Is it time to re-route I-40 in Western NC? (01-10-2025--Hour2)

[00:00:04] What's going on? Thank you so much for listening to this podcast. It is heard live every day from noon to 3 on WBT Radio in Charlotte. And if you want exclusive content like invitations to events, the weekly live stream, my daily show prep with all the links, become a patron, go to thepetekalendershow.com. Make sure you hit the subscribe button, get every episode for free, write to your smartphone or tablet. And again, thank you so much for your support.

[00:00:29] We've been talking about, obviously, the winter weather that is moving through the region. I'm also seeing reports of just like ridiculously long lines in Western North Carolina to get propane for people to heat their temporary dwellings and such and their homes. I'm not really sure what's going on there, but it's still pretty bad out there. And you've heard a lot, I'm sure, about I-40.

[00:00:54] You've seen the, I'm sure by now, right, months later, still not open because of the rock slides and the landslides or, as the engineers would call it, total slope failure that took out I-40.

[00:01:09] And I came across a piece over at the website, businessnc.com, business North Carolina, businessnc.com.

[00:01:16] And it was written by Matthew Isley. He's a veteran North Carolina journalist. He's been in communications.

[00:01:25] He's a communications manager. He's been a consultant for like 15 years.

[00:01:29] He's a native of Iredell County and a graduate of UNC Chapel Hill.

[00:01:33] And he joins us now to talk about this piece that he penned for businessnc.com called North Carolina Should Reroute I-40 Into Tennessee.

[00:01:43] Matthew, welcome to the show, sir. Appreciate you making time.

[00:01:47] Hello, Pete. I'm a Statesville native, as you mentioned. I grew up listening to WBT. I'm delighted to be on your show.

[00:01:52] Oh, well, even better. Even better. Welcome home. Welcome home.

[00:01:56] So, first off, why write, like, what about I-40 and its history of problems inspired you to take a look at this and even write something like this?

[00:02:09] Yeah, I've had a long interest in transportation issues. I covered them as a reporter years ago.

[00:02:15] I've been involved in it as a consultant over the years since.

[00:02:18] I'm also just a map nut, to be honest with you, Pete.

[00:02:22] I've covered natural disasters before, and often after a terrible one like what we've had with Hurricane Haleen,

[00:02:29] the federal government and state government will take a look and see, when we rebuild, can we rebuild things better?

[00:02:34] And it doesn't happen often, but sometimes major changes are made because eventually we realize this place is going to keep flooding.

[00:02:42] This bridge is going to keep getting washed out.

[00:02:44] And so you relocate when you need to, and I think this is a case where we should at least study the possibility of relocating I-40,

[00:02:52] where it really should have been built to begin with, which is not through the very rugged, steep, inaccessible Pigeon River Gorge,

[00:02:58] but rather closer to the French Broad River, where we already had a U.S. Highway 25.

[00:03:02] It's a much more natural route to get from North Carolina into Tennessee.

[00:03:06] You called it, in your piece, a shattered monument to hubris and obstinacy.

[00:03:13] So why did you define it like that?

[00:03:16] Yeah, planning for the highway began in the late 40s and the 50s.

[00:03:21] It was debated for years which of the two routes to take, but interestingly, it was never studied very carefully.

[00:03:27] And reporting at the time made pretty clear that the decision was more political than an engineering-driven decision.

[00:03:34] At the time, Haywood County, through which part of this highway passes, didn't have much highway access.

[00:03:40] They needed economic development, and they desperately wanted I-40.

[00:03:43] They wound up getting it.

[00:03:44] Since then, they've had a lot of growth on another highway.

[00:03:47] The Great Smoky Mountain Expressway is in place to the southwest through Haywood.

[00:03:52] So the decision probably was not made as well as it could have been at the time, and it's not easy to move roads.

[00:04:00] But my argument is we should have not built it there in the first place.

[00:04:05] We're going to have to keep rebuilding it.

[00:04:06] And this happens every few years, Pete.

[00:04:08] Yeah.

[00:04:08] Rock Slide closes the highway.

[00:04:10] So are we going to keep throwing good money after bad, or are we just going to bite the bullet and put it where we should have built it in the first place?

[00:04:16] And I mention humors because when the highway opened, Pete, in 1968, same year I appeared, the governor at the time, it took 10 years to build this road to the mountains.

[00:04:27] And the governor said reportedly, the genius of modern man has shown itself to be superior to the adversities of nature.

[00:04:34] Four months later, the first rock slide closed the highway, and it's been happening ever since.

[00:04:38] So I think nature has been laughing at us for 60 years.

[00:04:42] Right.

[00:04:42] So we tempted it, and it showed us who's actually in charge.

[00:04:47] And that's true.

[00:04:48] I worked in Nashville for about eight years, and it was a regular occurrence.

[00:04:54] Regularly, we would have to, in the traffic updates, we would have to say, yeah, you're going to have to go through this alternate route all the way around whatever this portion because some rocks came tumbling down.

[00:05:03] Now, they did put up the netting, right?

[00:05:06] They try to catch all the rocks so they don't squash cars on the highway and such.

[00:05:13] But it doesn't seem like a long-term fix.

[00:05:16] It looks more and more just like they're putting Band-Aids on a problem.

[00:05:21] And to your point here, it probably never should have been built there in the first place.

[00:05:26] But I could understand why if it's an economic development gateway, basically, right?

[00:05:31] It's a way to get stuff into a county that's cut off.

[00:05:36] I understand why that decision gets made, right?

[00:05:39] People act kind of rationally like that.

[00:05:41] Yeah.

[00:05:42] And my piece is a ridicule decision.

[00:05:44] We didn't know as much then as we do now about geology.

[00:05:48] And my op-ed quotes an engineer, a retired state highway engineer, who, after he had another long closure in 2009, said, you know, if we had known then what we know now, we never would have tried to build this highway there.

[00:06:00] We would have put it somewhere else.

[00:06:02] And I think that better place is probably somewhere on the French Broad U.S. 25 corridor.

[00:06:08] Right.

[00:06:08] Well, yeah, I thought – and you made a reference here, and that was a shocking thing to hear this retired engineer say that it wouldn't be built there nowadays, which is – that's one of the things – like, I understand, and I'm not critical of people when they make decisions with the best information they've got available at that time.

[00:06:26] I don't hold them to a modern standard if you've got greater abilities now, right?

[00:06:31] Right.

[00:06:31] Right.

[00:06:31] So – because it doesn't – there's no value in doing that.

[00:06:36] But there is a value in identifying that, like, that information is now outdated.

[00:06:41] There's a better way to do this that we should look to do it this way now.

[00:06:46] And you mentioned in one of your comments here every choice is a tradeoff, and I was reminded of the Thomas Sowell line, right?

[00:06:53] There are no solutions, only tradeoffs.

[00:06:54] So there are going to be tradeoffs here.

[00:06:57] So what would those be if they were to – if they were to seriously look at and then maybe even do this realignment?

[00:07:06] What would those tradeoffs be for this other location along the French Broad, as you say?

[00:07:11] Yeah, and there certainly are tradeoffs.

[00:07:14] And as my piece noted, it would take a lot of time and a lot of money to make this happen.

[00:07:19] But I think that's all the reason to get started looking at it now.

[00:07:23] But there always are tradeoffs.

[00:07:24] And I've got some mixed reaction from locals.

[00:07:28] There's a political analyst you might know in Charlotte, Andrew Dunn, who said he thinks this is exactly the kind of thing that government should think about more often.

[00:07:36] Let's just not keep doing the same thing the same way.

[00:07:39] The mayor of Weaverville told me he thought it was a good argument.

[00:07:42] He wondered whether local politics would once again prevent the highway from being put in the right place.

[00:07:48] I heard from the tourism director in Hot Springs who's concerned about the potential impacts of noise and other things on that town.

[00:07:56] It's a tourism, small town that thrives on tourism.

[00:07:58] And I think that's an illegitimate concern.

[00:08:02] You wouldn't want to ruin the towns along that U.S. 25 route, of course.

[00:08:06] I think, I assume, I'm not an highway engineer, but those who are could figure out how to bypass around the town.

[00:08:13] We do this all the time, all over the state, all over America.

[00:08:15] You should be able to build an interstate that's around the town, certainly doesn't plow right through the town,

[00:08:21] but that arguably could improve, increase tourism and economic development for them.

[00:08:27] But I think taking a step back, it's really important to keep in mind, this is not just a matter of annoyance for local drivers.

[00:08:33] This is a major federal interstate highway route.

[00:08:37] Commerce depends on it.

[00:08:39] National defense could depend on it one day.

[00:08:41] And it ought to work.

[00:08:42] We shouldn't have to face the closure lasting months every few years.

[00:08:45] It's also super dangerous.

[00:08:48] It sure is.

[00:08:49] Yeah.

[00:08:50] Yeah, people have died there, Pete, from rock slides.

[00:08:53] It also gets quite foggy there frequently.

[00:08:56] You have these big pile-up wrecks.

[00:08:57] At least two state troopers have lost their lives simply having pulled someone over for speeding through this dangerous, twisty route

[00:09:04] and getting run over by trucks.

[00:09:06] It's not a safe place to drive.

[00:09:08] Yeah.

[00:09:09] Real quick, before we let you go, you mentioned that the sunk cost fallacy and the status quo bias.

[00:09:18] To keep throwing good taxpayer money after bed indefinitely is a prime example of the sunk cost fallacy and the status quo bias.

[00:09:27] So what are those?

[00:09:28] So they're related.

[00:09:29] They're different but related.

[00:09:30] And, you know, we're all prone to them.

[00:09:32] The sunk cost fallacy is I've been putting money time after time into this project, whatever it is.

[00:09:38] Your home improvement, your car, a highway, a war.

[00:09:42] Some people refer to it as the Vietnam syndrome.

[00:09:44] Since we're invested so far in it, we can't bail from it.

[00:09:47] But in the business world, people know sometimes that's exactly what you should do.

[00:09:51] If you're losing, stop the losses.

[00:09:53] Move on to another option and a better choice.

[00:09:57] And the status quo bias is also something we all probably share, which is, you know, we're used to it.

[00:10:03] Change is hard.

[00:10:05] Inertia is hard to overcome.

[00:10:07] And let's just don't worry about doing what's hard, even though what's hard might be what is right and wise in the long term.

[00:10:14] Yeah.

[00:10:14] No, I remember getting calls when I was up in Asheville from people who remembered some of these problems going back decades.

[00:10:21] And they were like, it never should have been built here.

[00:10:23] I think they say the same thing also about 277 or not 285, I think, right?

[00:10:29] The one that goes right through downtown Asheville.

[00:10:33] I always get the numbers confused with Charlotte's.

[00:10:35] Yeah, 240.

[00:10:36] 240, that's it.

[00:10:38] Yeah.

[00:10:38] These are hard decisions.

[00:10:39] Yeah.

[00:10:40] It's not an easy thing.

[00:10:40] But we ought to at least start thinking about it and studying it.

[00:10:43] Yeah, because 240 is such a mess.

[00:10:45] And they did that because they wanted people to get off the interstate and go into downtown.

[00:10:48] And I guess they figured if everyone's stuck in, you know, a traffic jam on 240, they'll want to get off the interstate.

[00:10:55] But it's like that's not the point of a bypass, right?

[00:10:57] It's not to send you through the downtown.

[00:10:59] But that was the thinking at the time.

[00:11:00] Again.

[00:11:01] Well, if you could look at Winston-Salem, a lot of highways that were designed in the 1950s just don't work well for us anymore.

[00:11:07] We should accept that and do better as we rebuild.

[00:11:10] Yeah.

[00:11:10] No, it's great stuff.

[00:11:11] You can read the entire piece, which I recommend people do at businessnc.com.

[00:11:15] Matthew Isley is the author of the op-ed.

[00:11:18] He's a former North Carolina journalist and a comms manager and consultant.

[00:11:22] Appreciate your time, sir.

[00:11:23] Thanks so much.

[00:11:23] And enjoy the snow if you get it.

[00:11:25] Thank you, Pete.

[00:11:26] Stay safe.

[00:11:26] All right.

[00:11:27] You too.

[00:11:27] Take care.

[00:11:28] All right.

[00:11:28] That's Matthew Isley.

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[00:12:44] So the piece, we just talked with the author of the op-ed at Business NC, Matthew Isley.

[00:12:51] And the idea is to reroute, or at least look at it, study it.

[00:12:59] Should we be rerouting I-40 in the western part of the state?

[00:13:04] Right?

[00:13:05] Because if you're going into Tennessee, I-40 gets shut down.

[00:13:08] And by the way, have you ever had to do the detour around an I-40 closure?

[00:13:15] It's awful.

[00:13:16] It's just awful.

[00:13:18] So, and it's a major route, right?

[00:13:21] Because it goes from the east coast all the way to the west coast.

[00:13:25] So, it's a major shipping, trucking lane.

[00:13:31] I don't know.

[00:13:32] Like, it makes sense to me.

[00:13:35] I've talked about this in various respects.

[00:13:38] One of them is, you know, I remember talking years ago when Dan Forrest was the lieutenant governor.

[00:13:46] And one of the things he was doing, because, you know, the lieutenant governor in the state of North Carolina is a very limited power position.

[00:13:55] And you kind of make it, you kind of pick and choose some issues that you want to highlight and you want to try to address somehow.

[00:14:02] But you've got to work with the legislature and all that.

[00:14:04] But one of the things he was looking at was sort of like a precursor to Doge, right?

[00:14:09] But one of them was, can we find efficiencies in state government?

[00:14:14] And one of the things that he had said at the time was, if we were building state government today, it would look a lot different than it does now.

[00:14:24] Just the buildings alone, right?

[00:14:27] I mean, just think of it.

[00:14:29] Do you need all of the buildings and do the buildings today meet the needs of what the services and operations are within them?

[00:14:39] Or is it just like this constant retrofitting and retrofitting and trying to fill the space and move programs and departments and all of this?

[00:14:49] Would you build it differently today?

[00:14:51] Absolutely.

[00:14:52] Well, then why not look at rebuilding it in that better way?

[00:14:55] Another one, another example.

[00:14:57] Telephone lines, right?

[00:15:00] You have greater wireless penetration or not wireless, sorry.

[00:15:06] It was greater satellite television penetration in certain areas of, quote unquote, third world or second world countries than in parts of America.

[00:15:17] Same thing happened with cable lines.

[00:15:20] There were more, there's more cable runs done in other countries.

[00:15:25] Cell phone service is another example of it where in the, they call it leapfrogging.

[00:15:30] In the technological space, they call it leapfrogging where a society that doesn't have like a telephone line network that's built up like we do in America where they were running telephone poles and lines all over the place.

[00:15:43] And other societies couldn't afford to do all of that.

[00:15:46] So they just did without telephones until the technology doesn't require all the poles.

[00:15:51] And then they leapfrog over us and they have a much more efficient system because it's all modern.

[00:15:56] They can now afford this modern technology and they don't have all the telephone poles everywhere.

[00:16:01] Anyway, it's just one example.

[00:16:02] So to rethink I-40, where it is currently located, given all the problems that that road has because of where they built it, I think it should be looked at.

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[00:16:27] Hey dad, remember those old VHS tapes? Did you ever get them transferred?

[00:16:31] And then the room gets all quiet, all eyes are on dad who says,

[00:16:35] Oh, you know, well I've been meaning to, but I just haven't gotten around to it.

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[00:17:19] I see a report here beginning to sleet now in Rock Hill.

[00:17:30] And I see a report from Mark.

[00:17:33] Light sleet in Indian land.

[00:17:38] All right, everybody.

[00:17:39] Remain calm.

[00:17:42] Remain calm.

[00:17:43] All is well.

[00:17:45] However, I do feel like, um, yeah, I feel like it's time.

[00:17:52] So, all right, I got to be honest here.

[00:17:54] Um, due to the decade-long decay in newsroom staffing levels across America, uh, we no longer

[00:18:03] have the once massive number of reporters to dispatch out into various, uh, climactic catastrophes.

[00:18:12] So, after much thought and planning and brainstorming over the course of about two minutes, I came up with a solution.

[00:18:27] It is Operation Snowman on the Street.

[00:18:33] Or snowperson, if you will.

[00:18:38] Because, uh, when you go out as a reporter and you stick a microphone in just some rando's face, we call that in the biz, a man on the street interview.

[00:18:49] I'm gonna go up to you and I'm gonna ask you a question about something and you're gonna say something probably pretty stupid, and I'm gonna put it on my newscast.

[00:18:57] And it's going to fill the news hole.

[00:18:58] And that's really the only point.

[00:19:01] Gotta fill the news hole.

[00:19:03] So, uh, that's how the, uh, the, the man on the street, but now they can't say, we would use the term MOS.

[00:19:11] And then you would compile a whole bunch of these little clips together.

[00:19:14] You'd have a montage of MOS.

[00:19:17] And so, you know, Pete Callender is out on the street talking to people about what they think about the arena deal.

[00:19:22] For example.

[00:19:24] Actual example.

[00:19:25] And, you know, I'm for it, I'm against it, blah, blah, blah, whatever.

[00:19:29] Okay?

[00:19:29] And it just fills up time.

[00:19:32] That's the point.

[00:19:33] Because it's not a scientific study, right?

[00:19:35] It's not an official survey.

[00:19:37] So, it doesn't actually do anything except tell us that some people think some things.

[00:19:43] Okay.

[00:19:43] So they called it MOS.

[00:19:45] And then, of course, you couldn't call it MOS.

[00:19:47] So then they started calling it person on the street.

[00:19:50] So then we started calling it a POS.

[00:19:52] But you really can't call it that because that means something else.

[00:19:55] So, I have decided we are.

[00:19:59] And I rolled this out a few years ago up in the mountains when we got a pretty hefty snowstorm up there at the time.

[00:20:06] And we created essentially the largest news operation Western North Carolina had ever seen.

[00:20:17] So, I figure we can do the same here.

[00:20:20] And I don't have to pay you.

[00:20:23] That's the key, right?

[00:20:25] The goal, as always, is to build the biggest reporting core.

[00:20:29] Or, if you're Barack Obama, corpse.

[00:20:32] The biggest reporting core that North Carolina has ever seen.

[00:20:37] Just during my show.

[00:20:38] Okay?

[00:20:39] So, this is where you come in.

[00:20:41] Because, obviously, I can't go out onto the street and do all of the reporting.

[00:20:48] So, I, through the powers vested in me by nobody, would deputize you to be a reporter for the operation that we are calling Snowman on the Street.

[00:21:04] Okay?

[00:21:07] All right.

[00:21:08] So, raise your right or left hand.

[00:21:09] It doesn't matter.

[00:21:10] And just say, I agree.

[00:21:13] Okay, good.

[00:21:15] And so, now you're deputized.

[00:21:17] You now have all the requisite training and authority to file a report of what you are seeing.

[00:21:25] To help us avoid getting frustrated by the weather.

[00:21:29] To borrow a word from our dear fearless and scandal-ridden sheriff.

[00:21:34] We don't want to get frustrated.

[00:21:37] So, now you're a deputy.

[00:21:40] You will now be a temporary, unpaid intern, basically.

[00:21:45] Reporter with no credits for WBT.

[00:21:51] Now, there are some requirements.

[00:21:55] You can call in with a report on, like, these are some ideas.

[00:21:59] Road conditions.

[00:22:00] Snowfall total.

[00:22:01] Which, let me look at the...

[00:22:03] Okay, which right now would be zero.

[00:22:04] So, you don't need to call in with a snowfall total.

[00:22:07] Okay?

[00:22:07] But maybe as the snow proceeds, then you're going to have some stuff to report.

[00:22:11] Okay?

[00:22:12] Have you seen some newsworthy snow-related event?

[00:22:16] Maybe some gnat sound?

[00:22:17] Everybody loves gnat sound in the biz.

[00:22:19] I'm going to tell you.

[00:22:19] Gnat sound, like a chainsaw.

[00:22:22] Like, if you can get a chainsaw going, like we're cutting down some trees.

[00:22:24] You know what I'm talking about.

[00:22:25] You always hear the chainsaw running in all of the gnat sound pieces after a hurricane or any kind of natural disaster.

[00:22:30] You always hear the chainsaws.

[00:22:31] Right?

[00:22:32] Or how about the crunching underfoot of the snow?

[00:22:35] Something like that.

[00:22:35] Gnat sound.

[00:22:37] Everybody loves news.

[00:22:38] Directors love nnat sound.

[00:22:39] Okay.

[00:22:40] So, road conditions.

[00:22:41] Whatever.

[00:22:42] Whatever you want to talk about.

[00:22:43] Whatever the report is.

[00:22:44] I'm not trying to limit your creativity.

[00:22:47] We just go where the news takes us.

[00:22:48] Right?

[00:22:49] Now, there are some...

[00:22:50] These are the requirements now.

[00:22:52] Require two things.

[00:22:53] When I throw it to you, I'm going to go out.

[00:22:56] I'm going to say, like, we're going to go to you in the field.

[00:23:02] Oh, I actually...

[00:23:03] We need to know where they're from.

[00:23:04] Because I need to know where they're going to be reporting from.

[00:23:07] We usually...

[00:23:08] I usually don't care where you're calling from.

[00:23:10] Like, some people will be like, so-and-so in, you know, Fort Mill or whatever.

[00:23:14] But it doesn't ever really matter to me unless it's something that is very specifically for...

[00:23:19] Like this.

[00:23:20] Right?

[00:23:20] So, tell us where you are.

[00:23:23] Tell Steve, the call screener, where you are.

[00:23:25] And then I will throw it to you.

[00:23:27] I'm going to throw it to you.

[00:23:29] And I'm going to ask you the first and the only, the most important question that any reporter ever asks in any situation.

[00:23:36] Which is...

[00:23:38] What's the mood?

[00:23:40] What's the mood?

[00:23:42] What's the mood?

[00:23:43] That's the question.

[00:23:44] So, you're going to start your report answering that question of, what's the mood?

[00:23:48] All right?

[00:23:49] And here's the other requirement.

[00:23:51] When you are done, you've got to say, back to you, Pete.

[00:23:56] Otherwise, I won't know when you're done.

[00:23:58] Okay?

[00:23:58] So, you say, back to you, Pete.

[00:23:59] Now, I may follow up with a question or something.

[00:24:01] And if I do follow up with a question, it is also imperative that you say, great question, Pete.

[00:24:09] Great question, Pete.

[00:24:10] Now, you can use whatever inflection you want, but, like, that's, you've got to say, great question.

[00:24:13] Because a lot of times that stuff is scripted, by the way.

[00:24:16] A little peek behind the curtain there.

[00:24:17] Anyway, if I ask a question, it'll be, great question.

[00:24:20] But you've got to say, back to you, Pete.

[00:24:22] All right?

[00:24:22] So, those are the two requirements.

[00:24:24] I'm going to ask you, what's the mood?

[00:24:26] And then you're going to lock it out after you give me your report.

[00:24:30] Then you're going to say, back to you, Pete.

[00:24:32] This is Operation Snowman on the Street.

[00:24:36] All right?

[00:24:37] If you're listening to this show, you know I try to keep up with all sorts of current events.

[00:24:40] And I know you do, too.

[00:24:41] And you've probably heard me say, get your news from multiple sources.

[00:24:45] Why?

[00:24:46] Well, because it's how you detect media bias, which is why I've been so impressed with Ground News.

[00:24:51] It's an app, and it's a website, and it combines news from around the world in one place,

[00:24:57] so you can compare coverage and verify information.

[00:25:00] You can check it out at check.ground.news.com.

[00:25:05] I put the link in the podcast description, too.

[00:25:07] I started using Ground News a few months ago, and more recently chose to work with them as

[00:25:12] an affiliate because it lets me see clearly how stories get covered and by whom.

[00:25:17] The blind spot feature shows you which stories get ignored by the left and the right.

[00:25:21] See for yourself.

[00:25:23] Check.ground.news.com.

[00:25:26] Subscribe through that link, and you'll get 15% off any subscription.

[00:25:30] I use the Vantage plan to get unlimited access to every feature.

[00:25:34] Your subscription then not only helps my podcast, but it also supports Ground News as they make

[00:25:39] the media landscape more transparent.

[00:25:42] Operation Snowman on the Street.

[00:25:46] We shall now go to our first reporter live.

[00:25:49] It is Susan in Morganton.

[00:25:51] Susan, what's the mood?

[00:25:53] Reporting from the foothills of Western North Carolina, Morganton, North Carolina.

[00:25:58] Heavy snow and bracing for 2025 blizzard.

[00:26:03] Back to you, Pete.

[00:26:05] Compelling and rich.

[00:26:07] Thank you, Susan.

[00:26:09] Next up in continuing coverage, the team is out.

[00:26:13] This is Union County.

[00:26:15] John has this report.

[00:26:16] John, what can you tell us?

[00:26:18] What's the mood?

[00:26:19] Pete, we're reporting live from you in Indian Trail in the Union County.

[00:26:24] I got to tell you, the mood at first, it seemed to be sheer panic among the people.

[00:26:29] However, as we're moving through this storm, I think I sense some cautious optimism that

[00:26:36] they're going to survive this and they're going to rebuild and come out of this stronger

[00:26:41] than before.

[00:26:43] Right now, approximately one frozen drop of, I would call it maybe sleep, is hitting my

[00:26:52] windshield about every 30 seconds.

[00:26:54] Oh, my gosh.

[00:26:55] So, obviously, it's about to really come down.

[00:26:58] Back to you, Pete.

[00:26:59] John, stay safe, sir.

[00:27:01] Stay safe.

[00:27:02] Don't take any unnecessary chances.

[00:27:03] That's a truly inspiring story, though, of overcoming adversity.

[00:27:08] We appreciate it, John, at Live Report from Union County.

[00:27:11] As part of Operation Snowman on the Street here.

[00:27:15] Next up, Ray in Clover.

[00:27:19] Ray, what's the mood?

[00:27:22] Hello, Pete.

[00:27:23] This is a weather report from Ray the Snowman in Clover, South Carolina.

[00:27:30] Right now, there's, like the previous caller, there's a drop every once in a while, about

[00:27:36] 30 seconds on the windshield.

[00:27:37] Oh, gosh.

[00:27:38] And that's all we got going on.

[00:27:40] And why does this matter?

[00:27:42] Because you won't have to put your snow tires or your chains on.

[00:27:46] Back to you, Pete.

[00:27:48] That is some very valuable information.

[00:27:50] Ray, we appreciate it.

[00:27:52] Stay safe out there on the roads.

[00:27:54] Yes.

[00:27:56] Next up, we've got this live report from Bill O in Fort Mill.

[00:28:03] Bill, what can you tell us?

[00:28:05] What's the mood?

[00:28:09] Where's my producer?

[00:28:12] Just forget it.

[00:28:13] Forget it.

[00:28:14] We'll do it live.

[00:28:15] We'll do it live.

[00:28:16] Just forget it.

[00:28:18] All right.

[00:28:19] Bill is, I know something's happening with Bill there in Fort Mill.

[00:28:22] I'm not really sure if I will just let him work out that.

[00:28:26] That was a compelling and rich story.

[00:28:27] We appreciate the live update.

[00:28:30] I do have some information.

[00:28:32] The National Weather Service said Mecklenburg County could see up to 1.5 inches of snow in

[00:28:39] some areas today, as well as the sleet and the freezing rain.

[00:28:44] The AK, also known as the wintry mix, or as I call it, Satan slush.

[00:28:49] Yeah, that would be Charlotte's first measurable snow in three years.

[00:28:55] I believe Al Conklin from down the hall at WBTV, chief meteorologist, he said it's been

[00:29:00] 1,077 days since the last snowfall.

[00:29:04] And then he said, not like we're counting, but I kind of feel like he was counting.

[00:29:09] Because I don't know how you come up with that number otherwise, if you're not counting.

[00:29:13] Right?

[00:29:16] Terry, live in Gastonia.

[00:29:18] Terry, what's the mood?

[00:29:20] Coming to you live from First Methodist Church in Gastonia, North Carolina.

[00:29:25] There is no milk and bread at Foodline.

[00:29:28] Repeat, no milk and bread at Foodline.

[00:29:31] Outside of that, the mood is positive.

[00:29:34] Traffic is flowing.

[00:29:35] The blizzard is coming down live.

[00:29:38] Back to you, Pete.

[00:29:39] Gosh, that's some good information.

[00:29:40] We appreciate it.

[00:29:41] Stay safe out there, Terry.

[00:29:44] Compelling and rich, as they say.

[00:29:47] Jamie, in Waxhaw.

[00:29:51] Jamie, what's the mood?

[00:29:53] Pete, I got breaking news.

[00:29:55] There is still firewood at the local Lowe's.

[00:29:58] And there is measurable, I would say, 12 to 15 flakes at least per mile, as opposed to

[00:30:07] Clover and Indian Trail.

[00:30:09] Jamie, are you talking about people or actual snowflakes?

[00:30:13] Snowflakes.

[00:30:14] Snowflakes.

[00:30:15] Pete, sorry about that.

[00:30:17] And to add, the three local police advocates are on the street tonight.

[00:30:22] They're patrolling, keeping the proud residents of Waxhaw safe.

[00:30:28] And the mood is reassuring.

[00:30:31] It's really the only way to describe it.

[00:30:38] And what do you say to close out the report?

[00:30:43] And this is Jamie reporting live from you on Highway 16 in the beautiful city of Waxhaw.

[00:30:49] All right.

[00:30:50] Thank you, Jamie.

[00:30:51] I appreciate it.

[00:30:51] He's supposed to say back to you, Pete.

[00:30:52] But I don't know what, if it's not on the teleprompter, man, I don't know what I'm supposed

[00:30:57] to do.

[00:30:57] That's a good report, Jamie.

[00:30:58] Let's head over to Mike in Huntersville.

[00:31:01] Mike, what's the mood?

[00:31:04] This is a breaking news story, Pete.

[00:31:07] I was just out going to the local ABC store and I saw a drop of water hit my windshield.

[00:31:15] Oh, my gosh.

[00:31:15] Didn't know what to do.

[00:31:16] But when I was able to pull over, I made it to the store and they had Eagle Rare.

[00:31:22] So this is a compelling story.

[00:31:25] So back to you, Pete.

[00:31:26] That is compelling and rich.

[00:31:28] I feel like, I mean, such vivid detail there in the way Mike told that story.

[00:31:34] Let's head up to the university area.

[00:31:37] Donna, what's the mood?

[00:31:38] Donna.

[00:31:40] Hey, Pete.

[00:31:41] This is Donna from the university area in Charlotte.

[00:31:44] The mood is prepared.

[00:31:47] I just passed the PNC amphitheater and it looks like they're staging some line trucks that

[00:31:54] do not appear to be Duke Power ones.

[00:31:57] And the neighborhood Walmart has no buggies.

[00:32:02] Back to you, Pete.

[00:32:05] Thank you, Donna.

[00:32:06] I appreciate that information.

[00:32:08] I appreciate that report.

[00:32:10] I feel like we all learned something from that.

[00:32:13] All right.

[00:32:13] That'll do it for this episode.

[00:32:15] Thank you so much for listening.

[00:32:16] I could not do the show without your support and the support of the businesses that advertise

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[00:32:30] Again, thank you so much for listening and don't break anything while I'm gone.