You're listening to KFI AM six forty wake Up Call with me Amy King on demand on the iHeartRadio.
App KFI and KOST HD two Los Angeles, Orange County.
It's time for your morning wake up call.
Here's Amy King.
Good morning. It's five o'clock on Thursday, September twenty sixth. This is your wake up call. I'm Amy King. We're live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app, and happy that you're with us today. We got you covered with all the news, all the traffic, and a whole lot of fun. We got some really cool stuff plan for you today, so we hope you'll stick around for the whole show. Here's what's ahead on wake up Call. Hurricane Helene continues to gain strength as it motors across the warm waters of
the Gulf of Mexico. It's now a Category two storm. The National Hurricane Center says some areas of the Big Bend area in Florida could see up to a twenty foot storm surge when the storm makes landfall later today. Hurricane and storm warnings extend into Georgia, North and South Carolina. Ela County Supervisor Janis Hahn is again called for a system to prevent people from carrying weapons onto metro buses
and trains. It comes after a metro bus passenger was shot and killed allegedly by the man who hijacked a bus, and says the driver was protected by a barrier the transit agency helps to have installed on all its buses by the end of the year. The head of the Israeli Army says the military is preparing for a possible ground operation in Lebanon. Is comments follow Hesbelah's launch of
a ballistic missile towards Tel Aviv. Israel intercepted it. We'll be talking more about this with ABC's geor Donna Miller in about fifteen minutes. Hey, Neil and I are going over the Edge to raise money for the Union Rescue Mission. Oh my god, it's tomorrow. We're going to be finding out more about the Union Rescue Mission, what it does and how it actually helps homeless people get off the streets for good, and why you should feel good about
donating your heart earned money to this cause. That's coming up at before the top of the hour. And also so much to see, so much to do as we head toward Halloween. So we're going out and about for a boo preview of a place that I think will amaze you. And we also have tickets so you can do your own boot preview of Dark Harbor at Queen Mary. That's coming up at the bottom of the hour. Let's get started with some of the stories coming out of
the KFI twenty four hour newsroom. A man who allegedly hijacked a Metro bus and killed a passenger in La is facing a charge of murder.
Lamont Campbell was arrested after an hour long slow speed chase on the bus from South LA to the Arts District Downtown LA. Mayor Karen Bass says the city and Metro will continue to work to improve on the transit system.
Every Angelino has the right to go about their lives safely, especially on our public transportation system.
There was a driver and two passengers aboard the bus when Campbell allegedly hijacked it at some point, shooting and killing one of those passengers in Downtown La.
Michael monks KFI News. Five women and a man have been shot in South LA. Most of them were shot in the legs, but they said they don't believe any of the women hurt yesterday were the intended targets. At least one of the people shot was in critical condition. Investigators say the three shooters maybe teenagers. People in parts
of Florida are getting ready for Hurricane Helene. Forecasters say the storm's going to reach the state late tonight, although the effects are going to last for a lot longer than that. Florida Governor Rond De Sanda says the storm is moving fast.
It's projected to leave up to twelve inches of rainfall, and the storm surge could reach ten to fifteen feet in some areas, which is, of course, very very significant.
Forecasters are even saying some areas could see a storm surge as high as twenty feet. Helene is now a Category two storm. It's forecast to be a Category four hurricane by the time it makes landfall in Florida's Big Bend area. New York Mayor Eric Adams has been indicted by a federal grand jury. He's the first mayor in the city's history to be charged while in office. The indictment remains sealed, but the initial investigation focused on campaign
finance violations. In a statement released last night, Adams denied the charges.
It is now my belief that the federal government intends to charge me with crimes. If so, these charges will be entirely false based on loves.
Adams isn't expected to be in court until next week. Applications to refinance home loans have jumped twenty percent in the last week compared to a year ago, when interest rates were up near eight percent. Applications are up one hundred and seventy five percent. Average rates for a thirty year fixed rate mortgage it averaged just over six point one percent. Let's say good morning now to ABC's Stephen
portnoy So. Stephen. President Zelensky of Ukraine has appealed to the UN to keep funding its war efforts against Russia. The Biden administrations so far supporting those efforts. But things aren't exactly going well between Zelensky and former President Trump. Get a little.
Testy, testy, awkward, tense, acrimonious yesterday. Well what's going on?
Being with?
Where to start? Look if vloidmyer. Zelensky did an interview with The New Yorker earlier this week in which he said that Trump quote really doesn't know how to stop the war, even if he might think he knows how. He's called JD. Vance radical, an ignorant of European history, someone who ought to read a book about European history well in North Carolina. Trump responded to Zelenski and what
he called nasty aspersions being cast by the Ukrainian president. Quote, we continue to give billions of dollars to a man who refuses to make a deal in Zelensky. At the UN yesterday, Vladimir Zelenski insisted he would not capitulate to international demands for pressure to agree to a negotiated settlement because the negotiated settlement, he says, would result in his country seating territory to Russia. He says Russia is twenty times the size of Ukraine and the idea that it
wants more land is and his words insane. He says that Russia wants to attack his country's nuclear power plants, which could result in a nuclear disaster. Vladimir Putin wants some sort of internal document with respect to nuclear doctrine in his country to be changed to make it easier for Russia to use nuclear weapons, perhaps even in Ukraine. And Zelenski is urging the West to stand strong together,
while Republicans increasingly see this as a partisan question. House Republicans are now accusing Zelensky of trying to interfere in the US election. They point to a flight he took this past weekend on a seventeen US Air Force aircraft
to do the battle ground state of Pennsylvania. He went on a tour of a munitions factory, and Republicans say that because he was accompanied by first of all, flown on a military jet, and then accompanied by Josh Shapiro, the governor of Pennsylvania, who's a surrogate for the Harris campaign, they see it as a Harris campaign stop, and so they say that Zelenski's trying to medle in the election
on behalf of Democrats. Today, Zelensky meets with President Biden at the White House and the President is announcing that he's releasing or authorizing the eight billion dollars more and congressionally approved funding for Ukraine to get it out the door as quickly as he can while he still can, the thought being that perhaps if the administration were to change hands to Republicans, so that might be the last
opportunity for Ukraine to receive American support. And to hear it from Donald Trump, you have to wonder.
Now there was top that Zelensky was going to meet with former President Trump. Do we know if that's going to happen now?
I don't see it happening. I also don't see any kind of meeting with Mike Johnson, the Speaker of the House, as Lenski's up on Capitol Hill today as well.
Okay, So he's meeting with Biden, and then he's meeting separately with Vice President Harris.
And with congressional leaders. So I should take members of Congress.
Okay.
The point is Republicans are trying to keep their distance, and increasingly they're trying to express their disappointment and frustration with Zelenski and say that he is too close to the Democrats. So it's a tense and awkward time and a dangerous time for Ukraine.
All right, ABC, Stephen Portnoy, thank you so much for the information. Appreciated. Let's get back to some of the stories coming out of the KFI twenty four hour news room. Governor Newsom says a set of bills he signed restricting oils and gas wells represents a step forward in the state's ongoing efforts to cut pollution. The bills signed yesterday prohibit the operation of low oilction and gas wells in
the Baldwin Hills Conservancy. LA County Supervisor Holly Mitchell says the bills are in the community's best interests.
People are living, going to school, working, having recreation experiences in proximity that has caused multi generational harm.
Newsom says the legislation builds on efforts to protect communities from pollution and hold big oil accountable. Power utilities and various levels of government in SoCal are working with a research company in the Bay Area to figure out the best ways to handle the risk of wildfires. EPRI does research and testing into ways to help energy providers prevent
and prepare for wildfires and also improve their resiliency. Climate resilience analyst Jacob Martian says they use a variety of tools to do it.
Siatellite images, we can use advanced weather forecasts, and increasingly we were using artificial intelligence to make predictions about this.
He says it's unrealist to think wildfires will be eliminated completely, but he thinks progress is being made when it comes without a deal with them. Bodycam video shows a man stabbing his mother in front of a home in Irvine, right before police kill him.
The night Down.
Means after the guy id'd as Paul Montizare from Las Vegas can be seen crouching over his mother.
Not to Night, Not to Night.
Montazaarre appears to then charge the officer with the knife in his hand. Earlier this month, right as another officer shows up. The man and his mother both died at the scene shots fire.
Mail Down has a knife in his hand.
In Orange County, Corbin Carson camp I News Congress has avoided a government shutdown just weeks before the November election.
The House and Senate approved Billy yesterday that keeps federal agencies funded through December twentieth. Speaker Mike Johnson says his chamber did its job.
We are not going to return to the Christmas comedy bus spending tradition, and that's a commitment I've made to everyone.
Lawmakers will face another round of fiscal negotiations at the end of the year. The A's will play their last game in Oakland this afternoon against the Texas Rangers. Of course, the A's are moving to Las Vegas. Team owner John Fisher has apologized to fans for the team's departure saying he wishes he could talk to every fan personally and tell them we tried, but apparently that's not good enough for Brian Johansson with the fan group Baseball's Last Dive Bar.
We just asked that they have just an ounce of decency and respect for these final games, and they can't do that.
First pitch of the last A's game at Oakland Coliseum goes out at twelve forty five. It's Halloween time at the Disneyland Resort. KFI Am six forty and Wake Up Call want to give you a chance to experience the frightful fun at the Disneyland Resort now through October thirty. First, you'll find fiendishly tasty treats for one and all and a boo to fol decorps to both Disney California Adventure Park and Disneyland Park. It looks so great during the holidays.
Keep it right here, because wake Up Call will have your chance to win a four pack of one day one park tickets to the Disneyland Resort. In fact, we're going to get them away tomorrow, and I know Neil Savader has some more tickets to give away during Fork Report, But like you said, keep it right here. Wake Up Call has your chance to win a four pack of one day one park tickets to the Disneyland resort. California is sending a team of firefighters to Florida to assist
with Hurricane Helene recovery efforts. The hurricane is now Category two storm. The team members are from Riverside, Orange County, San Diego, Sacramento, and Oakland. Governor Newsom says the firefighters from the state's Urban Search and Rescue Task Force Incident Support Team that's a mouthful, will be immediately deployed to Florida. Governor Newsom has vetoed a bill to help black families reclaim or be compensated for and seized by the government.
The bill would have created a process for families to file acclaim with the state if they believed the government sees their property through eminent domain because of discrimination. The lights are going to stay on. In Washington, the House and Senate have passed a bill to keep the government funded through December twentieth. The funding bill generally keeps agencies operating at current levels. Lawmakers are going to have to pass another bill to keep the government funded through the
holidays and into next year. At six oh five, it's handled on the news New York Mayor Eric Adams is being indicted by the federal government. We're just getting word that federal agents have seized Mayor Adam's phone during a search at dawn. Let's say good morning now to ABC's jordonah Miller in Jerusalem. So Jordana's things continue to escalate. Hesba law file fires a missile at Tel Aviv, which is intercepted, and Israel says it's time to prepare for a ground invasion.
Right and then late this morning we also found out that Israel's participating in talks on a ceasfire between Israel and Lebanon. That doesn't mean we have there's a deal that's been agreed to by both sides and nothing is imminent. But we're seeing at the same time intense fighting, cross border fighting between Israel and Lebanon what looks like we could lead quickly to a full war. On the other side, diplomacy led by the United States again trying to pull
the sides back from war. Yesterday, for the first time, has Balla fired a ballistic missile on Tel Aviv. It was intercepted. There were no injuries, but it is a proof of Hasbala's capabilities. And by the way, it's only one ballistic missile. They surely could fire many more. This was just a way of Husbala letting everybody know how far they can reach into Israel. It was over one hundred and twenty miles from hsbalas from Lebanon's borders, right
where Hasbella operates out of. We also saw the Israeli Army, the chief HERZLV, saying to troops that he's preparing to put their boots on the ground in southern Lebanon, and that Israel has called up two reserve brigades about six thousand soldiers, so that as the Israeli Armi says, it can advance, it's the next stage of its military operations, its war plans. And that is after Israel already pulled out a division of troops from Gaza about ten thousand and moved.
Them to the north.
So you can see that Israel is advertising and messaging that it is getting ready for a potential ground offensive. And I think there's a few things happening here at once, and they're linked the threats of what Israel could do next and what Hasbela could do next. With their missile strike and the news of the diplomacy, it's all building up in a sense, Israel is trying to put pressure, I think, and scare Hasbala into really choosing diplomacy over war.
And Hasbala with that missile strike still, you know, is keeping everyone guessing about what it really wants next.
Right.
Has Bula has said it will not stop firing until there's a seatfire in Gaza, and there is no ceasefire in Gaza. The fighting is still continuing there, so you know where exactly are we headed. I think we're really
gonna have to watch closely. But this is again another very very volatile moment, and the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Attania, has just arrived in New York and he is set to address the UN General Assembly tomorrow, so I think we won't see anything dramatic couple of days until he's back here.
Well, and you've got me thinking, which is always dangerous, but you know, the wheels start spinning when you think, okay, if they're talking diplomacy, as Hesbola kind of ramps up and Israel's threatening the ground operation, it almost like sets the stage for them to say, Okay, you guys, we can This gives us basically an opportunity to step back and do the diplomacy and say, okay, we've both shown that we've got some mighte here, but let's step back. Kind of gives them both out.
Right, hopefully right exactly. I mean, it's a face saving measure that may may let Hasbala climb down from the ladder, and it may let Israel as well. But as is always the case, you know, what are the We don't exactly know the intentions of the Prime Minister of Israel nor the leader of Hasbola huffon Thestralla. Uh, you know, he's making a big hit. He admitted that his organization has taken a big hit over the last week. Certainly
they have plenty of capabilities left. I mean, we don't talk about it because we're focused on the damage as well, doing to the rockets and the hardware that are embedded in civilian areas in southern Lobanon above ground. But remember has Bulla also has thousands of rockets underground and thousands of rockets in Beyrout underground, so they're you know, they've taken a hit, but they are not. They're not defeated, and Israel knows that, you know, a war against Habullah
would be bloody and destructive. And I think the United States is trying to say, can't we get to the solution that you're going to get to at the end of a bloody, again and destructive war. Can't we get to that now? Let's let's see back and talk about a ceasefire now, and then we'll deal with Gaza after, because they won't they won't be connected.
All right, And then, as you said, in the immediate future. Natanyahu is in New York and is speaking to the General Assembly at the United Nations. But that's not today, that's tomorrow.
It's tomorrow. He's giving his speech at nine point thirty eastern right, and you know, we can we can't expect him to lay out Israel's case. It's what he calls the just war against him US and now increasingly against Osbala.
He will link Israel's enemies to Iran, their patron and supporter, and talk about you know that Israel's really on the front lines in the fight against Iran, which seeks to be stabilize and really take over the Middle East, and that Israel's on the front lines of fighting a kind of culture of hate and a genocidal culture that a kind of fanatical I flam that is hijacked modern yflam.
Yeah, okay, well, we will be watching and listening and and hoping that that diplomatic solution presents itself.
Let's hope.
So all right, thanks so much, ABC's Jordana Miller in Jerusalem. Let's get back to some of the stories coming out of the KFI twenty four hour newsroom. A federal judge has ordered the Department of Veterans Affairs to lock down UCLA's Jackie Robinson Stadium at the VA in West La. It'll be off limits starting at noon until the university comes up with a proposal for the stadium grounds to benefit the military veterans for whom the land was originally deeded.
US District Judge David o'carter voiced frustration yesterday with UCLA and other leaseholders for not offering satisfactory uses for the land. He also criticized the VA, saying they illegally leased parts of the West La campus to UCLA's baseball team, the affluent Brentwood School, an oil company and other private interests. A man in Santa Barbara County has been arrested for allegedly setting off an explosive device at a courthouse in Santa Maria. Officials say the man through a bag with
an explosive past the weapons checkpoint yesterday. Shane Mellon was in one of the courtrooms when it happened.
There was some like sweater or something sitting there smoldering at someone's screaming, and four or five individuals trying to restrain that guy.
Five people were taken to the hospital with non life threatening injuries. Police say the twenty year old arrested was due to be arraigned on a gun charge when the explosion happened. Books on the American Library Association's banned list will soon be available for free at LAX.
The vote by the La City Council during Banned Books Week taps into a partnership with the library and the Airport Councilwoman Monica Rodriguez says she's motivated to help people circulating through the airport who may come from places where the titles are off the shelves, to figure out a.
Way for us to expose more of these banned books for so many travelers with coming in and out.
Of lax QR codes at the airport will lead travelers to access a temporary library card no matter where they're from, to check out digital copies in downtown La.
Michael Monks KFI News. So the Dodgers beat the Padres four to three last night at Dodgers Stadium. Go Blue Show, Hey Otani stole his fifty sixth base. A win tonight would clinch the National League West for the Dodgers, and you can watch as the Dodgers take on the Padres. It's their series finale at Dodger Stadium. First pitch goes
out at seven o'clock. You can listen to every play of every game on AM five to seventy LA Sports Live from the Galpin Motors Broadcast Booth, and you can stream all the games live in HD on the iHeartRadio app keyword AM five to seventy LA Sports. Governor Newsom, with much pomp and circumstance, was in Inglewood yesterday to sign three oil industry related bills into law. The bills address the idle oil wells that Newsom says continue to
leak toxins into the air and the ground. Newsom says the new laws will place the responsibility to cap and clean the idle oil wells back on the oil companies. The city of Malibu is cracking down on people parking RVs and other vehicles overnight on Pacific Coast Highway. City officials say they're just following Governor Newsom's mandate to enforce existing laws that prohibit overnight parking in public spaces. New York Mayor Eric Adams has been indicted on federal criminal charges.
We don't yet know what the charges are. They're still seal. Federal prosecutors are expected to announce details of the indictment today at six oh five. It's handle on the news. More countries. They're calling for a ceasefire in Israel as Israel tells its troops to prepare for a ground operation into Lebanon. So much to see and so much to do as we head into the Halloween scary season, So we're doing Boop reviews for you, checking out some things that you might want to go and see for yourself.
This week, we're going out and about for the return of Dark Harbor. We caught up with the creative genius behind Dark Harbor Amy Holloman, so Amy, Dark Harbor has been dark for a few years, but now has risen from the dead and is back at the Queen Mary. How exciting is that?
Extremely exciting. I think so many people didn't think Dark Harbor could come back. So it's an honor, a challenge and our pleasure to bring back Dark Harbor after four years of being dormant.
Four years, and I know that you've had your first few nights of it, and so far it's like record breaking. People are coming out for it. That's right.
We've seen great attendance so far, and people just seem to be having a great time, screaming, laughing, smiling, sneaking into the speakeasies, having a drink, loosening up a bit, and then bab.
We get him again. She's going to be doing that to me a lot. Okay, so Amy, tell us if people haven't been to Dark Harbor before. We're in the entrance way, and this is just so impressive. I can't even imagine what's going to be inside the mazes. But what kind of mazes do we have this year? What coul people have?
Okay, we have five mazes from Dark Harbor. We're bringing back the original Feast that's inside the ship. It's the only remaining Dark Harbor maze from the past, but we're making the prequel to the story this year, where you see the butcher doing everything he can to rise the ranks to become the head chef aboard.
We also have Lullaby, which.
Is the story about the little girl Scary Mary, who died in the pool.
I've heard of Scary Mary. You gotta watch out.
Our third maze on the ship that's brand new this year is Infirmary Okay, and this is where we learn about a love story between the graceful gil Icon and a new character, the surgeon doctor Edwin Masters.
I will love hell into it, he gets, explaining. Okay, what else we have?
We have two mazes in the Harbor. One is the ring Master's Big Top Terror, where the ring Master is putting together all of their henschees as they call them, to bring fear and instill in the Circus of the Damned.
And then lastly we have.
Our new double maze Breakout where the story of B three forty.
And then that's the Room that is America.
The most haunted hotel room in America, maybe the world, where Samuel the Savage was locked up after murdering two people and mysteriously ended up dead.
Seemed like the room was.
Torn to shatters, to tatters. We don't know what happened in there. Yeah, but we're bringing that story off the ship every night. Sam the Savage is brought out in chains by two prison guards who bring him to the Seaside prison and breakout. But could a prison hold Samuel Savage?
Of course not? Okay, of course not. So he breaks out and then.
You, you, Amy, tonight will be in the steps of Samuel the Savage on the run through the Seaside village trying to escape and once again to murder all those who come to.
Dark Harbor or the Creamery. So we're pretty excited about that, okay. In this experience, this is a scary one. This is not for the faint of heart, because you've got you've got what they call them scare actors, but you've got people jumping out at you and that kind of stuff all over the place.
Right, It's an intense, high startled experience.
I we we do.
Ever have a festival like atmosphere all over the grounds where you can get food, drinks, you can even go to our Voodoo Bayou where you can chill out, So you could come with your friends even if you're a little scared, if that's okay. You just have to be ready for potentially some clowns, some scary stilt walkers or chainsaws in the streets. But besides that, once you get to the Voodoo Bayou, you can have some'mores, you can smoke kuka. There's almost a little bit of everything for somebody.
A Dark Harbor this year.
Okay, and then there's a full on carnival. Two. Oh yeah, there's rides. So we have thrill rides.
So we brought back the Sinister Swings Kick. Those are from original Dark Harbor and we're working with that rides company. We have all different kinds of rides and one of them is this cool old timey carousel, but they retrofitted it to match Scary Mary and it's a black like carousel.
We also have a double.
Wheel that's the only one on this half of the country where you go up high and you spin.
So lots of different types of thrills. Okay. And when is Dark carpor open this holiday season?
So Dark Harbor is open select nights all the way till November two, when we celebrate Dia delos Mortos, and they can go to Dark Harbor Halloween dot com to see what nights we're open. We're always open Friday, Saturday, Sunday, most Thursdays, we pick up Wednesdays mid October and even some Tuesdays.
Okay, any why do you love this so much?
I love this because I like to entertain people and fear entertainment.
It gets you out.
Of your normal, everyday life and you get to sort of in some ways, it's a relief from the worries of the world. You can just sink your teeth in, get scared and then last and it brings you closer together and people you came with, whether you're holding not to your family, your loved blond or your friends. It's really a bonding experience. So we're excited to bring this back to Long Beach.
I have a feeling when a bond with a lot of people. Tonight, aymy Holliman, genius extraordinaryor come out to Dark Harbor. That's where we are out and about for our book preview.
All right, okay, soon, and we want to scare you soon. So we're going to give away tickets. We have two pair of tickets to give away Dark Harbor, and let's give them away right now.
Eight hundred five to zero one KFI it's eight hundred five to zero one five three four. We have two pair of tickets to give away to Dark Harbor at the Queen Mary and let's do colors thirteen and thirteen right lucky number thirteen and also fourteen again, two pair of tickets to go see Dark Harbor. And I'm telling you it is impressive and and I got to go
out and check it out. I even went through a maze and Anne, who loves these things and I hate them because I'm scared, she kept pushing me in front of her and grabbing my arm. I was like, Ann, I'm the one who's scared, and she's like, oh whoops. So anyway, but really, really a cool experience. Also, you can buy tickets at Darkharbor Halloween dot com and check out our boot preview on my Instagram at Amy Kking
and at KFI AM six forty. We're going to be posting that on Instagram in just a couple of minutes. Give you a little sneak peek, and of course I would love it if you would follow me, Let's get back to some of the stories coming out of the KFI twenty four our newsroom. A Metro bus passenger in LA's Westlake district allegedly made threatening remarks to a driver, but the operator declined to press charges. Police were called yesterday to where the bus was on First Street and
Beverly Boulevard. They say no weapon was found. Metro says it recognized its operators are understandably on edge and encourages them to take advantage of support offered through their Employee Assistant program. LA's Metro Board of Directors is meeting a day after a guy hijacked a bus in South LA and killed a passenger. Mayor Bass is expected to be at the meeting this morning. The board's expected to call for a report back on overall preparation plans for the
twenty twenty eight Olympic and Paralympic Games. City officials have already declared a no car Olympics in twenty twenty eight plenty to use about three thousand buses. Health officials hoping to encourage more people to get a COVID nineteen vaccine have published a report saying there is a likely link between COVID and diabetes. It suggests the virus is creating
inflammation in the pancreas. Baylor Infectious disease expert doctor Peter Hotez says this study comes as a growing number of parents questioned the impact of COVID on kids and are not getting them vaccinated. LA County Supervisor Janis Han and LA Mayor Bass have called for more police to be on trains and buses after a man hijacked a bus in South LA and shot and killed a passenger. The
driver and another passenger were rescued. The alleged hijacker was arrested yesterday Early Yesterday morning, six people have been injured and a man has been arrested in connection with an explosion inside a courtroom in Santa Maria, north of Santa Barbara. The man apparently threw a bag in an area where he was going through security before the explosion happened yesterday morning. Meta has unveiled updates to its virtual reality headset and
ray Ban smart glasses along with AI advances. CEO Mark Zuckerberg also showed off Orion, which is a prototype for a holographic augmented reality glasses which he calls the most advanced glasses the world has ever seen. Well, you're not going to see him for a while because there's no word on when they might be available to the public. We're just minutes away from handle on the news this morning, Governor Newsom has vetoed a reparations bill while and what's next, Well,
here's what's next for me. We're just one day away. I'm going over the edge to raise money for the Union Rescue Mission. We're repelling off the Universal get nervous saying it. We're repelling off the Universal Hilton twenty five stories down to raise money to fight homelessness. And so we wanted to dig a little deeper into what the Union Rescue Mission is and what it does, because I think it's really important to understand how Union Rescue Mission
is different than other organizations. So let's say good morning to the vice president of Philanthropy and Social Enterprise with the Union Rescue Mission, Richard Newcombe.
Good morning, Amy, thrilled to be here with you.
Well, I'm thrilled and terrified to be here with you. So tell us exactly real quick before we talk about the Union Rescue Mission. What Neil Sevadra and I have gotten ourselves into.
We're shooting for two million dollars and we repelling off the roof of the Universal Hilton Hotel on September twenty seventh and twenty eighth. And that's what you signed up for all day Friday. You're coming right, you're looking at checking out.
No, I'm coming. I'll be there. We're both Neil and I. We're going over the edge because we want we believe in this in the Union Rescue Mission, and we want to help you raise money. Okay, So let's talk about this, Richard, because people are skeptical of donating to homeless programs. I mean, I just want to kind of the elephant in the room because so much money has been thrown at this problem, and homelessness is getting worse. We all see it every
day just driving around town. So let's talk about the Union Rescue Mission and how it is different from other programs that are fighting homelessness.
Well, I'm glad you brought that up.
We sense that the citizenry of Los Angeles is frustrated with the homeless situation. It doesn't seem to be improving. It didn't go up on the last account and went down by two hundred people from seventy five thousand, five hundred to seventy five thousand, three hundred. But people aren't seeing a real change, and so we I've launched a campaign that is part of this event called just Help One, because we want people to not give up the fight.
The seventeen million people in metropolitan Los Angeles, what if each of us stepped up to help one person? And so we're trying to let people know. It's an awareness campaign. We have billboards all over town, We're running radio ads
on iHeartRadio stations and rallying people to our cause. Because Union Rescue Mission has been in Los Angeles for one hundred and thirty three years, we receive no government general operating funding and we get a perfect one hundred rating from Charity Navigator because eighty six cents of every dollar is going to life saving life transformation of programs.
Okay, so yeple and fall short.
Yes, Yeah, we want to talk.
About the government funding. Neil and I have talked about it, but I want to hear it from you. You guys don't get any government money.
Why because if you take funds from the city, county, or state, you have to run your facilities under the harm reduction model, which means people are allowed to use drugs and alcohol in your facility, which we do not.
Yeah. Yeah, and that's really powerful because if you think about it, it's the people who want to get help who are coming to you.
Correct, And I think correct.
Last night, last night we had thirteen hundred human beings under roof at our three facilities, sober living facilities. Nine hundred of them were moms, dads and kids. In over one hundred and fifty were seniors. What kind of chaos would ensue if drugs and alcohol flowed freely in those environments.
Yeah. The other thing that I think is great about your organization is that you were telling us about like the transitional housing. So you're feeding thousands of people, but you're also working to actively help people get off the streets and get back into housing.
Correct.
We have lots of supportive programs that we offered, but people need to embrace it. Yes, I'm looking for change. One of them is Hope Garden's Family Center out in Silmar from moms and children. It's two to three years. You know, you get your ged, you get money management skills, We help you train for a job, We help you
find a job, We help you save. We had two moms graduate recently, one at Save seventeen thousand and one at Save twenty you know, and now they're moving on to a self sustaining life.
Eighty percent success right at Hope Gardens.
That's amazing. See. So, like you said, we can't there's seventy five thousand people. We can't help them all, but we can help them one at a time, and especially help the ones who want the help.
And Union Rescue Mission welcome. Then seventy five.
Hundred human beings in the past year. That's ten percent of the entire homeless population. So we're making a significant impact. We are doing it efficiently and effectively. We hope the citizenry of Los Angeles will rally around us.
And help us do more.
Okay, so in the immediate future, tell us how we're going to rally around it. So one way is to make a donation just help one dot org. And we now have a tab on the homepage for the Team iHeart. You can go directly to it and make a donation to support Neil and me and others from some of our other sister radio stations who are going to be going over the edge. And then if you want to conquer a fear and maybe repel down a twenty five story building, how do you do that, Richard?
They go to that same website, just help one the number one dot org and sign up. You know, there's three buttons. It's a registered sponsor and then it's got iheart's button and so people.
We'd love to have more participants. We do have the slots.
Some available on Friday, lots available on Saturday.
And it's safe.
This has been going on for twenty years in North America and the only person went to a hospital had an allergic beasting. Nobody's ever going to hurt. I've done it eight times. It's a little scary to go over the edge. At first you look down. You are up there with me, right and we look down. But it's
a blast, and afterwards it's exhilarating. And every participant within two to three hours afterwards, it gets a video that includes drone footage and you personally going from the roof to the bottom, and they get that and they can post that on social media, email a text it with him two to three hours after their experience.
Richard Nucombe, thank you so much for coming on because I think, like I said, people are skeptical and this is an organization you can get behind and whether you can donate ten dollars or one hundred or one thousand dollars, will take it. We need it and people need it.
God bless you.
Thanks you all right, take care, pretty amazing stuff and we're going over the edge tomorrow and hope that you will join in the fight and make a donation again, whether it's a dollar or one hundred dollars or one thousand dollars, we would appreciate anything that you can give. It's just help one dot org. And there's a Team iHeart button right there on the front page. And then go and you can donate to me so I can beat Neil because I think I'm ahead of him now.
He was ahead of me a little while ago, but I think I'm ahead now And want to say a few thank yous, just real quick. Wendy Smart donated Kathleen Lucas thanks to Joe Gadeon, Carol Ustavich, Justina Bircham, Diana Sebray. So many people are donating, and again, every little bit helps. You can help just one, So just help one. The number one dot org and then join us because we're going over the edge tomorrow. Neil's going to do it I think at eleven o'clock and I'm doing it sometime
between three and four. This is KFI and KOST HD two Los Angeles, Orange County. We lead local live from the KFI twenty four hour newsroom. I'm Amy King. This has been your wake up call, and 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 wake Up Call five to six am Monday through Friday on KFI AM six forty and anytime on demand on the iHeartRadio app.