June 4, 2025 • 37 mins
The Personal Collection of Bill Walton at Public Auction coming up Thursday June 12th at 2:00pm ET
Guest: Dave Hunt – President of Hunt Auctions
Work zone "crisis" demands blue lights solution, says MassDOT Highway Admin.
Guest: Jonathan Gulliver - MassDOT Highway Administrator
The 2025 Thunder over New Hampshire Air Show - U.S. Navy Blue Angels Return to New Hampshire for First Time in 13 Years! Sept. 6th & 7th
Guest: Major Michelle Mastrobattista
Puppy Protection Act advancing in the House. Aimed at improving the welfare of dogs and puppies, particularly those in commercial breeding facilities, often referred to as puppy mills. Some dog advocates are concerned saying proposal would punish responsible US breeders and boost foreign puppy mills…
Guest: Sheila Goffe - the vice president of government relations for the American Kennel Club
Listen to WBZ NewsRadio on the NEW iHeart Radio app and be sure to set WBZ NewsRadio as your #1 preset!
Guest: Dave Hunt – President of Hunt Auctions
Work zone "crisis" demands blue lights solution, says MassDOT Highway Admin.
Guest: Jonathan Gulliver - MassDOT Highway Administrator
The 2025 Thunder over New Hampshire Air Show - U.S. Navy Blue Angels Return to New Hampshire for First Time in 13 Years! Sept. 6th & 7th
Guest: Major Michelle Mastrobattista
Puppy Protection Act advancing in the House. Aimed at improving the welfare of dogs and puppies, particularly those in commercial breeding facilities, often referred to as puppy mills. Some dog advocates are concerned saying proposal would punish responsible US breeders and boost foreign puppy mills…
Guest: Sheila Goffe - the vice president of government relations for the American Kennel Club
Listen to WBZ NewsRadio on the NEW iHeart Radio app and be sure to set WBZ NewsRadio as your #1 preset!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
It's night Side with Dan Ray. I'mbelling and Mazy, Boston's
news radio.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Thank you very much, Madison. Welcome to summer everyone. It's
June fourth, but I think summer arrived sometime today, a
few days ahead of time when summer normally arrives, so
summer really gets here actually technically on June twenti. It's
we're just a couple two and a half weeks ahead.
That's okay. I'll take the warm weather. My name is
Dan Ray, host of Nightside, as Madison so graciously mentioned,
(00:31):
and I am here every Monday through Friday night from
eight until midnight. Rob Brooks is back in the control room.
I think he has an assistant in there. Tonight Shane
is working with him. Tonight Robs doing a little bit
of training some of our newer team members, and all's
right with the world. We have four interesting guests coming up.
In the first hour. There were no phone calls, as
(00:51):
always during the first hour. We will get to some
topics later on tonight. A bit of a brawl that
is going on between Boston Mayor Michelle wou and United
States Attorney Lea Foley. That is an interesting development. And
also we'll talk about the end of the bromance. What
might be the end of the bromance between President Trump
(01:13):
and Elon Musk. So let us start with our first guest,
the president of Hunt Auctions, David Hunt, Dave Hunt, and
he is going to be putting up at public auction,
not this Thursday, but a week from tomorrow, beginning at
two o'clock, the personal collection of Bill Walton, who, of
(01:35):
course all of US Celtic fans remember, Bill Walton finished
out his career with a couple of pretty good seasons
here at the Boston Garden. Dave Hunt, Welcome to Nights Out.
How are you?
Speaker 3 (01:45):
Very good, pleasure to be here.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
So what do you have from the personal collection of
Bill Walton? A college champion, I'm a great player with
the Celtics at the end of his career. I've had
a a great player up with the old Portland trail Blazers.
What are we talking about here? I'll bet you there's
some interesting.
Speaker 3 (02:07):
Stuff, sure is. I think if you think about Bill Walton, unique,
you know, might be a good word to come to mind.
And not only was a unique human being and just
this interesting figure in sports history, but one of the
sort of one of the most encompassing careers in basketball
(02:29):
across all levels. As you mentioned, coming out of high school,
national recruit, goes to UCLA two time champion, one of
only two players, and if you think about this in
NCAA history, to be a three time college Player of
the Year three times, we'll all for Al Sampson. Then
you move on to professional levels. He takes an unlikely
(02:49):
team in Portland and takes him to an NBA championship
they're only championship since and wins the NBA MVP. Then
goes to you know, so on and so forth in
San Diego and Los Angeles, and then comes to Boston
and as you mentioned, you know, six Man of the
Year award, and you read about that Celtics team from
eighty six being considered by many to be the greatest
(03:10):
team in NBA history overall, and a lot of the
players when they're quoted saying that he was the key
component that they needed to push them to know, sort
of over that level to get to that championship, and
then of course into a broadcasting career that was you know,
legendary and finally and maybe most interestingly, considered by almost
everybody to be the greatest fan in the history of
(03:31):
the great BULTECHI. Yeah, yeah, that passed an interesting career
in life, for sure.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
You'll passed at much too young, an age seventy one
a year or so. So tell us some of the
items we will give out the website so people can
peruse some of these items. Are all of the Do
many of the items or any of the items have
reserve on them? Or is everything in play?
Speaker 1 (03:59):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (04:00):
Two fronts, There are two answers. I suppose there are
hundreds of items, and they range from a few hundred
dollars up to a few hundred thousand dollars. And that's
something that's important for both us and auctions and the
Wall and family for that matter, to have something for
everybody to truly let you know, all types of fans
and collectors participate. So the overwhelming majority literally have no reserve.
They will sell to the highest bidder, whatever that may be,
(04:23):
and even the very best items have very conservative reserves
to just protect them for a base level. We've averaged
around a ninety six to ninety eight percent sale rate
over thirty years, so you know, when you have a
great auction of great materials, and most importantly from a
great figure such as Bill they really become almost a
moot point because the market itself sets those levels, and
(04:45):
you'll see that in the bidding. You're going to see
things that are estimated at five hundred one thousand dollars
bring six and seven thousand dollars because that's what the
market decided they are worth. You may see some things
they're estimated at ten to twenty thousand bring seven thousand
because of the reverse of that. But that's kind of
the fun of it, right is to see where they'll fall.
And with those very pricing levels, there's so many interesting pieces,
(05:09):
you know, for your listeners, like not just his Celtics
World Championship ring, which is obviously one of the technical
pieces you could obtain, but even like you know, his
maybe his cachet Celtics bag that he had with some
images of Celtics players from that period. So just kind
of fun and interesting pieces of basketball history there there are,
(05:30):
you know, we're really privileged to offer, for sure.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
So the Championship Celtics ring, I mean, most people are
not going to be able to bid on something like that.
Bidding where is that ring expected to go for? The
high rollers? In my audience. I'm sure they're interesting behind that.
Speaker 3 (05:49):
Yeah, great, great question. And you know, for example, that's
estimated to fifty to one hundred thousand in the estimate,
you know, the pre sale estimates. It's already over fifty
thousand already in the online betting now, so we would
expect it to fall in that range. Could it bring more?
It certainly could. Given his importance to that particular team.
You know, we were honored, as maybe some of your
listeners recall, several years ago, to represent Bill Russell, you know,
(06:13):
in selling his things and with a portion of going
to his charities as well. And now Bill was not
a member of that team, but received a ring as
one of the members of the organization and that exceeded
six figures. And you know, so sort of interesting comparison.
And while you can use sort of comparable prices in
these in these materials, in these auctions, every auction is
different everyone. And it might be a particular party or
(06:36):
two or four that decided to focus on a piece
that takes them back to something that's very memorable to them.
The nostalge of what we do is what drives a
lot of us.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
Okay, so let me see if I can drive some
of my listeners. So let's say some of my listeners
the same. Boy, I'd love to get something from the
Bill Walton collection. But yeah, somebody's thinking, well, you know,
I can probably spend a couple one hundred, but what
are some items that maybe are in that range that
(07:06):
a real Bill Walton fan would want to be aware of.
Speaker 3 (07:11):
Yeah, that's exactly what we focus on, really. I mean,
the best pieces sort of take care of themselves. They
find their own path, if that makes sense. But there
are quite literally hundreds of pieces, hundreds ranging from it
might be a warm up pair of Celtics shorts that
shorts that he wore in practice that are two three four,
five hundred dollars. There might be a pair of tickets
(07:32):
that he was given for the eighty six playoffs that
were used by either family member or not used by
Bill or whatever, that are in that range. There are
dozens and dozens of small awards and interesting things. I mean,
there's a desk. This is a little bit of a
time piece, but there's a desk ornament like almost a
name plate from Larry Bird as a representative when he
worked for the Pacers that he gave to Bell. There's
(07:55):
just so many different interesting pieces that are under that
thousand range.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
Yeah, I think that you have peaked the interest of
my listeners and particularly Bill Walton fans, basketball fans generally.
So the auction early bidding, I guess is underway. The
auction doesn't officially start until next Thursday at two pm.
Is that correct?
Speaker 3 (08:18):
Basically, Yeah, the live auction, live, interactive online portion, that's correct.
But if you go to hunt auctions dot com you
can view all the items, register to bid, and then
decide which way you would like to do it. Some
people just prefer to put their bids in and let
the system basically do it in an automated fashion for them,
and some want to register to just to be part
of that mix. If you will, on auction day where
(08:39):
you can be on your phone at a Little league
game or work or wherever you are in this wonderful
world of technology in twenty twenty five and bid live
just as if you were sitting in a live auction
house room, you know, sort of in an old school,
raised the paddle type of way. But it's fun. It's
a lot of fun. It's a lot of interesting things
and prices and we tell people just go take a look,
(09:00):
even if you don't want to bid at all. It
is such a fascinating stroll through through history, especially with
the person is, as you know, as important as Bill
Walton is what he was to his support.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
Absolutely, Dave Hunt, thanks very much again, give us the
website one more time.
Speaker 3 (09:14):
Yes, hunt auctions dot Com again. Register, take a look
at all the items and be ready to bed.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
So when you get to Hunt auctions dot com you'll
see you'll be directed towards the Bill Walton collection.
Speaker 3 (09:27):
Yeah, it land you right on it. And I do
want to mention one quick thing. A portional proceeds of
course go to Walton family charity as well. Really important.
Speaker 2 (09:35):
Perfect Dave Hunt, thank you very much for your time.
Always an interesting guy to interview. Thanks Dave, You've got
he's got a fascinating career here. I must be a
lot of fun to go through these materials and catalog
them as well. Thanks so much. We'll talk again anytime
you get a big auction you let us know.
Speaker 1 (09:50):
Thank you so much, Thanky, thank you.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
When we get back, we're going to talk with Jonathan Goliver,
not about problems at the pike. In one twenty eight.
We may talk about how that went last weekend and
what that might augur for an upcoming weekend later this month.
That there's also, according to Jonathan Galliver, the MASSED Department
of Transportation Highway Administrator, a work zone crisis that demands
(10:13):
a blue light solution. We will explain on Nightside right
after the break. And by the way, don't forget if
you have not already pulled down the new and improved
iHeart app, you want to put it on whatever devices
you listen to WBZ listen to us any time of day,
every day during the week. We're only a fingertip away.
(10:34):
Pull the app down, put it on all of your devices,
and make us your first preset, so no matter where
you are in the world, you can just reach out
and be in contact with w BZ. My name's Dan Ray.
This is Nightside on a very comfortable Wednesday night. Gotta
get a little warmer tomorrow, but guess what it is June.
We expect that around here, and thank goodness, we finally
(10:55):
have some warm coming up. We'll be back on Nightside
right after this.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
You're on night Side with Dan Ray on w BEAZ,
Boston's news.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
Radio all right. A week or so ago, we talked
with Jonathan Golliver, he's the Massachusets Department of Transportation Highway
administrator about the big work. I don't want to say
big dig, the big work that it was being done
last weekend at one twenty eight and the master Turnpike. Jonathan,
before we move on to the issue at hand, how
(11:26):
did things go last weekend? Did you guys get accomplished
what you needed to accomplish that weekend and how bad
were the backups?
Speaker 4 (11:33):
So things went very very well. The backups were manageable
the whole time. We did get some pretty severe ones.
It took almost twice as long to get to the
job site, approached about an hour delay at one point
on Saturday, but for the most part stayed around thirty
minute delay, which is something that we consider to win.
You know, a lot of people stayed away from the site.
(11:55):
Exactly what we wanted to have happened. So thanks to
you and the rest of the media for really getting
the word out out and people really paid attention and
it really worked out great. We actually finished the job
about two and a half hours early, and we're looking
forward to hitting the next weekend on the twentieth coming
down a couple of weeks.
Speaker 2 (12:12):
The weekend of the twentieth, the twenty first, and the
twenty second. We'll have you back for that, but let's talk.
You have raised an alarm, which I think is legitimate,
that there's a work zone crisis that demands a blue
light solution. I think I know what you're talking about,
but I'm sure that you can explain it perfectly for
everyone in my audience, including myself.
Speaker 4 (12:33):
Sure, so this is something that's very, very important to us.
We obviously have a lot of work sites across the state.
Many of them are behind fixed work zones like the
one we did this weekend. But many of the job
sites that we have or maintenance, which means that they're
not behind fixed work zones with barriers. They're behind things
like barrels and cones, obviously a much softer barrier and
(12:55):
much more easily penetrated by things like cars. And we
do a lot of things to keep our guys safe
when they're working in those conditions. We make sure they're
in the high visibility gear, we make sure we have
crash trucks out there. But things happen, and speeds right
now are incredibly high not just in Massachusetts but across
the country, and we have seen an alarming trend over
(13:17):
the last few years, really since COVID, we have seen
things spike and we had a particularly deadly year this year.
One of our own staff, David Seussa, was killed just
a little bit less than a year ago in these
Bridgewater picking.
Speaker 1 (13:31):
Up some road debris at nighttime.
Speaker 4 (13:33):
And then just a few months ago in Springfield, we
had three workers for one of our contractors who was
doing some guardrail work was killed by a driver that
went into the work zone. And we have right now,
I think a really good chance is a lot of
safety initiatives being proposed of the legislature worked on earlier
this week, and I had the opportunity to testify on
(13:55):
one that was proposed to allow us to use blue
lights and very specific and limited ways as a way
to improve driver awareness when they're approaching some of the
work zones. So the way this would work is, uh,
it's for strictly for dot vehicles and I'm talking like
the heavy equipment stuff, so I'm talking like crash trucks,
(14:16):
where you would have a small number of blue lights
which have been very very proven to slow traffic down. Uh,
and they would be rear facing so that you would
see them as you're approaching these work zones. And and
you know, as they said to uh some folks earlier
in the week, the first thing every driver does when
they see blue lights coming up is they check their
(14:37):
speed and they slow down.
Speaker 2 (14:40):
Absolutely, that's going to disagree that the reaction we're looking for.
Speaker 1 (14:45):
Ye.
Speaker 2 (14:46):
So, so would would these blue lights be attached to
vehicles or would they be standalone blue lights that would
just warn people, Hey, you're approaching a work zone. You'll
want to pull over. I mean, everybody knows when you're
coming up on a police car which has pulled someone
over in the right hand lane, if you can, you're
(15:06):
supposed to drift into another lane to the left to
give the police officer as much clearance as possible when
he gets when he or she gets in or out
of their vehicle. Same principle is applying here, I believe.
Speaker 4 (15:20):
The exact same principle, And the idea would be to
put it as part of the standard light package that
we have on our trucks right now, so we have
amber lights, and this would be something that would be
again small number, a lot of states do this in
different ways, and this is something that you know to
be clear, this law change would allow it. Like right now,
we're not allowed to even discuss even a pilot. This
(15:42):
would allow us to go into a to set up
rules and regulations about how these would be used. And
the way we're envisioning it is how many other states
do it, which is very small number of lights, So
we're talking less than twenty percent of the lights on
the light package. Would be blue, could be fixed, could
be off lading, It could be on one side of
the truck or the other. There's a few different ways
(16:03):
of doing it, and we'd want to trial out these things.
We're facing only only for trucks that are going to
low speed, so there would be no mistake about it.
Nobody's going to confuse one of these for a police
vehicle or something along those lines. What we're looking for
is that instinctual gut response that people have when they
see blue lights. That's proven over and over again. We
want them to want them to hit the brakes, we
want them to slow down, we want them to do
(16:24):
that speed check and move over, and we don't get
that kind of reaction with amber lights. There's a lot
of Again, we have a lot of construction sites out
there right now, and there's a lot of other things
that use amber lights, like tow trucks and such. They
don't invoke the same reaction as the blue lights, and
it's really that slow down through that work zone that
we're looking for.
Speaker 2 (16:42):
Last clarification, Jonathan, would these blue lights be both on
trucks that might be moving from one area to another
area as well as trucks which were stationary where work
is going on in a specific area. It seems to
me that they should be available in both trucks that
are moving on the road to a work site and
trucks that are functioning on a work site, because that'd
(17:06):
be a little bit protective of the workers.
Speaker 4 (17:10):
So I think both makes sense to me. But you know,
this is something that we we would be certainly willing
to trial out either way, and really our goal is
to get the most effective one. So if we do
have some of these rolling operations like the road debris
that I was talking about, where where we think.
Speaker 3 (17:27):
Having uh, you know, a.
Speaker 4 (17:28):
Blue light that that is in that slow moving maintenance
activity would be effective. But there's also another areas too,
where where we think having whether it's a when it's
a short term uh saying where the park truck, Like
if let's say you're feeling a pothole. Again, that blue
light is effective at keeping people slowed.
Speaker 2 (17:45):
Down, absolutely, and it's also it's a safety factor for
the drivers because you see that blue light, it's going
to it's going to get your attention. If you if
you're kind of not paying attention and all of a
sudden you're in a in a lane and you're into
the back of a truck because it didn't have blue lights.
It's a safety factor for the drivers as well. So
(18:05):
I hope you get that, Jonathan. If anything we can
do to help you, let us know. Okay, all right.
Speaker 4 (18:10):
I really appreciate and appreciate the attention you bringing to it.
Very important safety regulation for us.
Speaker 2 (18:16):
I'm delighted to do it, and I look forward to
doing something with you in advance, you know, sometime in
the middle of that week of June sixteenth to the twentieth,
so we can once again ring the alarm bell for
everybody to stay away that weekend of the twentieth. Thanks Jonathan, Oliver,
appreciate it very much, all right, Thank you, Dan. All Right,
we get back when I tell you about the twenty
(18:37):
twenty five thunder Over New Hampshire Air Show. US Navy
Blue Angels going to be back in New Hampshire the
first time in thirteen years. This gets to September, but
let me tell you they are a great attraction. You
want to know in advance. We'll be talking with a
major from the military, Major Michelle Mastro Battista, coming back
(18:57):
right after the news break at the bottom of the hour.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
Side with Dan Ray. I'm w Z Boston's news Radio.
Speaker 2 (19:05):
All right, we tend to promote things that, oh are
going to happen a couple of weeks or maybe at
the most a month. But when you start talking about
the US Navy Blue Angels, who now we're talking the
twenty twenty five thunder Over New Hampshire Air Show will
return to New Hampshire for the first time in thirteen
(19:26):
years September sixth and seventh with US. Now is Major
Michelle Maustro Bautista. Major Mastro Bautista, Welcome to night side.
I assume that tickets are gonna get harder to get
as the summer goes on, so tell us how tough
it is to get the Blue Angels to come back,
(19:46):
and what is it going to be like to stand
to be in New Hampshire that particular weekend.
Speaker 5 (19:54):
Hi, thanks for having me. Yes, it's really hard to
get the Blue Angels. You have to request them to
come out to your show two years in advance, and
you're competing with hundreds of other shows across the country.
So we're really excited to have them come back to
see us. They haven't been here since about twenty twelve.
It's going to be a busy weekend. There's a lot
of activity going on in the Sea Coast, but the
(20:14):
Blue Angels will be here all weekend, as well as
a lot of other demo shows, so we can't wait.
Speaker 2 (20:20):
So the tickets get you on to the property. This
is not like going to a race car event to
go into a football game. What did the tickets? What
access did the tickets get people other than what they
might get if they just kind of drove in the
area looked up in the sky. I'm trying to make
(20:42):
them understand why they really need to get some tickets.
Speaker 5 (20:46):
Yeah, well, the premium parking tickets are sold out at
this time. However, we're really excited to have a drop
off location. It's located at the P's International Airport, and
that's where people can partake and ride share or drop
off or bicycles even and they can just come on
in for free. So the admission is completely free for anybody.
(21:08):
And right now our production team is actively working more
perking nearby.
Speaker 2 (21:14):
Oh I see, okay, So I've never been to one
of these air shows, but I assume that the area
that the Blue Angels will be performing in has to
be a pretty big chunk of the sky. I mean,
what are we talking four or five miles in every
direction or because.
Speaker 5 (21:35):
Just about Yes, if you're in the area, you'll see them.
But if you want the best front seat area to
see them, you'll definitely want to come to our air
show that weekend.
Speaker 2 (21:47):
And this is not Labor Day weekend. It's the weekend
after Labor Day, which I think is important for people
to know to realize. And again, so there's no tickets,
what you're paying for is parking access or yeah, I see, okay,
So the show, the program is free to free at
(22:09):
one and all bank of crowd. Do you think again,
New Hampshire, we know where that portion of New Hampshire's
you're done in the southeast corner of the state. How
many people do you think are going to attend this
year based upon once you've done other.
Speaker 5 (22:23):
Years, based on our past couple of air shows, we
are definitely expecting over forty thousand guests each day, and
we have a lot on the ramp to showcase while
they're here, so hopefully they get out and see our
stem exhibits as well as all the statics and enjoy
the aerial acts that we have lined up now.
Speaker 2 (22:43):
I assume that one of the benefits from the Air
Force point of view with the Blue Angels and the
Navy as well, they're the US Navy's Blue Angels. I
want to be clear on that, is you're hoping that
this might inspire some young people, young men, young women
to join the service of the country. Does that generally
(23:07):
follow that after an event like this, people get inspired
and all of a sudden they say, Hey, maybe I'll
sign up out of high school. I assume this is
a recruiting tool as well.
Speaker 5 (23:19):
It's definitely one of our bigger events for that reason,
and all branches benefit from this. After our last couple
of years shows, we directly had people wanting to join
our unit and other branches. But the benefit of this
is that we're planting seeds for the next ten, twenty,
maybe thirty years into the future for our military. So
it's definitely worth it, worth it for us to put
(23:41):
on a good show that people remember for the rest
of their lives.
Speaker 2 (23:44):
Now your branch major is you're an Air Force major? Correct? Yes? Okay,
if some eighteen or nineteen year old young man or
woman was inspired, can they sign up and say, gee,
I'd like to somehow work in the branch that gets
me close to the Blue Angels. How does that work?
(24:06):
I had an MS many years ago called thirty six
K twenty which had nothing to do with anything this exciting.
Trust me on that. How How does the Air Force
and you know, the do you and does the Navy
give people a chance when they volunteer. It's an all
volunteer military. Now to say, gee, this is an area
(24:27):
that i'd like to work in, whether I'm in Air Force,
whether I'm an airplane mechanic, I'd like to work in
that portion of the service. Or is it kind of
like we'll talk to you after boot camp.
Speaker 1 (24:40):
No.
Speaker 5 (24:40):
I think there's a lot of opportunities there even if
you're an active aviator or a support person. It's a
very team oriented organization. So if you are interested in
those things, you know, we'll have recruiters all over the
ramp who can certainly answer questions from all the branches
if you have a specific question for a specific brand
that people are interested in. But it's just got to
(25:00):
get that conversation started and make your you know, a
young person interested has to make their interests known and
people we try to work with them.
Speaker 2 (25:09):
So even the Army will have representatives there as well.
Speaker 5 (25:12):
Right absolutely, I mean the Army is going to be
in the air. They're going to have a great Blackhawk demonstration.
We're really excited about that.
Speaker 2 (25:19):
Oh okay, okay, So so it's more than just a
Blue Angels. That's that's great. So what is the website?
Where can people go today to to to basically do
whatever they can do to get as good a view
of what's going to happen that weekend of September sixth
and seventh? Where can where can they go?
Speaker 5 (25:39):
Sure, they can go to thunderover New Hampshire dot com
and that's where any future parking opportunities will appear, as
well as our lineup as it grows, and the FAQs
what to bring, what not to bring, and you know,
just to get excited and pumped up and be connected
for our show coming up.
Speaker 2 (25:58):
Yeah, I'm looking It says general admission is free, does
not require a ticket, but parking on site does require
the reservation of a parking pass. So this is this
is great. It's something called the Wildcat Club is a
spacious tented area. So yeah, you got this looks great.
(26:19):
I got to tell you, folks, you've got to get
there as a matter of fact, it might even be
tough right now, but navigate this site and try to
get to where you wherever you can. But wherever you can,
I guess there's some memberships that are that are available
as well. Here. Uh, this is a great website. I
wish I had looked at it earlier, but just get there, folks.
(26:41):
If you're interested in this, believe me, this is going
to be This is going to be quite an event
up in New Hampshire on September sixth and seventh. Again,
website one more time major if you'd be so kind.
Speaker 5 (26:53):
Sure it's thunderover New Hampshire dot com and we hope
that everyone can make it up for a event.
Speaker 2 (27:00):
Sounds great. Thank you very much. I do appreciate you
taking the time to talk with us tonight, Major Michelle
mastro Batista, Major, thank you very much and thank you
for your service.
Speaker 5 (27:11):
Hey wear, are you welcome? Have a good night.
Speaker 2 (27:13):
All right? When we get back after our break here
at I'm eight forty five, those of you who like puppies,
which I believe means all of you, we're going to
talk about the Puppy Protection Act. I mean, who's not
in favor protecting puppies will explain it all on the
other side of this very quick break on a Wednesday night,
(27:33):
a warm Wednesday night. It's going to get warm or
maybe even tomorrow, but it's starting to feel like summer,
even though it's still spring. Back on Nightside right after this.
Speaker 1 (27:44):
Night Side with Dan Ray, I'mbzy Boston's News Radio.
Speaker 2 (27:51):
Well, this is a story you want to pay attention to.
My guest is Sheila Goff. Sheila Hope, I'm pronouncing that correctly.
I know there's an E on the end. Is at golf?
You nailed it, okay. You were the vice president of
government relations for the American Kennel Club AKAC, And there
(28:11):
is a piece of legislation which I guess is making
its way through Congress. I believe it's has it passed
the House already, So this is uh hasn't passed the House, Okay,
So it's in the House, which would have to pass
the House and Senate to get to the President's desk.
And it's entitled the Puppy Protection Act, which makes it
(28:31):
sound like, hey, who wouldn't vote for that? But I
guess the AKAC, the American Kennel Club is a little
bit concerned about this, this piece of legislation because it
would it would adversely impact breeders of puppies in America
who are doing it properly, and help some the importation
(28:55):
of dogs from countries like China and Turkey. This a
little confused, but I know you're going to straighten it
out for us.
Speaker 6 (29:02):
Go right ahead, absolutely, Thanks so much for having me
on tonight. Yeah, it's called a it's a bill that's
just been reintroduced in the US House, and it's called
the Puppy Protection Act. And as you know a lot
of folks know, sometimes the name on a bill does
not appropriately describe what the bill's about.
Speaker 7 (29:25):
And I think a lot of people support.
Speaker 6 (29:26):
This, thinking it's a good bill designed to help puppies.
The problem with it is it establishes under federal licensing
for breeders once a lot of one size fits all
regulations that are very hard for our small hobby breeders
(29:47):
to meet.
Speaker 7 (29:50):
The Feds regulate.
Speaker 6 (29:53):
A lot of people don't realize this, but the Feds
actually regulate job breeders. Anyone who has more than four
intact females with the cats, wraps, gurbils, dogs, small mammals,
and sells one site unseen as actually subject to commercial
breeder laws. A lot of folks don't realize that's a
(30:15):
pretty low threshold.
Speaker 7 (30:16):
So you have one Golden Retriever, two Golden Retrievers, and you're.
Speaker 6 (30:19):
Going to have a little poppies, and when the time comes,
you ship one to your sister out in Montana and
lo and behold, you're actually subject to USDA licensing as
a commercial breeder. So folks think about.
Speaker 2 (30:35):
So I think what I just heard. I think what
I'm hearing you're saying is that if you read within
a state, stay within that state, and sell within the state,
and you don't cross state lines, you're regulated by the
state in which you're functioning. But once you get into
interstate shipment, now you come under the federal guidelines.
Speaker 6 (30:58):
Correct, although it have been we've and we've seen cases
where it doesn't even have to involve interstate commerce.
Speaker 2 (31:08):
Maybe advertising which might might cause advertising in a neighboring
state of it. That's what's going on there, right, Okay,
fair enough? Okay, So what what would this? What will
this act? And again, is there a specific member of
Congress is really pushing this or is this just something
that gets filed every year or so?
Speaker 7 (31:29):
Yeah, it's gotten filed for several years.
Speaker 6 (31:32):
The primary sponsor is Brian Fitzpatrick from Pennsylvania, but he
generally gets quite a few co sponsors because it establishes
requirements that sound good if you're thinking about commercial breeders.
But the problem is because it actually regulates a lot
(31:54):
of small hobby breeders, it's not so good. And our
concern is it's going to put those small hobby breeders,
the folks you want to go to their house and
meet mom and dad and see how they're brought up
and see the other puppies. That's the concern is, is
putting those folks into a situation where they can't continue
(32:15):
to operate, and inadvertently, perhaps we're putting the very folks
that we want to sort of encourage out of business.
Speaker 1 (32:25):
And the concern with doing that.
Speaker 7 (32:29):
We want to encourage them.
Speaker 5 (32:31):
But b there is a lot of people don't realize us.
Speaker 6 (32:37):
Your fact for the day is, demographically speaking, the replacement
rate for puppies in the United States is eight million.
Speaker 7 (32:45):
So like people, puppies age, you know, they.
Speaker 6 (32:48):
Get older, we lose them, families get.
Speaker 5 (32:51):
A new dog.
Speaker 7 (32:52):
So the demand for eight million dogs a year. The
last year for which we have numbers.
Speaker 6 (33:00):
One point two five million dogs were imported into the
United States for the pet market.
Speaker 7 (33:07):
It's an absolutely shocking.
Speaker 2 (33:08):
Domer wow, and from countries like China and Turkey.
Speaker 6 (33:14):
Right from countries that unfortunately don't have the level of
oversight and regulation that we do. So you know, our
argument isn't that commercial breeders shouldn't be a professional breeder
shouldn't be regulated.
Speaker 7 (33:26):
American count Club believes.
Speaker 6 (33:28):
They absolutely should be, and we all of course have
to be subject to any kind of negligence or cruelty rules,
but over regulating a small hobby breeder, saying you have
to have certain types of commercial countling. When you're actually
your family, pets will hang out, you know, on the
sofa in the living room.
Speaker 7 (33:49):
Isn't the most effective way for us to get.
Speaker 3 (33:51):
At that issue.
Speaker 2 (33:53):
Yeah, well, it's interesting that you spotlight this because when
you talk Puppy Protection Act, do you think, oh, there's
something I got to port. I'm glad that you've explained it.
I know that you had an is an op ed
piece yesterday in the Boston Herald. If I'm not mistaken,
or was it in today's paper? I guess it was yesterday's.
(34:13):
It was yesterday, Okay, So people can go if they
find their Boston Herald from yesterday, go on the Herald
website and find that again. It's it's entitled house proposal
would boost foreign puppy mills. We're trying to get rid
of puppy mills in the US. Kind of seems to
me and be a little crazy. I know, my my
daughter has has adopted uh. I keep referring to my
(34:38):
my favorite one of them. I have two favorite dogs,
my my my children's dogs Willie, Who's shitsu part Shorky
uh Shitsu and part part Yorky. So it's called the
Shorky uh. And and then Mustard, who was a beautiful
Corgie uh that my daughter adopted a little less than
(35:01):
two years ago at a animal shelter in situate south
of Boston, and it is the nicest dog. They're both
great dogs, different personalities, but again, you know, there were dogs,
There were dogs that are available in shelters, folks, and
those are great dogs. Go down if you're going to
think about buying a dog, go look at the shelters
(35:24):
dogs because they need they need to be homed, and
they need homes and they need good families and something. Now,
So I'm a big pusher of that, Okay, just so you.
Speaker 6 (35:33):
Know, yeah, and I just want to add that one
thing A lot of people don't realize about the American
Channel Clubs. We're actually the largest rescue network in the
country through our Green Clubs. So people who are interested
in rescuing a particular breed. We believe in what we
call sort of pet choice, which is that people should
become very educated before they ever get a dog. Understand
(35:56):
what they're getting into, and understand, you know, the very
characteristics of say that Corghi versus you know, the ships
to mix and then see what your options are. You
may want to go to rescue, you may want to
go to shelter, you may want to go to a
responsible breder. And our concern is that people just get
that right pet for their lifestyle.
Speaker 2 (36:17):
Sounds great, Sheila, I thank you so much for your
time tonight, and again keep up doing the great work
that you do and that the AKC does. Thank you
so much.
Speaker 4 (36:26):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 6 (36:28):
Take care.
Speaker 2 (36:28):
All right, we will come back. We get the nine
o'clock news coming at us, and we get back. We're
going to get to a more serious topic, and that
is there is a real battle going on, a verbal
sparring battle between Boston Mayor and Michelle wou and US
Attorney Lea Foley Uh and that really broke out today
(36:49):
and the US Attorney issued a very strong condemnation of
some of the statements that the Mayor of Boston has made.
We'll have that and we'll have your the action to it.
If you'd like to join the conversation, we'll take a
lot of phone calls in the next hour. Talk to
you in the other side, on the other side of
the nine o'clock news here on night side.
It's night Side with Dan Ray. I'mbelling and Mazy, Boston's
news radio.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Thank you very much, Madison. Welcome to summer everyone. It's
June fourth, but I think summer arrived sometime today, a
few days ahead of time when summer normally arrives, so
summer really gets here actually technically on June twenti. It's
we're just a couple two and a half weeks ahead.
That's okay. I'll take the warm weather. My name is
Dan Ray, host of Nightside, as Madison so graciously mentioned,
(00:31):
and I am here every Monday through Friday night from
eight until midnight. Rob Brooks is back in the control room.
I think he has an assistant in there. Tonight Shane
is working with him. Tonight Robs doing a little bit
of training some of our newer team members, and all's
right with the world. We have four interesting guests coming up.
In the first hour. There were no phone calls, as
(00:51):
always during the first hour. We will get to some
topics later on tonight. A bit of a brawl that
is going on between Boston Mayor Michelle wou and United
States Attorney Lea Foley. That is an interesting development. And
also we'll talk about the end of the bromance. What
might be the end of the bromance between President Trump
(01:13):
and Elon Musk. So let us start with our first guest,
the president of Hunt Auctions, David Hunt, Dave Hunt, and
he is going to be putting up at public auction,
not this Thursday, but a week from tomorrow, beginning at
two o'clock, the personal collection of Bill Walton, who, of
(01:35):
course all of US Celtic fans remember, Bill Walton finished
out his career with a couple of pretty good seasons
here at the Boston Garden. Dave Hunt, Welcome to Nights Out.
How are you?
Speaker 3 (01:45):
Very good, pleasure to be here.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
So what do you have from the personal collection of
Bill Walton? A college champion, I'm a great player with
the Celtics at the end of his career. I've had
a a great player up with the old Portland trail Blazers.
What are we talking about here? I'll bet you there's
some interesting.
Speaker 3 (02:07):
Stuff, sure is. I think if you think about Bill Walton, unique,
you know, might be a good word to come to mind.
And not only was a unique human being and just
this interesting figure in sports history, but one of the
sort of one of the most encompassing careers in basketball
(02:29):
across all levels. As you mentioned, coming out of high school,
national recruit, goes to UCLA two time champion, one of
only two players, and if you think about this in
NCAA history, to be a three time college Player of
the Year three times, we'll all for Al Sampson. Then
you move on to professional levels. He takes an unlikely
(02:49):
team in Portland and takes him to an NBA championship
they're only championship since and wins the NBA MVP. Then
goes to you know, so on and so forth in
San Diego and Los Angeles, and then comes to Boston
and as you mentioned, you know, six Man of the
Year award, and you read about that Celtics team from
eighty six being considered by many to be the greatest
(03:10):
team in NBA history overall, and a lot of the
players when they're quoted saying that he was the key
component that they needed to push them to know, sort
of over that level to get to that championship, and
then of course into a broadcasting career that was you know,
legendary and finally and maybe most interestingly, considered by almost
everybody to be the greatest fan in the history of
(03:31):
the great BULTECHI. Yeah, yeah, that passed an interesting career
in life, for sure.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
You'll passed at much too young, an age seventy one
a year or so. So tell us some of the
items we will give out the website so people can
peruse some of these items. Are all of the Do
many of the items or any of the items have
reserve on them? Or is everything in play?
Speaker 1 (03:59):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (04:00):
Two fronts, There are two answers. I suppose there are
hundreds of items, and they range from a few hundred
dollars up to a few hundred thousand dollars. And that's
something that's important for both us and auctions and the
Wall and family for that matter, to have something for
everybody to truly let you know, all types of fans
and collectors participate. So the overwhelming majority literally have no reserve.
They will sell to the highest bidder, whatever that may be,
(04:23):
and even the very best items have very conservative reserves
to just protect them for a base level. We've averaged
around a ninety six to ninety eight percent sale rate
over thirty years, so you know, when you have a
great auction of great materials, and most importantly from a
great figure such as Bill they really become almost a
moot point because the market itself sets those levels, and
(04:45):
you'll see that in the bidding. You're going to see
things that are estimated at five hundred one thousand dollars
bring six and seven thousand dollars because that's what the
market decided they are worth. You may see some things
they're estimated at ten to twenty thousand bring seven thousand
because of the reverse of that. But that's kind of
the fun of it, right is to see where they'll fall.
And with those very pricing levels, there's so many interesting pieces,
(05:09):
you know, for your listeners, like not just his Celtics
World Championship ring, which is obviously one of the technical
pieces you could obtain, but even like you know, his
maybe his cachet Celtics bag that he had with some
images of Celtics players from that period. So just kind
of fun and interesting pieces of basketball history there there are,
(05:30):
you know, we're really privileged to offer, for sure.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
So the Championship Celtics ring, I mean, most people are
not going to be able to bid on something like that.
Bidding where is that ring expected to go for? The
high rollers? In my audience. I'm sure they're interesting behind that.
Speaker 3 (05:49):
Yeah, great, great question. And you know, for example, that's
estimated to fifty to one hundred thousand in the estimate,
you know, the pre sale estimates. It's already over fifty
thousand already in the online betting now, so we would
expect it to fall in that range. Could it bring more?
It certainly could. Given his importance to that particular team.
You know, we were honored, as maybe some of your
listeners recall, several years ago, to represent Bill Russell, you know,
(06:13):
in selling his things and with a portion of going
to his charities as well. And now Bill was not
a member of that team, but received a ring as
one of the members of the organization and that exceeded
six figures. And you know, so sort of interesting comparison.
And while you can use sort of comparable prices in
these in these materials, in these auctions, every auction is
different everyone. And it might be a particular party or
(06:36):
two or four that decided to focus on a piece
that takes them back to something that's very memorable to them.
The nostalge of what we do is what drives a
lot of us.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
Okay, so let me see if I can drive some
of my listeners. So let's say some of my listeners
the same. Boy, I'd love to get something from the
Bill Walton collection. But yeah, somebody's thinking, well, you know,
I can probably spend a couple one hundred, but what
are some items that maybe are in that range that
(07:06):
a real Bill Walton fan would want to be aware of.
Speaker 3 (07:11):
Yeah, that's exactly what we focus on, really. I mean,
the best pieces sort of take care of themselves. They
find their own path, if that makes sense. But there
are quite literally hundreds of pieces, hundreds ranging from it
might be a warm up pair of Celtics shorts that
shorts that he wore in practice that are two three four,
five hundred dollars. There might be a pair of tickets
(07:32):
that he was given for the eighty six playoffs that
were used by either family member or not used by
Bill or whatever, that are in that range. There are
dozens and dozens of small awards and interesting things. I mean,
there's a desk. This is a little bit of a
time piece, but there's a desk ornament like almost a
name plate from Larry Bird as a representative when he
worked for the Pacers that he gave to Bell. There's
(07:55):
just so many different interesting pieces that are under that
thousand range.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
Yeah, I think that you have peaked the interest of
my listeners and particularly Bill Walton fans, basketball fans generally.
So the auction early bidding, I guess is underway. The
auction doesn't officially start until next Thursday at two pm.
Is that correct?
Speaker 3 (08:18):
Basically, Yeah, the live auction, live, interactive online portion, that's correct.
But if you go to hunt auctions dot com you
can view all the items, register to bid, and then
decide which way you would like to do it. Some
people just prefer to put their bids in and let
the system basically do it in an automated fashion for them,
and some want to register to just to be part
of that mix. If you will, on auction day where
(08:39):
you can be on your phone at a Little league
game or work or wherever you are in this wonderful
world of technology in twenty twenty five and bid live
just as if you were sitting in a live auction
house room, you know, sort of in an old school,
raised the paddle type of way. But it's fun. It's
a lot of fun. It's a lot of interesting things
and prices and we tell people just go take a look,
(09:00):
even if you don't want to bid at all. It
is such a fascinating stroll through through history, especially with
the person is, as you know, as important as Bill
Walton is what he was to his support.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
Absolutely, Dave Hunt, thanks very much again, give us the
website one more time.
Speaker 3 (09:14):
Yes, hunt auctions dot Com again. Register, take a look
at all the items and be ready to bed.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
So when you get to Hunt auctions dot com you'll
see you'll be directed towards the Bill Walton collection.
Speaker 3 (09:27):
Yeah, it land you right on it. And I do
want to mention one quick thing. A portional proceeds of
course go to Walton family charity as well. Really important.
Speaker 2 (09:35):
Perfect Dave Hunt, thank you very much for your time.
Always an interesting guy to interview. Thanks Dave, You've got
he's got a fascinating career here. I must be a
lot of fun to go through these materials and catalog
them as well. Thanks so much. We'll talk again anytime
you get a big auction you let us know.
Speaker 1 (09:50):
Thank you so much, Thanky, thank you.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
When we get back, we're going to talk with Jonathan Goliver,
not about problems at the pike. In one twenty eight.
We may talk about how that went last weekend and
what that might augur for an upcoming weekend later this month.
That there's also, according to Jonathan Galliver, the MASSED Department
of Transportation Highway Administrator, a work zone crisis that demands
(10:13):
a blue light solution. We will explain on Nightside right
after the break. And by the way, don't forget if
you have not already pulled down the new and improved
iHeart app, you want to put it on whatever devices
you listen to WBZ listen to us any time of day,
every day during the week. We're only a fingertip away.
(10:34):
Pull the app down, put it on all of your devices,
and make us your first preset, so no matter where
you are in the world, you can just reach out
and be in contact with w BZ. My name's Dan Ray.
This is Nightside on a very comfortable Wednesday night. Gotta
get a little warmer tomorrow, but guess what it is June.
We expect that around here, and thank goodness, we finally
(10:55):
have some warm coming up. We'll be back on Nightside
right after this.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
You're on night Side with Dan Ray on w BEAZ,
Boston's news.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
Radio all right. A week or so ago, we talked
with Jonathan Golliver, he's the Massachusets Department of Transportation Highway
administrator about the big work. I don't want to say
big dig, the big work that it was being done
last weekend at one twenty eight and the master Turnpike. Jonathan,
before we move on to the issue at hand, how
(11:26):
did things go last weekend? Did you guys get accomplished
what you needed to accomplish that weekend and how bad
were the backups?
Speaker 4 (11:33):
So things went very very well. The backups were manageable
the whole time. We did get some pretty severe ones.
It took almost twice as long to get to the
job site, approached about an hour delay at one point
on Saturday, but for the most part stayed around thirty
minute delay, which is something that we consider to win.
You know, a lot of people stayed away from the site.
(11:55):
Exactly what we wanted to have happened. So thanks to
you and the rest of the media for really getting
the word out out and people really paid attention and
it really worked out great. We actually finished the job
about two and a half hours early, and we're looking
forward to hitting the next weekend on the twentieth coming
down a couple of weeks.
Speaker 2 (12:12):
The weekend of the twentieth, the twenty first, and the
twenty second. We'll have you back for that, but let's talk.
You have raised an alarm, which I think is legitimate,
that there's a work zone crisis that demands a blue
light solution. I think I know what you're talking about,
but I'm sure that you can explain it perfectly for
everyone in my audience, including myself.
Speaker 4 (12:33):
Sure, so this is something that's very, very important to us.
We obviously have a lot of work sites across the state.
Many of them are behind fixed work zones like the
one we did this weekend. But many of the job
sites that we have or maintenance, which means that they're
not behind fixed work zones with barriers. They're behind things
like barrels and cones, obviously a much softer barrier and
(12:55):
much more easily penetrated by things like cars. And we
do a lot of things to keep our guys safe
when they're working in those conditions. We make sure they're
in the high visibility gear, we make sure we have
crash trucks out there. But things happen, and speeds right
now are incredibly high not just in Massachusetts but across
the country, and we have seen an alarming trend over
(13:17):
the last few years, really since COVID, we have seen
things spike and we had a particularly deadly year this year.
One of our own staff, David Seussa, was killed just
a little bit less than a year ago in these
Bridgewater picking.
Speaker 1 (13:31):
Up some road debris at nighttime.
Speaker 4 (13:33):
And then just a few months ago in Springfield, we
had three workers for one of our contractors who was
doing some guardrail work was killed by a driver that
went into the work zone. And we have right now,
I think a really good chance is a lot of
safety initiatives being proposed of the legislature worked on earlier
this week, and I had the opportunity to testify on
(13:55):
one that was proposed to allow us to use blue
lights and very specific and limited ways as a way
to improve driver awareness when they're approaching some of the
work zones. So the way this would work is, uh,
it's for strictly for dot vehicles and I'm talking like
the heavy equipment stuff, so I'm talking like crash trucks,
(14:16):
where you would have a small number of blue lights
which have been very very proven to slow traffic down. Uh,
and they would be rear facing so that you would
see them as you're approaching these work zones. And and
you know, as they said to uh some folks earlier
in the week, the first thing every driver does when
they see blue lights coming up is they check their
(14:37):
speed and they slow down.
Speaker 2 (14:40):
Absolutely, that's going to disagree that the reaction we're looking for.
Speaker 1 (14:45):
Ye.
Speaker 2 (14:46):
So, so would would these blue lights be attached to
vehicles or would they be standalone blue lights that would
just warn people, Hey, you're approaching a work zone. You'll
want to pull over. I mean, everybody knows when you're
coming up on a police car which has pulled someone
over in the right hand lane, if you can, you're
(15:06):
supposed to drift into another lane to the left to
give the police officer as much clearance as possible when
he gets when he or she gets in or out
of their vehicle. Same principle is applying here, I believe.
Speaker 4 (15:20):
The exact same principle, And the idea would be to
put it as part of the standard light package that
we have on our trucks right now, so we have
amber lights, and this would be something that would be
again small number, a lot of states do this in
different ways, and this is something that you know to
be clear, this law change would allow it. Like right now,
we're not allowed to even discuss even a pilot. This
(15:42):
would allow us to go into a to set up
rules and regulations about how these would be used. And
the way we're envisioning it is how many other states
do it, which is very small number of lights, So
we're talking less than twenty percent of the lights on
the light package. Would be blue, could be fixed, could
be off lading, It could be on one side of
the truck or the other. There's a few different ways
(16:03):
of doing it, and we'd want to trial out these things.
We're facing only only for trucks that are going to
low speed, so there would be no mistake about it.
Nobody's going to confuse one of these for a police
vehicle or something along those lines. What we're looking for
is that instinctual gut response that people have when they
see blue lights. That's proven over and over again. We
want them to want them to hit the brakes, we
want them to slow down, we want them to do
(16:24):
that speed check and move over, and we don't get
that kind of reaction with amber lights. There's a lot
of Again, we have a lot of construction sites out
there right now, and there's a lot of other things
that use amber lights, like tow trucks and such. They
don't invoke the same reaction as the blue lights, and
it's really that slow down through that work zone that
we're looking for.
Speaker 2 (16:42):
Last clarification, Jonathan, would these blue lights be both on
trucks that might be moving from one area to another
area as well as trucks which were stationary where work
is going on in a specific area. It seems to
me that they should be available in both trucks that
are moving on the road to a work site and
trucks that are functioning on a work site, because that'd
(17:06):
be a little bit protective of the workers.
Speaker 4 (17:10):
So I think both makes sense to me. But you know,
this is something that we we would be certainly willing
to trial out either way, and really our goal is
to get the most effective one. So if we do
have some of these rolling operations like the road debris
that I was talking about, where where we think.
Speaker 3 (17:27):
Having uh, you know, a.
Speaker 4 (17:28):
Blue light that that is in that slow moving maintenance
activity would be effective. But there's also another areas too,
where where we think having whether it's a when it's
a short term uh saying where the park truck, Like
if let's say you're feeling a pothole. Again, that blue
light is effective at keeping people slowed.
Speaker 2 (17:45):
Down, absolutely, and it's also it's a safety factor for
the drivers because you see that blue light, it's going
to it's going to get your attention. If you if
you're kind of not paying attention and all of a
sudden you're in a in a lane and you're into
the back of a truck because it didn't have blue lights.
It's a safety factor for the drivers as well. So
(18:05):
I hope you get that, Jonathan. If anything we can
do to help you, let us know. Okay, all right.
Speaker 4 (18:10):
I really appreciate and appreciate the attention you bringing to it.
Very important safety regulation for us.
Speaker 2 (18:16):
I'm delighted to do it, and I look forward to
doing something with you in advance, you know, sometime in
the middle of that week of June sixteenth to the twentieth,
so we can once again ring the alarm bell for
everybody to stay away that weekend of the twentieth. Thanks Jonathan, Oliver,
appreciate it very much, all right, Thank you, Dan. All Right,
we get back when I tell you about the twenty
(18:37):
twenty five thunder Over New Hampshire Air Show. US Navy
Blue Angels going to be back in New Hampshire the
first time in thirteen years. This gets to September, but
let me tell you they are a great attraction. You
want to know in advance. We'll be talking with a
major from the military, Major Michelle Mastro Battista, coming back
(18:57):
right after the news break at the bottom of the hour.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
Side with Dan Ray. I'm w Z Boston's news Radio.
Speaker 2 (19:05):
All right, we tend to promote things that, oh are
going to happen a couple of weeks or maybe at
the most a month. But when you start talking about
the US Navy Blue Angels, who now we're talking the
twenty twenty five thunder Over New Hampshire Air Show will
return to New Hampshire for the first time in thirteen
(19:26):
years September sixth and seventh with US. Now is Major
Michelle Maustro Bautista. Major Mastro Bautista, Welcome to night side.
I assume that tickets are gonna get harder to get
as the summer goes on, so tell us how tough
it is to get the Blue Angels to come back,
(19:46):
and what is it going to be like to stand
to be in New Hampshire that particular weekend.
Speaker 5 (19:54):
Hi, thanks for having me. Yes, it's really hard to
get the Blue Angels. You have to request them to
come out to your show two years in advance, and
you're competing with hundreds of other shows across the country.
So we're really excited to have them come back to
see us. They haven't been here since about twenty twelve.
It's going to be a busy weekend. There's a lot
of activity going on in the Sea Coast, but the
(20:14):
Blue Angels will be here all weekend, as well as
a lot of other demo shows, so we can't wait.
Speaker 2 (20:20):
So the tickets get you on to the property. This
is not like going to a race car event to
go into a football game. What did the tickets? What
access did the tickets get people other than what they
might get if they just kind of drove in the
area looked up in the sky. I'm trying to make
(20:42):
them understand why they really need to get some tickets.
Speaker 5 (20:46):
Yeah, well, the premium parking tickets are sold out at
this time. However, we're really excited to have a drop
off location. It's located at the P's International Airport, and
that's where people can partake and ride share or drop
off or bicycles even and they can just come on
in for free. So the admission is completely free for anybody.
(21:08):
And right now our production team is actively working more
perking nearby.
Speaker 2 (21:14):
Oh I see, okay, So I've never been to one
of these air shows, but I assume that the area
that the Blue Angels will be performing in has to
be a pretty big chunk of the sky. I mean,
what are we talking four or five miles in every
direction or because.
Speaker 5 (21:35):
Just about Yes, if you're in the area, you'll see them.
But if you want the best front seat area to
see them, you'll definitely want to come to our air
show that weekend.
Speaker 2 (21:47):
And this is not Labor Day weekend. It's the weekend
after Labor Day, which I think is important for people
to know to realize. And again, so there's no tickets,
what you're paying for is parking access or yeah, I see, okay,
So the show, the program is free to free at
(22:09):
one and all bank of crowd. Do you think again,
New Hampshire, we know where that portion of New Hampshire's
you're done in the southeast corner of the state. How
many people do you think are going to attend this
year based upon once you've done other.
Speaker 5 (22:23):
Years, based on our past couple of air shows, we
are definitely expecting over forty thousand guests each day, and
we have a lot on the ramp to showcase while
they're here, so hopefully they get out and see our
stem exhibits as well as all the statics and enjoy
the aerial acts that we have lined up now.
Speaker 2 (22:43):
I assume that one of the benefits from the Air
Force point of view with the Blue Angels and the
Navy as well, they're the US Navy's Blue Angels. I
want to be clear on that, is you're hoping that
this might inspire some young people, young men, young women
to join the service of the country. Does that generally
(23:07):
follow that after an event like this, people get inspired
and all of a sudden they say, Hey, maybe I'll
sign up out of high school. I assume this is
a recruiting tool as well.
Speaker 5 (23:19):
It's definitely one of our bigger events for that reason,
and all branches benefit from this. After our last couple
of years shows, we directly had people wanting to join
our unit and other branches. But the benefit of this
is that we're planting seeds for the next ten, twenty,
maybe thirty years into the future for our military. So
it's definitely worth it, worth it for us to put
(23:41):
on a good show that people remember for the rest
of their lives.
Speaker 2 (23:44):
Now your branch major is you're an Air Force major? Correct? Yes? Okay,
if some eighteen or nineteen year old young man or
woman was inspired, can they sign up and say, gee,
I'd like to somehow work in the branch that gets
me close to the Blue Angels. How does that work?
(24:06):
I had an MS many years ago called thirty six
K twenty which had nothing to do with anything this exciting.
Trust me on that. How How does the Air Force
and you know, the do you and does the Navy
give people a chance when they volunteer. It's an all
volunteer military. Now to say, gee, this is an area
(24:27):
that i'd like to work in, whether I'm in Air Force,
whether I'm an airplane mechanic, I'd like to work in
that portion of the service. Or is it kind of
like we'll talk to you after boot camp.
Speaker 1 (24:40):
No.
Speaker 5 (24:40):
I think there's a lot of opportunities there even if
you're an active aviator or a support person. It's a
very team oriented organization. So if you are interested in
those things, you know, we'll have recruiters all over the
ramp who can certainly answer questions from all the branches
if you have a specific question for a specific brand
that people are interested in. But it's just got to
(25:00):
get that conversation started and make your you know, a
young person interested has to make their interests known and
people we try to work with them.
Speaker 2 (25:09):
So even the Army will have representatives there as well.
Speaker 5 (25:12):
Right absolutely, I mean the Army is going to be
in the air. They're going to have a great Blackhawk demonstration.
We're really excited about that.
Speaker 2 (25:19):
Oh okay, okay, So so it's more than just a
Blue Angels. That's that's great. So what is the website?
Where can people go today to to to basically do
whatever they can do to get as good a view
of what's going to happen that weekend of September sixth
and seventh? Where can where can they go?
Speaker 5 (25:39):
Sure, they can go to thunderover New Hampshire dot com
and that's where any future parking opportunities will appear, as
well as our lineup as it grows, and the FAQs
what to bring, what not to bring, and you know,
just to get excited and pumped up and be connected
for our show coming up.
Speaker 2 (25:58):
Yeah, I'm looking It says general admission is free, does
not require a ticket, but parking on site does require
the reservation of a parking pass. So this is this
is great. It's something called the Wildcat Club is a
spacious tented area. So yeah, you got this looks great.
(26:19):
I got to tell you, folks, you've got to get
there as a matter of fact, it might even be
tough right now, but navigate this site and try to
get to where you wherever you can. But wherever you can,
I guess there's some memberships that are that are available
as well. Here. Uh, this is a great website. I
wish I had looked at it earlier, but just get there, folks.
(26:41):
If you're interested in this, believe me, this is going
to be This is going to be quite an event
up in New Hampshire on September sixth and seventh. Again,
website one more time major if you'd be so kind.
Speaker 5 (26:53):
Sure it's thunderover New Hampshire dot com and we hope
that everyone can make it up for a event.
Speaker 2 (27:00):
Sounds great. Thank you very much. I do appreciate you
taking the time to talk with us tonight, Major Michelle
mastro Batista, Major, thank you very much and thank you
for your service.
Speaker 5 (27:11):
Hey wear, are you welcome? Have a good night.
Speaker 2 (27:13):
All right? When we get back after our break here
at I'm eight forty five, those of you who like puppies,
which I believe means all of you, we're going to
talk about the Puppy Protection Act. I mean, who's not
in favor protecting puppies will explain it all on the
other side of this very quick break on a Wednesday night,
(27:33):
a warm Wednesday night. It's going to get warm or
maybe even tomorrow, but it's starting to feel like summer,
even though it's still spring. Back on Nightside right after this.
Speaker 1 (27:44):
Night Side with Dan Ray, I'mbzy Boston's News Radio.
Speaker 2 (27:51):
Well, this is a story you want to pay attention to.
My guest is Sheila Goff. Sheila Hope, I'm pronouncing that correctly.
I know there's an E on the end. Is at golf?
You nailed it, okay. You were the vice president of
government relations for the American Kennel Club AKAC, And there
(28:11):
is a piece of legislation which I guess is making
its way through Congress. I believe it's has it passed
the House already, So this is uh hasn't passed the House, Okay,
So it's in the House, which would have to pass
the House and Senate to get to the President's desk.
And it's entitled the Puppy Protection Act, which makes it
(28:31):
sound like, hey, who wouldn't vote for that? But I
guess the AKAC, the American Kennel Club is a little
bit concerned about this, this piece of legislation because it
would it would adversely impact breeders of puppies in America
who are doing it properly, and help some the importation
(28:55):
of dogs from countries like China and Turkey. This a
little confused, but I know you're going to straighten it
out for us.
Speaker 6 (29:02):
Go right ahead, absolutely, Thanks so much for having me
on tonight. Yeah, it's called a it's a bill that's
just been reintroduced in the US House, and it's called
the Puppy Protection Act. And as you know a lot
of folks know, sometimes the name on a bill does
not appropriately describe what the bill's about.
Speaker 7 (29:25):
And I think a lot of people support.
Speaker 6 (29:26):
This, thinking it's a good bill designed to help puppies.
The problem with it is it establishes under federal licensing
for breeders once a lot of one size fits all
regulations that are very hard for our small hobby breeders
(29:47):
to meet.
Speaker 7 (29:50):
The Feds regulate.
Speaker 6 (29:53):
A lot of people don't realize this, but the Feds
actually regulate job breeders. Anyone who has more than four
intact females with the cats, wraps, gurbils, dogs, small mammals,
and sells one site unseen as actually subject to commercial
breeder laws. A lot of folks don't realize that's a
(30:15):
pretty low threshold.
Speaker 7 (30:16):
So you have one Golden Retriever, two Golden Retrievers, and you're.
Speaker 6 (30:19):
Going to have a little poppies, and when the time comes,
you ship one to your sister out in Montana and
lo and behold, you're actually subject to USDA licensing as
a commercial breeder. So folks think about.
Speaker 2 (30:35):
So I think what I just heard. I think what
I'm hearing you're saying is that if you read within
a state, stay within that state, and sell within the state,
and you don't cross state lines, you're regulated by the
state in which you're functioning. But once you get into
interstate shipment, now you come under the federal guidelines.
Speaker 6 (30:58):
Correct, although it have been we've and we've seen cases
where it doesn't even have to involve interstate commerce.
Speaker 2 (31:08):
Maybe advertising which might might cause advertising in a neighboring
state of it. That's what's going on there, right, Okay,
fair enough? Okay, So what what would this? What will
this act? And again, is there a specific member of
Congress is really pushing this or is this just something
that gets filed every year or so?
Speaker 7 (31:29):
Yeah, it's gotten filed for several years.
Speaker 6 (31:32):
The primary sponsor is Brian Fitzpatrick from Pennsylvania, but he
generally gets quite a few co sponsors because it establishes
requirements that sound good if you're thinking about commercial breeders.
But the problem is because it actually regulates a lot
(31:54):
of small hobby breeders, it's not so good. And our
concern is it's going to put those small hobby breeders,
the folks you want to go to their house and
meet mom and dad and see how they're brought up
and see the other puppies. That's the concern is, is
putting those folks into a situation where they can't continue
(32:15):
to operate, and inadvertently, perhaps we're putting the very folks
that we want to sort of encourage out of business.
Speaker 1 (32:25):
And the concern with doing that.
Speaker 7 (32:29):
We want to encourage them.
Speaker 5 (32:31):
But b there is a lot of people don't realize us.
Speaker 6 (32:37):
Your fact for the day is, demographically speaking, the replacement
rate for puppies in the United States is eight million.
Speaker 7 (32:45):
So like people, puppies age, you know, they.
Speaker 6 (32:48):
Get older, we lose them, families get.
Speaker 5 (32:51):
A new dog.
Speaker 7 (32:52):
So the demand for eight million dogs a year. The
last year for which we have numbers.
Speaker 6 (33:00):
One point two five million dogs were imported into the
United States for the pet market.
Speaker 7 (33:07):
It's an absolutely shocking.
Speaker 2 (33:08):
Domer wow, and from countries like China and Turkey.
Speaker 6 (33:14):
Right from countries that unfortunately don't have the level of
oversight and regulation that we do. So you know, our
argument isn't that commercial breeders shouldn't be a professional breeder
shouldn't be regulated.
Speaker 7 (33:26):
American count Club believes.
Speaker 6 (33:28):
They absolutely should be, and we all of course have
to be subject to any kind of negligence or cruelty rules,
but over regulating a small hobby breeder, saying you have
to have certain types of commercial countling. When you're actually
your family, pets will hang out, you know, on the
sofa in the living room.
Speaker 7 (33:49):
Isn't the most effective way for us to get.
Speaker 3 (33:51):
At that issue.
Speaker 2 (33:53):
Yeah, well, it's interesting that you spotlight this because when
you talk Puppy Protection Act, do you think, oh, there's
something I got to port. I'm glad that you've explained it.
I know that you had an is an op ed
piece yesterday in the Boston Herald. If I'm not mistaken,
or was it in today's paper? I guess it was yesterday's.
(34:13):
It was yesterday, Okay, So people can go if they
find their Boston Herald from yesterday, go on the Herald
website and find that again. It's it's entitled house proposal
would boost foreign puppy mills. We're trying to get rid
of puppy mills in the US. Kind of seems to
me and be a little crazy. I know, my my
daughter has has adopted uh. I keep referring to my
(34:38):
my favorite one of them. I have two favorite dogs,
my my my children's dogs Willie, Who's shitsu part Shorky
uh Shitsu and part part Yorky. So it's called the
Shorky uh. And and then Mustard, who was a beautiful
Corgie uh that my daughter adopted a little less than
(35:01):
two years ago at a animal shelter in situate south
of Boston, and it is the nicest dog. They're both
great dogs, different personalities, but again, you know, there were dogs,
There were dogs that are available in shelters, folks, and
those are great dogs. Go down if you're going to
think about buying a dog, go look at the shelters
(35:24):
dogs because they need they need to be homed, and
they need homes and they need good families and something. Now,
So I'm a big pusher of that, Okay, just so you.
Speaker 6 (35:33):
Know, yeah, and I just want to add that one
thing A lot of people don't realize about the American
Channel Clubs. We're actually the largest rescue network in the
country through our Green Clubs. So people who are interested
in rescuing a particular breed. We believe in what we
call sort of pet choice, which is that people should
become very educated before they ever get a dog. Understand
(35:56):
what they're getting into, and understand, you know, the very
characteristics of say that Corghi versus you know, the ships
to mix and then see what your options are. You
may want to go to rescue, you may want to
go to shelter, you may want to go to a
responsible breder. And our concern is that people just get
that right pet for their lifestyle.
Speaker 2 (36:17):
Sounds great, Sheila, I thank you so much for your
time tonight, and again keep up doing the great work
that you do and that the AKC does. Thank you
so much.
Speaker 4 (36:26):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 6 (36:28):
Take care.
Speaker 2 (36:28):
All right, we will come back. We get the nine
o'clock news coming at us, and we get back. We're
going to get to a more serious topic, and that
is there is a real battle going on, a verbal
sparring battle between Boston Mayor and Michelle wou and US
Attorney Lea Foley Uh and that really broke out today
(36:49):
and the US Attorney issued a very strong condemnation of
some of the statements that the Mayor of Boston has made.
We'll have that and we'll have your the action to it.
If you'd like to join the conversation, we'll take a
lot of phone calls in the next hour. Talk to
you in the other side, on the other side of
the nine o'clock news here on night side.
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