by Emma Embellischer

The incoming Trump Administration plans to hit the ground running, and a major emphasis for them is to cut government spending and waste. To do that, they have formed the Dept. of Government Efficiency or DOGE. DOGE is being headed by Tesla founder Elon Musk and presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, and they’ve already been making headlines for highlighting the absurd items and programs our federal government wastes money on.

DOGE has evidently inspired Ghittar Dunn. He recently made headlines for spearheading the effort to make daylight saving time permanent in Valley County; you can read that story HERE. Some would say that Dunn is on a heater. Now, he has led an effort to form the County Government Efficiency Commission or CGEC. Like DOGE, CGEC will be led by leaders outside of county government to avoid any conflicts of interest and actually get something done.

CGEC will be led by local business owners Billy Slasher and Johnny Cuttar. Slasher owns Slasher Grocery and Cuttar owns the Cuttar Accounting Firm. Both men are well known and well respected people in Valley County. Slasher and Cuttar will start meeting and collaborating next week, and they will talk with the board of supervisors at the February meeting. They plan to present a plan to the board in May.

Dunn said, “As soon as I heard about DOGE, I knew we had have a DOGE for Valley County. There is a lot of wasteful spending in our county, and it needs to be stopped. It’s been talked about for a long time, but no one ever really wants to tackle the issue. I had to drag the other supervisors kicking and screaming to get CGEC done, but it’s done. I think DOGE will do some great things at the federal level, and I hope CGEC will do the same for Valley County.”

Slasher and Cuttar have been doing some preliminary work for CGEC. Cuttar said, “I’ve been talking with some of the county administrative staff and employees, and they’ve provided some good info to me. I know the supervisors and other elected officials aren’t crazy about CGEC, because they know some cuts are coming. But, we’re going to do what’s best for Valley County and our sustainability going forward.”

Slasher said, “I’ve been talking with some of the garbage, road dept. and maintenance guys, and I’ve learned a lot that I didn’t know. I had no idea a couple of our supervisors and elected officials get multiple loads of gravel for their driveways and hunting camps each year. Well, that’s going to stop! We’re just getting started! This is going to get interesting.”

Cuttar and Slasher said they were going to be talking with county office school workers, staff, and teachers next, so Valley County Schools will probably not be immune from cuts too.

I talked to multiple Valley County residents, and they were happy about CGEC. One resident said, “My cousin works down at the court house, and she tells me about some of the stuff they waste money on. I know the county pays for two of the judge’s country club dues. Plus, one judge just got $20K of new furniture for his office. I was also told they go on multiple team building retreats each year to the Gulf Coast on the county’s dime. This stuff needs to stop.”

Another Valley County resident said, “One of the supervisors lives down the road from me, so I know a few things. Why is his country truck lifted with rims, and why does it have tinted windows? Who paid for that? Also, he got his long driveway paved by our county workers during the week. Did he pay for that? Plus, I know his brother-in-law got a lucrative contract to do some work for the county. We got to do something about this wasteful spending, and I hope CGEC will get it done.”

The SRVO will keep you updated on CGEC, and we’ll be sure to cover their final report in March.

by Heeza de Seaver

The Strong River Bend (SRB) 4-way stop is at the crossroads of Hwy. 81 and Hwy. 31, and it can get pretty busy at times. You have drivers coming through the intersection from 4 different counties coming to and from work each day. There’s rarely an accident or issue at the 4-way stop until this Tuesday. Somehow, there was a 4 car pile up this Tuesday morning, and SRB officials are still scratching their heads as to how it happened.

I was able to talk with SRB police chief Barney Kojak. He said, “We’re still in the process of investigating the accident and gathering evidence and testimonies from witnesses and those involved. But, I just don’t understand how it happened. It’s just mind-boggling. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

I was able to speak with two of the drivers involved in the accident, and they will remain anonymous because of the ongoing investigation. A 45 year old man involved said, “I was the second person to stop; an elderly lady stopped before me. I motioned for her to come on, but she didn’t go. So, I started to go, and then she stomps on it and turns and hits me on the front driver’s side of my truck. I couldn’t believe it! I think people over age 75 should have to take the driver’s test each year to make sure they’re still competent enough to drive. There ain’t no way this old lady wouldn’t have passed.”

A 16 year old female driver involved in the accident said, “I’m going to honest with you; I was texting a friend when I pulled up to the 4-way. I know I shouldn’t be doing that, but I was. I won’t be doing it anymore, I promise you that. I looked and two other cars stopped before me, so I looked down to finish my text. I glanced up and waited a second, and I started to go. Then, 2 of the vehicles collided, and the noise scared me to death. So, I accidentally hit the gas instead of the brake, and there you go. I was so upset, because I knew my dad was going to want to kill me.”

I was also able to speak to an eyewitness who heard and saw the accident as she was leaving the Dollar General. She said, “I was walking out of DG, and I heard a loud noise. I looked over at the 4 way, and I saw the two vehicles involved. Then, I couldn’t believe it when the young girl ran into the car. If I had to bet, she was probably texting or on Tiktok. Then, I saw the other car try to drive around the accident, and the elderly lady backed into that car. I couldn’t believe my eyes! I just started laughing. A 4 car pile up at the SRB 4 way? No way! I thought I that I was in the middle of a dream.”

Luckily, no one was hurt in the accident. 4-way stops can occasionally be tricky propositions, but no one could’ve imagined this. I was able to speak to world renowned statistician, Flo Nightingale, about the probability of an accident like this happening at an intersection like the SRB 4 way. She did some calculations, and she told me there was a 1 in 34,497,713 chance that an accident like this could happen.

This accident will surely go down in Valley lore for decades to come. Some people have already started coming up with nicknames for the accident- Melee at the 4-Way, Bedlam at the Bend, and more. We’ll see which one will stick. Be careful out there Valleyans!

by Ben BeEssen

It seems like everything has become politicized these days. In the past, most companies and organizations tried to stay out of politics, and most companies tried to avoid controversial issues. Most felt it was bad for business because they could potentially alienate some of their customer base. Over the past 10 years or so, that has changed. Many companies and organizations have gladly jumped off into the culture wars of our day.

One issue that has been very controversial is the adding of preferred pronouns to email signatures and social media profiles. Many of you have probably received an email from someone that has their preferred pronouns listed in their email signature. I have, and it was pretty surprising the first time I saw it. Some of you probably have connections on LinkedIn that have their preferred pronouns listed as well. Of course, this doesn’t happen in The Valley, but it does happen in more liberal areas of the country.

One Valley company has decided to jump into the culture wars, and they have come in with guns a blazing. Burly Billy’s Beef Jerky is a well known snack company in The Valley. They’re known for their beef jerky, but they also manufacture many different snacks. You can find their products in stores across The Valley, Mississippi, and the South. Burly Billy’s employs about 20 people, and they have only one female employee- Ms. Judy. They are proudly patriotic, and the company is not shy about making their views known.

Burly Billy’s is making waves now because of what they’ve done with their employees’ email signatures. They have strongly encouraged their employees to add personal information to their email name lines and email signatures. Sales reps are encouraged to add their golf handicap and their lowest golf score ever, and the production and maintenance employees are encouraged to add their max bench press and max squat numbers. The employees’ email signatures will look similar to the ones in the picture below.

Owner Billy Burnside said, “I have seen that some liberal idiots add their pronouns to their email signatures, and I thought that was so stupid. I decided to have a little fun and go the total opposite direction. I wanted to make waves, and I wanted our company to show the world that we support being manly men. Our company is going to display our toxic masculinity for everyone to see. I thought it would be fun for our pretty boy sales guys to show off their golf handicaps and low scores, and I thought it would be awesome for our rough and tough production and maintenance guys to display their weightlifting numbers. I hope it makes the the libs wine and cry, and I hope other companies will follow suit!”

Burly Billy’s sale consultant, Chad Sellers, said, “I think this is a great idea. Burly Billy’s has great products, and people love them. But, this move will generate a lot of buzz for our company, and it will help me get in even more doors. That means more sales and more commission for me baby! Unfortunately, my golf game isn’t very good; I only play about 2-3 times per year. So, I’ll have to lie about my numbers. Heck, what is a golf handicap anyway?”

Burly Billy’s assembly line manager, Henry Ford, said, “I really like this idea. It’s going to set us apart in the marketplace, and it’s going to get us a lot of publicity. There’s no such thing as bad publicity right? My guys are going to have a lot of fun with it. I’m sure some guys will inflate their weightlifting numbers, and some of the guys will have to start working out. Heck, we may have to add a rack in the facility for the guys to workout on during their breaks.”

I’m sure this will generate a lot of publicity for Burly Billy’s. It seems like there’s been a pretty significant shift to the right in the culture wars lately. It will be interesting to see how people react to this move by Burly Billy’s, and it will interesting to see if other companies follow their lead.

by I. B. Lyon

There have been rumblings in Valley County for a couples months now that the Valley County garbage workers were going to strike. Those rumors have come true. The county announced this Monday that the garbage workers had gone on strike. They are demanding higher wages.

I was able to have a phone conversation with Tony Trascherie, the Director of Valley County Solid Waste, yesterday. Trascherie said, “We’ve been underpaid and underappreciated for far too long. It’s time we take a stand. We’ve been warning the county for a while now, and we haven’t been taken seriously. We mean business! We chose the week of Christmas because we knew it would be the most impactful. Valleyans are going to have a ton of trash, and there’s not going to be anyone to pick it up.”

Word got out on social media and in the community that the garbage workers had gone on strike. Many people on the Let’s Talk Valley County Facebook group said they would just burn their trash, and that’s what they did. This caused another issue for the county. The 911 phone lines were inundated with calls about residents seeing smoke. People had no idea what was going on. Deputies began responding to calls, and after about 10 calls they stopped responding. None of the calls were emergencies; residents were just burning their trash.

911 dispatcher Billie Shatner said, “I thought this was some joke to begin with. I had no idea what was happening. I thought we had a huge forest fire or something. A colleague pulled up Facebook, and she saw all the people talking about the smoke and burning their trash. She told me what was going on, but we still had to respond to the calls. It was pretty darn stressful for a couple hours. I thought was I was going to lose my mind.”

Many Valley County residents had no idea what was going on. Some thought there was a forest fire, some thought the pipeline had exploded, and some thought it was the Apocalypse. One resident said, “I looked out my window and I saw smoke everywhere. I walked outside and looked around for a bit, and I thought this is it. This is the end I guess. The world is going to be destroyed by fire, and here it is. Revelation is playing out right in front of my eyes. I was in shock.”

Trascherie added, “I’m sorry about this unintended consequence of our strike. We in no way want to hinder the county’s ability to respond to emergencies. But, there’s an easy fix to the problem. Increase our pay! I hope the supervisors will call an emergency meeting next week to discuss our pay. We’ll strike for weeks if we need to.”

Valley residents hope the issue is resolved as soon as possible. We’ll see how the county leaders respond to the strike. The SRVO will keep you updated on the strike.

by Ima Phibber

2024 has been a great year for The Valley and the SRVO. It’s a great time to live, work, and play in The Valley. It’s that time of year that we recognize the Valleyan of the Year award. This award is given to a Valleyan that has made a significant positive impact on The Valley and its residents. It’s very subjective, but we make sure it’s never politically influenced. It has become a coveted and prestigious award.

We have some great candidates for the award this year, and they’re listed below. We’ve included a brief description of their impact along with our stories.

• Andy Fife and Barney Griffith– They courageously squashed a pro-Palestinian protest at Valley Tech. Read the story HERE.

• Col. Dwight Patton– He created a unique summer camp called Camp Ayntnocissy to fight the softness of today’s kids. Read the story HERE.

• Dr. Siggy Froyd– He diagnosed a new mental disorder called climate dysphoria disorder (CDD) affecting many of our kids today. Read the story HERE.

• Ghittar Dunn– He led the charge in Valley County to make daylight saving time permanent. Read the story HERE.

• Eddie Grizwald– He embodied the Christmas spirit by forgiving Harry Grinch for vandalizing his Christmas decorations for the Christmas lights/decorations contest Valley City’s Lit. Read the story HERE.

VOTE BELOW!

by I. B. Lyon

It’s Christmas season, and there’s nothing that gets you in the Christmas spirit like Christmas lights. Many towns and communities have Christmas lights shows and displays. Valley City joined the fray 2 years ago with its Christmas lights competition called Valley City’s Lit. This year will mark the third competition, and people are going all out this year.

Valley City residents have to complete an application to enter Valley City’s Lit. On the application, they have to give a brief description of their decoration and light plan along with an estimate of the total number of Christmas lights. Only 7 applicants will be chosen to enter the competition, and there will be 7 judges as well. Unfortunately, the selection process for the competitors and the judges has been politicized. It seems that only people that are politically connected get chosen, especially as judges.

Eddie Grizwald has won Valley City’s Lit the first two years. His setup was well known around The Valley before Valley City’s Lit became a thing. People would drive from around The Valley to see his lights and decorations each year. Most people consider him the favorite again this year, but there is an upstart that could challenge Grizwald.

Harry Grinch wasn’t selected to compete in the inaugural Valley City’s Lit, but he did compete in the competition last year. He finished second last year behind Grizwald; it was a 5-2 vote in Grizwald’s favor. Grinch was not happy with the results, and he vowed to win this year’s competition. Evidently, he planned to do whatever it takes to win.

The voting for Valley City’s Lit is tomorrow night. The judges drive around to each house and cast their votes after viewing all 7 participants’ setups. Grizwald contacted City Hall yesterday morning to let them know he may have to drop out of this year’s competition. Grizwald’s lights and decorations were vandalized on Tuesday night.

Grizwald called the police Wednesday morning after discovering his lights and decorations had been vandalized. He and the police reviewed his security camera footage. After a brief investigation and some questioning, the police arrested Harry Grinch. Grinch was easily identified by his build and gait. Grinch is 5’4″ and weighs in at approximately 300 pounds, and he walks with a limp. The security footage showed a man of Grinch’s build wearing a ski mask and walking with a limp. After some questioning, Grinch admitted to the crime, and he was booked into the city jail. Grizwald agreed to drop the charges Wednesday if Grinch gave him a sincere apology, and Grinch did apologize.

Grinch cut Grizwald’s light wires in 5 different places, and he spray painted 3 of Grizwald’s decorations including his nativity scene. As of this morning, Grizwald was able to repair his lights, and he’s been able to paint over the spray paint on his decorations. He said he’ll be ready for the judges tomorrow night.

I was able to get a comment from both Grizwald and Grinch. Grizwald said, “I couldn’t believe Harry would do something like this. Harry and I aren’t best buds, but we were always cordial until the past couple months. Something changed with him. I think he may have been solely focused on beating me this year, and it just started eating at him. I really hate that. Even though he tried to sabotage me, I still forgive him. Jesus forgave me, and I forgive him. That’s what the Christmas season should be about.”

Grinch said, “I’m embarrassed by what I did. I let Eddie and the powers that be really get under my skin. I was so mad that I didn’t get selected the first year, and then I felt I got hosed last year. I just couldn’t let it go. Folks, if you have a grudge against someone, don’t let it eat at you. Give it up to Jesus, and let Him take care of it. I’m grateful that Eddie forgave me, and I’m glad he let me help him clean up the mess I made with his decorations. Merry Christmas! Jesus is the reason for the season!”

The winner of Valley City’s Lit will be announced tomorrow night at 7:00 pm. We’ll go live on our Facebook page tomorrow night to announce the winner, so stay tuned.

This could’ve ended up being a sad Christmas story. But, thank God both guys set their emotions and hostilities aside and let Jesus take the wheel. We can all learn a valuable lesson from Eddie and Harry this Christmas season. Merry Christmas Valleyans!

by “Stretch” DeTrooth

Youth sports has become big business these days. Select baseball and softball has seen massive growth over the past 10-15 years. It’s not only baseball and softball, select or travel soccer has grown significantly. Currently, select volleyball is seeing huge growth in our area.

Participating in these select or travel sports is very expensive. You have to purchase the equipment and uniforms, and you have to travel to practices and tournaments each week. Some weekends, you have to travel out of state or hours away from home, and you may have to get a hotel room for one or two nights. Some teams pay their coaches, so that’s an added expense. Tournament directors are making big money from tournaments as well. Parents are having to dole out money constantly it seems, and someone is benefiting financially at every step of the way.

In addition, many parents pay for specialized coaching or training for their kids. Many parents pay for hitting lessons for their sons and/or daughters, and some parents pay for pitching lessons as well. Recently, speed and agility training has become a necessity for some parents and kids also.

Until now, one area that has remained untouched in select youth sports is sports psychology. Sports psychology is popular in pro sports and college sports. Many teams or individual players use the services of sports psychologists. Nick Saban was ahead of the curve, and he started using sports psychologists with his Alabama teams years ago.

Valley psychologist, Nick Bryant, has been practicing for 20 years. About five years ago, he shifted to sports psychology, and his practice, Pinnacle Sports Psychology, has taken off since then. He currently works for multiple high school, community college and NAIA teams. Now, he’s going to offer his services to select ball teams, individual players, parents, and coaches.

Bryant said, “I’m very excited about this new line of business for my firm. Everyone seems to be making money in the travel sports ecosystem, so we’re going to jump in and carve out a niche for sports psychology. In my opinion, our services are needed in a big way. I’ve attended some select baseball and softball tournaments, and the players, parents, coaches, and umpires could all benefit from our services.”

Bryant said, “Players, coaches, and parents can all benefit from our services, and they’ll all benefit in different ways. We do a great job with visualization success training with the players; you have to visualize yourself being successful. The main focus for coaches is balance; you have to manage and balance everything (unfocused players, bad players, crazy parents, mad parents, etc). With parents, our main focus is empathy. They have to think about putting themselves in other peoples’ shoes (their kids, their kids’ coach, the umpires, etc.)”

People that I have spoken with are excited about Pinnacle Sports Psychology. One baseball dad said, “I hope Pinnacle can help my son block out all the noise from the parents. He gets flustered and nervous when games get tight, and he starts to listen to the crowd and his performance suffers. I’m hoping he can get mental training to help with this.”

One softball coach said, “I really hope Pinnacle can help my pitcher with mental toughness. She’s basically the only pitcher I have, and I realize we play multiple games every weekend. She often complains about her arm, but I think it’s in her head. She really needs some mental toughness training so she can power through.”

An umpire I talked with said, “I am so glad Pinnacle is doing this. You have no idea what we go through as umpires. It can be brutal. I’m excited about the empathy training they do. People need to realize umpires are humans too, and we have feelings. We hear all the negative comments about us. We put up a front and act like we don’t hear things, but you can’t block it all out. I really look forward to this (tearing up).”

Pinnacle Sports Psychology will start counseling and training in January before the spring season kicks off. You can contact them now to reserve sessions for your team or your kids. This is a new frontier in select/travel ball, and it will be interesting to see how it goes.

by Ima Phibber

There has been a ton of excitement about the new scenic byway, 40B, coming to The Valley. The SRVO broke the news about 40B in July, and you can read the story HERE. Construction workers broke ground last week on the much anticipated project, but work has been halted. A biologist has discovered what is believed to be a new species of water beetle in the Strong River. The US Fish and Wildlife Service along with the EPA have halted construction.

I was able to catch up with Styfel Prahgrez, the biologist that discovered the minnow. Prahgrez works with the left wing activist organization Anarchy for Animals located in San Francisco which does everything it can to stunt economic growth and progress under the guise of preserving nature and animal species. Prahgrez said, “When we heard about 40B, we knew we’d be sending someone from our headquarters in California down to The Valley to do what we could to keep this project from happening. We knew protests wouldn’t work here; these people won’t put up with that. It took me a few months, but I accomplished my goal.”

Prahgrez has discovered a new species of water beetle, and he has named it the Zigzagger water beetle. Prahgrez said, “I was wading in the Strong River one day a few weeks back, and I noticed a small water beetle that was swimming in a zig zag pattern. I found that very interesting, and I was able to collect 5 of the beetles. I observed them for a couple hours swimming in water, and they all constantly swam in a zig zag pattern. I did some research, and I talked with multiple coleopterists (biologists that study beetles). They all found that very interesting, so I sent them some videos and close up pictures of the beetles. I was told by a couple coleopterists that they didn’t recognize that beetle, and I might have found a new species. Sure enough, after some more digging, I had discovered a new beetle species. And, even more importantly, I stopped the construction of 40B! This is the best accomplishment of my life!”

Prahgrez immediately contacted the US Fish and Wildlife Service and the EPA, and they contacted local authorities and ordered the project to be halted. The discovery of the Zigzagger could have put 40B on hold for good or for a couple weeks; no one really knows at this point.

EPA spokesperson Pharr Lleft said, “We’re grateful Mr. Prahgrez made this discovery. Now, we’re going to study the Zigzagger and its impact on the Strong River Valley ecosystem. It’s a very fragile and diverse ecosystem, and we don’t want to alter it in any way. This could take weeks or months, but it’s really not clear at this point.”

Most Valleyans I talked with about this are not happy. Construction company owner Dert Pushar said, “I bought hundreds of thousands of dollars of equipment for this job, and now they’re stopping construction before we’ve really gotten started. All this over a freakin water beetle! Really?! Are they gonna make my loan payments now? This is so ridiculous!”

A Valley resident I talked with said, “I can’t believe this. This is something that happens in California or New York; this is not supposed to happen in Mississippi and The Valley. Great! We found a new species of beetle, but no one cares. Has anyone even seen one of these beetles? How do we know this is not made up? Get on with 40B! We’re ready for 40B!”

No one knows how long construction will be paused, but the residents of The Valley are anxious to get construction going again as soon as possible. The SRVO will keep you updated on the situation with 40B.

by Carl “Bull” Crapper

America is more polarized politically than ever. Over the past 10-12 years, it has gotten dramatically worse. The political polarization has torn apart families and long time friendships. Differing views on covid caused a lot of division among families and friends as well. It’s very sad. In many cases, people believe that members of the opposing political party are their enemies. It’s just become so divisive and ugly. I could write a book on this, but I don’t have time for that. However, I can give you advice on how to survive Thanksgiving dinner this year.

Thanksgiving has become very stressful for many people and families. Because of politics, many people have stopped getting together with family on Thanksgiving. And, because of politics, many Thanksgiving gatherings have turned into Jerry Springer or Maury Povich episodes. Let’s not let this happen this Thanksgiving.

Most of our SRVO readers are Trump supporters, and y’all are on cloud nine after the election. Y’all need to take the high ground this Thanksgiving and Christmas. Don’t spike the football on your family or friends. Below, I’ve lined out my ways to survive this Thanksgiving. If we all abide by these items, we will not only survive Thanksgiving, but we just might be able to heal and unite our great nation.

• Do not wear a Make America Great Again hat
• Do not wear a Let’s Go Brandon shirt
• Do not wear a trash bag on your person
• Do not wear an orange or yellow safety vest to have the appearance of a trash/garbage worker.
• Do not rent a garbage truck to drive to your Thanksgiving gathering.
• Before the festivities begin, openly apologize for your pro Trump and anti Harris messages and memes in the family group text and/or family Facebook group or GroupMe group. Be apologetic and humble.
• Do not say “What can be, unburdened by what has been.”
• Do not intentionally speak in Kamala word salads. Be concise and to the point, but don’t repeat yourself like Trump. You might even want to refrain from saying the word great.
• Do not say the names Joe Rogan and/or Elon Musk, and you might not want to say anything about your relative’s Tesla.
• Do not mention Peanut the squirrel and/or Fred the raccoon.
• Do not mention the country of Ukraine.
• Do not say the words border and/or illegals.
• During times of silence, remind yourself not to mention anything political. Resist the temptation.
• One more name not to mention- RFK, Jr.
• If you’re a male, do not ask if there are tampons in the bathroom.
• If you manage to keep it together, do not let your guard down at the end of the gathering. See it through to the end. Maintain your composure!
• As you’re leaving, do not put a pro Trump or anti Harris sticker or magnet on your relatives vehicle. If you purchased them, throw them away now.

I hope this helps you have a wonderful Thanksgiving with your family! God bless you and yours and God bless America!

by B. S. Ryter

The growth of podcasts over the past 5-10 years has been amazing. According to a recent survey, 47% of Americans aged 12 plus have listened to a podcast in the past month. That’s up from 32% five years ago. Many people rely on podcasts for news, entertainment, education, and much more. Most podcasts are in audio format, but video podcasting has grown substantially. You’ve probably heard of at least one video podcaster like Joe Rogan or Tucker Carlson.

It seems like every news organization in the country has a podcast. It’s not just news organizations, my church has a podcast (my preacher has his own podcast too), my financial advisor has a podcast, my insurance agent has a podcast, my shrink has a podcast, my history teacher friend has a podcast, and I could go on and on. Even my crazy aunt who was obsessed with Nancy Grace and murder cases started her own true crime podcast. If you’re anyone with influence and a thought leader in your field, you have a podcast these days.

The SRVO writers, including yours truly, have been pushing our editorial board to start a podcast for a while. Finally, they agreed to let us start one! It’s going to be called “This Week in The Valley”, and it’s going to be every Friday at 10:00 am. It’s going to be an audio podcast; maybe we can do video at some point in the future. Our advertising department will need to get on the ball in order for us to afford video equipment. It’s going to be a laid back format where 2-3 SRVO writers discuss the current news in the Strong River Valley for an hour each week. We’ll also discuss everyday life in rural Mississippi and The Valley, and we’re going to have fun while we do it.

The podcast will be on all the major platforms including Spotify, YouTube, and Apple Podcasts. We will try to have guests on the podcast that have something to do with the current news in The Valley. The SRVO writers are very excited about the podcast. A different SRVO writer will host each week in order to keep it fresh. We’re going to give it a go and see what happens. We’re open to suggestions and guest ideas, so you can email us at [email protected] with ideas.

The first episode is going to be on Friday, Dec. 6th at 10:00 am. Stay tuned Valleyans! We’ll provide you with more details in the coming days.