You're listening to KFI AM six forty wake Up Call with me Amy King on
demand on the iHeartRadio Appy. It's time for your morning wake up call.
Here's Amy King. It's five o'clock straight out. This is your wake up
call for Memorial Day, Monday, May twenty seventh. We're live everywhere on
the iHeartRadio app. I'm Amy King. And if you're up because you're working
today like we are, or you're just an early riser, We're glad you're
here with us. Hey, I was driving in this morning, first morning
in a really long time that there hasn't been that thick marine layer. So
nice to see the moon on the way in nice change. Here's what's ahead
on today's wake up call. Memorial Day remembrances are being held all over southern
Californi, including five hundred sailors who will march across the Sixth Street Viaduct.
The walk begins at noon with the sailors lining up ten across fifty deep on
the Boyle Heights side of the viaduct. It's part of La Fleetweek that goes
on one more day. If you haven't had a chance to go down there,
if you were out and about with this last week we went and got
to go on to the aircraft carrier, the USS Carl Vinson. So cool
fire has engulfed a boarded up house in East LA. The fire started around
two this morning on Whiteside Street. LA Fire says flames were coming from the
house when they arrived. They fought the fire from outside while protecting the homes
around it. The fire was out by about two thirty. One of the
last of the Tuskegee Airmen has died. Colonel Porcher Taylor, Junior, died
yesterday. He served in World War II, Korea and Vietnam. He earned
the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star, the Meritorious Service Medal, and
the Army Commendation Medal. Colonel Taylor was ninety nine. A group of about
twelve hundred bikers has crossed the country to honor POW's MIAs and kias. We're
gonna be talking with the organizers of the annual Run for the Wall that's coming
up a little bit later this hour. We're also going to take a look
back with author Chris Epting, who wrote The Lost Landmarks of Orange County.
If you've been in Orange County for any amount of time. I think you're
going to find this very interesting. Looking at days gone by, Let's get
started with some of the stories coming out of the KFI twenty four hour newsroom.
An actor known for his role on General Hospital has been shot and killed
in downtown LA. Police say Johnny Wacter was killed early Saturday morning when he
confronted three people who were messing with his car near Pico and South Hope Street.
Investigators say the group was trying to steal the car's catalytic converter. LAPD
Detective Michael Ventura says the part has become a common target for thieves. We've
seen where they quickly, like Nascar, they get the jack them up,
cut them off, keep an eye out for security in the cops, walk
out of here and get these items three hundred bucks apiece generally and making ten
or twenty a night. Wector's brother says the actor had been working as a
bartender on Saturday, who's walking a co worker to her car after their shift.
When he confronted the thieves, one of them fired. Four cars have
been set on fire in LA's Chinatown. A fifth was damaged early yesterday morning.
This man says the sound of it woke him up. Heard some carl
arms going off, So I got outside, and it's like the world's on
fire, like the apocalypse is happening, like in my front yard. The
cars destroyed were parked on the street. Investigators say they think the fires were
a random act of vandalism. A woman whose minivan was set on fire says
it was overwhelming. Mulholland Drive has reopened following a more than three month closure
caused by a landslide. The roadway between Skyline and Beaumont Drives has been shut
down since early February. This Ida spent nearly five million dollars shoring up the
hillside. Palestinian health workers in Gaza say Israeli airstrikes in Rafa have killed at
least fifty people. The strikes yesterday were carried out days after the International Court
of Justice ordered Israel to end its military offensive in the southern city. Israel's
army says it hit a Hamas installation where senior group members were located, and
that two officials were eliminated. As Israel put it. Sirens have gone off
in Tel Aviv during a rocket attack by Hamas. ABC's Britt Clenan says the
attack yesterday was the first in almost four months. At least eight rockets were
launched from the Rafa area, according to the IDF. Minor injuries were reported,
and footage on social media show a large crater in Kufa Sabah, around
seventeen miles from Tel Aviv. Israel's military says Rafa is the last Hamas stronghold,
and Israel has vowed to destroy its capabilities. Ever, wonder when Memorial
Days started. It's been going on for a while. So producer Ann got
some cool information for us, and I thought, you know what, it's
a good day for us to reflect and look back at what Memorial Day is
actually. So it was originally known as Decoration Day, a federal holiday for
honoring and mourning US military personnel. The first one was observed on May thirtieth,
eighteen sixty eight. Again, it was known as Decoration Day, and
the holiday was proclaimed by Commander in Chief John A. Logan of the Grand
Army of the Republic to honor Union soldiers who had died in the Civil War.
And then it's word of it spread and the States started going, hey,
we want to do that too. And by eighteen ninety every Union state
had adopted Memorial Day. The World Wars then turned it into a day of
remembrance for all members of the US military, not just the Civil War,
but for everybody who fought and died in the service, and in nineteen seventy
one, Congress standardized the holiday as Memorial Day, the one that we observed.
And you know, a lot of people are doing barbecues and getting together
with family and I and then you hear that, you know, it's it's
the somber day that we're not honoring the living, we're honoring the people who've
died. So it's not happy Memorial Day necessarily. But they say, you
know what, there's so many things that go on, and you can honor
the people who've given their lives for our country and maybe go to a ceremony
or something like that, and then go have the barbecue in the afternoon and
enjoy your time with friends and family and celebrate, you know, what they
were fighting for. I thought that was kind of a cool remembrance. But
and there are so many things going on around southern California. So as you
get up and about and you go, oh, well, maybe I'm just
going to make breakfast and hang out at the house, maybe head out to
one of these ceremonies, because there are so many of them and really amazing
things that they're doing. So I mentioned this at the very top of the
show, that Navy sailors are going to be marching across the Sixth Street Viaduct.
It's part of Fleet Week. There's five hundred of them. They're going
to be walking, of course, to pay tribute to fallen US military personnel.
And the march is going to happen at noon. It's going to start
on the boil height side of the viaduct and the sailors are going to be
lined up ten across and fifty deep. I just think that would be very
cool. Again, that starts at noon. There's also the Canoga Park Memorial
Day Parade that will honor Canoga Park High School grads who gave their lives in
military service since World War II. That starts at ten am and in create
includes a wreath laying at the Wall of Honor. Then a parade begins at
eleven am. And then let's see, there's a bunch more. The Memorial
Day observance at Green Hills Memorial Park in Rancho Palace Verdes begins at ten am,
and if I wish I could go out to this one, it's getting
underway in about twenty minutes. The honoring of our fallen Memorial Day reading of
names of the seven fifty seven Americans who've died in combat and training exercises since
the nine to eleven attacks. It begins at five thirty this morning at Rosie
the Riveter Park in Long Beach. There's going to be a bagpipe tribute and
the reading, So the ceremony starts at five thirty. The reading begins at
five point forty five. They're going to read all those names. They're expected
to be completed by about one this afternoon. There are also Memorial Day ceremonies
and observances starting at eight at the Hawaiian Gardens City Hall at nine am at
Lancaster Cemetery, Lacy Park in San Marino and Whittier City Hall. Then at
nine point thirty there's a ceremony at Acton Community Center, also at Glendale City
Hall at ten am at Park Lawn Cemetery in Bell Gardens, at the Cerrito
Civic Center, the forty second Rainbow Division Monument in Exposition Park, Forest Law
Lawn Memorial Park in Cavina Hills in Hollywood, and in Long Beach, the
Veterans Park in Lomita. This is all happening at ten am. The LA
National Cemetery in Westwood, Eternal Valley Memorial Park in New Hall, and Mines
Avenue Veterans Monument in Pico Rivera. At eleven am, there is a ceremony
at Inglewood City Hall, at Del Valley Park in Lakewood, Norwalk City Hall,
and the Wilmington Cemetery, and then at one o'clock also Forest Lawn in
Glendale. So many observances, and I mentioned LA National Cemetery, and also
there's a one at the Riverside National Cemetery, and also at the Ronald Reagan
Presidential Library, which is super cool. We've been there a couple of times
in the last couple of months. But there's a ceremony from nine to eleven.
It's being held at the library in Simi Valley. It's going to include
live music of Flyover Color Guard and remarks by gold Star Family member Tony Gordero
and Robert Kimmich IID the commanding Officer at Naval Base Ventura County. So so
many ways that we can honor the veterans, those who served our country.
And here's just a couple of other things. We said. You can attend
a ceremony, of course, and there here's another way. You can decorate
with your flag. Get your flag out and fly it, fly it half
staff from dawn until noon and join that tradition, show that you're proud of
of the people who fought for us. Here's another thing you can do,
and this is so great, Thank a veteran. Easy right. If you
don't know a veteran, you can write a letter to a veteran or a
soldier. You go to Operation Gratitude dot com for more information Operation Gratitude dot
com. And then one other thing you can do is participate in our national
Moment of Remembrance. The national monument or Moment of Remembrance asks us all to
pause for one minute in an active national unity. Wouldn't that be nice wherever
you are at three o'clock this afternoon on Memorial Day, just take a moment.
It's important that we remember this. Let's get back to some of the
stories coming out of the KFI twenty four hour newsroom. People in La County
have been worn to continue avoiding several local beaches because of high bacteria levels.
The areas include part of will Rogers State Beach, Mother's Beach in Marina del
Rey, Malibu Lagoon at Surfrider Beach, the Santa Monica Pier, and Inner
Cabrio Beach in sam Beach Pedro. A man who allegedly shot five people in
San Fernando has been arrested following a stand off with police. Officers were called
late Saturday about several people who were shot at a home. Four people were
found inside shot, a fifth went to the hospital on his own. The
alleged shooter barricaded himself inside his own house. He reportedly shot at a LAPD
helicopter during the standoff. The sixty one year old man was eventually taken into
custody. Two people have been killed in a fiery car crash in Wilmington.
It happened just after two this morning on Alameda Street near pch Firefighters say they
put out the fire and discovered the two people inside. The Memorial Day weekend
box office is shaping up to be almost a tie between a cartoon cat and
an Apocalypse survivor. The Garfield movie and Furiosa, a Mad Max Saga are
both currently on track to take in just thirty one million dollars over the four
day weekend. Regardless of which film gets the number one spot, it'll be
the lowest opening for a number one Memorial Day release since Casper in nineteen ninety
five. Industry experts say there are several factors, including high theater ticket and
concession prices, more streaming options, and no new Marvel movie release that are
keeping people away. Heather Brooker KFI News, Okay, two thoughts on that,
Heather, I loved the Casper movie. I thought it was super fun,
Bill Pullman Q. I mean, not gonna win any awards, but
cute. And no new Marvel movie. I'm okay with that. There's just
been so many Marvels. I think we need maybe a little break from Marvel
Marvel movies. That's just my opinion. The Dodgers are taken on the Mets
this afternoon in New York. The first pitch goes out at one ten.
Love a good daytime game. Listen to every play of every Dodgers game on
AM five to seventy LA Sports Live from the Galpin Motors Broadcast booth, and
you can also stream all the games in HD on the iHeartRadio app keyword AM
five seventy LA Sports General Hospital. Actor Johnny Wacter has been shot and killed
in downtown La. TMZ says the actor was killed when he confronted three men
trying to steal a catalytic converter from his car. Police haven't made any arrests.
Johnny Wackter was thirty seven. Twelve people have been injured on a flight
from Doha to Dublin when the plane hit turbulence. Six crew members and six
passengers were hurt on the Qatar Airways flight yesterday. Eight had to be taken
to the hospital. This comes less than a week after a passenger died and
dozens were hurt on a Singapore Airline's flight that hit turbulence. The ninety fifth
Los Angeles County Fair will close its sixteen day run today at the Fairplex Inn,
Pomona. The fair began as a commercial industrial show, first held along
the Southern Pacific Railroad siding in downtown Pomona in nineteen twenty one, and apparently
it was so successful that the businessman who produced it held the first LA County
Fair. The following year, in October of nineteen twenty two, at six
oh five, it's handle on the news. TSA says, this Memorial Day
weekend is a record breaker. It's five point twenty one on your wake up
call. Let's say good morning now to the author of thirty travel and history
books, including James Dean Died Here, Roadside Baseball, and a bunch of
others. Plus you've written for the La Times, for Travel and Leisure magazine.
This guy loves to talk about travel. Good morning, Chris Epting,
Thank you for having me. Good to hear you. And we're not even
talking about far off places for travel. In many cases, it's right in
our own back, in our own backyard. And I'm going to tell you,
Chris that we have actually met before, and you will not remember it
because it was probably ten years ago, and it was at a day of
authors at cal State Fullerton. And I'm going to tell you wake up call
that when I met Chris, actually we listened to him talking about one of
his books, and just he was so engaging and interesting. I was like,
oh my god, I have to buy this book. And the book
was about like places on the map where things happened and it was like where
James Dean died, which I drive by that location all the time now it's
at the Highway forty six and forty one junction because I go to visit a
friend in Pasa Robles, and so I think about your book every time I
pass that junction. A great memory, thank you, and I remember that
event. I love those sorts of events, and I appreciate you putting that
together and getting us back here today. That's amazing and really flattered. So
today we're not talking about things that you can still go and see, though,
because you have a new book out. It's called Lost Landmarks of Orange
County. So tell us a little about your new book. Well, it's
yeah, again, there are some things you can visit, little trace remnants.
I mean, the cover of the book features a place that was called
Lion Country Safari, which was down in Irvine from nineteen seventy about nineteen eighty
four. Many of your listeners may have been there before, but even if
they weren't there, I think it really speaks to this idea of just how
crazy in terms of landmarks, Orange County has been in the last hundred or
so years. And so if you go there. Today, of course Lyon
Country Safari is gone. You can no longer wander and have giraffes and hippos
and vinys come to your car. But there's a tree where the very famous
lion Frasier the Fraser, the Sensuous Lion he was called because he sired thirty
five cups, is buried under a California live oak tree there. So sometimes
it's not entirely lost, and there are pieces like that which in the book
I really tried to detail all of those sorts of things to tell the story,
but also, you know, let people know if there is something else
they can connect with the right. And so at the Lion Safari Park where
Frasier is buried, what's there now it's a housing complex call and it's called
Los of Libos, and it's also the former site of where Irvine Meadows Amphitheater
was, So I traced the legacy of that really great concert venue that was
there. And you know Orange County, you know, starting back really in
the forties with not Verry farmament into Disneyland in the fifties was a tourist mecca
and so you've got lots of theme parks and places like that Buffalo Ranch,
the alligator farm, the Japanese Deer Park. Those are all gone, but
I also include movie theaters, restaurants, all the sorts of things that people
may have grown up going to that really helped to play it the part in
shaping Orange County and what it is today. Yeah, like you said,
the past and what shaped or And we have to go back to the alligator
park because I'm not aware of that one. And what was the alligator park
the California Alligator Farm opening about nineteen fifty. I learned something fascinating and researching
this book in that in the mid fifties, Walter Notd, who ran Knots
Verry Farms the block Away, heard that the alligator farm was kind of on
the brink of going out a business because of the cost of feeding alligators.
He realized each night that it Not's very farm. They were throwing out lots
of raw chicken from their famous for Our Chicken restaurant, so he began to
help them out. He had the chicken carted down there at night, which
got them over that hurdle and kept them there till the early nineteen eighties.
So you had a lot of great stories like that too, sort of entrepreneurs
looking you have for each other and realizing that you didn't have to be that
competitive because if everyone did well, then the county did well. So you
had a lot of those kinds of stories of places helping each other out.
That's my favorite of the fact that you could go sit feed baby alligators.
They had baskets on the back of it alligators that you could ride, and
they would send alligators hurtling down slides into the water. I mean it was
crazy. Well, you could ride on the back of an alligator. There's
pictures going back. Yeah, actually, and I don't know how long that
was in effect, but there ares of postcard images of kids on the back
of you know, the snouts are tied, obviously, but such was the
thrill of the California Alligator Farm. I can understand why that one may no
longer be there. So in your research, Chris, did you talk to
people who experienced these locations or are they things that you remember from your childhood
or how did you go about getting all of these I grew up. I
grew up in Westchester County, New York. I moved to Orange County about
twenty five years ago. So I had my own experiences, but they didn't
go back that far. So yes, I absolutely spoke to people from from
locals who grew up going to see concerts and things all the way down to
like I had a great conversation with Steve Martin about the Golden Bear, a
former nightclub in honey To Beach where he kind of first made his mark in
the early seventies. He's from Orange County, from Garden Growth. I spoke
to Jackson Brown about the Golden Beer as well, and a good buddy of
this was the dishwasher there who Jackson encouraged to go up to la and ultimately
landed the audition of Peter Torque and the Monkeys. So, you know,
there were some revelations like that that I found fascinating just as a journalist talking
to people like that. But plenty of locals recounted of what it was like
to grow up here in the forties and fifties and sixties and so on,
and the great drive in movie theaters and all sorts of things that you know,
again, every place has them, Orange County just had a lot of
them. Orange County's thirty four cities tied together and so I touched upon a
lot of different things, from sports, to agriculture, to oil, to
music, to movies to everything that again helped make the county where it is
today. It's a sort of treatment I honestly would love to do with La
County as well. And I'm thinking about that now because again, these southern
California places where everybody came to visit from all over the world, have plenty
of these lost landmarks. Well, I was just going to ask you if
you had any plans to write about La County, So good to know that
it's at least in the thinking and planning stages, definitely. And we've got
more on the Lost Landmarks of Orange County coming up in just a couple of
minutes. And we have some copies of the book The Lost Landmarks of Orange
County for you. We're going to be giving those away in just a few
minutes, so stick around right now. Let's get back to some of the
stories coming up coming out of the KFI twenty four hour news room. Public
health officials in La County say a person with measles has traveled through lax while
infectious. The person does not live in the country they arrived on lufthansa flight
LH four point fifty two at the Tom Bradley International Terminal last Sunday and connected
to a flight at Terminal seven that same night. Officials say there were no
other places where possible exposure to the traveler might have happened. That's time former
President Trump has been booed while addressing the Libertarian Party National Convention in Washington.
ABC's Mary Alice Parks says it was sort of a surprise Trump addressed the crowd
on Saturday night. Libertarian Party members that I talked to said that fundamentally they
wanted someone who had been a member of their own party, and they really
viewed him as someone who was a former Democrat. Many shouted insults and criticized
Trump for running up federal deficits and enriching pharmaceutical companies during the development of COVID
nineteen vaccines. Some supporters dressed in Make America Great hats and T shirts,
cheered and chanted. USA Independent candidate rfk Junior was also booed when he spoke
at the convention, although we got a warmer reception than Trump. Kennedy was
eliminated in the first round of voting. Kennedy have responded saying I would have
accepted the nomination if offered because independence and third parties need to unite right now
to reclaim our country from the corrupt two parts. ABC's Perry Rusham says a
lot of voters say they are not excited about either major party candidate, so
a third party candidate could have a bigger impact than ever on the presidential race.
The party chose Chase Oliver, who's vowing to appeal to younger voters angry
over the war in the Middle East. Memorial Day remembrances are being held all
over southern California, including five hundred sailors who will march across the Sixth Street
Viaduct at noon today. The walk has sailors lining up ten across and fifty
deep on the Boil Heights side of the viaduct. It's part of La Fleet
Week. At least eighteen people have been killed in hundreds more have been injured
as powerful storms tour through Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. Homes were flattened
and a truck stop where dozens sought shelter in a restroom was destroyed. The
severe weathers expected to move into North Carolina and Virginia. Today, someone with
measles has traveled through lax Public Health officials say the person arrived Sunday on Luftanza
flight LF four fifty two in the Tom Bradley International Terminal and then connected to
a flight in Terminal seven. Anyone not immunized who was around that location should
watch for signs of measles from seven to twenty one days after exposure. At
six oh five, it's handle on the news. Very sad if you're a
Disney fan guy. A guy who wrote It's a Small World and wrote songs
from Mary Poppins has passed away, ninety five years old. At five point
fifty. We're going to be talking to the organizer of the Run for the
Wall. It's twelve hundred bikers who have ridden from Ontario all the way to
Washington, d C. Pretty interesting. Right now, we're talking to the
author of Lost Landmarks of Orange County and thirty other travel books. It's Chris
Epting. Chris, what is the lost landmark that makes you the most sad
that it's no longer here? Well? Lying Country definitely is well. I
went there as a kid visiting from New York in nineteen seventy four, and
that one, to me is just again it serves so many purposes there were
I talked to people that had like their junior and senior proms there. It
wasn't just for tourists, so plenty of locals used it. I think if
I could have one back, that would be the top of the list,
along with the Golden Bear, because again from the ninth early sixties to the
mid eighties, everybody played there was a lot of music history there. One
other site this year marks the centennial of a very famous baseball game out in
Brea, California, that featured no less than Babe Ruth and Walter Johnson.
And it was a little place called the Brea Bowl, and I wish that
was still there today. It was a field that oil companies would use for
their kind of inter squad baseball games. And the fact that one hundred years
ago, in October of nineteen twenty four, Walter Johnson, who went to
Fullerton High School, staged a game they're featuring. He played against Babe Ruth
and it's a very notable game. I write about it in the book,
and I think it'd be fun to have that back as well as sort of
a famous, a legendary baseball island. Yeah, what gave you kind of
the travel bug? Because you've written about so many interesting places that a lot
of people maybe wouldn't have even thought of, but for whatever reason you go
ooh, that's cool. What sparks. I can tell you exactly. I
had a moment when I was about ten years old. Newspaper in New York,
the Daily News, had a little article about marily Monroe, and it
showed her opposing in the seven year Itch, the famous scene where the white
dress billows up over the subway grade, and it said that that actual subway
grade was in New York City at the northwest corner at fifty second Street and
Lexington Avenue. And the next time we were in the city, I dragged
my parents over there and I found that subway grade, and in my head,
I thought, literally, how many places are there? All the New
Yorkers were walking over nobody knew what had taken place there, And that planted
the seed of like all these other places that we walk by every day and
not know that some sort of cultural history was made there, from the sublime
to the ridiculous. And that was literally what set me off. On this
idea that there's got to be a lot of places, whether it's beings Deem
passed away, or where the Edenburgh crashed, or where Elvis did his first
concert, whatever it happens to be. You know, I've spent the last
twenty five some odd years writing those books, and you know, I love
California. I always wanted to live here, and so the fact that I
have been able to live here and make a living here, I focus a
lot of attention on California, especially southern California in this case with Orange County,
and I've written a lot about la as well, and i just feel
like this really is the cultural crossroads of the United States in many ways.
Yeah, and Chris, you write about in your new book the Lost Landmarks
of Orange County, places that aren't actually no longer there, but parts of
them that are no longer there. And I'm a huge disney fan, So
you have a section about things at Disneyland and not Berry Farm that are no
longer there exactly. And that's the key point, because you said, but
I've got chapters in the book on both places for the many attractions no longer
there, including in Disneyland's case, the Tomorrowland Stage, which was a very
famous performance space where Space Mountain is located today. I write about how in
the early seventies a Linda rons Back got book there. Needing a band to
play behind her, she gathered up some buddies from the Troubadour in West Hollywood.
They came down to back her, thus sort of giving birth to the
Eagles who first got together playing at their backup Bahl stage. And you can
also see in Newport on MacArthur Boulevard the original Disneyland and stand sits up by
Rogers Garden, up on a hill with a plaque by it. So again
that's an example of being able to locate an actual artist sat out in the
open connected to Disneyland. I love that there's so much history in all of
this. Chris, what do you hope that people get out of this book?
I hope they just get a sense that we can always learn from the
past, and it's good to go back and rekindle memories again, whether you
grew up here or not. I wanted this to be a book that anybody
can get something out of because of rich storytelling, great images, and just
an appreciation of the fact that even though places change over the decades, you
can never erase the memories. You can never erase the effects that those places
had in helping to shape a community. All right, Chris Epting, Thank
you so much for sharing just a few of the stories, and of course
you can read all of the stories of the Lost Landmarks of Orange County.
Chris. Where can we get the book? It's available on Amazon, all
major bookstores, independent bookstore, wherever books are sold, you can find it,
and I hope people enjoy it. The response so far has been wonderful,
beyond my imagination, and so I'm really appreciative for this time to chat
about it. Thank you. Yeah, thanks. I think a lot of
people are nostalgic, and you know, the world moving so fast sometimes it's
nice to just stop and take a look back. I think you nailed it.
I think that's really the key point with a lot of these kinds of
books are doing what you just said right now. All right, Chris Epting,
thank you so much for your time today, and hopefully we can talk
to you when we have the Lost Landmarks of La County anytime. Thank you,
take care, Thanks so much. You knowwhere else you can get the
book? You can get it right here on wake up call. We have
we've got like three copies of it, and so we want to give it
away to you. Really really interesting and like we were talking about, just
sort of a fun look back. So let's say you be caller number ten,
eleven and twelve right now at one eight hundred five to two zero one
KFI. That's one eight hundred five to two zero, one five three four
for your copy of Lost Landmarks of Orange County by our friend Chris Epting.
It's sort of a little reward for you for getting up early on this Memorial
Day. One eight hundred five to two zero one KFI. That's one eight
hundred five two zero one five three four colors, ten eleven and twelve.
Let's get back to some of the stories coming out of the KFI twenty four
hour newsroom. Actor Johnny Whacter has been shot and killed during a run in
with three people allegedly trying to steal his car's catalytic converter near downtown LA.
The shooting happened early Saturday morning near Pico and South Helpe Street. The actor's
brother says wactor had been working as a bartender and was walking a co worker
to her car after their shift when he noticed three people around his car.
Police say one of them fired. Wactor worked on several TV shows and appeared
on nearly two hundred episodes of General Hospital between twenty twenty and twenty two.
He was thirty seven. A man in LA's Jefferson Park area has been shot
during a fight with two guys who allegedly stole his car. Police say the
man found his car yesterday morning on Arlington Avenue near thirty sixth Place and confronted
the men who had it. That's when one of them fired at him.
The injured man was taken to the hospital. A person has been killed by
a Metrolink train in Elmonte. The collision happened just before ten thirty last night
along Garvey Avenue near Valley Boulevard. Norway has handed over diplomatic papers to the
Palestinian Prime Minister during a meeting in Brussels in the latest step toward recognizing a
Palestinian state. Ireland and Spain have also pledged to recognize a Palestinian state.
Norway's Foreign Minister, espen Bartheidy says the time to do it is now.
We cannot let down the Palestinian people. We cannot let down the Palestinian authority.
They are really trying to deliver on the promise of a peaceful path to
a two state solution. The EU, the United States, and Britain have
said they support a two state solution, but say it should come as part
of a negotiated settlement. The City of Los Angeles has asked a judge to
deny injunctive relief to the owners of Marilyn Monroe's former home in Brentwood. They
want to block the city from making the residence and historical cultural monument. The
owners want to tear the house down. The owners, whose home is next
to the Monroe home, bought it last July for eight point three five million
dollars and have obtained a permit from the city to demolish it. Police are
looking for four people who robbed as many as six seven eleven stores around La
County early yesterday morning. Police responded to reports that three convenience stored had been
robbed within an hour in South La County. A thirty say, three more
seven elevens were robbed in Long Beach since Saturday night. Police are investigating whether
all six are connected Palestinian health workers say Israeli attacks in Rafa have killed at
least thirty five people and hit tents for people who were seeking refuge. Gaza's
population has been seeking shelter before Israel went in. Israel's army says it hit
a Hamas installation where senior Hamas members were located. Could Lebron James leave the
Lakers? The Phoenix Suns are reportedly interested in NBA insider Evans. Sidery says
the Sons are hoping to pursue him in the off season. He said that
the Sons appear to believe they can convince Lebron to team up with Kevin Durant,
Devin Booker, and Bradley Beale to create an historic super team. That'll
be kind of interesting. Huh. Let's say good morning now to Ted Kaepner,
who hails from southern California currently living in Prescott, Arizona. But Ted,
you're not in Southern California or Prescott right now because you're making a Run
for the Wall. Ted, please tell us what you're doing. Well,
Thank you very much. It's good to be on. Yes, I am
on Run for the Wall, which is an annual motorcycle ride from Ontario,
California, to Washington, d C. It occurs every May. We take
ten days across the country and we are riding to raise awareness for those veterans
I'm sorry for servicemen and women who are prisoners of war or MIA missing in
action. For those MIA POWs from all wars. We want to raise awareness
and just honor their memory, and also those who are killed in action or
wounded in action. Okay, so how many of your friends on motorcycles do
you have with you for this year's Run for the Wall. Well, we
have four routes and one mission, and in all four routes are about twelve
hundred motorcycle riders. You can hear some bikes start behind me right now.
I'll keep talking about on this route. This route is called the Central Route,
and we have about three hundred and eighty on the Central Route with us
this year. Okay, So when you say there's three hundred and eighty of
you, are you guys all like a motorcycle convoy riding together? Do you
kind of take off whenever you want? No, it's very well organized.
We split the bikes up into what we call platoons, and so we have
about nine platoons and there are we divide the bikes up into those platoons,
and then we have a group of riders called the road Guards that keeps everybody
safe. And so from head to toe, we're about a mile and a
half of motorcycles lined up side by side and tight in parade formation from coast
to coast. And I wanted to mention that this was started in nineteen eighty
nine by a group of Vietnam veterans and this was sort of the welcome home
parade that our Vietnam veterans never got. And that's one of the reasons why
we ride. We say that we ride for those who can't and it's just
a mission across the United States, and we're greeted by patriots all across the
country as we cross so under overpasses, they're aligned with people with flags that
say welcome home and the stars and stripes, and it's really an amazing journey.
Okay, Ted, you're making me cry. That's really really wonderful because
I know, like you said, the guys in Vietnam, they didn't get
welcomed home because of you know, it's political and all of that stuff.
So it's good that we're recognizing them now and so important. Is there a
fundraising arm to this? Are you just just doing it for awareness or are
you raising money? What are you doing? Oh well, I'm glad you
brought that up, and yes there is a fundraising aspect to this. Run
for the Wall is a five oh one C three and you can find out
more information on our website which is our FTW dot us. And then Ted
tell us where everything wraps up, we will make the last push into Washington,
d C. We will go to the Lincoln Memorial line up for a
group picture, and then we will walk across the mall over to the Vietnam
Veterans Memorial Wall, where we will conclude our mission at the apex of the
wall. I think it's so great what you do. And wow, twelve
hundred people involved, and you know, showing support and awareness for POW's mis
people killed in action, the real heroes. Yes, absolutely, and that
is why we ride. And you don't have to be a veteran though to
participate, right, absolutely not. I am not a veteran. I am
a patriot. I'm the son of an Air Force veteran, But I'm out
here doing my part to make sure that these veterans from all wars, and
especially the young generation now who are fighting the global war on terror, know
that we will never forget about them. We will never forget about their service,
and we truly appreciate what they've done for our country so that we can
enjoy the freedoms that we enjoy every single day. I love that. And
Ted again, if people who are listening now want to get involved for next
year, it's too late for this year. But if they want to start
planning for next year, is that also on your website. Yes, all
the information is on the website. You can look up all four of our
routes. You can join for one day, you know, or you can
go all the way. We have most of the writers who go all the
way. But you know, I just met somebody who joined us this morning
and all he could do was ride one day with us. And that's great.
Now he's got the flavor of this and he says he's going to come
back next year and start with us in Ontario. Awesome, Ted Kaepner,
run for the wall. I hope that you have a wonderful, inspiring journey.
Thank you very much. Have a great very very cool. Isn't that
great? I wish I knew how to ride motorcycles and wasn't scared of them,
because that would be a fun ride. Let's get back to some of
the stories coming out of the KFI twenty four hour newsroom. Events are being
held all over southern California to honor the fallen members of the US military.
They include the thirty second Canoga Park Memorial Day Parade in West Valley, a
walk in Boyle Heights held in conjunction with LA Fleet Week, and a Memorial
to Day observance at Green Hills Memorial Park in Rancho Palace. Thirties, people
in Riverside County can see the West Coast Thunder roll out from Riverside to Murietta
and Lake Elsinore. Some of the seventy five hundred riders will be stopping at
Riverside National Cemetery to pay their respects. The home of LA's first black mayor
is getting some historical recognition. The Tom and Ethel Bradley House in Baldwin Hills
is one of four properties to win the approval of a council committee to become
a historic Cultural Monument in LA. Bradley was mayor from nineteen seventy three today
nineteen ninety three, the first black mayor and the one who served the longest.
The committee also advanced the historic designations of three other properties, the Mountain
State's Life Building, Yuccavine Tower, often thought of as Hollywood's first skyscraper,
the California Eagle Publishing offices, home of a newspaper catering to black readers,
and the Basin residents, a contemporary ranch style home in Studio City. Michael
Monks KFI News. A government official farm Papua New Guinea has told the UN
it is now believed more than two thousand people may have been buried alive by
a landslide. That's about three times the un estimate of how many people were
killed in the slide Friday. The official said in a formal request for international
help that the slides caused major destruction in the mountainous village in the Enga province.
More than a dozen people have been killed by powerful storms that hit Texas,
Oklahoma, and Arkansas over the weekend. Hundreds were hurt during the storms
that caused widespread destruction. Texas Governor Greg Abbott says a tornado that hit his
state Saturday, killed at least seven. More than two hundred homes and structures
were listed as destroyed. Another more than one hundred and twenty were listed as
damaged. Two people in Oklahoma were killed during the severe weather, along with
eight in Arkansas and two in Kentucky. Tens of thousands of people across the
region were left without power. President Biden has sent his condolences for those killed
in the storms. He said in a statement he is praying for those who
lost their lives. Biden says federal emergency officials are doing damage assessments and stand
ready to provide any support needed. La County health officials continue to warn beachgoers
that the ocean water is not safe in some areas because of high bacteria levels.
Part of Will Rogers State Beach is on that list, along with Mother's
Beach in Marina del Rey, Malibu Lagoon at Surfrider Beach, the Santa Monica
Pier, and Inner Cabrio Beach in San Pedro. This is KFI and kost
HD two Los Angeles Orange Camp. We lead local live from the KFI twenty
four hour newsroom for producer and and technical producer Kono. 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