January 18, 2026 • 38 mins
Voters in LA could be asked to raise the sales tax again, this time in favor of more firefighters; Another potential ballot measure would financially penalize highly-paid CEOs; A proposed 8-mile path along the L.A. River which is to be funded by an earlier increase of the sales tax has more than tripled in cost; A Starbucks worker is fired for a drawing put on a cup of coffee ordered by an LA County Sheriff’s deputy; and the New York Post’s California Post arrives next week.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
This is Michael Monks Reports on Michael Monks from KFI News.
We've got another hour together on this weekend here in
southern California. If you missed our first hour, you've missed
a lot. We talked about Rick Caruso, the developer behind
such projects as The Grove, saying he's not going to
run for mayor. He's not going to run for California governor.
He's going to focus on his work and his foundations
and helping people affected by the Palisades and Eaten fires.
(00:31):
We went over all of the new ice activity in
the Fashion District and the response at La City Hall
over that the new ice free zones proposed by the
La County Board of Supervisors, and the concerns expressed at
La City Hall over the federal government's involvement in the
Olympics in twenty twenty eight and their own fears over
(00:51):
immigration enforcement when that event comes to town. If you
missed it, check it out. You can always find the
podcast at KFIAM six forty dot com just click on
the shows Michael Monks Reports. You can also find it
on the iHeartRadio app so glad you're with us on
this weekend. What a beautiful, strangely beautiful week we've had
in southern California. But there has been no shortage of news. Now,
(01:14):
if you live in the city of Los Angeles, if
you shop in the City of Los Angeles, you pay
a sales tax that is currently about nine point seventy
five percent, and that's a lot when you think of
other areas of the United States, but it's not the
most in Southern California. Cities like Burbank and Long Beach
all have higher sales tax, but LA sales tax could
(01:37):
be going up if voters get the chance to vote
on a proposal from the firefighters Union. The LAFD is
well documented to not be as large as it probably
should be. It's about the same size as it was
many years ago, and the city is not the city
has grown significantly. LA firefighters say they don't have enough memory,
(02:00):
they don't have enough equipment. The equipment they do have
is in need of upgrades and repairs. So they've started
gathering signatures to place a proposition on the November ballot,
and they call this decades of under investment that need
to be addressed. Members of United Firefighters of Los Angeles
(02:21):
and city elected officials, including Councilman Tracy Park, who represents
the Palisades, all got together just a few days ago
to say we need voter support, but before it can
even be on the ballot, they've got to gather a
minimum of one hundred and fifty four thousand valid signatures.
They're proposing a half cent sales tax that they say
(02:46):
would allow the LAFD to hire more firefighters and civilian staff,
purchase new fire trucks, engines, ambulances and other equipments, and
build new fire stations and repair the existing ones. They
say this would bring in and somewhere in the neighborhood
of three hundred and forty five million dollars just in
the first year. Here are some of the remarks from
(03:08):
supporters of this proposal.
Speaker 3 (03:10):
I don't like taxes, Like a lot of people in
our town, I worry about the high cost of living.
I look closely at where my money goes, and I
don't like to support tax increases, especially when I think
the money won't be spent as promised, or when it's
wasted on things that don't benefit our communities.
Speaker 4 (03:33):
That's exactly why I'm standing here today. It's because this
measure is different. The money is legally dedicated only to
the Los Angeles Fire Department, which means it can't be
used for other programs.
Speaker 3 (03:49):
It cannot replace existing Funny, when you.
Speaker 4 (03:51):
Call ninety one one, we should be coming to you
in four and a half minutes, we're taking almost eight
minutes to get to you because we do not have
enough reson.
Speaker 5 (04:00):
On January seventh of last year, when a rage leveled
the Pacific Palisades in Council District, eleven thousands witnessed in
painful detail why this matters so much. Ignoring those lessons
would be reckless.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
That was Councilman Tracy Park, who is in favor of
this proposal. The city itself doesn't have any money. You
know that if you listen to kfi've been telling you
that all year long. Last spring, when the new budget
had to be crafted before the new fiscal year, which
starts every year July, first, Mayor Basky Mountin said, look,
we're a billion dollars short. You know, they were able
(04:41):
to close that gap by moving money around, by moving
staff around. They were possibly going to lay off sixteen
hundred workers across all departments, including police that didn't end
up happening. All those workers were placed in different positions
or somehow saved by moving that money around. The thing is,
you got to do a budget every year, and in
(05:03):
the springtime, those budget talks will resume. Mayor Bass will
present her proposed budget, and then the City Council Budget
Committee will hold a bunch of hearings. They'll hear from
all of the departments, and I bet there's gonna be
some regret related to not laying people off. As much
as that sucks, you know, you don't want anybody to
lose their job, but it happens, and the city was
(05:28):
able to save all of those positions. Not only did
they not shed any employees, they've also approved this redevelopment.
Is this renovation, massive multi billion dollar renovation of the
downtown Convention Center, which is going to add more stress
to the city's budget immediately. Estimates have been between like
(05:50):
eighty and two hundred million dollars a year that they
did not even have to spend last year when they
were struggling to pay for everything. So when the Fire
Department comes to the table and says we don't have
enough fire people, we don't have enough fire trucks, we
don't have enough fire stations in places across the city.
We need more money. There isn't any. So this is
(06:12):
their answer. Let's put something on the ballot. Let's ask
the voters if they want to pay a little more
while they're shopping. Increase the sales tax from nine point
seventy five percent to ten and a quarter percent, and
we'll collect three hundred and forty five million dollars in
that first year. That will allow us to address all
of these concerns. You heard in the comments there from
(06:32):
the supporters members of the union that this money would
only be available for fire departments stuff. They want to
emphasize that. They say this proposal would also require annual
audits that would be presented to the public and would
establish a citizens Oversight Committee to track all spending from
the tax because they know they know that voters in
(06:54):
La La County have been very generous in recent years. Hey,
we need more money for homelessness. Okay, we'll raise the
sales tax or okay, we'll pass this measure and help
La County establish its own homeless department. All these things. Yeah,
we'll do that. But then all of these questions emerge.
(07:17):
What's actually the result of all this money, Show us
the progress, show us the good work that our money
has gone towards. There's got to be a sense that
there's a bit of ballot fatigue, ballot measure fatigue. I'm
(07:38):
sure that the firefighters we'll get this on the ballot.
The question is not whether people support the fire department.
Of course people do. It's a very easy yes. Yeah,
we should have a fully staffed and funded fire department
with all the equipment they say they need. But people
here pay a lot for everything. Yeah, we'll pay a
(07:58):
little more for more bike linean YAO, will pay a
little more for homeless programs. Yeah, will pay a little
more for mental health. It's all starting to add up,
and because some of the results from those earlier initiatives
have been underperforming at best, there's going to be some questions,
undoubtedly from voters. By the way, that's not the only
(08:19):
group trying to get a ballot measure. Some of the
labor unions and community groups who are often at city
Hall fighting for increased minimum wages, eviction moratoriums, those sorts
of things. Particularly the union Unite Here Local eleven, which
(08:40):
is a representat which represents hotel and restaurant workers primarily.
They have launched the overpaid CEO Tax. They say their
goal is simple collect one hundred and forty thousand signatures
from LA voters to put this initiative on the November
ballot so Angelinos can decide whether overpaid CEOs should pay
(09:02):
their fare share. This proposed ballot initiative would impose a
business tax on large corporations that pay CEOs more than
fifty times their median workers. The supporters say the tax
would generate more than half a billion dollars per year
for the city, while the critics argue the proposal is
(09:22):
in overreach and say it will harm the city's economy
by driving businesses away. So this is a typical argument
that emerges anytime Unite Here Local eleven is involved. They
were the ones behind the minimum wage for what they've
called hospitality workers, tourism workers, people who work at airport,
at the airport concessions, people who work in hotels are
(09:43):
supposed to be making thirty dollars minimum by the time
the Olympics start. They were the group that drove that,
and you heard from hotel deers saying we're not going
to build any more hotels or we're gonna have to
close our small hotel because we can't afford that. Here
is what they say this would do. Meanwhile, saying that
(10:04):
la is one of the least affordable cities in the world.
They say housing is too expensive, groceries are too expensive,
infrastructure is too expensive, and this is the answer to
make CEOs and the companies that pay them pay. Something
(10:25):
similar to was also being proposed at the state level,
the Billionaire Tax, So if a CEO makes more than
fifty times the median salary of an employee, they would
have to pay somewhere in the neighborhood of five percent payments.
(10:47):
They point to CEOs at companies like Marriott and Hilton
who earned six thousand dollars an hour Starbucks CEO earning
seven thousand dollars an hour. The tax initiative would in
priest the gross receipts tax paid for companies. Companies with
a thousand or more workers and above a fifty to
one CEO worker pay ratio would be taxed according to
(11:09):
that bowl ballot language. Revenue generator from the tax would
go toward four specific accounts supporting housing, sidewalks, after school care,
and grocery stores. Be on the lookout. There's going to
be a lot of signature gathering in the upcoming weeks.
Up next, there is something else that's growing in costs,
and it is a river path along the La River.
(11:31):
The original price didn't sound too shocking. The new price
certainly stood out to me. We'll talk about that next.
Speaker 1 (11:36):
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
I'm Michael Monks from KFI News, So glad to be
with you on this weekend. Here in southern California, the
La City Council has called for a proposed spending plan
for all that money that's being collected from bus cameras.
They've really cracked down on people parking in the bus
lanes where folks can get a ticket for two hundred
(12:03):
and ninety three dollars. This isn't all over the city yet,
but you can bet it's coming now that they've got
a taste of some of the revenue coming in. They
place some cameras on certain buses and if they catch
you parked in certain areas in La in those bus lanes,
blocking those buses, you're getting a ticket, you don't have
to have a physical person there to write the ticket.
(12:24):
You're gonna get it in the mail because they've got
a picture of it. So now the city wants to
know what to do with all of the money that
it is collecting. The Council has approved emotion to direct
the Department of Transportation to come up with a plan. Tentatively,
this motion calls for money to support more traffic officers,
paint and signage maintenance crews, speed humps, tools to address
(12:48):
the top fifty locations where street takeovers occur, as well
as measures to improve pedestrian safety. This motion also called
for a percentage of that revenue to go toward transportation
improvements in tim Prairie staffing for the twenty twenty eight
Olympic Games. Lastly, city staff will also consider using revenue
to further the bus lane enforcement program, so they'll reinvest
(13:10):
it and try to get more buses equipped with these cameras.
A total of fifty cameras were installed on buses serving
bus Line seven twenty and two twelve, primarily around the
downtown area. One camera can detect vehicles on roads and
traffic lanes. When the camera detects a parked vehicle, The
(13:30):
second camera records the license plate, and then a traffic
officer reviews the video and verifies its accuracy before issuing
a ticket. Citations detail information about the violation, the time, location,
and images or video evidence. We talked just moments ago
before we went to break about how broke the city is.
Now that they've got a taste of revenue coming in,
(13:53):
you can bet they're going to keep that program going
and try to grow it as much as they can.
Two hundred ninety three dollars tickets. Joke, don't park in
the byte in the bus lanes, folks. Amtrak has added
a thirteenth round trip on the surf Liner between LA
and San Diego that will return traffic to pre pandemic
levels later this month. The LA to San Diego San
(14:16):
Luis Obispo rail cord Or Agency low Sand. They say
this new round trip will be added beginning January twenty six.
The agency says this added service represents a significant step
forward for mobility in Southern California. With a thirteenth round trip,
riders have more options for commuting, business travel, and leisure
trips along our coast than the good news is between
(14:38):
January twenty sixth and March thirteenth, if you want to
ride between LA and San Diego, passengers will be able
to use the code V five two six to receive
a twenty percent discount a beautiful, beautiful trip on the
surf Liner. It's good to have good news about rail
in California, because goodness knows, we're all fear and curious
(15:01):
about the high speed rail project and how that cost
has ballooned so much over the years from when voters
finally gave the okay to it. Voters said, yeah, let's
build a high speed rail line between LA and San Francisco,
and they did that fifteen years ago, and still no
tracks are laid, there are no trains moving at all,
and the price has it's over like one hundred billion
(15:23):
dollars at this point. So it's irritating. But that's the
truth about basically anything we try to build here. It
just seems so futile to want to build anything. And
I noticed an announcement that came from La Metro about
a project that sounds cool, an eight mile river path project.
Metro is seeking public comment for this draft environmental impact report.
(15:46):
One of the reasons things are so hard to build
around here, all these environmental impact reports, but the public
gets to weigh in on these things, and this draft
EIR is out. You can take a look at it
and you can still issue your comments if you have
any concerns about this eight mile segment that is expected
to serve Elysian Valley, Cypress Park, Lincoln Hides, Chinatown, Downtown LA,
(16:08):
the Arts District, Boyle Hides, Vernon, and Maywood. This is
all part of the larger thirty two mile LA river
Path project that seeks to connect the San Fernando Valley
with Long Beach. A very interesting project, and you can
give your public input on the Metro website through February second.
But that wasn't what caught my attention. This thing was
(16:30):
funded by one of those things we were talking about,
sales taxes that people in LA love to approve. Yeah,
that sounds great. We'll pay a little bit more for
this measure. M You remember that it's a while ago.
Twenty sixteen voters approved this sales tax for transportation and
infrastructure initiatives. This eight mile river path was projected to
(16:51):
cost three hundred and sixty five million dollars Okay, that's
a lot, but it is eight miles long and it's
supposed to be a pretty good looking path. What do
you think the price is now? It's more than a billion,
I mean that's triple more than a billion dollars. They're
(17:16):
saying it's because of an increase in construction costs. Capital
cost estimates for the project are around five hundred ninety
five million dollars for a three point two mile northern segment,
six hundred and eighty eight million dollars for a five
mile southern segment, and approximately one billion to one point
two billion for the full eight mile segment. Metro says
(17:41):
when measure M was passed in twenty sixteen, the level
of engineering and designed for this project was not significant
and based on other portions of the existing La River
Bike Path with less physical constraints. After Metro took steps
to further design the project and coordinate with other agencies,
a more detailed and realistic project timeline was developed. Since
(18:04):
Metro does not own the majority of the right of
way for this project, exceptional coordination with several agency stakeholders
is required. Further coordination with these agency stakeholders is required
to continue to advance the project, including determining who will
operate and maintain the project. They don't even know who's
gonna run this thing. Oh, I love love being a
(18:26):
journalist in California because the government here always gives you
something something to talk about. But there you go, another
voter approved ballot measure. Yeah, we'll pay a little more
because these sound like a cool project. Measure M twenty sixteen,
three hundred and sixty five dollars for an eight mile
stretch of multi use trail bike paths along the La River,
(18:49):
part of a thirty two mile path from the San
Fernando Valley to Long Beach.
Speaker 3 (18:53):
Check.
Speaker 2 (18:54):
Yeah, I'll pay a little more for that. Oh, by
the way, it's going to actually be triple the cost,
and it'll be ten years later before we even get
the environmental impact report out to you. Coming up next,
Starbucks and this pig insult that they've made to an
La County Sheriff's deputy. They got a guy fired. That's
not the only Starbucks story in the news locally. There's
(19:16):
a couple of lawsuits involving their hot coffee. I'll tell
you about those ahead. As Michael Monks Reports continues.
Speaker 1 (19:23):
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 2 (19:30):
A worker at a Starbucks in Norwalk has been fired
for drawing a pig on a cup of coffee ordered
by an LA County Sheriff's deputy. This happened earlier in January,
but then the La County Sheriff's Department put out a
statement about it. It was at this Starbucks in Norwalk.
The deputy says he ordered a cup of coffee, the
(19:52):
cup shows up and it has a drawing of a
pig on it. Pig is often used as a po
jo towards police and law enforcement officers. Sheriff Robert Luna
issued a statement that he later contacted a person in
Starbucks Corporate Security division to raise his concerns. The statement
(20:14):
from the Sheriff's department says this action was extremely offensive, inappropriate,
and unacceptable. Acts that promote hostility and division towards law
enforcement undermine community trust and public safety. Now, the company
Starbucks says this was a hand drawn image of a
pig that was based on an internet meme John Pork, which,
(20:38):
by the way, is one of my favorite current Internet
memes I guess been around for a couple of years now.
This is the image. If you've seen it, it doesn't
look like John Pork. John Pork is this weird pig
face that is placed on a human body, and a
lot of younger people are using it as a prank
on older relatives like parents or grandparents or bosses. And
(20:59):
what happens in the John Pork meme is, let's say
your dad's phone would ring and John Pork would be calling.
So the phone had already been messed with, Like you've
gotten into your dad's phone and you've put John Pork
as a contact. So when you look at who's calling,
John Pork's name and pig face is on there. This
(21:23):
was not a drawing of John Pork, so that seemed
very skeptical. Starbucks fired this worker, and the company says
this was unacceptable. We have reached out to the customers
several times and the leaders in the Sheriff's department to apologize.
Every customer should always be made to feel welcome in
our stores. But that wasn't the only local Starbucks drama.
(21:48):
There are a couple of lawsuits floating around involving Starbucks.
Starbucks Corporation has asked a judge to stop requests for
the company's assets which have been made by customer who
sued this chain alleging to have suffered serious burns from
a spilled hot drink purchased at one of its stores.
(22:08):
In court papers filed Friday with the LA Superior Court
Judge Richard kim lyon excuse me, they're lost my place
in the reading, Starbucks attorneys contend that it is unnecessary
and premature for the plaintiff, Sala Lily Shabdiz, to be
making such request. This lawyer for Starbucks says that Schabbdiz
(22:32):
is known medical specials total less than three thousand dollars,
but she is seeking punitive damages and seeks extensive, unduly burnedsome,
financial and other document discovery from Starbucks. One request from
this woman who is suing is to produce all financial
analyzes or cost benefit reports comparing the expense of redesigning
(22:54):
Starbucks's hot beverage packaging versus settling burn injury claims, while
another would have Starbucks turnover all financial documents showing how
much it is spent on settlements or verdicts related to
burn injuries in the past ten years. Another one of
her requests is forced Starbucks to turn over financial statements,
including profit and loss, balance sheets, and cash flow statements
(23:16):
for the past five years. Shovedz is a twenty one
year old student at USC. She says she suffered a
severe and permanently injuring burn from the beverage she bought
at a store on South Figueroa Street in twenty twenty two.
She says she sustained severe thigh burns after the lid
of the sixteen ounce cup of jade citrus mint tea
(23:39):
heated to more than two hundred degrees, fell off and
the liquid spilled onto her legs after she returned to
her home, which was minutes away from that store. She
says the lid came off due to the way the
drive through employee handed the cup of tea to her.
She says the cashier handed shoved Is two separate cups
and the cup that eventually spilled from the sides, leaving
(24:03):
her no room to securely hold the beverage in the
sleeve area of the cup, which is usually where you
put your hands. So that lawsuit is ongoing, and look,
Starbucks could end up having to pay. I mean it
was just a year ago. March of twenty five that
a jury in LA awarded a driver for Postmates fifty
(24:26):
million dollars for the burns he suffered from a spilled
drink that had been bought at a Starbucks drive through
in Jefferson Park. So they've got this Shabdiz case to
worry about. Meanwhile, another woman has settled with Starbucks over
another spilled drink case. A woman who contended she suffered
(24:48):
burn injuries from a spilled hot drink she bought it
a Starbucks located in Norwalk has settled. Sabrina Michelle Ermez
says that she had received I'm so sorry we're messing
up this page here. Sabrina Michelle Urmez had filed a
lawsuit in Norwalk Superior Court saying that Starbucks committed negligence,
(25:11):
and she sought unspecified general and special damages, including reimbursements
for past and future medical cost and lost earnings. So
this past week, a clerk for the judge there wrote
in a minute order that the case was settled. No
terms were divulged, though. But here's what happened to this woman.
(25:31):
She goes to a Starbucks on Firestone Boulevard. She bought
hot drinks in the drive through, but because one cup
was not properly secured, the liquid spelled onto various parts
of her body, including her legs, her hip, her thighs,
her knee, her feet. She says she suffered serious injuries. Starbucks,
she says, owed a duty to exercise reasonable care with
(25:52):
respect to the preparation, handling, and service of hot beverages
so as to prevent them from spilling onto an injury
customers such as her. So there you go. You've got
two cases that are one settled, one ongoing, all very
similar circumstances. You have this other one that was settled
almost a year ago, back in March for fifty dollars
(26:16):
after a jury basically found Starbucks guilty of this thing,
all hot drinks spilling on folks. I don't know what
it is about Starbucks in LA. They got to secure
those lids. We have another segment to get through and
then we're finished, and we're done for the weekend. We
(26:37):
can all move on. And I want to tell you
that I want you to keep listening to KFI. We're
so glad that you listen. We love bringing you the
news and analysis and conversation. But it is also important
to get your news and information from other sources. You
want a diversity of viewpoints, and it's important to get
(26:58):
a little bit of opinion. It's all so important to
get information from folks who focus only on the facts.
There are a lot of new media outlets that have
popped up in Los Angeles. The biggest one that will
be open for readers in the coming week is none
other than the New York Post, which is opening up
(27:19):
the California Post and they are starting in just a
few days. We'll talk about that. The other local media
outlets that are now in operation, and there are a
lot of them, as well as the new baseball team
in Long Beach. They have finally decided on a name.
And by the way, did you know that if you
just wanted to play a little baseball in the streets
(27:40):
of Los Angeles, maybe toss the ball around with your son,
that's illegal. The city wants to change that. We'll finish
up the show with all of that. As Michael Monks
Reports continues.
Speaker 1 (27:51):
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 2 (27:59):
The council was voted to move forward with repealing a
city law that could subject people to a thousand dollars
fine and up to six months in jail for playing
catch and other sports on public and residential streets are
in some parks. This is an old law, of course,
one of those things, and it's probably never in force,
(28:20):
but just happens to be on the books. In fact,
it is noted as Los Angeles Municipal Code, Section fifty
six dot sixteen the Streets, Sidewalks, playing ball or Games
of Sport Law Council. When Bob Bloominfield raised this issue
back in August, he wasn't at the meeting this week
where they moved his motion forward, but he he mentioned
(28:41):
it last August as uncommonly silly. The section mandates that
no person shall play ball or any game of sport
with a ball or football, or throw, cast, shoot, or
discharge any stone, pellet, bullet, arrow, or any other missile
in over, across a long or a pond, any street
(29:04):
or sidewalk, or in any public park, except on those
portions of said parts set apart for such purposes. A
lot of ways of saying, don't throw anything, And so
city officials were looking over the Los Angeles Municipal Code
when they found this thing. They believe it was enacted
(29:24):
back in nineteen forty five and decided that this would
probably probably be off the books. Any serious activities though
in that code section, like firing a weapon or shooting arrows,
Those are already prohibited by other laws, according to Bloominfield's motions,
so we don't need it in this one. City officials
(29:45):
say that the law is outdated and no longer appropriate
for a modern city. So pretty soon we'll all be
able to go out in the streets of Los Angeles
and play a little bit of catch with the old man.
They'll be playing catch in Long Beach very soon. The
Long Beach baseball team that's coming to town this season
(30:07):
has a new name. They had put it out to
a vote. There were a lot of options considered, and
the Long Beach team has settled on the nickname Coast.
Maybe that makes sense for our FM friends upstairs on
coast to maybe a partner with them. It's a Long
Beach Coast. The team announced that few cities embodied duality
(30:29):
as Long Beach does. Eleven miles of coastline tie together
the west side and east side, where ocean meets concrete,
hustle meets chill, and old school roots meet new school energy.
The Long Beach Coast celebrates the connective thread that runs
through every part of the city. The Coast will anchor
the team's visual identity and presence, complemented by a dynamic
(30:53):
alter ego. So what's that alter ego they will play
is the Long Beach Regulators on occasion. That's a reference
to the song by Warren G. From back in the nineties.
He is one of the I guess investors' owners of
this new team. I thought that was a great name.
(31:15):
They should have gone with that. I guess Long Beach
Coast is fine, but they will operate as the Long
Beach Coast and will occasionally compete on special occasions as
the Long Beach Regulators. Warren G. Says, Long Beach has
always set its own tone and had its own swagger.
This baseball team the Coast represents the hearts of the city,
(31:37):
but the Regulator's legacy will always be part of Long
Beach culture. It's respect for where we've been, an excitement
for where we're going. Tickets go on sale for the
Long Beach Coast very soon, and in fact they're on sale.
They're on sale at Yeah. They had a parade over
(31:59):
the weekend and had their first kickoff events. Tickets are
on sale at their website, which is Longbeachcoast dot com.
They got merch available and coming up on January thirty first,
that's a Saturday, also from four to seven at watch
Me Sports Bar, they'll have another brand kickoff event. So
our newest professional team in the Pioneer Baseball League, the
(32:21):
Long Beach Coast Slash Regulators. There is a new newspaper
coming to town and it is a familiar name. You know,
the New York Post. You probably know the New York
Daily News as well. New York has a robust media
landscape that thrives in a way that we don't. We
(32:42):
never really had the same thing in southern California that
they have in New York. These serious but ridiculous tabloid
style newspapers. And I don't mean tabloid necessarily in the
sense of like gossipy rags like National Enquirer. I mean
tabloid in the technical sense, So that's actually a reference
to the size of the paper. And you know they're smaller,
(33:05):
but they do news. But what the New York Post
the New York Daily News do that none of us
out here do. Are those crazy headlines and those really
iconic front pages. Well, the New York Post is coming here.
They are rolling out the red carpet, they say, for
the California Post. And they have been snatching up reporters
(33:31):
from a lot of different entities here and it's like
they raided the La Times sports department. And that wasn't
anything I even considered. We've known since late last year
that the New York Post was coming to town with
the California Post. It never occurred to me that they
were going to go after sports so hard. But of
course they will. I mean, that's a big part of
the New York Post. I think this is going to
(33:53):
be a very interesting addition to the California media landscape
because if you've heard, well, let's take the past two
hours that we've spent together some of the serious stuff
but also a little bit of the ridiculous stuff that
goes on here. My goodness, are they going to have
a field day with the style of journalism that they do.
(34:17):
It's the California gold Rush all over again. They're absolutely
they're going to love it. And it's a big investment.
I mean, you don't hear about new newspaper starting and
they will be printing. There will be a physical newspaper available,
just like there is in New York. It's not something
that happens anymore. So it's always a good thing in
(34:40):
my view when investments are made in journalism and news corps.
The people behind the New York Post and Fox News
and all that, they're making an investment in journalism here,
and it's going to be a unique style of journalism
that we do not typically have. It's supposed to open,
(35:00):
I should say premiere in the parlance of Los Angeles
on January twenty six, so we're about a week out
from that, and I'm very anxious to see what their
first headlines are going to be. I know that this
is going to be a daily read for me. I
can't wait to feel the print edition. I say that
as somebody who really appreciates the LA Times as well.
(35:23):
I know it's easy to dump on them, and rightfully
so often, but they do a lot of great journalism
at the LA Times. So, but there's nothing in southern
California like there is in New York, and this is
our first taste of that. It's going to be very,
very cool to see January twenty sixth, the premiere of
(35:44):
the California Post. Speaking of the Los Angeles Times, they
recently compiled a lot of the a list of a
lot of the new media startups that have started. And
this is good too. This is my background. I had
started a newspaper back home in Kentucky and I sold
it before I moved here, and I know what it's like.
I know how important it is to communities that feel
like they're not served well by the larger media that
(36:07):
are getting smaller by the day. Unfortunately, the LA Local
has launched is it's got to focus on Boyle Heights,
East LA, Koreatown, Peaco Union and Westlake, Inglewood and South LA.
That's a new thing that has opened up. We've already
mentioned the California Post. There's a new publication called Golden
State that's a nonprofit outlet founded by two former LA
(36:31):
Times journalist La reported another former Times opinion journalist has
started this alongside Forbes journalist Scott Wooley. So some very
big investments being made in journalism in Southern California. You
love to see. It's always important to have a variety
(36:52):
of sources so that you can have the most information
that you can and you can form informed opinion. But
we do hope you keep KFI number one on your
dial and on the iHeartRadio app. But I can't wait
for that California post. I'm really looking forward to that.
That's going to be fun. Hey, it's been fun spending
(37:13):
the past couple of hours with you. If you missed
any part of it, do look us up at KFIAM
six forty dot com and listen to the whole thing.
We did a whole hour on the reemergence of ICE
enforcement activity taking place in Los Angeles and the heated
response and the outrage from LA City officials, LA County's
attempts to block ICE agents from using county property, and
(37:35):
some LA officials concerns about the federal government and the
White House Olympics Task Force and what role they will
play and organizing the Olympics in twenty twenty eight. We
also talked a lot about that proposed sales tax to
benefit the LA Fire Department and whether there's a fatigue
for increasing sales tax in Los Angeles based on the
(37:56):
results of other things we have so generously paid for.
Don't miss it. You can look it up KFIAM six
forty dot com or find it on the iHeartRadio app.
This has been Michael Monks Reports on Michael Monks from
KFI News. We'll talk again next Saturday at eight o'clock
in the evening.
Speaker 1 (38:12):
See you then, kf I Am six forty on demand
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
This is Michael Monks Reports on Michael Monks from KFI News.
We've got another hour together on this weekend here in
southern California. If you missed our first hour, you've missed
a lot. We talked about Rick Caruso, the developer behind
such projects as The Grove, saying he's not going to
run for mayor. He's not going to run for California governor.
He's going to focus on his work and his foundations
and helping people affected by the Palisades and Eaten fires.
(00:31):
We went over all of the new ice activity in
the Fashion District and the response at La City Hall
over that the new ice free zones proposed by the
La County Board of Supervisors, and the concerns expressed at
La City Hall over the federal government's involvement in the
Olympics in twenty twenty eight and their own fears over
(00:51):
immigration enforcement when that event comes to town. If you
missed it, check it out. You can always find the
podcast at KFIAM six forty dot com just click on
the shows Michael Monks Reports. You can also find it
on the iHeartRadio app so glad you're with us on
this weekend. What a beautiful, strangely beautiful week we've had
in southern California. But there has been no shortage of news. Now,
(01:14):
if you live in the city of Los Angeles, if
you shop in the City of Los Angeles, you pay
a sales tax that is currently about nine point seventy
five percent, and that's a lot when you think of
other areas of the United States, but it's not the
most in Southern California. Cities like Burbank and Long Beach
all have higher sales tax, but LA sales tax could
(01:37):
be going up if voters get the chance to vote
on a proposal from the firefighters Union. The LAFD is
well documented to not be as large as it probably
should be. It's about the same size as it was
many years ago, and the city is not the city
has grown significantly. LA firefighters say they don't have enough memory,
(02:00):
they don't have enough equipment. The equipment they do have
is in need of upgrades and repairs. So they've started
gathering signatures to place a proposition on the November ballot,
and they call this decades of under investment that need
to be addressed. Members of United Firefighters of Los Angeles
(02:21):
and city elected officials, including Councilman Tracy Park, who represents
the Palisades, all got together just a few days ago
to say we need voter support, but before it can
even be on the ballot, they've got to gather a
minimum of one hundred and fifty four thousand valid signatures.
They're proposing a half cent sales tax that they say
(02:46):
would allow the LAFD to hire more firefighters and civilian staff,
purchase new fire trucks, engines, ambulances and other equipments, and
build new fire stations and repair the existing ones. They
say this would bring in and somewhere in the neighborhood
of three hundred and forty five million dollars just in
the first year. Here are some of the remarks from
(03:08):
supporters of this proposal.
Speaker 3 (03:10):
I don't like taxes, Like a lot of people in
our town, I worry about the high cost of living.
I look closely at where my money goes, and I
don't like to support tax increases, especially when I think
the money won't be spent as promised, or when it's
wasted on things that don't benefit our communities.
Speaker 4 (03:33):
That's exactly why I'm standing here today. It's because this
measure is different. The money is legally dedicated only to
the Los Angeles Fire Department, which means it can't be
used for other programs.
Speaker 3 (03:49):
It cannot replace existing Funny, when you.
Speaker 4 (03:51):
Call ninety one one, we should be coming to you
in four and a half minutes, we're taking almost eight
minutes to get to you because we do not have
enough reson.
Speaker 5 (04:00):
On January seventh of last year, when a rage leveled
the Pacific Palisades in Council District, eleven thousands witnessed in
painful detail why this matters so much. Ignoring those lessons
would be reckless.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
That was Councilman Tracy Park, who is in favor of
this proposal. The city itself doesn't have any money. You
know that if you listen to kfi've been telling you
that all year long. Last spring, when the new budget
had to be crafted before the new fiscal year, which
starts every year July, first, Mayor Basky Mountin said, look,
we're a billion dollars short. You know, they were able
(04:41):
to close that gap by moving money around, by moving
staff around. They were possibly going to lay off sixteen
hundred workers across all departments, including police that didn't end
up happening. All those workers were placed in different positions
or somehow saved by moving that money around. The thing is,
you got to do a budget every year, and in
(05:03):
the springtime, those budget talks will resume. Mayor Bass will
present her proposed budget, and then the City Council Budget
Committee will hold a bunch of hearings. They'll hear from
all of the departments, and I bet there's gonna be
some regret related to not laying people off. As much
as that sucks, you know, you don't want anybody to
lose their job, but it happens, and the city was
(05:28):
able to save all of those positions. Not only did
they not shed any employees, they've also approved this redevelopment.
Is this renovation, massive multi billion dollar renovation of the
downtown Convention Center, which is going to add more stress
to the city's budget immediately. Estimates have been between like
(05:50):
eighty and two hundred million dollars a year that they
did not even have to spend last year when they
were struggling to pay for everything. So when the Fire
Department comes to the table and says we don't have
enough fire people, we don't have enough fire trucks, we
don't have enough fire stations in places across the city.
We need more money. There isn't any. So this is
(06:12):
their answer. Let's put something on the ballot. Let's ask
the voters if they want to pay a little more
while they're shopping. Increase the sales tax from nine point
seventy five percent to ten and a quarter percent, and
we'll collect three hundred and forty five million dollars in
that first year. That will allow us to address all
of these concerns. You heard in the comments there from
(06:32):
the supporters members of the union that this money would
only be available for fire departments stuff. They want to
emphasize that. They say this proposal would also require annual
audits that would be presented to the public and would
establish a citizens Oversight Committee to track all spending from
the tax because they know they know that voters in
(06:54):
La La County have been very generous in recent years. Hey,
we need more money for homelessness. Okay, we'll raise the
sales tax or okay, we'll pass this measure and help
La County establish its own homeless department. All these things. Yeah,
we'll do that. But then all of these questions emerge.
(07:17):
What's actually the result of all this money, Show us
the progress, show us the good work that our money
has gone towards. There's got to be a sense that
there's a bit of ballot fatigue, ballot measure fatigue. I'm
(07:38):
sure that the firefighters we'll get this on the ballot.
The question is not whether people support the fire department.
Of course people do. It's a very easy yes. Yeah,
we should have a fully staffed and funded fire department
with all the equipment they say they need. But people
here pay a lot for everything. Yeah, we'll pay a
(07:58):
little more for more bike linean YAO, will pay a
little more for homeless programs. Yeah, will pay a little
more for mental health. It's all starting to add up,
and because some of the results from those earlier initiatives
have been underperforming at best, there's going to be some questions,
undoubtedly from voters. By the way, that's not the only
(08:19):
group trying to get a ballot measure. Some of the
labor unions and community groups who are often at city
Hall fighting for increased minimum wages, eviction moratoriums, those sorts
of things. Particularly the union Unite Here Local eleven, which
(08:40):
is a representat which represents hotel and restaurant workers primarily.
They have launched the overpaid CEO Tax. They say their
goal is simple collect one hundred and forty thousand signatures
from LA voters to put this initiative on the November
ballot so Angelinos can decide whether overpaid CEOs should pay
(09:02):
their fare share. This proposed ballot initiative would impose a
business tax on large corporations that pay CEOs more than
fifty times their median workers. The supporters say the tax
would generate more than half a billion dollars per year
for the city, while the critics argue the proposal is
(09:22):
in overreach and say it will harm the city's economy
by driving businesses away. So this is a typical argument
that emerges anytime Unite Here Local eleven is involved. They
were the ones behind the minimum wage for what they've
called hospitality workers, tourism workers, people who work at airport,
at the airport concessions, people who work in hotels are
(09:43):
supposed to be making thirty dollars minimum by the time
the Olympics start. They were the group that drove that,
and you heard from hotel deers saying we're not going
to build any more hotels or we're gonna have to
close our small hotel because we can't afford that. Here
is what they say this would do. Meanwhile, saying that
(10:04):
la is one of the least affordable cities in the world.
They say housing is too expensive, groceries are too expensive,
infrastructure is too expensive, and this is the answer to
make CEOs and the companies that pay them pay. Something
(10:25):
similar to was also being proposed at the state level,
the Billionaire Tax, So if a CEO makes more than
fifty times the median salary of an employee, they would
have to pay somewhere in the neighborhood of five percent payments.
(10:47):
They point to CEOs at companies like Marriott and Hilton
who earned six thousand dollars an hour Starbucks CEO earning
seven thousand dollars an hour. The tax initiative would in
priest the gross receipts tax paid for companies. Companies with
a thousand or more workers and above a fifty to
one CEO worker pay ratio would be taxed according to
(11:09):
that bowl ballot language. Revenue generator from the tax would
go toward four specific accounts supporting housing, sidewalks, after school care,
and grocery stores. Be on the lookout. There's going to
be a lot of signature gathering in the upcoming weeks.
Up next, there is something else that's growing in costs,
and it is a river path along the La River.
(11:31):
The original price didn't sound too shocking. The new price
certainly stood out to me. We'll talk about that next.
Speaker 1 (11:36):
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
I'm Michael Monks from KFI News, So glad to be
with you on this weekend. Here in southern California, the
La City Council has called for a proposed spending plan
for all that money that's being collected from bus cameras.
They've really cracked down on people parking in the bus
lanes where folks can get a ticket for two hundred
(12:03):
and ninety three dollars. This isn't all over the city yet,
but you can bet it's coming now that they've got
a taste of some of the revenue coming in. They
place some cameras on certain buses and if they catch
you parked in certain areas in La in those bus lanes,
blocking those buses, you're getting a ticket, you don't have
to have a physical person there to write the ticket.
(12:24):
You're gonna get it in the mail because they've got
a picture of it. So now the city wants to
know what to do with all of the money that
it is collecting. The Council has approved emotion to direct
the Department of Transportation to come up with a plan. Tentatively,
this motion calls for money to support more traffic officers,
paint and signage maintenance crews, speed humps, tools to address
(12:48):
the top fifty locations where street takeovers occur, as well
as measures to improve pedestrian safety. This motion also called
for a percentage of that revenue to go toward transportation
improvements in tim Prairie staffing for the twenty twenty eight
Olympic Games. Lastly, city staff will also consider using revenue
to further the bus lane enforcement program, so they'll reinvest
(13:10):
it and try to get more buses equipped with these cameras.
A total of fifty cameras were installed on buses serving
bus Line seven twenty and two twelve, primarily around the
downtown area. One camera can detect vehicles on roads and
traffic lanes. When the camera detects a parked vehicle, The
(13:30):
second camera records the license plate, and then a traffic
officer reviews the video and verifies its accuracy before issuing
a ticket. Citations detail information about the violation, the time, location,
and images or video evidence. We talked just moments ago
before we went to break about how broke the city is.
Now that they've got a taste of revenue coming in,
(13:53):
you can bet they're going to keep that program going
and try to grow it as much as they can.
Two hundred ninety three dollars tickets. Joke, don't park in
the byte in the bus lanes, folks. Amtrak has added
a thirteenth round trip on the surf Liner between LA
and San Diego that will return traffic to pre pandemic
levels later this month. The LA to San Diego San
(14:16):
Luis Obispo rail cord Or Agency low Sand. They say
this new round trip will be added beginning January twenty six.
The agency says this added service represents a significant step
forward for mobility in Southern California. With a thirteenth round trip,
riders have more options for commuting, business travel, and leisure
trips along our coast than the good news is between
(14:38):
January twenty sixth and March thirteenth, if you want to
ride between LA and San Diego, passengers will be able
to use the code V five two six to receive
a twenty percent discount a beautiful, beautiful trip on the
surf Liner. It's good to have good news about rail
in California, because goodness knows, we're all fear and curious
(15:01):
about the high speed rail project and how that cost
has ballooned so much over the years from when voters
finally gave the okay to it. Voters said, yeah, let's
build a high speed rail line between LA and San Francisco,
and they did that fifteen years ago, and still no
tracks are laid, there are no trains moving at all,
and the price has it's over like one hundred billion
(15:23):
dollars at this point. So it's irritating. But that's the
truth about basically anything we try to build here. It
just seems so futile to want to build anything. And
I noticed an announcement that came from La Metro about
a project that sounds cool, an eight mile river path project.
Metro is seeking public comment for this draft environmental impact report.
(15:46):
One of the reasons things are so hard to build
around here, all these environmental impact reports, but the public
gets to weigh in on these things, and this draft
EIR is out. You can take a look at it
and you can still issue your comments if you have
any concerns about this eight mile segment that is expected
to serve Elysian Valley, Cypress Park, Lincoln Hides, Chinatown, Downtown LA,
(16:08):
the Arts District, Boyle Hides, Vernon, and Maywood. This is
all part of the larger thirty two mile LA river
Path project that seeks to connect the San Fernando Valley
with Long Beach. A very interesting project, and you can
give your public input on the Metro website through February second.
But that wasn't what caught my attention. This thing was
(16:30):
funded by one of those things we were talking about,
sales taxes that people in LA love to approve. Yeah,
that sounds great. We'll pay a little bit more for
this measure. M You remember that it's a while ago.
Twenty sixteen voters approved this sales tax for transportation and
infrastructure initiatives. This eight mile river path was projected to
(16:51):
cost three hundred and sixty five million dollars Okay, that's
a lot, but it is eight miles long and it's
supposed to be a pretty good looking path. What do
you think the price is now? It's more than a billion,
I mean that's triple more than a billion dollars. They're
(17:16):
saying it's because of an increase in construction costs. Capital
cost estimates for the project are around five hundred ninety
five million dollars for a three point two mile northern segment,
six hundred and eighty eight million dollars for a five
mile southern segment, and approximately one billion to one point
two billion for the full eight mile segment. Metro says
(17:41):
when measure M was passed in twenty sixteen, the level
of engineering and designed for this project was not significant
and based on other portions of the existing La River
Bike Path with less physical constraints. After Metro took steps
to further design the project and coordinate with other agencies,
a more detailed and realistic project timeline was developed. Since
(18:04):
Metro does not own the majority of the right of
way for this project, exceptional coordination with several agency stakeholders
is required. Further coordination with these agency stakeholders is required
to continue to advance the project, including determining who will
operate and maintain the project. They don't even know who's
gonna run this thing. Oh, I love love being a
(18:26):
journalist in California because the government here always gives you
something something to talk about. But there you go, another
voter approved ballot measure. Yeah, we'll pay a little more
because these sound like a cool project. Measure M twenty sixteen,
three hundred and sixty five dollars for an eight mile
stretch of multi use trail bike paths along the La River,
(18:49):
part of a thirty two mile path from the San
Fernando Valley to Long Beach.
Speaker 3 (18:53):
Check.
Speaker 2 (18:54):
Yeah, I'll pay a little more for that. Oh, by
the way, it's going to actually be triple the cost,
and it'll be ten years later before we even get
the environmental impact report out to you. Coming up next,
Starbucks and this pig insult that they've made to an
La County Sheriff's deputy. They got a guy fired. That's
not the only Starbucks story in the news locally. There's
(19:16):
a couple of lawsuits involving their hot coffee. I'll tell
you about those ahead. As Michael Monks Reports continues.
Speaker 1 (19:23):
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 2 (19:30):
A worker at a Starbucks in Norwalk has been fired
for drawing a pig on a cup of coffee ordered
by an LA County Sheriff's deputy. This happened earlier in January,
but then the La County Sheriff's Department put out a
statement about it. It was at this Starbucks in Norwalk.
The deputy says he ordered a cup of coffee, the
(19:52):
cup shows up and it has a drawing of a
pig on it. Pig is often used as a po
jo towards police and law enforcement officers. Sheriff Robert Luna
issued a statement that he later contacted a person in
Starbucks Corporate Security division to raise his concerns. The statement
(20:14):
from the Sheriff's department says this action was extremely offensive, inappropriate,
and unacceptable. Acts that promote hostility and division towards law
enforcement undermine community trust and public safety. Now, the company
Starbucks says this was a hand drawn image of a
pig that was based on an internet meme John Pork, which,
(20:38):
by the way, is one of my favorite current Internet
memes I guess been around for a couple of years now.
This is the image. If you've seen it, it doesn't
look like John Pork. John Pork is this weird pig
face that is placed on a human body, and a
lot of younger people are using it as a prank
on older relatives like parents or grandparents or bosses. And
(20:59):
what happens in the John Pork meme is, let's say
your dad's phone would ring and John Pork would be calling.
So the phone had already been messed with, Like you've
gotten into your dad's phone and you've put John Pork
as a contact. So when you look at who's calling,
John Pork's name and pig face is on there. This
(21:23):
was not a drawing of John Pork, so that seemed
very skeptical. Starbucks fired this worker, and the company says
this was unacceptable. We have reached out to the customers
several times and the leaders in the Sheriff's department to apologize.
Every customer should always be made to feel welcome in
our stores. But that wasn't the only local Starbucks drama.
(21:48):
There are a couple of lawsuits floating around involving Starbucks.
Starbucks Corporation has asked a judge to stop requests for
the company's assets which have been made by customer who
sued this chain alleging to have suffered serious burns from
a spilled hot drink purchased at one of its stores.
(22:08):
In court papers filed Friday with the LA Superior Court
Judge Richard kim lyon excuse me, they're lost my place
in the reading, Starbucks attorneys contend that it is unnecessary
and premature for the plaintiff, Sala Lily Shabdiz, to be
making such request. This lawyer for Starbucks says that Schabbdiz
(22:32):
is known medical specials total less than three thousand dollars,
but she is seeking punitive damages and seeks extensive, unduly burnedsome,
financial and other document discovery from Starbucks. One request from
this woman who is suing is to produce all financial
analyzes or cost benefit reports comparing the expense of redesigning
(22:54):
Starbucks's hot beverage packaging versus settling burn injury claims, while
another would have Starbucks turnover all financial documents showing how
much it is spent on settlements or verdicts related to
burn injuries in the past ten years. Another one of
her requests is forced Starbucks to turn over financial statements,
including profit and loss, balance sheets, and cash flow statements
(23:16):
for the past five years. Shovedz is a twenty one
year old student at USC. She says she suffered a
severe and permanently injuring burn from the beverage she bought
at a store on South Figueroa Street in twenty twenty two.
She says she sustained severe thigh burns after the lid
of the sixteen ounce cup of jade citrus mint tea
(23:39):
heated to more than two hundred degrees, fell off and
the liquid spilled onto her legs after she returned to
her home, which was minutes away from that store. She
says the lid came off due to the way the
drive through employee handed the cup of tea to her.
She says the cashier handed shoved Is two separate cups
and the cup that eventually spilled from the sides, leaving
(24:03):
her no room to securely hold the beverage in the
sleeve area of the cup, which is usually where you
put your hands. So that lawsuit is ongoing, and look,
Starbucks could end up having to pay. I mean it
was just a year ago. March of twenty five that
a jury in LA awarded a driver for Postmates fifty
(24:26):
million dollars for the burns he suffered from a spilled
drink that had been bought at a Starbucks drive through
in Jefferson Park. So they've got this Shabdiz case to
worry about. Meanwhile, another woman has settled with Starbucks over
another spilled drink case. A woman who contended she suffered
(24:48):
burn injuries from a spilled hot drink she bought it
a Starbucks located in Norwalk has settled. Sabrina Michelle Ermez
says that she had received I'm so sorry we're messing
up this page here. Sabrina Michelle Urmez had filed a
lawsuit in Norwalk Superior Court saying that Starbucks committed negligence,
(25:11):
and she sought unspecified general and special damages, including reimbursements
for past and future medical cost and lost earnings. So
this past week, a clerk for the judge there wrote
in a minute order that the case was settled. No
terms were divulged, though. But here's what happened to this woman.
(25:31):
She goes to a Starbucks on Firestone Boulevard. She bought
hot drinks in the drive through, but because one cup
was not properly secured, the liquid spelled onto various parts
of her body, including her legs, her hip, her thighs,
her knee, her feet. She says she suffered serious injuries. Starbucks,
she says, owed a duty to exercise reasonable care with
(25:52):
respect to the preparation, handling, and service of hot beverages
so as to prevent them from spilling onto an injury
customers such as her. So there you go. You've got
two cases that are one settled, one ongoing, all very
similar circumstances. You have this other one that was settled
almost a year ago, back in March for fifty dollars
(26:16):
after a jury basically found Starbucks guilty of this thing,
all hot drinks spilling on folks. I don't know what
it is about Starbucks in LA. They got to secure
those lids. We have another segment to get through and
then we're finished, and we're done for the weekend. We
(26:37):
can all move on. And I want to tell you
that I want you to keep listening to KFI. We're
so glad that you listen. We love bringing you the
news and analysis and conversation. But it is also important
to get your news and information from other sources. You
want a diversity of viewpoints, and it's important to get
(26:58):
a little bit of opinion. It's all so important to
get information from folks who focus only on the facts.
There are a lot of new media outlets that have
popped up in Los Angeles. The biggest one that will
be open for readers in the coming week is none
other than the New York Post, which is opening up
(27:19):
the California Post and they are starting in just a
few days. We'll talk about that. The other local media
outlets that are now in operation, and there are a
lot of them, as well as the new baseball team
in Long Beach. They have finally decided on a name.
And by the way, did you know that if you
just wanted to play a little baseball in the streets
(27:40):
of Los Angeles, maybe toss the ball around with your son,
that's illegal. The city wants to change that. We'll finish
up the show with all of that. As Michael Monks
Reports continues.
Speaker 1 (27:51):
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 2 (27:59):
The council was voted to move forward with repealing a
city law that could subject people to a thousand dollars
fine and up to six months in jail for playing
catch and other sports on public and residential streets are
in some parks. This is an old law, of course,
one of those things, and it's probably never in force,
(28:20):
but just happens to be on the books. In fact,
it is noted as Los Angeles Municipal Code, Section fifty
six dot sixteen the Streets, Sidewalks, playing ball or Games
of Sport Law Council. When Bob Bloominfield raised this issue
back in August, he wasn't at the meeting this week
where they moved his motion forward, but he he mentioned
(28:41):
it last August as uncommonly silly. The section mandates that
no person shall play ball or any game of sport
with a ball or football, or throw, cast, shoot, or
discharge any stone, pellet, bullet, arrow, or any other missile
in over, across a long or a pond, any street
(29:04):
or sidewalk, or in any public park, except on those
portions of said parts set apart for such purposes. A
lot of ways of saying, don't throw anything, And so
city officials were looking over the Los Angeles Municipal Code
when they found this thing. They believe it was enacted
(29:24):
back in nineteen forty five and decided that this would
probably probably be off the books. Any serious activities though
in that code section, like firing a weapon or shooting arrows,
Those are already prohibited by other laws, according to Bloominfield's motions,
so we don't need it in this one. City officials
(29:45):
say that the law is outdated and no longer appropriate
for a modern city. So pretty soon we'll all be
able to go out in the streets of Los Angeles
and play a little bit of catch with the old man.
They'll be playing catch in Long Beach very soon. The
Long Beach baseball team that's coming to town this season
(30:07):
has a new name. They had put it out to
a vote. There were a lot of options considered, and
the Long Beach team has settled on the nickname Coast.
Maybe that makes sense for our FM friends upstairs on
coast to maybe a partner with them. It's a Long
Beach Coast. The team announced that few cities embodied duality
(30:29):
as Long Beach does. Eleven miles of coastline tie together
the west side and east side, where ocean meets concrete,
hustle meets chill, and old school roots meet new school energy.
The Long Beach Coast celebrates the connective thread that runs
through every part of the city. The Coast will anchor
the team's visual identity and presence, complemented by a dynamic
(30:53):
alter ego. So what's that alter ego they will play
is the Long Beach Regulators on occasion. That's a reference
to the song by Warren G. From back in the nineties.
He is one of the I guess investors' owners of
this new team. I thought that was a great name.
(31:15):
They should have gone with that. I guess Long Beach
Coast is fine, but they will operate as the Long
Beach Coast and will occasionally compete on special occasions as
the Long Beach Regulators. Warren G. Says, Long Beach has
always set its own tone and had its own swagger.
This baseball team the Coast represents the hearts of the city,
(31:37):
but the Regulator's legacy will always be part of Long
Beach culture. It's respect for where we've been, an excitement
for where we're going. Tickets go on sale for the
Long Beach Coast very soon, and in fact they're on sale.
They're on sale at Yeah. They had a parade over
(31:59):
the weekend and had their first kickoff events. Tickets are
on sale at their website, which is Longbeachcoast dot com.
They got merch available and coming up on January thirty first,
that's a Saturday, also from four to seven at watch
Me Sports Bar, they'll have another brand kickoff event. So
our newest professional team in the Pioneer Baseball League, the
(32:21):
Long Beach Coast Slash Regulators. There is a new newspaper
coming to town and it is a familiar name. You know,
the New York Post. You probably know the New York
Daily News as well. New York has a robust media
landscape that thrives in a way that we don't. We
(32:42):
never really had the same thing in southern California that
they have in New York. These serious but ridiculous tabloid
style newspapers. And I don't mean tabloid necessarily in the
sense of like gossipy rags like National Enquirer. I mean
tabloid in the technical sense, So that's actually a reference
to the size of the paper. And you know they're smaller,
(33:05):
but they do news. But what the New York Post
the New York Daily News do that none of us
out here do. Are those crazy headlines and those really
iconic front pages. Well, the New York Post is coming here.
They are rolling out the red carpet, they say, for
the California Post. And they have been snatching up reporters
(33:31):
from a lot of different entities here and it's like
they raided the La Times sports department. And that wasn't
anything I even considered. We've known since late last year
that the New York Post was coming to town with
the California Post. It never occurred to me that they
were going to go after sports so hard. But of
course they will. I mean, that's a big part of
the New York Post. I think this is going to
(33:53):
be a very interesting addition to the California media landscape
because if you've heard, well, let's take the past two
hours that we've spent together some of the serious stuff
but also a little bit of the ridiculous stuff that
goes on here. My goodness, are they going to have
a field day with the style of journalism that they do.
(34:17):
It's the California gold Rush all over again. They're absolutely
they're going to love it. And it's a big investment.
I mean, you don't hear about new newspaper starting and
they will be printing. There will be a physical newspaper available,
just like there is in New York. It's not something
that happens anymore. So it's always a good thing in
(34:40):
my view when investments are made in journalism and news corps.
The people behind the New York Post and Fox News
and all that, they're making an investment in journalism here,
and it's going to be a unique style of journalism
that we do not typically have. It's supposed to open,
(35:00):
I should say premiere in the parlance of Los Angeles
on January twenty six, so we're about a week out
from that, and I'm very anxious to see what their
first headlines are going to be. I know that this
is going to be a daily read for me. I
can't wait to feel the print edition. I say that
as somebody who really appreciates the LA Times as well.
(35:23):
I know it's easy to dump on them, and rightfully
so often, but they do a lot of great journalism
at the LA Times. So, but there's nothing in southern
California like there is in New York, and this is
our first taste of that. It's going to be very,
very cool to see January twenty sixth, the premiere of
(35:44):
the California Post. Speaking of the Los Angeles Times, they
recently compiled a lot of the a list of a
lot of the new media startups that have started. And
this is good too. This is my background. I had
started a newspaper back home in Kentucky and I sold
it before I moved here, and I know what it's like.
I know how important it is to communities that feel
like they're not served well by the larger media that
(36:07):
are getting smaller by the day. Unfortunately, the LA Local
has launched is it's got to focus on Boyle Heights,
East LA, Koreatown, Peaco Union and Westlake, Inglewood and South LA.
That's a new thing that has opened up. We've already
mentioned the California Post. There's a new publication called Golden
State that's a nonprofit outlet founded by two former LA
(36:31):
Times journalist La reported another former Times opinion journalist has
started this alongside Forbes journalist Scott Wooley. So some very
big investments being made in journalism in Southern California. You
love to see. It's always important to have a variety
(36:52):
of sources so that you can have the most information
that you can and you can form informed opinion. But
we do hope you keep KFI number one on your
dial and on the iHeartRadio app. But I can't wait
for that California post. I'm really looking forward to that.
That's going to be fun. Hey, it's been fun spending
(37:13):
the past couple of hours with you. If you missed
any part of it, do look us up at KFIAM
six forty dot com and listen to the whole thing.
We did a whole hour on the reemergence of ICE
enforcement activity taking place in Los Angeles and the heated
response and the outrage from LA City officials, LA County's
attempts to block ICE agents from using county property, and
(37:35):
some LA officials concerns about the federal government and the
White House Olympics Task Force and what role they will
play and organizing the Olympics in twenty twenty eight. We
also talked a lot about that proposed sales tax to
benefit the LA Fire Department and whether there's a fatigue
for increasing sales tax in Los Angeles based on the
(37:56):
results of other things we have so generously paid for.
Don't miss it. You can look it up KFIAM six
forty dot com or find it on the iHeartRadio app.
This has been Michael Monks Reports on Michael Monks from
KFI News. We'll talk again next Saturday at eight o'clock
in the evening.
Speaker 1 (38:12):
See you then, kf I Am six forty on demand
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