WJFF - Close to Home with Leif Johansen | Podcast on RSS.com

WJFF - Close to Home with Leif Johansen

WJFF - Close to Home with Leif Johansen

by Leif Johansen

Government News Commentary Documentary

Season 5

Rural Housing

So if our population isn't growing...why can't we find places to live? In this episode, Leif sits down with Adam Bosch, President and CEO of Hudson Valley Pattern for Progress, and Vanessa McPhillips, the Director of Strategic Planning at the Sullivan County Partnership for Economic Development, to learn about why abundant and affordable housing feels just out of reach in our community and what's being done about it. To learn more about Sullivan County's housing statistics and strategies, check out the 2022 Comprehensive Housing Strategy here: https://sullivanny.gov/sites/default/files/departments/Planning/Housing%20Strategy/SullivanCountyComprehensiveHousingBook.pdf Cover photo credit: Jonathan Fox, River Reporter Newspaper

Season 4

Water Works

What exactly happens behind the scenes for clean, safe drinking water to come out of your kitchen faucet? It turns out, there are marvels of engineering and health science right under our feet, but much of our water and sewer infrastructure in the U.S. is outdated—sometimes dangerously so. In this episode, we hear from University of Rochester Professor Morris Pierce on the history of American water works and Town of Liberty Supervisor Frank DeMayo on how our local drinking water and wastewater systems work, and what the most pressing issues are with them that need to be addressed sooner rather than later.

Breweries

Name a multi billion-dollar New York State industry that has grown five-fold in the last decade. (Not much of a quiz question when you can see the title of the episode, but work with me here.) Craft brewing is in its prime across the U.S., and upstate New York is one of the great epicenters of it. In this episode, we talk to New York State Brewers' Association President Paul Leone and Big Eddy Brewing Co. owners Jacob and Alison Johnson about the state of the industry, and we learn from the experts about how to make beer and how to build a brewery from the ground up. (Spoiler: it takes more than a little elbow grease.)

Policy Chats: Sullivan County Legislators Matt McPhillips and Cat Scott

After a shake up in the composition of the Sullivan County Legislature after last November's elections, the nine-person governing body is looking younger than ever. In this episode, we catch up with two of the new, younger members of the legislature to get an inside look at what it's like to navigate the challenges and opportunities of local governance.

Extended Cut: Aviation, Corruption, and Local History Books with John Conway

This is the full interview with John Conway for our episode in May 2024 on local aviation and the Sullivan County Airport. In it, John talks about how he goes about conducting local history research, what the best books on Catskills and Sullivan County history are, aviation, Borscht Belt hotels, and a splash of government corruption.

Airport Redevelopment and Sullivan County's Aviation History

In this episode, we hear from the new Sullivan County Airport Superintendent, Julian Motola, on the ongoing development of a brand new terminal at the Sullivan County International Airport, supported by an $18.5 million grant from New York State. We also learn about the storied history of aviation in the Catskills, and how the Sullivan County International Airport came into existence in the first place as an unusually large publicly owned and operated facility for a rural community. (And we'll finally get an answer to why it's an "international" airport!)

Rail Trails Update

There's a 50-mile biking/walking path being built that will span the entire length of Sullivan County, north to south. It's a feat of design and community cooperation, and it's (slowly) moving closer to becoming a reality. But that's just part of a larger, regional project that may transform the way we think about accessibility and recreation in our rural area. This episode is an update to our piece in early 2021 on the O&W Rail Trail project, and it features Heather Brown, Sullivan County's Commissioner of Planning, Community Development & Environmental Management; Heather Jacksy, Sullivan County's Chief Planner; Annie Bergelin, Design and Capital Projects Manager at the Open Space Institute; and Tatum Justice, Northeast Land Project Manager at the Open Space Institute.

For the Birds

Have you noticed geese flying back recently? Or robins plucking worms and berries from your snow-less yard in the middle of the winter? Locally and globally, bird populations and migration patterns are changing. Today, we're asking why. (Spoiler: your house cat knows.) In this episode, we're joined by Dr. Andrew Farnsworth, Senior Research Associate in the Center for Avian Population Studies at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology; Mark Dedea, President of the John Burrows Natural History Society, and Wendy Tocci, Regional Coordinator for the Third New York State Breeding Bird Atlas.

Season 3

Food Insecurity Redux: School Lunches

How do all of those public school meals get made every day? What regulations govern what food can and can't be served to K-12 students? This week, we sit down with Sullivan West Central School District Food Services Director Dara Smith to get the inside scoop on what happens behind the school lunch counter.

Food Insecurity Redux: Checking in with "A Single Bite"

What's the status of rural food insecurity in (sort of) post-COVID rural America? "A Single Bite" Executive Director Audrey Garro drops in to talk about the current state of food insecurity in the Catskills and to share some exciting news about the burgeoning local nonprofit. We also ponder what impact Dollar General and transit systems like "Move Sullivan" have on rural access to nutrition.

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