April 1, 2026 • 39 mins
As part of our continuing news coverage, we’ll discuss the 2026 Found Report by “Unclaimed Baggage” highlighting the top finds from unclaimed baggage or lost luggage that gets turned over! You won’t believe some of the top finds!
8:05PM: New study published in the Journal of Hazardous Materials found that there could be hidden toxins right in your own kitchen. Everyday utensils and cookware made of silicone could be transferring toxins into your food! What to know and how to protect your family.
Guest: Jennifer Payeur - Certified Natural Health Practitioner & author of the new book, "Ancient Plant Wisdom: How to Improve and Maintain Your Health Using Concentrated Plant Stem Cell Remedies". & Founder of Nature Provides
8:15PM: Senator Driscoll Finds Millions More in Gateway-related Funding Gone to Non-Qualifying Municipalities and Plans to File Budget Amendments to Address Underlying Issues.
Guest: MA Senator Bill Driscoll Jr.
8:30PM: Military Community Job Fair Thursday 4/2 at Gillette Stadium - connecting service members, veterans, Guard/Reserve, and military spouses with employers that are actively hiring.
Guest: Chris Stevens - US Air Force veteran & SVP with Recruit Military
8:45PM: The 2026 Found Report by “Unclaimed Baggage” - highlighting the top finds from unclaimed baggage or lost luggage that gets turned over!
Guest: Matt Owens, Senior VP of Commercial Strategy of the Unclaimed Baggage Center, son of CEO & President Bryan Owens and grandson of founder Doyle Owens
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
It's Night Side with Dan Ray. I'm telling you BZ
Boston's nich.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Radio crating everybody, walk on in and is on Wednesday night.
We are, of course, this mark's half of the week
gone and will be around ten o'clock. My name's Dan Ray,
host of Night's Side, heard every year, every week, every
weeknight from eight to midnight right here in WBZ Boston's
news radio ten thirty on your AM dial. And if
you're driving around anywhere in the eastern half of the
(00:26):
United States and flip your car radio on. Hopefully everyone
still has a car radio and you're listening to me
right now, Walk us in. We're WBZ in Boston, been
around a long time, all the way back to nineteen
twenty one, and I was not working at this radio
station when I went on the air back in nineteen
twenty one. Rob Brooks wasn't either. But Rob is back
(00:47):
in the control room in the studio tonight. He'll begin
to take your calls. After President Trump's speech to the
Nation at nine o'clock. We will cover that in its
entirety for you from start to finish through ABC News
and then we'll talk about it, probably talk about it
for the rest of the night. I'm sure that many
of you are hopeful, many of you are concerned, some
(01:07):
of you are skeptical. All your points of view are
going to be very important to us once the speech
is concluded. But before that, we have four interesting guests
this hour, and we're going to start off with Jennifer Payer.
Jennifer is a certified National health practitioner an author of
a new book which we'll mention ancient ancient plant wisdom,
(01:29):
how to improve and maintain your health using concentrated plant
stem cell remedies. We'll get to that a little bit later.
But there's a new study being published by the Journal
of Hazardous Materials which discovered that there could be hidden
toxins right in your own kitchen. Ooh, doesn't that good news?
Every day utensils and cook we're made of silicone. I
(01:50):
don't know how you can tell what's made of silicone,
because you throw everything out when you buy the new
material for the kitchen. They could, but they could be
transferring toxins into your food. So I guess Jenna, for
first of all, welcome TONIGHT'SI thanks for joining us.
Speaker 3 (02:07):
Yeah, it's wonderful to be here. Thank you.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
So how do I figure out I'm not a chemist,
how do I figure out if there's silicone in my
kitchen utensils or in my kitchen cookware or anywhere in
my kitchen? What do you got to do here?
Speaker 3 (02:23):
Yeah, when when you purchase something, the label will tell you.
So I'm a huge fan of reading labels, and you
can tell what is in your kitchen items by reading
the labels.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
Me not so much. And I will tell you that
over the years, we have assembled all sorts of pots
and pans and utensils, and some of them even were
gifts from other people. But those in those labels are
long gone. So is this so serious that we should
consider throwing everything out and starting from scratch.
Speaker 3 (03:00):
Well, that's a little drastic. I don't know that you
have to throw everything out and expensive, but you know,
we are living in a time. There's a term called
toxic load, and our bodies were not meant to hold
the number of chemicals that were holding in our bodies.
And it's an accumulation, right. It's not just the pots
and pans, it's the body lotions, the shampoos, everything that
(03:24):
we're putting on our body and in our body is
having an accumulative effect. At this point, this.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
Is getting a little scary. Now. So you're telling me
that when I get up in the morning, take a
shower and shampoo, a wash up, go downstairs, have breakfast,
I could be poisoning myself in the shower in the kitchen. Well, yeah,
we go back to living in caves. I think. I
don't know. I thought all of this stuff was approved
(03:53):
by the government, the Food and Drug Administration, and everything
had to be tested that. I guess they told me
that about the Easter Bunny too, And I'm beginning to
think that the Easter Bunny might not be real.
Speaker 3 (04:06):
Yeah, you know, the FDA does test, but it's spot testing,
and so we don't have really a robust program that
is testing the amount of toxicity that we're getting. Now,
you can go do a blood test and you can
see how the different, you know, items that you're using
in your life are impacting you, and you can start
(04:26):
to see that toxic burden. It's one of the reasons
we have such go ahead.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
Actually, I had a medical blood test today just in
the course of you know, the typical annual physical and
all of that. So if I go to my doc
and I say Hey, doc, I'm worried about toxins in
my body. Is he going to do a blood test
that's going to come back with toxin? Tell me what
toxins are in my body?
Speaker 3 (04:52):
Yeah. There are certain blood tests that you can request
that will look at the toxic load in your body.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
Okay, So, and you can look at.
Speaker 3 (04:59):
Liver enzyme and kidney impacts, et cetera.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
Okay, well, actually I had I had some of those
tested today, not for toxins. So let's assume that it
comes back and it says, you know, you got a
toxicity level here, and there's all sorts of tests and
you can't figure out what the test You're like, I
guess what I'm saying. Are we basically captive a captive
(05:22):
audience to all you know, you read the stuff at
the store and buy this pan. It's been tested, it
will never easy wash and all of that. There's almost
too much to contemplate. Even if I found out I
had some toxins in my body, how do I do
these blood tests? How do I figure out where I
(05:44):
got them? And how do I how do I figure
out how to get rid of them?
Speaker 3 (05:49):
Yeah? I mean a big piece is you know, is education,
educating yourself. So when my kids were young, I started
asking them to read labels, and I said, if you
can't pronounce the word, it's probably not real food. So
we will find something that has you know ingredients that
you can pronounce. So that's that's step one is really
you know, reading labels. Yes, it takes some time, but
(06:11):
you get you get the hang of it pretty quickly.
And you know, in educating yourself, I think today the
statistic is that we consume about the size of a
credit card of nanoplastics every week.
Speaker 2 (06:25):
Sounds good, tasty.
Speaker 3 (06:27):
Sounds great, right, yummy.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
But here's here's the problem that I have. I'm sitting
here as the communicator and I'm trying to, you know,
help our audience, and you're trying to help our audience.
You have a book which I want to mention and
maybe people should think about this book, Ancient Plant Wisdom,
how to improve and maintain your health using concentrated plant
(06:52):
stem cell remedies. And you're the founder of a website
called Nature Provides. Obviously we can't reduce that book into
you know, a minute or two in a commentary, but
what could people learn from that book? And it was
it seems to me they were all working so fast
(07:14):
and running so hard to work to get the kids
to school, to pay our taxes, to go to the
school board meetings and the PTA meetings and all of
that stuff. And then you go to the store. You
want to get in and get out as fast as
you can. I feel like that, you know that that
little mouse or whatever on the treadmill, and it's not
(07:37):
a good.
Speaker 3 (07:37):
Feeling right now. I mean, that's that's part of the issue.
Right We're so distracted by life, and we're so busy,
busier than we've ever been. And a big part of
what I write about in my book is that nature
has been providing solutions for as long as humans have
been on this planet. And you go back to our
ancestors who woke up with the sun, They went to
(07:57):
bed when it was dark. You know, they didn't eat
and snack all day long. They weren't under these incredible
amounts of stress.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
They also had to go out kill and kill buffalos
and worry about being by coyotes, and live in and
live in tens or caves. I mean, I kind of
like this the comfort situation I have, But realistically, what
could you know someone like me do I I get
up in the morning work to put this show together.
(08:26):
I'm on from eight to midnight. I gotta be honest
with you, this is a five day cycle. I'm spending
the entire and other people. Look, are the people work
on assembly lines? Are the people work as automobile mechanics? Uh?
And and you know women are working more in jobs.
There's more two income families, is there? They should buy
your book I Get That Ancient Plant Wisdom by Jennifer
(08:49):
Peyer p A Y E U R.
Speaker 3 (08:53):
But so the secret in that book is something that
most people have probably never heard of, and it's called
plant stem cells. The medical term is gemotherapy. They've been
around for a long time. They're pretty well known in Europe.
But one of the things that plant stem cells do,
(09:13):
and they come from the new growth on the plant
in the springtime, So in Boston where you are all
of the little buds on the trees, that's what we're
talking about. And they are undifferentiated parts of the plant.
And their superpower is that they clean up the toxic
burden in the cells, in the organs and the tissue
of the body.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
So, and do you pick those little plant things and
boil them and drink them. What's what's the deal?
Speaker 3 (09:38):
Yes, well they all come from the Italian Alps, and
and most of them are like that, Hey, the best
place ever. But no, they come and tinc sures. So
they are in a combination of alcohol and glycerine, and
that's what extracts the active principles out of those plants.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
So if I drink their alcohol, be healthier.
Speaker 3 (10:01):
No, if you drink the plant buds, you will be healthier.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
Oh okay, okay, Well, we're going to have to get
your book, and as long as the information is in
your book, we'll have you back and maybe we'll talk
about this and take phone calls from listeners and do
a longer segment, because this eight minute segment doesn't do
I think enough for what you need to tell us.
So I'll have my producer get back in touch with you.
(10:27):
Maybe we'll do something and take some phone calls from
people who are following this lifestyle back here. But for now,
I just got to encourage people. The book Ancient Plant Wisdom,
How to Improve and Maintain your Health using concentrated plant
stem cell Reminders. By the way, when you talk about Europe,
I think Europe is the most unhealthy continent in the
(10:48):
world because everybody in Europe is smoking cigarettes. We'd at
least stop smoking cigarettes, so we need credit for that
at least.
Speaker 3 (10:56):
Yes we do.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
Okay, yes we do. Thanks Jennifer. I really appreciate the information,
and I'd love to have you back some night and
take phone calls from people and give you a little
bit more time to explain.
Speaker 3 (11:09):
That would be wonderful. Okay, thanks je It would be wonderful.
Thank you very much.
Speaker 2 (11:13):
When we get back, we're going to talk about gateway
related funding which has gone to non qualifying municipalities. Your
tax dollars at work going for what the government thinks
they should go for. But we have State Senator Driscoll,
Bill Driscoll Junior, who has actually been a watchdog on this.
I've got to know this gentleman pretty well, and he
(11:35):
is a good guy in the State Senate. I can't
say it about everybody in the State Senate, but I
will say it about Senator Bill Driskell, a Democrat. Coming
back on Night Side.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
You're on Night Side with Dan Ray. I'm Boston's News Radio.
Speaker 2 (11:52):
Welcome back everyone. I would like to also welcome back
Massachusetts State Senator Bill Driscoll, Junior Senator Driscoll and I
were both together at the Brett, Mary and Brett Food
Pantry fundraiser in the middle of March. Good to see
you that morning. I'm a very busy morning Bill that
day that day. How are you doing great?
Speaker 4 (12:11):
Dan, Good to be back with you.
Speaker 2 (12:12):
Absolutely. We spent an hour a little earlier this year
talking about these gateway funded cities, and apparently you've been
looking at this issue. I don't know if anyone else
is looking at it with you, but some of the
funds that were intended to go to gateway cities have
not gone to gateway cities, and they've gone to cities
(12:34):
that are not gateway cities. So, first, for those who
are just learning of this, an explanation, if you would
be so kind, Senator, what is the whole purpose of
getting money to gateway cities? And give us an idea
about what is a gateway city?
Speaker 4 (12:50):
Yeah? Sure, so, I think there's two ways to explain it,
Dan to the audience. The conversation started back in two
thousand and seven Massing producer report around investing in former milltowns,
and they listed eleven former miltown so we're talking about
places like Brockton and Paul Rever, New Bedford, and the
(13:14):
legislature started looking at how we could invest economic development dollars,
tax credits and things to bring jobs back to those
areas and you know, have some more investment and more
hustle and bustle, you know, essentially outside of the city
of Boston. And so legislature came up with a formula
(13:35):
and so that list of eleven grew to twenty four
when when legislation was signed into a law that said
a city of population between thirty five thousand in two
hundred and fifty thousand, that's the first qualifier, and then
your median household income needs to be below the state average.
(13:56):
And the third qualifier was a rate of educational and
so this is like a bachelor's degree or above in
terms of who lives in town. That attainment level needs
to be below the state average.
Speaker 5 (14:10):
Yeah, so you hit all three of those, you.
Speaker 4 (14:12):
Were considered or are considered a gateway.
Speaker 2 (14:15):
So cities that had a poorer population, they were of
a certain size. So it wasn't as if you could
take some small little town, but it would help a
lot of people. Wonderful idea. But what has happened is,
over time, I guess a lot of cities that should
(14:35):
not have qualified, or over time their qualifications put them out,
they're still getting Gateway City money. And I think at
least one of them is a city in your own
district correct.
Speaker 4 (14:49):
Well close by Budding Quincy is one of them. And
I think part of what's happened to you, I don't
think there's been anything the fairy as the sinister, so
to speak. But basically, you know, it's based on census
available census data for Massachusetts, and it appears to me,
as we've looked into this, that the lists changed since
(15:14):
twenty thirteen when two additional cities were added totally you know,
twenty six and so as we know year to year
and have been certainly every ten years as a federal
census is done, the demographic data does change. But what
kind of peaked our interests a few years ago was
the list stayed at twenty six and kind of asked
(15:35):
the question, how can that be? We've now gone through
a couple of these ten year census exercises since the
Gateway Cities Statute was first put into lawback around twenty ten,
and So it turns out, as we dug into this,
we've found that there's actually three three municipalities that should
(15:58):
be on the list and have never been looted, and
three or four others that are still currently listed today
but fell out some time ago or have toggled, you know,
in for a couple of years though for.
Speaker 2 (16:11):
Another Okay, so should it be that this qualifications these
qualifications are determined, you know, by the city, by the
federal census. Clearly the size of the cities. You have
a standard which pretty clear now when you get into
(16:33):
the percentage of the population who have bachelor degrees. Obviously,
we've had a lot of immigration coming into the state
in the last few years, and I assume a lot
of those folks who come in and now populate some
of those gateway cities don't have bachelor degrees. They may
not have high school diplomas. So that might push some
(16:57):
cities into the qualified. It's it's kind of a moving target,
is there. You know, what has to be done? Basically,
there's only so much money I guess in the in
the pool of funds. Are you suggesting that the cities
that were poor and are still poor are being hurt
(17:21):
because the pool of money is being split up to
include some cities that really are not technically qualified.
Speaker 4 (17:29):
Well, yeah, I think a couple of things are at
stake here and things that we I think we need
to address sooner rather than later. So I guess I
would start with since we last spoke and did that
our discussion when I was on with you, then the
total number of dollars that we identified as being sent
(17:50):
to no longer qualifying municipalities was around twenty five million.
And since then, since we last spoke, we've continued to
dig into the records and now we're up past sixty
one million dollars identified. And partly we think why this
has occurred is the list has not been managed since
(18:10):
twenty thirteen, so no one's been added to subtract it
from the qualifying list. And what I'd like to do
to get to your question is explicitly give the Economic
Development Secretary for the Commonwealth the ability to add and
subtraction this list over time and that and that may
end up being every couple of years. I think we
(18:31):
talked about before is that it's probably not fear to
be on the list one year and then off the next.
From a planning perspective for a local budget, you know,
budget writer in a municipality. So I do think there
should be a grace period if you are trending on
or off the list, you have some time to plan
as you're making grant applications or you know, seeing one
(18:54):
through if you've got a two year or three year grant.
I think that's more appropriate. But right now now we
have communities, and that's as one of them. Marlborough is
one of them that have essentially qualified for the last
couple of years but never been given the opportunity to
apply to some of these tax cardits or grant programs,
(19:15):
and I think we need to correct that.
Speaker 2 (19:16):
Well, it sounds to me like you actually have come
up with a plane. Not only did you identify the problem,
but you have a solution to the problem, which I
think is to pass that legislation, make some secretary, obviously
Economic Development being the most likely candidate of the person
who would sort of be the overseer of the program.
And once the city qualifies, I would say, you give
(19:37):
them five years, which is more than enough time. And
if they after five years have improved with you know,
all of those you know, moving equations, and formulae. Great,
that's been a success. And if they haven't, they can
they stay in the list and they continue to be
supported center. You know amount of time here because they've
(19:59):
got the news of the bottom they are. But thanks
for bringing us up to date. The thing that's good
about this is you really explain it. I think so
most of my listeners can understand. And the purpose here
is not to penalize people, but the purpose is to
your purpose is to make sure that the funding is
going to the right cities on a continuing basis, and
when it's necessary, get new cities on there. So I
(20:21):
thank you for doing this. This is hard work, it's
not glamorous, but I really do appreciate it. On behalf
of the taxpayers of Massachusetts. This is if my tax
money is going to go to help somebody, I want
to make sure it's helping the right people. And I
thank you so much for its Senator Bill Driscoll, Thanks Jed.
We'll talk again. Let's keep us posted. Okay, Well we
get back. We got some good news for veterans tomorrow.
(20:43):
Service members, veterans, Guard reserve, military spouses, employers actively hiring
stick with us. There's a big job for tomorrow to
place everyone knows, particularly if you have some connection with
the military. We're going to talk with Chris Stevens, US
Air Force veteran and vice president with Recruit Military. Coming
back on Nightside.
Speaker 1 (21:03):
You're on Nightside with Dan Ray on WBS Boston's news Radio.
Speaker 2 (21:09):
Delighted to be joined by Chris Stevens. Chris is a
US Air Force veteran and senior vice president with a
company called Recruit Military. It's going to give us some
information on a job fair for vets and service family
members tomorrow, April second, out of Jillette Stadium. Chris Stevens.
Welcome to Nightside. How are you, sir.
Speaker 5 (21:29):
I'm doing well. I'm doing well. Dan, Thanks for having
me this evening.
Speaker 2 (21:32):
Tell us about Recruit Military. How long has it been
around exactly? Obviously, I think the name of the organization
suggests to us what it does. But tell us a
little bit about Recruit Military.
Speaker 5 (21:43):
Yeah, Recruit Military. We've been in existence now for about
thirty two years. And what we do is we help
transitioning military members, their spouses and of course veterans, maybe
people that got out two, three, four, five years ago
and looking for different employment and we help them find
meaningful unemployment. And one of the ways among others, but
(22:04):
one of the way is we do about one hundred
and twenty of these job fairs all around the country.
As you stated, we're doing one tomorrow, April second, at
Gillette from eleven to three, free parking. I'm coming in
W two over near the water Tower gate right there.
You'll see a big sign outside there. You know, we're
(22:25):
also doing one tomorrow.
Speaker 4 (22:26):
I know what.
Speaker 5 (22:26):
It doesn't affect people here, but we're at Soldier Field
in Chicago. So yeah, we do about one hundred and
twenty of these events.
Speaker 2 (22:32):
Well, believe it or not, we have listeners in Chicago
tonight and this there you go. So yeah, we'll focus
on Gillette. How many companies? So you have representatives of
companies there. I assume that's correct.
Speaker 5 (22:48):
We're gonna have fifty one different companies attending tomorrow. You know,
our corporate sponsor is dav disabled American veterans. They'll be
there talking to veterans, helping them with their benefits and
woyment opportunities. But you know, we have every sector in
a market that are going to be there. You know,
we have medical, we have police, we have finance, we
have high tech manufacturer and government contract, police departments, you
(23:11):
name it, will have them there.
Speaker 2 (23:12):
Dan, Okay, So now, and I assume again this is
a similar event out in Chicago with Soldiers Field. Is
at the same time out in Chicago. I assume it is.
Speaker 5 (23:24):
Local time out there, exactly. Yeah, eleven to three right
out there at Soldier Field.
Speaker 2 (23:28):
Fair enough, Okay, And people, we're going to give a
good website where people who might be listening in Chicago.
Obviously we have a lot more listeners in New England
than we do in Chicago. But no sense if we
can get a veteran, some veterans in Chicago a job,
or you can get them the job. So let's talk.
So what should this is late because obviously not a
(23:50):
lot of time here. If the veterans have some resumes
or some biographical material, whether it is in a resume
form or not, should they bring that with them? Do
they have to bring any IDs, you know, any discharge.
Speaker 5 (24:04):
Forms with them, No, Dan, no idea required. Just come
dress for success. We can get them registered. The easier
way to do it is register for the event at
Recruit Military one word recruit Military dot com. It'll take
them less than sixty seconds to register. But or we
can just when they walk into the event tomorrow, we
(24:26):
can register them there. When they do that, Dan, it's
a picture of their recruit military profile. So they're going
to walk around with a QR code and a company's
going to scan it and it's a picture of their
recruit military profile as I mentioned, So it has all
their demographics, including their resume, so they don't need to
carry hard copies at their resume. It's all going to
be in the folder in that client's phone right there.
Speaker 2 (24:49):
So how does how does that work? I I'm kind
of curious. Do you folks put together, you know, a
bit of a bio for these men and women.
Speaker 5 (25:03):
Yeah, so when these men and women, let's just say
they walk into the event, we do an on site registration. Yeah,
they'll spend you know, sixty seconds filling in what they
did in the military, their address, their resume, perfect, where
they want to move to, the money they want, that
kind of stuff, right, And then companies take a picture
of that QR code and it goes into the profile.
Then they can call the candides in the coming days
(25:26):
and talk to them about some opportunities and hiring them.
Speaker 2 (25:29):
Okay, but they also can meet recruiters for the company
for these fifty one companies face to face one that's
why they're there.
Speaker 5 (25:39):
Sure, this is a free service for military people, the
ones I mentioned earlier. But companies pay to be there,
so they're motivated. They pay us to be there. You know,
we paid to be over at Gillette, right. We pay
for these stadiums, So companies pay to be the US
that are definitely motivated to hire in these military veterans.
Speaker 2 (25:56):
Well, I would hope you let might give you a
break on that, you know what I'm saying, because it's
such a great cause.
Speaker 5 (26:04):
We've been coming here for years.
Speaker 2 (26:05):
Really, Okay, Well, that's good to know, and I'm glad
that we have a chance to publicize that. I wish
we could have done this. I wish we had known
it about a little earlier and we could have done
it a couple of weeks out. But it sounds like
a great event. What percentage realistically, and this will induce
a lot of people when whatever number you're going to
give us, either give us a percentage of people who
(26:29):
you think might find gainful employment ex Military or military
family members, spouses and things like that. Either by a
hard number tomorrow or a percentage of the folks who participate.
I'm not trying to put you on the spot. I'm
trying to induce people to say, Hey, I got a
(26:49):
real shot here, go ahead.
Speaker 5 (26:51):
Yeah, that's a great, great question, and you're not put
me on the spot. I'm retired military and I've been
with the company now for twenty seven years as a
senior vice president and one of my jobs is I
handle all the people that run and do these events, right,
So I've been doing them. We've been doing the job
fairs now for over fifteen years, and I can tell
(27:11):
you that with the amount of companies that are going
to be there, fifty one and right about three hundred
and eighty pre registered veterans. So with that number historically,
then we're going to probably walk away with about one
hundred and thirty seven one hundred and thirty eight job
office will come from out of that event. It doesn't
mean that they'll be hired tomorrow. Traditionally, it just means
(27:32):
that they're going to have site visits. Companies and the candidate,
we'll get to know each other tomorrow and then they'll
bring them out for a site visit out to the
facility within a week or so and then go from
there and make it them office. But with that, that's
about the number we're going to have specifically just when
tomorrow's event. So it's an awesome, awesome day.
Speaker 2 (27:50):
Well, that is a fabulous number when you think about it,
and when you think about the number of veterans. These
don't necessarily have to be per people who just got
out and are looking for their first job out. You
can be a veteran or again, it looks to me
like a spouse of a veteran God Reserve. As long
(28:13):
as you put the uniform on, it sounds to me
like you're eligible and you may have a job now,
but that job maybe one that you you feel you've
done everything you can do, and you may and you
may be looking for a better job. Take advantage of
this tomorrow. It's free at jill Let's Stadium. Everybody knows
where jill Let Stadium is the home of the Patriots.
(28:35):
This is a fabulous program, Chris, and I'm delighted that
we tonight and I'm delighted that we had a chance
to maybe uh induce some some veterans to get out
there and and just you know, just just change their
life a little bit and in a positive direction. Life
is all a bunch of forks in the road. What
(28:55):
fork do you take?
Speaker 3 (28:56):
Then?
Speaker 2 (28:57):
What fork do you take next time a fork approaches? You?
Approach a fork, Chris, next year, give us a call
ahead of time or anytime when you do anything like
this in the Greater Boston area.
Speaker 5 (29:10):
Well, we'll make sure I'll have my PR people Shelby
reach back out. We'll be back out here in September
right at the same place. I'll make sure she reads
out to you love to and.
Speaker 2 (29:18):
If you want some night, we could even do a
longer version. These are sort of like short eight nine
minute interviews, which are kind of a pulppery of positive events.
I also do three more hours from nine to midnight,
and we could do an hour some night, same deal
on the phone, and you could talk to veterans who
may have some questions.
Speaker 5 (29:36):
They have questions, and we could do it any time.
We do that a lot around the country. It doesn't
have to be leading up to an event. That might
just be something that you know, maybe they have questions
about resumes or interviews or anything like that.
Speaker 2 (29:47):
That's what we do I will have I'll have my
producer get in touch with Shelby. I see Shelby's number
right here, Chris Stevens. The website is Recruit all one
word Recruit Military. So that is great.
Speaker 5 (30:02):
That is tomorrow April second, eleven to three at Gillette Stadium.
Speaker 2 (30:07):
Sounds great. Appreciate it a lot, I really do, Chris.
Thanks very much for absolutely carry on. Now, next coming up,
have you ever lost a bag a bag? Have you
ever lost baggage? Well, you're flying somewhere and you get
to the carousel and it's not there. Everybody walks away
(30:28):
and where's where's your bag? Well, I can't help find
your bag, but I can tell you where your bag
ends up. We're gonna be talking with Matt Owens. He's
a senior VP of a company called Commercial Strategy of
the Unclaimed Baggage Center. Uh, it's in Alabama. We're going
to talk to Matt in a moment, and I think
you'll be fascinated by this interview. And then at nine
(30:49):
o'clock a minute or so after night, we'll listen to
the President talk about what's coming up on the Iran war,
and hopefully it'll be good news. All around. We'll see,
we'll see. Coming back on.
Speaker 1 (31:02):
Night Side with Dan Ray on Boston's news Radio.
Speaker 2 (31:09):
All right, welcome back. I must tell you that I'm
going to jinx myself. Now. I've been fortunate. I've never
lost luggage on an airplane flight, but I know lots
of you have. So where does your luggage go? It disappears? Oh,
sometimes you get it back, but sometimes you don't. The
luggage that you don't get back ends up in all probability.
(31:31):
In Alabama, we have Matt Owens with us as a
senior vice president of Commercial Strategy of the Unclaimed Baggage Center.
He's the son of the CEO and president, Brian Owens
and the grandson of the founder, Doyle Owens. Matt Owens,
how are you tonight? Welcome?
Speaker 5 (31:48):
Hi, Dan?
Speaker 4 (31:49):
Doing well?
Speaker 2 (31:49):
How are you boy? You're working in a real interesting business,
that's for sure.
Speaker 6 (31:56):
From the time, it is unusual.
Speaker 2 (31:58):
Yeah, well that's okay. I mean, first of all, it's
I suspect it's it's very interesting and challenging when you
guys down and you're in whereabouts in.
Speaker 6 (32:08):
Alabama, Scottsboro, Alabama.
Speaker 2 (32:12):
Scottsboro, Alabama. Okay, So when a piece of luggage arrives.
I assume every day you get luggage, right, I mean
this is this is a problem around the country every day, tsure. Okay,
So on average, how many pieces of lost luggage roughly?
(32:32):
Just I'm just trying to put it in some perspective here.
What do you get fifty bags a day?
Speaker 6 (32:37):
I mean we get tractor trailer loads, uh, each and
every week?
Speaker 2 (32:42):
Really okay, so they come in every week, not not
on a daily basis.
Speaker 6 (32:49):
Yeah, something like that.
Speaker 2 (32:50):
Okay, I'm not cross examining you here, buddy, I'm just
trying to try to understand it. So you get the
bag you have been I assume the right to open
the bag. Maybe someone has left their name an address
inside the bag. Is that the first step?
Speaker 5 (33:08):
Yeah?
Speaker 6 (33:08):
Unlikely they would have personable, identifiable information by that point,
because the airline has gone through an extensive ninety day
search process and most of the time, you know, if
it has anything identifiable, they're able to get it back.
So by the time it gets to us quite a mystery.
You know, each bag is unique and uh sometimes find
(33:29):
some unusual stuff.
Speaker 5 (33:30):
You know.
Speaker 6 (33:30):
We say that if bags to talk, they would have
quite the story to tell.
Speaker 2 (33:33):
Y what so let me ask, let me guess this man.
So you get whatever it is, all of a sudden,
you've got a hundred more bags in your warehouse. You're
pretty convinced that those bags are orphans of their airlines,
meaning that the airline has tried to you know, get
the information, get the bag back to the to the
(33:55):
to the customer. And you're kind of like the the
stop last resort. Would that be one way to describe
it for the bags.
Speaker 6 (34:04):
Yeah, we're kind of the party of last resort. So
you know, if a bag doesn't show up on the
carousel for whatever reason, or maybe it does and it's
not claimed, most of the time, the airline is able
to get it back to you, you know, within twenty
four or forty eight hours. Most of the time it's
just delayed. If it doesn't, the airline will go through
a more extensive search process at least ninety days. Again,
(34:26):
most time they're able to get it back to you.
But but after that, you know, there's still going to
be things, inevitably that are left over, and that's when
we come in. So yeah, that's we're kind of the
the solution of last resort. And you know, by the
time it gets to us. Our goal is to try
to give you know, the bags and their contents kind
of a new life so that they don't end up
in a landfill, but you know, it can go to
a new purpose.
Speaker 2 (34:46):
Okay, So so give us an idea. You've you've got
the bags that arrived yesterday or last week. What's the process.
I assume you open them and you go through it.
A lot of stuff. I'm sure it is it'll end
up in a landfill. Any item you know that is opened, toothpaste, shampoo,
(35:06):
the sort of stuff that people put in bags, if
it's brand new, if it's still in the box, I
assume you can do something with that and donate that
to a charity. What what Where does most of this
stuff end up? You know what? Most people have got
some clothes, they got underwear, they got socks, who knows what.
They may have some weird stuff in there too, you
never know. But for the normal stuff in the bag,
(35:29):
where does it end up?
Speaker 6 (35:31):
Yeah, so we're not selling people's dirty underwear, but yeah,
it's if it's new or usable, then it will go
to one of our two channels. So we have an
online store where you can shot at Unclean baggage dot
Com or in that same location in Alabama where we
process everything. We have a destination retail store.
Speaker 5 (35:51):
It's Qurte.
Speaker 6 (35:52):
The experience covers a full city block and we have
people from all all fifty states in like more than
forty four in countries.
Speaker 5 (35:59):
Each year.
Speaker 6 (35:59):
The in the shop that so resell is one path.
Donation is another that we donate over a million items
every year. Have a number of great charities that we
partner with to find kind of the highest and best
use toast that we can go to, you know, somebody
who who needs it, and then anything else. You know,
(36:20):
we try our best to recycle anything that we can.
Speaker 2 (36:23):
Okay, So a couple of questions. If you can answer them, great,
If you can't, I can't understand that. Okay, what is
the single one or two great items that you found
that you said, WHOA, I'm going to keep this. You
got like a story about anything that you found in
one of these bags that it just turned out to
be a great item.
Speaker 6 (36:43):
Yeah, I mean even in the past year we found
some six years, you would think that there wouldn't be
any surprises left, but I'm reminded each and every year
that there's still weirder and wilder things.
Speaker 2 (36:57):
That give me. Give me a couple of examples if you. So.
Speaker 6 (37:01):
This past year we got some gold diamond encrusted grill
that was an interesting one. A bionic knee that I
was a little worried fell off of somebody on an
airplane or something. We did a little bit more research
found out that it was still in kind of early
stage trials and development, so that was a little bit
(37:22):
more reassuring. But man, a five hundred year old meteorite.
A bee keeping suit found some crazy expensive stuff to
everything from like a thirty five thousand dollars Rolex watch,
forty three thousand dollars diamond studded ear rings, and.
Speaker 2 (37:40):
Can you can you keep that stuff? I assume.
Speaker 6 (37:45):
Yeah, by the time the airline's gone through their their
search process, anything that they can't get back to the owner.
You know, if the owner submits a claim, there's a
whole claims process so that the owner would be compensated
for what they've lost. At that point, you know, it's
the property of the airlines and then we just buy
all those things from them.
Speaker 2 (38:06):
So what about this, Okay, what about it? Have you
ever found something? Let us say, oh, I don't know.
You know, a an old Honess Wagner baseball card that
was worth ten thousand dollars or fifty thousand or more.
Have you ever found anything like that?
Speaker 6 (38:25):
Yeah, we had a Michael Michael Jordan's signed basketball that
is displayed in our museum in the store. So we
just released our annual Found Report that details of all
the craziest things we found for the past year.
Speaker 2 (38:38):
Well, look, I'm going to send people. I'm we're getting
ready for the President's speech here, so I got to
wrap it up. But it's unclaimed baggage dot Com and
folks can go there. I'd love to have you back
some night, and we're doing a longer version.
Speaker 5 (38:52):
Okay, Yeah, let's do it.
Speaker 2 (38:54):
Thank you, Matt, appreciate it very much. Now we are
standing by you go, we're gonna be joined. We are
going to join ABC News their coverage, their anchor coverage
of the President's speech. He will be speaking from the
White House, I assume from the Oval Office, the Resolute Desk.
I haven't seen it. We'll see what happens. Let us
join now with ABC News coverage. We'll be back right
(39:16):
after the President's speech with your calls.
It's Night Side with Dan Ray. I'm telling you BZ
Boston's nich.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Radio crating everybody, walk on in and is on Wednesday night.
We are, of course, this mark's half of the week
gone and will be around ten o'clock. My name's Dan Ray,
host of Night's Side, heard every year, every week, every
weeknight from eight to midnight right here in WBZ Boston's
news radio ten thirty on your AM dial. And if
you're driving around anywhere in the eastern half of the
(00:26):
United States and flip your car radio on. Hopefully everyone
still has a car radio and you're listening to me
right now, Walk us in. We're WBZ in Boston, been
around a long time, all the way back to nineteen
twenty one, and I was not working at this radio
station when I went on the air back in nineteen
twenty one. Rob Brooks wasn't either. But Rob is back
(00:47):
in the control room in the studio tonight. He'll begin
to take your calls. After President Trump's speech to the
Nation at nine o'clock. We will cover that in its
entirety for you from start to finish through ABC News
and then we'll talk about it, probably talk about it
for the rest of the night. I'm sure that many
of you are hopeful, many of you are concerned, some
(01:07):
of you are skeptical. All your points of view are
going to be very important to us once the speech
is concluded. But before that, we have four interesting guests
this hour, and we're going to start off with Jennifer Payer.
Jennifer is a certified National health practitioner an author of
a new book which we'll mention ancient ancient plant wisdom,
(01:29):
how to improve and maintain your health using concentrated plant
stem cell remedies. We'll get to that a little bit later.
But there's a new study being published by the Journal
of Hazardous Materials which discovered that there could be hidden
toxins right in your own kitchen. Ooh, doesn't that good news?
Every day utensils and cook we're made of silicone. I
(01:50):
don't know how you can tell what's made of silicone,
because you throw everything out when you buy the new
material for the kitchen. They could, but they could be
transferring toxins into your food. So I guess Jenna, for
first of all, welcome TONIGHT'SI thanks for joining us.
Speaker 3 (02:07):
Yeah, it's wonderful to be here. Thank you.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
So how do I figure out I'm not a chemist,
how do I figure out if there's silicone in my
kitchen utensils or in my kitchen cookware or anywhere in
my kitchen? What do you got to do here?
Speaker 3 (02:23):
Yeah, when when you purchase something, the label will tell you.
So I'm a huge fan of reading labels, and you
can tell what is in your kitchen items by reading
the labels.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
Me not so much. And I will tell you that
over the years, we have assembled all sorts of pots
and pans and utensils, and some of them even were
gifts from other people. But those in those labels are
long gone. So is this so serious that we should
consider throwing everything out and starting from scratch.
Speaker 3 (03:00):
Well, that's a little drastic. I don't know that you
have to throw everything out and expensive, but you know,
we are living in a time. There's a term called
toxic load, and our bodies were not meant to hold
the number of chemicals that were holding in our bodies.
And it's an accumulation, right. It's not just the pots
and pans, it's the body lotions, the shampoos, everything that
(03:24):
we're putting on our body and in our body is
having an accumulative effect. At this point, this.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
Is getting a little scary. Now. So you're telling me
that when I get up in the morning, take a
shower and shampoo, a wash up, go downstairs, have breakfast,
I could be poisoning myself in the shower in the kitchen. Well, yeah,
we go back to living in caves. I think. I
don't know. I thought all of this stuff was approved
(03:53):
by the government, the Food and Drug Administration, and everything
had to be tested that. I guess they told me
that about the Easter Bunny too, And I'm beginning to
think that the Easter Bunny might not be real.
Speaker 3 (04:06):
Yeah, you know, the FDA does test, but it's spot testing,
and so we don't have really a robust program that
is testing the amount of toxicity that we're getting. Now,
you can go do a blood test and you can
see how the different, you know, items that you're using
in your life are impacting you, and you can start
(04:26):
to see that toxic burden. It's one of the reasons
we have such go ahead.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
Actually, I had a medical blood test today just in
the course of you know, the typical annual physical and
all of that. So if I go to my doc
and I say Hey, doc, I'm worried about toxins in
my body. Is he going to do a blood test
that's going to come back with toxin? Tell me what
toxins are in my body?
Speaker 3 (04:52):
Yeah. There are certain blood tests that you can request
that will look at the toxic load in your body.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
Okay, So, and you can look at.
Speaker 3 (04:59):
Liver enzyme and kidney impacts, et cetera.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
Okay, well, actually I had I had some of those
tested today, not for toxins. So let's assume that it
comes back and it says, you know, you got a
toxicity level here, and there's all sorts of tests and
you can't figure out what the test You're like, I
guess what I'm saying. Are we basically captive a captive
(05:22):
audience to all you know, you read the stuff at
the store and buy this pan. It's been tested, it
will never easy wash and all of that. There's almost
too much to contemplate. Even if I found out I
had some toxins in my body, how do I do
these blood tests? How do I figure out where I
(05:44):
got them? And how do I how do I figure
out how to get rid of them?
Speaker 3 (05:49):
Yeah? I mean a big piece is you know, is education,
educating yourself. So when my kids were young, I started
asking them to read labels, and I said, if you
can't pronounce the word, it's probably not real food. So
we will find something that has you know ingredients that
you can pronounce. So that's that's step one is really
you know, reading labels. Yes, it takes some time, but
(06:11):
you get you get the hang of it pretty quickly.
And you know, in educating yourself, I think today the
statistic is that we consume about the size of a
credit card of nanoplastics every week.
Speaker 2 (06:25):
Sounds good, tasty.
Speaker 3 (06:27):
Sounds great, right, yummy.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
But here's here's the problem that I have. I'm sitting
here as the communicator and I'm trying to, you know,
help our audience, and you're trying to help our audience.
You have a book which I want to mention and
maybe people should think about this book, Ancient Plant Wisdom,
how to improve and maintain your health using concentrated plant
(06:52):
stem cell remedies. And you're the founder of a website
called Nature Provides. Obviously we can't reduce that book into
you know, a minute or two in a commentary, but
what could people learn from that book? And it was
it seems to me they were all working so fast
(07:14):
and running so hard to work to get the kids
to school, to pay our taxes, to go to the
school board meetings and the PTA meetings and all of
that stuff. And then you go to the store. You
want to get in and get out as fast as
you can. I feel like that, you know that that
little mouse or whatever on the treadmill, and it's not
(07:37):
a good.
Speaker 3 (07:37):
Feeling right now. I mean, that's that's part of the issue.
Right We're so distracted by life, and we're so busy,
busier than we've ever been. And a big part of
what I write about in my book is that nature
has been providing solutions for as long as humans have
been on this planet. And you go back to our
ancestors who woke up with the sun, They went to
(07:57):
bed when it was dark. You know, they didn't eat
and snack all day long. They weren't under these incredible
amounts of stress.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
They also had to go out kill and kill buffalos
and worry about being by coyotes, and live in and
live in tens or caves. I mean, I kind of
like this the comfort situation I have, But realistically, what
could you know someone like me do I I get
up in the morning work to put this show together.
(08:26):
I'm on from eight to midnight. I gotta be honest
with you, this is a five day cycle. I'm spending
the entire and other people. Look, are the people work
on assembly lines? Are the people work as automobile mechanics? Uh?
And and you know women are working more in jobs.
There's more two income families, is there? They should buy
your book I Get That Ancient Plant Wisdom by Jennifer
(08:49):
Peyer p A Y E U R.
Speaker 3 (08:53):
But so the secret in that book is something that
most people have probably never heard of, and it's called
plant stem cells. The medical term is gemotherapy. They've been
around for a long time. They're pretty well known in Europe.
But one of the things that plant stem cells do,
(09:13):
and they come from the new growth on the plant
in the springtime, So in Boston where you are all
of the little buds on the trees, that's what we're
talking about. And they are undifferentiated parts of the plant.
And their superpower is that they clean up the toxic
burden in the cells, in the organs and the tissue
of the body.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
So, and do you pick those little plant things and
boil them and drink them. What's what's the deal?
Speaker 3 (09:38):
Yes, well they all come from the Italian Alps, and
and most of them are like that, Hey, the best
place ever. But no, they come and tinc sures. So
they are in a combination of alcohol and glycerine, and
that's what extracts the active principles out of those plants.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
So if I drink their alcohol, be healthier.
Speaker 3 (10:01):
No, if you drink the plant buds, you will be healthier.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
Oh okay, okay, Well, we're going to have to get
your book, and as long as the information is in
your book, we'll have you back and maybe we'll talk
about this and take phone calls from listeners and do
a longer segment, because this eight minute segment doesn't do
I think enough for what you need to tell us.
So I'll have my producer get back in touch with you.
(10:27):
Maybe we'll do something and take some phone calls from
people who are following this lifestyle back here. But for now,
I just got to encourage people. The book Ancient Plant Wisdom,
How to Improve and Maintain your Health using concentrated plant
stem cell Reminders. By the way, when you talk about Europe,
I think Europe is the most unhealthy continent in the
(10:48):
world because everybody in Europe is smoking cigarettes. We'd at
least stop smoking cigarettes, so we need credit for that
at least.
Speaker 3 (10:56):
Yes we do.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
Okay, yes we do. Thanks Jennifer. I really appreciate the information,
and I'd love to have you back some night and
take phone calls from people and give you a little
bit more time to explain.
Speaker 3 (11:09):
That would be wonderful. Okay, thanks je It would be wonderful.
Thank you very much.
Speaker 2 (11:13):
When we get back, we're going to talk about gateway
related funding which has gone to non qualifying municipalities. Your
tax dollars at work going for what the government thinks
they should go for. But we have State Senator Driscoll,
Bill Driscoll Junior, who has actually been a watchdog on this.
I've got to know this gentleman pretty well, and he
(11:35):
is a good guy in the State Senate. I can't
say it about everybody in the State Senate, but I
will say it about Senator Bill Driskell, a Democrat. Coming
back on Night Side.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
You're on Night Side with Dan Ray. I'm Boston's News Radio.
Speaker 2 (11:52):
Welcome back everyone. I would like to also welcome back
Massachusetts State Senator Bill Driscoll, Junior Senator Driscoll and I
were both together at the Brett, Mary and Brett Food
Pantry fundraiser in the middle of March. Good to see
you that morning. I'm a very busy morning Bill that
day that day. How are you doing great?
Speaker 4 (12:11):
Dan, Good to be back with you.
Speaker 2 (12:12):
Absolutely. We spent an hour a little earlier this year
talking about these gateway funded cities, and apparently you've been
looking at this issue. I don't know if anyone else
is looking at it with you, but some of the
funds that were intended to go to gateway cities have
not gone to gateway cities, and they've gone to cities
(12:34):
that are not gateway cities. So, first, for those who
are just learning of this, an explanation, if you would
be so kind, Senator, what is the whole purpose of
getting money to gateway cities? And give us an idea
about what is a gateway city?
Speaker 4 (12:50):
Yeah? Sure, so, I think there's two ways to explain it,
Dan to the audience. The conversation started back in two
thousand and seven Massing producer report around investing in former milltowns,
and they listed eleven former miltown so we're talking about
places like Brockton and Paul Rever, New Bedford, and the
(13:14):
legislature started looking at how we could invest economic development dollars,
tax credits and things to bring jobs back to those
areas and you know, have some more investment and more
hustle and bustle, you know, essentially outside of the city
of Boston. And so legislature came up with a formula
(13:35):
and so that list of eleven grew to twenty four
when when legislation was signed into a law that said
a city of population between thirty five thousand in two
hundred and fifty thousand, that's the first qualifier, and then
your median household income needs to be below the state average.
(13:56):
And the third qualifier was a rate of educational and
so this is like a bachelor's degree or above in
terms of who lives in town. That attainment level needs
to be below the state average.
Speaker 5 (14:10):
Yeah, so you hit all three of those, you.
Speaker 4 (14:12):
Were considered or are considered a gateway.
Speaker 2 (14:15):
So cities that had a poorer population, they were of
a certain size. So it wasn't as if you could
take some small little town, but it would help a
lot of people. Wonderful idea. But what has happened is,
over time, I guess a lot of cities that should
(14:35):
not have qualified, or over time their qualifications put them out,
they're still getting Gateway City money. And I think at
least one of them is a city in your own
district correct.
Speaker 4 (14:49):
Well close by Budding Quincy is one of them. And
I think part of what's happened to you, I don't
think there's been anything the fairy as the sinister, so
to speak. But basically, you know, it's based on census
available census data for Massachusetts, and it appears to me,
as we've looked into this, that the lists changed since
(15:14):
twenty thirteen when two additional cities were added totally you know,
twenty six and so as we know year to year
and have been certainly every ten years as a federal
census is done, the demographic data does change. But what
kind of peaked our interests a few years ago was
the list stayed at twenty six and kind of asked
(15:35):
the question, how can that be? We've now gone through
a couple of these ten year census exercises since the
Gateway Cities Statute was first put into lawback around twenty ten,
and So it turns out, as we dug into this,
we've found that there's actually three three municipalities that should
(15:58):
be on the list and have never been looted, and
three or four others that are still currently listed today
but fell out some time ago or have toggled, you know,
in for a couple of years though for.
Speaker 2 (16:11):
Another Okay, so should it be that this qualifications these
qualifications are determined, you know, by the city, by the
federal census. Clearly the size of the cities. You have
a standard which pretty clear now when you get into
(16:33):
the percentage of the population who have bachelor degrees. Obviously,
we've had a lot of immigration coming into the state
in the last few years, and I assume a lot
of those folks who come in and now populate some
of those gateway cities don't have bachelor degrees. They may
not have high school diplomas. So that might push some
(16:57):
cities into the qualified. It's it's kind of a moving target,
is there. You know, what has to be done? Basically,
there's only so much money I guess in the in
the pool of funds. Are you suggesting that the cities
that were poor and are still poor are being hurt
(17:21):
because the pool of money is being split up to
include some cities that really are not technically qualified.
Speaker 4 (17:29):
Well, yeah, I think a couple of things are at
stake here and things that we I think we need
to address sooner rather than later. So I guess I
would start with since we last spoke and did that
our discussion when I was on with you, then the
total number of dollars that we identified as being sent
(17:50):
to no longer qualifying municipalities was around twenty five million.
And since then, since we last spoke, we've continued to
dig into the records and now we're up past sixty
one million dollars identified. And partly we think why this
has occurred is the list has not been managed since
(18:10):
twenty thirteen, so no one's been added to subtract it
from the qualifying list. And what I'd like to do
to get to your question is explicitly give the Economic
Development Secretary for the Commonwealth the ability to add and
subtraction this list over time and that and that may
end up being every couple of years. I think we
(18:31):
talked about before is that it's probably not fear to
be on the list one year and then off the next.
From a planning perspective for a local budget, you know,
budget writer in a municipality. So I do think there
should be a grace period if you are trending on
or off the list, you have some time to plan
as you're making grant applications or you know, seeing one
(18:54):
through if you've got a two year or three year grant.
I think that's more appropriate. But right now now we
have communities, and that's as one of them. Marlborough is
one of them that have essentially qualified for the last
couple of years but never been given the opportunity to
apply to some of these tax cardits or grant programs,
(19:15):
and I think we need to correct that.
Speaker 2 (19:16):
Well, it sounds to me like you actually have come
up with a plane. Not only did you identify the problem,
but you have a solution to the problem, which I
think is to pass that legislation, make some secretary, obviously
Economic Development being the most likely candidate of the person
who would sort of be the overseer of the program.
And once the city qualifies, I would say, you give
(19:37):
them five years, which is more than enough time. And
if they after five years have improved with you know,
all of those you know, moving equations, and formulae. Great,
that's been a success. And if they haven't, they can
they stay in the list and they continue to be
supported center. You know amount of time here because they've
(19:59):
got the news of the bottom they are. But thanks
for bringing us up to date. The thing that's good
about this is you really explain it. I think so
most of my listeners can understand. And the purpose here
is not to penalize people, but the purpose is to
your purpose is to make sure that the funding is
going to the right cities on a continuing basis, and
when it's necessary, get new cities on there. So I
(20:21):
thank you for doing this. This is hard work, it's
not glamorous, but I really do appreciate it. On behalf
of the taxpayers of Massachusetts. This is if my tax
money is going to go to help somebody, I want
to make sure it's helping the right people. And I
thank you so much for its Senator Bill Driscoll, Thanks Jed.
We'll talk again. Let's keep us posted. Okay, Well we
get back. We got some good news for veterans tomorrow.
(20:43):
Service members, veterans, Guard reserve, military spouses, employers actively hiring
stick with us. There's a big job for tomorrow to
place everyone knows, particularly if you have some connection with
the military. We're going to talk with Chris Stevens, US
Air Force veteran and vice president with Recruit Military. Coming
back on Nightside.
Speaker 1 (21:03):
You're on Nightside with Dan Ray on WBS Boston's news Radio.
Speaker 2 (21:09):
Delighted to be joined by Chris Stevens. Chris is a
US Air Force veteran and senior vice president with a
company called Recruit Military. It's going to give us some
information on a job fair for vets and service family
members tomorrow, April second, out of Jillette Stadium. Chris Stevens.
Welcome to Nightside. How are you, sir.
Speaker 5 (21:29):
I'm doing well. I'm doing well. Dan, Thanks for having
me this evening.
Speaker 2 (21:32):
Tell us about Recruit Military. How long has it been
around exactly? Obviously, I think the name of the organization
suggests to us what it does. But tell us a
little bit about Recruit Military.
Speaker 5 (21:43):
Yeah, Recruit Military. We've been in existence now for about
thirty two years. And what we do is we help
transitioning military members, their spouses and of course veterans, maybe
people that got out two, three, four, five years ago
and looking for different employment and we help them find
meaningful unemployment. And one of the ways among others, but
(22:04):
one of the way is we do about one hundred
and twenty of these job fairs all around the country.
As you stated, we're doing one tomorrow, April second, at
Gillette from eleven to three, free parking. I'm coming in
W two over near the water Tower gate right there.
You'll see a big sign outside there. You know, we're
(22:25):
also doing one tomorrow.
Speaker 4 (22:26):
I know what.
Speaker 5 (22:26):
It doesn't affect people here, but we're at Soldier Field
in Chicago. So yeah, we do about one hundred and
twenty of these events.
Speaker 2 (22:32):
Well, believe it or not, we have listeners in Chicago
tonight and this there you go. So yeah, we'll focus
on Gillette. How many companies? So you have representatives of
companies there. I assume that's correct.
Speaker 5 (22:48):
We're gonna have fifty one different companies attending tomorrow. You know,
our corporate sponsor is dav disabled American veterans. They'll be
there talking to veterans, helping them with their benefits and
woyment opportunities. But you know, we have every sector in
a market that are going to be there. You know,
we have medical, we have police, we have finance, we
have high tech manufacturer and government contract, police departments, you
(23:11):
name it, will have them there.
Speaker 2 (23:12):
Dan, Okay, So now, and I assume again this is
a similar event out in Chicago with Soldiers Field. Is
at the same time out in Chicago. I assume it is.
Speaker 5 (23:24):
Local time out there, exactly. Yeah, eleven to three right
out there at Soldier Field.
Speaker 2 (23:28):
Fair enough, Okay, And people, we're going to give a
good website where people who might be listening in Chicago.
Obviously we have a lot more listeners in New England
than we do in Chicago. But no sense if we
can get a veteran, some veterans in Chicago a job,
or you can get them the job. So let's talk.
So what should this is late because obviously not a
(23:50):
lot of time here. If the veterans have some resumes
or some biographical material, whether it is in a resume
form or not, should they bring that with them? Do
they have to bring any IDs, you know, any discharge.
Speaker 5 (24:04):
Forms with them, No, Dan, no idea required. Just come
dress for success. We can get them registered. The easier
way to do it is register for the event at
Recruit Military one word recruit Military dot com. It'll take
them less than sixty seconds to register. But or we
can just when they walk into the event tomorrow, we
(24:26):
can register them there. When they do that, Dan, it's
a picture of their recruit military profile. So they're going
to walk around with a QR code and a company's
going to scan it and it's a picture of their
recruit military profile as I mentioned, So it has all
their demographics, including their resume, so they don't need to
carry hard copies at their resume. It's all going to
be in the folder in that client's phone right there.
Speaker 2 (24:49):
So how does how does that work? I I'm kind
of curious. Do you folks put together, you know, a
bit of a bio for these men and women.
Speaker 5 (25:03):
Yeah, so when these men and women, let's just say
they walk into the event, we do an on site registration. Yeah,
they'll spend you know, sixty seconds filling in what they
did in the military, their address, their resume, perfect, where
they want to move to, the money they want, that
kind of stuff, right, And then companies take a picture
of that QR code and it goes into the profile.
Then they can call the candides in the coming days
(25:26):
and talk to them about some opportunities and hiring them.
Speaker 2 (25:29):
Okay, but they also can meet recruiters for the company
for these fifty one companies face to face one that's
why they're there.
Speaker 5 (25:39):
Sure, this is a free service for military people, the
ones I mentioned earlier. But companies pay to be there,
so they're motivated. They pay us to be there. You know,
we paid to be over at Gillette, right. We pay
for these stadiums, So companies pay to be the US
that are definitely motivated to hire in these military veterans.
Speaker 2 (25:56):
Well, I would hope you let might give you a
break on that, you know what I'm saying, because it's
such a great cause.
Speaker 5 (26:04):
We've been coming here for years.
Speaker 2 (26:05):
Really, Okay, Well, that's good to know, and I'm glad
that we have a chance to publicize that. I wish
we could have done this. I wish we had known
it about a little earlier and we could have done
it a couple of weeks out. But it sounds like
a great event. What percentage realistically, and this will induce
a lot of people when whatever number you're going to
give us, either give us a percentage of people who
(26:29):
you think might find gainful employment ex Military or military
family members, spouses and things like that. Either by a
hard number tomorrow or a percentage of the folks who participate.
I'm not trying to put you on the spot. I'm
trying to induce people to say, Hey, I got a
(26:49):
real shot here, go ahead.
Speaker 5 (26:51):
Yeah, that's a great, great question, and you're not put
me on the spot. I'm retired military and I've been
with the company now for twenty seven years as a
senior vice president and one of my jobs is I
handle all the people that run and do these events, right,
So I've been doing them. We've been doing the job
fairs now for over fifteen years, and I can tell
(27:11):
you that with the amount of companies that are going
to be there, fifty one and right about three hundred
and eighty pre registered veterans. So with that number historically,
then we're going to probably walk away with about one
hundred and thirty seven one hundred and thirty eight job
office will come from out of that event. It doesn't
mean that they'll be hired tomorrow. Traditionally, it just means
(27:32):
that they're going to have site visits. Companies and the candidate,
we'll get to know each other tomorrow and then they'll
bring them out for a site visit out to the
facility within a week or so and then go from
there and make it them office. But with that, that's
about the number we're going to have specifically just when
tomorrow's event. So it's an awesome, awesome day.
Speaker 2 (27:50):
Well, that is a fabulous number when you think about it,
and when you think about the number of veterans. These
don't necessarily have to be per people who just got
out and are looking for their first job out. You
can be a veteran or again, it looks to me
like a spouse of a veteran God Reserve. As long
(28:13):
as you put the uniform on, it sounds to me
like you're eligible and you may have a job now,
but that job maybe one that you you feel you've
done everything you can do, and you may and you
may be looking for a better job. Take advantage of
this tomorrow. It's free at jill Let's Stadium. Everybody knows
where jill Let Stadium is the home of the Patriots.
(28:35):
This is a fabulous program, Chris, and I'm delighted that
we tonight and I'm delighted that we had a chance
to maybe uh induce some some veterans to get out
there and and just you know, just just change their
life a little bit and in a positive direction. Life
is all a bunch of forks in the road. What
(28:55):
fork do you take?
Speaker 3 (28:56):
Then?
Speaker 2 (28:57):
What fork do you take next time a fork approaches? You?
Approach a fork, Chris, next year, give us a call
ahead of time or anytime when you do anything like
this in the Greater Boston area.
Speaker 5 (29:10):
Well, we'll make sure I'll have my PR people Shelby
reach back out. We'll be back out here in September
right at the same place. I'll make sure she reads
out to you love to and.
Speaker 2 (29:18):
If you want some night, we could even do a
longer version. These are sort of like short eight nine
minute interviews, which are kind of a pulppery of positive events.
I also do three more hours from nine to midnight,
and we could do an hour some night, same deal
on the phone, and you could talk to veterans who
may have some questions.
Speaker 5 (29:36):
They have questions, and we could do it any time.
We do that a lot around the country. It doesn't
have to be leading up to an event. That might
just be something that you know, maybe they have questions
about resumes or interviews or anything like that.
Speaker 2 (29:47):
That's what we do I will have I'll have my
producer get in touch with Shelby. I see Shelby's number
right here, Chris Stevens. The website is Recruit all one
word Recruit Military. So that is great.
Speaker 5 (30:02):
That is tomorrow April second, eleven to three at Gillette Stadium.
Speaker 2 (30:07):
Sounds great. Appreciate it a lot, I really do, Chris.
Thanks very much for absolutely carry on. Now, next coming up,
have you ever lost a bag a bag? Have you
ever lost baggage? Well, you're flying somewhere and you get
to the carousel and it's not there. Everybody walks away
(30:28):
and where's where's your bag? Well, I can't help find
your bag, but I can tell you where your bag
ends up. We're gonna be talking with Matt Owens. He's
a senior VP of a company called Commercial Strategy of
the Unclaimed Baggage Center. Uh, it's in Alabama. We're going
to talk to Matt in a moment, and I think
you'll be fascinated by this interview. And then at nine
(30:49):
o'clock a minute or so after night, we'll listen to
the President talk about what's coming up on the Iran war,
and hopefully it'll be good news. All around. We'll see,
we'll see. Coming back on.
Speaker 1 (31:02):
Night Side with Dan Ray on Boston's news Radio.
Speaker 2 (31:09):
All right, welcome back. I must tell you that I'm
going to jinx myself. Now. I've been fortunate. I've never
lost luggage on an airplane flight, but I know lots
of you have. So where does your luggage go? It disappears? Oh,
sometimes you get it back, but sometimes you don't. The
luggage that you don't get back ends up in all probability.
(31:31):
In Alabama, we have Matt Owens with us as a
senior vice president of Commercial Strategy of the Unclaimed Baggage Center.
He's the son of the CEO and president, Brian Owens
and the grandson of the founder, Doyle Owens. Matt Owens,
how are you tonight? Welcome?
Speaker 5 (31:48):
Hi, Dan?
Speaker 4 (31:49):
Doing well?
Speaker 2 (31:49):
How are you boy? You're working in a real interesting business,
that's for sure.
Speaker 6 (31:56):
From the time, it is unusual.
Speaker 2 (31:58):
Yeah, well that's okay. I mean, first of all, it's
I suspect it's it's very interesting and challenging when you
guys down and you're in whereabouts in.
Speaker 6 (32:08):
Alabama, Scottsboro, Alabama.
Speaker 2 (32:12):
Scottsboro, Alabama. Okay, So when a piece of luggage arrives.
I assume every day you get luggage, right, I mean
this is this is a problem around the country every day, tsure. Okay,
So on average, how many pieces of lost luggage roughly?
(32:32):
Just I'm just trying to put it in some perspective here.
What do you get fifty bags a day?
Speaker 6 (32:37):
I mean we get tractor trailer loads, uh, each and
every week?
Speaker 2 (32:42):
Really okay, so they come in every week, not not
on a daily basis.
Speaker 6 (32:49):
Yeah, something like that.
Speaker 2 (32:50):
Okay, I'm not cross examining you here, buddy, I'm just
trying to try to understand it. So you get the
bag you have been I assume the right to open
the bag. Maybe someone has left their name an address
inside the bag. Is that the first step?
Speaker 5 (33:08):
Yeah?
Speaker 6 (33:08):
Unlikely they would have personable, identifiable information by that point,
because the airline has gone through an extensive ninety day
search process and most of the time, you know, if
it has anything identifiable, they're able to get it back.
So by the time it gets to us quite a mystery.
You know, each bag is unique and uh sometimes find
(33:29):
some unusual stuff.
Speaker 5 (33:30):
You know.
Speaker 6 (33:30):
We say that if bags to talk, they would have
quite the story to tell.
Speaker 2 (33:33):
Y what so let me ask, let me guess this man.
So you get whatever it is, all of a sudden,
you've got a hundred more bags in your warehouse. You're
pretty convinced that those bags are orphans of their airlines,
meaning that the airline has tried to you know, get
the information, get the bag back to the to the
(33:55):
to the customer. And you're kind of like the the
stop last resort. Would that be one way to describe
it for the bags.
Speaker 6 (34:04):
Yeah, we're kind of the party of last resort. So
you know, if a bag doesn't show up on the
carousel for whatever reason, or maybe it does and it's
not claimed, most of the time, the airline is able
to get it back to you, you know, within twenty
four or forty eight hours. Most of the time it's
just delayed. If it doesn't, the airline will go through
a more extensive search process at least ninety days. Again,
(34:26):
most time they're able to get it back to you.
But but after that, you know, there's still going to
be things, inevitably that are left over, and that's when
we come in. So yeah, that's we're kind of the
the solution of last resort. And you know, by the
time it gets to us. Our goal is to try
to give you know, the bags and their contents kind
of a new life so that they don't end up
in a landfill, but you know, it can go to
a new purpose.
Speaker 2 (34:46):
Okay, So so give us an idea. You've you've got
the bags that arrived yesterday or last week. What's the process.
I assume you open them and you go through it.
A lot of stuff. I'm sure it is it'll end
up in a landfill. Any item you know that is opened, toothpaste, shampoo,
(35:06):
the sort of stuff that people put in bags, if
it's brand new, if it's still in the box, I
assume you can do something with that and donate that
to a charity. What what Where does most of this
stuff end up? You know what? Most people have got
some clothes, they got underwear, they got socks, who knows what.
They may have some weird stuff in there too, you
never know. But for the normal stuff in the bag,
(35:29):
where does it end up?
Speaker 6 (35:31):
Yeah, so we're not selling people's dirty underwear, but yeah,
it's if it's new or usable, then it will go
to one of our two channels. So we have an
online store where you can shot at Unclean baggage dot
Com or in that same location in Alabama where we
process everything. We have a destination retail store.
Speaker 5 (35:51):
It's Qurte.
Speaker 6 (35:52):
The experience covers a full city block and we have
people from all all fifty states in like more than
forty four in countries.
Speaker 5 (35:59):
Each year.
Speaker 6 (35:59):
The in the shop that so resell is one path.
Donation is another that we donate over a million items
every year. Have a number of great charities that we
partner with to find kind of the highest and best
use toast that we can go to, you know, somebody
who who needs it, and then anything else. You know,
(36:20):
we try our best to recycle anything that we can.
Speaker 2 (36:23):
Okay, So a couple of questions. If you can answer them, great,
If you can't, I can't understand that. Okay, what is
the single one or two great items that you found
that you said, WHOA, I'm going to keep this. You
got like a story about anything that you found in
one of these bags that it just turned out to
be a great item.
Speaker 6 (36:43):
Yeah, I mean even in the past year we found
some six years, you would think that there wouldn't be
any surprises left, but I'm reminded each and every year
that there's still weirder and wilder things.
Speaker 2 (36:57):
That give me. Give me a couple of examples if you. So.
Speaker 6 (37:01):
This past year we got some gold diamond encrusted grill
that was an interesting one. A bionic knee that I
was a little worried fell off of somebody on an
airplane or something. We did a little bit more research
found out that it was still in kind of early
stage trials and development, so that was a little bit
(37:22):
more reassuring. But man, a five hundred year old meteorite.
A bee keeping suit found some crazy expensive stuff to
everything from like a thirty five thousand dollars Rolex watch,
forty three thousand dollars diamond studded ear rings, and.
Speaker 2 (37:40):
Can you can you keep that stuff? I assume.
Speaker 6 (37:45):
Yeah, by the time the airline's gone through their their
search process, anything that they can't get back to the owner.
You know, if the owner submits a claim, there's a
whole claims process so that the owner would be compensated
for what they've lost. At that point, you know, it's
the property of the airlines and then we just buy
all those things from them.
Speaker 2 (38:06):
So what about this, Okay, what about it? Have you
ever found something? Let us say, oh, I don't know.
You know, a an old Honess Wagner baseball card that
was worth ten thousand dollars or fifty thousand or more.
Have you ever found anything like that?
Speaker 6 (38:25):
Yeah, we had a Michael Michael Jordan's signed basketball that
is displayed in our museum in the store. So we
just released our annual Found Report that details of all
the craziest things we found for the past year.
Speaker 2 (38:38):
Well, look, I'm going to send people. I'm we're getting
ready for the President's speech here, so I got to
wrap it up. But it's unclaimed baggage dot Com and
folks can go there. I'd love to have you back
some night, and we're doing a longer version.
Speaker 5 (38:52):
Okay, Yeah, let's do it.
Speaker 2 (38:54):
Thank you, Matt, appreciate it very much. Now we are
standing by you go, we're gonna be joined. We are
going to join ABC News their coverage, their anchor coverage
of the President's speech. He will be speaking from the
White House, I assume from the Oval Office, the Resolute Desk.
I haven't seen it. We'll see what happens. Let us
join now with ABC News coverage. We'll be back right
(39:16):
after the President's speech with your calls.
Popular Podcasts
Joy 101 with Hoda Kotb
Joy is essential. And it's also elusive. You can't order it, borrow it, or simply hope it into life. But now, there's a new and exciting way to start your journey toward a more joyful existence: The Joy 101 Podcast with Hoda! Best known for her Emmy-winning work and co-anchoring Today, Hoda Kotb infuses her authenticity, curiosity, and warmth into conversations with the world’s most fascinating people. Entertainment legends, sport icons, wellness experts, and everyday folks will share how they find, allow, and experience joy. Hoda will offer her own tips and takes on seeking a more balanced, harmonious life. If you're craving inspiration, support, and useful tools to maximize your joy, tune in to these candid, uplifting, and moving on-air chats. Joy after a breakup, joy as an empty-nester, joy after loss, joy as a caretaker — Hoda's new podcast will speak to you. Joy 101 with Hoda Kotb, an iHeartPodcast.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com