February 14, 2025 • 34 mins
ICYMI: Hour One of ‘Later, with Mo’Kelly’ Presents – A look at some important tips to help you traverse the wet roads being pummeled by the atmospheric river hitting SoCal…PLUS – KFI Reporter/Personality Michael Monks joins the program with a preview of his weekend wildfire news special entitled “LA Fires: A Path Forward,” airing Saturday (2/15/25) 7p-9pm; with a replay Sunday (2/16/25) at 2pm - on KFI AM 640…Live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:22):
Is everyone being safe out there? That's what I want
to know, is everyone being safe? Later with mo Kelly
k IF I am six forty one Live Everywhere in
the iHeartRadio app. We asked for the rains, they are here,
and some we asked for the rains, and we said
prepare for the mud slides. They're here, and some we
(00:46):
asked for the rain, but we said get ready. There
might be flash flooding. And guess what we have plenty
of flash flooding. I'm watching NBC four and they're showing
this video over and over again of an suv being
washed out into the ocean by fast moving mud slides.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
It is dangerous out there.
Speaker 1 (01:06):
I encourage you to slow down, and we always talk
about personal self defense and remaining safe. For today especially,
just take the long way home. It's okay to go
a little bit slower, go somewhere a little bit safer,
and make sure you arrive at your destination safely. As
(01:26):
as a matter of fact, I try to practice what
I preach. I took surface treats in I had to
be in at four o'clock for a meeting, which meant
I left my house around a little bit after two,
so I gonna say maybe two fifteen or so, and
I decided to just get on Western Avenue and just
drive north until I got to the one on one
and could loop around the Barn Boulevard, and then I
(01:48):
was at Burbank And it took me close to two hours,
close to two hours. But you know what, it wasn't
as stressful, it wasn't as dangerous, and yes, people were
a little bit impatient, but ultimately I got to my
destination safely and I did not. And I can't speak
for what it looks like right now because I've been
inside for the past four hours or so three hours,
(02:11):
but there wasn't as much flooding and something that you
have to be mindful of, especially if you're on the freeways.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
If you're on the freeways.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
Right now, slow down because of this downpour, this torrential downpour.
There may be flooding and puddling that you may not
readily see as you would during the daytime. It only
takes a momentary loss of traction and all of a
sudden you're hydroplaning. I can't speak for Mark Runner or Stephan,
(02:39):
but I know I've been in a car which is
hydroplane and it's a scary thing.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
It's a very dangerous thing. And I don't know.
Speaker 1 (02:46):
This is actually what I wanted to bring into the
conversation for a good evening, Mark, good evening, Stephan, Hello, Mo.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
I have certain rules when I drive in rains like these.
Speaker 1 (02:54):
If possible, I try to avoid the freeways, just because
chain reaction accidents happen all the time. But I also
never drive in the lane closest to the center divider.
Never because depending on the freeway, you'll have puddling there.
And if you do even momentarily lose traction and start
(03:14):
to hide you plane, you'll probably end up in the
center median.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
That's me.
Speaker 3 (03:18):
Do you have any rules that you follow? I don't
know about rules. I mean slower and keep more distance
between me and the car in front of me, which
not everybody follows that rule. By the way, people were
still zipping in and out, you know, like it was
a video racing game. Really some a plus displays of
driving skill today and possibly a few trips to the
(03:39):
er later. Here, let's do this like an old Johnny
Carson video.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
Are you ready?
Speaker 3 (03:42):
Is this the great cardat No? No, no, no, no no.
It was so the drive in here was so scary today.
How scary was it? Well, I'll tell you, it was
so scary that I was afraid to take one of
my hands off the wheel to give anybody the finger.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
You know, you have these.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
Little markers of growth, and for me, my marker of
growth was four or five people haunked at me because
I was being overly cautious. They couldn't see what I
saw in front of me, so they were really impatient.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
They were like bay and they wouldn't go.
Speaker 1 (04:14):
They wanted to zoom around me to let let me
know how angry they were at me. And you know what,
I didn't stare them down. I didn't give him a runner.
I didn't do it.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
I'm calling, we don't have to, but I am okay.
Speaker 3 (04:29):
I reject this. I resisted, and I'm finally an HR complaint.
But I almost gave a couple of runners. I mean,
excuse me. It's the Gulf of America and it has
been so declared. That's a big negatory. But my point is,
I take it from me. I can only speak for
(04:50):
me as a measurement of personal growth. Because I did
not engage, I did not reciprocate. I understood that if anything,
I was driving for more than one person, I'll strive
for me and that person. I could see a hazard
that the person behind me just couldn't see. There was
a bus getting ready to pull out in front of me,
and so I had to slow down quickly. Why bus,
(05:13):
But the person behind me took exception to that.
Speaker 2 (05:16):
That was my drive in.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
It took a lot longer, but it was a lot
safer and it was a lot less stressful because of that.
I didn't have to worry about hydro plating or anything. Twalla,
what was your drive in like? Leaving the valley.
Speaker 4 (05:30):
Especially in the Chatsworth area as because it was a
torrential downpour for most of the afternoon and it got
worse as the day started coming to at least the
first half. And when I headed out onto Tapanga making
my way to the freeway, right around where Topega and
Devonshire kind of meet, all you could just see the
(05:50):
streets just the flooding.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
I came up to about.
Speaker 4 (05:54):
Oh, I can't remember which street exactly, but it was
right right where the the bee farm is, right where
the bee farm is that I will never go to.
That You'll never go to cars were literally getting stuck
in what I could see from my monster truck, I
could see that the water was coming up to the
to the runner there. So it's at least a foot
(06:16):
of water that cars were trying to and they were
just hazards on they try to make it through.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
They couldn't.
Speaker 4 (06:21):
No hydroplaning when you were in a tank, I will
say thank you to the tank.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
This is one time I do appreciate having an suv,
if only because that higher center of gravity when you're
dealing with potential flooding and puddling, that's what I want.
I'm not trying to go seventy miles an hour around
the corner, so I don't need all that speed in handling.
I just like to have a higher center of gravity
so I don't stall out in a puddle.
Speaker 4 (06:48):
Now, does your vehicle come with all of the added
terrain options?
Speaker 2 (06:55):
Absolutely?
Speaker 4 (06:55):
Because I put my slippery when wet moss, that's right, Yes,
I yes, I felt it.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
I felt it grip the street.
Speaker 1 (07:03):
This is the first car I've had which I've had
those types of options, where any other time I'm relying
on my superior driving skills and handling to maneuver and
navigate through this treacherous terrade. But now I can just
go bip and it's all done just like that. So
if we can say anything to you, just slow down. Honestly,
there's no need to plow through that puddle. There's no
(07:24):
need to go seventy five miles an hour on the freeway,
whichever freeway you're on. And it may look like there
are no other cars out there, it may look like
that it's maybe not rainy as hard as it was
an hour ago, but there are many reports of flash flooding.
We will have that for you throughout the evening. Be
clear on that there are depending on where you are,
(07:45):
especially if you're in the Malibu area on PCH that
they might have even shut it down. At this point
we'll try to get the specific information. But there have
been a number of reports of mud slides. We told
you about the car, which was the suv which was
swept out into the place ocean because of fast moving
mud slides. And the moral of the story is it's
very dangerous out there. It may not seem like it,
(08:08):
and if you're new to California, you may think, oh,
it's just rained, or even the folks who've be live
in here for forty years. It seems like we have
to retrain ourselves and teach ourselves every single year that
when it rains, we have to slow down. So if anything,
just slow down, if need be, take surface streets if
you're not, if you're concerned about the freeway I am.
(08:30):
I'm mature enough to admit, Hey, I'd rather be on
surface streets in weather like this. And even on surface
streets you still have to be careful about the puddling
and the flash flooding. But we'll have this information for
you all the rest of the evening. At the bottom
of the hour at seven thirty, we'll have Michael Monks,
who's going to join us and talk about his weekend
(08:50):
wildfire special which is coming up. All these elements we're
going to be covering, and the Twala has jokes. He says,
time is running out for me to repay my debt
to Denny's because Dinny's has announced the closure of some
seventy to ninety restaurants. In other words, if I'm gonna
pay back the money I owe for dining and ditching, well,
(09:11):
I'd better hurry up before the you're a news article now,
I am I Am. We'll talk about that before the
hour's up, and so much more. It's Later with Moe
Kelly KFI AM six forty. We are live everywhere on
the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 5 (09:26):
You're listening to Later with Moe Kelly on demand from
KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 1 (09:31):
We're gonna tell you again, hey, just slow down, just
slow down. Wherever you're going, it's still going to be
there when you get there. And whether you get there
ten minutes later, twenty minutes later, or even forty five
minutes later, it's still going to be there.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
Now.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
That said, since we know that it's going to be
raining at least for the next day or so, we're
going to have to plan ahead. You know that you're
probably gonna have to go to work tomorrow, Well, let's
think about good practices as far as planning ahead. If
you got to be at work at nine am tomorrow
and you usually leave at eight thirty, well you might
have to leave at eight o'clock or seven forty five,
(10:10):
so you don't have to rush, you don't have to
put yourself in more danger, you don't have to put
those who are around you in danger. Just some other
good thoughts and practices that you can use between now
and the end of the weekend or whenever it should rain,
because presumably it will rain again, even if we get
a drought in between, it's going to rain again. And
I got this from LAist and I didn't know some
(10:32):
of these. I didn't think about some of these, So
it's good for everyone to know. And if you haven't
done it, it's not too late to do it. And
if you're going to put your car out there, you
might as well make sure that your car is ready
and safe.
Speaker 2 (10:45):
Have you checked the treads on your tires.
Speaker 1 (10:48):
I had to get a screw removed from my tire
two days ago. Now how that's important is this if
I knew that my tire was had a slow leaking
and it was getting low. If you've ever driven a
car with decreasing tire pressure, you do not have as
much stability in your steering. It will pull to one
(11:09):
side of the other depending on which side that a
slow leak is. And if your tires are imbalanced in
terms of pressure, you make it more difficult to handle
the car. And I have an SUV, so it's even
more noticeable and could be more dangerous. So make sure
that your treads are reasonable, then the pressure is correct
and you should be doing this regularly, regardless of the rain.
(11:32):
But it's more important in times like these. And I
didn't know this, but when I was reading this, it
makes sense. Did you know that mid days, when it's
raining especially, is the most dangerous time. That's when you're
going to encounter the most accidents and the most likelihood
(11:54):
of you being in an accident.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
Elias are reported.
Speaker 1 (11:56):
Back in twenty nineteen, researchers from USC datam Project Crosstown
crunch traffic and weather data and found these patterns. On
dry days, they found that crashes tend to peak during
rush hour, when they're the most fender benders. But on
rainy days, the researchers discovered most crashes happen during the
(12:19):
middle of the day, when there's seemingly less traffic. Maybe
that's because you see less traffic, you think you can
drive normally, or may drive even excess of the speed limit,
which dramatically increases the likelihood of a crash. When you
combine speed and weather conditions with the rain, obviously more collisions,
(12:42):
more traffic, and more delays. As I said before, give
yourself more time than usual when trying to go from
A to B, and for the most part, it's easier
now than it.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
Was fifteen years ago.
Speaker 1 (12:55):
We have these apps like Google Maps and Ways and
Apple Maps, where if you're stuck in traffic, there's a
way to find out an alternative route, be it on
streets or some other way. If there's a traffic some
sort of obstacle, there are ways that you can do it,
and you don't have to be dangerous about it, because
(13:17):
it used to be you were just trying to figure
it out on the fly. There was a flood in
front of you, the street or freeway was closed down,
and you're just trying to find your way on the
surface streets, trying to find your way around, and it
gets to be really hectic and dangerous, frankly. But we
have technology and make sure we're using it for our benefit.
And here's something else. If you've driven as long as
(13:39):
I have, and I've been driving forty years, sorry to
tell my age, but I've been driving forty years, it
used to be we had cars in which the headlights
did not automatically turn on, or you couldn't have a
censor where it would just come on if it was dark,
and there would be a lot of fools out there
who would not turn on their headlights when it was
(13:59):
raining in the middle of the day. At least turn
on your headlights. Folks, turn on your headlights. And I
was just talking to Twalla during the break. The light
helps not only you see, but it helps people see you,
especially if someone's coming in the other direction. And when
you're driving right now it's nighttime, you better have your
(14:20):
lights on. But make sure, especially in this rain, and
not your high beams, just your regular headlights where people
can see you and you can see them and also
hopefully see some of the puddles.
Speaker 4 (14:32):
But you gave a great bit of advice last night.
When I left here it was pouring. I left here
right when it started coming down, and the entire time
on the freeway as long as I could. I actually
rolled behind a semi I rolled behind a tractor truck
because I knew that anything was that this truck was
(14:54):
abiding by the rules of the road. It's not gonna
be speeding. Anything that happens in front of the truck.
I will know what's happening before it comes to me. Now,
only that my light's just generally bouncing off the back
of the truck. It helped to illuminate the road, which
I can see with my glass and I can see,
you know, fairly good at night. But still that helped
me to stay in line, stay on the road, and
(15:16):
actually drive slow. It forced me to have to drive
slow because I'm not gonna drive into the back of
this truck like you go around me if you want to.
You may think I'm tripping, but I'm going to follow
this truck as long as I can to get to
my exit as almost a path layer in front of me.
Like I'm running interface you're running in and finish. You're
gonna You're gonna block any and everything. If there's a puddle,
(15:38):
there's anything, if there's accent, I'm gonna see you react
to it before I need to. And it's a lot
harder to do that if you're following a car in
front of you, which may be zipping and zimp in.
Speaker 1 (15:47):
Yeah, I can stand the driver's last night. No, and
we're all dealing with it. Stephan is gonna deal with it. Oh, Stephan,
what time did you leave your house to get here today?
I usually like ten before, like one fifty. Did you
leave at the same time today. Yeah, did you actually no,
you're right, I left a quarter till today because I
was worried, like you said about the traffic.
Speaker 2 (16:08):
Did you follow the same path that you usually do? Route?
Speaker 1 (16:11):
I did follow the same path because when I got
to the spot where I normally get off right by
the Galen Center in USC, it was actually moving pretty
smoothly because I think a lot of people did what
you did and took the streets. So I might have
opened up the freeway a little bit, but yeah, there was.
(16:32):
There's still bozos that drive like, you know, like nothing,
and when it's pouring down like this, it's just like
you don't know who you're gonna run into or you know, well,
motorcycle shouldn't be driving, but what if a motorcycle comes
up and you don't see them?
Speaker 2 (16:43):
It's yeah, you know, that's yeah.
Speaker 1 (16:46):
And the One Tin Freeway is notorious for flooding at
certain points. I wonder what it's going to be like
going home tonight. That's what I was thinking to you know,
It's like should I take the one ten? And I'm
specifically talking about the one Tin that's the one that
usually floods because like under the underpass. It's like it
almost like has like a cove. It does, and it's
so like it. There's two of them harbor. Yeah, there's
(17:07):
one like around usc Ish around thirty second Street, and
there's one at Vernon.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (17:12):
And the slawsuit when I was thinking of it, Yeah,
because it like, yeah, it'll just harbor all the water
right there. So I can't imagine what that's like right now.
It's going to be bad. It's going to be bad.
And Mark, does this change how you drive home? Possibly?
Speaker 2 (17:24):
Tonight?
Speaker 3 (17:24):
Well changed the drive here because they're the on ramp
to the four roh five in North Hills, you're fording
a river. I knew that the car would stall out
if I took that way, and but there were a
number of other places on the way here as well.
I left early, and I'm glad I did. You do
not want to screw around in this stuff. I'm telling
(17:45):
you as a former Seattle resident. Uh, today was a
bad one.
Speaker 1 (17:50):
And it possibly, from what you're telling us, Mark, about
tomorrow's precipitation, could be worse.
Speaker 2 (17:57):
Is that correct? No?
Speaker 3 (17:58):
Actually, I think we're through the worst of it, and
we should as far as I understand from everything I've
been reading and reporting. We should be in the clear
by tomorrow evening. Okay, I'll take good news wherever we
can find it.
Speaker 1 (18:11):
When we come back KFI z own, Michael Monks will
join us with a preview what he has going on
this weekend and it relates to the wildfires.
Speaker 2 (18:19):
We'll learn more about that just a moment.
Speaker 5 (18:21):
You're listening to later with Moe Kelly on demand from
KFI AM six.
Speaker 1 (18:26):
Forty and coming up this weekend Saturday from seven to
nine pm and Sunday from two to four pm KFI Zone.
Michael Monks will be presenting his special on the weekend
excuse me, the Weekend Wildfire Special, and he'll give us
an update on that right now.
Speaker 2 (18:44):
Michael Monks, good to talk to you.
Speaker 6 (18:46):
Good evening.
Speaker 3 (18:46):
Mo.
Speaker 1 (18:47):
I always wondered when you're reporting the news, you get
one perspective.
Speaker 2 (18:52):
You don't get a wide perspective.
Speaker 1 (18:54):
You've kind of narrow in just the facts and what
is happening in the moment. But now that some time
has you gain a little bit of perspective, what do
you think that you have learned looking back on the wildfires.
Speaker 6 (19:07):
I'll tell you what was most interesting in putting this
together so far, and I should note just for disclosure,
I talked to a couple of wildfire victims who work
with us at KFI and at iHeart, one of them
being your producer to Wala Sharp, who had some trouble
in the Altadena fire, and also David Howard from our
sales department, who lost a house in the Palisades.
Speaker 2 (19:29):
And as I talked to both of them.
Speaker 6 (19:30):
Separately, by the way, and then put together this piece
about their experiences, I learned the similarities. Despite the fact
that these fires happened thirty miles from one another in
different types of neighborhoods, there was a sense of optimism
on both sides that hey, we've seen these types of
forecast before. Heck, we've had fires before, but this may
(19:54):
not play out. And so there was that hope up
until the very last moment that nothing was going to happen,
and then after it happened, the similar emotions not just
of losing the homes, but both of these guys experienced
the sensation of being physically lost in neighborhoods that they
have known for decades because everything was gone, All of
(20:17):
the recognizable historic landmarks were gone, and that really opened
up a new perspective of the devastation we've all seen.
We've seen aerial footage, I've been there on the ground,
I've seen it up close and personal.
Speaker 2 (20:29):
But to hear it.
Speaker 6 (20:30):
From their mouths in that way, with that intensity, it
really did open my eyes even bigger to the sense
of loss that this entire region has experienced collectively.
Speaker 1 (20:41):
I got to ask you, because you may interview someone
on a daily basis, and even though they may be
going through something painful, there is a degree of distance
because you don't know them, you don't see them every day,
you don't work with them. How was it going through
this type of interview process with two people that you
would see presumably daily and know them in a way
(21:03):
that you wouldn't.
Speaker 2 (21:04):
A typical interview subject.
Speaker 6 (21:07):
The closer you are to somebody, the harder it is
to hear the story. We report tragedies every day in
the news, and it's terrible, and we have humanity and
we recognize that if it's some fatal crash that takes
place on the freeway, you know that's sad, but that's
also somebody's family member, right, I mean, somebody who's closer
(21:28):
to that that is a devastating experience that will live
with them forever. So the closer you are to something, obviously,
the more intense the feelings. But I was grateful to
both David and Twala for sharing their stories with us,
because they both presented their story with a sense of vulnerability.
They really opened up about the feelings that they experienced
(21:49):
in the moment leading up to the fires, the moments
during the fires, immediately after, and even right now, and
it's just been terrible, and just to build upon the
similarities that both are experiencing, that focus has shifted to
the rebuild and the interactions with the governments, the reflection
on the preparedness or the lack thereof, that the governments
had in addressing these these fires as they were on
(22:12):
the way and as they were happening.
Speaker 1 (22:14):
And it was just.
Speaker 6 (22:15):
All very revealing that even though we tell the stories,
we talk to the politicians, we talk to people on
the ground, the people who are experiencing it, not just
on January seventh, not just on January eighth, but right
now it's still very very intense. The smoke is not
gone from their lives.
Speaker 1 (22:33):
If you're just tuning in Michael Monks of KFI News
department is joining me on the line. He has a
very important weekend wildfire special which is coming up on
Saturday from seven to nine pm, and it will re
air on Sunday from two to four pm. Michael, it's
we often talk about how we find ourselves in a story,
at what point we find ourselves in the story. Obviously,
(22:55):
this is not the end of the particular story, as
they say, it's the end of the beginning. And we
know that this rebuild process that you talked about is
going to be very long. In talking to Tawala and
David Howard and anyone else in covering the fires, have
you figured out whether this rebuild effort is going to
plan or is it actually going to pot.
Speaker 6 (23:18):
This is the hard part. The hard part now begins.
The fires are out, thank goodness. We have some challenges
obviously tonight, maybe a little bit into tomorrow, and let's
hope that it doesn't get too bad out there. These
folks have been through enough. We know that, and we
don't want anybody else thrown into the fray. But this
is a long road. There are a lot of people
who say they will rebuild, and there are other folks
(23:40):
who are looking to rebuild their lives somewhere else. But
this is a region that was already challenged. It was
cash strapped, it was suffering from a housing shortage and
an expensive cost of living. Anyway, part of this special
explores that as well. The economic impact a study that
came out from UCLA. I'll talk to one of the researchers.
This is not just a dollar figure on the damage
(24:03):
that has been done, which is well into the billions
of dollars, not just on the insurance claims folks are making,
but money that you and I are going to have
to spend because of this. If you have an insurance policy,
it's likely to go up, this researcher will tell us.
And we are also possibly going to see rents going up,
the cost of housing going up even further, and can
(24:25):
we spare that? So we are all going to feel
the impact. And one other element that all of us
will have felt, if we haven't felt it already, is
what we lost in the fires. We may not have
lost our home, we may not even know anybody who
lived in Altadena or lived in the Palisades, but more
than likely at some point we've been there, or goodness,
we wanted to go there and see some attraction or
(24:46):
some restaurant that we love that's now gone. So we
talked to the LA Conservancy of Preservationist group here in
Los Angeles about the impact of the loss of some
of these historic structures and venues that have been there
so long and have meant so much to so many people.
And if you didn't get the chance to go, you
never will because they're gone and that's something you can't
(25:07):
really rebuild these.
Speaker 1 (25:10):
Michael Monks has a very important weekend wildfire special. Do
not miss it here on KFI from seven to nine
pm on Saturday, and it will be re aired on
Sunday from two to four pm.
Speaker 2 (25:23):
Michael, I have not heard it yet.
Speaker 1 (25:25):
I am eagerly waiting to tune in to listen to
your treatment and also learn something because I know we
don't have perspective when we're reporting on these things. It's
not two weeks and maybe months afterward, and you're going
to help provide that.
Speaker 6 (25:40):
Yeah, you get swept up in the moment a lot,
but to have a moment to spend some time on
this and to make sure that we as a community
across LA remember what it was like in those early
days and what it's like right now. It's just really
important that we stay focused. Thank you for what you do, Michael,
Thank you Moe. It's Later with Moke Kelli Cafi. We
(26:00):
are live everywhere in the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 5 (26:03):
You're listening to Later with Moe Kelly on demand from
KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 1 (26:11):
When Mo Kelly KFI AM six forty. We're live everywhere
in the iHeartRadio app. And I have a very complicated
relationship with Denny's. That's the only way I can describe it.
It's fond when I think of my time in my
twenties going to clubs, going to the Red Onion in
Redondo Beach or Lakewood, and then we would come out
(26:32):
and we would be very hungry and usually the only
place which was open that we could afford, because we
were always broke. If we had any money, we probably
spent it buying drinks for whatever would be woman we
were trying to get the phone number of.
Speaker 2 (26:46):
We didn't have a lot of money back then, so
we would go to Denny's.
Speaker 1 (26:51):
And there was a time in which I'm not proud
to say it, we dined, we ditched, and it's been
hanging over my head for the past thirty some odd years,
and I've been saying that one day I was going
to walk into that Denny's where I dined and ditched.
This right across the way from Dilamo Mall in Torrents.
You probably know where it is. It's on Hawthorne Boulevard
(27:14):
at just on the backside of the mall, right back
right next to the Marriott Hotel. Dined ditched. Long story short,
I've been guilty about it, and I've been saying, next
time I'm around in that area, I need to go
in and just slap a good twenty twenty five dollars
on the register and then just walk out, and then
(27:35):
my conscience will be clear. And then Twaala handed me
the story today saying that Denny's is going to close
seventy to ninety restaurants this year. I don't know if
they're closing all these restaurants because of me and the
one time that I dined and ditched.
Speaker 2 (27:51):
I don't know. I don't know if there's a correlation.
Speaker 1 (27:54):
I don't know if there's a causal relationship that because
my twenty dollars meant the end of these restaurants.
Speaker 2 (28:00):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (28:01):
I don't know, but it's possible, and I'm starting to
feel very guilty and I'm running out of time to
make things right. Denny's announced back in October that there
will be cutting one hundred and fifty restaurants all together
by the end of this fiscal year. In that October report,
denny said it closed planned to close fifty locations by
(28:22):
the end of twenty twenty four and the other one
hundred this year.
Speaker 2 (28:27):
The fourth quarter report, which was.
Speaker 1 (28:28):
Released yesterday, said thirty locations were closed in the last quarter,
with eighty eight locations overall closed last year.
Speaker 2 (28:36):
I know it's complicated.
Speaker 1 (28:37):
Bottom line is a lot of Denny's are going to
be closed, and I'm trying not to put that blame
on myself and my twenty dollars. So Tawalla said, we
need to hurry it and get that video of me
dropping my twenty dollars on the counter at the Denny's
in Torrents before.
Speaker 2 (28:54):
It's too late.
Speaker 1 (28:55):
It does not say which particular locations will be closed,
but you can imagine there will be a number of
them in southern California, and uh, there's one in Gardena
that I don't go too often.
Speaker 2 (29:15):
Stephanie may know of this one.
Speaker 1 (29:16):
It's on Western I believe, yes, on Western at about
one hundred and maybe one hundred and eighty. Second the Denny's. Yeah,
the Dennis is right next to a Del Taco. Oh yeah, yeah,
that's the one's. And then that's the one I actually
went to a lot during the pandemic because about the
only place you get some food. They had to drive
through where you can drive up and get food. I
(29:37):
was gonna say the one that you well, the one
that you did the twenty dollars mishap, that was the
first one I saw doing outdoor dining during the pandemic.
Oh really, yeah, because I never I don't think I
even drove by that one.
Speaker 2 (29:47):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (29:48):
Well yeah, because at the time I used to live
right like in that area. So I remember, like six
or seven months in, I was like, oh wow, they
have out there dining and it was I remember it
was cold, but I'm like that that's how desperate people
wanted to get out of the house. Well, the Dennis
in Guardiana, they had the outdoor dining too, but they
had the big tent.
Speaker 2 (30:05):
It was basically a restaurant outside.
Speaker 1 (30:09):
I always got food to go, and there was always
this internal battle of do I tip or not.
Speaker 2 (30:14):
It was a pandemic, so I usually tipped. But yeah,
it was.
Speaker 1 (30:18):
It was a Denny's that I really frequented a lot,
because there weren't a lot of places that you could
get food whenever, especially during the pandemic. A lot of
the restaurants I would go to they had limited hours
for obvious reasons. You didn't need all the employees, you
didn't need to be open all the time. So that
Denny's and Guardiana is the one that I would use.
I never went to the one in Hawthorn after Torrents
(30:42):
past Torrentson, right, No, no, No, it's down like Elsa
Gundo Boulevard and Hawthorn thereabouts, if I'm not mistaken, Okay,
because yeah, the one I know that you mentioned all
the times, one right next to the Loomo like in
front of it and Mark. Is Denny's a thing? I
should say? Was it a thing when you were up
and Washington?
Speaker 6 (31:00):
Oh?
Speaker 2 (31:01):
Yeah, everybody loves Denny's. Okay.
Speaker 3 (31:03):
I was just wonder and I'll admit that I was
with a group I think sinn High School. Oh, they
tried to dine and Dash and leave me with it.
And I wasn't about to pick up the tab for
the whole table, so I left as well. And I
feel bad about it to this day. And I want
you to know, Mo, that there is no expiation for
this sin. The people, the people that we screwed over
(31:25):
back at the time, they're probably retired or dead.
Speaker 5 (31:27):
Nest.
Speaker 2 (31:27):
Sure, there's no way to make up for what we did.
Speaker 5 (31:30):
I know.
Speaker 2 (31:30):
So we have to pay it forward somehow. Oh, pay
it forward. That's the only thing we can do. I mean, yeah,
because I'm quite sure.
Speaker 1 (31:36):
I sure hope the woman who was working as a
waitress back in nineteen ninety three, hopefully she owns the
restaurant by now.
Speaker 3 (31:45):
Either that or she had to make it up out
of her own pocket, or she did the night she
did she got fired.
Speaker 1 (31:51):
That's where the guilt comes in, because I know that
she was still responsible for the meal.
Speaker 3 (31:55):
Now, I would be impressed if you found a way
to track down whoever was working that night, who these
life you may have inadvertently destroyed.
Speaker 1 (32:02):
I don't know if it's possible, because if only because
it was kind of common that people would die.
Speaker 2 (32:08):
You call it, Dyan Dash, I call it dying ditch.
Speaker 1 (32:10):
They would do that to that particular location because of
the club going crowd, So there's no way to know.
I'm probably one of four hundred and fifty two. That
does not lessen your guilt. No, it doesn't lessen my guilt.
I'm saying to reverse engineer who was working there when
in that general area.
Speaker 3 (32:28):
There's probably no way to do it. You'd have to
hire an expensive private detective, like somebody who works for
a legal office, an actual investigator with access to Lexus
and Nexus and all that kind of stuff.
Speaker 2 (32:38):
No, this is what I would do.
Speaker 1 (32:39):
I would actually go to my bank, because I've been
with the same bank for a long time, and see
if they could go to my expenditures within that i'll
say two year period. I don't know if they would
still even hold on to them that long, but it's
got to exists somewhere, and then I would try to
figure it out from there.
Speaker 3 (32:58):
And it takes them doing and I'm not sure you
want to see the result, because the person may have
become an addict and.
Speaker 2 (33:05):
Homeless. Shit, it's just because of that one thing that
you did that night.
Speaker 1 (33:10):
Yeah, may have ended up on Figaroa outside the Vagabond Hotel.
Speaker 2 (33:16):
That's callback, that's a callback.
Speaker 1 (33:20):
Maybe we could do like a live He just skipped
over the ripside, doesn't He doesn't care. He doesn't care.
I'm working hard here. I don't need it now. No,
it's an afterthought. It's like buying me a gift for
Valentine's Day on the seventeenth.
Speaker 2 (33:32):
It means absolutely nothing to him.
Speaker 1 (33:34):
No, I've thought about, could I somehow figure out where
I was when I was when it happened, and I
settled on I'll just have to drop the money there
and just have them look at me like I'm weird,
and some employee will just say, sweet, extra tip for me.
That's not my problem. It's almost like when you're tithing
at church. You can't worry about where the money goes.
You can't worry about whether the minister is going to
(33:55):
use it for his strippers or his hookers. You can't
worry about that. It's about you being a cheerful giver.
It's about what you do.
Speaker 3 (34:02):
Oh okay, So you think that you can just buy
your way out of this, wash your hands of it
like it's a papal indulgence that.
Speaker 2 (34:07):
You paid for.
Speaker 3 (34:08):
You're afraid to face the possibility that you might have
turned a woman out onto the streets.
Speaker 2 (34:13):
Turned her out, turned her out.
Speaker 1 (34:16):
I was the tipping point. I was a straw that
got the camel's back blown out. That's right, Thank you
very much, hooker. Please I like that.
Speaker 5 (34:27):
K f I, k OST.
Speaker 2 (34:30):
HD two Los Angeles, Orange County, Blood everywhere on the radio.
Is everyone being safe out there? That's what I want
to know, is everyone being safe? Later with mo Kelly
k IF I am six forty one Live Everywhere in
the iHeartRadio app. We asked for the rains, they are here,
and some we asked for the rains, and we said
prepare for the mud slides. They're here, and some we
(00:46):
asked for the rain, but we said get ready. There
might be flash flooding. And guess what we have plenty
of flash flooding. I'm watching NBC four and they're showing
this video over and over again of an suv being
washed out into the ocean by fast moving mud slides.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
It is dangerous out there.
Speaker 1 (01:06):
I encourage you to slow down, and we always talk
about personal self defense and remaining safe. For today especially,
just take the long way home. It's okay to go
a little bit slower, go somewhere a little bit safer,
and make sure you arrive at your destination safely. As
(01:26):
as a matter of fact, I try to practice what
I preach. I took surface treats in I had to
be in at four o'clock for a meeting, which meant
I left my house around a little bit after two,
so I gonna say maybe two fifteen or so, and
I decided to just get on Western Avenue and just
drive north until I got to the one on one
and could loop around the Barn Boulevard, and then I
(01:48):
was at Burbank And it took me close to two hours,
close to two hours. But you know what, it wasn't
as stressful, it wasn't as dangerous, and yes, people were
a little bit impatient, but ultimately I got to my
destination safely and I did not. And I can't speak
for what it looks like right now because I've been
inside for the past four hours or so three hours,
(02:11):
but there wasn't as much flooding and something that you
have to be mindful of, especially if you're on the freeways.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
If you're on the freeways.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
Right now, slow down because of this downpour, this torrential downpour.
There may be flooding and puddling that you may not
readily see as you would during the daytime. It only
takes a momentary loss of traction and all of a
sudden you're hydroplaning. I can't speak for Mark Runner or Stephan,
(02:39):
but I know I've been in a car which is
hydroplane and it's a scary thing.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
It's a very dangerous thing. And I don't know.
Speaker 1 (02:46):
This is actually what I wanted to bring into the
conversation for a good evening, Mark, good evening, Stephan, Hello, Mo.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
I have certain rules when I drive in rains like these.
Speaker 1 (02:54):
If possible, I try to avoid the freeways, just because
chain reaction accidents happen all the time. But I also
never drive in the lane closest to the center divider.
Never because depending on the freeway, you'll have puddling there.
And if you do even momentarily lose traction and start
(03:14):
to hide you plane, you'll probably end up in the
center median.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
That's me.
Speaker 3 (03:18):
Do you have any rules that you follow? I don't
know about rules. I mean slower and keep more distance
between me and the car in front of me, which
not everybody follows that rule. By the way, people were
still zipping in and out, you know, like it was
a video racing game. Really some a plus displays of
driving skill today and possibly a few trips to the
(03:39):
er later. Here, let's do this like an old Johnny
Carson video.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
Are you ready?
Speaker 3 (03:42):
Is this the great cardat No? No, no, no, no no.
It was so the drive in here was so scary today.
How scary was it? Well, I'll tell you, it was
so scary that I was afraid to take one of
my hands off the wheel to give anybody the finger.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
You know, you have these.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
Little markers of growth, and for me, my marker of
growth was four or five people haunked at me because
I was being overly cautious. They couldn't see what I
saw in front of me, so they were really impatient.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
They were like bay and they wouldn't go.
Speaker 1 (04:14):
They wanted to zoom around me to let let me
know how angry they were at me. And you know what,
I didn't stare them down. I didn't give him a runner.
I didn't do it.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
I'm calling, we don't have to, but I am okay.
Speaker 3 (04:29):
I reject this. I resisted, and I'm finally an HR complaint.
But I almost gave a couple of runners. I mean,
excuse me. It's the Gulf of America and it has
been so declared. That's a big negatory. But my point is,
I take it from me. I can only speak for
(04:50):
me as a measurement of personal growth. Because I did
not engage, I did not reciprocate. I understood that if anything,
I was driving for more than one person, I'll strive
for me and that person. I could see a hazard
that the person behind me just couldn't see. There was
a bus getting ready to pull out in front of me,
and so I had to slow down quickly. Why bus,
(05:13):
But the person behind me took exception to that.
Speaker 2 (05:16):
That was my drive in.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
It took a lot longer, but it was a lot
safer and it was a lot less stressful because of that.
I didn't have to worry about hydro plating or anything. Twalla,
what was your drive in like? Leaving the valley.
Speaker 4 (05:30):
Especially in the Chatsworth area as because it was a
torrential downpour for most of the afternoon and it got
worse as the day started coming to at least the
first half. And when I headed out onto Tapanga making
my way to the freeway, right around where Topega and
Devonshire kind of meet, all you could just see the
(05:50):
streets just the flooding.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
I came up to about.
Speaker 4 (05:54):
Oh, I can't remember which street exactly, but it was
right right where the the bee farm is, right where
the bee farm is that I will never go to.
That You'll never go to cars were literally getting stuck
in what I could see from my monster truck, I
could see that the water was coming up to the
to the runner there. So it's at least a foot
(06:16):
of water that cars were trying to and they were
just hazards on they try to make it through.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
They couldn't.
Speaker 4 (06:21):
No hydroplaning when you were in a tank, I will
say thank you to the tank.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
This is one time I do appreciate having an suv,
if only because that higher center of gravity when you're
dealing with potential flooding and puddling, that's what I want.
I'm not trying to go seventy miles an hour around
the corner, so I don't need all that speed in handling.
I just like to have a higher center of gravity
so I don't stall out in a puddle.
Speaker 4 (06:48):
Now, does your vehicle come with all of the added
terrain options?
Speaker 2 (06:55):
Absolutely?
Speaker 4 (06:55):
Because I put my slippery when wet moss, that's right, Yes,
I yes, I felt it.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
I felt it grip the street.
Speaker 1 (07:03):
This is the first car I've had which I've had
those types of options, where any other time I'm relying
on my superior driving skills and handling to maneuver and
navigate through this treacherous terrade. But now I can just
go bip and it's all done just like that. So
if we can say anything to you, just slow down. Honestly,
there's no need to plow through that puddle. There's no
(07:24):
need to go seventy five miles an hour on the freeway,
whichever freeway you're on. And it may look like there
are no other cars out there, it may look like
that it's maybe not rainy as hard as it was
an hour ago, but there are many reports of flash flooding.
We will have that for you throughout the evening. Be
clear on that there are depending on where you are,
(07:45):
especially if you're in the Malibu area on PCH that
they might have even shut it down. At this point
we'll try to get the specific information. But there have
been a number of reports of mud slides. We told
you about the car, which was the suv which was
swept out into the place ocean because of fast moving
mud slides. And the moral of the story is it's
very dangerous out there. It may not seem like it,
(08:08):
and if you're new to California, you may think, oh,
it's just rained, or even the folks who've be live
in here for forty years. It seems like we have
to retrain ourselves and teach ourselves every single year that
when it rains, we have to slow down. So if anything,
just slow down, if need be, take surface streets if
you're not, if you're concerned about the freeway I am.
(08:30):
I'm mature enough to admit, Hey, I'd rather be on
surface streets in weather like this. And even on surface
streets you still have to be careful about the puddling
and the flash flooding. But we'll have this information for
you all the rest of the evening. At the bottom
of the hour at seven thirty, we'll have Michael Monks,
who's going to join us and talk about his weekend
(08:50):
wildfire special which is coming up. All these elements we're
going to be covering, and the Twala has jokes. He says,
time is running out for me to repay my debt
to Denny's because Dinny's has announced the closure of some
seventy to ninety restaurants. In other words, if I'm gonna
pay back the money I owe for dining and ditching, well,
(09:11):
I'd better hurry up before the you're a news article now,
I am I Am. We'll talk about that before the
hour's up, and so much more. It's Later with Moe
Kelly KFI AM six forty. We are live everywhere on
the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 5 (09:26):
You're listening to Later with Moe Kelly on demand from
KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 1 (09:31):
We're gonna tell you again, hey, just slow down, just
slow down. Wherever you're going, it's still going to be
there when you get there. And whether you get there
ten minutes later, twenty minutes later, or even forty five
minutes later, it's still going to be there.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
Now.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
That said, since we know that it's going to be
raining at least for the next day or so, we're
going to have to plan ahead. You know that you're
probably gonna have to go to work tomorrow, Well, let's
think about good practices as far as planning ahead. If
you got to be at work at nine am tomorrow
and you usually leave at eight thirty, well you might
have to leave at eight o'clock or seven forty five,
(10:10):
so you don't have to rush, you don't have to
put yourself in more danger, you don't have to put
those who are around you in danger. Just some other
good thoughts and practices that you can use between now
and the end of the weekend or whenever it should rain,
because presumably it will rain again, even if we get
a drought in between, it's going to rain again. And
I got this from LAist and I didn't know some
(10:32):
of these. I didn't think about some of these, So
it's good for everyone to know. And if you haven't
done it, it's not too late to do it. And
if you're going to put your car out there, you
might as well make sure that your car is ready
and safe.
Speaker 2 (10:45):
Have you checked the treads on your tires.
Speaker 1 (10:48):
I had to get a screw removed from my tire
two days ago. Now how that's important is this if
I knew that my tire was had a slow leaking
and it was getting low. If you've ever driven a
car with decreasing tire pressure, you do not have as
much stability in your steering. It will pull to one
(11:09):
side of the other depending on which side that a
slow leak is. And if your tires are imbalanced in
terms of pressure, you make it more difficult to handle
the car. And I have an SUV, so it's even
more noticeable and could be more dangerous. So make sure
that your treads are reasonable, then the pressure is correct
and you should be doing this regularly, regardless of the rain.
(11:32):
But it's more important in times like these. And I
didn't know this, but when I was reading this, it
makes sense. Did you know that mid days, when it's
raining especially, is the most dangerous time. That's when you're
going to encounter the most accidents and the most likelihood
(11:54):
of you being in an accident.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
Elias are reported.
Speaker 1 (11:56):
Back in twenty nineteen, researchers from USC datam Project Crosstown
crunch traffic and weather data and found these patterns. On
dry days, they found that crashes tend to peak during
rush hour, when they're the most fender benders. But on
rainy days, the researchers discovered most crashes happen during the
(12:19):
middle of the day, when there's seemingly less traffic. Maybe
that's because you see less traffic, you think you can
drive normally, or may drive even excess of the speed limit,
which dramatically increases the likelihood of a crash. When you
combine speed and weather conditions with the rain, obviously more collisions,
(12:42):
more traffic, and more delays. As I said before, give
yourself more time than usual when trying to go from
A to B, and for the most part, it's easier
now than it.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
Was fifteen years ago.
Speaker 1 (12:55):
We have these apps like Google Maps and Ways and
Apple Maps, where if you're stuck in traffic, there's a
way to find out an alternative route, be it on
streets or some other way. If there's a traffic some
sort of obstacle, there are ways that you can do it,
and you don't have to be dangerous about it, because
(13:17):
it used to be you were just trying to figure
it out on the fly. There was a flood in
front of you, the street or freeway was closed down,
and you're just trying to find your way on the
surface streets, trying to find your way around, and it
gets to be really hectic and dangerous, frankly. But we
have technology and make sure we're using it for our benefit.
And here's something else. If you've driven as long as
(13:39):
I have, and I've been driving forty years, sorry to
tell my age, but I've been driving forty years, it
used to be we had cars in which the headlights
did not automatically turn on, or you couldn't have a
censor where it would just come on if it was dark,
and there would be a lot of fools out there
who would not turn on their headlights when it was
(13:59):
raining in the middle of the day. At least turn
on your headlights. Folks, turn on your headlights. And I
was just talking to Twalla during the break. The light
helps not only you see, but it helps people see you,
especially if someone's coming in the other direction. And when
you're driving right now it's nighttime, you better have your
(14:20):
lights on. But make sure, especially in this rain, and
not your high beams, just your regular headlights where people
can see you and you can see them and also
hopefully see some of the puddles.
Speaker 4 (14:32):
But you gave a great bit of advice last night.
When I left here it was pouring. I left here
right when it started coming down, and the entire time
on the freeway as long as I could. I actually
rolled behind a semi I rolled behind a tractor truck
because I knew that anything was that this truck was
(14:54):
abiding by the rules of the road. It's not gonna
be speeding. Anything that happens in front of the truck.
I will know what's happening before it comes to me. Now,
only that my light's just generally bouncing off the back
of the truck. It helped to illuminate the road, which
I can see with my glass and I can see,
you know, fairly good at night. But still that helped
me to stay in line, stay on the road, and
(15:16):
actually drive slow. It forced me to have to drive
slow because I'm not gonna drive into the back of
this truck like you go around me if you want to.
You may think I'm tripping, but I'm going to follow
this truck as long as I can to get to
my exit as almost a path layer in front of me.
Like I'm running interface you're running in and finish. You're
gonna You're gonna block any and everything. If there's a puddle,
(15:38):
there's anything, if there's accent, I'm gonna see you react
to it before I need to. And it's a lot
harder to do that if you're following a car in
front of you, which may be zipping and zimp in.
Speaker 1 (15:47):
Yeah, I can stand the driver's last night. No, and
we're all dealing with it. Stephan is gonna deal with it. Oh, Stephan,
what time did you leave your house to get here today?
I usually like ten before, like one fifty. Did you
leave at the same time today. Yeah, did you actually no,
you're right, I left a quarter till today because I
was worried, like you said about the traffic.
Speaker 2 (16:08):
Did you follow the same path that you usually do? Route?
Speaker 1 (16:11):
I did follow the same path because when I got
to the spot where I normally get off right by
the Galen Center in USC, it was actually moving pretty
smoothly because I think a lot of people did what
you did and took the streets. So I might have
opened up the freeway a little bit, but yeah, there was.
(16:32):
There's still bozos that drive like, you know, like nothing,
and when it's pouring down like this, it's just like
you don't know who you're gonna run into or you know, well,
motorcycle shouldn't be driving, but what if a motorcycle comes
up and you don't see them?
Speaker 2 (16:43):
It's yeah, you know, that's yeah.
Speaker 1 (16:46):
And the One Tin Freeway is notorious for flooding at
certain points. I wonder what it's going to be like
going home tonight. That's what I was thinking to you know,
It's like should I take the one ten? And I'm
specifically talking about the one Tin that's the one that
usually floods because like under the underpass. It's like it
almost like has like a cove. It does, and it's
so like it. There's two of them harbor. Yeah, there's
(17:07):
one like around usc Ish around thirty second Street, and
there's one at Vernon.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (17:12):
And the slawsuit when I was thinking of it, Yeah,
because it like, yeah, it'll just harbor all the water
right there. So I can't imagine what that's like right now.
It's going to be bad. It's going to be bad.
And Mark, does this change how you drive home? Possibly?
Speaker 2 (17:24):
Tonight?
Speaker 3 (17:24):
Well changed the drive here because they're the on ramp
to the four roh five in North Hills, you're fording
a river. I knew that the car would stall out
if I took that way, and but there were a
number of other places on the way here as well.
I left early, and I'm glad I did. You do
not want to screw around in this stuff. I'm telling
(17:45):
you as a former Seattle resident. Uh, today was a
bad one.
Speaker 1 (17:50):
And it possibly, from what you're telling us, Mark, about
tomorrow's precipitation, could be worse.
Speaker 2 (17:57):
Is that correct? No?
Speaker 3 (17:58):
Actually, I think we're through the worst of it, and
we should as far as I understand from everything I've
been reading and reporting. We should be in the clear
by tomorrow evening. Okay, I'll take good news wherever we
can find it.
Speaker 1 (18:11):
When we come back KFI z own, Michael Monks will
join us with a preview what he has going on
this weekend and it relates to the wildfires.
Speaker 2 (18:19):
We'll learn more about that just a moment.
Speaker 5 (18:21):
You're listening to later with Moe Kelly on demand from
KFI AM six.
Speaker 1 (18:26):
Forty and coming up this weekend Saturday from seven to
nine pm and Sunday from two to four pm KFI Zone.
Michael Monks will be presenting his special on the weekend
excuse me, the Weekend Wildfire Special, and he'll give us
an update on that right now.
Speaker 2 (18:44):
Michael Monks, good to talk to you.
Speaker 6 (18:46):
Good evening.
Speaker 3 (18:46):
Mo.
Speaker 1 (18:47):
I always wondered when you're reporting the news, you get
one perspective.
Speaker 2 (18:52):
You don't get a wide perspective.
Speaker 1 (18:54):
You've kind of narrow in just the facts and what
is happening in the moment. But now that some time
has you gain a little bit of perspective, what do
you think that you have learned looking back on the wildfires.
Speaker 6 (19:07):
I'll tell you what was most interesting in putting this
together so far, and I should note just for disclosure,
I talked to a couple of wildfire victims who work
with us at KFI and at iHeart, one of them
being your producer to Wala Sharp, who had some trouble
in the Altadena fire, and also David Howard from our
sales department, who lost a house in the Palisades.
Speaker 2 (19:29):
And as I talked to both of them.
Speaker 6 (19:30):
Separately, by the way, and then put together this piece
about their experiences, I learned the similarities. Despite the fact
that these fires happened thirty miles from one another in
different types of neighborhoods, there was a sense of optimism
on both sides that hey, we've seen these types of
forecast before. Heck, we've had fires before, but this may
(19:54):
not play out. And so there was that hope up
until the very last moment that nothing was going to happen,
and then after it happened, the similar emotions not just
of losing the homes, but both of these guys experienced
the sensation of being physically lost in neighborhoods that they
have known for decades because everything was gone, All of
(20:17):
the recognizable historic landmarks were gone, and that really opened
up a new perspective of the devastation we've all seen.
We've seen aerial footage, I've been there on the ground,
I've seen it up close and personal.
Speaker 2 (20:29):
But to hear it.
Speaker 6 (20:30):
From their mouths in that way, with that intensity, it
really did open my eyes even bigger to the sense
of loss that this entire region has experienced collectively.
Speaker 1 (20:41):
I got to ask you, because you may interview someone
on a daily basis, and even though they may be
going through something painful, there is a degree of distance
because you don't know them, you don't see them every day,
you don't work with them. How was it going through
this type of interview process with two people that you
would see presumably daily and know them in a way
(21:03):
that you wouldn't.
Speaker 2 (21:04):
A typical interview subject.
Speaker 6 (21:07):
The closer you are to somebody, the harder it is
to hear the story. We report tragedies every day in
the news, and it's terrible, and we have humanity and
we recognize that if it's some fatal crash that takes
place on the freeway, you know that's sad, but that's
also somebody's family member, right, I mean, somebody who's closer
(21:28):
to that that is a devastating experience that will live
with them forever. So the closer you are to something, obviously,
the more intense the feelings. But I was grateful to
both David and Twala for sharing their stories with us,
because they both presented their story with a sense of vulnerability.
They really opened up about the feelings that they experienced
(21:49):
in the moment leading up to the fires, the moments
during the fires, immediately after, and even right now, and
it's just been terrible, and just to build upon the
similarities that both are experiencing, that focus has shifted to
the rebuild and the interactions with the governments, the reflection
on the preparedness or the lack thereof, that the governments
had in addressing these these fires as they were on
(22:12):
the way and as they were happening.
Speaker 1 (22:14):
And it was just.
Speaker 6 (22:15):
All very revealing that even though we tell the stories,
we talk to the politicians, we talk to people on
the ground, the people who are experiencing it, not just
on January seventh, not just on January eighth, but right
now it's still very very intense. The smoke is not
gone from their lives.
Speaker 1 (22:33):
If you're just tuning in Michael Monks of KFI News
department is joining me on the line. He has a
very important weekend wildfire special which is coming up on
Saturday from seven to nine pm, and it will re
air on Sunday from two to four pm. Michael, it's
we often talk about how we find ourselves in a story,
at what point we find ourselves in the story. Obviously,
(22:55):
this is not the end of the particular story, as
they say, it's the end of the beginning. And we
know that this rebuild process that you talked about is
going to be very long. In talking to Tawala and
David Howard and anyone else in covering the fires, have
you figured out whether this rebuild effort is going to
plan or is it actually going to pot.
Speaker 6 (23:18):
This is the hard part. The hard part now begins.
The fires are out, thank goodness. We have some challenges
obviously tonight, maybe a little bit into tomorrow, and let's
hope that it doesn't get too bad out there. These
folks have been through enough. We know that, and we
don't want anybody else thrown into the fray. But this
is a long road. There are a lot of people
who say they will rebuild, and there are other folks
(23:40):
who are looking to rebuild their lives somewhere else. But
this is a region that was already challenged. It was
cash strapped, it was suffering from a housing shortage and
an expensive cost of living. Anyway, part of this special
explores that as well. The economic impact a study that
came out from UCLA. I'll talk to one of the researchers.
This is not just a dollar figure on the damage
(24:03):
that has been done, which is well into the billions
of dollars, not just on the insurance claims folks are making,
but money that you and I are going to have
to spend because of this. If you have an insurance policy,
it's likely to go up, this researcher will tell us.
And we are also possibly going to see rents going up,
the cost of housing going up even further, and can
(24:25):
we spare that? So we are all going to feel
the impact. And one other element that all of us
will have felt, if we haven't felt it already, is
what we lost in the fires. We may not have
lost our home, we may not even know anybody who
lived in Altadena or lived in the Palisades, but more
than likely at some point we've been there, or goodness,
we wanted to go there and see some attraction or
(24:46):
some restaurant that we love that's now gone. So we
talked to the LA Conservancy of Preservationist group here in
Los Angeles about the impact of the loss of some
of these historic structures and venues that have been there
so long and have meant so much to so many people.
And if you didn't get the chance to go, you
never will because they're gone and that's something you can't
(25:07):
really rebuild these.
Speaker 1 (25:10):
Michael Monks has a very important weekend wildfire special. Do
not miss it here on KFI from seven to nine
pm on Saturday, and it will be re aired on
Sunday from two to four pm.
Speaker 2 (25:23):
Michael, I have not heard it yet.
Speaker 1 (25:25):
I am eagerly waiting to tune in to listen to
your treatment and also learn something because I know we
don't have perspective when we're reporting on these things. It's
not two weeks and maybe months afterward, and you're going
to help provide that.
Speaker 6 (25:40):
Yeah, you get swept up in the moment a lot,
but to have a moment to spend some time on
this and to make sure that we as a community
across LA remember what it was like in those early
days and what it's like right now. It's just really
important that we stay focused. Thank you for what you do, Michael,
Thank you Moe. It's Later with Moke Kelli Cafi. We
(26:00):
are live everywhere in the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 5 (26:03):
You're listening to Later with Moe Kelly on demand from
KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 1 (26:11):
When Mo Kelly KFI AM six forty. We're live everywhere
in the iHeartRadio app. And I have a very complicated
relationship with Denny's. That's the only way I can describe it.
It's fond when I think of my time in my
twenties going to clubs, going to the Red Onion in
Redondo Beach or Lakewood, and then we would come out
(26:32):
and we would be very hungry and usually the only
place which was open that we could afford, because we
were always broke. If we had any money, we probably
spent it buying drinks for whatever would be woman we
were trying to get the phone number of.
Speaker 2 (26:46):
We didn't have a lot of money back then, so
we would go to Denny's.
Speaker 1 (26:51):
And there was a time in which I'm not proud
to say it, we dined, we ditched, and it's been
hanging over my head for the past thirty some odd years,
and I've been saying that one day I was going
to walk into that Denny's where I dined and ditched.
This right across the way from Dilamo Mall in Torrents.
You probably know where it is. It's on Hawthorne Boulevard
(27:14):
at just on the backside of the mall, right back
right next to the Marriott Hotel. Dined ditched. Long story short,
I've been guilty about it, and I've been saying, next
time I'm around in that area, I need to go
in and just slap a good twenty twenty five dollars
on the register and then just walk out, and then
(27:35):
my conscience will be clear. And then Twaala handed me
the story today saying that Denny's is going to close
seventy to ninety restaurants this year. I don't know if
they're closing all these restaurants because of me and the
one time that I dined and ditched.
Speaker 2 (27:51):
I don't know. I don't know if there's a correlation.
Speaker 1 (27:54):
I don't know if there's a causal relationship that because
my twenty dollars meant the end of these restaurants.
Speaker 2 (28:00):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (28:01):
I don't know, but it's possible, and I'm starting to
feel very guilty and I'm running out of time to
make things right. Denny's announced back in October that there
will be cutting one hundred and fifty restaurants all together
by the end of this fiscal year. In that October report,
denny said it closed planned to close fifty locations by
(28:22):
the end of twenty twenty four and the other one
hundred this year.
Speaker 2 (28:27):
The fourth quarter report, which was.
Speaker 1 (28:28):
Released yesterday, said thirty locations were closed in the last quarter,
with eighty eight locations overall closed last year.
Speaker 2 (28:36):
I know it's complicated.
Speaker 1 (28:37):
Bottom line is a lot of Denny's are going to
be closed, and I'm trying not to put that blame
on myself and my twenty dollars. So Tawalla said, we
need to hurry it and get that video of me
dropping my twenty dollars on the counter at the Denny's
in Torrents before.
Speaker 2 (28:54):
It's too late.
Speaker 1 (28:55):
It does not say which particular locations will be closed,
but you can imagine there will be a number of
them in southern California, and uh, there's one in Gardena
that I don't go too often.
Speaker 2 (29:15):
Stephanie may know of this one.
Speaker 1 (29:16):
It's on Western I believe, yes, on Western at about
one hundred and maybe one hundred and eighty. Second the Denny's. Yeah,
the Dennis is right next to a Del Taco. Oh yeah, yeah,
that's the one's. And then that's the one I actually
went to a lot during the pandemic because about the
only place you get some food. They had to drive
through where you can drive up and get food. I
(29:37):
was gonna say the one that you well, the one
that you did the twenty dollars mishap, that was the
first one I saw doing outdoor dining during the pandemic.
Oh really, yeah, because I never I don't think I
even drove by that one.
Speaker 2 (29:47):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (29:48):
Well yeah, because at the time I used to live
right like in that area. So I remember, like six
or seven months in, I was like, oh wow, they
have out there dining and it was I remember it
was cold, but I'm like that that's how desperate people
wanted to get out of the house. Well, the Dennis
in Guardiana, they had the outdoor dining too, but they
had the big tent.
Speaker 2 (30:05):
It was basically a restaurant outside.
Speaker 1 (30:09):
I always got food to go, and there was always
this internal battle of do I tip or not.
Speaker 2 (30:14):
It was a pandemic, so I usually tipped. But yeah,
it was.
Speaker 1 (30:18):
It was a Denny's that I really frequented a lot,
because there weren't a lot of places that you could
get food whenever, especially during the pandemic. A lot of
the restaurants I would go to they had limited hours
for obvious reasons. You didn't need all the employees, you
didn't need to be open all the time. So that
Denny's and Guardiana is the one that I would use.
I never went to the one in Hawthorn after Torrents
(30:42):
past Torrentson, right, No, no, No, it's down like Elsa
Gundo Boulevard and Hawthorn thereabouts, if I'm not mistaken, Okay,
because yeah, the one I know that you mentioned all
the times, one right next to the Loomo like in
front of it and Mark. Is Denny's a thing? I
should say? Was it a thing when you were up
and Washington?
Speaker 6 (31:00):
Oh?
Speaker 2 (31:01):
Yeah, everybody loves Denny's. Okay.
Speaker 3 (31:03):
I was just wonder and I'll admit that I was
with a group I think sinn High School. Oh, they
tried to dine and Dash and leave me with it.
And I wasn't about to pick up the tab for
the whole table, so I left as well. And I
feel bad about it to this day. And I want
you to know, Mo, that there is no expiation for
this sin. The people, the people that we screwed over
(31:25):
back at the time, they're probably retired or dead.
Speaker 5 (31:27):
Nest.
Speaker 2 (31:27):
Sure, there's no way to make up for what we did.
Speaker 5 (31:30):
I know.
Speaker 2 (31:30):
So we have to pay it forward somehow. Oh, pay
it forward. That's the only thing we can do. I mean, yeah,
because I'm quite sure.
Speaker 1 (31:36):
I sure hope the woman who was working as a
waitress back in nineteen ninety three, hopefully she owns the
restaurant by now.
Speaker 3 (31:45):
Either that or she had to make it up out
of her own pocket, or she did the night she
did she got fired.
Speaker 1 (31:51):
That's where the guilt comes in, because I know that
she was still responsible for the meal.
Speaker 3 (31:55):
Now, I would be impressed if you found a way
to track down whoever was working that night, who these
life you may have inadvertently destroyed.
Speaker 1 (32:02):
I don't know if it's possible, because if only because
it was kind of common that people would die.
Speaker 2 (32:08):
You call it, Dyan Dash, I call it dying ditch.
Speaker 1 (32:10):
They would do that to that particular location because of
the club going crowd, So there's no way to know.
I'm probably one of four hundred and fifty two. That
does not lessen your guilt. No, it doesn't lessen my guilt.
I'm saying to reverse engineer who was working there when
in that general area.
Speaker 3 (32:28):
There's probably no way to do it. You'd have to
hire an expensive private detective, like somebody who works for
a legal office, an actual investigator with access to Lexus
and Nexus and all that kind of stuff.
Speaker 2 (32:38):
No, this is what I would do.
Speaker 1 (32:39):
I would actually go to my bank, because I've been
with the same bank for a long time, and see
if they could go to my expenditures within that i'll
say two year period. I don't know if they would
still even hold on to them that long, but it's
got to exists somewhere, and then I would try to
figure it out from there.
Speaker 3 (32:58):
And it takes them doing and I'm not sure you
want to see the result, because the person may have
become an addict and.
Speaker 2 (33:05):
Homeless. Shit, it's just because of that one thing that
you did that night.
Speaker 1 (33:10):
Yeah, may have ended up on Figaroa outside the Vagabond Hotel.
Speaker 2 (33:16):
That's callback, that's a callback.
Speaker 1 (33:20):
Maybe we could do like a live He just skipped
over the ripside, doesn't He doesn't care. He doesn't care.
I'm working hard here. I don't need it now. No,
it's an afterthought. It's like buying me a gift for
Valentine's Day on the seventeenth.
Speaker 2 (33:32):
It means absolutely nothing to him.
Speaker 1 (33:34):
No, I've thought about, could I somehow figure out where
I was when I was when it happened, and I
settled on I'll just have to drop the money there
and just have them look at me like I'm weird,
and some employee will just say, sweet, extra tip for me.
That's not my problem. It's almost like when you're tithing
at church. You can't worry about where the money goes.
You can't worry about whether the minister is going to
(33:55):
use it for his strippers or his hookers. You can't
worry about that. It's about you being a cheerful giver.
It's about what you do.
Speaker 3 (34:02):
Oh okay, So you think that you can just buy
your way out of this, wash your hands of it
like it's a papal indulgence that.
Speaker 2 (34:07):
You paid for.
Speaker 3 (34:08):
You're afraid to face the possibility that you might have
turned a woman out onto the streets.
Speaker 2 (34:13):
Turned her out, turned her out.
Speaker 1 (34:16):
I was the tipping point. I was a straw that
got the camel's back blown out. That's right, Thank you
very much, hooker. Please I like that.
Speaker 5 (34:27):
K f I, k OST.
Speaker 2 (34:30):
HD two Los Angeles, Orange County, Blood everywhere on the radio.
Later, with Mo'Kelly News
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