You're listening to k f I, a M six forty wake up call with me Amy King on demand on the iHeartRadio app.
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Everyone, jo it's time for your morning wake up call, and good morning.
This is your wake up call for January first, twenty twenty. I am Michael Monks, sitting in for Amy King on this first day of the year. I hope you didn't party too hard last night that you're waking up with a headache this morning. Although if you are just now only on your way home, good for you. Be careful out there. Happy New Year, La. Lots of fireworks last night downtown, very difficult to sleep to prepare for tonight's show, this morning show, I should say, But that's all right.
We're excited a fresh start for all of us. It was a foggy drive from downtown to Burbank today, but that fog is gonna break up a little bit, some of the clouds will go away. We should have a pretty nice day to day with just partly cloudy skies. Here's what's up ahead on your very first wake up call of the year. LA starts the new year with
financial problems just like it ended it. It looks like one of the city's resolutions for twenty twenty five is to borrow more money in order to finance debt so it can continue to pay out large legal settlements. It's also got a stockpile of money designated for homeless programs that hasn't been spent. It's all caught the attention of the city controller and we'll talk with him. Try January, Are you participating? This is when people give up alcohol
for the month. A pollback in twenty twenty one found thirteen percent of adults in the US we're going to try it, But by the next year, a different poll saw that number go up to thirty five percent. Researchers have said there are benefits to scaling back on your alcohol consumption for a month. Well, now there's a new store just in time for this occasion. It's in South Pasadena. It's a non alcoholic bottle shop. We'll hear from one of the owners. And did your shopping habits change in
twenty twenty four? Did you go back to Walmart after having graduated to fancier stores. Well, lots of people did, and that made the retail chain one of the big winners for the year. Now the company thinks it can keep its new wealthier customers. We'll review the winners and the losers in retail and restaurants from the past year, and then, as always, coming up at six oh five,
it's Handle on the news. Still without handle this week, right, Wayne Resnick, our friend is in for Bill Handel, and I'll join him for that six o'clock hour as well.
Hope you will join us too.
But let's start with some of the stories coming out of the KFI twenty four hour newsroom. Some tragic news out of New Orleans. Ten people have been killed thirty injured after a vehicle was driven into a crowd in that city's Canal and Bourbon streets this morning. New Orleans police earlier said they were responding to a mass casualty incident and including fatalities. The mayor just spoke and called
it a terrorist attack. The city's emergency alert system has advised people to stay away from that very busy and popular area. A brush fire in Pacific Palace Set excuse me in Pacific Palisades grew to about nine acres this morning, but firefighters seem to have it under as of this hour. The first fire crew showed up just after midnight on Via Las Palmas near Via La Costa. The La County Fire Department and the La City Fire Department both attack
those flames from the air. The Tournament of Roses parade marches through Pasadena this morning starting at eight o'clock. People have camped out overnight for prime real estate to catch a good view of the five and a half mile route. If you're thinking of heading that way this morning and you have not left yet, Public Transit is offering some deals. La Metro has added early morning trains on the A line that's the Long Beach to Azusa train. It can
be picked up at Union Station. Metrolink has also added early morning trains on the Ventura County, Orange County and the ninety one Paris Valley lines today, as well as adjusting service on the Antelope Valley and San Bernardino line so that those trains can arrive at Union Station between seven and seven thirty am. After this parade floats are displayed near Victory Park in Pasadena, and La Metro will offer shuttle service from Sierra Monde Station to the post
parade viewing area. The Rose Bowl, part of this year's college football playoff, kicks off at one o'clock with the Ohio State Buckeyes and Oregon Ducks looking to advance to the semi finals.
So if you're not.
Taking metro and you're gonna be driving on the roads, maybe we should take a look at them and see what's going on. Right now, We've got to crash on the one ten through downtown LA.
That's on the northbound side of the one ten, actually on the connector to the eastbound ten. Gotta crash partially blocking the connector road. It's keeping things so slow through there. And this is also on the one ten north found through Downtown LA right before the one ten connector. Got
a disabled vehicle. It's blocking the center lane. It's pretty foggy through that area, so be sure to be sure to slow down if you're making your way through there in case that vehicle is still out in lanes and now heading over to the ninety one eastbound through Bellflower.
Taking a look at the connector to the six oh five.
Looks like the connector to the southbound six oh five is currently closed from the ninety one eastbound. This is due to an accident that's currently blocking lanes on the Connect Road.
C HP is on this there.
Be sure to look out for some stomp and go traffic from right around Clark Avenue if you're making your way through there. Now we're taking a look at the tenees Pound through mid City. Right in Normandy Avenue, who got a two car smashups over on the right shoulder. This just occurred, so be sure to look out for a little bit of accident debris that may still be in lanes. And over on the sixties Pound through Chino right after Mountain Avenue, got a report of a disabled vehicle.
It's taken up the right lane. It'll keep you slow if you're making your way through there. With Southern California's most accurate traffic reports, I'm Seth Blackman.
Thank you, Seth. The City of la has a serious budget problem. It's already basically frozen hiring in most departments. It's cut back on funding for essential city services like street light repairs and animal shelters, and now it may have to pull out the credit card to cover its rising bills related to legal settlements. City Controller Kenneth Mahea has said the city is going broke. I spoke with
him about the situation in November. Controller Mahea, I noticed that on your social media explanations about the city's finances, you were using the word broke a lot going broke.
La is going broke.
You know, those of us who are individuals with money, we might have an understanding of what it means to be broke, But man, what does it mean for the City of La to be going broke?
Right?
So, what it means is that we are depleting our general fund, specifically our reserve fund. Our reserve fund is at a record level, low below our five percent, and essentially we have the city has overestimated how much revenue we were collected, and we actually ended up collecting two hundred and twenty two million dollars short of that revenue budget.
So that's that's one big shortfall.
The second thing is that we are overspending a lot, right, We overspent a lot last fiscal year. The top overspender was police. And thirdly, we are spending a lot on liability payouts. We are paying out record level liabilities. And so when you combine the revenue shortfall for spending and all the liability payouts, that is just not a good recipe for being fiscally sound.
To help our listeners understand the reserve fund is I guess it's something that somebody like Dave Ramsey might tell you should have some money put aside that you're not messing with just in case you need to tap into it. But statutorily, LA prefers at least to keep a certain percentage of the overall general budget in what is called the reserve fund, and they have already depleted that to a point that the words fiscal emergency have been tossed around.
Is that right, right?
Exactly?
So you know, if we get down to two point seventy five percent of general fund revenues, then we will have to basically take any vote that takes money from the reserve front from city council every time we pull from it. So, you know, we were at record level highs and now we're below, you know, four percent, and if we keep paying out all these liabilities and overspending,
it'll just keep going lower and lower. And the city's actually looking to borrow money now about eighty million dollars, and you know the cost of that debt is an additional up to twenty million dollars an interest.
And you're talking about borrowing money because of the liabilities. And another way to frame that is lawsuits against the city. And I've sat through a lot of city council meetings since the spring, a lot of the budget process and a lot of the budget committee meetings. So before the new budget was adopted and now after, we are seeing some pretty significant settlements with people who have sued the city for a variety of reasons. Sometimes it involves misconduct
and the police department. Sometimes people are falling and hurting themselves because of poor infrastructure, and we'll get to the irony of that momentarily. But the city puts aside a certain amount of money every budget cycle to deal with lawsuits. Governments get sued. They are only a few months into this new fiscal year and all ready that money is gone. How significant is that this year compared to other years.
Yeah, so you know, this year we budgeted eighty seven million dollars. We've already spent one hundred and forty one million dollars in the first four months of the fiscal year, about close.
To ninety million dollars.
Of that, one forty one is police and then the rest is about related to infrastructure related you know, accidents, trip and fall, a light falling on someone's head. So you know, these liability payouts are very, very significant. And even last fist figure too, we spent about a quarter
billion on these liability payouts as well. So you know, when we went into this new fiscal year, that reserve one is just getting depleted, and it's still getting depleted now we're looking to borrow money in order to replenish it.
Okay, And so when the city is creating its budget, there's obviously a lot of different departments and they all get a certain amount of money. And for example, one of those departments might be Public Works that helps improve sidewalks that are in bad shape, roads that are in need of repair. You said trip and fall. As it
relates to lawsuits, they are generically classified that way. But it's not that simple for a lot of the people who have been hurt, suffering serious injuries because of bad infrastructure. And I suppose the irony that I referenced earlier is that with the budget crunch the city is facing, they don't have the money to fund those departments in a way that can help prevent these lawsuits. And so without the money to fund the departments to fix the bad infrastructure,
more lawsuits are likely. Is that a correct understanding?
Yeah, I would say there are two buckets of what we're seeing on what makes up the majority of liabilities, right, it's departments who give rise to liabilities, whether it's excessive or a lawful use of force which would get sued a lot on, or it's related to dangerous conditions you know, such as trip and fall, you know, potholes, and those are from departments who are underfunded. And the way the city gets held accountable to fix thing is, as sadly is, through lawsuits.
And so now the city is in a position where it might have to issue some sort of debt and finance and pay more than they already are to settle some of these lawsuits because the budget is already depleted and with conditions as they are, leading to the potential for more lawsuits. From your perspective, do you see a cycle that's currently endless?
Yes, And city council and the mayor they need to know that we need to tackle these things at their root cause because you know, we're taking money from a reserve fund. But what's also not being talked about is We basically cut most departments budgets this fiscal year. Even my office got our budget cut to cover all this overspending and all these liability payouts, and so you know, there's no more money to take away from department. So
now we have to just look to borrow money. But if we don't stop the bleeding at the sourus, then this is just a never ending cycle.
The City of La also has a pile of money for homeless services, but it hasn't spent it all. That's also gotten the attention of the City Controller's office. We'll have more with Kenneth Mahea coming up, but we'll continue to check the roads as we all either wake up on this first day of January twenty twenty five, or maybe we're heading home from our parties this morning.
Be careful out there.
If you are driving on the ten, be aware there's a crash going through downtown La. Good morning, it's five nineteen on your wake up call. Here on KFI. I'm Michael Monks in for Amy King on this first day of twenty twenty five. Here's what we're following in the KFI twenty four hour newsroom. Ten people have been killed, thirty others injured after a vehicle was driven into a crowd on New orleans Famed Canal and Bourbon Streets in the first hours of New Year's Day. New Orleans Mayor
LaToya Cantrell has called it a terrorist attack. The FBI has taken over the investigation. An agent says at least one suspected improvised explosive device has been found at the scene. Actor and director Justin Baldoni has filed a defamation lawsuit here in LA against The New York Times after actress Blake Lively filed a complaint with the state alleging a difficult work environment on the set of the film It
Ends with Us. Baldoni and nine others filed the suit, arguing The Times to communications out of context in order to mislead readers with the December twenty one story with the headline we can bury anyone inside a Hollywood smear machine. Hundreds of bills signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom
are set to take effect in California today. The list of new laws, most of which are now in effect, include cracking down on retail theft, barring parking near crosswalks, a ban on book bands and a new designation for official statem as. I'll have a few of those for you coming up a little later at the top of the hour six ZH five Handle on the news. Bill Handles still off on his holiday. Wayne Resnick is in for Bill Handle. I'll be there with him. Hope you'll
join us as well. Now, let's finish our conversation with La City Controller Kenneth Mahea and why he thinks the City of La is going broke. You talked about the role of the police and the expenses related to the lawsuits that the city have been spending, and yes, it does look like the balk are related to some sort of police misconduct. And also it's been noted during the budget process that the police department does take up a
significant amount of the budget. But we also know that the police department has struggled to reach its hiring goals, and so I'm wondering from your perspective, whether you see any adjustment in attitude towards how the police.
Department researchers use written.
You talked about the role of the police and the expences related to the lawsuits that the city have been spending, and yes, it does look like the bulk are related to some sort of police misconduct. And also it's been noted during the budget process that the police department does take up a significant amount of the budget. But we also know that the police department has struggled to reach
its hiring goals. And so I'm wondering from your perspective, whether you see any adjustment in attitude towards how the police department is funded and what type of internal changes need to be made so that you think the city is being a little more fiscally responsible in that area.
Yes, I think, you know, city council and the man they need to have a hard reality check on our fiscal health and they need to see what are the top line items that are contributing to you know, our budget deficit and our fiscal crisis. And you know, these are just the numbers, and they could see it at the very top, who are the number one contributor to our liabilities which is police? And also who's the number one contributed to overspending and that is also the police.
And so they need to have a hard look given the context that you know they are trying to hire more and more police officers.
How do we be fiscally responsible, but.
Also you know, in the eyes of government, keep people safe, and they need to have that tough conversation.
And I think, what's that's not happening?
Right?
I think a lot of like that officials.
Are are are really rightfully so putting the blames on you know, liabilities related to crumbling infrastructure, which is right, but you need to also then fund those departments right who handle the infrastructure. But you know what you're seeing is they're actually cutting those departments and they're funding.
The police.
They got over one hundred million dollar increase and they're operating budget this fiscal year while everyone else got their
budget cut. Right, So there needs to just be that hard, truthful discussion to be right and just be honest, like, you know, if we are going to fund the police more than we just have to be honest that we won't be able to you know, trim those trees, we won't be able to provide child care centers for low income founders, we won't be able to fix those sidewalks, we won't be able to help our overcrowded animal shelters,
and they just need to be upfront about it. But of course being transparent and honest about that is not politically you know, looks good for them. So but that's what needs to happen, and that's that's my job as a city controller is to provide that transparency and that sunlight.
Kenneth Mahia is the La City Controller, and we're talking about overspending, but you came out with some analysis this week that points to a rare case of underspending in the city government and it's related to homelessness. You say, in the last fiscal year, which would have run from July one of twenty twenty three to June thirtieth of this year, that the city budgeted one point three billion dollars for homelessness, but it spent under six hundred million
of that. So what does that mean exactly? You know, we think about government saving money, we might pad it on the back a bit, but that this seems to be an area of concern, right.
And just to explain to listeners, because you know, while the City of La is broke, it's important to understand how the city is funded. So the City of La is funded by the general fund and by hundreds.
Of special funds.
The city going broke is more related to the general fund. That's where the reserve fund is. That's where you know, the funds of the department pays all the liabilities. That's the one that's in trouble, which you know we were just talking about the last ten minutes.
These hundreds of special funds.
These are special funds that come from you know, restricted sources like state grants for example, or the federal government, and they can only be used for that specific purpose,
so like homelessness for example. Right, So majority of that underspending of half a billion dollars, majority of that is coming from special funds, like one hundred and eighty five million dollars from state grants that went left on the table which could have helped with homeless housing assistance and prevention, or eighty million dollars which wasn't spent from funds from measure or ULA, right, And so these are restricted funds.
These can roll over to this current fiscal year.
And so what we're seeing is there is an underspending of that amount of money and the money that was generally funded like insights safe, that money got reverted back to the general fund, but then got reappropriated again to spend this fiscal year. So what you're seeing is is that for the number one crisis, we're not spending the money fast enough, especially dealing with you know this, this
this homelessness crisis. And so you know, if you connect the dots on what the city is overspending on and what the city's underspending on, and how the city's finance, you get a better picture on how the finances work and the city's priorities.
So there's a lot technicalities and understanding the way a municipality is funded, especially one as large as LA.
And yes, there are a lot of different pools, but.
Do you have any way to explain to us what the homelessness picture might look like in LA had all of these funds been expended. Might there be fewer people living outside? Might there be fewer areas of town that are disrupted by the presence of camps?
Yeah? I mean you know this this year almost this went down by a thousand people. It went down to forty five thousand from forty six thousand, and you know, that was the first time in a long time that we had a decrease, And so, you know, it's just important to make sure that we are spending this money,
especially since voters just approved the measure. A. We need to have more accountability and transparency on how those dollars are spent, and that's what you know we're here to do is try to provide that so people know how their money is being spent, especially for the number one crisis right now.
And I know you have to run a controller, but before you do, I just want to ask about the future relationship between the City of La and the incoming President Trump administration. It does look like the La City Council is trying to rush a vote on establishing a sanctuary city status. We've already seen Governor Newsom call a special session to prepare for what he expects to be
some legal battles against the incoming Trump administration. What impact could a hostile relationship with the federal government have on the way LA operates financially.
Yeah, there's there's always a risk, right if you know, we get we get some funds, some grants from the federal government. So depending on you know, how the federal government reacts or as a relationship with the city, that could definitely be a risk and a concern financially.
Here, Kendeth Mahia is the La City Controller mister Mihia, I know you've got your hands full with the financial situation of this, and I do appreciate you taking some time to explain it to us.
Of course, Thank you.
And when wake Up Call continues here on AM six forty KFI a new bottle shop in South Pasadena, maybe the first of its kind in the area. All of its products are non alcoholic. We're joined by the owner to talk about the strategy and dry weather. Southland weather from KFI. A foggy and cloudy start to the day before the sun comes out a little bit with partly cloudy skies. Will be warmer today too, highs in the upper sixties to mid seventies for Metro La and the valleys.
Cooler on the coasts with highs in the load to mid sixties. Mostly sunny today in the Inland Empire with highs in the mid to upper seventies. Right now, it's forty seven in Villa Park, it's fifty three and our Mossa Beach forty nine in La Pama and forty four in Diamond Bar.
You're listening to wake Up Call on demand from KFI AM six forty.
Good morning and happy New Year. It's five thirty three on your wake up call. I'm Michael sitting in for Amy King on this New Year's Day, the first day of twenty twenty five, and here's what we're following in the KFI twenty four hour news room. Ten people killed, thirty others injured in New Orleans, where a vehicle was driven into a crowd at the famous Canal and Bourbon Streets in the French Quarter. It happened in the early morning hours of this New Year's Day. The city is
also playing host to the All State Bowl. That's one of the college football quarterfinals being held there in that city Caesar super Dome, with thousands expected to be in attendance. City officials have urged crowds to stay away from the French Quarter for now. Firefighters have stopped the forward progress of a brush fire in Pacific Palisades. It burned around nine acres this morning, starting just after midnight near Via Las Pomis and Via La Costa, where the flames and
wind gus teamed up. LAFD air operations were joined by helicopters from the La County Fire Department and making water drops on the fire from the air. Tens of thousands of people are expected to line the streets of Pasadena this morning for the one hundred thirty sixth Rose Parade. Its theme is Best Day Ever. The parade starts at the corner of Green Street and Orange Grove Boulevard and then makes its traditional five and a half mile posession
along Colorado Boulevard. Billy Jean King, a tennis legend and lifelong advocate of gender equality in sports, is the Grand Marshal. Coming up at the top of the hour six oh five. As always, we've got Handle on the news right now. Handle still on vacation. He'll be back soon. Wayne Resnick, our good buddy, is in for Bill this morning. I'll be with them. You can join us as well. Coming up at five point fifty. There's a trend that emerged in twenty twenty four. I'm wondering if you were a
part of it. Maybe people with a little more money, higher earners, wealthier customers turning to Walmart, and why the company thinks it can keep them. But first, there's a new bottle shop in South Pasadena. You're not gonna find your favorite booze there. It's a non alcoholic bottle shop called Burden of Proof. It's owned by Dean Peterson and Obriona McReynolds. Obriona mc reynolds, thank you so much for taking the time to talk to us today.
Yeah, thank you for having me.
My understanding is that Burden of Proof is the first non alcoholic bottle shop in South Pasadena. I guess if I'm opening a business, I'm doing some research on demand before I do that.
So if you're the first, have you identified that there is demand for.
This, well, I you know, when you're starting a business, it's sort of one of a kind, you're going on hunch a lot. But there is an incredible growing demand just across basically all demographics for non alcoholics. The non alcoholic beer Athletic Brewing is the top seller at Whole Foods compared to all other beers. So this category is definitely on the rise. As far as choosing South Pasadena, my partner and I we started the business together. We're
both in our late thirties. We're starting to slow down. We're starting to sort of reconsider our relationships with alcohol and what you know, maybe operating in a low level hangover for a couple of years. Pulds us back from doing and Our hypothesis was that South Pasadena is such a community and family focused place where you know, folks are maybe moving a little bit east, slowing down a little bit, and anywhere there are people sort of entering
that next phase of life, especially parents. I think this demand is extra high because you just want to like be present, you know.
So we hear about dry January every time the new year rolls around, a time where people maybe take a break from drinking alcohol. What are your recommendations for folks who are thinking about exploring that?
M Well, I would say entry level non alcoholics. Stick with what you know you like, so think about Okay, maybe I'm a costail person or maybe I'm a red wine person. I would say those are the places to start, just because those are familiar flavors that you can sort of track down. At burden of Proof, we always have some bottles open to sample too, so I know it can be very intimidating to get to this space and
have no idea what something's going to taste like. So I think that education and getting to taste piece is really important. So start with what you know, and then I would invite people who are feeling a little more courageous to perhaps level up to something new and unfamiliar. So there's a lot of what we call analogs in
the NA space. So that's like the one to one non alcoholic whiskey, beer wine, But then there's also this whole category of drinks that aren't necessarily trying to replicate as the like alcoholics version, but just kind of be their own thing. Maybe scratch the itch that, you know, if you're craving a whiskey, maybe you want something you're
slowly sipping, you know, in front of the fireplace. There are a whole category of brigs that will kind of help you scratch whatever itch it is, but without you know,
being imitating something else. So I think start with what you know and then experiment, you know, with some unfamiliar things, because I think that's the most exciting category in this space because there's so much room for creativity and if you're not like aiming for a specific target, you're just building something that's going to taste really good.
So is this anything like people who maybe dip their toes in vegetarianism, but they really want to eat something that looks like a sausage.
Yeah, totally. So people have absolutely compared it. It's sort of like, Okay, if you're dipping your toe and vegetarian, do you want the veggie burger that's got all that you know, meat, feel and flavor. And some people say yes, And so I would say, okay, go for an in a analog and non alcoholic beer, a non alcoholic whiskey. Some people are like, no, I'm dipping a toe in vegetarianism because I don't want to eat meat. I don't want that flavor. So in that case, like okay, have
a delicious grain bowl or something. And that's sort of where I would steer people to try one of these just standalone spirits. A big part of them is functional beverages. So those are ones with adaptogens, new topics that kind of make you feel a little something, which is what people miss. Yeah, So I mean that's a good way to think about it. Like meatless Monday, maybe we could try Dry January.
Our guest is Obriona mcreynold's co owner of the new non alcoholic bottle shop called Burden of Proof. It can be found in South Pasadena, especially as we head into Dry January, where people maybe take a break from drinking alcohol for about a month. You hinted at this moment ago Obrianna. Your husband, Dean Peterson, who owns this shop with you, you'll met during the pandemic, and drinking was a big part of the pandemic as people were staying home.
It was a lot of what people were posting on social and how they were getting through and coping with this very weird time in our lives. What impact did that have on you and your relationship with alcohol today.
Yeah, that's a great question. I mean, we were well stocked during the pandemic. Dean and I had our first date on Zoom summer twenty twenty, and then our relationship kind of developed from there. And like you said, there was nothing to do but drink, So every time we would spend time together, it was, you know, just the natural thing to have a six packet cider or a
bottle of wine. And so when coming out of the pandemic, Dean had a medical diagnosis and had to stop drinking kind of overnight, and then I, you know, cut back out of solidarity, and I think we had both expected to feel really deprived or like, ah, the world's opening up, but I guess we can't participate you know, not going to go to a party again, not going to go to a bar again. But it was actually kind of
the opposite. I was surprised by just how good I felt, and I think I realized during the pandemic I had been lightly hung over for years and years, so it wasn't necessarily like a giving up of something, but kind of opened our eyes to this space. And then we got really into actually discovering and exploring and tasting all the products that were coming out around that time. And yeah, now I'm just so happy to never be hungover again. Like that's just the best thing. I feel like a craft.
Code for sure. What has the response been. How's business been?
It's been really busy. Like I alluded to, starting a business is just positing a number of hypotheses and then being like, well, okay, we made an educated guest. Let's see if that's correct. And so far, one month into business, it definitely feels like we made the right choice. South Pasadena is really responding. I mean, it's such a community that loves small business. But we've had so many families come in, people bring their kids, people bring their parents
and grandparents and really spread the word. And my most exciting piece is like seeing repeat customers come in, so we have regulars and people are just so excited. There are multiple people who walk in and just sort of say something along the lines of, oh my god, I didn't know this could exist. And that's exactly what we were hoping to create, just a place where people who maybe don't drink for whatever reason can walk in and think, oh my god, I can have everything here instead of Okay,
where's my little tiny shelf in the grocery store. I can choose from these three options. Yeah, and it seems like it's really resonated. So we're excited for dry January and also revamping the back of the store really quickly so we can have more storage space and be sure to keep everything in stock.
Obrionna McReynolds is co owner of Burden of Proof along with her husband Dean Peterson, that can be found in South Pasadena, where it is hailed as the city's first non alcoholic bottle shop. Obrianna cheers to you and Dean, best of luck and best wishes in twenty twenty five.
Thank you you, Happy New Year, and good morning.
It is five forty eight on your wake up call.
I'm Michael Monk, sitting in for Amy King here on KFI AM six forty and live everywhere in the iHeartRadio app. We are following in the KFI twenty four hour newsroom this situation out of New Orleans where police say at least ten people have been killed thirty others injured in a mass casualty incident. They say a car was driven into a crowd on the city's canal in Bourbon Streets at the French.
Quarter, a medical street called B Streets.
On twenty thirty nine.
Will we say a pickup truck plowed into a group of people celebrating New Year's in that French Quarter early this morning. They say the driver has been killed. The mayor there has referred to this as a terrorist attack, although the FBI has not confirmed that it is an official terrorist event. The FBI did say it an improvised explosive device was found nearby and they are handling the investigation. Coming up at the top of the hour around six
TOZHO five. Handle on the news this morning. Wayne Resnick is filling in for Bill Handle. I'll be with him throughout the six o'clock hour, and we do hope that you can join us two as we discuss all the big story shaping the news on this first day of twenty twenty five.
I'm wondering if one of.
Your resolutions this year is to get in shape and lose weight. It is by far the number one New Year's resolution. Healthy living expert doctor Matt Chalmers warns us not to bite off more than we can chew, and says start slow by building up your exercise routine instead of jumping into tough workouts.
Getting started is critical, so if we can just make small changes today, they lead to giant changes in the future.
Chalmers says just getting on a treadmill or walking outside for twenty minutes at least three times a week is a great place to start. A US News and World Reports study shows about eighty percent of New Year's resolutions fail by February.
Chalmers says he has some idea about why.
Typically because the plan is either too big or too aggressive for what they can actually sustain, and so the plans aren't put together really well, and so they fall apart just from that reson.
So good luck to you if that's one of your goals. Just give yourself some space, give yourself some grace. Today's the first day of a new you get on it. Good luck. Who were the winners and losers in big retail and restaurants last year? Yeah, we called twenty twenty four last year. Now the AP has compiled a list. I want to see if it matches your spending experience
last year. The AP says shoppers and diners were especially choosy in twenty twenty four about where and how to spend their money as Americans dealt with high housing high food prices, and that was good news for places like Walmart. Places like Aldi, which target economically stringent customers. Fast food or cooking at home was more popular than eating it sit down restaurants. Department stores like Macy's struggled, while cheaper chains like H and M did well. It seems people
also moved away from buying furniture or investing in expensive renovations. Instead, people opted to freshen up their spaces with new frames and new candles. Course Site Research tracked forty eight retail bankruptcies in the US, nearly double the twenty twenty the twenty five it counted in twenty twenty three. At least twenty two restaurant chains filed for bankruptcy. That's the highest number since twenty twenty. We all know what was happening
that year. So here's some listed companies as compiled by the AP. Among the winners, Walmart. They always do well when the economy is tough. Shoppers turned to Walmart for groceries, which now account for about sixty percent of Walmart's business. And here's the interesting point, people who make more money have also turned to Walmart. Just like in the two thousand and eight Great Recession, households with income of one hundred thousand dollars or more started to make up more
of Walmart shoppers in twenty twenty four. This time, Walmart thinks it can keep those customers because they've added more online services and more stylish clothes and mannequins.
That's what it takes.
Apparently, Amazon was also declared a winner by the AP, and November it opened Amazon Hall. This is a place for folks looking for bargains, looking for deals. It's a new, low cost online storefront featuring electronics, apparel, other products, all listed below twenty dollars, and the company said it's Prime
Day event in July also resulted in record sales. Amazon could have some trouble this year, though, with the threats from President elect Trump about tariffs on products from China, as well as its own labor issues.
Some fast casual chains also did well.
These are the types of restaurants that are a step up from fast food, but they are still a little cheaper than the sit down place, says think. Places like Shape Shack, Cava Wish is a Mediterranean food chain. We've got some locations here in southern California. It says its revenue was up thirty three percent. Chipautle was in trouble at one point for skimping on its meat last year, but then it retrained its workers to ensure quote consistent
and generous portions and McDonald's. Rough start for McDonald's in twenty twenty four inflation kept a lot of people home, but then McDonald's brought out its five dollars meal deal and lower income customers started to return. The company says more value is coming this year. It's also working to get customers back after a little E Coli outbreak linked to raw onions at its quarter Pounders made at least one hundred and four people sick across fourteen States who
were the big losers last year. Let's start with Target. Unlike Walmart, Target is more reliant on what is called discretionary items like clothes because less than a quarter of its sales come from groceries. Remembers sixty percent of Walmart sales are now groceries. Target has a reputation for being a little more expensive, and analysts say its merchandise has lately been in disarray. Still, Target did draw some crowds on Black Friday with exclusive Taylor Swift products.
Starbucks also listed among the losers.
Orders are getting increasingly complex, leading to long lines and incorrect pickup times on the mobile app, and the new offerings like olive oil infused coffee didn't attract customers. Wonder why, and the customers have also grown tired of starbucks high prices.
Starbucks has hired a new CEO to help turn things around, but it's also got labor issues, as we saw just last month right here in southern California, Red Lobster, TGI, Fridays, Buka to Beppo all filed for Chapter eleven bankruptcy protection last year, closing dozens of locations. They are among the legacy restaurants listed as losers from last year. Also big
ticket items on the loser list. You might remember at the height of the coronavirus pandemic, a lot of us were taking advantage of low interest rates and all that stimulus money that we were handed were modeling our homes, making other big purchases.
But last year everybody pulled back.
That's been a challenge for retailers like Best Buy, and that company has noted lower sales of appliances, home theaters, gaming equipment, Home Depot and Lows also say their sales are low, particularly for discretionary kitchen and bathroom remodeling projects. Department stores also struggling, colls eleven consecutive quarters of sales declines. Macy's we already know they're in trouble. They're going to close one hundred and fifty of its namesake stores over
three years, including some local ones. The one in downtown LA also slated to close. Nordstrom, though, on the other hand, had a better than expected fiscal year due to largely soaring sales at Nordstrom Rack. There is no trading on Wall Street today in observance of New Year's Day. The stocks did close slightly lower yesterday, but it was an otherwise winning year. Stock slipped as investors took profits in
the final few trading days of twenty twenty four. The S and P five hundred serge more than twenty percent in twenty twenty four. The Dow and Nasdaq also posted solid annual gains. At Tuesday's closing bell yesterday, the Dow jo In Industrial average lost twenty nine points, the S and P five hundred fell twenty five and the NASDAK dropped one hundred seventy six. And wages are about to go up for millions. A total of twenty one states are raising their wage floors as the new year gets started.
The payhikes are expected to affect more than nine million workers. Once the pay hikes are enacted, Washington will become the state with the highest minimum wage at sixteen dollars and sixty six cents an hour New York. In California we'll share in second place, offering workers sixteen to fifty minimum. And there are some new laws in effect today. We've discussed a lot of them in the newscast leading up to today, but here are some that you really need
to know about. Assembly Bill seventeen ninety seven makes the dungeness crab the official California crustacean. Don't you feel better about California right now?
Abe? Eighteen fifty now?
Lol?
That makes the banana slug the state's official slug. And here you thought it was your ex And ab two five zero four makes the black abalone the state's official seashell.
So there you go.
We have new state crustaceans, slug and seashell as of January first, twenty twenty five, which is today New Year's Day. So happy New Year to you and yours. Did you raise a glass last night at midnight? Did you kiss someone? Did you sing ald laying zime? What does that song mean?
Anyway?
Experts say the eighteenth century Scottish poem can be roughly translated to say old long sense or basically, for old times sake, I read in Yahoo. Robert Burns, the poet, was trying to preserve the Scottish language and culture after Scotland and England formed the United Kingdom. So Burns traveled the country and collected old Scott's poetry and songs, including Old Langsyne. His version was published in seventeen ninety six. So who made it popular in America.
Sit a queen es be fuck Guta, No, not her.
She's still the Queen of Christmas, not New Year's yet here in the US, it was apparently a Canadian bandleader who made it popular. Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadian Big Band played it on a New Year's Eve broadcast back in nineteen twenty nine. In nineteen sixty five Lombardo's Old Life magazine. He came from a part of western Ontario where there's a large Scottish population, and it was traditional for bands to end every dance with ald langzine.
And now who could imagine a New Year's celebration without the song. It's a big part of our culture, including our pop culture, as evidenced by this famous scene from the movie when Harry met Sally.
What does the song mean?
My whole life?
I don't know what this song means. I mean, should old acquaintance be forgotten? Does that mean that we should forget old acquaintances?
And doesn't mean that if we happen to forget them, we should remember them, which is not possible because we've already forgot.
Well, maybe it just means that we should remember that we forgot them or something.
Anyways about old friends?
Should old acquaintance be forgot and never brought to mind? Should old acquaintance be forgot? An old lang zine for old lang zine, My dear for old lang zine. Will take a cup of kindness yet for old lang zine. So here it is Wednesday, January first, twenty twenty five. Good morning to you and happy New Year, Los Angeles. I am Michael Monks filling in for Amy King on this wake Up Call, and this is KFI and KOST HD two, Los Angeles, Orange County.
You've been listening to wake Up Call with me, Amy King. You can always hear wake Up Call five to six am Monday through Friday on KFI AM six forty and anytime on demand on the iHeartRadio app