In the latest episode of Buyers and Company, airing on Monday, January 27th, 2025, the hosts explored various pressing topics from military policies to local community initiatives. This engaging discussion not only highlights the latest news but also underscores the importance of community involvement and personal growth. Here are the key points from the episode, summarized for your convenience.
Military Policies and Reinstatement Efforts
Key Takeaway:
A significant change in military policy is underway as President Trump has introduced an executive order allowing over 8,000 U.S. military members who were discharged during the COVID-19 vaccination mandate to return to service. Although many were reinstated, it has been noted that only 43 individuals opted to return after the mandate's repeal.
Additional Insights:
- These reinstatements will include full back pay and benefits.
- The discussion touched on the controversial plans to ban transgender service members and eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs within the military.
Immigration and Local Legislative Actions
Key Takeaway:
The episode reported tensions regarding immigration policies, highlighting Florida's Republican Governor Ron DeSantis who is pushing for legislation to support Trump's tougher immigration policies.
Highlights:
- New laws would require local police to train on enforcing immigration laws.
- Reports of federal raids resulting in over 900 arrests of unauthorized immigrants were discussed, indicating ongoing challenges in managing immigration effectively.
Community Success Stories: A Focus on Youth Empowerment
Celebrating a Milestone
Key Takeaway:
One of the emotional highlights in the podcast was the discussion of a young local man, A.Z., who recently graduated from basic military training in Missouri. This was a moment of pride for the community and a testament to the power of mentorship and support.
Core Insights:
- A.Z. participated in various youth initiatives and was instrumental in mentoring other young individuals in the community.
- His dreams of continuing a career in law enforcement, particularly as a police officer or state trooper, show the impact of investing in youth through community projects and mentorship programs.
Community Contributions
- The hosts emphasized the necessity of community collaboration and support systems that help young people realize their aspirations.
- Successful outcomes are results of collective efforts, community resources, and the hard work of organizations that encourage youth engagement.
The Importance of Alliances and Collaboration
Key Takeaway:
The episode stressed on the need for partnerships among local organizations to promote better outcomes in community services and youth programs. Drawing on analogies from various construction projects, the discussion highlighted the value of vision and collaboration in achieving success.
Insights:
- Just like construction requires intricate planning and teamwork, so does fostering a supportive environment for youth.
- The hosts showcased how collaborations can break down barriers and allow for effective resource sharing, ultimately leading to improved community structures.
Closing Thoughts
In conclusion, the episode brought to the fore the significance of community involvement in navigating national crises, highlighting both newsworthy topics and heartwarming community narratives. Key themes included:
- National policy changes impacting local communities.
- The personal growth driven by mentorship and support within the community.
- The vital need for collaborative efforts to enhance community support systems.
Final Remarks
Stay tuned for more insightful discussions on Buyers and Company, where every episode aims to inform and inspire with true stories and vital updates that resonate with our local and national environment.
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Open types and where victims reside. The goal is to inform data-driven prevention and intervention efforts to reduce violent deaths and firearm injuries. For more stories, podcasts, and videos, visit our website now, Decatur.com. Pete Hegseff shows up for work at the Pentagon this hour. I'm Dave Anthony Fox, news of the Defense Secretary.
has some work to do as president Trump, right? He's a new executive order today to welcome back US military members kicked out the COVID crisis. More than 8,000 service men and women were discharged between 2021 and 2023 because they refused to get vaccinated against COVID. And then once the military's mandate was repealed in 2023, only 43 people actually tried to go back.
Now, everybody that is reinstated will receive their former rank and full back pay with benefits. Fox's Peter Ducey, the White House, the New York Post reports there are also be two more Trump orders for Secretary Hegs of the process to ban transgender military service members and eliminate DEI programs.
It was a brief standoff between the White House and Colombia, which initially refused to accept deported Colombians sent back. Colombia's president quickly caving, following President Trump's announcing retaliatory measures in response to him not accepting the deportation flights. Those threats included a 25% tariff on all goods coming into the U.S. from Colombia. That's Fox's Brooks Singman and raids, federal agents conducted yesterday. They arrested more than 900 illegal immigrants detained more than 500 others.
And while Democrats in some cities and states plan to resist, Florida's Republican governor, Rhonda Sandis, wants to help calling a legislative special session. The governor wants them to make changes to certain state laws reflecting President Trump's policies on immigration enforcement.
bills already filed would require local police to undergo training for enforcing immigration law for enhancing penalties for state crimes committed by illegal migrants. Fox's Evan Brown, there are reports Israel's Prime Minister will go to the White House for talks with President Trump next week. And now that Hamas has agreed to two more sets of hostage releases this week, Israel is allowing Palestinians displaced by war in northern Gaza to return, though. There's a lot of destruction. America's listening to Fox News. Everywhere you look, things are getting more expensive.
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President Trump may get another member of his cabinet today when the Senate is expected to vote to confirm Scott Bessent is the next Treasury Secretary. Later this week, more nominees get their Senate confirmation hearings. Wednesday, the Senate's Finance Committee holds a hearing with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the President's nominee for Health and Human
Services Secretary Thursday, the Judiciary Committee hears from Cash Patel on his nomination to lead the FBI. The Intelligence Committee will hold a hearing with former Democratic Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, who is faced by partisan skepticism since being nominated as the Director of National Intelligence.
at the White House, Jared Halpern Fox News. An American has been set free overseas. According to the State Department, Anastasia Nuffur was detained in Belarus last month and AP quotes a former Belarusian diplomat as saying her arrest was linked to protests
that followed the country's disputed 2020 election. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko is currently in the process of releasing vast numbers of prisoners. But rights groups say over 1,000 people are still locked up for opposing him. Jonathan Savage, Fox News. Wall Street, a big sell-off is brewing this hour. Nasdaq futures down more than 700 points. The Super Bowl is set, and it could make history. Kim Mahons do it. Got the P-line.
The Kansas City Chiefs will go for a three-peat, which no NFL team has ever done. After the Chiefs beat the Buffalo Bills 32-29 on CBS to win the AFC Championship, they'll play the Eagles.
He scored three times leading Philadelphia to a 55-23 round of the Washington commanders to win the NFC title on Fox. The Chiefs and Eagles will play in the Super Bowl February 9th. I'm Dave Anthony and this is Fox News. January is National Blood Donor Month, a time to make a life-saving impact. Your donation can be the difference between life and loss for those in need.
Impact Life invites you to start the year by giving the gift of life, find a local blood drive today. Visit BloodCenter.org to locate a drive near you and learn how you can receive a gift card or donate funds for local food banks by giving blood with Impact Life. Together, we can save lives this January and beyond. Visit BloodCenter.org.
Here's a look at your W. S. O. Y. Three day weather forecast today. Sunny with a high of 44 tonight. Mostly clear low around 27 for Tuesday. Sunny with a high near 46 and Wednesday. Sunny with a high of 44. Current temperature in downtown Decatur 19 degrees. Your W. S. O. Y. Time is 8 0 5.
We're out on the road for our Century Tour live at Hickory Point Bank, celebrating 100 years of WSOI. We will visit with Charlie Osborne and Matt Riley from the bank. Dr. Juanita Morris with us next. The company starts now. Buyers and company WSOI 1340 AM 103.3 FM. Screaming live at nowdecatur.com.
I want to thank Lindsay Romano for getting us all set up and ready to go with the equipment this morning on her way to do her morning workout at the YMCA. It sounds like self-sacrifice than it is, but it's also a good excuse to get you to the gym. You know what I mean? That's right. Absolutely right. It was early morning. And then I had all my stuff ready to go. You know, I'm very meticulous about preparing for the next day. Close.
show prep and I had like the extra stuff that I would need for today. And then by our garage door is our washing machine, you know, is the closest thing to the door to where I leave to go out. And I had it all set up and ready to go. And then for whatever reason, our now 21 year old likes to do laundry at like two o'clock in the morning and I have no idea why. Is it convenient?
That microphone a little bit closer if you don't mind. You can bend it into it. There you go. Okay. But it moved everything off of everything, but then didn't put it back. So when I got up and left this morning, I just grabbed what was there without thinking like a wood on a normal Monday and left crucial material at home. Did you? Yes, I did. But it's okay. Yeah. Why would you want to do your laundry at two o'clock? It's convenient.
I don't know what's convenient about two o'clock in the morning. There's nobody, you know, quiet, it's peaceful, it's time to do it anyway. It's sleeping. And then you wake up and it's done. It's done. You start your day fresh. Start the week fresh. I'm not buying that crap. I think it's time for rent. I'm not buying that at all. Do guys pay rent? Do guys play rent when they move back home? I don't know. No, I'm saying,
If you want to live in this 3 a.m. world and sleep until one o'clock in the afternoon and barely squeeze in whatever then it's you fall in line. It's free. You shake the boat. It has a price. All in line. Dude, talk to me in 19 years. Yeah. I don't even want to. You're a kindergartner. Yeah. Anyway, no, I met you. You are. I don't level in this. I know.
When you get to the college years, come talk to us. Anyway, my Monday started off a little kind of like I felt like, Oh crap, I'm just not all the way prepared here. So but now I am ready to go. Big thanks to Lindsay and Scott for being back at the studios this morning here. I got before.
Well, I can actually still see a little bit of light from the window up on the sixth floor there. Yeah, towards MCR. We could almost wave to Scott. You know, I don't think he could see us, but we could. But if I were in my studios, I could. Yeah, that's right. There you go. It's it is weird. Nick and I were talking about this, watching the sun come up from a different angle and a different viewpoint today has been a little different. They can look at life that way sometimes. Oh,
I like consistency. No, no, no. You're not. What consistency is doing stupid stuff over and over again and never getting better. Twenty one. Right? Wow. Do you get two a.m.? But I expect better. Yeah, I expect. No, I stop it. You're the one doing things differently. It's only on Tuesday. No, no. I can't.
Look you're breaking my heart here because when you just go I give up let's just do whatever I saw the the post that you put up
about a young man who was been in your safety camp and in and around the program for a couple of years, right? And so tell me about, I didn't realize that you took a recent trip. Where did you go? We went to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. Okay, so it was in Missouri. It was in Missouri, which is only about four, four hours and 15 minutes from here. Okay.
to his ceremony and so it was after basic training plus the military training for he had been there for 19 weeks. Okay now we talked to him last summer and A.Z. is his name and he.
was telling me about his future next steps. And he was super excited. He was in the video. Yes. Absolutely. But we were just chatting. You know, I don't we were with the fire department. We were somewhere. You know, he acted as very much a mentor to a lot of these kids and a very serious young man, very earnest young man.
And everything he was telling me about, you captured in photos and a post on LinkedIn has now come to fruition. It is. Yeah. This is an emotional one for me. So I don't want to cry this morning. But if we're doing stuff different, I might as well. But he was, he is just a special young man. And he has some goals and he has some desires and some things that he wants to become.
And we had some major, major barriers in our way. And that one required some work and some prayer and trying to understand how do we best support him as a community? Well, clearly. Yeah. What you both accomplished together.
is nothing short of amazing. He just graduated Delta Company, the 795 military police battalion. They're known as the war dogs. He's like Jack Reacher. And there you have a photograph of him. That's yeah. I'm sorry. And in his
That was pretty amazing. What was the ceremony like? It was less than an hour? It was a lot of singing and marching too. It was three different companies who had three different specialties and they got to go up by group. They acknowledged where every one of them were from. So the furthest was maybe from Germany and the closest was from right there in St. Louis.
And they shook hands and done all the stuff. It just was an emotional experience for me for him. Yeah. So we were there. All right. So it's amazing to me that enough time has passed from the summer that he went away from 19 weeks ago. I mean, it's just like my timeline is so screwed up. And so when I saw this, I'm like, that's not even possible. Wait.
19 weeks. Yes. Yep. And he'd done well. He came home around the holidays, maybe just for a poppy and really quick. And today he has to report to Clarksville, Clarksville or Clarksdale, Tennessee, Clarksville, Tennessee, for the next phase. So he's back at it. All right. What was this particular ceremony?
He finished the first basic training, and then he also done some military police training. Oh, wow. Cool. He graduated with the Delta Company. It's a military police battalion. They're known as the War Dogs. It's a 795, which is great accomplishment.
It is huge. Yeah. And he is on his way. And my great hope is that someday he's back here making a difference in this community for people and young people. And I think you talk about full circle, right? It really was. And he does. He wants to come back home at some point and he wants to.
either be a state trooper or a police officer or something. He will write his own ticket in that regard, the path that he is on right now. I'm proud of him. You should be. I am. I'm proud of you. The community should be. And I was just so stoked. I mean, it just popped up in my, you know, I happened to open up the LinkedIn app and there it was. And I thought, Oh my God, that's amazing. Because he was, you could tell when he, when he was, when I was talking to him,
He could see this. He could see it. You know, and now we can see it. And it's absolutely amazing. You should be you and everybody out at McCludsey and all the people with the Fire Department, the Police Department, Sheriff's Office, anybody that had a hand in this, I'm grateful. Me too. I am. I really, really am. And I could not. This one could not happen without the resources and the support. It would not have happened as soon as in this quick.
and as effective as it could have without the people in this community. And so I'm super thankful. And he is too. He really is. Well, he earned it. He did it. He really did. And I think it's the stuff that we talk about today in public discourse, on the national level, about whatever. When you get down to the nitty gritty and you get down to the core of what makes human beings,
the best they can be. This is other people seeing stuff in them and giving people chances and figuring out a way to collaborate and open up paths. And now this is the end result of this. This isn't some stupid phrase. It's not some stupid funding. It's the hard work of people seeing something in somebody and helping them see it in themselves and see themselves in it. And that is to me why
people ought to support everything they can to help young men, young women, like you're doing with the CNA program, that you do every summer with all of this. And now these are the results of that. I, with collaboration is difficult. And trying to work through silos.
and break them down is difficult. But when we have a common goal and when we all know where we're headed and why we're doing what we're doing, some of those things we can remove and they will subside if we are really focused. But we need trailblazers and because this is the thing.
I told Nick earlier, I remember coming in and taking a tour of this building when it was being built. And you couldn't see the Larry Weatherhold art or the balconies. It's a beautiful building. But it was just a construction site, right? And that's why they always had those renderings. So you can see what it's going to look like at the end. Because most people can't see the building process. The construction guys can. The people who are putting up the lumber or the pipes or the electricity.
They can see it, but most people when you go, here's this thing. They don't have vision, you know, or they have a hard time envisioning what that looks like at the end. This is what it looks like. These photos.
of him and his uniform with his graduating class and your tiny little butt next to him because he's a very tall kid. And me having this unbelievable, just this reaction to this post because of this conversation I had with this young man when he was telling me about his dream and what he wanted to do in this seeing country, most people can't see the end.
And if you can show them the end, and you can show them the results, people start to believe. And then more people start to believe. And then more people start to take down those silos. And more people start finding a reason not to collaborate. And then people get behind things even more so from a financial way. Luckily, Howard Buffett is a guy who can see this stuff without having to have it proven first. He's evil, invest in it. But man, kudos and congratulations. I couldn't be happier for him. Me too.
Yeah, that's it's it's a good one. It's a great. It is. It really, really is. And I think for me, I can see the end, but I don't see the build like I can see the I can I saw the stage at the Civic Center years before we were there, but I didn't see the the build and the construction and the day to day. I have to live that and I can't explain it, but I can see the end part, but I
Just take some time to get there. And it's not without its frustration. You know, I mean, without its naysayers or people who, you know, not only not help, but want to, you know, tear down. And we're making that a habit in this country. And I'm just telling you, it's the wrong direction.
This is the right direction. And if you want better everything, if you want better policing, if you want better communities, you want better neighborhoods, you want better results for our kids, you can do all of this. But it takes everybody working together. And I think you saw that with our police department, our sheriff's department, the fire department, Tom and the crew out at Macledsy and your program.
This is just the first of many, many, many results. Great. It was good. It is proud of him. Yeah. So was he excited or was he very cool? He was very excited. He was over at the house the other night, Chit Chat and Chit because they're talkers and Chit Chat and Chit Chat. So he was super excited. And I think that he is excited for what's to come. I don't even think that he knows what's in store.
But it's a lot of good coming his way. Yeah, for sure. Yeah, there's no doubt. And I think that he literally can ride his own ticket in so many ways. And that's what's great.
And he'll, if he comes back and he'll make our community better. I agree. And, you know, but he can do whatever he wants to do. Oh my God. Yeah. Well, one of my babies. Look, I've watched these kids sitting in classrooms for a few years now. It's five years in. And, you know, first time it's like, what the, you know, and now to see this come out the other side. Yeah. Huh? It's not him. I saw the young man that was in the studio with you all, Braden Atholone. He was now
shadowing in the surgical department. I think at HSHS maybe, I watched my daughter on Friday who was on the news at four o'clock talking about transportation design. They're just different humans and I am appreciative to be a part of the journey and trying to just make space for them. Here's what it proves to me and I don't claim to have all the answers. I just like to be around smart people and watch them do their work.
You can't we can't keep doing things the same way we've been doing things and expect different results. Yeah, you know Einstein said that's the definition of insanity
What you can do is do things differently and do things individually because these kids aren't monolithic. They're all coming from different places and you have created a space for them in a different kind of way. And that scares some people. People don't like to rock the boat. People would rather have turnout.
mediocre results than rock the boat and get better results, right? I mean, that's just sort of human nature. It's insane. I don't know. We've lasted this long, but we have to do it differently. We do. And we can. Yes. I think that's for me. That's the thing. Like we can. We don't have to keep doing.
even though I do like going to the studio. We can do it different. You have to. Yeah. I just I know that. And I just I'm appreciative of you of being kind of a guiding light and showing people that can be done differently and can be done incredibly successfully. This is just another result. You know, I've been to all those graduations and you know, to watch the
the progress of this program, the Jerry Dawson Civic Leadership Institute, under your, and a lot of hard work by these kids. I mean, it's not like you're waving a wand. I mean, they're doing the work, but it's not without its trials and tribulations and you run into things and it doesn't always work out. And sometimes there's ups and downs in this and we've discussed that recently. But this young man, I was just so happy for him and so excited
And my selfish goal or hope is that he comes back and makes a difference here in the community, you know, here, but whatever he decides to chase, well deserved. I agree. Thank you. You're welcome. Made me happy. Me too. I needed that for the weekend. I was having one of those Fridays, you know, like, you know, those Fridays. Yes, I have a lot of those. I know I'm here. I'll be honest with you. Here's a full on confession. I don't know Friday.
And all I could think about was, are we in charge of saving everything? I mean, people just do their jobs. And that was kind of like the selfish mode I was in. And it's just been a long week, kind of sick with the cold and the weather. And I was just going, you know what?
Yes. You know, that feeling. Yes. Yes. Yes. We don't like to admit, but but sometimes you just you go, let me up. I've had enough, you know, and I kind of felt that way Friday. And then I saw that pose and it took all that away. It's like, okay. Took all that away. We're all in. Yeah. We're all in. Isn't that amazing? It is. I'm glad. So thank you. I'm just sharing why this was a win for me on so many different levels. First and foremost for this young man, A.Z. And if you get a chance to meet him out there,
You won't be disappointed. He's an incredible kid to watch, just to see those pictures. I mean, I read it all, but just the pictures told me everything I needed to know. Yeah, it was stunning. It really, really was. I'm glad you were there. Me too, and it was nice. Jeremy, look cold.
That was freezing actually. You didn't look cold. Jeremy, look. I'm going to fly out in this field. He had to drive me. Oh my god. I, I still appreciate my husband. He got me there and back. And, uh, yeah, yes, he did. He drove me there and he drove me back and I appreciate it. He's a nice man. Hey, well, yeah, he's more than nice. I was just selling a car on a blind date, 20 something years ago. That's a lucky blind date. It was, yeah, it was slow. Go well together.
Thank you. Aren't they all blind age today? I mean with the apps. I mean, you just hope whatever you saw on the profile. Yeah, I guess. We're like the Flintstones. We're not even remotely in this area. There's a friend of a friend.
The friends were shaky. So that was close. That's great. Blind 8, 22, 3, 4 years ago. OK, I'm going to cut. So let's how do we do even bigger and better this summer as far as getting the word out about what you're doing with MacLetsse. And you're going to have adults involved this year, right? For the public safety camp? Oh, yeah. I'm like, am I? Yeah. So oh, shoot. I need to send that and share that so we can talk about it.
Yes, the application process is open now and we will have a spring community public safety academy that will be I think I need to bring the details six weeks once one evening a week on a Tuesday like from 530 to 830 will provide dinner. Yeah, 21 and older though. Okay.
And so, yeah, I'll bring that next week when we talk so we can talk about that. Absolutely, because I think it's important not only that our young people see what there is to offer, but our older citizens as well. Absolutely. Never too late to start thinking about things differently. I agree. And it's going to be really good. We've built in collaboration an amazing opportunity to see some behind the scenes things in law enforcement here in our community, all focused on public safety.
So, I forgot about that. That's okay. I'm here to help. I'm going to go to work today. Can't people just do this? Yeah, I'm excited about that. Oh, you should be Dr. Wadi Nemours here at Hagerpoint Bank with us live on the road for our century tour 100 years ago. Someone at James Milliken University decided to apply for a license to create a radio station that all those years later merged with
another radio station and then became WSOY, but it started in 1925. And if you think about the campus and learning and young people, you think about that goes back to the origin of this radio station 100 years ago. How many things is that? It is. That is awesome. And then there was the Gusherd building.
which would be right down here in Preston Jackson Park, where there we probably would have thought of it as what Carson, Perry Scott, or Kay's merchandise later in the years. And there were the buildings there. We're on the top floor of that. And so then moved out to Pershing when and I love the pictures of Pershing when they were building the tower because there was nothing but farm fields. I mean, there was, you know, Pershing Road didn't have any businesses or anything else. It was just all fields. It's funny because some of the use of the radio was at
to for the hardware store or the department store to have music while people were shopping. So that was the focus for a minute. Then there was, hey, we want faculty to be able to treat to teach things over the air to everything from radio or from music to
talk radio, which was a format that came a little bit later, but it's been a lot of different things in a lot of different places over 100 years. Well, one of the cool things if you look at it was like, well, we're only going to broadcast during the daytime. Now we'll go overnight. Now we'll go 24 hours a day. There's some great stories that we'll tell along the way, not living in the past, because certainly that's not what people want to do. We want to not think about what we're doing the next 100 years.
But yeah, it all started out literally, if you go back to Central Illinois, the Federal Communications Commission records, the station tradition, all of that started as WBAO, and that was a license that was issued to James Milliken University for a new broadcasting station.
which was literally 833 hertz. I mean, this was like a tiny operation that then in 1925, when WJBL and WBAO were combined and then turned into WSOY and then soy made sense because that you would be surprised how many people don't put those two things together. We were the soybean capital of the world. WSOY is soy. That's what it stood for.
but pretty amazing stuff and then literally we can go do the exact date of when all this transpired because you know even when the FCC was created and everything else. It's a long and amazing story but it's pretty cool to be able to go out on the road the next year and spend a couple of Mondays a month out telling the stories of the other businesses and things because we're not going to get through any of this if we don't work together. These partnerships are everything. That's right.
And there's another century of stories coming. And that's what is done every day, is telling stories like AZs and stories of people in the community doing positive and moving the community forward. But there's no one entity that can do any of it by itself. I mean, there's no one. I mean, Hickor Point Bank invested, they support all kinds of things. Their employees are on all kinds of boards.
You know, what Dr. Morris is doing, you can't do without the help of law enforcement and the health system and all of EMS and everything else. A fire department, you know, you don't get AZ's story without all of those connections as much as your willpower drives that. You got to go through all of that to be able to create something that gets something on the other side that's worth doing.
And I look around and I see so many great businesses and so many great organizations and we were at Old King's Orchard two weeks ago and you think about the work they're doing, people may not even know about, right? Because they don't have the ability to communicate that to a larger audience. But thanks to the Heart of Old King's Inter-Work Foundation. But I bet they also don't have airwaves and all that. So that's what this next year is going to be for. And if you've got a great story to tell, let us know. Maybe we don't know all of it.
It's going to be fun. It is. And you're getting along for the ride. I am. I'm riding in the back seat. Well, here's the thing, though. Think about all the connections you can make. I know it. This is going to be good. The reason why we picked Monday, we bring the mayor with us, which is always kind of official. Yeah, she's not doing her Taylor Swift Kansas City Chiefs thing, which seems to be a full-time job. Right. Couple of weeks that'll be over. Now, you got at least one more. You got at least one more out of her.
She's Taylor Swift and it next time too. Yeah, sure. Well, yeah, but then the super they can start to taper off depends on the outcome. That's right. We may be riding a couple of week high. We may be very low. We might move on quick. We're going to get that Monday after the Super Bowl one way or another. That's right. For sure. All right. So if folks are interested in any of your programs, how do they reach you online? Facebook Civic Leadership 101 is the easiest way to find us. OK. Yeah.
simple and easy, simple and easy. And you're on LinkedIn. Are you finding your way around there? A little bit. It's a little intimidating. So I'm just trying to figure it out. Tell me about these videos you're putting up. So every week I put up a video. So the video is actually posted on Friday at noon on one E to Morris dot com. And it really is this exploration and moving towards how do I share this concept of really living an intentional life.
And I have an amazing opportunity to do that and to do work and to marry my work life and personal life and all the things and live in alignment. And so I just share videos each week and started to host some classes. So this Saturday I hosted my first virtual class and it was, I hope for the participants, it was amazing. And the class really focused on knowing who's in your corner.
And it talked about how do we build a system or a group of people who are in our corner and everybody's voice does not matter and can't matter. And so the next class will be next month and we'll talk about there's no such thing as a balanced life. Like it really isn't. This concept of life got to be balanced. It's not a fallacy. So I'm starting to kind of find a little voice in a space. OK, I want to talk about production because
Yes. That's just my back end thing. But if people are interested in participating in this, is there a fee? How do they find out? Where do they go? Yes. So there's a fee, find 180Mores.com. Just 180Mores.com. That's it. And it should be there under courses. OK. Yes. And then when do those take place? Typically once a month. OK. And so like we said, we just had the first one and the next one is not scheduled until next month. How successful? I think so. I sent out a survey to ask the participants was a successful. That's cool.
That's the update right out of the gates. Yeah, the life I live, bold. Yeah. So yeah, one of your words.com look under courses, look under some other jazz and yeah, the courses will be there and there is a cost. Okay, so you now listen, this is a leap forward for you. Yes. And I think people who
know you think you're more extroverted than you are. I think so, right? No, I know you're not. But I think people probably they probably think you're just kicked down every door and hear me roar, right? Yes. That's not you at all personality wise. That's right. It is you internally, I think, in your mission in life.
But I don't think it manifests itself necessarily in you wanting to be in front of a bunch of people or doing any of this, right? Yeah, including radio. Yeah. You and I have talked about it for three, four years now and just learning last, you know, every year we have a word. Last year, my word was content. We've had some conversations and some things that I need to do. And I'm like, all right, I'm going to start to try to do those things. And so just still trying to grow, right? But I'm definitely not the
the rah-rah out there kind of jazz. Well, not me. I don't know where you are on the faking it to making it, you know, schedule. But the presentation is really good. And the lighting's good. Thank you. And the conversational style is good. And more importantly, it feels like you.
Good, because you would know that. Most people wouldn't, but you would know whether it's me or not. Okay, so how can I make it better? I don't know. I think that that just becomes a matter of the more comfortable you get doing something, the more routine you have doing it, you will become even a little more natural, and it becomes a little easier. I mean, you say you're not that person, but the more you do it, the more easy it comes to you. It's like anything else.
Those guys are playing in the Super Bowl. I mean, they're playing in the Super Bowl because they practiced it over and over and over. Yeah. Since they were kids playing Kiwi football, you know, they've been practice, practice, practice. So the more you do it, the better you will get, the more natural you will get. One of my closest friends, because the videos are definitely scary, Nick. But one of my closest friends, I was like, hey, I can only really, I only have to do like one take most of the time. She says, yeah, because you've been on the radio for a year or two. Yeah. Oh. Yes.
Hadn't even drawn a connection. I had a friend who texted me a testimonial from your class. Oh my god. Says her class was quote amazing and hopefully she knows that but it was quote killer. See the amazing and killer. That's a good notice. Put it on your poster. Okay. I'm gonna put it on poster. Yeah, very nice. Yeah.
a class on Saturday. Okay. Probably be amazing and it'll probably be another killer. That's my guess. It's all I got to go by. Don't you see the growth day one? But I think it was more like a killer. Yeah. Not a killer. It wasn't a hard one. It was a girl. Yeah. Very nice.
with the voice. I would highly encourage you to look up Dr. Wynton Morse on LinkedIn. That is a great way to follow her and to see all the inspirational stuff. But you tackle things in a genuine way, which is not sort of
everything's lovely. But that's important to be realistic about this stuff isn't easy. And if it were easy, everybody would be doing it. And we'd be producing better students. And we'd be getting better scores. And we'd be getting higher graduation rates and all of these things. And we're going to continue to have that conversation about public education. And public education is one of those things that makes me feel like I did on Friday a lot. Where you just go. But then I see this.
And I go, OK, there's potential. And every time you give up or every time you're OK with status quo, you're saying to the AZs of the world, this path isn't possible. Or we're not doing everything we can. Or we're too tied up in our own whatever to make this magic happen. So it's inspiring to me to keep wanting to do the small bit I do to hopefully try to make things better. Thank you. Thanks for your support. I appreciate it.
It is. I won't check in on Friday, but I need it today. I'm not usually in the same room together. It's nice. I know it is. We're sitting next to each other. All right. Well, coming up, Charlie Osborne, Senior Vice President, Trust and Wealth Management, Matt Riley, Vice President, Trust and Wealth Management, will tell you how you can take care of your business with Hicker Point Bank invested. Pretty amazing stuff. They are literally involved
One of the tenants that they have in this building is you're not just going to be a banker here. You're going to be invested in the community. You're going to serve on boards and you're going to serve causes. And that used to be a fairly routine thing in the banking industry. It's not so much anymore. It'd be locally owned and have the decision makers in a room.
where you can go to them, whether it's financial assistance or sponsorships or getting involved. The food drive is a perfect example every year. And they go above and beyond. They go, yeah, we'll write you a check. But we want to do something beyond that. And so whether it's bodies or employees or special fundraisers they have ahead of time, they just do that extra.
Yeah, you rarely see their logo without the word invested, and you rarely see them do anything without some level of investment to it. I mean, they really try to walk the walk of their... There's no doubt. Absolutely. And just the financial gifts are not a given anymore from institutions like this, where decisions are made in Ohio or some other place, because you're not on the ground. You really don't know what's happening. We've talked about regionalization and why that's not great. But they are here, and the decision makers are here, and then beyond just writing a check,
There's bodies and there's people and there's time. And, you know, you've served by United. They've had a representative on the United Way for 30 years. Matt Fairchild, Barry, the lead. You asked him if he was treasure. No, he was, he just was the chair of the board. He just came off being the chair. Brett was there a few years before him.
So we thank them for their service to the community. And Dr. Morris, we appreciate it. We'll see you next week next week. All right. We'll take a quick commercial break, make it a three minute break here, Scott. And then when we get back, our final guest from Hickory Point Bank, we're live on the Century Tour. Stay tuned. Get ready for an unforgettable evening at the Village of Mount Zion's Marty Grock Casino Night.
Join us on Saturday, February 15th from 6 to 11 p.m. at the Mount Zion Convention Center for a night filled with thrilling casino games, delectable food, lively music and endless fun. This exclusive event is for ages 21 and up. So secure your tickets now at Mount Zion dot com. Don't miss out on the excitement at the Mount Zion Convention Center.
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Did you know that your pocket change truly can make a change in our community? This is Chris Harrison with Main Place Real Estate and a proud board member of United Way of Decatur in mid Illinois. Change making change is a new opportunity to give. By rounding up your everyday purchases to the next dollar, you help benefit hardworking Alice families.
who live paycheck to paycheck and are one financial crisis away from reversing their goals of self-sufficiency to support Dolly Parton Imagination Library and our first responder and veteran counseling. Sign up by visiting uwdecader.org for by following the social media pages of United Way and Main Place Real Estate.
to learn more about change making change in local programs. Signing up is quick and easy. You can schedule a maximum on your monthly donation. And best of all, each month, a random person will be drawn to an $140 price package that includes gifts from Busy Bank, Speedloop, and Billingsley 66 car wash. Make change with your change by signing up today. One in four Americans have a disability.
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Keeping up with the latest news is more important than ever. Luckily, you can listen to WSOY on all your devices, courtesy of Hickory Point Bank, stream live programming to your phone, tablet, or computer, or activate the WSOY skill on your Amazon Echo. Just say, the first time, Alexa enabled WSOY skill. Then after that, say, Alexa, open WSOY, brought to you by Hickory Point Bank, invested. Their investment indicator is an investment in everyone who calls Decatur Home.
We are back here live at Hicker Point Bank in downtown Decatur.
for our century tour, WSOY turning 100 this year, and we're out on the road to celebrate those 100 years and look forward to the next. We will be back in studios tomorrow morning. Kyle May will be with us. We'll have the Heart of Illinois Community Foundation, Dale Coley, Mark Topper, and the latest tomorrow morning live from the studios. So every day we normally start our morning at 6.06 a.m.
on the sixth floor right there at the corner. We can see the studios and you get kind of spoiled looking for the sixth floor down. We're not on the ground level and everything was very different to us today. Isn't it kind of strange a little bit?
Yeah, it's very, very different in that perspective. And even for me, I usually have a different view. I don't get to see Central Park from my window. I'm on the other side. I don't have the best view. So this has been really it was just watching the sun come up over the transfer house and you guys get this view every day. Charlie Osborne, senior vice president of trust and wealth management and Matt Riley vice president trust and wealth management join us.
from Hickory Point Bank. Good morning, guys. It's good to have you both with us. Charlie, start with you. How long have you been with Hickory Point Bank? Almost three years now. Okay. What's your story? Where did you come from originally? I came from another bank in Champaign, Illinois. I had worked there for 16 years in the Trust Department.
been here, like I said, for three years and really focused on growing our trust business. Okay. Matt Fairchild just, you know, he came from Champagne a little longer ago than three years, but same thing. Yeah. Because you guys are out recruiting top talent, right? We are. We are. All right. So you worked in another culture. Talk to me about this culture because this invested, you know, to me isn't just a smart marketing thing, although it is smart marketing, but it's real. It is. It's very real. So, so we are really focused on our community and
and serving the needs of those in that community. That's fun being a partner, right? It is. It's great. All right. So talk to me a little bit about the wealth management and trust. Your trust services. Let's start there. Yeah. So we have a full suite of estate and trust services along with our investment management. And I'm going to bridge in a little bit to Matt Riley here, where we've grown significantly the last several years, and we really needed another really highly talented
Local individual and that's really where Matt Riley came in. All right. Well, Matt. Let's it's a good hand off there from Charlie. Give a broadcast pro here Your story where you from originally? Yeah, so I've been in banking for 10 years or so Came from a bank up in Clinton
Uh, for six years there in the trust department and this is my, we're starting my sixth week now. Oh, this is fresh. All right. Did you do radio interviews anywhere else? Six weeks enough. This is baptism by fire. Two weeks ago, this came up on a calendar. I was like, hey, Charlie, we got it.
Is there a script? What do I need to do? I don't want to prepare for this, like just throw me in. So are you from the Clinton area? From Decatur. Oh, you're starting to cater. Went to Clinton and then now back. Yeah. So grew up here. Hager point was actually my first bank account as a kid. Really? So is it able to come full circle here? It's really cool. So grew up here, know the area very well, and then I was able to come back and very connected here. So when the opening came up and I was able to meet Charlie,
It just made sense. All right. Where'd you go to school? Okay. Good deal. Good deal. So having that, you know, you've got relationships and you know people, but do you find that you guys just stand out when you're talking to individuals about, you know, their future use of their money and how they're going to do things because you guys are so plugged into the community? Yeah. Growing up, Hickory Point is always one of those banks like, okay, that you know that they're local.
You know that everyone who is there is to list here in the community and it's all here. So you go to Dale Arnold's office and say, hey, we need help with this project and Dale didn't have to get clearance from somebody in Michigan. Dale just right to a check or even more so the employees were a part of the process, volunteering, whatever, and that hasn't changed. No, it's changed a lot of the banking industry, but not here. There's been a lot of acquisitions and Hickory Point has been able to stay local and it's really cool to just see the people that you
They're going to work with, work for, and like that. And it's a really cool opportunity. It makes a difference. 1979 is what it all started. That's when it started for me. Yeah, since I've been here your whole life. All right. Talk to me about some of the trust services. All right. So we have where we serve as trustee of individuals. Trust after they're no longer able to do so, whether due to incapacitation or death,
and state settlement services. We also have a significant focus on investment management services both for individuals and not-for-profit organizations. And, you know, that portion is really grown. For the thresholds on either of those products, I think probably there's a misconception that I've got to have a gazillion-catrillion dollars for either of those or I've got to be really old and thinking about dying.
Could you maybe tell us where the entry points are on those? Yes. So really, there is no what we call minimum. We really want to serve the community. And so in a lot of these ways, for a lot of accounts, it's not do you have a specific dollar amount?
It's what can we do for you and does it make sense for the individual organization to have a, you know, a relationship in that capacity? Yeah, I'm just looking through the, like the different types of, and this would be different points in your life, you know, a state settlement or, you know, living trust or charitable trust or trust in your will or an agent for trustee guardianship. There's in the list goes on and on and you're dealing with people at all points of their lifetime.
That's correct. That's correct. How do people interface with you? I mean, you know, I mean, it's not like coming to see the the teller, you know, I mean, it's a little different than they find you online. You know, most of most of it really is is referrals from from the community. I mean, it really is. It's not a.
I just see, though, you can request additional info. Oh, sure. Yeah, from the website. Yeah. I mean, people are just curious because I think people either, you know, it's kind of like car insurance. It's like wherever your parents were, you know, you end up with it. And then if you're not getting the great service, you know, sometimes people will stay with something that's not the best just because they had it for so long. And maybe they're a little curious and they don't really want to talk to anybody yet. They just want to kind of see what's out there. They can do that right from the website. Absolutely on the website. And again,
We'd really love to just have a phone call or meet an individual. That's obviously free and we love meeting new people every day. You know, a lot of the horror stories that come in later in life are with bad help. You know, a lot of times you have, you just rely on somebody in your house or in the house and you assume that they've got your best interests at heart. And a lot of times you see elder abuse or things like that that can come along with not handling it. And then even worse, when people die,
And it's a free for all and things are it's a lot of work and it's confusing having these services where your money is being taken care of where the protections are in place where things have been thought about while you can think about them. It's a peace of mind that you don't really know until the people have to go.
It was just the reputation and locally owned and the people who are here that are real human beings. I, you know, I worry a lot about, you know, when your parents, grandparents, you know, there's so much being thrown at them, people getting stuff through their phone. You don't know who you can trust. That's where I think even more so today than ever, it's so important that you guys are here, local. Yeah, having a professional trustee service, especially for families that may have some, some,
relationship issues inside the family. It's really nice to have a local professional service to handle the distribution and care of those funds for those down the road. It takes the family dynamic. It does. That's a big deal. There's a spot for that, for sure. No doubt. I knew thought about that, but that makes an excellent point. Enough on the other side of it. Yeah, for sure.
Well, if you're interested you can go to hickardpointbank.com. They've got a great website where you can narrow things down and You can come and see all the folks and clean Matt who's six weeks into his career at hickard point bank What have you discovered just so far and I mean your first initial impression? It's exactly what I expect I would think everyone's friendly I have when I want to learn more of the processes of the software everyone's more than willing to kind of help me through so it's just it's not just a
you know, a face that they have elsewhere.
Well, you know, I don't understand the business strategy that's being applied in a lot of sectors in the world today. This regionalization of everything, you know, local is everything. Whether you're in the media or you're in banking, you can call it local. I mean, I don't know if you see Byron Allen just got called out because they fired all their meteorologists. Yeah, they were going to like the weather channel to tell you what your local weather was going to be. And you know, that was a huge mistake. And people were outraged because they want their local and that applies to banking or media or anything else.
And yet so many companies to save cost are deciding to regionalize thing a thing. And then you've got a guy sitting in Columbus, Ohio making local decisions for Decatur, Illinois. It's never going to work. No. And really for us, the key here is we have a relationship with a real relationship with every individual. We can see them in person. We encourage you to come up and meet us in person.
I mean you're talking about everything in your life and all your value. I like technology, but I want to be able to sit down. We have technology, but it's also important to get to see the person. You said everything in your life is important because you can walk in and have your first checking account or banking account like Matt did as a kid and you can also come in all the way through the end of your life planning and do that and they have a full suite of investment
products and they even do I think like crop management. Oh, yeah, we have a pretty significant. Yeah, there's a lot of offerings. Yeah, we'd be silly not to. Yeah, no doubt. Well, listen, thanks for spending some time with us today and Charlie's good to meet you and Matt as well and welcome to Back to Decatur and to the hit point bank community. We appreciate your partnership over the years. You guys have been huge.
and supporting the causes we care about, like the United Way, our annual food drive, all the different things, not only with your dollars, but also your personal hours. And we appreciate that from the community perspective. Thank you very much. Thank you. All right, we're going to take one last break here. We're live at Hickory Point Bank for our Century tour. We're going to drag Carlo over here. We've got to visit with her before we get off the air. All right, we'll be back with more right after this.
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So much to celebrate, but the fight has just begun. The fight to fix our nation, the fight for life. They go hand in hand, especially when we see how abortion took center stage in this historic election. That's why we can't stop talking about the Ministry of Preborn. Preborn has rescued over 300,000 babies. How? By loving mothers with an unplanned pregnancy and introducing them to their baby on an ultrasound. Once she sees her baby and hears the heartbeat, her baby's chance at life
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Buyers and Company WSOY 1340 AM 103.3 FM streaming live at nowdicator.com. Pointer sisters we are back here live at Hickory Point Bank and we want to thank Carla Miller directly for
Hosting us here today and getting us all set up and the candy bars and the water and the password to Wi-Fi all the things that are behind the scenes that are very important to us And we really appreciate it was fun meeting some new folks today. Yeah, I was excited that you were able to do that Well, it's you've got you know, it just seems to me that you have
when you have a staff full of really plugged in care about the community, you know, just care kind of people. It's easy to sort of fit find other people that fit that culture and then they just feel right at home. Yes. And so what was so nice about today is that, you know, we had some seasoned people here who brought you people who you may not have really talked too much to kind of show them the ropes of
Hey, this is how we how we do it. How we do it. This is what we do. And we do it every month, of course, with our invested segment, invested is what you guys stand by and what you do. And I think Peggy is going to be back with us next month with a big habitat for humanity.
Because, you know, like I said before, it's one thing, and if you're in the charity business, you're on the board of the United Way, I'm on the board of the Ronald McDonald House and the Parks Foundation, and we do the food drive. Yes, we want checks, but they go above and beyond not just the check, but you get the hands on, and you really can't do it without the hands on. And that's harder to get. That's one of the things that when I came here, I talked to Tony about, is that we want to do more than just hand a check.
No doubt. And you do. And then over and over and over. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you for having us. And it was great. It was great. And thanks to Leatherwhole for making my day. The Leatherwhole family. Rest in peace. That's a wonderful piece. If you haven't seen it, the lobby down here. That's it for us. If you missed any of the show today, podcast driven by the Bob Brady Auto Group, you can get them anywhere you get your podcast, including Nauticator.com. And we'll put all of these on one hicker point bank
podcast page so you can find all the individual interviews. We'll be back in studio tomorrow morning, bright and early 6 a.m. Enjoy the sunshine and more importantly, the forties. We'll see you tomorrow.
WSOY Decatur and W277DB Decatur. WSOY 1340 AM and 103.3 FM. Streaming live at nowdecatur.com. This is RJ Christ with your stories now brought to you by Jesse Heating and they're great products and great people treating you the way you want to be treated since 1979.
The Illinois Department of Employment Security has announced non-farm payrolls increased by 8800 and the unemployment rate fell a tenth of a percentage point to 5.2 percent in December. The sectors with the largest job increases were financial activities, private education and health services and government. The state's unemployment rate was 1.1 point above the national rate.
The African American Cultural and Geological Society and Museum will host a series of Black History Month presentations focused on African Americans in the military and local African American contributions in the community. There's an event every Saturday in February from 2 to 5 p.m.
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