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Fred Echols

Producer and Reporter

Fred 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.

 

  • A first-of-its-kind solar power project at a Virginia community college is designed to both save money for the school and create a new learning opportunity for students. Fred Echols talked with Matt Busse who reported the story for Cardinal News.
  • Virginia law requires schools to make menstrual products available to students free of charge. But the state provides no dedicated funding to help schools pay for them.Lisa Rowan has written about the issue for Cardinal News and spoke with Fred Echols.
  • In 2015, Virginia became the only state to have a dedicated Animal Law Unit in its Attorney General's Office – and it remains so today. Mark D. Robertson wrote about the ALU for Cardinal News and spoke with Radio IQ's Fred Echols.
  • The Smart Road, run by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute in Blacksburg, has been a national center for traffic safety research for two decades.Now it's generating data that will be used to perfect autonomous driving technology.Tad Dickens of Cardinal News visited the Smart Road recently and talked about it with Fred Echols.
  • Census figures show just over 18% of Virginia workers do their jobs remotely, a trend that many rural counties with lower costs of living hope to use to their advantage. Dwayne Yancey with Cardinal News has studied the data and talked about it with Fred Echols.
  • Some of the lesser-known stories of the American Revolution involve the thousands of enslaved people who fought on both sides. One of them was Cesar Tarrant who served in the Virginia Navy.Fred Echols spoke with Randy Walker who wrote about Tarrant for a Cardinal News series marking the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution.
  • Virginia community college students looking to transfer to a four-year school have faced a daunting maze of inconsistent policies and procedures. Now the state is looking to make it easier for them.Fred Echols spoke with Lisa Rowan who reports on education issues for Cardinal News.
  • A bill proposed in the Virginia General Assembly by Senator Creigh Deeds would give the state authority to approve major renewable energy projects that county governments might otherwise reject.Fred Echols spoke with Matt Busse who's covering that story for Cardinal News.
  • Public school enrollment in Virginia is expected to decline by 2.9% over the next five years. The main factor in the decrease is something the government may not be able to change.Fred Echols spoke with Dwayne Yancey from Cardinal News who's been looking at the data.
  • As coal mining declined in southwestern Virginia, towns that relied on coal money fell on hard times as well.In the Wise County town of Pound, financial chaos and political strife were so extreme that in 2022 the General Assembly threatened to dissolve the town and withdraw its charter.But things are looking up in Pound. Fred Echols spoke with Megan Schnabel who has written a series of stories about drama for Cardinal News.