03-05-2026 MetroNews Hotline Presented by Salango Law Hour 1

0:00This is Mekronu's Hotline, presented by Salango Law. Mekronu's Hotline is a three-hour audio tour, navigating the world of sports, news, entertainment, tech, and more. From a mountain-state point of view. For your entertainment, Hotline is a no-politic zone. You can join the conversation. Text the show at 304-825-5304. 304-Talk 304. We're called 800-765-8255. Here's the host for Mekronu's Hotline, Dave Weekly. All right, welcome back to the show, everybody. Hello, O.S. Virginia. We're back for more in the 304. Time to get it done in the 681. Time to start this three-hour audio tour for Thursday. March 5th, 2026.

1:00Mekronu's Hotline comes to you from the Salango Law Studios. Visit salangolaw.com. Coup, this is a very odd situation for you and I. It is, well. Well, so you did the last hour of midday. True. And then I came on at the last brief segment. You were my guest. The brief segment. Yes. And then it was like we were swapping out NASCAR drivers or whatever. You know, we got to this very quick. Got to the top of the hour. You got back to your normal spot. I got back to my normal spot. And so here we go. We'll do our regular thing. The most real moment in Ryan is in his normal spot. He's in his normal spot. My most real moment in radio may have been seven or eight years ago when you took your hiatus from the program, but still came in as a guest once a week. And then Steve Bishop, who was hosting the program, would go on vacation. And so occasionally you would come in and be my guest as I was filling in for Steve. And that was always very strange. You know what? It's fun being a guest. Oh, yes. It's much more fun being a guest than it is being the one doing the hosting. It's much more fun being a guest because there's no rules.

2:01You just ref, man. You just ref. Yeah. And it's your job, the host, or you were the host 10 minutes ago. Right. As it's your job to make sure that you keep the guest under control and keep the thing going down the road. Absolutely. It's not your responsibility at that point. It's fine. Yeah, it's funny too. Because when you're a guest you can say something, hey, you know what's happened to me today, blah, blah, blah. And the host has absolutely no idea what you're going to say. Yeah. That's true. So there's that moment of anticipation and dread. Okay. So let me pop quiz. What guest of ours gives you the most hesitation when they say, okay, I got a story for you. It's got to be me, right? You know what it probably is you. I was going to say Brandon Lang. Oh, yeah. Because we're not always sure if Brandon's or Brandon's are safe for the rain. Yeah. That's right. His best stuff is like when you set him up, right? When he calls in. Yeah. First of all, when he calls in, it's like in a moment, right? Correct. Right. Because his batting average is probably around 75%.

3:02Somebody wins an office pool when he makes it. Yeah. But he'll tell you a story before he comes on the air with me. Yeah. And then you'll share that story off the air and we'll both laugh about it. And then some of them, I'm like, you can't ask him about it though. Or I'll say he wants you to ask him about this. Oh, yeah. Yeah. That's right. You're getting a little peak, folks, behind the curtain of how radio works sometimes. Where you have guests that the level of engagement of their enjoyment of being with you depends on whether or not you ask them about their certain projects. Yeah. Yeah. But with Brandon, you just have to ask him about the Tiger Woods. Because I have never heard anybody speak so poorly of another individual before in my life as much as he dislikes Tiger Woods. I don't know what though. I mean, for some people, Tiger Woods is like a polarizing figure. Well, he knows him personally. So like he's been to his house. And so that's part of it. It was part of the issue. Yeah. So how did it go today with Midday? Oh man, it was fine. It was a good time. Amanda did the heavy lifting. She did the first two hours and she got all that stuff in. I just had to come in for the last hour and, you know, me as they were lucky.

4:04I was lucky enough to get in for an hour before they took the mic. Hey, you know what? I'm enjoying looking at the text messages you got in like the last 20 minutes. Sometimes when I check the text messages, it's all politics, which is fine. But that's really not my lane. So I don't use those. We did cover politics a little bit. But we also talked about Lou Holtz and West Virginia towards the end of the program. So those probably came up with that. And that's the reason I'm bringing this up because I saw this one text. And I thought it was pretty interesting. 304-389. Guys, I met Lou Holtz here in Charleston a few years back at a Christian athlete meeting. I walked up to get his autograph, handed him my phone and put Major Harris on the line with him. First time he had spoken to him since the the 1988 National Championship game. And he told Major Harris, who is a friend of mine, reasoning why I had called his cell number. He told Major that if they being Notre Dame would have played WVU, the best of three for that national championship, they would have lost. I think that's pretty interesting. And there is another text message we got when you guys were on together.

5:07304-676. Dave and Coupe, what's worse? The 1988 loss to Notre Dame or the 2007 loss to Pitt. And that made me think about a couple of things. First of all, as a fan, and I'm a fan too, right? There are just some losses that you're so emotionally and intellectually tied to. You're your brain just can't process it. No, I get that. Your brain can't process it. It's sort of like you have to find ways to figure out why you lost that aren't normal. Right? Like the Major Harris injury in this particular game. Last time I checked, though, Major didn't play defense. That was probably part of the problem. You know, the one play that I remember more than any other from that game. It was the stupid Tony Rice pop-up pass where they ran. I think it was a fake to the full bag. And then he just popped up and just like basically handed it across the line of scrimmage

6:08on a little pop pass for a touchdown. I don't know why, but to this day that play makes me so angry. You know, I was at that game in Phoenix. And when I think back to the experience of going to that game, it was so odd because I'd basically shot all the other WVU games I'd been in attendance that season from the sidelines. But that game I didn't. So I was basically sitting in the stand, I was sitting in the reserve press box for that in the end zone. And it was just a weird feeling to watch that game and not really feel connected to it in any way down on the field. What was your memories right of the 88 game? Oh, what a game, right? Yeah. Oh, that sports ball, yay. You know, speaking of loss, I've got a story for you. Speaking of loss. Speaking of loss. What do you got? So back in 2019, we lost a good one. You know, the game poker night at the inventory was delisted from steam. But today, it's back. Okay. So when you say D listed from steam. Yes, it was steam where you go to download games.

7:11Yes, but it's the biggest PC game distributor. Okay. And it got delisted, which means you couldn't buy it anymore. People could still keep their copies. But you couldn't purchase a new one. Why is that? Why do you think? I think it was a licensing issue. Okay. Because it was like a crossover poker game. And you had characters from Team Fortress 2. Sam and Max Freelance, please, Penny Arcade. A strong bad from a home star runner was in there. Strong bad. Yes. I've never heard about him in forever. Yeah, he's in the game and he's great. And so that's like four different like franchises you'd have to all have on the same page. And it was released in 2010. Got delisted nine years later. But after seven grueling years, it's back today. And it's only $10. Okay. And you can buy it right now. Okay. So for example, when you download a game, what is the normal cost? It depends on the game. Okay.

8:11If it's a new game, a new like AAA title, it's generally it should be $60. But people are pushing it nowadays. It's like, well, what if we charge 70? So it's team carries everything, right? So you can get the 99 cent games all over free games all the way up through the premium game. Yeah. Yeah. Steam carries a good chunk of the video game library. And there, of course, there's always going to be like exclusives. Like you can't find a single Nintendo game on there. But it's got a very large swath of games. So for 10 bucks, you get the game. But do you have to spend more money to get like the little extras that make you are likely to win? No. Okay. One time by. That's it. So that's what's great about it. And if you end depending on like what you do in the game, you can earn items in Team Fortress 2. So like people are excited because they finally get to play this game that was delisted just so they can get a Luger more for the game. And I'm like, man, I'm just glad the games back.

9:13I need a Luger more for whatever that is. Yeah. You know, the game is only $10, right? The game is only $10. How much would they have to pay for commercial that we just gave them? I was going to ask Ryan if he was being paid endorsement for this. No, but it's interesting, right? But you know, if skunk ape games wants to contact me and give me a little kick back, I wouldn't say no. You wouldn't say no. Yeah, I get that. But isn't is this a thing that's going to go on for a while or is this like a limited time? Hey, come on back in. Kind of deal. Well, given the fact that the delisting was very unpopular, I think it's going to be around for a while. Wow. Wow. So did you get the game? Not yet. Do you want it? I've been here the entire time, Dave. I'm not shining a bright light on you in a small room. I mean, I'm not. I'm not questioning. I am for hardworking me in there. Okay. I'm probably going to buy a copy when I get home though. For $10.

10:13Yeah. For just $10. That's a very good for the quality of game it is. And it's not too complicated. It's just Texas Holden. So if you know poker, you can play the game. So does the average video game player that you know pretty well? Does the average video game player? How many games will they download a year? How many different games? How many different games you got in your system? It depends on the player and the library that is available to them. Say someone like Dale Cooper. He has an Xbox Game Pass that gives him access to a bunch of different titles. Is he going to play all of them? No. But if he gets a cheap copy of Baldur's Gate 1 and 2, then of course he's going to play it. But for someone like me personally, I have the largest video game library available to me. And yet I'm still playing Civilization 5 because I can't stop. But there's also people who might keep their library of games limited to two or three of their favorite games.

11:22There's going to be the classic ball and gun gamer that buys the new basketball or the new call of duty game each year. And then doesn't think critically and probably has like their favorite topping is mayonnaise and stuff. Go to Apple B's. Wow. They go to Apple B's. They have a split custody of their kids. Hey, man. Those are our listeners now. You're talking about right there. Okay. That's a pretty interesting question or comment about the Xbox console. So Cooper, you went through this, right? You bought the new console. So did you have to start from scratch in terms of downloading games? Was it a clean slate and you had to start from the beginning again? I mean, when I signed into my account, anything I'd purchased before I could read download if I wanted to, if I purchased it online. Okay. Most of the stuff I had there was physical media. So I was able to just, if I want to play it, I just put it in like the old days. What's the old, what's the oldest game you got? Oldest game? Oh, man. I can't tell exactly which would be the oldest.

12:24But Shannon has a whole suite of Xbox 360 games from back in the day. Like golden on stuff like that. Nice. Was that three six? I think I was in that box. Yeah, the golden eye remake was on three six years. Yeah, okay. So she had that, that one was pretty old. There's, there's a bunch of classic 360 games that she had. Hey, what was that phrase you used for people who play ball and gun games? Ball and gun gamers. Yeah. That's like, that's like, that's the honest shade term I've ever heard. That's really interesting. Ball or gun gamers. That's what it is. It's games that either have balls or guns. It's the hook and bullet community. Yeah. It's sort of it. It's what it is. Oh, that's interesting. Beautiful day outside. Beautiful day. 75 degrees. Feeling a little Joe Green. The ball and gun people probably recognize that. That's also a coupe. That's also a coupe number. Oh, that's right. 75 was my number. Oh, that's right. Well, it's retired now. Yeah. I always thought you were younger than that. I always thought you were younger than that. Nice. You know, we only have a couple more minutes here.

13:26We have to set the question on the day. A couple of really interesting stories. Man, did you see where Miles Garrett got his ninth speeding ticket? Man, well, when you're chasing quarterbacks, man, you got to be fast, I guess. I know. And TMZ's got a story out there. Was he with Britney Spears? Were they speeding together? No, no. That's what I'm sorry. That's another story. Yeah. But Miles Garrett has nine speeding tickets. He just got another one. So when do you take a dude's license away? Well, that's the question. You were me. We wouldn't have a license today. No, of course not. We wouldn't know. No. No. Different. It depends on how much, you know, how. The law applies differently depending on how many zeros you have in your bank account. That's what I was trying to say. That's what I was trying to say. But man, so TMZ's got a video up this afternoon of the cop that wrote him the ticket. And it's a woman. And she gave him a break. He was going over a hundred miles an hour. And so she backed it up to the, to the speed that did not require him to go with the court physically. So what?

14:26I mean, okay, thanks for being nice. But at some point, don't these people need to answer to some responsibility? Apparently not. Apparently not. So nine speeding tickets now for Miles Garrett. Hey, great football player. Yeah, no, no. But maybe he just didn't be behind a wheel. Well, hey, man, when you own a car that's like 300 grand, you know, what he's already had an accident. I mean, he's already had a serious accident. Um, he's, he got pinched for going over a hundred miles an hour in a 60 mile an hour zone. You think at some point, but I mean, you got so much money. I'm just getting old. Whenever I see somebody like flying down the road like that going like a hundred miles an hour, like the thing that I think I don't care how nice the car is or anything else. The first thing I think is, wow, that is some loser energy. I mean, that's the first thing I think. I guess I'm just gonna remember when, uh, when A.B. was going like a hundred miles an hour on the day of the game, trying to, uh, I don't, I don't even think he was trying to even get to the stadium to play for the Steelers. When you said A.B., I thought you meant a man to bear in it.

15:27No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, he's just sort of morphed into the sporty sport talk there. So, uh, but Brittany, uh, D.O.Y. as well. Yeah, yeah, I guess, uh, you know, yeah. Exactly. What can you say? What can you, what can you really say? It's like whenever she or Lindsay Lohan comes up in the news, as many chances as you, as you try to get him, you're just not surprised. You know that one guy on early YouTube that did like the leave Brittany alone video? That guy actually had like a lot of foresight. Cause you know, maybe we should just leave her alone. You know what? That, when you go back to like the classic YouTube videos, that one's got to be there. But obviously that, that, that dude had other issues besides Brittany, right? He was acting out with something else. I don't know. I think he turned out pretty well. Did he? Yeah. I think he's a stable person. You do? I think so. You, you think like actually something up a camera and screaming about Brittany Spears for like 10 minutes is a good idea. It was the early, that's normal behavior. It was the early internet, dude. He was passionate.

16:27I mean, if he was, uh, if he was ching and the clicks on that channel, ching, ching, ching, ching, ching. I mean, I mean, you can scream out whatever you want if you're getting the engagement. Although I think that was the age before YouTube monetization. So like they would probably be getting pennies on the dollar. It's probably right. Yeah, I forgot about that. That was quite the video. Yeah, leave Brittany alone. I was always partial to chocolate rain. Chocolate rain. That's not how it sounded all day. Let's get the question of the day out there. And it's sponsored by Solango Law. A warm day like today, 75 degrees out there, feeling a little Joe Greenish. A sunny day like today reminds us that spring to be here soon. And for some of us, that means spring cleaning. But a new survey finds that 80% of us have at least one cleaning black hole in our homes. An area that seems to be impossible to consistency consistently. Keep clean or organized. Common cleaning black holes include closets, garages, basements.

17:28When asked why cleaning black holes exist, 34% said they feel too overwhelmed or distracted to tackle them. 32% said their space is too small. 19% blamed someone else in the household causing too many messes. 88% said they had at least one junk drawer. 49% say they have a laundry chair where dirty clothes seem to land. 30% have a paper file that needs to be sorted. 24% have a junk bowl or a junk dish or extra sets of keys for extra sets of keys or other items. So here's the question of the day. And it is sponsored by Solango Law. Where is the cleaning black hole at your home or apartment? Where is the cleaning black hole at your house or apartment to respond? Text those in 304 talk, 304, 304, 8255, 304. Tweet me immediately. One word, three E's W-E-E-K-L-E-Y.

18:29Cooper, I think the thing I really liked about this list was the laundry chair. The one chair in the house where it's like nobody ever sits in it. It's always just got shirts and pants and whatever. Just kind of thrown on it. This is a very triggering question for me because I'm kind of an organizational neat freak when it comes to stuff like that. And my wife and daughter are not. And yeah, like sometimes I walk in the house and I immediately just start putting stuff up. Like I just can't help it. I have to start putting stuff up. But I have one of those chairs. And like my goal is always to have that chair clear. It's like wouldn't it be nice family if somebody could sit in this chair? And wouldn't that be great? So let's get everything that's on this chair. Like jackets and food and whatever else and move it to where it's supposed to go. And then we can use the chair. Here's the thing also. And this happens in my marriage sometimes. When I will come into a room and there will be something that's on the floor or whatever.

19:29I'll pick it up and Linda will see that. And she'll think that that's like a comment on her. You know? No, that's. And that's not just your home. That's not just your home. It's not just my place, right? So I was going to get that. No judgment. It's in my way. I'm just picking it up. Okay. Just leave a guy alone. I'm just picking this thing up. So the question of the day is, where's the cleaning black hole at your house or apartment? All right. We'll take a break. And when we come back, apparently we'll have more. That's the plan anyway. This is Mentioners, the voice of us Virginia. Are you feeling uneasy about recent stock market volatility? Schedule a financial checkup today with John from 4th Avenue Financial. More info at 4th Avenue Financial.com. Retire right. This is a Bloomberg money minute. Crude oil futures are absolutely skyrocketing this hour. Nymex crude climbing more than eight and a half percent at one point today to more than 81 dollars a barrel. That is the highest since July of 2024.

20:30As investors contend with headlines on new attacks in the Middle East. And all this is resulting in a big takedown for stocks. Also, headlines the U.S. is considering requiring permits for artificial intelligence, semiconductor sales. Well, that is not exactly helping either in video and some other tech stocks are dropping on that headline. The fighting between the U.S. government and AI company andthropic is intensifying. The Pentagon formally notifying andthropic. It is determined the company and its products pose a risk to the U.S. supply chain, including its Claude Gov tool. And food beast reporting the energy drink maker Red Bull is now looking to develop a sleep drink that could give the user up to 12 hours of uninterrupted sleep. Denise Pellegrini-Bloodberg-Rate. Hey guys, it's Jim Straun inviting you to the biggest and best St. Patti's Day party ever. March 14th from noon to close. Prime 101 is the place to be. Twenty dollars get you a t-shirt in your first green beer. On the house, there's live music all day long.

21:31Noon to close. There's 11-11 Josh Pantry will be there. The shine, my man DJ Woody Woods. Learn more and secure your ticket on Prime 101's Facebook page 101 Capital Street. On Saturday, March 14th, we'll see you there. The New Year is underway and it's time for a new beginning in a new ride. Walker Chrysler Dodge, G. Bram and Hurricane is standing by to help you start off the new year right, with a new four wheel drive that's ready to tackle even the harshest of West Virginia winters. Gene and Ryan have marked out inventory across the lot, both new and pre-owned, and you're not going to want to miss out on these deals. Not only is their lot completely stacked within Ventory, but there's also new cars coming in all the time. And you know you're going to get the best deal possible in Walker, because Gene and Ryan built their business the old fashioned way by making friends. There are no gimmicks or games in Walker just honest fair deals, so what's the old up? Walker has something for everyone this winter, so get moving.

22:31Take that short 20-minute drive from Charleston or Huntington to Walker Chrysler Dodge, G. Bram. Just off the Hurricane exit of I-64, Walker Chrysler Dodge, G. Bram, making friends one deal at a time. I'm John Morgan, I'm Morgan Morgan. Today our roads are littered with killing machines. I'm talking about semi-trucks. They can easily kill even at low speeds. Overwork truck drivers are driving all day and all night injured in a trucking accident. We became the largest entry law firm in the world for a reason. There's only one Morgan Morgan. Office 222 Capital Street Charleston. Hases will be handled by West Virginia licensed attorneys. The attorney in this ad is not licensed in West Virginia. Morgan and Morgan for the people.com. It's time to transform your home with the perfect blend of style and function. From cozy carpet, stunning hardwoods, to custom, handcrafted cabinets, nitro carpet and design center has it all. Whether it's a kitchen revamp or a bathroom facelift, our expert design team will guide you every step of the way.

23:32Financing available, visit us right off the interstate at New Goth Mountain Road in Cross lanes. Nitro carpet and design center, where your dream home becomes reality. Explore more at nitrocarpet.com. This is Hotline, presented by Salango Long. On Metro News, the voice of West Virginia. Now from a Jared Construction Studios. Bringing you the most talked about headlines and real time updates. This is your news now. I'm a voice of Charleston. 1045-965-5ABWCHS 1203 in the capital city, Jeff Jenkins. 580 WCHS, radio newsroom. Metro News, accurate the forecast. A warm afternoon. High 75 currently 70 degrees. Under variable cloudy skies. More in the forecast.

24:32Coming up. State lawmakers are on track to pass the state's next budget today. With nine days left in the regular session. The earliest passage of the budget in decades. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Jason Barrett. Saying this just before presenting the deal to fellow senators last hour. This is the final compromise between the Senate and House. For fiscal year 2027 budget. The Senate went on the pass. The budget bill 30-3. The House expected to take up the compromise plan. Today then the bill will be sent to the governor and our governor Morsey. Within five days after he receives it to make its decision on the bill. Lawmakers would have time to override any line item vetoes before the end of the regular session. A week from Saturday. House of delegate Speaker Roger Hancho has asked about passing the budget with more than a week to go before the end of the session. During an appearance earlier today on Metro News talk like. This is the time when the legislature finalizes its budget. Always has been. We're a little bit early this year. But still this is the time of the year where most major spending decisions have been made. And that we're really negotiating the finer points.

25:33We're continuing to watch the developments at the Capitol. Members of the 130th Air Lift Wing of the West Virginia Air National Guard are coming home today. To the air base in Charleston. They've been on deployment for the last several months to the Horn of Africa. And that's been a historic deployment because it's the first mission after transitioning at the base to the C-130J aircraft. We're at the homecoming today. We'll hear from air guard members later today and their families to events tonight on Charleston's west side. The West Side neighborhood association will have its March neighbor social beginning at six at element edge on fourth avenue from six into eight tonight. The West Virginia Creative Network West Virginia State University Extension service and echo lit will host the west side ripple of mural project celebration at echo lit on West Washington street eight artists will be showing off their new mural projects. Metro News accurate. The forecast very cloudy warm this afternoon. I 75 currently 70 degrees at WCHS get ready for the March state basketball. The March state basketball tournaments with Metro news TV download for live games highlights and recaps.

26:39Plus episodes of our exclusive interview series state of mind and your favorite daily programs right under smart TV or streaming device. Get more information at WV Metro news TV dot com. Metro news television is powered by the WV Department of Tourism Dan Kava GMC the WV HTC Foundation and WVU Medicine. With an update of sports on Joe Burkato on 5 AD WCHS by finishing a top a six way tie for second place in the Sunbelt conference. The Marshall men's basketball team finds themselves in a great position to secure a spot in the NCAA tournament. By finishing second in the league standings, a thundering herd needs to win just two games in the conference tournament to take the league title. We'll begin play any semifinal round on Sunday. We're just trying to make sure that we're healthy, that we're sharp and that guys are ready to go. You know, I've been here, I've been here as a team seed, I've been here as a double by team, the year of Texas State beat us.

27:39So it's a fine line that you walk, you know, you have to be ready to roll because teams are going to have an advantage of playing a game in their arena. That's Marshall head coach Corny Jackson boys high school regional hoops tonight on WCHS South Charleston takes on St. Alpen's Jeff Jenkins has called 7 PM. With this update of sports on Joe Burkato on 5 AD WCHS. Stay up to date on Canal Valley issues with the Dave Allen show on 5.80 line week day mornings at nine when the voice of Charleston 5.80 WCHS points. A NASDAQ is getting crushed to oil prices gasoline prices are a rocketing higher. Good day to have them on. We're going to have Amy Smith on to at five o'clock to talk about your stocks, but anyway, a quick reset of our question of the day. Spring cleaning is coming up for many of us, but 80% in a new survey say they have at least one cleaning black hole an area that's nearly impossible to keep clean or organized.

28:39So here's the hotline question of the day and it is sponsored by Salango lot. Where is the cleaning black hole at your house or apartment? Where is the cleaning black hole at your house or apartment? By the way, no judgment here. Okay, no judgment here. I just want to know it's kind of a funny subject and we're getting a ton of response to this question the day and we have a update from Chris Lawrence. We have a traffic situation in Putman County that's fairly bad and Chris is live on the scene. Oh, let's get in there. Chris, what's going on? What's happening? Hey, good afternoon, Dave. There was an accident a little bit after three o'clock on interstate 64 eastbound lanes just east of the hurricane exit. Two cars involved as I rolled up on it had just happened and one car was up against the medium wall. It was on fire. They have the interstate eastbound shut down and it looks like traffic is backed up from hurricane as far as I can see. A lot of cars are exiting the hurricane, but if you pass that hurricane exit, you're probably going to be sitting there a while.

29:43And if you are on interstate 64, the on ramp at hurricane is closed. You might want to either go up to Taze Valley if you're heading towards Charleston. If you're on eastbound out of hurricane, you'll want to get on up at Taze Valley. Pretty bad, pretty bad accident that they're cleaning up right now and a large presence of law enforcement around what it occurred. So there's probably more to it that we'll learn throughout the afternoon. Chris, thanks for the report. I appreciate it. Be safe out there, buddy. And we'll catch him. We'll catch him tomorrow on the morning news. By the way, you've got Ryan on the traffic beat today, right? So his traffic reports will start. They'll start coming up in about 25 minutes or so locally. All right, Germain Lucere from gismoto.com joins me now. He's not, he didn't have to worry too much about traffic today. Hopefully, Germain, how you doing out there in California? Doing well because I'm home and not in traffic. That a boy, that a boy. Hey, I wanted to ask you about Zootopia too. So it's, it's coming out. When, when are we going to be able to see that on a streaming service?

30:47I believe it is the 11th. So next week. Yeah. Okay. So. Coupe, you're pretty excited about that. Yeah. Yeah. This is one for my daughter. I've been holding off buying it for like 20 bucks for us to stream at home waiting for it to get free on one of the streaming services. And I knew it was going to be soon. Hey, let me ask you, Germain. Was this a surprise hit? I mean, it's big, right? It's been a, it was a big, big winner. It was a big winner. It was, you know, yeah, it was biggest movie. The biggest movie, the year domestically and the second, third biggest movie, the year internationally too. But I think it was a surprise that was such a big hit. I think just something with like animals and culture hit differently overseas, where even though it did like $425 million in the United States, which is crazy good. It did like $1.2 billion overseas. So like, yeah, it was, it was, I think it was expected to be a hit, but I don't think anybody expected to be as big a hit. You know what? I mean, I read your article and I remember the, when the numbers came out,

31:50that Zotopia 2 passed Minecraft in terms of, you know, massive amounts of money that it made. That kind of tells you where we are movie-wise in 2026. Yeah. And that was number, that's one and two. And number three was Lilo and Stitch. And number four was Avatar, you know, three of those from Disney, four of them very, very specifically aimed at younger audiences. And so yeah, I think you're absolutely right. I think that definitely shows a trend that, you know, yeah, younger people do watch stuff on the internet and on their phones. But if you put something out in theaters that they want to see or that parents can bring them to, they're going to turn out. You know, since streaming services have evolved over the last few years, there was always that question of, when would these movies be available once they would leave the traditional theaters? What's the latest on that? I mean, has that sort of settled down? Is there now kind of a template for when a successful movie will become available on a streaming service after it leaves the theater? No, it's still pretty up in the air. I mean, I think this came light a little bit with the whole Warner Brothers Netflix Paramount stuff.

32:57Where they were kept saying, like, you know, these other companies are going to say we're going to keep Warner Brothers things in the data for 45 days. But that was in theaters, but then there was also the premium thing, like Dale had mentioned, $20. He could have rented the utopia to for the last year, probably months or so. And I think, you know, like, it depends on the studio. It depends on the movie. A lot of times universal in particular. If they do release a movie that doesn't do well, you know, you'll get it on the premium on demand, like two weeks after. Like, it's pretty crazy. So no, there is no industry standard at all at this point still after a decade. You know what, our time in this segment is cut a little bit because we had some breaking news about traffic. I think you heard that when you were on hold, but I did have a couple of quick questions I wanted to ask you. I mean, your in LA, you follow this industry. What has been the reaction to the news that Paramount and Skydance have won the bidding war for Warner Brothers Discovery? I mean, it's pretty varied. I think personally, I think it's scary that, you know, a company that, you know, may have ties with the current administration could be control of another big organization that controls news.

34:06I don't like seeing one person or one kind of ideology control all the news. On the other hand, from a purely business standpoint, I think a lot of people are a little bit better with it because Paramount is a theatrical distribution company. So there was no kind of real streaming, you know, worries like there was with Netflix. So it's definitely incredibly complex and scary no matter what though. I also want to ask you about Scream 7. I mean, the reviews on the film have been kind of mixed and you've got a story at gizmodo.com about an alternate ending. What's that about? Well, I can't really say you don't want to spoil it, but I will say that like, yeah, something that is less, not less vague in the film, regards to another character, they shot something that made it much more definitive. And then when they tested it, audiences didn't buy it. I'm surprised audience has bought anything in the film. I am a huge fan and absolutely despised it. Everything about it.

35:07And so I thought it was interesting that they made this change into the audience, but I can't imagine a lot of audiences loving that film because, yeah, wow, what is this appointment for me? So, you know, movie studios test test audiences and they test the endings this separate alternative ending for Scream 7. Will we eventually have access to it? Will we see it? A lot of times you do. I don't think this one will just because it does. It's existing mentioning existence is one thing. We're putting it out there for people to see would kind of change where future films might be able to go. I think this kind of, you know, the fact you probably shouldn't mention it at all to be quite honest, but that the director did mention it. I think people can imagine it and maybe they'll play into another movie, but I would doubt I think this is a little too crazy if I'm to reveal. By the way, we really don't have time to get into it, but I really like the piece that you wrote about Pixar's down streak was just a myth. I thought there was a really good angle that you took on this article about some things that were happening like like COVID impacted some of the ways we feel about Pixar.

36:13And they were on such a major role. Anyway, it's a really good article. If you follow me on X I'll link it in the break. Jermaine, thanks for joining us today. I do appreciate it. Thank you so much to see hopper is by that. All right. We'll take a break and come back with money minutes. Matt Harris is going to join us next. Starting March 10th, Metro News brings you the 2026 West Virginia SSAC high school basketball championships presented by Chick-fil-A. First title for spring mills and boys basketball. The best teams in the state will once again meet at the Charleston Coliseum and convention center to compete for the title in their respective classes. The girls tournament runs March 10th through the boys play March 17th through the 21st. Catch all the games on the Metro News radio network and at WV Metro News. So good. Everything's so good here. Also find up to the minute scoring staff and the latest tournament news and game recaps. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. The last championships both Saturdays on Metro News television. The luck and skill of the Irish they win the double eight championship.

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41:39Boys high school basketball, St. Albans and South Charleston battle for a spot in the state tournament. Tonight at 7 on 580 WCHS. All right, welcome back to the show about 13 minutes to the hour. Hey, this is one of my favorite segments. A money minutes Matt Harris joins us from Huntington Bank to talk about the financial markets and how Huntington Bank can make more money for you. How you doing today, Matt? I'm doing well. Dave, how are you doing? I'm fine. I'm fine. You know what? I apologize for having you on on a day when the the Dow is down almost 900 points and S&P and NASDAQ are following suit. You know, where should we start today? Maybe the simplest place to start might be with gas prices. Oil now north of 80. A lot of people think that this may be going to $100 a barrel or maybe beyond as an investor. How should we look at the situation? Yeah, well, so first off, I've been looking forward to the segment all week at Huntington. We are very proactive in reaching out to our clients in times of volatility.

42:46And that's what we're seeing now. So we've been we've been doing that all week and I'm here to share some of our thoughts. So to start with your first question about gas. Yeah, so oil and energy. They're moving exactly exactly like we would expect them to move whenever there's uncertainty and or conflict in the Middle East. Just today prices are reacting to the continued closure of the straight of Hormuz. That's a narrow waterway in the Middle East that's responsible for the transportation of about 20% of global consumption of oil. And so is that closure continues prices are going to be moving higher and one would expect that there is, you know, a serious concern that, you know, the world could face. And oil shortage and oil is using the production of so many products that, you know, elevated oil and energy cost for the markets, say, why they're important is that, you know, one they're going to put a pinch. If prices, excuse me, if prices remain elevated, that's going to put a pinch on an already pressured consumer. That pinch is an inflationary stressor and that stressor that inflationary stressor could force the Fed to keep interest rates higher for longer, rather than, you know, on their continued path of cutting, which we expected coming into 2026.

44:08Those higher interest rates then put pressure on company earnings, which is going to be why it's, it's very important that the duration of this conflict is critical. And you could see, you know, that it's going to cause markets to reassess the health of the economy. If it continues, when we had a fairly strong economy coming into 2026. All right. So on a day like this, where the market, the Dow was down a thousand points. Should we be looking to buy here? I mean, the, the play during the bull market has, has been to buy the dips and it's basically worked out very well every time you've done that. Yeah. So, you know, duration, I'm going to go back to duration of this conflict is going to be key to, to whether buying the dip is successful. So, you know, when we look back, six of the last nine conflicts, the S&P 500 had a positive one year return following six of those nine.

45:08Again, that's why duration is going to be determined. It's why it's so important. That's a fairly optimistic statistic. And so the three that did not result in positive returns were one, the year following the events of nine 11 and the war in Afghanistan. And those two are kind of grouped together because they they occurred simultaneously. And then also after the one year following the onset of the Russia Ukraine conflict in 2022. So those were the three times in history and of the most recent nine, where the markets were not positive one year following the onset of those events. But it's important to note that those three that did not have positive returns. Well, you know, think of what the economy was the shape of the economy during those times, you know, nine 11 occurred when the economy was still grasping with the fallout from the tech crash in the early 2000s. And then just recently in 2022, you know, we were battling inflation of nine plus percent. So so both instances or all three instances, excuse me, we didn't have the healthy economy like we do today.

46:12So that's that's encouraging. But again, the duration is going to be the duration of this conflict is going to be the key. You know, just talking about oil a little bit more that, you know, when you take a look at the the last two situations where the United States was involved in the Middle East after the the conflict was resolved one way or another. Man, oil prices just sold off dramatically. And a lot of people think that once this situation ends, we could be looking at oil maybe in the in the 40s. And that would be a dramatic fall. That would be like a 50% haircut from where we are now. Yeah, that's, you know, that's a very strong possibility. And you know, the longer elevated oil prices remain, you know, it's going to it's going to really shape the reshape the economy for for the duration of this conflict. Yeah. Also, a couple of other things where, you know, when the when the the conflict broke out, there was a big rush back into gold. Right. I mean, so gold prices continue to be around $5,000 announced. Silver is following suit for individual investors. Is it too late to to to get involved in commodities?

47:19And, you know, I sent you note about coin base to coin base was up about 15% yesterday. The president was making some positive comments about digital assets. You know, what do you thoughts on commodities and digital assets here? Yeah, so if you're sitting on cash and so right now, Huntington from a digital assets standpoint and even from a commodity standpoint, so to speak, we don't have investments in those directly. So, you know, I'll kind of maybe shape this towards, you know, if an investor is sitting in cash right now, you know, here's some observations. So if energy prices stay elevated, you're going to see inflation go up. That's going to erode your purchasing power. And one index that we are watching very closely. It's something called the VIX index. That's a measure of current market volatility historically this VIX that this index averages a number below 20 low market volatility is closer to 12 high market volatility is above 30. And so as of us speaking right now, this index is is climbing up to about 2020 or excuse me to 25. So we're in an elevated level, which means markets are moving.

48:26A good strategy for cash deployment when the VIX is above 20 is to put together, you know, a discipline dollar cost average timeline. Think of think of your 401k. If you get paid every two weeks, your 401k contributions then buy into the markets at the determined level every two weeks. That's what's meant by disciplined dollar cost averaging. And then another thing is that historically when the VIX goes above 40, that's been a very strong buy signal. I think you touched on it earlier. You know, as markets are most likely oversold, you know, due to fear. So something to keep an eye on when picking entry points during this time, whether it's whether it's in the gold or whatever your flavor may be. The VIX is a very good way to track oversold market conditions. I tell you what, man, I'm glad you came on today to talk about the VIX. That's a conversation we've needed to have on this show for quite a long time. Thanks for jumping out with us today. That's another edition of money minutes from Huntington Bank. I'll see you next month. Take care, guys.

49:26All right, Matt Harris from Huntington Bank. Let's take a quick break. We'll come back and wrap the hour in just a moment. Did you hear Frontier is joining Verizon. To celebrate, we're launching our best internet offer ever. For a limited time, get six months of lightning fast 100% fiber internet on us up to one gig. When you bundle Verizon mobile and Frontier fiber, visit your local Verizon store or Verizon.com forward slash welcome dash frontier to switch. Eligible new Frontier fiber plan required availability varies additional terms apply. I'm John Carruthers, the owner of best Virginia heating cooling. I'm born and raised right here in West Virginia. I've got three daughters, so I absolutely care who comes into my home. Every technician we send to your home has been drug tested and background check. I guarantee the best client experience or your money back. We have the best team and the best processes to go to around a five star experience. Call best Virginia today at 6-8-1-6-5-5-1-2-1-4.

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53:05Baseball is back on 580 WCHS. 1045 96 5 and 580 WCHS. Hey, we're also keeping our eyes on what's going on at the Mountain East Conference Women's Basketball Tournament today in Wheeling. University of Charleston leads Wheeling 62-47 with about 4 minutes to go in the game. We'll let you know when that game goes final. That's it for the first hour. We'll take a break for news at the top. Come back. Take a look at the numbers on Wall Street today. Reset our question today. And Kathy Matea from Mountain Stage is going to join us. This is Metro News, the voice of West Virginia. 580 WCHS AM 96.5 FN Charleston 104.5 Cross Lane, a WVRC media station. We're proud to live here too. We're proud to live here too. We're proud to live here too. We're proud to live here too. We're proud to live here too.