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The Lee Elci Show | 9.14.26 · The Lee Elci Show

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Good morning, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Long Island. This is 94.9
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: News Now and Stimulating Talk. This is the Lee Elsie Show,
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: but today you have guest host Dr.
• 0:12
  Speaker 2: Mary Powell filling in from 6 a.m.
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: To 9 a.m. It's really a pleasure and my honor
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: to be here. It's Monday, September 14th, 2026, and we
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: are live in the studio. So I wanted to start
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: this morning. We're coming off of what I consider a
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: somber three-day weekend. Not a three-day weekend, but if you
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: include Patriots Day on September 11th and coming into the weekend,
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: I consider it quite a reflective and somber time. And
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: if you did not have a chance to hear the
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: 12-hour broadcast on September 11th, on this station put together
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: by our fearless leader. Please go back to the recordings
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: and rumble and catch part of it. So many guests
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: on that show expressing their reflections and their remembrance from
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: the day 25 years ago, really just so well put together.
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: I caught about 90% of it, but I made a
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: decision today.
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: To attend some outside remembrances over the period of Friday,
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: September 11th, and on Saturday, September 12th. On the 11th,
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: I attended a live ceremony at the University of Connecticut
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: in the Student Union Theater that was put on by
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: the first responders associated with the University of Connecticut. And
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: it was about a 30 to 45 minute ceremony Very
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: moving with an extensive young presence from the ROTC and
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: ROTC members at UConn. And really quite touching. Attended with
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: my husband and some of my good friends from the
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: town of Lyme. And it really just was very emotional
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: as that day began. 25 years ago was for so
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: many of us that were alive. And on September 12th, Saturday,
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: I attended a ceremony in East Lyme, not my hometown,
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: but a ceremony at the Liberty Plaza at the junction
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: of Pennsylvania Ave and.
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: Boston Post Road.
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: And again, put together by the first responders of East Lyme.
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: Fantastic ceremony. and presence from the different VFW and VFW auxiliary, patriotic, somber,
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: and remembering. So, you know, I won't ever be past
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: that day, but I do just want to talk to
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: you about something that happened for me in the September 9th.
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: And I happen to be in Boston on some business
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: travel from the end of Labor Day Monday until Wednesday.
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: And when I travel to Boston on business, I always
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: take the Amtrak for convenience. And what I want to
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: talk to you now about is a little bit about
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: convenience and interruptions. And perhaps for you to think about
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: how you would deal with interruptions, interruptions in your schedule,
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: interruptions in your life. Would you complain? Would you have decisions?
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: Would you pivot in terms of what would happen and
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: how perhaps you would deal with it? So let me
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: talk to you about my return trip from Boston on
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: September 9th. I had a train scheduled with Amtrak out
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: of the Boston South Station to return to the train
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: station in Old Saybrook, very close to my home. And
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: the train was scheduled to leave at 3.15, and I
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: was on the train in time, took my seat in
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: an assigned seat within business class. And I expected it
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: to be an uneventful ride, as many of my other
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: rides over the last several years have been when I
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: travel nearly monthly to Boston for my company.
• 5:01
  Speaker 2: But this ride really....
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: What I thought was going to be standard actually was
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: completely non-standard. And what.
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: What I thought was going to be a very convenient
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: ride for me back home in two hours became an
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: extended trip. So instead of that 3.15 departure out of
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: South Station, shortly after that 3.15 time came to be,
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: the conductor came on the microphone and announced to everyone
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: on the train that we would be delayed leaving due
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: to a problem with another train further down the line
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: in Sharon, Massachusetts. And they didn't have any update for
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: us in terms of how long it might be before
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: we would be leaving. They suggested that perhaps it would
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: be an extended period of time. hopefully within the hour.
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: But at that point, they were unable to give us
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: any type of update on an exact time. We were
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: free to exit the train if we so desired to
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: go back into the main Boston South Station. But, you know,
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: pay attention to the announcements because we could be pushing
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: out within an hour.
• 6:36
  Speaker 2: That one hour, I decided to stay on the train.
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: Just because I was already there and I didn't really...
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: didn't want to have to deal with moving my bag again.
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: And it was convenient for me to stay on the train.
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: So one hour led into two hours. And finally, about
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: two hours into the trip, we were told that... or
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: two hours after that 3.15 hour, now 5.15, we were
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: told that we would be pushing out that.
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: There had been a problem further down the line in Sharon, Mass.,
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: with a disabled train. And we would be rescuing those
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: passengers on that train once we hit the Sharon, Massachusetts area.
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: So I felt very calm. I was grateful to be
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: on the rail. I was grateful to be in motion.
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: But I had no idea about what was ahead of us.
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: And when we reached Sharon Mass on the rail, then
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: the train was traveling very slowly. And I went about
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: my business, minding my own business. I didn't have anyone
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: sitting next to me in business class. and just thought
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: about getting home, knowing that I would, at a minimum,
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: be two hours delayed. So as we approached Sharon Mass,
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: we never reached the station. We slowed down to a
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: significant speed, and we stopped in the darkness. And there
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: we sat. And we waited in the darkness.
• 8:44
  Speaker 2: I saw some rail workers.
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: On the side in yellow construction vests and flashlights and
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: moving along the rail from my view and the window.
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: But we sat with really no update immediately from the
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: conductors on the train.
• 9:08
  Speaker 2: But what we were.
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: Finally told is that we were rescuing these passengers from
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: their disabled train and that this would take some time
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: and our train would be powered down so we could
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: expect the temperature in the train to be increasing because
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: there would be no power as these other passengers boarded
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: our rail. And to also please be courteous and allow
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: passengers to sit in the empty seats next to you,
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: to remove your.
• 9:41
  Speaker 2: Bags, as you would.
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: Hopefully expect as a common courtesy. And we sat probably
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: 30 minutes before the first passenger came on the train.
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: We had, oh, at least 10 to 15 passengers come
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: into the business class car. And I had a young
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: gentleman sit next to me, and he was visiting from San.
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: Diego, California.
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: He had just visited his sister in Boston, and and
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: was now traveling to New Haven, Connecticut to visit his grandparents.
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: And we had not been given, again, any details about
• 10:28
  Speaker 1: the reason for the disabled train. And so I asked
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: this young gentleman, after he sat down next to me,
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: what did you hear about the reason for the disabled train?
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: And what he shared with me And the exact words
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: from the conductors on his train was that there had
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: been a trespasser strike. So I said, oh, wow. I
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: said that information wasn't shared with us. And certainly I
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: found it interesting terminology to come from the Amtrak conductors
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: to say, describe the loss of a soul and so
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: what I did find in at least the hour and
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: a half to hour and three quarters that we waited
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: outside of the Sharon train station picking up these passengers
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: was that everyone coming onto the train and everyone on
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: my train they were calm.
• 11:49
  Speaker 2: They were courteous.
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: We received all of the passengers onto our train as
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: the temperature was rising, probably into the upper 80 degree range.
• 12:04
  Speaker 2: It was hot.
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: But I was really pleasantly surprised about everyone's behavior. And
• 12:22
  Speaker 1: when I heard this from the passenger next to me,
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: I think it was a reminder to me about how
• 12:36
  Speaker 1: we should be thinking and how we should be behaving
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: every day when we think we have convenience. And then
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: we have interruption in that convenience. And so.
• 12:55
  Speaker 2: I ask you, how might you deal with that situation?
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: What would your decision be in terms of how you
• 13:05
  Speaker 1: might handle such a disruption.
• 13:10
  Speaker 2: In such a.
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: Sad situation? Would you complain? Would you take it in?
• 13:21
  Speaker 2: What would you do? So, you know, for the rest
• 13:26
  Speaker 2: of my ride, I felt remarkably calm.
• 13:33
  Speaker 1: I had some light conversation with the young man next
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: to me. And I think in this case, it's so
• 13:40
  Speaker 1: important for us to continue that human contact. So, One
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: thing I want to just do right now is give
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: you a small public service announcement. If you need help,
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: you need to talk to people, but you don't feel
• 14:08
  Speaker 1: that you can reach out to maybe someone close to you,
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: there are.
• 14:15
  Speaker 2: Sites online, there are.
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: The ability to reach out to people anonymously for a
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: helpful ear. You can text to 988 and reach a
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: crisis center. You can go online at 988lifeline. org and you
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: can talk to them by chat. You can talk to
• 14:44
  Speaker 1: them by phone. And as I mentioned, you can do
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: it by text messaging from your phone. If you know
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: someone that's hurting, please reach out to them. Please help them.
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: We all need help at some point, and we need
• 15:07
  Speaker 1: each other. And I think that this experience for me
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: last Wednesday on September 9th, where my two-hour trip home
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: to my family The interruption in my schedule. This was
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: a minor inconvenience.
• 15:33
  Speaker 5: But.
• 15:36
  Speaker 2: You know, what was supposed to be a two-hour ride became.
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: A.
• 15:43
  Speaker 2: Six to seven-hour journey for me.
• 15:47
  Speaker 4: And....
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: Honestly, I think undergoing that experience last week has made
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: me a better person.
• 16:05
  Speaker 2: To try to help.
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: Any of you or anyone out there if we ever
• 16:12
  Speaker 1: have to deal with such a situation at another time.
• 16:18
  Speaker 6: So.
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: I know this may come off as maybe a depressive
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: opening topic. I don't think we should be afraid to
• 16:30
  Speaker 1: talk about such things. And I also think that it's
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: important to vocalize this and to reach out to one
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: another in our times of need. So please do that.
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: Please consider that.
• 16:52
  Speaker 6: This is Dr.
• 16:52
  Speaker 2: Mary Powell.
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: This is 94.9 News Now and Stimulating Talk. This is
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: the Lee Elsie Show. I am your guest host today
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. It's really, as I said,
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: an honor to be here. My working hours are starting
• 17:06
  Speaker 1: early today, up at the 445 hour. And here we
• 17:11
  Speaker 1: are in the studio. Coffee is hot. We're ready to go.
• 17:16
  Speaker 1: You're going to have another half hour of me, I think,
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: in the 6.30 segment. But let me introduce, at 7 a.m.,
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: I have Greg Stroud, editor of the Connecticut Examiner, joining
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: me in the studio from the 7 a.m.
• 17:32
  Speaker 2: To 8 a.m.
• 17:32
  Speaker 4: Hour.
• 17:34
  Speaker 2: And a very special.
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: Guest, a global guest, at 8 o'clock in the studio.
• 17:40
  Speaker 2: I'll tell you more about that later. Stay with us, please.
• 17:49
  Speaker 8: Have you ever felt like nobody was there?
• 17:55
  Speaker 6: Have you ever.
• 17:56
  Speaker 9: Felt forgotten in the middle of nowhere?
• 18:01
  Speaker 10: Have you ever felt like you could disappear?
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: Like you could fall.
• 18:09
  Speaker 4: And no one would hear.
• 18:13
  Speaker 6: So let that.
• 18:14
  Speaker 9: Lonely feeling wash.
• 18:17
  Speaker 6: Away Maybe there's a reason.
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: To believe you'll be okay.
• 18:26
  Speaker 11: Because when you don't feel strong enough to stand, you
• 18:32
  Speaker 11: can reach.
• 18:36
  Speaker 12: Fox News, I'm Gianna Jalozzi. Tech CEOs pounding the table,
• 18:39
  Speaker 12: issuing break checks on AI.
• 18:40
  Speaker 13: Anthropic CEO Dario Mode made waves this weekend, speaking about
• 18:44
  Speaker 13: AI's existential capabilities. Elon Musk posted in response, a simple
• 18:49
  Speaker 13: Dario is right. And then you have OpenAI's Sam Altman.
• 18:52
  Speaker 13: He says, we welcome a federal framework that sets consistent
• 18:55
  Speaker 13: safety requirements for frontier AI.
• 18:58
  Speaker 14: Altman adding this morning that one major.
• 18:59
  Speaker 13: Issue with the speed of development is one nation holding
• 19:02
  Speaker 13: too much power over it.
• 19:03
  Speaker 12: Fox's Alexandria Hoff, President Trump went to Ireland, revealing plans
• 19:06
  Speaker 12: to remove a 10% tariff on Irish whiskey.
• 19:08
  Speaker 13: Most European goods are under 15% tariffs as a result
• 19:11
  Speaker 13: of a.
• 19:12
  Speaker 15: Trade deal that the EU and the U.S.
• 19:13
  Speaker 16: Struck last year. The carve-out for Irish.
• 19:16
  Speaker 17: Whiskey highlighting the overall positive nature of this visit, even
• 19:20
  Speaker 17: though the president.
• 19:20
  Speaker 13: Did make waves by saying he'd like to see Irish reunification.
• 19:25
  Speaker 12: Fox's Madeline Rivera, America's listening to Fox News.
• 19:35
  Speaker 18: Your home deserves the best protection. GAF Timberline HDZ shingles,
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  Speaker 18: peace of mind. Visit a store or rbscorp.com.
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  Speaker 16: Our kids take the field. Holmgren Subaru is proud to
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  Speaker 16: support local.
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  Speaker 19: High school football and the students, families, coaches, teachers, and
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  Speaker 19: isn't just something we do on Friday nights.
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  Speaker 16: It's something we believe in every day.
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  Speaker 18: Holmgren Subaru, proud to be part of the community we
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  Speaker 18: call home.
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  Speaker 16: Come be part of it with us.
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  Speaker 5: Visit Holmgren Subaru today and drive home in a vehicle
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  Speaker 5: that's built for your next adventure. HolmgrenSubaru.com celebrate the red
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  Speaker 5: white and blue get your tickets now for the third
• 21:07
  Speaker 5: annual red white and blue party monday september 21st at
• 21:10
  Speaker 5: water's edge in westbrook meet special guests republican gubernatorial candidate
• 21:15
  Speaker 5: ryan fazio and matt cory along with connecticut gop chairman
• 21:20
  Speaker 5: ben proto your host for the evening or gary byron
• 21:23
  Speaker 5: from the talk of connecticut and lee elsie From 94.9
• 21:26
  Speaker 5: News Now, enjoy live music from Locomotion, engaging conversation, and
• 21:32
  Speaker 5: great food and drinks available for purchase.
• 21:35
  Speaker 20: Doors open at 5 and the program begins at 6.
• 21:39
  Speaker 16: 100% of the proceeds benefit the Connecticut Republican Party.
• 21:42
  Speaker 20: Tickets will sell out. Visit ct.gop. Reserve yours today. That's ct.gop.
• 21:50
  Speaker 20: The third annual Red, White, and Blue Party. Monday, September
• 21:54
  Speaker 20: 21st at Water's Edge in Westbrook. Get your tickets at ct.gop.
• 21:59
  Speaker 20: Paid for by the Connecticut Republican Party.
• 22:05
  Speaker 21: Good morning, I'm Sean Murphy. Cloudy skies today with a
• 22:08
  Speaker 21: high in the 70s. Eastline police used stop sticks on
• 22:11
  Speaker 21: a stolen Land Rover linked to an attempted vehicle break-in
• 22:15
  Speaker 21: on Giants Neck Road early Sunday. The SUV continued fleeing
• 22:18
  Speaker 21: before state police found it abandoned on I-95 South between
• 22:22
  Speaker 21: exits 71 and 70. Authorities are investigating. A 24-year-old man
• 22:28
  Speaker 21: died and a 24-year-old woman was critically injured in a
• 22:31
  Speaker 21: motorcycle crash Saturday night at Grove and Tatum.
• 22:35
  Speaker 16: Streets in Putnam.
• 22:36
  Speaker 21: State and local police are investigating the crash. Connecticut DOT
• 22:41
  Speaker 21: plans to strengthen the Route 154 seawall in Old Saybrook's
• 22:45
  Speaker 21: Fenwood and Knollwood neighborhoods against rising seas and storms. Construction
• 22:50
  Speaker 21: is expected to run for fall 2028 through spring 2029.
• 22:55
  Speaker 21: pausing during beach season. A Putnam man was arrested after
• 23:00
  Speaker 21: a gun discharged inside a home Thursday, sending a bullet
• 23:04
  Speaker 21: through several rooms while three adults were inside. No one
• 23:08
  Speaker 21: was injured. 40-year-old Russell J. Lyon was held on a $ 50, 000 bond.
• 23:14
  Speaker 21: Elena Falks called her decisive Democratic primary victory over Governor
• 23:18
  Speaker 21: Dan McKee a mandate for change. She advances to Rhode
• 23:22
  Speaker 21: Island's November gubernatorial while McKee has endorsed the Democratic ticket.
• 23:28
  Speaker 21: I'm Sean Murphy. When news breaks, we break in.
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  Speaker 17: division of Hub International, proudly serving Eastern Connecticut since 1932.
• 25:33
  Speaker 24: And there's a magic in the sound of their name.
• 25:45
  Speaker 24: Here come the Irish of Notre Dame.
• 26:06
  Speaker 4: Thank you.
• 26:48
  Speaker 8: Well, I remember the leaves are falling And far off
• 26:59
  Speaker 8: music like pipes are calling As they were forming And
• 27:25
  Speaker 8: there's a magic In the sound of their name Here
• 27:34
  Speaker 8: come the airways Of Notre Dame Of Notre Dame My
• 27:47
  Speaker 8: sacred waters and.
• 27:52
  Speaker 13: Our men are.
• 28:42
  Speaker 25: Good morning.
• 28:43
  Speaker 2: We're back.
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: Dr. Mary Powell here, guest host on The Lee Elsie Show.
• 28:48
  Speaker 1: You've got me from 6 to 9 a.m.
• 28:50
  Speaker 21: Today.
• 28:50
  Speaker 2: Holy cow.
• 28:52
  Speaker 1: And listen, it's 94.9 News Now and Stimulating Talk. And listen,
• 28:58
  Speaker 1: I'll take a couple phone calls if you want during
• 29:00
  Speaker 1: this segment. But that last song that you heard, that
• 29:04
  Speaker 1: was Kathy Richardson and the O'Neills talking about the Fighting Irish.
• 29:10
  Speaker 1: And the reason I wanted to enter this segment with
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: that song, number one, it kind of pumps you up, right?
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: Fighting Irish, go Irish. But I have a special connection
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: to Notre Dame. And let me just tell you about that.
• 29:26
  Speaker 1: So my family has become connected to Notre Dame through
• 29:31
  Speaker 1: my middle son, Drew, who just graduated this year with
• 29:37
  Speaker 1: a degree in chemical engineering from the University of Notre Dame.
• 29:42
  Speaker 1: And we are, by association, a proud Irish family. And
• 29:49
  Speaker 1: that Notre Dame family is a community that is deeply
• 29:53
  Speaker 1: based in faith, learning, service, and purpose. And you may
• 30:03
  Speaker 1: know that Notre Dame, for the last 20 years, in
• 30:10
  Speaker 1: a partnership with NBC, started something that they air at
• 30:17
  Speaker 1: every home game at the Notre Dame football stadium in
• 30:21
  Speaker 1: South Bend, Indiana. And it's video segments that are aired
• 30:27
  Speaker 1: on the big screen at home games. And they interview
• 30:31
  Speaker 1: people and ask a question. And that question is, what
• 30:37
  Speaker 1: will you fight for? And so I think that this
• 30:44
  Speaker 1: is a good question, really, for all of us. And again,
• 30:48
  Speaker 1: it's a little bit about reflection on yourself. Maybe it's
• 30:53
  Speaker 1: your values. Maybe it's what you stand for. It's not
• 30:57
  Speaker 1: what you like. It's not what you're interested in. But
• 31:02
  Speaker 1: it's about what matters to you that you're willing to
• 31:07
  Speaker 1: devote maybe part or all of your life to. And
• 31:12
  Speaker 1: so I wanted to bring that question here this morning
• 31:19
  Speaker 1: and to tell you first what I'm willing to fight for.
• 31:25
  Speaker 1: So after you hear from me, if we have time,
• 31:28
  Speaker 1: happy to hear you on a phone call, what you're
• 31:31
  Speaker 1: willing to fight for, what you're willing to stand for.
• 31:34
  Speaker 1: You can reach us in Connecticut, 860-464-9490. But let me
• 31:42
  Speaker 1: tell you first about what I'm willing to fight for.
• 31:46
  Speaker 1: And it's three things. And it's a single word in
• 31:51
  Speaker 1: each one of these circumstances. So The first thing that
• 31:55
  Speaker 1: I'm going to fight for is people. So as a physician,
• 32:01
  Speaker 1: I've spent my career taking care of patients, walking along
• 32:06
  Speaker 1: families with families during difficult times through life and death.
• 32:14
  Speaker 1: And one thing that I've learned is that every person matters.
• 32:20
  Speaker 2: And every person has a story.
• 32:23
  Speaker 1: And if we take the time to listen, we learn
• 32:28
  Speaker 1: about those other people. And every person carries things that
• 32:33
  Speaker 1: we don't always see. So you've heard me mention before
• 32:41
  Speaker 1: my dear neighbor Bill, a World War II veteran, 99
• 32:46
  Speaker 1: years old, and One of the last times that I
• 32:52
  Speaker 1: was on this show, I talked about him and his
• 32:56
  Speaker 1: journey home to be on hospice. And unfortunately, he lost
• 32:59
  Speaker 1: his battle in early August. But when I think of
• 33:03
  Speaker 1: him and I think of him as a person, I'm
• 33:07
  Speaker 1: reminded about his special role in my life over 30
• 33:11
  Speaker 1: years and how much courage he gave me from his
• 33:17
  Speaker 1: experience in war and how much history can be found
• 33:22
  Speaker 1: in one person if we take the time to listen
• 33:27
  Speaker 1: and explore what that person knows and can share. And
• 33:33
  Speaker 1: I think there's a deep appreciation in that when we
• 33:37
  Speaker 1: consider our human relationships. So put that phone down and
• 33:46
  Speaker 1: have a conversation. Have a conversation with Like the conversation
• 33:51
  Speaker 1: I had on the train coming home last week. And
• 33:54
  Speaker 1: take that time to reflect. So, that's the first thing
• 34:00
  Speaker 1: that I'm going to fight for is people. The second
• 34:04
  Speaker 1: thing that I'm going to fight for is curiosity. In
• 34:09
  Speaker 1: my business life, I look at curiosity as continuous improvement.
• 34:17
  Speaker 1: That's like one of these business terms, right, that we hear,
• 34:20
  Speaker 1: those of us that work in the corporate world, right,
• 34:23
  Speaker 1: continuous improvement. But continuous improvement is really curiosity. So we
• 34:31
  Speaker 1: live in a time where everyone has an opinion, and
• 34:36
  Speaker 1: maybe we don't want to listen to those opinions because
• 34:39
  Speaker 1: we have our own opinion. But being involved with medicine
• 34:43
  Speaker 1: as my career, it's taught me, a long time ago
• 34:49
  Speaker 1: about when you ask good questions and the right questions,
• 34:55
  Speaker 1: that's actually more important than actually the answers themselves. Those
• 35:02
  Speaker 1: questions are about establishing rapport and establishing a relationship. So
• 35:12
  Speaker 1: it's more in that question than in that answer. Curiosity
• 35:18
  Speaker 1: keeps us learning, keeps us growing. It helps us to
• 35:21
  Speaker 1: understand one another. So be curious and always look to
• 35:27
  Speaker 1: learn something new every day. So the third thing in
• 35:32
  Speaker 1: this Notre Dame spirit that I'm going to fight for
• 35:37
  Speaker 1: is service. And so let's talk about that. Being in
• 35:45
  Speaker 1: the position of being a physician and caring for people
• 35:50
  Speaker 1: has always been about service. But in the other parts
• 35:58
  Speaker 1: of my life, the people that I admire often the
• 36:03
  Speaker 1: most are not usually the loudest people in the room.
• 36:08
  Speaker 1: They're usually the ones that are quietly helping others without
• 36:13
  Speaker 1: looking for that blue ribbon. They're caring for family members.
• 36:23
  Speaker 1: They're checking on neighbors. They're mentoring someone who's just starting out.
• 36:28
  Speaker 1: Maybe it's in a career or in a task, and
• 36:33
  Speaker 1: they're just showing up. So to me, service reminds us
• 36:45
  Speaker 1: that It's not always about us. And a good life
• 36:52
  Speaker 1: isn't always about what we accomplish for ourself. It's about
• 36:58
  Speaker 1: what we do for others. So those are my three
• 37:01
  Speaker 1: things this morning that I'm going to fight for in
• 37:04
  Speaker 1: the spirit of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. People, curiosity,
• 37:14
  Speaker 1: and service. So what I want to leave you with
• 37:22
  Speaker 1: from this segment is not really about me, but about you.
• 37:26
  Speaker 1: So as you head out today, as you're listening, take
• 37:31
  Speaker 1: a minute and think about that question.
• 37:34
  Speaker 2: What are you going to fight for? What do you
• 37:36
  Speaker 2: stand for? What are your values?
• 37:38
  Speaker 1: Have you ever sat down to write down what really
• 37:43
  Speaker 1: matters to you? you would be surprised what this will
• 37:48
  Speaker 1: do for you in terms of, I think, a quiet
• 37:54
  Speaker 1: reflection and where you are in life and where you're going.
• 38:01
  Speaker 1: If you don't know where to start, ask your family members.
• 38:03
  Speaker 1: Ask your family members, what do they think that you'll
• 38:07
  Speaker 1: stand for or fight for?
• 38:09
  Speaker 2: What would your friends say? Start there, but ask yourself.
• 38:14
  Speaker 2: It's really simple. It's personal.
• 38:17
  Speaker 1: But it's something really that you should do. So I'd
• 38:22
  Speaker 1: love to hear from you. If you want to call in, 860-464-9490.
• 38:31
  Speaker 1: Happy to hear from you. We're going to take a
• 38:33
  Speaker 1: short break, and we'll be right back.
• 38:38
  Speaker 4: Why does it go?
• 38:40
  Speaker 26: We didn't come here to fight for them.
• 38:46
  Speaker 16: Oh, the English are too many.
• 38:58
  Speaker 27: Sons of Scotland, I am William Wallace.
• 39:02
  Speaker 16: William Wallace is seven feet tall. Yes, I've heard.
• 39:07
  Speaker 11: He kills men by the hundred. And if he were here,
• 39:10
  Speaker 11: he'd consume the English with fireballs from his eyes and
• 39:14
  Speaker 11: bolts of lightning from his arse.
• 39:19
  Speaker 16: I am William Wallace.
• 39:23
  Speaker 11: And I see the whole army of my countrymen here
• 39:28
  Speaker 11: in defiance of tyranny. You've come to fight as free men.
• 39:38
  Speaker 3: And free men you are.
• 39:43
  Speaker 27: What will you do without freedom?
• 39:47
  Speaker 28: Will you fight?
• 39:49
  Speaker 4: Right? Against that? No!
• 39:55
  Speaker 29: We will run!
• 39:56
  Speaker 28: And we will live.
• 39:58
  Speaker 4: Aye.
• 39:59
  Speaker 16: Fight and you may die.
• 40:02
  Speaker 28: Run and you'll live.
• 40:05
  Speaker 16: At least a while.
• 40:10
  Speaker 11: And dying in your beds many years from now.
• 40:14
  Speaker 27: Would you be willing to trade all the days from
• 40:18
  Speaker 27: this day to that For one chance, just one chance,
• 40:22
  Speaker 27: to come back here and tell our enemies that they
• 40:26
  Speaker 27: may take our lives, but they'll never take our freedom!
• 40:33
  Speaker 20: 94.9 News Now and stimulating talk. Traffic tie-ups, wicked weather,
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• 40:47
  Speaker 30: In Eastline, the off-ramp is closed from Route 161 northbound
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  Speaker 30: Route 12 moving slow northbound in Groton. Route 32 and
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• 43:28
  Speaker 3: September is here.
• 43:29
  Speaker 32: And Connecticut's number one fastest growing Mazda dealer is shifting
• 43:32
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• 43:33
  Speaker 15: At Whaling City Mazda, we want inventory.
• 43:35
  Speaker 3: And we want your vehicle. Cars, trucks, SUVs, all makes
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  Speaker 15: Have a lease? We want it. Still financing?
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• 44:05
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• 44:08
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• 44:11
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• 44:13
  Speaker 32: Whatever you're driving, bring it to us. This September at
• 44:16
  Speaker 32: Wailing City Mazda, 567 Coma Street, New London. Connecticut's number
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• 44:22
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• 44:23
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• 44:27
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• 44:28
  Speaker 20: 94.9 News Now is back with the Recovery Room High
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• 46:01
  Speaker 1: Hey, we're back. Dr. Mary Powell here, guest host today
• 46:05
  Speaker 1: on the Lee Elsie Show, 6 a.m. to 9 a.m.
• 46:08
  Speaker 1: Thanks for joining us. Really appreciate it. So listen, 7 o'clock,
• 46:14
  Speaker 1: joining me in the studio will be editor of the
• 46:16
  Speaker 1: Connecticut Examiner, Greg Stroud. I think it's probably his first
• 46:20
  Speaker 1: time on this radio station, so that's going to be
• 46:23
  Speaker 1: an exciting one-hour conversation. We certainly will accept phone calls
• 46:27
  Speaker 1: probably in the second half of that conversation, but feel
• 46:30
  Speaker 1: free to to get in the queue for phone calls.
• 46:33
  Speaker 1: And at 8 o'clock, I have a special guest joining us.
• 46:38
  Speaker 1: Her name is Anita Kraminski. She is a very good
• 46:42
  Speaker 1: friend of mine for the last 40 years. She's from Germany,
• 46:46
  Speaker 1: and she will be here live in the studio. We're
• 46:48
  Speaker 1: going to be talking about socialized medicine in Germany, health care.
• 46:52
  Speaker 1: She works in the health care field in Germany, and
• 46:55
  Speaker 1: I think this is really a special look for us
• 46:58
  Speaker 1: in terms of what's going on. in terms of medicine,
• 47:05
  Speaker 1: at least in Germany. So please continue to listen. We'd
• 47:08
  Speaker 1: love to have you continue to join us until the
• 47:11
  Speaker 1: nine o'clock hour. So listen. Coming up soon, I just
• 47:16
  Speaker 1: want to do a quick public service announcement here for
• 47:19
  Speaker 1: the third annual Red, White, and Blue Party.
• 47:21
  Speaker 2: That's Monday, September 21st, 2026.
• 47:24
  Speaker 1: Special guests will be Ryan Fazio, Matt Corey, and music
• 47:29
  Speaker 1: by The Locomotion. That is at Water's Edge Resort in
• 47:33
  Speaker 1: Westbrook on the Boston Post Road. Doors open at 5 p.m.
• 47:39
  Speaker 1: Show starts at 6 p.m. Hope you can join us there.
• 47:44
  Speaker 1: Coming in soon, we'll be talking to Greg Stroud, CT examiner.
• 48:06
  Speaker 16: A message to Ukraine. I'm Dave Anthony, Fox News.
• 48:10
  Speaker 35: As diesel hits a new record high price this morning, $ 6. 23
• 48:13
  Speaker 35: per gallon. President Trump is urging Ukraine's president to stop
• 48:17
  Speaker 35: attacking diesel fuel facilities in the war against Russia.
• 48:20
  Speaker 3: This isn't done by the Middle East.
• 48:22
  Speaker 25: This is done by what's happening with Russia and Ukraine.
• 48:24
  Speaker 16: There are plenty of other targets.
• 48:26
  Speaker 23: Don't hit diesel fuel because that's hurting the world.
• 48:29
  Speaker 35: Now, that's the president before leaving Ireland, and this is
• 48:32
  Speaker 35: after Russia attacked Ukraine's train service.
• 48:35
  Speaker 36: Ukraine's railway operator believes the diplomatic train may well have
• 48:39
  Speaker 36: been the intended target. A Russian drone hit a passenger
• 48:43
  Speaker 36: service near the Polish border. Just minutes earlier, a train
• 48:46
  Speaker 36: passed through, carrying one-time British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, ex-CIA
• 48:51
  Speaker 36: Director David Petraeus, and other notable figures. Their train left
• 48:55
  Speaker 36: ahead of schedule in response to Russian threats. General Petraeus
• 48:59
  Speaker 36: called the incident terrifying.
• 49:00
  Speaker 35: That's Fox's Jonathan Savage. Back to fuel prices. Oil up
• 49:03
  Speaker 35: another 2-plus percent today. Triple-A's national average for regular gas
• 49:07
  Speaker 35: up 16 cents since last Monday.
• 49:09
  Speaker 16: It's $ 4. 31 a gallon.
• 49:10
  Speaker 35: As a meeting Iran was supposed to have today with
• 49:12
  Speaker 35: Oman about the Strait of Hormuz was postponed. While the
• 49:15
  Speaker 35: Iran-backed Houthi rebels continue to disrupt oil shipping in the
• 49:18
  Speaker 35: Red Sea and damage a pipeline in Saudi Arabia. There's
• 49:22
  Speaker 35: a new push among leaders in artificial technology to put
• 49:25
  Speaker 35: more limits on AI, warning.
• 49:27
  Speaker 16: It could get out of control.
• 49:28
  Speaker 35: Led by Anthropic CEO Dario Amadei, who tells CBS Sunday Morning.
• 49:33
  Speaker 37: What we're building.
• 49:34
  Speaker 15: Is essentially intelligence.
• 49:35
  Speaker 16: When something's very powerful... then, of course, it can be
• 49:39
  Speaker 16: used well and it can also be used for ill.
• 49:42
  Speaker 38: While fellow tech giants Sam Altman and Elon Musk say
• 49:46
  Speaker 38: they agree with Amadei, President Trump on Sunday said his
• 49:50
  Speaker 38: goal is to stay ahead of China because, in his words,
• 49:54
  Speaker 38: whoever wins AI wins.
• 49:56
  Speaker 35: That's Fox's Grinnell Scott. America's listening to Fox News.
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• 50:59
  Speaker 37: Visit ZKleiner.com to find a retailer near you.
• 51:06
  Speaker 25: Good morning, I'm Sean Murphy. Cloudy skies today with a
• 51:09
  Speaker 25: high in the 70s.
• 51:10
  Speaker 21: Eastline police used stop sticks on a stolen Land Rover
• 51:14
  Speaker 21: linked to an attempted vehicle break-in on Giants Neck Road
• 51:17
  Speaker 21: early Sunday. The SUV continued fleeing before state police found
• 51:21
  Speaker 21: it abandoned on I-95 South between exits 71 and 70.
• 51:26
  Speaker 21: Authorities are investigating. A 24-year-old man died and a 24-year-old
• 51:31
  Speaker 21: woman was critically injured in a motorcycle crash Saturday night
• 51:35
  Speaker 21: at Grove and Tatum Streets in Putnam. State and local
• 51:38
  Speaker 21: police are investigating the crash. Connecticut DOT plans to strengthen
• 51:43
  Speaker 21: the Route 154 seawall in Old Saybrook's Fenwood and Knollwood
• 51:48
  Speaker 21: neighborhoods against rising seas and storms. Construction is expected to
• 51:53
  Speaker 21: run for fall 2028 through spring 2029. pausing during beach season.
• 52:00
  Speaker 21: A Putnam man was arrested after a gun discharged inside
• 52:03
  Speaker 21: a home Thursday, sending a bullet through several rooms while
• 52:07
  Speaker 21: three adults were inside. No one was injured. 40-year-old Russell J.
• 52:12
  Speaker 21: Lyon was held on a $ 50, 000 bond. Elena Falks called
• 52:17
  Speaker 21: her decisive Democratic primary victory over Governor Dan McKee a
• 52:21
  Speaker 21: mandate for change. She advances to Rhode Island's November gubernatorial
• 52:26
  Speaker 21: election while McKee has endorsed the Democratic ticket. I'm Sean Murphy.
• 52:31
  Speaker 21: When news breaks, we break in.
• 52:34
  Speaker 15: Whaling city ford needs 50 pre-owned.
• 52:37
  Speaker 3: Vehicles and yours could be one of them.
• 52:39
  Speaker 32: Right now we're actively buying cars trucks and suvs all.
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  Speaker 40: Makes and models paid off still financed no problem bring
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  Speaker 40: your vehicle to whaling city ford for a fast no
• 52:50
  Speaker 40: obligation appraisal and an aggressive purchase offer sell it to
• 52:53
  Speaker 40: us outright trade towards a new ford or trade into
• 52:56
  Speaker 40: another pre-owned vehicle and And remember, you do not have
• 52:59
  Speaker 40: to buy from us for us to buy from you.
• 53:01
  Speaker 40: We need 50 vehicles from customers like you this month.
• 53:05
  Speaker 15: Will yours be one of them?
• 53:06
  Speaker 32: And don't forget, Whaling City Service has convenient pick-up and
• 53:09
  Speaker 32: drop-off options for all of our guests.
• 53:12
  Speaker 3: That's right.
• 53:12
  Speaker 15: Need an oil change? Or how about new tires? Or
• 53:15
  Speaker 15: how about just a 30,000-mile service?
• 53:18
  Speaker 3: Ford will pick your vehicle up and drop it off
• 53:20
  Speaker 3: to you.
• 53:20
  Speaker 32: Visit Wailing City Ford in New London, Connecticut on the
• 53:23
  Speaker 32: corner of Broad and Coleman.
• 53:25
  Speaker 15: Or visit us 24-7 at WailingCityFord.com today.
• 53:26
  Speaker 4: 860-443-8361.
• 53:26
  Speaker 28: We are Wailing City.
• 53:27
  Speaker 15: Have we met yet?
• 53:44
  Speaker 25: Good morning, folks.
• 53:45
  Speaker 1: We're back in the 7 o'clock hour.
• 53:47
  Speaker 4: Dr.
• 53:47
  Speaker 41: Mary Powell here.
• 53:48
  Speaker 6: And I am your guest host today on.
• 53:49
  Speaker 4: The Lee Elsie Show.
• 53:50
  Speaker 2: But I am really happy here to have the editor.
• 53:51
  Speaker 29: Of the Connecticut Examiner in the studio with me, Greg Stroud.
• 53:55
  Speaker 1: So, Greg, welcome to the program.
• 53:56
  Speaker 2: Thanks for having me.
• 54:14
  Speaker 16: Thanks for having me on, Mary.
• 54:16
  Speaker 26: Great.
• 54:16
  Speaker 2: I think this might actually be your first time on
• 54:18
  Speaker 2: this station.
• 54:19
  Speaker 1: I'm not sure. You tell me.
• 54:21
  Speaker 16: It's been a while.
• 54:22
  Speaker 1: It's been a while.
• 54:24
  Speaker 16: Lee had me on. We talked about high-speed rail, and
• 54:28
  Speaker 16: now it must be like eight years ago, nine years ago,
• 54:31
  Speaker 16: but not since then. I'm looking forward to chatting. Excellent.
• 54:35
  Speaker 15: Excellent.
• 54:36
  Speaker 1: So, Greg, I mean, you and I know each other.
• 54:38
  Speaker 1: We've known each other, I think, since probably 2010. 19
• 54:43
  Speaker 1: when you first started the Connecticut Examiner and You had
• 54:47
  Speaker 1: reached out to me because I had a local presence
• 54:50
  Speaker 1: on the regional school board in Lime Old Lime. I
• 54:54
  Speaker 1: think that's really when we first kind of established, you know,
• 54:58
  Speaker 1: an acquaintance. Now I think of friendship. Is that about
• 55:01
  Speaker 1: sound about right to you?
• 55:02
  Speaker 16: Friendship. I have to tell you, you were great with
• 55:05
  Speaker 16: my in-laws, you know, and that's part of its community.
• 55:07
  Speaker 16: You know, I think it was a deer that ended
• 55:12
  Speaker 16: up in my in-laws yard and you helped and and
• 55:18
  Speaker 16: made some sausage. And I think we've repeated that, in fact. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 55:23
  Speaker 2: So yeah, we go back a number of years.
• 55:26
  Speaker 1: And so, you know, rather than I think you've given
• 55:30
  Speaker 1: a bio today, I think a lot of people that
• 55:32
  Speaker 1: listen to this station are maybe familiar with the Connecticut Examiner.
• 55:35
  Speaker 1: But tell us about kind of any recent changes at
• 55:41
  Speaker 1: the Examiner, you know, new journalists that you've brought on.
• 55:44
  Speaker 1: I mean, you're now in what you're Seventh year?
• 55:49
  Speaker 16: Seventh year. We launched in 2019. And it's just, you know,
• 55:54
  Speaker 16: it's a tough business, but it's been growth. This year,
• 55:57
  Speaker 16: it's about building partnerships and, frankly, more investigative journalism. So,
• 56:04
  Speaker 16: you know, the best hire I ever made, in fact,
• 56:06
  Speaker 16: maybe my favorite reporter in the state came to me, what,
• 56:11
  Speaker 16: this spring? He said, Greg, I'd like to work with CTExaminer. And,
• 56:14
  Speaker 16: you know, I ruffle the papers. I don't have the money.
• 56:16
  Speaker 16: And I figure it out and say, sure, I'll hire you.
• 56:19
  Speaker 16: And that was Dave Altomare. And three weeks later, he
• 56:23
  Speaker 16: wins the Pulitzer Prize. So I didn't ask for a raise.
• 56:29
  Speaker 16: I'll probably have to give him one at some point.
• 56:31
  Speaker 16: But that's that's sort of the new direction.
• 56:34
  Speaker 1: OK, really fantastically. Tell me about— I' ve had a chance to
• 56:38
  Speaker 1: meet a couple of your local reporters, and that's.
• 56:44
  Speaker 16: Luke and— Luke Feeney. Right. Allie LeMaster.
• 56:48
  Speaker 1: Right.
• 56:48
  Speaker 16: We've got a new one in Charlotte Harvey. We've—down in Stanford,
• 56:54
  Speaker 16: we have Eric Obernauer. We have the— The oldest, one
• 56:59
  Speaker 16: of the longest tenured reporters in the state we have,
• 57:04
  Speaker 16: who is the crime reporter, crime and courts reporter in Bridgeport,
• 57:09
  Speaker 16: is covering for us, Daniel Tepfer. So he started out,
• 57:13
  Speaker 16: and I think this is a good thing, he started
• 57:15
  Speaker 16: out protests against the Shah of Iran. So a long time.
• 57:20
  Speaker 16: So when somebody's been doing the courts, somebody's been doing
• 57:23
  Speaker 16: crime in Bridgeport that long, they've got some experience. They've
• 57:28
  Speaker 16: got some stories.
• 57:29
  Speaker 1: Yeah, so interesting. So interesting.
• 57:32
  Speaker 2: I mean, you're in an online forum only.
• 57:37
  Speaker 16: You know, online is where everything's going. And so, you know,
• 57:42
  Speaker 16: I think all the papers, whether it's the day, anyone,
• 57:45
  Speaker 16: if they're in paper, they're trying to get out of paper.
• 57:48
  Speaker 16: But they, you know, it's hard when you've got some
• 57:51
  Speaker 16: older readers that are just accustomed to getting that physical copy.
• 57:55
  Speaker 16: And frankly, I like a physical paper. Sure.
• 57:58
  Speaker 1: I mean, we saw that even, you know, at least
• 58:00
  Speaker 1: with the day they made, I think, a strategic decision
• 58:04
  Speaker 1: to not publish their paper copy. I think it was
• 58:07
  Speaker 1: on Labor Day this year. I'm not sure I've ever
• 58:09
  Speaker 1: seen that from the day before.
• 58:12
  Speaker 16: You know, it's a tough business, cost cutting. You know,
• 58:17
  Speaker 16: I don't think there's a single newspaper that I know
• 58:19
  Speaker 16: of not a major one, that's printed in Connecticut. So
• 58:23
  Speaker 16: they bring them from Massachusetts or Rhode Island. The year
• 58:27
  Speaker 16: that we started in 2019, the commodity price of paper
• 58:31
  Speaker 16: went up 15%. All the costs. Now even Hearst is
• 58:35
  Speaker 16: mailing a lot of their papers. And, you know, the
• 58:38
  Speaker 16: post office isn't what it was either.
• 58:40
  Speaker 1: No, certainly not. Certainly not. It seems that that may
• 58:44
  Speaker 1: be another.
• 58:45
  Speaker 2: Entity that's... Maybe failing?
• 58:49
  Speaker 1: I don't know.
• 58:49
  Speaker 16: That's tough. It's changing. You know, it's all changing. You know,
• 58:53
  Speaker 16: and I think that's how, for me, it's technology. There's
• 58:57
  Speaker 16: pluses and minuses, but you just, you know, you ride it.
• 59:00
  Speaker 16: You go with it. And that's certainly what CT Examiner
• 59:03
  Speaker 16: is all about. We're always trying to innovate, try to have, like,
• 59:07
  Speaker 16: old school journalism, but then we're not technophobes or something
• 59:12
  Speaker 16: right right.
• 59:14
  Speaker 1: Um you've already gotten into the podcast space i think
• 59:17
  Speaker 1: what this year or last year how long when did
• 59:19
  Speaker 1: you start producing a a week what i think you
• 59:22
  Speaker 1: call it a weekly wrap-up i've started listening to that on.
• 59:25
  Speaker 16: A So November, we started in November. We were, you know,
• 59:30
  Speaker 16: I had a longtime contributor, Dave Williams, who's actually producing
• 59:35
  Speaker 16: the show from Germany. And so that's the technology. We
• 59:38
  Speaker 16: get all the staff together. We talk about the week's stories.
• 59:42
  Speaker 16: We have it online. It's actually on the air. So
• 59:46
  Speaker 16: and it's just, you know, we just just no nonsense.
• 59:50
  Speaker 16: But it's actually kind of a youth. I've got some
• 59:54
  Speaker 16: young reporters now, and I like it. I like the
• 59:57
  Speaker 16: feel of, you know, it's hard to get those under
• 1:00:01
  Speaker 16: 30s in the news space. Because why do people read
• 1:00:05
  Speaker 16: the newspaper? Why do they— I mean, when did you start
• 1:00:09
  Speaker 16: reading a newspaper?
• 1:00:11
  Speaker 20: No.
• 1:00:12
  Speaker 1: I would say probably— Late teens and then into college years.
• 1:00:18
  Speaker 1: I mean, I grew up in Wethersfield. My parents received
• 1:00:21
  Speaker 1: the Hartford Current delivered to the door every day.
• 1:00:23
  Speaker 16: So it was a physical copy and it was there.
• 1:00:26
  Speaker 16: Physical copy. So the physical copy is no longer there
• 1:00:29
  Speaker 16: for kids.
• 1:00:30
  Speaker 38: Right.
• 1:00:30
  Speaker 16: And, you know, and why else? It's like you get married.
• 1:00:34
  Speaker 16: You buy a house. You have kids. And then you
• 1:00:37
  Speaker 16: start caring about your property taxes. You start caring about
• 1:00:40
  Speaker 16: good government. And guess what? The kids these days, they're
• 1:00:43
  Speaker 16: not getting married. They're not having kids. And they're not
• 1:00:46
  Speaker 16: buying houses. So why, you know, so I guess they're
• 1:00:49
  Speaker 16: on TikTok. And I sort of said, I had a
• 1:00:54
  Speaker 16: young intern. He said, Greg, you've got to get on TikTok.
• 1:00:57
  Speaker 16: And I thought, God, if we do that, then maybe
• 1:01:00
  Speaker 16: we're just lost. But we'll see.
• 1:01:03
  Speaker 1: Yeah, you have, I mean, what's your social media presence
• 1:01:06
  Speaker 1: now in terms of the examiner?
• 1:01:07
  Speaker 16: I mean, social media, I mean, we've, it's been how
• 1:01:11
  Speaker 16: we have driven growth. You know, you just can't, you can't,
• 1:01:15
  Speaker 16: you cannot ignore social media. It has all the best
• 1:01:20
  Speaker 16: and worst parts of American politics, I think. And it's
• 1:01:25
  Speaker 16: easy for people to throw bombs when they're not like
• 1:01:28
  Speaker 16: us right now, face to face. You know, there's so
• 1:01:30
  Speaker 16: many people that are like pussycats. In person. And you're like,
• 1:01:34
  Speaker 16: is that the same person?
• 1:01:35
  Speaker 1: Right.
• 1:01:36
  Speaker 16: You know, and so and that's part of what's good
• 1:01:39
  Speaker 16: about Connecticut is it's so small. I mean, it's for
• 1:01:42
  Speaker 16: better or worse.
• 1:01:44
  Speaker 28: Right.
• 1:01:44
  Speaker 16: It's Connecticut is one degree of separation.
• 1:01:47
  Speaker 1: Right.
• 1:01:48
  Speaker 4: Right.
• 1:01:48
  Speaker 2: OK, so let me let me just pivot a little bit.
• 1:01:51
  Speaker 1: And, you know, we're going to I know you have
• 1:01:54
  Speaker 1: reporters that are covering a lot of different areas in Connecticut.
• 1:01:59
  Speaker 1: Fairfield County, you've got some of your newer reporters, your
• 1:02:02
  Speaker 1: young recent journalist graduates from University of Connecticut that are
• 1:02:07
  Speaker 1: covering the shoreline here in terms of at least our
• 1:02:11
  Speaker 1: neck of the.
• 1:02:12
  Speaker 2: Woods, you know, old lime, right? What do you think.
• 1:02:19
  Speaker 1: In the state of Connecticut that residents are not paying
• 1:02:23
  Speaker 1: attention to that they should be paying attention to?
• 1:02:28
  Speaker 16: Well, You know, I would say, you know, there's a
• 1:02:33
  Speaker 16: bigger story, which is just freedom of information, getting documents,
• 1:02:39
  Speaker 16: getting information. The difficulty in getting people to talk to
• 1:02:45
  Speaker 16: you and hand over documents is just even night and
• 1:02:49
  Speaker 16: day compared to what it was with the previous administration.
• 1:02:53
  Speaker 16: I mean, this is It's not just Democrats and Republicans.
• 1:02:56
  Speaker 16: This administration right now, I used to be able to
• 1:02:58
  Speaker 16: call up an agency and just a scientist would talk
• 1:03:02
  Speaker 16: to me, a mid-level person. Now it's all through flax.
• 1:03:06
  Speaker 16: And so I can't tell you how many times I
• 1:03:10
  Speaker 16: fight to get a document out of a local government,
• 1:03:13
  Speaker 16: out of a state government. I'm at the Freedom of
• 1:03:16
  Speaker 16: Information Commission all the time fighting just to get public documents.
• 1:03:22
  Speaker 16: That's one big story. You know, in southeastern Connecticut, I
• 1:03:27
  Speaker 16: think I'm looking at what's happening with ledge light. And
• 1:03:31
  Speaker 16: that's an interesting one.
• 1:03:33
  Speaker 1: Can you tell us a little bit about that? I mean,
• 1:03:35
  Speaker 1: I know a little bit about the story. I've seen
• 1:03:37
  Speaker 1: it recently with something going on in I think it's
• 1:03:40
  Speaker 1: old lime and a personal property. personal residents with concerns
• 1:03:45
  Speaker 1: about environmental and hydrocarbons?
• 1:03:49
  Speaker 16: Old Lyme, but also over in Stonington. And some things
• 1:03:54
  Speaker 16: we're looking at is about, what, it was about nine
• 1:03:58
  Speaker 16: years ago that all the states or all the towns,
• 1:04:01
  Speaker 16: they had, like, public health directors. And, you know, it's expensive.
• 1:04:05
  Speaker 16: It's hard to hire these people. I get it. And
• 1:04:09
  Speaker 16: so they regionalized. But when you regionalize, is anyone actually
• 1:04:14
  Speaker 16: looking over their shoulder? What's the oversight? And in this case,
• 1:04:18
  Speaker 16: I have town officials telling me, I call up Ledge
• 1:04:22
  Speaker 16: Light and they don't answer the phone. You know, we
• 1:04:25
  Speaker 16: send an email and say, hey, you know, there's benzene
• 1:04:31
  Speaker 16: and xylene in the water at, you know, unbelievable levels.
• 1:04:34
  Speaker 21: No answer.
• 1:04:35
  Speaker 16: No answer. And I'm not used to that, and I'm
• 1:04:38
  Speaker 16: not used to that with how Ledge Light used to be,
• 1:04:41
  Speaker 16: so under Stephen Mansfield. So that's one that we're certainly
• 1:04:45
  Speaker 16: going to take a hard look at.
• 1:04:46
  Speaker 1: How many years ago was that when you referenced Steve?
• 1:04:50
  Speaker 16: It's been about three years.
• 1:04:52
  Speaker 21: Three years.
• 1:04:53
  Speaker 16: It's been about three years, I think, since he retired,
• 1:04:56
  Speaker 16: you know, decided to get one of those little vans
• 1:05:01
  Speaker 16: to drive around the country, you know, and bicycle.
• 1:05:03
  Speaker 4: Okay.
• 1:05:05
  Speaker 1: OK, I mean, honestly, the biggest thing I've seen coming
• 1:05:09
  Speaker 1: out of like Ledge Light Health District, at least during
• 1:05:12
  Speaker 1: the summer, was publicizing that they had sunscreen dispensers at
• 1:05:17
  Speaker 1: the local recreation areas in at least my area town.
• 1:05:23
  Speaker 16: But, you know, there's things like for us, there's things like.
• 1:05:27
  Speaker 16: it's the quality of water, right? I mean, we are
• 1:05:30
  Speaker 16: a community of wells and septic, pretty much. In southeastern Connecticut,
• 1:05:35
  Speaker 16: wells are really important. So if you screw up your groundwater,
• 1:05:41
  Speaker 16: you're not going to fix it. You're not going to
• 1:05:43
  Speaker 16: fix it very easily. So taking those kinds of things seriously,
• 1:05:46
  Speaker 16: and that's partially, that could be the Department of Public Health,
• 1:05:49
  Speaker 16: that can be deep. But on this level, town government
• 1:05:53
  Speaker 16: and ledge light. So sometimes it's like a small story,
• 1:05:58
  Speaker 16: but let me tell you, it's not a small story
• 1:05:59
  Speaker 16: if your town, like, say, in Durham or, say, in Haddam,
• 1:06:06
  Speaker 16: where they have places where they really screw up their groundwater,
• 1:06:09
  Speaker 16: then you're talking multimillion-dollar problems, changes the town, too. Or
• 1:06:14
  Speaker 16: then you have to get sewers, and you have to
• 1:06:18
  Speaker 16: get the commercial water with all the costs, all the problems,
• 1:06:22
  Speaker 16: and you've certainly seen that in Old Lyme.
• 1:06:24
  Speaker 24: Sure, sure.
• 1:06:27
  Speaker 1: Tell me, you know, this recent article that you wrote
• 1:06:32
  Speaker 1: about in Old Lime with hydrocarbon, you know, benzene, xylene
• 1:06:38
  Speaker 1: contamination in.
• 1:06:41
  Speaker 2: What appears to be a local well.
• 1:06:43
  Speaker 1: The homeowner put in a, I think, a $ 13, 000 filtration
• 1:06:46
  Speaker 1: system and.
• 1:06:51
  Speaker 1: They still don't drink the water. If I read the art,
• 1:06:54
  Speaker 1: if I got the information correctly in the article, the
• 1:06:56
  Speaker 1: town of Old Lyme didn't seem to know anything about it.
• 1:06:59
  Speaker 1: And as you suggested, the Ledge Light Health District is
• 1:07:06
  Speaker 1: is not informed on this. I mean, how is this possible?
• 1:07:09
  Speaker 16: So in this case, I'll tell you, my my reporter
• 1:07:13
  Speaker 16: could smell it smelled like gasoline over 10 feet away
• 1:07:18
  Speaker 16: from the well. So she just walked onto the property.
• 1:07:21
  Speaker 16: She could smell it. And so, yeah, that's, you know,
• 1:07:24
  Speaker 16: there's kids. It's a problem. There's a marsh nearby. And
• 1:07:30
  Speaker 16: it's one of those things that what we try to do,
• 1:07:32
  Speaker 16: I think good government. It's like pushing, poking. I think
• 1:07:37
  Speaker 16: sometimes a lot of these people, they mean well or
• 1:07:39
  Speaker 16: they try to do the right thing. They have to
• 1:07:42
  Speaker 16: make tough choices. Sometimes what I say is that CT examiner,
• 1:07:46
  Speaker 16: I put my phone number. So anyone can call me up.
• 1:07:51
  Speaker 8: Right.
• 1:07:52
  Speaker 16: I don't always pick up, but you might be surprised.
• 1:07:54
  Speaker 16: I pick up a lot. And then you've got a problem.
• 1:07:58
  Speaker 16: You know, we'll parachute in. We can't cover every place
• 1:08:00
  Speaker 16: all the time.
• 1:08:01
  Speaker 42: Sure.
• 1:08:01
  Speaker 16: But sometimes it's small things like that. Sometimes it's, you know,
• 1:08:06
  Speaker 16: misbehaving government. That's sort of our bread and butter.
• 1:08:11
  Speaker 35: Okay.
• 1:08:11
  Speaker 1: Okay. We're talking to Greg Stroud, editor of the Connecticut
• 1:08:15
  Speaker 1: Examiner on 94.9 News Now and Stimulating Talk. Let me
• 1:08:19
  Speaker 1: ask you this in terms of, you know, I just
• 1:08:22
  Speaker 1: want to stay with this environmental story for a moment.
• 1:08:30
  Speaker 1: Several years ago, the school district in Lime Old Lime
• 1:08:35
  Speaker 1: had this oil spill associated with the middle school. And that,
• 1:08:39
  Speaker 1: you know, there was a lot of.
• 1:08:45
  Speaker 1: How shall we say information that wasn't released to the
• 1:08:49
  Speaker 1: public until pressure was put on and the area residents
• 1:08:55
  Speaker 1: on Lime Street, maybe even Congress? the media, I'm not sure.
• 1:09:01
  Speaker 1: But I don't, what's, do you know if anything's still
• 1:09:06
  Speaker 1: happening with that? I mean, to me, that comes into
• 1:09:08
  Speaker 1: my mind when we mentioned this other personal well that
• 1:09:12
  Speaker 1: you're talking about.
• 1:09:13
  Speaker 16: This is a case where the school had A valve
• 1:09:18
  Speaker 16: was left open. It actually poured fuel into the ground.
• 1:09:25
  Speaker 16: And the school is surrounded by, again, marshes and houses. And,
• 1:09:31
  Speaker 16: you know, when somebody contacted us, they said, my mother
• 1:09:35
  Speaker 16: has a well right there. Can you do something? Can
• 1:09:38
  Speaker 16: you help? And it took a lot of pushing. In fact,
• 1:09:41
  Speaker 16: at one time, the superintendent, of all things, threatened to
• 1:09:45
  Speaker 16: call the police on our reporter for just like being
• 1:09:49
  Speaker 16: at a meeting there. You know, it's just one of
• 1:09:51
  Speaker 16: those absurd things. People were sensitive about that. They're still
• 1:09:55
  Speaker 16: actually what they're doing is they they pump and filter
• 1:09:58
  Speaker 16: the water and they're still doing it. But for that,
• 1:10:01
  Speaker 16: you know, we're actually one story we're looking at is
• 1:10:05
  Speaker 16: PFAs or PFAS in the water. And one question, we've
• 1:10:09
  Speaker 16: been asking every school district in the state on a well.
• 1:10:13
  Speaker 16: We said, are you testing for PFAs in the water?
• 1:10:16
  Speaker 2: Yeah, just tell our audience what PFAs stands for.
• 1:10:19
  Speaker 16: So these are these sort of forever chemicals.
• 1:10:21
  Speaker 28: Okay.
• 1:10:22
  Speaker 16: So they're things that, I mean, they're things that they
• 1:10:24
  Speaker 16: put in like firefighting foam. They put them in your popcorn,
• 1:10:28
  Speaker 16: buttered popcorn bag. The reason that people like them is
• 1:10:32
  Speaker 16: they're really durable chemicals. And the problem with durable chemicals
• 1:10:36
  Speaker 16: is they're durable and they don't go away, right? And
• 1:10:38
  Speaker 16: then they get in your blood, they get in the water,
• 1:10:40
  Speaker 16: something else. So one of the other big stories is
• 1:10:43
  Speaker 16: that right now the government, the federal government, is saying
• 1:10:46
  Speaker 16: you've got to clear up the PFAs in the public water.
• 1:10:50
  Speaker 16: And that's going to be— Connecticut Water has already budgeted over
• 1:10:56
  Speaker 16: $ 200 million for that, and there's going to be a
• 1:11:00
  Speaker 16: lot more on the local level. I know East Lime
• 1:11:03
  Speaker 16: was just spending about $ 12 million on PFAs in one
• 1:11:07
  Speaker 16: of their wells. So we're looking at that school district
• 1:11:11
  Speaker 16: by school district because you care most about our kids.
• 1:11:13
  Speaker 4: Of course.
• 1:11:14
  Speaker 3: Of course.
• 1:11:15
  Speaker 1: Are there funds available from— the state from the federal
• 1:11:19
  Speaker 1: government for private homeowners that might be affected in terms
• 1:11:23
  Speaker 1: of their wells? Do you know anything about that?
• 1:11:24
  Speaker 16: Private homeowners? I don't think so. Um, but there are,
• 1:11:28
  Speaker 16: there are funds available for, uh, public, uh, public wells,
• 1:11:33
  Speaker 16: public services, particularly in poor towns. Um, I think that Eastline,
• 1:11:38
  Speaker 16: for example, is hoping to get some money about right now.
• 1:11:42
  Speaker 16: They're just fronting the costs. So we'll see. It will be, uh,
• 1:11:46
  Speaker 16: You know, there's a lot of public water systems in Connecticut,
• 1:11:50
  Speaker 16: small ones, big ones, and every single one is going
• 1:11:54
  Speaker 16: to have to deal with that within the next two years.
• 1:11:58
  Speaker 1: Interesting. Interesting. This is 94.9 News Now and Stimulating Talk.
• 1:12:03
  Speaker 1: It's Dr.
• 1:12:04
  Speaker 2: Mary Powell here hosting the show today.
• 1:12:06
  Speaker 1: And Greg Stroud, the editor of the Connecticut Examiner, is
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  Speaker 1: with us until the top of the hour. We're going
• 1:12:11
  Speaker 1: to take a short break. Please come back to us.
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  Speaker 1: We'll be happy to take your phone calls.
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  Speaker 16: 860-464-9490.
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  Speaker 19: See you on Wednesday, September 16th. For more information, visit SeniorResourcesEC.org.
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  Speaker 3: Living Today.
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  Speaker 20: 94.9 News Now and stimulating talk. Media for the curious
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  Speaker 20: and online at 94.9newsnow.com.
• 1:18:34
  Speaker 16: Fox News.
• 1:18:37
  Speaker 2: I'm Therese Crowley.
• 1:18:38
  Speaker 9: President Trump returns from his Irish golf and diplomacy trip
• 1:18:42
  Speaker 9: with a gift of Irish whiskey.
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  Speaker 21: Tariff free, dropping the U.S.
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  Speaker 16: Tariff.
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  Speaker 9: But back in the USA, he's got something to do
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  Speaker 9: about the price of diesel. It shot up to $ 6. 23
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  Speaker 9: a gallon, 33 cents from a week ago, says AAA.
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  Speaker 9: Calling on Ukraine's President Zelensky to pause strikes on Russian
• 1:19:00
  Speaker 9: diesel refineries.
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  Speaker 23: A lot of the diesel comes, diesel comes, and that's
• 1:19:03
  Speaker 23: the one where there's a big up.
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  Speaker 25: That comes from Russia. And the Russia plants are being
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  Speaker 25: hit by Ukraine.
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  Speaker 9: But oil supply is also at risk from Houthi rebels
• 1:19:14
  Speaker 9: hitting a Saudi oil pipeline. And a meeting between Iran's
• 1:19:17
  Speaker 9: oil neighbors on shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has
• 1:19:19
  Speaker 9: been called off. Travel Pirates finds domestic vacation demand jumped
• 1:19:23
  Speaker 9: over 34 percent. Spots like Las Vegas, D.C. and national
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  Speaker 9: parks trumping international travel.
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  Speaker 21: America's listening to Fox News. This news report is brought
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  Speaker 4: Back to Keith, the customer's minute. Back to Keith, the.
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  Speaker 8: Price is on his mind.
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  Speaker 10: The fall is a great time to be a sports
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  Speaker 10: fan in our region with a number of different teams
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  Speaker 10: to root for. But when it comes to your financial needs,
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  Speaker 16: On sports more than a score.
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  Speaker 26: Brought to you by charter oak federal credit union where
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  Speaker 26: members bank better so if you're a new york giants
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  Speaker 26: fan admit it you haven't been this excited about your
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  Speaker 26: football team the day after a game in a long
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  Speaker 26: time and it's not like the giants went out last
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  Speaker 26: night and absolutely obliterated the cowboys it was a 28
• 1:22:00
  Speaker 26: to 20 win but for the first time in a
• 1:22:03
  Speaker 26: long time the giants looked like a real football team
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  Speaker 26: The offense moved the ball. The line protected Jackson Dart.
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  Speaker 26: The defense made stops, and the Giants, more importantly, didn't
• 1:22:13
  Speaker 26: make mistakes. Sure, the game didn't go perfect, but for
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  Speaker 26: the first time in forever, the Giants felt like they
• 1:22:20
  Speaker 26: were in control from start to finish. And frankly, it's
• 1:22:23
  Speaker 26: something you haven't seen from a Giants football team since
• 1:22:26
  Speaker 26: Tom Coughlin was coach.
• 1:22:28
  Speaker 16: So I think it's.
• 1:22:28
  Speaker 26: Safe to say that John Harbaugh's impact is being felt immediately. Boy,
• 1:22:33
  Speaker 26: it's amazing what a difference a great coach makes.
• 1:22:36
  Speaker 16: With more than just a score, I'm Fish on Sports.
• 1:22:42
  Speaker 4: Good morning.
• 1:22:42
  Speaker 3: I'm Sean Murphy.
• 1:22:43
  Speaker 25: Cloudy skies today with a high in the 70s.
• 1:22:46
  Speaker 21: Eastline police used stop sticks on a stolen Land Rover
• 1:22:49
  Speaker 21: linked to an attempted vehicle break-in on Giants Neck Road
• 1:22:53
  Speaker 21: early Sunday. The SUV continued fleeing before state police found
• 1:22:57
  Speaker 21: it abandoned on I-95 South between exits 71 and 70.
• 1:23:01
  Speaker 21: Authorities are investigating. A 24-year-old man died and a 24-year-old
• 1:23:06
  Speaker 21: woman was critically injured in a motorcycle crash Saturday night
• 1:23:10
  Speaker 21: at Grove and Tatum Streets in Putnam. State and local
• 1:23:13
  Speaker 21: police are investigating the crash. Connecticut DOT plans to strengthen
• 1:23:18
  Speaker 21: the Route 154 seawall in Old Saybrook's Fenwood and Knollwood
• 1:23:22
  Speaker 21: neighborhoods against rising seas and storms. Construction is expected to
• 1:23:27
  Speaker 21: run for fall 2028 through spring 2029. pausing during beach season.
• 1:23:34
  Speaker 21: A Putnam man was arrested after a gun discharged inside
• 1:23:38
  Speaker 21: a home Thursday, sending a bullet through several rooms while
• 1:23:41
  Speaker 21: three adults were inside. No one was injured. Forty-year-old Russell J.
• 1:23:46
  Speaker 21: Lyon was held on a $ 50, 000 bond. Elena Falks called
• 1:23:50
  Speaker 21: her decisive Democratic primary victory over Governor Dan McKee a
• 1:23:55
  Speaker 21: mandate for change. She advances to Rhode Island's November gubernatorial
• 1:24:00
  Speaker 21: while McKee has endorsed the Democratic ticket. I'm Sean Murphy.
• 1:24:05
  Speaker 21: When news breaks, we break in.
• 1:24:10
  Speaker 8: If I could turn back time.
• 1:24:15
  Speaker 6: If I could find a way.
• 1:24:19
  Speaker 2: Welcome back, folks.
• 1:24:20
  Speaker 16: Dr.
• 1:24:20
  Speaker 1: Mary Powell here on 94.9 News Now, and I'm here
• 1:24:25
  Speaker 1: with Greg Stroud, editor of the Connecticut Examiner, for our
• 1:24:28
  Speaker 1: second segment.
• 1:24:29
  Speaker 2: We'll take phone calls during this segment if you'd like
• 1:24:31
  Speaker 2: to call in.
• 1:24:32
  Speaker 25: 860-464-9490.
• 1:24:32
  Speaker 2: So, Greg, I want to pivot for a minute, and
• 1:24:35
  Speaker 2: I want to talk about.
• 1:24:40
  Speaker 1: Either, you know, what you think your best story was
• 1:24:43
  Speaker 1: since the birth of the Connecticut Examiner in 2019, or,
• 1:24:48
  Speaker 1: you know, the most popular best story in 2026. I'll
• 1:24:52
  Speaker 1: leave it up to you.
• 1:24:53
  Speaker 16: You know, I think it's been— it' s really been policing. It's
• 1:24:56
  Speaker 16: been looking on the local level. It's taking a national story.
• 1:25:01
  Speaker 16: We've heard Black Lives Matter. We heard police accountability. And
• 1:25:04
  Speaker 16: this was this huge story. But who's actually— covering what's
• 1:25:09
  Speaker 16: happening uh in a fair way with with policing our
• 1:25:13
  Speaker 16: communities trying to get the numbers out what's you know
• 1:25:16
  Speaker 16: i i know in in my own town they had
• 1:25:19
  Speaker 16: police reports that were stamped confidential and they were just
• 1:25:23
  Speaker 16: like public reports it's like who wants to hide this
• 1:25:26
  Speaker 16: stuff and so i think uh our biggest story and
• 1:25:30
  Speaker 16: my reporter ali the master won new england's young reporter
• 1:25:34
  Speaker 16: of the year for covering eastline policing.
• 1:25:37
  Speaker 1: Actually wow fantastic So.
• 1:25:39
  Speaker 16: And that's town by town, you know, and I think
• 1:25:42
  Speaker 16: trying to to understand, I mean, because it's something that
• 1:25:48
  Speaker 16: the worst day of your life might it's either it's
• 1:25:51
  Speaker 16: either the hospitals or it's policing.
• 1:25:54
  Speaker 4: Right.
• 1:25:54
  Speaker 16: And these are these are the kinds of stories we
• 1:25:56
  Speaker 16: try to cover, make sure people get it right.
• 1:25:59
  Speaker 1: OK, and how about quickly, you know, this year, was
• 1:26:02
  Speaker 1: there a particular story that the Connecticut Examiner wrote about
• 1:26:06
  Speaker 1: that really caught a lot of attention?
• 1:26:08
  Speaker 16: Well, we certainly had a beach access story in Old
• 1:26:12
  Speaker 16: Lyme that was a big deal. We had a sort
• 1:26:16
  Speaker 16: of a woman who was hosting. It was kind of
• 1:26:19
  Speaker 16: a wellness event for kind of often a lot of
• 1:26:24
  Speaker 16: African-American women meeting after work to go to the beach.
• 1:26:29
  Speaker 16: And this turned into a huge, huge issue in Old
• 1:26:32
  Speaker 16: Lyme where they're trying to ban these people from going
• 1:26:34
  Speaker 16: to the beach. And to me, I look at the
• 1:26:37
  Speaker 16: water and the beach in the state. It's kind of
• 1:26:39
  Speaker 16: almost like a human right. I mean, going to the water,
• 1:26:44
  Speaker 16: dipping your toes in the water. You know, I want
• 1:26:47
  Speaker 16: everyone to be able to do that.
• 1:26:48
  Speaker 4: Sure.
• 1:26:48
  Speaker 1: What was the reason behind that ban? I mean, as
• 1:26:52
  Speaker 1: I recall, she ended up moving her event to Ocean
• 1:26:57
  Speaker 1: Beach rather than Soundview. But what was the politics behind
• 1:27:02
  Speaker 1: this ban, if you will?
• 1:27:05
  Speaker 16: Some of it was a small town that just couldn't
• 1:27:07
  Speaker 16: pick up the phone. Couldn't call this person up.
• 1:27:11
  Speaker 3: People.
• 1:27:12
  Speaker 16: You know, people. Fear of 300 black people coming to
• 1:27:17
  Speaker 16: Old Lyme. And, you know, this was the story. You know, DJs, noise, whatever.
• 1:27:21
  Speaker 16: And it was just like, really, I have to say,
• 1:27:24
  Speaker 16: this gal, Hillary Brown, she is a really nice person.
• 1:27:28
  Speaker 16: And she picks up the phone. And so we talked.
• 1:27:32
  Speaker 16: So she she moved to New London. She she was
• 1:27:34
  Speaker 16: like on the up and up. She just didn't want
• 1:27:36
  Speaker 16: the negativity. And it was sort of a you know,
• 1:27:40
  Speaker 16: it's a little bit of an ugly, ugly story. Shameful.
• 1:27:43
  Speaker 26: Yeah.
• 1:27:43
  Speaker 2: Shameful, shameful behavior.
• 1:27:45
  Speaker 1: How do you feel about taking a phone call? We
• 1:27:47
  Speaker 1: have a couple of our listeners calling in. So, OK,
• 1:27:50
  Speaker 1: up first, we have Jan from Eastline.
• 1:27:53
  Speaker 2: Good morning, Jan. You're on with Gregory Stroud and Dr.
• 1:27:55
  Speaker 4: Mary.
• 1:27:56
  Speaker 1: Ninety four point nine.
• 1:27:58
  Speaker 41: Good morning.
• 1:27:58
  Speaker 42: I've been really enjoying listening to this segment. And, Greg,
• 1:28:03
  Speaker 42: I want to thank you for unbiased reporting. I read
• 1:28:08
  Speaker 42: your online, not every time, but I've read many good articles.
• 1:28:14
  Speaker 42: And one of the real problems we have is the
• 1:28:18
  Speaker 42: media getting out unbiased stories that give us the facts.
• 1:28:23
  Speaker 42: So thank you for that. I wanted to say that.
• 1:28:25
  Speaker 16: Appreciate that, Jan.
• 1:28:27
  Speaker 25: Okay.
• 1:28:28
  Speaker 42: And water. I've called a number of times about water.
• 1:28:34
  Speaker 42: The agricultural group in East Lyme, as obviously, I'm a member,
• 1:28:38
  Speaker 42: we're concerned about the water. And we've been trying to
• 1:28:43
  Speaker 42: get the messages across. And in East Lyme, we have 26.
• 1:28:49
  Speaker 42: This is from the Connecticut government itself and reported on
• 1:28:55
  Speaker 42: May 6th. EWG website. We have 26 contaminants in our water,
• 1:29:01
  Speaker 42: and 12 of them are serious contaminants. And we are
• 1:29:04
  Speaker 42: going to, as you mentioned, spend millions of dollars to
• 1:29:09
  Speaker 42: solve a problem that lots of towns and states throughout
• 1:29:15
  Speaker 42: the world are having. But I think we also need
• 1:29:19
  Speaker 42: to do something proactive about these problems. And the FOIAs,
• 1:29:25
  Speaker 42: I don't know if you have heard, but Tony D'Angelo,
• 1:29:28
  Speaker 42: who's on the show routinely, is constantly having trouble getting
• 1:29:34
  Speaker 42: public information, information that belongs to us that you file for,
• 1:29:42
  Speaker 42: and you just don't get it in the state of
• 1:29:44
  Speaker 42: Connecticut anymore like you used to.
• 1:29:47
  Speaker 4: It can take a year.
• 1:29:48
  Speaker 16: One more thing.
• 1:29:49
  Speaker 27: Pardon?
• 1:29:50
  Speaker 2: Go ahead.
• 1:29:50
  Speaker 16: No, no, no. Please.
• 1:29:52
  Speaker 41: No, no, go ahead.
• 1:29:52
  Speaker 42: What were you going to say?
• 1:29:53
  Speaker 16: I was just going to say it can take a
• 1:29:55
  Speaker 16: year to get your average letter out and certainly your
• 1:30:00
  Speaker 16: average documents from the government, even when there's cases. In fact,
• 1:30:06
  Speaker 16: we have a case in East Lyme right now for
• 1:30:09
  Speaker 16: a— it deals with the fire chief there, and we want
• 1:30:11
  Speaker 16: the personnel records. They know that the personnel file is
• 1:30:15
  Speaker 16: a public document. And they say, well, you're just going
• 1:30:18
  Speaker 16: to have to— they objected, you're just going to have to
• 1:30:20
  Speaker 16: take it to the Freedom of Information Commission. So it
• 1:30:23
  Speaker 16: just— they know they're in the wrong, but they're just saying, well,
• 1:30:27
  Speaker 16: you have to fight it out. So it costs them,
• 1:30:29
  Speaker 16: it's costing you lawyers' fees, and it's costing us a
• 1:30:33
  Speaker 16: lot of time.
• 1:30:35
  Speaker 42: And it looks very suspicious, doesn't it?
• 1:30:38
  Speaker 16: You know, suspicions are just a way of just, like,
• 1:30:42
  Speaker 16: getting in the way. It just, like, puts gum in
• 1:30:45
  Speaker 16: the wheel, a stick in the spokes, you know, wastes
• 1:30:49
  Speaker 16: everyone's time.
• 1:30:49
  Speaker 42: Yes, I know one of the things that Tony wanted
• 1:30:52
  Speaker 42: to know was where are the ballots printed, and that's
• 1:30:56
  Speaker 42: still not very clear to us. And that seems to
• 1:31:00
  Speaker 42: be a pretty important thing for us to know where
• 1:31:04
  Speaker 42: the ballots are printed, and then we get this sort
• 1:31:07
  Speaker 42: of general... Well, they come to the towns and they're
• 1:31:10
  Speaker 42: locked up. Okay, that's great. Where were they printed? How
• 1:31:15
  Speaker 42: many are printed? How do they determine these things and
• 1:31:18
  Speaker 42: can't get the information? The other thing, which I think
• 1:31:22
  Speaker 42: going back to water, and we used to send our
• 1:31:26
  Speaker 42: water to New London from Eastline, from our wells, and
• 1:31:32
  Speaker 42: they would store it and then we would buy it back.
• 1:31:36
  Speaker 42: They won't take our water. because it's contaminated, which is
• 1:31:41
  Speaker 42: a sad thing. But we've also wondered, well, are we
• 1:31:47
  Speaker 42: still paying New London? Where are the funds that we
• 1:31:50
  Speaker 42: paid for, we used to pay for? And why wasn't
• 1:31:54
  Speaker 42: the public told that our water is now rejected by
• 1:31:59
  Speaker 42: New London? So that's kind of– maybe one of your
• 1:32:02
  Speaker 42: reporters would like to follow that up.
• 1:32:04
  Speaker 16: We have been looking at some. I know you have
• 1:32:06
  Speaker 16: these water-sharing agreements. For us, part of what we're, as
• 1:32:10
  Speaker 16: a statewide paper, we say if it's a $ 12 million problem,
• 1:32:14
  Speaker 16: and I'll give East Lime credit. They've been ahead of
• 1:32:17
  Speaker 16: the curve on this. A $ 12 million problem in East Lime,
• 1:32:22
  Speaker 16: and that's just one. That's just these PFAs. You guys
• 1:32:24
  Speaker 16: have other water problems that you were alluding to. But
• 1:32:28
  Speaker 16: imagine what it is in other towns. Imagine the water
• 1:32:34
  Speaker 16: problems in towns that actually have an industrial history. In
• 1:32:38
  Speaker 16: Old Lyme, there's a fire station. Remember, fire foams are
• 1:32:43
  Speaker 16: one of the big causes of PFAs. There's a fire
• 1:32:46
  Speaker 16: station right next to the public well that their schools
• 1:32:50
  Speaker 16: are drawing their water from and not testing for PFAs.
• 1:32:53
  Speaker 16: So this is going to be millions of dollars town
• 1:32:57
  Speaker 16: by town. Is your town prepared? How are they looking
• 1:33:03
  Speaker 16: at solving this? And to be clear, like in East Lime,
• 1:33:08
  Speaker 16: when they say they're solving the problem, all they're doing
• 1:33:11
  Speaker 16: is filtering the water. They're not actually cleaning up the water,
• 1:33:15
  Speaker 16: the groundwater. Those are forever chemicals in your forever water.
• 1:33:19
  Speaker 15: Right.
• 1:33:21
  Speaker 1: Thank you so much. Yeah, Jan, thanks for your call.
• 1:33:24
  Speaker 1: Appreciate it. Greg, quick question before we go to our
• 1:33:26
  Speaker 1: next caller. Do you think there's a difference in terms
• 1:33:30
  Speaker 1: of FOIA requests, press versus an individual resident of Connecticut?
• 1:33:37
  Speaker 1: Do organizations treat those FOIA requests differently?
• 1:33:41
  Speaker 16: Yes.
• 1:33:42
  Speaker 15: How so?
• 1:33:43
  Speaker 16: Well, I can tell you, you know, I can see
• 1:33:46
  Speaker 16: sometimes the chain changes. of if we're on someone's radar
• 1:33:52
  Speaker 16: and they're thinking, our freedom of information requests go through
• 1:33:55
  Speaker 16: a lot more layers than lawyers. But sometimes we get
• 1:34:00
  Speaker 16: preferential access as the press. Sometimes it comes quickly. I
• 1:34:05
  Speaker 16: will say that one thing I can say about Dan
• 1:34:08
  Speaker 16: Malloy and under him, they didn't seem to care as
• 1:34:13
  Speaker 16: much whether we liked them or disliked them And it
• 1:34:17
  Speaker 16: was a sharper elbowed, but they handed over the documents.
• 1:34:20
  Speaker 16: Right now, it might be kinder, friendlier government, but they
• 1:34:26
  Speaker 16: care more and no one is handing over the documents.
• 1:34:29
  Speaker 16: And maybe it's just the case when you have a
• 1:34:31
  Speaker 16: kind of a one party state and they kind of
• 1:34:34
  Speaker 16: control things. That's why you need. You know, you need
• 1:34:38
  Speaker 16: other parties to, like, keep them in line and to
• 1:34:40
  Speaker 16: care about these things.
• 1:34:41
  Speaker 1: Yeah, fascinating. How do you keep track of all your
• 1:34:44
  Speaker 1: FOIA requests then? Are you running spreadsheets or using AI
• 1:34:48
  Speaker 1: or what do you do to track those?
• 1:34:49
  Speaker 16: We just started a spreadsheet exactly for that because you
• 1:34:52
  Speaker 16: do forget. And, you know, I've got three requests with
• 1:34:55
  Speaker 16: Deep right now that are dating probably, they're probably about
• 1:34:58
  Speaker 16: three months old.
• 1:34:59
  Speaker 1: Wow.
• 1:35:01
  Speaker 16: And, you know, so we've got a lot of them.
• 1:35:04
  Speaker 16: and so we have some with state police now. I
• 1:35:09
  Speaker 16: think sometimes what you know, it's tough. There aren't as
• 1:35:12
  Speaker 16: many reporters as there used to be. I mean, the
• 1:35:15
  Speaker 16: Hartford Courant used to have like 200 and some odd
• 1:35:18
  Speaker 16: reporters covering all these different areas. Now they've got like 10.
• 1:35:23
  Speaker 16: And so if when they put a, when they slowed
• 1:35:27
  Speaker 16: things down, they know that we'll lose interest, we'll forget.
• 1:35:31
  Speaker 16: Maybe I'll have a new reporter by the time I
• 1:35:34
  Speaker 16: actually get that request. And it's a problem. And, you know,
• 1:35:40
  Speaker 16: so we're just we're trying to take a more proactive approach.
• 1:35:43
  Speaker 16: We have one case up in we were covering a
• 1:35:47
  Speaker 16: guy named J. Allen Jones, and he was in prison
• 1:35:50
  Speaker 16: and he died in prison and they had surveillance footage
• 1:35:53
  Speaker 16: and we just want to see it. We went to court.
• 1:35:57
  Speaker 16: You know, we went to the Freedom of Information because
• 1:35:59
  Speaker 16: I figure it's a public document. Show us what happened.
• 1:36:03
  Speaker 8: Right.
• 1:36:03
  Speaker 16: And the attorney general fought us tooth and nail.
• 1:36:06
  Speaker 1: Right.
• 1:36:08
  Speaker 16: And we won in court and got that document. So
• 1:36:11
  Speaker 16: that was a case that took us years. Years, didn't it?
• 1:36:14
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 1:36:15
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and that was a big story, I think, for
• 1:36:17
  Speaker 1: the examiner in the last year.
• 1:36:19
  Speaker 16: It was a big one.
• 1:36:19
  Speaker 1: Okay, you okay with another call? We have another caller?
• 1:36:22
  Speaker 28: Love it.
• 1:36:23
  Speaker 16: Okay, great.
• 1:36:23
  Speaker 1: So we have Dan from Old Lyme.
• 1:36:25
  Speaker 2: Good morning, Dan.
• 1:36:26
  Speaker 1: You're on with Dr. Mary Powell and Greg Stroud, editor
• 1:36:30
  Speaker 1: of the Connecticut Examiner.
• 1:36:31
  Speaker 49: Hey, Dr. Mary and Greg.
• 1:36:34
  Speaker 41: First, I got to echo it. It seems, and I
• 1:36:38
  Speaker 41: get your Connecticut Examiner online, and it does seem you
• 1:36:43
  Speaker 41: find stories there. that you don't find elsewhere, and they
• 1:36:48
  Speaker 41: seem like the old-fashioned stories where it's like you're looking
• 1:36:51
  Speaker 41: and presenting facts, so you're trying to find the truth.
• 1:36:54
  Speaker 41: So I think that's great. You said a bunch of stuff,
• 1:37:00
  Speaker 41: but one thing you just said that sort of got me,
• 1:37:03
  Speaker 41: because I think it really rings home in today's environment.
• 1:37:09
  Speaker 41: You said it was a lot easier getting freedom of
• 1:37:13
  Speaker 41: information from the Malloy administration than it is now. And
• 1:37:17
  Speaker 41: then you made the point that Malloy was kind of
• 1:37:19
  Speaker 41: a prickly, arrogant guy, but he did what he was
• 1:37:24
  Speaker 41: supposed to do, and he gave you the information you
• 1:37:27
  Speaker 41: asked for. Yet Governor Lamont seems to be more of
• 1:37:31
  Speaker 41: a grandfather, wonderful, nice, cuddly guy, but he's trying to
• 1:37:35
  Speaker 41: hide stuff. And I just think that spells volumes. one
• 1:37:39
  Speaker 41: for the Connecticut race and actually what's happening at our
• 1:37:43
  Speaker 41: presidential level. But I'm wondering, you were talking about water
• 1:37:48
  Speaker 41: and sewers. I'm in Miami Beach area, and there's three beaches,
• 1:37:52
  Speaker 41: including mine, that are having to put in sewers. And
• 1:37:57
  Speaker 41: just so people know, it's going to cost me about $ 70, 000
• 1:38:00
  Speaker 41: altogether for sewers, granted the state's subsidizing with a 2%
• 1:38:05
  Speaker 41: 20-year loan. But just to let people know, it's expensive.
• 1:38:11
  Speaker 41: And the water is expensive, too, because I see Connecticut
• 1:38:13
  Speaker 41: water with all the pipes that they've got to put in.
• 1:38:16
  Speaker 41: And somebody's got to pay for it. And private property,
• 1:38:19
  Speaker 41: it's got to be us. But do you have– I
• 1:38:23
  Speaker 41: look at Halls Road, and it's like the town, for
• 1:38:26
  Speaker 41: some reason, they want to make old Lime and Halls
• 1:38:29
  Speaker 41: Road into some kind of like old saybrook uh towers
• 1:38:33
  Speaker 41: over there yet there's marshes right in back do you
• 1:38:35
  Speaker 41: have any idea um you know what am i trying
• 1:38:40
  Speaker 41: to say you talk about ledge crest not ledge crest
• 1:38:43
  Speaker 41: ledge light and you don't have much faith in them
• 1:38:47
  Speaker 41: I look at it and I wonder, geez, with all
• 1:38:49
  Speaker 41: those marshes right next door and with a garage and
• 1:38:53
  Speaker 41: dense housing and everything, how the heck are we going
• 1:38:55
  Speaker 41: to keep everything clean? Do you know anything about that?
• 1:38:58
  Speaker 41: Is that an example of sort of the new state
• 1:39:02
  Speaker 41: zoning law telling everybody what to do because they know
• 1:39:05
  Speaker 41: what's best?
• 1:39:06
  Speaker 16: Well, I'll tell you what. What we're seeing is certainly
• 1:39:09
  Speaker 16: one thing with 830G is the state's affordable housing statute
• 1:39:14
  Speaker 16: is it allows, it incentivizes builders to build housing in
• 1:39:19
  Speaker 16: places that aren't really that great for building in. Because
• 1:39:25
  Speaker 16: it sort of is a little bit of a workaround.
• 1:39:26
  Speaker 16: There's technically health and safety, Viola. You know, health and
• 1:39:31
  Speaker 16: safety matters. But there's places, you know, that I can't
• 1:39:35
  Speaker 16: tell you, I have not seen an 830G project that
• 1:39:39
  Speaker 16: isn't built near wetlands. And it's just... And I don't
• 1:39:43
  Speaker 16: think it's hard to build, particularly in southeastern Connecticut. It's
• 1:39:47
  Speaker 16: hard to build. There's a lot of ledge. There's a
• 1:39:49
  Speaker 16: lot of water. There's a lot of water marshes. And
• 1:39:53
  Speaker 16: I'm not going to say that we don't need housing because,
• 1:39:57
  Speaker 16: you know, I have a business. I try to I
• 1:39:59
  Speaker 16: have to find housing for myself. For my reporters, that's
• 1:40:04
  Speaker 16: reasonable and affordable. And, you know, they're living up in
• 1:40:07
  Speaker 16: Middletown to work. And, you know, but to tell you
• 1:40:10
  Speaker 16: the truth, from my perspective, that isn't a bad thing.
• 1:40:13
  Speaker 16: Because I'm putting young professionals up in sometimes in Connecticut cities.
• 1:40:20
  Speaker 16: And I'd actually like to see in sometimes more development
• 1:40:25
  Speaker 16: and more investment in our cities. Because Connecticut isn't going
• 1:40:29
  Speaker 16: to work unless our cities work. in my opinion. I
• 1:40:32
  Speaker 16: grew up in a city, and sometimes I look at
• 1:40:35
  Speaker 16: a town like Old Lyme, and I say, you know,
• 1:40:38
  Speaker 16: should we? Is developing there, is it really, is that
• 1:40:42
  Speaker 16: the priority? You know, I get and I believe in
• 1:40:47
  Speaker 16: an integrated society, but sometimes I think we should probably
• 1:40:51
  Speaker 16: integrate our cities, you know, and that it's time for
• 1:40:56
  Speaker 16: middle-class people and middle-class white people to move back to
• 1:40:59
  Speaker 16: the cities and go and put their kids in the schools.
• 1:41:03
  Speaker 16: And if we can't do that, and kids' parents won't
• 1:41:06
  Speaker 16: do that, we should ask ourselves why. And we need
• 1:41:10
  Speaker 16: to find some solutions. And I actually asked both parties,
• 1:41:13
  Speaker 16: so what are your plans for the cities? And it's crickets.
• 1:41:17
  Speaker 16: And so, but if you want to ask what the
• 1:41:19
  Speaker 16: plans are for small towns and how many houses they
• 1:41:22
  Speaker 16: need to build, you know, talk, talk, talk. And so,
• 1:41:26
  Speaker 16: you know, I grew up in a city, and I'd
• 1:41:28
  Speaker 16: actually like to see more emphasis on fixing our cities.
• 1:41:34
  Speaker 1: Dan, any follow-up there for Greg?
• 1:41:37
  Speaker 41: Well, as far as the cities, I sort of agree
• 1:41:40
  Speaker 41: with him. It's just I think a lot of people
• 1:41:43
  Speaker 41: are afraid of the cities because that's where the crime is.
• 1:41:47
  Speaker 41: That's where education is the worst. And I do think
• 1:41:50
  Speaker 41: it's ironic that the governor and the Democratic Party are
• 1:41:54
  Speaker 41: against school choice, which would maybe put a little, what
• 1:41:59
  Speaker 41: am I trying to say, extra pressure on the schools
• 1:42:04
  Speaker 41: to do better, and they're against it. And they're also
• 1:42:08
  Speaker 41: against the police, and the police are important in the city.
• 1:42:11
  Speaker 41: So it's like the two most important issues in the city,
• 1:42:14
  Speaker 41: we have a governor and a party that sort of,
• 1:42:18
  Speaker 41: fighting against improving the city. I guess I just want
• 1:42:22
  Speaker 41: to say that.
• 1:42:22
  Speaker 16: Yeah, you know, fixing the schools. We spend, what, in Connecticut,
• 1:42:26
  Speaker 16: what do we spend? The average town spends about 60%
• 1:42:30
  Speaker 16: of their budget on schools. Schools are, you know, it's
• 1:42:33
  Speaker 16: where we send our kids the most important things in
• 1:42:36
  Speaker 16: our lives. There's probably less transparency dealing with education than
• 1:42:42
  Speaker 16: most other topics. And, you know, yeah, schools. You know,
• 1:42:47
  Speaker 16: school choice. We look at charter schools. This is something
• 1:42:49
  Speaker 16: we cover. I have to say the latest data, though,
• 1:42:52
  Speaker 16: showed that the worst performing districts, the charter schools were
• 1:42:56
  Speaker 16: bad and the public schools were bad. The best districts,
• 1:43:00
  Speaker 16: the charter schools were good and the public schools were good.
• 1:43:04
  Speaker 16: So I don't think charter schools are necessarily the magic bullet,
• 1:43:09
  Speaker 16: but maybe some choice figuring out something new. You know,
• 1:43:14
  Speaker 16: because if parents won't send their kids to the schools,
• 1:43:21
  Speaker 16: it's not just a money problem.
• 1:43:23
  Speaker 41: Oh, no, because we're spending over $ 20, 000 a kid in
• 1:43:26
  Speaker 41: most places. So it's not the money. I think it's
• 1:43:30
  Speaker 41: the philosophy, to tell you the truth. We used to
• 1:43:33
  Speaker 41: hear that you can't have choice because it would take
• 1:43:36
  Speaker 41: the cream of all the smart kids from the public schools.
• 1:43:40
  Speaker 41: And I'm actually from Wethersfield, like Dr.
• 1:43:43
  Speaker 50: Mary is.
• 1:43:45
  Speaker 41: And I just remember in Hartford, they used to say
• 1:43:47
  Speaker 41: that all the time. And there's not one parochial school
• 1:43:51
  Speaker 41: left in Hartford. So all the cream is going to
• 1:43:54
  Speaker 41: the public schools because there's no more parochial schools to
• 1:43:57
  Speaker 41: siphon the smart kids away. Yet the scores still stink.
• 1:44:02
  Speaker 41: And that's the kind of stuff that makes me angry
• 1:44:04
  Speaker 41: because I think children are our future. And, you know,
• 1:44:08
  Speaker 41: it's almost like if, If they're minority and in the cities, well,
• 1:44:13
  Speaker 41: it's not that important. And I think that's awful. And
• 1:44:17
  Speaker 41: we're just hurting a huge segment of our society.
• 1:44:20
  Speaker 1: All right, Dan, we're going to take another quick call.
• 1:44:22
  Speaker 1: But if you'd like to call back in the next
• 1:44:24
  Speaker 1: segment on health care and the German health care system,
• 1:44:28
  Speaker 1: be happy to have you back on for another conversation there.
• 1:44:31
  Speaker 2: So who's our next caller?
• 1:44:36
  Speaker 3: Okay.
• 1:44:36
  Speaker 8: Hi.
• 1:44:38
  Speaker 1: Who's there? Good morning.
• 1:44:40
  Speaker 49: Hi, this is John from Groton.
• 1:44:43
  Speaker 1: Hi, John. Do you have a question?
• 1:44:46
  Speaker 49: Yeah, I've got a follow-up question for Greg. I just
• 1:44:49
  Speaker 49: dialed in, so maybe I missed something. Greg, you were
• 1:44:53
  Speaker 49: making a statement that you'd like to see young professionals
• 1:44:57
  Speaker 49: or people who work for you move back into the cities.
• 1:45:00
  Speaker 49: My question is, where do you live, and are you
• 1:45:03
  Speaker 49: willing to move back into the cities to lead by example?
• 1:45:08
  Speaker 49: That's my question.
• 1:45:09
  Speaker 16: To tell you the truth, a good question. I grew
• 1:45:11
  Speaker 16: up in Rochester, New York. I grew up and went
• 1:45:14
  Speaker 16: to some of the poorest schools in New York State.
• 1:45:18
  Speaker 16: And then, you know, yeah, I went into academics, went
• 1:45:22
  Speaker 16: into a totally different place, and now I live in
• 1:45:25
  Speaker 16: Old Lyme. And I have to tell you, though, the
• 1:45:28
  Speaker 16: town that I spend the most time in, other than
• 1:45:31
  Speaker 16: Old Lyme, it's New Haven. And, you know, and New
• 1:45:34
  Speaker 16: Haven is growing, and I have to tell you, I
• 1:45:37
  Speaker 16: would love to live in New Haven, but the taxes,
• 1:45:40
  Speaker 16: the way we have right now, the taxes and the
• 1:45:42
  Speaker 16: costs in New Haven, it would cost me more to
• 1:45:45
  Speaker 16: live in New Haven. New Haven isn't actually affordable. It's
• 1:45:51
  Speaker 16: a tough situation. But am I willing to live in
• 1:45:56
  Speaker 16: and spend my time in the cities? You bet. You bet.
• 1:45:59
  Speaker 16: And I think New Haven, I'm heading down to Bridgeport
• 1:46:04
  Speaker 16: after this show. And we spent a lot of time
• 1:46:07
  Speaker 16: at Stanford. You know, frankly, the funny thing was when
• 1:46:11
  Speaker 16: when covid happened, we used to walk in the woods
• 1:46:14
  Speaker 16: all the time. I'd go to the woods and they'd
• 1:46:16
  Speaker 16: be like packed with people. So we started going to
• 1:46:19
  Speaker 16: like Hartford and walking around because Hartford was empty, you know.
• 1:46:24
  Speaker 16: But but I think it's a fair question.
• 1:46:27
  Speaker 1: John, thanks for your call. Listen, folks, we're at the
• 1:46:30
  Speaker 1: top of the hour. You've been on with Dr. Mary
• 1:46:33
  Speaker 1: and Greg Stroud, editor of the Connecticut Examiner. You can
• 1:46:37
  Speaker 1: find out more about the Connecticut Examiner and their offering
• 1:46:40
  Speaker 1: at ctexaminer.com. Join us at the top of the hour.
• 1:46:43
  Speaker 1: We'll have on a special guest, Global. We're talking to
• 1:46:48
  Speaker 1: a good friend of mine from Germany about German health
• 1:46:51
  Speaker 1: care and her experience with socialized medicine.
• 1:46:55
  Speaker 41: Thanks.
• 1:46:55
  Speaker 3: Be right back.
• 1:47:06
  Speaker 1: This is the end.
• 1:47:11
  Speaker 43: Hold your breath and count to ten.
• 1:47:17
  Speaker 8: Feel the earth move and then hear my heart burn.
• 1:47:27
  Speaker 28: Hi, this is Pete from Yankee Remodeler.
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  Speaker 20: From the Bruce Delon Buick GMC Studios, WJJF, Montauk, Ledger, Mystic, Norwich, 94.9
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  Speaker 20: News Now.
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  Speaker 35: Pushing back on a push to slow down AI.
• 1:48:11
  Speaker 16: I'm Dave Anthony, Fox News.
• 1:48:13
  Speaker 35: President Trump says we can put up guardrails, but as
• 1:48:15
  Speaker 35: Fox's Alexandria Hoff reports, he's worried about losing the race,
• 1:48:18
  Speaker 35: developing artificial intelligence, to China.
• 1:48:21
  Speaker 13: Any control that we could have had over a responsible
• 1:48:23
  Speaker 13: future will have been lost. He spoke about this while
• 1:48:26
  Speaker 13: in Ireland, then again aboard Air Force One.
• 1:48:28
  Speaker 18: You know, it's going to be more good than bad,
• 1:48:30
  Speaker 18: but by a lot.
• 1:48:32
  Speaker 23: And I've said it from the beginning, whoever wins AI,
• 1:48:35
  Speaker 23: and we're leading by a lot, whoever wins AI wins.
• 1:48:39
  Speaker 13: Well, several big names in AI development have been on
• 1:48:42
  Speaker 13: a messaging campaign arguing that if systems are allowed to
• 1:48:44
  Speaker 13: become too powerful, pushing out human control, then it doesn't
• 1:48:47
  Speaker 13: matter if it was built in Silicon Valley or Beijing,
• 1:48:49
  Speaker 13: the model will override everyone.
• 1:48:52
  Speaker 28: I would say it's a warning sign.
• 1:48:54
  Speaker 20: It's a warning sign that we need to slow down.
• 1:48:57
  Speaker 35: That's Anthropic CEO Dario Amadei on CBS Sunday morning. The
• 1:49:01
  Speaker 35: president also said on Air Force One last night before
• 1:49:04
  Speaker 35: returning to Washington, he's worried about diesel, which hit a
• 1:49:07
  Speaker 35: new record high price this morning, $ 6. 23 per gallon, according
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  Speaker 35: to AAA. He's urging Ukraine's president to stop bombing Russian
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  Speaker 35: diesel facilities in their war.
• 1:49:16
  Speaker 30: Diesel is being driven up by the fact that is
• 1:49:19
  Speaker 30: having a hard time coming out of Russia.
• 1:49:22
  Speaker 28: And that's a case that hurts the world.
• 1:49:23
  Speaker 3: We've got to stop.
• 1:49:25
  Speaker 35: Oil prices are also up more than 3% this morning
• 1:49:27
  Speaker 35: as Iran-backed Houthi militants continue to disrupt oil shipping around
• 1:49:31
  Speaker 35: the Red Sea after also damaging an oil pipeline in
• 1:49:33
  Speaker 35: Saudi Arabia. Meanwhile, a meeting between Iran and Oman discussing
• 1:49:37
  Speaker 35: straight-up Hormuz shipping was postponed. In Fox's Steve Harrigan, reports
• 1:49:40
  Speaker 35: from Tel Aviv.
• 1:49:41
  Speaker 52: More violence over the weekend. Saturday, Iranian officials say one
• 1:49:44
  Speaker 52: of their commercial vessels was hit by a projectile.
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  Speaker 4: U.S.
• 1:49:48
  Speaker 52: CENTCOM says since their blockade began, they have turned around
• 1:49:51
  Speaker 52: more than 100 Iranian vessels.
• 1:49:53
  Speaker 35: President Trump's lost in court again trying to restrict mail-in voting.
• 1:49:56
  Speaker 35: Another federal judge blocks his executive order that would implement
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  Speaker 3: Have we met yet?
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  Speaker 34: It's Hugh Hewitt here with Ken and Nick Tumalo, hosts
• 1:52:09
  Speaker 34: of Tumalo Financial Radio.
• 1:52:11
  Speaker 15: Sunday's on 94.9.
• 1:52:13
  Speaker 34: Guys, why do taxes get overlooked in retirement planning?
• 1:52:16
  Speaker 53: Because the tax code's so complicated. You look at it,
• 1:52:19
  Speaker 53: the 401k is pre-tax money. The Roth is tax-free. Your
• 1:52:22
  Speaker 53: non-retirement accounts are capital gains, dividends, and interest. Your social
• 1:52:25
  Speaker 53: security is taxed by provisional income. I'm giving you all
• 1:52:28
  Speaker 53: these things and you're probably already confused. That's why you
• 1:52:30
  Speaker 53: want to build out that two-month retirement checkup to see short,
• 1:52:33
  Speaker 53: first long-term effects on these type of things.
• 1:52:36
  Speaker 3: Because you never know.
• 1:52:37
  Speaker 53: You might have been saving well in those 401ks and
• 1:52:39
  Speaker 53: you might have a required minimum distribution issue at 73
• 1:52:43
  Speaker 53: or 75, depending on year of birth. So you really
• 1:52:45
  Speaker 53: don't want to look at it just on a one-year basis.
• 1:52:48
  Speaker 53: Oh yeah, I'm going to do a Roth conversion this year.
• 1:52:50
  Speaker 53: It's going to take care of everything.
• 1:52:51
  Speaker 4: No.
• 1:52:52
  Speaker 53: Planning takes year over year on tax planning. You can't
• 1:52:55
  Speaker 53: just do it in one year.
• 1:52:56
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 1:52:56
  Speaker 54: One of the biggest things that we did find with
• 1:52:58
  Speaker 54: tax planning, especially for our listeners, was that it has
• 1:53:02
  Speaker 54: to be done over multiple years to actually gain an advantage.
• 1:53:05
  Speaker 54: So it's not that simple where you just make one
• 1:53:07
  Speaker 54: change in one year. A lot of times it's the
• 1:53:09
  Speaker 54: planning piece of it. And when we do our two-month
• 1:53:11
  Speaker 54: financial retirement checkup, it actually looks like a big spreadsheet,
• 1:53:14
  Speaker 54: and it shows the numbers over.
• 1:53:15
  Speaker 15: A whole bunch of years.
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  Speaker 54: We like to go out 24, even 30 years at
• 1:53:18
  Speaker 54: times when we're projecting out. Because if we can pick
• 1:53:21
  Speaker 54: up on some of these tax things and then start
• 1:53:23
  Speaker 54: to implement strategies, then what we can do is put
• 1:53:26
  Speaker 54: in front of you, the listeners, we can put in
• 1:53:28
  Speaker 54: front of them where they would save money in taxes
• 1:53:30
  Speaker 54: and how much overtime. So it starts with that Tumalo
• 1:53:32
  Speaker 54: Financial Retirement Checkup, our number, 860-854-3434.
• 1:53:34
  Speaker 4: Again, 860-854-3434.
• 1:53:34
  Speaker 1: Or visit us online at tfcheckup.com.
• 1:53:35
  Speaker 54: At Tumalo Financial, they have just one job, and that's
• 1:53:38
  Speaker 54: to help you get retirement ready.
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  Speaker 32: 860-854-3434 or visit tfcheckup.com.
• 1:53:54
  Speaker 20: Investment advisory services offered through Tumalo Wealth Management, an SEC-registered
• 1:53:58
  Speaker 20: investment advisor. Insurance services offered through Tumalo Financial, licensed in Connecticut.
• 1:54:07
  Speaker 4: Good morning.
• 1:54:07
  Speaker 25: I'm Sean Murphy.
• 1:54:08
  Speaker 21: Cloudy skies today with a high in the 70s. Eastline
• 1:54:11
  Speaker 21: police use stop sticks on a stolen Land Rover. linked
• 1:54:14
  Speaker 21: to an attempted vehicle break-in on Giants Neck Road early Sunday.
• 1:54:19
  Speaker 21: The SUV continued fleeing before state police found it abandoned
• 1:54:23
  Speaker 21: on I-95 South between exits 71 and 70. Authorities are investigating.
• 1:54:28
  Speaker 21: A 24-year-old man died and a 24-year-old woman was critically
• 1:54:32
  Speaker 21: injured in a motorcycle crash Saturday night at Grove and
• 1:54:36
  Speaker 21: Tatum Streets in Putnam. State and local police are investigating
• 1:54:39
  Speaker 21: the crash. Connecticut DOT plans to strengthen the Route 154
• 1:54:44
  Speaker 21: seawall in Old Saybrook's Fenwood and Knollwood neighborhoods against rising
• 1:54:49
  Speaker 21: seas and storms. Construction is expected to run for fall
• 1:54:53
  Speaker 21: 2028 through spring 2029, pausing during beach season. A Putnam
• 1:55:00
  Speaker 21: man was arrested after a gun discharged inside a home Thursday,
• 1:55:04
  Speaker 21: sending a bullet through several rooms while three adults were inside.
• 1:55:08
  Speaker 21: No one was injured. 40-year-old Russell J. Lyon was held
• 1:55:12
  Speaker 21: on a $ 50, 000 bond. Elena Falks called her decisive Democratic
• 1:55:17
  Speaker 21: primary victory over Governor Dan McKee a mandate for change.
• 1:55:21
  Speaker 21: She advances to Rhode Island's November gubernatorial election while McKee
• 1:55:26
  Speaker 21: has endorsed the Democratic ticket. I'm Sean Murphy. When news breaks,
• 1:55:31
  Speaker 21: we break in.
• 1:55:33
  Speaker 43: Happy hour, mitten in der Nacht Sehen Sie, alles tanzt,
• 1:55:42
  Speaker 43: alles lacht 40 Grad am Dancefloor Hula-Baloo Sogstu in my oar.
• 1:56:05
  Speaker 15: What is the hula-palo?
• 1:56:07
  Speaker 6: What's going on here?
• 1:56:08
  Speaker 43: Does the hula-palo make your eyes close? Can you see
• 1:56:14
  Speaker 43: the stars in the hula-palo? Tell me, how should I
• 1:56:19
  Speaker 43: do it? Odi, odi, odi, odi, eh Odi, odi, odi, odi,
• 1:56:28
  Speaker 43: eh Odi.
• 1:56:29
  Speaker 8: Odi, odi, odi, eh Odi, odi, odi.
• 1:56:37
  Speaker 25: Good morning.
• 1:56:38
  Speaker 1: We're back in the last hour.
• 1:56:40
  Speaker 41: Dr.
• 1:56:40
  Speaker 1: Mary Powell here, your guest host on The Lee Elsie Show.
• 1:56:44
  Speaker 1: And we have a very special hour here. It's really unbelievable.
• 1:56:49
  Speaker 1: Global coming to the 94.9 Network. I have a dear
• 1:56:54
  Speaker 1: friend here. This is my friend. Those of you watching
• 1:56:58
  Speaker 1: on Rumble. Anita Kraminski. She's been my friend. She's a
• 1:57:03
  Speaker 1: German citizen. She's been my friend for almost 40 years.
• 1:57:07
  Speaker 1: Next year, 40 years. It's really just an incredible time.
• 1:57:10
  Speaker 1: And she's often here in the U.S. I'm also visiting
• 1:57:15
  Speaker 1: her in Germany on a regular basis. And, you know,
• 1:57:20
  Speaker 1: she's my German sister as far as I'm concerned. And
• 1:57:23
  Speaker 1: we're her American family. So Anita, welcome to the to
• 1:57:27
  Speaker 1: the Lee Elsie show. And we're so happy to have
• 1:57:29
  Speaker 1: you here this morning.
• 1:57:31
  Speaker 3: Thank you.
• 1:57:31
  Speaker 6: I'm happy to be here.
• 1:57:33
  Speaker 26: Great.
• 1:57:34
  Speaker 1: So listen, I want to just tell our listeners just
• 1:57:37
  Speaker 1: a little bit about you. And then we're going to
• 1:57:40
  Speaker 1: dive into talking a little bit about your experience in
• 1:57:44
  Speaker 1: Germany with the German health care system. But Anita is
• 1:57:48
  Speaker 1: trained as a nurse and she started in the nursing
• 1:57:51
  Speaker 1: profession in Germany. At the age of 17. You told
• 1:57:56
  Speaker 1: me yesterday, actually, your first paycheck as a nurse was
• 1:58:00
  Speaker 1: how much?
• 1:58:02
  Speaker 29: Oh, I really don't know, because I was like in
• 1:58:05
  Speaker 29: a school and I had to pay like this.
• 1:58:10
  Speaker 6: School tuition from my paycheck.
• 1:58:13
  Speaker 44: Right.
• 1:58:13
  Speaker 6: So what was left.
• 1:58:14
  Speaker 2: Like, your take-home pay was about how much?
• 1:58:17
  Speaker 6: 80 marks by that time.
• 1:58:18
  Speaker 2: 80 marks, and that was for a one-month period?
• 1:58:21
  Speaker 16: Yeah, one month.
• 1:58:22
  Speaker 1: Wow.
• 1:58:23
  Speaker 2: So, like, 80 bucks.
• 1:58:24
  Speaker 5: Yes.
• 1:58:25
  Speaker 1: If you considered, you know, the mark at that time
• 1:58:28
  Speaker 1: was probably equivalent to one U.S. dollar.
• 1:58:30
  Speaker 2: So, wow.
• 1:58:31
  Speaker 1: Way back when.
• 1:58:32
  Speaker 2: So you've been working... So you started your career in nursing.
• 1:58:36
  Speaker 1: For a long time, you were an intensive care nurse,
• 1:58:39
  Speaker 1: so really taking care of the sickest of the sick
• 1:58:43
  Speaker 1: in Germany. You saw a lot medical, surgical emergencies, and
• 1:58:50
  Speaker 1: really just people that were at their worst, probably. Is
• 1:58:55
  Speaker 1: that a fair assessment? Yes.
• 1:58:57
  Speaker 2: In terms of intensive care nursing?
• 1:58:59
  Speaker 5: Yes.
• 1:59:00
  Speaker 7: Okay.
• 1:59:00
  Speaker 2: And then you had a pivot in your.
• 1:59:01
  Speaker 1: Career, right? You decided to... leave nursing, you got into
• 1:59:06
  Speaker 1: the business world for some period of time. And now,
• 1:59:10
  Speaker 1: at the kind of the, the end of your working career, right,
• 1:59:14
  Speaker 1: you have a you, you plan a couple more years
• 1:59:17
  Speaker 1: in the workforce before you can have retirement in Germany.
• 1:59:22
  Speaker 1: And you're, you're actually back in the nursing field. So
• 1:59:26
  Speaker 1: can you tell me about your current job and what
• 1:59:28
  Speaker 1: you're doing from a nursing function, your current position?
• 1:59:32
  Speaker 29: Yes, it's close to my home, which was very important
• 1:59:37
  Speaker 29: to me. And it's like a rehab clinic for cardiology
• 1:59:41
  Speaker 29: and psychological patients.
• 1:59:43
  Speaker 6: It's private. And it's a very special, nice place. And actually,
• 1:59:55
  Speaker 6: it's known in this field all over Germany.
• 1:59:59
  Speaker 29: People that can afford it go there.
• 2:00:01
  Speaker 6: And it's very interesting.
• 2:00:02
  Speaker 29: We get people from big clinics with very big, huge
• 2:00:07
  Speaker 29: heart operations.
• 2:00:09
  Speaker 6: And it's interesting to have these people. They're very thankful.
• 2:00:13
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's so interesting, you know, to me that you
• 2:00:17
  Speaker 1: started in the healthcare field. You kind of... again, had
• 2:00:22
  Speaker 1: a pivot, you decided you wanted to try something different.
• 2:00:29
  Speaker 1: I think generally speaking, they haven't paid nurses well in Germany, right?
• 2:00:33
  Speaker 1: And so you were maybe, I don't know, you tell me,
• 2:00:37
  Speaker 1: were you looking for a little bit of a higher
• 2:00:39
  Speaker 1: salary and just doing to do something different? But now,
• 2:00:44
  Speaker 1: It's interesting how things come full circle, and now you're
• 2:00:47
  Speaker 1: back in nursing.
• 2:00:48
  Speaker 2: I mean, is that a fair assessment, would you say?
• 2:00:50
  Speaker 6: This was always— actually, it was always my plan.
• 2:00:53
  Speaker 4: Yeah, really.
• 2:00:53
  Speaker 6: And this is what happens now. Yeah, I'm very happy
• 2:00:56
  Speaker 6: about that.
• 2:00:56
  Speaker 4: Interesting.
• 2:00:57
  Speaker 29: That I got a chance because you never know. I mean,
• 2:00:59
  Speaker 29: you are in a certain age, and you need the
• 2:01:01
  Speaker 29: colleagues that help you.
• 2:01:02
  Speaker 6: To come back. What I have, it's a very nice team,
• 2:01:06
  Speaker 6: so I am lucky.
• 2:01:08
  Speaker 24: Amazing.
• 2:01:09
  Speaker 1: Fantastic. Fantastic. I mean, you— You describe yourself as being old,
• 2:01:14
  Speaker 1: but we have a saying between the two of us and, again,
• 2:01:19
  Speaker 1: close friends. She refers to herself as the old chicken,
• 2:01:25
  Speaker 1: calls me the young chicken. But now we're both in
• 2:01:29
  Speaker 1: our 60s. I think you got a couple of years
• 2:01:31
  Speaker 1: on me, but now we are both the young chickens.
• 2:01:35
  Speaker 1: So be it, right?
• 2:01:37
  Speaker 6: And are to be are.
• 2:01:39
  Speaker 1: Exactly. Exactly. So, um, so I want to talk a
• 2:01:45
  Speaker 1: little bit about your, your health insurance in Germany. They,
• 2:01:50
  Speaker 1: they also, I mean, if you do a direct translation
• 2:01:53
  Speaker 1: of the German word for health insurance, they call it
• 2:01:56
  Speaker 1: a sickness insurance. And, uh, we were last night, we
• 2:02:02
  Speaker 1: were comparing our health insurance cards and, um, Tell me
• 2:02:08
  Speaker 1: a little bit about kind of the breakdown of public
• 2:02:15
  Speaker 1: or social insurance in Germany and then private insurance. Tell
• 2:02:21
  Speaker 1: me a little bit about those kind of percentages. What
• 2:02:24
  Speaker 1: percentage of people are insured on the social, the government
• 2:02:28
  Speaker 1: offering versus private?
• 2:02:31
  Speaker 29: Yeah, I really wasn't sure, and we checked it yesterday.
• 2:02:35
  Speaker 29: Because I wasn't sure I said most people are social.
• 2:02:38
  Speaker 6: Insured, which is true.
• 2:02:40
  Speaker 29: It's 90 percent and 10 percent are privately insured.
• 2:02:45
  Speaker 15: Interesting.
• 2:02:46
  Speaker 1: So in terms of these social offerings, right, the social
• 2:02:51
  Speaker 1: the social insurance, you've got 90 percent of the German
• 2:02:54
  Speaker 1: population on the social insurance insurance. Maybe you only have
• 2:03:00
  Speaker 1: a couple plans to choose from? What, three or five
• 2:03:03
  Speaker 1: plans on the social insurance?
• 2:03:05
  Speaker 2: How many plans do you have?
• 2:03:06
  Speaker 6: In Germany, we are the champions.
• 2:03:08
  Speaker 29: We have 90 insurances for social insurance and 50 private insurances,
• 2:03:15
  Speaker 29: which is, in Europe, we are top of the top
• 2:03:19
  Speaker 29: because you have to be able to afford that.
• 2:03:22
  Speaker 1: So... I mean, how can.
• 2:03:28
  Speaker 28: Anyone.
• 2:03:30
  Speaker 2: Highly educated people that are in technical fields.
• 2:03:34
  Speaker 1: How can you manage a system? So if you're in
• 2:03:41
  Speaker 1: that 90% of people that are choosing the public or
• 2:03:44
  Speaker 1: social option and you've got 90 plus plans, how... How
• 2:03:49
  Speaker 1: do you even deal with that? Are you getting mailings?
• 2:03:53
  Speaker 1: Are you getting, does the government have your email? How
• 2:03:56
  Speaker 1: do you know about these plans? How are you educated
• 2:03:59
  Speaker 1: on that? How do you learn what to choose?
• 2:04:00
  Speaker 29: I think it used to be mouth to mouth or
• 2:04:03
  Speaker 29: your father was in this health insurance or your parents.
• 2:04:07
  Speaker 6: And you'd pick the two. Nowadays, it's easier because of AI.
• 2:04:10
  Speaker 21: Oh, really?
• 2:04:13
  Speaker 42: Yeah.
• 2:04:13
  Speaker 3: Okay.
• 2:04:13
  Speaker 21: Okay.
• 2:04:14
  Speaker 6: You can check through AI. I mean, it really got easier.
• 2:04:17
  Speaker 29: But elderly people, like my mom, she thinks she can change.
• 2:04:21
  Speaker 6: But she could. You could change.
• 2:04:23
  Speaker 1: Every year you could change.
• 2:04:25
  Speaker 2: Yeah, but you're probably going to be doing that for her,
• 2:04:27
  Speaker 2: I would maybe guess.
• 2:04:28
  Speaker 1: How old's your mom?
• 2:04:29
  Speaker 6: No, no, she doesn't want it. My mom is 89.
• 2:04:31
  Speaker 8: Okay.
• 2:04:32
  Speaker 1: Is she computer savvy?
• 2:04:34
  Speaker 6: No, not at all.
• 2:04:35
  Speaker 1: Not at all. Okay, so it's going to rely maybe
• 2:04:39
  Speaker 1: on her children to help her and.
• 2:04:44
  Speaker 2: you're in health care.
• 2:04:45
  Speaker 1: And so, I mean, let's, you know, the survey says
• 2:04:50
  Speaker 1: that it's going to be Anita. Yeah, well, we should
• 2:04:54
  Speaker 1: be advocating for our parents. I mean, I kind of
• 2:04:56
  Speaker 1: started the program today talking about having relationships with people
• 2:05:01
  Speaker 1: and advocacy and helping your neighbor and helping your family
• 2:05:04
  Speaker 1: and helping your neighbors, right?
• 2:05:05
  Speaker 2: I mean, this is what we should be doing. This
• 2:05:09
  Speaker 2: is part of being.
• 2:05:11
  Speaker 1: a human and someone that cares and is empathetic and
• 2:05:14
  Speaker 1: has compassion and, and it should be with family number one.
• 2:05:18
  Speaker 42: Right.
• 2:05:18
  Speaker 6: I agree.
• 2:05:20
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 2:05:20
  Speaker 6: Completely.
• 2:05:21
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 2:05:21
  Speaker 13: Yeah.
• 2:05:22
  Speaker 1: So, um, so let's talk a little bit in terms
• 2:05:26
  Speaker 1: of cost and, and I want to stick with the
• 2:05:31
  Speaker 1: public or social system first. Tell me, like now, you
• 2:05:37
  Speaker 1: are in employment in a health care facility, basically a
• 2:05:42
  Speaker 1: rehabilitation facility. They only accept private insurance. So they're not
• 2:05:47
  Speaker 1: dealing with those. They're not accepting people that are on
• 2:05:52
  Speaker 1: the social option.
• 2:05:53
  Speaker 6: You mean in the clinic?
• 2:05:55
  Speaker 2: Yeah, at your health care facility.
• 2:05:56
  Speaker 1: Is that correct?
• 2:05:57
  Speaker 6: You mean the patients?
• 2:05:58
  Speaker 2: Yeah, the patients are not.
• 2:05:59
  Speaker 6: The insurance of the patients?
• 2:06:00
  Speaker 1: They are not socially. They are not on the public option.
• 2:06:03
  Speaker 30: No.
• 2:06:03
  Speaker 2: They are privately insured.
• 2:06:05
  Speaker 1: So your facility, which is highly regarded in Germany, in
• 2:06:10
  Speaker 1: the Bavaria area, southern Germany, you're seeing basically only, you know, 10%,
• 2:06:18
  Speaker 1: if you will, of the population.
• 2:06:20
  Speaker 15: Interesting.
• 2:06:21
  Speaker 1: And your facility is full?
• 2:06:23
  Speaker 3: Always.
• 2:06:23
  Speaker 4: Always.
• 2:06:24
  Speaker 6: We have a waiting list.
• 2:06:25
  Speaker 1: No kidding.
• 2:06:26
  Speaker 26: Yeah.
• 2:06:27
  Speaker 6: We have a waiting list.
• 2:06:28
  Speaker 1: Wow.
• 2:06:29
  Speaker 5: Do you.
• 2:06:30
  Speaker 1: Do you have some patients that come in and are
• 2:06:34
  Speaker 1: paying privately? In other words, even though they have private insurance,
• 2:06:38
  Speaker 1: they actually will just come in and pay the daily rate?
• 2:06:42
  Speaker 6: Yeah, there are some.
• 2:06:43
  Speaker 29: But if you have the possibility and you are privately
• 2:06:46
  Speaker 29: insured and get a chance to get the costs back.
• 2:06:52
  Speaker 29: Right, returned, then they do that. But there are many,
• 2:06:56
  Speaker 29: a few of them are paying on their own. They
• 2:06:58
  Speaker 29: don't care.
• 2:06:59
  Speaker 6: I mean, there are.
• 2:07:00
  Speaker 29: Some that have the money and are social insured, but
• 2:07:04
  Speaker 29: they pay on their own if they have the money
• 2:07:06
  Speaker 29: because they want to go there. We've just had a
• 2:07:09
  Speaker 29: friend who had been in the clinic after a bypass
• 2:07:14
  Speaker 29: operation for two weeks.
• 2:07:16
  Speaker 6: He paid on his own.
• 2:07:17
  Speaker 2: And he paid privately.
• 2:07:17
  Speaker 25: Yeah, privately.
• 2:07:19
  Speaker 2: Tell me the daily rate.
• 2:07:22
  Speaker 6: It depends on the room. It depends what kind of
• 2:07:24
  Speaker 6: treatments you take.
• 2:07:25
  Speaker 1: Yeah, give me an approximation.
• 2:07:26
  Speaker 6: Like for two weeks, I think € 20, 000.
• 2:07:29
  Speaker 2: € 20, 000.
• 2:07:30
  Speaker 1: About.
• 2:07:31
  Speaker 29: That's what one colleague told me last time. It's an average,
• 2:07:34
  Speaker 29: plus minus.
• 2:07:36
  Speaker 2: Okay, wow.
• 2:07:37
  Speaker 1: So more than basically € 1, 000 per day. It's not a
• 2:07:42
  Speaker 1: one-to-one equivalent right now on the exchange rate, but just incredible.
• 2:07:49
  Speaker 6: Yeah, it's a lot of money.
• 2:07:51
  Speaker 29: But there are people that are coming, like I had
• 2:07:53
  Speaker 29: one patient, he was there the 41st time.
• 2:07:56
  Speaker 6: Forty-first?
• 2:08:00
  Speaker 37: 41st?
• 2:08:00
  Speaker 3: First, yeah.
• 2:08:02
  Speaker 1: He had been there 40 times?
• 2:08:03
  Speaker 6: Yeah, over 40 times.
• 2:08:05
  Speaker 4: Okay.
• 2:08:06
  Speaker 29: So it's really a concept. Like you have treatments and psychological...
• 2:08:15
  Speaker 29: treatment possibilities to go to a psychologist and it's very
• 2:08:19
  Speaker 29: it's the concept it's the surrounding it's the area it's
• 2:08:23
  Speaker 29: beautiful it looks like in the caribbean the lake which
• 2:08:26
  Speaker 29: is in front it's great.
• 2:08:27
  Speaker 1: Amazing amazing people love it amazing we're talking to um
• 2:08:32
  Speaker 1: Anita Kraminski, who is a practicing nurse in Germany, and
• 2:08:37
  Speaker 1: she is a 40-year friend of mine. She's currently visiting
• 2:08:41
  Speaker 1: the United States, staying with me. And I invited her
• 2:08:45
  Speaker 1: on the program to talk about German health care and
• 2:08:48
  Speaker 1: public and private insurance options. We've, I think, just barely
• 2:08:51
  Speaker 1: touched the tip of the iceberg here, unfortunately. The population
• 2:08:55
  Speaker 1: of Germany is how many million people, Anita?
• 2:08:59
  Speaker 4: 84.4.
• 2:08:59
  Speaker 29: I checked it yesterday, the actual population.
• 2:09:03
  Speaker 1: 84 million people with 90% of the people on the
• 2:09:07
  Speaker 1: social option.
• 2:09:08
  Speaker 26: Okay.
• 2:09:08
  Speaker 1: So you're working.
• 2:09:11
  Speaker 2: Essentially full-time.
• 2:09:12
  Speaker 1: You work in an 80% capacity by choice, so 80%
• 2:09:17
  Speaker 1: of a full-time equivalent, if you will. And what insurance
• 2:09:23
  Speaker 1: have you chosen? Are you private or are you on
• 2:09:27
  Speaker 1: the public or social option?
• 2:09:28
  Speaker 29: That's a very interesting question because I used to be
• 2:09:31
  Speaker 29: private until.
• 2:09:32
  Speaker 6: I was 55.
• 2:09:34
  Speaker 29: And that's the last chance you have in Germany to
• 2:09:38
  Speaker 29: change the system if you are able to reduce your
• 2:09:42
  Speaker 29: working hours. Because I know some colleagues of mine, they
• 2:09:46
  Speaker 29: are not able because they have family and stuff. They
• 2:09:48
  Speaker 29: depend on the money they earn. So they're not able
• 2:09:51
  Speaker 29: to reduce the hours because there's a limit you can earn,
• 2:09:57
  Speaker 29: a yearly limit, and you have to be underneath that
• 2:10:01
  Speaker 29: in order to be able to change the system. Otherwise,
• 2:10:04
  Speaker 29: you have to stick to the private insurance no matter
• 2:10:09
  Speaker 29: what you earn later on.
• 2:10:11
  Speaker 6: Which is very expensive. And some people really have problems.
• 2:10:14
  Speaker 29: I know a friend who is taking care of privately
• 2:10:18
  Speaker 29: insured people, elderly people, And some of them really have
• 2:10:22
  Speaker 29: problems that don't have so much money because the insurance
• 2:10:25
  Speaker 29: increases once you get older because you are eventually more
• 2:10:31
  Speaker 29: often sick and have health issues.
• 2:10:32
  Speaker 1: Sure, more medical problems as we get older. Okay, so
• 2:10:36
  Speaker 1: you're on the public or social option. You made this change.
• 2:10:40
  Speaker 1: You basically had one opportunity at age 55 to make
• 2:10:44
  Speaker 1: this change. You did make the change. What percentage of
• 2:10:49
  Speaker 1: your income are you paying for health insurance on the
• 2:10:54
  Speaker 1: social option? Just your percentage. And then tell us, what
• 2:10:58
  Speaker 1: does your employer pay on top of that?
• 2:11:00
  Speaker 6: In Germany, it's half-half. That means I have to pay 8.75%.
• 2:11:08
  Speaker 6: About 8.75%.
• 2:11:09
  Speaker 29: It depends on the insurance because the insurances have like
• 2:11:14
  Speaker 29: a few percentage up and down and depends on whether
• 2:11:17
  Speaker 29: you have children or not. So it's 8.75% on the
• 2:11:22
  Speaker 29: average you pay.
• 2:11:23
  Speaker 6: Everyone pays.
• 2:11:24
  Speaker 1: So do you pay more?
• 2:11:25
  Speaker 2: You have no children.
• 2:11:27
  Speaker 6: No, I don't pay more.
• 2:11:28
  Speaker 2: You don't pay more.
• 2:11:29
  Speaker 3: It's less.
• 2:11:30
  Speaker 6: That's the reason I changed.
• 2:11:31
  Speaker 4: Okay.
• 2:11:33
  Speaker 29: This is, I mean, otherwise you would have stick to
• 2:11:36
  Speaker 29: a certain amount, no matter whether you are unemployed or employed.
• 2:11:40
  Speaker 6: It doesn't matter if you're privately insured.
• 2:11:42
  Speaker 20: Okay. Interesting.
• 2:11:43
  Speaker 6: They don't care what your private situation is.
• 2:11:46
  Speaker 1: Okay. So the total amount that's being paid, you're paying
• 2:11:49
  Speaker 1: about half, your employer is paying half. We're over 17%
• 2:11:55
  Speaker 1: for the social option. And you said that the private
• 2:11:59
  Speaker 1: insurances actually cost more. Folks, we need to just go
• 2:12:03
  Speaker 1: to a short break.
• 2:12:05
  Speaker 25: Dr.
• 2:12:06
  Speaker 1: Mary Powell here on 94.9 News Now and Stimulating Talk.
• 2:12:09
  Speaker 1: We're speaking about German health care with my dear friend
• 2:12:12
  Speaker 1: Anita Kraminski, who's a practicing nurse in Germany.
• 2:12:15
  Speaker 2: We will be back.
• 2:12:32
  Speaker 4: In the East Line, the off-ramp is closed.
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  Speaker 26: Giants looked like a real football team. The offense moved
• 2:18:13
  Speaker 26: the ball. The line protected Jackson Dart. The defense made
• 2:18:17
  Speaker 26: stops and the Giants, more importantly, didn't make mistakes.
• 2:18:21
  Speaker 16: Sure, the game didn't go perfect.
• 2:18:23
  Speaker 26: But for the first time in forever, the Giants felt
• 2:18:25
  Speaker 26: like they were in control from start to finish. And frankly,
• 2:18:29
  Speaker 26: it's something you haven't seen from a Giants football team
• 2:18:32
  Speaker 26: since Tom Coughlin was coach.
• 2:18:34
  Speaker 28: So I think it's safe to say that John Harbaugh.
• 2:18:37
  Speaker 12: I'm Gianna Gelosi, President Trump back home after a weekend
• 2:18:40
  Speaker 12: trip to Ireland. The president causing a stir after his
• 2:18:43
  Speaker 12: comments on unifying the Irish nation.
• 2:18:45
  Speaker 13: Such sensitive territory that U.S. presidents have traditionally avoided taking
• 2:18:49
  Speaker 13: a side on it.
• 2:18:50
  Speaker 16: And most U.K.
• 2:18:51
  Speaker 13: Leadership on this issue, especially the unionist parties, they really
• 2:18:54
  Speaker 13: oppose this idea that they see it as giving up territory.
• 2:18:58
  Speaker 12: That's Fox's Alexandria Hov. Diesel hits a new record high
• 2:19:01
  Speaker 12: this morning, 6.23 per gallon. President Trump is urging Ukraine's
• 2:19:05
  Speaker 12: president to stop attacking diesel fuel facilities in the war
• 2:19:08
  Speaker 12: with Russia.
• 2:19:09
  Speaker 3: This isn't done by the Middle East.
• 2:19:10
  Speaker 25: This is done by what's happening with Russia and Ukraine.
• 2:19:13
  Speaker 3: There are plenty of other targets.
• 2:19:15
  Speaker 23: Don't hit diesel fuel because that's hurting the world.
• 2:19:19
  Speaker 12: Oil up another 2-plus percent today. AAA says the national
• 2:19:22
  Speaker 12: average for a gallon of regular is 4.31 per gallon.
• 2:19:26
  Speaker 12: America's listening to Fox News.
• 2:19:35
  Speaker 19: Join Senior Resources for the Healthy Living Expo on Wednesday,
• 2:19:38
  Speaker 19: September 16th from 9.30 a.m.
• 2:19:39
  Speaker 16: To 12.30 p.m.
• 2:19:40
  Speaker 18: At Dodd Stadium in Norwich.
• 2:19:41
  Speaker 19: Take advantage of free health screenings like blood pressure, fall risk,
• 2:19:44
  Speaker 19: flu and COVID vaccines and more. Please bring insurance cards,
• 2:19:47
  Speaker 19: information on health care, finance, housing, nutrition and more. The
• 2:19:50
  Speaker 19: Expo offers free admission, free parking and is handicap accessible.
• 2:19:53
  Speaker 16: The Healthy Living.
• 2:19:54
  Speaker 19: Expo is presented by Senior Resources Agency on Aging. A
• 2:19:57
  Speaker 19: special thank you to the Norwood Sea Unicorns. See you
• 2:19:59
  Speaker 19: on Wednesday, September 16th. For more information, visit SeniorResourcesEC.org. Living
• 2:20:04
  Speaker 19: today for a better tomorrow.
• 2:20:06
  Speaker 16: Celebrate the red, white, and blue.
• 2:20:08
  Speaker 20: Get your tickets now for the third annual Red, White,
• 2:20:11
  Speaker 20: and Blue Party. Monday, September 21st at Waters Edge in Westbrook.
• 2:20:15
  Speaker 20: Meet special guests, Republican gubernatorial candidate Ryan.
• 2:20:19
  Speaker 16: Fazio and Matt Corey.
• 2:20:21
  Speaker 20: Along with Connecticut GOP Chairman Ben Proto. Your hosts for
• 2:20:25
  Speaker 20: the evening are Gary Byron from the Talk of Connecticut
• 2:20:28
  Speaker 20: and Lee Elsie from 94.9 News Now. Enjoy live music
• 2:20:32
  Speaker 20: from Mocha Motion. Engaging conversation and camaraderie. Great food and
• 2:20:36
  Speaker 20: drinks available for purchase. Doors open at 5 and the
• 2:20:40
  Speaker 20: program begins at 6. 100% of the proceeds benefit the
• 2:20:44
  Speaker 20: Connecticut Republican Party.
• 2:20:46
  Speaker 16: Tickets will sell out. Visit ct.gop.
• 2:20:50
  Speaker 20: Reserve yours today. That's ct.gop. The third annual Red, White,
• 2:20:55
  Speaker 20: and Blue Party. Monday, September 21st at Water's Edge in Westbrook.
• 2:20:59
  Speaker 20: Get your tickets at ct.gop. Paid for by the Connecticut
• 2:21:05
  Speaker 20: Republican Party.
• 2:21:06
  Speaker 4: Good morning.
• 2:21:10
  Speaker 25: I'm Sean Murphy. Cloudy skies today with a high in
• 2:21:12
  Speaker 25: the 70s.
• 2:21:12
  Speaker 21: Eastline police used stop sticks on a stolen Land Rover
• 2:21:16
  Speaker 21: linked to an attempted vehicle break-in on Giants Neck Road
• 2:21:20
  Speaker 21: early Sunday. The SUV continued fleeing before state police found
• 2:21:24
  Speaker 21: it abandoned on I-95 South between exits 71 and 70.
• 2:21:28
  Speaker 21: Authorities are investigating. A 24-year-old man died and a 24-year-old
• 2:21:33
  Speaker 21: woman was critically injured in a motorcycle crash Saturday night
• 2:21:37
  Speaker 21: at Grove and Tatum Streets in Putnam. State and local
• 2:21:40
  Speaker 21: police are investigating the crash. Connecticut DOT plans to strengthen
• 2:21:45
  Speaker 21: the Route 154 seawall in Old Saybrook's Fenwood and Knollwood
• 2:21:50
  Speaker 21: neighborhoods against rising seas and storms. Construction is expected to
• 2:21:55
  Speaker 21: run for fall 2028. through spring 2029, pausing during beach season.
• 2:22:02
  Speaker 21: A Putnam man was arrested after a gun discharged inside
• 2:22:05
  Speaker 21: a home Thursday, sending a bullet through several rooms while
• 2:22:08
  Speaker 21: three adults were inside. No one was injured. 40-year-old Russell J.
• 2:22:13
  Speaker 21: Lyon was held on a $ 50, 000 bond. Elena Falks called
• 2:22:18
  Speaker 21: her decisive Democratic primary victory over Governor Dan McKee a
• 2:22:22
  Speaker 21: mandate for change. She advances to Rhode Island's November gubernatorial
• 2:22:27
  Speaker 21: election while McKee has endorsed the Democratic ticket. I'm Sean Murphy.
• 2:22:32
  Speaker 21: When news breaks, we break.
• 2:22:34
  Speaker 4: Guten Morgen.
• 2:22:45
  Speaker 6: Oh, good morning.
• 2:22:47
  Speaker 3: I forgot.
• 2:22:56
  Speaker 2: Hey, it's Dr.
• 2:22:56
  Speaker 1: Mary here, 94.9 News Now and Stimulating Talk. We're happy
• 2:23:00
  Speaker 1: to take your phone calls, 860-464-9490. I'm here with Anita Kraminski.
• 2:23:06
  Speaker 1: She's a nurse in Germany. She's a good friend of mine.
• 2:23:09
  Speaker 1: She's here in the U.S. again visiting me. And I
• 2:23:12
  Speaker 1: thought it would be very interesting for our audience to
• 2:23:15
  Speaker 1: hear a little bit about health care, insurance in Germany,
• 2:23:19
  Speaker 1: and then even just your tax structure. But what I
• 2:23:23
  Speaker 1: have in front of me here is your insurance card.
• 2:23:26
  Speaker 1: And it's like a credit card.
• 2:23:28
  Speaker 16: It's got a chip.
• 2:23:29
  Speaker 2: What is this?
• 2:23:31
  Speaker 1: Gesundheitkarte? And your name, your date of birth. I mean,
• 2:23:37
  Speaker 1: this is nuts. It doesn't have your medical information on
• 2:23:41
  Speaker 1: it yet, right? But you think that that's coming and
• 2:23:43
  Speaker 1: you think that that would be a good thing to
• 2:23:45
  Speaker 1: have your medical information when you go to different doctors
• 2:23:49
  Speaker 1: embedded into a chip?
• 2:23:51
  Speaker 2: Like a credit card chip?
• 2:23:53
  Speaker 16: Tell me.
• 2:23:54
  Speaker 6: I mean, there are some people, they hate it. They
• 2:23:56
  Speaker 6: don't want it because of the privacy.
• 2:24:01
  Speaker 29: But I think it's a good idea, actually. Because I
• 2:24:04
  Speaker 29: remember when my dad, he was going to a dentist,
• 2:24:06
  Speaker 29: for example, and he was taking blood thinners. And the
• 2:24:10
  Speaker 29: doctor didn't even ask him whether he's taking any medication.
• 2:24:13
  Speaker 29: He was over 80 years old. He was bleeding all night.
• 2:24:16
  Speaker 29: So actually, if you have that, like your medication plan
• 2:24:19
  Speaker 29: and everything on this card, I think it's a good idea.
• 2:24:24
  Speaker 13: Wow.
• 2:24:25
  Speaker 6: To have.
• 2:24:27
  Speaker 29: I mean, they just started, so I'm not sure how
• 2:24:30
  Speaker 29: far they got, but that's the plan.
• 2:24:32
  Speaker 1: I don't know about this.
• 2:24:33
  Speaker 6: It's like a file on the chip. This is the future,
• 2:24:35
  Speaker 6: I think.
• 2:24:36
  Speaker 2: This is a bother for me.
• 2:24:37
  Speaker 6: You don't like it, I know.
• 2:24:39
  Speaker 1: Sorry, I'm damn right I don't like it.
• 2:24:41
  Speaker 2: It just doesn't work for me.
• 2:24:43
  Speaker 1: I mean, I've got my plastic card for medical, plastic
• 2:24:46
  Speaker 1: card for dental, and then a paper card for my visual.
• 2:24:50
  Speaker 1: I mean, I'm a paper person. I'll take that over.
• 2:24:53
  Speaker 1: Over this chip.
• 2:24:54
  Speaker 2: No, that doesn't work for me.
• 2:24:55
  Speaker 1: Listen, we do have a call, but I want to
• 2:24:59
  Speaker 1: talk one thing about your other taxes coming out of
• 2:25:06
  Speaker 1: your paycheck. You've got that 8.6% as the employee for
• 2:25:11
  Speaker 1: your health insurance, okay?
• 2:25:13
  Speaker 21: Yes.
• 2:25:14
  Speaker 1: You've got an income tax, which is not like the U.S.
• 2:25:19
  Speaker 1: where it's progressive, right?
• 2:25:20
  Speaker 4: No.
• 2:25:22
  Speaker 1: Tell me your previous job when you were in business.
• 2:25:26
  Speaker 1: What was your tax rate, approximately, income tax?
• 2:25:29
  Speaker 6: 35%. About 35%.
• 2:25:33
  Speaker 1: Yeah, weren't you as high as 42, I thought you
• 2:25:35
  Speaker 1: told me?
• 2:25:35
  Speaker 29: Yeah, at the end, because I got a final admission
• 2:25:42
  Speaker 29: from my former employer, and then it was 42, which
• 2:25:47
  Speaker 29: is quite high.
• 2:25:48
  Speaker 1: Okay, and that was kind of in... I mean, if
• 2:25:52
  Speaker 1: you don't mind me mentioning this, 35% salary was under
• 2:25:56
  Speaker 1: a six-figure salary, correct?
• 2:25:59
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 2:25:59
  Speaker 1: Under 100,000 euro, right? And then when you got hit
• 2:26:02
  Speaker 1: with that 42%, I think you, didn't you mention that
• 2:26:06
  Speaker 1: you were right at that six-figure salary?
• 2:26:08
  Speaker 51: Over.
• 2:26:09
  Speaker 6: Yeah.
• 2:26:10
  Speaker 13: 100,000.
• 2:26:10
  Speaker 1: Okay.
• 2:26:10
  Speaker 2: And now you're back in a tax bracket, which is
• 2:26:13
  Speaker 2: about what?
• 2:26:14
  Speaker 3: 30%?
• 2:26:15
  Speaker 6: Yeah, about 30%.
• 2:26:17
  Speaker 1: Okay, so your income has kind of fluctuated. They still
• 2:26:21
  Speaker 1: pay nurses poorly, in my opinion, in Germany.
• 2:26:24
  Speaker 6: Yeah, it improved, but it's still not good enough. I
• 2:26:27
  Speaker 6: think so, too.
• 2:26:28
  Speaker 1: Okay, so on top of your income tax, you've got
• 2:26:31
  Speaker 1: your social insurance coming out. You've got the employer portion.
• 2:26:35
  Speaker 6: Okay.
• 2:26:37
  Speaker 1: You pay into long-term care insurance as part of your
• 2:26:41
  Speaker 1: deductions from your paycheck?
• 2:26:42
  Speaker 6: Yes, everybody does.
• 2:26:44
  Speaker 29: Even the retirees, they pay a long-term insurance.
• 2:26:49
  Speaker 1: Okay, and that's 3.6%. For people that have kids.
• 2:26:56
  Speaker 25: Okay.
• 2:26:56
  Speaker 13: Yes.
• 2:26:57
  Speaker 6: And no kids, 4.2%.
• 2:26:59
  Speaker 2: So you pay more because you have no kids.
• 2:27:01
  Speaker 52: Yeah.
• 2:27:01
  Speaker 29: But I pay, as long as you are employed, you
• 2:27:04
  Speaker 29: pay half of it because the other half is for
• 2:27:06
  Speaker 29: the employer. But if you're retired, you pay the full 4.2%
• 2:27:12
  Speaker 29: if you have no kids.
• 2:27:14
  Speaker 1: Okay. So now.
• 2:27:17
  Speaker 1: I mean, I'm hearing tax after tax after tax. Your
• 2:27:22
  Speaker 1: income sucks, right, as a health care provider in Germany.
• 2:27:27
  Speaker 1: And now you want to go out. You want to
• 2:27:30
  Speaker 1: maybe go out and have an evening meal at a restaurant.
• 2:27:33
  Speaker 1: You want to go buy groceries. What's your tax at
• 2:27:36
  Speaker 1: the grocery store just to buy your food and your
• 2:27:40
  Speaker 1: drink to fill your refrigerator at home?
• 2:27:43
  Speaker 16: For some.
• 2:27:45
  Speaker 29: Items like butter, milk, it's 7%, but most of the
• 2:27:49
  Speaker 29: items are 19%.
• 2:27:49
  Speaker 6: 19%, and that's.
• 2:27:50
  Speaker 1: Your VAT, right? Yes. I think they call that a
• 2:27:54
  Speaker 1: value-added tax?
• 2:27:55
  Speaker 3: Yes.
• 2:27:56
  Speaker 26: Okay.
• 2:27:56
  Speaker 29: Restaurant or clothes or whatever, it's 19%.
• 2:28:00
  Speaker 1: Okay, and then let's just talk very briefly before we
• 2:28:03
  Speaker 1: take our phone call.
• 2:28:04
  Speaker 2: I think we have Jimmy from Lisbon on the line.
• 2:28:06
  Speaker 4: Okay.
• 2:28:08
  Speaker 1: Your price of gas right now, your gas is sold
• 2:28:11
  Speaker 1: by the leader. And I think you told me yesterday,
• 2:28:15
  Speaker 1: what is the price of gasoline for your autos?
• 2:28:19
  Speaker 29: On the average, 242 euro.
• 2:28:23
  Speaker 1: 242 euro. And you told me that.
• 2:28:25
  Speaker 6: 232, it depends. It's a daily change.
• 2:28:29
  Speaker 1: Okay, so that, I mean, if you look at the
• 2:28:30
  Speaker 1: equivalent in terms of... You know, gallon, you're approaching probably $ 7. 50
• 2:28:35
  Speaker 1: to maybe $ 8 per gallon, a U.S. equivalent. And you
• 2:28:38
  Speaker 1: told me, I think, yesterday that 50% of that price
• 2:28:42
  Speaker 1: is taxes, gas taxes.
• 2:28:44
  Speaker 29: Yes, because the other European countries pay like $ 1.
• 2:28:47
  Speaker 6: 30, $ 1. 40, $ 1.
• 2:28:48
  Speaker 29: 60 per liter comparable to the German price.
• 2:28:54
  Speaker 26: Okay.
• 2:28:55
  Speaker 1: People, are you doing the math here? Are you hearing this?
• 2:28:58
  Speaker 2: Okay.
• 2:28:59
  Speaker 3: Okay.
• 2:29:00
  Speaker 1: Let's take a quick call from Jimmy, and then I
• 2:29:02
  Speaker 1: have a question on e-mail that I want to have
• 2:29:05
  Speaker 1: Anita address. So, Jimmy, good morning.
• 2:29:08
  Speaker 13: Dr.
• 2:29:08
  Speaker 1: Mary here.
• 2:29:09
  Speaker 2: You're with Anita Kraminski from Germany.
• 2:29:13
  Speaker 28: Welcome.
• 2:29:13
  Speaker 50: Good morning to you both.
• 2:29:16
  Speaker 3: Good morning.
• 2:29:16
  Speaker 50: Anita, I have to start out by complimenting you for
• 2:29:18
  Speaker 50: your choice in friends. I don't think you could have chosen.
• 2:29:22
  Speaker 6: A better person than Dr.
• 2:29:23
  Speaker 35: Mary.
• 2:29:23
  Speaker 25: Thank you.
• 2:29:24
  Speaker 3: I know.
• 2:29:24
  Speaker 28: I know.
• 2:29:24
  Speaker 50: I'm happy to speak to both of you. And, Anita,
• 2:29:27
  Speaker 50: can you help me a little bit understand the system?
• 2:29:29
  Speaker 50: We hear a lot here in the United States about
• 2:29:32
  Speaker 50: the Canadian system, social system.
• 2:29:34
  Speaker 6: Yes.
• 2:29:36
  Speaker 50: Help me understand what it's like in Germany. For instance,
• 2:29:38
  Speaker 50: do you have on the public side, rather than a private,
• 2:29:43
  Speaker 50: do you have something like Medicaid or Medicare?
• 2:29:46
  Speaker 6: Yes, we do have that, yes.
• 2:29:50
  Speaker 29: Like Medicaid is for the elderly, right, as far as
• 2:29:54
  Speaker 29: I understood?
• 2:29:54
  Speaker 1: No, Medicare in the U.S.
• 2:29:56
  Speaker 2: Is for the elderly.
• 2:29:56
  Speaker 6: Oh, for the elderly.
• 2:29:57
  Speaker 1: Yeah, Medicaid is for someone that has poverty or is
• 2:30:03
  Speaker 1: maybe on disability.
• 2:30:04
  Speaker 6: Yeah, that's what we have too.
• 2:30:06
  Speaker 5: Yeah.
• 2:30:08
  Speaker 50: Okay, so you do. Well, who governs that particular process?
• 2:30:12
  Speaker 50: I'm interested because we hear a lot about having to
• 2:30:15
  Speaker 50: wait for major operations in Canada. You know, like hip replacements,
• 2:30:19
  Speaker 50: but who will get them? You know, is there like
• 2:30:22
  Speaker 50: an age limit as to what you would qualify for?
• 2:30:25
  Speaker 6: No, but you mean like somebody who's in charge of
• 2:30:29
  Speaker 6: the system?
• 2:30:29
  Speaker 49: 90 years old.
• 2:30:29
  Speaker 50: Would you have a heart transplant for somebody 90 years.
• 2:30:32
  Speaker 3: Old, something like that?
• 2:30:33
  Speaker 6: Certainly not. I'm pretty sure.
• 2:30:34
  Speaker 1: No.
• 2:30:35
  Speaker 7: No.
• 2:30:36
  Speaker 50: Well, who makes those decisions?
• 2:30:38
  Speaker 6: The doctor, actually. I mean, I have a mom. She has.
• 2:30:42
  Speaker 29: Her heart is not doing very well, and she would need,
• 2:30:46
  Speaker 29: I mean, I can't tell you what the result is
• 2:30:48
  Speaker 29: right now, but.
• 2:30:48
  Speaker 6: She has a doctor's appointment. She needs a new tricuspidal.
• 2:30:53
  Speaker 1: She needs a tricuspid valve.
• 2:30:54
  Speaker 6: Yeah, yeah. And she is skinny.
• 2:30:57
  Speaker 1: She is old.
• 2:30:58
  Speaker 6: She is not very good anymore.
• 2:31:00
  Speaker 29: I mean, I think if they could, I mean, it's
• 2:31:03
  Speaker 29: a big operation she would have. I don't think she
• 2:31:05
  Speaker 29: can do it anymore, even though, I mean, they would probably, but.
• 2:31:10
  Speaker 29: It's a decision, can she, is she capable, is her
• 2:31:15
  Speaker 29: body capable to take such a big operation?
• 2:31:17
  Speaker 50: Yeah, of course. I'm not talking about risks now. I'm
• 2:31:19
  Speaker 50: talking about whether somebody's going to make a decision who
• 2:31:22
  Speaker 50: gets and who does not get. And you say that, like,
• 2:31:25
  Speaker 50: the personal doctor makes the decision?
• 2:31:27
  Speaker 13: Yeah.
• 2:31:28
  Speaker 50: Is there an agency that does that?
• 2:31:29
  Speaker 6: No, no, no, no, no, no. Always the doctor.
• 2:31:32
  Speaker 29: The doctor decides and depends on your decision, your condition, actually.
• 2:31:38
  Speaker 1: Yes, of course.
• 2:31:38
  Speaker 23: Yeah, yeah.
• 2:31:41
  Speaker 50: Well, I actually had a grandmother that passed away during
• 2:31:43
  Speaker 50: her hip replacement operation, so I'm well aware of those facts.
• 2:31:47
  Speaker 50: But again, we, I think, are kind of fearful of
• 2:31:50
  Speaker 50: the socialist system because the way that they meet are
• 2:31:54
  Speaker 50: out who's going to get. Does that make sense?
• 2:31:58
  Speaker 1: I think what he's saying, Anita, is that you have
• 2:32:01
  Speaker 1: doctors that are making determinations of whether or not a particular,
• 2:32:07
  Speaker 1: let's say, procedure here is warranted or not.
• 2:32:11
  Speaker 2: And so, Jim, thanks for your call.
• 2:32:14
  Speaker 1: I'm going to just let Anita say something here in
• 2:32:17
  Speaker 1: terms of how care might be given out. I mean, Anita,
• 2:32:22
  Speaker 1: can you reference like blood work, right? You were telling
• 2:32:27
  Speaker 1: me about the ability to get blood work. And I
• 2:32:33
  Speaker 1: think you referenced yesterday that at your age, and being
• 2:32:38
  Speaker 1: on the particular social insurance that you're on, that you
• 2:32:43
  Speaker 1: can only get sort of standard blood work, maybe your
• 2:32:47
  Speaker 1: blood counts and making sure your kidney function is fine
• 2:32:50
  Speaker 1: and your liver function is fine, every three years.
• 2:32:54
  Speaker 29: Yes, that's a new law since last year. It used
• 2:32:56
  Speaker 29: to be two years, every two years, the term. Now
• 2:32:59
  Speaker 29: it's three years.
• 2:32:59
  Speaker 2: And is that based on age?
• 2:33:01
  Speaker 1: What age does that start at?
• 2:33:02
  Speaker 6: No, it's no age limit.
• 2:33:04
  Speaker 37: No, no.
• 2:33:05
  Speaker 6: For everybody.
• 2:33:06
  Speaker 5: Okay.
• 2:33:07
  Speaker 1: So unless you had a problem, so maybe on a
• 2:33:10
  Speaker 1: screening blood test they found a problem and then maybe
• 2:33:12
  Speaker 1: you would be allowed to get blood work more often?
• 2:33:14
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 2:33:15
  Speaker 6: That's a doctor's decision again. That's the doctor's decision. No,
• 2:33:19
  Speaker 6: it's not the decision.
• 2:33:20
  Speaker 29: I mean, he can prove, okay, you have a problem here,
• 2:33:23
  Speaker 29: and then if you are sick, kind of, or he
• 2:33:26
  Speaker 29: finds that you have a problem, he's going to control it, certainly.
• 2:33:30
  Speaker 1: Okay.
• 2:33:30
  Speaker 3: Interesting.
• 2:33:31
  Speaker 6: That's not the problem. But in general, if you don't
• 2:33:34
  Speaker 6: have any... issues, it's every three years.
• 2:33:38
  Speaker 1: Okay. Interesting. I want to just read an email here
• 2:33:45
  Speaker 1: that we received from Todd, and this is a question
• 2:33:48
  Speaker 1: for you, Anita. And this is, you know, this is
• 2:33:52
  Speaker 1: a good question, I think. So, with your open borders, right,
• 2:33:59
  Speaker 1: in the EU now, what do the influx of Middle
• 2:34:03
  Speaker 1: Eastern immigrants... What do they pay for health insurance in Germany?
• 2:34:08
  Speaker 29: You mean like immigrants that just came over, like the
• 2:34:12
  Speaker 29: Ukraine or somebody like that? I just found out they
• 2:34:16
  Speaker 29: don't pay anything. Everything is covered by the system. That
• 2:34:21
  Speaker 29: means everyone who's paying into the social health system, like
• 2:34:28
  Speaker 29: the 90%, it's covered with this money. I mean, they
• 2:34:33
  Speaker 29: don't pay into the system, but they get everything out
• 2:34:36
  Speaker 29: of it. I mean, that's the basis they get. But
• 2:34:40
  Speaker 29: if they have, like, teeth problems or some other problems,
• 2:34:44
  Speaker 29: if they go to.
• 2:34:44
  Speaker 6: The doctor, it's covered.
• 2:34:48
  Speaker 1: And it's covered.
• 2:34:48
  Speaker 6: Nobody would tell them, go home, we don't care.
• 2:34:52
  Speaker 4: Okay.
• 2:34:52
  Speaker 1: Okay. So they— essentially, you're saying that— The immigrants that are
• 2:34:58
  Speaker 1: coming in, the refugees that are coming in.
• 2:35:00
  Speaker 3: Yes.
• 2:35:01
  Speaker 1: It's paid for.
• 2:35:02
  Speaker 3: Yes.
• 2:35:02
  Speaker 26: Okay.
• 2:35:03
  Speaker 2: How do you feel about that?
• 2:35:05
  Speaker 1: You're paying for it, girl.
• 2:35:07
  Speaker 25: Yes.
• 2:35:07
  Speaker 6: I think the problem is, you know, the costs that are.
• 2:35:12
  Speaker 29: It's a matter how you, I mean, the problem is
• 2:35:16
  Speaker 29: you have that in the same pot people pay into it.
• 2:35:20
  Speaker 29: The problem is that you can't see how much money
• 2:35:23
  Speaker 29: goes there. I mean, you need to help people like
• 2:35:26
  Speaker 29: that too, but I don't think it's okay to put
• 2:35:28
  Speaker 29: it like on the public, on the average, on everybody,
• 2:35:32
  Speaker 29: every German who's paying into the system, they just take
• 2:35:35
  Speaker 29: the money out of it. I think it should be
• 2:35:37
  Speaker 29: a different pot just to see how much is it.
• 2:35:41
  Speaker 29: But this is what nobody wants.
• 2:35:42
  Speaker 6: I don't know why. I mean, I don't understand. I
• 2:35:45
  Speaker 6: think it's not fear.
• 2:35:46
  Speaker 1: So interestingly, we actually looked at this question a little
• 2:35:51
  Speaker 1: bit last night. We talked about this.
• 2:35:53
  Speaker 13: Yes.
• 2:35:53
  Speaker 1: So I want to mention the numbers a little bit
• 2:35:56
  Speaker 1: to the audience.
• 2:35:58
  Speaker 25: Right.
• 2:35:58
  Speaker 1: So if a we're going to say a family of
• 2:36:04
  Speaker 1: four husband, wife, two children, children in the elementary and middle.
• 2:36:10
  Speaker 1: middle school age so preteen and teenage so these this
• 2:36:15
  Speaker 1: family is coming in and um initially actually even forever
• 2:36:22
  Speaker 1: is there a requirement for um the husband the wife
• 2:36:28
  Speaker 1: either one of those parents to work when they come
• 2:36:30
  Speaker 1: to your country.
• 2:36:32
  Speaker 29: Well, at first, if they're like refugees, they need to
• 2:36:36
  Speaker 29: get a certain status, the official status that are really refugees.
• 2:36:41
  Speaker 29: So as long as they don't have it, they are
• 2:36:45
  Speaker 29: not allowed to work.
• 2:36:47
  Speaker 5: Okay.
• 2:36:48
  Speaker 6: Which takes mostly, I think, at least half a year,
• 2:36:51
  Speaker 6: if not longer. I don't really know.
• 2:36:53
  Speaker 4: Okay.
• 2:36:54
  Speaker 29: But I know that they are not allowed to work.
• 2:36:56
  Speaker 29: which is not a very good idea either, I think.
• 2:36:59
  Speaker 29: But that's my personal opinion.
• 2:37:02
  Speaker 1: Okay, so the numbers that I saw in terms of
• 2:37:05
  Speaker 1: this family, this hypothetical family of four, is the equivalent
• 2:37:11
  Speaker 1: that they are receiving from the German social system, which
• 2:37:16
  Speaker 1: would include health insurance coverage on the social or public option,
• 2:37:22
  Speaker 1: is essentially... 500 euro per person. So the amount exceeds 2,000
• 2:37:31
  Speaker 1: euro per month that this family, hypothetical family of four,
• 2:37:37
  Speaker 1: is receiving from the German government.
• 2:37:39
  Speaker 2: Does that sound about right?
• 2:37:42
  Speaker 6: Yeah, yeah, it sounds good.
• 2:37:44
  Speaker 29: But don't forget, they have their housing rights, They get
• 2:37:49
  Speaker 29: it for free.
• 2:37:50
  Speaker 6: I mean, for free, it's submitted.
• 2:37:53
  Speaker 29: Or as long as they are, once they are refugees
• 2:37:56
  Speaker 29: and they have everything else, they get a washing machine.
• 2:37:59
  Speaker 29: I think they even are able to get the TV
• 2:38:03
  Speaker 29: and stuff like that.
• 2:38:04
  Speaker 6: As far as.
• 2:38:05
  Speaker 29: I'm concerned, I'm not working in the government. But I
• 2:38:08
  Speaker 29: know that people know that.
• 2:38:09
  Speaker 6: That's common.
• 2:38:10
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I think the numbers that I'm quoting... It's maybe
• 2:38:14
  Speaker 1: even more than € 500 per month. I think the total
• 2:38:19
  Speaker 1: package was maybe € 2, 300, € 2, 400. Again, think of it as
• 2:38:25
  Speaker 1: equivalent to a dollar, right? So, $ 2, 400 a month, and
• 2:38:32
  Speaker 1: you have been received with opened arms, with reasonable insurance.
• 2:38:39
  Speaker 1: You're given housing and you're receiving essentially some type of
• 2:38:44
  Speaker 1: subsidy for groceries and schooling. Schooling, of course.
• 2:38:50
  Speaker 6: Language courses.
• 2:38:51
  Speaker 4: Okay. Okay.
• 2:38:52
  Speaker 13: Wow.
• 2:38:54
  Speaker 3: Wow.
• 2:38:55
  Speaker 13: Wow.
• 2:38:56
  Speaker 1: Folks, we're talking. It's Dr. Mary Powell here on 94.9
• 2:38:59
  Speaker 1: News Now and Stimulating Talk.
• 2:39:01
  Speaker 2: I'm talking to Anita Kraminsky, who's a nurse.
• 2:39:03
  Speaker 1: In germany uh this is a global program anita follows
• 2:39:07
  Speaker 1: the lee elsie show on instagram i mean do you
• 2:39:09
  Speaker 1: guys love this or what this is fantastic um so
• 2:39:13
  Speaker 1: interesting what an interesting conversation um we're having here we're
• 2:39:16
  Speaker 1: happy to take your calls 860-464-9490 we are approaching the
• 2:39:22
  Speaker 1: top of the hour we only um we only have
• 2:39:24
  Speaker 1: a couple more minutes but um what else do you
• 2:39:28
  Speaker 1: want to talk about today what's coming up in germany
• 2:39:30
  Speaker 1: here at the end of the week Right?
• 2:39:32
  Speaker 2: September 19th is what?
• 2:39:34
  Speaker 1: You guys, we opened this hour with a little bit
• 2:39:36
  Speaker 1: of German music.
• 2:39:37
  Speaker 2: I mean, did you love that or what?
• 2:39:38
  Speaker 1: I did.
• 2:39:40
  Speaker 25: Me too.
• 2:39:41
  Speaker 1: I'm not fluent in German.
• 2:39:43
  Speaker 2: I dabble in it. I understand it. I understand enough
• 2:39:46
  Speaker 2: to make trouble.
• 2:39:47
  Speaker 1: That's for sure.
• 2:39:48
  Speaker 2: But what's coming up at the end of this week
• 2:39:50
  Speaker 2: in Germany?
• 2:39:51
  Speaker 29: As I grew up and I'm coming from the area
• 2:39:54
  Speaker 29: of Munich, it's the Oktoberfest.
• 2:39:56
  Speaker 4: Yes.
• 2:39:57
  Speaker 6: So we are looking forward to it.
• 2:39:59
  Speaker 29: I mean, it's crazy and it's stressful, but we are
• 2:40:02
  Speaker 29: looking forward to it.
• 2:40:04
  Speaker 2: So you kind of split your time.
• 2:40:07
  Speaker 1: You're in Munich. You're in more southern Bavaria in kind
• 2:40:10
  Speaker 1: of a mountain town called Schledorf. Tell people that don't know,
• 2:40:15
  Speaker 1: I mean, I hope people know what the Oktoberfest is.
• 2:40:17
  Speaker 1: I've been there three, four times in my trips to Germany.
• 2:40:20
  Speaker 1: No further conversation on that. But tell people about how
• 2:40:24
  Speaker 1: long does the Oktoberfest last and, I mean, what is
• 2:40:26
  Speaker 1: it like? What do people wear? What do they eat?
• 2:40:29
  Speaker 1: Or what do they drink?
• 2:40:31
  Speaker 29: In the meantime, I think the food is very good.
• 2:40:35
  Speaker 6: It's excellent.
• 2:40:36
  Speaker 1: What are you eating there?
• 2:40:38
  Speaker 6: It depends on which tent you are there.
• 2:40:40
  Speaker 29: I mean, you can eat the Bavarian food like a chicken,
• 2:40:43
  Speaker 29: roasted chicken.
• 2:40:44
  Speaker 6: You eat an ox, right? Ox. There's one tent that
• 2:40:50
  Speaker 6: is specialized in oxes, right?
• 2:40:54
  Speaker 1: Oh, you mean, what's it called? On the knuckle.
• 2:40:58
  Speaker 6: Yeah.
• 2:40:59
  Speaker 3: No, no, no.
• 2:41:00
  Speaker 1: Haxen.
• 2:41:01
  Speaker 16: Oh, Haxen.
• 2:41:01
  Speaker 6: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 2:41:03
  Speaker 29: It's all typical Bavarian food. It's also a little bit,
• 2:41:06
  Speaker 29: it changed a little bit. Like, you know, times changed,
• 2:41:09
  Speaker 29: but you get everything there. And now, the last few years,
• 2:41:13
  Speaker 29: the breweries started, I mean, they started many years ago,
• 2:41:17
  Speaker 29: non-alcoholic beer, which you can drink in the meantime.
• 2:41:21
  Speaker 6: You couldn't at the beginning. Right. And this really increases.
• 2:41:25
  Speaker 2: You mean you couldn't drink it before because of the taste?
• 2:41:27
  Speaker 6: When they started, yeah, it was awful.
• 2:41:28
  Speaker 1: Nobody drank it.
• 2:41:29
  Speaker 2: But now it's pretty good?
• 2:41:30
  Speaker 29: Now there are quite some good beer types that you
• 2:41:34
  Speaker 29: don't even taste.
• 2:41:35
  Speaker 6: You like it.
• 2:41:35
  Speaker 1: You would like it. Alcohol-free, right? Alcohol-free. Alcohol-free.
• 2:41:39
  Speaker 3: Interesting.
• 2:41:40
  Speaker 2: Okay, we should all kind of be going more towards that.
• 2:41:42
  Speaker 32: Anyway, right?
• 2:41:44
  Speaker 25: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 2:41:45
  Speaker 2: But how long does the Oktoberfest last?
• 2:41:47
  Speaker 6: Two weeks, three weekends. Until the... Fourth this year.
• 2:41:51
  Speaker 1: Oh, until the 4th of October.
• 2:41:53
  Speaker 13: Yeah.
• 2:41:53
  Speaker 16: Okay.
• 2:41:54
  Speaker 1: So, wow, you're kind of missing the main two weeks
• 2:41:58
  Speaker 1: here of the Oktoberfest.
• 2:41:59
  Speaker 6: It doesn't matter.
• 2:42:00
  Speaker 1: Are you getting back there in time to hit.
• 2:42:02
  Speaker 6: It for a couple days? Yes, we do.
• 2:42:03
  Speaker 25: We do.
• 2:42:04
  Speaker 6: One or two times, maybe.
• 2:42:05
  Speaker 4: Really?
• 2:42:06
  Speaker 3: Okay.
• 2:42:06
  Speaker 42: All right.
• 2:42:07
  Speaker 13: All right.
• 2:42:07
  Speaker 1: Send pictures, all right?
• 2:42:08
  Speaker 28: I will.
• 2:42:08
  Speaker 2: We want to know about that, and.
• 2:42:10
  Speaker 1: Maybe we can get that out on the social media
• 2:42:12
  Speaker 1: with the Lee Elsie Network, and people can really see
• 2:42:15
  Speaker 1: what Oktoberfest is like, and we'll, you know, increase the...
• 2:42:19
  Speaker 1: Increase the tourism to Germany, right? It's a beautiful country, people.
• 2:42:24
  Speaker 1: It's amazing people. And, you know, my friend and her spouse,
• 2:42:29
  Speaker 1: they love America. They do.
• 2:42:32
  Speaker 2: They love America. They love coming here.
• 2:42:35
  Speaker 1: What do you love the most about coming to southeastern Connecticut?
• 2:42:39
  Speaker 29: I love that it's green, that it's on the ocean.
• 2:42:43
  Speaker 29: Mostly I love the people because they're so friendly. The Germans,
• 2:42:47
  Speaker 29: the Bavarians are a little bit grumpy sometimes, but that's
• 2:42:50
  Speaker 29: the way they are.
• 2:42:51
  Speaker 6: Once you know them better, they're not anymore. Absolutely.
• 2:42:54
  Speaker 2: But I love it.
• 2:42:55
  Speaker 6: They're so friendly.
• 2:42:57
  Speaker 1: It's coming back to the people, folks. Remember how we
• 2:42:59
  Speaker 1: kind of started this morning talking about people and your
• 2:43:02
  Speaker 1: values and what matters to you? I think this is
• 2:43:05
  Speaker 1: a good point for us to end. Listen, My true
• 2:43:10
  Speaker 1: honor to be here today hosting for three hours. My
• 2:43:13
  Speaker 1: day started early. We made it. One cup of coffee only.
• 2:43:16
  Speaker 1: I'm ready for my second. It's 94.9 News Now and
• 2:43:19
  Speaker 1: Stimulating Talk, the Lee Elsie Show. My name is Dr.
• 2:43:23
  Speaker 2: Mary Powell St.
• 2:43:24
  Speaker 37: Louis.
• 2:43:24
  Speaker 1: You can just call me Dr. Mary. It's a little
• 2:43:26
  Speaker 1: easier that way. And we'll catch you again sometime down
• 2:43:31
  Speaker 1: the road.
• 2:43:32
  Speaker 28: Bye-bye.