Latest / The KFAB Comment Line with Jean Stothert / Warren Buffett Steps down

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Warren Buffett Steps down · The KFAB Comment Line with Jean Stothert

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: I am your host, Gene Stothert and Peyton Highlock. My
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: producer is also here today. Good morning.
• 0:07
  Speaker 2: Good morning, Gene.
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: He's all bandaged up again. He likes to cook and
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: he has become a danger to himself. And so we
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: have got to watch when he starts cooking because today
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: he also has a bandaged finger, but it's another one.
• 0:20
  Speaker 3: Another bandage finger.
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: A different finger. It's a different finger. So we got
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: to watch Peyton very closely. But thank you all for
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: being here with us today. We want to hear from you.
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: We want to get your feedback. We want to hear
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: your comments, concerns, questions, complaints. Anything goes. City, state, national,
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: and the world, and the streetcar world. which we're going
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: to talk a little bit more about the streetcar today. And,
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: of course, you're going to have plenty of guests and
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: plenty of opinions from me, but it is your chance
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: to speak up and sound off. You could send your
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: emails to comment at kfab.com. You can call us at 402-558-1110,
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: or you can leave us a recorded message on the
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: talkback mic, and we will play it on the air
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: if it's clean. Just rarely we have to look at
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: some of these and say, hmm. I don't think that
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: would sound good on the air, but most of them
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: we will play on the air.
• 1:11
  Speaker 3: We are happy that you are with us today. We
• 1:13
  Speaker 3: had a good week.
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: We had Don Bacon on the other day, on Wednesday,
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: and that stirred up a lot of comments and questions
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: and people calling in because he did say on 9-11
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: with a recorded interview from PBS that he is mulling,
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: he used that word, over the possibility of running for
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: president of the United States. So Don was on, gave
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: his reason, his explanations, why he said that, what he's
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: planning on doing. And so that was really, really good. Yesterday,
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: we had my buddy Hal Dobb, former Mayor Hal Dobb.
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: He was on the show too. And we have been
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: giving away free passes to the Durham Museum all week long.
• 1:58
  Speaker 3: And we're going to do it again today.
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: But he had such a remarkable history of being involved
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: with the restoration of the Durham and also knowing so
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: much about that Byron Reed collection that we are giving
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: away tickets to see part of that collection. So anyway,
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: it's great to have Hal on too. Hal has got
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  Speaker 1: a mind like, you know, an encyclopedia. The things that
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  Speaker 1: he remembers are And the details he remembers, I think,
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: are pretty amazing. And I've said this before, he is
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: 85 years young. And, I mean, he is still going
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: 100 miles an hour. So if you have any other
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  Speaker 1: questions about that, comments, we didn't get to all of
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: them in the last couple days, so we're going to
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: try to do that today. Also got a lot of
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: other news out there to talk about. Warren Buffett did
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  Speaker 1: announce that he was stepping down As chairman of Berkshire Hathaway,
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: you know, several, not several years ago, January 20 of
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  Speaker 1: this year, it was January 26 when Greg Abel actually
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  Speaker 1: took over as president of Berkshire Hathaway. But Warren stayed
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: as chairman of the board. Warren is now 96 years
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  Speaker 1: old and he announced with a letter that he is
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  Speaker 1: stepping down, but he will still be chairman emeritus. and
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  Speaker 1: his son Howard, who Susie Buffett always calls Howie. I
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: think the family calls him Howard, but Howard Buffett will
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  Speaker 1: take over as chairman. But just yesterday on the news,
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  Speaker 1: they announced, I think it was the 20 richest people
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: in the world, and they did announce just yesterday morning,
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: I heard this, that currently Warren Buffett's net worth is
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  Speaker 1: $ 144 billion.
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  Speaker 4: Is that amazing?
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  Speaker 5: I mean....
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  Speaker 1: Good for him of his vision of what he created,
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  Speaker 1: of how many people that he employed. I mean, that's
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  Speaker 1: pretty amazing that Warren Buffett has a net worth of
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  Speaker 1: that and is from Omaha and is at 96 years old,
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  Speaker 1: still out there, still talking, still sending letters out. I mean,
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  Speaker 1: he's amazing, and so is their family. They've done a
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  Speaker 1: lot for Omaha, a lot that people don't realize. Because
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  Speaker 1: a lot of it is tied up in foundations, and
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  Speaker 1: a lot of the foundations really don't even want the
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  Speaker 1: Buffett name on there of the great things that they
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  Speaker 1: have done. And I know just recently we've talked about
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  Speaker 1: Susie and her foundation. Susie Buffett is Sherwood, and she
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  Speaker 1: is the one that contributed $ 5 million. to the Nebraska
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  Speaker 1: Enterprise Fund to help the businesses that are in hardship
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  Speaker 1: because of the streetcar construction. Not saying that Susie or
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  Speaker 1: Warren support the streetcar, because neither do. And they made
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  Speaker 1: it very clear, and I know that. But still, they care,
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  Speaker 1: and they care about Omaha. So that's pretty amazing for
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  Speaker 1: Warren to step down at age 96. I mean, how
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: many of us are still working at that age? And
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: I bet you he'll still continue going into the office
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  Speaker 1: every day. Yeah, thank you for saying that and bringing
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  Speaker 1: that up today, Gene.
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  Speaker 2: I heard that this morning, and I was like, man,
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  Speaker 2: I hate to hear that. And then I thought, well,
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  Speaker 2: he's 96. It's incredible that he was in that position
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  Speaker 2: for so long, so sharp. And Nebraska proud, Omaha proud.
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  Speaker 3: Absolutely.
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  Speaker 2: Always.
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  Speaker 1: Time for Warren to go to Margaritaville and kick his
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  Speaker 1: feet up and have a good time. But congratulations to
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: him and his family for all that you did. all
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  Speaker 1: have done for the city of Omaha and for the world, really. Yesterday, also,
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  Speaker 1: at the very end of the show, I was kind
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  Speaker 1: of ranting about Rosie, who I love, Jim Rose, about
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  Speaker 1: what he said about the streetcar, and I didn't get
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  Speaker 1: it all in, so I want to repeat myself a little,
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  Speaker 1: and I'm sure this is going to stir up a.
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  Speaker 3: Few emails, too. Excuse me.
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  Speaker 1: But what Rosie was saying, which I've talked to Rosie
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  Speaker 1: a million times, is he was calling it the $ 700
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  Speaker 1: million streetcar. And he was saying the math just doesn't
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  Speaker 1: work out that property taxes will have to be raised
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  Speaker 1: to pay for it. And I will counter him every
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  Speaker 1: time with that. Now, why he is saying $ 700 million
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  Speaker 1: is this, is he is saying the cost of the streetcar,
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  Speaker 1: which right now is $ 421 million. That's the cost of
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  Speaker 1: the streetcar. But he is adding in the cost of
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: the garage that is the 14-story garage on the first
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  Speaker 1: 14 stories of the new Mutual Tower downtown that the
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  Speaker 1: city of Omaha will be purchasing for $ 100 million. And
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  Speaker 1: then he's considering the interest that we will pay over
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  Speaker 1: the length of the time it takes to pay the
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  Speaker 1: bonds back. And point I was trying to make yesterday
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  Speaker 1: is you can't do that. You just can't count that interest.
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  Speaker 1: And so, you know, I mean, my analogy would be
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  Speaker 1: if you buy a $ 350, 000 house, Peyton, say you buy
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  Speaker 1: a $ 350, 000, did I say million?
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  Speaker 3: $ 350, 000 house. And if you have a 7% interest on.
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  Speaker 1: Over 30 years, the mortgage is going to cost about $ 840, 000.
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  Speaker 1: So when Peyton goes out and buys.
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  Speaker 3: A $ 350, 000.
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  Speaker 1: House on a 7% 30-year mortgage, he doesn't go out,
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  Speaker 1: nor should he go out and say, I just bought
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  Speaker 1: an $ 840, 000 house, because in 30 years, that is what
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  Speaker 1: I will pay in mortgage terms.
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  Speaker 3: With the interest rates. It's not how you look at it.
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  Speaker 1: The streetcar is still a $ 421 million.
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  Speaker 3: That's the bond cost estimate.
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  Speaker 1: However, the current projected new development, and it's already at
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  Speaker 1: over one and a half billion new development along the
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  Speaker 1: streetcar line, the projected new development over the next 15
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  Speaker 1: years is projected modestly to bring in about $ 3.
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  Speaker 5: 9 billion.
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  Speaker 1: $ 3. 9 billion in TIF revenue is about $ 940 million. So
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  Speaker 1: $ 940 million that the city of Omaha will get because
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  Speaker 1: of the development, and it's already happening, is more than
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  Speaker 1: enough to pay for the $ 421 million streetcar. The garage
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  Speaker 1: that the city is buying from Mutual of Omaha— and they
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: are buying it for about $ 100 million— And that sounds
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  Speaker 1: like a very expensive garage. But if the city can
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  Speaker 1: own and operate that garage, they pay for the garage
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  Speaker 1: with the revenue it produces. That's how we pay for
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  Speaker 1: all the garages. So the plan for the city is
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  Speaker 1: to purchase that garage in January of 2027. They use
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  Speaker 1: lease purchase bonds and redevelopment bonds. Those are 30-year bonds.
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  Speaker 1: And they will buy it with that and they will
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  Speaker 1: pay the bond debt off with the revenue that garage produces. Now,
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  Speaker 1: I know I've heard Rosie say before that's going to
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  Speaker 1: take a lot of people going into that garage to
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  Speaker 1: pay for enough revenue to pay the bond debt. However,
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  Speaker 1: Mutual of Omaha is going to be paying for the
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  Speaker 1: majority of it Monday through Friday in working hours because
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  Speaker 1: they will be leasing from the city every spot, every
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  Speaker 1: stall they need for their employees. And then on the
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  Speaker 1: nights and evenings, weekends, it'll open up for the city,
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  Speaker 1: and the city will manage it, and it'll be available
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  Speaker 1: for parking for all the events downtown. So that's how
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  Speaker 1: we pay for that garage. We're not paying for the
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  Speaker 1: garage with streetcar bonds. We're paying for that garage with
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  Speaker 1: bonds that will be paid for, the debt will be
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  Speaker 1: paid for with the revenue that garage produces. So you
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  Speaker 1: can't count that. So take that $ 100 million out. So
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  Speaker 1: we're still at a streetcar at $ 421 million. The city
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  Speaker 1: council authorized up to $ 440 million. They authorized up to
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  Speaker 1: $ 440 million in bond financing for the streetcar.
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  Speaker 3: And I'm going to say it again.
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  Speaker 1: The streetcar's current estimate is $ 421 million. City council authorized
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  Speaker 1: $ 440 million.
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  Speaker 3: That's it. That's all they authorized.
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  Speaker 1: And they can't go over that because that's all the
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  Speaker 1: city council said. We're going to authorize this. Keep it
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  Speaker 1: under $ 440 million or under. So to go ahead and
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  Speaker 1: count what interest rate will be over a 30-year period
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  Speaker 1: is really not an accurate, fair way to look at
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  Speaker 1: it because the analogy with a house, you don't look
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  Speaker 1: at it that way. You don't say, after 30 years,
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  Speaker 1: I'm going to pay.
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  Speaker 3: $ 800 million.
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  Speaker 1: And $ 40, 000 for my house that I paid $ 350, 000 for
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  Speaker 1: because that's what it'll cost with 7% interest over 30 years.
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  Speaker 1: You don't count it that way because the value of
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  Speaker 1: your house would still be $ 350, 000. The value of the
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  Speaker 1: streetcar is still going.
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  Speaker 3: To be $ 421 million.
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  Speaker 2: There we go. And that explains that. And I got
• 11:19
  Speaker 2: an email about this yesterday and many, many times in
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  Speaker 2: the past about getting a rosy house. Gene Stother debate
• 11:29
  Speaker 2: going about the streetcar. And here's what I'm thinking, Gene.
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  Speaker 2: We need to do this. We should do it within
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  Speaker 2: a month or so.
• 11:35
  Speaker 3: I love it.
• 11:35
  Speaker 2: Get some anticipation going. I'll get a few boxing bells.
• 11:40
  Speaker 4: Ding, ding.
• 11:41
  Speaker 2: We'll get it set up. I can bring some questions
• 11:44
  Speaker 2: kind of like a political debate style. All right, Gene,
• 11:47
  Speaker 2: you have two minutes.
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  Speaker 4: Yes.
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  Speaker 2: All right, Rosie, you've got two minutes to respond. Now, Rosie,
• 11:51
  Speaker 2: say your own thing.
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: 30 seconds for a rebuttal, and we would have to
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: be seated apart from each other, so we won't want
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: to slug each other or anything like that.
• 11:59
  Speaker 3: It'll be a very friendly debate.
• 12:01
  Speaker 5: Yes.
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  Speaker 3: Oh, that would be so much fun.
• 12:02
  Speaker 2: But we should make it a high-production, you know, a
• 12:05
  Speaker 2: whole thing, build some anticipation.
• 12:08
  Speaker 3: That would be really, really fun. Okay, let's talk to
• 12:09
  Speaker 3: Rosie about this. This would be fun.
• 12:11
  Speaker 2: Absolutely.
• 12:11
  Speaker 4: I'd do it.
• 12:12
  Speaker 3: I'd do it.
• 12:13
  Speaker 2: I know, and he would too.
• 12:14
  Speaker 3: You know that for sure. I know he would. We
• 12:17
  Speaker 3: would have a lot of fun with that.
• 12:19
  Speaker 2: That would be a lot of fun. And like you mentioned, Gene,
• 12:21
  Speaker 2: it's been a great week with lots of really, really
• 12:23
  Speaker 2: good topics. I have a potluck style of many different
• 12:26
  Speaker 2: questions to bring to you. If you have anything you
• 12:28
  Speaker 2: would like to say, 402-558-1110, comment at kfab.com. Let's take
• 12:34
  Speaker 2: the first phone call of the day. Pam, you are
• 12:37
  Speaker 2: now live with Gene Stothert here on KFAB. Good morning.
• 12:40
  Speaker 3: Good morning.
• 12:42
  Speaker 6: Good morning. I have a comment and a question. First
• 12:47
  Speaker 6: of all, I would like to tell you how much
• 12:49
  Speaker 6: I enjoy your program. I think you're very informative, fair, respectful.
• 12:56
  Speaker 6: You have lots of patience. You don't shy away from topics.
• 13:01
  Speaker 6: And I think you're... I don't know if I said
• 13:03
  Speaker 6: honest or not. I should have put that at the
• 13:05
  Speaker 6: very top. And I think you're a very nice person.
• 13:09
  Speaker 3: Well, thank you.
• 13:09
  Speaker 6: The only complaint... The only complaint, and I think you're
• 13:12
  Speaker 6: the very best thing that's happened to KFAB in a
• 13:15
  Speaker 6: very long time.
• 13:16
  Speaker 3: Thank you.
• 13:18
  Speaker 6: The only complaint that I have is that I believe
• 13:21
  Speaker 6: that your program is much too short. One hour is
• 13:25
  Speaker 6: not enough. They need to give you four hours. And
• 13:31
  Speaker 6: I also realize that probably at this stage in your life,
• 13:34
  Speaker 6: you have other things that you need to do, you
• 13:37
  Speaker 6: want to do. So I understand that.
• 13:40
  Speaker 1: Well, thank you for your comments. I really appreciate it.
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: I don't think they would let me do more than
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: an hour, to tell you the truth. I mean, I
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: was asked to do an hour a day, and I
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: even thought that at first, an hour a day, five
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: days a week? And then I thought, shoot, I can
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: talk for an hour every day. But right now, I'm
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: limited to one hour, and that's what they asked me
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: to do.
• 14:03
  Speaker 3: But you know what?
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: With Chris Baker in the afternoon, Peyton and Chris are
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: on in the afternoon from 2 to 6 for four hours.
• 14:11
  Speaker 3: I don't know how they do it.
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: I mean, four hours on the radio live is a lot.
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: And I know Peyton's like shaking his head over there.
• 14:21
  Speaker 3: It's a lot.
• 14:21
  Speaker 2: It is, yeah.
• 14:22
  Speaker 1: I mean, you have to continuously think about, you know,
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: to fill that time up. You don't want to have,
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: you know, well, we're going to have some quiet time
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: right now. We're going to have 10 minutes of quiet time.
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: Everybody just be quiet for a while. We got to
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: think what we're going to talk about next. So I'm
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: happy with the one hour now, but I really appreciate
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: you saying that.
• 14:41
  Speaker 3: I really do. And I hope it shows I like
• 14:43
  Speaker 3: doing it a lot. I really do.
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: Who would have ever thought that I would be doing
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: a radio show? I never thought I would. And when
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: Scott Voorhees first asked me to do it, I said,
• 14:54
  Speaker 1: I remember I said, why you want me?
• 14:55
  Speaker 3: I thought, this is not what I do. But now
• 14:58
  Speaker 3: that I have done it, and I find it a
• 15:02
  Speaker 3: lot of fun. And I really do.
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: And I like coming in this studio every day. Everybody's
• 15:06
  Speaker 1: in a good mood. Everybody's happy. So thank you very
• 15:08
  Speaker 1: much for your comments. I appreciate it.
• 15:11
  Speaker 4: You're welcome.
• 15:12
  Speaker 6: Now I have a question.
• 15:13
  Speaker 5: Sure.
• 15:14
  Speaker 6: A couple weeks ago, you mentioned that your husband had
• 15:19
  Speaker 6: received the book, the Franklin cover up.
• 15:23
  Speaker 3: I bought it for him.
• 15:24
  Speaker 6: And okay. Um, I don't know if you have read
• 15:29
  Speaker 6: the book or not.
• 15:30
  Speaker 4: Have you? No.
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: In fact, we talked about it at the beginning of
• 15:34
  Speaker 1: the show. I'm going to be gone next week because
• 15:37
  Speaker 1: he is playing golf down at Big Cedar, and I'm
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: going to go with him. And I'm bringing it with
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: me because I have not read it yet. I bought
• 15:45
  Speaker 1: it for him because he was asking me questions about it,
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: and I bought it for him. And I have a
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: lot of people that have told me a lot about it,
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: but I want to read it myself.
• 15:54
  Speaker 6: Well, and I would think even if you have not
• 15:58
  Speaker 6: read it, has your husband read the whole book yet?
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: I think he's halfway through it. He's reading about four
• 16:05
  Speaker 1: books at one time usually, so I don't know where
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: he's at with it.
• 16:10
  Speaker 4: Okay.
• 16:10
  Speaker 6: Well, I would think that probably from time to time
• 16:13
  Speaker 6: he has made comments to you about the book. I
• 16:18
  Speaker 6: am reading the book for Book Club. And I tell you,
• 16:23
  Speaker 6: this is the most disturbing book I think that I
• 16:26
  Speaker 6: have ever read in my whole life. Because it happened here.
• 16:29
  Speaker 6: I'm almost finished with the book. And to be honest
• 16:34
  Speaker 6: with you, is this book, can I believe what is
• 16:38
  Speaker 6: in that book? Or was it all a hoax? I
• 16:43
  Speaker 6: truly don't know, and I'm almost finished with the book.
• 16:46
  Speaker 6: Sometimes I think, wow, all this needed to come out.
• 16:52
  Speaker 6: Or was this a hoax? I don't know.
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: What do you think? I have to read it first.
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: After I read it, I'll come back and talk about
• 17:01
  Speaker 1: it more. But I know for the story that I remembered.
• 17:06
  Speaker 1: is people said it all was a hoax. And then
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: later on, there were people that were indicted. So I
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: need to read more about it to make sure I
• 17:16
  Speaker 1: know what I'm talking about. Of course, that was before
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: I was living here in Nebraska, in Omaha. And so
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: I didn't experience it when that was going on. But
• 17:27
  Speaker 1: the other thing that is a big concern to me
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: is I believe they keep the names of who the
• 17:34
  Speaker 1: actual people that they are accusing of these atrocities, they
• 17:40
  Speaker 1: keep it private.
• 17:42
  Speaker 3: They don't say who they actually think these folks are.
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: And I think but everybody has an idea who they
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: think a lot of these.
• 17:50
  Speaker 6: They do name a lot of the people and some
• 17:52
  Speaker 6: of the things that they supposedly had, allegedly had done.
• 17:57
  Speaker 6: And that's why I think they could not have written
• 17:59
  Speaker 6: all this stuff if it wasn't true, because they would
• 18:03
  Speaker 6: have been sued for libel, I would think. And I
• 18:06
  Speaker 6: do remember reading where one person did put a lawsuit
• 18:14
  Speaker 6: against the camp... But he lost that lawsuit. And then,
• 18:19
  Speaker 6: like I said, I just don't know. And I realize
• 18:24
  Speaker 6: that stuff like this goes on today, but I had
• 18:27
  Speaker 6: no idea of the depth of it. I didn't know
• 18:30
  Speaker 6: what I didn't know.
• 18:32
  Speaker 2: Right.
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: Well, Pam, I'm going to read it, and I think
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: once I read it, I will be able to talk
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: about it more because you've just read it, so it's
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: all fresh in your mind. But I know everybody that
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: knows about it and that has heard about it finds
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: it equally disturbing as you do.
• 18:51
  Speaker 5: Right.
• 18:52
  Speaker 6: Oh, I had to put it down more than once
• 18:55
  Speaker 6: and then to go back with it. But we're having
• 18:58
  Speaker 6: Book Club Wednesday, and I'm expecting we're going to have
• 19:00
  Speaker 6: a pretty lively discussion about this book.
• 19:03
  Speaker 3: Well, do me a favor.
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: I'm going to be gone next week, but call back
• 19:06
  Speaker 1: the next week, and we'll talk about it again because
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: I'll have read it, and then you could tell us
• 19:12
  Speaker 1: about the Book Club discussion.
• 19:15
  Speaker 4: Okay. All right.
• 19:16
  Speaker 5: Do that. All right.
• 19:17
  Speaker 6: Thank you so much.
• 19:18
  Speaker 3: Thank you.
• 19:19
  Speaker 6: Bye-bye.
• 19:19
  Speaker 3: Thanks. Bye-bye.
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: Thanks for your comments. We appreciate it. Peyton is on
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: the phone right now and he's coming back right now.
• 19:26
  Speaker 3: I think he's got another call for me.
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: Yes, yes.
• 19:28
  Speaker 2: I do have some good calls and emails coming in, Gene.
• 19:31
  Speaker 2: That's interesting about that Franklin cover.
• 19:33
  Speaker 5: I know.
• 19:34
  Speaker 2: And thank you for the call, Pam. That's very interesting.
• 19:36
  Speaker 2: And we're going to hold you to that one, Gene. Okay.
• 19:38
  Speaker 2: You read that book. I can't read that book for you.
• 19:40
  Speaker 2: You got to read it yourself.
• 19:41
  Speaker 3: I know.
• 19:41
  Speaker 2: I will.
• 19:42
  Speaker 3: I follow instructions, Peyton.
• 19:44
  Speaker 2: No, sorry.
• 19:45
  Speaker 3: Sorry, Gene.
• 19:47
  Speaker 2: Just looking at some comments here. Rob suggested that I
• 19:49
  Speaker 2: get a pair of cutting gloves so I don't cut
• 19:51
  Speaker 2: my fingers anymore.
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: Yeah, those kind that have steel mesh in them or something.
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: That's what you need. Let's get one more phone call
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: in here. Mike, you are now live with Gene Stothert
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: here on KFAB.
• 20:03
  Speaker 5: Hey, I've got a couple of questions for you. First
• 20:07
  Speaker 5: of all, I've become a bigger fan of yours since
• 20:08
  Speaker 5: I've listened to this show, and I was a pretty
• 20:10
  Speaker 5: good fan before. Oh, thank you. I think you're an
• 20:13
  Speaker 5: amazing story. You were a head emergency room nurse?
• 20:17
  Speaker 3: No, I was critical care.
• 20:18
  Speaker 1: I was a head nurse in a cardiovascular critical care unit.
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: So my area was cardiovascular surgery, but it was in
• 20:28
  Speaker 1: critical care, like an intensive care unit, not ER.
• 20:32
  Speaker 5: Okay, and for them to become the longest-serving mayor in
• 20:35
  Speaker 5: Omaha history is unbelievable. I've got two questions, and one
• 20:38
  Speaker 5: is a guest suggestion. I'd love to see it. What
• 20:43
  Speaker 5: if our current mayor said he'd like to be a
• 20:45
  Speaker 5: guest on this show and take calls from the people?
• 20:48
  Speaker 5: How would you feel about that?
• 20:49
  Speaker 3: Any time. At any time, I would have him on.
• 20:53
  Speaker 1: But just to let you know, the gag order that
• 20:56
  Speaker 1: he put on this show and me, not allowing any
• 20:59
  Speaker 1: of his staff and directors to be on this show,
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: still holds.
• 21:02
  Speaker 3: He still won't let them come on.
• 21:04
  Speaker 5: Yeah, I heard you say that, and that's very disappointing
• 21:09
  Speaker 5: to me, because I kind of like the guy. But
• 21:11
  Speaker 5: the other question is international. With this recent passage of
• 21:14
  Speaker 5: the Lindsey Graham Act, where we finally may be tough
• 21:18
  Speaker 5: on Russia... and people that are supporting, in my opinion,
• 21:21
  Speaker 5: the murders that are taking place. How do you feel?
• 21:25
  Speaker 5: Do you have an opinion on that, that the president
• 21:27
  Speaker 5: should use it?
• 21:29
  Speaker 3: Well, I mean.
• 21:30
  Speaker 1: I think we should be tough on Russia. I mean,
• 21:33
  Speaker 1: look what they are doing. I mean, when Don Bacon
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: was on the other day and talked about the Ukraine
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: act that was supposed to be passed just last Wednesday.
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: I mean, to me, this is very important of the
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: atrocities that are going on.
• 21:49
  Speaker 3: And Russia. But you know what?
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: We immediately had a caller. I believe he was on
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: the talkback, Mike, because I remember it being live that said,
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: you know, that that made him mad because he felt
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: like that we should be concentrating. Don Bacon should be
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: concentrating on the United States of America and not Russia
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: and the Ukraine. So, I mean, it's interesting what people
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: think about that, that what is going on internationally absolutely
• 22:19
  Speaker 1: affects us and continues to create more and more of
• 22:23
  Speaker 1: a threat to us. I mean, that is the whole
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: reason we're in Iran right now. is because they had
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: the capability of nuclear weapons, and they hate us. And
• 22:33
  Speaker 1: the reason that we are over there, and so many people,
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: especially on the very liberal side, will say, you know,
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: it's a legal war, and it's a war about nothing,
• 22:42
  Speaker 1: and we shouldn't be over there. And you would want
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: to go back and ask these folks, do you really
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: feel like Iran that hates us should have nuclear capabilities
• 22:53
  Speaker 1: and be able to use it on us?
• 22:54
  Speaker 3: I sure don't.
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: And so I think what is going on in the Mideast,
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: what is going on in Russia, these are the things
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: that we all should be very concerned with.
• 23:05
  Speaker 2: Gene Stauffer in the KFAB comment line here on News
• 23:08
  Speaker 2: Radio 1110 KFAB. I got an email here from Miss
• 23:12
  Speaker 2: Penny in the email inbox. Couldn't understand what Pam was speaking.
• 23:16
  Speaker 2: What was the name of the book? The book that
• 23:18
  Speaker 2: Miss Pam and Gene were talking about is called The
• 23:22
  Speaker 2: Franklin Cover-Up. The book investigates the 1988 collapsed federal raid
• 23:28
  Speaker 2: of the Franklin Community Federal Credit Union right here in
• 23:31
  Speaker 2: Omaha after $ 40 million went missing. This book was written
• 23:35
  Speaker 2: by former Nebraska State Senator John W. DeCamp.
• 23:39
  Speaker 5: Yes.
• 23:40
  Speaker 2: It's called The Franklin Collapse. cover up.
• 23:42
  Speaker 4: Yes.
• 23:42
  Speaker 2: Just for a little context there.
• 23:44
  Speaker 3: He's from Lincoln.
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: And it's really, the whole book highlights a lot of
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: allegations of child exploitation, child trafficking, and a real systematic
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: corruption of the system. And like I said, this, or
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: like Peyton just said, it was in the late 80s.
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: It began, I think, in like 1988. And there was
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: some allegations against people for running a sex trafficking ring.
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: And then it goes on to other activities that they
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: were doing that, I mean, it was really a scandal.
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: It sparked a lot of outrage. It led to a
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: lot of calls for accountability to very powerful figures in
• 24:36
  Speaker 1: Omaha and in this area. And so if you read
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: about it or you Google it, almost all the time
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: it will say a child prostitution ring allegation. And that's
• 24:49
  Speaker 1: kind of how they start out. But there was a
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: lot of other corruption that went along with it. And,
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: you know, then there was the scenario that came out
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: that this was all made up. Everything was made up
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: and it was all a hoax and it was somebody
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: trying to get back at somebody else.
• 25:06
  Speaker 3: But because of all of the.
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: Detail that they talk about in this book, I mean,
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: and it was everything from– child abuse to Satanism to murder,
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: that more and more things were covered up. So hopefully
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: I'm getting your interest, you know, piqued with what we're
• 25:27
  Speaker 1: talking about today, because you can go on Amazon and
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: buy the book. That's what, when my husband started asking
• 25:32
  Speaker 1: me about it, I said, well, I'm going to buy
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: the book and we could both read it because I
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: want to refresh my memory on the details of it.
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: But it is quite a story and it involves a
• 25:42
  Speaker 1: lot of Big names and power brokers within the city
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: of Omaha.
• 25:46
  Speaker 2: And that right there is the kicker, Jean. I think
• 25:49
  Speaker 2: it's because it's so local that the interest is really piqued.
• 25:52
  Speaker 2: And one more time, that book is called The Franklin Cover-Up.
• 25:56
  Speaker 3: By John DeCamp.
• 25:57
  Speaker 2: By John DeCamp. Jean Stothert, your host. My name is
• 26:00
  Speaker 2: Peyton Highlock. I got a lot of things to talk
• 26:02
  Speaker 2: to you about, Jean. The first one comes on the
• 26:05
  Speaker 2: back of your interview with former Omaha Mayor Hal Dobb yesterday.
• 26:12
  Speaker 2: This is an e-mail. Comment at kfab.com. Quote, listening to
• 26:18
  Speaker 2: you and Hal Dobb butter each other up like a
• 26:20
  Speaker 2: couple of Thanksgiving turkeys looked like a conversation between Gavin
• 26:26
  Speaker 2: Newsom and Gavin Newsom. You should write a book called
• 26:31
  Speaker 2: The Made-Up World of Hal and Gene. Oh, my God.
• 26:34
  Speaker 3: You know what? Okay. That's pretty funny. But you know what?
• 26:37
  Speaker 3: I like Hal Dobb a lot. I mean, I really do.
• 26:40
  Speaker 3: But you know what? I like Jim Suttle. I like
• 26:43
  Speaker 3: Mike Fahey.
• 26:44
  Speaker 1: You know, we, all of us, Hal, Mike Fahey, Suttle,
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: some of the other mayors from the communities around here,
• 26:52
  Speaker 1: the mayor of Gretna, the mayor of La Vista, we
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: all sat together and at the First Responders Foundation annual
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: 9-11 luncheon. And I sat next to Jim Suttle, who,
• 27:05
  Speaker 1: by the way, in 2013, I challenged and I won.
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: We sat and talked the entire time. I like the guy.
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: I mean, isn't that how it should be? You know,
• 27:17
  Speaker 1: and so move forward to what happened in 2025. John
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: Ewing challenged me.
• 27:27
  Speaker 3: And he won.
• 27:28
  Speaker 2: Okay.
• 27:29
  Speaker 1: So he's the mayor now and he won't, he still
• 27:32
  Speaker 1: doesn't speak to me. He won't let his, you know,
• 27:35
  Speaker 1: his staff be on the show. I don't understand why.
• 27:38
  Speaker 1: I mean, you won John Ewing, you won fair and square,
• 27:42
  Speaker 1: move on. I like the other mayors of Omaha and
• 27:44
  Speaker 1: I think they each had special things that they accomplished. And, um,
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: You know, so if you run against them, you know.
• 27:52
  Speaker 3: And whoever wins, get over it.
• 27:55
  Speaker 2: Move on.
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: That's like in 2017, Heath Mello was an opponent of mine.
• 28:00
  Speaker 1: I like the guy a lot. I like Heath Mello.
• 28:02
  Speaker 1: We go out for breakfast and we talk about things.
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: I just kind of look at it as at that time,
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: we both wanted the same job. And we were fighting
• 28:13
  Speaker 1: for the same job. And either I won or they won.
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: And that's all there is to it.
• 28:17
  Speaker 2: Move on.
• 28:18
  Speaker 1: But I do like Hal a lot. But like I said,
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: I like Subtle. I like Fahey. I like PJ Morgan.
• 28:24
  Speaker 2: I mean.
• 28:24
  Speaker 1: They're good people, and they all contributed a lot to
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: the city, and you can't take that away from them.
• 28:31
  Speaker 1: So even though Hal and I sounded kind of gushy,
• 28:34
  Speaker 1: we were just kidding around. When he goes, my favorite mayor,
• 28:37
  Speaker 1: and I go, no, you're my favorite mayor. We were
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: just joking around with that one. But hopefully we didn't
• 28:42
  Speaker 1: sound like Gavin Newsom. That's an insult, whoever sent that
• 28:46
  Speaker 1: one in.
• 28:47
  Speaker 2: Yes, and you can find that interview at kfab.com under
• 28:50
  Speaker 2: the Gene Stothert KFAB Comment Line podcast page. And I
• 28:54
  Speaker 2: got another email here real quick wrapping up the Hal
• 28:56
  Speaker 2: Dobb conversation. Hal Dobb sounds like an incredibly knowledgeable man,
• 29:01
  Speaker 2: and considering his age, sounds incredible, still very sharp. And
• 29:05
  Speaker 2: I loved his story and the inside information about how
• 29:10
  Speaker 2: the Durham Museum was acquired and how it came to
• 29:13
  Speaker 2: be today.
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: And, you know, that's why I wanted him to come
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: on because he's told me that story before of walking
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: into the Durham, the Union Station, and meeting– I'm blanking. Chuck,
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: I'm blanking on Durham, Chuck Durham, and what it looked like.
• 29:35
  Speaker 1: I mean, he said that there were holes in the ceiling.
• 29:38
  Speaker 1: There were birds flying around in there. There were dust everywhere.
• 29:41
  Speaker 1: There was indication that people were living in there. And
• 29:44
  Speaker 1: he said it was just a mess, but they could
• 29:47
  Speaker 1: see all this beauty of what it looked like previously
• 29:51
  Speaker 1: when it was an active train station. And it was
• 29:54
  Speaker 1: so important to them as they were restoring it is
• 29:59
  Speaker 1: they kept with the– and maintained the original Art Deco
• 30:04
  Speaker 1: architectural style. And they just wanted to preserve it for
• 30:07
  Speaker 1: future generations. And what I really liked about what I
• 30:12
  Speaker 1: read about Haldab in this period– is he just felt
• 30:16
  Speaker 1: like it was so important to have community engagement. You know,
• 30:19
  Speaker 1: he wanted the community involved in it. He wanted it
• 30:22
  Speaker 1: to raise local pride. He wanted it to help economic development.
• 30:27
  Speaker 3: He had a vision.
• 30:29
  Speaker 1: And I think that's what any good mayor has. They're visionary. Now,
• 30:33
  Speaker 1: keep this in mind. Howell was criticized bitterly for the
• 30:37
  Speaker 1: Dodge Expressway. I mean, people were threatening to try to
• 30:42
  Speaker 1: recall him, saying, we don't need it. We don't need
• 30:44
  Speaker 1: that Dodge Expressway. You're going to ruin Miracle Hills. Criticized
• 30:48
  Speaker 1: him bitterly for the Arena Convention Center.
• 30:52
  Speaker 3: We don't need it, don't need it, waste of money.
• 30:56
  Speaker 1: But he had the vision to go ahead and do
• 30:58
  Speaker 1: something that he felt very strongly that it was right.
• 31:02
  Speaker 1: Same thing with Mike Fahey, criticized bitterly for building a
• 31:06
  Speaker 1: downtown ballpark. But with that, look what we have here.
• 31:09
  Speaker 1: And we got the College World Series for 25 years.
• 31:12
  Speaker 1: So these are good things that courageous, brave mayors in
• 31:16
  Speaker 1: the past have done. And I think it's really something
• 31:18
  Speaker 1: to celebrate.
• 31:19
  Speaker 2: You know, you can go on Google and see How
• 31:22
  Speaker 2: the Durham Museum was acquired and when it was. But
• 31:26
  Speaker 2: to have Mayor Dobb come in here and tell us
• 31:29
  Speaker 2: a story about Chuck Durham said, I want you to
• 31:32
  Speaker 2: meet me tomorrow at 11. I'm not going to.
• 31:35
  Speaker 3: Yeah, be there.
• 31:36
  Speaker 2: Just be there.
• 31:36
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 31:37
  Speaker 2: And then they're discussing.
• 31:39
  Speaker 3: That's him.
• 31:39
  Speaker 2: They're talking about the money and Mayor Dobb says, well,
• 31:44
  Speaker 2: you know, how long can I think about this? I
• 31:47
  Speaker 2: need your answer tomorrow.
• 31:48
  Speaker 3: Yeah, tomorrow. That's it.
• 31:50
  Speaker 2: And the little dog Chuck Durham was carrying, all those
• 31:52
  Speaker 2: fun things.
• 31:54
  Speaker 5: Tina.
• 31:54
  Speaker 1: Everybody knew about Tina. Chuck Durham was this huge man.
• 31:59
  Speaker 1: I mean, he had a presence. He was very big.
• 32:02
  Speaker 1: And he always walked around with this little tiny dog.
• 32:05
  Speaker 1: But the story is really, really great because they both
• 32:08
  Speaker 1: had a vision. And like I said, that place was
• 32:10
  Speaker 1: a mess. It had water damage, cracked paint. All sorts
• 32:14
  Speaker 1: of stuff was going on with it, and look at
• 32:16
  Speaker 1: it now.
• 32:16
  Speaker 2: Look at it now.
• 32:17
  Speaker 1: And so this Byron Reed collection, too, he knew a
• 32:20
  Speaker 1: lot about, and I knew that Hal Dobb was also
• 32:23
  Speaker 1: a coin collector himself. And this is really one of
• 32:26
  Speaker 1: the greatest collections, I think, of the 19th century that
• 32:30
  Speaker 1: we have right here in Omaha. And the one thing
• 32:32
  Speaker 1: people forget is that– Byron Reed willed this whole collection
• 32:39
  Speaker 1: to the city of Omaha and the city of Omaha
• 32:42
  Speaker 1: owns it.
• 32:43
  Speaker 3: It's an asset.
• 32:44
  Speaker 1: And the city of Omaha also owns a museum and
• 32:47
  Speaker 1: the Union Station. And so people forget that that is
• 32:52
  Speaker 1: something that the city owns. The city also owns the Orpheum.
• 32:55
  Speaker 1: And I think people forget that too. The Orpheum Theater
• 32:59
  Speaker 1: is owned by the city of Omaha, but it is
• 33:01
  Speaker 1: run as a nonprofit. And so those are all assets
• 33:04
  Speaker 1: for the city. We're going to give some tickets to
• 33:07
  Speaker 1: the Durham Museum away here in just a moment. I
• 33:09
  Speaker 1: want to get one quick phone call in before we
• 33:11
  Speaker 1: hit the break. Ray, you are live with Gene Stothert
• 33:14
  Speaker 1: here on KFAB.
• 33:15
  Speaker 3: Good morning, Ray.
• 33:16
  Speaker 4: Good morning, Gene.
• 33:17
  Speaker 3: Good morning.
• 33:19
  Speaker 4: Thanks for having me on the show.
• 33:22
  Speaker 3: The show.
• 33:23
  Speaker 4: Yeah, the show. My question for you is, do you
• 33:29
  Speaker 4: know when... and why things change with lights on trucks,
• 33:40
  Speaker 4: police vehicles, ambulances. When I grew up and started driving
• 33:46
  Speaker 4: back in the 70s, if you've seen two red lights,
• 33:51
  Speaker 4: it was probably a fire truck. Or it might have
• 33:54
  Speaker 4: been a police car. Or if you've seen a red
• 33:57
  Speaker 4: and blue light flashing, that was a police car, state trooper, whatever.
• 34:04
  Speaker 4: And everything else other than the police or the fire
• 34:10
  Speaker 4: or ambulances, everything else had yellow caution lights on it.
• 34:18
  Speaker 4: And now you drive down and you'll see a tow
• 34:22
  Speaker 4: truck have every color light of the spectrum on it.
• 34:26
  Speaker 4: And you just don't know what you're coming up on
• 34:28
  Speaker 4: when you're driving anymore. And I was wondering why that changed.
• 34:33
  Speaker 3: That's very true.
• 34:34
  Speaker 1: And, you know, when they used to talk about a
• 34:36
  Speaker 1: police car, they used to talk about a black and
• 34:38
  Speaker 1: white with a cherry on top. And that's how they
• 34:41
  Speaker 1: described a police car. And it was an old cruiser
• 34:45
  Speaker 1: that was black and white and had one little red
• 34:46
  Speaker 1: light on the top. And I think it's just as
• 34:48
  Speaker 1: time went on, they feel like these were just upgrades
• 34:52
  Speaker 1: that made them... I would assume easier to see, easier
• 34:58
  Speaker 1: to see from a distance. I know there is some
• 35:02
  Speaker 1: regulations about these crazy pickup trucks that you see that
• 35:06
  Speaker 1: have neon lights underneath it and all that kind of stuff.
• 35:10
  Speaker 1: And I would have to look up and see what
• 35:12
  Speaker 1: is in city code about that. Because I know there's
• 35:15
  Speaker 1: also a noise ordinance with some of these trucks that
• 35:18
  Speaker 1: come around that people just own. But you're talking about
• 35:21
  Speaker 1: more of vehicles that the city owns, fire trucks, et cetera.
• 35:25
  Speaker 1: I mean, there was a time that they were buying
• 35:28
  Speaker 1: white fire trucks and then yellow fire trucks. And now
• 35:30
  Speaker 1: they're only buying red fire trucks, which I think they
• 35:33
  Speaker 1: should be. A fire truck should be red. And the
• 35:36
  Speaker 1: other thing is, is like with our police cars themselves,
• 35:40
  Speaker 1: almost all of them now are SUVs, and they have
• 35:42
  Speaker 1: to be SUVs because of all the additional technology equipment
• 35:48
  Speaker 1: that they now are required to carry in the car.
• 35:51
  Speaker 1: It just doesn't fit in a sedan or a cruiser anymore.
• 35:54
  Speaker 1: It's got to be an SUV. And I think when
• 35:57
  Speaker 1: they move from the black and white with a cherry
• 35:59
  Speaker 1: on top to a big cruiser because of all the
• 36:02
  Speaker 1: technology they have in there. They just came up with
• 36:05
  Speaker 1: different ideas as far as the lights on them. But
• 36:09
  Speaker 1: I would have to go back, Ray, and look and
• 36:12
  Speaker 1: see what is in city, if anything is in city
• 36:15
  Speaker 1: code or state code, especially about the big semis or
• 36:19
  Speaker 1: about the fire trucks and police cars, what they can
• 36:22
  Speaker 1: have and what they can't have.
• 36:23
  Speaker 2: I just want to ask you a quick question, Jean,
• 36:25
  Speaker 2: before we talk about next week. The streetcar. Oh, I
• 36:30
  Speaker 2: love talking about the streetcar. What does the maintenance look like?
• 36:32
  Speaker 2: Who's going to be maintaining it? Who's going to be
• 36:34
  Speaker 2: operating it? Just real quick, if you could explain that.
• 36:37
  Speaker 1: Yeah, they are building a vehicle maintenance facility. It's kind
• 36:40
  Speaker 1: of under the bridge, back behind where our Arena Convention
• 36:45
  Speaker 1: Center is, if you know where Lot A is, right
• 36:48
  Speaker 1: behind it, in the parking garage that sits next to it.
• 36:51
  Speaker 3: It's kind of back in there.
• 36:53
  Speaker 1: And that vehicle maintenance facility is under construction right now.
• 36:57
  Speaker 1: It should be done in 2027. There will be a
• 37:01
  Speaker 1: crew that will be assigned to that, and they will
• 37:04
  Speaker 1: be working in there. As you know, they're buying six cars,
• 37:09
  Speaker 1: six trains, and so at any given time, there'll probably
• 37:13
  Speaker 1: be one parked in there. The cost of the operation
• 37:19
  Speaker 1: and maintenance of the streetcar will be covered by the
• 37:23
  Speaker 1: revenue that comes in from our parking garages and from
• 37:26
  Speaker 1: our parking meters.
• 37:27
  Speaker 2: So not my taxpayer stuff here.
• 37:30
  Speaker 3: Not any additional tax dollars.
• 37:32
  Speaker 1: They know the amount of revenue that comes in every year.
• 37:36
  Speaker 1: It is an enterprise fund. Our garage, meaning all of
• 37:40
  Speaker 1: the revenue that comes in from our garages and our
• 37:43
  Speaker 1: meters goes back into keeping up the maintenance of the
• 37:47
  Speaker 1: garages and the meters. And so there's plenty of revenue
• 37:51
  Speaker 1: that comes in that can also pay for the streetcars
• 37:54
  Speaker 1: operation and maintenance every year. And so that's what we
• 37:57
  Speaker 1: have a facility that is being, like I said, large
• 38:00
  Speaker 1: facility that is being built right now. And it's kind
• 38:04
  Speaker 1: of behind where the Arena Convention Center is, closer to
• 38:07
  Speaker 1: where Lot A is. Should be open in 2027.
• 38:11
  Speaker 2: Very cool. Thank you for that answer. And thank you.
• 38:15
  Speaker 2: Patrick had that question. Thank you, Patrick. About a minute
• 38:17
  Speaker 2: left here. Jean, what does next week look like on
• 38:20
  Speaker 2: the KFAB comment line?
• 38:21
  Speaker 1: Well, first of all, let's talk about me, shall we?
• 38:24
  Speaker 1: Because I'm going to be down. No, my husband, Kevin,
• 38:30
  Speaker 1: is playing in a little mini golf tournament down at
• 38:32
  Speaker 1: Big Cedar, Arkansas, which I've never been down there. But
• 38:35
  Speaker 1: this is the group of men that Kevin has played
• 38:39
  Speaker 1: golf with for the last 50 years in Maryland, Florida. Folks, listen,
• 38:45
  Speaker 1: this is where my husband lived for the last 50 years, Maryland,
• 38:48
  Speaker 1: not St.
• 38:49
  Speaker 4: Louis.
• 38:49
  Speaker 3: He lived in Maryland before he moved here.
• 38:52
  Speaker 1: But anyway, it's a group of guys that he plays
• 38:53
  Speaker 1: with every year, and they're all meeting down there to
• 38:56
  Speaker 1: play golf. So I'm going to go down there. So
• 38:58
  Speaker 1: I've never been down there. And we have assorted... people
• 39:01
  Speaker 1: that are going to be covering for me. Chip Maxwell
• 39:05
  Speaker 1: will do a couple days.
• 39:06
  Speaker 3: Gary Sattelmeyer is going to do a day.
• 39:08
  Speaker 1: I think we have State Senator Kathleen Kauth with Mike Evans,
• 39:13
  Speaker 1: who is the mayor of Gretna, will be doing covering
• 39:17
  Speaker 1: one day. And Peyton, why don't you cover one day? No,
• 39:21
  Speaker 1: I think, guess who's going to cover Wednesday? I'm excited
• 39:23
  Speaker 1: for this one, Jean.
• 39:24
  Speaker 3: Lucy Chapman. Lucy! is going to cover.
• 39:28
  Speaker 1: And so we're going to talk a lot about roads
• 39:31
  Speaker 1: and all sorts of stuff. So it ought to be
• 39:33
  Speaker 1: fun week. And then I will be back on the
• 39:35
  Speaker 1: 28th on Monday. So I'll be listening though, Peyton. I'm
• 39:38
  Speaker 1: going to listen to what you guys are talking about,
• 39:39
  Speaker 1: but thank you all for spending this hour with us.
• 39:43
  Speaker 1: We'd love for you to join us again on Monday
• 39:46
  Speaker 1: next week. I'm sure they'll have plenty of good things
• 39:48
  Speaker 1: to talk about. I'm Jean Stouthert, and this is 1110 KFAB.