Sick: Co-Workers / Social Posts / Unicameral

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Great to have you with us here on this Wednesday morning.
US includes Craig Evans, he does the news, Lucy Chapman
with Time, Staber, traffic, and witty banter throughout the morning.
I'm Scott Vorhees banter, not so much the witty banter.
And Jim Rose is here at Sports and checking in

(00:20):
to see how Jim is doing with his voice. Jim
says he's in the third quarter of this illness he's
been incubating this week. How is the halftime show on Time?
Show is great?

Speaker 2 (00:31):
Hey, you're in the third quarterer? Now bad Bunny?

Speaker 3 (00:33):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (00:33):
Oh really bad Bad Bunny was the halftime show on
your sickness, which is.

Speaker 2 (00:38):
Pretty much the same way most Americans are going to
feel when they see him perform at the Super Bowl.
But yeah, I think I'm in the late third quarter. Okay,
I should probably be back down hundred percent by Friday.
Who's your quarterback in this game?

Speaker 1 (00:50):
Because it's switched a little bit for the Huskers this
week with Anthony got.

Speaker 2 (00:54):
A new guy.

Speaker 1 (00:54):
We got a new we have a new savior of
the Nebraska football program.

Speaker 2 (00:58):
I love the media on this one. This was the
guy we should have gotten anyway. Forget about Kenny Minchie.
This is one of the reasons a lot of Nebraska
media people have lost credibility with the fans because they
they will say, this was actually a better guy than
Kenny mitt No, he wasn't. They wanted Kenny Minchie first.
Kenny Minchie flipped Nebraska for Kentucky. But this guy, unlike Minchi,

(01:19):
this guy has actually delivered. This guy has produced. He
is the Mountain West player and played at Virginia Vegas. Yeah,
he was a Virginia for two seasons through for four
thousand yards there pretty good, and winds up at UNLV
and has done very very well. So this guy actually
has a record of productivity. This guy reminds me of
Rob Gronkowski, the ar Mark Gronkowski, the kidding me right,

(01:43):
the tight end, the tight end sorry, yeah, the the
quarterback for Iowa who was super duper productive at South
Dakota State, won national championships there, and then late in
the season last year he really came into his own.
But he's very similar to that guy. Now, he's not
as big as Gronowski, but he has the same ability

(02:04):
to elude the rush. He can take off. He scored
ten touchdowns rushing this past season. So this guy looks
like he's kind of ready made. Now the question becomes,
did they promise him the job or are we going
to have a real quarterback competition? And if we don't
have a real quarterback competition, TJ. Latif is thinking, why
am I here? So to me, this would be very

(02:27):
very important for Nebraska to have a genuine quarterback competition
in the spring. Figure out who the number one guy is.

Speaker 1 (02:34):
Well, I would think Latif would want to be here because,
as we saw this past season, quarterbacks get hurt and
we need you. This guy, if he indeed comes in
here and as the starter, he has only one year
of eligibility.

Speaker 2 (02:47):
I thought it was two, but you could be right.

Speaker 1 (02:50):
I have a report here from on three that says
he has one year of eligibility remaining.

Speaker 2 (02:56):
Well, we'll see.

Speaker 1 (02:57):
So that'd be another reason why Latif for freshman, yeah,
evolve into a sophomore, would want to be here. Really though,
I don't know, I've never heard of this guy until
Yester de Andrea. Yeah, I've never heard of him. I
just want someone who wants to be here. Yeah, and
if he ends up wanting wanting to play for Nebraska

(03:18):
and actually following through and at least putting a helmet
on or coming to check out the facility. That's fine,
I'll take it. I will take anything I can get
right now.

Speaker 2 (03:25):
He did visit. Unlike Kenny Minchee. He did visit. He
was here. He has kicked the tires. That's great. Yeah,
this looks like a really nice get. We also got
a guy named Tree. So Tree, is that the linebacker.
He's the tackle from South Carolina Tree, Babbelaide Tree. So
I'm thinking in the history of Nebraska football, the offensive
line tradition was built by Cletus and Milton. Now it's

(03:46):
run by Geep and Tree, Geep and Tree. It's actually Geep,
but I called him Geep. Yeah, Geepkeeep Wade the new
offensive line coach. So we have a whole new era
of Nebraska football led by Geeps and Trees.

Speaker 1 (03:59):
I'll take a bush, I'll take a twig. I just
I want you can block. I want someone who wants
to be here.

Speaker 2 (04:06):
Now, these guys want to be here. And Will Hawthorne
was a promising linebacker prospect out of high school. He
went to Gilbert High School. And you people in Iowa
will be familiar with there. It's north of Ames and
it came down to Nebraska and Iowa State. He went
to Iowa State and then MTT Campbell leaves with penns Date. Well,
that opened it up for Will Hawthorne, and he committed

(04:26):
to Nebraska yesterday. He didn't play much, I don't believe
at all as a freshman in twenty twenty five. But
he ran a ten eight hundred in high school and
you can't coach speed.

Speaker 1 (04:36):
Well, it's an exciting time here at radio station, as
we're getting new bathrooms in the upstairs area of the
Gary Sandlmeyer building here and a beautiful dundee. I especially
liked how they tore everything out of the men's room
yesterday and took the giant decroded toilet paper roll holder

(05:01):
and put it on the countertop where the staff prepares
food in what passes for our break area upstairs. So
you might want to sanitize that area before making your
toast this morning, Lucy.

Speaker 2 (05:15):
Other than that, it's a very exciting time.

Speaker 4 (05:17):
Oh, I thought you meant these right by the studio.

Speaker 1 (05:19):
No, okay, those will never be fixed. We have the
facilities here at this radio station, or I think second
to none.

Speaker 2 (05:32):
How many other radio stations that you've been in? Think
I'd rather have none? Yeah? I like that.

Speaker 1 (05:37):
We got we have two men's room upstairs. One of
them only has cold water. There's no warm water, there's
no hot water. The other one only has the hottest water.

Speaker 2 (05:47):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (05:48):
This side of the sun. You know, Mercury has cooler
water than that room up there. So they're they're they're
doing a little work up here.

Speaker 2 (05:56):
That's good. Uh.

Speaker 1 (05:57):
In terms of the workplace, they got a question for
you people. You can think about it for a moment,
and that is, what do we think about coworkers who
come to work well sick? Because everybody is doing it
here this week. We'll address that here in a moment.
I think I already know one of your thoughts on

(06:20):
it here this morning, and certainly I know Jimsy he's
sitting here sick. We got traffic, weather, and a news
update here in about a minute and a half on
Nebraska's morning news.

Speaker 2 (06:29):
But I'm not communicable, okay, I mean what, I don't
have influenza A or anything. I don't have any bold.

Speaker 1 (06:35):
Who would come to work sick having tested positive for
influenza A.

Speaker 2 (06:40):
Well exactly, I mean if I've been tested positive for
influenza A, I wouldn't be here. But you know, it's
an important We did have an employee last month who
did just that. Transfer portal is big stuff. I got
to be here at an emergency broadcast. I want you here.

Speaker 1 (06:54):
The phenomenon this week here around Omaha and probably around
the country, certly in the Midwest, is the number of
employees who have come back after the holidays just sick.

Speaker 2 (07:07):
Is a pack of dogs.

Speaker 1 (07:09):
Everyone is sick, and it's amazing that all the people
who have come to work sick here this week. What's
really impressive, Lucy, is none of them, as Jim pointed
out a moment ago, none of them are communicable. They're
always either on the back end of something that they
had last week and so therefore they're not contagious anymore.

(07:32):
Or the prevalence of sinus infections is really really impressive
here among people in and around Omaha. No one has
a cold, no one has the flu, and we've cured COVID.
No one has COVID anymore, which is great. I don't
know why the media is and telling us about how

(07:53):
we beat COVID. All these people have tested positive for
this and that, and not a single person with COVID.

Speaker 2 (07:58):
Isn't that great? One?

Speaker 4 (08:00):
That is such great news. I know I had not
heard it yet.

Speaker 1 (08:03):
Yeah, because no one comes to work and like everyone's
got the same symptoms and uh, and everyone says, I
think it's got a sinus infection or some congestion or
something like that.

Speaker 2 (08:14):
No you don't. You got bronchitis and you're coming to work.
So I then the issue is is what do we
think about our co workers when they come to work?
I suspect I maintain that most people don't like it
when their coworkers come to work sick. They like it
even less when they call in sick because then the

(08:34):
people who are at work have to cover for them.
But they have no problem themselves going to work sick
because I gotta I gotta work I gotta get this
stuff done, so I don't It doesn't bother me. If
I get a little you know, bug here and there,
that doesn't bother me.

Speaker 1 (08:50):
But I I hate the idea of potentially getting my
co workers sick. So, Lucy, what do you think when
people come to work sick?

Speaker 4 (08:59):
I I'm kind of mixed. Usually am really unhappy about it.
Because you need to at least stay home until you're
not spreading it all around. On the other hand, if
I get it, at least I get a couple of
days off.

Speaker 1 (09:15):
I know, I don't mind that. But if we followed
through on whatever that guidance is these days on, as
soon as you feel those first symptoms, you got to
stay home. Then you stay home of course while you're sick,
and then you got to stay home for well like
during COVID it was like ten days. But no one
can stay home from work for ten days either because

(09:38):
they don't want to, they feel that they can't. For
those who are hourly employees, they don't have that much
sick time. They've got to come to work. I think
some people overreact about coworkers coming to work sick. Because
you hear Jim coffing in the background. I think some
people overreact about it.

Speaker 4 (10:00):
I don't know that people overreact unless they're throwing.

Speaker 2 (10:04):
A fit about it right now. If you have.

Speaker 4 (10:07):
Getting in their face, yelling, if that's how you're going
to get sick, If you have.

Speaker 1 (10:10):
A personal immune system that's about as strong as the
security forces around Nicholas Maduro and Caracas, then maybe you
need to watch yourself a little bit more. But for
most of us, we got an Israeli defense force in
our system. If you use it, you've got to let
it get some germs and some microbes and some viruses.
Once in a while, your body wants to fight. Your

(10:32):
body is at the end of a Rocky movie. It's like,
let's go, we want to battle this. You know, if
you're constantly like you gotta never get any germs on you,
then by the first time you get some small germ,
you're going to explode on contact. So I don't mind it.
What do you think Scott at kfab dot com. Zonker's

(10:53):
custom was inbox Scott at kfab dot com. Or send
us a message with your own voice, even if it's
right because you're not feeling well via the talkback mic
on our free iHeartRadio app. We'll listen to that throughout
the morning. Should people stay home while sick, what do
you think about co workers coming to work while sick.

(11:15):
I suspect it's kind of like texting while driving where
everyone says, oh, you shouldn't do it.

Speaker 2 (11:20):
I can do it.

Speaker 1 (11:21):
I mean I know I'm safe with it, and I
can be okay with it, but you shouldn't do it.
And I think people feel the same way about coming
to work while sick.

Speaker 2 (11:29):
Well, you shouldn't do it. I don't want you around me.

Speaker 1 (11:31):
But if I've got a little bit of a congestion
or whatever, I can still come to work. And as
I jokingly said in the last segment, it's amazing how
many people here around Omaha don't have a cold or
the flu, or certainly COVID. It's everyone's got a sinus infection. Which,
by the way, I'm fine with you lying to me

(11:52):
and telling me that I feel better if you come
in all hacking and weezing and stuff. And I'm like,
you are right, say I just got a sinus infection,
because a sinus infection is not infectious. It's not contagious, right,
I can't catch your sinus infection even if I get
all up in your sinuses.

Speaker 4 (12:13):
I've always heard that, but it doesn't make sense.

Speaker 1 (12:15):
But no, it doesn't make sense because people are lying
when they tell you I just have a sinus infection.
And the reason why I know that is that's also
my go to line when I come to work sick.
Here are some of the emails said to Scott at
kfab dot com. Bob emails and says, Scott, why stay

(12:37):
home and be sick around the people you love when
you can go to work and be sick around the
people you don't. Well, Bob, I'm sorry you work in
a place where you don't love your co workers. I
don't know what that's like. I love these people more
than you love your own kids.

Speaker 4 (12:55):
Yeah, whoever they are lies coming out of that studio.

Speaker 2 (12:58):
I spend more time with you guys than I do
my own kids. Well, he complains about it's kids all
the time.

Speaker 1 (13:02):
I'm I'm vaguely aware that my kids exist anymore. Shannon
emails and says, half of these typhoid Mary's will find
any reason to work from home. They'll find any reason
to work from home, but they can't wait to bring
their latest illness to share at work. Oh, speaking of
sharing stuff at work, we are now at the stage
here at news Radio eleven ten KFAB after the holidays

(13:25):
where our co workers are bringing in the nasty snacks
that no one wanted at the holiday parties, and they're
still sitting around and you don't want to throw them out,
so I'll bring them to work. We got a little
bowl of pasty white things here at the studio, and
I'm not talking about me and Jim. We've got to like.

Speaker 4 (13:44):
Are you really complaining about this?

Speaker 2 (13:46):
I don't know.

Speaker 4 (13:47):
Is there fresh chocolate covered cherries?

Speaker 2 (13:50):
Yummy?

Speaker 4 (13:51):
My box?

Speaker 5 (13:51):
Well?

Speaker 2 (13:51):
Wait? What are the ones that are covered in powdered shows?

Speaker 4 (13:54):
Those are absolutely fabulous David's shortbread cookies.

Speaker 2 (13:58):
I noticed you're complaining about the day three of having
those here at the studio and no one's eating something because.

Speaker 4 (14:03):
They don't know what they are.

Speaker 2 (14:04):
No, I've eaten something. Are very good. I licked the
powdered sugar off one of them. I would have stuffed
them all in my pocket, but left a trail all
the way. I don't know what they are. Are they biscuits?
Are they cookies? Shirt bread cookies? You ever had those?
Mama's little baby loves shortbreads.

Speaker 4 (14:20):
My you know what, Scott? If you don't, if you've
never had them, don't because they're addictive.

Speaker 1 (14:25):
Well, I'm not gonna have one now if you're not
gonna tell me, I can't now. I want There's nothing
I want more than one of those. You grab one
and jam it into your mouth and stomp it down.

Speaker 2 (14:35):
Are we still talking about cookies? Yeah? Uh see am
emails and just says go to blank and work you blank,
Only he didn't say fudge. Thank you for that. Oh
I love that one. Yeah, I know.

Speaker 1 (14:48):
He says, go to work well sick, because don't make
us have to fill in for you.

Speaker 2 (14:53):
If you stay home sick. The works still gotta get
done and we got to do all the work. Uh
So here's one from the talk back Mike. When listening
to us via our free iHeartRadio app, you can send
us a message with your own voice, even if it's
not one hund because you're not feeling well.

Speaker 3 (15:11):
Good morning, KFAB. You know I think I could still
go to work even though my nose is ready. I've
got a cough, but either are stuck shut. But I
could contribute at work. Have a great day.

Speaker 2 (15:30):
Yeah, thank you. Feel better. I appreciate you being here.
We are we are your radio dayq WILL News Radio
eleven ten KFAB. And then this email from Terry unrelated,
just says, Hi, you are doing a better job without
Gary than I thought. Well, thank you, Terry. That's encouraging.

Speaker 1 (15:49):
I don't know where he'd previously set the bar, but
we are meeting it, and so that's that's good. See
that's the thing. Lower your expectations and it might not
be as bad as you think. Doug emails and says,
come to work. Everyone goes to work when they're sick.
Nobody likes the person who calls in sick. And now

(16:11):
that person who screwed the operation gets paid. Thanks Nebraska.
Talking about mandatory sick leave. This is something that businesses
can offer to attract good employees, but now it's mandated.
Doug also notes that dayquill needs to be sold in
gallon jugs.

Speaker 2 (16:29):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (16:29):
My wife is always like, did you take the recommended
amount of that?

Speaker 3 (16:32):
Like?

Speaker 2 (16:33):
Probably, well how much did you take? I don't know.

Speaker 1 (16:36):
Tim email says, I think you're right Scott on the
body needing to fight germs regularly to keep the immune
system up. I haven't had a cold in over six years,
and I usually get one every five years, so I'm overdue. Yeah, Tim,
you're done. Don't say this out loud, dude, he says.
I don't worry about germs. I never used the antibacterial wipes,
the liquids everyone's obsessed over. I take a vitamin every day,

(17:00):
eat yogurt, and blueberries daily and drink lots of water.
Seems to have worked so far. I don't worry about
being around sick people. Maybe it's just luck. Tim, you
just jinxed yourself. You're gonna get eaten by a shark today.
You're gonna get one little bit of bacteria on you.
Your whole body's gonna blow up here. You don't frag
about that kind of thing. It's bad luck. Germs are spiteful.

(17:22):
Yesterday was apparently one of the anniversaries of the worst
thing that's happened in our country. Worse than nine to eleven,
worse than Pearl Harbor, worse than the Challenger explosion. Yesterday
was the fifth anniversary of the Capitol Hill Riot. And
I swear to you I did not ignore the news yesterday.

(17:45):
Didn't note it on the radio for several hours Yesterday
morning didn't note the anniversary of the fifth anniversary of
the Capitol Hill Riot. And the reason why I didn't
note it is not because carrying water for Trump and
the mega insurrectionists. I honestly didn't even think about it.

(18:07):
The date January sixth is not a date that for
me lives an infamy. Now let me say this. I
was dismayed when I saw what happened on that day.
We watched it unfold in real time, and we did
special coverage here on the radio throughout the afternoon, talked

(18:28):
about it first several days afterwards. It was an incredibly
dark day for this nation on a lot of different fronts,
including I believe that includes the persecution, the political persecution
of a lot of people who were like, can we go.

Speaker 2 (18:46):
In these doors?

Speaker 1 (18:47):
Yeah, come on in, and these guys are walking around
taking pictures, taking selfies, going this is crazy.

Speaker 2 (18:53):
How about this.

Speaker 1 (18:57):
I think that the grands standing of several people in
the wake of that day is pretty shameless, but that
doesn't excuse the fact, again allowing for this, that there
was a lot of bad behavior caused by that day
of some people who I don't feel are true patriots.

(19:20):
I think we had a lot of chaotic knuckle jobs.
Is that a knuckle job? A lot of chaotic knuckleheads
who are just using that as an excuse to go
in there and cause trouble. And you see that all
over the country the streets of this town or that town.
We don't like the fact that that cop shot that guy,

(19:42):
so we're gonna burn down this business district because chaos.
There's too many people like that, and and that holds
no particular political side. That's just a bunch of chaotic
knuckle jobs. Knuckle jobs. I'll continue to use that phrase.
I don't know where that phrase is coming from.

Speaker 4 (20:01):
But I'm not sure I even know what it means. Yeah,
well they are, Okay, we'll just leave it to that.

Speaker 1 (20:06):
So that said that, as eloquently as that was said,
the fifth anniversary of January sixth comes around, and I
didn't ignore it because it didn't really register. I would
love to have a day in my life where September
eleventh comes around and I don't even remember, like, oh, yeah,

(20:29):
that's right, that was, but the number of people. Look,
I'm not saying it was just like any other day,
but it's not September eleventh. It's not Pearl Harbor. It's
also no excuse for some of the commentary I saw
on social media. I was disgusted when I popped open Facebook.

(20:52):
And even though I've told Facebook several times I don't
need to see a bunch of disgusting political commentary up
on my feed, They're like what about this, Like now,
that's the Facebook. That's exactly the kind of disgusting political
commentary that I don't want to see. Oh, okay, we
won't show you that. What about this Facebook? That's the

(21:13):
same thing. It's almost as if Facebook is taking a
bunch of really ugly commentary and putting it first up
in my feed, even though I've asked them time and
time again, don't show me that. So a lot of
it yesterday was never forget January sixth, it was treason.

Speaker 2 (21:38):
Now.

Speaker 1 (21:38):
One of these posts was from someone who I don't
know hardly at all in this town, and I thought like,
should I say this person's name on the radio and
expose them?

Speaker 2 (21:51):
But you know why?

Speaker 1 (21:54):
But I thought, all right, let's read the comments, let's
see how everything's going here. And there's a comment from
a guy named Jim who says, and I quote, let's
hope Trump exits the land of the living this year.
Fingers crossed was liked by nine people. I clicked that

(22:15):
to see who among the nine people I know? And
then there was the person who I kind of know
and have some respect for for what they've accomplished in
this town. Now I know that they're a raging anti
Trump lefty but there's a big difference, in my opinion,
between being a raging anti Trump lefty and wishing death

(22:37):
on the president of the United States, hoping, praying, thinking
that everything would be better if that guy just died.
And the number of people feel like, oh, they can
just say that and like those comments, and then there's
a lot of comments going, oh, wouldn't that just be
the best way to start twenty twenty six? All these
people I unfriended that person, they won't know, they don't care.

(23:01):
See Mark gets me. Knuckle jobs. It's a combination knuckleheads
and nut jobs. I know that's who these people are.
Allow it, all right, Lucy's gonna allow it.

Speaker 2 (23:11):
Thank you, Lucy. That's Lucy Chapman.

Speaker 1 (23:13):
Craig Evans there, Jim Rose with sports Brief in just
a few minutes. I am Scott Vorhees. Thank you so
much for being with us on news radio eleven ten
KFAB and Nebraska's Morning News. So yesterday on the fifth
anniversary of January sixth, with some people feel as on
par with September eleventh, I don't share that feeling. Not
to downplay that it wasn't a dark day in this

(23:33):
nation's history. I don't know that it was the darkest
day in this nation's history, on par with September eleventh
or Pearl Harbor or anything like that, the Kennedy assassination.
And some people put it right there. Why why because Trump?
And that was proof in the comments I saw on
social media, including the guy who was actively rooting for

(23:56):
Trump to die this year, and there were even some
people going, I know it's not right to wish death
on anyone, but wouldn't it be better if.

Speaker 2 (24:04):
He were to?

Speaker 1 (24:05):
Just people were actively rooting for the death of the
President of the United States on social media? Did Facebook
root any of that out? Did anyone on there seem
to jump in there and go, guys, this is demonic
stuff that you guys are putting forth out there. How

(24:26):
hateful and vile do you have to be in your
soul to actively root for the elected president of the
United States. I haven't voted for every president in my lifetime.
At no point of I thought wouldn't it be great
if they died? At no point. But see, here's the
darkly funny part to me, and I am going to

(24:47):
try and put a silver lining on this. The darkly
funny part to me would be the number of people
who feel like, if Trump were just, whether it's out
of office by any means or whatever, we'll try and
clean this up a little bit. You know that the
people in your family, your friends, your social media sphere,

(25:11):
your coworkers, your neighbors, the people driving amongst you, the
people shopping and going to ballgames, amongst you. You know
about half of them are Trump voters. Right, just because
you're so called head of the snake, were to go away,
the same people who voted him into office twice, maybe

(25:34):
three times, they're still there. There are still people out
there who maybe they'll allow that. Yeah, Trump's pretty rough
around the edges. I wish you wouldn't say that. I
wish some of these things would be a little cleaner.
But there are a lot of people out there that
see stuff happening, rooting out criminal behavior in this country
and in Venezuela and some of the things that he's doing,

(25:59):
and they say, I like that, that's what I voted for.
I sure as heck didn't vote for a demonic group
of people who wish death on the president of the
United States. The president at some point will leave office.
The mindset that got him there is still very alive
in this country, and so the people out there saying like, well,

(26:19):
I wish that he would just that doesn't do anything
for the people around us who voted him into office,
who are rooting for a lot of the things that
he does. So for those of you who think, wouldn't
life be better if it wouldn't, it wouldn't change, you
would just have fewer tweets. Now, this is why I

(26:44):
had to put down my phone yesterday for a couple
of hours ago. Just don't don't get into that, don't
get into Facebook, don't start fighting with these people.

Speaker 2 (26:51):
There's no point. All he's going to do is make
yourself mad.

Speaker 1 (26:55):
And I got really really angry and frustrated about it yesterday,
and I was enshrouding myself and the thought like I
can't wait to go to work tomorrow. I can't wait
to be here with my friends in the studio and
listening to this program. I'm telling you, when I go
out in public sometimes the way that some people drive,

(27:16):
and like the ugly, profane bumper stickers and stuff I see,
and the way people talk whether they're in public, and
the way people root for the death of the president
on social media and people I know are like, yeah,
I like that, and I think, what is the matter
with people? What has happened to us? I know I
can come here with you listening to this program, and

(27:37):
we can feel like we are not alone in thinking
that that is not normal behavior, that is not the
way we should be going. And I feel better hanging
out here with you. And that doesn't mean that we
all vote the same. I don't care for whom you vote.
I care how you treat people who vote differently than you.
Maybe you'd never see yourself voting for Trump. That's fine,

(27:59):
you don't wish for him and his supporters to all die.
And we're gonna get along just fine. Thanks for being
with us on Nebraska's Morning News. All right, let's come
back here to Omaha for this story. When I say
a super fun and packed place, like the place to
be in Omaha in the nineties, versus a place where

(28:23):
you could you could swing a whole string of cats
in there and not hit anyone today, where am I
talking about.

Speaker 4 (28:30):
In the nineties.

Speaker 1 (28:32):
It was the place to be in the nineties, and
now you're probably only going to find some people walking
around who are in their nineties.

Speaker 4 (28:41):
Maybe Peenie Park. I'm not sure when they closed.

Speaker 2 (28:45):
I'm talking about a place that still exists.

Speaker 4 (28:47):
Oh well, I'm not going to say anything because you're
gonna tell me it's not now, and then I'm gonna
feel bad for the company.

Speaker 1 (28:53):
I want you to name eight places that have been
like Omaha stalwarts for decades and be like nope, and
have them listen, going.

Speaker 2 (29:01):
Hey, I thought we were doing pretty well. We still
have good food.

Speaker 4 (29:04):
I'm out.

Speaker 2 (29:05):
No, I am talking about the Oakview Mall. Oh sure, yeah,
I remember I parked my little nineteen eighty two Nissan
Dotson pickup truck up on that hill above where they
were building. You drove a pickup truck. Yeah, what did
you have in the back? Your golf clubs? No, girl,

(29:26):
I'm Stacey dots not much. Nissan Dotson. Threw my girlfriend
in the back of the truck. Yeah, kind of like
a seal, just throw in the back of the bed.
And there there was any number of things in the
back of that pickup truck. Some empty PEPSI cans, some
of my friends. One night we got pulled over in
Ralston and I told my friends lie down so he
doesn't see you as he walks up and sees my

(29:48):
friends in the back of the truck and says, evening, gentlemen,
how are we doing. That was the night I had
my duffel bag after a basketball game and the cops said,
what am I going to find in that duffel bag?
And I said, Mike Jockstrap. He says, well, let's open
it up and have a look. And he opened it
up and there it was, in all its glory and
he's like, oh, man, man, I didn't I thought you

(30:09):
were pulling my leg. He said, guys, stay out of
trouble tonight. We will officer, We're fine. So that's that
was the kind of interaction you could have back in
nineteen ninety three. So then you'd go to the Oakview
Mall and everyone was there, Everyone in town was there.

Speaker 1 (30:24):
But I was saying, I used to park my truck
up there and watch them build the mall in anticipation,
like this is going to be a great place, and
it's going to be a great place for years, and.

Speaker 2 (30:34):
Now, well it was for years.

Speaker 4 (30:36):
You just have to define years.

Speaker 2 (30:38):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (30:38):
Now, the the story here from WWT First Alert six
News says we still have over thirty stores in operation
there in the mall.

Speaker 2 (30:50):
Okay, I and I have. I did go in there.

Speaker 1 (30:53):
I did some holiday shopping in there. I like them all.
I like the Oakview Mall. It is sad to me
that I when I go there, it's like I need
some time to myself. I may go to the mall.
So I'm not the only one that feels that way.
The story here is about one woman in Millard who's
trying to revitalize the entire mall, and she's focusing on

(31:17):
local entrepreneurs through pop up events and a new storefront
called storefront called Oak twenty two Market. It's like twenty
two local vendors. It's the swap meet. Are we doing
a swap meet at the which is fine? I like
a swap meet.

Speaker 2 (31:33):
You're going to a flea market or something like that.
It's a lot of fun. Cool.

Speaker 1 (31:37):
You could do an indoor farmer's market in there. I mean,
there's so much you could do. They're building a new
kids activity center there, Lucy'll stay clear away from that one.
And it's for like a twenty two thousand square foot
facility where kids just run around and their moms are like,
wash your hands, did anyone spray that thing? Down here,
use these antibacterial wipes. All that stuff's going on there,

(31:59):
you know, all the place as I took my kids
when I had the kids to myself for a day,
and I told my wife like, hey, why don't you
take the day off. I'm gonna take the little kids
out here and we're gonna go out and have a
great time, going to all the places that you would
never let want our kids to go. Hey, kids, see
that big ball pit where all these other kids are
snotting all over the place. Go play in there, have fun,

(32:21):
any stuff like that. And she's she's trying, and she says,
we're really doing well. We have a TikTok page. Well, hey,
oh that's that's good. I want the Oakview Mall to
be revitalized. I wanted to come back around and there
are some businesses still operating in there, and I want

(32:42):
them to see that foot traffic as well, more so
than just the older people who walk around the mall
throughout the morning. Now, if you're listening to us via
our free iHeartRadio app or a nineteen eighty two walkman,
well walking around the mall, thank you for being here.
Traffic weather In a news update next Scott at kfab

(33:02):
dot com or anywhere you are. Via our free iHeartRadio app,
you can send a message with your own voice to
the Zonker's custom was inbox via the talkback mic.

Speaker 5 (33:12):
Hey, good morning. You're talking about all the vile stuff
people say about Trump and this and that, especially online. Well,
I play this game online and I went to name
my new team and I named it Trump, and it
came back and said, you cannot use that name because
it contains profanity. So then I put Trump USA cannot
use that because it contains profanity. Okay, then jeezu these people.

(33:36):
TDS is real. You need to find a cure for it.
I think the cure is go to Saudi for a month, bonehead.

Speaker 2 (33:42):
He said. I think the cure for it is go
to Saudi for a month.

Speaker 6 (33:46):
Bonehead.

Speaker 2 (33:47):
Well, there are worse places in Saudi Arabia. Yeah, there are.
You know, if you really really want to know how
good you got it here, why don't you spend a
couple of weeks in the Ukraine, you know, maybe throw uh,
throw one or two weeks into down to Somalia. Yeah,
see how things are going in Mogadisha.

Speaker 1 (34:04):
Kind of places. Tom Brewer goes just for a little
vacation fun. One more here from the talkback.

Speaker 6 (34:09):
Mike, Hey, good morning, Scott, This is Carol Smith from Phillips.
All right, you know this talk about bashing Trump for
this and that, Just imagine our country if a Democrat
president whoever was elected, where would our nation be. We'd
still have inflation, We'd still have an open border, Iran

(34:29):
would have nuclear weapons, go on and on. Just imagine
where this country would be without one year of Trump
back in office.

Speaker 1 (34:36):
And we got a lot of oil coming this way
as well. President announced yesterday that in order to help
facilitate the peaceful transition of power or whatever the heck
we're doing in Venezuela, we're going to get upwards of
fifty million barrels of high qualities sanctioned oil to the
United States from Venezuela. That's oil that's not going to

(34:59):
China and not going to Russia, which is where previously
their oil had gone. This is incredibly strategic. It's not
just about removing an evil dictator from power and making
them stand for charges filed by previous presidential administrations here
in America. It's also about trying to cut off and
squeeze down China and Russia as well. Craig Evans has

(35:22):
been summoned back to the news radio eleven ten KFAB
broadcast booth here because Craig, I wanted to ask you
about a story you reported on earlier here on Nebraska's
Morning News that a lot of people are leaving the
state of Nebraska.

Speaker 2 (35:36):
Well at least more people leaving than coming in.

Speaker 7 (35:40):
Apparently, you know, this is the time of year of lists,
and Atlas van Lines put out their list of the
number of people that they've got coming and going in
each state. So did you haul They disagree a little
bit on the numbers, but nevertheless there is still in
Nebraska more people are going out than coming in.

Speaker 2 (35:59):
They say, wow, and that ranks fifth in their their
rankings for Atlas van Lines. Yes, all right, thank you
very much for that. Craig.

Speaker 1 (36:09):
I suspect that when people leave here, certainly the weather
is going to play into it. This is the time
of year people are like, why in the world do
I How about I retire and get out of here.
There's a lot of people to do that. But I
think another reason is it's unaffordable to live here with
the high property taxes and the high cost of whether

(36:33):
it's rent or mortgages, with those property taxes. There's a
group in southeast Omaha looking to do something about it.
The story here from KMTV three news. Now they're talking
about a one hundred and fifty six unit affordable housing development.
Now I immediately hear that and think, how affordable can

(36:54):
this be? Is this even if it's not new construction?
And I don't know, I didn't see whether they were
building new or renovating. It's a twenty fourth and Woolworth,
Southeast Omaha, right between like Leavenworth and Martha, down the
street from the Ford birthplace to commemorate the place where

(37:15):
President Ford was born here and lived for like a
minute and a half, and Omaha is like we got Ford.
But it's over in that area. A nice area, park,
green space down there, real close to the interstate. Hop
on and off until they close it here this weekend,
but it's not a bad spot. I don't know if

(37:35):
they're renovating a building there or if this is new construction.
I suspect it's renovation. But they're still putting a lot
of work into it. Because they say the projects expected
to be completed by late summer not this coming year,
but twenty twenty seven, so we're a year and a
half away, and I'm thinking affordable housing based on the

(37:56):
cost of material, labor and everything really to energy within
how affordable can it be? They're saying that they're tying
the rent prices to the area median income, measuring that
middle point of local household earnings, and it can change

(38:17):
year to year. So they're looking at here in eighteen months.
They're projecting a one to four bedroom range from five
hundred and fifty eight dollars a month on the low
end to eight hundred and twenty five dollars on the
high end. But they also say, or it could be

(38:38):
and this is this is their spectrum. Or it could
be between one thousand, two hundred and fifty dollars for
a one bedroom up to two thy one hundred and
seventy dollars for a four bedroom. So they admit it's
a pretty wide range.

Speaker 2 (38:55):
Yes, yes it is. Who's building these who's funding these.

Speaker 1 (38:59):
Great called the Annex Group, an Indianapolis based developer, and
they say they've been doing this across the Midwest and
tying it into what that that median household income range
is here but you know, five twenty five fifty eight
to eight twenty five, that's affordable. That's like what we paid,
Lucy when we lived in apartments and we were kids.

Speaker 4 (39:20):
Sure, it's affordable, but how why is it affordable? And
why is this outside state, outside of the state company
coming in and building what sounds to me like projects?

Speaker 1 (39:31):
Now, where are they going to be cheap twenty fourth
and Woolworth Southeast Omaha cheaply built?

Speaker 4 (39:38):
Otherwise they're not going to make any money.

Speaker 2 (39:40):
This is going to be high quality paper mache.

Speaker 4 (39:42):
I mean, this is I don't want to disparage this company.
Maybe they are good because I don't know anything about them,
but on the just on the surface, I smell.

Speaker 1 (39:52):
But you know, but hey, I think you guys can
agree with this because we all we all lived in
a apartments, you know, growing up, spending some of our
you know, twenties in apartment living garden level and you
had right. And I think that the apartment complex is
as good as your neighbors. You can have real, high quality,

(40:17):
high rent stuff. If your neighbors are not high quality,
high rent stuff, then that's going to be a terrible
place to live. At the same time, you can have
something made with the best balsa wood we can get,
and to lose these point and I have no idea
they're they're talking about. Now, these were really really good stuff,
and I hope it is. You can have stuff made,

(40:37):
you know, straw or sticks or whatever the first little
pigs made their homes out of. But if you've got
high quality, good high rent people who are who have
like some skin in the game, like, this is our
home and we're gonna treat it well, and we're gonna
leave it better than we found it, and we're gonna
be good neighbors, and we are not going to allow

(40:57):
the place to get all broken down with broken security
doors and security cameras that are all busted out all
the time, and graffiti and homeless people and gang members
running around here like in Aurora, Colorado.

Speaker 2 (41:10):
That kind of thing.

Speaker 1 (41:11):
You know, if you have people who say this is
our home, and maybe it's not, you know, the most
expensive place around here, but this is where I'm raising
my kids, this is where I live. If you can
get that feeling in there, then I certainly wish them
the best. We need more of that in this community now.

(41:33):
If it goes from yeah, we were looking at about
seven hundred and fifty dollars to now it's going to
be about two thousand dollars a month.

Speaker 2 (41:42):
Buy a home, you can well quality home and mortgage
right well. Number one home ownership super expensive. Just getting
into one you gotta have a big down payment and
you also have to put escrow in there. So just
because it's two thousand doesn't mean you can immediately switch
that over to a house. But if you're spending two

(42:03):
thousand on an apartment, I don't think you should be
in affordable housing at two thousand. You can get a
pretty decent apartment in Omaha right now, private apartment, privately
owned apartment in Omaha right now for two grand.

Speaker 1 (42:15):
But that's like when Mayor Ewing is talking about affordable
housing and affordable housing, Can I have more affordable houses
if it's new or if it's renovated, it's not going
to be affordable typically now, as a lot of people
who need that lower rent stuff.

Speaker 4 (42:30):
Unless you're putting up just absolute crap quickly, it's not
going to withstand the tornadoes that we the windstorms that
we have understorms.

Speaker 1 (42:41):
Right well, that, by the way, was a working slogan
for this show. Just putting up crap quickly. We are
now joined in the studio by the chief executive offer
of the Officer of the Plat Institute. PLAT Institute dot
org is their website. Frequent contributor. Here to news Radio
eleven ten kfab good to see Vocal and here Jim,
Happy new Year.

Speaker 2 (43:01):
Happen to hear Scott and James the.

Speaker 1 (43:04):
First day of the legislative session the Unicameral. You and
Jim Rows have been talking about it off the air,
and Jim has a very sour look in his face.
I'm guessing the prospects for anything meaningful, especially as it
relates to property tax relief, are not anything that we're
real excited about happening this session.

Speaker 2 (43:22):
Well, let's take a step back.

Speaker 8 (43:23):
It's a short session, sixty days, so limited time to
get things over the finish line. Tougher to get bigger
things over the finish line, especially with the four hundred
and seventy one million dollar budget deficits. So that's what
the focus is going to be is by that end
of sixty days to shore up that four hundred and
seventy one. Now that's not to say that we still
can't do some structural property tax reform. I've got a

(43:47):
couple ideas Platt does, but anything that probably requires money,
or any legislation that has a fiscal note is going
to be pretty tough to get hurt this legislative session.

Speaker 1 (43:56):
Why and this is something that voters demand everyone runs
for all. If it's going, we're going to do something about.
Why is it not going to get done? What are
they going to do instead?

Speaker 5 (44:06):
Well?

Speaker 8 (44:06):
I think a couple things, Scott. You know, the state
continues to own the property tax issue, but they're not
a property taxing entity. They certainly contribute funding towards property
tax relief through the TOSA Education funding formula, but they're
not a property tax entity.

Speaker 2 (44:21):
So what can they do. They can do some things
with valuations.

Speaker 8 (44:25):
When valuations go up, they can pass some legislation this
session that would automatically have those rates roll back so
that you're not seeing the increases that we've seen accumulate
over the years. We can make the caps stronger. The
caps that are passed a few years ago are not
very strong. They can school districts can get around them,
cities and counties. It's based on a national average that

(44:46):
includes states like California, and New York, so the spending
doesn't really get a constrained. So there are some structural
things that can happen on property taxes, but if we're
going to blow up the system and we need new
money to do that, it's not going to happen. This
legislative session with a four seventy one million dollars defic.

Speaker 1 (45:01):
Douglas County Assessor Walt Peffer was trying to go to
the legislature and say, here are some things here, three
different ideas, the things you can do to kind of
rein in how these evaluations go. And they end up
raising everyone's property taxes because the legislature mandates that the
various assessors in every county across Nebraska I have to

(45:22):
raise their rates by so much, have to raise that value.
And he was really the only one out there fighting
for this, and then he died this past year. Are
all those ideas dead with him?

Speaker 2 (45:32):
No, they're not.

Speaker 8 (45:33):
But I think we got to move away from valuations
and move more towards the spending that's associated when valuations
go up. Because elected officials have decisions to make when
valuations go up. They can either lower the levee or
they can spend the wind fall, and over the past decade,
what they've been doing is spending the windfall. And then
they'll they'll say, hey, I didn't raise your rates, so
I kept property taxes the same. That's not true. They've

(45:57):
raised their property taxes. So there are structural things can happen,
like they do in Texas. I mentioned automatic rate rollbacks
and other structural things that can happen this session.

Speaker 2 (46:07):
If the will of the legislators is there, what are
your ideas and what are the Plan Institute's ideas well?

Speaker 8 (46:13):
First and foremost, I think without additional revenue source, Jim,
the two that I mentioned are should be first and foremost.
Got to strengthen those caps because property taxes are the
result of spending and we're allowing political subdivisions to spend
too much. Then the second thing is is we need
to do that automatic rate rollback so at least taxpayers
are starting at the same level that they did the

(46:35):
previous year. So when valuations go up, roll back that
levy rate to completely offset that valuation. Increase the truth
and Taxation process that we champion a few years ago,
the hearings that now give you a postcard in the
mail that shows you exactly how much your property taxes
are rating. We're going to try to get this session
those hearings moved before the budget hearings are done so

(46:56):
they have some more meaning towards it. And then if
you want to look bigger, Jim, I think that we
have to just completely look at our whole tax system,
the breadth of sales tax that's out there. We have
more exemptions than most states do. It's a much more
service based economy than we were in the sixties when
this tax code was first developed. And so I think

(47:17):
that we have to modernize our tax system. But first
and foremost, there's going to be another push to pause
these income tax rates cuts that are scheduled to happen
over the final two years. Cannot do that, that would
be detrimental to state.

Speaker 2 (47:29):
He's talking about a bill that was passed in Jim
Pillon's first year too twenty twenty three. Incrementally lower income
tax rates to the highest rate would be six point
three percent from a belief seven point four percent or
maybe that's the corporate tax, but it'll go down by
about a point for the highest wagejourners. And there are
those who say, well, we just pause that that'll help

(47:50):
shore up because we have taken in less money in
income taxes. To me, the thing that I don't know
a lot of people really appreciate is just how really
frustrated the people of Nebraska are on this gym. And
this state has a history of doing this. Now, it
was before you were born. It was before and a
lot of people were born, and most people don't pay

(48:11):
attention to history. But sixty years ago the people of
Nebraska blew up the tax system here and they go, well,
wait a minute, that that didn't happen during my lifetime.
What do I know about it? Well, what you need
to know is that in one night, three fourths of
the state's revenue went away because of a ballot initiative, right,
and that ballot initiative has come back to life this year.
What is your concern or what is your forecast of

(48:33):
how effective it may be in November? The ballot initiative, well,
value added tax, essentially the sales tax on everything to
eliminate all other taxes.

Speaker 8 (48:44):
Well, I think if something like that gets on the ballot,
people are frustrated. We have the fourth highest property taxes
in the country, not including the billion dollars in credits,
by the way, that are sitting there. So people are frustrated,
and if if they see something that's going to linate
their property taxes and their income taxes, they may not
understand the policy ramifications, but there's a good chance of

(49:06):
that might pass.

Speaker 1 (49:08):
Jim vocal populism. Jim vocal with us from the Plaid Institute.
As is often the case here kind of looking at
the preview here of the upcoming legislative session which gets
underway to day in Lincoln. All this property tax stuff
is fascinating. What is going to cause the most number
of state senators down there to start scrun crying and

(49:29):
screaming and throwing shoes around and getting protesters in there.
What about some of that social stuff that the unicamerle
has made so darn entertaining the last few years.

Speaker 2 (49:38):
Yeah, I think there's some carryover on a couple of
bills there that may bathrooms.

Speaker 8 (49:44):
Yes, yes, so bring their head about. But you know,
I our organization tries to focus on the economic, the job,
the regulatory aspects of legislation, the things that are going
to really move and grow the state. But there are
going to be distractions like that. For sure, Scott, and
we mentioned this before. I think there's also gonna be

(50:05):
a distraction and try to pause the income tax rates,
and we can't do that. That's we were wofully and
competitive before these income tax cuts, and we've got to
make sure that those stake place. And I think that
the legislature in a short session needs to focus on
those economic issues taxes, regulation, job growth, and focus on
those in a short session and move forward.

Speaker 2 (50:27):
How do these other states do it? When you look
at the booming states in our country Texas, Tennessee, Florida,
and North Carolina, North Carolina, Arizona. You look at these states,
how do they do it? They don't have massive property taxes.
A three million dollar home in Scottsdale, Arizona has four
thousand dollars a year in property taxes. How do they
fund schools?

Speaker 8 (50:47):
Well, I can't state specifically on how each state funds schools,
but what I can say is that most states that
are growing that you speak of, either have a lower
or no income tax rate, have a.

Speaker 2 (51:00):
Greater sales tax rate breath To facilitate some of that,
they charged sales tax was on more things.

Speaker 8 (51:07):
Yeah, our sales tax breath here in Nebraska, depending on
how strong your lobbyist has been. Since nineteen sixty seven,
you know, you could be an exempt from sales tax.
Most states don't allow that, and that has afforded them
the option of either lowering their income tax rate below
Nebraska or even having no income tax rate. And then
on top of that that funding could certainly be available

(51:29):
for lower property taxes. We have too many property taxing
entities on your property tax bill. We have ninety three
counties in Nebraska. Is that efficient? These are some of
the We have a lot of school districts, and we
have a lot of school administrators, So these cumulative things
I start to add up. But most importantly, I think
the biggest problem on property taxes is valuations go up

(51:52):
and they're spending the valuation wind falls, and we've got
to make the structural changes that will prevent that in
the future.

Speaker 1 (51:59):
I appreciate you guys having this very adult conversation. Jim,
when you turn on Nebraska Public Television and see what's
going on at the legislature people and you see this
on parade at the unic camera and you're thinking, I
don't know how this is going to lower any taxes
for anyone.

Speaker 2 (52:18):
That's what Daila Kavanaugh.

Speaker 1 (52:21):
This goes on for a couple more minutes, if you want,
so your thoughts when they start swarming into this kind
of thing and bathrooms and all the rest of it.

Speaker 8 (52:29):
Well usually start banging my head against the side of
my deskcot because I think there's so many more. There's
so many other issues that affect the state's growth that
we're certainly interested in. Lower taxes, lower regulation, How do
we improve the workforce here and grow the workforce here
in Nebraska? And those certainly are going to be the
issues that we are paying attention to.

Speaker 1 (52:50):
You can read more from Jim Vocal and the plant
Institute online at plat institute dot org local think tank here.

Speaker 2 (52:58):
He is the chief executive officer.

Speaker 1 (53:00):
Vocal always get to see a former Omaha City councilman here,
Rod Emails Scott akfab dot com says we shouldn't have
to pay property taxes every year. I don't buy my
house every year, and they just make up the value
of everyone's house anyway.

Speaker 2 (53:14):
We shouldn't have to pay taxes on our vehicles every
year either. Again, I buy the car once, not every year.
Nebraska is just stupid. It's time to get out of here.
Don't get me started on public schools in Omah. They're
making kids dummer and dummer every day. That's the assessment
from Rod sent to Scott at kfab dot com. It's

(53:36):
all a result of years and years of special interests
getting their sales taxes exempted. When we rebuilt the tax
policy in nineteen sixty seven, after the people blew it
up in nineteen sixty six, everybody had a sales tax everything,
and then enough whining and complaining, and this special interest

(53:57):
group over the years said, oh, but we're not competitive
if our manufacturers are our farmers and ranchers have to
pay property tax or sales tax on this or that.
And over the course of time it's become obvious that
we've exempted too much of our economy. Six billion dollars
in sales are exempted from sales tax in Nebraska. I've

(54:20):
made the argument to those who say you can't gore
my ox. You mean to tell me you can't afford
a one percent sales tax on that input one percent
that's going to drive you out of business? And the
answer is no, wouldn't drive them out of business. But
they think it.

Speaker 1 (54:35):
Will anytime they talk about cutting this or adding a
sales tax to that like everyone else has to pay.
People lose their minds and nothing gets done.