A series of fires, some large, some small, break out around the LA area including by Dodger Stadium during LA's game with the Yankees. Santa Monica residents are angry with Waymo's noise, but Michael's mom says the service is better at driving than he is. Immigration busts take place in LA and San Diego, worrying activists. Some at LA City Hall have pushed back against extending Mayor Bass's homeless emergency. Three LA city council members propose a public bank as a way to save taxpayer money and to reinvest in the city.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
KFI AM six forty live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app.
This is Michael Monks Reports on Michael Monks from KFI News.
We got the next two hours together with you till
nine o'clock tonight. Gotta say it's a little warm, but
it's a pretty nice Saturday evening here in Burbank. Nice
clear skies, a little bit of sunshine still going on
(00:26):
out there on the ground, but some severe weather has
moved into the region. The National Weather Service in Los
Angeles has been busy today. About forty two minutes ago,
they said there was a strong thunderstorm over eastern Santa
Barbara and western Ventura Counties with plentiful lightning that could
cause new fire starts, gusty outflow, winds around fifty miles
(00:48):
an hour, penny size hail, heavy rain likely as well.
So they just a few minutes ago put out a
special weather statement saying be on the lookout if you're
in Santa Ynez and Los Olivos in Santa Barbara County
because those are the areas that could see some heavy
wind as well as some What are they saying, half
(01:12):
inch hail. Seek shelter in a sturdy structure, if you
need to, not a rickety structure, a sturdy one. Kind
of scary to think about any lightning out there that
might be starting fires. We're already dealing with some fires
here in southern California. We had a fire at Crypto
(01:35):
today in the duct system beneath Crypto dot Com arena
that sense smoke flowing from a first floor storage room
activated sprinklers on the first and second floors. Earlier this afternoon,
there were smoke reported just after four o'clock there at
the arena on South Figueroa Street. LA Fire Department spokesperson
says that the firefighters located the source of that fire
(01:55):
just before five o'clock started to clean it up. The
smoke was moderate when the fire fighters got there, and
then it cleared up enough that they could locate the source.
It was in the ducting system in sub level one
up to the first floor. No events listed as being
in progress at the time of that fire. No active
flames were seen, and no injuries were reported. We have
(02:17):
a larger fire going on. They've called it the Henderson Fire,
with some neighborhoods and Riverside County receiving evacuation warnings because
of it that has since been lifted. Some neighborhoods near
the Riverside San Diego County line were under evacuation warnings
earlier today. Three hundred acre wildfire burning near Polla Casino.
(02:37):
That Henderson Fire started shortly after five point thirty yesterday
afternoon off of Henderson Road, north of State Route seventy six,
east of the fifteen in San Diego. It started growing
pretty fast. By seven o'clock it was almost to thirty acres.
It grew to two hundred acres by just about ten o'clock,
and then three hundred acres by this morning, fifteen percent contained.
(03:02):
As of this afternoon, mandatory evacuation orders in San Diego
County areas were downgraded to evacuation warnings. Meanwhile, in Riverside County,
the evacuation warnings that were issued for the area north
of the county line, east of Rainbow Oaks Drive and
Paula Road, south of Pachanga Road, in Onza Road, and
west of the Crosley Truck Trail were lifted just after
three o'clock this afternoon. So I guess that situation appears
(03:25):
to be a little bit better, but we all know
that can take a turn at a moment's notice. We've
got a couple of other weird fires going on right now.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
This just in.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
Firefighters working to put out a brush fire and about
two acres of light flashy fuels burning slowly with no
wind near the northbound one ten at the First Tunnel
in Chinatown. That's according to a spokesperson with the LA
Fire Department. There. Air operations are conducting water drops as
firefighters dig hand lines there and in Pasadena right now.
(03:58):
This was earlier today, Aasadena firefighter spent about two hours
fighting flames that started in a tree and then spread
to a nearby house. It was reported just after two
o'clock this afternoon at California Boulevard and Moringo Avenue. The
fire was quote very stubborn, according to the spokesperson there
at the City of Pasadena. Traffic in the area was heavy,
(04:19):
impacted by street closures, including a large concert at the
Rose Bowl. Nobody was hurt and they are investigating how
that fire started. Well, there's her fire report. Meanwhile, in
sports Boyle Boy, rematch of the World Series the Dodgers
and the Yankees Here in Los Angeles. It's the bottom
of the eighth. The Yankees have two runs, the Dodgers
(04:40):
have fifteen. It is fifteen to two in the bottom
of the eighth. So LA is really laying it on
New York this evening. In southern California, meanwhile, the Angels
go down again. It's time to the Guardians seven to
five earlier today. The Angels are now twenty six and
thirty one. We're also keeping an eye on those eaglets
(05:03):
and Big Bear. I know you all are so crazy
for these little birds that are just about ready to
leave the nest. We'll give some updates on that developing
story as the evening continues. Wanted to think all of
you who helped us out last Saturday with some tips
on what to do on Catalina Island. While my family
was here, I have to confess we had a great time.
(05:26):
We got to Long Beach on Tuesday and it was
completely dead. I think everybody was kind of hungover from
Memorial Day, everybody back to work. It felt like a
touristy hangover, like nothing at all was going on. And
after all the advice you all gave us on when
to go, how to go, where to go? We didn't go,
(05:50):
and I'm so sorry for that. Let me just tell
you I've taken all of your advice because I'm gonna
get to that island. The spouse and I will go
to the island very very soon and take you up
on all those great tips. But I think with the
family in town and they're not here all the time
like I am, and we kind of just got swept
up and having long beach to ourselves down there on
(06:11):
the water, all the restaurants wide open, all the shops
wide open, and we thought, why leave this. It's an
hour on the boat to the island, an hour back,
and then you know, we took the metro there, so
it's an hour back to downtown, an hour from downtown.
It was just a lot of travel. So we kind
of chickened out. And I'm sorry, but your advice was
not in vain. I assure you that I'm going to
(06:35):
use it now. I think my family's favorite part of
visiting Southern California this time was something that's driving some
Southern Californians completely mad. They rode away mo. They went
over to the Santa Monica all by themselves. I was
not with them. I had come back to work by
that point, and they didn't want to take the train back.
(06:58):
They decided to have an adventure. And keep in mind,
my mother does not like being in the car when
I'm driving, even now, been driving for almost thirty years,
and it's like I'm a child again with my permit
rather than a driver's license as a grown man, just
backseat driver if there ever was one. However, getting a
car in a car without a driver at all, she
(07:20):
was completely comfortable that they loved it. That is not
the case in Santa Monica. As we can hear from
KTLA reporter Annie Rose Ramos.
Speaker 3 (07:30):
Twenty four hours noise. If you watch this, especially come
at nighttime, I could go to sleep and then a
couple hours later, I'm waking up because I'm here in
the noise. I can't even have my windows open only
during the day, So I don't know what to do.
City councils, I've notified them, but why they put this
right here into residential That's why I just don't understand.
Speaker 4 (07:55):
Now, residents have been reported using cones cars and sometimes
even themselves, blocking the weimos from entering the charging parking law.
It's gotten to a point where the company has reportedly
called the cops on residents half a dozen times, with
residents saying they've called the city, They've called Weimo, but
that backup beeping continues to keep them up at night.
Speaker 2 (08:15):
So there you go, big battle in Santa Monica over
these weaymo's where they go home to sleep at night.
And that big beeping noise you heard is what these
residents are dealing with all the time. Apparently the law
requires these types of vehicles to make a noise when
they're backing up, So it's in conflict with the law,
(08:36):
it's in conflict with the residents desires for a quiet community,
and they're not happy about it. But my mother is,
which means I have to be happy about it. I
hope they get the situation resultd in Santa Monica, I can.
I don't have a great deal of sympathy for them,
not because I'm not empathetic, but because I live downtown, y'all.
I mean the noises that my country for a loud
(08:58):
waymo give me all. Let park all the way mos
behind my building. Let them make all that noise. The
noises you hear in downtown Los Angeles there's they're spine chilling,
they're terrifying, the screams of the lost people fighting with nobody.
And another oddity in the noise department in downtown Los Angeles.
(09:23):
I mean, you remember boomboxes from like the eighties, Well
they're back. You know, like there's big speakers and it
often you know, this is me being judgmental, but it
often looks like homeless people that have these big speakers
and some sort of bluetooth connected to it and they're
just blasting music. I have to say, it's like not
(09:45):
it's not always like offensive music. Like I heard just
once who was at James Ingram who saying, like some
some slow jams, but they're blaring them at like three
point thirty in the morning while they're walking around town.
So good luck, Santa Monica. You have a little bit
of sympathy for me, but not too much. In any event,
we got a busy two hours ahead immigration bust in
(10:07):
San Diego and Los Angeles. We've got caused in the
homeless emergency in LA from within city Hall and three
Democratic Socialist members of the city Council want to create
what they're calling a public bank. That's all ahead on
Michael Monks Reports.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
KFI AM six forty live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app.
This is Michael Monks Reports on Michael Monks from KFI
News with you till nine o'clock tonight. A quick update
on that fire we told you about before going to
break said it was in Chinatown. Our wire service has
just updated that locator to Alesion Park. They say firefighters
have knocked down this brush fire that burns slowly near
(10:51):
a vegetation covered tunnel over the Pasadena one ten Freeway
near Dodgers Stadium. This fire broke out just before six o'clock,
so a little over an hour ago, on the northbound
side of the one to ten near the first tunnel
off Bishop's Road. The air operations dropped water onto that
fire while firefighters were digging hand lines, and just before
(11:11):
we went on the air here at seven o'clock, the
fire department reported it had stopped the fire's forward progress
and held the fire to about two acres. This is
near Dodger Stadium, so while this baseball game is going on,
this little fire is taking place outside. Firefighters safety plan
to remain on the scene for about two hours to
make sure there were no hotspots. They had already shut
(11:33):
down the northbound one ten from south of the tunnel
to the transition to the southbound five, and the transition
road was closed. So that was probably a headache for
some Saturday evening travelers, and it could be a headache
for folks leaving this Dodgers game. We are now final
and the Dodgers have whipped the Yankees eighteen to two.
(11:55):
Talk about a fire near Dodgers Stadium. Eighteen to two.
Dodgers beat the Yankee So the fans filing out of
the stadium if they stayed for that whole Whoopin', you
might have some slow spots to deal with as firefighters
address this fire.
Speaker 1 (12:10):
Big news in.
Speaker 2 (12:11):
LA and San Diego. We know that the Trump administration's
immigration policy are in conflict with the governments of many
of our large cities and the state as a whole.
But we have seen two immigration raids in both Los
Angeles and San Diego over the past couple of days.
(12:32):
Here in LA, thirty six Chinese and Taiwanese nationals suspected
of being in the United States illegally. We're taken into
federal custody following a raid at an underground night club.
The Homeland Security Investigation's Los Angeles Twitter account, the x
account there, they posted some video. It's on their on
(12:52):
their feed right now if you want to see it.
It is HSI Los Angeles and they said that early
this morning, we're to Friday. HSI Los Angeles and ICE
and other partners from the El Camino Reale Financial Crimes
Task Force conducted an enforcement operation and in what do
they call this, in an underground nightclub, thirty six Chinese
(13:15):
and Taiwanese nationals were arrested for being illegally present in
the United States. It's just a little clip of what
you'll see in the video. A helicopter noise, but you
can see dozens of these people.
Speaker 3 (13:33):
Yeah, she going in that man yet yep?
Speaker 5 (13:35):
Another photo please, all of them.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
As they're rounding these folks up and showing them all
on camera. The faces are blurred, but you do get
a sense of just how many people they were dealing
with in this underground nightclub operation. Thirty six people taken
in to custody. This Financial Task Force is described as
a multi agency initiative of federal and state investigators focused
on financial crimes in southern California. The IRS, the US
(14:01):
Attorney's Office, and the California Department of Justice, along with
Homeland Security, are among the members of this task force.
Immigration raids and arrest have been ramped up following the
inauguration of President Donald Trump, who vowed during his campaign
to conduct mass deportations of people in the country illegally.
In a statement issued earlier this week announcing changes in
(14:23):
ICE leadership, the agency noted that it had achieved its
highest number of arrest in its history this week. Earlier
this week, on Monday, the same agency, Homeland Security LA,
announced that it had arrested twelve Mexican nationals outside of
Long Beach suspected of entering the nation illegally aboard a
small vote. Meanwhile, in San Diego, several San Diego area
(14:48):
elected officials criticized an immigration enforcement operation by federal authorities
that took place at a pair of restaurants in the
city South Park neighborhood. Let's hear what the NBC station
there in San Diego reported on this.
Speaker 6 (15:01):
They begin tonight in South Park, where US Immigration and
Customs Enforcement agents say they've conducted work site enforcement operations
at a popular restaurant. This happened just after four o'clock
this afternoon at Buena Forchetta and an Otteca Buena Forchetta
on Beach Street. Protesters confronted the agents and also surrounded
ICE patrol cars.
Speaker 7 (15:23):
When I arrived, I saw that the workers were all
sitting in chairs. They had plastic handcuffs around them. The
ones that they took out, they not only placed handcuffs
on them, but they also put chains on their legs
rest onto the vehicles that transported them out of the area.
Speaker 6 (15:43):
The restaurant manager says agents detained at least two workers
and that both businesses were closed at the time. ICE
says their investigation is ongoing. San Diego City Council Member
Stephen Whitburn, who represents District three, released a statement saying
he was quote deeply trouble by the operations and that
immigrants deserve to live without fear or intimidation.
Speaker 2 (16:05):
The PBS affiliate in San Diego says some witnesses reported
agents at first handcuffed the entire crew at this restaurant
and asked for identification. Several workers were detained, but those
witness accounts differ on just how many. What are your
thoughts on this? Let us know. Open up that iHeartRadio
(16:26):
app and click on the talkback button. We'll play some
of your comments throughout the show, and I know you're
going to have some comments on what we're going to
talk about next, homelessness in La and La County. When
Mayor Vass was elected, immediately she declared a state of
emergency that allowed her to have significant authority on what
she could do without needing certain approvals from other elected officials.
(16:50):
But now there are cries from inside city hall for
that emergency declaration to finally end two and a half
years later. We're going to talk about that on Michael
Monk's Reports.
Speaker 1 (17:01):
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 2 (17:05):
KFI AM six forty live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app.
This is Michael Monks Reports. I'm Michael Monks from KFI News.
I'm with you till nine o'clock tonight. Thanks for being
with us on what looks like a beautiful day in
La County anyway, but we know there were some storms
over Ventura and Santa Barbara County. So if it's hitting you,
hope you're staying safe and as dry as you can.
(17:27):
Before we went to break, we shared with you the
news of some immigration bust involving Chinese and Taiwanese nationals
here in Los Angeles, as well as other immigrants in
San Diego. I asked for your thoughts on that because
California is pretty safe otherwise for immigrants regardless of their
immigration status, and some cities like LA have taken a
(17:51):
stand saying you are welcome and protected here. But things
appear to be ramping up in the opposite direction even
inside a city like Laws Angelus. What do you think?
Open up the iHeartRadio app, click on that talkback button
and share your thoughts. Will play some of them over
the course of the next couple of hours. Here's one
of the comments that we've received.
Speaker 4 (18:12):
As far as.
Speaker 2 (18:13):
Ice goes, I'm gonna trust the process.
Speaker 8 (18:17):
They just gotta go.
Speaker 2 (18:18):
It's just way too expensive. We don't want I don't
want to April damn medical care. Sorry, but that's my opinion.
All right, that's your opinion. What other opinions are lurking
out there? I'm sure you might have some opinions about
this going on as well. You can't talk about government
(18:40):
in Los Angeles or Los Angeles County without considering the
impact of homelessness. Seventy five thousand homeless people across Los
Angeles County, more than half of them in the City
of Los Angeles. Billions of dollars spent, and yes, it
appears that the official number of accounted for homeless people
has dropped modestly over the past couple of years, but
(19:03):
not enough to make any significant difference when you think
about how much money has been spent. Well, now more
money has been sent, excuse me, spent on behalf of
the city and a lawsuit that it's facing. It's from
the West Side Current, the West Side Regional Alliance of Councils.
This is a coalition of neighborhood councils across LA. They're
(19:27):
calling for transparency over the city's decision to hire Gibson,
Done and Crutcher. This is a big time law firm,
and the city has asked this big time law firm
with a price tag of about nine hundred thousand dollars
to represent Los Angeles in this long ongoing case in
(19:50):
federal court known as LA Alliance for Human Rights Human
Rights versus the City and County of Los Angeles. This
started back in twenty twenty when that group, the La Alliance,
a group of business owners in downtown LA looked around
and said, you guys got to do something about this.
I mean, they're just everywhere. You've got to do something,
And the federal courts said, yeah, you've got to. You've
(20:10):
got to ensure that there are a number of beds
for these homeless people to go to so that they
stop ransacking and terrorizing these businesses. So this neighborhood group
has filed an open records request looking for documents about
the retainer agreement for this law firm, the hourly billing rates,
the total expenditures, and how the city is paying this
(20:32):
nine hundred thousand dollars contract with Gibson done. Keep in mind,
the city just approved its budget, but only after having
to close a one billion dollar billion with a b shortfall,
and they did that by cutting the number of new
(20:53):
police officers that can be hired in half, scaling back
the number of new firefighters they planned to hire, cutting
some services, and still planning to lay off at this moment,
hundreds of city employees now in court. This week, this
case was back in court and we had word that
(21:15):
perhaps Mayor Bass herself had been subpoened to testify along
with two members of the city council, Tracy Park and
Monica Rodriguez. Those are two outspoken opponents of the amount
of money that is being spent on homelessness. They voted
against this budget because they didn't want to cut public
safety and they wanted a better accounting of the homeless dollars.
(21:37):
But Mayor Bass has her own signature program inside safe
on top of what the city spends on its own
and on top of what it does to fund the
LA Homeless Services Authority. But nobody took the stand. Lawyers
were busy for about three days in federal court this week,
(21:58):
including these new lawyers for the city nine hundred thousand dollars.
We'll keep an eye on that and see what that
neighborhood group finds out. People are growing increasingly fed up
with the amount of money. Meanwhile, Mayor Bass had declared
an emergency over homelessness right after she took office, but
(22:21):
this week inside city Hall, the council was asked to
renew that emergency, allowing the mayor to make some executive
decisions basically to address homelessness. But now you've got more
counsel members saying, eh, I don't know if we need
this anymore. As reported by the La Times, council member
Tim Mcoscar says he wants to return city government to
(22:44):
its normal processes and procedures. Has spelled out in the
city charter. That means leases, contracts, and other decisions related
to homelessness would again be taken up at public meetings,
with council members receiving testimony, taking written input, and ultimately voting.
He's quote in the Times is saying, let's come back
to why these processes exist. They exist so the public
(23:06):
can be made aware of what we're doing with public dollars.
What do you think Is it too late or do
you get the sense that more local elected officials are
maybe taking the amount of money spent on homelessness a
little more seriously? Let us know. Open up the iHeartRadio app,
(23:26):
click on that talkback button and we will play some
of your comments. Homelessness is also going on, of course,
outside the city of Los Angeles. A little more than
half of the county's homeless population inside the city proper,
but there are many corners of La County where homelessness
is causing serious problems. Every single day there's a homeless
(23:48):
camp on a roof that has terrorized a doctor's office.
Let's hear from KTLA and reporter Angelie Kakada.
Speaker 9 (24:00):
The woman who owns this building on the corner of
Rugby and Zoe Avenues in Huntington Park says people living
on the roof of a next door structure have been
terrorizing her and her staff for years.
Speaker 10 (24:12):
They ruined my roof.
Speaker 9 (24:13):
Doctor Tahani Solman says she's out one hundred thousand dollars
from damages caused by the unwanted groof.
Speaker 8 (24:19):
I have to put the roof, new roof, and the
electricity from the AC I have to replace all of them.
Speaker 3 (24:29):
Where was the fire just a trash fire?
Speaker 9 (24:32):
Aper Just yesterday crews put out a trash fire on
the rooftop of the parking structure. And this wasn't the
first time. In twenty twenty three there was a fire
at the building next door. Gabby Rodriguez, who works for
the doctor, says the fire department was the one who
told them people were living there.
Speaker 11 (24:49):
We ended up putting a fence with barboam.
Speaker 9 (24:52):
They took that down, then we ended up caging our
ac units.
Speaker 11 (24:55):
They took that down.
Speaker 6 (24:56):
We ended up caging our water.
Speaker 2 (24:58):
Falls in from outside, and they still find a way
to get to everything. Is that how life is supposed
to be in La in La County. That's in Huntington Park.
All that money spent instilled these issues. A doctor's office
terrorized by homeless people living on the roof. They can't
keep them out. Way in now iHeartRadio app. Click on
(25:21):
the talkback button and we will play some of your comments.
But speaking of the city and money, three of the
Democratic Socialists of America and endorsed candidates excuse me, council
members have come out with an idea this week. As
of yesterday, they announced that they are funding a study
for a public bank. What does that mean? We'll hear
(25:42):
from them next, and you will also hear maybe the
cringiest activist chant I've ever heard in all the time
I've been covering city Hall. You don't want to miss that.
That's coming up next on Michael Monks Reports.
Speaker 1 (25:53):
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand KFI.
Speaker 2 (25:57):
AM six forty live everywhere They're on the iHeartRadio app.
This is Michael Monks Reports on Michael Monks from KFI News.
We're with you till nine o'clock on this Saturday night
in southern California. We are on eagle watch again in
Big Bear. We found out today that those two eaglets,
they're both girls, Sonny and Gizmo, are sisters. But they
(26:22):
are back in everyone's minds again for many of you.
I know they never ever even left because apparently they're
close to leaving the nest. I've watched as they've flapped
their wings a little bit, they've elevated, and they kind
of get blown back into the nest. But apparently they're
close to getting out there and we'll soon leave the
nest for good. We'll keep an high on that story
(26:44):
for you. We've usto been talking about homelessness in Los Angeles.
If you think the city and some city officials are
getting a little more serious about this problem, how much
money is being spent, whether you expect to see a difference.
We've asked for you to weigh in. Open up the
iHeart radio app, click on that talkback button and leave
your remarks. Here's Kathleen enough already.
Speaker 5 (27:05):
With these damn homeless people, they're routing society. When is
it going to be taken that our rights are more
important than people that don't want to work and do drugs.
It's ridiculous and they need to be sent to the
desert and live in tepees. That's my opinion.
Speaker 2 (27:18):
Tepees, tepees in the desert for the homeless. But you
can't help but understand that frustration. Billions spent, and as
someone who lives in the midst of it, whose block
is now basically surrounded by tents, you have to wonder
(27:42):
why isn't any of this working. It's frustrating. And as
for the drug use and the lack of let's say motivation,
you see that too. I mean, on my way in today,
I saw three piles of people clearly smoking illegal substances
right on the sidewalk, out in the open, in the
(28:02):
Fashion district. It's certainly heartbreaking, but it's so infuriating when
you think about how much money has been spent and
what the city still looks like. Three members of the
Los Angeles City Council who tend to be the most
apologetic for the homeless spending. In fact, they always vote
(28:25):
against any time another city council member comes to the
floor and says, I would like to block these streets
from having homeless camps on them. The city is allowed
to do that. They are allowed to block them everywhere.
They just don't. But sometimes council members come to city
Hall and say, here's a list of streets in my district.
We want to make sure that folks are no longer
(28:46):
allowed to camp there, and let's get them off there.
These three council members always vote against it, and yesterday
they filed a motion together to propose a public bank
of this saying that if they had their own bank
in the city, the city would see new revenue and
(29:06):
they wouldn't have to pay so much money in taxes
and fees to the big banks and Wall Street. These
are council members Isabelle Herado, Unisses Hernandez, and Hugo Soto Martinez,
along with some activists from groups like the Democratic Socialist
of America Los Angeles Chapter. I don't want to make
fun here, but there was a chance before the suppressor
(29:30):
that I just thought was so cringey, and I just
want to share it with you public bank.
Speaker 10 (30:07):
Community, what we.
Speaker 2 (30:12):
What we.
Speaker 9 (30:14):
Want, we want it, we don't.
Speaker 1 (30:20):
Do you know it.
Speaker 2 (30:42):
So that was before this press conference started. These activist groups.
We are Los Angeles, Mighty, Mighty Los Angeles. If we
don't get it, shut it down, then a little bit
of howls and of course the obligatory. You can't have
a rally at Los Angeles City Hall with that little
It seems to work. No matter what you're asking for
(31:04):
at Los Angeles City Hall, show up, be prepared to
chance a hundred times, and more than likely at some
point you're gonna get it. It worked for the hotel workers,
it worked for the fast food workers, It's worked for
everybody who has come down there with any sort of demands.
It may not work right away, but eventually. And now
let's hear from these three council members about their proposal
(31:27):
for a public bank. You'll hear Isabelle Herrado, then Hugosota Martinez,
and then Unisses Hernandez.
Speaker 9 (31:32):
It's unacceptable to keep doing business as usual, and that's
why it is a realignment happening at city Hall.
Speaker 8 (31:42):
I'm oppose you can attest the notion of the City
of La Sa wishing a public Liank bank.
Speaker 3 (31:47):
A public bank isn't new.
Speaker 9 (31:49):
It's had its fits and starts, and when ACE came
a public comment demanding a public bank and calling me out.
Speaker 3 (31:56):
I got to thinking, what are we waiting for?
Speaker 5 (31:59):
Why don't we are anywhere?
Speaker 3 (32:00):
Are nos?
Speaker 10 (32:01):
So what we do is today Angelinos go around every
single day and they interact with broken sidewalks, lights that
don't get fixed, lack.
Speaker 1 (32:12):
Of affordable housing.
Speaker 10 (32:13):
I can go on and on and on, and when
we're being based with those challenges, we have to think creatively,
we have to think outside the box, and we have
to innovate.
Speaker 1 (32:23):
And that's what we're doing here today.
Speaker 10 (32:26):
Because the city of the Lake pays one point four
billion dollars in debt service, including hundreds of millions of
bees to Wall Street banks. When was the last time
Wall Street cared about the city of Los Angeles.
Speaker 11 (32:42):
It's never happened.
Speaker 10 (32:43):
Wall Street, as we know, is the only only focused
on there making money.
Speaker 11 (32:49):
So let me put it simply, the people in Los
Angeles are being robbed. Every year. We had over one
point four billion dollars to Wall Street banks. They say,
profits from ourtesh dollars going later and our day And
what do we get a return in our most vulnerable communities?
A city budget that can bear to keep the light
(33:11):
zone take to the sidewalks or pick up the trash.
And on top of that, we're being forced to making
possible choices during a twenty billion dollars shortfall, we had
to go down to save the very city jobs that
deliver these services.
Speaker 2 (33:24):
Those three members of Council, Isabel Horado, Hugo Soto Martinez
and Unissies Hernandez, have all promised fifteen thousand dollars each
for a total of forty five thousand dollars from their
own office accounts to pay for a study of this
proposed public bank. Interestingly, they said, look, the state of
North Dakota established a public bank back in nineteen nineteen
(33:47):
and has used it to weather multiple economic downturns and
insulate itself from broader market collapses. It's not often you
hear the three most progressive members of Los Angeles City
Council come out and say, you know what, we need
to be more like North Dakota. But it's always a
different day Los Angeles, and you never know what's coming next.
Will obviously continue to follow that development. We got another
(34:10):
hour together here on Michael Monks Reports. We're going to
go to the Palisades in the next hour to get
an update, Army Corps engineer just about finished on that
debris clearance. One resident there who is maybe well known
to you, so she has an idea for getting the
rest of this debris out fast and away from our
own landfills. That's coming up on our next hour here
on KFI AM six
Speaker 1 (34:30):
Forty KFI AM six forty on demand
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
KFI AM six forty live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app.
This is Michael Monks Reports on Michael Monks from KFI News.
We got the next two hours together with you till
nine o'clock tonight. Gotta say it's a little warm, but
it's a pretty nice Saturday evening here in Burbank. Nice
clear skies, a little bit of sunshine still going on
(00:26):
out there on the ground, but some severe weather has
moved into the region. The National Weather Service in Los
Angeles has been busy today. About forty two minutes ago,
they said there was a strong thunderstorm over eastern Santa
Barbara and western Ventura Counties with plentiful lightning that could
cause new fire starts, gusty outflow, winds around fifty miles
(00:48):
an hour, penny size hail, heavy rain likely as well.
So they just a few minutes ago put out a
special weather statement saying be on the lookout if you're
in Santa Ynez and Los Olivos in Santa Barbara County
because those are the areas that could see some heavy
wind as well as some What are they saying, half
(01:12):
inch hail. Seek shelter in a sturdy structure, if you
need to, not a rickety structure, a sturdy one. Kind
of scary to think about any lightning out there that
might be starting fires. We're already dealing with some fires
here in southern California. We had a fire at Crypto
(01:35):
today in the duct system beneath Crypto dot Com arena
that sense smoke flowing from a first floor storage room
activated sprinklers on the first and second floors. Earlier this afternoon,
there were smoke reported just after four o'clock there at
the arena on South Figueroa Street. LA Fire Department spokesperson
says that the firefighters located the source of that fire
(01:55):
just before five o'clock started to clean it up. The
smoke was moderate when the fire fighters got there, and
then it cleared up enough that they could locate the source.
It was in the ducting system in sub level one
up to the first floor. No events listed as being
in progress at the time of that fire. No active
flames were seen, and no injuries were reported. We have
(02:17):
a larger fire going on. They've called it the Henderson Fire,
with some neighborhoods and Riverside County receiving evacuation warnings because
of it that has since been lifted. Some neighborhoods near
the Riverside San Diego County line were under evacuation warnings
earlier today. Three hundred acre wildfire burning near Polla Casino.
(02:37):
That Henderson Fire started shortly after five point thirty yesterday
afternoon off of Henderson Road, north of State Route seventy six,
east of the fifteen in San Diego. It started growing
pretty fast. By seven o'clock it was almost to thirty acres.
It grew to two hundred acres by just about ten o'clock,
and then three hundred acres by this morning, fifteen percent contained.
(03:02):
As of this afternoon, mandatory evacuation orders in San Diego
County areas were downgraded to evacuation warnings. Meanwhile, in Riverside County,
the evacuation warnings that were issued for the area north
of the county line, east of Rainbow Oaks Drive and
Paula Road, south of Pachanga Road, in Onza Road, and
west of the Crosley Truck Trail were lifted just after
three o'clock this afternoon. So I guess that situation appears
(03:25):
to be a little bit better, but we all know
that can take a turn at a moment's notice. We've
got a couple of other weird fires going on right now.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
This just in.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
Firefighters working to put out a brush fire and about
two acres of light flashy fuels burning slowly with no
wind near the northbound one ten at the First Tunnel
in Chinatown. That's according to a spokesperson with the LA
Fire Department. There. Air operations are conducting water drops as
firefighters dig hand lines there and in Pasadena right now.
(03:58):
This was earlier today, Aasadena firefighter spent about two hours
fighting flames that started in a tree and then spread
to a nearby house. It was reported just after two
o'clock this afternoon at California Boulevard and Moringo Avenue. The
fire was quote very stubborn, according to the spokesperson there
at the City of Pasadena. Traffic in the area was heavy,
(04:19):
impacted by street closures, including a large concert at the
Rose Bowl. Nobody was hurt and they are investigating how
that fire started. Well, there's her fire report. Meanwhile, in
sports Boyle Boy, rematch of the World Series the Dodgers
and the Yankees Here in Los Angeles. It's the bottom
of the eighth. The Yankees have two runs, the Dodgers
(04:40):
have fifteen. It is fifteen to two in the bottom
of the eighth. So LA is really laying it on
New York this evening. In southern California, meanwhile, the Angels
go down again. It's time to the Guardians seven to
five earlier today. The Angels are now twenty six and
thirty one. We're also keeping an eye on those eaglets
(05:03):
and Big Bear. I know you all are so crazy
for these little birds that are just about ready to
leave the nest. We'll give some updates on that developing
story as the evening continues. Wanted to think all of
you who helped us out last Saturday with some tips
on what to do on Catalina Island. While my family
was here, I have to confess we had a great time.
(05:26):
We got to Long Beach on Tuesday and it was
completely dead. I think everybody was kind of hungover from
Memorial Day, everybody back to work. It felt like a
touristy hangover, like nothing at all was going on. And
after all the advice you all gave us on when
to go, how to go, where to go? We didn't go,
(05:50):
and I'm so sorry for that. Let me just tell
you I've taken all of your advice because I'm gonna
get to that island. The spouse and I will go
to the island very very soon and take you up
on all those great tips. But I think with the
family in town and they're not here all the time
like I am, and we kind of just got swept
up and having long beach to ourselves down there on
(06:11):
the water, all the restaurants wide open, all the shops
wide open, and we thought, why leave this. It's an
hour on the boat to the island, an hour back,
and then you know, we took the metro there, so
it's an hour back to downtown, an hour from downtown.
It was just a lot of travel. So we kind
of chickened out. And I'm sorry, but your advice was
not in vain. I assure you that I'm going to
(06:35):
use it now. I think my family's favorite part of
visiting Southern California this time was something that's driving some
Southern Californians completely mad. They rode away mo. They went
over to the Santa Monica all by themselves. I was
not with them. I had come back to work by
that point, and they didn't want to take the train back.
(06:58):
They decided to have an adventure. And keep in mind,
my mother does not like being in the car when
I'm driving, even now, been driving for almost thirty years,
and it's like I'm a child again with my permit
rather than a driver's license as a grown man, just
backseat driver if there ever was one. However, getting a
car in a car without a driver at all, she
(07:20):
was completely comfortable that they loved it. That is not
the case in Santa Monica. As we can hear from
KTLA reporter Annie Rose Ramos.
Speaker 3 (07:30):
Twenty four hours noise. If you watch this, especially come
at nighttime, I could go to sleep and then a
couple hours later, I'm waking up because I'm here in
the noise. I can't even have my windows open only
during the day, So I don't know what to do.
City councils, I've notified them, but why they put this
right here into residential That's why I just don't understand.
Speaker 4 (07:55):
Now, residents have been reported using cones cars and sometimes
even themselves, blocking the weimos from entering the charging parking law.
It's gotten to a point where the company has reportedly
called the cops on residents half a dozen times, with
residents saying they've called the city, They've called Weimo, but
that backup beeping continues to keep them up at night.
Speaker 2 (08:15):
So there you go, big battle in Santa Monica over
these weaymo's where they go home to sleep at night.
And that big beeping noise you heard is what these
residents are dealing with all the time. Apparently the law
requires these types of vehicles to make a noise when
they're backing up, So it's in conflict with the law,
(08:36):
it's in conflict with the residents desires for a quiet community,
and they're not happy about it. But my mother is,
which means I have to be happy about it. I
hope they get the situation resultd in Santa Monica, I can.
I don't have a great deal of sympathy for them,
not because I'm not empathetic, but because I live downtown, y'all.
I mean the noises that my country for a loud
(08:58):
waymo give me all. Let park all the way mos
behind my building. Let them make all that noise. The
noises you hear in downtown Los Angeles there's they're spine chilling,
they're terrifying, the screams of the lost people fighting with nobody.
And another oddity in the noise department in downtown Los Angeles.
(09:23):
I mean, you remember boomboxes from like the eighties, Well
they're back. You know, like there's big speakers and it
often you know, this is me being judgmental, but it
often looks like homeless people that have these big speakers
and some sort of bluetooth connected to it and they're
just blasting music. I have to say, it's like not
(09:45):
it's not always like offensive music. Like I heard just
once who was at James Ingram who saying, like some
some slow jams, but they're blaring them at like three
point thirty in the morning while they're walking around town.
So good luck, Santa Monica. You have a little bit
of sympathy for me, but not too much. In any event,
we got a busy two hours ahead immigration bust in
(10:07):
San Diego and Los Angeles. We've got caused in the
homeless emergency in LA from within city Hall and three
Democratic Socialist members of the city Council want to create
what they're calling a public bank. That's all ahead on
Michael Monks Reports.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
KFI AM six forty live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app.
This is Michael Monks Reports on Michael Monks from KFI
News with you till nine o'clock tonight. A quick update
on that fire we told you about before going to
break said it was in Chinatown. Our wire service has
just updated that locator to Alesion Park. They say firefighters
have knocked down this brush fire that burns slowly near
(10:51):
a vegetation covered tunnel over the Pasadena one ten Freeway
near Dodgers Stadium. This fire broke out just before six o'clock,
so a little over an hour ago, on the northbound
side of the one to ten near the first tunnel
off Bishop's Road. The air operations dropped water onto that
fire while firefighters were digging hand lines, and just before
(11:11):
we went on the air here at seven o'clock, the
fire department reported it had stopped the fire's forward progress
and held the fire to about two acres. This is
near Dodger Stadium, so while this baseball game is going on,
this little fire is taking place outside. Firefighters safety plan
to remain on the scene for about two hours to
make sure there were no hotspots. They had already shut
(11:33):
down the northbound one ten from south of the tunnel
to the transition to the southbound five, and the transition
road was closed. So that was probably a headache for
some Saturday evening travelers, and it could be a headache
for folks leaving this Dodgers game. We are now final
and the Dodgers have whipped the Yankees eighteen to two.
(11:55):
Talk about a fire near Dodgers Stadium. Eighteen to two.
Dodgers beat the Yankee So the fans filing out of
the stadium if they stayed for that whole Whoopin', you
might have some slow spots to deal with as firefighters
address this fire.
Speaker 1 (12:10):
Big news in.
Speaker 2 (12:11):
LA and San Diego. We know that the Trump administration's
immigration policy are in conflict with the governments of many
of our large cities and the state as a whole.
But we have seen two immigration raids in both Los
Angeles and San Diego over the past couple of days.
(12:32):
Here in LA, thirty six Chinese and Taiwanese nationals suspected
of being in the United States illegally. We're taken into
federal custody following a raid at an underground night club.
The Homeland Security Investigation's Los Angeles Twitter account, the x
account there, they posted some video. It's on their on
(12:52):
their feed right now if you want to see it.
It is HSI Los Angeles and they said that early
this morning, we're to Friday. HSI Los Angeles and ICE
and other partners from the El Camino Reale Financial Crimes
Task Force conducted an enforcement operation and in what do
they call this, in an underground nightclub, thirty six Chinese
(13:15):
and Taiwanese nationals were arrested for being illegally present in
the United States. It's just a little clip of what
you'll see in the video. A helicopter noise, but you
can see dozens of these people.
Speaker 3 (13:33):
Yeah, she going in that man yet yep?
Speaker 5 (13:35):
Another photo please, all of them.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
As they're rounding these folks up and showing them all
on camera. The faces are blurred, but you do get
a sense of just how many people they were dealing
with in this underground nightclub operation. Thirty six people taken
in to custody. This Financial Task Force is described as
a multi agency initiative of federal and state investigators focused
on financial crimes in southern California. The IRS, the US
(14:01):
Attorney's Office, and the California Department of Justice, along with
Homeland Security, are among the members of this task force.
Immigration raids and arrest have been ramped up following the
inauguration of President Donald Trump, who vowed during his campaign
to conduct mass deportations of people in the country illegally.
In a statement issued earlier this week announcing changes in
(14:23):
ICE leadership, the agency noted that it had achieved its
highest number of arrest in its history this week. Earlier
this week, on Monday, the same agency, Homeland Security LA,
announced that it had arrested twelve Mexican nationals outside of
Long Beach suspected of entering the nation illegally aboard a
small vote. Meanwhile, in San Diego, several San Diego area
(14:48):
elected officials criticized an immigration enforcement operation by federal authorities
that took place at a pair of restaurants in the
city South Park neighborhood. Let's hear what the NBC station
there in San Diego reported on this.
Speaker 6 (15:01):
They begin tonight in South Park, where US Immigration and
Customs Enforcement agents say they've conducted work site enforcement operations
at a popular restaurant. This happened just after four o'clock
this afternoon at Buena Forchetta and an Otteca Buena Forchetta
on Beach Street. Protesters confronted the agents and also surrounded
ICE patrol cars.
Speaker 7 (15:23):
When I arrived, I saw that the workers were all
sitting in chairs. They had plastic handcuffs around them. The
ones that they took out, they not only placed handcuffs
on them, but they also put chains on their legs
rest onto the vehicles that transported them out of the area.
Speaker 6 (15:43):
The restaurant manager says agents detained at least two workers
and that both businesses were closed at the time. ICE
says their investigation is ongoing. San Diego City Council Member
Stephen Whitburn, who represents District three, released a statement saying
he was quote deeply trouble by the operations and that
immigrants deserve to live without fear or intimidation.
Speaker 2 (16:05):
The PBS affiliate in San Diego says some witnesses reported
agents at first handcuffed the entire crew at this restaurant
and asked for identification. Several workers were detained, but those
witness accounts differ on just how many. What are your
thoughts on this? Let us know. Open up that iHeartRadio
(16:26):
app and click on the talkback button. We'll play some
of your comments throughout the show, and I know you're
going to have some comments on what we're going to
talk about next, homelessness in La and La County. When
Mayor Vass was elected, immediately she declared a state of
emergency that allowed her to have significant authority on what
she could do without needing certain approvals from other elected officials.
(16:50):
But now there are cries from inside city hall for
that emergency declaration to finally end two and a half
years later. We're going to talk about that on Michael
Monk's Reports.
Speaker 1 (17:01):
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 2 (17:05):
KFI AM six forty live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app.
This is Michael Monks Reports. I'm Michael Monks from KFI News.
I'm with you till nine o'clock tonight. Thanks for being
with us on what looks like a beautiful day in
La County anyway, but we know there were some storms
over Ventura and Santa Barbara County. So if it's hitting you,
hope you're staying safe and as dry as you can.
(17:27):
Before we went to break, we shared with you the
news of some immigration bust involving Chinese and Taiwanese nationals
here in Los Angeles, as well as other immigrants in
San Diego. I asked for your thoughts on that because
California is pretty safe otherwise for immigrants regardless of their
immigration status, and some cities like LA have taken a
(17:51):
stand saying you are welcome and protected here. But things
appear to be ramping up in the opposite direction even
inside a city like Laws Angelus. What do you think?
Open up the iHeartRadio app, click on that talkback button
and share your thoughts. Will play some of them over
the course of the next couple of hours. Here's one
of the comments that we've received.
Speaker 4 (18:12):
As far as.
Speaker 2 (18:13):
Ice goes, I'm gonna trust the process.
Speaker 8 (18:17):
They just gotta go.
Speaker 2 (18:18):
It's just way too expensive. We don't want I don't
want to April damn medical care. Sorry, but that's my opinion.
All right, that's your opinion. What other opinions are lurking
out there? I'm sure you might have some opinions about
this going on as well. You can't talk about government
(18:40):
in Los Angeles or Los Angeles County without considering the
impact of homelessness. Seventy five thousand homeless people across Los
Angeles County, more than half of them in the City
of Los Angeles. Billions of dollars spent, and yes, it
appears that the official number of accounted for homeless people
has dropped modestly over the past couple of years, but
(19:03):
not enough to make any significant difference when you think
about how much money has been spent. Well, now more
money has been sent, excuse me, spent on behalf of
the city and a lawsuit that it's facing. It's from
the West Side Current, the West Side Regional Alliance of Councils.
This is a coalition of neighborhood councils across LA. They're
(19:27):
calling for transparency over the city's decision to hire Gibson,
Done and Crutcher. This is a big time law firm,
and the city has asked this big time law firm
with a price tag of about nine hundred thousand dollars
to represent Los Angeles in this long ongoing case in
(19:50):
federal court known as LA Alliance for Human Rights Human
Rights versus the City and County of Los Angeles. This
started back in twenty twenty when that group, the La Alliance,
a group of business owners in downtown LA looked around
and said, you guys got to do something about this.
I mean, they're just everywhere. You've got to do something,
And the federal courts said, yeah, you've got to. You've
(20:10):
got to ensure that there are a number of beds
for these homeless people to go to so that they
stop ransacking and terrorizing these businesses. So this neighborhood group
has filed an open records request looking for documents about
the retainer agreement for this law firm, the hourly billing rates,
the total expenditures, and how the city is paying this
(20:32):
nine hundred thousand dollars contract with Gibson done. Keep in mind,
the city just approved its budget, but only after having
to close a one billion dollar billion with a b shortfall,
and they did that by cutting the number of new
(20:53):
police officers that can be hired in half, scaling back
the number of new firefighters they planned to hire, cutting
some services, and still planning to lay off at this moment,
hundreds of city employees now in court. This week, this
case was back in court and we had word that
(21:15):
perhaps Mayor Bass herself had been subpoened to testify along
with two members of the city council, Tracy Park and
Monica Rodriguez. Those are two outspoken opponents of the amount
of money that is being spent on homelessness. They voted
against this budget because they didn't want to cut public
safety and they wanted a better accounting of the homeless dollars.
(21:37):
But Mayor Bass has her own signature program inside safe
on top of what the city spends on its own
and on top of what it does to fund the
LA Homeless Services Authority. But nobody took the stand. Lawyers
were busy for about three days in federal court this week,
(21:58):
including these new lawyers for the city nine hundred thousand dollars.
We'll keep an eye on that and see what that
neighborhood group finds out. People are growing increasingly fed up
with the amount of money. Meanwhile, Mayor Bass had declared
an emergency over homelessness right after she took office, but
(22:21):
this week inside city Hall, the council was asked to
renew that emergency, allowing the mayor to make some executive
decisions basically to address homelessness. But now you've got more
counsel members saying, eh, I don't know if we need
this anymore. As reported by the La Times, council member
Tim Mcoscar says he wants to return city government to
(22:44):
its normal processes and procedures. Has spelled out in the
city charter. That means leases, contracts, and other decisions related
to homelessness would again be taken up at public meetings,
with council members receiving testimony, taking written input, and ultimately voting.
He's quote in the Times is saying, let's come back
to why these processes exist. They exist so the public
(23:06):
can be made aware of what we're doing with public dollars.
What do you think Is it too late or do
you get the sense that more local elected officials are
maybe taking the amount of money spent on homelessness a
little more seriously? Let us know. Open up the iHeartRadio app,
(23:26):
click on that talkback button and we will play some
of your comments. Homelessness is also going on, of course,
outside the city of Los Angeles. A little more than
half of the county's homeless population inside the city proper,
but there are many corners of La County where homelessness
is causing serious problems. Every single day there's a homeless
(23:48):
camp on a roof that has terrorized a doctor's office.
Let's hear from KTLA and reporter Angelie Kakada.
Speaker 9 (24:00):
The woman who owns this building on the corner of
Rugby and Zoe Avenues in Huntington Park says people living
on the roof of a next door structure have been
terrorizing her and her staff for years.
Speaker 10 (24:12):
They ruined my roof.
Speaker 9 (24:13):
Doctor Tahani Solman says she's out one hundred thousand dollars
from damages caused by the unwanted groof.
Speaker 8 (24:19):
I have to put the roof, new roof, and the
electricity from the AC I have to replace all of them.
Speaker 3 (24:29):
Where was the fire just a trash fire?
Speaker 9 (24:32):
Aper Just yesterday crews put out a trash fire on
the rooftop of the parking structure. And this wasn't the
first time. In twenty twenty three there was a fire
at the building next door. Gabby Rodriguez, who works for
the doctor, says the fire department was the one who
told them people were living there.
Speaker 11 (24:49):
We ended up putting a fence with barboam.
Speaker 9 (24:52):
They took that down, then we ended up caging our
ac units.
Speaker 11 (24:55):
They took that down.
Speaker 6 (24:56):
We ended up caging our water.
Speaker 2 (24:58):
Falls in from outside, and they still find a way
to get to everything. Is that how life is supposed
to be in La in La County. That's in Huntington Park.
All that money spent instilled these issues. A doctor's office
terrorized by homeless people living on the roof. They can't
keep them out. Way in now iHeartRadio app. Click on
(25:21):
the talkback button and we will play some of your comments.
But speaking of the city and money, three of the
Democratic Socialists of America and endorsed candidates excuse me, council
members have come out with an idea this week. As
of yesterday, they announced that they are funding a study
for a public bank. What does that mean? We'll hear
(25:42):
from them next, and you will also hear maybe the
cringiest activist chant I've ever heard in all the time
I've been covering city Hall. You don't want to miss that.
That's coming up next on Michael Monks Reports.
Speaker 1 (25:53):
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand KFI.
Speaker 2 (25:57):
AM six forty live everywhere They're on the iHeartRadio app.
This is Michael Monks Reports on Michael Monks from KFI News.
We're with you till nine o'clock on this Saturday night
in southern California. We are on eagle watch again in
Big Bear. We found out today that those two eaglets,
they're both girls, Sonny and Gizmo, are sisters. But they
(26:22):
are back in everyone's minds again for many of you.
I know they never ever even left because apparently they're
close to leaving the nest. I've watched as they've flapped
their wings a little bit, they've elevated, and they kind
of get blown back into the nest. But apparently they're
close to getting out there and we'll soon leave the
nest for good. We'll keep an high on that story
(26:44):
for you. We've usto been talking about homelessness in Los Angeles.
If you think the city and some city officials are
getting a little more serious about this problem, how much
money is being spent, whether you expect to see a difference.
We've asked for you to weigh in. Open up the
iHeart radio app, click on that talkback button and leave
your remarks. Here's Kathleen enough already.
Speaker 5 (27:05):
With these damn homeless people, they're routing society. When is
it going to be taken that our rights are more
important than people that don't want to work and do drugs.
It's ridiculous and they need to be sent to the
desert and live in tepees. That's my opinion.
Speaker 2 (27:18):
Tepees, tepees in the desert for the homeless. But you
can't help but understand that frustration. Billions spent, and as
someone who lives in the midst of it, whose block
is now basically surrounded by tents, you have to wonder
(27:42):
why isn't any of this working. It's frustrating. And as
for the drug use and the lack of let's say motivation,
you see that too. I mean, on my way in today,
I saw three piles of people clearly smoking illegal substances
right on the sidewalk, out in the open, in the
(28:02):
Fashion district. It's certainly heartbreaking, but it's so infuriating when
you think about how much money has been spent and
what the city still looks like. Three members of the
Los Angeles City Council who tend to be the most
apologetic for the homeless spending. In fact, they always vote
(28:25):
against any time another city council member comes to the
floor and says, I would like to block these streets
from having homeless camps on them. The city is allowed
to do that. They are allowed to block them everywhere.
They just don't. But sometimes council members come to city
Hall and say, here's a list of streets in my district.
We want to make sure that folks are no longer
(28:46):
allowed to camp there, and let's get them off there.
These three council members always vote against it, and yesterday
they filed a motion together to propose a public bank
of this saying that if they had their own bank
in the city, the city would see new revenue and
(29:06):
they wouldn't have to pay so much money in taxes
and fees to the big banks and Wall Street. These
are council members Isabelle Herado, Unisses Hernandez, and Hugo Soto Martinez,
along with some activists from groups like the Democratic Socialist
of America Los Angeles Chapter. I don't want to make
fun here, but there was a chance before the suppressor
(29:30):
that I just thought was so cringey, and I just
want to share it with you public bank.
Speaker 10 (30:07):
Community, what we.
Speaker 2 (30:12):
What we.
Speaker 9 (30:14):
Want, we want it, we don't.
Speaker 1 (30:20):
Do you know it.
Speaker 2 (30:42):
So that was before this press conference started. These activist groups.
We are Los Angeles, Mighty, Mighty Los Angeles. If we
don't get it, shut it down, then a little bit
of howls and of course the obligatory. You can't have
a rally at Los Angeles City Hall with that little
It seems to work. No matter what you're asking for
(31:04):
at Los Angeles City Hall, show up, be prepared to
chance a hundred times, and more than likely at some
point you're gonna get it. It worked for the hotel workers,
it worked for the fast food workers, It's worked for
everybody who has come down there with any sort of demands.
It may not work right away, but eventually. And now
let's hear from these three council members about their proposal
(31:27):
for a public bank. You'll hear Isabelle Herrado, then Hugosota Martinez,
and then Unisses Hernandez.
Speaker 9 (31:32):
It's unacceptable to keep doing business as usual, and that's
why it is a realignment happening at city Hall.
Speaker 8 (31:42):
I'm oppose you can attest the notion of the City
of La Sa wishing a public Liank bank.
Speaker 3 (31:47):
A public bank isn't new.
Speaker 9 (31:49):
It's had its fits and starts, and when ACE came
a public comment demanding a public bank and calling me out.
Speaker 3 (31:56):
I got to thinking, what are we waiting for?
Speaker 5 (31:59):
Why don't we are anywhere?
Speaker 3 (32:00):
Are nos?
Speaker 10 (32:01):
So what we do is today Angelinos go around every
single day and they interact with broken sidewalks, lights that
don't get fixed, lack.
Speaker 1 (32:12):
Of affordable housing.
Speaker 10 (32:13):
I can go on and on and on, and when
we're being based with those challenges, we have to think creatively,
we have to think outside the box, and we have
to innovate.
Speaker 1 (32:23):
And that's what we're doing here today.
Speaker 10 (32:26):
Because the city of the Lake pays one point four
billion dollars in debt service, including hundreds of millions of
bees to Wall Street banks. When was the last time
Wall Street cared about the city of Los Angeles.
Speaker 11 (32:42):
It's never happened.
Speaker 10 (32:43):
Wall Street, as we know, is the only only focused
on there making money.
Speaker 11 (32:49):
So let me put it simply, the people in Los
Angeles are being robbed. Every year. We had over one
point four billion dollars to Wall Street banks. They say,
profits from ourtesh dollars going later and our day And
what do we get a return in our most vulnerable communities?
A city budget that can bear to keep the light
(33:11):
zone take to the sidewalks or pick up the trash.
And on top of that, we're being forced to making
possible choices during a twenty billion dollars shortfall, we had
to go down to save the very city jobs that
deliver these services.
Speaker 2 (33:24):
Those three members of Council, Isabel Horado, Hugo Soto Martinez
and Unissies Hernandez, have all promised fifteen thousand dollars each
for a total of forty five thousand dollars from their
own office accounts to pay for a study of this
proposed public bank. Interestingly, they said, look, the state of
North Dakota established a public bank back in nineteen nineteen
(33:47):
and has used it to weather multiple economic downturns and
insulate itself from broader market collapses. It's not often you
hear the three most progressive members of Los Angeles City
Council come out and say, you know what, we need
to be more like North Dakota. But it's always a
different day Los Angeles, and you never know what's coming next.
Will obviously continue to follow that development. We got another
(34:10):
hour together here on Michael Monks Reports. We're going to
go to the Palisades in the next hour to get
an update, Army Corps engineer just about finished on that
debris clearance. One resident there who is maybe well known
to you, so she has an idea for getting the
rest of this debris out fast and away from our
own landfills. That's coming up on our next hour here
on KFI AM six
Speaker 1 (34:30):
Forty KFI AM six forty on demand
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