Fred Echols
Producer and ReporterFred Echols is a long-time member of the WVTF Music/RADIO IQ news department and produces news content as well as public affairs programs. Fred's career in broadcasting began in North Carolina's Triad before switching from commercial radio, where he'd held numerous positions including program director. He was a long-time host of All Things Considered on WVTF and Radio IQ, and listeners still hear him on Radio IQ news programs, including during Cardinal Conversations features. He's also heard during our on-air fund drives.
-
Doctors in Southwest Virginia, many of whom have never seen a case of measles, are worrying that an outbreak in Tennessee could spread across the state line. -
Southwest Virginia communities waiting for financial assistance from FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency in the wake of Hurricane Helene will have to wait a little longer.
-
Pittsylvania County supervisors are scheduled to vote Tuesday night on whether to approve construction of a data center in the northern part of the county.Cardinal News reporter Grace Mamon went to Northern Virginia to see whether data centers there have met financial expectations. She talked with Fred Echols.
-
Because Congress failed to pass a federal budget for fiscal 2025, tens of millions of dollars for community projects in Virginia will not materialize.The money would have helped to pay for things like road improvements, emergency communications systems, water quality projects and health care infrastructure.Elizabeth Beyer is one of a team of seven reporters at Cardinal News covering the story.
-
With President Donald Trump's announced plans to shut down the U.S. Department of Education – many people are wondering what that might mean for public schools.Cardinal News education reporter Lisa Rowan has taken a look at what the department does and doesn't do, and she talked about it with Fred Echols.
-
Countries affected by the Trump administration's tariffs are responding with tariffs of their own against products from the U.S. And those retaliatory actions are largely aimed at products from rural areas where support for Donald Trump is strong — possibly with the hope that voters there will pressure the president to change course. National media outlets have identified places where jobs may be at risk from the tariffs, and they include many in Southwest and Southside Virginia. Dwayne Yancey with Cardinal News had studied the data and he talked about it with Fred Echols.
-
Virginia has more data centers than any other state, mostly in the DC suburbs. But data center operators are expanding into other areas, with Southside Virginia among their prime potential locations.Pittsylvania County has one data center already and supervisors will vote next month on a re-zoning proposal that would allow a second one. That project has run into stiff opposition.Grace Mamon has been covering the story for Cardinal News and she spoke with Fred Echols.
-
Volunteer fire and EMS services in rural Virginia are struggling. They say shortages of personnel and money are getting worse every year.Cardinal News reporter Elizabeth Beyer wrote about the challenges they're facing and she spoke with Fred Echols.
-
Though you may not notice them, surveillance cameras are increasingly common in Virginia. Cardinal News is publishing a series of stories on government surveillance in the Commonwealth. Lisa Rowan is one the reporters working on that series and she talked about it with Fred Echols.
-
Virginia's Amish population has been growing steadily over the past decade, mostly as a result of migration from the Lancaster, Pennsylvania area.With more of the horse-drawn buggies favored by the Amish traveling on rural roads in the state, collisions with motor vehicles are increasing. Ralph Berrier Junior wrote about the issue for Cardinal News, and he spoke with Fred Echols.
