7.15.25 Texas reviews warning systems, Russia’s misinformation, and a trip to a maple syrup farm

Summary

Podcast Summary: The World and Everything In It Episode: July 15, 2025 – "Texas reviews warning systems, Russia’s misinformation, and a trip to a maple syrup farm"

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Introduction The World and Everything In It is a top 100 Apple Podcasts News program hosted by WORLD Radio. This episode, released on July 15, 2025, delves into critical issues ranging from natural disaster response in Texas to the intricacies of geopolitical misinformation, and concludes with an inspiring journey to a unique maple syrup farm in Virginia.

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1. Texas Floods and Emergency Alert Systems

The episode opens with a sobering review of the catastrophic floods that devastated Central Texas starting on July 4th. Host Myrna Brown sets the stage by questioning the efficacy of the emergency alert systems during the disaster.

Key Points:

• Flood Impact: Over 130 fatalities and more than 160 people remain missing. Critical areas affected include Kerr County and the small town of Comfort, where prior installation of sirens likely saved lives.
• Emergency Response: Governor Greg Abbott has called for a comprehensive review of flood warning systems, emergency communications, and recovery efforts. Efforts are ongoing to enhance the infrastructure to prevent future tragedies.
• Community Efforts: Operation Blessing and other volunteer groups from around the world have mobilized to aid the affected regions, emphasizing the importance of community support in disaster scenarios.

Notable Quotes:

• Governor Greg Abbott: “[We] will stop at nothing to ensure every asset and person involved is fully accounted for.” (00:54)
• Rescue Volunteer Nick Iker: “We have people from Honduras, Chile, someone’s coming from Costa Rica.” (04:25)
• Survivor Colleen Lucas: “It’s really emotional. It’s been a blessing. God has watched over us through this whole ordeal...” (04:43)
• Kerr County Sheriff Larry Latha: “This incident will be reviewed. If improvements need to be made, they will be.” (13:20)

Analysis: Experts like Dan Schreiber highlight the challenges in effectively communicating the urgency of flood warnings, especially in areas with limited cell coverage. The episode underscores the necessity for improved forecasting models and more reliable alert systems to ensure timely evacuations and minimize loss of life.

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2. Russia’s War with Ukraine and the Battle of Narratives

Transitioning to international affairs, the podcast examines the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, emphasizing the role of misinformation in shaping public perception.

Key Points:

• Stalled Peace Talks: President Donald Trump has issued an ultimatum to Russia, demanding a peace deal within 50 days or facing severe economic sanctions. This hardline stance aims to pressure Moscow economically to cease its military actions.
• Military Analysis: Glenn Korn, a professor at the Institute of World Politics, provides insight into the inefficacies of the Russian military strategy, noting significant casualties and limited territorial gains.
• Disinformation Campaigns: Darren Linville from Clemson University explains Russia's sophisticated disinformation tactics, including "narrative laundering," where false narratives are disseminated through fake news sites and social media influencers to undermine Ukrainian credibility and sway Western opinion.

Notable Quotes:

• President Donald Trump: “We’re going to be doing secondary tariffs. If we don’t have a deal in 50 days, it’s very simple and they’ll be at 100%.” (01:16)
• Glenn Korn: “The Russian military has suffered nearly a million casualties in Ukraine, and Russia has only gained an average of 50 meters a day.” (15:58)
• Darren Linville: “Narrative laundering is a three-step process that involves planting a claim, getting voices to repeat it, and integrating it into public conversation.” (17:49)

Analysis: The podcast highlights the significant economic and human costs of the conflict for Russia, exacerbated by Western sanctions. It also underscores the effectiveness of Russian propaganda in the digital age, where misinformation can rapidly influence public opinion and international relations.

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3. A Journey to Virginia’s Only Organic Maple Syrup Farm

Shifting gears to a more heartwarming story, the episode visits Milgap Farm in western Virginia, showcasing the dedication and innovation of its owners in producing organic maple syrup.

Key Points:

• Sustainable Farming: Kevin Connor and his wife run a 160-acre organic maple syrup farm, adhering to USDA guidelines to maintain certification. Their operation includes diverse tree species, organic practices, and sustainable harvesting methods.
• Diversified Income: To sustain the farm economically, the family engages in multiple revenue streams, including raising alpacas, sheep, cattle, selling vegetables, and operating an Airbnb.
• Community and Faith: The Connors emphasize stewardship and integrating their faith into their farming practices, aiming to create a community grounded in Christian values.

Notable Quotes:

• Kevin Connor: “This is my retirement basically. So I where most folks might have money in IRAs or different things, I chose to take my money out of the market and put it into a farm.” (25:17)
• Myrna Brown: “We start off with everything’s a gift from God... we share, not directly, the gospel.” (27:38)
• Connor: “What does it look like in 20 years? Do we hire people?... Hopefully my son will be able to make enough money to live a life that honors God here on the farm.” (28:05)

Analysis: The story of Milgap Farm serves as an inspiring example of resilience and adaptability in modern agriculture. The Connors' commitment to organic practices and faith-based values highlights the potential for sustainable farming to thrive even in less traditional regions like Virginia's highlands.

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4. IRS Policy Change on Pulpits and Politics

Concluding the episode, the podcast addresses significant changes in IRS policies affecting religious institutions and their engagement in political discourse.

Key Points:

• Johnson Amendment Revision: Historically, the Johnson Amendment restricted non-profit organizations, including churches, from engaging in electoral advocacy. This led to self-censorship among pastors to avoid jeopardizing their tax-exempt status.
• Policy Shift: A recent legal agreement, influenced by the Pulpit Freedom Initiative, relaxes these restrictions, allowing churches to discuss political matters within the context of their faith without fear of IRS repercussions.
• Constitutional Implications: The change respects First Amendment rights by permitting internal discussions while preventing organizations from acting as political campaign entities.

Notable Quotes:

• Daniel Serr: “This new declaration of policy should end that climate of fear and give pastors their full First Amendment freedom to preach to their flocks, free from IRS monitoring.” (34:34)
• Darren Linville: “Bona fide communication internal to a house of worship... does not constitute intervention under the tax code.” (29:57)

Analysis: The relaxation of the Johnson Amendment marks a pivotal shift for religious organizations, empowering them to engage more openly in political discussions. This change aims to balance religious freedom with the prevention of non-profits becoming political advocacy groups, ensuring that churches can address societal issues without overstepping legal boundaries.

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Conclusion This episode of The World and Everything In It offers a comprehensive exploration of pressing issues from disaster response and geopolitical conflicts to sustainable farming and religious freedom. Through in-depth reporting and insightful analysis, the podcast provides listeners with a nuanced understanding of the world's complexities, all grounded in the values and perspectives supported by WORLD Radio.

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Notable Segment Credits:

• Reporting: Lauren Canterbury and Addie Offrans
• Expert Insights: Glenn Korn (Institute of World Politics), Darren Linville (Clemson University), Dan Schreiber (Meteorologist)
• Personal Stories: Kevin Connor (Milgap Farm), Colleen Lucas (Flood Survivor)

End of Summary

Transcript

[Myrna Brown]

Good morning. As recovery efforts continue in Texas, questions remain about whether the emergency alert system gave people enough time to act.

[Nick Iker]

There have been some reports that some people did get the cell phone alert, but obviously it's a rural area.

[Daniel Serr]

Also today, sorting signal from noise in Russia's war with Ukraine and a Virginia farmer taps into much more than syrup.

[Ken Covington]

We do know that this farm can produce what's necessary us to live and give us a good quality lifestyle.

[Daniel Serr]

And World Opinions contributor Daniel Serr on sermons and the state.

[Myrna Brown]

It's Tuesday, July 15th. This is the world and everything in it from listener supported World Radio. I'm Myrna Brown.

[Daniel Serr]

And I'm Nick Iker. Good morning.

[Myrna Brown]

Up next, Ken Covington with today's news.

[Josh Schumacher]

President Trump is throwing down the gauntlet on Russia's war with Ukraine. Speaking from the Oval Office on Monday, the president said Russia has 50 days to agree to a peace deal with Kyiv or the United States will target Moscow's trading partners with heavy tariffs.

[Nick Iker]

We're going to be doing secondary tariffs. If we don't have a deal in 50 days, it's very simple and they'll be at 100%.

[Josh Schumacher]

Getting those who do business with Russia with heavy tariffs could further isolate Moscow or perhaps motivate its trading partners to turn up pressure on the Kremlin to end the war. Trump said Vladimir Putin's words just aren't matching his actions.

[Nick Iker]

I speak to him a lot about getting this thing done and I always hang up, say, well, that was a nice phone call. And then missiles are launched into Kiev or some other city. And I said, strange. And after that happens three or four times, you say the talk doesn't mean anything.

[Josh Schumacher]

Meantime, in Kiev, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked President Trump during his nightly address. The U.S. supreme Court has cleared the way for President Trump's plan to scale back the Department of education. In a 6, 3 decision, the justices on Monday paused a lower court order that had temporarily blocked the administration from laying off nearly 1,400 employees. Trump's education secretary, Linda McMahon, says the move is about decentralizing control outside of Washington.

[Nick Iker]

This lifts the handcuffs off of what we've been trying to do, which really is to get education back to the states where the president believes it does belong. The best education is that closest to the student.

[Josh Schumacher]

The ruling allows the White House to move ahead with efforts to wind down the department, one of Trump's major campaign promises. The administration says the department's core responsibilities, like managing federal student loans, could be shifted to other agencies. The high court's three liberal justices dissented, saying only Congress can eliminate the department and the judiciary has a duty to check lawlessness not expedited. One year after an attempt on Donald Trump's life on the campaign trail in Butler, Pennsylvania, some lawmakers say there are still too many unanswered questions. GOP Senator Dave McCormick I still feel.

[Nick Iker]

Very unsatisfied with the lack of clarity on how this could possibly have happened.

[Josh Schumacher]

The Pennsylvania senator was at the rally that day when a gunman grazed Trump's ear with a bullet and killed a man seated behind the then former and future president. And some on Capitol Hill this week say it is also time to consider protection for members of Congress. Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene all of.

[Kristin Flavin]

My colleagues here can tell you all of their personal stories of death threats they've dealt with. And I think we do need, we do need protection, and we we don't have any.

[Josh Schumacher]

Democratic Congresswoman Gabby Giffords was shot and critically wounded in 2011. Six years later, Republican Steve Scalise, then the House majority whip, was also critically wounded by a gunman. In Central Texas, crews on Monday resumed their search for victims of recent catastrophic flooding, with at least 130 dead and more than 160 still missing. More heavy rain forced them to pause the search over the weekend. Silvia Carranza is with the group Operation Blessing and says volunteers are pitching in from all over the world.

[Nick Iker]

We come from all over.

[Ken Covington]

I'm from Mexico, I came from Mexico.

[Nick Iker]

We have people from Honduras, Chile, someone's coming from Costa Rica.

[Josh Schumacher]

On the ground, residents who lost their homes or loved ones say the support they've received has made all the difference. Colleen Lucas Home was not insured against flooding.

[Nick Iker]

It's really emotional. It's been a blessing. God has watched over us through this whole, whole ordeal, and I cannot express how much I appreciate everything that they have done for us.

[Josh Schumacher]

Governor Abbott is calling on state lawmakers to review flood warning systems, emergency communications protocols and recovery efforts. Meanwhile, in Massachusetts, at least nine people were killed when flames ripped through an assisted living facility. One survivor said she was trapped inside the building as smoke filled her room.

[Myrna Brown]

The sprinkler system was burning. Hot water on my bed.

[Nick Iker]

I went into the bathroom filled with smoke.

[Myrna Brown]

I opened the window as far as.

[Nick Iker]

I could, and then I hung out the window yelling, Help, help. Second floor.

[Myrna Brown]

And someone above me was yelling, Help, help.

[Nick Iker]

Third floor.

[Josh Schumacher]

Another 30 people were injured in the incident. Massachusetts Governor Mara Healey called the tragedy heartbreaking, but added that given all of the factors involved, it is miraculous that even more lives were not lost.

[Kristin Flavin]

Many were in wheelchairs.

[Nick Iker]

Many were immobile. Many had oxygen tanks.

[Kristin Flavin]

They were severely compromised individuals in this.

[Nick Iker]

Assisted living facility, which made it all the more challenging.

[Josh Schumacher]

The fire broke out at the Gabriel House facility in fall river, about 50 miles south of Boston. Authorities are investigating the cause of the blaze. John MacArthur has died. The longtime pastor and author died Monday after battling pneumonia. A passionate Bible teacher, he led Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California, from 1969 until the time of his death. His Grace to youo radio ministry began in 1977 and eventually reached listeners worldwide. MacArthur wrote nearly 400 books and study guides, including the best selling MacArthur Study Bible. He devoted his life to, as he put it, unleashing God's truth one verse at a time. John MacArthur was 86 years old. I'm Ken Cuffington and straight ahead evaluating the Central Texas flood alert warning system. Plus what's really happening in the war between Russia and Ukraine. This is the World and everything in it.

[Myrna Brown]

It's Tuesday, the 15th of July. Glad to have you along for today's edition of the WORLD and Everything In It. Good morning. I'm Myrna Brown.

[Daniel Serr]

And I'm Nick Eicher. First up on THE World and everything, and it's sounding the alarm. When record rainfall hit Central Texas on the 4th of July, the floods came fast and with deadly force. Entire campsites were overrun while families slept. Now officials and residents are beginning to ask some hard questions. Was this flood more a tragic act of nature or a failure to warn?

[Myrna Brown]

From cell signals to sirens, emergency alerts are under the microscope. World's Lauren Canterbury reports.

[Kristin Flavin]

Texas Hill country is known for its rolling landscapes and rivers that cut through the hills, drawing visitors to their banks. Vacationers come throughout the year, but especially in the summer when swimming and tubing offer a reprieve from the dry Texas heat. Even as the populations in nearby cities boom and building projects abound, much of the Hill country remains wild, undeveloped and rural. Those who live in the region know that underneath its beauty, the rolling hills and meandering rivers can quickly turn dangerous. Dan Schreiber is a certified consulting meteorologist in the area.

[Nick Iker]

This part of Texas, you know, including Kirk county, is called Flash Flood Alley. So very similar to like Tornado Alley. Certainly when rainfall occurs, it will flow down those slopes and into these riverines and creeks and watersheds.

[Kristin Flavin]

The so called alley stretches from southwestern Texas up to Dallas. Steep slopes lining the rivers, shallow soil and frequent heavy rains contribute to make the region one of the most flood prone areas in the country. Schreiber says that residents receive flood warnings from the federal wireless emergency alert system regularly. Not all of them materialize.

[Nick Iker]

We're very used to getting weather watches, so it can be easy to become complacent.

[Kristin Flavin]

On the afternoon of July 3, the Regional national weather Service office issued a flash flood watch for the western hill country. By the early morning hours of July 4, the watch had upgraded to a warning. As the Guadalupe river filled rapidly. Kerr county bore the brunt of the fatalities. Alan Gerard is a retired meteorologist for the national oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

[Nick Iker]

You know, there have been some reports that some people did get the cell phone alert in the area, but obviously it's a rural area. There's. I'm sure cell phone coverage is not universal in that region. And of course, it was 1:15 in the morning, which is not the greatest time to be trying to get people to act and evacuate from an area.

[Kristin Flavin]

By 4am Kerr county upgraded the warning to a flash flood emergency as raging water swept through children' summer camps and campsites where hundreds of people were sleeping. The following day, Governor Greg Abbott declared a state of disaster for 15 counties.

[Josh Schumacher]

We will stop at nothing to ensure.

[Nick Iker]

That every asset and person and plane and whatever is needed is going to be involved in the process of rescuing every last person and ensure everybody involved in this is going to be fully accounted for.

[Kristin Flavin]

Just over a week after the flood, Texas officials say the raging water killed more than 130, and search teams are still looking for 160 missing people. Among the dead are 27 children and counselors from the Christian girls Camp Camp mystic that sits along the Guadalupe river. As rescue and recovery teams converged along the river, many were left wondering what more could have been done to stop the tragedy, or at least to ensure it does not happen again. Schreiber says a key challenge is making sure weather warnings get the urgency of the situation across so that people make proactive decisions.

[Nick Iker]

When you look at some of the comments from the Kerr county officials, some of them were saying, well, we didn't know it was going to be this bad or the river floods all the time. It does kind of show that when a flash flood warning is issued, it might not be that bad because that's what history has told them.

[Kristin Flavin]

In the last decade, Kerr county has received nearly 400 flood advisories or flash flood warnings. The vast majority were not deadly. Though most floods do not end in tragedy, the county has long debated if and how to install flash flood warning sirens. In 2017, Kerr county officials submitted a grant application to FEMA to help install high water detection systems, gauges and possible outdoor sirens. The application was denied because the county lacked a hazard mitigation plan. By the time they resubmitted it, Emergency Management Resources had been refocused on the response to Hurricane Harvey. Despite local lawmakers discussing a new warning system numerous times over the last decade, it was never finalized. Meanwhile, the small town of Comfort, downriver from Kerr county, did install a siren system that was activated on July 4th. Every citizen survived the flooding. Nearby Kamal county also installed warning sirens in 2015. While some say such a system could have saved lives in Kerr County, Shriver said it may not be so straightforward.

[Nick Iker]

Sirens can obviously be helpful if you can hear them, but also when it's raining really hard and there's lightning and thunder going on and you know it's stormy outside, it's difficult if not impossible to hear a siren unless you're very close to it.

[Kristin Flavin]

Abbott last week added four flood related items to the state Legislature's special session agenda this month to examine flood warning and communication systems. While local officials are prioritizing recovery efforts, they have promised to review their response. Here's Kerr County Sheriff Larry Latha.

[Nick Iker]

As with other significant events that our emergencies services encounter, this incident will be reviewed. You have my words. When or if necessary, if improvements need to be made, improvements will be made.

[Kristin Flavin]

Meanwhile, Gerard says more research is needed to improve forecasting models and make flood warnings more accurate.

[Nick Iker]

There's obviously a lot of talk about, you know, evacuating once the warnings were issued, but obviously the best case scenario would be that we'd have known Tuesday evening what was going to happen and we could have got people out before the rain started.

[Kristin Flavin]

He says these types of events are preventable if meteorologists could more accurately pinpoint where a flood would hit and work with local authorities to develop an evacuation plan. But researchers are struggling to fund those scientific breakthroughs right now.

[Nick Iker]

The president's budget for next year eliminates NOAA's research program, which would basically put this kind of research, I'm assuming more on universities and private sector.

[Kristin Flavin]

While experts and officials begin analyzing and reviewing what went wrong and how to avoid similar disasters, the communities of Central Texas are mourning their loss. As the flood cut short countless lives, it also turned a serene landscape into one of destruction, forever changing the once peaceful retreat for world. I'm Lauren Canterbury with reporting by Addie Offrans.

[Daniel Serr]

Up next, a clearer signal in the fog of war. Talks between Russia and Ukraine remain stalled, with Moscow demanding sweeping concessions, including a smaller Ukrainian military and large swaths of land. Kyiv is not budging. President Donald Trump weighed in again yesterday on the subject, warning of economic consequences.

[Nick Iker]

We're very, very unhappy with them, and we're going to be doing very severe tariffs if we don't have a deal in 50 days.

[Myrna Brown]

Meantime, experts say the war isn't confined to the battlefield. It's a war of narratives, too, one where Russian propaganda is convincing some in the west that Ukraine's a lost cause. World reporter Josh Schumacher has more.

[Glenn Korn]

Glenn Korn is a professor at the Institute of World Politics. He says for years now, the Russian military hasn't been doing as well on battlefield as it says it has.

[Nick Iker]

They had a lot of failures on the battlefield. The Ukrainians counterattacked and had a very effective counteroffensive, and then the battlefield froze and the Russians were able to dig in.

[Glenn Korn]

The center for Strategic and International Studies says the Russian military has suffered nearly a million casualties in Ukraine, and Russia has only gained an average of 50 meters a day. During the Battle of the Somme, one of the slowest and bloodiest battles of World War I, the Allies gained an average of 80 meters a day.

[Nick Iker]

The Russians are definitely taking territory, but much smaller pieces of territory than they want, and the price they're paying for that is huge.

[Glenn Korn]

And Korn says the Russian home front is feeling the pain of those losses. Putin's decision to keep putting troops on the battlefield has placed a major burden on the Russian economy.

[Nick Iker]

They're paying large salaries to troops to go fight and benefits to the families of the Russian troops that are casualties.

[Glenn Korn]

And the sanctions levied against Russia by the west have been making that economic pressure even worse.

[Nick Iker]

Worse, the Russian economy is in shambles in many ways. They're having to make very, very tough decisions. Civilian parts of the economy are struggling. They've put almost everything in their economy into their defense industries.

[Glenn Korn]

But Korn says Russia believes all that could change if the Kremlin can get the United States to just step out of the war by convincing the west that Russia is powerful and Ukraine is a lost cause, he says that's part of why Russia is making such extreme demands during peace talks.

[Nick Iker]

They are trying to discredit the Ukrainians, but the Russians so far have, in my opinion, have not been sincere when they claim they are ready to negotiate. And the evidence of that is doing things like making these maximalist demands that they know the Ukrainians can't agree to.

[Glenn Korn]

But discrediting Ukraine isn't just a task for the negotiating table. Russia has a massive disinformation apparatus that's been tackling that same task in Cyberspace and has been for years.

[Nick Iker]

One of the main tactics that they use now is a concept called narrative laundering.

[Glenn Korn]

Darren Linville is a professor at Clemson University specializing in Russian disinformation. He says narrative laundering is a three step process that involves first, planting a claim story or fact, second, getting more and more voices to repeat that claim, story or fact, and then finally getting that claim, story or fact integrated into the larger public conversation about the war to get the story out. Initially, Russia uses fake artificial intelligence generated news websites with legitimate sounding names, or it pays foreign media outlets to run fabricated stories. But another and more effective way of peddling disinformation is social media influencers.

[Nick Iker]

These influencers are part of communities that trust them and they in many cases have hundreds of thousands of followers. So a story that they repeat or share is very likely to be picked up and shared by their followers.

[Glenn Korn]

But how does all of this work in real time?

[Nick Iker]

Let me show you an example.

[Glenn Korn]

Linville showed a video of two men dressed in camouflage fatigues and wearing masks. The man closest to the screen wore a Ukrainian trident on his shoulder. The two men opened fire on a mannequin wearing a red hat and a Trump Vance 2024 T shirt. After shooting the mannequin, one of the men bent down and set fire to a trail of gasoline that snaked towards the mannequin and engulfed its feet in flames.

[Nick Iker]

It looks like something that I would have made in my backyard when I was in middle school, but it is actually, I think, a absolutely brilliant video because it's simple. It tells a very simple narrative that you know almost immediately. You don't have to watch the whole video.

[Glenn Korn]

Brilliant or not, the video is a fake. Linville explains that it's a piece of Russian disinformation, but that didn't stop it from going viral.

[Nick Iker]

If you were a right leaning American, you saw this video. If you were a right leaning American on X or Telegram the day after the election, you almost surely saw this video.

[Glenn Korn]

The video was the start of Russia's lobbying campaign against the Trump administration, trying to push it back from supporting Ukraine.

[Nick Iker]

How do I know that? We tracked where the video came from.

[Glenn Korn]

The video first appeared online weeks earlier when a brand new account posted it to a channel in the social media app Discord. It went through several pro Russia accounts on various social media apps before English speaking social media influencers began reposting it for American viewers.

[Nick Iker]

And you can see this One post had 12.4 million views and several other posts said hundreds of thousands or over a million views as well I mean, it went crazy.

[Glenn Korn]

Linville says this sort of operation takes place all the time. But Professor Glenn Korn says the White House is starting to look past Russia's lies. He applauded Trump's recent ultimatum giving Russia 50 days to end the war or else face severe economic sanctions and increased American support for Ukraine.

[Nick Iker]

President Trump probably knows that Putin's economic situation inside of Russia is not very good. So doubling down on sanctions, and not only sanctions, but other things that we can do to increase pressure on the Russian economy I think would also be very painful for Putin and his regime.

[Glenn Korn]

For WORLD I'm Josh Schumacher.

[Darren Linville]

Additional support comes from Nicaea Conference, a.

[Josh Schumacher]

Once in a lifetime gathering to honor.

[Darren Linville]

Our one Lord, remember our one faith.

[Josh Schumacher]

And proclaim our one gospel. Nicaeaconference.com.

[Myrna Brown]

Today is Tuesday, July 15th. Thank you for turning to World Radio to help start your day. Good morning. I'm Myrna Brown.

[Daniel Serr]

And I'm Nick Icker. Next up on THE WORLD and everything in it, maple syrup, Southern style. Now, when you think of maple syrup, you probably start with a country that has a maple leaf on its national flag. Canada does produce at least 3/4 of the global maple syrup supply, and the US produces pretty much the rest, with a very cold northeastern state of Vermont accounting for most of the American maple syrup production.

[Myrna Brown]

But you may be surprised to find out that it's possible to produce maple syrup as far south as Virginia. Tucked into the Allegheny Mountains of western Virginia is the state's only organic maple syrup farm. Here now is World's Kristin Flavin with the story of a man who found his calling later in life, fueled by faith, family, and a forest of sugar.

[Ken Covington]

Maples, as many others.

[Kevin Connor]

Kevin Connor is heading into the woods.

[Ken Covington]

You don't have to hold on, but just keep in mind we're going to be kind of going back and forth a little bit. Have you spent any time inside by sides?

[Nick Iker]

Not really.

[Ken Covington]

Okay.

[Kevin Connor]

He fires up his all terrain vehicle to go check on his sugar maple trees. He took my coffee colleague Addie Offren's on the ride and she recorded an interview with him.

[Ken Covington]

Well, there's, there's always something broken on the farm and we're always in states of different repairs.

[Kevin Connor]

These woods are part of Connor's roughly 160 acre farm situated at the edge of the Allegheny Mountains near the West Virginia border. During the summer, Connor spends his time maintaining the property because in the winter, this area becomes the perfect place for making maple syrup. The winters are colder and longer than the rest of the state, but the window for collecting SAP is short.

[Ken Covington]

Way up in New England, their seasons could last for a month or two. Ours can go anywhere from two weeks, sometimes six weeks. So we make syrup only in the early spring. The closer we get to the spring, the warmer those days become. Now the water in the tree begins to move. That's when the harvest takes place.

[Kevin Connor]

Sugar maples are just one of the many kinds of trees in the Milgap Farm forest. Tree variety is one criteria for earning the status USDA certified organic.

[Ken Covington]

We've got cherry, oak, hickory, there's ash. They want a good, well balanced forest.

[Kevin Connor]

The USDA also has rules about pesticides, certain types of oils used when boiling the SAP, and the number of times a farmer can tap a tree. Connor follows all those guidelines and he starts tapping his trees in late January or early February. To do that, he uses a special drill to make a small hole in the trunk and then uses a hammer to insert food grade plastic tubing. Here he demonstrates the process to his almost 14,000 subscribers on YouTube.

[Ken Covington]

Now you're going to hear it. It's going to change pitch. Hear that pitch. I feel it and I can hear it. Now you can't feel it, but you can hear it. Once you get that pitch change, it's in where it needs to be.

[Kevin Connor]

He discovered his passion for making syrup rather late in life. Other people his age are nearing retirement, but the 58 year old Connor doesn't anticipate his work ending anytime soon.

[Ken Covington]

This is my retirement basically. So I where most folks might have money in IRAs or different things, I chose to take my money out of the market and put it into a farm.

[Kevin Connor]

Connor also met and married his wife later in life. They had their first of two children when he was 49. The Connors chose their life on the farm in hopes of raising their kids in a small community built on God's values.

[Ken Covington]

We have certain savings and that sort of thing, but not enough to live for the next several years. But we do know that this farm can produce what's necessary for us to live and give us a good quality lifestyle. So that every day we are productive and that we are doing things that honor him. And I think that's a little bit different than the mainstream.

[Kevin Connor]

Though Milgap farm is the state's only organic maple operation, it's not the only maple syrup farm in Virginia's highlands. The Conners had to find just the right niche in the market.

[Ken Covington]

So we make maple, maple sugar, we make maple candies and that's from maple syrup. Then we get into Specialty syrups. A few years ago, we became an organic coffee roaster. So we take our organic coffee beans, we put that into our syrup, and then it takes on the flavor of coffee.

[Kevin Connor]

Farming is expensive. Insurance, taxes, equipment, cost, marketing the product, and costs keep rising.

[Ken Covington]

That's a lot of money. Where's a young farmer gonna find it? I don't think. I don't know. I do think every farmer does have to have alternate incomes.

[Kevin Connor]

The Conners had to get creative to keep the operation going. Kevin's wife works one day every other week at a nursing home. The family raises alpacas and merino sheep and sells their wool. They raise cattle and sell some of that meat. They also sell a few vegetables from their garden and run a popular Airbnb on the property.

[Ken Covington]

It's gotta be the sum of the parts or you won't be profitable. You can't do it.

[Kevin Connor]

Connor's main job in the off season is maintaining the miles of blue and green plastic line crisscrossing the forest.

[Ken Covington]

We have a lot of problems with bears on the farm. They will come up and chew on the main line.

[Kevin Connor]

Other times, he's clearing out dead trees. In March, thousands of people will converge on the county for a maple syrup festival. As many as 30,000 may show up on one weekend. And a lot of them will want to tour Virginia's only organic maple farm.

[Ken Covington]

We start off with everything's a gift from God. And as a result, we're stewards of what he's given us. And we want to make sure that people see him through our actions and our products. And in doing so, we share, not directly, the gospel. Unless people are receptive to it, then we certainly will. But if not, we plant that seed about Christ and what he's done for us.

[Kevin Connor]

Connor expects the next several years will bring their fair share of challenges. But for now, he's still fit and active.

[Ken Covington]

What does it look like in 20 years? Do we hire people? What is that life going to look like? And I think about that almost every day. Hopefully my son will be able to make enough money to live a life that honors God here on the farm.

[Kevin Connor]

For world, I'm Kristen Flavin.

[Daniel Serr]

Today is Tuesday, July 15th. Good morning, this is the world and everything in it. From listener supported World Radio, I'm Nick Iger.

[Myrna Brown]

And I'm Myrna Brown. Up next, the IRS policy change on pulpits and politics. For decades, pastors have wrestled with what they can and cannot say from the pulpit. Around election time, many opted to keep quiet, fearing that bold speech might draw unwanted attention from the taxman.

[Daniel Serr]

World Opinions contributor Daniel sir unpacks what changed, why it matters, and what it might mean for pastors and congregations.

[Darren Linville]

From the founding of our nation through the dark days of the Civil War and to the Civil Rights movement and the pro life cause, pastors have preached to their congregations on the vital issues of the day.

[Nick Iker]

It is a cruel jest to say to a bootless man that he ought to lift himself by his own bootstraps.

[Darren Linville]

In a democracy, big issues are decided by voters in elections. Yet since 1954, pastors have been silenced from preaching on specific candidates and elections by the Johnson Amendment, a provision in the tax code that prohibits non profit organizations from participating in electoral advocacy.

[Nick Iker]

We thought this was going to be a and we were going to overthrow.

[Darren Linville]

Rome and we were going to rule the world.

[Nick Iker]

And that is going to happen someday, but not now. The Cross before the Crown Some of us want the crown before the cross.

[Darren Linville]

The Johnson Amendment is named for President Lyndon B. Johnson, whose family held powerful radio investments and who was irritated by criticism directed at him on some of those radio stations. The Amendment was straightforward. 501 tax exempt nonprofit organizations have to be dedicated to tax exempt nonprofit purposes like education, scientific research, social services for the poor. It makes sense to say that political advocacy for candidates doesn't fit that nonprofit theme. But because churches and other houses of worship are categorized under the same section of the tax code, the practical impact of the Johnson Amendment meant that the Internal Revenue Service was responsible for policing the speech of churches. Basically, the policy was that pastors could not endorse candidates or talk about politics too much or their church could lose its nonprofit status. For years, our friends at the Alliance Defending Freedom pushed back against this policy with their Pulpit Freedom Initiative, arguing that the government had no right to tell pastors what they could say to their flock around election time.

[Nick Iker]

Leaders will come and go, but God's kingdom will never be shaken. His purposes will be fulfilled regardless of who is in power.

[Darren Linville]

Applying the Johnson Amendment to houses of worship offended several key constitutional principles. First, it violated the First Amendment's establishment clause by inviting the IRS to monitor pastors sermons. Second, it violated the First Amendment's free exercise clause by penalizing pastors based on what they chose to preach within the four walls of their church to their own flock. There was also, frankly, an equal protection problem when the Johnson Amendment was used to bludgeon evangelical or Catholic voices into silence on pro life and family issues while many African American churches were hosting Democratic candidates. Yet because it was the law and because pastors feared the irs, many pastors have self censored their sermons to avoid talking about candidates. And because of the expansive interpretation of the Johnson Amendment pushed by secularist legal advocates, many pastors avoided talking about any political or legislative topic for fear of breaking the law. Thankfully, the IRS has entered into a legal agreement to settle a lawsuit brought by the National Religious Broadcasters that will end this overbroad application of the Johnson Amendment. The agreement says, and I quote, when a house of worship in good faith speaks to its congregation through its customary channels of communication on matters of faith in connection with religious services concerning electoral politics, viewed through the lens of faith, it neither participates nor intervenes in a political campaign, as those words are used in the statutes. Bona fide communication internal to a house of worship between the house of worship and its congregation in connection with its religious services does not constitute intervention under the tax code. In my view, this strikes an appropriate balance, but respects both the First Amendment and campaign finance law. It protects churches when they communicate to their own congregants, like in a Sunday sermon. It does not give churches carte blanche to act like a super PAC and start running TV ads targeting the entire electorate while still claiming the tax exempt status of a church. For decades, the Johnson Amendment has been a bogeyman used by secularists to intimidate and bully churches into silence about politics, even as it existed primarily as a paper tiger on the books, but never really enforced by the irs. Yet because of their respect for the law and their worry about a lawsuit, many pastors have shied away from talking about candidates and even about the application of gospel values to current issues. This new declaration of policy should end that climate of fear and give pastors their full First Amendment freedom to preach to their flocks, free from IRS monitoring. I'm Daniel.

[Nick Iker]

Sir.

[Daniel Serr]

Tomorrow, Washington Wednesday, Hunter Baker joins us to talk about Elon Musk and his plan for a third party, what he's suggesting, what history tells us about similar third party efforts and where this one might be headed. And we'll meet a biology teacher who challenges Darwinism in the classroom and learn what that's cost her. That and more tomorrow. I'm Nick Iger.

[Myrna Brown]

And I'm Myrna Brown. The world and everything in it comes to you from World Radio. World's mission is biblically objective journalism that informs, educates and inspires. Jesus said, for whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the the whole world? And forfeits his soul. The Gospel according to Matthew, chapter 16, verses 25 and 26. Go now in grace and peace.