January 7, 2026 • 29 mins
(January 07, 2025)
A report by U-Haul shows California recorded the largest exodus of do-it-yourself movers of any state in 2025. KFI reporter Heather Brooker joins the show from a neighborhood in Altadena where the rebuilding has started. Dr. Jim Keany, Chief Medical Officer at Dignity Health St. Mary Medical Center in Long Beach, joins The Bill Handel Show for 'Medical News'! Dr. Keany talks with Bill about the CDC slashing vaccine recommendations for kids, flu reaching the highest levels in the U.S. in 25 years, and Wegovy now in pill form.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
You're list Saints kf I AM six forty the Bill
Handles show on demand on the iHeartRadio ff I AM
six forty. Bill Handle here Wednesday morning, January seventh, a
year ago today, the fires in Altadena and Pacific Palace
States decimated those areas. So many people were killed in
(00:21):
a number of structures that homes that were destroyed. Just insane.
And Heather Brooker is going to give us some good news.
She's calling from a neighborhood in Altadena where the rebuilding
has actually started. That's coming up the next segment. Okay,
interesting report. This came out of I think it was
(00:42):
the Wall Street Journal, and it has to do with
U haul and its annual growth index. Now, the government
gives us all kinds of figures as to population and
the Census, et cetera. But what you Haul does is
try tracks my migration trends showing where its customers were
(01:03):
taking rented equipment, moving vans, you know pods where they
drop they take in one state and then they drop
off their furniture, etcetera in another state. And that's migration.
And actually everybody looks at u haul for those figures,
(01:25):
even the government does. Why because this growth index index
is compiled for more than two and a half million
one way you haul transactions every year in Texas and
the United States and Canada. And the most number of
people leaving California, why well, let's go through the litany
(01:54):
of cases and reasons. First of all, if it weren't
for immigrants for the most part, that are having children
and are coming in. For example, we have a huge
number of Hispanics and statistically they have more children than
Caucasians do. And then you have religious folks, for example,
(02:15):
Mormons have more kids than does the general rest of
the population. As a matter of fact, Mormons have kids
while they're having kids. I mean, that's really important for Mormons.
The point is is that California statistically has a bigger
population of those people who have children, more children. That
helps in the growth of this state. And because if
(02:38):
so many people are leaving, how does the population in
California stay the same because of those reasons. That is
a tough one. That is a tough one because look
at who is leaving and who is coming in. And
again these are U haul figures. We talk about the population,
and we talk about those people that are coming to
(02:59):
the United Dates where you Lazarus, give us your wretched,
you're poor, etc. But the people that come in illegally
are not the people that have the skills set that
makes for an economy of booming an economy. Now they
come in and do manual labor that they do and
they're an important part of the of the economy that
they are. Do they pay taxes not really, So who's
(03:22):
leaving the state? People who make money, Companies who make
money just don't know when to deal with the taxation
and do not want to deal with the governmental overreach.
It's hard to do business in this state. It's hard
to do business in Los Angeles and Orange County, and
people just have enough of it. We're done, so they move.
(03:43):
Where are they moving to? Well, they're moving to states.
One of the big ones is states that offer sunshine
and great weather. Wait a minute, doesn't California have the
best weather? Yeah, but that doesn't seem to me at
her because economics are changing a lot. I mean it is. Well,
(04:06):
I got to tell you, and you know that I've
said this before, that when I retire, I'm off to
Italy for at least several months a year. And we're
talking about renting this house here that we have. Why
because the taxes are completely crazy, because it's very difficult politically,
(04:32):
it's just hard to live here. And so the states
are the states that are red, states that are getting
the most number of people. And since we are dead
last in terms of we're dead first and people that
are leaving. Do you know what state is number one?
And people that are coming into the state Texas, Texas.
(04:58):
It's one of the states that does and have an
income tax. It's a state that's growing like crazy. It's
a state in which conservatives are moving to because I
know people that have said, we're done, We're done with
the politics of California. We're moving to Texas. So between
(05:20):
politics and money and just the quality of living, I
can see that. I can see that. Am I moving
anytime soon? No? No, My job is here and we're
talking about my retirement which is years off. And maybe
by then, you know, things are going to change, you know,
we'll be in a different political situation. Maybe the tax well,
(05:42):
I was about to say taxes. We are by far
the most heavily taxed state. When you look at property tax,
when you look at income tax, when you look at
gasoline tax. When you look at the price of housing,
it is by far the most expensive state to live in.
You pay and a big price to live here. And
(06:03):
are there a lot of advantages? Yeah, yeah, you know.
I love the traffic, for example, there's a real good
reason to stay here. There's nothing that thrills me more
than being on the four h five freeway for two hours.
Do you notice that? And this will quick one before
we bail out and go to Heather that we don't
talk about miles from A to B and people don't
(06:26):
understand that. It's all how long it takes, because you
can go three miles on the freeway and spend half
an hour, and nobody else understands that unless you live
here and Will Will tell you that Will isn't that true?
And the answer is just a yes, I don't know
what I mean. Thank you? All right, thanks for the analysis.
(06:49):
This is why Will is you got it? Okay? Now,
Jim Kenney down at the bottom of the hour, we'll
talk about some medical news. But first, Heather Brooker or
Kafi Heather Brooker is in a neighborhood in Altadena, and
we're not talking about the fires destroying We're talking about rebuilding.
So Heather, good morning, and what's going on? Hi?
Speaker 2 (07:13):
Good morning, Bill. So I have moved from the neighborhood.
I'm actually at the collaboratory now in Aladina. We are
the collaboratory.
Speaker 3 (07:21):
Huge.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
It's a huge restroom.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
It is not a huge restroom. No, that is a
different type of collaboratory. I don't know. I don't know
what type of restroom breaks here.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
I said laboratory. I'm sorry, I miss not laboratory.
Speaker 3 (07:36):
Okay, So it's collaboratory.
Speaker 4 (07:37):
There you are.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
We're waiting for some state leaders and local leaders to arrive.
And right now there's homeowners here to talk about where
we are and where Altadena is. One year later after
these devastating fires, I can tell you right now it
is a completely different feeling here. There's a sense of peace,
but also sadness and heartbreak a year later, because there's
(08:03):
still so much unresolved. There's so many questions that need
to be asked, and you know, I want to get
to something really special right now. I have a homeowner here.
Her name is Denise Ruffner. She lost her home in
the Eaten fire, and she is here with me. Now, Denise,
how are you doing so far today.
Speaker 3 (08:18):
I'm very sad. This is a tough day.
Speaker 2 (08:21):
And I know you mentioned earlier that you were not
feeling like you wanted to celebrate. This is not an
anniversary that you want to be reminded of.
Speaker 3 (08:29):
No, it's not. I don't want to acknowledge today or
what happened a year ago.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
And for you in particular, you said that there is
something that you hold accountable for this entire situation.
Speaker 3 (08:44):
Tell me about that. Well, we all know that the
fire was started by Southern California Edison, and it was
magnified by the winds, But Southern California Edison really is
the root of the cause and they've done nothing to
help us. So there's been all these charities, there's been
the government and everybody's stepped in to help us, and
we haven't so much has received a bottle of water
(09:06):
from Edison. So it's very disappointing on how little their
lack of responsibility.
Speaker 2 (09:14):
What would you like to see them?
Speaker 3 (09:15):
Do you know what?
Speaker 1 (09:16):
Hold on a second, can Denise hear me? Or it
has to go through you, Heather.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
I can hear you.
Speaker 3 (09:20):
Yeah, do you have a question? Go ahead?
Speaker 1 (09:21):
I do is Denise rebuilding? Is that what's going on
is she had her property and.
Speaker 3 (09:28):
We will rebuild. Yes, we went through a lot in
terms of finance, and we don't know if we have
enough money to rebuild. So it's a tough time we're
looking at we're planning our house and we probably don't
have enough money to rebuild.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
What would you like to see so Cale Edison do.
Speaker 3 (09:48):
Well, they want all of us to settle with them,
and that's not going to happen, at least in our house.
But I'd love to see them give us all a
check and say, here's help living while you resolve your lives.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
And Bill, I should tell you Denise brought something special
with her today to this press conference. Can you tell
us what you brought with you?
Speaker 3 (10:09):
I brought the key to my house. The house represented
a dream and it was our it was we were
so proud of it and it's such a loss to
lose that. Oh yeah, and I dug out the key
which we saved because it represents our dream and I
have it with me.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
Well, I'm so grateful to you for taking the time
to talk with us.
Speaker 1 (10:31):
Bill.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
Do you have any other questions.
Speaker 1 (10:32):
For No, I don't have any questions. I'm going to
just follow up on what she's saying in terms of
the loss as we have seen on news reports and
people talking to the reporters, and that is losing something anyway,
losing your car, burns up or whatever that's or a
burglary that happens. That's tough enough where your TVs said
(10:54):
are taken. But every memory you have, pictures of your kids, I,
for example, have of these the videos of my kids
growing up that I keep in a fire safe because
it's you know, these are memories that matter of fact,
when there's a fire, I just open up the safe
door because I'm just fine with that. But it's it is.
(11:16):
It's tough, and you can see how difficult it is
for people. And it's the other thing is the insurance problem.
I mean, that is completely crazy. In the neighborhood that
you're at, had there do you see rebuilding going on?
Speaker 2 (11:29):
Not where I'm at. We're closed by an area that
was not.
Speaker 3 (11:33):
Hit in the fires.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
I'm gonna when I'm wrap up here, I'm going to
head over into the areas where the homes were destroyed
and that some of them are rebuilding. Denise, you mentioned
the safe. Denise had told me earlier that her safe
actually exploded, isn't that right?
Speaker 3 (11:48):
Oh yeah, so BILLI we had a brand news safe
that we had just put in, you know, fire safe
and all that very expensive, and it completely burned open.
Speaker 1 (11:59):
Well, buyers can get that hot. I mean, there's a
when you see these flash fires, I mean just they're
in the thousands of degrees fahrenheit as the firefighters are
fighting them. So you know, Heather, you're going to go
and you're going to talk to various people. Are you
getting a sense of optimism because Denise I don't see
a whole lot of optimism with the struggle she's going
(12:22):
to have and rebuilding and not having enough money to rebuild,
which means she has to go and borrow money. Hopefully
governmental programs will be out there, and this is where
I think the government should come in and loan money
to people at very little interest, so giving them a
chance to just rebuild.
Speaker 2 (12:40):
And well, you know, I have to say, I don't
see a lot of hope just and the few people
I've taught to, I think there's been some people who
have already started rebuilding. There's five hundred and thirty five
permits that have been issued so far, and rebuilding has begun.
Seven people have been given occupancy certificates and moved back
into their homes that were burned out, But that is
(13:03):
a very small amount compared to the nine thousand, five
hundred homes and buildings that were lost. So I think
the people here are hoping to see greater progress in
the coming months and years. But I think, as Denise said,
they really want to see somebody held accountable and some
(13:24):
form of payment and cash given to them so that
they can get started and get things moving much quicker,
much quicker.
Speaker 1 (13:33):
Yeah, and the Palisade will never be the same again.
There are people that simply will not stay, cannot stay
because they can't afford to rebuild, and empty lots will
be there for a very long time, and that's the shame. Well,
the watchriots, I can go back to nineteen sixty four
and they're still It hasn't been rebuilt in many parts there.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
Yeah, And speaking of the Palisades here, as soon as
I'm done here in Altadena, I'm headed over to the Palisades.
There's a big demonstration that's planned later on. We're going
to be there live covering that as well. You know, honestly,
just being here in Altadena. My mom lived in on
the border of Pasadena the Altadena and I remember all
(14:18):
too well, in the middle of the night having to
go and pick her up when it was black skies,
everything was still to a smoke, scoop her up and
make sure that she was safe and that we could
get her to a safe location. I can only imagine
what the people who live here and saw their homes
burn right before their eyes must be feeling now a
year later. I mean, we're talking about the one year anniversary,
(14:40):
but it certainly isn't a celebratory situation. I think they're
looking for some hope. That's why so many homeowners are
here today. I see tons of them walking into the building.
Speaker 3 (14:49):
They're they're hoping to.
Speaker 2 (14:51):
Hear something from Senator Sasha Perez, who's going to be
here any minute. They're hoping to hear from Judy chu
is here to get some direction and maybe some clarity
on the path forward.
Speaker 1 (15:03):
Okay, I Heather, thanks, We'll be hearing from you throughout
the day. I'm sure all right now. Since it is
a thirty we do on a Wednesday, we do the
medical segment with doctor Jim Keeney, who has been with
this show for what twenty five thirty years? Maybe? All right, Jim,
let's talk about the amount of money that the government
(15:25):
is putting into health system, particularly and we talked about
this earlier rural healthcare, because that seems to be one
of the areas that is going to be most affected
and it's money is coming in. So where's the bitch here?
Speaker 5 (15:41):
Yeah, I mean, so rural hospitals are, you know, they're
kind of lifeline. We all think we don't need rural hospitals,
but we all tend to, you know, go on trips
drive and you'd say, you never know when you're actually
going to be in a rural hospital, even if you
live in an urban area. But rural hospitals don't have
the same type of operation as a city hospital. We
(16:04):
in city hospitals, we have a certain amount of commercial insurance,
and you know, it's well known that hospitals try and
cost shift. You know, the more money they can make
on commercial insurance is the less they have to rely
on the underpayments of Medicaid. But rural hospitals can't do that.
They are mostly Medicaid. They end up with margins that
(16:26):
are about two percent, So when there's any shift in
the environment, they really get in trouble fast. And so
the Big Beautiful Bill, it cut nine hundred billion dollars
out of healthcare over the next ten years, but cut
nine hundred billion out and then they announced recently that
they're going to give up fifty billion in grants over
(16:46):
the next five years, so about ten billion a year
in grants to the to rural hospitals. So it's with
interesting to me, perked out my interest because it was marketed,
it looks like is marketed as look what we're doing
for rural hospitals. But at the end of the day,
it's a it's a bigger cut we got. We took
away nine hundred billion and we're given back fifty billion.
Speaker 6 (17:07):
So so that's it seems that's across the board with
healthcare that under the Big Beautiful Bill, and that's certainly
the border enforcement.
Speaker 1 (17:20):
Got, you know, tons of money, and the military got
tons of money, but seems like healthcare was one of
the if not the biggest areas that will hit the
most buy the Big Beautiful Bill. You know, are people
in the industry and that's you in the medical world.
(17:40):
Certainly you're upset, but how frightened are you that medical
care in this country is really going to drop pretty dramatically.
Speaker 5 (17:47):
Yeah, I mean this will definitely impact certain hospitals, especially
those ones they were talking about, because you know, again
no room margin for error here, and and now the
infrastructure is also getting old, and so hospitals. Ideally, you
would run a business with a replacement budget right where
(18:09):
you over time. You know, a CT scanner cost a
million dollars and it'll last ten years, So you need
to put away one hundred thousand dollars a year for
ten years so that at the end of that life
cycle you can buy a new one. Nobody does that.
They don't have the money to do that. So the
infrastructure is really aging a lot. You've got a lot
of hospitals, and you'll find that the CT scanner doesn't
(18:30):
work on a regular basis, that it spends a lot
of time in repair. You look at simple things like
the facility itself. I mean, they're all struggling with these
last range. I know multiple hospitals that struggled with water
intrusion and because their structure is just not what it
needs to be. So you know, we're all struggling. People
(18:52):
come to the eer. They feel it because the weights
are incredible and that's not going to get any better.
Speaker 1 (18:59):
Yeah, we spend a lot of time talking about your
organization and you're now running a hospital, at least the
medical part of the hospital. And you know, I never
asked you this question, but there you are needing an
MRI machine. It's a million bucks, a million and a
half dollars. You can't afford it. Does the hospital borrow
(19:20):
money like any other commercial venture, to pay for big
ticket items?
Speaker 5 (19:27):
Yeah, I mean there's two ways hospital run. The most
common is not for profit. So a not for profit
can issue bonds, and then those bonds are a way
of of taking that a loan and getting money to
pay for items like that. You try to do fundraising
as well, So a lot of times when we do anything,
(19:48):
you know, maybe a third of the money or a
little bit less will come from philanthropy, and then the
rest will come either from operating budget or from things
like issuing a bond if you can. There's a lot
of hospitals are already they can't do that. They don't
have any any assets or any ability to pay back,
so the rate they're bond rating is too low. The
(20:11):
for profit hospitals there, of course, you know they can
just you know, borrow money like anybody else can.
Speaker 1 (20:19):
Hey, So when you're running your hospital, I know you
have a lot to do with budgets. How do you
take into account how do you deal with what's going
on currently politically because I'm assuming, maybe I'm long on this,
I'm assuming there are federal state grants that you can
get for medical care other than other than medical.
Speaker 5 (20:41):
Yeah. Absolutely, we have the largest HIV clinic in the
country that's been there for forty years and runs off
federal grants. And you know, there are people that have
been treated there for decades and are still alive now
because of that clinic. A lot of that fun has
been cut and there are concerns about how does that
(21:03):
clinic maintain that without the funding that it gets. So,
you know, it's it's difficult and which you're trying to
read the tea leaves of what these cuts really mean,
because sometimes cuts are reversed by the next administration. Can
we make it that long before before people go bankrupt
(21:24):
or before you have to reduce services? And again, that's
what rural hospitals and inner city hospitals that you know,
disproportionately treat the underserved. They really do struggle with well,
you know, we're gonna have to close a service line,
and hospitals close things like their pediatric ward or their
obstetrics and gynecology ward, you know, so that they can
(21:46):
focus on general medical health.
Speaker 1 (21:48):
Jim McKinney, our medical experts been with us for almost
thirty years now. And the other topic I want to
cover is the vaccine scheduling and reporting a lot. I
think it was yesterday that the CDC had changed. It's
the recommendation in terms of what kind of vaccines and
(22:10):
how often they should be given to children. And there's
a backstory to that too, because it's not just here
are the vaccines, here's what we're reporting. There's more to it.
Speaker 4 (22:20):
Jim, would you explain, Yeah, So essentially what they've done
is among the kids who are covered by Medicaid, they
no longer require the states to report.
Speaker 5 (22:32):
Immunization measures anymore so, and as well as pregnant women
who are enrolled in Medicaid. So that's about half the
population that gets vaccinations no longer required to report this information.
And you know what it kind of does is it
shows that you're going to hide the fact that vaccination drops,
(22:54):
that disease states will increase. You no longer will have
that data, so it makes it more so then the
arguments in the future will be more politicized rather than
based on data. We're all going to be fighting over
Oh wow, look there's an increase in measles or there's
an increase in something, and we want to show that
it's correlated at least to drop in vaccination rates, but
(23:15):
we won't be able to because they're setting it up
that way. So it's very interesting what's going on.
Speaker 1 (23:21):
That scary stuff. And I'm sure that any kid who
is vaccinating and gets autism where they can actually connect
the dots if they can. So let's say it happens
three times across the United States. Then we don't even
know if it happens that much because there's been no
connection that's been scientifically proven that will hit the news
that the CDC will talk about. U It's and I'm
(23:45):
asking you, do you view it as that crazy under
RFK Junior.
Speaker 5 (23:51):
Yeah, yeah, I mean I think again, the whole thing
has obviously been heavily politicized. It's not based in science
or you know, the best information that we have at
this point. And again we talked about this last week
that even the change in the vaccination schedule, we want
to be more like Denmark, well or nothing like Denmark.
They have a uniform kind of genetic population, they have
(24:11):
a uniform universal health care, so everyone's covered under health
care from birth to death. It's heavily recorded, so we
know exactly whether somebody got a vaccine or not if
they're in the Denmark health system. It's a completely different
animal than the United States, where we have big disparities,
pockets of people who don't have access to healthcare, who
(24:33):
aren't getting vaccinated or just basic health care. So a
completely different world.
Speaker 1 (24:38):
Yeah. And by the way, the point in the gym
is making is Denmark they don't do vaccinations to the
extent that we do. That they do just find with
almost no vaccinations.
Speaker 4 (24:49):
And they do seventeen.
Speaker 5 (24:53):
I mean they do a lower number. We do seventeen.
They do about eleven, So they just low and he's
lowering the number to match Denmark as if that's the
gold standard. But it's not a gold standard.
Speaker 1 (25:03):
Okay. Moving, Yeah, it's so depressing with all this. Okay,
moving into a much happier. Note flu is reaching the
highest levels in the US in twenty five years, and
people are dying like flies. Let's talk about that, because
that also is not particularly good news.
Speaker 5 (25:25):
Yeah, flu is definitely increasing, so we're seeing a lot
more er visits related to it. Certain pockets of the
country are getting hit really hard. Not quite getting hit
that hard yet in southern California, but it does look
like it could rise if we follow the pattern other areas.
So still a decent time to get a flu shot.
And of course the flu shot, you know, the people
(25:46):
who need it the most struggle with the least protection
from it. Right, the efficacy rates in people over sixty
five or lower. But there are the people that need
it the most, people with immune compromise or other other
diseases that put them at higher risk when they do
get the flu. But the best thing you can do
(26:07):
to try and protect yourself is to get that flea shot.
Of course, besides all the basics, right, wash your hands,
cover your mouth when you sneeze so you're not giving
it to other people, and just basic hygiene of the
will reduce your risk.
Speaker 1 (26:22):
Again in the floor, how do we do in Southern
California vaccination wise relative of the rest of the country.
Do we have that information.
Speaker 5 (26:29):
Yeah, I mean we're on par with the rest of
the country. We're not above or below, So we're not
one of those areas where everybody does not get the vaccine.
We're just we're kind of right on track, if anything,
a little bit higher in the rest of some of
the areas of the country.
Speaker 1 (26:44):
Okay, fair enough, Jim. We will talk again, of course,
next Wednesday, and then we'll probably talk over the week
when I scream at you for something or another. Jim McKinney.
Always a pleasure to have with you, have us with you,
have us, you with us, or you with Yeah, you
know what I mean, all right.
Speaker 4 (27:02):
Jim, Yeah, yeah, the last segment.
Speaker 1 (27:06):
Okay, guys, we are done. We are done. So tomorrow
we start again. We don't have Neil, and we're gonna
get in some pretty heavy topics tomorrow. Both we're gonna
bring Will in to talk about the heavy topics as
a personal experience.
Speaker 2 (27:23):
Me.
Speaker 1 (27:24):
Yeah, I'm not here tomorrow. You're not here tomorrow.
Speaker 5 (27:28):
Now.
Speaker 1 (27:29):
I didn't know that, sorry, because I wanted to make
fun about your weight and he's not lucky me. Yeah,
lucky you so I won't be able to do that, okay,
and then Neil's not coming in. God, there's nobody there
going to make fun of O. Where are you going?
I'm going to do a little work on the side,
just the Fiesta Bowl. I'm going to Phoenix. Oh yes,
(27:51):
Oh that's cool. All right. Uh, that's it for today.
We'll be back again tomorrow. Amy's probably gonna wear some
other Disney garb. I'm not wearing Disney tomorrow. Oh really?
Why what happened? Is everything in the wall?
Speaker 7 (28:05):
I really don't wear it that often. It's just that
you call out every time that I do. And okay,
it was the holidays, and there was a lot of
Disney Christmas stuff, But on a normal on a normal week,
it's usually, you know, like once or twice a month.
Speaker 1 (28:23):
No, no, no, totally is not not a chance. We're
going to calendar this, okay, cono, We're gonna start a
calendar here, calendar right in terms of how often the
Lovely Amy wears the Disney garb. Okay, it was the
first time this year. Oh okay, thanks, We're back again
tomorrow with Amy and Neil and no wow, no will
(28:49):
no Neil, And I'm here okay. Well, and also I
got and not on the screen, so we're now con
o please that I forget to say your name to
all right? Fine? And then kno, also yeah, okay fine.
This is kfi AM oh Gary and Shannon up next.
I forgot them. Also kfi AM six point forty. You've
(29:12):
been listening to the Bill Handle Show. Catch my Show
Monday through Friday six am to nine am, and anytime
on demand on the iHeartRadio app.
You're list Saints kf I AM six forty the Bill
Handles show on demand on the iHeartRadio ff I AM
six forty. Bill Handle here Wednesday morning, January seventh, a
year ago today, the fires in Altadena and Pacific Palace
States decimated those areas. So many people were killed in
(00:21):
a number of structures that homes that were destroyed. Just insane.
And Heather Brooker is going to give us some good news.
She's calling from a neighborhood in Altadena where the rebuilding
has actually started. That's coming up the next segment. Okay,
interesting report. This came out of I think it was
(00:42):
the Wall Street Journal, and it has to do with
U haul and its annual growth index. Now, the government
gives us all kinds of figures as to population and
the Census, et cetera. But what you Haul does is
try tracks my migration trends showing where its customers were
(01:03):
taking rented equipment, moving vans, you know pods where they
drop they take in one state and then they drop
off their furniture, etcetera in another state. And that's migration.
And actually everybody looks at u haul for those figures,
(01:25):
even the government does. Why because this growth index index
is compiled for more than two and a half million
one way you haul transactions every year in Texas and
the United States and Canada. And the most number of
people leaving California, why well, let's go through the litany
(01:54):
of cases and reasons. First of all, if it weren't
for immigrants for the most part, that are having children
and are coming in. For example, we have a huge
number of Hispanics and statistically they have more children than
Caucasians do. And then you have religious folks, for example,
(02:15):
Mormons have more kids than does the general rest of
the population. As a matter of fact, Mormons have kids
while they're having kids. I mean, that's really important for Mormons.
The point is is that California statistically has a bigger
population of those people who have children, more children. That
helps in the growth of this state. And because if
(02:38):
so many people are leaving, how does the population in
California stay the same because of those reasons. That is
a tough one. That is a tough one because look
at who is leaving and who is coming in. And
again these are U haul figures. We talk about the population,
and we talk about those people that are coming to
(02:59):
the United Dates where you Lazarus, give us your wretched,
you're poor, etc. But the people that come in illegally
are not the people that have the skills set that
makes for an economy of booming an economy. Now they
come in and do manual labor that they do and
they're an important part of the of the economy that
they are. Do they pay taxes not really, So who's
(03:22):
leaving the state? People who make money, Companies who make
money just don't know when to deal with the taxation
and do not want to deal with the governmental overreach.
It's hard to do business in this state. It's hard
to do business in Los Angeles and Orange County, and
people just have enough of it. We're done, so they move.
(03:43):
Where are they moving to? Well, they're moving to states.
One of the big ones is states that offer sunshine
and great weather. Wait a minute, doesn't California have the
best weather? Yeah, but that doesn't seem to me at
her because economics are changing a lot. I mean it is. Well,
(04:06):
I got to tell you, and you know that I've
said this before, that when I retire, I'm off to
Italy for at least several months a year. And we're
talking about renting this house here that we have. Why
because the taxes are completely crazy, because it's very difficult politically,
(04:32):
it's just hard to live here. And so the states
are the states that are red, states that are getting
the most number of people. And since we are dead
last in terms of we're dead first and people that
are leaving. Do you know what state is number one?
And people that are coming into the state Texas, Texas.
(04:58):
It's one of the states that does and have an
income tax. It's a state that's growing like crazy. It's
a state in which conservatives are moving to because I
know people that have said, we're done, We're done with
the politics of California. We're moving to Texas. So between
(05:20):
politics and money and just the quality of living, I
can see that. I can see that. Am I moving
anytime soon? No? No, My job is here and we're
talking about my retirement which is years off. And maybe
by then, you know, things are going to change, you know,
we'll be in a different political situation. Maybe the tax well,
(05:42):
I was about to say taxes. We are by far
the most heavily taxed state. When you look at property tax,
when you look at income tax, when you look at
gasoline tax. When you look at the price of housing,
it is by far the most expensive state to live in.
You pay and a big price to live here. And
(06:03):
are there a lot of advantages? Yeah, yeah, you know.
I love the traffic, for example, there's a real good
reason to stay here. There's nothing that thrills me more
than being on the four h five freeway for two hours.
Do you notice that? And this will quick one before
we bail out and go to Heather that we don't
talk about miles from A to B and people don't
(06:26):
understand that. It's all how long it takes, because you
can go three miles on the freeway and spend half
an hour, and nobody else understands that unless you live
here and Will Will tell you that Will isn't that true?
And the answer is just a yes, I don't know
what I mean. Thank you? All right, thanks for the analysis.
(06:49):
This is why Will is you got it? Okay? Now,
Jim Kenney down at the bottom of the hour, we'll
talk about some medical news. But first, Heather Brooker or
Kafi Heather Brooker is in a neighborhood in Altadena, and
we're not talking about the fires destroying We're talking about rebuilding.
So Heather, good morning, and what's going on? Hi?
Speaker 2 (07:13):
Good morning, Bill. So I have moved from the neighborhood.
I'm actually at the collaboratory now in Aladina. We are
the collaboratory.
Speaker 3 (07:21):
Huge.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
It's a huge restroom.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
It is not a huge restroom. No, that is a
different type of collaboratory. I don't know. I don't know
what type of restroom breaks here.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
I said laboratory. I'm sorry, I miss not laboratory.
Speaker 3 (07:36):
Okay, So it's collaboratory.
Speaker 4 (07:37):
There you are.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
We're waiting for some state leaders and local leaders to arrive.
And right now there's homeowners here to talk about where
we are and where Altadena is. One year later after
these devastating fires, I can tell you right now it
is a completely different feeling here. There's a sense of peace,
but also sadness and heartbreak a year later, because there's
(08:03):
still so much unresolved. There's so many questions that need
to be asked, and you know, I want to get
to something really special right now. I have a homeowner here.
Her name is Denise Ruffner. She lost her home in
the Eaten fire, and she is here with me. Now, Denise,
how are you doing so far today.
Speaker 3 (08:18):
I'm very sad. This is a tough day.
Speaker 2 (08:21):
And I know you mentioned earlier that you were not
feeling like you wanted to celebrate. This is not an
anniversary that you want to be reminded of.
Speaker 3 (08:29):
No, it's not. I don't want to acknowledge today or
what happened a year ago.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
And for you in particular, you said that there is
something that you hold accountable for this entire situation.
Speaker 3 (08:44):
Tell me about that. Well, we all know that the
fire was started by Southern California Edison, and it was
magnified by the winds, But Southern California Edison really is
the root of the cause and they've done nothing to
help us. So there's been all these charities, there's been
the government and everybody's stepped in to help us, and
we haven't so much has received a bottle of water
(09:06):
from Edison. So it's very disappointing on how little their
lack of responsibility.
Speaker 2 (09:14):
What would you like to see them?
Speaker 3 (09:15):
Do you know what?
Speaker 1 (09:16):
Hold on a second, can Denise hear me? Or it
has to go through you, Heather.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
I can hear you.
Speaker 3 (09:20):
Yeah, do you have a question? Go ahead?
Speaker 1 (09:21):
I do is Denise rebuilding? Is that what's going on
is she had her property and.
Speaker 3 (09:28):
We will rebuild. Yes, we went through a lot in
terms of finance, and we don't know if we have
enough money to rebuild. So it's a tough time we're
looking at we're planning our house and we probably don't
have enough money to rebuild.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
What would you like to see so Cale Edison do.
Speaker 3 (09:48):
Well, they want all of us to settle with them,
and that's not going to happen, at least in our house.
But I'd love to see them give us all a
check and say, here's help living while you resolve your lives.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
And Bill, I should tell you Denise brought something special
with her today to this press conference. Can you tell
us what you brought with you?
Speaker 3 (10:09):
I brought the key to my house. The house represented
a dream and it was our it was we were
so proud of it and it's such a loss to
lose that. Oh yeah, and I dug out the key
which we saved because it represents our dream and I
have it with me.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
Well, I'm so grateful to you for taking the time
to talk with us.
Speaker 1 (10:31):
Bill.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
Do you have any other questions.
Speaker 1 (10:32):
For No, I don't have any questions. I'm going to
just follow up on what she's saying in terms of
the loss as we have seen on news reports and
people talking to the reporters, and that is losing something anyway,
losing your car, burns up or whatever that's or a
burglary that happens. That's tough enough where your TVs said
(10:54):
are taken. But every memory you have, pictures of your kids, I,
for example, have of these the videos of my kids
growing up that I keep in a fire safe because
it's you know, these are memories that matter of fact,
when there's a fire, I just open up the safe
door because I'm just fine with that. But it's it is.
(11:16):
It's tough, and you can see how difficult it is
for people. And it's the other thing is the insurance problem.
I mean, that is completely crazy. In the neighborhood that
you're at, had there do you see rebuilding going on?
Speaker 2 (11:29):
Not where I'm at. We're closed by an area that
was not.
Speaker 3 (11:33):
Hit in the fires.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
I'm gonna when I'm wrap up here, I'm going to
head over into the areas where the homes were destroyed
and that some of them are rebuilding. Denise, you mentioned
the safe. Denise had told me earlier that her safe
actually exploded, isn't that right?
Speaker 3 (11:48):
Oh yeah, so BILLI we had a brand news safe
that we had just put in, you know, fire safe
and all that very expensive, and it completely burned open.
Speaker 1 (11:59):
Well, buyers can get that hot. I mean, there's a
when you see these flash fires, I mean just they're
in the thousands of degrees fahrenheit as the firefighters are
fighting them. So you know, Heather, you're going to go
and you're going to talk to various people. Are you
getting a sense of optimism because Denise I don't see
a whole lot of optimism with the struggle she's going
(12:22):
to have and rebuilding and not having enough money to rebuild,
which means she has to go and borrow money. Hopefully
governmental programs will be out there, and this is where
I think the government should come in and loan money
to people at very little interest, so giving them a
chance to just rebuild.
Speaker 2 (12:40):
And well, you know, I have to say, I don't
see a lot of hope just and the few people
I've taught to, I think there's been some people who
have already started rebuilding. There's five hundred and thirty five
permits that have been issued so far, and rebuilding has begun.
Seven people have been given occupancy certificates and moved back
into their homes that were burned out, But that is
(13:03):
a very small amount compared to the nine thousand, five
hundred homes and buildings that were lost. So I think
the people here are hoping to see greater progress in
the coming months and years. But I think, as Denise said,
they really want to see somebody held accountable and some
(13:24):
form of payment and cash given to them so that
they can get started and get things moving much quicker,
much quicker.
Speaker 1 (13:33):
Yeah, and the Palisade will never be the same again.
There are people that simply will not stay, cannot stay
because they can't afford to rebuild, and empty lots will
be there for a very long time, and that's the shame. Well,
the watchriots, I can go back to nineteen sixty four
and they're still It hasn't been rebuilt in many parts there.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
Yeah, And speaking of the Palisades here, as soon as
I'm done here in Altadena, I'm headed over to the Palisades.
There's a big demonstration that's planned later on. We're going
to be there live covering that as well. You know, honestly,
just being here in Altadena. My mom lived in on
the border of Pasadena the Altadena and I remember all
(14:18):
too well, in the middle of the night having to
go and pick her up when it was black skies,
everything was still to a smoke, scoop her up and
make sure that she was safe and that we could
get her to a safe location. I can only imagine
what the people who live here and saw their homes
burn right before their eyes must be feeling now a
year later. I mean, we're talking about the one year anniversary,
(14:40):
but it certainly isn't a celebratory situation. I think they're
looking for some hope. That's why so many homeowners are
here today. I see tons of them walking into the building.
Speaker 3 (14:49):
They're they're hoping to.
Speaker 2 (14:51):
Hear something from Senator Sasha Perez, who's going to be
here any minute. They're hoping to hear from Judy chu
is here to get some direction and maybe some clarity
on the path forward.
Speaker 1 (15:03):
Okay, I Heather, thanks, We'll be hearing from you throughout
the day. I'm sure all right now. Since it is
a thirty we do on a Wednesday, we do the
medical segment with doctor Jim Keeney, who has been with
this show for what twenty five thirty years? Maybe? All right, Jim,
let's talk about the amount of money that the government
(15:25):
is putting into health system, particularly and we talked about
this earlier rural healthcare, because that seems to be one
of the areas that is going to be most affected
and it's money is coming in. So where's the bitch here?
Speaker 5 (15:41):
Yeah, I mean, so rural hospitals are, you know, they're
kind of lifeline. We all think we don't need rural hospitals,
but we all tend to, you know, go on trips
drive and you'd say, you never know when you're actually
going to be in a rural hospital, even if you
live in an urban area. But rural hospitals don't have
the same type of operation as a city hospital. We
(16:04):
in city hospitals, we have a certain amount of commercial insurance,
and you know, it's well known that hospitals try and
cost shift. You know, the more money they can make
on commercial insurance is the less they have to rely
on the underpayments of Medicaid. But rural hospitals can't do that.
They are mostly Medicaid. They end up with margins that
(16:26):
are about two percent, So when there's any shift in
the environment, they really get in trouble fast. And so
the Big Beautiful Bill, it cut nine hundred billion dollars
out of healthcare over the next ten years, but cut
nine hundred billion out and then they announced recently that
they're going to give up fifty billion in grants over
(16:46):
the next five years, so about ten billion a year
in grants to the to rural hospitals. So it's with
interesting to me, perked out my interest because it was marketed,
it looks like is marketed as look what we're doing
for rural hospitals. But at the end of the day,
it's a it's a bigger cut we got. We took
away nine hundred billion and we're given back fifty billion.
Speaker 6 (17:07):
So so that's it seems that's across the board with
healthcare that under the Big Beautiful Bill, and that's certainly
the border enforcement.
Speaker 1 (17:20):
Got, you know, tons of money, and the military got
tons of money, but seems like healthcare was one of
the if not the biggest areas that will hit the
most buy the Big Beautiful Bill. You know, are people
in the industry and that's you in the medical world.
(17:40):
Certainly you're upset, but how frightened are you that medical
care in this country is really going to drop pretty dramatically.
Speaker 5 (17:47):
Yeah, I mean this will definitely impact certain hospitals, especially
those ones they were talking about, because you know, again
no room margin for error here, and and now the
infrastructure is also getting old, and so hospitals. Ideally, you
would run a business with a replacement budget right where
(18:09):
you over time. You know, a CT scanner cost a
million dollars and it'll last ten years, So you need
to put away one hundred thousand dollars a year for
ten years so that at the end of that life
cycle you can buy a new one. Nobody does that.
They don't have the money to do that. So the
infrastructure is really aging a lot. You've got a lot
of hospitals, and you'll find that the CT scanner doesn't
(18:30):
work on a regular basis, that it spends a lot
of time in repair. You look at simple things like
the facility itself. I mean, they're all struggling with these
last range. I know multiple hospitals that struggled with water
intrusion and because their structure is just not what it
needs to be. So you know, we're all struggling. People
(18:52):
come to the eer. They feel it because the weights
are incredible and that's not going to get any better.
Speaker 1 (18:59):
Yeah, we spend a lot of time talking about your
organization and you're now running a hospital, at least the
medical part of the hospital. And you know, I never
asked you this question, but there you are needing an
MRI machine. It's a million bucks, a million and a
half dollars. You can't afford it. Does the hospital borrow
(19:20):
money like any other commercial venture, to pay for big
ticket items?
Speaker 5 (19:27):
Yeah, I mean there's two ways hospital run. The most
common is not for profit. So a not for profit
can issue bonds, and then those bonds are a way
of of taking that a loan and getting money to
pay for items like that. You try to do fundraising
as well, So a lot of times when we do anything,
(19:48):
you know, maybe a third of the money or a
little bit less will come from philanthropy, and then the
rest will come either from operating budget or from things
like issuing a bond if you can. There's a lot
of hospitals are already they can't do that. They don't
have any any assets or any ability to pay back,
so the rate they're bond rating is too low. The
(20:11):
for profit hospitals there, of course, you know they can
just you know, borrow money like anybody else can.
Speaker 1 (20:19):
Hey, So when you're running your hospital, I know you
have a lot to do with budgets. How do you
take into account how do you deal with what's going
on currently politically because I'm assuming, maybe I'm long on this,
I'm assuming there are federal state grants that you can
get for medical care other than other than medical.
Speaker 5 (20:41):
Yeah. Absolutely, we have the largest HIV clinic in the
country that's been there for forty years and runs off
federal grants. And you know, there are people that have
been treated there for decades and are still alive now
because of that clinic. A lot of that fun has
been cut and there are concerns about how does that
(21:03):
clinic maintain that without the funding that it gets. So,
you know, it's it's difficult and which you're trying to
read the tea leaves of what these cuts really mean,
because sometimes cuts are reversed by the next administration. Can
we make it that long before before people go bankrupt
(21:24):
or before you have to reduce services? And again, that's
what rural hospitals and inner city hospitals that you know,
disproportionately treat the underserved. They really do struggle with well,
you know, we're gonna have to close a service line,
and hospitals close things like their pediatric ward or their
obstetrics and gynecology ward, you know, so that they can
(21:46):
focus on general medical health.
Speaker 1 (21:48):
Jim McKinney, our medical experts been with us for almost
thirty years now. And the other topic I want to
cover is the vaccine scheduling and reporting a lot. I
think it was yesterday that the CDC had changed. It's
the recommendation in terms of what kind of vaccines and
(22:10):
how often they should be given to children. And there's
a backstory to that too, because it's not just here
are the vaccines, here's what we're reporting. There's more to it.
Speaker 4 (22:20):
Jim, would you explain, Yeah, So essentially what they've done
is among the kids who are covered by Medicaid, they
no longer require the states to report.
Speaker 5 (22:32):
Immunization measures anymore so, and as well as pregnant women
who are enrolled in Medicaid. So that's about half the
population that gets vaccinations no longer required to report this information.
And you know what it kind of does is it
shows that you're going to hide the fact that vaccination drops,
(22:54):
that disease states will increase. You no longer will have
that data, so it makes it more so then the
arguments in the future will be more politicized rather than
based on data. We're all going to be fighting over
Oh wow, look there's an increase in measles or there's
an increase in something, and we want to show that
it's correlated at least to drop in vaccination rates, but
(23:15):
we won't be able to because they're setting it up
that way. So it's very interesting what's going on.
Speaker 1 (23:21):
That scary stuff. And I'm sure that any kid who
is vaccinating and gets autism where they can actually connect
the dots if they can. So let's say it happens
three times across the United States. Then we don't even
know if it happens that much because there's been no
connection that's been scientifically proven that will hit the news
that the CDC will talk about. U It's and I'm
(23:45):
asking you, do you view it as that crazy under
RFK Junior.
Speaker 5 (23:51):
Yeah, yeah, I mean I think again, the whole thing
has obviously been heavily politicized. It's not based in science
or you know, the best information that we have at
this point. And again we talked about this last week
that even the change in the vaccination schedule, we want
to be more like Denmark, well or nothing like Denmark.
They have a uniform kind of genetic population, they have
(24:11):
a uniform universal health care, so everyone's covered under health
care from birth to death. It's heavily recorded, so we
know exactly whether somebody got a vaccine or not if
they're in the Denmark health system. It's a completely different
animal than the United States, where we have big disparities,
pockets of people who don't have access to healthcare, who
(24:33):
aren't getting vaccinated or just basic health care. So a
completely different world.
Speaker 1 (24:38):
Yeah. And by the way, the point in the gym
is making is Denmark they don't do vaccinations to the
extent that we do. That they do just find with
almost no vaccinations.
Speaker 4 (24:49):
And they do seventeen.
Speaker 5 (24:53):
I mean they do a lower number. We do seventeen.
They do about eleven, So they just low and he's
lowering the number to match Denmark as if that's the
gold standard. But it's not a gold standard.
Speaker 1 (25:03):
Okay. Moving, Yeah, it's so depressing with all this. Okay,
moving into a much happier. Note flu is reaching the
highest levels in the US in twenty five years, and
people are dying like flies. Let's talk about that, because
that also is not particularly good news.
Speaker 5 (25:25):
Yeah, flu is definitely increasing, so we're seeing a lot
more er visits related to it. Certain pockets of the
country are getting hit really hard. Not quite getting hit
that hard yet in southern California, but it does look
like it could rise if we follow the pattern other areas.
So still a decent time to get a flu shot.
And of course the flu shot, you know, the people
(25:46):
who need it the most struggle with the least protection
from it. Right, the efficacy rates in people over sixty
five or lower. But there are the people that need
it the most, people with immune compromise or other other
diseases that put them at higher risk when they do
get the flu. But the best thing you can do
(26:07):
to try and protect yourself is to get that flea shot.
Of course, besides all the basics, right, wash your hands,
cover your mouth when you sneeze so you're not giving
it to other people, and just basic hygiene of the
will reduce your risk.
Speaker 1 (26:22):
Again in the floor, how do we do in Southern
California vaccination wise relative of the rest of the country.
Do we have that information.
Speaker 5 (26:29):
Yeah, I mean we're on par with the rest of
the country. We're not above or below, So we're not
one of those areas where everybody does not get the vaccine.
We're just we're kind of right on track, if anything,
a little bit higher in the rest of some of
the areas of the country.
Speaker 1 (26:44):
Okay, fair enough, Jim. We will talk again, of course,
next Wednesday, and then we'll probably talk over the week
when I scream at you for something or another. Jim McKinney.
Always a pleasure to have with you, have us with you,
have us, you with us, or you with Yeah, you
know what I mean, all right.
Speaker 4 (27:02):
Jim, Yeah, yeah, the last segment.
Speaker 1 (27:06):
Okay, guys, we are done. We are done. So tomorrow
we start again. We don't have Neil, and we're gonna
get in some pretty heavy topics tomorrow. Both we're gonna
bring Will in to talk about the heavy topics as
a personal experience.
Speaker 2 (27:23):
Me.
Speaker 1 (27:24):
Yeah, I'm not here tomorrow. You're not here tomorrow.
Speaker 5 (27:28):
Now.
Speaker 1 (27:29):
I didn't know that, sorry, because I wanted to make
fun about your weight and he's not lucky me. Yeah,
lucky you so I won't be able to do that, okay,
and then Neil's not coming in. God, there's nobody there
going to make fun of O. Where are you going?
I'm going to do a little work on the side,
just the Fiesta Bowl. I'm going to Phoenix. Oh yes,
(27:51):
Oh that's cool. All right. Uh, that's it for today.
We'll be back again tomorrow. Amy's probably gonna wear some
other Disney garb. I'm not wearing Disney tomorrow. Oh really?
Why what happened? Is everything in the wall?
Speaker 7 (28:05):
I really don't wear it that often. It's just that
you call out every time that I do. And okay,
it was the holidays, and there was a lot of
Disney Christmas stuff, But on a normal on a normal week,
it's usually, you know, like once or twice a month.
Speaker 1 (28:23):
No, no, no, totally is not not a chance. We're
going to calendar this, okay, cono, We're gonna start a
calendar here, calendar right in terms of how often the
Lovely Amy wears the Disney garb. Okay, it was the
first time this year. Oh okay, thanks, We're back again
tomorrow with Amy and Neil and no wow, no will
(28:49):
no Neil, And I'm here okay. Well, and also I
got and not on the screen, so we're now con
o please that I forget to say your name to
all right? Fine? And then kno, also yeah, okay fine.
This is kfi AM oh Gary and Shannon up next.
I forgot them. Also kfi AM six point forty. You've
(29:12):
been listening to the Bill Handle Show. Catch my Show
Monday through Friday six am to nine am, and anytime
on demand on the iHeartRadio app.
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Two Guys (Bowen Yang and Matt Rogers). Five Rings (you know, from the Olympics logo). One essential podcast for the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics. Bowen Yang (SNL, Wicked) and Matt Rogers (Palm Royale, No Good Deed) of Las Culturistas are back for a second season of Two Guys, Five Rings, a collaboration with NBC Sports and iHeartRadio. In this 15-episode event, Bowen and Matt discuss the top storylines, obsess over Italian culture, and find out what really goes on in the Olympic Village.
iHeartOlympics: The Latest
Listen to the latest news from the 2026 Winter Olympics.
Milan Cortina Winter Olympics
The 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan Cortina are here and have everyone talking. iHeartPodcasts is buzzing with content in honor of the XXV Winter Olympics We’re bringing you episodes from a variety of iHeartPodcast shows to help you keep up with the action. Follow Milan Cortina Winter Olympics so you don’t miss any coverage of the 2026 Winter Olympics, and if you like what you hear, be sure to follow each Podcast in the feed for more great content from iHeartPodcasts.