what it takes to make sure the logistics work out for our growing ministries, keep everything within the allocated budget and ensure that the event itself is carried out smoothly. For more information, Please contact Carson Sensing at csensing@christkirk.com if you are interested in applying Psalm of the Day: Fight Laugh Feast Theme Song: To the Word sea shanty To the Testimony and Law, To the Word, to Word we go; If they don’t speak this word, they have no light at all; Bend, break, burn, and blow. 0:00-1:07 Amen! This is Toby Sumpter with CrossPolitic News. Remember you can always find the links to our news stories and these psalms at crosspolitic dot com – just click on the daily news brief and follow the links. Or find them on our App: just search “Fight Laugh Feast” in your favorite app store and never miss a show. We are now doing a daily show, with daily backstage content for Fight Laugh Feast Club Member. Join today and get access as well as a $100 discount at the Fight Laugh Feast conference in Knoxville, TN Oct. 6-8, and have a great day.

Biden Administration colluding with social media, Gov. Abbot of Texas bussing illegal immigrants to Chicago, Oregon tells California to hold its beer on electric cars… … and more on today’s CrossPolitic Daily News Brief. My name is Toby Sumpter and today is Friday, September 2, 2022. Blue Ridge Reformed Church, a potential CREC church plant in the Roanoke Valley, will begin worship services on Sunday September 4th at 6:00 p.m. They are located at 6032 Cloverdale Rd, Roanoke, VA 24019. For more information folks can check out our website blueridgereformed.org https://www.theepochtimes.com/over-50-biden-administration-employees-12-us-agencies-involved-in-social-media-censorship-push-documents_4704349.html?utm_source=partner&utm_campaign=BonginoReport Over 50 Biden Administration Employees, 12 US Agencies Involved in Social Media Censorship Push: Documents Over 50 officials in President Joe Biden’s administration across a dozen agencies have been involved with efforts to pressure Big Techcompanies to crack down on alleged misinformation, according to documents released on Aug. 31. Senior officials in the U.S. government, including White House lawyer Dana Remus, deputy assistant to the president Rob Flaherty, and onetime White House senior COVID-19 adviser Andy Slavitt, have been in touch with one or more major social media companies to try to get the companies to tighten rules on allegedly false and misleading information on COVID-19, and take action against users who violate the rules, the documents show. In July 2021, for instance, after Biden said that Facebook was “killing people” by not combating misinformation effectively, an executive at Meta reached out to Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, a Biden appointee, to say that government and Meta teams met after the remarks “to better understand the scope of what the White House expects from us on misinformation going forward.” The same executive later wrote to Murthy saying, “I wanted to make sure you saw the steps we took just this past week to adjust policies on what we are removing with respect to misinformation, as well as steps taken to further address the ‘disinfo dozen,'” including removing pages linked to the group. The White House publicly pressured social media companies to take action against a group officials dubbed the “disinformation dozen,” which a nonprofit claimed were producing the bulk of “anti-vaccine misinformation” on the platforms. Also in July 2021, Murthy said Facebook had not done enough to combat misinformation. Rob Flaherty, director of digital strategy for the White House, told Slavitt and others in April 2021 that White House staff would be briefed by Twitter “on vaccine misinfo,” with the meeting including “ways the White House (and our COVID experts) can partner in product work,” according to one of the messages. In another exchange that year, a Department of Treasury official working on “mis, dis, and mal-information” told Meta workers that the deputy treasury secretary wanted to talk about “potential influence operations.” In a text in February 2021, meanwhile, U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Director Jen Easterly, wrote to another agency official that she was “trying to get us in a place where Fed can work with platforms to better understand the mis/dis trends so relevant agencies can try to prebunk/debunk as useful.” The documents were part of a preliminary production in a lawsuitlevied against the government by the attorneys general of Missouri and Louisiana, later joined by experts maligned by federal officials. “If there was ever any doubt the federal government was behind censorship of Americans who dared to dissent from official Covid messaging, that doubt has been erased,” Jenin Younes, a lawyer with the New Civil Liberties Alliance who is representing some of the plaintiffs in the case, said in a statement. “The shocking extent of the government’s involvement in silencing Americans, through coercing social-media companies, has now been revealed.” Club Membership Plug: Let’s stop and take a moment to talk about Fight Laugh Feast Club membership. By joining the Fight Laugh Feast Army, not only will you be aiding in our fight to take down secular & legacy media; but you’ll also get access to content placed in our Club Portal, such as past shows, all of our conference talks, and EXCLUSIVE content for club members that you won’t be able to find anywhere else. Lastly, you’ll also get discounts for our conferences… so if you’ve got $10 bucks a month to kick over our way, you can sign up now at flfnetwork.com https://www.theepochtimes.com/texas-gov-greg-abbott-begins-busing-illegal-immigrants-to-chicago_4703681.html?utm_source=partner&utm_campaign=BonginoReport Texas Gov. Greg Abbott Begins Busing Illegal Immigrants to Chicago Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Wednesday said that illegal aliens apprehended along the U.S.-Mexico border are now being bused to Chicago in addition to New York City and Washington. Abbott said his strategy to bus illegal immigrants from Texas to the Democrat-led sanctuary cities makes a strategic point about the impact of President Joe Biden’s “open border policies” on American communities. “President Biden’s inaction at our southern border continues putting the lives of Texans—and Americans—at risk and is overwhelming our communities,” the Republican governor said in a statement. “To continue providing much-needed relief to our small, overrun border towns, Chicago will join fellow sanctuary cities Washington, D.C. and New York City as an additional drop-off location.” Acknowledging Chicago’s sanctuary city policies, Abbott said Mayor Lori Lightfoot “loves to tout” that her city welcomes illegal immigrants as a matter of “responsibility.” “I look forward to seeing this responsibility in action as these migrants receive resources from a sanctuary city with the capacity to serve them,” Abbott said. Chicago Calls Busing Program ‘Racist’ The Chicago mayor’s office confirmed that around 60 illegal aliens arrived at Union Square from Texas on Wednesday night and were being provided with essential services while they “navigate the next steps of their journey.” “As a city we are doing everything we can to ensure these immigrants and their families receive shelter, food, and most importantly protection,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “This is not new; Chicago welcomes hundreds of migrants every year to our city and provides much-needed assistance.” The spokesperson also accused Abbott of having no “shame or humanity” and described the busing program as “racist practices.” The mayors of Washington and New York City, Muriel Bowser and Eric Adams, have also criticized the busing program, calling it a political stunt. But Abbott has said the illegal immigrants voluntarily chose to go to their cities where there is more capacity to serve them. The Texas governor first directed the Texas Division of Emergency Management in April to charter buses to transport illegal immigrants who claimed asylum when apprehended along the U.S.-Mexico border to Washington. New York City was added as a second drop-off location in August. Since then, more than 8,900 illegal aliens have been bused out of Texas to those cities, providing “much-needed relief to Texas’ overwhelmed border communities,” according to Abbott’s office. Overwhelmed with the influx of illegal aliens arriving from Texas, Bowser has twice asked the Biden administration to deploy National Guard personnel to help her city cope. Both requests were denied. Lightfoot signed Chicago’s “Welcoming City Ordinance” measure in February 2021 to strengthen the city’s sanctuary policies, which prevented local police from cooperating with federal immigration authorities. “Chicago has been a welcoming city and a city of immigrants since its very founding, and proudly so,” Lightfoot said at the time. Abbott’s office noted that under this policy Chicago doesn’t deny city services to individuals based on their immigration status. “With its ‘Welcoming City Ordinance’ making it a sanctuary city, Chicago will not deny city services to individuals based on their immigration status. The city also does not require local police to cooperate with federal immigration authorities,” Abbott’s office said. Abbott promised to keep busing illegal aliens to so-called sanctuary cities until the Biden administration “does its job” to secure the border. Redballoon Not so long ago, the American dream was alive and well. Employees who worked hard were rewarded, and employers looked for people who could do the job, not for people who had the right political views. RedBalloon.work is a job site designed to get us back to what made American businesses successful: free speech, hard work, and having fun. If you are a free speech employer who wants to hire employees who focus on their work and not identity politics, then post a job on RedBalloon. If you are an employee who is being censored at work or is being forced to comply with the current zeitgeist, post your resume on RedBalloon and look for a new job. redballoon.work, the job site where free speech is still alive! www.redballoon.work https://www.theepochtimes.com/oregon-to-join-california-in-move-to-ban-gas-powered-vehicle-sales_4704534.html?utm_source=partner&utm_campaign=BonginoReport Oregon to Join California in Move to Ban Gas-Powered Vehicle Sales Oregon has joined a list of more than a dozen states vowing to follow California’s lead in banning the sale of new gas-powered vehicles by 2035. The move comes as California urges residents to not charge their electric vehicles during a heatwave to avoid straining the electrical grid. An Oregon Department of Environmental Quality advisory committee is now in the process of creating what it calls “Advanced Clean Cars II Rules,” which will guide the state toward that new goal. California announced on Aug. 24 that it would begin to phase out gas-powered vehicles beginning in 2026, when 35 percent of all passenger vehicles and light duty trucks sold in the state must be zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs). With an anticipated increase of nearly 8 percent annually, the state has vowed that 100 percent of all vehicles sold in California will be ZEVs by 2035. Oregon aims to follow suit. “The transportation sector accounts for more than 40 percent of Oregon’s greenhouse gas emissions,” the Oregon Department of Energy said in a statement. “Moving to cleaner, alternative fuel transportation options, like zero-emission vehicles, can reduce those harmful Green House Gases (GHGs) and help Oregon reach its climate goals.” Oregon had already been working toward a goal set by its legislature in 2019 to have 250,000 registered ZEVs in the state by 2025. As of April, there were approximately 50,000 ZEVs on Oregon roads, falling well short of the pace to meet that goal in the first three years. “We’re committed to getting more electric vehicles [EVs] on Oregon’s roads and 50,000 registered EVs is a major milestone,” said Amanda Pietz, administrator of the Oregon Department of Transportation’s Climate Office. “EVs make up about 8 percent of new cars, trucks, and SUVs sold in Oregon, and we’ll support that growing market through partnerships to build out EV charging stations along major roads and in Oregon’s communities.” The state will also “support” that market by banning gas-powered vehicles and using taxpayer-funded subsidies to prime the pump. Oregon offers as much as $7,500 in taxpayer-funded rebates on top of the federal tax credit of $7,500 toward the purchase of a ZEV. Utilities in the state are offering additional rebates of up to $1,500 for a vehicle purchase and up to $1,000 to install a residential home charger or workplace-commercial charging station. The Go Electric Oregon website encourages buyers to “stack” government incentives to obtain more than $16,500 to use for the purchase of a ZEV. According to Oregon Public Broadcasting, taxpayers have already subsidized the purchase of electric vehicles (at an average cost of $66,000) to the tune of $55 million. One 2018 estimate puts the average income of an electric vehicle driver at $150,000 compared to the U.S. average of $63,000. In May, the Oregon Department of Transportation committed to spending $100 million in federal and state funds over the next five years to expand Oregon’s EV charging infrastructure. The transition to ZEVs seems to overlook increasing concern over their environmental impact and national security implications. Making ZEV batteries requires the use of fossil fuels to process ore and extract minerals, including lithium, cobalt, nickel, copper, and graphite. They also require steel, aluminum, plastic, and other materials. The extraction and processing of these minerals are dominated by China and the Democratic Republic of Congo. According to Bloomberg, China controls 80 percent of the market for EV batteries. The push to convert to ZEVs will also create challenges to the electrical grid. In a 2018 analysis, energy economists at the University of Texas found that if California drivers were to go fully electric overnight, the state would need about 47 percent more electricity than it currently consumes. All the states that follow California’s emission standards will face similar challenges. But California’s electrical grid is already strained and Oregon’s faces uncertainty. With a heatwave looming, California’s grid operator issued an alert on Aug. 31, urging residents to avoid using large appliances and charging electric vehicles between 4 p.m. and 9 p.m. over the Labor Day weekend. “Lowering electricity use during that time will ease strain on the system, and prevent more drastic measures, including rotating power outages,” the alert reads. Oregon Gov. Kate Brown has supported removing or breaching the Lower Snake River Dams to protect fish populations. Carbon-free hydropower from dams makes up 45 percent of the electricity used in Oregon. https://www.breitbart.com/sports/2022/08/31/report-20-mlb-teams-promote-fund-groups-perform-child-sex-change-operations/ Report: 20 MLB Teams ‘Promote or Fund’ Groups that Perform Child Sex Change Operations The magazine reviewed the causes and organizations to which these teams are handing out millions of dollars in donations and found that many support sex-change surgery, hormone treatments, and other dangerous procedures for “transitioning” teens and pre-teens. National Review found that almost every team in the league “promote or fund groups that encourage or provide sex-change procedures and gender-transition hormone treatment for minors as young as 12. Other organizations promote ‘social transitions’ — i.e., nonmedical changes in ‘gender expression,’ including the adoption of new names, pronouns, and clothing — for children as young as three.” Much of the support these teams are lending is organized under the rubric of the widespread LGBTQ “Pride Nights” that the league pushes. Along with the yearly events in the stadiums, the teams also donate money to a number of advocacy groups — usually local groups, but often national groups, as well. The Detroit Tigers, for instance, support the Ruth Ellis Center and Corktown Health in Detroit, the magazine noted. At the checkout page for tickets to the Pride Night game, the Tigers website offered ‘a chance to support a local Pride organization of your choice,’ with a drop-down menu that included LGBT-focused clinics such as the Ruth Ellis Center and Corktown Health, both of which perform medical gender transitions on minors. On top of masculinizing and feminizing drugs, at least one — the Ruth Ellis Center — included irreversible ‘gender affirming surgery’ in its suite of ‘transition care for transgender youth’ options. Another charity promoted by the Tigers, the Trans Sistas of Color Project, was actively funding groups such as ‘Trans Minors Rights,’ which ‘advocates for empowering transgender youth to make their own decisions regarding puberty blockers’ — i.e., ‘without requiring the consent of a parent.’ (The group’s tagline: ‘Unblock blockers.’) The magazine noted that the Tigers are only one example and that the MLB “Pride Resource Guide” promotes a long list of “social justice” groups that also push transgenderism on kids. The report found that five teams promoted groups that push dangerous surgeries on trans kids, including the Detroit Tigers, the Boston Red Sox, the Milwaukee Brewers, Tampa Bay Rays, and the Cleveland Guardians. Four teams partner with organizations that provide counseling and referrals to youths for such medical procedures. That list includes the L.A. Dodgers, Pittsburgh Pirates, San Diego Padres, and the Oakland As. And another five teams promote groups that offer guides and promotion of the transgender lifestyle, including the Cincinnati Reds, Houston Astros, Arizona Diamondbacks, Philadelphia Phillies, and the Colorado Rockies. Finally, six teams support groups that have lobbyists for the trans cause and otherwise advocate for the transgender lifestyle. Those teams include the Chicago Cubs and White Sox, the L.A. Angels, Minnesota Twins, St. Louis Cardinals, and the Washington Nationals. “It’s a classic case of institutional capture by the Left,” the magazine concluded. It is up to the fans to speak out and urge the league to reverse course on this outrageous advocacy. Christ Church Events Coordinator Looking to move to Moscow? Christ Church is hiring a full-time events coordinator to plan and manage all events for our various ministries. Coordinators have to understand what it takes to make sure the logistics work out for our growing ministries, keep everything within the allocated budget and ensure that the event itself is carried out smoothly. For more information, Please contact Carson Sensing at csensing@christkirk.com if you are interested in applying Psalm of the Day: Fight Laugh Feast Theme Song: To the Word sea shanty To the Testimony and Law, To the Word, to Word we go; If they don’t speak this word, they have no light at all; Bend, break, burn, and blow. 0:00-1:07 Amen! This is Toby Sumpter with CrossPolitic News. Remember you can always find the links to our news stories and these psalms at crosspolitic dot com – just click on the daily news brief and follow the links. Or find them on our App: just search “Fight Laugh Feast” in your favorite app store and never miss a show. We are now doing a daily show, with daily backstage content for Fight Laugh Feast Club Member. Join today and get access as well as a $100 discount at the Fight Laugh Feast conference in Knoxville, TN Oct. 6-8, and have a great day.

Biden’s Inflation Expansion Act is already helping prices rise… abortion bans going into effect around the country, and we take a moment to remember the Kenosha riots from 2 years ago this week. … and more on today’s CrossPolitic Daily News Brief. My name is Toby Sumpter and today is Friday, August 25, 2022. Blue Ridge Reformed Church, a potential CREC church plant in the Roanoke Valley, will begin worship services on Sunday September 4th at 6:00 p.m. We are located at 6032 Cloverdale Rd, Roanoke, VA 24019. For more information folks can check out our website blueridgereformed.org New Saint Andrews: Today’s culture shifts like sand. But New Saint Andrews College is established on Christ, the immovable rock. It is a premier institution that forges evangelical leaders who don’t fear or hate the world. Guided by God’s Word, they take the world back because they’re equipped with the genius of classical liberal arts and God-honoring wisdom, thanks to a faculty dedicated to academic rigor and to God’s kingdom.Find out more, at nsa.edu/ Right after Biden signed His solve all the problems of the world bill that included $7500 tax credits for electric cars, electric car companies announced they were hiking prices by about $8500 per vehicle. https://twitter.com/SenJoniErnst/status/1562802194117804032?s=20&t=hD4XXHk0AqhO2wyrNaWuTw Play audio: Classic. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/abortion-trigger-bans-just-went-into-effect-in-3-more-states_n_63066ebee4b00c150d67552a Trigger bans went into effect in Idaho, Tennessee and Texas overnight on Thursday, bringing the number of states where abortion has become illegal or been severely restricted to 14 since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. So-called trigger bans are state laws that were created to automatically ban abortion if Roe fell at the federal level. Many such bans, including in Kentucky, Louisiana and South Dakota, automatically went into effect as soon as Roe was repealed in late June. Others required 30 days or further certification from the state’s attorney general before they could go into effect. Abortion was already outlawed after the six-week point in Tennessee and Idaho, and Texas had a pre-Roe ban in effect with no exceptions for rape or incest. Laws in each state required a specific amount of time to pass after the repeal of Roe for the trigger bans to take effect. Now, abortion is completely banned at any point in pregnancy in Tennessee with vague exceptions for the life or health of the pregnant person. In Idaho, a near-total abortion ban is also in effect, carrying a punishment of up to five years in prison for any physician who performs an abortion outside of the law’s narrow exceptions. The Texas trigger law doesn’t change who can seek an abortion in the state, but it further criminalizes abortion by threatening physicians who perform the procedure with life in prison and a $100,000 fine. There are no abortion exceptions for rape or incest in Tennessee or Texas. Idaho’s trigger ban does include exceptions for rape or incest, but it requires victims to report the crime to law enforcement before obtaining a legal abortion. Idaho’s law also has exceptions if the pregnant person’s life or health is at risk. The Department of Justice sued the state of Idaho over its six-week trigger ban earlier this month, arguing that it’s in direct violation of federal law because the restriction does not comply with the 1986 Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act. The EMTALA statute requires that all patients receive appropriate medical care and stabilizing treatment in an emergency situation ― including patients who need abortion care when the life or health of the pregnant person is at risk. Idaho’s trigger law originally only made an exception if the life of the pregnant person is at risk, but not if the health of a pregnant person is threatened. An Idaho judge ruled late Wednesday that physicians in the state couldn’t be punished for providing abortion care to protect the health of a pregnant person. North Dakota’s trigger ban will go into effect Friday if no court action is taken. Indiana’s near-total abortion ban — the first anti-choice legislation to pass since Roe’s demise — will take effect on Sept. 15. And an anti-abortion measure in Arizona is set to go into effect on Sept. 24, but the state attorney general requested the courts consider an even stricter ban. FLF Conference Plug: Folks, our upcoming Fight Laugh Feast Conference is just under 6 weeks away from happening in Knoxville TN, October 6-8! Don't miss beer & psalms, our amazing lineup of speakers which includes George Gilder, Jared Longshore, Pastor Wilson, Dr. Ben Merkle, Pastor Toby, and we can’t say yet…also dont miss our awesome vendors, meeting new friends, and stuff for the kids too…like jumpy castles and accidental infant baptisms! Also, did you know, you can save money, by signing up for a Club Membership. So, go to FightLaughFeast.com and sign up for a club membership and then register for the conference with that club discount. We can’t wait to fellowship, sing Psalms, and celebrate God’s goodness in Knoxville October 6-8. The Riots in Kenosha, WI happened Two Years ago: https://twitter.com/BGOnTheScene/status/1562553560713203712?s=20&t=hD4XXHk0AqhO2wyrNaWuTw This is what happens when we abandon biblical justice. Play: 0:00-0:30 https://justthenews.com/government/courts-law/appeals-court-rules-gender-dysphoria-covered-under-americans-disabilities-act/ An appeals court this week ruled that "gender dysphoria" is covered by the Americans With Disabilities Act, a decision which could significantly expand protections for transgender-identifying individuals throughout the United States. Gender dysphoria is a medical condition in which individuals feel an incongruence between their sex and their self-perceived "gender identity." The classification of the syndrome has gone through several revisions within the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. A panel at the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va., earlier this month became the country's first federal appellate court to rule that the condition is covered under the Americans With Disabilities Act, a 1990 law that dictates protections and privileges for disabled Americans around the country. The ruling came after an individual who identifies as a "transgender woman" brought a lawsuit against a Virginia sheriff when the individual in question was housed with male prisoners after being arrested. This will be interesting to watch because Christians and conservatives have historically been really bad at reading this play well. Homosexuality was once considered a disability or psychological disorder, but that was actually the first step towards acceptance. Calling sin a disorder or sickness is often a way to downplay personal culpability and guilt and a way to garner compassion and sympathy. Pedophilia is currenlty being pedaled like this – sorry “minor attracted persons.” The same thing with alcoholism, but the Bible calls it idolatrous drunkenness. You worship the false god of the bottle. As is a lot of addiction language. Porn addiction is really idolatrous lust. You worship sexual perversion. Remember, naming is powerful. Naming is cosmic. The first battle is over the dictionary. Who gets to define what words mean? This is why the pronouns matter. This is why we should continue to resist calling dudes making vows “marriage.” It isn’t a marriage, any more than a dude in a dress is a woman. Fight Laugh Feast Theme Song: Come Men of Christ Be STrong 0:00-1:10 Amen! This is Toby Sumpter with CrossPolitic News. Remember you can always find the links to our news stories and these psalms at crosspolitic dot com – just click on the daily news brief and follow the links. Or find them on our App: just search “Fight Laugh Feast” in your favorite app store and never miss a show. We are now doing a daily show, with daily backstage content for Fight Laugh Feast Club Member. Join today and get access as well as a $100 discount at the Fight Laugh Feast conference in Knoxville, TN Oct. 6-8, and have a great day.

Biden’s Inflation Expansion Act is already helping prices rise… abortion bans going into effect around the country, and we take a moment to remember the Kenosha riots from 2 years ago this week. … and more on today’s CrossPolitic Daily News Brief. My name is Toby Sumpter and today is Friday, August 25, 2022. Blue Ridge Reformed Church, a potential CREC church plant in the Roanoke Valley, will begin worship services on Sunday September 4th at 6:00 p.m. We are located at 6032 Cloverdale Rd, Roanoke, VA 24019. For more information folks can check out our website blueridgereformed.org New Saint Andrews: Today’s culture shifts like sand. But New Saint Andrews College is established on Christ, the immovable rock. It is a premier institution that forges evangelical leaders who don’t fear or hate the world. Guided by God’s Word, they take the world back because they’re equipped with the genius of classical liberal arts and God-honoring wisdom, thanks to a faculty dedicated to academic rigor and to God’s kingdom.Find out more, at nsa.edu/ Right after Biden signed His solve all the problems of the world bill that included $7500 tax credits for electric cars, electric car companies announced they were hiking prices by about $8500 per vehicle. https://twitter.com/SenJoniErnst/status/1562802194117804032?s=20&t=hD4XXHk0AqhO2wyrNaWuTw Play audio: Classic. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/abortion-trigger-bans-just-went-into-effect-in-3-more-states_n_63066ebee4b00c150d67552a Trigger bans went into effect in Idaho, Tennessee and Texas overnight on Thursday, bringing the number of states where abortion has become illegal or been severely restricted to 14 since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. So-called trigger bans are state laws that were created to automatically ban abortion if Roe fell at the federal level. Many such bans, including in Kentucky, Louisiana and South Dakota, automatically went into effect as soon as Roe was repealed in late June. Others required 30 days or further certification from the state’s attorney general before they could go into effect. Abortion was already outlawed after the six-week point in Tennessee and Idaho, and Texas had a pre-Roe ban in effect with no exceptions for rape or incest. Laws in each state required a specific amount of time to pass after the repeal of Roe for the trigger bans to take effect. Now, abortion is completely banned at any point in pregnancy in Tennessee with vague exceptions for the life or health of the pregnant person. In Idaho, a near-total abortion ban is also in effect, carrying a punishment of up to five years in prison for any physician who performs an abortion outside of the law’s narrow exceptions. The Texas trigger law doesn’t change who can seek an abortion in the state, but it further criminalizes abortion by threatening physicians who perform the procedure with life in prison and a $100,000 fine. There are no abortion exceptions for rape or incest in Tennessee or Texas. Idaho’s trigger ban does include exceptions for rape or incest, but it requires victims to report the crime to law enforcement before obtaining a legal abortion. Idaho’s law also has exceptions if the pregnant person’s life or health is at risk. The Department of Justice sued the state of Idaho over its six-week trigger ban earlier this month, arguing that it’s in direct violation of federal law because the restriction does not comply with the 1986 Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act. The EMTALA statute requires that all patients receive appropriate medical care and stabilizing treatment in an emergency situation ― including patients who need abortion care when the life or health of the pregnant person is at risk. Idaho’s trigger law originally only made an exception if the life of the pregnant person is at risk, but not if the health of a pregnant person is threatened. An Idaho judge ruled late Wednesday that physicians in the state couldn’t be punished for providing abortion care to protect the health of a pregnant person. North Dakota’s trigger ban will go into effect Friday if no court action is taken. Indiana’s near-total abortion ban — the first anti-choice legislation to pass since Roe’s demise — will take effect on Sept. 15. And an anti-abortion measure in Arizona is set to go into effect on Sept. 24, but the state attorney general requested the courts consider an even stricter ban. FLF Conference Plug: Folks, our upcoming Fight Laugh Feast Conference is just under 6 weeks away from happening in Knoxville TN, October 6-8! Don't miss beer & psalms, our amazing lineup of speakers which includes George Gilder, Jared Longshore, Pastor Wilson, Dr. Ben Merkle, Pastor Toby, and we can’t say yet…also dont miss our awesome vendors, meeting new friends, and stuff for the kids too…like jumpy castles and accidental infant baptisms! Also, did you know, you can save money, by signing up for a Club Membership. So, go to FightLaughFeast.com and sign up for a club membership and then register for the conference with that club discount. We can’t wait to fellowship, sing Psalms, and celebrate God’s goodness in Knoxville October 6-8. The Riots in Kenosha, WI happened Two Years ago: https://twitter.com/BGOnTheScene/status/1562553560713203712?s=20&t=hD4XXHk0AqhO2wyrNaWuTw This is what happens when we abandon biblical justice. Play: 0:00-0:30 https://justthenews.com/government/courts-law/appeals-court-rules-gender-dysphoria-covered-under-americans-disabilities-act/ An appeals court this week ruled that "gender dysphoria" is covered by the Americans With Disabilities Act, a decision which could significantly expand protections for transgender-identifying individuals throughout the United States. Gender dysphoria is a medical condition in which individuals feel an incongruence between their sex and their self-perceived "gender identity." The classification of the syndrome has gone through several revisions within the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. A panel at the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va., earlier this month became the country's first federal appellate court to rule that the condition is covered under the Americans With Disabilities Act, a 1990 law that dictates protections and privileges for disabled Americans around the country. The ruling came after an individual who identifies as a "transgender woman" brought a lawsuit against a Virginia sheriff when the individual in question was housed with male prisoners after being arrested. This will be interesting to watch because Christians and conservatives have historically been really bad at reading this play well. Homosexuality was once considered a disability or psychological disorder, but that was actually the first step towards acceptance. Calling sin a disorder or sickness is often a way to downplay personal culpability and guilt and a way to garner compassion and sympathy. Pedophilia is currenlty being pedaled like this – sorry “minor attracted persons.” The same thing with alcoholism, but the Bible calls it idolatrous drunkenness. You worship the false god of the bottle. As is a lot of addiction language. Porn addiction is really idolatrous lust. You worship sexual perversion. Remember, naming is powerful. Naming is cosmic. The first battle is over the dictionary. Who gets to define what words mean? This is why the pronouns matter. This is why we should continue to resist calling dudes making vows “marriage.” It isn’t a marriage, any more than a dude in a dress is a woman. Fight Laugh Feast Theme Song: Come Men of Christ Be STrong 0:00-1:10 Amen! This is Toby Sumpter with CrossPolitic News. Remember you can always find the links to our news stories and these psalms at crosspolitic dot com – just click on the daily news brief and follow the links. Or find them on our App: just search “Fight Laugh Feast” in your favorite app store and never miss a show. 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