Wise Up, a Wise County Messenger podcast

Wise County Sheriff Lane Akin was once known as Joe Lane. Joseph Lane had a beard and shaggy hair as an undercover agent during the precipice of the meth boom in Texas. His time in narcotics enforcement influenced his career and was the subject of his new book, "The Point. Dawn of the Texas Meth War."

The Wise County Courthouse will be looking a little different soon. We discuss the new-look roof, changes for early voting in the March primary, the bonds on the May ballot, important sports updates and more on the Season 1 finale of the Wise Up podcast. Want to be featured on the next episode? Leave us a message on the Wise Up Hotline: 940-242-1931

The UIL’s biennial realignment Feb. 1 has shaken up the Wise County sports scene. The Wise Up crew discusses the new landing spots and more on Episode 11 of the podcast.

As Valentine's Day approaches, the Wise Up podcast shares our takeaways from a recent story on a couple whose relationship has stood the test of time, while also sharing staff plans to celebrate the romantic, top-10 holiday. The crew also dives into the art of campaign mailers, water developments for Wise County, Newsmax and why we hate Super Bowl parties. 0:00 Intro/Valentine’s Day 6:20 Political ads/campaign mailers 9:30 PACs 10:50 Super Bowl 13:50 Scanner tales 18:20 Micah minute 19:50 Water news 23:30 RIP Rufus Choate/Museum news 27:51 Newsmax

Atlanta Braves pitcher and Decatur graduate Bryce Elder joins the Wise Up podcast to share how a bet on himself led to a career in Major League Baseball. The MLB All-Star and former Texas Longhorn shares his approach to Spring Training after the breakout season in 2023 and his message to local students and athletes during visits to area schools this offseason.

The Wise Up crew discusses how the Paradise community has banded together in the face of another tragedy following the plane crash that resulted in the deaths of Dr. Heath Smith and his six-year-old and eight-year-old sons; the new Lost Battalion Memorial Highway; an important sports update and more on Episode 9 of the podcast.

The Wise Up crew talks inclement weather, the loss of a Decatur legend, the forum for the March primary and more on the latest episode of the Wise Up podcast.

The Wise Up podcast crew discusses the 2023 Wise County Person of the Year, the new food truck that's in the works in Alvord and debuts a new sports segment in this week's episode.

Wise County Messenger editors Austin Jackson and Brendan Marchand look back at some of the top stories and moments of 2023 in Wise County.

Wise County artist Kevin Roach joins the Wise Up podcast to discuss the artistry behind turning storm damage and tree stumps into intricate, lifelike carvings of people and animals — with a chainsaw. Roach recently turned the hobby into a full-time job, leaving the oil and gas industry to carve out a new gas-powered career as a chainsaw artist. You can see his work in Wise County and beyond. Sponsor: Wise County State Farm agent Cary Bohn

Paranormal investigator Suzette Munson and local historian Hannah Rainey uncover the history and lore behind Downtown Decatur's local haunts for the Wise County Historical Society's ghost walk tour on the historic town square. The Messenger tagged along for a sneak peak of the ghost walk, and spoke with Munson and Rainey for Wise Up Episode 4. Ghost walk tour proceeds have been dedicated to helping reestablish the Wise County Heritage Museum after it was lost in a fire this year. The tours are from 5-10 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 28. Tickets and T-shirts are still available: wcmess.com/decaturghosttour

Decatur graduate and current Lubbock-Cooper Liberty basketball coach Parker Hicks joins the Wise Up podcast to discuss how he came into his own as a coach after breaking a few records and launching multiple title runs as a player at Texas Tech and Lubbock Christian University. After averaging 30+ points per game his senior year, Hicks earned a spot as a walk-on on the Texas Tech team that made it to the National Championship game, eventually transferring to Lubbock Christian University, where he was a two-time All American and back-to-back conference player of the year.

Bridgeport Police Chief Steve Stanford and Mayor Randy Singleton dive into their mentor-mentee relationship, cultural shift, leading through loss and their careers in law enforcement in our newest episode of Wise Up. Co-hosts are Brendan Marchand and Austin Jackson of the Wise County Messenger.

Judge J.D. Clark dives into his little-known life as a singer-songwriter and what led to him joining the Chico City Council at the age of 20. Clark, who later became the youngest mayor in Texas, also discusses his rise through local politics, diving into the ongoing courthouse restoration and his recent nomination to lead the National Association of Counties. Hosts are Brendan Marchand and Austin Jackson of the Wise County Messenger.

After a review of the week, Amy Neal and Richard Greene visit with Wise County Emergency Management Coordinator Cody Powell about the county’s new emergency command center.

As pointed out by Austin Jackson, this was our most ambitious episode yet — 3 reporters and 2 guests. After a recap of the week, Amy Neal joins podcast to interview first-year Decatur teacher Rob Watson about entering the classroom after 30 years as a youth pastor. Neal also joins editor Richard Greene to interview PMB Capital’s Peter Pincoffs about the Reunion and Bluestem developments on the former Rolling V Ranch near Rhome. Don't forget to subscribe at Apple, Spotify or Stitcher.

We're back with a new episode of Making A Mess. We do a short review of the week in Wonderful Wise. Rhome changes administration, county commissioners pass resolution on the border and Beto O’Rourke comes to Wise County. Our main story is over school security and training districts and law enforcement completed this week before the start of school . We visit with Bridgeport Police Chief Steve Stanford about the training.

We're back. Messenger Editor Richard Greene and Assistant Editor Austin Jackson discuss the start of school in Wise County. They are joined by Alvord ISD Superintendent Randy Brown to talk about the challenges with teacher shortages facing districts and security upgrades by campuses after the tragedy in Uvalde.

We got a chance for a quick phone interview with Bryce Elder to talk about his MLB debut and win. Had a couple of technical difficulties, but Bryce sounds great in interview.

Chico ISD made the decision last week to move to a 4-day school week for the 2022-23 school year. Chico ISD Superintendent Randy Brawner and Chico High School Principal Breann Cox join us to talk about the move and what went into the decision.