08-14-25 FULL SHOW - From Prison To Work And An Update On The State of Restaurants

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
The Mandy Connell Show is sponsored by Belle and Pollock
Accident and injury Lawyers.

Speaker 2 (00:05):
No, it's Mandy Connell.

Speaker 3 (00:08):
Manam got wanna study the nice because.

Speaker 4 (00:22):
Andy Donald, Keithy you, sad bab Welcome, Welcome, Welcome.

Speaker 5 (00:28):
To a Thursday edition of the show. I'm your host
for the next three hours Mandy Connell. And joining us
in for Anthony Rodriguez, who's been covering Broncos training camp
all morning long, is one mister Grant Smith. Hello, Grant Smith,
how are you? I am doing just fine, although I
did just have a pregnancy brain not pregnancy brain, anestezia
brain moment there where I's trying to tell Grant something

(00:51):
and then I forgot not only what I was trying
to tell him, but what inspired what I was trying
to tell him. So I have no idea, just so obviously, Yeah,
it's nothing to see here. Move along. I'm actually going
to Regen Revolution on Monday. I'm gonna get a IV
treatment to hopefully get the rest of the whatever in
my head out because it's making me foggy. So we

(01:12):
either have earlier on set Alzheimer's disease or anesthesia brain
is a real thing, and I have it bad anyway.
What I also have is a ginormous blog and really
good guest today. Super excited about the information we're gonna
get out today. So let's do it by finding the
blog at mandy'sblog dot com. That's mandy'sblog dot com. Look

(01:34):
for the headline. This says eight fourteen to twenty five
blog from prison to work and an update on the
state of restaurants. Click on that and here are the
headlines you will find within any with the office half.

Speaker 6 (01:45):
Of America, all with ships and quipments, a team that's
going to press.

Speaker 5 (01:47):
Plant today on the blog have we killed all the
restaurants in Denver? Yet? Small group insurance rates are skyrocketing?
X cons need work? Why do better Denver even exist?
What a great Kennedy Honors list? If bringing back manufacturing
was the goal, not a good look for the Nuggets.
Drink up or not? Paul Is does what We're suing

(02:11):
Trump over bikers and hippies or coming to Colorado? Those
crafty Jews are at it again. Howard Stern may be
over soon. Three people have died from West n Isle virus.
Denver's clerk and recorder is calling foul on budget cuts.
An elderly man lost everything news important to my daughter.
There's a new Peanuts special out. Does Trump have the

(02:32):
upper hand with Putin? Regrets of ninety year old's A
psychiatrist supports Trump's force treatment. This is not what I
say when I accidentally turned my camera on facing me.
College students fly to fit in the DC mayor is
okay with Trump's takeover. I'm rooting for these two crazy kids.
Dusty Sleigh breaks down hard working man. Those are the

(02:55):
headlines on the blog at mandy'sblog dot com. Grant, let
me ask you a question, and there are no right
or wrong answers here, there's no judgment. Where are you
on Travis Kelcey and Taylor Swift's romance? Do you have
an opinion at all? If you do, what is it?

Speaker 7 (03:12):
I think they genuinely like each other, and I am
okay with that.

Speaker 5 (03:17):
I gotta tell you, I'm rooting for him. I'm rooting
for these two crazy kids because to your point, they
genuinely seem to like each other. And when you're a
woman like Taylor Swift, who is such a stone cold
baller in every aspect of life, you gotta have a
real man. You can't have some namby pamby man bun

(03:38):
wearing guy who's gonna ask you for consent before he
touches your hand. No offense to you know, the whole
concept of consent, which is important. Uh. You know, manly
men they know when they can hold your hand, they
know when they can lean in for the kiss. And
Travis Kelsey seems like a manly man. And the only

(03:59):
reason it's on the blog is because she was just
on his podcast with his brother's podcast and announced a
new album. And my house has been all a twitter
since the new album announcement came out.

Speaker 7 (04:12):
My wife is not a huge swifty by any means,
but she did listen to that episode of the podcast
like they are firmly in the zeitgeist.

Speaker 2 (04:21):
They are what everyone is talking about.

Speaker 5 (04:23):
Well, I'm excited about this album because she parted ways
with her long time producer, Jack Antonoff. And I don't
have anything against Jack Antonoff, but I gotta tell you,
I'm just gonna say it. And my my daughter's in
school right now, so she can't hear me say that's
but I'm still gonna say it. Really quiet that last album, Eh,
you know, sounded like the other the last like four albums,

(04:45):
and there wasn't anything remarkable about it. So I'm excited.
Maybe I'll like this album better. I just pretended like
the last last album didn't happen. It's like, oh yeah,
that misstep whatever. But they're so cute together, and can
you even imagine having a relationship that is just in
the spotlight, whether you want it to be or not.

(05:06):
Like every time you're in public with your sweetie, you
have to worry about people taking photographs and taking pictures,
and I just it sounds miserable to me. If I'm
want a yes, it just sounds terrible.

Speaker 7 (05:19):
That's what you sign up for when you're the most
famous woman in the world.

Speaker 5 (05:22):
And this is why I'm on radio because when I
first got into radio, no grant. When I first got
into radio, no one knew what you look like, right,
so you could live completely anonymously. And because I use
my first married name as my professional name, my last
name isn't even the same. So if I want to
fly under the radar, I just go by my actual

(05:42):
legal name and no one knows. It's wonderful, it's absolutely fantastic.
I haint paula'son on a flight one time when I
was a flight attendant. Do you remember Paula's on a
blonde news reporter lady who was she did one of
those shows. It was on at like seven o'clock said
or whatever, which I can't remember, a card affair, and

(06:04):
she was flying with her husband and her little daughter.
And I found out her real last name was not Zon,
and I actually chatted with her about that. She goes, oh, no, no,
I like it. I like having a secret identity. And
I thought about that when I divorced my first husband,
and I had to make a decision because I was
already known in the industry as Mandy Connell, and I
had to make a choice right then, right there, about

(06:24):
whether or not to go back to my maiden name.
And I said, no, it took me long enough to
get some name recognition. I'm just going to keep it. Luckily,
second husband doesn't care.

Speaker 3 (06:34):
Uh.

Speaker 5 (06:34):
Second husband does not like being called Chuck Connell though,
because that was my former brother in law, so he
didn't like that. But yeah, I mean, I don't know.
It just sounds absolutely miserable to live that life.

Speaker 7 (06:47):
Something.

Speaker 2 (06:47):
The next time I see Chuck him Chuck Connell.

Speaker 5 (06:49):
Yeah, exactly, there you go, and then duck, there you go.
We got good guests coming up here. At twelve thirty,
we're going to check in with the Colorado Restaurant Association
Sonya rag about the state of restaurants in Colorado. Denver's
minimum wage is about to go up again to over
nineteen dollars an hour nineteen forty two. I think, I

(07:12):
think I'll double check before Sonia comes on. But we've
seen the closure of multiple restaurants in the area. Now
restaurants are still opening up, so it's not all bad,
you know what I mean. I got to tell you,
if I'm a restaurant tour that business is so hard already,
why in the world would you open a restaurant in
Denver right now? What I'm concerned about is that all

(07:33):
of these changes and all of the things that are
happening in Denver are gonna leave us with nothing but
chain restaurants to eat in because they can afford it, right,
Mom and pops that don't have multiple locations to spread
these costs across. They don't. So we'll check in with
Sonia about that at twelve thirty, and then at one o'clock.

(07:53):
I saw this story yesterday, and I think I put
it on yesterday. Oh maybe I didn't. Maybe I held
it for today. From Complete Colorado dot com, Colorado is
projected to see a double digit increase in small group
health insurance premiums in twenty twenty six, with an average
increase of thirteen point six percent. Now there's a bunch

(08:15):
of different factors going in here, but I thought this
would be a perfect time for us to check in
with my friend and chief experience officer of Pinnacle Advanced
primary Care, Travis backinstead. And the reason why is Pinnacle
has they're growing like gangbusters. They're a direct primary care
office where you pay a membership fee and then you

(08:38):
go see the doctor whenever you want, and you pay
wholesale for any testing that you might have to do
and stuff like that. It is allowed small businesses, who
again don't have the economies of scale that larger companies have,
to provide real significant medical benefits for their employees for
a very small amount of money. So we're gonna bring

(09:00):
Travis on to talk about how that works. So if
you're finding yourself looking at a double digit increase, or
you want to provide some kind of medical benefits to
your staff. But you're a small company, you really want
to hear this interview at one o'clock. I love talking
to Travis about this because, in my view, direct primary care.

(09:20):
And I will tell you when Travis is on here
and we'll get messages from people saying, hey, are you
in Longmont or you can I do this here? He
will tell you how to find a company that does
what they do. That's how committed he is to the
concept of direct primary care. And direct primary care is amazing.
So we're going to talk to him about that at

(09:40):
one o'clock and then very interesting story. And you know,
I've been accused when I talk about what we're going
to talk about at two thirty. I believe it's two
thirty that we're going to have this conversation. Let me
just double check. Yeah, two thirty. We're going to talk
to Mark Smercid. He is with an organization called Center

(10:01):
for Employment Opportunities and they work with people leaving the
criminal justice system, meaning former prisoners we're talking about. They
call it Justice Involved. I'm gonna call them x cons
because that's what they are. This company works to help
x cons get work first of all, and then get

(10:21):
training so they can improve their skill sets so they
can become gainfully employed, because study after study after study
has shown one of the biggest reasons that X cons
reoffend is because they can't work. No one will give
them the opportunity. They don't have any marketable skills, maybe
they drop out of high school. So when you can't
work and you can't provide for yourself and your family

(10:43):
and you've already demonstrated what crime can do, unfortunately leads
to a higher rate of recidivism. So I'm one of
those people and if this makes me a soft hearted liberal,
I'll own it. I'm one of those people that thinks
we should be helping people who are trying to change.
And that's key here because this is not one of

(11:04):
those oh, we're going to automatically shove you in this program.
People have to sign up for it, and they have
to be actively wanting to make the changes in their
lives so they don't end up back in prison or
back in the system. And I love programs like this.
We're going to talk to Mark about it at two thirty.
If you have a company or you're willing to hire
people who have you know criminal justice issues in their past,

(11:26):
then you definitely I hope will listen to this at
two thirty as well. So those three interviews are coming
up a little bit later on the show. But I
got to tell you guys a couple of things I
want to talk. I don't want to spend a lot
of time on this because this story is one of
those stories that you read and you think, wow, there
has to be another side to the story here. But

(11:50):
the one side that's being presented about Rocky the mascot,
former mascot Drake Solomon. I think everybody that is the
Denver Nuggets fan knows the story of Drake Solomon and
his dad, don't you think, Grant. I mean the fact
that his dad was Rocky the mascot for the Denver
Nuggets for how many years you talked to him on

(12:12):
your podcast if you want.

Speaker 7 (12:13):
To learn more about Ken Solomon the father taking it
for granted podcasts on the free iHeartRadio app.

Speaker 2 (12:20):
But I think thirty years.

Speaker 7 (12:22):
Yeah, stepped away for a couple of years and then
came back and did his last year for the championship.

Speaker 2 (12:28):
And I think he started in the nineties.

Speaker 5 (12:30):
So and his son Drake was a part of all
of that. I mean when I say a part, I
mean he was going to the games with his dad
and he got on the squad and he was doing
stuff from the time he was very young to support
the Denver Nuggets. Well, Drake took over for his dad,
and because of I guess it happened after COVID or whatever,

(12:52):
ended up at a very young age having to have
a double hip replacement. That's crazy, first of all, I
mean that's crazy, and Cronky Sports and Entertainment fired him.
And essentially when he said, look, I have to have
a double hit replacement, according to this lawsuit and Drake Solomon,
their response was, well, we're gonna start having tryouts right
now to fill your role. There has to be more

(13:16):
to this story because that in and of itself is
so clearly against the law. You cannot fire someone when
they come to you and say I have this medical
condition I have to take care of. Legally, you're not
allowed to fire people. It would be like if I
came in if I came into my boss a few

(13:37):
weeks ago and said, look, I gotta have a hysterectomy.
I'm going to be out for a week and my
boss said, well, we're going to be interviewing for your
position starting now. You can't do that and not to mention,
it's just it's sad in my mind. And you know,
I had and I don't know if I talked about her,
if I just had it on the blog about the

(13:57):
CEO of AT and T writing a memo to the
employees of AT and T in response to one of
their corporate surveys. You know, like nobody ever asked us
here what we think at iHeart, I mean do they grant?
I just didn't get that email. I mean they could have.

Speaker 2 (14:13):
I haven't seen anything.

Speaker 5 (14:14):
Have you ever been asked in employee satisfaction survey? Have
we ever had that?

Speaker 6 (14:18):
No?

Speaker 7 (14:18):
The only thing I remember is that we had to
do a survey on ourselves recently, but nine questions or
concerns about the company.

Speaker 5 (14:28):
I I grated myself highly. Me too. On my mid
year evaluation. I was too, but I was like, I'm
awesome and I worked really hard to do everything that
I need to do. So yeah, whatever I need to
improve on you guys, let me know. But I'm not
seeing anything on the horizon.

Speaker 2 (14:50):
I did the exact same thing yeah.

Speaker 5 (14:52):
You know, it's like, if you asked me how I'm doing,
I'm gonna tell you great. It always makes me wonder, though,
do you think they're just doing that for the neurotic employees,
Like the Neurotica employees are like, oh my god, what
do I need to be doing more of? How am I?

Speaker 2 (15:03):
How am they?

Speaker 5 (15:04):
I'm never farming for the company, whereas I'm like, I'm good.

Speaker 7 (15:07):
Yeah, I do more than I'm paid to do. So
I think I'm going exactly. Huh No.

Speaker 5 (15:15):
This story, this story that just made me kind of
sad because this family has over thirty years invested with
this company, and I know that there's no corporate loyalty.
And I've said for a long time there's no corporate loyalty.
It doesn't exist. It's a thing that went the way
of the Dodo Bird a long time ago. Any big
company that says we're family, they're lying. It's the most

(15:36):
dysfunctional family you're ever going to be a part of.
And one of the things that I tell my kids
and I tell my daughter is this, if you are
looking for personal fulfillment from the company you work for,
you are going to be disappointed. It doesn't mean that
you can't find your job compelling and fulfilling. It doesn't

(15:57):
mean that you're not part of something that's important and that.
But don't stake your personal happiness and personal fulfillment on
a company that you work for because they don't feel
the same way about you. Because here's the thing. If
it comes right down to it and budget cuts have
to be made and it's your turn to be cut,
this is how it's gonna go. The people above you

(16:18):
are gonna go, God, this one's really gonna hurt. But
then they're gonna turn around and fire you. I mean,
I'm not trying to be a jerk. I'm just trying
to say, if you manage your expectations and always know
that everyone in every job is replaceable, because you are.
I am replaceable. Grant is I don't know, like Grant

(16:40):
and a Rod and Dragon. They're probably harder to replace
at a higher level than I am. And I'm not
even kidding because their skill sets are way different than mine.
I'm just anyway.

Speaker 2 (16:50):
I mean to be honest, the pay.

Speaker 7 (16:52):
You know, it's hard to find people to do what
we do for the amount of money that we make
correct and do it correct.

Speaker 5 (16:59):
Yeah, I don't know. I hope they work this out.
I just it's just not a good look for cronky
sports and entertainment. It's just not and I somehow firing
a mascot, I'm what is Rocky? What is Rocky? The
actual animal?

Speaker 2 (17:17):
A mountain lion?

Speaker 5 (17:18):
Okay, so there was a mountain whone. Okay, So maybe
you know, like if you was something cuddly like a
panda bear, maybe people would be more upset. But ultimately
it's just a person in a costume anyway, right.

Speaker 7 (17:29):
I do see the side of them having to replace him,
because you got to have a mascot for the games,
of course, But at the same time, he should have
his job back when he's healthy, correct.

Speaker 5 (17:40):
And by the way, he's been given a clean bill
of health, came back earlier than he was supposed to,
so he could and he worked all summer long as
they were actively interviewing for his position, which is just
I mean, beyond me. I don't know that I would
have done that. I think I would have walked away
and pursued other mascot opportunities elsewhere.

Speaker 7 (18:01):
His brother, Ken Solomon's other son is the Detroit Pistons mascot.

Speaker 5 (18:06):
There you go. I think you have to be a
special person to want to be a mascot. One of
my friends was a mascot in college and absolutely loved it.
And now he's fifty he's the same age I am.
So he's fifty five or fifty six. He still competes
in the mascot games and says it has been his
favorite job he's ever had in his entire life, because,

(18:26):
for the most part, when you're a mascot, everyone is
happy to see you, period. No one's ever mad, no
one's ever angry, he said. Sometimes children will cry, but
they'll stop eventually. He'll be fine. It'll be fine when
we get back. Sonya Riggs from the Colorado Restaurant Association
joins us for kind of a state of the state
address on what's happening with the restaurant community, because it's

(18:49):
about to get even harder to have a restaurant Denver.
We'll do that next, the State of Colorado's restaurant. She
is the Are you the executive director of the president
the CEO on your rigsident CEO President and CEO of
the Colorado Restaurant Association. First of all, welcome to the show.

Speaker 6 (19:06):
Thank you for having me.

Speaker 5 (19:07):
So tell me a little bit about the Colorado Restaurant Association. First,
what do you guys do.

Speaker 8 (19:11):
We're a trade association, which means that restaurants themselves, the owners,
are members of our organization, and we do anything from
lobbying at the state and local government for them. We
offer a lot of compliance support because laws are changing
so often and they're very busy and need a lot
of help on you updates. We do educational programming for them.
We offer discounts on products and services that they need.

(19:35):
We also offer employee development and training, an apprenticeship program
through our foundation, and offer emergency assistance grounds to employees
that have unexpected hardships like an injury or major surgery
that they have to do. So we try to just
really support restaurants however we can.

Speaker 5 (19:54):
That's excellent. So let's talk about restaurants in Denver because
and I'm focusing in on Denver. Specif for one reason,
their minimum wage is about to go over nineteen dollars
an hour. And we've seen in the last few weeks
some long time Denver staples, whether it's the pub in
wash Park or whether it's some of these other longtime

(20:16):
restaurants just packing it up and saying we're gonna go
ahead and close our doors now. So what are you
hearing from your membership about the business climate, what it's
like to do business in Denver right now?

Speaker 8 (20:30):
Well, it's hard and it's really sad to see what's
going on with restaurants. I have restaurants that will call
me crying literally, not knowing if they're going to be
able to keep their doors open.

Speaker 6 (20:39):
And it happens more than you think. Sadly.

Speaker 8 (20:43):
Denver in particular is more difficult because the minimum wage
is four dollars an hour higher than the rest of
the states.

Speaker 6 (20:51):
And we can talk about that.

Speaker 8 (20:52):
More in a minute, but overall, it's getting harder and
harder for restaurants to survive. And just to put this
in context, in a good in good times, the average
profit margin for a restaurant is between three and five percent.
What I'm hearing now from more and more operators is
they're lucky if they're even making one to two percent profit,
So that's any out of every dollar. Some are not

(21:13):
making money at all. I've heard from restaurants, especially in Denver,
that the only reason that they're still open is because
it costs more money with the lease that they have
to close, and it would if they're just huddling along
and limping along and staying open. But people are eating
out less because costs are going up, and they're also
drinking less, which is, you know, a new trend that

(21:34):
we're continuing to see. But that's where restaurants make their
bread and butter a lot at the time. So it's
just it's it's and then add you know, additional laws,
ad labor costs and all of these other things. It's
literally like death by a thousand cuts. They are just
really having a hard.

Speaker 5 (21:48):
Time right now, Sonya. One of the things that I
hear when I talk about the minimum wage and specifically
how it impacts restaurants, because restaurants traditionally, and I worked
in restaurants from the time I was seventeen through my
first four years of radio. Because I was making so
much money in radio, I had to supplement my income
as a bartender and a server. I've done everything in

(22:10):
the front of the house of a restaurant. I've managed, restaurant, bartended,
I've literally done everything. I've never cooked. I have washed dishes,
I have prep cooked, but I have never cooked. It
is a hard job. But back in the day, I
made two dollars in one cent an hour in Florida
as a tipped employee. But there was not a single
day that I did not blow past minimum wage where

(22:31):
I was. Minimum wage at the time was like seven
thirty five or something. Now five thirteen, it was five thirteen.
I'm making fifteen twenty bucks an hour waiting tables. That's
why I waited tables, because I had some kind of
control over it. And yet you have people that say, Nope,
the minimum wage should apply for tipped employees. It's not
as high as the other minimum wage, but it is

(22:53):
still way higher than I think it needs to be.
How does the Colorado Restaurant Association address us those concerns
that somehow tipped employees shouldn't be left behind.

Speaker 8 (23:04):
Well, I think that's one of the things that we
constantly try to educate people on because there are people
that are opposed to what we're doing, that say that
that tipped workers are making sub standard wages, which is
actually illegal. Nobody can get paid less than the full
minimum wage.

Speaker 6 (23:19):
You cannot take home less than that.

Speaker 8 (23:21):
In reality, there's something called a tip credit which allows
restaurants to pay.

Speaker 6 (23:26):
They're tipped, you know, their servers and their bartenders. They're
folks that are traditionally tipped three dollars and two cents.

Speaker 8 (23:32):
An hour, less than the full minimum wage, but on average,
And we just did a survey a couple months ago,
and we found out that those front of house employees,
like the service and the bartenders, on average, now earn
about thirty.

Speaker 6 (23:43):
Nine to forty two dollars an hour.

Speaker 8 (23:45):
Is those back of house workers like the cooks and
the dishwashers that are making twenty to twenty five.

Speaker 6 (23:50):
Dollars an hour.

Speaker 8 (23:51):
So what happens every time there's a forced minimum wage
increase is that wage disparity, that gap between the front
of the house and the back of the house continues
to go up because what's happening is servers are actually
making a double those folks are actually getting a double
raise every year. Which, don't get me wrong, it's I
love that that they're getting more money, which is wonderful.

(24:13):
The problem is it's making that gap bigger and bigger,
and those those poor folks that are the ones that
are creating these great meals for us are getting left
further and further behind, and the problem is with those
tiny profit margins, restaurants have no choice right but to
make changes, and we see that in a variety of ways.
We actually did a survey a couple months ago, like

(24:34):
I said, and ninety two percent of restaurant said they're
going to increase their menu prices.

Speaker 6 (24:40):
This happens every time minimum wage goes up.

Speaker 8 (24:42):
Sixty eight to seventy percent say they're going to reduce
their staffing levels or reduce their hours, so they're they're.

Speaker 6 (24:48):
Literally cutting staff.

Speaker 8 (24:51):
Some people twenty percent or so are implementing service charges now,
so they're changing the way that they pay people, and
they're forcing you to pay a service charge.

Speaker 6 (24:59):
Rather than you cheer. There is how much you want
to eat tip.

Speaker 8 (25:01):
They're reducing their hours of operation or they're closing, so again,
jobs are going away.

Speaker 6 (25:06):
And that's the sad reality of this.

Speaker 5 (25:08):
I want to make a comment about. You know, in Europe,
the servers are paid what we call a living wage. Right,
this is the big thing. How could they pay their
servers in Europe so much more money. I'm gonna tell
you why. The service sucks. A vast majority of the time,
the service sucks. Okay, not everywhere, not all the time,

(25:28):
but I'm telling you right now, when you go as
an American to Europe, you will immediately see the difference.
When we were in Japan, there's no table service anywhere, Like,
nobody waited on us, right, it was like, oh, here,
put your information into this kiosk and then come back
and get your food. So what we do in the
United States, the level of service that is provided by

(25:49):
servers is so different, and tipping makes a big part
of that.

Speaker 6 (25:54):
Right.

Speaker 5 (25:55):
You can see it so clearly in Europe when they
don't care if you get if they get your meal right,
they don't care because they're making the same amount of
money as they were if you weren't. They don't care.
If you wait for forty five minutes to get anything,
they don't care. And it shows so for people who
want to adopt that model, you better get ready for
a shock to the system culture wise that I don't
think you'd appreciate.

Speaker 8 (26:17):
Go ahead, well, we're already starting to see that. We're
seeing more computers used. You know, people are checking out.
Look at even at the grocery store, right, there's so
many self service kiosks, and the lane there's usually a
lot of times the lanes aren't even open. But you're
seeing that happen in restaurants where even chef driven restaurants
are moving to counter service more because of a fewer staff.

(26:38):
So to your point, right, they literally the way any
restaurant works anywhere in the world is you have a
certain number of costs and only so much people will
pay for a meal, So you have to be really
creative about what you do with that. And the higher
that labor goes up, the fewer the people they can
afford to have. It's just a fact because remember, restaurate

(26:59):
tours have to make a living and pay their family
that you know, they have to bring an income. They
don't just weren't just made of money, right, So they
have to actually support their own families as well, and
they're doing the best they can, but it's real challenge.

Speaker 5 (27:09):
So I want to ask one last question before we
have to wrap up, and that is this, have you
guys ever compared restaurant prices in Denver specifically to other
places in the country, Because what I think has happened
here is that we don't realize if you don't travel,
we travel extensively. We travel all over the place. I
tell people all the time, when I went to Switzerland,
Switzerland's one of the most expensive places to go. I

(27:31):
didn't pay more for a meal in Switzerland than I
pay when I go to Denver, and many times it
was lower. So we have these exorbitant prices, and yet
people it's like we slowly boiled the frog. They don't
realize how higher our prices are. And it's it's not
because the chefs are getting rich, right, It's because that's
what it takes to stay in business. Have you guys
ever done that apples to apples comparison?

Speaker 6 (27:52):
I have it on the prices.

Speaker 8 (27:53):
But let me tell you that this is going to
make sense to you when I tell you this. So
as we know, the full minimum wage in Denver is
going up to nineteen twenty nine an hour on January first,
the tipped wage is going to go up to sixteen
twenty seven. In New York City, the full minimum wage
is sixteen dollars and fifty cents an hour. In San
Francisco is nineteen dollars and eighteen cents. In Los Angeles

(28:14):
it's seventeen eighty seven. I say that because these those
cities are known to be extremely expensive, and their wages
are lower. There's a reason that our prices are going
up so fast and that are comparable to some of.

Speaker 6 (28:28):
These really expensive cities. It's because of things like.

Speaker 8 (28:31):
This, and labor used to be about thirty percent of
a restaurant's expenses. Now I'm hearing from operators it's more
than fifty percent on hour.

Speaker 6 (28:39):
Wow, it's gotten that much more expensive.

Speaker 8 (28:42):
So that's why you're seeing those increased prices.

Speaker 5 (28:45):
Well, Sonia, let's check in after the next minimum wage
increase goes in and see what happens then. I mean,
all of these well intentioned policies are just that well intentioned,
but they're hurting people who are the job creators. And
at some point you just have to decide it's not
worth it. And that's kind of what I've talked to
a few chefs who have closed their restaurants and that's

(29:06):
where they reached it was just not worth it to
do it anymore. It's too hard to do it for
no money. Sonya Riggs, the executive director and President of
the Colorado Restaurant Association, Thank you for your time today.

Speaker 6 (29:17):
Thank you for having me.

Speaker 5 (29:18):
All right, we will be back after this. Right here,
on KOA to the person on the text line you
rightfully pointed out, are you blowing your nose? Yes, I
had to you, guys. I'm sorry. And now I have
this stupid fancy digital mixing board that I hate and

(29:38):
it requires like thirty steps for me to get to
it on my computer and I don't like it. And
so yeah, I'm apologized, but it had to be done.
There's no way I could not do that.

Speaker 2 (29:48):
Trust me, What was wrong with your old mixing board?

Speaker 5 (29:51):
It broke? And then I was convinced by a guy
who I still adore even though he put this thing
on my computer that I do not like. Problem is Grant.
It's not that it's not the actual digital mixing board.
It's the fact I don't know how to work the
digital mixing board. Okay, So I realize who the problem
here is. Okay, I fully understand the issue is me,

(30:14):
but that does not change the fact that I still
don't know how to operate it. I just had the
best phone call, by the way, I have a new
client coming on. I'm so excited. I just had a
phone call with Mercedes of Littleton. And because I love
my Mercedes, I've never been a fancy car person. I'm
not a car person. Are you a car person? Grant like,
are you a person? I've never been a car person.

Speaker 7 (30:36):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (30:37):
As long as I it drives, it gets me there,
it looks decent. You know, I'm good. I don't need
any Then I got this Mercedes that I have now,
and I love this car so much. But I'm talking
to Mercedes of Littleton today and I flat out told
him because I asked him. I said, you know, with
all these newer cars, you have to have like an
orientation because there's so much stuff. And they said, oh, well,

(30:59):
do you want better? Not only do we do an
orientation with you when you pick up the car at
the dealership. Later, when you realize there's still stuff in
your car that you don't know how to work, we'll
come to your house and teach you how to use
it again. And I was like, hey, there's some stuff
on my car. I don't know what it does. There's
some buttons, Gran, I have no idea what they do.
Like I push them, nothing seems to happen. What I

(31:23):
don't know? The car runs just fine, though, well quite
fressing them. I know my car's ten years old though
now I'm starting to get worried. You know, ten year
old car, but I've had no problems with this car.
Knock on wood. I'm knocking on three different kinds of
wood right there. Okay, here's what we're gonna do. We're
gonna take a very quick time out, and then when
we get back. I had a story, actually it's on

(31:46):
the blog today about small group premiums for health insurance. Now,
one of the things that the Big Beautiful Bill did
was scale back some money that was being used to
cost shift here in Colorado, and Colorado's General Assembly has
enacted a bunch of health benefit mandates and regulatory requirements

(32:08):
that are all going to be passed along in the
form of higher premiums. So I thought it might be
a perfect time to talk about the coolest, best alternative
for small business owners who want to provide some kind
of benefits for their people to keep great employees. You're
going to really want to going to hear this interview
with my friend Travis Bockinstead from Pinnacle Advanced Primary Care.

(32:29):
He's like a direct primary care guru. And if you
don't know what I'm talking about, you don't know if
this is something right for your small business stick around.
We're going to talk about it next right here on KOA.

Speaker 1 (32:42):
The Mandy Connell Show is sponsored by Bell and Pollock
accident and injury lawyers.

Speaker 2 (32:47):
No, it's Mandy Connell and Don.

Speaker 5 (32:55):
Ninety one ms God want.

Speaker 4 (32:59):
To speck the nicety through free Thyconnell keeping you were
sad bab Welcome, Welcome, Welcome.

Speaker 5 (33:09):
To the second hour of the show. And on the
Complete Colorado dot Com. A few days ago, there was
an article by Savannah Kasseick about Colorado health insurance premiums
being set for a double digit spike, and specifically this
article is about small group health insurance premiums in twenty
twenty six, an average increase of about thirteen point six

(33:31):
percent statewide. Now, what is a small group insurance? This
is companies that have less fewer than fifty employees. It
used to be one hundred, but of course the Colorado
legislature can't have that, so they made it. They went
from one hundred to fifty. And now small businesses, I'm
guessing across the state are going to be trying to

(33:53):
figure out how to manage these costs. I see an
opportunity in this to talk to you about something that
I am in a true believer in, and that is
direct primary care. I think this is a game changer.
And if we didn't have incredible insurance, because Chuck is
a disabled VET, one hundred percent, this is how I

(34:13):
would be insuring my family, and if I had a
small business, I would be insuring my employees using this.
But I shouldn't use the word insure. We're going to
get into it with chief experience Officer from Pinnacle Advanced
Primary Care, Travis Bock instead. Travis, welcome back to the show.

Speaker 9 (34:28):
First of all, thanks for having me, Mandy. You know
I nerd out on this.

Speaker 5 (34:32):
Nobody knows more about this than Travis. Okay, I can
say that with complete authority. No one knows more about
this than Travis. Let's start at the beginning. Why are
we going to see rates go up in these small
group markets specifically?

Speaker 10 (34:44):
So, really, like any product or service that's related to healthcare,
you need to spread out the risk, right. So I
think a lot of people think of insurance as like
a debit card with no limit, but somebody has to
pay for it at the end of the day.

Speaker 9 (34:58):
So you know, we're seeing over.

Speaker 10 (35:00):
Utilization of healthcare services GLP ones are now making up
ten percent of claims administrative overhead, So there are multiple.

Speaker 9 (35:09):
Factors driving that up.

Speaker 10 (35:11):
And something to keep in mind that thirteen and a
half percent, that's compounding.

Speaker 2 (35:15):
Right, you get us this.

Speaker 9 (35:16):
Year and we do another hike next year. Think about that.

Speaker 10 (35:19):
So there's a lot of factors driving up the cost
of care, and we as consumers are not taking responsibility
to really think about the cost of care.

Speaker 5 (35:27):
We can't just take responsibility for ourselves Colorado government. We
now are paying for abortions, We're now paying for gender
affirming care, We're now paying for IVF. Now we can
argue about the morality of paying for all of these things,
but the reality is is they are all very expensive.
GLP one's charge to insurance, it's my understanding that's like

(35:49):
one thousand dollars a month, pose.

Speaker 10 (35:51):
As high as fifteen hundred a month per person. I mean,
that's insane, it's outrageous. And no matter what, we see
a lot as mandating plans to cover things, right, and
we know anytime the government mandates something, a lot of
times they don't know how to fund it. They have
no idea how it's going to be paid for. So
at the end of the day that hits the consumer's lap.

(36:14):
That's why we are seeing that huge increase in healthcare.

Speaker 5 (36:17):
So let's talk about the difference between traditional insurance and
what you guys do for small businesses at Pinnacle as
a direct primary care provider. Let's start with how each
works and then we can kind of talk about what
you know.

Speaker 10 (36:32):
The difference is there, absolutely, So let's just start with
if you are a business with fifty or less employees,
you are not necessarily bound by ACA regulations and how
you have to structure the plant. So let's talk about
a few creative ways to get rid of this thirteen
and a half percent increase. First and foremost, you do
not need a BUKA. You do not need a Blue

(36:53):
Cross in ETNA or whatever they change their names to
every single year. That is not something you need. But
that is what health Broke are selling across the state. Right,
So let's talk about a few smart alternatives. Number one,
direct primary care, a membership based primary care model that
literally provides ninety percent of your team's everyday health and

(37:13):
wellness needs.

Speaker 9 (37:15):
We don't do life, limb and eyesight.

Speaker 10 (37:17):
That's for er urgent care, but all the stuff getting
your blood work staying healthy. We are one of probably
thirty dpcs across the state of Colorado. Google it in
your area and our membership rates start at about sixty
nine dollars a month, So think sixty nine bucks to
have ninety percent of your employees everyday healthcare needs met.

(37:38):
Let's talk about the question I always get, what if
someone on my team gets hit by a.

Speaker 5 (37:42):
Bus or has a heart attack or has.

Speaker 10 (37:44):
A heart attack or something like that. So now we
are talking major medical. When we think of insurance or
major medical, it is to prevent people from going into
bankruptcy if they have a major medical event. Unfortunately, seventy
percent of people in bankruptcy medical debt have insurance. Wow,
most people don't have five thousand dollars in the savings

(38:05):
account to cover that deductible. I guarantee it, Mandy that
they don't have that there. So how do we provide
a more affordable major medical option? Health shares are a
really great way to go. There are two types Christian
health ministries, So if you align that way and you
want that type of health share, go that direction. There's
also nonprofits. We work with one called Zion out of Utah.

(38:29):
You are talking cutting family premiums in half.

Speaker 2 (38:33):
How do they work?

Speaker 5 (38:33):
Though, Travis? How does a health share work? And I
think this is what people are concerned about. This is
what I it's, you know what we're kind of in
the devil. I know is better than the devil. I
don't when we're talking about this stuff. So let's break
down some of the confusion about how health share actually
works and how it's different than the traditional insurance with
the big deductible and twenty percent on top of that.

Speaker 10 (38:55):
Right, So a health share is really going to cover
the basics of your major medical needs. So I'll give
one example. One of our physicians needed a hip replacement.
It costs twenty six thousand dollars cash pay out the door.
She paid her twenty five hundred dollars portion to Zion,
and Zion sent her a debit card to pay for

(39:16):
the rest of the twenty six grand directly to the
surgical center. And the surgical center was like, amen, give
me the twenty sixty grand. So that I'm not insurance
isn't taking a cup from that, right. So that's an
example of a major medical expense where it doesn't work.
Is let's say you have, you know, maybe type one
diabetes and you know, so there are exclusions, but that's

(39:40):
how they bring the cost down because they have to
manage the right funds.

Speaker 5 (39:44):
And let's be real about this, okay. There there are
always going to be people that are going to be
forced into the system that we already have correct because
of their underlying conditions or things like that. So when
we're talking about stuff and you know, you you have
a listener, you know you have a medical condition, You've
got to ask those very specific questions for your own benefit.

(40:08):
You know what's wrong, you know what's happening, what happens
if you're diagnosed with type one diabetes or something when
you're already on the plan.

Speaker 10 (40:15):
So the key with the health share is once you
get in healthy and something happens to you after that,
that's not marked as a pre existing condition, and they
don't mark everything as a preexisting right. There are exclusions there,
But what we're really talking about is we have the
set it and forget it mentality with the US healthcare system.
We are not taking ownership of our own health and wellness.

(40:37):
We are not asking the basic question of how much
does this cost? Reason being as we made healthcare so complicated.
Nobody knows the true cost of care.

Speaker 9 (40:45):
Mandy. If someone said to you it's going to be.

Speaker 10 (40:47):
Five thousand dollars for your tire replacement, you would be like,
you are I almost said a bad word, but you
are crazy bus crazy right, and because you know those
are around five hundred two thousand bucks for the car.
So that's that's the thing too, is I don't want
to blame the consumer altogether, because the system makes you
ignorant for a reason.

Speaker 9 (41:06):
Correct, They just don't want you to know.

Speaker 5 (41:09):
So when people sign up. And by the way, we
got one question, Mandy, is this stuff available for individuals
to purchase. Absolutely, you can buy a family membership, you
can buy an individual membership and then tack on a
meed share. You guys, that is what I would do.
We have phenomenal insurance through the VA because Chuck is
a disabled veteran so and he's a retired disabled veteran.

(41:29):
So that is why that's the only reason I'm not
doing this because I would prefer to get my healthcare
like this. So, Travis, when someone comes into your office
and they say, wow, I've got a sore throat, a
strip test can you guys knock that out? What does
that look like? Walk me through that experience.

Speaker 10 (41:45):
So, first and foremost, in a direct primary care practice,
that visit is included and more than likely that quick
in office test will cost you nothing. Right, wow, So
let's just talk about right now. If you do not
have a primary care position oniner for you that you
cannot reach today, you end up in the er and
urgent care. Right, So that simple little test now just

(42:07):
cost you five hundred dollars to go there, right, yes,
So half the problem is is family medicine is no
longer valued like it used to be. Why seven minute
visits with my doctor eight weeks to get to you.
That's a joke. So you end up in the er
urgent care. So that's just one example we do. Most
dpcs do blood work a full panel nineteen dollars and

(42:28):
fifty cents out the door.

Speaker 5 (42:30):
And that panel, by the way, on my insurance costs
forty five dollars and that's just my copey. So yeah,
it's like when you start to see and they have
a big I'm assuming you still have the big price
list on the way for your basic for your basics,
When you see how much this stuff costs wholesale, which
is what they charge you at a direct primary care.
They're charging the wholesale prices, Like, what does it just

(42:52):
cost to get that test done without all the you know,
administrative overhead and paperwork and all that stuff. You will
be shocked, you will be horrified, you will be angry
at how much the paperwork in the middleman jack's up
the prices, you know. So a couple of questions, Mandy, sorry,
just tuned in. Is Zion appropriate for anything in Colorado?

(43:14):
I'm looking at one of these direct doctor things, but
scared to pull the trigger. My main fear is having
the proper coverage if something big happens. So let's walk
through another example. So I get done with the show
today and I have a direct primary care and I
have Zion, and I walk out and have a heart attack.
So I get taken to the hospital and the ambulance,

(43:34):
I get all my stuff done. What does that look like,
how does that billing process work? And where does Zion
kick in? What goes on there?

Speaker 10 (43:42):
So, like any emergency, you're going to present to the
er urgent care, well the er in this case immediately
or call nine one one, right they're.

Speaker 9 (43:49):
Gonna get you.

Speaker 10 (43:49):
They're going to stabilize you, and they're going to bring
over the iPad where you sign your life away. Right right,
you're gonna say I'm a cash pay member and then
you're gonna have a family member or once you get stabilized,
call Zion and they will start the membership team will
start processing that claim for you right away.

Speaker 9 (44:06):
Right.

Speaker 10 (44:06):
So, certain health shares do operate from a claim standpoint,
if you will, similar.

Speaker 9 (44:11):
To what you would expect with insurance. So there's that there.

Speaker 10 (44:14):
Now, let's just talk about the fear factor here. How
many of us listening right now go to a facility
and we are like, please Jesus, do not send me
a surprise bill. Y That happens all the time in
a cash pay system. It is that they quote you
the price, you pay it, you are done. So there

(44:35):
is a beauty to that, I would say, the unknown.
If we just continue to ignore this and feed into
the system, what are we doing?

Speaker 4 (44:44):
Right?

Speaker 7 (44:45):
So?

Speaker 9 (44:46):
You know the businesses if you guys are.

Speaker 10 (44:49):
Listening, DPC support coffee shops, blue collar workers.

Speaker 9 (44:54):
I got a trucking company. We have law firms.

Speaker 10 (44:57):
I mean they're almost embarrassed when they call and they're like,
I want to do the right thing for my employees,
but I can't afford it.

Speaker 9 (45:04):
What do I do right?

Speaker 5 (45:06):
And that is in my mind like being a small
business owner and you get like a core group of
great employees, right, you want to keep them, but there
comes a time when you can't match salaries of a
big company, you can't match benefits of a big company.
And this is a great way to provide care for
your employees that is affordable for you, affordable for them.

(45:26):
And I happen to think of much higher level of
care because of the personal service of direct primary care.
If somebody asked, what about children, they do not provide
care for children?

Speaker 10 (45:36):
Correct, Oh, it's full scope family medicine. Yeah, so you're
talking littles doing pediatric care.

Speaker 9 (45:45):
All of that.

Speaker 10 (45:45):
Think back forty years ago, that family doctor who knew
you and your family.

Speaker 9 (45:50):
That's what we're restoring.

Speaker 10 (45:52):
And unfortunately family doctors are getting burnout. Would you want
to interview twenty to thirty guests a day and they're
show nobody wants.

Speaker 9 (46:01):
To talk to that many humans in the day, let
alone a doctor.

Speaker 10 (46:03):
Right, So we've made it first and foremost a great
place for them. To practice medicine and in return they
can provide amazing care to people.

Speaker 5 (46:11):
This texter has two text messages, Hey Travis John here,
Travis does a great job educating people on the process.
I see doctor Lynch down in the Springs, been a
member for four years. Great program. And then he continued
by saying, I wait a minute, where did it go? Example,
echo cardiogram through a normal insurance over five thousand dollars
through this program under two hundred bucks. Now, let's talk

(46:34):
about that for a second, because if you do need
an EKG or you need an echo cardiogram, you are
going to pay. It'll feel like maybe you're paying more
upfront right there, because as you're like, here, it's two
hundred bucks to get this test. But does that go
to also helping people be better stewards of using their healthcare?

Speaker 10 (46:53):
Absolutely, because what the insurance companies are doing are doing
a fake mark discount, right, So you really think you're
saving money at the end of the day, it's a
it's a bit of an illusion, right And once again,
that two hundred dollars is going straight to the facility.
You've paid your bill and you're not going to get
a surprise medical bill at the end of the day.

Speaker 4 (47:14):
Right.

Speaker 10 (47:15):
The other thing I want to make clear, just because
it's cheaper does not mean you're getting less quality of care.
Some people ask me, They're like, Travis, did your doctors
go through medical schools?

Speaker 5 (47:25):
Like, yes, I've met multiple of their providers and they're actual,
super smart, incredibly nice doctors who have mds behind their name.
Maybe there's some doos in there as well. I don't know,
but yeah. Somebody just said, I own a small company
with offices in Cincinnati, Arizona, Utah, and New Mexico. Will
this insurance work? And let's not call it insurance. Let's

(47:49):
I want to be clear that we're not using the
word insurance because it is a completely different animal.

Speaker 10 (47:55):
Keep in mind, health insurance is just that they are
not healthcare companies. I don't know the life time a
Blue Cross rep slapped on an examed glove and walked
in and said, let's go, bandy, it's United Health here
for your exam. Right, it's just a it is what
it is. Pinnacle is a healthcare company and that is
what we provide.

Speaker 9 (48:15):
Now, if you're someone listening that.

Speaker 10 (48:16):
Has a distributed workforce across the country, we belong to
a billing platform called HINT, and HINT has unified twelve
hundred independent dpcs across the nation and put them on
one billing platform. Now we all set our own rates, right,
it's free market, right, all within twenty to thirty bucks
a month of each other. So you can create a
seamless DPC experience across the nation if you want for

(48:37):
your team.

Speaker 5 (48:38):
And this is what I love about Travis. He's going
to tell you all about Pinnacle Advanced Primary Care because
they're amazing and they're here locally. But he's not afraid
to say you can find someone in your area. But
you guys also do a lot of telehealth as well,
don't you.

Speaker 9 (48:52):
We do all dpcs.

Speaker 10 (48:53):
You actually get your doctor's contact information. So doctor John Dygert,
if your kiddo has a ear infection on a Saturday,
that message is going directly to his personal phone and
he's going to pick up, do a video visit, talk
through the scenario, and send a script to get it
taken care of.

Speaker 9 (49:10):
So virtual care is a huge aspect.

Speaker 10 (49:13):
Of the program that we do, and over half of
our care can be done that way. One thing to
keep in mind, hospital systems make you come in the door,
because they get to charge you a facility fee, right,
and those fees are really key to their revenue. And
you don't make as much money as you do with
a telemedicine call.

Speaker 5 (49:29):
So let me ask these two questions because I think
these are the kind of questions somebody said, Look, do
they offer chiropractic nutritional care, checking your hormone levels? Everything
you need medically? I mean, do you guys do chiropractic there?
I don't know about that.

Speaker 10 (49:44):
So ADO sometimes do osteopathic manipulation treatments with our chiropractic
light sort of. But let's talk about the visit problem.
Normal doctors are spending seven minutes with you. They have
about three thousand patients apiece and DPC we're talking maxing
them at seven hundred patients. They see six to ten

(50:04):
a day for an average of forty minutes. Well, you
want an hour and ninety minutes. It's the patient and
the doctor dictating that, not an insurance bill or a
coder minion.

Speaker 9 (50:14):
So you can talk about the stress you're having.

Speaker 10 (50:17):
You can talk about your in laws that are staying
in your basement and are driving you crazy.

Speaker 9 (50:21):
And I need anxiety medication.

Speaker 10 (50:23):
Right, like you actually have a one on one relationship
to go through your health history and your health plan.
Your family doctor can do a lot for you, but
they need the time to do it. So we do
lifestyle adjustments, We do help with hormone treatments, all those things.

Speaker 9 (50:39):
In clinic, I'm going.

Speaker 5 (50:40):
To answer a couple of these questions. Somebody said, what
about dental. This is not a dental plan. You're going
to have to find something else there, Mandy. Is this
health planned the same as concier service. It is same
exact sort of thing. Where are you in the Springs, Travis.
You've got three locations of Pinnacle Advance Primary Care? Where
are they?

Speaker 10 (50:58):
Why not Shine Mountain one at Briargate in the Springs,
and then our South Denver location is located in Centennial.

Speaker 5 (51:06):
Off Bronco Parkway right.

Speaker 10 (51:08):
Broncos Parkway, yep, right across from there, and then two
a plug to Running Creek Dental. They have a membership
program doct does there yep. And there are a lot
of dentist's office that do a fixed monthly membership fee
for basically what you would.

Speaker 9 (51:22):
Get for paying for insurance. So keep that in mind.
There are dentists in the market doing this too.

Speaker 5 (51:27):
I would say, I have a lot of people asking
specific questions about Crohn's disease or things like that. I
would urge you, I'm going to do this. Call Travis.
I call Travis because if he can't answer the question,
if it's a question about the metas here, he can
direct you to the right person to answer those questions
for you. But I'm just going to say this, allow

(51:48):
your brain to consider this. Don't be scared because it's
different than what you've had before. I would even say,
if I was a small business owner, I would go
visit one of the offices. I would schedule an appointment
to come to the office, see what it's all about,
and let's ask that last question. The Big Beautiful Bill
made a big change to HSA accounts. What happened there?

Speaker 9 (52:11):
Amen for a decade We've been lobbying for this.

Speaker 10 (52:13):
Your HSA card will be DPC compatible as of one one,
twenty six, so the tax code now recognizes this as
an eligible medical expense. So imagine a small monthly membership
feed to get all this value out of your HSA card.

Speaker 5 (52:28):
Now, that is fantastic. Travis, give your phone number out.
I put a link by the way on the blog
to Pinnacle Advanced Primary Care, so you can find the
phone number there if you're driving and you can't write
it down. But what is a phone number that people
can call and get more information?

Speaker 10 (52:43):
Yes, call our call or text our enrollment line at
seven one nine eight eight eight or eight five eight.
That's seven one nine eight eight eight or a five
eight text. Call it a bout directly to me and Emily.

Speaker 5 (52:56):
All right, Travis, is a joy to see you as always,
And you know, I'm like the biggest fan of direct
primary care because I think it's just a better way
to provide and consume healthcare. So I'm thankful that you
were able to make time to come on and talk
about this in light of the article that came out
earlier this week. And I will see you soon, I hope,
young man.

Speaker 9 (53:16):
Thank you for letting me nerd out with you. Many
A good one.

Speaker 5 (53:19):
The absolute best. That's Travis Bocknstead, chief experience Officer in
Pinnacle Advanced Primary Care. This Texter just asked this question.
Do the doctors feel the same way that he does?
Do they know and understand the program and treat us
the way he is telling us they will treat us.
Pinnacle Advanced Primary Care was started by physicians who had enough.

(53:39):
They had enough of being told they had to see
twenty patients a day. They had enough of being told
they could only address one issue at a time. They
had enough of the grind, and they knew that they
weren't providing the high level of care that they went
to medical school to provide. And I know that because
I've had conversations about these exact things with the providers.
So I hope that answers your question. But check it out.

(54:02):
Trust me, it is worth your time to just give
it a look. And I hope maybe you'll I hope
this helps you guys make good decisions. We'll be right back.
I want to wrap up with the conversation with Travis
bock And said from Pinnacle Advanced Primary Care. Several people
on the text line asking about if people on Medicare
can join direct primary care. You absolutely can, but they're

(54:23):
not going to process your Medicare Medicare claims. You've got
to talk to Travis about how that would work. Okay,
So give him a call that phone number seven eight
eight forty eight fifty eight. So there you go. I
want to talk about an ex post by Chris Vandervey
of nine News, and I saw this yesterday. He actually

(54:45):
posted it end of last month, but it's about specifically
the case of a man named Solomon Gallagan. Solomon Gallagan
is a severely mentally ill man, and Solomon Gallaghan has
been arrested multiple times, charged with things like trying to
kidnap a kid out of a city park, and each

(55:07):
time he has been found completely hopelessly mentally ill and
unable to participate in his own defense. And in Colorado,
we've done such a lousy job with people like this
that the rules say you just have to let him go,
not force confinement until he is able to participate in

(55:27):
his own Nope, you just have to let him go.
It's insane, it's mind blowingly insane. But that's not what
Chris Vandervien was posting about. I'm just gonna read this
thread from x dot com and Chris Vandervin says it's
time and probably pastime, we at nine News have made
the decision to not use the mugshot of Solomon Gallagan

(55:51):
moving forward. You've likely seen it. I believe strongly it's
one of the reasons why the story went viral, it's
also wrong to use moving forward. In my opinion, last year,
Aurora police accused Gallaghan of grabbing a child on the
playground at black Forest Elementary. It scared a lot of
kids and parents. It also exposed a whole in how

(56:11):
the state deals with the repeat offenders with serious mental
health issues. Recently, it was announced prosecutors would drop charges
against Gallaghan due to competence. Due to competency issues, courts
and law is clear defendants must be able to participate
in their own defense. If they can't, they are deemed
incompetent to proceed. It led to a lot of bad headlines.

(56:34):
The truth is much more complex than a singular progressive DA.
We found prosecutors have now dropped felony charges against Gallaghan
four times in less than a decade. This story is
more an indictment on a broken mental health care system
than a bad DA story in my humble opinion, Gallaghan's
mugshot has been used repeatedly by social media accounts and

(56:56):
news outlets like nine News to share the story in
a way that un undercuts the seriousness and complexity of
the story. And now that the charges are dropped, it's
time to make this official. I think it's also a
good time for news outlets mine included, to reconsider how
we use mugshots of everyone, but in particular people who
are mentally ill. In retrospect, I feel the continued use

(57:19):
so Gallagan's mug was gross. I shared it myself, so
I'm to blame too. We have a big problem with
big gaps and mental health care in this country, one
that demands better than stories that serve only to generate
clicks and stir grotesque online behavior, which this story did.
I'm open to your thoughts here, but this feels like
an easy decision. This is another example of a well

(57:42):
intentioned thing that is completely wrong. And let me explain
why I don't want the picture. I don't want Solomon Gallaghan, who,
by the way, in his mugshot looks like he is
clearly out of his mind, just completely out of his mind.

(58:03):
He looks like he's been living on the streets for
a very long time. He probably has. He looks scary
in this mugshot. But the reasons given by Chris Vanderveen
what We're not going to share mugshots of mentally ill
people why especially when you've got a guy that's been
charged with felonies multiple times, but yet he has continued

(58:25):
He's still out on the streets. You guys doesn't mind news,
and don't other media outlets have a responsibility to tell
all of the other people in this area, Hey, you
may want to keep an eye out. If this guy
shows up at your kid's playground, you may want to
keep an eye and maybe even leave the playground. This
isn't just a mentally ill man not harming anyone else,

(58:46):
not doing He's been charged with multiple felonies. I am
not one of those people that believes all severely mentally
ill people are dangerous, because they aren't. But the fact
of the matter remains, some mentally ill people are very dangerous.
And I say this because I had a mentally ill
family member nearly kill his father. These are my family members,

(59:07):
so I know that severely mentally ill people can be
extremely dangerous. And isn't there a responsibility to the public
to say, hey, you may want to be on the
lookout for this guy. Nine News does not have a
responsibility to police the responses to the news stories that
they put out. Their job is not to ensure that

(59:30):
bad feelings are not stirred up by the way a
guy appears in a mugshot. That'snit their responsibility or their job.
Their job is to provide the news so we as
consumers can make our decisions. And unfortunately, some people are
going to make snide commentary, nasty comments, even vicious comments
online in response to a news story about a clearly dangerous,

(59:54):
extremely mentally ill man being let out on the street again.
And yet, you know what, It's not about a progressive
da It's about democratic policies that have made it impossible
for us to say you are dangerous, and until you
can participate in your own defense, we're gonna have to
keep an eye on you in this facility until we
can get you to trial. That's the harsh reality of

(01:00:15):
where we are, you guys, because what you're gonna do
is set up another victim. You're gonna set up another
innocent person to run into Solomon Gallaghan And maybe next
time he's got a knife, Maybe next time he has
a tree branch that he hit somebody over the head with.
We should know what this guy looks like. I used
to work with a guy when I first did radio news.

(01:00:38):
I wasn't a talk show host. I was actually a
newsperson on the radio. And we had a series of
bank robberies happen in this is in Gainesville, Florida. So
we had over like three months, we had like eight
or nine bank robberies. It was crazy. It was just
really really crazy. Some of the perpetrators were white, some
of them were not. And we would give a bolo

(01:01:00):
at the report we had another bank robbery at this bank,
be on the lookout for this car guy. You know,
white guy, five seven, blue shirt, black pants. Okay, great,
So in my news story I'd be like, we just
had another bank robbery. You'd be on the lookout, white guy,
black part. You know, I'd give the information. I realized
my coworker when the perpetrator was black, And like I said,

(01:01:20):
there was white bank robbers, there were black bank robbers.
It was just a very diverse group of bank robbers
in this time period. He would not tell the race
of the subject. In the bolow, bolo is called be
on the lookout. That's what BOLO stands for. Be on lookout.
That's bolo. And I said, dude, what are you doing.

(01:01:42):
It's a bolow. You've got to give people the information
that they need to watch out for someone who just
dropped a bank And you know what he said, I
don't want to stoke the perception that black people commit crime. Well,
in this case, a black person did commit a crime.
So don't you think we should put that in there.
When you used to injecting your view of the morality

(01:02:04):
of a situation into a news story, you have lost
the narrative, You have lost the journalistic integrity that you
seem to want. And the kicker here is that, based
on the information that we have about Solomon Gallaghan, and
based on the way Solomon Gallaghan looks, I bet this
dude doesn't even know his mugshots out there. I bet

(01:02:25):
this dude doesn't even know he has a mug shot.
I bet this dude doesn't even know what planet he's on.
What I do know about Solomon Gallagan is that he
needs an incredible amount of treatment, and he needs to
be separated from the population until the treatment can either
take hold and he can go through life and not
be violent with other people, or he can participate in

(01:02:47):
his own defense and defend himself for the things he
did when he was crazy. This isn't about targeting mentally
ill people. This isn't about making mentally ill people look bad.
It's about informing society of what they may encounter in
the form of one mister Solomon Gallaghan as he continues

(01:03:07):
to be severely mentally ill on the streets of Denver.
It's really that simple. By the way, you guys, this
story is exactly why do Better Denver exists. This story
is why do Better Denver continues to post videos and
pictures and stories, because when we get the sugarcoated version

(01:03:29):
of what's really going on out there, it doesn't help anyone. Well,
I'd like to take that back. It helps liberal politicians
who are overseeing this dumpster fire. I, by the way,
sent a note to Rose Peglici. She is the House
Minority leader, one of the House minority leaders, and I said, Rose,
please tell me someone is working on this problem of

(01:03:51):
letting dangerous, mentally ill people back on the streets in Colorado.
Please tell me that there's some legislation. She said, We
are working on it, because not only does this mean
that Solomon Gallaghan is gonna continue to be out on
the streets, living like a feral animal in a completely
psychotic state, but he can also victimize someone else, And

(01:04:15):
then what do we do? Because I gotta tell you,
my family member gets victimized by this guy, I'm suing
the state for something. How is it not their fault?
How is it not their fault when they've set up
a dynamic where this man goes free, not because he
didn't do it or not because he was clearly you know,
unwell then, but now he's good. No, because he's so unwell.

(01:04:37):
We can't charge him because he's so sick. So we're
just gonna put him out on the streets again. I
don't even know how that's even possible. I truly don't.
We're gonna take a quick time out. We'll be right back.
Several of you have made the point about Solomon Gallagan.
Maybe next time the victim is armed. I hate to
say it, but does someone have to end up dead

(01:04:58):
before we do something about this. There's another story in
the Springs about a guy getting out because he was
too mentally ill and they couldn't hold him. I just
got a text message that said, Mandy. Last week, a
friend of mine's daughter woke up to a strange man
rubbing her back. By the time she got up to
her parents room. He had run back outside. He was
lucky the police found him before my friend did. But

(01:05:20):
he's been deemed mentally ill and will be released. Something
needs to happen, correct, Something has to happen, And I said,
I responded on X by the way to Chris's ex post,
and I said very clearly, I would prefer if nine
News to use their considerable influence with democratic politicians to

(01:05:41):
press them for solutions on how we're going to fix
this legislatively, right, I mean, that's what I would love
to see nine News do instead of just saying, oh,
we're not gonna do the muck shuts of mentally ill
people anymore because they're mentally ill, they're still dangerous. Not
all mentally ill people are dangerous. I'm going to say
that again because it's true. But the dangerous mentally ill

(01:06:05):
people are dangerous and they need to be treated as such. Now,
I also have a story on the blog today from
the Free Press. It's a column by a psychiatrist named
Sally Sattell. And let me just read the first two
paragraphs to give you an idea of the vibe. What
should be done about the homeless and severely mentally ill
people on our streets. The Department of Housing and Urban

(01:06:27):
Development found that almost one in five homeless individuals suffers
from psychotic conditions such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. They
are often quite literally dying in plain sight. Last month,
Trump signed a new executive order that seeks to change
the status quo for homeless and severely mentally ill people

(01:06:48):
in a more radical way. The White House wants to
make it easier to impose psychiatric care on homeless people
who suffer from severe mental illness. The July twenty fourth order,
titled Ending Crime and Disorder on America's Streets, says that
shifting homeless individuals into long term institutional settings for humane
treatment through the appropriate use of civil commitment will restore

(01:07:11):
public order. And then she goes on to say, I
agree with this plan. We all know about the long
history of the asylum program here in the United States
of America, horrible horror stories out of asylums where people
were being mistreated. But the reality is is that we
have allowed the asylums to just be emptied out onto

(01:07:33):
the streets, and now we have people with severe mental
illnesses who are medicating themselves using drugs and alcohol, and
they're living on the streets like feral animals until they die.
And that's not okay either. Now it's easy to say, well,
we can't go back to that old asylum system, and
I agree one hundred percent, But why can't we do

(01:07:54):
something that also requires people to live in an institutional
setting with increased oversight to make sure that those abuses
when they do happen, and I'm sure they'll happen again,
are addressed quickly and that people are taken care of
in a way that we would all find humane. The
problem with all of this is that this stuff is

(01:08:14):
so expensive, and in the big push to move to
community care to get people out of asylums, we've simply
eliminated the money that used to be spent on things
like state mental institutions or criminal places for the criminally
mentally ill. I mean, we've all seen them on Batman, right. No,
I'm just kidding. We don't need them like that in Arkham.

(01:08:38):
We've got to do something, though, guys, Dallas. We have to,
because someone living on the streets using drugs and alcohol
to manage their mental health issues is never going to
get better. Ever. They're just going to be there until
they die, and that should not be okay to anyone.
We will be right back. I got a bunch of
stuff on the blog, including can we talk about the

(01:08:59):
fact that no, I went drinking anymore. I'm not saying
I'm a trendsetter, but I quit drinking sometime ago. We'll
talk about that next.

Speaker 1 (01:09:08):
The Mandy Connell Show is sponsored by Bell and Pollock
Accident and injury Lawyers.

Speaker 2 (01:09:13):
No, it's Mandy Connell.

Speaker 11 (01:09:16):
And donnma got Way, Ken Nicey, Andy Connall, Keith You,
Sad Bab Welcome, Welcome, Welcome to the third hour of

(01:09:37):
the show.

Speaker 5 (01:09:37):
I'm your host, Mandy Connall. Grant Smith in for Anthony Rodriguez,
who was finishing up our coverage from Broncos training camp today.
And you know, I on the break. I just want
to let you guys know what I did with my time.
So I saw a few people on X mentioning something
about the sandwich attacker. Have you seen this, Grant? Have

(01:09:58):
you seen the video? Okay, so let me just let
me just set the scene for you. Okay. The video
shows a gentleman wearing a pink golf shirt and khaki shorts.
He looks like a respectable sort of guy. He's kind
of in the face of these Border patrol and police officers.
And this took place in Washington, d C. Now you

(01:10:20):
can't hear what he's saying. You can't hear what's being said.
But all of a sudden, the guy rears back and
hurls the subway sandwich that he is holding in his
right hand a foot long, by the way, in case
you were wondering, he hurls the sandwich at one of
the Border patrol agents and then runs away. Well, they
pursue him, and here's where it gets good. This is

(01:10:46):
where it gets super good. This guy's name is Sean Dunn.
Guess who he works for the Department of Justice. He's
a trial attorney at the Department of Justice.

Speaker 9 (01:11:00):
Well he was.

Speaker 5 (01:11:01):
He no longer works for the Department of Justice. And
now he's been charged with a felony assault charge assault
with a sandwich. Guys, this guy just threw his career away. Now,
don't get me wrong. There's gonna be a ton of
left wing law firms that are gonna throw a ton
of money at him to come work for them so
they can all high five about the resistance every day.
I mean, whatever, this guy's gonna be fine, but dang, dang,

(01:11:27):
how stupid do you have to be? He works at
the Department of Justice.

Speaker 7 (01:11:34):
This headline from NBC News cold cut. Justice Department fires
employee accused of throwing subway sandwich at federal officer.

Speaker 5 (01:11:42):
I think that, you know, normally, when you're in the
news media, you have to say things like allegedly through
a sandwich. It's on video and homeboy hurled his sandwich
right at the police officer. Who's going to go to
subway and go through all the trouble to go through
the line and tell them what toppings you want on there?
What's your good? Are you? Do you ever go to subway? Grant?

Speaker 2 (01:12:01):
No, I'm a Jimmy Johns guy.

Speaker 5 (01:12:03):
I gotta tell you, I love subways tuna salad. If
good tuna salad sandwich is there, I'm not gonna lie.
I'll go there for a tuna sandwich anyway. That's what
I did on the break, And it's just so comically bad.
I would google sandwich throw and just watch it because
it's that ridiculous. It's so ridiculous, just beyond ridiculous. Interesting

(01:12:26):
story shifting gears here. Only fifty four percent of US
adults say they drink alcohol. This is a record low.
So what's the deal. What are people doing?

Speaker 2 (01:12:38):
Grant?

Speaker 5 (01:12:38):
I know you enjoy a multi beverage. You're kind of
a beer guy, are you not.

Speaker 6 (01:12:43):
Yeah?

Speaker 2 (01:12:43):
I had a couple at Red Rocks last night.

Speaker 5 (01:12:45):
Yeah. Yeah. Do you have any of your friends at
your age because you're just over thirty, have you? Do
you have friends that are not drinking anymore?

Speaker 2 (01:12:56):
No? Not really.

Speaker 7 (01:12:56):
I know I have one that drastically cut back, like
she'll have a glass of wine here and there, but
other than that doesn't drink at all.

Speaker 2 (01:13:04):
But probably not my crowd of non drinkers.

Speaker 7 (01:13:07):
Yeah, but I do know a lot of people that
have started to not drink.

Speaker 2 (01:13:11):
And you know love the mocktail scene.

Speaker 5 (01:13:13):
Well here's the thing. For me, it's like, I don't
need to feel I don't need a mocktail or an
NA beer, a non alcoholic beer to make me feel
like I am drinking when I'm not. But the reality
for me is about four years ago I realized that
when I drink alcohol, I can forget about sleep and
it used to be just for the night. So you

(01:13:34):
can kind of manage it right. It's like, oh, you're
gonna go out on Friday night. I won't sleep Friday night,
but I'll get sleep on Saturday. And then last year
it was like, oh, now I don't get to sleep
on Friday night and Saturday, oh and maybe Sunday night.
And at that point, I'm like, this is not worth it.
So now I've decided I am a vacation and celebratory drinker,

(01:13:55):
you know what I mean.

Speaker 7 (01:13:56):
I've come to the realization in this past year, maybe
two years, that I just don't drink to the point
of any chance of a hangover anymore, correct, because that's
not worth it to me, ruining your whole next day
and sometimes the next two days just to have one
good night. I mean, can you can have fun without
getting that drunk?

Speaker 5 (01:14:14):
Not only that grant, If I look back at my
life and I look back at my lost decade decade,
I consumed enough alcohol for all of us. Okay, I
mean it was every single night we were out in
a different location. I was a flight attendant. So on
a layover, what do you do on a flight? You
know what you do? Want to layover? When you're a
flight attendant, you go have cocktails with the rest of

(01:14:36):
the crew. That's what you do. I have been absolutely
blank faced in so many countries around the world in
ways that I'm not necessarily proud of. I passed out
on the hood of a Mercedes one time in Germany.
Oh yeah, yeah, not for long. I mean I woke
up pretty quick and was like what am I doing?

(01:14:58):
That was you think that would be sobering? But no,
I just went back to the hotel. Now, at this
stage in my life, it's like, I don't want to
waste that much time. I don't want to waste the time.
To your point, grant a feeling horrible the next day,
you know. And I was a smoker at the same time.
And when you're drinking and smoking and drinking and smoking,
you wake up the next day and your lungs are

(01:15:19):
literally on the floor next to you, Like, go and
what did you do?

Speaker 2 (01:15:22):
What did you wrong with you?

Speaker 11 (01:15:24):
Oh?

Speaker 5 (01:15:25):
Seriously? And then let's talk about the decision making right.
The worst choices I have ever made in my life
were made when I was drunk. One hundred percent. One
hundred percent. I can look back and don't get me wrong,
I've made dumb decisions while I'm sober too. I'm not.
I'm an equal opportunity, dumb decision maker, right. But the

(01:15:45):
worst decisions, the worst choices, those were all made when
I was drinking. So you know, for me personally, maybe
I just drank enough. I'm like, I'm good, I'm fine.
But for me, it's like I just don't want to
feel bad. But why are young people not drinking? Why
is gen z not drinking? Well, first of all, I
think it's because they don't do anything. They just sit

(01:16:05):
and stare at their phones all the time, and they
have absolutely no social life and absolutely do nothing other
than do that. But the reality is that a lot
of us are not drinking because of our health, Mandy,
the younger generation converted to eating psychedelic mushrooms instead of
drinking alcohol. Way better experience and no hangover. You know what,
back in the day, we were able to do both, Texter,

(01:16:28):
we didn't have to limit ourselves. Come on, it's just,
you know, I don't know. I don't think it's a
bad thing. I think alcohol is definitely one of the
intoxicating substances that brings out the worst in people the most.
Because everybody has that friend who's like the nicest person

(01:16:49):
in the world until they have one too many drinks
and then they turn into a Tasmanian devil in the
backseat of your car. You don't, generally speaking, hopefully you
scrape those friends off unless e quit drinking. But man,
I think this is super interesting. I heard Ross talking
about how this is really decimated the liquor industry, and
he was talking specifically about the bourbon industry in Kentucky.

(01:17:12):
The problem with things like bourbon and aged spirits is
that you can't jump on the trend and jump back off.
You know, you've got hundreds of barrels that you've put
up for twelve years. Just because people stop drinking, You've
still got all that bourbon. The thing is, though people
are always going to be looking for an escape, They're

(01:17:33):
always going to be looking for something that makes them
feel better. Right. So I don't think alcohol is going
to go away, But I don't necessarily think it's a
bad thing that we're just not drinking as much as
we used to. Mandy, what's your cautionary tale to Q
when you discuss about drinking, Because she's getting to that age,
if not already there. You know, we've been talking to
our daughter Q for her entire life about drugs and

(01:17:56):
alcohol and family history and things of that nature, because
we both have a history of alcoholism in our family,
both Chuck and I do, and so I believe that
you can have a predisposition towards addiction and I don't think.
I mean, she's sixteen, so there's going to be a
lot of stuff going on. She wants to go to
school in Europe, so they have a much different culture
around alcohol than they have here. People there drink, and

(01:18:19):
sometimes they drink a lot, but they don't drink with
the same agenda that we tend to drink here. So
we talk about it a lot. But you know, she's
going to have to find her own way. I prepared
her the best she can, but she's going to have
to find her own way, and that neither of my
sons are big drinkers at all. So you know, we'll

(01:18:42):
see what happens. You can only do what you can do.
Mandy has someone who lost their mother to a drunk
driver who happened to be their father. I'm okay with
this drinking trend. I can imagine we will be right back.
Keep it on Koa on the blog today I have.
So I saw the yesterday and the tagline on the

(01:19:03):
tweet says, I can finally reveal the truth behind Iran's drought.
And then you see the subhead it says Israel stole
Iran's clouds. So I was like, okay, all bite, here
we go.

Speaker 12 (01:19:17):
Come on, Israel stole Iran's clouds. I can't believe I
just admitted that, but it's true. Iran is suffering a
terrible drought, and officials there accused Israel of diverting the
rain clouds. I was a senior advisor to Israel's Prime
minister and I was actually in charge of this operation.

Speaker 5 (01:19:35):
It started a.

Speaker 12 (01:19:36):
Few years back when we sent hundreds of Masad agents
into Tehran to blow really hard at the sky. We
were shocked as anyone, but the clouds actually shifted next
to Masad agents all clapped at once, simulating thunder. It
tricked the lightning into sparking itself, which crippled Iran's electricity grits. Lastly,

(01:19:57):
our agents sucked in air simultaneously and brought the rain
clouds back to Israel.

Speaker 2 (01:20:03):
Thus ended operation.

Speaker 12 (01:20:04):
Blame the Jews now that our secret plan has been exposed,
we'll need to think of new innovative ways of manipulating nature.
I probably shouldn't expose this, but it's just too incredible.
At this very moment, not far from where I'm sitting,
our agents are practicing simultaneous flatulence to spark earthquakes deep

(01:20:26):
inside Iran. It's gonna shake the entire region.

Speaker 5 (01:20:31):
Of course, this is starcasm, but it just goes to
show how stupid all of that stuff actually is. So
that's on today's blog. It made me laugh really hard
yesterday because I'm kind of an idiot about that kind
of stuff. Hey, big news, if you're in Summit County
this weekend, you're going to be joined by the Pagan
Motorcycle Club. You ever heard of the Pagans? Grant you

(01:20:52):
ever heard of them?

Speaker 12 (01:20:54):
No?

Speaker 2 (01:20:54):
Not for a long time.

Speaker 5 (01:20:55):
Okay, So Chuck and I watch all these true crime
stories like these gangster on I don't even remember what channel.
It's like either Smithsonian or ID or one of those
channels that nobody really knows what they're doing. And we
just watched an entire show on the Pagan Motorcycle Club
and they're bad dudes. And the only reason I tell
you this is we're having a sort of outbreak of

(01:21:18):
road rage here in Colorado. And these are not dudes
you want to get into it with when you're talking
about a road rage situation. They're bad dudes. This is
one of those things that I don't understand about society,
and maybe someone can explain it. If you know, you
have a motorcycle club that is involved in criminal activity

(01:21:38):
like meth production and sales and human trafficking and things
of that nature, and you know that that's what they're doing,
and you can't shut that down, I you know, I mean,
it seems like they're kind of flaunting it, you know,
kind of like like we should be able to take
care of that somehow. And yet they've been around for
like sixty years, started by a guy who I think,

(01:21:58):
if I recall correctly, you to be a Hell's Angel
and then broke away. I can't remember the first part
of the story. I don't remember, but yeah, they're gonna
be a run. So now, just to get everybody caught up,
Colorado's being invaded by hippies with the Rainbow Family gathering
and motorcycle gangs. So gonna be a great weekend to

(01:22:19):
be in Colorado. Yeah, just something to look forward to
when we get back. Can we talk about Howard Stern
for a minute. I want to have a minute on
Howard Stern for a couple of reasons. One, well, no,
I'll tell you after this. We got to do news,
trafficking weather back right here on KOWA. Let's talk about
Howard Stern for a moment, shall we? The King of

(01:22:40):
all media seems to be poised to end is run
on Serious. It's not official yet, and they are running
promos about it right now on Seriously. Is he? Isn't he?
What's going on? Howard Stern has a deal widely expected
to be worth one hundred million dollars a year with
Serious sam And when he first cut that deal, it

(01:23:02):
was a genius move for Serious because they more than
made up for it in subscribers that flocked over to
continue hearing the Howard Stern Show. Howard Stern is one
of these people that I have very mixed feelings about
because when I first started, my first real job was
producing an overnight show at a station called Real Radio
one oh four point one in Orlando. It was a

(01:23:23):
hot talk station and we did midnight to six, and
then at six Howard Stern took over, and there was
rare occasions because I was a producer like Grant is,
and there were rare occasions when for whatever reason, I
would have to stay and run the Howard Stern Show. Now, Grant,
whatever I put you through, trust me on this, it
is nothing compared to the unmitigated nightmare that running the

(01:23:47):
Howard Stern Show was.

Speaker 2 (01:23:49):
I've had it easy? What I've had it easy?

Speaker 3 (01:23:52):
Oh?

Speaker 5 (01:23:52):
I thought you said it was easy.

Speaker 3 (01:23:53):
No.

Speaker 5 (01:23:54):
First of all, it was on a ninety four second delay, okay,
And dude never followed a break schedule, so you had
no idea when he was going to go to break,
You had no idea how long he was going to
be at break, and then you just had to work
everything out. And god knows, I don't do math, So
that part I hated. And there were times when I

(01:24:14):
would listen to Howard's show when he was basically ruthlessly
attacking a guest that came on his show or mocking women.
One of the things I will never forget is the
Howard Stern butterface competitions that he used to do in
his television specials. He would have women come out with
a bag on their head, wearing a bikini with their

(01:24:36):
rock and bodies, and then they would take the bag
off and the audience would either cheer or laugh or
make fun of the person standing there because they were
so ugly. She had a great body, butter face, get it.
Incredibly cruel stuff. But there were also times where I
would cry with laughter, absolutely with laughter. So what's become

(01:25:03):
of Howard Stern in the last many years since he
got so afraid of COVID he refused to leave his house.
He's an elderly man now with no no courage whatsoever.
And I think he realizes that pretty much everything he
did on his show for the first twenty years, who
should get him canceled. I mean, if anybody deserves to

(01:25:25):
be canceled for past actions, it's Howard Stern because he
did terrible things to guess that would come on his show.
You know Dana Plato, the woman from Different Strokes who
became a drug addict and was living on the streets
and she was trying to pull herself back together, and
she came on Howard's show and he was so ruthlessly

(01:25:47):
cruel to her, demanding that she take a drug test
on the air and would not let it go. Well,
guess what Dana Plato did. She killed herself a short
time after that. Now I'm not saying Howard Stern, who
is directly response well for Dana Plato's death, But my god,
when you have somebody on there that's fragile like that,
you're just gonna pile on.

Speaker 1 (01:26:09):
This.

Speaker 5 (01:26:09):
Texter said the King of All Media, Howard Stern is
a show coming back to FM radio. He finally figured
out you can use the F word too much. No,
but I mean, I do think the reality of the
business model of serious XM is not gonna support his
salary for another five years at one hundred million year.
I just don't think it's gonna happen, just like Joe

(01:26:29):
Rogan's not gonna get another one hundred million dollar deal
from Spotify. It's just not gonna happen. So I have
mixed feelings if I were Howard Stern. I mean, I
hope he rides off into the sunset on his own terms.
I really do. I want everybody to be able to
ride off into the sunset on their own terms, and
in this industry you don't often get to do that.

(01:26:51):
Mike Rosen got to do it, Mike Rosen got to
decide he was ready to retire and go off on
his own terms. But it's not that doesn't happen all
the time. But you know that kind of radio, that
kind of exploitive show, you know, Adam Carolla and Jimmy
Kimmel having chicks and bikinis bounce on trampolines. That is over,

(01:27:17):
and I'm wondering if at some point it's going to
come back for a couple of reasons. And hear me out.
Number one, have you seen their kerfuffle on social media
about the Minnesota Vikings male cheerleader. So there is a
male cheerleader. He's not dressed in the traditional cheerleader uniform,
but Duke can dance. He's flamboyant. I'm going to just

(01:27:39):
say it. I assume he's a homosexual, simply because no
straight man would move like this man does. Okay, I
don't care about this. I don't care if the Minnesota
Vikings want to have a guy who can absolutely dance
out there with other women who could dance, I don't care.
But the pushback that basically you're messing with my TNA

(01:28:03):
on the sidelines of the Minnesota Vikings to me, indicates
there's always going to be a market for that. There's
always gonna be a market for a Sydney Sweeney looking
hot in Jean's ad. You know why, because men are
visual creatures. Men like to look at things that they

(01:28:24):
think are hot. That is never going to change. I
don't care how many times you tell them that that's
toxic masculinity. I don't care how many times you tell
boys they shouldn't objectify women. Put a hot woman with
her boobs hanging out in front of a dude and
he's going to look. Doesn't mean he's gonna run over
and cheat on his wife, but he's gonna look. One

(01:28:47):
of the things that I feel very strongly about in
my relationship with Chuck is that my husband is not dead.
He's married, and he loves the heck out of me,
and he treats me like an absolute pri says all
the time, but if you put a woman with a
great rack in front of him, he is one hundred
percent gonna look one hundred percent of the time. And

(01:29:08):
you know my response the look, you know, the look
grant the look that says I saw what you did,
and he will look right back at me and go
they were right there, And that's our relationship.

Speaker 2 (01:29:22):
In a nutshell though you can't help it. You just
can't help it.

Speaker 5 (01:29:27):
It's how we're biologically wired. It's why women like rich dudes.
It's like, it's why women like men who they feel
like can protect them, right, It's biologically hardwired into their system.
So maybe someday Howard Stern will or someone like Howard
Stern will have a place, But right now in society,

(01:29:49):
it just he feels outdated. And his endless sniveling about
COVID was like, dude, just stop, Mandy. The Vikings are
already gay enough girls on trampolines. Needs to come back, Mandy.
I never liked Howard Stern after he made jokes and
terrible comments about the column mind shooting, but guys, that

(01:30:12):
was his stock in trade. Howard Stern's entire stick was
based on the notion that he was brave enough to
make the jokes that nobody else would make. The problem
is is that since COVID he's been exposed as this cowardly, scared,
sort of pathetic little man. So I don't think anybody
believes that he's the only guy to make these jokes.

(01:30:34):
Mandy is the Vikings cheerleader in McCarthy's brother or. I
don't know what that means. I don't know what that means. No,
we did not play scrabble yesterday, you guys, but I
will play again this weekend. I'll have a full update
on that. Mandy, what do you think the over under
will be on the number of hot dogs thrown at
the male cheerleader at the Minnesota Vikings games. I'm not

(01:30:56):
against it because it's queer and stupid. Uh oh, just
update there. I'm against it because it's a safety issue. Well,
you shouldn't be throwing hot dogs at anybody, Mandy. Howard
Stern obviously turned into an angry lesbian. Just look at
recent pictures of him.

Speaker 2 (01:31:11):
You know what.

Speaker 5 (01:31:11):
That's kind of accurate. Hmm. There are two male cheerleaders
on the Minnesota Vikings team. By the way, when I
was in high school and now, both high school and
college have male cheerleaders. They always have now. Usually they're
the guys at the bottom of the pyramid holding the
woman up. And I asked a male cheerleader one time

(01:31:34):
why he wanted to be a male cheerleader. He goes,
I can go on the football field and play out
there where guys are gonna hit me as hard as
I can, or I can stand here with a woman's
butt in my hand. And I was like, yeah, that
makes a lot of sense, makes a lot of sense. Okay, guys,
I got a couple of things on the blog I
want to get to very very quickly before we do

(01:31:55):
of the day. More news important to my daughter, Taylor
Swift has released for cover art. I know that that's
important to all of you. Today in Alaska, and I
didn't really talk about this because we don't know what's
happening yet. But today in Alaska, Donald Trump is meeting
with Vladimir Putin, and he's been very very careful. I

(01:32:15):
have to give the President credit on this when he's
been very careful to manage expectations about this meeting. He
has said clearly, this is not a negotiation. This is
a temperature taking experience. He is going to meet with
Vladimir Putin to find out if Vladimir Putin has any
desire at all to really work towards peace, because so far,

(01:32:38):
not so much, not so much at all. So I
have a column or a story on the Free Press
today about the ways that Donald Trump has been using
the economic power of the United States of America as
a diplomatic tool. And I have to say I love
this style of negotiation because our biggest leverage that we

(01:33:02):
have in the United States is right now our economic power.
It certainly isn't our navy, because we've allowed that to
be old and decrepit. And I'm not knocking navy people.
I'm just saying we've starved our navy. It is our
military to a certain extent, but not as much as
it used to be. So the reality is, we just
have access to our market as a bargaining chip with

(01:33:25):
countries that are continuing to do business with Russia. And
I'll just share a couple of parts here. In the
face of a stubborn Russia, Trump brandished the economic sword.
He threatened severe tariffs on Russia's trading partners if the
war did not end within fifty days. Two weeks later,
he shortened the deadline to ten days. The Senate stood
ready to pass bipartisan legislation imposing crippling secondary sanctions on

(01:33:49):
purchasers of Russian oil. Last week, Trump threatened punishing tariffs
on India, for instance. That's why Putin asked for the meeting.
Trump's energy policy, NATO solidarity, fighting words, and use of
force against a Russian ally in Iran changed through the
strategic equation. Typically, the West reacts to Putin, not now,

(01:34:12):
Trump put him off balance, and Russia's economy isn't helping.
Growth is down, inflation is up, oil and gas revenues
have plunged nineteen percent year over year. And this is
one of the things that I've talked about this. You
guys know, I'm no Trumpet. There are things the man
does that I do not like. But one of the
things that I do like about the Trump presidency is

(01:34:33):
that he throws everybody in the world off guard because
he doesn't do the things that have always been done.
He looked at the playbook and said, well, that's not working,
So what can we do differently to make things happen.
He also indicated before going to this meeting today that
if Putin doesn't want to play ball, America is out.

(01:34:54):
We're just done. We're gonna stop trying. We're gonna stop
trying to help broker piece. You guys are on your own.
Do whatever you want, drive your economy and your country
into the ground and we'll be over here making money
and having fun, which I also think is incredibly powerful
because it puts Putin in a position of being sidelined

(01:35:14):
in a way that is the exact opposite of what
Putin wants. Putin wants the world to focus on him
and Russia. He wants Russia to be at the same
level as the USSR was for many many years. It's not.
I mean, it's just never going to be. It just isn't.
But the reality is that's where Putin wants to be.
So by simply saying, hey, we're gonna go ahead and

(01:35:37):
move on if you have no interest in peace, that
in and of itself has to be a little bit surprising.
V Vladimir Putin this texture said, but the sanctions don't work.
I agree. I actually think sanctions are stupid. But the
other part of this is Trump's energy policy, which is drill, drill, drill.

(01:35:58):
He wants to exploit every bit of oil and gas
that he can. I actually would say, don't do sanctions, instead,
do something so oil and gas producers in the United
States of America can unleash a tremendous flood of oil,
but do it in such a way that they can
stay in business. The problem with drill, baby drill is

(01:36:20):
that oil producers have to strike a very careful balance.
They want to have oil and gas at a reasonable price,
maybe seventy bucks a barrel for oil, but they also
need to make money. When oil drops down to forty
dollars a barrel, they're not making money. So how do
we allow them to flood the market with inexpensive oil,

(01:36:40):
which would really hurt Rusha's economy. I mean, it would
devastate Russia's economy if we just flooded the market with
oil and still protect American oil and gas producers. That's
what I would do. But they didn't. They didn't ask me.
And you know, we'll see. We shall see. Women look

(01:37:01):
as well, says this texter. Women look at shiny things
like rings and necklaces and hair. You are exactly right,
of course, talking about men looking. Here's the thing, you guys,
I'm not mad at dudes for looking. It's just who
you are. I'm mad at dudes who go beyond looking
when they're involved with someone else, just like I'm not

(01:37:23):
mad at women for looking at dudes. But I'm mad
at women who then look and step out, looking is
not the problem. Acting is the problem. Just saying now.
Also on the blog today, gosh, I have so much
good stuff on the blog today. I'm trying to figure out. Oh,
we got to talk about this tomorrow. So a new

(01:37:45):
poll on college students has come out and they ask
college students if they lie for either academic reasons or
social reasons, and if they lie, how do they lie
about how they're presenting themselves. Listen to this number, grant,
how many what percentage of college students say they lie
about their views to fit in or be academically successful?

(01:38:08):
What percentage do you think?

Speaker 7 (01:38:10):
Well, I think all of them do, but I think
the amount that said they did would probably be sixty
five to seventy percent.

Speaker 5 (01:38:17):
Eighty eight percent. Wow, eighty eight percent. Now, the real
irony here, and this is why I want to talk
about it tomorrow, is that universities and colleges, this is
supposed to be where you go to have a free
exchange of ideas, where you can argue about everything. And
some of my best professors back at Florida State many

(01:38:38):
many years ago, were the professors who encourage debate. They
would bring up a controversial subject and they would encourage
you to express your opinions and express your feelings and
talk about things in a real Socratic method. And now
we find out that in order to feel like you
can succeed at a university, you have to stifle your
actual feelings because they could damage you academically. And by

(01:39:00):
the way, that's accurate. That's very accurate. I've talked way
too many college students who have either had a grade
dropped or dinged or whatever, which isn't a big deal
unless you're on scholarship. But if you're on scholarship and
you have someone give you a d because of your
political viewpoints. And I spoke with a student sometime ago
that had that happen. He eventually went to the dean

(01:39:21):
of the university of his college and had it changed
and got out of that professor's class in the future.
But ultimately this is shameful, absolutely shameful. We'll get into
that tomorrow. Check out the blog at mandy'sblog dot com.
Lots of good stuff on there today. But now it's
time for the most exciting segment on the radio of

(01:39:42):
its kind of the day that sounds like Ben Albright
to me. That guy's handsome, yeah, I've heard. I've heard. Well,
I mean you told me that, Ben Albright, but I
have heard.

Speaker 2 (01:39:55):
That sources have said.

Speaker 5 (01:39:57):
Anyway, Okay, now I am broadcast from home as I
continue to recover from my little surgery. So Ben is
at the office. So Ben, when we do jeopardy, you
have to wait until the end of the question. Otherwise
it's not fair. I'm just saying, okay, you can do it.

Speaker 4 (01:40:13):
Though.

Speaker 5 (01:40:13):
You're smart enough, You're fine.

Speaker 2 (01:40:14):
I believe in myself.

Speaker 5 (01:40:15):
Yeah, there you go. All right. What is our Dad
joke of the day? Please, Grant.

Speaker 7 (01:40:21):
Just can't get over how full of Ben as of himself.
Dad joke of the day. My cloning experiment. Experiments finally
paid off. I'm so excited, I'm beside myself.

Speaker 5 (01:40:33):
Ha ha ha. Yes, anyway, today's word of the day. Please.

Speaker 2 (01:40:39):
Word of the day is an adjective as a notable.

Speaker 5 (01:40:43):
Immutable means it can't be changed. It is part of
your makeup.

Speaker 2 (01:40:47):
Yep, can't be altered. Yes, yeah, that is correct.

Speaker 5 (01:40:50):
Today's trivia question. In October of nineteen thirty six, a
strange musical instrument was featured in the pages of Popular
Science monthly magazine. It was a hybrid of what two
more common instruments. I have no idea.

Speaker 9 (01:41:06):
Never heard of this, I have no idea.

Speaker 5 (01:41:11):
The cello and the horn. The hybrid aptly called the
cello horn was played like a cello, but sound came
out of an attached brass horn.

Speaker 7 (01:41:23):
Wow, sounds actually didn't stay in the test of time.

Speaker 5 (01:41:25):
That sounds like somebody took mushrooms and made an instrument.

Speaker 2 (01:41:28):
Yeah, that's the thing.

Speaker 13 (01:41:29):
Have a different name too, Like there's a name for it. Well,
you gotta think about like the key tar. You have right,
the hybrid name, but there's like an actual name for it.
It's like the tritonium or something like that. I can't remember,
like I remember, I don't remember this orchestra from back
of the day.

Speaker 5 (01:41:42):
Oh god, you're such a nerve. Anyway, what is our
jeopardy category? And Ben, you must wait until the end
of the question to answer.

Speaker 7 (01:41:49):
I have been reminded, Well, they are very short questions. Okay,
name the automaker, Okay, the corolla, man handy?

Speaker 5 (01:42:00):
What is toyota?

Speaker 2 (01:42:02):
The charger and the rango?

Speaker 5 (01:42:05):
What's the dodge?

Speaker 7 (01:42:06):
I have to wait till love and I think I
think this is pretty synced up.

Speaker 2 (01:42:11):
I don't think. I don't think. Okay, the civic and
pilot God that Honda? Correct?

Speaker 5 (01:42:20):
I'm sorry what Ben?

Speaker 2 (01:42:21):
I said? What is Honda? What is too much?

Speaker 5 (01:42:25):
I'm taking your point away. I'm taking the point away.

Speaker 2 (01:42:28):
All right? The boxter and what is portion? Okay, maybe
that's not quite sac up to.

Speaker 7 (01:42:35):
One last one, the firebird and the great Ben. Okay,
who knows CPR which means the CP and R will
come in order?

Speaker 2 (01:42:50):
And the correct response?

Speaker 5 (01:42:51):
Oh God, we.

Speaker 7 (01:42:53):
Use this word Spanish for godfather, for a close friend
or associate.

Speaker 5 (01:43:04):
Manny, what is compadre?

Speaker 13 (01:43:06):
Oh yeah, I'm sitting there like I was, like right
there on the tip of the tongue.

Speaker 2 (01:43:12):
I hate that.

Speaker 5 (01:43:13):
It was a fine game you would have won had
you merely followed the rules. Yeah, well, you know me,
I'm not much a rule I know. I know, Ben,
You've been everywhere. You were on with Ross earlier and
now you're on with me. You're just basically a KOA
radio whore. That's what you are.

Speaker 2 (01:43:26):
I was using a different word to start with an S,
but you know that works too. I you know the A.

Speaker 13 (01:43:31):
People don't realize the A and KOA stands for ko
Albright which a lot of people want to God, almost
everybody you might want to kao.

Speaker 2 (01:43:38):
After that.

Speaker 5 (01:43:41):
On that note, we'll turn it over to KOA Sports
not King of Albright Sports.

Speaker 2 (01:43:46):
Where you can get with me too.

Speaker 5 (01:43:47):
Now, are you gonna be on that too? What's coming up?

Speaker 2 (01:43:50):
Uh myself Ryan Edwards.

Speaker 5 (01:43:51):
We're gonna be a Jaquan mcmillion from the Broncos.

Speaker 2 (01:43:54):
Gonna be fun.

Speaker 5 (01:43:55):
There you go, that's all coming up next. I'll be
back tomorrow for a big Friday show. Keep it on Koa.
He