You're listening to KFI AM six forty wake Up Call with me Amy King on demand on the iHeartRadio.
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It's time for your morning wake up call. Here's Amy King.
It is that time. Good morning, It's five o'clock, straight up. This is your wake up call for Tuesday, April fifteenth. I'm Amy King. We're live everywhere on the iHeart Radio Day Radio Day on the radio app. What dasy It's Tuesday, April fifteenth, tax day. Unless you live in La County, we get six months. But I got my taxes done, or at least I got them off to my person who does my taxes, and she's like, well, I'm not going to get to it until I get back from vacation. Like, okay,
but that's okay, it's okay, it's okay. Hey, did you know that there's a six percent higher chance of being killed in a car crash on tax Day?
Great?
Yeah, apparently a lot of people stressed out, So let's spread a little kindness today. And if somebody is really freaking out on the roads, that might be why very stressleuls.
So they might live in Orange County or Ventura County exactly.
All right, here's what's ahead on WACA call. As I mentioned, for most of America, today is tax Day, but La County residents get a six month reprieve because of the wildfires in January. The deadline to file for La County taxpayers is eighth October fifteenth. The irsays payments on any outstanding tax do still has to be paid by today's deadline. Movie and TV makers have continued their exodus out of La.
Film LA released a report yesterday showing on location production of film, TV shows, and commercials declined twenty two percent for the first three months of this year compared to last year. A lot of productions have moved out, attracted by tax credit programs outside the state. Harvard University says it will not accept conditions proposed by the Trump administration in order to keep its federal funding. In response to federal government has frozen more than two billion dollars in
grants for Harvard. ABC's Peter Harra Lumbus joins us to tell us more about that in about three minutes. Got the latest on tariffs, who's coming to the table to make a deal, who's holding back ABC's Karen Travis will tell us at five twenty tens of millions have waited until the last minute to file those taxes. ABC's Jim Ryan has the numbers on this tax Day twenty twenty five. That's at five thirty five and if I point fifty.
Joel Larsgard says, recession rumblings are getting stronger and with that panic pre buying is a thing, but it is Is it a good thing? Joel's going to tell us, grab your coffee, hold on tight, We got a good ride for you today. It is Tuesday. Let's get started with some of the stories coming out of the KFI twenty four hour newsroom. La County is out with its new budget and there will be cuts.
The county government is in a tough financial position. It's agreed to pay four billion dollars to thousands of child sex abuse victims at probation facilities. The cost of the January wildfires could be over a billion dollars unless money is coming in. The Board of Supervisors today will take up the proposed forty seven point nine billion dollar budget in It County CEO Fecia Davenport has recommended a three percent cut across all departments and the elimination of hundreds
of vacant positions. She says there will be no layoffs, but some county programs could be scaled back. Michael monks KFI News.
Really everything's doing pretty badly right now.
A new report shows film and TV production in LA drops significantly in the first quarter of the year. Philip so Kulowski with Film LA says or tells KFI there have only been about fifty two hundred filming days in LA so far this year. TV production has been hit the hardest.
Well, we saw across the board slow down in film production. The very worst happened in television, which fell to thirty point five percent.
Overall production down fifty eight percent since twenty twenty one. Governor Newsom has proposed a seven hundred and fifty million dollars tax credit expansion to try to lure more jobs back to LA. Some critics argue the costs outweigh the benefits. Well, the chance is slim, but it's there. Elizabeth Cochrane with the US Geological Services, following yesterday's five point two earthquake in San Diego County, there is a chance of a larger quake.
There is about a five percent chance of an earthquake larger than what we had, so an earthquake of magnitude five point two or larger. So anytime we have an earthquake of this size, folks should just realize that there is some chance of a larger earthquake occurring, so one in twenty chance.
The quake near Julian was followed by dozens of aftershocks, including a four point zero about seventy minutes or seventy five minutes after the initial jolt. Only minor damage has been reported. We know to drop, cover and hold when in earthquake hits, thanks to groups like California Earthquake Authority, but it turns out elephants already know what to do. San Diego Zoo has released a video of its five
African elegant elephants reaction to the earthquake yesterday. After the initial shaking and what appeared to be some confusion, the elephants formed what's called a protective circle. It's done to protect the herd and younger elephants when there's danger. They stood there for about five minutes or so, and then they went back to their normal routines. Pretty amazing to watch though. Yeah, yeah, if you want to see it, does San Diego Zoo put the video out and it's
it's pretty cool to watch. All right. Right now, it's five seven on your wake up call. Let's say good morning to ABC's Peter Haralamboos. Peter, the Trump administration has said get rid of d or else, and Harvard says, we'll take the or else.
Yeah, Harvard at this point is putting its money where its mouth is. Last night, Harvard University was informed that the Terms administration was actually freezing more than two billion dollars and responds to this decision. It really marks the first time a major college or university has decided to stand up to the Trump administration. This comes after we saw other schools like Columbia buckle last month.
Okay, so the two billion dollars, that is how much is Harvard's funding And it's in grants. So is it each year or is it a total?
So the two billion dollars is a multi year deal, and you know, in total, they received more than nine million dollars in grants over the next few years from the federal government. This goes to support things like medical research, for example, you know, Harvard is one of our leading research institutions in the entire country, and they rely on the federal government in many ways, so it's worth noting
in a unique position. While they do get a lot of money from the federal government, they're also one of the wealthiest colleges in the universities in the entire world. They have an endowment of over fifty billion dollars. So to a certain degree, they have the ability to kind of take the high road here and tell the Trump administration that they're going to deny these terms, whereas smaller college universities that might be more dependent on the federal government might not have that luxury.
Okay, and what, Peter are the terms specifically of what the Trump administration wants Harvard to do.
So on Friday, the Truman administration sents Harvard a letter
with kind of a series of demands. They include everything from changing governance so that you know, more less activist professors have power, removing race based admissions for both students and faculty, and even ensuring viewpoint diversity and doing audits of the student bodies kind of general viewpoint to make sure that it's not too liberal or at our genius, So all things consider, Harvard at this point is arguing that, you know, they're they've made changes to fight back and
anti Semitism and improve the school. But these changes recommended by the Trump administration simply go too far. They violate the First Amendments, and they're simply not worth taking. And if it means giving up two billion dollars, it's worth it for Harvard.
Okay. So then a question for you, Peter, being a legal guy, you know, you mentioned race based admissions. Aren't those illegal because of anti discrimination laws?
Yeah?
I mean that's right.
I mean, over the last few years, we've seen the Supreme Court take a different stance when it comes to affirmative action. Harvard and other schools, though, have have taken kind of a unique stance and that while they're abiding by those kind of decisions, they've still considered kind of
holistic emissions as one of their main things. So, you know, while they're strictly not you know, making a decision based on race or ender, they're they're considering the full picture of a candidate and what makes them compelling, based on kind of the hardships they might have had growing up. So, you know, in a way, they're still considering them, even if they're still following the letter of the law when it comes to affirmative action.
Yeah, I know this is not a funny subject, but it reminds me of l Well was there. It was Witherspoon.
What was the.
Legally Blonde?
It's hard?
Yes, what a great movie. Okay, so the cuts are are. The cut in the endowments is in place. So what what does Harvard do next?
So at this point they're in a bit of a stalemate. The Trump administration can can continue applying pressure. There's more money that they could theoretically threaten to freeze. We've also seen a lawsuit from Harvard faculty challenging these cuts. I assume you might even see a similar lawsuit from the school itself challenging this move. You know, the Trump administration is right and that these funds are necessarily a guarantee, they're a little bit of a privilege, but there is
a process for canceling them. It doesn't appear that Trump administration actually followed that process. So we might see a legal challenge and we'll really just see what this means for the didday operations for a school like Harvard and if the Trump administration decides to challenge other schools we had no of at least seven other major universities that have had their funding threatened.
Okay, and I bet that those major universities will be watching what happens here. ABC's Peter Harlumbo's thank you so much for your time and information this morning.
Thanks for having me.
All right, let's get back to some of the stories coming out of the KFI twenty four hour newsroom. Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatola Ali Hamani says nuclear talks with the US went well. He says officials in his country are neither radically optimistic about the talks nor radically pessimistic about them. He also urged officials not to tie the country's affairs to the talks, which are expected to continue this coming weekend. A second US aircraft carriers up in Mid East Waters
ahead of those talks. The company that operated a helicopter involved in a deadly crash on the East Coast is going out of business.
The Federal Aviation Administration says, New York Helicopter Tours is calling it quits. It's helicopter crash last Thursday. Six people on board were killed This comes after New York Senator Chuck Schumer called on the FAA to suspend the company's license. Schumer is asking the FAA to conduct surprise inspections on all helicopter companies in New York.
Deb remark KF I knew. The president of El Salvador says he will not return a man to the US who was deported to his home country. Could I return them today?
That is just like I smuggle him into the United States or whether it do.
Of course, I'm not going to do it.
The president and President Trump's chop advisors say they have no basis for the small Central American country to return the man, who was living in Maryland. Officials say kill maar Abrego Garcia is a member of the notorious MS thirteen gang. The Supreme Court has ordered the Trump administe stration to facilitate the man's return to the US. The Trump administrations continued to bar ap journalists from the Oval office despite a court order saying he can't.
Last week, of federal court ruled the Trump administration couldn't punish the Associated Press for refusing to call the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America. As President Trump won it as a First Amendment issue and must reinstate access. But Monday, an AP reporter and photographer were barred from a news conference with Trump and El Salvador's president. Since mid February, the AP's been blocked from events in the
Oval Office and Air Force One. The US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit has set a Thursday hearing on the matter. Mark Ronner KFI News.
President Trump is honored the Ohio State Buckeyes for winning the college football National Championship.
This was a historic year in college football. Standing together today, these men in the first college think of that are the first college football players in history who can proudly call themselves twelve team playoff championship.
During the ceremony yesterday, Vice President Van Nants, who went to Ohio State, fumbled the national championship trophy. The base fell out of his hands while someone else held the actual trophy. Vans jokingly posted on social media that he didn't want anyone getting the trophy after Ohio State, so he just broke it. I'm thinking that that trophy wasn't very well put together. Have you seen the video of
it just kind of comes apart. Fans love Luca. The Laker is Luka Doncic, who's from Slovenia, had the top selling jersey for the twenty twenty four twenty five season. It's the first time an international player has topped the league in Jersey sales. Steph Curry or Lebron James had been top sellers since the twenty twelve thirteen season. They were second and third place in Jersey sales this year. Dozens of aftershocks of rattled San Diego County following a
magnitude five point two quake near Julian. The quake yesterday just after ten am, was felt up in La and Orange Counties. I got a shake alert. Did you get a shake alert?
Yep.
Most of the after shocks were small, one hit of four point zero. The US Geological surveyces there's a five percent chance of a larger quake following yesterday's five point two shaker. A bill's been introduced that would allow homeless students to sleep in their cars on campus. It would require universities to set up safe parking spaces on campus.
Democratic Assembly Member Corey Jackson says Long Beach Community College set up a program like this three years ago, and he wants to create programs like it all over California. Former President Biden's making his first public appearance since he left the White House. He's speaking tonight at the Advocates, Counselors and Representatives for the Disabled Conference in Chicago. The last time he was in the Windy City was for the Democratic National Convention in Chicago last August. At six
oh five, it's handle on the news. Trump says, Nope, not bringing him back. We're talking about the guy accidentally swept up in an ice raid. He's in El Salvador. Let's say good morning to ABC. Karen Travers. Karen on the ever changing on again, off again, paused again tariffs. What's the latest from the Trump team?
So a couple of things. The latest is the President yesterday was still insisting he doesn't change his mind. He said, I'm a very flexible person. I don't change my mind. But he also was saying that he had spoken with
Apple Tim Cook about all of the TIFFs recently. And this comes after over the weekend there was an exemption given to some electronics products on that stiff one hundred and forty five percent tariff on Chinese imports that is now on pause for at least a couple of weeks as the administration considers what they're going to do about that. The President said they're going to shift those products into a different tariff bucket, and that's likely to be under
the umbrella of semiconductors. And we learned last night that the administration has started an investigation, if you will, into a semiconductor tariff on national security grounds. They're also considering a tariff on pharmaceuticals on the same reason, and essentially they're looking to say, you know, we can't rely on countries overseas for these critical spies. And that would likely be a couple weeks to maybe a few months away, but that's maybe the next big step in this ongoing process.
Okay. And then there's also he's been hinting about but I don't think correct me if I'm wrong. I don't think he's done anything about it yet. But he's been hinting about putting taxes or tariffs on pharmaceuticals.
Yeah, he is. He's talked about this quite a bit. And that's what we learned last night with this new bulletin, if you will, where the administration indicated that they are moving forward into an investigation into the national security grounds
that they could do a tariffs on pharmaceuticals. You know, they'll say, like, there are components of drugs that come from China, India, Ireland, other countries in Europe, and the President has said that American companies here should be making those components here, not just importing them and then making the actual drugs here. But you know, you and I
might have talked about this. This is kind of similar in a very broad sense that like the auto acspect too, of making the things here but bringing in parts from overseas, and what the President is trying to do. But experts are warning that if you starts putting tariffs on the components of drugs, it's going to drive up the cost of something like ibuprofen and over the counter drugs.
And we need our ibuprofen to stay cheap because I need it a lot. Okay, there you go, Karrett Travers, thank you so much for the information. We'll continue to watch this and of course continue to talk to you to help sort it out.
Have a great day, all right, you too.
Today is the last day for people affected by the wildfires and Pacific palisades and Altadena to opt in to the government's free fire debris removal program. Residents have been asked to file a form to either opt in or opt out of the program. Those who opt out will have to hire private contractors to do the removal work, and they will have to pay for it. There will also be required or they will be required to have the debris removed, or they could have their properties declared
a nuisance. People who lived in areas affected by the wildfires in January getting a break on filing Texas.
The IRS often postpones deadlines for taxpayers in areas that have been hit by natural disasters, and for victims of the recent wildfires, the IRS will automatically give.
Filing and penalty relief.
IRS officials say individuals and businesses must have an address of record in the disaster area to qualify, and they will have until October fifteenth to file and pay. Heather Brooker cafe Ie.
News Governor Newsom has announced a special election will be held August twenty sixth to replace former state Assemblyman Bill Assie. He was named US Attorney for California's Central District earlier this month. Assie's former assembly district includes half of Corona and some surrounding parts of the Inland Empire. The son of an Orange County Superior Court judge charged in the shooting death of his wife in Anaheim Hills, has returned to testify at his father's retrial. He was called to
the stand yesterday. After opening statements, prosecutors told the jury judge Jeffrey Ferguson is a gun expert who'd been drinking the day his wife was shot and killed in twenty twenty three. Ferguson claims it was an accident. The first jury deadlocked eleven to one last month in favor of conviction, so a mistrial was declared and the retrial is underway. LA radio personality Jed the Fish has died.
The LA Rock radio staple, whose real name was Edwin gould Iid, was renowned for his work behind the microphone for kara Q. When he was hired as an on air DJ in nineteen seventy eight. He worked the afternoon drive time slot until twenty twelve. His voice became synonymous with alt rock and his famous interviews with artists like U two, David Bowie, Elvis Costello, and Sting. His family says he died from a fast spreading form of cancer at his home in Pasadena.
He was sixty nine.
Heather Brooker Ko Fine News.
The La Urban Policy round Table says it's time the city fire department did something to address the increasing number of street burnings in South LA. The group's president, Earl of Fari Hutchison, says there's been a rash of people burning trash and combustible materials.
The solar fires in South LA now and whole Missing campains.
People are doing what they do.
He says. The fires are dangerous for people, homes, and businesses. Egg prices are up again, just as each your Easter is approaching. The average price for eggs hit a record high this week, an average of six twenty three a dozen. Trey Bodge, who operates a smart shopping website, says wholesale egg prices have dropped, but shoppers aren't seeing it yet.
What we're seeing here is a lag of retailers are taking a little bit of extra time unexpectedly to reduce those prices for consumers.
Chocolate prices are also up. Some shoppers are looking for Easter alternatives. They say they plan to die marshmallows and wait it gets better and hide potatoes instead of eggs.
Oh I can't wait to find a potato sink my teeth into that.
Oh my gosh, I haven't heard that. Ben far Okay. I mentioned earlier that today is Jackie Robinson Day across the country. All major league players are going to be wearing the number forty two to honor the day in nineteen forty seven when Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier for major League baseball. They're doing a jersey giveaway at Dodgers Stadium. I have one from a couple of years ago. Love it. The Dodgers take on the Rockies tonight at
Dodgers Stadium. The first pitch goes out at seven. You can listen to every play of every game on AM five to seventy LA Sports Live from the Gallpin Motors Broadcast Booth, and you can also stream all the games in HD on the iHeartRadio app Keyword AM five to seventy LA Sports. I think today is a good day to watch forty two. In fact, I looked it up yesterday and it is still streaming on Netflix. Chadwick Boseman
fabulous movie really a good one. So I think I know what I'm doing this afternoon, of course, Today the deadline for wildfire affected residents to opt in to the US Army Corps of Engineers Free Fire Debris Removal Program. Residents impacted by the fires have to file the forms to either opt in or out of the US Army Corps of Engineers Free Debris Removal Program. Those who opt out are going to have to pay for it themselves
and must do the work. Thieves have stolen millions of dollars worth of jewelry from a family owned jewelry store in downtown, LA. Police say the burglary happened overnight Sunday. The son of the shop owners says the burglaries are The burglars rather cut through a wall to get in and then stole as much as twenty million dollars in merchandise. A group of elephants that the San Diego Zoo has responded to the five point two earthquake in San Diego
County by forming what's called a protective circle. It's done to protect the herd and the young when there's day. The elephant circled and it was all caught on video that has been released by San Diego Zoo. The elephants went back to their normal routines. A few minutes later, at six oh five, it's handled on the news. The US Army could soon be deployed to the US Mexico border. Let's say good morning now to ABC's Jim Ryan. Dunk dun dum. It's tax day for most of US.
I recognize that sounder, that's the taxman sounder. Yeah, done, dun dun. Just three notes. I'm surprised that California is known the declared disaster area and getting an automatic extension. We did, we did, Oh, you did well in La, Alabama, Florida, Georgia. Oh, LA County.
Right, so it's not the whole state, but LA County got the automatic six month extensions. So taxes are technically due until October fifteenth.
Okay, but we have a file now, sure, exactly.
We have our editor, Carla, who's in San Bernardino. She lives in San Bernardino County, so she's done hers. So just LA County gets the reprieve.
Gotcha. Well, let me say it, all of the North Carolina, Florida, Alabama, those states which had disasters, the entire state is getting this automatic extension. Procrastinators about thirty percent of US. Thirty one percent of Americans have not yet filed. They're waiting until today to either file their returns or to file an extension if you're in a place that you have to file that, but it largely depends upon where you live. Procrastinating is a state by state kind of thing. Californians
are number thirteen on the procrastination list. Number one is Wyoming. People in Wyoming tend to wait until the very day or after that day, which doesn't make much sense because the average refund in Wyoming is thirty seven hundred and twenty dollars per tax return. I mean, that's among the highest in the whole country. Yet those people put it off until the last minute. Don't understand it.
Maybe it's because they're busy on the ranch.
Which and they would have a lot of ranch expenses too, that's true.
Whatcha Yeah, that's interesting that it's different. I'm a total procrastinator, although I did do my taxes, or at least I got everything to my person who prepares the taxes. But I've been going I'm going to do this, I'm going to do this, I'm going to do this. I've been saying that for about two months, and I did it on Sunday because I too am a procrastinator.
Yeah.
Well, Californians also can do the free file the direct file program. California is one of twenty five states where that's being made available. The IRS has been rolling this out for the last couple of years. So if you have a fairly straightforward tax situation, you know, one W two maybe two, maybe A ten ninety nine, and your household income is under two hundred and fifty thousand, you can use the free direct file program if you're in
California and twenty four other states. So yeah, I consider yourselves lucky there.
And what are some tips to make sure that your return gets processed and doesn't kind of get lost in the shuffle.
Make sure everything is accurate, that's the main thing here. Make sure all the t's are crossed, eyes are dotted, and that you signed the darn thing. That's one of the main reasons they get kicked back, either if they're filed electronically or whether you send in a paper return. It wasn't signed and so they're going to kick that thing back. So just make sure that everything is accurate. Check your math, check your the return against your W
two make sure it's all accurate. So, I mean that's the best way to ensure that you don't face delays, because there are likely to be delays this year. Amy consider the DOGE cuts into IRS payroll. There they're staffing and staffing levels have been low with the IRS for some time. The computers are kind of clunky and broken down,
so there may be delays. But don't think that just because you have fewer IRS auditors on staff that you're not getting get audited if you don't send in a return or you do something funny on your on the return that you do send in, because if you do get caught, I mean, there are serious consequences. Not only do you owe the taxes that you owed before, and there are may V fees on top of that, there
could be potential criminal charges brought against you. So just be very careful about that, all right, all.
Right, So do it once, do it right. It's not worth the risk, right.
Raise or twice cut once?
Accellent? Absolutely, are your taxes done? Yes, very good, of course they are. Jim Ryan mister reliable.
Plus I was getting a little refund back too, so.
That always helps that always helps. All right, we seize Jim Ryan, thank you so much. We'll talk to you soon. Time to get in your business now with Bloomberg's Scott Carr, who's in for Courtney Donaho this week. So Scott, we're expecting prices on a lot of things to go higher because of tariffs and all that. But I didn't think of this one. Tomatoes.
Yeah, good morning, Amy. This report sponsored by Total Wine and more. If you notice the costs that tomatoes going up, here's why. A lot of tomatoes come from Mexico, and the US commerce departments they got plans now for a new nearly twenty one percent tariff on most tomato shipments from Mexico and that is set to start in mid July.
So we have some time. Eat a lot of tomatoes right now.
Yeah, buy them up. Wish you could freeze them.
I know, well you can make sauce out of them. My friend makes them being costa sauce.
There's some taking outside the box, all right.
Are there other vegetables that we're expecting to see hikes on?
Well, not in particular is being targeted, but the price of spices. The Spice Conference, one of the big spice Conferences. Trade Conference has just had their big annual meeting. In the talk of the whole conference was the new tariffs, because that's going to hit the cost of a lot of spice ingredients, especially from China, and spices, as you know, are used in just about everything in the grocery store.
That's that is right, So some China, and I would imagine where else de spices like from India? Would I would imagine as.
A very India. Sure.
Yeah.
The largest producer of cinnamon in the world, I believe is Vietnam.
All right, well, we'll be watching I think. Isn't Vietnam at the table with the US right now?
We'll see they are?
They are, and we should mention it that if you're skipping the coloring of Easter eggs this year, Amy, because their prices are so extravagant, well you're not alone. A new survey from wattub this morning shows I had to get it in there, shows about forty seven percent of Americans say they're going to pass over. There's another pun
for you that pass over the tradition this year. It shows we were already spending a chunk of change on Easter, about one hundred and eighty nine dollars they estimate per person on average, and amy to wrap things up, future is all pointing lower. The down features are down one hundred and twenty points.
Wow. Okay, and we had but we had an update yesterday. We did okay, so we'll see if we can get back into positive territory today. Getting in your business with Bloomberg Scott car Thanks so much. We'll talk to you again tomorrow morning.
Have a good day.
We do get in your business every day at five forty am. Something to look forward to. I always love I love the little business nuggets that we get on this Let's get back to some of the stories coming out of the KFI twenty four our newsroom. Some one hundred year old homes in LA blocked off from the public for decades now have a special designation.
The Maycrest Bungalows and El Serrento have been fenced off since nineteen ninety one. Cal Trans planned to tear them down to expand the seven ten Freeway. The LA Conservancies Lindsay Mulkay He says the eight Tutor Revival style homes could teach us a lesson.
Bungalow courts were created to respond to a housing crisis and to help connect neighbors and to make people feel like they had a sense of community even if their housing was smaller.
La City Council has approved a Historic Cultural Landmark designation for the bungalows, preserving them. Michael Monks KFI News.
A criminal case has been dismissed against a former LAPED officer who touched a dead woman's while on duty. David Rojas testified in twenty twenty one that he did it as part of an investigation into her death. He denied it was sexual or meant to humiliate or degrade the dead woman. The judge yesterday noted that Rojas has complied with everything asked of him and has successfully completed an eighteen month judicial diversion program. Rolling Stones lead singer Mick
Jaggers getting married again. He's engaged to his longtime girlfriend Melanie Hamrick. She told a French magazine that Jagger proposed two or three years ago, but they just went public with it. Hamrick is thirty seven, Jaggers eighty two. This would be his second marriage and they've already been engaged for two to three years. I think maybe it's time to, you know, pull the trigger on that one mick. Eighty nine million dollars in cuts are included in La County's
twenty twenty five proposed budget. The CEO of La County said it does not include personnel cuts, but more than three hundred vacant jobs are going to be eliminated. County Commissioner is going to get a first look at it today. After county tests found elevated levels of lead in soil in and near the Eton Fire burn area. The Board of Supervisors is going to consider emotion today to allegate three million dollars to help affected property owners do more
detailed testing. Apparently there's a lot of lead there because homes built before nineteen seventy nine had lead based paint. All Major League players are going to be wearing the number forty two today. It's Jackie Robinson Day, which marks the day in nineteen forty seven Robinson debuted with the Brooklyn Dodgers, breaking baseball's color barrier. Players, managers, coaches, and umpires will also wear a special number forty two patch on their caps. Today. We're just minutes away from a
handle on the news. Honda says it's headed north and south to avoid tariffs. Bill's going to tell you about that. Let's say, good morning now to the Most of Money on KFI. It's Joel lars Guard.
Good morning, Joel, morning Amy.
So the recession rumblings are getting a little louder. What's the latest and how do we get ready for it?
Yeah, I mean, it's one of those words that gets thrown around and people see it in headlines they start freaking out a little bit. And interestingly enough that Golden Sacks increased its recession odds twice in one week, so different you know, different financial firms are saying, hey, it's more likely, just just like putting this red flag up
in the air, let you know. And the truth is it is more likely, right because of some of the governmental policy we've seen, specifically tariffs, the likelihood that that hurts businesses and increases inflation. So, yes, the odds of our session just have gone up. Clearly, will we experience the recession? Are we potentially in one?
Right now?
Maybe the truth is too that recessions happen when you look at the data something like every six and a half to seven years, So it's not one of those things where it's like this is a once in a lifetime sort of thing. Recessions are kind of part of how the economic climate and how economies work, So recessions also shouldn't be this thing that just freaks you out
to no end. But there are certain things that I want people to do in advance of a potential recession, and just kind of personal finance hygiene in general, Like the emergency fund.
That's a huge one.
Especially right now. Some people, and we can talk about this too, are like pre buying more stuff because they're worried about prices going up. I see the wisdom in that, maybe in small bits and pieces for certain things that you were going to buy anyway. But having if it means eliminating some of that all important emergency fund and not having as much in cash, well, if you lose your job, you can't eat the stuff you just bought.
So I want you to make sure that you have a really solid emergency fund, at least that three to six months of expenses stashed in a liquid savings account.
Okay, and that doesn't count for like a what are those short term things like a three month and six month that you can't get a CD. Yeah, you can't get your hands on it. For a few months, or can you do that one? And if you have to tap into it, you can you can.
Here's the thing I think, don't put money in a CD that you might need. Right So, a CD can be a great place for like medium term savings, but when it comes to that emergency fund, you probably don't want that in a CD. And if you have to tap it early, it means you're going to give up some of that interest. You would have been better in a high old savings account with one of my favorite banks. Anyway, something else I want people to do in advance of
a recession. I just want people to do this anyway, is create something that I call a bare bones budget. And it's essentially a budget that boils down what you could get by on every single month. So it's the bear essentials and nothing more. And I don't want people to live on a bare bones budget in perpetuity. But let's say you do lose your job or something comes
down the pike. The fact that you have created this barbones budget and you know what you can cut and you can kind of start to pair back almost immediately, that just creates not only a financial backstop, but in
some resiliency. But it also just helps you to realize that, wait a second, maybe I am spending more than I thought on some extra luxury items that I don't necessarily have to have, and so to think that barebones budget in addition to the three to six months worth of expenses, and some financial folks out there are saying, oh, no, you need twelve months worth of expenses. I think that's just too much. I think most people one can't have
a hard time saving up that much. And then two, that's overkill for most people when it comes to cash on hand. But if you have those two things in order, it's going to help you with if we do encounter more trying financial times.
Okay, So the two takeaways is get that bare bones budget, sit down, put the numbers down, figure it out so you know, because that gives you power. Knowing what you have gives you power. And then the other thing is start stashing your cash because you want to build up that emergency fund that's right, just in case we might not have a recession.
And that's the thing too, like we really might not. And the other thing is a personal recession can happen at any time. This is something I want people to be well aware of whether it's some sort of medical emergency or it's Hey, I just work in a sector that had a tough time. The American economy is booming unemployments of four percent, but my personal job took a hit and I lost that, right, So there's always the potential for personal financial difficulties even when the economy as
a whole is doing well. So I think that's why I call this like personal finance hygiene. I want people to practice these things anyway, because hey, even if the economy as a whole is crushing, there's always the potential, right that your personal life experiences some sort of recession that the other the rest of the economy isn't feeling all right.
See great advice as always, and you can hear more great advice just like this and a whole lot more every Sunday from noon to two on how to Money with our very own Jewel Lars Guard. You can follow Joel at how to Money. Thank you so much for this great information.
Joel got it Amy, Thank.
You all Right. Before we get out of here, I got to talk about the girls in space, just for so we know that the six women took a ride on a rocket yesterday, a Blue Origin rocket and it was Katie Perry and Gail King and Jeff Bezos's fiance and then like a rocket scientist and a couple other legit people. I got to just say this first of all, cool that they got to do it. What an amazing experience.
It's sort of like, uh, I don't know, maybe Guardians of the Galaxy times a billion, right, like a really cool ride. What I'm grumpy about on this is that they're talking like they did something historic. Yes, they were all women. Good for them. They didn't do anything. They took a ride on a rocket and they spent three minutes in weightlessness, which super cool. I wish we could all do it. The reality is we can't because it costs probably a couple I don't know, it costs at
least millions of dollars to do that launch, right? And did they pay for it? Maybe Jeff Bezos paid for it because his girlfriend or his fiance was going up. I mean, like, so again, I don't disrespect them for doing it. I think it was and amazing opportunity, but come on, both Gail King and Katy Perry kissed the ground when they got back they were gone for ten minutes. And then Gail's talking about it, of course on CBS Mornings,
as she should, because what a cool experience. But then she said, oh, reuniting with my friends and family, who were all wearing yellow when we got back to Earth was the best part. You were gone for ten minutes.
Gail King felt pain from what returning? She said, she felt pain like.
So it was painful to return to the earth, like in her heart.
Like on the ride back. Oh well, probably bumpy. So you guys are just downplaying how important.
This is, how important this is, how significant it is that girls took.
A ride women.
Okay, what about Sonny Williams who just spent nine months on the International.
Space with her?
Oh my gosh, are you Bill Handle? Are you channeling Bill Handle right now? All right? Anyway, I think it's great that they got to a ride to go on a ride. But ladies, you didn't change the world. I'm sorry, I'm you just didn't. But you did a very cool thing, all right. This is KFI and kost HD to Los Angeles, Orange County, Southland. Weather from KFI, Uh, drizzle possible this morning, uh, partly cloudy this afternoon. Hopefully it's going to be like yesterday,
which it turned out to be a gorgeous day. Highs will be in the low sixties at the Beach's sixties to about seventy four metro La Inlando, c in the Valley's seventies for the Inland Empire and Antelope Valley. Morning low clouds and drizzle tomorrow, then mostly cloudy with highs from the sixties to low seventies. It's fifty four and fuller ten fifty one Rancho Santa Margarita, fifty two in Pasadena, fifty six in Santa Monica. Live from the KFI twenty
four hour Newsroom. I'm Amy King. This has been your wake up call. Hey, if you missed any 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 Wakeup Call five to six am Monday through Friday on KFI AM six forty and anytime on demand on the iHeartRadio app.