In this edition of WYSO Weekend: We’ll remember Doolittle Raider David Thatcher – the 94 year old veteran passed away just a few weeks ago and you’ll hear a 2013 interview we conducted with him at the National Museum of the United State Air Force. We’ll also hear music from local musician Kyleen Downes. Antioch College officials tell us what’s next now that they are a fully accredited institution. And a report from The Allegheny Front on leaking methane in wells throughout Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. See full details below.
- Just a few weeks ago, Doolittle Raider, David Thatcher passed away at his home in Montana. Thatcher was just 20 years old when he flew on the infamous bombing mission that is credited with changing the course of WWII for the Allies. You can find details of that mission on our website WYSO.org, as well as the story of the Doolittle Raiders annual toast – a celebration and a memorial commemorating the young men who never returned from the mission, and of those who passed in the years after. In 2013, three of the last four survivors the Doolittle Tokyo Raiders gathered at the National Museum of the United States Air Force at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. They raised a final toast in honor of their accomplishment and to their comrades. And they spoke to reporters before the ceremony, recounting the details of their mission. We spoke to Thatcher, then 92, who began by telling us how surprised he was that people still remembered and still held their mission in such high regard, and then talked about his experience. That day I also spoke with Thatcher’s son Jeff about the American legacy his father was a part of. And finally, we offer some audio of the final toast that day from a report we filed for NPR.
- There are thousands of gas wells in the Marcellus Shale of Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia--and a growing number of pipelines moving that gas around the Northeast. How much of this infrastructure is leaking methane--a potent greenhouse gas? The Allegheny Front’s Reid Frazier tagged along with a team of scientists trying to answer that question.
- On Saturday night at Glen Helen in Yellow Springs, Kyleen Downes and her band celebrated the release of their new full length album, Maybe Sometimes. And YSO listeners were fortunate enough on Wednesday night during Kaleidoscope to hear Downes talk about that album with host Juliet Fromholt. They also played a couple of tunes and here’s one of them for your Sunday morning enjoyment – this is Take Me On.
- Antioch College is once again a fully accredited educational institution. On Wednesday, the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) granted the status to the college, which has been working aggressively to regain accreditation since it re-opened in 2011. To find out what this means for students and the future of the college, we spoke with Antioch College President, Dr. Thomas Manly, and Provost and Vice-President of Academic Affairs Lori Collins-Hall
