Latest / The KFAB Comment Line with Jean Stothert / Ralson Mayor Don Groesser 6-26-26
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: I am your host, Jean Stothard. Peyton Hilock, my producer,
- 0:03Speaker 1: is also here. Good morning, Good morning, Gene, and thank
- 0:06Speaker 1: you all for being with us today. We want to
- 0:09Speaker 1: hear from you. We want to get your feedback. We
- 0:11Speaker 1: want to hear your comments, concerns, questions, complaints, anything goes.
- 0:15Speaker 1: We won't back away from anything, whether it's city, state, national,
- 0:19Speaker 1: the world, and we will have great guests. We have
- 0:22Speaker 1: a great guest this morning, but of course you are
- 0:25Speaker 1: going to hear plenty of opinions from me. It is
- 0:28Speaker 1: your chance to speak up and sound off. You can
- 0:30Speaker 1: send your emails to comment at kfab dot com, or
- 0:33Speaker 1: you can call us at four two five five eight
- 0:36Speaker 1: eleven ten. We are happy that you are with us. Peyton,
- 0:39Speaker 1: I didn't think I was gonna make it here today.
- 0:41Speaker 1: I was behind a little old grandma again on Underwood,
- 0:45Speaker 1: going twenty miles an hour. And I could say that
- 0:47Speaker 1: because I am a little old grandma too, but I
- 0:50Speaker 1: don't go twenty miles an hour down Underwood. She was
- 0:53Speaker 1: driving me crazy. But I did make it here, and
- 0:56Speaker 1: thank goodness because meor Don Grosser is here. Good morning monic.
- 1:01Speaker 1: And guess what, Peyton, what would that be. It's Mayor
- 1:05Speaker 1: Grocer's birthday to day. It's your birthday today. Happy birthday, Mayor.
- 1:09Speaker 1: And what better of the start of his birthday day
- 1:12Speaker 1: than spending it here at.
- 1:15Speaker 2: This morning. We're excited. I appreciate it.
- 1:17Speaker 1: Well. I hope your day even gets better after this
- 1:20Speaker 1: show today. But you know, I've known you, Mayor Grocer
- 1:23Speaker 1: for probably sixteen years now or so. But you have
- 1:27Speaker 1: been the mayor of Ralston. You were you sit for
- 1:32Speaker 1: thirty years? Is that correct? You were first elected mayor
- 1:35Speaker 1: in nineteen ninety six.
- 1:37Speaker 2: Nineteen ninety six. Yeah, I've served eight terms. In the
- 1:41Speaker 2: middle of my eighth term right now on it'll be.
- 1:44Speaker 1: Two if believable, you know what I can't of course
- 1:48Speaker 1: you all you are. You're only as old as you
- 1:50Speaker 1: as you feel, right, and you were. I gotta say,
- 1:53Speaker 1: you're eighty four years old today, and boy you do
- 1:55Speaker 1: not look like that at all.
- 1:57Speaker 2: Thank you.
- 1:57Speaker 1: But you know what, thirty years. I don't even remember
- 2:01Speaker 1: who was mayor before you because you've been mayor so long.
- 2:05Speaker 2: Bob eccalls, that's right, that's right.
- 2:08Speaker 1: Yeah, the name is very very familiar. But Mayor Grocers
- 2:12Speaker 1: a wife, Deborah Grocer, she's an artist. I will say
- 2:16Speaker 1: you have been a founding member of the Ralston Community Foundation,
- 2:19Speaker 1: of the Ralston Sports Commission. Boy, do you know the
- 2:22Speaker 1: history of Ralston too? And let's let's let's talk about
- 2:26Speaker 1: first of all, a little bit about Ralston, and then
- 2:28Speaker 1: I want to talk have you talked about so much
- 2:30Speaker 1: going on in that area, especially along seventy second Street
- 2:34Speaker 1: in the I looked up the twenty twenty cents. It's
- 2:36Speaker 1: that said to your population was six four hundred and
- 2:39Speaker 1: ninety four. I'm sure it's over the seven thousand now,
- 2:41Speaker 1: is correct?
- 2:42Speaker 2: It's pretty close. I think we were sixty eight hundred.
- 2:45Speaker 1: Okay, so so growing a bit, growing a bit.
- 2:48Speaker 2: But yeah, we'll never get to the ten thousand rules
- 2:51Speaker 2: you know you have to worry about that.
- 2:53Speaker 1: Well, thank goodness for that.
- 2:54Speaker 2: Thank goodness for huh. But you know we're growing and
- 2:57Speaker 2: we're going to be developing a lot of new apartments.
- 3:01Speaker 1: Yes, we'll talk about that. But I would consider Ralston,
- 3:05Speaker 1: would you consider it a suburb of Omaha. I mean,
- 3:07Speaker 1: you're surrounded by the city of Omaha and to the
- 3:10Speaker 1: south le Vista, so you are basically part of the
- 3:12Speaker 1: Omaha metro.
- 3:13Speaker 2: We are and we call ourselves Independence City because we're independent.
- 3:18Speaker 1: From and you want to stay that way?
- 3:22Speaker 2: We do, yes, we do, but and we work hard together.
- 3:25Speaker 2: You know, when you were a mayor and I go
- 3:28Speaker 2: all the way back to hal Doab Mike Faye, you know,
- 3:31Speaker 2: subtle you and.
- 3:34Speaker 1: And now that Dorensky. Yeah, that's a little bit before
- 3:40Speaker 1: before me. But you know, just historically. I was reading
- 3:43Speaker 1: about Ralston last night, but I read that in the
- 3:46Speaker 1: seventeen and eighteen hundreds it was used as a hunting
- 3:49Speaker 1: ground by Native Americans. I thought that was quite interesting.
- 3:53Speaker 1: And then it says in eighteen eighty two the land
- 3:55Speaker 1: was deeded to the school district and the very first school.
- 4:00Speaker 2: Am I teaching you something to think? I don't know
- 4:03Speaker 2: what I've gone back there.
- 4:04Speaker 1: Very first school was built in Ralston, right where Mainland
- 4:07Speaker 1: Park is in eighteen eighty eight. Now how about that? Now,
- 4:11Speaker 1: I want to talk about something that I had questions
- 4:14Speaker 1: about all the time I was mayor, because I really
- 4:18Speaker 1: believed in a real aggressive annexation and I was really
- 4:21Speaker 1: looking at the unincorporated areas in the SIDS, mostly out
- 4:25Speaker 1: in western Omaha. But it seems like every year when
- 4:27Speaker 1: we were coming up with an annexation plan. People would say,
- 4:31Speaker 1: you're not going to annex Ralston, are you? And I
- 4:33Speaker 1: would always say I have, I wouldn't even consider it.
- 4:37Speaker 1: I'm not looking at freestanding communities. I'm looking at, like
- 4:41Speaker 1: I said, unincorporated sids within the Douglas County. But there
- 4:47Speaker 1: was a gentleman's agreement that everybody kept on bringing up
- 4:51Speaker 1: to me. That was back when Wendell krom with Wendell
- 4:55Speaker 1: Kromberg Cromberg, and it was called a gentleman's agreement. You
- 5:00Speaker 1: want to explain what that was.
- 5:01Speaker 2: Well, in nineteen sixty four, Omaha was coming up to
- 5:05Speaker 2: Ralston and they wanted to annexes. So when the Kronberg
- 5:08Speaker 2: got with the mayor and the two attorneys, and part
- 5:11Speaker 2: of the story talks about a smoke filled room, you
- 5:14Speaker 2: know in the back.
- 5:15Speaker 1: Oh, I love those stories with the cigars and the.
- 5:19Speaker 2: Anyway, they ended up making agreements that hey, if you
- 5:21Speaker 2: escape over Ralston, why we promise we won't grow. And
- 5:26Speaker 2: so that's how that's how to end up working. And
- 5:29Speaker 2: it's still and so every time we get a new
- 5:31Speaker 2: mayor of Omaha, I go down and remind them of.
- 5:33Speaker 1: That gentleman it don't take us no, and I don't.
- 5:38Speaker 1: I don't. I just don't see that happening at all.
- 5:40Speaker 1: But I did read that you described Ralston as a
- 5:43Speaker 1: small town with a spirit of independence. And I really
- 5:47Speaker 1: like that because we'll talk about it later. But your
- 5:50Speaker 1: big celebration that you always have to celebrate, Independence Day
- 5:53Speaker 1: is coming up July third and fourth, but you don't
- 5:57Speaker 1: call it the fourth of July Independence. I know it,
- 6:00Speaker 1: and I like that, and you do that for a reason.
- 6:02Speaker 2: We do yees because we're independent, that's right.
- 6:04Speaker 1: You know, we're celebrating the US independence, but you also
- 6:08Speaker 1: are independent. And you know that if you go straight
- 6:10Speaker 1: down Q Street, you run right into Ralston where that
- 6:14Speaker 1: big sign is with your name on it. I guess
- 6:16Speaker 1: they hadn't had to change that sign a lot of money,
- 6:19Speaker 1: I know, because it says mayor Don Grosser. It's just
- 6:22Speaker 1: it's a permanent fixture right there. I'll have to ask
- 6:24Speaker 1: you is there another term in the future.
- 6:28Speaker 2: He doesn't want to that. Well, you know, it really
- 6:31Speaker 2: depends a lot on my health.
- 6:32Speaker 1: I know, I know how that goes, and you know you.
- 6:35Speaker 2: I feel great today. I'm running hard and we got
- 6:38Speaker 2: a lot of stuff going on. Well, you look good
- 6:40Speaker 2: and it's you know, it's just a blessing to be
- 6:42Speaker 2: able to serve and to work with the people of Rolston.
- 6:45Speaker 1: And I know how it is to be and mayor.
- 6:47Speaker 1: A lot of times, you really, you really want to
- 6:49Speaker 1: finish what you started. You know you have right now
- 6:52Speaker 1: and we're going to get into that right now. There's
- 6:54Speaker 1: so much going on in Ralston and you have been
- 6:57Speaker 1: part of every single bit of it, and you just
- 7:00Speaker 1: keep on thinking, I want to stay on to finish
- 7:02Speaker 1: what I started. But you know that could be an
- 7:03Speaker 1: eternity because as a mayor, you just keep on doing things.
- 7:07Speaker 2: Well, if you don't, you might as well quit pack
- 7:10Speaker 2: it up.
- 7:10Speaker 1: Because that's really your job. So let's talk about boy
- 7:14Speaker 1: oh boy. I drove down seventy second yesterday as preparing
- 7:19Speaker 1: for you to come on this show today because I
- 7:21Speaker 1: hadn't really driven in that area for a little bit.
- 7:24Speaker 1: The work going on on seventy second Street. In fact,
- 7:28Speaker 1: part of seventy second Street is missing right now. I
- 7:31Speaker 1: mean there's great road construction going on right now. Talk
- 7:35Speaker 1: to everybody and describe what is going on on seventy
- 7:38Speaker 1: second Street, and you know what it's creating. Their job opportunities,
- 7:42Speaker 1: new businesses. Talk about the economic development.
- 7:45Speaker 2: Yeah, so that the bridge that went over l Street
- 7:48Speaker 2: and seventy second they're taking that out and that'll be
- 7:51Speaker 2: done and should be done at the fall. And so
- 7:55Speaker 2: then minards came in and then we had the of
- 7:58Speaker 2: course everybody's probably not everybody. Lots of people have played
- 8:01Speaker 2: at the Ralston golf Course, like the golf course and
- 8:04Speaker 2: it went bankrupt in two thousand and eight and then
- 8:08Speaker 2: so that was during the depression with the economy and everything.
- 8:12Speaker 2: So we ended up building an arena and gotting a
- 8:16Speaker 2: kickback tax out of the state legislature and turn back tax,
- 8:20Speaker 2: turnback tax, okay, and so we we that's paying for
- 8:23Speaker 2: the arena. So it'll be amazing. But the arena will
- 8:26Speaker 2: be paid off in another eight years.
- 8:28Speaker 1: That is great. The arena opened in twenty twelve, twenty twelve, okay,
- 8:33Speaker 1: and it was formally called the Ralston Arena. It now
- 8:36Speaker 1: has a big sign saying Liberty First Credit Union Arena.
- 8:39Speaker 2: Yeah. They paid us a little bit of money, okay,
- 8:42Speaker 2: a nice little chunk to put their name on it,
- 8:44Speaker 2: which is you know, really really good. And now outside
- 8:49Speaker 2: our Ralston Arena on Pea Stree right there in front
- 8:52Speaker 2: where we get some new development going on there, and
- 8:55Speaker 2: it's going to be a new Chipolti and a seven
- 8:58Speaker 2: Brew coffee.
- 8:59Speaker 1: And there's a lot of new restaurants that I noticed
- 9:01Speaker 1: that I wasn't even aware of when I.
- 9:04Speaker 2: And Maria's and uf and uh, you know, just a
- 9:08Speaker 2: lot of great.
- 9:09Speaker 3: Maria's, can I just say real quick? And Maria's Mexican
- 9:12Speaker 3: restaurant that is the best. Everybody says the best.
- 9:15Speaker 1: I know. Everybody knows about it, everybody it's been there
- 9:18Speaker 1: a long time though.
- 9:19Speaker 2: Area is still alive, bless her heart, really and she
- 9:22Speaker 2: was actually the Prade Marshal about five or six years ago.
- 9:24Speaker 2: But Michael Sands, her grandson, runs it and he's also
- 9:28Speaker 2: got Moo Laws over there and he does a great job.
- 9:31Speaker 1: That's great. But I just noticed a lot of new businesses,
- 9:35Speaker 1: a lot of like restaurants and things. And that's what
- 9:37Speaker 1: you you typically see around an arena. Now, your arena
- 9:43Speaker 1: is basically a sports and events center. Talk about the arena.
- 9:47Speaker 1: What what do you do in that arena? Or is
- 9:49Speaker 1: it still the home of the Omaha Answers?
- 9:51Speaker 2: Is still the Lancers in the Omaha beef okay and
- 9:54Speaker 2: uh then we also have a lot of concerts. We
- 9:57Speaker 2: have some more concerts which just phenomenal concert We've had
- 10:01Speaker 2: a lot of good bands in. So we have two
- 10:03Speaker 2: sheets of ice and the Omaha Hockey Association uses it.
- 10:07Speaker 2: It is busy twenty four to seven.
- 10:10Speaker 1: Well, that's having that sheet of ice really is a benefit.
- 10:13Speaker 2: And we have two sheets of ice, so it's really
- 10:16Speaker 2: a great asset to our community. We get over two
- 10:20Speaker 2: hundred and fifty to three hundred thousand people coming to
- 10:22Speaker 2: our front door every year, and you know, we want
- 10:25Speaker 2: to take advantage of those people and that's what's helped
- 10:28Speaker 2: spur the whole development of our industry.
- 10:30Speaker 1: Well, I've been in that arena many times and it
- 10:33Speaker 1: is it's a beautiful facility, it really is, and it's
- 10:35Speaker 1: it's a it's a good size. What is the seating
- 10:38Speaker 1: capacity four thousand about four thousand, so for smaller events
- 10:42Speaker 1: but still a lot of people coming in. It's a
- 10:44Speaker 1: perfect size. Can you talk a little bit about in
- 10:47Speaker 1: the very beginning it was going to be the home
- 10:50Speaker 1: of the Omaha Mavericks.
- 10:53Speaker 2: Uh, yes, it was good and they did play there.
- 10:58Speaker 2: They played basketball there and I worked for trev Alberts
- 11:01Speaker 2: to try to get him convinced to go ahead in
- 11:03Speaker 2: for a couple of years.
- 11:05Speaker 1: Yeah, okay, him to come over, Okay, And then they
- 11:08Speaker 1: built Baxter Area and that that's when the change happened.
- 11:12Speaker 1: So I know there was a lot of private philanthropic
- 11:15Speaker 1: dollars that went into that Baxter Arena and it's been
- 11:17Speaker 1: used for other things, quite a few other things too.
- 11:20Speaker 1: What's the capacity for Baxter do you?
- 11:22Speaker 2: I think it's about five it's a little bit bigger.
- 11:24Speaker 1: Than a little bit bigger. So even though that didn't
- 11:28Speaker 1: work out because Baxter was built, you still are busy
- 11:31Speaker 1: there and you would consider that arena very successful.
- 11:34Speaker 2: Very successful. Okay. We've had the Omaha Lancers since the
- 11:37Speaker 2: very beginning, and then the Omaha Beef came there too. Okay,
- 11:42Speaker 2: everything closed downtown.
- 11:43Speaker 1: Okay, And you have concerts there, you have events there.
- 11:46Speaker 1: So what about apartments?
- 11:50Speaker 2: Is there?
- 11:51Speaker 1: Usually when you get that growth we know in Omaha.
- 11:55Speaker 1: I have people say that to me this all the time.
- 11:57Speaker 1: They'll say, why are you letting those developers build all
- 11:59Speaker 1: those apartments? You know there's apartments everywhere? And I will
- 12:02Speaker 1: tell people those developers are so smart and savvy. They're
- 12:05Speaker 1: not going to build them unless they're needed. In Omaha,
- 12:08Speaker 1: they fill up the minute they open the doors. Are
- 12:10Speaker 1: you building apartments down there? In Ralston?
- 12:13Speaker 2: We are. The Hillcrest Landing, which has been around since
- 12:15Speaker 2: nineteen sixty is really served this purpose over the years.
- 12:20Speaker 2: And where is that. That's right seventy sixth to Main. Okay,
- 12:23Speaker 2: and CFM Realty with JF. Carter and Ty Flangman are
- 12:28Speaker 2: building two hundred and ninety six units in there. And
- 12:32Speaker 2: then they also got twelve hundred and twenty five hundred
- 12:34Speaker 2: square foot of commercial space. Oh now it'll be underground
- 12:37Speaker 2: parking for the people that live there, so it'd be
- 12:40Speaker 2: very very nice. And then our first whole project was
- 12:45Speaker 2: a We called this the Hinge District and it goes
- 12:47Speaker 2: all the way from downtown to seventy second to the arena,
- 12:50Speaker 2: and that creates a hinge and l hinge kind of
- 12:53Speaker 2: a thing. And then so the greenery came in first,
- 12:58Speaker 2: and Bushwhacker and now it's guitars and cadillacs, and now
- 13:03Speaker 2: we're they're also so Lockwood is building one hundred and
- 13:08Speaker 2: sixteen units right next to the west side of the greenery.
- 13:13Speaker 2: So all of that is got fenced off and the
- 13:16Speaker 2: whole construction will start right now.
- 13:19Speaker 1: Okay, so they've they've purchased the land and they're ready
- 13:22Speaker 1: to get going. And guitars and Cadillacs. That's been there
- 13:25Speaker 1: for a while though, hasn't it.
- 13:26Speaker 2: No, Just a couple of cars. The Cadillacts used to
- 13:29Speaker 2: be up on Dodge Street and they left and now
- 13:33Speaker 2: they come back and they bought they bought the bushwhackers.
- 13:37Speaker 4: Then the other part of the second is what I
- 13:39Speaker 4: was thinking of, were there for a while, right, a
- 13:41Speaker 4: long time.
- 13:43Speaker 2: The other part of seventy second Street, all the way
- 13:45Speaker 2: from the railroad tracks across from builder Supply Triple A
- 13:50Speaker 2: Components was there and we ended up having we've torn
- 13:54Speaker 2: all that down and that's all going to be developed.
- 13:57Speaker 2: And I'm working with p J. Morgan, Ryan Ellis and
- 14:00Speaker 2: uh so we're that's all available and we're going to
- 14:03Speaker 2: start developing that too now. So the whole thing about development.
- 14:07Speaker 1: This is Don Grocer, the Mayor of Ralston, that is
- 14:10Speaker 1: with us today talking about lots of things going on
- 14:14Speaker 1: in Ralston. And you know, I love it that it
- 14:17Speaker 1: remains Ralston. It's it's it's a small community. It's you know,
- 14:20Speaker 1: it borders on Omaha, but you still have that real
- 14:24Speaker 1: community feel there and one of the things that I
- 14:28Speaker 1: loved every year. And we'll talk about development a little
- 14:32Speaker 1: bit more, but is your Independence Day celebration in your parade.
- 14:36Speaker 1: I've never seen so many people in my life that
- 14:39Speaker 1: come to your parade.
- 14:40Speaker 2: Well, no matter what the Mayor Seward says, and I
- 14:42Speaker 2: love the Mayor's Seward, but we have the biggest parade
- 14:45Speaker 2: in the state of Nebraska. Seward is known for their
- 14:48Speaker 2: you know, they're the fourth of July city in the state.
- 14:51Speaker 2: But yes, we do.
- 14:52Speaker 1: They call themselves that.
- 14:53Speaker 2: We're going to call Ralston that now we're independent cities.
- 14:58Speaker 2: We're good, but we do. You have a lot of
- 15:01Speaker 2: stuff going on a third we have a family street
- 15:04Speaker 2: dance on the main street and Lemon fresh Days is
- 15:07Speaker 2: playing at the Grain Rate, and then our fireworks is
- 15:11Speaker 2: going to go off at ten o'clock in front of
- 15:12Speaker 2: the arena. On the third, okay, and on the fourth
- 15:16Speaker 2: we have a fun run, children sprayed. We also are
- 15:20Speaker 2: going to dedicate a fountain, which we'll talk about in
- 15:24Speaker 2: a little bit. But then we have a parade at
- 15:26Speaker 2: one o'clock and then the Fire, Department of Water fights
- 15:29Speaker 2: and cool down party will start at three thirty.
- 15:32Speaker 1: And I've also heard you have a pie bakeoff.
- 15:35Speaker 2: Yes we do.
- 15:35Speaker 1: You need judges.
- 15:37Speaker 2: Well, the reason we have that is because I love pie.
- 15:41Speaker 1: I do too.
- 15:43Speaker 2: We gotta have a pie contest, not an eating contest,
- 15:46Speaker 2: but a baking.
- 15:47Speaker 1: I mean, this seems like a good old fashioned Fourth
- 15:49Speaker 1: of July celebration because you have a picnic, You have
- 15:51Speaker 1: a lot of family fun there for two days, for
- 15:55Speaker 1: the third and the fourth. If people want to come.
- 15:59Speaker 1: The big question all I says, where the heck do
- 16:01Speaker 1: I park?
- 16:02Speaker 2: Well, I think the best place to park this year
- 16:04Speaker 2: is going to be people just find a way to
- 16:06Speaker 2: park on the streets and just fill up the streets.
- 16:09Speaker 2: But the arena is probably the best way to park
- 16:11Speaker 2: down there, and can just walk over to the parade
- 16:13Speaker 2: on Main Street. That'll be really easy, probably the easiest.
- 16:18Speaker 2: But we do have a lot of parking on Park
- 16:20Speaker 2: Drive coming down from eighty fourth Street, there's a lot
- 16:23Speaker 2: of parks. We have overth three inner parking places though, okay, okay,
- 16:27Speaker 2: there's some good parking there also.
- 16:29Speaker 1: You know, I remember one year I've been in this
- 16:31Speaker 1: parade so many years, but I remembered one year. I
- 16:33Speaker 1: don't think I was even on the city council yet,
- 16:35Speaker 1: but I was. I was walking with Hal Dobb and
- 16:39Speaker 1: I remembered he was running for something. I don't remember,
- 16:42Speaker 1: but I remembered. It was so hot that day and
- 16:47Speaker 1: we were kind of in the back of the parade.
- 16:50Speaker 1: But I think the parade had started for over an
- 16:53Speaker 1: hour before we even moved. There is that many people
- 16:56Speaker 1: that are in that parade. Yeah, And there's fire trucks,
- 16:59Speaker 1: and there's from all over the place fire departments, and.
- 17:03Speaker 2: You know, we have I think we have somewhere around
- 17:06Speaker 2: ninety eight entries this year. Oh my good. It'll be
- 17:09Speaker 2: a great PRIs Oh yeah.
- 17:10Speaker 4: Yeah.
- 17:10Speaker 1: And it's always fun and safe and people are in
- 17:13Speaker 1: a good mood.
- 17:14Speaker 3: You know.
- 17:14Speaker 1: I've been in so many different parades, and I always
- 17:17Speaker 1: scratch my head when some of them it seems like
- 17:20Speaker 1: people are angry, they want to yell at people, especially
- 17:23Speaker 1: politicians in the parade. But I never felt that way
- 17:27Speaker 1: with your parade. It's a good time.
- 17:29Speaker 3: You know.
- 17:29Speaker 2: We're a small community. I grew up in Weeping Water,
- 17:31Speaker 2: a thousand people, and I just want that small town feel, yes, comfortable,
- 17:36Speaker 2: small town field.
- 17:36Speaker 1: And you've maintained that and you are what I would
- 17:39Speaker 1: consider a real hands on mayor. I would assume that
- 17:41Speaker 1: there's not one person in Ralston that doesn't recognize you
- 17:45Speaker 1: your face, know your wife, your family, know about everything
- 17:49Speaker 1: about you, and you know. Back in my story with
- 17:52Speaker 1: Ralston is back in two thousand and six, you are
- 17:55Speaker 1: in Legislative District twelve where I live in Omaha and Millard,
- 18:00Speaker 1: where I've lived for thirty three years. That is Legislative
- 18:04Speaker 1: District twelve. So I ran for the legislature in two
- 18:06Speaker 1: thousand and six. I walked all of Ralston. I walked
- 18:09Speaker 1: door to door and every I think I hit every
- 18:12Speaker 1: house in Ralston. There's a lot of hills, yes there is.
- 18:15Speaker 1: People don't realize it, but there's a lot of hills.
- 18:17Speaker 1: But it was so much fun. I really enjoyed doing
- 18:19Speaker 1: it because again I would have people say, hey, sit
- 18:22Speaker 1: down and have a glass of water, sit on my
- 18:24Speaker 1: front porch for a while, and so it's it's just
- 18:27Speaker 1: a really nice place to be and I think you
- 18:29Speaker 1: will all have a good time if you go to
- 18:31Speaker 1: that parade July third and fourth this year.
- 18:34Speaker 2: On the website website, it'll be and that.
- 18:36Speaker 1: Website is just city okay, and your theme, of course,
- 18:42Speaker 1: is going to be the two hundred and fiftieth I assume.
- 18:44Speaker 4: Now.
- 18:44Speaker 1: I drove through Ralston yesterday just to peak my memory
- 18:48Speaker 1: a little bit, tweak my memory, and there was a
- 18:51Speaker 1: fountain across from City Hall that was one of the
- 18:54Speaker 1: most beautiful things I've ever seen. Talk about that new
- 18:58Speaker 1: fountain well spectacular.
- 19:01Speaker 2: It is really the Zach Pond Service as the one
- 19:05Speaker 2: who put the thing in, and he just did a
- 19:07Speaker 2: phenomenal an artist, well, he does ponds and creates them,
- 19:13Speaker 2: and he wanted to create the He's going to be
- 19:16Speaker 2: in a competition, and he hopes this will win the competition.
- 19:20Speaker 3: Uh.
- 19:21Speaker 2: The actual fountain, so that'd be really.
- 19:24Speaker 4: Fun describe it because it's well, it's got three huge
- 19:27Speaker 4: bowls that water come out of and it just trickles
- 19:31Speaker 4: down and into a rock basin and he pulled you know,
- 19:35Speaker 4: there's there's plants and wood and just a beautiful creation.
- 19:40Speaker 2: And so he's really done a really good job. And
- 19:42Speaker 2: it lights up in at night and and it runs
- 19:46Speaker 2: three hundred and sixty five days a year.
- 19:47Speaker 1: That's what I find amazing.
- 19:49Speaker 2: So the forms ice all over it and the ice
- 19:53Speaker 2: and it but underneath the ice shell, it just the
- 19:56Speaker 2: water keeps running.
- 19:57Speaker 1: That's pretty amazing.
- 19:59Speaker 3: You know.
- 19:59Speaker 1: We have some fountains in Omaha, that one and by
- 20:02Speaker 1: Avenue one on one hundred and ninety second Dodge, that
- 20:05Speaker 1: great big fountain. It's really pretty too. But they do
- 20:09Speaker 1: turn that off in the winter, they do, believe. And
- 20:11Speaker 1: not to give anybody any bad ideas, but I remember
- 20:15Speaker 1: when that one one hundred ninety second Dodge first started,
- 20:18Speaker 1: somebody put bubbles in it. Don't do that, and there
- 20:22Speaker 1: were bubbles all over Dodge Street. It made so many
- 20:26Speaker 1: So like the National Mall, people are good, Lord, enjoy
- 20:31Speaker 1: the beauty of these things.
- 20:33Speaker 2: And you know, so we put in a new gazebo.
- 20:35Speaker 2: We got a three tiered seating. The grass isn't going
- 20:38Speaker 2: to be open because it hasn't rooted yet. There will
- 20:41Speaker 2: be a lot of sidewalks and everything. They're ready to go,
- 20:44Speaker 2: and we have a new veterans memorial around. We put
- 20:47Speaker 2: the flag around the bottom right at the base of
- 20:49Speaker 2: city Hall, okay, and every service is represented with a flag.
- 20:54Speaker 2: And in the middle we're going to put in a
- 20:55Speaker 2: flame and Littleton Halston is designing our flame for us
- 21:00Speaker 2: and it's going to be done by next mays.
- 21:02Speaker 1: Okay, so not for this here. And you have a
- 21:05Speaker 1: little park there that has some bronze statues, yeah, describe
- 21:10Speaker 1: that too.
- 21:11Speaker 2: There's a there was an Eagle Scout project by Lenda
- 21:15Speaker 2: Richard's son.
- 21:16Speaker 1: Oh really, I know Linda Richards. She's a good woman.
- 21:19Speaker 2: Yes. And so anyway, that's down there right across from
- 21:23Speaker 2: the greenery and everything. But so the front of city
- 21:28Speaker 2: Hall is all lit. We're going to it's just beautiful.
- 21:31Speaker 2: So and all of this happened because we had a
- 21:35Speaker 2: lady lived in town for her whole life. Her name
- 21:38Speaker 2: is LaDonna Johnson, and her family, her dad, mom and
- 21:42Speaker 2: everybody and her brother all lived in Ralston and grew
- 21:45Speaker 2: up in Ralston. And Loadonna was a piano teacher. And
- 21:48Speaker 2: when she passed away, she called me and she said,
- 21:51Speaker 2: you know, I want to do something for Ralston and
- 21:54Speaker 2: she blessed her heart. She ended up giving a city
- 21:56Speaker 2: seven and a half million dollars. Holy cow, I know.
- 21:59Speaker 2: And so we have used that, how generous, using it
- 22:03Speaker 2: multiple times to help this whole spur all this new
- 22:05Speaker 2: development that's going on. And the fountain isn't going to
- 22:09Speaker 2: be dedicated in her in her memory.
- 22:11Speaker 1: So Mayor Don Grocer from Ralston is with us. Did
- 22:14Speaker 1: she did she ask for a fountain or was that
- 22:18Speaker 1: your she wanted a fountain down there?
- 22:19Speaker 2: Okay, we ken of when we put the whole design
- 22:22Speaker 2: together what Ralston was going to be. Like we put
- 22:24Speaker 2: a lake down on seventy second Street, and she wanted
- 22:27Speaker 2: a fountain inside the lake, and and well they it
- 22:31Speaker 2: just didn't work out. You've planned for the best, but
- 22:35Speaker 2: whatever happens to developers, they helped tell you.
- 22:37Speaker 1: What plan for the worst and hope for the best.
- 22:39Speaker 1: That's what I always said.
- 22:40Speaker 2: So we got a fountain and we're going to dedicate
- 22:43Speaker 2: it to her, a dear woman.
- 22:45Speaker 1: Oh that sounds I mean, if you haven't driven through
- 22:49Speaker 1: Ralston Main Street and Wilston in a while, you have
- 22:51Speaker 1: to go by and see this fountain, or maybe you'll
- 22:53Speaker 1: see it if you're there for the Independence Day celebration.
- 22:56Speaker 1: And when did you say that the bridge, the L
- 22:59Speaker 1: Street seventy second.
- 23:00Speaker 2: Street grids will be to be October November?
- 23:03Speaker 1: Really?
- 23:03Speaker 2: Yeah?
- 23:03Speaker 1: Because I mean it is absent. I mean they're they're
- 23:07Speaker 1: a big hunk of the road just isn't there. They're
- 23:09Speaker 1: down to the dirt and they're grading it right now.
- 23:12Speaker 1: So what company is doing that?
- 23:15Speaker 4: Do you know?
- 23:15Speaker 2: I don't know that, Okay, an Omaha Project.
- 23:17Speaker 1: Yeah, well I know, yeah, I knew that. And you know,
- 23:21Speaker 1: Hawkins Construction one of my favorite construction companies. I always
- 23:24Speaker 1: talk about them. But they're doing a lot of work now.
- 23:27Speaker 1: They're doing the six's eighty right, and they're doing a
- 23:30Speaker 1: lot of the work on Pacific Street now if you
- 23:33Speaker 1: drive that little stretch. So I was wondering if Hawkins
- 23:35Speaker 1: was doing that too. But they do great work and
- 23:37Speaker 1: they're always on time. So that's what's so great about it.
- 23:40Speaker 1: Anything else any other development that you want to bring
- 23:42Speaker 1: up about what's going on in Ralston.
- 23:44Speaker 2: No, but I really think that the spurring of all
- 23:47Speaker 2: of this, uh new apartments and everything, it's really going
- 23:50Speaker 2: to start bringing new businesses into downtown. And that's what
- 23:53Speaker 2: we're looking for, is to bring in new businesses. And
- 23:56Speaker 2: we just opened up our first brewery and.
- 24:00Speaker 1: Will have to try that paint and I will have
- 24:01Speaker 1: to go try that. I know it's one yes, oh good.
- 24:04Speaker 2: And one of the other things we've done is we've
- 24:07Speaker 2: we've become a city of the Sorry we're going to
- 24:14Speaker 2: have a plane air festival. And we're Creative Arts District
- 24:18Speaker 2: and we apply to the state to become a creative
- 24:20Speaker 2: Arts district. So we've Ralston has a creative arts project. Now,
- 24:24Speaker 2: my wife's totally bald with it.
- 24:25Speaker 1: I was going to ask if your wife, Deborah, who
- 24:27Speaker 1: is an artist, is involved with that.
- 24:29Speaker 2: So she wrote the grant and we got a two
- 24:31Speaker 2: hundred and fifty thousand dollars grant and we're using that
- 24:34Speaker 2: money to create a plane air event. I don't know
- 24:37Speaker 2: what you've heard about a plane air festival.
- 24:39Speaker 1: No, explain that.
- 24:40Speaker 2: So we're going to bring in twenty five artists from
- 24:42Speaker 2: all around the United States. They're going to come in
- 24:46Speaker 2: for a week. It's it going to be September thirteenth
- 24:48Speaker 2: or the nineteenth, and they're going to paint all over town.
- 24:51Speaker 2: And we're going to go to Benson the Creative Arts
- 24:53Speaker 2: District in Dundee, and we're going to all cooperate together.
- 24:58Speaker 2: So you're going to see artists everywhere, all over, all
- 25:01Speaker 2: over Omaha, Ralston, everywhere.
- 25:03Speaker 1: That is really cool and I'm sure it's going to
- 25:05Speaker 1: get a lot of drive, a lot of interest too,
- 25:08Speaker 1: I hope, so yes, And.
- 25:09Speaker 2: Then it'll be a show at the end e where
- 25:11Speaker 2: you can buy all the paintings that's created that whole
- 25:13Speaker 2: week and we'll have it down at the Greenery and
- 25:16Speaker 2: it'll be on Friday night and Saturday.
- 25:17Speaker 1: Well, that'll be fun. And where can people find out
- 25:20Speaker 1: more information about this?
- 25:21Speaker 2: There's a website called www dot Heartland Planeair p l
- 25:28Speaker 2: e I n Air dot org. Okay ww heartlandplanair dot org.
- 25:34Speaker 1: Well, thank you so much, Mayor Don Grocer, Mayor of Ralston,
- 25:38Speaker 1: that is here today again, Happy birthday. I'm so glad
- 25:41Speaker 1: you're celebrating your birthday with us. If they want more
- 25:44Speaker 1: information about your great Ralston Independence Day celebration on July
- 25:49Speaker 1: third and fourth, once again, they can go to Wwwwcityfroston
- 25:54Speaker 1: dot com. And if you haven't been there before, I
- 25:56Speaker 1: think the Mayor is just inviting you all to go
- 25:58Speaker 1: because it is. It is a really good time and
- 26:01Speaker 1: wan yes a hundred thousand it is.
- 26:04Speaker 2: It is so much fun.
- 26:06Speaker 1: So once again, thank you for being with us. I
- 26:08Speaker 1: appreciate it and I can't wait to see what else
- 26:12Speaker 1: is happening in Ralston. It's kind of the place to
- 26:14Speaker 1: be right now, so I love it. Good luck and
- 26:17Speaker 1: congratulations too. Now I want to thank that the Mayor
- 26:20Speaker 1: of Ralston for joining the show this morning. Geane, that
- 26:23Speaker 1: was a really good guest idea. I really like Don Grocer.
- 26:26Speaker 1: Like I said, I've known him forever, but I think
- 26:28Speaker 1: the last I don't know how many mayors new him forever,
- 26:30Speaker 1: because he has been in office for thirty years.
- 26:34Speaker 3: That is amazing, fremendous.
- 26:36Speaker 1: Yeah, but you know, obviously people like him. He's doing
- 26:38Speaker 1: a good job and so they just keep on re
- 26:41Speaker 1: electing him. I don't even know if he has a
- 26:43Speaker 1: lot of opponents, you know, because he's done such a
- 26:45Speaker 1: good job and it's amazing that he is eighty four
- 26:48Speaker 1: years old to day. He looks good, he moves good,
- 26:51Speaker 1: he's a sharp man. Yeah, he looked well. He walked
- 26:53Speaker 1: up that big staircase here at KFA B Studios better
- 26:56Speaker 1: than I did. Yeah. So yes, he's doing.
- 26:58Speaker 3: Really good well, Geene, I got a lot one of
- 27:00Speaker 3: comments and responses to the interview on that first portion
- 27:05Speaker 3: of the show. Now I'm just going to run down
- 27:06Speaker 3: this real quick. I just wanted to say. This one
- 27:09Speaker 3: is from John. He said I really enjoyed listening. He
- 27:12Speaker 3: mentioned the apartments at Hillcrest Landing and it brought memories
- 27:15Speaker 3: of when my mother worked at the Headstead store in
- 27:18Speaker 3: the sixties. And then Scott emailed and said, love Ralston.
- 27:22Speaker 3: My mom spent her last few years there in an
- 27:25Speaker 3: apartment complex next to the Old Park in downtown.
- 27:28Speaker 1: Such great memories.
- 27:30Speaker 3: Darren says, thank you for the tip on Maria's Restaurant
- 27:34Speaker 3: during the Stouthirt show. Yeah, definitely checking that place out.
- 27:38Speaker 3: And let me tell you, amazing, amazing service, amazing food.
- 27:42Speaker 3: They're Margarita's are top tier. If that's your thing. Okay, Peyton,
- 27:47Speaker 3: let's go, and then here we go. I got a
- 27:50Speaker 3: call from Gary and he wanted to set the record straight, Gene.
- 27:53Speaker 1: Okay.
- 27:54Speaker 3: In nineteen seventy three, Nebraska Governor James Exen officially proclaimed Seward,
- 28:00Speaker 3: Nebraska as quote, Nebraska's official Fourth of July City. This
- 28:07Speaker 3: decree celebrated the continuous, large scale celebrations that date back
- 28:11Speaker 3: to eighteen sixty eight.
- 28:13Speaker 1: And you know what, Mayor Grocer said that He said
- 28:16Speaker 1: he actually said that, but that was in nineteen seventy
- 28:19Speaker 1: three too. Keep in mind, Mayor Grocer just said that
- 28:24Speaker 1: Seward was called the Fourth of July City, but he
- 28:28Speaker 1: wants to call Ralston the Independence Day city. So there's
- 28:34Speaker 1: a difference. He's not calling Ralston the fourth of July city.
- 28:38Speaker 1: But I think his independence is not only the US
- 28:41Speaker 1: independence from the British as a result of the revolutioninary War.
- 28:47Speaker 1: It's staying independent from Omaha to and so that's why
- 28:51Speaker 1: they're celebrating their independence too. But Mayor Grocer made that
- 28:54Speaker 1: very very clear. And like I said, when I ran
- 28:57Speaker 1: for the legislature in two thousand and six, which is
- 29:00Speaker 1: the other race I lost, I walk that hole that's
- 29:03Speaker 1: in Legislative District twelve, and I walked all of Ralston.
- 29:06Speaker 1: I think I knocked on every door in Ralston and
- 29:08Speaker 1: it's just a nice community. So I'm glad that he
- 29:12Speaker 1: was here and got to talk about all that development.
- 29:15Speaker 1: If you drive down seventy second Street in Ralston now
- 29:18Speaker 1: where the bridge is, it's gone. I mean, there isn't
- 29:20Speaker 1: any seventy second Street. It's just dirt right now. So
- 29:23Speaker 1: they're doing a lot of work which results in a
- 29:27Speaker 1: lot of growth. You know, yesterday Peyton, we were talking
- 29:31Speaker 1: about a lot about taxes. The day before I talked
- 29:35Speaker 1: a lot about the epic consumption tax and said why
- 29:39Speaker 1: I was not an advocate of it because the Tax Foundation,
- 29:43Speaker 1: all the analysis and the calculations really suggests that that
- 29:47Speaker 1: epic plan would require a statewide consumption tax of at
- 29:52Speaker 1: least twenty one point six percent, if not more. They
- 29:55Speaker 1: were trying to sell it as seven point five and
- 29:58Speaker 1: I did bring up I just and to clarify, no
- 30:01Speaker 1: state has ever abolished the property tax. It would make
- 30:04Speaker 1: Nebraska the first, so we don't have anything to compare
- 30:07Speaker 1: it with. But that is not to get confused of
- 30:10Speaker 1: what has been talked about for years on a national level,
- 30:15Speaker 1: a sort of a flat tax. And you know, it
- 30:19Speaker 1: would work completely differently if it would be throughout the US.
- 30:24Speaker 1: It would be a national movement. And I do not
- 30:28Speaker 1: have calculations on what that would be if it was
- 30:31Speaker 1: a national movement. My fear is if it was in
- 30:35Speaker 1: Nebraska only, and that is because we don't have anything
- 30:39Speaker 1: to base it on to look at what other states
- 30:41Speaker 1: have done. And you always learn from the you know,
- 30:44Speaker 1: from issues that happened with with anything that you know,
- 30:48Speaker 1: you learn how the bad things and the good things.
- 30:51Speaker 1: But I do think if it was one state only,
- 30:54Speaker 1: we definitely would get that issue of everybody in Nebraska
- 30:59Speaker 1: that lived on the borders would go to another state
- 31:02Speaker 1: to shop, they would go to another state to buy
- 31:04Speaker 1: a car, they might go to another state to buy
- 31:06Speaker 1: a house. If and it would be those that were
- 31:09Speaker 1: in the interior of the state that would bear the
- 31:12Speaker 1: burden of most of the higher taxes. So keep that
- 31:15Speaker 1: in mind. I just want to make sure cost of
- 31:17Speaker 1: government services would go up. I think that you know
- 31:21Speaker 1: there's whenever you hear something like this, just say hey,
- 31:25Speaker 1: we'll do away with your property tax, your state income tax,
- 31:28Speaker 1: your inheritance tax, and you'll only pay seven and a
- 31:31Speaker 1: half percent sales tax on everything. It's too good to
- 31:37Speaker 1: be true, and I think it definitely is with this.
- 31:39Speaker 1: I still want to hear what you all think about that.
- 31:42Speaker 1: See if you agree with me or not. Hel My
- 31:44Speaker 1: husband didn't agree with me what I was saying yesterday,
- 31:47Speaker 1: so you may not agree with me too on this.
- 31:49Speaker 1: And if you don't want to, we want to hear
- 31:52Speaker 1: about it from you too.
- 31:53Speaker 3: Geene, I don't know how much information you have about this,
- 31:56Speaker 3: but in reference to taxes, Judy sens and email yesterday
- 32:01Speaker 3: about inheritance tax, and she says Nebraska is one of
- 32:05Speaker 3: the few states that still have an inheritance tax. One
- 32:09Speaker 3: of five. Iowa phased out its inherent inheritance tax completely
- 32:15Speaker 3: as of January first, twenty twenty five. So that makes Nebraska, Kentucky, Maryland,
- 32:21Speaker 3: New Jersey, Pennsylvania only five states with the inheritance tax still.
- 32:26Speaker 1: And I'm telling you that's what Governor Pillen continues to say, Legislature,
- 32:32Speaker 1: let's get our act together and let's look at all
- 32:35Speaker 1: of these taxes that we have here in Nebraska and
- 32:38Speaker 1: let's get something done to make it more affordable. So again,
- 32:42Speaker 1: the governor has created a property tax hotline. I know
- 32:48Speaker 1: that you and Chris called it yesterday while you were
- 32:51Speaker 1: on the air. It's the governor's voice a recording and
- 32:55Speaker 1: he's saying, basically, leave a message, but a brief message,
- 33:00Speaker 1: message after he has a long message. So but I
- 33:04Speaker 1: think what his He's introducing this new website aiming to
- 33:08Speaker 1: solicit Nebraska's anger on rising valuations, to give people a voice,
- 33:14Speaker 1: and he said he hopes that this website will be
- 33:16Speaker 1: a catalyst for getting this important message across the state.
- 33:19Speaker 1: So got to giving credit, you know, you got to,
- 33:22Speaker 1: you got to you gotta let people talk. You got
- 33:24Speaker 1: to hear what their their opinions are on these things
- 33:27Speaker 1: and what's happening to them. But again I keep on saying,
- 33:31Speaker 1: the general cost of living in the state of Nebraska,
- 33:35Speaker 1: if you look at property values, the cost of living,
- 33:39Speaker 1: the sales tax itself, it's very low compared to many
- 33:43Speaker 1: many states, very low. You know, Louisiana sales tax. I
- 33:47Speaker 1: was just down there for the jazz festival. It's I mean,
- 33:52Speaker 1: you know, we're at we're at in Omaha, we're at seven.
- 33:55Speaker 1: The state is at five and a half. There's a
- 33:58Speaker 1: lot of other states. Texas is I think when I
- 34:01Speaker 1: lived in Texas, and I lived in Texas for nine years,
- 34:04Speaker 1: I lived in Galveston. Galveston Island is where I lived,
- 34:07Speaker 1: which is an island in the Gulf. Their sales tax
- 34:10Speaker 1: was over eight back when I lived there. So there's
- 34:13Speaker 1: a lot of states that their sales tax is nine
- 34:16Speaker 1: and a half, almost ten percent, and so ours is
- 34:19Speaker 1: at five and a half. And again we have billions
- 34:23Speaker 1: and billions of dollars of tax sales tax exemptions in
- 34:26Speaker 1: the state of Nebraska. That is what I think they
- 34:30Speaker 1: really need to look at too. But again, you will
- 34:32Speaker 1: go back to whose oxy you're going to go because
- 34:35Speaker 1: if you take away some of these exemptions, then somebody
- 34:39Speaker 1: else is going to pay more sales tax. It's just
- 34:41Speaker 1: the way it is and who's going to do it.
- 34:43Speaker 1: And one of those that gets a lot of sales
- 34:46Speaker 1: tax exemptions are the farmers, as far as equipment, as
- 34:49Speaker 1: far as fertilizer, as far as seed. There's a lot
- 34:52Speaker 1: of sales tax exemptions. And if any farmers are listening,
- 34:55Speaker 1: I want to hear your opinion on that too.
- 34:58Speaker 3: One segment left to go on the case fab comment
- 35:00Speaker 3: line here on a Friday four zero two five five
- 35:03Speaker 3: eight eleven ten comment at kfab dot com. Real quick here, Gene,
- 35:08Speaker 3: what is the phone number we can call when we
- 35:10Speaker 3: see someone standing on a median asking for money panhandling.
- 35:14Speaker 1: It's the Mayor's hotline, and I sure hope you get
- 35:18Speaker 1: a result, but it's four oh two four four four
- 35:21Speaker 1: five five five five. That's really the only number that
- 35:25Speaker 1: you can call. You could call the police, but I
- 35:27Speaker 1: wouldn't recommend calling a nine to one one for somebody
- 35:30Speaker 1: standing on a median. Now, there are certain medians in
- 35:33Speaker 1: town that some of the busiest that already has signs
- 35:35Speaker 1: on them that say there is no one is allowed
- 35:39Speaker 1: on this median. But it doesn't just say panhandling. Remember
- 35:43Speaker 1: that we were threatened to be taken to court if
- 35:46Speaker 1: we would restrict panhandling because the ACIL you jumped down
- 35:50Speaker 1: our throat and said it's free speech. So the City
- 35:53Speaker 1: of Omaha's ordnance says nobody, they don't even mention panhandling,
- 35:58Speaker 1: are homeless on media and they say no, you can't
- 36:00Speaker 1: be on there, Peyton, I can't be on there holding
- 36:02Speaker 1: a campaign sign. You can't be collecting for the Boy
- 36:05Speaker 1: Scouts or whatever. Nobody can be on these certain medians
- 36:09Speaker 1: and it's just based on safety. So you know some
- 36:12Speaker 1: medians they still they don't have any rules or regulations
- 36:16Speaker 1: that they can't be on there, but it is dangerous.
- 36:19Speaker 3: Jean Stauthard, my name is Peyton Hilock. Jacob emailed me
- 36:23Speaker 3: in the email inbox comment at kfab dot com. Just
- 36:26Speaker 3: wanted to say I absolutely love Mayor Jean's show every day.
- 36:29Speaker 3: I learned so much from it. I loved the interview
- 36:32Speaker 3: this morning with the Mayor of Ralston and what about
- 36:36Speaker 3: the mayor of Council Bluffs.
- 36:38Speaker 1: You know what I great line minds think alike, because
- 36:41Speaker 1: I just got her number. I got her number, but
- 36:45Speaker 1: I'm going to call her and ask her to come
- 36:47Speaker 1: on too, because I mean people in Council Bluffs, people
- 36:50Speaker 1: in Iowa listen to this show too. I think we
- 36:52Speaker 1: go all the way to Des Moines and I really
- 36:54Speaker 1: want to have her on there too. She I met
- 36:56Speaker 1: her once she was on the city council, but I
- 36:59Speaker 1: would love to have her on. So, Mayor of Council Bluffs,
- 37:02Speaker 1: if you are listening, I'm gonna be calling you now
- 37:06Speaker 1: tonight again. Scott was talking about this morning, but our
- 37:09Speaker 1: Memorial Park concert. Do you know just a little history
- 37:12Speaker 1: of this. It started in nineteen eighty seven, so this
- 37:17Speaker 1: has been going on for thirty nine years. And you
- 37:20Speaker 1: know some of the first guests listened to this and
- 37:23Speaker 1: eighty seven guess who the first guests were? The letterman.
- 37:27Speaker 1: Oh I bet you've never heard of him. Peyton No, okay,
- 37:30Speaker 1: I was looking at you with the blank stare figures.
- 37:32Speaker 1: And eighty eight Bobby Vinton, Oh boy, here we go.
- 37:35Speaker 1: The Beach Boys have been there. But you know, when
- 37:39Speaker 1: since I was mayor, we have had The Bank of
- 37:42Speaker 1: the West was the main sponsor. There was a lot
- 37:45Speaker 1: of people that put money into this. They pulled out
- 37:49Speaker 1: several years ago, and Philanthropy and Omaha we announced that
- 37:53Speaker 1: we weren't going to have a concert that year because
- 37:55Speaker 1: the city could not afford to put it on themselves.
- 37:57Speaker 1: Because it is a free concert and go and find
- 38:01Speaker 1: the talent and everything. Philanthropy called me and they said,
- 38:04Speaker 1: mm hmm, we want this to go on in Omaha.
- 38:07Speaker 2: And it did.
- 38:09Speaker 1: And there's a lot of private money that goes into
- 38:13Speaker 1: this event. Every year. It attracts about eighty thousand people.
- 38:19Speaker 1: I remember one time that they were even considering heaving
- 38:23Speaker 1: Jimmy Buffett here, and I bet you Jimmy Buffett would
- 38:25Speaker 1: have come, but they didn't think there was enough room
- 38:27Speaker 1: and Memorial Park because all the parrotheads would come. Wouldn't
- 38:30Speaker 1: have that a been gray? But you know, we have
- 38:32Speaker 1: had Roger recently, Melissa Ethridge rather Roger Daltrey, Sheryl Crow, Chris,
- 38:37Speaker 1: Isaac Stevie, Van's aunt, Kenny Loggins. I mean, so many
- 38:41Speaker 1: good people and it's smoky tonight. The national Anthem and
- 38:46Speaker 1: the welcome once again is at six thirty pm. Cake
- 38:49Speaker 1: and I don't know Cake, but Scott loves Cake and
- 38:53Speaker 1: I can't wait to hear him six forty five, Smokey's
- 38:56Speaker 1: on at eight thirty, and the best fireworks display you're
- 38:59Speaker 1: ever going to see at ten o'clock. Thank you for
- 39:02Speaker 1: all your generous donations, philanthropy, business community, and OLMAHA for
- 39:07Speaker 1: making this happen. And I will be there front and
- 39:10Speaker 1: center tonight. It's gonna be so much fun. I'm gonna
- 39:12Speaker 1: bring my husband, my daughter, my grandkids, my son in
- 39:15Speaker 1: law will all be there tonight, and I hope you
- 39:18Speaker 1: are too. But that is it for us today. Thank
- 39:20Speaker 1: you again for Rolston Mayor Don Groser for being with us,
- 39:24Speaker 1: and thank you all for spending this hour with us
- 39:26Speaker 1: and listening. We'd love for you to join us again
- 39:30Speaker 1: on Monday. We're gonna have some really good guests next
- 39:33Speaker 1: week too. I am Jean Stothard and this is eleven
- 39:37Speaker 1: ten Kayfabe