You're listening to KFI AM six forty wake Up Call with me Amy King on demand on the iHeartRadio app.
KFI nd KOST HD two, Los Angeles, Orange County.
It's time for your morning wake up call.
Here's Amy King.
Good morning. This is your wake up call for Thursday, March twentieth. I'm Amy King. We're live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app. Welcome to Spring. Spring arrived at two one am today and it's going to feel very spring. Nice, nice day, gorgeous sunshine. You know, I was driving home yesterday and I'm always amazed at things you see in a big city. So I'm driving down the five so it's like, you know, ten lanes of freeway and there's this gorgeous, big old blue herong sort of floating across
the freeway. There's blue herons in Griffith Park. There's a couple I think, nesting around silver like two, and you just go, well, you just don't expect that in a city of ten million people. It's very cool to see. And speaking of big birds, you know you're doing something too much when you start dreaming about it. I dreamt about the Egletz last night. Okay, So you know, were watching the eglitz. There's still two up in the eagle nest high above Big Bear Lake, and they're so fun
to watch. They were like kind of biting each other yesterday, which is called bonking. It's all very normal. And then one of the bigger one like sits on the little one. I'm like, what is the deal with that? But they're they're getting fed, they're doing well and thrilled about that.
So I'm dreaming and I had taken the eglets out of the nest and they were in my room and I was going to put one of them on my bed, and I went, oh, it's going to do one of those they call it poop shoots, and they have to go to the bathroom and they out the nest. And then I turned around and Jackie was sitting there, and you know, the eagles are like almost three feet tall, and I was like, oh, And then I woke up weird, Right, Maybe I shouldn't watch quite so much. Here's what's ahead
on wake Up Call. La County's nine to one one system has gone down again. The Sheriff's Department says the system was out for about twenty minutes yesterday because of what it says was a drop in electricity voltage from a utility company. The Sheriff's Department's dispatch system went out on New Year's Eve. That outage lasted about two days.
Thousands of people could lose their jobs and services could be cut in the city of la The city is facing a projected one billion dollar budget shortfall for the next fiscal year. Governor Newsom has sent cell phones to CEOs of the top one hundred California based companies Newsom's offices. The Governor's been mailing the phones out since November. His number is programmed into the contacts, he says it so he can connect more directly with business leaders in the state.
Israel has boots on the ground again in Gaza, and ABC's Jordana Miller is going to join us in just a couple of minutes. Apparently air raid sirens have been going off as Israel faces attacks for multiple fronts. It's been more than sixty years since President Kennedy was assassinated, there's still huge interest in what really happened, and Brad
Garrett is going to join us. Tell us whether we're getting any answers from the release of those JFK files Also Disneyland touted is the happiest place on Earth, but ABC's Jim Ryan says the happiest place is actually a few hundred miles north of us. We'll tell you about that. That's coming up before the top of the hour. Let's get started with some of the stories coming out of the KFI twenty four hour newsroom. LA's financial problems could lead to thousands losing.
Jobsdy administrator Matt Zabel hasn't painted a pretty picture for LA's cash position. He says the city's depleted tax revenue and rising costs have gotten worse.
The economic conditions contributing to this revenue loss are persisting and in most cases are weakening further.
It's all added up to a potential budget deficit for the next fiscal year of one billion dollars. He says thousands of layoffs could be necessary without a course correction. Michael Monks KFI News.
Some power lines owned by so Cal Edison near the start of the Eton fire in January have been flagged as fire hazards and were overdue for maintenance. Daily Times reports ninety four work orders for the lines were filed with the utility by the end of last year, so Cal Edison has been the target of several lawsuits alleging its power lines started the fire that burned in Altadena, Pasadena,
and Sierra Madre. The man accused of leading San Bernardino County Sheriff's deputies on a chase that led to the death of a deputy has been charged with murder. Ryan Turner also faces charges of evading police and vehicle theft. Sheriff Shannondikas says Deputy Hector Khavas died when his cruiser smashed into a car that was not involved in the chase.
Although these charges that are filed against Turner will not bring Hector back, I open some way that helps the family through.
Their loss, prosecutor say. Turner has faced car theft charges three different times. A state assemblyman from the San Fernando Valley has introduced a bill to eliminate ultra processed foods at schools.
Ultra processed foods have been linked to serious health harms, including cancer, cardiovascular disease, type two diabetes, metabolic disorders, reproductive harm, and neurobehavioral issues in children.
Assemblyman Jesse Gabriel says seventy three percent of adults in the US are obese, and thirty eight percent of kids are pre diabetic. His bill would task scientists with identifying particularly harmful upfs that's ultra processed foods based on scientific research. The measure looks to phase out ultra processed foods in California schools by twenty twenty three, twenty thirty two, that's seven years from now. Maybe they could do it a
little faster. Let's say good morning to ABC's Giordana Miller. Jordana, we're just getting word that the Israeli military says air raids sirens have been sounding in central Israel, possibly from the Gaza Strip. What's going on?
That's right, For the first time since Israel broke the seas fire on Tuesday, Hamas responding firing three rockets on central Israel. Hamas claimed the strikes. The Israelis say they shot down one of these rockets, the other two fell in open areas and no one has been injured. Clearly an escalation here now with Hamas responding to what looks like an expanding military operation once again in the Gaza Strip.
We have now been told by the Israeli army that ground troops are operating not just in central and southern Israel, which was what we were told several hours ago, but now as well in northern Gaza. The Israeli Army also taking back part of that very critical corridor, the Nizarim Corridor, which cuts the Gaza Strip in half, separating its northern from its southern area. This is a really important strategic
pathway and Israel. The army had withdrawn from this corridor during the seasfire, and now we're being told that the Israelian Army has taken at least half of that eight mile corridor back. Likely they will take the whole thing.
Okay, And you mentioned that you're also getting worried that there are troops on the ground in northern Israel, which reminds me that when the ceasefire went into effect, we saw tons of Palestinians, you know, marching, not marching, but making their way back north. That was one of the first areas that really came under attack when the war started. Where are they going and have they been told to evacuate?
The Israeli Army has issued evacuation orders in northern Gaza, really all over the strip, in central and southern Gaza, and we are seeing once again Palestinians on the move, fleeing from northern Gaza down to the center and the south. Right, it seems clear that the Israelis are trying to move most of the population once again to the Mawassie. On Mawassie the declared zone safe zone, i'd put it. I'd say that in quotation marks because it was never ever
fully safe, even during the war. But it looks like Israel's trying to move the Gazan population again down south,
move them south. And this is you know, this could be a sign that the Israelis are going to take part of northern Gaza, come in and control it, lay siege or you know, control it inasmuch as they can try to use it in the negotiations against Remember the Israeli Prime Minister says that he started restarted the attacks on Hamas because he wanted them to release hostages, in other words, to come back and negotiate for another seafire. It doesn't look like that kind of pressure is working,
at least not now. We do know that behind the scenes, cutter in Egypt and the United States are working to get the seafire back on track. But it's unclear if Hamas is going to be part of that, right, and they are, you know, they will determine what comes next, Okay.
And Israel says this is just the beginning, so things could continue to escalate.
Unfortunately, unfortunately, Amy, and the depth poll now is over five hundred, right, and that includes more than one hundred children. Once again, the civilians in the Gaza strip paying the heaviest and really most tragic price for this war. Because it should be abundantly clear now that Hamas doesn't care about keeping its civilians safe. Right, they don't care.
Okay, ABC, stre Dona Miller, thank you so much for the information. We will keep an eye on this and talk to you soon. Let's get back to some of the stories coming out of the KFI twenty four hour newsroom. It's so disappointing. We were hoping that that was going to take hold and the fighting wouldn't restart. Governor Newsom says the state is going to keep providing healthcare to illegal immigrants despite facing a budget shortfall for health care costs.
Newsom does say that healthcare for the undocumented population is contributing to rising expenses for the state's medicaid program.
This was something we previewed in the January budget. It's something when I previewed and suffer conversations.
With other governors.
It was highlighted actually in December the Democratic Governors Association as an issue that we're seeing all across the country.
The governor has asked for a nearly three billion dollar loan to cover the program. He had already received a loan from the general Fund for about three and a half billion last week. Republican Assemblyman Carl Demayo suspending all this money on illegal immigrants puts coverage at risk for the elderly, disabled, children, and other low income citizens. Ukraine's President Zelenski has agreed to a partial cease fire following
a phone call yesterday with President Trump. Trump says the call that lasted about an hour, was focused on aligning both Ukraine and Russia in terms of what each is asking for to move forward with a ceasefire. Putin and Trump had agreed to a limited ceasefire to halt attacks on infrastructure during a call on Tuesday. The Pentagon has restored some content to its website that got Stubb scrubbed as part of a sweep of information that promoted diversity, equity,
and inclusion. Kfi's Tammy Truchio says a deleted article about Jackie Robinson's military service is now back on the Defense Departartment's website.
Robinson broke baseball's color barrier in nineteen forty seven, and before that served in the US Army during World War II. He reached the rank of second lieutenant in a tank battalion, but never served overseas.
The Pentagon also restored some web pages yesterday highlighting the wartime contributions of Navajo code talkers and other Native American veterans. Defense Department officials said the Navajo code talker material was erroneously erased. President Trump is expected to sign an executive order calling for the shutdown of the US Department of Education. ABC's Andrea FUJII says the administration has already laid off half of the department's staff.
Sources say the Education Secretary will now be directed to dissolve the agency while keeping critical services and programs in place elsewhere. The order comes after Trump vowed to return education authority to the States.
Trump has complained the agency is wasteful and polluted by liberal ideology, but finalizing the closure of the Education Department is impossible without an Act of Congress. The Federal Reserve Vote Board has voted to keep interest rates right where they are, citing the possibility of a short term rise in prices later this year. FED chair Jerom Palell says there is uncertainty in the US economy.
Recent indications, however, point to a moderation in consumer spending following the rapid growth seen over the second half of twenty twenty four. Surveys of households and businesses point to heightened uncertainty about the economic outlook.
Bell says economic activity continued to expand at a pretty solid pace. In the fourth quarter of last year. The GDP rose two point three percent. He says the consumer uncertainty is related to President Trump's trade and tariff policies. A man accused of stabbing an Orange County Sheriff's deputy in San Clementy has been arrested. State park rangers found the thirty five year old homeless man at Santa Nofre
State Beach yesterday. The deputy was attacked as she conducted what officials say was routine homeless outreach This week she's expected to fully recover from her wounds. California law enforcement officials are again issuing a warning about people impersonating ICE officers and other immigration scams. California Attorney General Rob Bontes as scammers and other bad actors may try to capitalize on fear and uncertainty over the Trump administration's immigration policies.
If you want to fly through the best airport in the US, New York's LaGuardia is the place to go. Forbes Travel named LaGuardia Airport as the best in the US based on a survey of five thousand hospitality and travel experts. LaGuardia was once known as the nation's worst airport and underwent an eight billion dollar transformation. At six oh Five's handle on the news with mo Kelly, What if you called nine to one one and no one answered. It happened for about twenty minutes in La County yesterday.
Let's say good morning now to ABC's crime and terrorism analyst Brad Garrett. Brad, it's been more than sixty years since JFK was assassinated, and there's still this fascination in what really happened. So one let's ask, well, to talk about whether the JFK files are shining any light on that and maybe go back and explain some of the theories.
Okay, so I don't think amy that there is any huge smoking gun in these documents. Now keep in mind, probably nobody has yet thoroughly read eighty thousand pages, if you can imagine even trying to clear this stuff to get it out, because none of it probably was computerized.
But be that what it may.
The indicators by the people who really know this assassination seem to be, Yes, there is some interesting pieces of information in the documents, but nothing that sort of goes oh, so that's what happened kind of thinking, right, And if it does anything, and this is my perspective, it probably fuels some of the conspiracy theories about what actually happened. I think there's not much argument that Lee Harvey Oswald
is the shooter. There's some argument that there might have been a second shooter on the quote unquote Girassy Noll. I think most ballistics experts and medical examiners have more or less ruled that out, but that's still out there. But because we don't have much time, I think the more intriguing piece of information. Is the whole CIA connection or interest maybe is a better word in Lee Harvey Oswald. Now, Oswald was troubled guy. He had problems in school, he
had problems in the Marine Corps. He leaves the Marine Corps in nineteen fifty nine and moves to Russia and Mary's or Russian gets I assumed disillusioned with communism. And sixty two he moves back to the United States and moves to Dallas. And you know, we already knew this, but it seems to be there's some additional clarification without specificity, that the CIA had been tracking Olswald from fifty nine
to sixty three. They apparently were monitoring his movements, his communications. Now, one could argue a me that was because let's go to historical context here. It's during the Cold War and you have an American moved to Russia. That probably raised a lot of eyebrows. So maybe they were keeping track of him, what's his motive, what's he doing in Russia, etc. And then clearly they were, by their own documents, keeping track of him even up to the time of the assassination.
But they were just were obsessed with nobody knowing that they were keeping track of him. Now, could that be simply because of embarrassment they didn't know what he was about to do then he did it, or there is there something else? In other words, is there some sort
of connection or relationship. Again, I'm not suggesting there was between Oswald and the CIA, So that's gonna so that conspiracy theory, of course, will run wildfire, right, And if you add to the Gazilion other conspiracy theories, you know, the Russians had something to do with it, ie the KGB. There's this intriguing travel by Oswald a few weeks before the assassination where he flies to Mexico City. He goes to the Russian embassy and the Cuban consulate. Now the
CI apparently are keeping track of that. But you know, why would he do that? What is that all about? Now he's a pretty nutty guy, so it's hard to say rationally why he was doing that. But then he goes back to the US. He buys the weapons through an alias that they were that was found back in the day. Weapons were sent to him, a handgun in the rifle that he used to shoot President Kennedy. And so do you walk away from at least preliminarily from
these documents, that was Oswald shooter. Yes, but then you can take all these tentacles off of that. It's the yes, but yes, but somebody sent him that, you know, was this a bigger conspiracy to to kill the president? Totally remains to be seen.
What I think is also interesting is like you talk about that the CIA has been had been watching him, and that he moved to Russia, married to Russia, comes back, moves to Dallas. So what are the chances that he moves back from Russia to Dallas and that's just where the president happens to be in the CIA is watching him, and then he goes to the consular. I mean you, like you said, those tentacles, it's just like there's all these like well that sounds more than coincidental. Well, that
sounds more than coincidental. But are we I mean, are we ever going to know?
Well?
I don't know.
If you ask me to guess the documents that would answer at least the CIA questions probably don't exist anymore. I suspect they got flushed a long time ago. So and the other aspect quickly is that I don't think that based on only what I've read that the Warren Commission that investigated the assassination make no mention of this, and the belief is they didn't know about the CIA's connection relationship, whatever the right word is. So we'll see how that flushes out too.
Yeah. I think it makes me want to go watch JFK, you know, with the old movie with Kevin Costner, because in that movie, by the end of it, you went, Okay, everybody was in on it.
Yeah.
Yeah, Well that's good for the movies though, right, good for them. Just got alone, guy, it's it's boring, yes.
Right, all right, ABC's Crime and Terrorism analyst Brad Garrett. Thanks so much for the information and insight. We always appreciate it.
Hey, welcome. Take care, Amy, take care.
It's amazing how we're still so fascinated by that. Family members and supporters of the effort to release Eric and Lyle Menendez from prison are holding a rally in LA today to call out what they say is das the DA's relentless fixation on the past. District Attorney Hawkman has opposed resentencing for the brothers, which could lead to their release. He recently told NBCLA that brothers have not taken responsibility for their crime.
If the menendez Is themselves want to go ahead and make a sincere and unequivocal statement accepting full responsibility for the breath of all the lies that they have told over the past thirty years, we will certainly consider that statement.
The brothers are serving life sentences for murdering their parents in nineteen eighty nine. The resentencing hearing that was supposed to start today has been pushed back to next next month. And entertainment entrepreneur in La charged with a series of federal crimes, including murder, has turned himself in.
Eugene Henley has presented himself as a creative, civic and community leader. Acting US Attorney Joseph McNally says the charges against him paint a different picture.
It is one of a murderer, a thief, a liar, and a cheat and the criminals that enabled him.
Henley, who's also known as Big U, has been accused of working with gangs and racketeering and trafficking and killing an aspiring rapper in Las Vegas.
Michael Monks KFI News Henley has surrendered and says he's done nothing wrong. The drummer for Guns n' Roses has left the band. I didn't even know Guns n' Roses was still together Frank Farrer. Farrar has been with Guns n' Roses for nearly twenty years. In a statement, the band said the split was amicable and they thanked him for his friendship, creativity, and sturdy presence. He was the longest serving drummer in Guns n' Roses history, a reason
that he's left. Not given orange. You're glad you weren't down the one oh one in Tabluca Lake during the afternoon and commute h I get it. A load of oranges spilled out onto the freeway, blocking several lanes of the one on one late yesterday afternoon headed into Sherman Oaks. The oranges orange blocked. Whatever the orange block caused a big traffic pile up as the oranges had to be cleared off the runway. Did they just get brooms and just sort of roll them off? Really put a squeeze
on the PM? Yeah? Okay. La Mayor Bass says it's time to stop repeating past mistakes and find ways to maximate maximize taxpayer dollars or comments come as the city's administrative officers. Is LA's facing a about a billion dollar budget shortfall next fiscal year. Bass is directing city officials to find up to nine hundred million dollars in savings while working to protect essential services. President Trump expected to sign an executive order to dismantle the Department of Education.
He'll then direct Education Secretary Linda McMahon to start closing the department to return authority back to the States. Completely eliminate the department does require congressional approval. The Federal Reserve has left interest rates right where they are. FED Chair Jerome Powell announced that rates are going to stay unchanged following two days of meetings. Powell says the Fed is not in any hurry to cut rates as economic uncertainties
continue over President Trump's tariffs. At six five, it's Handle on the News with special guest hosts Moe Kelly. When it's time to get your social Security you're not going to be able to just phone it in anymore so. LA Police Chief Jim McDonald talked with Gary and Shannon about those new crime numbers that the statistics that were just released and got to dig into them a little bit what they actually mean. Gary asked the chief. What some of the highlights of the statistics are.
Yeah, I think the big ones had struck me or the reduction and homicides were down fourteen percent from the year before, and that is that's a big one. That's the one that everybody counts very accurately. So I think as a measure of successor, we looked to that one for twenty twenty four. Then we built on that in the first quarter this year. We're down an additional forty percent for twenty twenty four. The victims shot, a number
of people shot was down nineteen percent. Rapes decreased by almost one.
Hundred during the year.
Robbery's saw a slight decline and then a large decline in aggravated assaults from over twenty thousand down two seventeen thousand and six. And so all in all, look at it numbers across the board, twenty twenty four was a good year for Los Angeles.
I remember a press conference five hundred years ago. You were an assistant chief at the time. Bill Bratton was there, and you guys, the focus was talking about community policing, and you know the broken windows theory, and I know you're a big community policing guy. And now that you're back at the helm of the LAPD, do you see room for more of that? Is that one of the items on your agenda is to really I mean post pandemic, post prot test life.
Is this something that could really.
Create great strides in Los Angeles right now in twenty twenty five.
Yeah.
Absolutely. I think we're looking at comunity policing as more of a philosophy how we do business, looking at the root causes rather than just the symptoms or incidents. That's a focus that we have taken them will continue to take. I look at the areas that are covered by our folks who work the Community Safety Partnership Bureau, where they focus community policing efforts and strategies on particular places. Homicides fell by forty percent in those areas in twenty twenty four.
And so when you look at the success of engaging with the community, nobody knows a particular neighborhood better than the people who live there. So if we can make them part of the public safety equation and partner with them, we get tremendous results. So the effort will be to continue that and take it to a new level.
Chief McDonald graduated from the LA Police Academy and Shannon asked him if there are any cases or interactions from the past that remind him why he does what he does. Oh.
Absolutely, you know, thinking back, that was forty four years ago, and I remember it like it was yesterday. But coming out onto the street in the city I didn't know at the time with people I had never met before was something that was exciting but challenging. And to be able to kind of acclimate to a new culture and
certainly a new career. I look back on that and the thing that reminded me continuously of why we do what we do sometimes under the most difficult to circumstances, is because of the victims, the people out there who truly need the police, who without the police would be living in terror, be locked in their homes and not be able to function in the way that we all
as Americans would expect to be able to. And so yeah, I've constantly been reminded throughout my career of why I'm here, primarily because of the people who need us the most.
I love that police are here to help. Time to get in your business now with Bloomberg's Courtney Donaho Good morning, Courtney.
Yes, good morning, and this report, by the way, is brought to you by Fidelity Wealth Management.
I want to mention that before we start, Okay, well, then a fun back in. Then let's get right back into it. The buzziest bars around the nation shots are going upscale, the buzziest bars.
Yes, okay, first of all, so it is five o'clock somewhere. It's five o'clock in the morning though for you, so I think it's the appropriate time to talk about shots. So I'll bringing a little song for you. Yes, sim bars all around the country, shots are having.
An upscale moment.
So these cocktails becoming big business, driven by inflation. Pinch drinkers they want a little something even though it's small and ironically the growing movement toward drinking less. So they're serving everything from high end jello shots with fancy presentations to palate cleansing shooters similar to a sore bay course and a fancy meal. Even zero proof shots are increasingly popular.
For those zero proof shots, yeah, because well, people want to participate, they want to show it on social media, but they don't want the effects of the hangover the next day, so they say okay, well, I'm going to have something nice and fun. It's not just going to be a shot of water. And yeah, this is probably zero proof and low proof are popping up all over.
Are they less expensive if there's no booze in them?
Yeah?
Usually they're they're just slight less expensive.
So instead of twelve dollars, they're eleven, Yes, exactly.
But they use a lot of high end ingredients, which they say adds to the cost of everything. But yeah, people, people are seeing, you know. They They actually say one of the bars that it's kind of like the fijeita away where they see people come in or them serving all these shots and then every other table wants to join in, kind of like when they bring out a fajita platter and everybody's fell and every he says, oh yeah, I want that too. Okay, So they're seeing that with shots.
I think if you're going to spend all that money on it, you might as well sip it and savor it. That's just me exactly, Okay, I hear you, girl. Let's talk about the FED meeting yesterday. They said there's uncertainty, but they said, hey, we're plugging along pretty good, so we're not doing anything.
Yeah, Well, one thing is j Powell, who's the Federal Reserve chair. He cons a lot of minvestors who are worried about tariffs. He said the Central Bank sees no need for drastic action in the face of this trade war. But one thing that he did say that kind of perked up the years of a lot of people is that the inflationary impact of tariffs is likely to be transitory, so it's going to be brief. Now.
He used the word transitory.
We've heard that, and that surprised a lot of people in the past because the Fed used the same exact word when inflation exploded following the pandemic, and remember that we got they got it wrong then them and a lot of others got it wrong then. So the President also took to social media right away and he said, you know what, we need lower rates. So there's a
lot of questions about what's going to be ahead. But you know, he was asked about sagging sentiment from businesses and consumers, and he did say that the hard data shows the economy is still solid.
Okay, good news, good news. Bloomberg's Courtney Donaho, thank you so much getting in your business and we'll do it again tomorrow, definitely, see Lena. All right, thanks. I have fun with those shots. No, I'm not a shots person, never really have been. But if I'm going to buy one, at least it should have some booze in it, exactly. Especially yeah, a non alcoholic shot. Come on, let's get back to some of the stories coming out of the
KFI twenty four hour newsroom. A woman from Rancho Cucamonga is facing charges for the drug related death of a ten year old boy. Christina Alvarez is accused of child endangerment and could also face other charges. The boy was found unresponsive back in December and later died. It was determined that he died from fentanyl toxicity. Investigator say Alvarez had stored fentanel in her home in a way that
led to the boy's death. Officials in California have again issued warning about phony ice officers and other immigration scams. Kfi's Tammy Truchillosa's State Attorney General, Rob Bonte has released guidelines to help illegal immigrants.
Spont Is, again warning scammers and other bad actors who may seek to capitalize on fear and uncertainty over the Trump administration's immigration policies that they'll be held accountable.
She says guidance has also been issued to law enforcement prosecutors and public institutions on complying with state law. An article about Jackie Robinson's military service on the Defense Department's website has been restored. It was taken down as part of the Trump administration's campaign against DEI. Before the article was put back up, the URL directed users to a link that added the letters DEI in front of the word sports heroes. Robinson broke baseball's color barrier in nineteen
forty seven. Before that, he served in the Army in worldorld War II. A woman in Santa Anna has been taken into custoday after she called police from a hotel and told them she had killed her eleven year old son. Polise say the child had been stabbed several times when police found the woman at the Lakina Inn around ten am yesterday. They say she had ingested something and was
taken to the hospital. Governor Newsom says the state's going to keep providing healthcare to illegal immigrants despite facing a budget shortfall for healthcare costs. Republican Assemblyman Carl Demayo says spending millions from the general Fund on illegal immigrants puts coverage at risk for elderly, disabled children and other low income citizens. The University of California has ordered a state
wide hiring freeze and is making other cuts. President Michael V. Drake said during the UC regents meeting yesterday that higher education in the US is in a time of great and uncertainty. He told UC campuses to prepare strategies and management plans to address shortfalls as the Trump administration threatens to cut federal funding to universities. We're just minutes away from Handle. On the news this morning, Hey, what if you called nine to one to one and no one answered?
It happened for about twenty minutes across Elle County yesterday. Let's say good morning right now to ABC's Jim Ryan. So, Jim Disneyland Build is the happiest place on earth, But that's not quite accurate. It's actually about three hundred and eighty miles to the north Fremont.
Yeah, Freemont, Fremont, at least according to wallet Hull this well, I.
Worked in the Bay Area. Fremont was kind of a not a great place, but that was, I mean one hundred years ago.
So well, things have changed in the last century. Apparently this is World Happiness Day. For the last thirteen years, the United Nations has been looking at world happiness and has declared March twentieth has World Happiness Day. It coincides with first day Spring this year. And so there you go. The happiest countries in the world amy are Nordic countries. Finland is top of the list for the eighth row,
in eighth year in a row. The United States now has fallen below the top twenty is now in number in twenty fourth place among happiest spots on Earth. Those are the countries as far as the city's wallet of the personal finance Companye has taken a look at that, and yeah, I found that the top three cities for happiness Fremont, California, San Jose, California, and Irvine.
Really yeah, okay, yeah, San Jose. I'm going to make a note of this in turn.
Okay, so fourth place though behind those California cities. Who soo falls South Dakota.
Really okay, I think I flew into there, no anyway, So what determines the happiness? I mean, do they just walk around and see if people are smiling or what.
No, Well, lest they do survey people, they also look at some objective figures like the employment rate, the income levels, the divorce rates, among people's suicide rates. Depression. That's the subjective thing, depression that is surveyed by. So they ball us all up a couple of different about two dozen different criteria to come up with this list, and sure
those three California cities come out the top. Los Angeles number seventy seven, which is okay, I mean, considering there are one hundred and eighty two cities on this list. Right above Los Angeles is Riverside, California, So I mean, California does pretty well on this list overall. And a lot of West Coast cities.
Out here, okay, anywhere else in the Midwest besides zious falls.
Lincoln, Nebraska is in sixth place, Overland Park, Kansas in fifth. So it's not necessarily the big cities with lots of things going on all year long. It's kind of the quieter places that have low crime rates, have high income levels, and people are generally satisfied living in place like Lincoln, Nebraska, Madison, Wisconsin.
What's so great about living in Finland. I don't know.
People are just kind of happy there. I mean, the weather is fairly mild, income levels are high, the crime rates are low, and people just seem to like living there and they say so in this World Gallop survey that has has brought Finland to the top of the list for the last eight years. So it's interesting. And the same survey shows that in the US we had been in the top twenty at least for the last several years, but now are have dropped down below that to twenty four.
I think we're a grumpy bunch these days, broken bunch. Yeah. What's the what's the least happiest cities?
The least I guess most unhappy city down at the bottom of the list Cleveland, Ohio to number one hundred and eighty two.
But they had a great show with Betty White on a couple of years ago.
Yeah, in Detroit's above them, Memphis, Tennessee, which I was surprised that people in Memphis. I've been to all three of those places and people don't seem too grumpy there.
Okay, Well, good to know that Fremont, San Jose, and Irvine are top three. I think I'm gonna go to Irvine. I need to get happy, all right.
What are you gonna do there?
I don't know. I'm just gonna walk around and be happy. That's good, all right, ABC, Jim Ryan, thanks so much. All right, let's get back to some of the stories coming out of the KFI twenty four hour newsroom. The City of la is facing a nearly one billion dollar deficit for the next fiscal year, which starts on July first. Mayor Bass says she's promising to leave no stone unturned to make up for the budget shortfall. She says her budget proposal will deliver fundamental change to the way the
city operates. A letter to the city Administrative office calls for a plan to save between five hundred million and nine hundred million dollars in structural budgetary expenses. A city official says layoffs are going to be inevitable.
This is my last video before I turned myself in.
Music executive and community activist Eugene big U Henley has been taken into custody for allegations of running a mafia like organization. TMZ posted Henley's video from his van with his family on the way to surrendering himself.
A lot of.
Stuff going here in a straight trash. I appreciate the love, appreciate the people who they help me. Henley's accused by the US Department of Justice of leveraging his alleged connections with the South La Street Gang the roll in sixties neighborhood crips to run an outfit whose crimes include murder, trafficking, and COVID fraud. Elon Musk says he's surprised by the level of hatred coming from the left. He was talking about the fire bombings and vandalism at Tesla dealerships across
the US, including in San Diego. He says Tesla is a peaceful company and has never done anything wrong. People are upset about Musk's work with President Trump to cut the federal government's budget. Wizards and muggles are invited to enjoy butter Beer Season at Universal Studios.
See Deliciously Magical event is back at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter and Universal Studios, Hollywood. That means you can get your hands on new Harry Potter merch, treats and drinks like the butter Beer Creampuff caramel or chocolate bar and fan favorite the ice Lolly.
We came last year to it coming back in and this year is a muss.
Guests say they love the butterbeer flavor because it immerses them in Harry Potter's world.
It was his favorite drink. After all.
It's fun, it's tasty, and you know it's a part of the complete experience. It really immerses you in the storytelling of Harry Potter.
You can still get the classic butterbeer flavors too. Butterbear Season runs now through May thirty. First, how the Brooker kaf I news.
Is buttered beer another one of those non alcoholic.
Sounds like it drinks if Harry Potter drinks it, I suspect, So.
Either that or he's doing a lot of underage drinking. Hey would love for you to join us. We've got the Wiggle Waggle Walk coming up very soon. It's just over two weeks away, Sunday, April sixth at Brookside Park at the Rose Bowl. It's the Wiggle Waggle Walk and Run for Pasadena Humane. We're of course raising money for Pasadena Humane, an organization that saves thousands of animals lives in our community every year. They have foster care, they
have a kitten nursery, they have an animal ICU. In fact, if you want to check out my instagram at Amy K. King, we went out out and about to Pasadena Human a couple weeks ago and you can see some of the little surgeries that they're doing on the kiddies. And this year especially important because they have taken in over a thousand animals from the eating fires and they're still boarding some of them. So we're raising money to help the
animals and would love for you to join us. We have a team, it's called the Wake Up Call Wigglers. Please come walk with us pretty please. The event opens at eight, the walk and run starts at nine. There are vendors, there are food trucks, training demonstrations, there's a dog costume contest if you'd like to dress up your dog. Of course, KFI Booth is going to be out there, and we have some exclusive KFI swag that we want
to hand out to you first three hundred people. We'd love to raise ten thousand dollars to help out our good friends at Pasadena Humane, So if you can donate or if you'd like to walk with us, either one or both. We would love to have you join us in some capacity. KFIAM six forty dot com. Wiggle that's where you sign up, that's where you donate. It's the Wiggle Waggle Walk. We would love for you to join
us on Sunday, April sixth. Please sign up today. This is KFI and KOST HD two Los Angeles, Orange County Southland Weather from KFI. It's sunny for the first day of spring. Highs will be in the sixties at the coast and Antelope Valley load to mid seventies for Metro La Inlando, c in the Valley's mid to upper seventies for the Inland Empire. It's gonna be sunny with highs in the low seventies to low eighties tomorrow and then Sunday with highs in the seventies. Saturday warms back up
for Sunday highs in the seventies and eighties. It's fifty three in Los Alamitos, forty six in Santa Clarina forty nine and Seal Beach forty nine in Torrance. We lead local live from the KFI twenty four hour news room. I'm Amy King. This has been your wake Up Call. If you missed any of wake Up Call, you can listen anytime on the iHeartRadio app. 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 kf I Am six forty and any time on demand on the iHeartRadio app.