VOA CONNECT
EPISODE 77
AIR DATE 07 05 2019
TRANSCRIPT
OPEN ((VO/NAT))
((Banner))
Working for Debt
((SOT))
((Eddy Encinales, Borrower))
All I wanted to do, I went to high school. I got good grades. I worked hard to get into a good college. But then, it just cost me so much, so much money. But I feel like there has to be another way.
((Animation Transition))
((Banner))
Getting Connected
((SOT))
((Terri Giles, Appalachian Headwaters))
We're five miles, six miles outside of a little town, with a little townhouse broadband. But, you get five miles down the road, and you don't.
((Animation Transition))
((Banner))
Jazzing Out
((SOT))
((James Samuel Harris, Sr., Twin Cities Living Legend, Musician & Singer))
I zone out. I start getting into what I'm doing. I just got my little thing that I can do and I just do it.
((Open Animation))
BLOCK A
((PKG)) STUDENT LOANS
((Banner: Student Loans))
((Reporter/Camera: Deepak Dobhal))
((Map: Washington, D.C. Area))
((NATS))
((Al Green,Chair, Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations))
Good morning everyone.
The Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee will come to order. The title of today's hearing is An Examination of State Efforts to Oversee the More than $1.5 Trillion Dollar Student Loan Servicing Market. According to the Federal Reserve, Americans owe over one-and-a-half trillion dollars in student loan debt.
((NATS))
((Pop-Up Banner: Nearly 45 million Americans have student debt. The average loan is $30,000))
((Eddy Encinales, Borrower))
I've heard numerous hearings about student loan and student loan issues. They approach the issue from different angles but somehow nothing gets done and nothing happens. So, its frustrating.
((NATS))
((Eddy Encinales, Borrower))
Something about this system is broken.
((Eddy Encinales, Borrower))
It just seems unfair that even though, as I said,education seems to be the great equalizer, right now, I just feel, it feels so unequal for me.
((NATS))
((Eddy Encinales, Borrower))
All I wanted to do, I went to high school. I got good grades. I worked hard to get into a good college. I didn't fail out of college. I didnt party my way out of college. I just went there, got an education, made friends, made connections, did everything that they tell you to do by the book. But then, it just cost me so much, so much money. And I'm not saying that I regret the education that I received, because I don't. I think, they were great years. But I feel like there has to be another way. There has to be a way where people like me don't have to suffer this much.
((NATS))
((Eddy Encinales, Borrower))
When I'm coming home from work and seeing everybody kind of pass by, the families with their kids, I think about me and when that will be a possibility.
((NATS))
((Eddy Encinales, Borrower))
I am 27 years old and I still have 16 years to pay my loans because I have the 20-year repayment plan which guarantees the lower payments which are what I can afford right now. And this means that I'm going to end up finishing paying my loans when I'm 42 years old. So, that's not really when people want to get their starter home.
((NATS))
((Eddy Encinales, Borrower))
Also, marriage, you know, when will I get married. Me coming into, like a situation with all of these loans, would have an impact on my partner. So, I would want to minimize that as much as possible whenever I decide to get married. And also kids. Kids are expensive. So, if I'm paying like a small mortgage and loans, then how can I afford kids. And I would like to have kids and I would like to get married.
((NATS))
((Eddy Encinales, Borrower))
The loans are something that definitely hangs over my head and, kind of, affects how I approach certain situations and how much I want to delay those big decisions. And that's not even what's on my mind right now. What's on my mind right now is more grad school. But if I think further ahead, then obviously all those fears creep in about not being able to do certain things that will be good for me and good for my family, like having a home, you know.
((NATS))
((Eddy Encinales, Borrower))
I owe about 90,000 dollars in loans. Im paying, probably, 850 dollars as my monthly payment, and that is about a little less than a third of my salary.
((NATS))
((Eddy Encinales, Borrower))
I mean, those earrings are nice but they are, for sure, out of my budget. Its like 169 dollars for a pair of earrings. Thats too much, for sure. The other piece is that I have about 35,000 dollars that are under my name, but the bulk of my loans is under parent plus loans which are under my mom's name.
((NATS))
((Eddy Encinales, Borrower))
In the time that I graduated college, my mom and my dad divorced. Well, their family income, kind of, split in half. So, she's making, like, enough for herself, but she's not able to do more. There's also, like, she has all of these loans under her name, so her credit is maxed out. I often think about like, OK, you know, in two years if she ever wants to buy a house, what would that mean for her. My loans have an impact in her ability to buy a house. I feel guilt that because of the type of education that I wanted to get and because of the school that I wanted to go to, you know, she could potentially face financial burdens because of that.
((NATS))
((Eddy Encinales, Borrower))
It's hard for me and, I'm sure, it's hard for her even though she doesnt talk about it.
((NATS))
((Erika Chavez, Eddys Mother))
Well, I feel awful. Its horrible knowing that I'm not able to help my daughter with those horrible loans. And she's a good kid. She's been working really hard. She is a good student. And not having the option to give her money or to pay to help her to pay the debt is really bad. I feel bad.
((NATS))
((Eddy Encinales, Borrower))
I'm definitely not the only one in this situation. People in the States owe about 1.5 trillion dollars, trillion dollars in student loans. It's a huge problem. It's bigger than just me and me making quote/unquote, bad decisions.
((NATS))
((Eddy Encinales, Borrower))
Even though this is the reality of things, in my heart I still think that young people, no matter what their background is, should be able to access the education that they want to access. Like, education should not be a bad thing. Like, me going to a good school should not be a bad thing.
((NATS))
((Pop-Up Banner: U.S. student debt is more than the rest of the worlds combined))
TEASE ((VO/NAT))
Coming up..
((Banner))
Keeping Bees
((SOT))
((Mark Lilly, Appalachian Beekeeping Collective))))
I have a chair sitting down there or I just come sometimes and just sit down and watch them as they interact in and out of the boxes.
BREAK ONE
BUMP IN ((ANIM))
BLOCK B
((Banner: Rural Revival))
((PKG)) WEST VIRGINIA BEEKEEPERS
((Banner: New Careers))
((Reporter: Julie Taboh))
((Camera: Adam Greenbaum))
((Adapted by: Martin Secrest))
((Map: Hinton, West Virginia))
((NATS))
One, two, three. We probably have four boxes of honey, at least three boxes.
Yeah.
You already went through all these?
Yeah.
((Pop-Up Banner: Appalachian Beekeeping Collective was founded in 2017 to help locals learn a new trade))
((James Scyphers, Beekeeper))
They are the most fascinating animal Ive ever fooled with, insect Ive ever fooled with, and we learn something, or I do myself, every day. And its just so fascinating how perfectly they do it. It's just absolutely amazing.
((NATS))
((James Scyphers, Beekeeper))
I worked in the coal mines for 16 years. I bossed for 10 years in the mines and I'm on Social Security and a small miner's pension. And this has helped me a lot on extra things that I need to do for my family and it's helped me real real great, because I don't get a whole lot from Social Security. So, it's really helped me.
((NATS))
((Mark Lilly, Appalachian Beekeeping Collective))
A lot of these communities have been hit really hard with unemployment. For the past 30 years, I've watched them slowly die. So, you see the people now have, like, hopelessness, and I think we're the starting point, maybe, to bringing some hope to some of these communities.
((NATS))
Take it. Take you some of that, right there. There's a little bucket. Theres a little bucket over there.
((Terri Giles, Vice President, Appalachian Headwaters))
We train, equip, work with, mentor people in like, non-surrounding counties in southern West Virginia right now, how to be beekeepers. And it's something that touches us deeply in our DNA here, because we have a history of beekeeping in Central Appalachia. And so, it resonated with people that were very interested in becoming beekeepers.
((NATS))
((Cheryl Flanagan, Beekeeper))
Two months ago, I knew nothing about bees. Today, I am learning hand-in-hand with the master beekeeper and I am amazed. They are phenomenal. The drones, the workers, the queen is unbelievable.
((NATS))
((Cheryl Flanagan, Beekeeper))
There she is. You see the green dot? That's the queen. That is my queen right there.
((NATS))
((Cheryl Flanagan, Beekeeper))
And I do want to say that the honey that these bees make, it tastes different than anywhere else. It's got a smokier, richer, really deep flavor to it.
((NATS))
((Mark Lilly, Appalachian Beekeeping Collective))
This is the absolute best honey in the world. It's from the Appalachian area. We don't have any commercial farming in the area. No pesticides. Very little herbicide use.
((NATS))
((Mark Lilly, Appalachian Beekeeping Collective))
Everyone says there's this great psychological benefit. It's a step back in time. What we do hasn't changed a lot over the past couple of hundred years. It's something that many of the people in this part of the country used to see on their grandparents farm. So now, they're able to reconnect with their past by doing this.
((NATS))
Go ahead and cover it back right now.
((PKG)) WEST VIRGINIA CONNECTIVITY
((Banner: Connectivity))
((Reporter: Julie Taboh))
((Camera: Adam Greenbaum))
((Adapted by: Zdenko Novacki))
((Map: Summers County, West Virginia))
((NATS))
((Joe Brouse, New River Gorge Regional Development Authority))
The lack of broadband coverage and reliability in many parts of the state of West Virginia contributes to the challenges that we face in terms of economic development, recruiting business and improving the quality of life. Businesses expect it. Households expect it. If people want to live here, they need to have access. It's an aspect of being in the modern world.
((NATS))
((Fritz Boettner, Sprouting Farms))
In order to improve the bottom line for the farmer, we have to keep, what I would call, the food hub costs down. So, that's the cost of aggregation, distribution, marketing, all those things. And that needs to be self-sustainable itself. In order to do that, you have to use technology. And when I say technology, I mean using, like, cloud-based software systems that help manage your inventory producers, no matter where they are in your network, which stretches for 300 miles, and you need connectivity in order to do that. And I think in West Virginia, connectivity is a severe challenge.
((NATS))
((Ken Allman, Small Business Owner))
It's very difficult to operate a business without reliable broadband, without reliable mobile communications as well. The two really complement each other and you need them in order to function on a day to day basis.
((NATS))
((Terri Giles, Appalachian Headwaters))
We're five miles, six miles (8 10 km.) outside of a little town, with a little townhouse broadband. But, you get five miles down the road, and you don't. So, that's the challenge for us in order to expand and grow, that we need to have broadband and these things.
((NATS))
((Fritz Boettner, Sprouting Farms))
Right now, I would say, like, half of our farmers, maybe, do not have access to solid internet or even cell phone communication to make these types of transactions happen. If I'm thinking about the future and we're going to grow these farmers and they're going to be doing more, we want more farmers in the network, that connectivity issue needs to be dealt with.
((NATS))
((Ken Allman, Small Business Owner))
They say it's the last mile that makes the critical difference in a telecommunications infrastructure and it can make a huge difference. There's parts of our state where you might have broadband, but you don't have water. There's parts of our state where we have water, but you may not have broadband. It's important to have all these essential functions in order for commerce to take place.
((NATS))
TEASE ((VO/NAT))
Coming up..
((Banner))
Old School Jazz
((SOT))
((James Samuel Harris, Sr. Twin Cities Living Legend, Musician & Singer))
Music is a communication between a person that has been given a talent and they share it with other people.
BREAK TWO
BUMP IN ((ANIM))
BLOCK C
((Banner: Rural Revival))
((PKG)) VINYL REVIVAL
((VOA Ukrainian))
((Banner: Vinyl Revival))
((Reporter: Alina Golinata))
((Camera: Konstantin Golubchik))
((Adapted by: Zdenko Novacki))
((Map: Alexandria, Virginia))
((Banner: Vinyl records are now more popular than in decades, but still make less than 6% overall music sale))
((NATS))
((Eric Astor, Owner, Furnace Record Pressing))
Ive put everything I have into this to make it a success. In about 2013, the business, the industry got so busy that we decided, you know, for us to stay relevant and service our customers the way we want to service them and the way they were requesting, was we needed to add pressing here, in the States. So, that's when we started to look for new equipment.
((NATS))
((Eric Astor, Owner, Furnace Record Pressing))
At the time, there was no one making new pressing equipment. We sought out a company in Germany to help us manufacture high quality vinyl and we still work with them today.
((NATS))
((Eric Astor, Owner, Furnace Record Pressing))
We got a call from a gentleman in Mexico City, who had a bunch of presses in a storage shed. So, we said those are the same exact model, make and model of the ones that we use in Germany. We know that they press very good records. So, we brokered a deal to buy those from him.
((NATS))
((Eric Astor, Owner, Furnace Record Pressing))
The artists, for a long time, were told that they couldn't put out vinyl by the labels and, you know, they started to demand it. So, you know, when the artists are driving the format, that helps quite a bit as well.
((NATS))
((Eric Astor, Owner, Furnace Record Pressing))
It's collectable. There's a kind of, its little bit more special. You have larger graphics, you know. So, you can actually see what the artist is intending you to see and feel when you look at a record. So, you have your graphics. You have your liner notes. Its collectable. Some people collect different colors of vinyl.
((NATS))
((Mark Reiter, Director of Manufacturing Operations, Furnace Record Pressing))
It's very easy and is very easy to put digital music on and walk away from it to do something else. So, in some way, it doesn't beg for attention, and in that way, it becomes, for me, a little less special. A record requires you to be in the same room with it. You're tending to it. You have to flip it over. You can't just let it spin off, you know. So, it's a more, sort of, visceral, almost personal experience.
((NATS))
((Eric Astor, Owner, Furnace Record Pressing))
Its a great time to be a music fan, you know. Theres so many avenues to buy music and, I think, vinyl is the value add to all that. Its just better experience, better sound.
((NATS))
((PKG)) PIA - JAMES CORNBREAD HARRIS
((Banner: Sharing the Talent))
((Executive Producer: Marsha James))
((Camera: Kaveh Rezaei))
((Map: Minneapolis, Minnesota))
((NATS))
((James Samuel Harris, Sr., Musician & Singer))
Music is a communication between a person that has been given a talent and they share it with other people. Music is my gift from God.
((NATS))
((James Samuel Harris, Sr., Musician & Singer))
I zone out. I start getting into what I'm doing. I just got my little thing that I can do and I just do it.
((NATS))
((James Samuel Harris, Sr., Musician & Singer))
I am James Samuel Harris, Sr. I'm 91 years old and I am a musician.
((NATS))
((James Samuel Harris, Sr., Musician & Singer))
I started actually playing music, I would say, 21 years old. I was going around with friends and every time we'd go around a piano, we played whatever that is with the two fingers. I enjoyed doing it, but I did not enjoy practicing. But my grandparents that I ended up living with, decided I should have some culture, and music was the culture that they thought I should have.
((NATS))
((James Samuel Harris, Sr., Musician & Singer))
I went to the Schmitt Music when I got out of the army, and bought a guitar chord book, learning how to play the chords on the guitar. Well, I didn't play the guitar, I played the piano. So, I had to transpose guitar thing to the piano and I began to understand that the chord progression was the harmony to a melody.
((NATS))
((James Samuel Harris, Sr., Musician & Singer))
Then I could play a chord. Then I played the melody. I played the chord and then I could play the melody and the chord pretty soon. And so, I could start to play songs that I had never played before, never heard of. And I gradually learned how to read a little music and then I taught myself how to blend the two things in order to get a song to go out from me.
((NATS))
((James Samuel Harris, Sr., Musician & Singer))
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, OK. I wrote a song called Cornbread. And the song got, kind of, popular and instead of people asking me to play Cornbread, they would say, Cornbread, could you play your song? And so, I started to be called Cornbread.
((NATS))
((James Samuel Harris, Sr., Musician & Singer))
I don't have the radio on very much. So, I'm not too hip to the modern songs and the modern beats and the modern kids tunes and stuff. I'm still in the 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, the kind of music Im into. My ability is in the Blues, spiritual area. I'm still playing today. In fact, we're sitting in a venue and I play here every Friday.
((NATS))
((James Samuel Harris, Sr., Musician & Singer))
There's more talent in the universe that will be given to you, if you work at the talent that you have. My job, its not even a job no more. Its pleasing the people. I love playing music and I appreciate being appreciated.
((NATS))
NEXT WEEK / GOOD BYE ((VO/NAT))
((Banner))
In Coming weeks.
Music Therapy
((SOT))
((KATEY HERNANDEZ, LUCAS' MOTHER))
He is autistic and he has a lot of sensory processing sensitivities. Ms. Dixie has come up with a few songs to help him with social dialogue.
((NATS))
One, two, three, four.
((DIXIE MAZUR, MUSIC THERAPIST))
I brought in drums because drums are a great way to engage with others.
((NATS))
Its music time.
Hey, hey, hey! Ive got a question for you today.
CLOSING ((ANIM))
voanews.com/connect
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((NATS))
((Pop-Up captions over BRoll))
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May 16, 2017
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BREAK
BUMP IN ((ANIM))
SHOW ENDS
EPISODE 77
AIR DATE 07 05 2019
TRANSCRIPT
OPEN ((VO/NAT))
((Banner))
Working for Debt
((SOT))
((Eddy Encinales, Borrower))
All I wanted to do, I went to high school. I got good grades. I worked hard to get into a good college. But then, it just cost me so much, so much money. But I feel like there has to be another way.
((Animation Transition))
((Banner))
Getting Connected
((SOT))
((Terri Giles, Appalachian Headwaters))
We're five miles, six miles outside of a little town, with a little townhouse broadband. But, you get five miles down the road, and you don't.
((Animation Transition))
((Banner))
Jazzing Out
((SOT))
((James Samuel Harris, Sr., Twin Cities Living Legend, Musician & Singer))
I zone out. I start getting into what I'm doing. I just got my little thing that I can do and I just do it.
((Open Animation))
BLOCK A
((PKG)) STUDENT LOANS
((Banner: Student Loans))
((Reporter/Camera: Deepak Dobhal))
((Map: Washington, D.C. Area))
((NATS))
((Al Green,Chair, Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations))
Good morning everyone.
The Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee will come to order. The title of today's hearing is An Examination of State Efforts to Oversee the More than $1.5 Trillion Dollar Student Loan Servicing Market. According to the Federal Reserve, Americans owe over one-and-a-half trillion dollars in student loan debt.
((NATS))
((Pop-Up Banner: Nearly 45 million Americans have student debt. The average loan is $30,000))
((Eddy Encinales, Borrower))
I've heard numerous hearings about student loan and student loan issues. They approach the issue from different angles but somehow nothing gets done and nothing happens. So, its frustrating.
((NATS))
((Eddy Encinales, Borrower))
Something about this system is broken.
((Eddy Encinales, Borrower))
It just seems unfair that even though, as I said,education seems to be the great equalizer, right now, I just feel, it feels so unequal for me.
((NATS))
((Eddy Encinales, Borrower))
All I wanted to do, I went to high school. I got good grades. I worked hard to get into a good college. I didn't fail out of college. I didnt party my way out of college. I just went there, got an education, made friends, made connections, did everything that they tell you to do by the book. But then, it just cost me so much, so much money. And I'm not saying that I regret the education that I received, because I don't. I think, they were great years. But I feel like there has to be another way. There has to be a way where people like me don't have to suffer this much.
((NATS))
((Eddy Encinales, Borrower))
When I'm coming home from work and seeing everybody kind of pass by, the families with their kids, I think about me and when that will be a possibility.
((NATS))
((Eddy Encinales, Borrower))
I am 27 years old and I still have 16 years to pay my loans because I have the 20-year repayment plan which guarantees the lower payments which are what I can afford right now. And this means that I'm going to end up finishing paying my loans when I'm 42 years old. So, that's not really when people want to get their starter home.
((NATS))
((Eddy Encinales, Borrower))
Also, marriage, you know, when will I get married. Me coming into, like a situation with all of these loans, would have an impact on my partner. So, I would want to minimize that as much as possible whenever I decide to get married. And also kids. Kids are expensive. So, if I'm paying like a small mortgage and loans, then how can I afford kids. And I would like to have kids and I would like to get married.
((NATS))
((Eddy Encinales, Borrower))
The loans are something that definitely hangs over my head and, kind of, affects how I approach certain situations and how much I want to delay those big decisions. And that's not even what's on my mind right now. What's on my mind right now is more grad school. But if I think further ahead, then obviously all those fears creep in about not being able to do certain things that will be good for me and good for my family, like having a home, you know.
((NATS))
((Eddy Encinales, Borrower))
I owe about 90,000 dollars in loans. Im paying, probably, 850 dollars as my monthly payment, and that is about a little less than a third of my salary.
((NATS))
((Eddy Encinales, Borrower))
I mean, those earrings are nice but they are, for sure, out of my budget. Its like 169 dollars for a pair of earrings. Thats too much, for sure. The other piece is that I have about 35,000 dollars that are under my name, but the bulk of my loans is under parent plus loans which are under my mom's name.
((NATS))
((Eddy Encinales, Borrower))
In the time that I graduated college, my mom and my dad divorced. Well, their family income, kind of, split in half. So, she's making, like, enough for herself, but she's not able to do more. There's also, like, she has all of these loans under her name, so her credit is maxed out. I often think about like, OK, you know, in two years if she ever wants to buy a house, what would that mean for her. My loans have an impact in her ability to buy a house. I feel guilt that because of the type of education that I wanted to get and because of the school that I wanted to go to, you know, she could potentially face financial burdens because of that.
((NATS))
((Eddy Encinales, Borrower))
It's hard for me and, I'm sure, it's hard for her even though she doesnt talk about it.
((NATS))
((Erika Chavez, Eddys Mother))
Well, I feel awful. Its horrible knowing that I'm not able to help my daughter with those horrible loans. And she's a good kid. She's been working really hard. She is a good student. And not having the option to give her money or to pay to help her to pay the debt is really bad. I feel bad.
((NATS))
((Eddy Encinales, Borrower))
I'm definitely not the only one in this situation. People in the States owe about 1.5 trillion dollars, trillion dollars in student loans. It's a huge problem. It's bigger than just me and me making quote/unquote, bad decisions.
((NATS))
((Eddy Encinales, Borrower))
Even though this is the reality of things, in my heart I still think that young people, no matter what their background is, should be able to access the education that they want to access. Like, education should not be a bad thing. Like, me going to a good school should not be a bad thing.
((NATS))
((Pop-Up Banner: U.S. student debt is more than the rest of the worlds combined))
TEASE ((VO/NAT))
Coming up..
((Banner))
Keeping Bees
((SOT))
((Mark Lilly, Appalachian Beekeeping Collective))))
I have a chair sitting down there or I just come sometimes and just sit down and watch them as they interact in and out of the boxes.
BREAK ONE
BUMP IN ((ANIM))
BLOCK B
((Banner: Rural Revival))
((PKG)) WEST VIRGINIA BEEKEEPERS
((Banner: New Careers))
((Reporter: Julie Taboh))
((Camera: Adam Greenbaum))
((Adapted by: Martin Secrest))
((Map: Hinton, West Virginia))
((NATS))
One, two, three. We probably have four boxes of honey, at least three boxes.
Yeah.
You already went through all these?
Yeah.
((Pop-Up Banner: Appalachian Beekeeping Collective was founded in 2017 to help locals learn a new trade))
((James Scyphers, Beekeeper))
They are the most fascinating animal Ive ever fooled with, insect Ive ever fooled with, and we learn something, or I do myself, every day. And its just so fascinating how perfectly they do it. It's just absolutely amazing.
((NATS))
((James Scyphers, Beekeeper))
I worked in the coal mines for 16 years. I bossed for 10 years in the mines and I'm on Social Security and a small miner's pension. And this has helped me a lot on extra things that I need to do for my family and it's helped me real real great, because I don't get a whole lot from Social Security. So, it's really helped me.
((NATS))
((Mark Lilly, Appalachian Beekeeping Collective))
A lot of these communities have been hit really hard with unemployment. For the past 30 years, I've watched them slowly die. So, you see the people now have, like, hopelessness, and I think we're the starting point, maybe, to bringing some hope to some of these communities.
((NATS))
Take it. Take you some of that, right there. There's a little bucket. Theres a little bucket over there.
((Terri Giles, Vice President, Appalachian Headwaters))
We train, equip, work with, mentor people in like, non-surrounding counties in southern West Virginia right now, how to be beekeepers. And it's something that touches us deeply in our DNA here, because we have a history of beekeeping in Central Appalachia. And so, it resonated with people that were very interested in becoming beekeepers.
((NATS))
((Cheryl Flanagan, Beekeeper))
Two months ago, I knew nothing about bees. Today, I am learning hand-in-hand with the master beekeeper and I am amazed. They are phenomenal. The drones, the workers, the queen is unbelievable.
((NATS))
((Cheryl Flanagan, Beekeeper))
There she is. You see the green dot? That's the queen. That is my queen right there.
((NATS))
((Cheryl Flanagan, Beekeeper))
And I do want to say that the honey that these bees make, it tastes different than anywhere else. It's got a smokier, richer, really deep flavor to it.
((NATS))
((Mark Lilly, Appalachian Beekeeping Collective))
This is the absolute best honey in the world. It's from the Appalachian area. We don't have any commercial farming in the area. No pesticides. Very little herbicide use.
((NATS))
((Mark Lilly, Appalachian Beekeeping Collective))
Everyone says there's this great psychological benefit. It's a step back in time. What we do hasn't changed a lot over the past couple of hundred years. It's something that many of the people in this part of the country used to see on their grandparents farm. So now, they're able to reconnect with their past by doing this.
((NATS))
Go ahead and cover it back right now.
((PKG)) WEST VIRGINIA CONNECTIVITY
((Banner: Connectivity))
((Reporter: Julie Taboh))
((Camera: Adam Greenbaum))
((Adapted by: Zdenko Novacki))
((Map: Summers County, West Virginia))
((NATS))
((Joe Brouse, New River Gorge Regional Development Authority))
The lack of broadband coverage and reliability in many parts of the state of West Virginia contributes to the challenges that we face in terms of economic development, recruiting business and improving the quality of life. Businesses expect it. Households expect it. If people want to live here, they need to have access. It's an aspect of being in the modern world.
((NATS))
((Fritz Boettner, Sprouting Farms))
In order to improve the bottom line for the farmer, we have to keep, what I would call, the food hub costs down. So, that's the cost of aggregation, distribution, marketing, all those things. And that needs to be self-sustainable itself. In order to do that, you have to use technology. And when I say technology, I mean using, like, cloud-based software systems that help manage your inventory producers, no matter where they are in your network, which stretches for 300 miles, and you need connectivity in order to do that. And I think in West Virginia, connectivity is a severe challenge.
((NATS))
((Ken Allman, Small Business Owner))
It's very difficult to operate a business without reliable broadband, without reliable mobile communications as well. The two really complement each other and you need them in order to function on a day to day basis.
((NATS))
((Terri Giles, Appalachian Headwaters))
We're five miles, six miles (8 10 km.) outside of a little town, with a little townhouse broadband. But, you get five miles down the road, and you don't. So, that's the challenge for us in order to expand and grow, that we need to have broadband and these things.
((NATS))
((Fritz Boettner, Sprouting Farms))
Right now, I would say, like, half of our farmers, maybe, do not have access to solid internet or even cell phone communication to make these types of transactions happen. If I'm thinking about the future and we're going to grow these farmers and they're going to be doing more, we want more farmers in the network, that connectivity issue needs to be dealt with.
((NATS))
((Ken Allman, Small Business Owner))
They say it's the last mile that makes the critical difference in a telecommunications infrastructure and it can make a huge difference. There's parts of our state where you might have broadband, but you don't have water. There's parts of our state where we have water, but you may not have broadband. It's important to have all these essential functions in order for commerce to take place.
((NATS))
TEASE ((VO/NAT))
Coming up..
((Banner))
Old School Jazz
((SOT))
((James Samuel Harris, Sr. Twin Cities Living Legend, Musician & Singer))
Music is a communication between a person that has been given a talent and they share it with other people.
BREAK TWO
BUMP IN ((ANIM))
BLOCK C
((Banner: Rural Revival))
((PKG)) VINYL REVIVAL
((VOA Ukrainian))
((Banner: Vinyl Revival))
((Reporter: Alina Golinata))
((Camera: Konstantin Golubchik))
((Adapted by: Zdenko Novacki))
((Map: Alexandria, Virginia))
((Banner: Vinyl records are now more popular than in decades, but still make less than 6% overall music sale))
((NATS))
((Eric Astor, Owner, Furnace Record Pressing))
Ive put everything I have into this to make it a success. In about 2013, the business, the industry got so busy that we decided, you know, for us to stay relevant and service our customers the way we want to service them and the way they were requesting, was we needed to add pressing here, in the States. So, that's when we started to look for new equipment.
((NATS))
((Eric Astor, Owner, Furnace Record Pressing))
At the time, there was no one making new pressing equipment. We sought out a company in Germany to help us manufacture high quality vinyl and we still work with them today.
((NATS))
((Eric Astor, Owner, Furnace Record Pressing))
We got a call from a gentleman in Mexico City, who had a bunch of presses in a storage shed. So, we said those are the same exact model, make and model of the ones that we use in Germany. We know that they press very good records. So, we brokered a deal to buy those from him.
((NATS))
((Eric Astor, Owner, Furnace Record Pressing))
The artists, for a long time, were told that they couldn't put out vinyl by the labels and, you know, they started to demand it. So, you know, when the artists are driving the format, that helps quite a bit as well.
((NATS))
((Eric Astor, Owner, Furnace Record Pressing))
It's collectable. There's a kind of, its little bit more special. You have larger graphics, you know. So, you can actually see what the artist is intending you to see and feel when you look at a record. So, you have your graphics. You have your liner notes. Its collectable. Some people collect different colors of vinyl.
((NATS))
((Mark Reiter, Director of Manufacturing Operations, Furnace Record Pressing))
It's very easy and is very easy to put digital music on and walk away from it to do something else. So, in some way, it doesn't beg for attention, and in that way, it becomes, for me, a little less special. A record requires you to be in the same room with it. You're tending to it. You have to flip it over. You can't just let it spin off, you know. So, it's a more, sort of, visceral, almost personal experience.
((NATS))
((Eric Astor, Owner, Furnace Record Pressing))
Its a great time to be a music fan, you know. Theres so many avenues to buy music and, I think, vinyl is the value add to all that. Its just better experience, better sound.
((NATS))
((PKG)) PIA - JAMES CORNBREAD HARRIS
((Banner: Sharing the Talent))
((Executive Producer: Marsha James))
((Camera: Kaveh Rezaei))
((Map: Minneapolis, Minnesota))
((NATS))
((James Samuel Harris, Sr., Musician & Singer))
Music is a communication between a person that has been given a talent and they share it with other people. Music is my gift from God.
((NATS))
((James Samuel Harris, Sr., Musician & Singer))
I zone out. I start getting into what I'm doing. I just got my little thing that I can do and I just do it.
((NATS))
((James Samuel Harris, Sr., Musician & Singer))
I am James Samuel Harris, Sr. I'm 91 years old and I am a musician.
((NATS))
((James Samuel Harris, Sr., Musician & Singer))
I started actually playing music, I would say, 21 years old. I was going around with friends and every time we'd go around a piano, we played whatever that is with the two fingers. I enjoyed doing it, but I did not enjoy practicing. But my grandparents that I ended up living with, decided I should have some culture, and music was the culture that they thought I should have.
((NATS))
((James Samuel Harris, Sr., Musician & Singer))
I went to the Schmitt Music when I got out of the army, and bought a guitar chord book, learning how to play the chords on the guitar. Well, I didn't play the guitar, I played the piano. So, I had to transpose guitar thing to the piano and I began to understand that the chord progression was the harmony to a melody.
((NATS))
((James Samuel Harris, Sr., Musician & Singer))
Then I could play a chord. Then I played the melody. I played the chord and then I could play the melody and the chord pretty soon. And so, I could start to play songs that I had never played before, never heard of. And I gradually learned how to read a little music and then I taught myself how to blend the two things in order to get a song to go out from me.
((NATS))
((James Samuel Harris, Sr., Musician & Singer))
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, OK. I wrote a song called Cornbread. And the song got, kind of, popular and instead of people asking me to play Cornbread, they would say, Cornbread, could you play your song? And so, I started to be called Cornbread.
((NATS))
((James Samuel Harris, Sr., Musician & Singer))
I don't have the radio on very much. So, I'm not too hip to the modern songs and the modern beats and the modern kids tunes and stuff. I'm still in the 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, the kind of music Im into. My ability is in the Blues, spiritual area. I'm still playing today. In fact, we're sitting in a venue and I play here every Friday.
((NATS))
((James Samuel Harris, Sr., Musician & Singer))
There's more talent in the universe that will be given to you, if you work at the talent that you have. My job, its not even a job no more. Its pleasing the people. I love playing music and I appreciate being appreciated.
((NATS))
NEXT WEEK / GOOD BYE ((VO/NAT))
((Banner))
In Coming weeks.
Music Therapy
((SOT))
((KATEY HERNANDEZ, LUCAS' MOTHER))
He is autistic and he has a lot of sensory processing sensitivities. Ms. Dixie has come up with a few songs to help him with social dialogue.
((NATS))
One, two, three, four.
((DIXIE MAZUR, MUSIC THERAPIST))
I brought in drums because drums are a great way to engage with others.
((NATS))
Its music time.
Hey, hey, hey! Ive got a question for you today.
CLOSING ((ANIM))
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((NATS))
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