On this West Virginia Week, we learned about plants that can thrive in former mine lands, we kayaked along the Gauley River, we learned about an art exhibit inspired by recent cuts at West Virginia University, and we saw dogs fly from Charleston to Michigan to reach their forever homes.
On this West Virginia Week, with a possible government shutdown looming, we learned how it might affect West Virginians.
We also learned about plants that can thrive in former mine lands, we kayaked along the Gauley River, we learned about an art exhibit inspired by recent cuts at West Virginia University, and we saw dogs fly from Charleston to Michigan to reach their forever homes.
We also remembered longtime state legislator Chuck Romine, who passed away this week at 87.
Liz McCormick is our host this week. Our theme music is by Matt Jackfert.
West Virginia Week is a web-only podcast that explores the week’s biggest news in the Mountain State. It’s produced with help from Bill Lynch, Briana Heaney, Caroline MacGregor, Chris Schultz, Curtis Tate, Emily Rice, Eric Douglas, Liz McCormick, and Randy Yohe.
On this West Virginia Morning, the power of collaboration was evident at West Virginia International Yeager Airport this week as three organizations joined forces for a “dog-gone-good” cause. Caroline MacGregor reports.
On this West Virginia Morning, the power of collaboration was evident at West Virginia International Yeager Airport this week as three organizations joined forces for a “dog-gone-good” cause. Caroline MacGregor reports.
Also, in this show, Appalachian writer Ron Rash has written more than 20 books, including several that have appeared on the New York Times bestseller list. His latest is called The Caretaker, set in a small, Appalachian town during the Korean War. Inside Appalachia Producer Bill Lynch spoke with Rash about the book, Appalachia and getting older.
And, our Mountain Stage Song of the Week comes to us from Alisa Amador. We listen to her performance of “Slow Down.” It’s the second track on Amador’s EP, Narratives.
West Virginia Morning is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting which is solely responsible for its content.
Support for our news bureaus comes from Shepherd University.
Our Appalachia Health News project is made possible with support from CAMC and Marshall Health.
West Virginia Morning is produced with help from Bill Lynch, Briana Heaney, Caroline MacGregor, Chris Schultz, Curtis Tate, Emily Rice, Eric Douglas, Liz McCormick, and Randy Yohe.
Eric Douglas is our news director. Caroline MacGregor is our assistant news director and producer.
Listen to West Virginia Morning weekdays at 7:43 a.m. on WVPB Radio or subscribe to the podcast and never miss an episode. #WVMorning
The program is organized through Gov. Jim Justice’s office, the West Virginia Department of Education and the nonprofit Communities in Schools. Therapy dogs provide comfort to those affected by certain psychological conditions like depression and anxiety.
Therapy dogs are coming to seven more West Virginia schools as part of the state’s “Friends With Paws” program.
Schools included are:
Pineville Elementary School in Wyoming County
Moorefield Elementary School in Hardy County
Spring Mills High School in Berkeley County
Wayne Elementary School in Wayne County
Lenore Elementary School in Mingo County
Greenbrier East High School in Greenbrier County
Green Bank Elementary-Middle School in Pocahontas County
The program is organized through Gov. Jim Justice’s office, the West Virginia Department of Education and the nonprofit Communities in Schools. Therapy dogs provide comfort to those affected by certain psychological conditions like depression and anxiety. First Lady Cathy Justice champions the program. “I think it will be so beneficial to the kids and just make them just want to come to school every day,” she said Thursday during a briefing. “And that’s what we want to do: make them feel good about themselves, come to school every day and just know that they’ll be such a big part in their life.”
The program began last March as a way to provide comfort to at-risk students, with the original goal to have 10 therapy dog placements by the end of the year. Of that number, three dogs were placed earlier this year at Welch Elementary School, Lewis County High School and Buckhannon Academy Elementary School.
“Friends With Paws” also plans to place ten more dogs in schools next year.
After almost 15 years doing without, revenue dollars are flowing back into West Virginia’s horse and dog racing industries. The legislature came through on a promise made more than a decade ago, and men and women within the racing industry are excited at the possibility of a boom in business. As part of our occasional series, “Effective from Passage,” we explore the potential effects of Senate Bill 13 (SB 13), which went into effect last week.
One of Jefferson County, West Virginia’s top three lead trainers is Tim Grams. He and his wife Judy run Grams Racing Stable in Charles Town.
They have 50 horses on their farm and 40 horses at the Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races. A good portion of those horses belong to clients, but most belong to the Grams.
“We work with all of them every day,” Tim Grams said. “We get up probably right around 4:30 in the morning. My wife, she gets to the racetrack before I do and checks out everything. My wife gets the whole operation started in the morning before I get there.”
Grams and his wife have been doing this work since 1989, and they employ about 14 people in their training operation. This year, Grams’ horse named Runnin’toluvya won a major race called the Charles Town Classic. Grams’ horse was the first West Virginia horse to win the title since its inception in 2009.
The Charles Town Classic is what’s called a Grade II race, which falls just behind a Grade I race, like the Kentucky Derby. The Charles Town Classic was awarded Grade II status in 2012.
Credit Coady Photography
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Tim Grams’ horse Runnin’toluvya won the 2019 Charles Town Classic.
Trainers like Grams, as well as breeders, owners, groomers, jockeys, veterinarians, and several more could feel the effects of SB 13.
The bill returns $11 million annually to the state’s four racetracks.
Charles Town Races in Jefferson County and Mountaineer Park in Hancock County race thoroughbreds, while Mardi Gras in Kanawha County and Wheeling Island in Ohio County race greyhounds.
That $11 million will be divided and given to each track throughout the next year on a monthly basis, and it will continue every year after unless the West Virginia Legislature decides otherwise.
The funds can be used to support more race days or employ new people or potentially provide raises. It could help support more breeders, and it can affect the winnings on a horse or dog. Grams believes it could also provide incentive for more people in the industry to do business in West Virginia.
“I really think that that’s going to bring owners back into this business,” Grams explained. “There’ll be more opportunities to race with extra days, and already with the legislation passing, you can already see that the tempo [has] changed around here, and people seem a little bit more relaxed, because they’re not worrying about stuff every day.”
“More than anything, it was the legislature honoring a commitment,” Senate Finance Chairman Craig Blair, R-Berkeley, said. Blair was the lead sponsor of SB 13.
More than a decade ago, in 2005, West Virginia faced a large deficit – the state’s Workers Compensation Debt Reduction Fund was $4 billion in the hole. Blair said, at the time, the state Legislature was looking for ways they could fill that hole, and they looked to areas like the racing industry.
“They were just a pot of money sitting out there that could be reached into to help fund that $4 billion unfunded liability,” Blair explained.
The legislature pulled from other industries, too, such as coal, but lawmakers promised that once the debt was paid off, they would no longer tap into those revenue streams.
And that’s eventually what happened. The racing industry is the last one to see dollars returned.
Grams said the lost dollars over that 14-year period affected his business and many others, because fewer people were coming to West Virginia to breed, train, or race.
“Probably the first couple years, it wasn’t that big of a change. But after that, they look over and see Maryland’s doing great, Pennsylvania’s doing great, and the next thing, they take their mares from your farm. So, with all the other business up and starting to thrive, our revenue as a whole, it went down,” Grams said. “So, you know, it was harder to bring people in the state when we didn’t have the money, and we didn’t have anything to offer them.”
And SB 13 faced some pushback within the legislature. A handful of lawmakers tried to reroute the $11 million to support education.
But Blair argued the revenue wasn’t the legislature’s to bargain with anymore since the workers comp debt had been paid off.
“My number one reason was to keep the legislature’s promise,” Blair explained. “But the number two is, [the racing industry] is an economic engine that drives both tourism and the entertainment industry…but then agriculture as well.”
The most recent economic impact study done on West Virginia’s racing industry was conducted by West Virginia University’s Bureau of Business and Economic Research in 2014.
It found that the thoroughbred and greyhound racing industries in West Virginia contribute more than $320 million annually to the state’s economy and supports 7,300 jobs.
Like many stray dogs, there are mysteries with Miller’s story. Here’s what we know: Miller is a small, black and brown dog, and he looks like he has a little chihuahua in him. He was found roaming free in Charleston, then brought into the local animal shelter. In November 2018, a family adopted him. But soon afterwards he escaped.
Two months later, he popped up in the East End of Charleston. One thing nobody really knows is how he got there — the family who initially adopted him live almost six miles away. Miller was on the run in the East End for almost a month during the coldest part of winter.
Credit courtesy Emmett Pepper
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Miller the dog
The Search Begins
“Miller the dog is a scrappy, independent dog that was lose for a couple of weeks,” said Emmett Pepper, a Charleston resident who once tried to catch Miller for 45 minutes. “He just kept going, he would stop for awhile, then look at us and let us catch up, and then just keep running.”
“But nobody could ever get close to him, and he was always just like a bullet,” said Candi Henderson, another Charleston resident. “He was always in like full speed, like he had somewhere to go.”
Then a cold snap in January brought temperatures into the single digits, and dozens of people became involved in the attempt to capture Miller to get him to safety. On Facebook, dozens of photos were posted of Miller.
“Any pictures of him, you could kind of see his small body but his legs were blurry, just cause he was always on the run,” said Meghan Smith, who was following the dog’s story on Facebook. She said she desperately wanted to be the one to catch Miller.
As the weeks went on and it became apparent that Miller was no ordinary dog., his social media status blew up. Memes were made about him. Someone made him a Facebook profile.
Brandi O’ Dell, another neighbor, was organizing the search. She put up posters with her phone number all over the neighborhood, and she was getting lots of Miller sightings.
“I was getting calls daily, and they were sightings, but he was so fast there was no way I could respond because he would always be gone by the time I got there,” she said.
Capture
But then, on Valentine’s Day, a hound dog named Charli was out walking with his owner. Miller went over to Charli to play.
The dog’s owner, Shaun Dunlap, reached out and grabbed Miller, who wasn’t happy about being caught. He began barking and tried to bite.
“It looked like he was a captured fugitive or something,” Shaun recalled. He called the number from all the posters about Miller.
When O’Dell got his call, she said at first she was in disbelief.
“I said, so wait a minute, are you telling me you have actually apprehended this dog?,” she said.
By the time she reached the scene, a crowd of people was surrounding him, offering him treats and snapping his photo. Someone had wrapped him in a towel to see if that would calm him down.
“Of course, Miller was terrified. And when I held him, tears were running down his eyes and he was just so scared, and I was just like, ‘little baby it’s gonna be ok.’ And he kissed my nose, and I knew then that it was gonna be ok, he was gonna be fine,” O’Dell said.
So What is Miller’s Future?
The family who originally adopted Miller from the shelter decided they weren’t the best fit. Miller is just too fast and needs a special owner who can train him, otherwise, he’ll probably just run away again.
Credit courtesy Brandi O’Dell
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Brandi O’Dell with Miller just after he was caught
According to O’Dell, several different people in the neighborhood have been fostering him, getting him to his vet appointments, and housetraining him. She and some of the other volunteer rescuers are hoping they’ll find an owner for Miller who can keep up with his speed and appreciate his wild ways.
“I think that Miller would make an awesome agility dog. He is fast fast fast. It became a joke in the Facebook world that he was the fastest dog alive,” said O’Dell.
For now, Miller is resting up and enjoying the comfort of having a warm bed. According to O’Dell, he likes to sleep in and doesn’t always want to get up in the mornings to go for his morning walks especially when it’s cold.
Studies have found that American millennials lead the country in pet ownership, fueling the $69 billion pet industry — an industry that has grown three times since the mid 90s.
This could be a good thing for our health. Other recent studies have found that dog ownership has many positive benefits — from reducing allergies to counteracting negativity. And it’s not just millennials who stand to benefit. A 2017 study of older adults found that owners of dogs are more active than those without, walking about 22 minutes more a day. Besides being good for your mental and physical health, walking often gets you outside. And as explored earlier in this series, getting into nature has significant mental health benefits.
The big question is — how do you explore the outdoors with your pets safely?
“Our pets, as a general rule will do anything we ask them to,” said Dr. Mark Freeman, an assistant professor of veterinary medicine at Virginia Tech.
Freeman said dogs will keep trying to please us as long we ask them to keep trying.
“So, it’s very easy for a pet to become overheated and to become exhausted because their number one goal in life is to please us and to make us happy,” he said. “So, as long as we keep throwing that frisbee they’re going to keep chasing it, even to the point of complete exhaustion.”
Heat exhaustion is the biggest challenge. Dogs cool themselves by panting. Panting evaporates saliva, which cools the blood supply.
“In the summertime, when it’s hot, and especially when the humidity is high, that evaporation doesn’t occur,” he said. “So they pant and pant [but]… they don’t actually cool themselves. So it’s really important in the summer — when the temperatures are high, when humidity is high — that animals have access to shade, that they have access to lots and lots of water.”
This is particularly important for dogs with short faces like pugs, bulldogs and certain pitbull breeds — the shorter snouts mean less effective cooling and these dogs are even more likely to overheat.
Jonny Warner is a Charleston-based vet. He said his biggest concern is not just dogs being too active — but the time between periods of activity — particularly leaving dogs in the car while you ‘just run into the store’ for something or grab a bite to eat.
“If you’re doing outdoor recreation with your dog, you’re likely getting there in a car and the obvious one is just never leave your dog unattended in a closed car for any amount of time,” he said.
According to the American Veterinary Medical Association, the temperature in a closed car can rise 19 degrees in the first ten minutes. So if the outside temperature is 70, it can rise to 89. If it starts at 90, to 109. And the more time that passes, the higher the temperature rise.
The other thing dramatically affected by high temperatures is pavement.
“Seeing really significant burns on the pads of the feet is not at all uncommon in the summer,” said Freeman.
He said that could be an incentive for pet owners to stay off urban roads and get out to explore natural areas with pets such as parks, forests and wooded paths.
Appalachia Health News is a project of West Virginia Public Broadcasting, with support from the Marshall Health, Charleston Area Medical Center and WVU Medicine.
