1
00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:03,080
Speaker 1: It is the News Blitz with Randy Wang on Talk

2
00:00:03,200 --> 00:00:07,440
Speaker 1: radio seven ninety KABC. We're here every single day from

3
00:00:07,480 --> 00:00:10,280
Speaker 1: five to six talking about the local issues that matter

4
00:00:10,360 --> 00:00:12,479
Speaker 1: do you most, and taking your phone calls at eight

5
00:00:12,600 --> 00:00:15,360
Speaker 1: hundred two two two five two two two one eight

6
00:00:15,480 --> 00:00:18,280
Speaker 1: hundred two two two five two two two your emails

7
00:00:18,320 --> 00:00:22,079
Speaker 1: at Randy Wangradio at gmail dot com. Search for the

8
00:00:22,160 --> 00:00:26,800
Speaker 1: KABC News Blitz wherever you get your podcasts, and subscribe

9
00:00:26,840 --> 00:00:30,200
Speaker 1: to my substack to get the daily California Report at

10
00:00:30,280 --> 00:00:36,199
Speaker 1: Randywangradio dot substack dot com. Let's get into today's California

11
00:00:36,240 --> 00:00:40,879
Speaker 1: Report for Tuesday, February third, and the big story is

12
00:00:40,920 --> 00:00:46,479
Speaker 1: that UTLA, the United Teachers of Los Angeles, has voted

13
00:00:46,520 --> 00:00:51,720
Speaker 1: to authorize a potential strike. They say their teachers are

14
00:00:51,760 --> 00:00:55,320
Speaker 1: not making enough money, which is exactly what they said

15
00:00:55,640 --> 00:01:00,160
Speaker 1: three years ago when they successfully got a twenty two

16
00:01:00,440 --> 00:01:01,840
Speaker 1: percent raise.

17
00:01:02,080 --> 00:01:03,120
Speaker 2: Get that money.

18
00:01:03,280 --> 00:01:06,199
Speaker 1: But I guess inflation has got up twenty two percent

19
00:01:06,240 --> 00:01:09,080
Speaker 1: in the last three years. Oh it hasn't. We demand

20
00:01:09,280 --> 00:01:12,480
Speaker 1: higher pay. I don't know how the districts are supposed

21
00:01:12,520 --> 00:01:15,120
Speaker 1: to afford this. You're seeing the same kind of fight

22
00:01:15,200 --> 00:01:18,760
Speaker 1: go up in San Francisco, but every teacher says that

23
00:01:18,800 --> 00:01:22,080
Speaker 1: they're broke, yet we're spending more and more money on education.

24
00:01:22,360 --> 00:01:27,200
Speaker 1: Where all that money is going, Who knows. Now. Yesterday

25
00:01:27,240 --> 00:01:30,000
Speaker 1: we talked about how La Mayor Karen Bass held her

26
00:01:30,080 --> 00:01:32,640
Speaker 1: State of the City address, but it was really odd

27
00:01:32,680 --> 00:01:35,920
Speaker 1: because last year the State of the City address was

28
00:01:35,959 --> 00:01:38,920
Speaker 1: in May and part of what you do in the

29
00:01:38,959 --> 00:01:41,560
Speaker 1: State of the City address is present your budget to

30
00:01:41,840 --> 00:01:44,800
Speaker 1: the city council. She did not do that. Apparently she's

31
00:01:44,840 --> 00:01:48,240
Speaker 1: going to have a second speech, and this was more

32
00:01:48,320 --> 00:01:51,520
Speaker 1: about politics than about what are the goals for the

33
00:01:51,560 --> 00:01:54,440
Speaker 1: city in twenty twenty six, because, and this is interesting,

34
00:01:56,680 --> 00:02:01,080
Speaker 1: Karen Bass invited a lot of dignitaries, invited the clean

35
00:02:01,200 --> 00:02:03,320
Speaker 1: La with Me guy, which again I think makes her

36
00:02:03,320 --> 00:02:07,560
Speaker 1: look bad. But Karen Bass invited members of the Metro Board,

37
00:02:07,680 --> 00:02:11,320
Speaker 1: members of the La City Council, Inglewood Mayor James Botts,

38
00:02:11,360 --> 00:02:13,800
Speaker 1: because with all the hoopblow about the World Cup, let's

39
00:02:13,840 --> 00:02:15,639
Speaker 1: not forget that the games are actually going to be

40
00:02:15,639 --> 00:02:18,280
Speaker 1: played at so Far, which is not in the city

41
00:02:18,280 --> 00:02:21,799
Speaker 1: of Los Angeles. But one notable person who was not

42
00:02:21,960 --> 00:02:25,920
Speaker 1: invited to Karen Bass's State of the City was Lindsay

43
00:02:26,080 --> 00:02:29,800
Speaker 1: Horvath of the La County Board of Supervisors, who is

44
00:02:29,960 --> 00:02:33,600
Speaker 1: widely rumored to be getting into the mayor's race. Quite

45
00:02:33,600 --> 00:02:37,880
Speaker 1: frankly and apparently as far as we have seen, Lindsay

46
00:02:37,880 --> 00:02:42,880
Speaker 1: Horvath has opened up a new Twitter account that says

47
00:02:42,919 --> 00:02:46,600
Speaker 1: Lindsay for La. It could be fake, but who would

48
00:02:46,600 --> 00:02:50,239
Speaker 1: make that up? But this could have been Karen Bass

49
00:02:50,280 --> 00:02:54,680
Speaker 1: trying to consolidate power because she sees Horvath as a

50
00:02:54,720 --> 00:02:59,800
Speaker 1: potential challenge, or at very least with Horvath in the race,

51
00:03:00,120 --> 00:03:03,000
Speaker 1: it would make it very possible that Karen Bass doesn't

52
00:03:03,040 --> 00:03:07,400
Speaker 1: just win outright in June. But we'll see. It's not

53
00:03:07,440 --> 00:03:09,880
Speaker 1: like Lindsay Horvat is going to be any better. But

54
00:03:10,080 --> 00:03:14,440
Speaker 1: Karen Bass is a disaster. Speaking of disasters, that's a

55
00:03:14,440 --> 00:03:17,880
Speaker 1: great segue. I should tell you someday about the worst

56
00:03:17,880 --> 00:03:20,639
Speaker 1: segue of all time that I did on a podcast

57
00:03:21,040 --> 00:03:26,240
Speaker 1: about ten years ago. We know that the Palisades fire

58
00:03:26,440 --> 00:03:30,640
Speaker 1: was a major disaster, but what was almost worse was

59
00:03:30,880 --> 00:03:36,520
Speaker 1: how awful the insurance industry has been in the recovery. Well,

60
00:03:36,720 --> 00:03:41,680
Speaker 1: Consumer Watchdog, who is the consumer group that tries to

61
00:03:41,720 --> 00:03:44,800
Speaker 1: look out for what is going on with the insurance industry.

62
00:03:44,880 --> 00:03:48,760
Speaker 1: Considering that the insurance commissioner is nowhere to be found

63
00:03:48,800 --> 00:03:51,680
Speaker 1: on the side of rate payers and doesn't care about

64
00:03:51,720 --> 00:03:56,960
Speaker 1: rate payers. Is rarely comfortable. They investigated the insurance industry's

65
00:03:57,040 --> 00:03:59,560
Speaker 1: response to the Palisades fire, and not only did they

66
00:03:59,600 --> 00:04:03,200
Speaker 1: find a whole bunch of slow walking and changing your

67
00:04:03,240 --> 00:04:06,200
Speaker 1: adjuster and all the other nonsense that you're not surprised by,

68
00:04:06,640 --> 00:04:09,720
Speaker 1: but they also were using secret algorithms to drop as

69
00:04:09,760 --> 00:04:13,520
Speaker 1: many people as possible. Could that be because they knew

70
00:04:13,560 --> 00:04:16,160
Speaker 1: they were getting all these sweetheart deals from Ricardo Laura?

71
00:04:16,480 --> 00:04:20,839
Speaker 1: Why yes it could. Now in some positive school news,

72
00:04:21,240 --> 00:04:24,880
Speaker 1: Long Beach Unified officially rolled out their cell phone band

73
00:04:25,680 --> 00:04:30,359
Speaker 1: and the teachers are liking it. They're saying, Hey, the

74
00:04:30,480 --> 00:04:33,680
Speaker 1: kids are finally paying attention. I got to imagine the

75
00:04:33,720 --> 00:04:37,400
Speaker 1: hardest part about being a teacher in today's day and

76
00:04:37,480 --> 00:04:41,960
Speaker 1: age is constantly being the phone police. But I do

77
00:04:42,120 --> 00:04:47,719
Speaker 1: know this, kids are crafty, and kids will figure out

78
00:04:48,040 --> 00:04:52,279
Speaker 1: something else. I remember being in high school when the

79
00:04:52,360 --> 00:04:55,320
Speaker 1: kids in my class figured out how to put games

80
00:04:55,400 --> 00:04:59,960
Speaker 1: on the TI eighty three calculator, like they figured out

81
00:05:00,120 --> 00:05:02,840
Speaker 1: to put Mario on one of those things. And there

82
00:05:02,880 --> 00:05:06,240
Speaker 1: was also this text adventure game called Go pimping that

83
00:05:06,279 --> 00:05:09,800
Speaker 1: one was a lot of fun too. Look, we were

84
00:05:09,800 --> 00:05:13,039
Speaker 1: desperate to do anything but pay attention to class. Although

85
00:05:13,600 --> 00:05:18,120
Speaker 1: for me, I felt I was overqualified for everything in

86
00:05:18,200 --> 00:05:20,920
Speaker 1: high school, but didn't want to like go try out

87
00:05:20,920 --> 00:05:23,440
Speaker 1: for the ap classes. So I just kind of did

88
00:05:23,480 --> 00:05:26,080
Speaker 1: all my homework in class and then snuck my game

89
00:05:26,080 --> 00:05:30,719
Speaker 1: boy out when I could. Here's an interesting one from

90
00:05:31,040 --> 00:05:35,760
Speaker 1: NBC in La the San Bernardino City Council wants to

91
00:05:35,800 --> 00:05:38,120
Speaker 1: put something on the ballot that would stop them from

92
00:05:38,160 --> 00:05:40,839
Speaker 1: having an elected mayor. They want that position to be

93
00:05:40,880 --> 00:05:46,320
Speaker 1: an appointed position. Why they won't say, what's the point

94
00:05:46,360 --> 00:05:48,200
Speaker 1: of this. Do they have a problem with the current mayor?

95
00:05:48,600 --> 00:05:51,680
Speaker 1: They don't want to say. But also in this consolidation

96
00:05:51,760 --> 00:05:54,480
Speaker 1: of power, they want to make sure that the members

97
00:05:54,520 --> 00:05:57,679
Speaker 1: of that city council can serve for a longer term

98
00:05:57,880 --> 00:06:01,480
Speaker 1: than they usually do. There's something going on out there.

99
00:06:02,200 --> 00:06:04,760
Speaker 1: I know it's the biggest city in San Berardino County,

100
00:06:04,760 --> 00:06:06,440
Speaker 1: but it's still not that big of a city. And

101
00:06:06,480 --> 00:06:09,400
Speaker 1: your primary job in the city of San Borardino is

102
00:06:09,440 --> 00:06:11,520
Speaker 1: to make sure the raves are still coming through to

103
00:06:11,560 --> 00:06:16,320
Speaker 1: the Orange Show. Now in Catalina, and this is the

104
00:06:16,360 --> 00:06:20,880
Speaker 1: story coming out of CBSLA. There has been an overrun

105
00:06:20,920 --> 00:06:23,960
Speaker 1: of mule deer that originally were brought onto the island

106
00:06:24,320 --> 00:06:27,279
Speaker 1: because someone wanted something to hunt, and what do you know,

107
00:06:28,160 --> 00:06:31,400
Speaker 1: they overpopulated quite a bit. It's getting to the point

108
00:06:31,440 --> 00:06:34,320
Speaker 1: where the California Conservancy is like, we need to have

109
00:06:34,440 --> 00:06:37,520
Speaker 1: people hunt these things. There's too many of them. And

110
00:06:37,680 --> 00:06:42,600
Speaker 1: Janis Hahn, who district includes Catalina, says, no, no, no, no, no,

111
00:06:42,640 --> 00:06:44,960
Speaker 1: we can't get rid of them. We need to just

112
00:06:45,279 --> 00:06:47,360
Speaker 1: you know, we need to just save some of them.

113
00:06:47,680 --> 00:06:50,560
Speaker 1: You know. It's good for wildfire prevention because they eat

114
00:06:50,560 --> 00:06:53,960
Speaker 1: all the bad brush, and the Conservancy says, they also

115
00:06:54,040 --> 00:06:56,440
Speaker 1: eat all the good brush. So we'll see what goes

116
00:06:56,480 --> 00:06:59,640
Speaker 1: on down there. And another problem that is going to

117
00:06:59,680 --> 00:07:01,479
Speaker 1: be faced seeing a lot of people in the next

118
00:07:01,640 --> 00:07:06,000
Speaker 1: decade in California is the challenges that we are seeing

119
00:07:06,480 --> 00:07:10,600
Speaker 1: due to caregiver shortages. There's a lot of people getting

120
00:07:10,600 --> 00:07:13,560
Speaker 1: older and there's not a lot of people who want

121
00:07:13,600 --> 00:07:16,280
Speaker 1: to do the work of taking care of those people.

122
00:07:16,280 --> 00:07:19,120
Speaker 1: It doesn't pay very well. And while it can be

123
00:07:19,200 --> 00:07:21,880
Speaker 1: rewarding and sometimes, I'm sure in other times it is

124
00:07:22,080 --> 00:07:24,640
Speaker 1: just awful. If you have any friends that have any

125
00:07:24,720 --> 00:07:28,600
Speaker 1: elderly parents that have special needs. It is. I feel

126
00:07:28,600 --> 00:07:31,800
Speaker 1: for him every single day, But I don't know what

127
00:07:31,840 --> 00:07:33,920
Speaker 1: you need to do. How you need to, you know,

128
00:07:34,360 --> 00:07:37,320
Speaker 1: get more people into this industry without getting it to

129
00:07:37,400 --> 00:07:39,680
Speaker 1: a point where people can make a better living at it.

130
00:07:39,720 --> 00:07:41,880
Speaker 1: But then that increases the cost of everything. I don't

131
00:07:41,920 --> 00:07:44,560
Speaker 1: know what the answer is for that. Oh, insurance should

132
00:07:44,560 --> 00:07:47,400
Speaker 1: pay for it, sure, but what is insurance actually pay for?

133
00:07:48,160 --> 00:07:53,080
Speaker 1: Who knows. KTLA did an interview with Michael Gates, who

134
00:07:53,080 --> 00:07:55,640
Speaker 1: you might know as the former Huntington Beach City attorney.

135
00:07:56,040 --> 00:07:58,760
Speaker 1: He announced a few weeks ago he is challenging Rob

136
00:07:58,840 --> 00:08:02,520
Speaker 1: Bonta for attorney General. So I have that interview up

137
00:08:02,600 --> 00:08:08,080
Speaker 1: on the California Report. We'll see it's a Republican, but

138
00:08:08,240 --> 00:08:11,960
Speaker 1: Bonta is notably awful and notably pathetic and has a

139
00:08:11,960 --> 00:08:15,800
Speaker 1: lot of ethical question marks around him with the whole

140
00:08:15,840 --> 00:08:21,160
Speaker 1: connection to the Shang Tao scandal. So maybe Brant is vulnerable.

141
00:08:21,680 --> 00:08:23,960
Speaker 1: It's still kind of weird that he's not running for governor.

142
00:08:24,120 --> 00:08:25,680
Speaker 3: Absolutely absolutely, And.

143
00:08:25,640 --> 00:08:29,680
Speaker 1: Of course there was that whole situation where Rob Bonta,

144
00:08:30,000 --> 00:08:34,000
Speaker 1: who had nothing to do with the Shang Tao situation nothing,

145
00:08:34,760 --> 00:08:38,119
Speaker 1: paid five hundred thousand dollars of campaign money to attorneys

146
00:08:38,160 --> 00:08:43,400
Speaker 1: to assist in that investigation. It's a little weird. What'sn't

147
00:08:43,440 --> 00:08:45,600
Speaker 1: a whole lot of news in the Bay Area today

148
00:08:45,600 --> 00:08:48,960
Speaker 1: because everything's Super Bowl focused. But what was in the

149
00:08:49,000 --> 00:08:52,280
Speaker 1: news was that more and more and more voters. This

150
00:08:52,360 --> 00:08:55,040
Speaker 1: is true in California and also true in the rest

151
00:08:55,040 --> 00:08:58,560
Speaker 1: of the country. Forty five percent of US voters are

152
00:08:58,600 --> 00:09:03,680
Speaker 1: identifying themselves as independence because more and more people look

153
00:09:03,800 --> 00:09:06,760
Speaker 1: at the Democrat Party and the Republican Party and say,

154
00:09:07,240 --> 00:09:08,760
Speaker 1: I don't know where I fit in any of this.

155
00:09:09,000 --> 00:09:13,440
Speaker 1: There's so much polarization. Every side is getting pulled to

156
00:09:13,480 --> 00:09:15,440
Speaker 1: the ends. But there are a lot of people that like,

157
00:09:16,800 --> 00:09:19,200
Speaker 1: there are you know, to use a phrase that I

158
00:09:19,240 --> 00:09:23,520
Speaker 1: remember Chris Rock saying a million years ago, there are

159
00:09:23,520 --> 00:09:26,960
Speaker 1: some issues that I'm conservative about. There are some issues

160
00:09:27,000 --> 00:09:31,040
Speaker 1: that I'm liberal about, and I think that's true for

161
00:09:31,120 --> 00:09:33,840
Speaker 1: a lot of people. I have never identified with the

162
00:09:33,840 --> 00:09:37,040
Speaker 1: political party, and I don't think I ever will. I

163
00:09:37,040 --> 00:09:39,480
Speaker 1: think there needs to be balanced in the state of California,

164
00:09:39,520 --> 00:09:41,800
Speaker 1: and I think one party rule has been a mess.

165
00:09:42,120 --> 00:09:44,360
Speaker 1: But for the most part, I look at the person,

166
00:09:44,679 --> 00:09:48,200
Speaker 1: not the party. You can't judge every single politician in

167
00:09:48,320 --> 00:09:50,920
Speaker 1: California because they have a D next to their name.

168
00:09:51,240 --> 00:09:53,560
Speaker 1: Tracy Park has a D next to her name. She's

169
00:09:53,600 --> 00:09:56,480
Speaker 1: pretty common sense. Matt Maheon has a D next to

170
00:09:56,480 --> 00:10:00,679
Speaker 1: his name. The mayor of San Jose, he's pretty darn sense.

171
00:10:02,640 --> 00:10:05,760
Speaker 1: In Sacramento, I guess you could call this good news.

172
00:10:07,559 --> 00:10:11,440
Speaker 1: You know that whole scandal involving Gavin Newsom's chief of

173
00:10:11,520 --> 00:10:15,360
Speaker 1: staff Dana Williamson, the one who is siphoning money out

174
00:10:15,360 --> 00:10:20,480
Speaker 1: of Javier Bessera's campaign to pay for fancy purses and

175
00:10:20,600 --> 00:10:25,080
Speaker 1: fancy Mexican vacations. Well, after the big indictment last year,

176
00:10:25,559 --> 00:10:28,080
Speaker 1: they're going through the court proceedings. But, as it always

177
00:10:28,120 --> 00:10:32,280
Speaker 1: happens when you have these big cases, the suspects in

178
00:10:32,320 --> 00:10:35,480
Speaker 1: the case, the defendants, all of a sudden get incredibly ill.

179
00:10:36,080 --> 00:10:40,320
Speaker 1: And apparently Dana's had some rough years to the point

180
00:10:40,360 --> 00:10:44,200
Speaker 1: where she needed a liver transplant. Now, I don't want

181
00:10:44,240 --> 00:10:49,559
Speaker 1: to insinuate anything. I'm sure there are totally legitimate reasons

182
00:10:49,559 --> 00:10:53,480
Speaker 1: why people get liver transplants. Maybe, but it's pushing your

183
00:10:53,480 --> 00:10:56,400
Speaker 1: court dates back quite a bit. Now, we've been talking

184
00:10:56,480 --> 00:11:01,000
Speaker 1: a lot about school budgets and school strikes in San

185
00:11:01,040 --> 00:11:05,720
Speaker 1: Francisco in Los Angeles. Well, this is the side effect

186
00:11:05,720 --> 00:11:08,160
Speaker 1: of when you decide to give the union everything they

187
00:11:08,200 --> 00:11:14,840
Speaker 1: want is at some point you become underwater because enrollment

188
00:11:14,960 --> 00:11:18,920
Speaker 1: is outside of LAUSD, Enrollment is down in almost every

189
00:11:18,920 --> 00:11:22,120
Speaker 1: major school district in the state, including Sack City Unified,

190
00:11:22,440 --> 00:11:23,920
Speaker 1: who are now at a point where they have a

191
00:11:23,960 --> 00:11:27,720
Speaker 1: fifty million dollar budget crisis and they don't want to

192
00:11:27,720 --> 00:11:30,640
Speaker 1: close schools and they don't want to have those hard conversations,

193
00:11:30,960 --> 00:11:33,560
Speaker 1: so they're going to need an emergency loan from the state,

194
00:11:34,000 --> 00:11:36,200
Speaker 1: and then they're going to be put into a state receivership,

195
00:11:36,280 --> 00:11:38,560
Speaker 1: much like Oakland Unified has been in for a very

196
00:11:38,600 --> 00:11:40,960
Speaker 1: long time and then they got out of receivership and

197
00:11:40,960 --> 00:11:45,320
Speaker 1: then they rent right back into receivership. What's interesting when

198
00:11:45,320 --> 00:11:48,600
Speaker 1: you look at Sacramento area is the cities that they cover.

199
00:11:49,080 --> 00:11:52,000
Speaker 1: Stockton gets a lot of coverage because Stockton has a

200
00:11:52,200 --> 00:11:56,079
Speaker 1: weird city council and a weird mayor, and there's been

201
00:11:56,120 --> 00:11:58,960
Speaker 1: this fight going on in Stockton for quite a while

202
00:11:59,320 --> 00:12:02,720
Speaker 1: where the vice mayor is accusing the mayor of corruption

203
00:12:02,840 --> 00:12:05,240
Speaker 1: and the mayor is accusing the vice mayor of corruption.

204
00:12:05,720 --> 00:12:08,400
Speaker 1: So here's the latest twist on this from ABC ten.

205
00:12:09,120 --> 00:12:13,520
Speaker 1: The vice mayor of Stockton says that the mayor mishandled

206
00:12:13,559 --> 00:12:16,480
Speaker 1: a whole bunch of funds for some DEI program and

207
00:12:16,559 --> 00:12:21,560
Speaker 1: a DEI hire that was supposed to oversee all the

208
00:12:21,640 --> 00:12:24,959
Speaker 1: DEI programs. The mayor says, no, no, no, no, no.

209
00:12:25,000 --> 00:12:27,439
Speaker 1: It's the vice mayor that's crooked because he is cetty

210
00:12:27,559 --> 00:12:30,720
Speaker 1: money for a comedy show. So I don't know what's

211
00:12:30,760 --> 00:12:34,280
Speaker 1: going on there. I don't know if you remember late

212
00:12:34,360 --> 00:12:38,439
Speaker 1: last year there was this horrific story of the explosion

213
00:12:38,640 --> 00:12:43,400
Speaker 1: in Esparto of the fireworks warehouse. Well, the fire marshals

214
00:12:43,440 --> 00:12:47,520
Speaker 1: have finally finished their investigation, and while they won't say

215
00:12:47,600 --> 00:12:52,320
Speaker 1: what happened, they do say it involves illegal activity. And

216
00:12:52,400 --> 00:12:56,840
Speaker 1: I'm not surprised. We have seen quite a few circumstances

217
00:12:56,880 --> 00:13:00,000
Speaker 1: where a place that's supposed to have legal fireworks usually

218
00:13:00,320 --> 00:13:03,520
Speaker 1: has illegal fireworks. We saw that at a warehouse in

219
00:13:03,559 --> 00:13:06,440
Speaker 1: the City of Commerce. But I don't know how that

220
00:13:06,520 --> 00:13:10,880
Speaker 1: explosion started, but it was devastating. Seven people lost their lives,

221
00:13:11,000 --> 00:13:15,160
Speaker 1: a whole bunch of businesses burned down. I might sound

222
00:13:15,200 --> 00:13:17,160
Speaker 1: like a crank about this, and I've said it before,

223
00:13:17,200 --> 00:13:22,480
Speaker 1: and I'll say it again. I think I'm done with fireworks.

224
00:13:23,320 --> 00:13:27,000
Speaker 1: I don't care for them anymore. Sure, I've had some

225
00:13:27,160 --> 00:13:30,080
Speaker 1: experiences where I've looked up at the sky, whether it

226
00:13:30,160 --> 00:13:33,080
Speaker 1: was when I was a kid at Disneyland or as

227
00:13:33,200 --> 00:13:37,040
Speaker 1: a drugged out adult at a rave. Fireworks are so cool,

228
00:13:37,640 --> 00:13:40,040
Speaker 1: but like, we can do better. The drone shows are

229
00:13:40,080 --> 00:13:42,120
Speaker 1: kind of fun. I'm sure we could figure out music

230
00:13:42,120 --> 00:13:45,040
Speaker 1: that could be sync to it. Do we really still

231
00:13:45,080 --> 00:13:47,640
Speaker 1: need to go after all these things that go boom

232
00:13:47,720 --> 00:13:52,600
Speaker 1: and freak out little dogs and start fires. I can't

233
00:13:53,040 --> 00:13:55,920
Speaker 1: stand fireworks, and it's one of the reasons why I

234
00:13:56,040 --> 00:13:58,679
Speaker 1: make sure I'm not in the city of Los Angeles

235
00:13:58,840 --> 00:14:01,720
Speaker 1: on the fourth of July, because every fourth of July

236
00:14:02,080 --> 00:14:06,040
Speaker 1: the San Fernando Valley turns into a war zone because

237
00:14:06,080 --> 00:14:11,400
Speaker 1: of course, it's almost impossible to enforce everything going on there. Speaking,

238
00:14:11,480 --> 00:14:13,880
Speaker 1: you know, I mentioned theme parks like seeing the fireworks

239
00:14:13,880 --> 00:14:16,120
Speaker 1: at Disneyland. One of the things that I think I

240
00:14:16,160 --> 00:14:19,720
Speaker 1: grew out of almost immediately was going to water parks.

241
00:14:19,800 --> 00:14:24,000
Speaker 1: I'm sure some people like them. I'm a little iffy

242
00:14:24,160 --> 00:14:27,440
Speaker 1: on how fun that is. The sunburn that you're gonna

243
00:14:27,480 --> 00:14:30,080
Speaker 1: get from standing in line forever and ever and ever

244
00:14:30,160 --> 00:14:32,840
Speaker 1: for thirty seconds of going down a water slide, and

245
00:14:32,880 --> 00:14:35,320
Speaker 1: then there's the whole you know, what's in the water

246
00:14:35,440 --> 00:14:38,400
Speaker 1: aspect of it. But I had my fun as a kid. Well,

247
00:14:38,600 --> 00:14:44,120
Speaker 1: cal Expo was leasing their old raging waters park to

248
00:14:44,200 --> 00:14:47,040
Speaker 1: this developer that was supposed to build a brand new,

249
00:14:47,320 --> 00:14:51,440
Speaker 1: incredible experience and what do you know, the developer went broke.

250
00:14:51,440 --> 00:14:54,240
Speaker 1: They were gonna spend forty million dollars building this water park.

251
00:14:54,280 --> 00:14:55,880
Speaker 1: How are you going to make your money back on that?

252
00:14:56,520 --> 00:14:59,240
Speaker 1: And they owed cal Exbo two hundred thousand dollars and

253
00:14:59,280 --> 00:15:01,680
Speaker 1: at that point they said, yeah, we're done on this.

254
00:15:02,480 --> 00:15:05,080
Speaker 1: And you know, as much as we hear about all

255
00:15:05,120 --> 00:15:09,000
Speaker 1: the saber rattling, all of the accusations and all of

256
00:15:09,040 --> 00:15:12,920
Speaker 1: the differences in policies between the two parties, especially the

257
00:15:13,080 --> 00:15:15,680
Speaker 1: leaders of those parties, which right now the leader of

258
00:15:15,720 --> 00:15:18,680
Speaker 1: the Democrat Party probably is Gavin Newsom. Leader of the

259
00:15:18,720 --> 00:15:22,120
Speaker 1: Problem Party is course President Donald Trump. There is one

260
00:15:22,200 --> 00:15:26,120
Speaker 1: issue where Gavin Newsom and Donald Trump are on the

261
00:15:26,160 --> 00:15:29,360
Speaker 1: same page, and I don't know how effective it's going

262
00:15:29,440 --> 00:15:34,040
Speaker 1: to be, but it is all about going after corporations

263
00:15:34,440 --> 00:15:37,440
Speaker 1: buying homes in the state of California and of course

264
00:15:37,440 --> 00:15:41,880
Speaker 1: throughout the entire country. But you've got companies like Invitation

265
00:15:42,040 --> 00:15:44,480
Speaker 1: Homes that own over ten thousand homes in the state

266
00:15:44,480 --> 00:15:47,280
Speaker 1: of California, and of course they've turned them into rentals

267
00:15:47,320 --> 00:15:50,480
Speaker 1: or they're flipping them. Who knows. But should it be

268
00:15:50,600 --> 00:15:53,120
Speaker 1: a more even playing field that people that want to

269
00:15:53,120 --> 00:15:55,440
Speaker 1: become a first time home buyer don't have to compete

270
00:15:55,760 --> 00:15:59,560
Speaker 1: with these massive private equity firms. That is an issue

271
00:15:59,640 --> 00:16:03,120
Speaker 1: where apparently everybody's on the same page. I don't know

272
00:16:03,200 --> 00:16:06,200
Speaker 1: how big of a deal it will be, but you know,

273
00:16:06,920 --> 00:16:08,880
Speaker 1: you got to take these moments when you can, when

274
00:16:08,920 --> 00:16:13,680
Speaker 1: everyone's like, yeah, that's an interesting idea. Speaking of Gavin Newsom,

275
00:16:13,720 --> 00:16:16,840
Speaker 1: let's go down to San Diego News. Gavin Newsom went

276
00:16:16,880 --> 00:16:20,160
Speaker 1: out of the border yesterday to talk tough on fentanyl

277
00:16:20,200 --> 00:16:23,280
Speaker 1: and really just to put himself on a podium in

278
00:16:23,280 --> 00:16:25,720
Speaker 1: front of a people in military garb so he can

279
00:16:25,760 --> 00:16:28,920
Speaker 1: act like he is de facto president. We know what

280
00:16:28,960 --> 00:16:34,080
Speaker 1: he's doing. And there's been quite an outcry in what's

281
00:16:34,120 --> 00:16:37,600
Speaker 1: going on right now in the California legislature because once

282
00:16:37,640 --> 00:16:40,480
Speaker 1: again the California Legislature is studying an issue they've been

283
00:16:40,560 --> 00:16:44,440
Speaker 1: talking about for a decade, which is ending the gas

284
00:16:44,480 --> 00:16:47,600
Speaker 1: tax but replacing it with a mileage tax, because too

285
00:16:47,640 --> 00:16:51,880
Speaker 1: many Californians got hybrids or got electric cars and they're

286
00:16:51,880 --> 00:16:54,440
Speaker 1: not paying nearly as much gas tax. They're not getting

287
00:16:54,520 --> 00:16:57,000
Speaker 1: as much revenue from the gas tax as they used to,

288
00:16:57,120 --> 00:16:59,920
Speaker 1: and it's bothering them. Even though it goes up every

289
00:17:00,080 --> 00:17:02,960
Speaker 1: single year, they're not getting enough money. So once again

290
00:17:03,280 --> 00:17:07,040
Speaker 1: we are studying the issue of should we tax people

291
00:17:07,080 --> 00:17:09,919
Speaker 1: for mileage and how exactly do you do that. Are

292
00:17:09,920 --> 00:17:11,720
Speaker 1: you going to have people self a test the way

293
00:17:11,760 --> 00:17:13,879
Speaker 1: they do with Triple A, or are you going to

294
00:17:13,920 --> 00:17:16,880
Speaker 1: put a device in my car to track exactly how

295
00:17:16,920 --> 00:17:19,640
Speaker 1: I'm driving and where I'm driving. Of course, you can't

296
00:17:19,680 --> 00:17:22,240
Speaker 1: go one day in San Diego News without talking about

297
00:17:22,240 --> 00:17:26,560
Speaker 1: Balboa Park today. The update is the paid parking has

298
00:17:26,600 --> 00:17:29,600
Speaker 1: made it really difficult for art vendors to sell their

299
00:17:29,640 --> 00:17:33,840
Speaker 1: wares at the market at Balboa Park. Everyone's losing money

300
00:17:33,920 --> 00:17:37,760
Speaker 1: on this, and obviously the city is as well also.

301
00:17:38,280 --> 00:17:40,919
Speaker 1: And this was this is true statewide and nationwide. But

302
00:17:40,960 --> 00:17:43,280
Speaker 1: it was a story from ABC ten that I picked up.

303
00:17:44,000 --> 00:17:47,840
Speaker 1: The TSA has said, no longer will you be able

304
00:17:47,920 --> 00:17:50,480
Speaker 1: to fly without your real ID unless you pay US

305
00:17:50,520 --> 00:17:53,240
Speaker 1: forty five dollars and get that extra screening. But I

306
00:17:53,359 --> 00:17:55,120
Speaker 1: give you some tips later on in the show how

307
00:17:55,160 --> 00:17:57,920
Speaker 1: you can totally avoid that if you're still freaking out

308
00:17:57,920 --> 00:18:00,400
Speaker 1: about real ID, something that we've been told we've had

309
00:18:00,400 --> 00:18:05,040
Speaker 1: to get for over twenty years. And look at this,

310
00:18:05,640 --> 00:18:09,560
Speaker 1: Sandyegans are rallying against the CEO of San Diego Gas

311
00:18:09,640 --> 00:18:12,560
Speaker 1: and Electric because why the gas and water bills are

312
00:18:12,600 --> 00:18:16,960
Speaker 1: too damn high. These monopolies are making all kinds of profits.

313
00:18:17,160 --> 00:18:21,359
Speaker 1: The CPUC rubber stamps every single rate increase, and these

314
00:18:21,400 --> 00:18:25,399
Speaker 1: companies are not necessarily focused on safety, like SoCal, Edison

315
00:18:25,680 --> 00:18:28,879
Speaker 1: and PG and E. Now onto the governor's race. Let

316
00:18:28,920 --> 00:18:33,760
Speaker 1: me tell you right now, the first televised debate of

317
00:18:33,840 --> 00:18:36,520
Speaker 1: the season, where four months till the June primary, is

318
00:18:36,560 --> 00:18:38,520
Speaker 1: happening in just a few minutes. It's going to be

319
00:18:38,520 --> 00:18:42,000
Speaker 1: airing on Fox eleven in Los Angeles and KTVU Fox

320
00:18:42,000 --> 00:18:45,159
Speaker 1: two in the Bay Area. It is a debate. It

321
00:18:45,240 --> 00:18:47,760
Speaker 1: doesn't have a full dance card. Katie Porter's not going

322
00:18:47,840 --> 00:18:51,360
Speaker 1: to be there, but you're gonna have Javier Bisera, Steve Hilton,

323
00:18:51,600 --> 00:18:55,880
Speaker 1: Tom Steyer, Tony Thurmond and Tonio Viragosa, Betty Yee who's

324
00:18:55,880 --> 00:18:58,480
Speaker 1: still in this for some reason, and late entry. And

325
00:18:58,520 --> 00:19:02,040
Speaker 1: this is what makes this debate interesting. Matt Mahon, who

326
00:19:02,280 --> 00:19:04,480
Speaker 1: just announced he's running for governor. He's going to be

327
00:19:04,480 --> 00:19:06,840
Speaker 1: on that debate stage. That debate is going to be

328
00:19:07,000 --> 00:19:10,440
Speaker 1: co moderated by a few anchors from KTVU as well

329
00:19:10,520 --> 00:19:14,640
Speaker 1: as Marla Teas our friend from Fox eleven. So, hey,

330
00:19:14,680 --> 00:19:16,439
Speaker 1: you want to watch that live, you can go do

331
00:19:16,560 --> 00:19:20,560
Speaker 1: that starts at five point thirty, or do what I'm doing,

332
00:19:21,320 --> 00:19:23,919
Speaker 1: watch it on YouTube later so you can fast forward

333
00:19:23,960 --> 00:19:25,919
Speaker 1: through all the parts that you don't care about. But

334
00:19:26,040 --> 00:19:29,719
Speaker 1: I'm sure there'll be some sound that is interesting on

335
00:19:29,800 --> 00:19:33,080
Speaker 1: that as every single one of these candidates is looking

336
00:19:33,119 --> 00:19:35,960
Speaker 1: for a moment to break out because most Californians don't

337
00:19:35,960 --> 00:19:39,600
Speaker 1: know who these people are. Speaking of the governor's race,

338
00:19:40,080 --> 00:19:44,280
Speaker 1: if you go to my substack Randywangradio dot substack dot com,

339
00:19:44,320 --> 00:19:46,800
Speaker 1: you scroll down to the Governor's race, you'll see the

340
00:19:46,880 --> 00:19:49,639
Speaker 1: video that we talked about endlessly on the John Phillips

341
00:19:49,640 --> 00:19:54,040
Speaker 1: Show today, Katie Porter live streaming in the kitchen whining

342
00:19:54,119 --> 00:19:58,239
Speaker 1: about Tom Steyer's money. That and a crime blodder, and

343
00:19:58,280 --> 00:20:00,359
Speaker 1: that's what we've got going on in the new in

344
00:20:00,400 --> 00:20:03,720
Speaker 1: California today. You can check out all of these stories

345
00:20:03,760 --> 00:20:07,280
Speaker 1: links to every single one by subscribing to my substack

346
00:20:07,480 --> 00:20:12,000
Speaker 1: Randywang Radio dot substack dot com. That's the California Report.

347
00:20:12,119 --> 00:20:15,320
Speaker 1: It's the News Blitz with Randy Wang on KABC. It's

348
00:20:15,359 --> 00:20:17,920
Speaker 1: the News Blitz with Randy Wang on KA b C.

349
00:20:18,359 --> 00:20:20,760
Speaker 1: Is there going to be another strike at l A U,

350
00:20:20,920 --> 00:20:23,840
Speaker 1: S d U t LA has announced that they have

351
00:20:24,000 --> 00:20:27,600
Speaker 1: authorized a strike. We're gonna find out why, and we'll

352
00:20:27,600 --> 00:20:30,080
Speaker 1: take your phone calls. Eight hundred two two two five

353
00:20:30,160 --> 00:20:32,920
Speaker 1: two two two one. Eight hundred two two two five

354
00:20:33,000 --> 00:20:35,840
Speaker 1: two two two. It's the News Blitz with Randy Wang

355
00:20:35,920 --> 00:20:39,600
Speaker 1: on KA b C. The News Blitz with Randy Wang

356
00:20:39,680 --> 00:20:43,120
Speaker 1: on Talk Radio seven ninety KA b C. We're here

357
00:20:43,200 --> 00:20:45,720
Speaker 1: every single day from five to six talking about the

358
00:20:45,800 --> 00:20:48,240
Speaker 1: local issues that matter to you most and taking your

359
00:20:48,280 --> 00:20:50,720
Speaker 1: phone calls at eight hundred two two two five two

360
00:20:50,800 --> 00:20:53,640
Speaker 1: two two one, eight hundred two two two five two

361
00:20:53,680 --> 00:20:57,440
Speaker 1: two two your emails at Randy Wang Radio at gmail

362
00:20:57,480 --> 00:21:01,159
Speaker 1: dot com. Search for the KABC News Blitz wherever you

363
00:21:01,200 --> 00:21:05,040
Speaker 1: get your podcasts, and make sure you check out the

364
00:21:05,400 --> 00:21:10,200
Speaker 1: California Report my new substack Randy Wangradio dot substack dot

365
00:21:10,200 --> 00:21:12,720
Speaker 1: com for all the stories we talk about and more.

366
00:21:13,400 --> 00:21:17,440
Speaker 1: And I want to invite you to our big live event.

367
00:21:17,800 --> 00:21:21,280
Speaker 1: We're going back to Gladstone's in Long Beach this Friday

368
00:21:21,280 --> 00:21:23,879
Speaker 1: from noon to three. Come see a live broadcast of

369
00:21:23,960 --> 00:21:27,520
Speaker 1: the John Phillips Show at Gladstone's in Long Beach. There's

370
00:21:27,560 --> 00:21:31,000
Speaker 1: going to be great food, good vibes, wonderful drinks. I

371
00:21:31,040 --> 00:21:33,600
Speaker 1: won't be partaking, but you should have the drinks. They're great,

372
00:21:33,960 --> 00:21:37,280
Speaker 1: and a fun afternoon by the water. John saying Meister

373
00:21:37,440 --> 00:21:39,920
Speaker 1: is going to take care of you. I love Gladstones

374
00:21:39,960 --> 00:21:42,439
Speaker 1: in Long Beach. We'll have special guests like Susan Shelley

375
00:21:42,440 --> 00:21:45,800
Speaker 1: from the Howard Jarvis Taxpaar Association. She'll tell you about

376
00:21:45,840 --> 00:21:49,119
Speaker 1: your taxpayer rights and protecting Prop thirteen. As we have

377
00:21:49,240 --> 00:21:52,000
Speaker 1: been saying, the courts have made it easier to raise

378
00:21:52,040 --> 00:21:54,120
Speaker 1: your taxes. We need you to come by and sign

379
00:21:54,200 --> 00:21:56,639
Speaker 1: that petition to save Prop thirteen. What you can do

380
00:21:56,760 --> 00:22:01,040
Speaker 1: right now at home Saveprop thirteen dot com, Saveprep thirteen

381
00:22:01,119 --> 00:22:03,840
Speaker 1: dot com. Come hang out with us, grab a bite,

382
00:22:03,840 --> 00:22:06,720
Speaker 1: and be part of the broadcast. The John Phillips Show

383
00:22:06,840 --> 00:22:10,520
Speaker 1: live at Gladstone's in Long Beach this Friday from noon

384
00:22:10,560 --> 00:22:15,200
Speaker 1: to three. Before we get to the LAUSD strike story,

385
00:22:15,520 --> 00:22:22,840
Speaker 1: let's take a call. Let's go to Mark and San Diego. Mark, Hello, Hey, Ready.

386
00:22:23,040 --> 00:22:25,320
Speaker 4: I would say, let them go on strike forever. Just

387
00:22:25,800 --> 00:22:28,280
Speaker 4: we're done. They stroke. They were on strike for two

388
00:22:28,320 --> 00:22:32,000
Speaker 4: years and we paid them and they're worthless. I'm not

389
00:22:32,160 --> 00:22:36,879
Speaker 4: just saying the Teachers' union. I'm saying seventy five percent

390
00:22:36,880 --> 00:22:40,119
Speaker 4: of the teachers that I sat and listened to my

391
00:22:40,240 --> 00:22:44,439
Speaker 4: kid try to learn from remotely for three years, and

392
00:22:44,520 --> 00:22:47,080
Speaker 4: I had to teach him. So I've got a teenager.

393
00:22:47,320 --> 00:22:51,920
Speaker 4: You know. It's all personal. And I'm done with public schools.

394
00:22:52,480 --> 00:22:56,240
Speaker 4: If they're not going to compete, that's it. I'm trying.

395
00:22:56,359 --> 00:22:59,840
Speaker 4: I tried to get my kid into a bilingual school

396
00:23:00,119 --> 00:23:04,440
Speaker 4: or some other school that was a choice school. They're

397
00:23:04,480 --> 00:23:07,639
Speaker 4: all full. I would say, let the public schools go

398
00:23:07,880 --> 00:23:11,679
Speaker 4: bankrupt and let the choice schools take them over and

399
00:23:11,800 --> 00:23:15,680
Speaker 4: do a good business. Give the parents the choice, give

400
00:23:15,720 --> 00:23:20,280
Speaker 4: the money back to the parents. I've got another toddler

401
00:23:20,800 --> 00:23:24,280
Speaker 4: and a preschooler that are about to go into kindergarten,

402
00:23:24,520 --> 00:23:31,400
Speaker 4: and I am fed up with the public school system.

403
00:23:29,680 --> 00:23:31,840
Speaker 1: And I totally understand why. And you think about how

404
00:23:31,920 --> 00:23:34,400
Speaker 1: much money we pay for this system, and how much

405
00:23:34,440 --> 00:23:37,480
Speaker 1: more money we seem to pay every single year. We're

406
00:23:37,520 --> 00:23:40,119
Speaker 1: not getting great results for it. Nobody knows where that

407
00:23:40,200 --> 00:23:42,879
Speaker 1: money's going. And the teachers are always saying that they're broke.

408
00:23:45,280 --> 00:23:49,840
Speaker 4: Well, it's the unions. I mean, my dad was a

409
00:23:49,880 --> 00:23:53,760
Speaker 4: teacher for forty years. We were broke. Fine. What they

410
00:23:53,800 --> 00:23:56,679
Speaker 4: had was a levy. He got fired every three or

411
00:23:56,680 --> 00:24:00,600
Speaker 4: four years, lost his job until they got more funding

412
00:24:00,640 --> 00:24:03,480
Speaker 4: and they hired him someone somewhere else. Because he was

413
00:24:03,480 --> 00:24:07,200
Speaker 4: a good teacher. I used to grade papers for him.

414
00:24:07,560 --> 00:24:11,960
Speaker 4: So if they're telling me this isn't no fire the administration,

415
00:24:12,480 --> 00:24:16,120
Speaker 4: all the money, all the cream is being just take

416
00:24:16,160 --> 00:24:19,560
Speaker 4: it off the top. The good teachers aren't. I'm sorry

417
00:24:19,680 --> 00:24:23,119
Speaker 4: for the little one, but the teachers, the good teachers

418
00:24:23,160 --> 00:24:24,040
Speaker 4: aren't getting the money.

419
00:24:25,800 --> 00:24:28,760
Speaker 1: That's definitely what the case is because we see all

420
00:24:28,800 --> 00:24:31,879
Speaker 1: this funding going in, but we don't see where it

421
00:24:32,000 --> 00:24:34,840
Speaker 1: ends up in the classroom. There is definitely a grift

422
00:24:34,880 --> 00:24:37,800
Speaker 1: going on in Sacramento. All of these consultants, all of

423
00:24:37,840 --> 00:24:41,359
Speaker 1: these administrators, and if it was just as simple as

424
00:24:41,720 --> 00:24:44,159
Speaker 1: fund the classroom, and what's going on in the classroom,

425
00:24:44,480 --> 00:24:46,560
Speaker 1: we might be saving a whole lot of money. Mark,

426
00:24:46,600 --> 00:24:49,280
Speaker 1: thank you so much for the call. Appreciate it. Let's

427
00:24:49,280 --> 00:24:53,160
Speaker 1: find out why UTLA says that they are going on strike.

428
00:24:53,720 --> 00:24:55,879
Speaker 1: They only say they have to do this if they

429
00:24:55,880 --> 00:24:59,760
Speaker 1: don't get a negotiation. But remember who their chief negotiator is,

430
00:25:00,960 --> 00:25:03,639
Speaker 1: Cesly meyerk Cruz knows how to get her way. She

431
00:25:03,800 --> 00:25:06,840
Speaker 1: was asking for a twenty percent raise in twenty twenty two,

432
00:25:07,320 --> 00:25:11,199
Speaker 1: ended up getting a twenty two percent raise after a

433
00:25:11,359 --> 00:25:16,200
Speaker 1: three day strike in solidarity with the SEIU Local ninety

434
00:25:16,280 --> 00:25:21,800
Speaker 1: nine Wenesday. And whether I'm not knocking her, that's what

435
00:25:21,920 --> 00:25:24,360
Speaker 1: unions are supposed to do. They're supposed to get more

436
00:25:24,400 --> 00:25:26,640
Speaker 1: money for their people, so that means that they can

437
00:25:26,680 --> 00:25:30,920
Speaker 1: get more union dues. But of course, when it's a

438
00:25:30,960 --> 00:25:33,840
Speaker 1: public employee union, they can take all those dues and

439
00:25:33,880 --> 00:25:37,120
Speaker 1: they can specifically use them to elect people that will

440
00:25:37,160 --> 00:25:40,960
Speaker 1: then give them better contracts even if they don't make

441
00:25:41,000 --> 00:25:44,840
Speaker 1: any sense. Let's go to Fox eleven for the potential

442
00:25:45,119 --> 00:25:46,199
Speaker 1: LAUSD strike.

443
00:25:46,440 --> 00:25:50,320
Speaker 5: Right, possible teacher's work stoppage is one step closer as

444
00:25:50,359 --> 00:25:53,840
Speaker 5: teacher union members vote to authorize a strike. So it's

445
00:25:53,840 --> 00:25:55,800
Speaker 5: at the center of the standoff and how could it

446
00:25:55,840 --> 00:25:59,399
Speaker 5: impact your child's classroom. Fox eleven's Rachel Aragon live in

447
00:25:59,440 --> 00:26:01,000
Speaker 5: downtown l with the update.

448
00:26:01,080 --> 00:26:04,480
Speaker 2: Rachel now teachers I spoke.

449
00:26:04,280 --> 00:26:07,639
Speaker 6: To earlier today. Christine said their previous contract had ended

450
00:26:07,840 --> 00:26:10,440
Speaker 6: June of last year. But they also stressed to me

451
00:26:10,880 --> 00:26:12,639
Speaker 6: the goal is not to go on strike.

452
00:26:12,720 --> 00:26:14,359
Speaker 2: They say they want to come to some kind of

453
00:26:14,359 --> 00:26:17,440
Speaker 2: agreement with the district to avoid a walkout.

454
00:26:18,160 --> 00:26:20,040
Speaker 1: The threat of a strike should be plenty.

455
00:26:20,320 --> 00:26:23,800
Speaker 3: We're saying, invest in our schools, invest in our members,

456
00:26:23,920 --> 00:26:25,160
Speaker 3: and invest in our students.

457
00:26:25,640 --> 00:26:29,200
Speaker 1: Now, if that's the only demands, that's pretty light. You remember,

458
00:26:29,240 --> 00:26:31,440
Speaker 1: back in the COVID days, one of the demands that

459
00:26:31,760 --> 00:26:35,600
Speaker 1: LAUSD made, that UTLA made of LAUSD was they weren't

460
00:26:35,600 --> 00:26:40,119
Speaker 1: going to go back into the schools unless LAUSD defunded

461
00:26:40,200 --> 00:26:43,560
Speaker 1: the LAUSD police. And that was two things. One that

462
00:26:43,680 --> 00:26:46,160
Speaker 1: was the hot political thing at the time, but also

463
00:26:46,520 --> 00:26:50,040
Speaker 1: that's more money that could go to UTLA.

464
00:26:49,200 --> 00:26:49,959
Speaker 7: That money.

465
00:26:50,640 --> 00:26:53,400
Speaker 2: United Teacher in Los Angeles putting the second largest school

466
00:26:53,440 --> 00:26:56,560
Speaker 2: district in the country unnotice the Union of voting in

467
00:26:56,600 --> 00:26:59,760
Speaker 2: favor to authorize a strike. If a deal isn't arranged

468
00:26:59,800 --> 00:27:03,400
Speaker 2: over benefits, teacher pay and funding student resources.

469
00:27:03,720 --> 00:27:06,600
Speaker 3: Ninety four percent of the members are ready to walk out.

470
00:27:06,760 --> 00:27:09,120
Speaker 1: I mean if every three years we have this exact

471
00:27:09,119 --> 00:27:12,160
Speaker 1: same conversation where the kids aren't seeing any of the money,

472
00:27:12,200 --> 00:27:14,719
Speaker 1: the teachers aren't getting any of the money. Where is

473
00:27:14,800 --> 00:27:16,000
Speaker 1: all this money going?

474
00:27:16,200 --> 00:27:18,000
Speaker 3: Ninety four percent of the members, if.

475
00:27:17,840 --> 00:27:20,119
Speaker 1: The teachers cannot afford to live in the city of

476
00:27:20,119 --> 00:27:22,080
Speaker 1: Los Angeles, what do we do about that?

477
00:27:22,240 --> 00:27:24,840
Speaker 3: Ninety four percent of the members are ready to walk

478
00:27:24,880 --> 00:27:27,120
Speaker 3: out to demand what we need for our schools.

479
00:27:27,200 --> 00:27:30,320
Speaker 2: High school English teacher Gina Gray says some teachers are

480
00:27:30,359 --> 00:27:33,399
Speaker 2: working a second job to afford living and working in

481
00:27:33,480 --> 00:27:34,320
Speaker 2: Los Angeles.

482
00:27:34,880 --> 00:27:39,680
Speaker 3: We can't maintain in this profession if you can't afford

483
00:27:39,760 --> 00:27:41,760
Speaker 3: to live and work in the city where you're serving

484
00:27:41,800 --> 00:27:42,400
Speaker 3: your students.

485
00:27:42,440 --> 00:27:45,719
Speaker 2: Ay or community Grace says, current contract negotiations are not

486
00:27:45,760 --> 00:27:48,520
Speaker 2: just about fighting for higher pay, but fighting for more

487
00:27:48,560 --> 00:27:51,920
Speaker 2: funding for their students. She points to a recent experience.

488
00:27:51,440 --> 00:27:54,600
Speaker 1: But what does that mean because we just announced that

489
00:27:54,600 --> 00:27:57,320
Speaker 1: we're spending even more money per pupil. The state has

490
00:27:57,359 --> 00:27:59,680
Speaker 1: a law Prop ninety eight, So if the state brings

491
00:27:59,720 --> 00:28:02,520
Speaker 1: in more money through capital gains, which it did, it

492
00:28:02,680 --> 00:28:04,760
Speaker 1: has to spend more of that money on the schools.

493
00:28:04,760 --> 00:28:08,119
Speaker 1: But like with so many other programs, where is the

494
00:28:08,280 --> 00:28:09,360
Speaker 1: money going?

495
00:28:09,840 --> 00:28:12,040
Speaker 2: She points to a recent experience at the high school

496
00:28:12,119 --> 00:28:12,760
Speaker 2: she works at.

497
00:28:13,119 --> 00:28:16,959
Speaker 3: You know, it's flu season. There's ruddy noses, this everything

498
00:28:17,000 --> 00:28:20,040
Speaker 3: at high school and I went downstairs to get some

499
00:28:20,160 --> 00:28:23,280
Speaker 3: Kleenex and they were like, oh, we don't have any

500
00:28:23,359 --> 00:28:25,040
Speaker 3: Kleenex at the school.

501
00:28:26,119 --> 00:28:30,919
Speaker 1: Gross. It means they're wiping, that's not all over the place.

502
00:28:31,640 --> 00:28:34,240
Speaker 1: But again, if the school doesn't have budget for Kleenex,

503
00:28:34,480 --> 00:28:35,800
Speaker 1: where's the money going?

504
00:28:35,960 --> 00:28:38,080
Speaker 3: And we don't have any money to order anymore.

505
00:28:38,240 --> 00:28:40,880
Speaker 2: The district says that they present a proposal with updated

506
00:28:40,920 --> 00:28:44,120
Speaker 2: wage increases to the union last week in a statement

507
00:28:44,160 --> 00:28:46,960
Speaker 2: following the vote to authorize a strike. The districts that

508
00:28:47,080 --> 00:28:50,960
Speaker 2: impart they're currently faced with financial challenges, different by things

509
00:28:51,000 --> 00:28:55,120
Speaker 2: like declining enrollment, the expirational federal relief funds, and rising

510
00:28:55,200 --> 00:28:56,120
Speaker 2: operational costs.

511
00:28:57,440 --> 00:28:59,720
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's two of the things right there. One, we're

512
00:28:59,720 --> 00:29:02,880
Speaker 1: seeing declining enrollment in every major school district. Not as

513
00:29:02,920 --> 00:29:06,200
Speaker 1: pronounced as LUSD, but when your money is directly tied

514
00:29:06,200 --> 00:29:08,520
Speaker 1: to how many students you're serving, and the students you're

515
00:29:08,560 --> 00:29:12,360
Speaker 1: serving goes down. We seem to never even think about, well,

516
00:29:12,360 --> 00:29:14,600
Speaker 1: wouldn't that mean that we need less workforce, so we

517
00:29:14,640 --> 00:29:17,360
Speaker 1: need less schools. I know those are painful conversations, but

518
00:29:18,360 --> 00:29:23,720
Speaker 1: I don't see those trend lines changing anytime soon. I mean,

519
00:29:24,320 --> 00:29:27,840
Speaker 1: I'm in the generation where there are plenty of people

520
00:29:27,920 --> 00:29:31,320
Speaker 1: who even the thought of having kids is like, no,

521
00:29:31,920 --> 00:29:34,680
Speaker 1: not in California. Can't afford that.

522
00:29:35,280 --> 00:29:38,680
Speaker 2: Different by things like declining enrollment, the expiration of federal

523
00:29:38,720 --> 00:29:41,240
Speaker 2: relief funds, and rising operational cause.

524
00:29:41,520 --> 00:29:43,560
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, and the fact that we got all this

525
00:29:43,640 --> 00:29:46,320
Speaker 1: is true with the transit agencies, it's true with the

526
00:29:46,320 --> 00:29:48,600
Speaker 1: schools and so many other things. One of the first

527
00:29:48,640 --> 00:29:50,920
Speaker 1: things Biden did when he got into office in twenty

528
00:29:50,960 --> 00:29:54,080
Speaker 1: twenty one was the American Rescue Plan, which was a

529
00:29:54,200 --> 00:29:58,640
Speaker 1: bailout to all different levels of government, local government, state governments,

530
00:29:58,880 --> 00:30:03,720
Speaker 1: school districts, transit agencies. And what happened. They all ballooned

531
00:30:03,760 --> 00:30:07,280
Speaker 1: their budgets expecting the gravy train to keep on coming.

532
00:30:07,600 --> 00:30:11,080
Speaker 3: It's about the priorities, and that is where the members stand.

533
00:30:11,720 --> 00:30:12,400
Speaker 3: The money is.

534
00:30:12,360 --> 00:30:15,000
Speaker 2: There, Gray says. The goal is not to strike, but

535
00:30:15,080 --> 00:30:16,320
Speaker 2: to find common ground.

536
00:30:16,560 --> 00:30:19,240
Speaker 3: We know that that is the last resort, and we're

537
00:30:19,280 --> 00:30:21,640
Speaker 3: still trying to work to avoid that.

538
00:30:24,360 --> 00:30:26,200
Speaker 2: No, why this is all so important.

539
00:30:26,280 --> 00:30:29,120
Speaker 6: Ninety four percent, by the way, of thirty one thousand

540
00:30:29,160 --> 00:30:32,360
Speaker 6: is around thirty four thousand or so people that could

541
00:30:32,400 --> 00:30:34,440
Speaker 6: potentially walk out and strike again.

542
00:30:34,480 --> 00:30:35,200
Speaker 2: That's not the goal.

543
00:30:35,200 --> 00:30:36,880
Speaker 6: We don't know that's going to happen yet, but that's

544
00:30:36,880 --> 00:30:40,200
Speaker 6: how many people could walk out in impacting over five

545
00:30:40,320 --> 00:30:43,360
Speaker 6: hundred thousand students in the district. So plenty to look

546
00:30:43,400 --> 00:30:46,040
Speaker 6: forward to and watch away and see what happens between

547
00:30:46,040 --> 00:30:46,880
Speaker 6: these two parties.

548
00:30:47,120 --> 00:30:49,560
Speaker 2: Pree Lance tonight are Rachel Eragon. I'll send it back

549
00:30:49,600 --> 00:30:49,800
Speaker 2: to you.

550
00:30:50,280 --> 00:30:52,600
Speaker 1: There you go. It's not for certain that they are

551
00:30:52,640 --> 00:30:56,080
Speaker 1: going to strike, because usually Carvallo caves even if they

552
00:30:56,120 --> 00:30:58,480
Speaker 1: don't have the money. And a lot of this is, oh,

553
00:30:58,640 --> 00:31:01,680
Speaker 1: all these school districts have these rainy day funds of

554
00:31:01,720 --> 00:31:03,480
Speaker 1: this one time money, and we would like you to

555
00:31:03,480 --> 00:31:07,640
Speaker 1: commit that one time money to ongoing problems like salaries,

556
00:31:07,800 --> 00:31:11,360
Speaker 1: like wage increases. And here's the thing. If the school

557
00:31:11,360 --> 00:31:14,080
Speaker 1: district runs out of money, ask the state for more money,

558
00:31:14,160 --> 00:31:16,520
Speaker 1: ask the tax fairers for more money. That's what the

559
00:31:16,560 --> 00:31:20,800
Speaker 1: conversation is. Every three years, whether or not the results

560
00:31:20,840 --> 00:31:24,480
Speaker 1: are good, or enrollment is going up or down. It's

561
00:31:24,480 --> 00:31:27,640
Speaker 1: the News Blitz with Randy Wang on KABC. It's the

562
00:31:27,680 --> 00:31:32,719
Speaker 1: News Blitz with Randy Wang on KABC. One of the

563
00:31:32,920 --> 00:31:36,160
Speaker 1: difficulties that teachers have in the modern age is getting

564
00:31:36,200 --> 00:31:39,760
Speaker 1: kids to pay attention, and that's because everyone's glued to

565
00:31:39,800 --> 00:31:42,920
Speaker 1: their cell phones. Well, Long Beach Unified has rolled out

566
00:31:42,920 --> 00:31:45,239
Speaker 1: their cell phone ban, and so far it looks like

567
00:31:45,280 --> 00:31:48,760
Speaker 1: it's a success. For more, here's NBCLA.

568
00:31:48,440 --> 00:31:51,360
Speaker 8: All Right, a new cell phone crackdown at Long Beach Unified.

569
00:31:51,400 --> 00:31:51,760
Speaker 1: District.

570
00:31:51,840 --> 00:31:55,360
Speaker 8: Leaders say it's about cutting distractions, improving focus, and protecting

571
00:31:55,360 --> 00:31:58,320
Speaker 8: the mental health of students. NBC fors mccaubyd A Life

572
00:31:58,320 --> 00:31:59,720
Speaker 8: for Us a Long Beach at MAC You're beings hold

573
00:31:59,760 --> 00:32:02,040
Speaker 8: by teachers that they're already noticing a difference.

574
00:32:02,120 --> 00:32:05,920
Speaker 9: Huh Yeah. That was a teacher over at Millican High School.

575
00:32:05,920 --> 00:32:08,320
Speaker 9: They actually had a soft launch of the new policy

576
00:32:08,400 --> 00:32:11,360
Speaker 9: last semester, and that teacher says that the change in

577
00:32:11,400 --> 00:32:15,240
Speaker 9: students like night and day, fun and backpack. This is

578
00:32:15,240 --> 00:32:18,600
Speaker 9: now daily routine for AP English literature teacher Lee Underwood

579
00:32:18,640 --> 00:32:21,360
Speaker 9: phone backpack each morning. He makes sure students store their

580
00:32:21,360 --> 00:32:24,600
Speaker 9: phones before class even begins as classical music plays in

581
00:32:24,640 --> 00:32:28,920
Speaker 9: the background. Underwood started enforcing this policy actually last semester,

582
00:32:29,280 --> 00:32:32,200
Speaker 9: even before the district wide roll up any scene results.

583
00:32:32,240 --> 00:32:33,320
Speaker 2: I've seen a difference this year.

584
00:32:33,400 --> 00:32:36,200
Speaker 5: The level of writing has improved, the level of thinking

585
00:32:36,240 --> 00:32:39,880
Speaker 5: has improved, the level in their willingness to take risks

586
00:32:40,040 --> 00:32:40,840
Speaker 5: in writing.

587
00:32:41,240 --> 00:32:44,840
Speaker 1: They're actually able to pay attention because they're not doom

588
00:32:44,920 --> 00:32:48,240
Speaker 1: scrolling in the middle of class. I think we all

589
00:32:48,320 --> 00:32:51,080
Speaker 1: could use some no phone time has improved.

590
00:32:51,160 --> 00:32:54,840
Speaker 10: The purpose of the policy is exactly what it's entitled to,

591
00:32:55,040 --> 00:32:59,240
Speaker 10: really reclaim students' attention in the classroom and limit the

592
00:32:59,240 --> 00:33:00,720
Speaker 10: distractions that they have while learning.

593
00:33:00,880 --> 00:33:04,040
Speaker 9: The policy, adopted last September, now applies to all grade levels.

594
00:33:04,120 --> 00:33:07,200
Speaker 9: Elementary students cannot have phones whatsoever during the school day.

595
00:33:07,680 --> 00:33:11,920
Speaker 1: Do elementary students have phones? What age are we starting this?

596
00:33:12,440 --> 00:33:15,240
Speaker 9: Middle schoolers must keep their devices in their backpacks, and

597
00:33:15,280 --> 00:33:19,200
Speaker 9: in high school students can use phones during non instructional time,

598
00:33:19,320 --> 00:33:22,840
Speaker 9: like during lunch or passing periods. Alexander says districts across

599
00:33:22,840 --> 00:33:25,800
Speaker 9: the state that have adopted similar rules early are already

600
00:33:25,840 --> 00:33:26,600
Speaker 9: seen results.

601
00:33:26,720 --> 00:33:29,719
Speaker 10: They've had some pretty staggering results as far as truly

602
00:33:29,800 --> 00:33:31,240
Speaker 10: reclaiming student attention.

603
00:33:31,640 --> 00:33:34,480
Speaker 7: It's better young with no phones because it's more the

604
00:33:34,600 --> 00:33:36,000
Speaker 7: kids are more focused.

605
00:33:36,200 --> 00:33:39,200
Speaker 9: Many parents, like Carolina Tote support the change, but not

606
00:33:39,320 --> 00:33:41,800
Speaker 9: parents like Jesse Aldoba and his high school.

607
00:33:42,080 --> 00:33:46,720
Speaker 10: I think that kids should be able to have the phone.

608
00:33:46,840 --> 00:33:52,280
Speaker 1: I think that, And why what's the point of that, Oh,

609
00:33:52,320 --> 00:33:54,960
Speaker 1: so you could text them constantly because you're a helicopter parent.

610
00:33:55,000 --> 00:33:55,720
Speaker 1: I'm just assuming.

611
00:33:55,840 --> 00:33:57,880
Speaker 7: I think that it makes things a little bit more

612
00:33:57,920 --> 00:34:01,440
Speaker 7: constricting on my part because some times I use it

613
00:34:01,520 --> 00:34:04,880
Speaker 7: for like Wi Fi for getting my school done. Sometimes

614
00:34:04,960 --> 00:34:06,520
Speaker 7: I'll like hotspot my computer.

615
00:34:06,960 --> 00:34:10,320
Speaker 1: Sure that's what you're using it for, not TikTok.

616
00:34:10,440 --> 00:34:12,680
Speaker 9: The district says exceptions can be made on a case

617
00:34:12,680 --> 00:34:16,880
Speaker 9: by case basis, especially for emergencies or academic needs, and

618
00:34:16,920 --> 00:34:20,279
Speaker 9: for teachers like Underwood. The policy for him is a slam.

619
00:34:20,080 --> 00:34:23,560
Speaker 10: Dunk as far as what I'm seeing in their thinking

620
00:34:24,200 --> 00:34:29,080
Speaker 10: and their focus has been, you know, night and day.

621
00:34:29,719 --> 00:34:32,200
Speaker 1: Love to see it, Love to see that this policy

622
00:34:32,239 --> 00:34:35,040
Speaker 1: that seems pretty common sense is actually getting rolled out

623
00:34:35,080 --> 00:34:36,840
Speaker 1: and we're seeing some results.

624
00:34:37,280 --> 00:34:37,360
Speaker 9: Now.

625
00:34:37,400 --> 00:34:39,080
Speaker 1: I'm sure this concerns about what do you do when

626
00:34:39,120 --> 00:34:43,480
Speaker 1: there's an emergency, but for right now, having the kids

627
00:34:43,520 --> 00:34:47,440
Speaker 1: pay attention in class is a positive step. It's the

628
00:34:47,480 --> 00:34:50,880
Speaker 1: News Blitz with Randy Wang on KABC. It's the News

629
00:34:50,880 --> 00:34:55,600
Speaker 1: Blitz with Randy Wang on KABC. You know that I'm

630
00:34:55,640 --> 00:34:59,640
Speaker 1: a big traveler and it's sometimes all I can think about.

631
00:34:59,719 --> 00:35:02,719
Speaker 1: It is the exciting thing that I look forward to

632
00:35:03,000 --> 00:35:05,359
Speaker 1: is where's my next trip, whether it's to Santa Fe

633
00:35:05,640 --> 00:35:08,160
Speaker 1: or around the world. So every once in a while,

634
00:35:08,200 --> 00:35:09,960
Speaker 1: I'd like to give out some tips of just some

635
00:35:10,080 --> 00:35:13,400
Speaker 1: things to think about to make your traveling life easier.

636
00:35:13,840 --> 00:35:17,200
Speaker 1: And let's start off with a huge one, because it's

637
00:35:17,280 --> 00:35:19,920
Speaker 1: all over the news this week that hey, the TSA

638
00:35:20,080 --> 00:35:23,840
Speaker 1: is now enforcing real ID. They are charging you forty

639
00:35:23,840 --> 00:35:25,719
Speaker 1: five dollars if you go to the airport and you

640
00:35:25,840 --> 00:35:29,000
Speaker 1: don't have real ID, and if you think going to

641
00:35:29,040 --> 00:35:31,520
Speaker 1: the DMV is too much of a pain in the ass.

642
00:35:31,719 --> 00:35:34,040
Speaker 1: I finally did it. I got my real ID, but

643
00:35:34,080 --> 00:35:37,359
Speaker 1: it was a nightmare. Here's what I'm going to tell

644
00:35:37,400 --> 00:35:42,759
Speaker 1: you. You need to get Global entry. Global Entry is a

645
00:35:42,800 --> 00:35:46,359
Speaker 1: program through the federal government. You go through a background check,

646
00:35:46,520 --> 00:35:49,000
Speaker 1: you have one in person meeting at a federal building

647
00:35:49,120 --> 00:35:52,319
Speaker 1: or at an airport on your first trip out, and

648
00:35:52,400 --> 00:35:57,320
Speaker 1: you have it for five years, five years of automatic

649
00:35:57,400 --> 00:36:00,400
Speaker 1: tsa PreCheck. You use that card when you go in

650
00:36:00,440 --> 00:36:02,960
Speaker 1: and out of the airport, and it costs about one

651
00:36:03,040 --> 00:36:07,960
Speaker 1: hundred dollars. Except it doesn't because here's the tip. If

652
00:36:08,000 --> 00:36:11,520
Speaker 1: you have a travel card, whether it's an American Express

653
00:36:11,600 --> 00:36:16,400
Speaker 1: card or a Capital One card or the Chase Sapphire card,

654
00:36:16,440 --> 00:36:18,880
Speaker 1: I think either the preferred or the reserve. I had

655
00:36:18,880 --> 00:36:22,799
Speaker 1: the reserve. Did you know that your card benefits? You

656
00:36:22,880 --> 00:36:25,840
Speaker 1: might have one in your wallet right now that pays

657
00:36:25,920 --> 00:36:30,000
Speaker 1: for this. So if you pay for Global Entry, you

658
00:36:30,080 --> 00:36:33,759
Speaker 1: get an automatic credit for whatever. It costs one hundred dollars,

659
00:36:33,800 --> 00:36:36,440
Speaker 1: one hundred and twenty dollars. I did this when I renewed.

660
00:36:36,719 --> 00:36:40,560
Speaker 1: I renewed on my Chase card and it immediately was free.

661
00:36:41,320 --> 00:36:43,680
Speaker 1: So you need to find out if you have a

662
00:36:43,680 --> 00:36:46,160
Speaker 1: bunch of credit cards, find out what your benefits are,

663
00:36:46,200 --> 00:36:50,520
Speaker 1: because there's money sitting on the table, and once you

664
00:36:50,560 --> 00:36:53,600
Speaker 1: have Global Entry, it is great. You know. My first

665
00:36:53,600 --> 00:36:56,000
Speaker 1: big international trip was this year, and when we flew

666
00:36:56,080 --> 00:37:00,200
Speaker 1: back in from Madrid to Dallas, I was like, oh boy,

667
00:37:00,280 --> 00:37:02,240
Speaker 1: getting back in the country is going to be a nightmare.

668
00:37:02,719 --> 00:37:06,239
Speaker 1: Not with Global entry, No, no, no, no, no. They

669
00:37:06,320 --> 00:37:11,040
Speaker 1: literally were like, hey, here you go. You're back in

670
00:37:11,080 --> 00:37:16,040
Speaker 1: the country because you're already a verified, trusted traveler. So

671
00:37:16,239 --> 00:37:18,000
Speaker 1: it's worked out great for me. I've had it for

672
00:37:18,040 --> 00:37:21,120
Speaker 1: five years, and like I said, you probably already have

673
00:37:21,160 --> 00:37:24,600
Speaker 1: a credit card that makes it free, So go for it.

674
00:37:24,880 --> 00:37:27,440
Speaker 1: Get tsa pre check for five years. It's going to

675
00:37:27,480 --> 00:37:29,719
Speaker 1: make your life a heck of a lot easier. Thank

676
00:37:29,800 --> 00:37:32,839
Speaker 1: y'all so much for listening to the news Blitz. Make

677
00:37:32,880 --> 00:37:37,000
Speaker 1: sure to check out that substack Randywangradio dot substack dot com.

678
00:37:37,200 --> 00:37:38,360
Speaker 1: We'll see it tomorrow. Everyone,