You're listening to wake Up Call on demand from kf I AM six forty KFI
had KOST HD two, Los Angeles, Orange County. It's time for your
morning wake up call. Here's Amy King. This is your wake up call
for Wednesday, August sixteenth. Good morning, I'm Amy King. Also good
morning to Kono and to Anne. They're helping us out this morning getting your
day started. I'd tell you a little tired today. I think I said
that yesterday too. I'll get over it. But I got to go out
to Dodgers Stadium yesterday and we did a little behind the scenes thing. So
if you know me and if you don't know me, I am a big
fan of the D and D not Dungeons and Dragons, Dodgers and Disneylands.
So I got to do the Dodger thing yesterday and we found out some secrets
about Dodgers Stadium. I was like a kid in a candy store, totally
geeking out, a little bit embarrassing, but that's okay. So that's going
to be coming up. At five fifty. We talked to a couple of
people that you might not know, you actually know, and you might learn
something about Chavez ravine Again, that's at five fifty and you're gonna want to
stick around for it. Here's what's ahead on the wake up Call. Hawaii
Governor Josh Green says the death toll from wildfires in his state is now at
one hundred and six. Only a handful of those known dead have been identified.
A student in South LA has been stabbed and is in the hospital.
The stabbing happened at JP Whitney High School yesterday on just the second day of
school. The suspected stabber, another student, has been detained. An LA
Dodgers fan is keeping his end of the bet with Mookie Bets and has named
his daughter after the Dodgers outfielder. It's her middle Let's start with some of
the stories coming out of the Kfight twenty four Hour Newsroom. More than one
hundred deaths have now been confirmed on Maui from the wildfire that destroyed the historic
town of Lahinah. The Department of Health and Human Services has sent a team
of corners, pathologists and technicians to the island, along with equipment to help
identify the dead and process the remains. Again, so far, only five
of the one hundred six people killed have been identified. Officials in Hawaii say
twenty more cadaver dogs are headed to Maui. The specialty dogs are trained only
to sniff out human remains. I had the chance yesterday to visit the town
of Lahinah, ground zero for the deadliest fire in the US in the last
one hundred years. Just the worst thing I've ever seen. It's is apocalyptic,
It's it's terrible. Frank Taylor's a task force leader for one of the
urban search and rescue teams out of Nevada, which oversees one of the cadaver
dog teams. We're depending on the dogs. There's who It's gone fast since
we've gotten more. You know. However, you don't want to just let
the dogs run through and not find whatever we need to find. I watched
one of the dogs searching through cars and houses. They bark when they've detected
a human sense. They can do an ac or if they need to.
Usually they'll put a couple on that. But these are residential homes, so
the size of the yard and they'll take care of that yard. Back and
forth trying to pick up sense. And how long do you let them search
before you move on? You get a sense the dog handers get a sense
of there's nothing there. Officials have said they expect hundreds of bodies to be
found in Lahinah. Steve Gregory k if I News. Negotiations have restarted between
the Writer's Guild of America and the Hollywood Studios. Variety says the WGA has
softened its stance on some items, like reducing demand on minimum writing staff size
for TV productions, but says the two sides are still a far apart on
other key areas. Governor Newsom's expected to respond to the Chino Valley and Marietta
school Board's recent policies on transgender students. Trans advocate Ashley Murray Preston says it's
hard enough for students to find themselves, but now it sends the message that
who you are is called for alert. Teachers would have to notify parents within
three days if a student starts identifying as a transgender or uses different pronouns.
Newsom said Monday he couldn't comment on what the response will include, but has
confirmed it's being prepared. A law enforcement officer has been shot by police on
a golf course in Fontana. Police say they responded to a domestic violence call
at a home yesterday and heard shots fired from inside the house. The shooter
took off carrying two guns and ran to nearby Sierra Lakes Golf Club. Police
say he was firing at golfers, officers and into the air before they shot
him. Students from Palm Desert High School have created a video to combat human
trafficking. Officials Riverside County say the video, called Waiting by the Phone,
was written, directed, and edited by students. The filmmakers say it was
to raise awareness by identifying warning signed students might not recognize. Riverside County Superintendent
of Schools has encouraged all educators in the county to share the video with students.
Let's say, good morning now to Tom rivers Tom, we've finally got
some information about that US soldier who crossed the DMZ from South into North Korea
a couple of weeks ago. Very much so. Yeah, this comes from
the North Korean Official Newswire KCNA, and they basically speak for the government.
So if you want to know what the government thinks, you listen to these
guys, and they basically say that Travis King, according to them, says
he was disillusioned with America cited racial discrimination in the army, hence he jumped
over the DMZ into the North, where he is now a quote unquote guest
if you will until this is resolved, and past experience shows this could take
many, many months, indeed, until he gets back home. So watch
his space. What's gonna happen probably pretty slowly. Indeed, is there any
indication he wants to come home? No indication. I mean, you know,
all we have to work on is this particular statement from from the news
agency, and we can't you know, interrogate officials or or interview him,
et cetera, et cetera. So you know, it is what it is,
and you take it with a grain of salt. Ye had to be
a pretty disillusioned to think that life was going to be better in North Korea
than the US. Well well exactly, but again, you know, he
might have had some some issues, mental issues, We don't know, but
you're right. Before he hopped over, he I guess within jail for a
number of weeks with some violent episode in the South, he was going to
be shipped back to to the US and could face more UH disciplinary action in
the army for that, and then he for whatever it's snapped. He said,
no, I'm jumping over to the North Okay, and he was in
jail. We knew he was in jail for a couple of weeks, like
you just mentioned. Then it was scheduled to be heading back to the Oarth.
Do we know what happened you said violent, a violent episode. Yeah,
oh, we know it was. I think it was a fight,
probably in a bar, something of that nature, which which is something we've
heard of in the past. But to then jump across the border into North
Korea, that's a new one. That's a curveball. And American hasn't been
held there for what five years something like that. And do we have any
indication that what he has said through the Korean official news agency is what he
really believes or if he may have been coerced into saying it. No idea.
This is only information we have to deal with at this stage. So
basically that's it. ABC interviewed I think his mother a week or two ago,
and she's said she just wants her her son home. Seems like out
of character for him to do this. But other than that, that's where
we are. You know, we can't just knock on their doors. That
can I do a phone interview with you? It doesn't work like that there.
So we are we deal with the with the information we have at hand,
and that's it, okay. And do we have any pictures or communications
with him or it's just the statement from the from the cana. Yeah,
that's all we have at this stage. And and again this thing is long
and protracted. Yes, we may well see pictures in in in the coming
weeks, maybe months, something of that nature. Basically, the North Koreans
in a position like right now, say look, we've got this guy here.
He is a quote unquote guest. If you want him back, though,
we want something in compensation, maybe financial, maybe lifting up some sanctions,
maybe a reduction in some of the military drills with the US and South
Korea which happened like so, you know, something might have to be given
up to get to get this individual back home. And based on previous people
being held, do we have any kind of insight into what kind of treatment
he may be getting? Not really, I mean, and and this one
is a very interesting case in that if we take it on face value,
he went there voluntarily, so they might they may well treat him with kid
gloves and saying, uh, you know, we're gonna get something out of
you, but we're going to take take care of you until that day happens
where we can release you. So again, watch for whatever little nuggets of
information come to the four certainly the coming coming days and weeks. Okay.
In the US says it's still trying to get him back right exactly exactly,
but again, you're kind of driving down a dead end. You can only
go so far. You can tap on the shoulder of say Beijing saying you
have some sway in that part of the world, Can you do something to
get our individual released, et cetera. Okay, And so he is a
private so could he have information that would be damaging or dangerous to the US
or is it sort of a low level kind of guy. No, you
wouldn't have thought, so pretty pretty low level. He's not gonna have strategic
information on his person. So, uh, yeah, I think he's just
a young man who made this decision. And now it becomes a global if
you will incident. Yeah, must see could, like you said, it
could kind of string out for for years. It reminds me a little bit
of remember bo Bergdahl. Sure, yes, so he was held captive by
the Taliban, but didn't he walk away from his unit and then kind of
got caught exactly that that's a that's a case a long long time ago.
But yeah, he walked away. It was held for a number of years
and eventually got home. And again there was questions about, you know,
did he leave of his own volition, how was he treated, etc.
Etc. Kind Of a different situation in Afghanistan, but yeah, there are
some parallels certainly there. Okay, well we'll be watching it and hopefully,
hopefully you'll change his mind in North Greale. Let's just let him come home.
Okay, all right, thanks so much. Tom Rivers with ABC,
appreciate your insights this morning. To take care, let's get back to some
of the stories coming out of the KFI twenty four hour newsroom. The California
Department of Public Health is approving a controversial syringe exchange program in Owned County,
despite objections from several leaders. In Santa Anna, drug users will now be
able to register for a needle delivery service. Following the decision yesterday, The
nonprofit Harm Reduction Institute will be able to deliver new syringes and pick up used
syringes at homes, tents, RVs and other forms of housing. Syringe deliveries
to homeless people will apparently not be allowed near playgrounds or schools. Okay,
at least we got that. A high speed police chases started and Silmar's ended
with the arrests of three suspected burglars in San Bernardino County of black mercedes.
The black mercedes police were after yesterday was stopped with one of the infamous pit
maneuvers. Prosecutors say an alleged drug dealer from Riverside County sold a fatal dose
of fentanyl to a teenage boy. Kyle Overby is also accused of having two
hundred and one grams of fentanyl on him he was planning to sell, as
well as other drugs including cocaine and MDMA. Prosecutors say the seventeen year old
boy was killed when he used fentanyl he bought from Overbe in May. Overby
has been charged with gun crimes on top of the drug charges. He allegedly
owned three ghost guns. Overbye was arrested last month. He's facing life in
prison. His trial is set for October. Blake Trolley, k if I
News and Pickwick Bowl and Burbank is permanently closed after sixty years of serving the
community. The lanes have been a favorite local spot since the nineteen fifties,
but are set to be demolished to make way for town homes. Jesse Hoddig
is a customer who has been visiting the alley for thirty years, which is
really sad because it was a really wonderful institution where you get to meet a
lot of people that you wouldn't otherwise meet. You know. That's where all
my octogenarian friends are from. The Bowling Alley had its last day yesterday,
with many locals saying they're sad to see it go. The manager says the
Pickwick La King's Ice Rink will remain open. Chris Adler KFI News The La
City Council's considering a ban on cashless retail businesses. Dodger Stadium Crypto dot Com
Arena both went cashless after the pandemic began. The councilwoman Heather Hutt says that
excludes people without bank accounts or access to credit. Starbucks is testing one percent
reusable cups at a handful of stores since Innoma County. The goal is to
reduce at least half the waste at Starbucks stores. Customers can also bring in
their own cups or even borrow one, and return it to the store's smart
return bin. At five fifty, we're going out and about. We're gonna
be behind the scenes at Dodgers Stadium. I think you'll get a kick out
of that. At six o five, it's handled on the news. LA's
Police Union has blamed zero cash bail policies on the rash of smash and grab
flash mob robberies in the Southland. Right now, let's say good morning to
KTLA tech reporter Rich Demiro, host of rich on Tech here on KF five
Saturdays from eleven to two. Good morning, Rich, Hey, good morning
to you. Amy. Okay, so I think that Google has come out
with something that's going to make me really happy, and I would imagine several
other people because they're gonna cut down on review perusing. I guess yeah.
I mean, look, the reality of all this AI stuff is that it's
making life a little bit easier, a little bit faster. It's using less
of our brain so we can freed up to do more important things, like
I don't know, pick what we're gonna watch on Netflix next. Oh gosh.
Well, this is a new feature coming to Chrome. So if you're
on a long web page and you don't feel like reading it, you can
literally tap a little It looks like an eye with a like a star on
it, and it just summarizes the page for you. So it's called SGE
while browsing. SGE while browsing is uh, oh gosh, I'm trying to
think of what SGE s search generative. Oh gosh, I don't know.
Anyway, you have to enable this and once you do, you can see
a summary of any web page that you are on while you're in Chrome on
your mobile phone. Okay, so it's on any web page. I thought
it was just like good reviews and stuff that you see on Welder Nights.
There's a couple of things happening. So there is a story about Amazon using
AI to summarize reviews on their website, and so basically, amy the reality
is AI is here to just kind of sort through tons of information and make
it simpler to digest because it's doing the heavy lifting of you know, like
yesterday I put in the entire book someone sent me and I said, give
me the main points of this book and sure enough it spits it out.
Oh it's like plash notes. Yeah, I mean, except you could do
it for anything in this world. Now here's the thing. You have to
realize. There's you know search. You know, when it comes to AI,
it is making some stuff up, so you have to be careful about
that. But at the same time it can be pretty useful. Okay.
It actually concerns me a little bit that you said it doesn't tax our brains
as much. I'm like, you know what, our brains are already in
some regards not taxed enough. Like remember with all the pictures that people are
taking, people are I read something where they said that we're remembering like experiences
less because we know that we have the pictures to back it up. Like,
so we're not engaging our brains as much. Interesting, Well, I
believe that. But here's the deal. People have been debating the merits of
using our brain less for many, many years, ever since sort of the
address book came out on the phone. So my theory is that the less
you're using your brain for kind of everyday tasks like remembering a phone number,
the more you have brain power for other things that actually are more important like
deeper thinking, and you know, well that's it basically. Yeah, I
don't know what else to use your brain for. But look, there's a
lot of people that kind of approach this. That's my theory. Okay,
Well I think this sounds like a really cool thing because yeah, a lot
of times you see the big long web page and I'm like, oh,
I don't want to read that whole thing, right, And it can be
really just helping, like if you're researching, like for travel or something.
I mean it's just like why not have search or AI just kind of like
figure things out for you and then if you want to take that deeper dive,
you can. Okay. So then moving along back over to arm Amazon,
they have a pharmacy that's helping save you money. Yeah, this is
a kind of a big deal. Remember this whole thing about diabetes medications like
insulin and how spensive they are, and then the insulin company said, you
know what, We're going to make this twenty five dollars. But the reality
is it's tough for patients to find how to pay just twenty five dollars.
Like the pharmacies don't make it that easy. They have to find coupons to
apply to their refills. So Amazon says, you know what in our Amazon
Pharmacy, which you're like, wait a second, Amazon has a pharmacy,
Like yeah, this is what they're trying to do to get people to use
them. They're going to automatically apply coupons for things like insulin and so the
goal is to lower the price for as little as thirty five dollars for a
month's supply. They're also going to do this for other medications, including that
Superstar medications. What's it called, Like, we'll go vi Oh yeah,
the weight loss one. Yeah, I was supposed to be a diabetes medication,
but now it's being used for weight loss. Yes, exactly so.
But the reality here is that Amazon is trying to make a name for themselves
with their pharmacy, trying to get people to switch over. They've done a
lot of different pricing things. They're trying to work on convenience. But you
know, if people know that they can easily get the price that they want
without a lot of work, then I think this is a smart move and
smart that Amazon's getting into the pharmacy business because there it's a big, big
bucks there. I know, but do you really want Amazon to know more
about you? No, CVS is my pharmacy. Its yeah, alright,
they already know enough and they don't really do anything with it. Like I
feel like CVS is not really like trying to sell me anything else except like
a three dollar like extra care coupon every once in a while exactly. But
I save a lot of money at CVS with their coupons. I don't know
about you. Oh yeah, sometimes I get like the thirty percent off.
I'm like, yeah, kind to go in and shop. Okay, Uh,
not gonna get thirty percent off streaming services anytime soon. No, they're
going up by an average of twenty five percent in a year. Great,
I'm sure. Yeah, I'm sure. If you have a subscription to one
or any of these, you've seen the prices go up. So Wall Street
Journal did, like what I've from what I've seen, the best graphic out
of any of the coverage of these streaming services. They did a little graphic
of from twenty eleven to now and how the prices have gone up. And
so Hulu seventeen ninety nine, Max fifteen ninety nine, Netflix fifteen forty nine,
Disney thirteen ninety nine, Peacock eleven ninety nine, Paramount Plus has stayed
the same, by the Way eleven ninety nine, and Apple TV plus six
ninety nine a month. The arrow that has shot up the at the you
know, biggest angle, I guess is Disney Plus. They have raised prices
twice in a year. On my radio show, I say the free ride
is over. These companies know they need to make money. They're sick of
providing you know, billions of dollars of entertainment at a price that's unsustainable.
The question is will people cancel because they're feeling like they're under pressure and it's
just they're not getting their money's worth, or will they like say, I,
instead of having six streaming services, I'm going to have three, I'm
gonna binge watch everything, then cancel them and then go over to the X
the next three. Or will we just be lazy and keep them all and
owning up the cash. Probably a little bit of both. But the other
thing. The biggest growth area here is the ad supported streaming services. So
what's happening is people are seeing Disney price go up to thirteen ninety nine,
and then they say, wait a second, what's this other AD supported one
I can get for nine ninety nine. And so all of the ADS supported
services are between five and ten dollars a month. So a lot of people
switch over to that and deal with the ads instead of canceling all together.
And the companies know this. They say that the ad supported streaming services are
way more profitable than the people that are not paying for ads, like the
AD free services. Yeah, I like the AD free but I don't mind
a thirty second AD here and there, So I don't know. Maybe it
depends how many yep, depends on these how many ads? Yeah? All
right. KTLA tech reporter Rich Demiro and host of Rich on Tech right here
on KFI Saturdays from eleven to two. You can also follow Rich on Instagram.
I'm at rich on Tech. His website is rich on Tech dot TV.
Thanks so much, Rich, thanks for having me this morning. Oh
my god, or Jane, it is five thirty six on your wake up
call, I'm am king, and yep, we got Jane Wells coming up
in just one second. Here's what you're waking up to. Negotiators for the
Writers Guild of America and the Hollywood Studios. They've resumed negotiations, but it's
not clear how much progress was made. Yesterday, a student in South LA
has been stabbed and is in the hospital. A stabbing happened at JP Whidby
High School yesterday on just a second day of school. And in l Dodgers
fan is keeping his end of the bet with Mookie Bets by naming his daughter
after the Dodgers slugger. At six oh five, it's handle on the news.
President Trump says he plans to release a one hundred page report about the
Georgia election that he says it should lead to all charges against him being dropped.
At five fifty, We're gonna be talking with a couple of people giving
you a sneak peek at some behind the scenes action at Dodgers Stadium. Super
fun. But right now, speaking of super fun, it's time for biz
Buzz. Good Morning, CBC. CNBC Special correspondent Jane Wells funky echo Echo,
do we have you back? Yep, I'm here. I'm still talking
into the microphone while I talk. I don't know if it was bad habits,
but yes, I'm here. How yea much better because we don't have
that funky little echo. Fabulous, fabulous, Jane tell Us. First,
let's start with a little bit of bad biz buzz that the economic cost of
Maui, the Maui fires is looks like it's going to go up. Yeah,
you know, I heard you mentioned before that the governor is saying it's
going to be seven billion dollars. Acueather, which apparently does more than forecast
weather but forecast economic impact, is now saying the total economic impact will be
fourteen to sixteen billion dollars, so more than twice the figure you quoted.
ACUA originally thought it might be as much as ten billion, but they're saying
that the overall damage, which will include everything not just what we know of,
but airline cancelations, lost, tourism, crop losses, could be greater
than Mauie's entire economic annual output, and tourism accounts for seventy five percent of
Maui's economy. I actually thought it was higher. And you know, imagine
you had a wedding plan. There are all those all that's off the table
right now. Although some of the resorts are still open, I should say,
and other islands are hoping to capture some of that tourism and those tax
dollars will help the state, which will help Mauie. Right. And from
the conversations that we've had with people who are on the island, they're saying
that there are some areas of the island where you don't even know there was
a fire. Yeah, yeah, we see that here in wildfires or even
during earthquakes where on the news just like the entire states destroyed and people are
like, oh my my neighborhood's okay. Yeah, so you might be canceling
that Maui vacation pivoting over to Europe. But there's some issues with that as
well. Well. It's it's this thing called a golden visa, which people
have been gobbling up Americans in particular for about a dozen years, especially during
COVID. It's like, if you could invest five hundred thousand euros, which
is about five hundred thousand dollars in a company like Portugal or Greece, you
could become a citizen. And now the EU started pushing back saying, hey,
all these foreigners are driving up real estate prices. It's like when Californians
have been moving to Texas, Tennessee. Shocking. And also it might be
a way for Russian oligarchs to sneak in and become europe And citizens. So
Portugal said it was going to stop it, and it hasn't. Greece is
raising it to a million euros and still handing out visas. Spain is thinking
of canceling it, but it hasn't. Bottom line, nothing's changed. And
in fact, the Golden visa that being handed out in Spain and Italy have
reacheding all time high and they're up in Portugal. So it's all, I
hate to say, a typical European style. Where are you going to do
something about this? And then nothing happens? Okay, So this is for
rich people who basically want to buy their way in to open access to European
country. Say you know, five hundred thousand dollars if you're Californian and you
sell your house and buy a house in Portugal, which it used to be
is that investment could be real estate. It would count. Now they're changing
that. That's not that big a thing. And why do you think they're
really not changing anything, even though they say they arc because they need the
money. It's they need people coming over there to put five hundred thousand or
a million dollars into real estate or investments. They need it, so they're
like, we're gonna do something about it, but let's keep coming. Okay,
So it's been a super hot year. You would think maybe people would
want to put in a swimming pool to deal with the heat, but apparently
that's not the case. Is this so incredible? The weather may be hot,
but the pool industry is cold. According to Bloomberg, all four companies
in the industry which trade on the stock market, have slashed their forecast this
year. New pool construction it's expected to drop thirty percent, and when it
comes to pool chemicals like Leslie's, they believe earnings will drop sixty four percent
this year, so by almost two thirds. Its higher interest rates are making
an impact, and a lot of people already got their starter pools during the
pandemic, partly with their stimulus checks. But I would think if you're a
chemical company, I mean, if you have a pool, you still need
the chemicals. Right. Why is Leslie supposed to drop sixty four percent this
year? I don't know, you think, especially as a weather it's hot,
you need more of that chlorine. Baby. Well, except that a
friend of mine just put a pool in and they have something that they don't.
I don't know what the filters are or whatever, but they don't need
chlorine anymore. It's some that is amazing. Yeah, because I'll tell you
we moved in February this year up the Central Coast. Our house had a
pool. Now we don't have a pool. It's kind of like a boat.
The happiest day you have a pool is the day you get it and
the day you move out. Yeah. I wonder if, plus with all
of the you know, the drought talk and everybody talking about excessively using water,
if people are just shying away from pools because you know, they're kind
of being looked at. Water evaporates. Yeah. And I did a story
on a great little business called swim Ley, which is like the AIRBNBA pools.
People rent someone else's pool for like an afternoon. Oh yeah, no,
it's a thriving, thriving business. A friend of mine does it.
She makes money hand over bit really and they just opens it up to a
group of people and they can do whatever they want for the afternoon. Well,
they come in the gate. You know, there's like a code and
you know there are rules, but there maybe you'll have access to a bathroom
in the house, but you're not coming through the house. Oh you think
you think this is a stupid idea. Nobody could do it. Oh no,
it And if you think about it, as hot as it's been and
you live in some god awful hot places, if you could rint somebody's pool
for two hours for like, you know, sixty bucks, Yeah, I
love it. Okay. Well, I think I'm gonna go look into renting
somebody's full because I don't have one right now, and I sure miss that.
So thank you. Jane. Well it's called what swim lely swim with
an l y swim ley swim ley Okay. And you can find out the
latest from Jane on substack at Jane Wells dot sub stack dot com. As
always, it's a pleasure. Love talking to you, Jane. We'll talk
to you next week. Take care, okay. I love Jane's little that
she does. At the end, Hawaii Governor Josh Green says he'll work out
a time for President Biden to come survey the damage once the tough work is
done on Maui. The number of confirmed dead from the wildfires is up to
one hundred and six. Former President Trump and eighteen others indicted Monday by a
Georgia grand jury in alleged attempts to overturn the twenty twenty election, will reportedly
be booked at the Fulton County Jail. Starbucks is testing one hundred percent reusable
cups at a handful of stores in Sonoma County. Customers can also bring their
own cups, or even borrow one and return it to the store's smart return
bin. We're just minutes away from handle. On the news this morning,
the two Weis are talking after former NFL star Michael Orr came out saying they
did not adopt him and didn't share profits from the movie The blind Side with
him. So wake Up Call was out and about, and I got to
go to Dodger Stadium for a little behind the scenes or maybe we'll call it
behind the foul line tour of the stadium to see what everyone's up to.
Is the team gets ready for another big win and they're on a big win
streak. So I got to go out onto the field yesterday, you guys.
I got to see Dave Roberts doing his pregame interviews from the Dodgers.
Dugout, got to meet Dodger legend oral Hirsheiser. He was so nice.
I'm gonna be posting that on my Instagram at Amy K King. We'll also
put some pictures up on the KFI wake Up Page wake Up Call page at
KFI AM six forty dot com. And I got to see the broadcast booth
where Vince Scully did his broadcasts. I got to meet Dodgers announcers Rick Monday
and Charlie Steiner, and got the opportunity to sit down with David Vessey,
the host of Dodger Talk. Thanks so much for taking some time to talk
to us today. Oh my pleasure, Amy, great to be with you.
So, David, you host a show on our sister station, AM
five seventy. But I happen to know that you are here a lot,
So you know a lot about Dodgers Stadium, and we're kind of doing a
behind the scene sneak kake today, So I wanted to find out, like,
what is something that people wouldn't know is even here at Dodgers Stadium that
they can come and see aside from the action on the field. Yeah,
well, the best part about Dodger Stadium and the renovations is they've kept the
integrity of the vision that Walter O'Malley had when he broke this in nineteen sixty
two, but they've incorporated a lot of fun things. And one of the
places that you may not know about is the gold Glove bars down the left
field line, and it's right. It's so hidden you can't even see it
because you can see into the Dodger bullpen from those windows, but they cannot
see into the bar. So before a game, one of the cool things
that I like to do is go down to the gold Glove bar and watch
a starting pitcher, maybe Clayton Pershaw warm up, god get it ready for
the game. Or you can see Mariachi Joe Kelly now warm up before he
comes into the game. So you can see into the bullpen, they can't
see you, and it's a great bar, spacious, a great place to
hang out during the game. I love that. See great places. Okay,
here's another place that during the renovations, they opened up that club level
where you can go and see lots of old Dodger memorabilia, the old club
car, they've got the old trunks that the team used to travel around with.
So if you have some time before the game or during the game,
you want to get up and stretch your life and head up there and you
can see some really cool stuff. What are some misconceptions about Zaner Stadium.
Wow, it's dilapidated and old, but honestly, I feel like here in
Los Angeles, Amy, we may take for granted the fact that it's the
third oldest stadium in Major League Baseball, only behind Wrigley Field and Fenway Park.
This stadium is the third oldest and it still looks like it's brand new.
Plus, it's hard to come here and be on this level, the
reserve level, top deck and not look out and see those gorgeous San Fernardino
mountains that Vince Scully always used to describe. That's when I look at those
mountains, I hear Vin's voice. That's so funny because I have who've been
listening to then for so many years, and they say the same thing when
they think of Dodgers, they hear his voice because he was so iconic to
this game. So are the Dodgers gonna make it the playoffs? Yes,
no doubt about it. They are winning the Nlsnamy. The only question is
how far are the Dodgers going, and we hope it's all the way through
October. That was a treat. And now I also got to sit down
with a man behind the voice that booms through Dodger Stadium every home game.
Say hello to Todd Lights. Hello, Todd, Lights too, D D
L E I t Z pronounced lights horror facts. So Todd is the PA
announcer. So when the batters come up to the batting box, Todd's going
to say something like leading off the bottom of the first duty for the Dodgers,
number fifty ookie bets. Oh my god. So what we're trying to
do today, Todd is just kind of give people a little bit of a
behind the scenes look. So we got to go down on the field.
And of course it wouldn't be complete if we didn't come up and see you
because you're such an integral part of the game. So how long have you
been doing? How long have you been the Dodgers PA guy. This is
my ninth season as Dodgers PAS. Started in twenty fifteen, and it's been
quite a ride. We've been very, very successful ever since I got here.
So coincidence, I'm not sure. Oh, I think it's tied to
it. And actually it's funny that you mentioned that that the Dodgers have done
well since you got here, because my best friend is also Amy, and
we come to games a lot, we have season tickets, and we tend
to lose more when we're at the games. So we thought we were cursed.
But the last two games, including last Saturday night, we won,
and so we think maybe we've broken the curse. I hope so to turning
it around. Also, gonna have to ask you to leave, but now
it's okay. Oh, if you were going to eject me from the stadium,
what would you say. Anybody who's cursed cannot be sitting in the stands
of this time, So please make your exit, eat a hasty retreat so
that the Dodgers can continue their winning waste. We're on an a game winning
street, so we can't have anything mess that up right now? Absolutely,
Like, so, is this the most fun job ever? Well, it
is a job. It is working. It requires me to be away from
home a lot, working weekends and nights and so forth. But I mean
to have this as your office, and the view from your from your little
catbird seed over there in the PA booth is fantastic. I love it When
I walk through the gates here Dodgers Stadium, I just feel happy. It's
a happy place. People are happy to be here. The people that I
work with are happy to work here. And I work with some of the
best best professionals in this type of job that you can that you can have.
Plus I get to see people like Fernando and Oral Hershiser every day.
I used to get to see Vince Scully every day. Rick Monday and Charlie
Stein are our radio guys at AM five seventy. It's just it's just a
wonderful place to be. And as I as I gain more traction here,
more time behind them, like at Dodgers Stadium, I feel like I'm becoming
more part of the fabric of the family of the Dodgers. And and you
know, the people that I work with know whoy I am at what I
do, and that feels nice to be a part of something bigger than myself.
And now we know who you are too, And I can't know you
know why they put me behind a mic and get out of town. I
tell you it is such like you said, It's just an integral part of
the game. There's so many different elements and so many things that have to
come together to make this spectacle that is a game at Dodgers Stadium. It's
a small it takes a small city. Yeah, I mean, there's thousands
of people who work here, and even late into the night they're they're cleaning
the steep seats and the rows and everything of the peanuts and spilled beer and
stuff. You know. It's it's just amazing how they're able to do it.
And I remember watching it after a double header or in the middle of
a double header. They came in and within an hour they had this place
cleaned up and ready to go for the next the next crowd to come in.
It's it's it's simply amazing the type of logistics that go in to making
this place work. Yeah, and for the fans, you know, one
of the cool things about it. Of course, there's there's expensive seats,
there's mid level seats. But you can come to a Dodger game for you
know, twenty five thirty bucks, you know, and like it's not everywhere
that you can do that. You can come and hang out for the afternoon
and you just never know how somebody might give you a fabulous introduction. Could
you do that for me? Yes? You hope you can edit this so
you got give me, give me where you want exactly. How batting or
a wake up Call? Amy King now batting for a wake up call?
Your host, Amy King tod likes. Thank you so much, Thank you,
Amy Pleasure. Yeah, that just made my day. Any day Dodger
Stadium is a good day again. To take a complete look at all the
behind the scenes things I got to see when I went out and about.
So you can see him too. Check out my Instagram at Amy K King
and we'll also put some pictures and video up on the KFI wake Up Call
page. K I am six forty dot com. This is KFI and KOSTHD
two Los Angeles, Orange County. We lead local live from the KFI twenty
four our newsroom. I'm Amy King. This has been your wake up call
and if you missed any of wake Up Call, you can listen anytime on
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King. You can always hear wake Up Call five to six am Monday through
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