You're listening to KFI AM six forty wake Up Call with Me Amy King on demand on the iHeartRadio app.
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It's time for your morning wake up call.
Here's Amy k.
This is your wake up call for Wednesday, August fourteenth. Good morning, I'm Amy King. So happy you're starting your day with us. I've got my coffee. I think I might need an extra dose. Our producer and needs extra extra coffee. Was up all night with her sick puppy. I hate when that happens too. You like plan for a good night's sleep and then something funky happens and you're like, okay, well sleep's not happening, sort of like
the earthquake on Monday. I just went laid down having a nice nap and then boom.
But that's okay.
We adjust, right, It's all good and it's going to be a great day, and we're happy that you're here. So let's get started. Here's what's ahead on wake up call. Speaking of earthquakes, this year is the most seismically active year in Sokeal since nineteen ninety eight. Cal Tech seismologist Lucy Jones says we've had thirteen four point zero magnitude or larger quakes, including the four point four that rumbled
near Highland Park and Pasadena. The quake was along the Puente Hills thrust fault system, which Jones says has the potential to cause major damage. US officials are on high alert for a potential Iranian attack on Israel. Iran has refused to back down on its promise to retaliate for the death of a Hamas leader in Tehran. Efforts to reach a ceasefire and Gaza are intensifying as formal negotiations
are expected to resume this week. We're going to be getting the latest from the Middle East with ABC's Jeordana Miller in less than five minutes. A federal judge has ordered UCLA to ensure equal campus access to its Jewish students. The ruling yesterday comes after three Jewish students sued the school in June, claiming it enabled pro Palestinian protesters to block them from certain parts of campus. The lawsuit said UCLA helped enforce a jew exclusion zone.
We're going to be talking tech with the host of Rich on Tech a little bit later this morning.
Rich Dumuroes up in Mountain View for the unveiling of Google's new tech, which means more AI at the tip of your fingers. That's at five point twenty, and then Amy's on it. I'm getting spaced out. I'll let you know if I think you should too, that's coming up at the bottom of the hour. And then if you don't think that there's anything you can learn from your cats, well, a professor at Washington University in Saint Louis, a pretty
prestigious university, would beg to differ. We'll find out more about the science of cats coming up before the top of the hour. Can't wait to talk to him. At six oh five, it's handle on the news. President Biden has awarded one hundred and fifty million dollars to fight cancer. It's part of his Moonshot program. Let's get started with some of the stories out of the KFI twenty four
hour newsroom. A gun registered to an infamous cop killer has allegedly been used by two men from South America who were charged with robbing a man of a million dollar watch in Beverly Hills.
The gun was registered to Christopher Dorner.
We are still investigating how the gun came into their possession.
Assistant US attorney Jenna mac cabe tells KTLA they're also trying to figure out how long the men have been in the US and what are the robberies they may have carried out. Last week, a man was having lunch with his wife and daughters at the Beverly Wilshire when his watch was taken at gunpoint. Officials say that gun belonging to Dorner was found Saturday during a raid at an Airbnb where the alleged robbers were staying. Dorner killed
four people in twenty thirteen, including two police officers. He died during a standoff with police in Big Bear. Nine people have been arrested after pro Palestinian protesters blocked traffic on the southbound four H five in West La demanding a cease firing Gaza.
Some of the protesters identify the Jews and near the Venice Boulevard off ramp with megaphones, causing gridlock in both directions. This Jewish protester says there's a genocide happening in Gaza and they needed to get the Democrats attention.
Unfortunately, it takes disruptions to sometimes get people to remember what's happening, especially when that is happening overseas.
Protesters are calling on Vice President Kamala Harris to end all support for Israel, including supplying the country with weapons. CHP says those arrested yesterday morning will likely face misdemeanor charges once the city attorney takes over. Chris Sadler k i I News.
Vice President Harris's running mate, Governor Tim Wallas, has made his first solo campaign appearance since being named to the Democratic ticket. Well spoke to a union convention in la yesterday, saying his Republican opponents are not looking out for union workers.
The only thing those two guys knows about working people is how to work to take advantage of them.
That's what they know about it.
Well, so the convention. When unions are strong, America is strong. Time to say good morning to ABC's Geordana Miller in Jerusalem. Jordana, with the situation kind of near a boiling point in the Middle East, Iran is showing no signs of backing off its threat to attack Israel in retaliation for the killing of a Hamas political leader in Tehran.
Can you give as the latest on this situation?
Absolutely.
It's true.
The Iranians continue to threaten that they will strike Israel directly, and we're just not sure if it'll come, you know, alone, or with Habalah, one of their proxies, who also has a settle a score to settle with Israel, after Israel claimed the assassination of a top Hasbala commander two weeks ago in Beirut, just hours before the killing of the Hamas leader on Iranian soil in Tehran. But there is a little glimmer of hope here, and that is that
Iran has not struck yet. And we're now it's now Wednesday, were on the eve a very important Gazza seatfire talks that are going to happen tomorrow in Doha, led by the United States by CIA chief Bill Burns, and that appears to have put a Ran and has Balah on pause, their plans to strike on pause. It looks like they both want to see what happens if there's progress made. Remember, Hasbala has said in the past that as soon as there is a Gaza seatfire, it will stop firing on
northern Israel. That won't solve all the problems between Israel and Husbala, but it will help obviously bring down the tensions and the violence and may rein in even Hsbala's reprisal strike. So those talks happening tomorrow. The Israelis, the Americans, the Egyptians, and the Qataris are showing up. Hamas has given mixed messages about whether it will send a representative or not. But I want to underscore that progress can still be made in Doha without Hamas at the table
because Egypt and Cutter are representing. They are mediators for Hamas and they can pass to Hamas bridging proposals or creative solutions for Hamas to weigh in on, you know, at a later time. So there's still it's still an important meeting tomorrow, and if progress can be made, that will you know, really lower the risk here of a major significance strike from Iran Hsbalah, that could, you know, and that will minimize the risk of also you know,
igniting a regional war. So a lot the stakes are high tomorrow.
And you mentioned Jordana that you know, we've gone for a couple of weeks and Iran hasn't struck, and so that could be a good sign.
Our people getting.
More anxious and worried as each day goes by, or are they maybe starting to really feel like maybe an attack isn't imminent.
I have to be honest, it's a roller coaster, and you know, all Israelis are on it, and there can be a day or two where everyone is quite anxious and you know, getting there, you know, making sure everything's in place in their safe rooms or bomb shelters when you know we're told to go there. And then there are days when it feels like today where okay, we can, we can you know, relax a little bit because it's almost certain nothing will happen in the next forty eight hours.
And for those forty eight hours, you know, we can forget about this imminent strike.
You know.
The danger, of course, is that if there is not progress made in Doha. It's crazy to say, but true, that by the weekend it could be back in a situation where we feel like, you know, there's a looming strike and we're all on you know, on hold, waiting for instructions to go into skit rooms or bomb shelters.
And entered into the US has really increased its presence in the Middle East. Lots of ships and carriers and jets and that kind of stuff heading up to that area. Is that having or do people in Israel feel like that's having an effect on Maybe that why Iran's kind of put its plans on pause, or at least maybe hasn't paused them, but isn't doing anything right now.
I do think that Israeli. First all, they're comforted and reassured by the fact that the American President, President Biden, has been so faithful in word and deed. Aside from you know, one dispute over munitions delivery. You know, there are several significant military assets in the region. The USS Abraham Lincoln, you know, is going to get here faster than expected. President Biden and the Pentagon announced that, you know, a missile guided submarine is in the region. The location
is usually top secret. So these are efforts by President Biden to both deter Iran and Husbola, which appear to have worked to some extent, and messages that the United States will help defend Israel. It's in the end, Aaron launches a major aerial attack like it did back in April.
Okay, all right, so for now, we've got talks coming tomorrow.
Is it tomorrow that they are happening.
That's right, Okay, that's right tomorrow in.
Cutter okay, and we'll be watching and hope for the best. Thank you so much, Jordana Miller. Appreciate your input and your insight as Ahoway.
Yes, thanks so much. Tuckson.
All right, let's get back to some of the stories coming out of the KFI twenty four hour newsroom. Fewer kindergarteners are getting vaccinated, according to the CDC, AAMC Research and Action Institute Executive director doctor Atoole Grover says a two percent drop may not seem like a lot, but that is three quarters of a million children who are at increased risk of getting things like measles.
Now, measles we thought we had eradicated twenty four years ago, but now in the last couple of years, we've seen pockets spring up, largely in areas where there are more than a handful of unvaccinated people.
Children born during the pandemic are slightly behind on their vaccinations. Children attending public schools in California must have vaccines for polio, hepatitis B, measles, MOMPS, rebella, chicken pox, and DETAP, which is diphtheria, tetanus and protessis before they go to kindergarten. A new booster for COVID nineteen is expected by the end of August or early September. Thirty eight year old cold case has been solved by investigators with the La County Sheriff's Department.
The unrelated death of a man in twenty nineteen got the ball rolling. February twenty first, nineteen eighty six, nineteen year old Kathy Small took off with the guy in Murietta wasn't seen again until the next day. In February twenty second, at about seven o'clock in the morning, South Pasadena Police Department received a call for service of a
woman lying in the street. Lieutenant Patty Thomas says the case went cold, but that dead man found in South Pasadena would lead investigators to seventy year old Williamstuff, who's already serving a life sentence for the murders of twelve people in the eighties and nineties. At Sheriff's Headquarter, Steve Gregor king, if.
I knows tropical Storm Ernesto is moving along the Outer Caribbean, Meteorologist Melissa Griffin says, it's building up as it moves through the islands. We have a hurricane watch and effect for the US and British Virgin Islands at a tropical storm morning is an effect for Puerto Rico. Ernesto could hit Bermuda this weekend as a Category two or even Category three storm. The US East Coast could feel Ernesto's impax's high surf and strong rip currents to early next week.
And doctor Dre and Jimmy Iovine have teamed up to open a high school in the city of Inglewood. The district has been forced to close schools in the area because of a lack of funding, so Dre and Iovene say the school's interdisciplinary curriculum will train students to be innovative and entrepreneurial young leaders. They also say that they will be investing in state of the art technology for
the new school. It should be opened by next summer on the campus of Krozier Middle School, which is scheduled to close at about the same time. Six neighborhoods in la will be receiving a total of five point four million dollars to improve their communities under a pilot program that gives residents the chance to help pick which projects will be done. Residents submitted more than a thousand ideas to improve our lead a Pacoima, Wilmington, Harbor City, skid Row,
South Los Angeles, Baldwin Village, and Westlake. Governor Newsom has announced the seizure of more than two million illegal cannabis packages marked with the US Universal symbol of legal cannabis in California. His office announced yesterday that much of the packaging resembled popular food and candy brands that could appeal to kids, like Twinkies and Sweet Tarts. Officials say the sting operation was done recently in the La Toy District.
Two great tastes, but will they taste great together? We're not talking about Reese's Peanut buttercups, but Oreo and Coca Cola. The companies have announced Oreo Coca Cola cookies with a coke inspired design and taste, along with red edible glitter. And then there's also a Coca Cola Oreo Zero sugar soda that tastes like classic coke with hints of Oreo.
There's also going to be a frozen version of it available at seven eleven and McDonald's if it was April first, I was thinking I would be thinking it was an April first joke, but I might have to try. That's just weird enough, might be good. At six oh five, it's Handle on the news. Does it feel like there have been a lot of earthquakes this year? Well, that's because there have been and more are likely on the way. All right, now, let's say good morning to the host
of Rich on Tech on KFI. It's KTLA's tech reporter Rich Demiro. Rich is calling in this morning from Mountain View because there's a big Google event today.
Hey, good morning to you. Amy. Well, actually today's the cleanup day for the Google event. They did announce everything yesterday, so I do have details on all the new Pixel phones which they did launch. Let's see one, two, three, four new models. And the interesting thing here, Amy, we've talked about phones for so many years. This was the first time that the hardware took a backseat to the
software because Google is all about AI with these new phones. So, yeah, the camera is better, they're more durable, they might charge a little faster. The cameras are a little better, but it's all about what you can do on these devices with AI, and that's really what they focused on. A new weather app that gives you, like AI generated weather reports, better panoramic pictures, remember those thanks to AI bill to edit your photos. I mean the way that they showed
people editing pictures on their smartphone. I'm telling you we can no longer believe anything. These phones also record your phone calls and give you notes when you're done. So the idea is, if you're driving, the plumber calls you says, you know, here's the order number whatever, you don't have to take notes anymore. It will send you that afterwards.
And if you ever get stuck or stranded, they now have satellite sos, so you can text for emergency help even if you don't have cellular service, something that Apple introduced with the iPhone fourteen. Samsung is still the last holdout on that feature.
Okay, but I want to go back to the recording the phone calls thing, because I think that that sounds like a really great thing. Like if you call your doctor and then you're like, what did the doctor tell me and all that and you don't remember it, I think that's that's going to be super helpful. But it also is concerning because they're recording your phone calls.
Yes, but we have to understand, just like with the oreos you mentioned, in the future, there's going to be an Oreo flavor of everything. In the future, AI will be taking over everything and people will be wearing tendons that record their entire lives. Everything on their phone will be summarized. And so Google did take precautions to say that this is all happening on your device and so nothing is sent to the cloud whatsoever. And I think
that also you have to activate it. It will tell both parties, Hey, this call is being recorded for call notes through Google. And I cannot wait for this feature because I will find it very helpful. Incidentally, Apple is doing the same exact thing. So again when we see two major companies doing something similar, we know that it's a trend and we just have to, you know, roll with it.
I guess, yeah, well, and like I have the memory of a nat so I think that it could be very useful to me to remember.
I can't wait for this. I can't. It's going to be so useful for all the times when my wife tells me to do stuff and then she hangs up and I go. Now, wait a second, what was I supposed to do?
I love it?
Okay, So then let's move on to oh, are the phones available?
Now, that's what I want to ask.
Phones available August twenty second. For some very very confusing amy, some of the phones are in stores in August twenty second. Some are in stores in September. Prices start at eight hundred dollars. The interesting thing that Google did here this year, by the way, is that you can get so there's a little baby phone, then there's two prophones in the middle. Then there's a foldable phone. The two pro phones in the middle of the lineup. You can choose if you
want a smaller version or a larger version. They both have the same specs, so you can choose, like, I want a small phone, but I want the pro features, which is please more companies, please do that?
Okay?
Perfect, All right, Now let's move on, because two point seven billion data records have been hacked, and I'm guessing.
That's all of us.
Yes, apparently if we can search this, which I'm sure someone will, but up a website where you can search for your info, you know, so you can see if your info is in this hack. Yes, we're probably in there. I already got an email yesterday that said I was in It names, social security numbers, physical addresses. Apparently the address that it lists for people is old, like it may be an old address that you lived at, so this could be older data, but your social doesn't really change.
So now that this data is out there on the dark web, well actually it's just out there in general now at this point, because they leaked it to everyone. It's tough. It puts us in a tough position because we have the AT and T data from last couple months ago mixed with this data, mixed with everything else. There's no more sacred data about us. It's all floating
around online. So what do we do it. It's a tricky question because people are probably paying to get their information taken down from those you know, people finder sites, but this is completely different. This is like on the dark Web, which means they don't play by the rules, So your information is out there. The best I can say is Google is going to have this feature called Dark Web Monitoring available to everyone for free. You can
sign up for that. That will only tell you that your infos out there, though maybe freeze your credit report is the best you can do here and just.
Leave it frozen until you want to apply for a credit card or some other financial assistance.
Yeah, apparently, from what I'm told from my radio callers, it's very easy to freeze and unfreeze it, like if you're needing to open up something. The other thing you should do is remain very critical of any email because what happens is the scammers now use this data to send you emails, and so they may send you something that has your personal information in it and you think it's real, but it's totally bogus, and they're just trying to get you to trick you into doing something.
Yeah, you know, I'm so leery of any emails I got. I got something from AT and T, which is my provider, and it said, hey, I'm the business account guy and we want to go over and we can save you a bunch of money and that kind of stuff.
I'm like, is that real? I don't know.
Yeah, I agree. I'm the same way with anything, Like I got an AT and T text yesterday and they said, oh, we need to upgrade your equipment and I was like, what equipment? And yes, I have AT and T. But same thing My mom sent me a text the other day and she said is this real? And it was about a you know, fraudulent alert for her bank, and I said, well, do you use this bank? She said yeah. I said, well, I think it looks fake. And it
turns out it was real. And the phone number that was in the text was not the typical number that you would call in the back of the ATM card. So you just have to be very very careful, always in doubt, go to the website itself. Directly call the phone number on the back of your card now, not.
The numbers that they give you.
Now, do not do that. Okay, Oh my goodness, this is going to get harder and harder, isn't it.
Rich, Oh, it is so tough with AI. And here's the deal. You have AI with all this information floating around. So now you and feed all the information about you or me into AI and say, hey, craft a email that says Rich needs to check his credit report because this and this happened with his old car and it's still you know, the A loan is still outstanding for it. And then I go, wait what I click? I log in and next thing you know, they've stolen my infl.
Yeah, all right, so we got to be extra vigilant, everybody, we got gotta be careful. So for more great tech tips, you can listen to rich on Tech right here on KFI. He's on Saturdays from eleven to two. And even if you don't understand the technology, like I a lot of times don't super interesting, I actually feel like my brain's expanding a little bit.
I love that.
That's my goal. I love it, love to hear it.
Okay, And you can, of course also see rich on KTLA. You can follow him on Instagram at rich on Tech and his website is rich on tech dot TV.
Lots of great stuff there too.
Thank you so much, Rich, Thanks Amy.
Six neighborhoods in LA will be receiving a total of five point four million dollars to improve their communities under a pilot program that's giving residents the chance to help pick the projects that are done. Residents submitted more than one thousand ideas to improve our lead to Pacoima, Wilmington, Harbor City, skid Row, South La, Baldwin Village, and Westlake. The California legislatures passed a bill to reduce organized retail theft.
The bill targets the sale of stolen goods on online marketplaces. If the governor signs it, it'll take effect July first, twenty twenty five. The legislation also authorizes local prosecutors to bring civil charges against both the marketplaces and the individuals for trafficking stolen goods online. Vice President Kamala Harris plans to unveil her economic policy in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Friday.
It'll be the first policy centered speech by Harris since she entered the race for the White House after President Biden withdrew. The plans are said to include lowering costs for the middle class and taking on corporate scouching.
At six so five it's handled on the news.
A judge has ruled that UCLA has to make sure protesters don't block Jewish students from getting around on campus. On it, on it, What am I on? I'm on streaming on documentaries. I've been really into documentaries lately, but also TV shows, series, movies, sometimes books, sometimes Network TV. I'm starting something on Network TV again, and I haven't aside from the Olympics, which you know we all watched, But aside from that, I haven't watched a lot of
Network TV recently. So this week I'm still on the stream and I'm streaming a movie called Space Cadet.
It's on Prime Video. It was just released this year, and.
It caught my attention because, you know, we've been talking with our friend NASA astronaut, Colonel Nick Haig, who is preparing for his trip to the International Space Station. It was supposed to happen like right about now, but because of those astronauts that are stuck up there because they took a ride on the Boeing star Liner and they can't come back yet because there's problems with the star Liner,
his mission has been delayed. But anyway, that's what kind of sparked my interest, is because we've been talking to Colonel Haig. Space Cadet is a rom com. It's about
Tiffany Rex Simpson who's played by Emma Roberts. She's adorable, she's super fun and in the movie, her childhood dream is to become an astronaut, and of course that dream's fallen by the wayside and she's working as a bartender and then she just says, you know what, I think I'm going to apply to the NASA Space Program, which is really kind of funny because when we were talking to Colonel Hag a few months ago they had opened up the space program. They were saying, you know, you
don't have to be in the military to apply. You could apply have to be super smart with degrees and all that. But I've thought it was really funny. So anyway, she decides to apply for the NASA Space program. Of course, she gets in with a little help from her friends who make up some stuff, and then she has to navigate her way through the program that she is in no way qualified or prepared for, as she and others compete to get a spot on the space program. So
it's a typical rom com. It's fun, the characters are sweet, there's a little bit of romance. Of course, there's some deception. There's no big surprises in this movie. But it's cute and it's a fun little movie. It's kind of like it reminded me of Legally Blonde, but instead of law school, it's NASA Flight school.
And while Emma is adorable, she's no Reese Witherspoon. But it's a fun movie.
It's not gonna win any awards, but it's a nice thing to crash out on the couch with the air conditioner on on a hot summer evening and just enjoy it. It's called Space Cadet Prime Video. I think you should get spaced out too. Let's get back to some of the stories coming out of the KFI twenty four hour newsroom. A handgun registered to the infamous cop killer Christopher Dorner
has resurfaced more than eleven years after his death. Federal investigators say the gun was used in a robbery outside the Beverly Wilshire Hotel last week, in which the robber stole a million dollar watch from a tourist. Dorner killed a couple in Irvine and also two police officers back in twenty thirteen that led to a man hunt. Ended up killing himself in a cabin in Big Bear. I can't believe that that was eleven years ago. That was
just the craziest thing. You remember that a prosecutor in La County issuing District Attorney Gascone, alleging retaliation for speaking out against against Gascone's policies.
The complaint alleges Gascon suspended the prosecutor multiple times without pay for what he perceived to be disloyalty Deputy Dasha Sanna says Gascon harassed him for exposing the DA's office for trying to suppress evidence in the James Hannah Tubbs case.
I was suspended from misgendering a child molester who was pretending to be transgender so that this individual could be housed with little girls.
He says, for the last two years, Gascon has attacked his credibility and try to silence him. The whistleblower lawsuit filed yesterday accuses Gascon and other officials of intentionally inflicting emotional distress Chris Adler kf I News.
Prosecutors in San Francisco have charged twenty six protesters who blocked the Golden Gate Bridge to demand a ceasefire in Gaza. Demonstrators stopped their cars on the bridge back in April, tossed their keys, and caused traffic jams that lasted for hours. They're now facing charges that include felony, conspiracy, false imprisonment, trespassing to interfere with the business, and refusal to disperse at a riot. A ban on demolitions in Boyle Heights has been approved by the La City Council.
The neighborhood has a high concentration of renters, many immigrants, and senior citizens. City Councilman Kevin dal Leon says his motion to prevent rent stabilized and affordable housing units from being raised would buy some time for the community.
So let us send a very clear message that Heights is not for sale.
A new community plan is being developed for Boyle Heights, and Daileon says it should include more affordable housing, not less. He says developers have been tearing down properties and replacing homes with more expensive ones in downtown La Michael Monks KFI News.
A member of the so called squad, has survived her run for reelection. Minnesota Democratic Congresswoman Elon Omar won her primary race last night, defending her seat against a challenge from former Minneapolis City Councilman Don Samuels. Omar celebrated her win with supporters we run the politics of joy. Samuels had criticized Omar's condemnation of the Israeli government for its handling of the war with Hammas. Baskin Robbins is giving
out free ice cream today. The company says it's their melt insurance, which is the company's promise to right a wrong of ice cream that melts so fast she can't eat it. This one day promotion is available on the company's app with the promo code Melt. Extras like waffle cones, toppings, and Sundays are not included in the Melt Insurance program. The Dodgers are in Milwaukee to take on the Brewers tonight.
First pitch goes out at five ten, and you can listen to every play of every Dodgers game on AM five to seventy LA Sports live from the Galpin Motors broadcast booth. You can stream all the games in HD on the iHeartRadio app keyword AM five seventy LA Sports. This year is the most seismically active year in southern
California since nineteen ninety eight. Caltech seismologist Lucy Jones says we've had thirteen four point zero magnitude or larger quakes, including the four point four that rumbled near Highland Park and Pasadena on Monday. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken has approved an almost twenty billion dollar weapons sale to Israel. The deal will include F fifteen's air to air missiles,
tactical vehicles, and other explosives. The sale comes ays, Israel braces for what Iran says is an imminent attack in retaliation for the assassination of a Hamas leader in Tehran. Amazon's making it easier to shop on social media. TikTok and Pinterest users will now be able to link their social media accounts to their Amazon account, which will allow them to shop on Amazon directly from social media apps. You can always cancel it. Apparently we're just minutes away
from handle on the news this morning. Remember when Delta was basically grounded because of that crowd strike software debacle. Well, a lot of passengers still waiting to get their money back.
It's five point fifty two.
I want to say good morning now to Professor Jonathan Losses at Washington University at Saint Louis.
Good morning, Jonathan.
Good morning Mamy.
So I wanted to talk.
To you today because you're teaching a course that I've never heard of before, and I thought I got to talk to this to this guy. And so before we start talking, I want to read the part of the description of the course. Okay, so listen to what this sounds like. This is a capstone style course for upper
level biology majors. The course will provide biology majors nearing graduation the opportunity to apply what they've learned in topics as diverse as speciation, molecular evolution, community ecology, and animal behavior to investigate and analyze questions concerning the biology of a species near and dear to the hearts of many, the Felis catus, also known as the domestic cat. The
course is called the Science of Cats. I love this, so please tell us about this course, Jonathan, and what we can learn.
Well, you can learn a lot about many different topics.
I'm a scientist. I've spent my career studying lizards, but I've always loved cats, and it never occurred to me to do anything scientifically with cats until I realized that people are studying cats in the same way that I study lizards, and people study elephants and hippos and eagles using all the latest techniques radio tracking, DNA analysis and so on, and so I had the idea of teaching students how we study nature, just using cats as the example. So that's what the class is about.
I love this, And what kind of practical things are people going to learn from studying our furly free feline friends.
Well, There's two things. One is how a lot about cats, where they came from, why they do what they do, what the future may hold. So there's a lot to learn about the biology of cats. So we take them for granted, but they're fascinating animals. But they're also good examples of how we study nature in general, what approaches we can take to understand evolution, behavior, ecology, and other broad questions.
Okay, and how long have you been studying cats, Jonathan.
Well, well, only a couple of years. I'd say about four or five years, because, as I said, I've spent my career studying lizards, which have their own own qualities.
Yeah.
Okay, And how long has the course been offered? Is this the first year?
No, it's been taught three times. The first year I taught first year students freshmen, and then twice I've taught it to graduating seniors.
Okay, and how is it being received? Like are people going, oh, this is like basket weaving, or are they going, oh, I could really learn some cool stuff.
And then how are they finding it once they get in?
Well, I think they're really enjoying it because they've been studying biology for their entire college career. But now they get to apply their knowledge to an animal they know and love to figure out, not about an earthworm or some obscure frog, but an animal they really care about. And we do a lot of fun things as well. We go to cat shows, and we go out to watch Beryl cats being fed, and we go to a cat shelter. So we supplement the course with some field trips that are very enjoyable.
I love this. And Jonathan, do you have cats?
Yeah?
I do have cats. I'm looking at Winston right now.
I love that. I love that.
And what are a couple of things that we might not know about cats? Because I always think of my cat like we know that they don't really need us that much except for food, but there's a lot going on in their little brains.
Well, that is absolutely true. I think perhaps the most surprising thing is we think of cats as kind of being asocial loaners, solitary animals, but it turns out that they're not, at least not always in some conditions. They have a high, highly social organization where they live in groups just like lions, and these are groups of related females that help take care of each other's kittens. And are very friendly to each other. So sometimes cats can
be very social. They're the only other cat besides lions that do this.
And so in a group of cats, and would it be similar to where there's usually one male and then a bunch of females.
Yes, So the groups are composed of the females because the female kittens they grow up and stay with their family, whereas the males go off and then males try to try to be in control to mate with the females. It's not quite like lions because the males move around more than the male. Cats move around more than the male lions, but it's pretty similar.
Okay, So what's next for you in your study of cats?
So what's the next progression?
Well, I think there are two issues. One is how cats have evolved since they became domesticated in Africa just three or four thousand years ago. They're very similar and that's why we sometimes call cats being only semi domesticated. But they have changed a few things, such as their meow is more pleasing to our ear and in a few other ways. So studying more precisely how cats have
changed since their ancestors. And the other question that's very important in where you live in many other places, and that's the environmental impact of outdoor cats. We know they're great, they're great hunters, but just what effect are they having and what we can do about that?
I love it.
And now, Jonathan, is there a book that you have or a website if people want to dig a little more into the science of cats since we're not in Saint Louis.
Well, I did write a book called The Cats Meow that came out about a year ago, and I think it's a fun read. I hope people will like it as well. That would be the best place, I think.
All right, Professor Jonathan Losses, Washington University at Saint Louis, teaching the science of cats and the author of The Cat's Meal. Thank you so much for your time this morning. I wish I was in Saint Louis. I would take this ver well.
I always good to talk to a fellow cat lover.
All right, take care you too.
Bye bye.
Let's get back to some of the stories coming out of the KFI twenty four hour newsroom.
I think I need to go get that book if that is fun.
A federal judge in LA has criticized UCLA for what the judge says was the university's hands off policy during pro Palestinian protests this past spring. The judge yesterday said the university's handling of the demonstrations was unimaginable and abhorrent. He's issued a temporary injunction ordering UCLA not to allow discrimination against Jewish students. Demonstrators set up camps in April and blocked Jewish students from parts of campus. UCLA is
expected to appeal to ruling. Nine people have been arrested for blocking traffic on the four or five in West La to demand a ceasefire in Gaza. This Jewish protester says other Jews joined the rally to bring an end to what she called a genocide.
We do want to apologize to any working people, especially working class people who maybe work for hourly wages. We do want to apologize for any hardship that starting down the freeway has caused.
Protesters sat down in a line across the freeway yesterday near the Venice off ramp and called on Vice President Harris to stop supporting Israel. The CHP says those arrested will likely face misdemeanor charges. The Department of Educations is ninety four percent of teachers use their own money to buy classroom necessities. This teacher in Sacramento says takes a lot to get a classroom ready for the new school year. It's not really fair for teachers.
I think that a lot of them feel like they need to supplement with their own income in order to make their classroom more accessible and easier for students to learn.
She estimate spending between five hundred to one thousand dollars per year. The Bureau of Labor Statistics says the cost of school supplies has gone up almost twenty four percent in just the last two years. Anaheim says the Men's and Women's Olympic Indoor Volleyball games could potentially be held at Honda Center in twenty twenty eight.
We're kind of built for this.
We host tens of thousands of visitors every single day visit.
Anaheim CEO Mike Waterman says, nothing's official yet, but the city is ready for the crowds after setting records last year with twenty five million visitors who spent six point five billion dollars in the city.
The infrastructures here right We have a great transportation network with ATN.
We have the hotel infrastructure.
We have the largest convention center on the West coast.
Waterman says.
The city is also bidding to host several other Olympic Games in twenty twenty eight in Anaheim. Corbin Carson KFI News.
And just like that, our time together this morning is up. If you missed any of wake Up Call, you can listen anytime on the iHeartRadio app. This is KFI and KOSTHD two Los Angeles, Orange County. This has been your wake up call. 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 anytime on demand on the iHeartRadio app.