WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.480 --> 00:00:03.879 You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand. 2 00:00:03.960 --> 00:00:05.679 Mark Thompson Here, it is Sunday. 3 00:00:05.799 --> 00:00:09.400 It feels kind of like almost tropical ot It's got 4 00:00:09.439 --> 00:00:14.480 like a humidity to it. The mugginess is something that 5 00:00:14.919 --> 00:00:18.280 I remark on only because we're not super used to it. 6 00:00:18.879 --> 00:00:20.879 But it's a big day all across the board. 7 00:00:20.879 --> 00:00:22.839 A lot of sports going on today, as you know, 8 00:00:23.160 --> 00:00:26.760 and it is Pride Day. And even if you're not 9 00:00:26.839 --> 00:00:32.799 participating in Pride activities, you are affected by Pride activities 10 00:00:32.799 --> 00:00:36.439 because they've blocked off a bunch of streets in West Hollywood, 11 00:00:36.479 --> 00:00:39.399 streets in LA and that's going on through the afternoon. 12 00:00:39.439 --> 00:00:43.000 So we'll keep you posted on all the different ways 13 00:00:43.039 --> 00:00:44.759 in which you can get from here to there because 14 00:00:44.799 --> 00:00:49.640 they have been modified because of the huge parades and 15 00:00:49.679 --> 00:00:55.000 the huge events around Pride going on all around the city. 16 00:00:55.240 --> 00:00:59.679 I just got back from Alaska, and I will tell 17 00:00:59.719 --> 00:01:03.640 you that it is something you already know, probably a 18 00:01:03.759 --> 00:01:06.640 terrific place to visit. I mean, even if you haven't 19 00:01:06.680 --> 00:01:09.200 visited there, you've seen pictures. You've seen pictures of the whales, 20 00:01:09.239 --> 00:01:14.480 the eagles, the glaciers. It's just a terrific thing to 21 00:01:14.519 --> 00:01:17.879 put on your list, and to whatever extent you can 22 00:01:18.239 --> 00:01:22.120 adventure into the various stops along the way. You know, 23 00:01:22.200 --> 00:01:24.359 one of the ways in which you can see Alaska, 24 00:01:24.439 --> 00:01:28.799 of course, is on a cruise ship and some kind 25 00:01:28.840 --> 00:01:31.560 of boating vessel can get you from here to there, 26 00:01:31.560 --> 00:01:35.200 because it's just hard to of course, very hard to 27 00:01:35.319 --> 00:01:38.920 drive it, and flying it can be a challenge as well. 28 00:01:39.000 --> 00:01:42.599 So the nice thing is that when you go out 29 00:01:42.599 --> 00:01:47.159 on any of these excursions, which we did, you experience 30 00:01:47.239 --> 00:01:54.760 some of this amazing wondrous wildlife and I I include 31 00:01:54.799 --> 00:01:56.760 the trees and the fauna and all of that. You 32 00:01:57.120 --> 00:02:01.400 walk through it, and it's just that the areas in 33 00:02:01.439 --> 00:02:05.560 which all of these different things thrive, it's just green 34 00:02:05.799 --> 00:02:13.039 and changing, and particularly now as the snows and ice 35 00:02:14.800 --> 00:02:18.800 fields melt away and retreat, you are left with a 36 00:02:18.840 --> 00:02:22.319 different window on nature. And now you have more in 37 00:02:22.360 --> 00:02:26.400 the way of whales and eagles and bears and salmon 38 00:02:26.680 --> 00:02:30.240 because the salmon run now, of course, with the melting 39 00:02:30.439 --> 00:02:36.439 of the snow and rivers and streams becoming elevated, becoming 40 00:02:37.639 --> 00:02:44.039 fed by all of that, the salmon uses those increasing 41 00:02:44.120 --> 00:02:48.960 waterways to swim and spawn, and you end up with 42 00:02:49.319 --> 00:02:53.039 all of the predators who depend on the salmon for survival. 43 00:02:53.360 --> 00:02:55.400 Those are the bears, those are the eagles, etc. 44 00:02:55.759 --> 00:02:59.360 And so I'm just saying, the whole place comes to life, 45 00:02:59.520 --> 00:03:04.439 and I recommend it for all Americans. It's crazy way 46 00:03:04.479 --> 00:03:06.439 we ended up in Alaska, you know, I mean, just 47 00:03:06.520 --> 00:03:08.560 I'm talking about Americans owning Alaska. 48 00:03:08.599 --> 00:03:09.319 It was Russian. 49 00:03:10.159 --> 00:03:14.719 The Russians owned Alaska, as you know, and they literally 50 00:03:15.759 --> 00:03:21.120 pounded the only resource they felt Alaska was good for, 51 00:03:21.280 --> 00:03:25.159 which was sea otters. They pounded that out of Alaska. 52 00:03:26.400 --> 00:03:31.039 They literally hunted every last sea otter in Alaska. 53 00:03:31.080 --> 00:03:32.479 And it's an amazing thing. 54 00:03:32.800 --> 00:03:36.639 It's the thing that we've done as humans, you know, 55 00:03:36.800 --> 00:03:40.599 across any number of species. But the Russians did it 56 00:03:40.680 --> 00:03:46.000 when they had Alaska as part of Russia. They were 57 00:03:46.639 --> 00:03:50.280 hunting the seattters for pelts. I mean, that was the 58 00:03:50.280 --> 00:03:51.879 big thing. You know, you saw those guys in those 59 00:03:51.879 --> 00:03:56.120 old pictures. They're walking around with shoulders full of you know, fur, 60 00:03:56.879 --> 00:04:02.879 of dead animals who were full of Furrussians literally hunted 61 00:04:02.919 --> 00:04:06.840 sea otters to extinction. There were no more in Alaska, 62 00:04:06.879 --> 00:04:11.319 effectively none. So the Russians all of a sudden felt like, 63 00:04:11.319 --> 00:04:13.439 well we don't see a lot more here. 64 00:04:14.599 --> 00:04:15.759 Really that was their position. 65 00:04:16.160 --> 00:04:19.279 It was, I don't know, we got like the best 66 00:04:19.319 --> 00:04:24.120 thing here that you can get. And so when the 67 00:04:24.160 --> 00:04:28.120 Americans came along, the offer on the table looked good 68 00:04:28.160 --> 00:04:30.720 to the Russians, and they sold Alaska this is you're 69 00:04:30.759 --> 00:04:35.480 probably aware, for seven million bucks. So we see the Americans, 70 00:04:35.680 --> 00:04:38.720 we acquire Alaska for seven million dollars, and what do 71 00:04:38.800 --> 00:04:43.040 we find So soon after that sale, what do we 72 00:04:43.160 --> 00:04:51.399 find there? Gold and gold, minerals, oil, all of that, 73 00:04:51.600 --> 00:04:54.680 not to mention timber, all of it has been exploited 74 00:04:54.680 --> 00:04:58.160 through the years, and you've seen an increase and a 75 00:04:58.199 --> 00:05:02.279 decrease in these minor towns across Alaska. They're still there, 76 00:05:02.360 --> 00:05:06.120 A lot of them are set up for tourists, you know, 77 00:05:06.199 --> 00:05:11.639 but there's still a sense of what existed. And so 78 00:05:11.759 --> 00:05:14.279 the Alaskan history, and I'm leaving out the Native peoples, 79 00:05:14.319 --> 00:05:18.839 I mean the native people. They still are there in Alaska, 80 00:05:19.240 --> 00:05:22.680 albeit having been bumped out by a lot of development 81 00:05:23.199 --> 00:05:27.279 by you know, essentially bumped out all the way by 82 00:05:27.519 --> 00:05:28.279 a lot of development. 83 00:05:28.360 --> 00:05:30.639 But there are still. 84 00:05:31.879 --> 00:05:35.680 I guess I would call it monuments to the Native peoples, 85 00:05:35.800 --> 00:05:42.040 and they participate in the maintaining and also the increasing 86 00:05:42.199 --> 00:05:45.360 of the awareness of the Native people's history. So if 87 00:05:45.360 --> 00:05:48.639 you go there as a tourist, you see this everywhere 88 00:05:48.800 --> 00:05:52.639 and it's very much a part of the landscape of Alaska. 89 00:05:52.680 --> 00:05:53.959 Now I recommend it. 90 00:05:53.959 --> 00:05:57.319 We had a great, great time and as I say, 91 00:05:57.399 --> 00:06:00.360 if you have it in you to you know, jumping 92 00:06:00.600 --> 00:06:03.600 rubber raft, which is what we did, and there were 93 00:06:03.639 --> 00:06:06.800 just six of us in this raft and we went. 94 00:06:06.879 --> 00:06:09.920 It was a very cold day, but wow, what a 95 00:06:10.040 --> 00:06:13.680 wondrous experience to be out there in it, you know. 96 00:06:13.920 --> 00:06:16.720 And as I say, it's only getting in the next 97 00:06:16.759 --> 00:06:21.279 month or so, even more crowded with wildlife because of 98 00:06:21.519 --> 00:06:26.600 the salmon. So I got back then from Alaska, just 99 00:06:26.639 --> 00:06:31.519 got back and I attended the birthday party. And this 100 00:06:31.560 --> 00:06:34.160 is something maybe you can relate to. I'm you know, 101 00:06:34.480 --> 00:06:36.920 when I relate a story to you, I always think 102 00:06:36.920 --> 00:06:39.000 we can somebody else relate to this, Like it's not 103 00:06:39.040 --> 00:06:41.800 I hope it's not too you know, self indulgent to 104 00:06:42.600 --> 00:06:44.399 relate this story, but maybe you'll be able to relate 105 00:06:44.399 --> 00:06:48.399 to this. I went to this seventieth birthday party of 106 00:06:48.439 --> 00:06:50.920 a dear friend of mine, very talented, a comic named 107 00:06:50.920 --> 00:06:57.720 Bobby Slayton. So I was. I was in Beverly Hills 108 00:06:59.680 --> 00:07:03.879 getting my hair darkened for it. You know, they get 109 00:07:03.920 --> 00:07:06.639 rid of what the gray hair. There's not a lot 110 00:07:06.680 --> 00:07:09.279 of gray hair. Everybody, Okay, settle down, but it's a 111 00:07:09.319 --> 00:07:15.680 little bit. Although the colorist is I guess she's called. 112 00:07:15.720 --> 00:07:17.959 Said to me, Mark, would you like a maybe we 113 00:07:18.120 --> 00:07:20.279 leave a little bit of gray in? Would you like 114 00:07:20.399 --> 00:07:21.879 us to do that just to you can have it? 115 00:07:22.000 --> 00:07:24.399 I said, I never want to hear you say that 116 00:07:24.800 --> 00:07:29.360 ever again. If it's an open casket at my funeral, 117 00:07:29.399 --> 00:07:31.759 I want you to make sure the hair is dark. 118 00:07:32.199 --> 00:07:35.879 I want to be and I am the aging guy 119 00:07:36.160 --> 00:07:39.879 with the hair that's too dark for him. Anyway, that 120 00:07:39.959 --> 00:07:42.680 was in Beverly Hills. Now the way back to the car, 121 00:07:43.480 --> 00:07:49.959 I pass this store called Club Monaco. It's kind of 122 00:07:49.959 --> 00:07:51.920 one of these bougie stores that's on the corner, I 123 00:07:51.959 --> 00:07:55.639 want to say it like Brighton and Beverly. And in 124 00:07:55.680 --> 00:07:58.560 the window is a suit, kind of a linen suit. 125 00:07:59.199 --> 00:08:05.800 And I thought I can wear this suit to Bobby's birthday. 126 00:08:05.959 --> 00:08:08.079 So I go in. I try the suit on and 127 00:08:08.120 --> 00:08:10.639 it really looks good, you know, and I don't normally 128 00:08:10.720 --> 00:08:12.319 I'm not out there buying suits all the time. 129 00:08:12.360 --> 00:08:13.959 You know, this is like I thought. 130 00:08:14.000 --> 00:08:16.279 I thought, I want to try to look good seventieth 131 00:08:16.319 --> 00:08:22.399 birthday sit down dinner. I mean, you know, so I 132 00:08:22.439 --> 00:08:24.360 do the whole thing quickly. I'm not big into trying 133 00:08:24.399 --> 00:08:26.279 on clothes. I just don't like the whole thing. I 134 00:08:26.319 --> 00:08:28.600 don't not a good shopper that way. Just let's do it. 135 00:08:28.639 --> 00:08:30.759 Does it fit great, Let's buy it. And then I 136 00:08:30.800 --> 00:08:35.840 said to the guy, please cut off all of the 137 00:08:35.919 --> 00:08:38.039 tags and stuff because I'm gonna wear it to this 138 00:08:38.080 --> 00:08:41.200 dinner tonight. And he said, of course, I'm gonna take 139 00:08:41.240 --> 00:08:45.399 off the the store detector thing. I said, no, no, no, 140 00:08:45.519 --> 00:08:50.720 I mean all the tags please. He said, okay. So 141 00:08:50.879 --> 00:08:52.440 I didn't pay any attention to it. He puts the 142 00:08:52.440 --> 00:08:54.039 thing in the bag. And you know where this is coming. 143 00:08:54.120 --> 00:08:55.879 You know that where this whole thing is ending up. 144 00:08:57.279 --> 00:09:01.200 I go to the event. I put on the jacket 145 00:09:01.240 --> 00:09:03.600 to the suit, which I have yet to really put on. 146 00:09:03.679 --> 00:09:07.519 It was hanging on a hanger in the car. And 147 00:09:07.559 --> 00:09:09.480 the first thing I see on the back of the 148 00:09:09.559 --> 00:09:15.440 jacket is what the store detection device, the thing you 149 00:09:15.480 --> 00:09:18.159 can't get off unless you've got you know, the store 150 00:09:18.159 --> 00:09:19.879 detection device remover machine. 151 00:09:21.480 --> 00:09:24.559 So that's there, and then. 152 00:09:24.679 --> 00:09:28.039 I see that there are other things that he's left on. 153 00:09:28.120 --> 00:09:30.320 I mean, the guy didn't The only thing I asked 154 00:09:30.399 --> 00:09:33.559 him to do was take these things off. So I 155 00:09:33.600 --> 00:09:35.679 can take off the other stuff before I walk into 156 00:09:35.679 --> 00:09:37.679 the party. But I can't take off this store detection 157 00:09:37.799 --> 00:09:40.759 machine thing, you know what I'm talking about, the thing 158 00:09:40.799 --> 00:09:43.720 that they leave a fixed to every item so that 159 00:09:43.759 --> 00:09:47.879 when people walk off, it sets off the alarm. So 160 00:09:47.960 --> 00:09:50.320 now I'm really you know, I'm doing that thing where 161 00:09:50.360 --> 00:09:53.399 I'm not letting people see like the back of my jacket, 162 00:09:53.399 --> 00:09:57.879 because it's so embarrassing. And I vow to go back 163 00:09:57.919 --> 00:10:03.559 the next day and plan and I'm I'm really angry 164 00:10:03.600 --> 00:10:06.000 about this, but I'm I'm not a shower, and I'm 165 00:10:06.000 --> 00:10:08.240 not a you know, it's I'm kind of a but 166 00:10:08.320 --> 00:10:10.480 I'm I'm steaming on the inside. 167 00:10:11.320 --> 00:10:16.919 I go back and the guy isn't there. 168 00:10:17.120 --> 00:10:19.840 It's a different guy, and I said, Hi, I was 169 00:10:19.879 --> 00:10:22.519 there yesterday and I bought this suit, and I'm telling 170 00:10:22.559 --> 00:10:25.240 him the whole story, and he says, wow, I'm really 171 00:10:26.200 --> 00:10:28.159 sorry to hear that. I can see, you know, I 172 00:10:28.159 --> 00:10:29.600 can see that he's left it on there, let me 173 00:10:29.639 --> 00:10:31.639 take it off for you, and I said, yeah, I 174 00:10:31.679 --> 00:10:33.120 appreciate if you're taking it off for me now. But 175 00:10:33.159 --> 00:10:35.440 the event I was talking about, and I indicated to 176 00:10:35.480 --> 00:10:37.240 the salesperson that I was going to be going to 177 00:10:37.759 --> 00:10:41.639 that event happened last night and it was very embarrassing, 178 00:10:41.799 --> 00:10:44.240 and I wondered if you can make some kind of adjustment, 179 00:10:44.279 --> 00:10:46.320 I mean store credit or something. I mean, this is 180 00:10:46.399 --> 00:10:49.039 really you know And I said, it just like that, 181 00:10:50.080 --> 00:10:52.440 and he said, I can see where it would frustrate you. 182 00:10:53.120 --> 00:10:55.919 We just don't do that. We don't do any kind 183 00:10:55.919 --> 00:10:59.919 of store credit. I said, really, I mean, you know this, 184 00:11:00.000 --> 00:11:03.039 this seems like a real screw up. Wouldn't you want 185 00:11:03.039 --> 00:11:04.799 to do something if you're the store to make it right, 186 00:11:04.960 --> 00:11:07.840 I asked him. He said, yeah, yeah, I'm just not 187 00:11:08.519 --> 00:11:10.759 We just don't do it. I mean maybe we should, 188 00:11:10.759 --> 00:11:12.919 but we don't. He said, if you want, I'll let 189 00:11:12.919 --> 00:11:16.720 you return it, which we also don't do typically, while 190 00:11:16.759 --> 00:11:17.600 you guys don't. 191 00:11:17.440 --> 00:11:21.799 Do a lot. But I said, well, I like the suit. 192 00:11:22.639 --> 00:11:24.840 I just feel as though you'd want to do something 193 00:11:24.919 --> 00:11:28.759 to kind of keep me as a customer. He said, yeah, 194 00:11:28.960 --> 00:11:31.039 I don't know. He said, I'll give you an eight 195 00:11:31.159 --> 00:11:32.799 hundred number, he said, But to be honest, I don't 196 00:11:32.799 --> 00:11:38.440 think they're going to do anything like all right, and 197 00:11:38.480 --> 00:11:42.600 that was the end of it. So now my debut 198 00:11:42.840 --> 00:11:47.759 appearance of my new linen suit, complete with the store 199 00:11:48.960 --> 00:11:55.840 detection device on it, has passed. No store credit, no adjustment. 200 00:11:56.279 --> 00:11:58.039 Maybe you can relate to this. Have you been in 201 00:11:58.080 --> 00:12:01.320 a situation like that where you go go back You're thinking, Hey, 202 00:12:01.320 --> 00:12:03.720 this is a perfectly reasonable thing that I'm asking you 203 00:12:03.759 --> 00:12:04.039 to do. 204 00:12:04.240 --> 00:12:06.360 I'm asking you to make this right. Give me a. 205 00:12:06.360 --> 00:12:11.279 Twenty dollars, twenty five dollars, fifty dollars something. This is 206 00:12:11.279 --> 00:12:16.320 a higher end store. Nothing, it's the new America. It's 207 00:12:16.360 --> 00:12:21.080 to screw you America. Anyway, It's great to be back. 208 00:12:21.279 --> 00:12:26.759 That's a little something on Alaska and that one store. 209 00:12:26.919 --> 00:12:29.240 Be sure that they take off your tags. That's all 210 00:12:29.279 --> 00:12:32.159 I would say to you. We have a great show ahead. 211 00:12:32.720 --> 00:12:37.440 A best selling author, Bottom of the Hour, The Great 212 00:12:37.519 --> 00:12:41.039 Man is the new book from Kira Davis Lori. It's 213 00:12:41.080 --> 00:12:44.679 a it's a historical novel. It's set in Los Angeles. 214 00:12:44.679 --> 00:12:46.000 That's why I think it'd be so great to talk 215 00:12:46.039 --> 00:12:49.120 to her about this today. Matt Nicky and Robin All 216 00:12:49.360 --> 00:12:52.399 on the scene. We'll get in tomorrow. 217 00:12:52.440 --> 00:12:56.320 As we continue, you're listening to KFI AM six forty 218 00:12:56.559 --> 00:12:57.240 on demand. 219 00:12:58.360 --> 00:13:01.279 Mark Thompson hanging out Sunday after noon. It's a Pride 220 00:13:01.759 --> 00:13:06.320 Day and their Pride activities all around LA. Mostly who 221 00:13:07.279 --> 00:13:10.519 for a lot of this stuff West Hollywood rich ties 222 00:13:10.559 --> 00:13:14.200 to the LGBTQ community, of course in West Hollywood. One 223 00:13:14.200 --> 00:13:16.799 thing I would mention is, I'm seeing some pictures and 224 00:13:16.919 --> 00:13:22.919 videos and somebody actually sent me a video of dogs 225 00:13:23.080 --> 00:13:26.559 that were taken to the parade. There's nothing wrong with 226 00:13:26.600 --> 00:13:28.679 that except for the fact that a there might be 227 00:13:28.840 --> 00:13:30.960 noise that might affect them in some way I don't know. 228 00:13:31.039 --> 00:13:34.480 But more to the point, as the temperature is kind 229 00:13:34.519 --> 00:13:37.399 of warm, make sure that there is water along the route. 230 00:13:37.519 --> 00:13:39.919 The complaint from the person who sent me the video 231 00:13:40.159 --> 00:13:43.240 was you can tell these dogs are thirsty, you know, 232 00:13:43.360 --> 00:13:48.120 tongues out, breathing heavily, and there's no provision that they 233 00:13:48.159 --> 00:13:51.159 can see for them to be able to rehydrate to 234 00:13:51.200 --> 00:13:57.840 get water. So that is what's happening in Pride Land. 235 00:13:58.480 --> 00:14:02.679 But with that one warning that if you're going, please 236 00:14:02.720 --> 00:14:04.399 be warned. Doesn't look like there's a lot of water 237 00:14:04.440 --> 00:14:06.639 out there, of course along the parade route, and it 238 00:14:06.679 --> 00:14:10.240 would be cool if you could provide some water for 239 00:14:10.320 --> 00:14:11.320 your animal. 240 00:14:11.360 --> 00:14:14.159 And speaking of that, the. 241 00:14:16.600 --> 00:14:20.279 Piece that ran in the La Times was really really troubling, 242 00:14:21.440 --> 00:14:23.000 and there's. 243 00:14:22.840 --> 00:14:23.279 Even a. 244 00:14:25.120 --> 00:14:29.320 Video out of Coasta Mesa showing a volunteer at a 245 00:14:29.360 --> 00:14:33.960 pet rescue dragging a dog on the street in Coasta Mesa. 246 00:14:35.279 --> 00:14:38.519 The dog walker is dragging this limp dog on a 247 00:14:38.600 --> 00:14:41.879 leash in front of the Priceless Pets No Kill Pet Rescue. 248 00:14:43.000 --> 00:14:47.159 The Coasta Mesa police de barment was reported reportedly contacted 249 00:14:48.440 --> 00:14:51.000 Priceless Pets that they're looking into it and they are 250 00:14:51.080 --> 00:14:57.200 quote taking immediate action, but the statement goes on, this 251 00:14:57.320 --> 00:14:59.279 is not who we are, this is not the standard 252 00:14:59.279 --> 00:15:03.840 of care that we stand for, and the volunteer apparently 253 00:15:03.840 --> 00:15:07.600 has been dismissed from the rescue. The piece that I 254 00:15:07.639 --> 00:15:10.320 was talking about the La Times, though, is about the 255 00:15:10.360 --> 00:15:15.200 shelter in LA and the animal shelters in LA that 256 00:15:15.279 --> 00:15:21.879 are controlled by someone who's just left. Stacy Danes about 257 00:15:21.919 --> 00:15:26.440 a month into her job overseeing the La City animal shelters, 258 00:15:27.559 --> 00:15:32.360 an employee apparently defied her. In the first month, she 259 00:15:32.480 --> 00:15:37.639 asked the employee to clean a kennel, and instead the 260 00:15:37.679 --> 00:15:40.039 employee picked up a hose and sprayed a dog in 261 00:15:40.080 --> 00:15:44.399 the face, according to Stacey Danes. Danes thought that the 262 00:15:44.399 --> 00:15:48.759 employee should be fired, but the city's personnel department recommended 263 00:15:49.519 --> 00:15:55.559 five days of leave. Now Mayor Karen Bass hired Stacy 264 00:15:55.679 --> 00:15:58.399 Danes in June twenty twenty three, promising to make La 265 00:15:58.480 --> 00:16:02.360 a national model for animal welfare. I mean, there have 266 00:16:02.360 --> 00:16:08.000 been problems around the La animal shelter system. Dogs live 267 00:16:08.000 --> 00:16:11.600 in these overcrowded, dirty kennels. Volunteers have been complaining animals 268 00:16:11.600 --> 00:16:15.000 sometimes don't get food and water. Dogs and cats are suffering, 269 00:16:16.559 --> 00:16:23.759 and they're suffering more as staffing issues reemerge. But this 270 00:16:24.000 --> 00:16:28.840 interview with Stacy Dames in the La Times, she says 271 00:16:28.840 --> 00:16:33.559 she felt powerless to solve these entrenched problems that include 272 00:16:33.600 --> 00:16:40.600 severe understaffing, employees who mistreat or neglect animals completely. She 273 00:16:40.720 --> 00:16:43.759 said she was repeatedly told by the personnel department, which 274 00:16:43.759 --> 00:16:47.200 functions kind of like a human resources department, that she 275 00:16:47.279 --> 00:16:50.840 couldn't fire employees. She clashed with one of the unions 276 00:16:50.840 --> 00:16:55.039 that represents shelter employees. She even reached out to La 277 00:16:55.200 --> 00:16:59.679 County prosecutors for help at one point, apparently so as 278 00:16:59.720 --> 00:17:04.720 the overcrowding gowers, dogs and cats are euthanized in numbers 279 00:17:04.839 --> 00:17:10.119 that just would make your skin crawl more and more, 280 00:17:10.200 --> 00:17:12.720 even under her watch, as she was there to reform 281 00:17:12.759 --> 00:17:17.440 the whole thing. She's saying, now, we need to tell 282 00:17:17.599 --> 00:17:20.720 the unfiltered, unvarnished truth about what is happening in the 283 00:17:20.839 --> 00:17:21.640 LA shelters. 284 00:17:21.920 --> 00:17:23.319 This is her speaking. 285 00:17:25.200 --> 00:17:28.039 After a little more than a year as Animal Services 286 00:17:28.079 --> 00:17:33.119 general manager. She went on paid leave and then she resigned, 287 00:17:35.480 --> 00:17:39.720 So she's saying the series the city just simply does 288 00:17:39.759 --> 00:17:41.839 not provide enough funding to meet the basic needs of 289 00:17:41.839 --> 00:17:44.759 the animals in the six shelters that the city runs, 290 00:17:46.400 --> 00:17:53.759 and there have been real problems with money. Right during 291 00:17:53.920 --> 00:17:57.160 Karen Bass's first year in office, because of a lot 292 00:17:57.200 --> 00:17:59.680 of critical reporting from the La Times and others about 293 00:17:59.680 --> 00:18:03.440 conditions in the shelters, the mayor offered an eighteen percent 294 00:18:03.519 --> 00:18:09.319 budget increase, less than the fifty six percent increase that 295 00:18:09.640 --> 00:18:14.759 Animal Services had asked for, But then her budget proposal 296 00:18:14.880 --> 00:18:19.400 lowered in the department's final funding in the following fiscal year, 297 00:18:21.640 --> 00:18:23.119 and in passing. 298 00:18:22.880 --> 00:18:23.960 A budget now. 299 00:18:25.599 --> 00:18:31.440 With a billion dollar shortfall, Animal Services doesn't get an increase, 300 00:18:31.440 --> 00:18:37.319 but doesn't get any cuts. So Stacey Danes again, the 301 00:18:37.400 --> 00:18:40.319 former head of these shelters, brought in by Karen Bass. 302 00:18:42.039 --> 00:18:46.319 She's held these jobs running shelters in San Jose and 303 00:18:46.400 --> 00:18:51.319 Long Beach. She says that the employees are becoming desensitized 304 00:18:51.359 --> 00:18:53.440 to the suffering of the animals they witness. A day 305 00:18:53.480 --> 00:19:02.559 after day, five hundred dogs have to be handled, cleaning kennels, 306 00:19:02.559 --> 00:19:04.839 setting up adoptions, working with the medical team. There's a 307 00:19:04.880 --> 00:19:12.680 lot to do, so she's seeing even abuse of the animals, 308 00:19:13.079 --> 00:19:16.400 and that's perhaps one of the most disturbing things I 309 00:19:16.480 --> 00:19:20.279 read in the piece. She said she witnessed some of 310 00:19:20.319 --> 00:19:23.640 her employees terrorizing dogs by banging on their kennels or 311 00:19:23.680 --> 00:19:27.119 spraying them with water to move them back. She told 312 00:19:27.160 --> 00:19:29.480 employees to stop that behavior, but some said they'd been 313 00:19:29.480 --> 00:19:34.799 trained to treat the dogs that way. She wanted to 314 00:19:34.839 --> 00:19:37.400 start a schedule the tract when each task was done 315 00:19:37.400 --> 00:19:38.920 that had to be done at the shelter, but a 316 00:19:39.039 --> 00:19:42.880 union rep said that the information could be used to 317 00:19:42.920 --> 00:19:45.920 punish employees and push back on it. And then she 318 00:19:46.079 --> 00:19:48.880 dropped that proposal because of the opposition from the union. 319 00:19:50.440 --> 00:19:53.319 And then there's gossip and then there's pushback from employees 320 00:19:56.279 --> 00:20:00.039 supervisors with sexual relationships with subordinates. I mean, it's so 321 00:20:00.440 --> 00:20:05.079 going on and more and more. You just want to 322 00:20:05.079 --> 00:20:07.720 see these poor creatures that end up in these shelters 323 00:20:08.200 --> 00:20:15.920 treated with some dignity. So she's beaking up. The LA 324 00:20:16.000 --> 00:20:21.200 Times shared a lot of her thoughts in today's La Times, 325 00:20:22.000 --> 00:20:24.440 and the number of dogs euthanized at city shelters from 326 00:20:24.519 --> 00:20:27.440 January through September last year went up. Can you guess 327 00:20:27.720 --> 00:20:33.039 how much it went up? Seventy two percent. Seventy two 328 00:20:33.079 --> 00:20:40.200 percent more dogs were euthanized at city shelters than with 329 00:20:40.279 --> 00:20:44.480 the same period the previous years, and the number of 330 00:20:44.480 --> 00:20:48.480 dogs entering the shelters is going up each year, but 331 00:20:48.559 --> 00:20:52.960 the number put to death far outpaced the number of 332 00:20:53.039 --> 00:21:01.440 dogs entering the shelters. There's no euthanasian policy, and they 333 00:21:02.000 --> 00:21:07.319 created a euthanasia policy during Stacy Danes's tenure. 334 00:21:07.400 --> 00:21:09.480 But as I say, she has resigned. 335 00:21:10.039 --> 00:21:14.559 It's a full on five alarm fire in the LA. 336 00:21:16.000 --> 00:21:16.839 Shelter business. 337 00:21:18.119 --> 00:21:21.200 So the LA Animal Shelters watch this space will give 338 00:21:21.240 --> 00:21:24.839 you more as it becomes available, but nothing good is 339 00:21:24.880 --> 00:21:29.799 happening in that world. When we come back set in 340 00:21:29.960 --> 00:21:34.519 Los Angeles. Her latest. She is a best selling author. 341 00:21:35.759 --> 00:21:38.359 Her latest is called The Great Man. Man is spelled 342 00:21:38.519 --> 00:21:43.920 m ann. We'll talk about this piece of historical fiction 343 00:21:44.160 --> 00:21:47.119 set right here in Los Angeles with the author Kira 344 00:21:47.240 --> 00:21:49.920 Davis Lourie. We'll do it next right here. 345 00:21:50.519 --> 00:21:53.960 You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand. 346 00:21:54.079 --> 00:21:57.440 Mark Thompson here, I'm so excited to have a best 347 00:21:57.440 --> 00:22:00.440 selling author in the midst here with a book that 348 00:22:00.519 --> 00:22:04.880 takes place in Los Angeles. It's set against the backdrop 349 00:22:05.039 --> 00:22:13.400 of Los Angeles. The Library Journal already saying that her 350 00:22:14.160 --> 00:22:17.880 nuanced and sympathetic characters and stellar writing are nearly as 351 00:22:17.920 --> 00:22:24.839 brilliant as in The Great Gatsby. Wow it is. It's 352 00:22:24.880 --> 00:22:33.160 pretty amazing that you got this from Bloomberg. Bloomberg chooses 353 00:22:33.440 --> 00:22:36.359 your book as one of the ten best books of 354 00:22:36.400 --> 00:22:40.640 the summer. How about it for Kira Davis LORI and 355 00:22:40.720 --> 00:22:43.720 The Great Man, which is your new book, Bravo. 356 00:22:44.039 --> 00:22:44.359 Wow. 357 00:22:45.319 --> 00:22:50.839 Man is spelled m A n N And it's being released. 358 00:22:50.880 --> 00:22:52.720 I think is it next week that it's released? 359 00:22:53.160 --> 00:22:55.480 Tenth? Yeah, right around the corner. 360 00:22:56.440 --> 00:23:00.759 So tell me about where it's set, because in a 361 00:23:00.839 --> 00:23:04.839 part of LA that is sort of very different now 362 00:23:04.880 --> 00:23:05.440 than it was. 363 00:23:05.759 --> 00:23:09.759 Yeah, the area is called West Adam Heights and right 364 00:23:09.799 --> 00:23:14.599 now there's the Ten Freeways right through it, but that 365 00:23:14.720 --> 00:23:16.079 did not that wasn't. 366 00:23:15.839 --> 00:23:16.559 Always the case. 367 00:23:16.960 --> 00:23:21.160 So West Adam Heights was Los Angeles' Beverly Hills before 368 00:23:21.160 --> 00:23:22.359 we had Beverly Hills. 369 00:23:22.480 --> 00:23:26.559 So all the la aristocracy lived there. And then the 370 00:23:26.599 --> 00:23:28.279 stock market crashed. 371 00:23:28.000 --> 00:23:32.759 And as the thirties wore on, people discovered it was 372 00:23:32.960 --> 00:23:36.279 actually really expensive to keep up your mansion, right, so 373 00:23:36.319 --> 00:23:39.480 they had to sell. But the only people who were 374 00:23:39.920 --> 00:23:43.319 able to buy at that time were the newly wealthy 375 00:23:43.400 --> 00:23:49.720 African Americans. So you had African American oil tycoons, hoteliers, 376 00:23:50.519 --> 00:23:54.920 business moguls, and then the Hollywood movie stars and they 377 00:23:55.039 --> 00:24:00.240 started buying up these mansions. And Hattie McDaniel was one 378 00:24:00.240 --> 00:24:02.039 of the people who lived there, and she would throw 379 00:24:02.519 --> 00:24:08.680 these gala parties where her guest list would include Bing Crosby, 380 00:24:08.839 --> 00:24:14.400 Clark Gable, Lena Horne, Duke Ellington was her entertainment and right, 381 00:24:14.559 --> 00:24:19.319 I mean, so it was extraordinarily Gatsby esque, which is 382 00:24:19.359 --> 00:24:22.640 why I took the framework of the Gatsby and said 383 00:24:22.680 --> 00:24:24.319 it in this real world. 384 00:24:24.599 --> 00:24:26.119 That was right here in Los Angeles. 385 00:24:26.119 --> 00:24:30.160 Apparently it's amazingly successful, this narrative. So this veteran who 386 00:24:30.240 --> 00:24:34.440 is your main character, arrives back in nineteen forty five 387 00:24:34.519 --> 00:24:39.160 Los Angeles to this area and figuring there'd be a 388 00:24:39.200 --> 00:24:42.559 fresh start, this affluent neighborhood that you describe, and then 389 00:24:42.759 --> 00:24:45.400 take us through a little bit of what he encounters. 390 00:24:45.559 --> 00:24:45.720 Right. 391 00:24:45.799 --> 00:24:50.960 So, Charlie Trammel, he is he was in World War 392 00:24:51.039 --> 00:24:54.680 Two and he's just come back to his home in 393 00:24:54.880 --> 00:24:56.680 He came back home to his home in Virginia, in 394 00:24:56.720 --> 00:25:01.720 rural Virginia where his family was sharecroppers. But as what 395 00:25:01.880 --> 00:25:03.279 just was the case, as with the case in at 396 00:25:03.319 --> 00:25:06.200 the end of World War One, black veterans were not 397 00:25:06.319 --> 00:25:08.839 treated well, particularly in the South. 398 00:25:09.160 --> 00:25:10.839 There was a lot of violence and abuse. 399 00:25:10.960 --> 00:25:14.920 And he decides that's the stock going to work, and 400 00:25:15.000 --> 00:25:17.880 he has a cousin who he hasn't seen forever, who's 401 00:25:18.000 --> 00:25:18.759