Kansas Schools are Ready for Court, Election Reaction, AOC 2028 and States Paying You to Not Drive | 8-12-26

I promise you this is not a coincidence, not at all. It's not a coincidence that as we get set to start school in most of Johnson County this week and next week, we also found out yesterday that a coalition of four school districts fighting what they describe as funding deficiencies by the state of Kansas has selected a firm as its legal counsel. They're ready to sue. Blue Valley, DeSoto, Olathe, and Shawnee Mission. They are all in, and they have established what they are calling the Kansas Public School Funding Coalition. That's what they're going ahead with. And by the way, why is this happening? What's the backstory to all this? They established this Kansas Public Funding Coalition back in May, and now... The week that school gets set to begin, they announce they have finally found their law firm. But isn't this interesting? You know, the teachers unions spent several million dollars in the campaign in Kansas last week against the judicial elections, you know, that vote that Kansas voted on on the electing of Supreme Court justices. They got a big win. They spent millions of dollars. And once they secure their victory, they launched their lawsuit to raise the amount of money spent on K through 12. That timing is not coincidental. It's not. So I'll get to some of the details here coming up. But I just, you know, it's frustrating because yesterday we took our oldest to. Back to school night, not back to school night, but, you know, dropping off her stuff, seeing her classroom, meeting her teacher. Have you done that yet, Mark? Did you do that yesterday as well, or was that earlier in the week? They did a walkthrough on Monday, I believe it was. Okay. So we did ours yesterday at about 515. And it was great. Teacher seems fantastic. You know, you see the entire staff. Everyone's happy to be there. It's early. I mean, listen, I think they start a week or too early, but no one asks me, whatever. It's fine. No big deal. It is what it is, right? But she had a blast. It was great to see her classroom, her desk, like the teacher gets rave reviews. These teachers, by large, are working really hard on behalf of the kids. I believe most of the teachers are underpaid. But you get to the administrative level. And that is where the bloat is. That is where the waste is. And frankly, that's where a lot of the greediness comes from. And it really, to me, when I saw the story after I got home last night, it really just soiled the entire day and experience. Because most of these teachers are happy to be there and want to teach the kids and want to do the right thing. And then, you know, you get these administrators who are like, oh, we're short $119 million in Johnson County for special education funding.

And that's what the allegation is. I want to play some of this from Channel 9, KMBC. They had a full report on it last night. And I've got a lot of questions as we go through this story. Chris, this involves special education. Now, special education in Kansas has been underfunded for 15 years when there is a gap. All right there. That's the allegation. That's not a fact. That's a poor start to the story. by Channel 9 right there. The allegation from the districts is that they are shorted by $119 million or whatever the number is. That's what they're claiming. So if you're going to tell the story like a reporter, you say one side is claiming this, the other side is claiming that. That's not what this report turns out to be. It's basically propaganda. On behalf of the Teachers Union. ...sped funding, local districts have to cover it because they have to by federal law. Kansas districts are paying hundreds of millions of dollars from their general funds to get kids with special needs what they need to meet their goals. The Individuals with Disabilities Act ensure children with special needs have access to free, appropriate public education tailored to their specific goals and challenges. Once parents complete an individualized education plan or IEP, schools... must make it happen. Last year, Kansas District had to pay $440 million for sped, and the state government should have covered at least half of that. It did not. By law, the state must cover 92% of excess sped costs. Currently, it's paying only 75%. Once again, that is the claim from the school districts. That's the claim. Okay? Now, I want to play some of what Christy Williams has said on this show. This was about three months ago that Christy Williams, a house district member in Butler County, who is very involved in the education sector and the education spending in the state of Kansas, came on this show and explained how the over-identification. of special education students is helping drive this formula that is making the school districts claim that they're being shorted by $119 million. We're over identifying students. And that's been a historic trend in Kansas. We're higher than the national average in identification. Once the student is identified for special education, let's say there's a learning disability, they're having trouble reading in third grade. They shouldn't be on special education throughout their entire K-12 tenure. We should be getting them off of special education. And we just don't see that trend happening. That was Christy Williams from the State House in Kansas who's involved in the education's funding and spending on KCMO back in May. That is some of what she had to say in explaining how this formula gets put together and what it really means and how it's identified. And that matters, right? Because if you just listen to these local newscasts, all you hear are these big, grandiose numbers. And it gives you enough information to be dangerous, but it only gives you one side of the story. That's all this is, is one side of the story. And there's an entire second side to this.

Right? How many special education kids are in Johnson County? So there are 83,000 kids in the school district. The average, the estimates that I've seen based on typical prevalence is about 11,000 to 13,000, let's say. So if you're talking about being short $19 million for just the special education students, let's say that's 12,000, you're talking about being $10,000 per special education student short. Just, that's per student if those numbers are accurate. Now, I know it's expensive, but is anybody asking the questions? What is the total special education cost? How much is the state actually funding? Why has there been no lawsuit for 15 years if this is a clear statutory violation? How much of the shortfalls driven by an increase in diagnosis? versus say actual funding levels, which is something else Christy Williams has mentioned here on the show. There are so many layers and angles to this and to just take the headline and be like, well, the Johnson County School districts are. Ready to sue. They have hired their legal firm because they're not getting their 92% of special education funding. The next question, the next layer to ask here is what does Kansas spend per pupil? And what are we getting for our money? After adjusted for cost of living, I looked it up because someone's got to do it. Kansas ranked at about 15th nationally in spending per student. By several measures, Kansas spends at or above the national average per student, $18,000. Yet student achievement is generally around average or slightly below average, according to the NAEP, which is dubbed the nation's report card. So just all in all, While K through 12 spending hits record levels of near $8.5 billion, the spending has steadily climbed. You've got some of the wealthiest school districts, not just in the country, but in the entire Midwest, crying poverty. That's what they're doing. And there's just so much more to this than what I see on these one-the-two-minute newscasts that are only telling one side of the story. I'm empathetic to teachers who are working hard, but my goodness, at some point, you start to sound like the boy you cried wolf. And a lot of that's not coming from the classroom. A lot of that is coming from the top, the top of all four of these school districts who at every turn say, give us more, give us more, give us more. And you're not giving us enough. And when you can skew the formula in your favor based on how you identify a special needs or a special education student, That's how we end up in this mess and part in the first place. That's how we get here. 911-408-7-95-7 is the text line. It is the studio line on K-CMO as we get it rolling on a busy Wednesday morning. I almost jumped the day ahead, Mark.

It's not Thursday. It's Wednesday. School is starting tomorrow, I know, across many school districts as well. So it's just, to me, it's one of those things where I want to feel great about the upcoming year. And I do. I do when I get in my daughter's school. But then I see stories like this and headlines like this the day before, two days before school starts. And I'm like, really, guys, this timing, by the way, is in no way. coincidental. It's not. If you're a parent, we want to hear from you. I know it's early. 614. Maybe you're getting in your final day of beauty sleep before the kids are back at it tomorrow morning. But we'll be talking more about this here on KCMO Talk Radio. It's great to be here as we kick it off on a post-election day Tuesday, by the way. There were primaries around the country. And... Who won, who lost? I don't mean literally the people who won, who lost. The big picture for November. What does it all mean? We'll tell you next. So it's going to be like 98 degrees today, and I guess I decided to get a summer cold. I don't know. Is it like too, I thought it'd be even too hot to get a summer cold, but I guess not. I woke up, I could feel it. It's 81 degrees right now at 620. This is horrible. I literally thought for about a second yesterday. I'm like, I got to mow the lawn. And then I was like, yeah, that's not happening. It's just not happening. Maybe I'll try to do it. Saturday? I don't know. Tomorrow's going to be 99. Friday's 97. I think I'll pass. Unbelievable. You mowed the lawn this week yet, Mark? Have you gotten in that game? Not yet. I was going to do it tonight, possibly after maybe 8 o'clock. Tonight? What at 12 at midnight? Maybe. You got to get sleep. It's still going to be 91 at 8 o'clock. Oh, that's horrible. I can't do that. I got to, I got to. Put the show together by eight. I just, oh, man, that's late, though. I'm, I'm fried by eight. Jeez. So last night, I'm watching some of these election results rolling in Wisconsin. That was really ground zero for these primaries last night. And what you had was this upstart, far left Democratic Socialist of America, Francesca Hong, try to steal the show from the more moderate Democrat candidate. And the polls were showing that Frankie was going to get a big win here over David Crowley. The polls had her up towards the end anywhere from 10 to 20 points. I mean, she was expected to coast. This is the lady who, you know, had posts on X a few years ago about how Thanksgiving is racist and we should cancel it. And then when asked about it last week on CNN was like, well, you know, I used to, I used to be a chef and I used to cook Thanksgiving dinner for people and it was great. It's like, answer the question, ma'am. It, that's all you got to do is say, no, we should not cancel Thanksgiving. And she couldn't do it. So the moderate one last night.

David Crowley won, and it's not final final, but out of 787,000 total votes, David Crowley, the moderate, picked by Tony Evers, who's the incumbent governor up there in Wisconsin, won the race by less than half a percent. 39.8 to 39.4. 3,000 vote difference there. So the polls were way off. Now, this is a big win for the Democrats. There's no doubt about it. If you had someone like Francesca Hong at the top of the ticket, and I, every time I just, I'm disappointed because I wanted her to win, to be honest, because then we could play more William Hung, the guy from American Idol, who every time I say her name, I think about him. Pull up one of his greatest hits for me, Mark, would you please? All right, I know it's early, but I'll never say no to a little William Hung. But Francesca was going to be a gift to the Republican Party. because the Republicans would have run against this DSA Democratic Socialist of America movement that is happening all around the country or these far-left people are winning primaries, whether it's Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan. Heck, you could even put right here in Kansas. Cindy Holscher in that bucket, she was the most liberal candidate in that race for Kansas governor, much more liberal than Ethan Corson, who got the Laura Kelly endorsement, and much more liberal than Kurt Skug. Now, maybe sharper than both of them, but certainly more liberal as well. And Tony Evers, the incumbent popular Democratic governor in Wisconsin, tap David Crowley as his guy and said, we got to get this dude across the finish line if we're going to win. And this guy's going to win. I mean, the Republican now is probably going to get smoked up in Wisconsin. That's the reality. So it's a big win for the Democrats last night. And it's a loss for the GOP, not just in Wisconsin, but around the country. And that's because they wanted to basically not make this midterm a referendum on Donald Trump. They wanted to make this midterm basically a fear tactic against the rise of socialism. And they still can do that. But it's not going to be as effective without someone like Francesca, also known as Francesca Hong, at the top of the ticket in a place like Wisconsin. That would have been a gift that would have kept on giving. And the polls came out last night, and it looks like it's not going to happen. Here was Steve Carnegie. He's like the election insider guru guy talking about this last night on NBC. The idea of a, this was going to be a sort of DSA earthquake in Wisconsin, this was going to be its epicenter. Dane County. This is what Dane County looks like with almost 60% of the vote in. So again,

Zoom out. You know, I've been, you know, processing this and reserving judgment and the possibilities here, you know, the very friendly Hong precincts in Dane and everything. But, I mean, that's a lot of vote in in Dane County. And, you know, that margin there has not opened up the way I think a lot of people expected it was going to. Yeah, and it didn't. And the polling show it was going to open up big time for Hong. So the question is why? Well, the polling, the polling industry is so jacked up. I mean, you go back to 2016. It's so jacked up. But right now, who's the most enthusiastic person when it comes to responding to a poll? It's probably a far left liberal. that's probably the person, not a moderate Democrat, not a moderate Republican, not even a Trump Republican at this point, because some of them are just like, you know, exhausted by what's going on around the world. It's a far left liberal. So they're overwhelmingly more likely to respond to a poll. And the pollsters, I guess, are not factoring that into their equation and being like, okay, what kind of Democrat is this? I don't think it to conspiracy. I heard some people saying last night, That it's part of a conspiracy to kind of tamp down the moderate Democrat vote to show people like Francesca Hong up by 20 points in polling going into election day. And that's secretly part of the plan to tamp down the moderate Democrat vote. I don't believe that's what's happening. I just think the oversampling of far left super liberal people because they love talking to pollsters. Why not? Most of them have nothing else going on anyway. They love it. So they're going to double down and they'll talk to anybody and everybody who's going to listen to their political opinions. And that's why these polls, same thing in Michigan. Abdul El-Sayed won as the progressive guy, but the polling had him up by 10 and he won by like a single point. So that's a big part of what I think is going on here and why these results have been much tighter. And in the case of Wisconsin... The polling was way off by like 15 to 20 points. Moderate wins. So tough loss last night for not just Wisconsin Republicans, but I think Republicans across the country because if she had won, it would have built up a national narrative that they could have run against. Instead of making this midterm a referendum on Trump, which honestly, they don't want to do. They just don't. 913-408-7-95-7 as we roll till the bottom of the hour. News is coming up here in a couple of minutes. A real tragedy. in Kansas that is getting national attention. What the heck happened? We'll get to it all coming up. This story has gotten national attention since it broke yesterday. I heard multiple national radio and TV newscasts just talking about this tragedy down in Winfield, Kansas, just southeast of Wichita, basically to the Oklahoma border, where yesterday a man called 911 at about 8.50 in the morning.

And after the initial dispatch call, dispatchers advised units that a man at the home was known to be armed and dangerous. And it turned out that this individual, Ronald Williams Sr. 53, had shot his four children between the ages of nine and three, his wife or his significant other, 44-year-old Kelly George, and then eventually at about 11 a.m. took his own life. This individual has some criminal history, minor criminal history. He had been known by local authorities the last few weeks as having been erratic and aggressive in public. There have been complaints about Ronald Williams confronting and yelling of people. The chief also said there had been reports of gunfire in the area previously, although the officers had not been identified as a source. There's just a lot here, but it's an absolute tragedy. And if there's anyone to be praying for this morning as you get going on a Wednesday in Kansas City, it's this family. It's those children. That's who it is right now. Because evil is truly, always, sadly, all around us. And this is one of those stories that I don't enjoy sharing. It makes my stomach churn, but it is local, and it did get national attention when this news broke yesterday afternoon into the early evening. So with that, other things happening here around Kansas City and Leavenworth. Hey, if you're up in Leavenworth this morning, and I know that we've got a strong... aggressive army of listeners in Leavenworth County. It has been less than a week since Core Civic sold its Leavenworth Detention Center to the Department of Homeland Security for $238 million. And now what's happening is there are a lot of questions as to what this is going to mean. How is ICE going to potentially use this facility? Who will be detained in this Leavenworth facility? So the city of Leavenworth and Core Civic originally agreed to follow 17 requirements to operate the facility through the city's special use permit. But right now, it's unclear if DHS or ICE will continue that. So are they going to be held to the same standards as Core Civic? All that is up in the air right now. But one thing that their mayor, Nancy Bauder, is saying, according to Channel 9, who got this quote. She is saying that this may open up the door, may open up the door to losing property tax money. She goes on to say that they do not have to abide, meaning ICE, by the special use permit at that point, now that they own the property. And she goes on to note here, tax money is paying for that. Federal government's paying for that. It is taxpayer money that we are going to lose. She says that they will lose property tax due to the sale of the building from Core Civic to Department of Homeland Security. So they're going to, I guess, roll this out in the next week or so and share the information. DHS and ICE are not responding to requests from Channel 9KMBC. But I don't know anything about this mayor up.

in Leavenworth. I don't. And I know that many of you probably have a strong opinion, and we're here for it at 911-408-7-95-7. I don't have a good feel on her. Either way, I don't know what to make of that. But you can tell me or just drop us a text as to what exactly her reputation is. and whether or not she's getting political because she's upset about the sale or if she's got a legitimate point saying, hey, this city is going to lose property tax revenue because Core Civic sold this detention center from, you know, sold the detention center to DHS to the Department of Homeland Security. So that's something that I want to get more information on. When I saw the story last night, I was like, okay, who's really telling the truth on this? Time and time again, when I see a politician suddenly scream about how we're going to lose money because of the sale of fill in the blank, I'm just skeptical because they want to get their hands on every last dollar imaginable. That's what they want to do. all right and if they can't get their way they're going to kick they're going to scream they're going to run the local media and they're going to make sure that their message is out there and their voice is heard so i wonder if that's part of what's going on here up in leavenworth but i admit i don't have a a great feel for it at all i just i don't but you know what i do have a very good feel for what i feel like i've got a pretty strong read on right now is the fact that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is going to run for President of the United States. Did you see that she dumped her boyfriend, her fiancé? Excuse me? After several years of being engaged, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, has kicked her fiance, Riley John Roberts, to the curb. This came yesterday from TMZ. They're the ones who had it first. He's out. He's done. See you later. Here's the story from TMZ. And we should have seen this coming. We should have. Because two days ago, she went viral for what? For freezing her eggs on social media. So it's like, okay, what's going on here? What's that all about? So TMZ reports this. And then we learn later after TMZ reported that she kicked this guy to the curb that they had actually been split for quite a long time. That they had actually been split for a couple of years. So I am shocked. that she was able to kind of keep this under wraps, depending on who you want to believe. I've seen reports saying that they had split months ago. There were a couple of reports saying that they'd actually split a year or two ago. So it's all over the map. But one source says here, according to Puck News.

that 18 months ago is when Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and her partner Riley John Roberts had actually ended their engagement. And that apparently she had not been wearing her engagement ring for the last several months. And there have been no public photos of her and Riley together in recent history. So maybe this has been going on longer than most of us realize. And I'm not saying it's something we should be up on top of, but I'll tell you right now, she's running in 2028. If there was ever a doubt that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was going to run for president, it is now. She's going to go full-blown girl boss on the country. I don't need no man. Tell you that, no, don't need them. Throw them out. Useless. Dump the fiancé. Freeze the eggs on social media. go on an odd rant, which she also did. If you didn't see this, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez went on a rant last night on Instagram Live that she then ended up deleting. And she was talking about how people really, in her opinion, shouldn't have kids too young. Kids at a young age, beautiful, like, love that for you. A lot of these people who pressure women. into having kids at a young age or trying to create hysteria around being too old, etc. What they're trying to do is rush you into having a relationship with a loser. Whoa! Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez dropping the bomb! The people who want you to have kids early want to rush you into a relationship with a loser. No, if you're picking a loser, that's on you. Don't pick a loser. Riley must have been a loser. Yeah, I'm guessing that she was throwing some shade at her ex-fiancee right there. But people are forcing you to settle down with a loser. Oh my gosh, give me a break. That's not why anybody's telling you to have kids early. And by the way, what's early? She's 36. By medical standards, if Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez got naturally pregnant today, that is considered a geriatric pregnancy in medical terms. When we had Charlotte, our third, that was two plus years ago. Kate was technically 35 at the time, 36. By the medical term, that was geriatric. That's what they do once you hit 35. So Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's saying this like she's 26. You're 36. I grow up. All right, Dennis and Bonner Springs. What's going on in Leavenworth County there, my man? Well, Pete, what you?

which our problem is we have all these federal facilities that don't pay property taxes. We have state facilities that don't pay property taxes. I have a funny feeling the core civic now that it's gone federal, that's what she's implying is now it's not going to pay any taxes to the county, but yet the county will help subsidize it in sewers. ambulance service on and on. That, I think, is her point. And I've got the summer cold, too, and you're right. It stinks. I mean, it almost stinks as bad as watching Royals baseball. Have a good one, buddy. See you later. I don't know if anything's that bad. I really don't. I'm in a group chat with my college roommate. his two brothers and his dad and their big Baltimore Orioles fans. And occasionally one of them will text in, hey, the Orioles won a game. And I'm like, guys, we're still doing this like pretend it's baseball season thing. Okay? Between my Mets, their Orioles, the Royals, baseball season ended Memorial Day weekend. Enough. I mean, it's countdown to football, baby. Let's go. That's what's going on. Mark's got his Seattle Seahawks hat on this morning. How about that? Looking good there, Big Man. What's the shirt you've got on? I can't see it. Oh, just the Seahawks. Okay. But you're decked out on Seahawks gear. Oh, yeah. Are they playing tonight? No, just sought in the closet and wanted to throw it on. Okay. All right. Usually you've actually got a method to your madness. Yeah. Random today. No preseason Seahawks game tonight. All right. So as I listened to Rishi Rice yesterday, Chief's wide receiver is supposed to be their number one guy. I'm not sure he can be that guy, but we'll see. After he spent 30 days in jail this summer, the conclusion for me is that the Chiefs should not give this guy a dollar when this season comes to an end. I don't care what his stats are this year. I don't care how many touchdown catches he has. I don't care if he stays relatively clean. Hershey Rice is really, honestly, not a bright dude. And he makes mistake after mistake after mistake. And yesterday, you know, he's asked a lot of questions, right? I mean, we know what happened with the car crash two years ago, left multiple people injured. Him and his boys are, what, street racing all over Dallas? They get into a crash amazingly. No one dies. And then they flee the scene. And then he ends up back in a Dallas jail for a violation of his terms of probation stemming from his role in that car crash a couple of years ago. And I just can't come to any other conclusion than the guy's just a total knucklehead who doesn't understand how fortunate he is to be doing what he does. and they get another opportunity to try to turn himself around. What about the Yale time of the team? Was that? Yeah, it was tough. It was mentally tough. They gave me ways to communicate with my teammates still and as well as my athletic trainer. So, I mean, besides the hard times in there, I kept my mind right, watching shows and as much Kevin Hart as I can to laugh. And then without that, just communicate with everybody on the outside. So you said you've learned a lesson from this. What is that lesson in the same?

Honestly, it's just a reality check and not taking anything for granted. What's the lesson that you learned? A reality check? To not take anything for granted? What'd you do in the can? Well, you know, I talked to my trainer and I watched Kevin Hart to laugh. Well, I'm glad you can laugh as you sit in jail. I'm pretty sure laughing is not really supposed to be part of like what you do when you're in jail, when you're deep in your own thoughts and thinking about how you ended up there in the first place. I didn't realize they had Netflix in jail. How's you watching Kevin Hart documentaries? Well, it must be a heck of a jail. Yeah. Tax dollars hard at work down there in Dallas County, you know? I mean, honestly, I've always been to the belief that a lot of the reason. that people commit the crimes that they do. They're desperate. They don't have other options. And if they get caught and go to prison, hey, they got Netflix. I ain't paying for it. Three meals a day. Ain't paying for that. I mean, I hate to say it, but I think that there are people that are that desperate that just say, you know what? If I got a risk living that life, so be it. I'll do that. And I know he's not in like a high-level security prison. He's in a 30-day jail cell. So that's a different setup than, you know, being up at Leavenworth. But still, this guy hasn't learned squat. And the fact that you go in front of the media, you know, I mean, this is the first time where She Rice has talked to the media since he got out of jail, right? And the fact that the chiefs, I don't know if they didn't prepare him or not, or how that all went down, but no one just said, dude, this is what you say. Use your brain, show a little remorse, act like, you know, you've learned something. Don't say, yeah, talk to my trainer, watch some Kevin Hart, laughed at some of his jokes, and here I am. What'd you learn? Oh, it's a reality check. What does that mean?

I don't know what it means. Can someone interpret Rishi Rice for me right there? When someone says, what did you learn doing 30 days in jail? And it could have been a lot worse based on what happened two years ago. This guy could be sitting in a prison cell somewhere had that Dallas crash gone the way that it could have gone. Forget knowing the name Rishi Rice. Forget ever seeing Rishi Rice step on a football field again. I mean, he'd be slinging around the pigskin with a bunch of inmates somewhere in, you know, the Texas panhandle if that thing had gone sideways. And then thank his lucky stars. It didn't go that way. He then violates his probation, has to spend 30 days in jail. And he actually says to the media. I was watching Kevin Hart. I mean, at least make it up and make it sound like you had a little remorse. And, you know, you went in there and you were with your own mind and your thoughts and you realized this is my last chance. I've been blessed with these incredible gifts on the football field. I haven't done the best job off the field, utilizing them to make myself a huge success for. Clark Hunts, Andy Reed, and this entire fan base on the field. I am rededicated. I am refocused. And I am not going to let this organization down again. I'm not saying that Rishi Rice could string all that together, but at least try. Instead, it was, yeah, I was watching some Kevin Hart, not documentaries, but stand-up routines. Wow. Yeah. That's a guy who understood the mission. 913-408-7-95-7 is how you join us here on KCMO. If you listen to that press conference, if you're Brett Veach, if you're Andy Reid, I don't care if this guy's an all pro season. You can't sign them. You can't sign them. If you think that this guy is going to get $20 million a year or more, and be a good steward of this brand and be a leader of this team. You're kidding yourself. You ride out this rookie contract. You ride out the final year of this rookie deal for Rishi Rice. And then you move on and you let him be somebody else's problem. Even though the chiefs have done a terrible job at finding wide receivers for Patrick Mahomes, you can't get dup by this guy again. The good thing is it is a contract year. So if he wants to get that new contract, don't think he's going to get it in Kansas City. But if he plays really well, that helps the Chiefs this year. And then it could help him for another team next year. That's what I mean. Yes. You want him to have a great season, but don't get duped by it. That's what I'm saying. On the text line, Pete, you're way out of touch on the Rishi Rice thing, dude. How am I at a touch? I mean, if you're going to say I'm out of touch, that's fine. I'm open to any opinion on this. But please tell me how I'm out of touch.

When the guy who's lucky he didn't kill somebody two and a half years ago, then violates his probation, which is, you know, another knucklehead thing to do, goes to the can for 30 days. This team gives him another chance. And he gets in front of the microphone with a big S-eating grin on his face. And he says, yeah, man, tough times. But, you know, I talk to my trainer, watch some Kevin Hart. It's all good. I tried not to drop the soap while I was at it. Like, what? What? That's not the answer, man. Is there not an agent? If they're not a position coach, somebody to coach him up a little bit before he puts his face in front of a camera and a microphone? That is so bad on so many levels. So bad. 913-408-7-95-7. Pete, your expectations for Rice are out of line. His actions demonstrate his attitude. Yeah, that may be part of it as well. On the text line, you are exactly right. Well, I think I am, but I guess I thought that this was going to be a fairly universal opinion. But I guess I'm wrong on that going through the text messages this morning on the KCMO Talk Radio text line. I just, I couldn't believe it. And Mark told me yesterday, like what? End of the show, Mark. You're like, hey, Rishi's going to talk to the media today. Be ready for this. And then I see the clips yesterday. And I'm like, get me on the air right now. This guy is an absolute fool and imbecile. That's the only conclusion to come to. I was actually shocked that the chiefs let him speak. Well, that's what I mean. If this is what you were going to get, just don't put them near a microphone. And did you see the video, by the way? This is where I don't know if this is just social media doing its thing. But. And you can't overreact to one play you see in a training camp, right? Like when Mahomes threw the ball into the center's head, everyone's like, he's cooked. No, I mean, it's training camp. He threw a ball into the center's head. What's the big deal? But I guess there's this viral video for she going around from training camp where it appears like he just has. no explosive ability anymore in that knee do you see that oh yeah it looks like he's running in the mud out of his break before he even gets to the break actually yeah i mean he's just getting pushed all over the place i don't know who it was at cornerback pushing him around but yeah he appears to have very little speed can't get out of his break i i won't overreact to that he could have a great season i hope that he has a great season But you give this guy another dollar beyond this rookie contract, you're asking for trouble. There's no doubt about it. 911-408-7-95-7. All right. Pete, the Chiefs and Andy don't care their job is to win. They don't care about who's doing it for them. Listen, I understand that's part of professional sports. I'm not saying that he shouldn't play. I'm just saying, do you care it all about the optics here? That's all I'm asking, because I do think optics matter, and you still want to present yourself well to the fan base. Does it mean that he's not going to get cheered at Arrowhead Stadium if he scores a touchdown in week one against the Broncos? No, of course he will get cheered on. But it's also not too much to ask to say, dude, can you at least show a little remorse?

And now this segment's making this damn summer cold I have even worse, Mark. I will say this is a big year for rookie Cyrus Allen. He looked pretty good in training camp. I know you can never, like you said, take these training camp videos too seriously, but he's looked good. And also Jalen Royals in year two, those are two guys that could step up and make it easier to push for Sea Rice out at the end of the season. That's who you're hoping on, Mark. Jalen Royals. I mean, yeah. He looked good last year. Okay. I mean, not with the Chiefs, but. They still had that guy from Clemson who had like that amazing freshman year, blew at his knee and never did anything again. No, Justin Ross. He was never able to live up to that hype. Yeah, Justin Ross, man. I mean, he was supposed to be like the next superstar after an amazing freshman year at Clemson. The Chiefs had him on the practice squad for a couple of years. And then he just flamed out. Nothing ever came of that. Oh, well. Cyrus Allen, though. I like him at Cincinnati. Mark's in on Cyrus Allen. That's Mark's guy. Rookie? Yep. We should see a lot of them. I would say this Saturday, yeah. Okay. All right. Cyrus Allen, that name to watch from producer Mark. He's got a couple answers there. At least he's got a couple of ideas. I don't think it changes the fact that things are... Not in good shape right now as it relates to the Iran War and time is running out on the administration to figure out what to do about it and what that off ramp is going to be. I mean, it is, listen, they are way out over their skis on this and they are not helping their own cause here. There's no doubt about that. Now, speaking of places not helping their own cause, Los Angeles County is paying people to stop driving. You think you could do this here in Kansas City? Now, L.A. County is trying this experiment. They're calling it the one car challenge and they are giving eligible households up to 600 bucks to keep one of their cars parked at home for five weeks and give getting around without them a go. That's what they're trying to do. So they've got just too many vehicles on the road out there. I mean, they've got 7.5 million registered motor vehicles, 9.7 million residents, 6.7 million of whom are licensed drivers. So it's a driving town. We know that. But they're trying to figure out how to pare back the worst traffic in the entire country. There are 8 hours and 27 minutes on average of weekday congestion. which is only continuing to climb. It's why Los Angeles City commuters spend at least 10 full days a year inching on and off the brakes. You know, one thing I've realized that someone used to take subways and trains and buses is that the time that you get back from commuting is so valuable. I did the math. I've been here eight and a half years. My average commute when I lived in the New York City area was about an hour either way, right? Whether I drove, it doesn't matter. If I drove, I rode a bus, I did a train, I did a subway, it didn't matter. It was about an hour each way. I have saved myself in eight and a half years, six months of my life in commuting by not doing that commute every day and doing the commute I have here every day.

That's literally six months of my life I got back. Think about that. I was doing the math like a month ago, randomly. It just came into my mind. So I started crunching the numbers. I've saved six months of my life by not commuting. I feel like that's nice. It's very nice. I mean, the things that I've done, whether it's things I want to do, things I have to do, you become a more efficient human being when you don't spend two hours a day getting to and from a job. I've lived in the Kansas City area my whole life, adult life, driving life. So I feel like I've been spoiled. You have been spoiled. Trust me. Anyone complaining about traffic, it's like, listen, now I know once in a while we do get some nasty wrecks and backups and things like that. But compare it to L.A. County, it's not even close, right? Not much is. So they're trying to figure out if they can keep people from basically driving their vehicles. This sounds like a great experiment for big government. That's what it sounds like to me. They don't know how to solve the problem. They can't figure out how to solve the problem. So they're going to pay you. They're going to give you money. Now, who would be most incentivized to take advantage of this? Who would be most incentivized to say, sure, you want to give me 600 bucks to keep a car at home? Well, let's be honest, right? If you're somebody who is making a lot of money, not even a lot, just like any reasonable salary in L.A., which in L.A., based on cost of living, you know, I mean, the average salary is probably pushing $80,000 because that's what you need to live on like a base level in L.A. County. Those people are not going to be like, hey, sure, I'll take my 600 bucks and figure out a way to not take a car to work and take mass transit, which L.A. does not have a great mass transit set up to begin with. So who are they really incentivizing? They're probably incentivizing people who already have a strong presence on the government dole. So what are you really doing? All you're really doing in Los Angeles County is figuring out a way to get people who, by and large, are already likely to be on some level of government assistance to say, here, please, take more of our money by making yourself an even less productive member of our community. That's who gets incentivized by this. which makes it the most Los Angeles California policy you could ever imagine. 911-408-7-957. Another doctor drove me nuts yesterday. I'll tell you why. Coming up. On the text line, this is well done on the text line, 911-408-7-95-7. Pete, I've got a one-hour commute one way here in Kansas City. I listen to your show. That's six months I don't want to get back. Well, that's very nice. Such a nice man. Very nice. But it's six months over eight and a half years. So listen, here's the beauty of it, though. And this is what I would say. You don't have to be in the car to listen to the show. I know that radio is still largely...

an in-vehicle consumption medium. But you get to the office, you pull us up on, you know, KCMO TalkRadio.com, the iHeart app, the tune-in app. If you work from home, I've had people say to me, oh, I started working from home. I can't listen as much. Oh, come on. No, that is not a good excuse. Not in 2026. Not with the Alexa. Not with the Google home. Not with the smartphone. Your smartphone's a radio. It's what it is. It's a radio. All right. We're going to go to California after the story we were just talking about where in L.A. County, they are offering 600 bucks a month to people who will leave one of their vehicles at home to try to figure out how to get the congestion and just the traffic somewhat under control. And Mark took this call. I was like, this is perfect. David is in California. He is on his commute. He's listening on the K-CMO Talk Radio app, and he is checking in. How's that traffic holding up there this morning, Dave? Well, actually, it's doing pretty good. I live in San Luis Obispo County, California, and there in Paso-Rowables, California. And so the commute's a little different. However, I travel in the L.A. area a lot. And how bad is it? Very, really, very, very bad. Because of the mountain configurations in a way the roads are built, there's no choice but to get on the six and the eighth lane wide highways to make your commute in order to connect from one part of the city. There's no public transportation to speak of. And when there is, the trains are nothing more than rolling homeless shelters. They're dangerous. Yeah, that's my read on it as well. So then what about, in terms of this program, do you think anyone's actually going to sign up for this thing? There's apparently, I'm looking at this, I mean, there's a bunch of websites that have it. There's 2,000 households in the county that will be eligible to participate. I mean, that's not a lot of people. So something tells me, They're targeting lower income folks to try to pay them money to stay at home, which is really just incentivizing people to stay on the government dole. You're absolutely correct. In fact, what you'll find is that despite all the incentives out here, for example, I drive in a leopard vehicle, and I try to get the incentives in order to make the purchases, the state recent incentives, you can't do it because you can't qualify. They're almost like bait and switch. promotions out here. Wow. Wow. Well, are you from, are you, do you, is Kansas City home for you or? I grew up in a 590-gopolis of Levese, Missouri. Gotcha. And you found us? And now you live where? California? I do. I live, I live in the greater Paso-Robol's area on the central coast. Paso-Robles, California. Okay. I'm not familiar with it, I admit, but I'll check it out there. Oh, look at that. So you're due west of Bakersfield. Well, let me just say this. I am eight miles from the Firestone Walker Brewery, which is a sister company of Boulevard Brew. Oh, very cool. Very nice. Very nice. Well, hey, man, we're glad you're checking us out every morning back here in Kansas City in your hometown. Thanks so much. Thank you.

All right, there you go. David in California checking in from the KCMO Talk Radio app. Pasa Robles, looking on Google Maps, looks, I mean, listen, it's beautiful out there. That's what's amazing about California. It is clearly, and I haven't spent a lot of time there, but the little time I've spent there, it is the most beautiful state in the country, hands down. Casa Robles means House of Oaks. I thought he said Paso Robles. Oh. Paso Robles, I believe. PASO Robles. Unless there's also a Casa Robles, California. Maybe there is. Casa Robles? No, no, no, no, no, no, no. There's no, no, no, no, no. Pasa Robles. Pasa Robles. There's a place called Casa Robles in Pasoblez. That's what I was thinking. Yeah, that's... That's what the Hispanic speaking down there. Yes, yes. That's what that is there, Mark. But it's Paso Robles. I mean, it's beautiful. Looks like wine country to me. It's amazing, though, that that state, which is by far the most beautiful state in the country, you can ski, you can go to the ocean, you got amazing weather, best weather in the country is losing people. And it's only bad government policies that can drive people out of a place like California. It's amazing. Just truly amazing. What's also amazing is I went to another doctor yesterday and got asked for my pronouns. And I'm just, I'm exhausted by it. Happened to me on Monday. You know, I came back from vacation, and I'm trying to get some of these doctor's visits knocked out. before school starts for the girls and things get busy in the fall, right? So this is like a two-week window I've got. I feel like I'm at 37 becoming an old guy here. I've got to get my doctor's appointments in. Well, what I really needed was I got to get my contact lenses back. I need a new stock of contact lenses, but it's always like, well, we've got to come see you. You need to come in for a visit. I'm like, everything's fine. My eyesight's the same, but I get it. That's how they make money. So I got to go to the eye doctor this week, had to get a physical this week. You know, I've got to keep the insurance rates in check. So all these things have been on my calendar. So Monday I go to the doctor and they're asking me for my pronouns and, you know, how I identify and what my gender is and all these different things, right? And then yesterday I go to the eye doctor and, you know, I understand they got to know as much about you as possible. But you're just looking in my eyes. Your eyes are not different. I was sitting there. I'm filling out these forms. And I understand they want to know male or female. I get it, right? But in the end, you're the eye doctor. All you really need to know is what's going on with my pupils. Can I see the lower line at the eye doctor's office, HVNOQ or not? That's all you really need to do.

My pronouns, my gender identification, my biological sex. It's like, it really doesn't matter. I'm going to put my name down here. You call me by this name and you do the eye test and we call it good. That's it. That's all that needs to happen in these places. And I'm not sitting here saying it's the doctor's office because I really think that it's the system and the industry. that has kind of pushed this top down and they just handy you the form and you fill out the form. But finally yesterday, I just left it all blank. I put my name down there, selected mail, put in my information and all the stuff about pronouns and identification and how you want to be identified. I'm just, I could do what some of you on the text line are suggesting. and write something like screw slash you, but I don't want to do that to the poor girl at the front desk. That's not fair. I don't want to make her uncomfortable and ruin her day. It's not her fault. I might get a chuckle out of it myself. It might make good radio if I told you I did that, but I'm not in the business of BS in you either. I'm not going to go down that road. But I, you know, I don't have any doctor's visits lined up now for a few months, Mark, so I think I'm in the clear. I'm being asked my pronouns anytime soon. But, hey, I don't know. Maybe next time I go to get a cup of coffee, they're going to ask for my identification before I go do that. I still think it would be funny to write J-JM on there. Just to see if they know what that even means. You're going to have to make them Google it. Yeah. Z-ZM? Is that what it is, or Z-Zem? Yeah. It's X-E-S-E-M, which are gender-neutral pronouns, which is an alternative to he, him, she, her, or they, them. What was the other one that we looked up one time? Z-Zer? Z-Zer, Z-Zer, Z-Zer is also a gender-neutral neopronoun. Used instead of he, him, or Z-Zer. So what's the difference between Z-Zer versus Z-Zem? You're asking the wrong guy. Okay. Here's what Gemini says. That's Google's AI bot. The main difference lies in their specific conjugations for subject, object, and possessive form. Z is giving a presentation today. I borrowed Zer notes, and Zer work has always organized. Now, for Z-Zem, Z is giving a presentation today. I borrowed Zem's notes, and the slide deck belongs to Zem. All right, I'm just typing this in really quick to Gemini. I'm just writing, I don't get it. This is stupid. How dare you? I... Here's what Gemini writes back to me. It is completely normal to feel confused by these pronouns if you have not encountered them before. Language changes quickly and new words can feel unnatural or unnecessary. These are called neo pronouns. They were created for individuals who do not feel like the traditional pronouns, he, she, or they, accurately represent their identity. They still haven't done a good job explaining the difference between Z and Zer.

I don't think they know. I don't even think AI knows. No, I don't think AI has any idea. But they sure did make me feel like an idiot in the process, which is completely unfair. All right. Let's go back to the phones. Russ is in Kansas City, but he grew up in California. What's up, Russ? Good morning. Good morning. Yes, I grew up in California. And when I was young, I used to commute with my dad to work. It was a 20-minute drive. Towards the end of his career, the same commute was taking anywhere from an hour to two hours, the same drive. And it's just the traffic, I love California, the traffic I just can't stand because it can move smoothly and then any little blip on the radar and you're stuck in it for who knows how long. You're screwed. Yeah. I mean, it's sad, man. I know it wasn't like that, you know, 20, 30, 40 years ago. My first memory, and I appreciate it, Russ, my first memory of anything, California, and many of you will appreciate this. My first memory of a California freeway. What do you think it is? Baywatch? No. Oh. Good guess. I was too young for that. Famous moments on California freeways. OJ. Yeah. There you go. White Broncos. And I remember looking at the TV and saying, Man, that's a big highway. There's like eight lanes on that highway. Yeah. Jeez. The one time it wasn't busy. Yeah, the one time it wasn't busy. OJ's cruising at 40 miles an hour with eight lanes. No one around them. Cops are just kind of eating donuts doing their thing, trailing them, having a grand old time. helicopters are doing their thing. That's my first memory of seeing the California freeways. And yeah, it wasn't that busy that day. Go figure. You didn't start a business just to keep the lights on. You're here to sell more today than yesterday. You're here to win. Lucky for you, Shopify built the best converting checkout on the planet. Like the just one tapping, ridiculously fast acting, sky high sales stacking, championed checkouts. That's the good stuff right there. So if your business is in it to win it, win with Shopify. Start your free trial today at Shopify.com slash win. Oh, oh, O'Reilly. Check engine, ABS, or maintenance light on? Take the guesswork out of your warning lights with O'Reilly Veriscan. The service is free and provides a report with solutions verified by ASE certified master technicians. And if you need help, we could recommend a shop for you. Ask for O'Reilly Verascan today. Oh, oh, oh, O'Reilly, Auto Parts.

The U.S. soccer podcast. I'm your host, Megan Klingeberg. And after interviewing so many dudes during this men's World Cup, I'm so happy to be back with my U.S. women's national team players. I know the U.S. men's national team has changed how I think about myself, how I think about being an American, how I think about being on a team. It's one year out from that World Cup, and we're going to talk about the brightest prospects in U.S. soccer. You ready? I'm ready. Let's do it. The U.S. soccer podcast, presented by Henko. Follow and listen on your favorite. platform. Mike Drop, hosted by former Navy SEAL Mike Ridland. How would you characterize your prowess? I'd say my style is that I just kind of outwork everybody until I get there because I'm not a quitter. It's just you. And that's yourself. Everything else is team-oriented. The motivation, it was a sort of anger at myself for being weak. That ends up being the driving factor. That anger, that pride, that ego, I think it's a muscle. It gets stronger. When you take that voice seriously, you start to change your life. Mike Drop, follow and listen on your favorite platform. Start your day with the morning jolt of Drake Toll. Anywhere in the country. Your home for talking sports. The United States hockey team has four teeth left. What is LeBron James Legacy? Leonel Mess. 906 career goals is stupid. All of it. The Knicks. The Los Angeles Lakers. Aaron Rogers. Georgia football players. The Dolphins. The Mets. As it happened, when it happened. We'll talk all of it. Westwood One Sports Talk. Your home for Drake Toll. Follow and listen on your favorite platform.