Tonight's special guests are Chief Mike Pifer of Vienna (WV) Police Department and Chief Shawn Graham of Williamstown (WV) Police Department. The topic of discussion is the state of policing in their two communities, their successes, and their challenges. One issue that has come up each time we have spoken with law enforcement is the challenge of recruiting, training, and retaining qualified, professional officers. Both men also expressed strong interest in the Parkersburg and Wood County Neighborhood Watch Co-op helping them establish Neighborhood Watch in their communities.

Tonight's guest is Lisa Doyle-Parsons, Director of the Circles® Campaign of the Mid-Ohio Valley, Inc., a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. They are a community-based initiative that assists families in poverty to achieve their goal of self-sufficiency through education and supportive friendships with mentors, or “Allies”. True to their mission, They "build circles of support that strengthen our community by inspiring and equipping families in their effort to transition out of poverty." Their local initiative uses a national model developed by Move the Mountain Leadership Campaign. The Circles model started in 2000 as a way to increase the capacity of communities to address poverty. The approach combines best practices in several disciplines including community organizing, coaching, grassroots leadership, SMART goal setting, financial literacy, mentoring, peer-to-peer counseling and learning, and child/youth development. On Monday, August 8, at 5:30 pm at St Joseph's landing (the old St Joe hospital) they're hosting an open-to-the-public meeting on recognizing and talking to someone about suicide.

This evening’s guest is Jason Bailey, MBA, Director of Rehabilitation Services at SW Resources, located at 1024 7th Street, Parkersburg, West Virginia. SW Resources was founded in 1964 by an organization now known as The Arc and the Junior League of Parkersburg, West Virginia. From a modest beginning in a converted storefront building, and growing through several rocky and unsuccessful years, SW Resources now occupies three buildings, including an 18,000-square-foot warehouse. Through the years, the organization grew thanks to their commitment to quality services, the help and tremendous support of their volunteers, the generosity of our local community, and the dedication of both their talented staff and client employees.

Our guest this evening is a regional icon, long-time radio personality, and our friend, Mr. Douglas (Doug) Hess, Jr., COO of the Arc of the Mid-Ohio Valley. Since 1955, The Arc of the Mid Ohio Valley has been dedicated to ensuring a satisfying and productive life for children and adults with intellectual, cognitive, and related developmental disabilities by providing programs and services that enable, empower, and encourage them to live, learn, work, worship, and play in their community … along with their peers and neighbors! This evening Doug discusses a few of the many programs the Arc provides here in our region.

Our guest this evening is Aaron Fleenor, Public Information Officer and Administrative Assistant for the Wood/Wirt County (WV) 911 Center. Aaron says that the most important take-away from his interview is “National Number, Local Service.” That means that although 911 is the national emergency number, dispatchers cannot dispatch responders out of their own area. If you live in Parkersburg and you’re talking with your grandmother in Cleveland, and she says she needs an ambulance, you must contact the dispatch center in Cleveland to get help to her. The local dispatchers can do nothing to help you. To schedule a tour of the 911 Center, call the Communications Coordinator, Bill Riffle, at the business office.

This evening's guest is Kenny Harris, WA8LLM, Director of Wood County Emergency Communications. WCEC is an all-volunteer non-profit Amateur Radio organization, created to provide backup and overload communications to all Public Safety agencies in Wood County, West Virginia, and the surrounding counties in West Virginia and Ohio. Please visit their website at WC8EC.org.

This evening we had planned to have as our guest the Public Information Officer from the Wood/Wirt County 911 Center, Aaron Fleenor. We were plagued with technical difficulties from “Action!” to “Cut!” and Aaron was unable to connect to our studio. During this week we will do our very best to identify and correct those technical problems, and we will reschedule Aaron very soon.

Bob and Rick discuss the future of the BobCast. We have several new regular segments planned, plus some new ideas for “audience participation.” Also this afternoon, the first installment in our (hopefully) weekly area trivia contest.

May 15 was national Peace Officers’ Memorial Day, honoring all Peace Officers killed in the Line of Duty. There were 617 human officers and 21 K9 officers killed in the Line of Duty in 2021. (Source: https://www.odmp.org/search/year/2021) Parkersburg Police Chief Matt Board and Wood County Sheriff Rick Woodyard join us to discuss National Police Week and their respective positions and departments.

This evening we concentrate on a special tribute to our mothers and the other significant women in our lives.