The Big K Morning Show
Today's TOP Stories
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And tell them that your girl Tasha McKeea sent you, the sharpest rides, affordable, sexy, sharp. Now at T-Mobile, get four 5G phones on us and four lines for $25 a line per month when you switch with eligible traders, all on America's largest 5G network. Minimum of four lines for $25 per line per month without a paid discount using debit or bank account, $5 more per line without auto pay, plus taxes and fees and $10 device connection charge. Get 24 monthly bill credits for well qualified customers, contact us before canceling entire account to continue bill credits or credit stop and balance on a required finance agreement to bill credits and if you pay off devices early, see T-Mobile.com. Might surprise people that this stock strike might have a very direct effect on your wallet, your pocketbook. Larry Richard with Paul Rasmussen. So illuminate us on this stock strike details. Well, this is quite a story, Larry, because there hasn't been a stock strike in the United States since 1977, that's the year before I graduated from high school. These dock workers are after a really big pay increase. We're talking about in the neighborhood of 50% pay increases, the offer that they walked away from was a pretty handsome one. So we're talking about big money there. We're also talking about some policy, about automation. They don't want to automate much. They want to keep as many people doing what they do today as they can in the future. And so those are the basic disagreements where the rub comes in. There's two actually now. First of all, economic, if the ports stop taking in containers after a long enough period goes by, we're going to have shortages again, just like we saw during the pandemic, maybe even as bad as the pandemic, depending on the length of the strike. And then of course you've got inflationary concerns that go along with the shortages. And this would be from everything from auto parts to food to you, name it, the inexpensive clothes we buy at the big retail box stores. There's hardly an area of the economy that's not touched by this. And the other thing about this, the other rub is that the Biden administration is for now going to stay out of it. Now they stepped in in 2022. The Biden administration did to prevent a real worker strike. And that was considered to be critical to the economy. I don't see how this is any different. So I would imagine a number of people are asking the question, what are they waiting for or what don't we know about this that makes them feel like they can stay on the sidelines. And it comes at a time when the focus is on the economy and right ahead of an election. I mean, this could not happen at a worse time. All right, speaking of the economy, budgets, everybody has one, whether you actually look at it or not is another thing. But in the city of Pittsburgh, that's had challenges since the post pandemic federal monies drying up, then you have a budget proposal now. This Pittsburgh mayor and gaining budget is making news because well, right, he wants to reduce spending overall by over $70 million. And there are two aspects to this. Number one, no tax increase is included in the proposal. And number two, there will be no cuts. According to the deputy mayor, Jake Paul act, there'll be no cuts to essential services. However, the however is the big one. There's been a proposal to reduce the number of officers on the police force from 850 to 800 and to hire more than a dozen civilian employees who would then take over administrative paperwork type jobs to free up officers to be out on patrol. So Bob Schwartzwater, the president of the FOP, I'm sure is not having it, not having it. I will guarantee you, Marty will drill into the details of what this means on a daily basis in the city. You know, it's interesting because there's been such a challenge of getting new officers in the first place. And so in part, it seems like they're just going to eliminate since they can't fill the positions, they're going to reduce the number of officers and put more civilians and other roles. Bob Schwartzwelder, the fraternal order of police president spoke about this yesterday. He said, "City residents should be concerned about a staffing cut at the police force." In my view, you're going to need to get your cardboard out and start looking for cardboard cut out police officers. Or very soon, you're going to be looking to visit one at the zoo as an ecological experiment where the zoo's going to try to save the Pittsburgh police because we're going to become extinct. All right, we'll get details. And again, Marty Griffin will definitely dig into what this actually means to the officers that are out there on the streets of Pittsburgh. And Pete Rose passing at 83, certainly a lot of people reminiscing, very controversial. And here's what Pete said about his career. I don't think I'll ever be comfortable unless I got to go to Cooperstown. I screwed up. I know that. But I didn't kill anybody. Okay, I bet on baseball. And he passed at the age of 83, exact cause of death not released just yet. We don't know yet. What we do know is that the medical examiner, I think in Nevada, he said that foul play is not suspected. So that'll have a lot of people talking. And three years old, I cannot remember a time as I was growing up in the 1970s and right to the mid 80s in which Pete Rose did not dominate the scene in baseball to one extent or another. Either as a, the last of the player coaches in Major League Baseball, the last person to do that was Pete Rose, you know, three World Series titles. And one of his milestones, 17 All-Star seasons out of 20. Yes, 17 All-Star. I mean, there aren't many players in history that have that kind of talent, that kind of grit. You know, the greatness to me is not that person who comes up with that one great play in a career. To me, I mean, that you can have a great play. But to have a great career is that sustained continued performance over a long period of time. I mean, that's what we admired the most in, in like Hank Aaron, for example, is another one. Jim Palmer. And this. Ryan, there's one I left out of the discussion earlier. One of the great milestones of Pete Rose's career. Two balls in a strike, Eric Shout, left center field, and there it is. Pete Rose does it, 4192. Download the free Odyssey app. Take us with you wherever you go. Hey, UDACY. It's a great resource and something that you'll say, hey, thanks, Larry. That was good. Good tip. Hey, UDACY. So Paul, maybe someone driving this morning heard a Grant Street and all these years they thought it was named after Ulysses S. Grant. That's what I assumed. Yeah, it's not. After that English guy who messed up down at the point over the years, though, you know, if you go to the Hines History Center, there's a great background on all of these things that are named after people around the region. It's kind of fascinating, like who were these people and what did they do and why were they so important in their time that they named streets and buildings after them. It just occurred to me that we have access here and have frequently heard from two really good historians about Pittsburgh, not only Andy Masik, but also John Shalkoski. Absolutely. I mean, we'll learn more cool stuff from these two guys. And really, I mean, continually, John's been a great addition and he's just recovering from some medical issues that he has. We're very serious, but he's on the mend and he has that Facebook page. God, mysterious and fascinating history of Pittsburgh. And also he's on X. Yeah. And you can't go to that site without getting lost for a while. And reading, you'll go down a couple rabbit holes if you, yeah, lose track of time, you know, we had a conversation about insurance rates. And this is going to come up again, 60 minutes just did a big story on Sunday about insurance fraud, where it's not the people, it's the insurance companies in some cases, some of them obviously not all denying legitimate claims after the last hurricane. So you can only imagine what the price tag is going to be for Helene and does it affect your insurance here? You don't live there, but the insurance companies and many of them have moved out of Florida. One of the things that is involved in the increase that I saw, a 50% increase in my homeowners policy was the fact that the cost of replacing things is so much higher now. The insurance companies are paying 25 to 35% more for the things that they would replace in my home if there were a fire or a theft. I understand that part of it, but what troubled me about this report on 60 minutes was in this case. And again, this is hopefully an isolated situation where one company was purposefully denying legitimate claims and saying, you know what, well, if they fight us, if it gets to the point where they get a lawyer involved, okay, they'll acquiesce, but this has been an issue, like a simple and important part of your home is your roof denying that they would replace the roof. Say it all. No, it doesn't need replaced. In the meantime, the guy's sitting there with a giant hole in his roof. So we're going to talk to an insurance agent here, just get a feel for how this works. You know, there has to be, you know, when you get right down to a larry, it only makes sense that all of these claims in the southeast United States that are disaster related. And then you probably have to dial in the wildfires over in California, too. I would imagine that they have to have some impact if these companies are not just operating in a vacuum in one state, they, many of them are in many states, if not the entire United States. Yeah, it makes sense. So we'll see, because you said in what triggered this was, we've heard our friends in Florida say that their insurance rates have gone skyrocket, double, triple some cases 30% at very least, you say even here, yours one up 50% now, fortunately for me, I have a very inexpensive homeowners policy for a condominium because I'm only responsible from everything from the walls going in, you know, not the object, not the outside. So we'll find out. This has the big K morning show, Larry Richard with Vancouver man, Paul Rasmussen, and we welcome Lisa Goth from the Charles leach insurance agency. You can see Lisa by our video at kdk radio.com. You're on the radio and on the stream, but we can see you a good morning, Lisa. Good. The seasons may be changing, but the deals and the sharpest rides are unbeatable as ever. Hey, what's going on? It's Ashima Kia, and I need you to join the sharpest rides for their fall into savings events, where they're offering incredible prices on their massive inventory. That's right, everything is on sale now, shot from sleek sedans to rugged SUVs and sporty convertibles. The sharpest rides has the perfect ride to match your fall adventures, plus with their exclusive financing options, getting behind the wheel of your dream car has never been easier. Go on and shop online at the sharpest rides.com, right from the palm of your hands, or check other massive inventory in person at the sharpest rides, located 2250 South Sea Home Street in Inglewood. Either way, you will fall into savings. Don't miss out. Head on over to the sharpest rides.com today and explore the deals that make every season better. And tell them that you're going to Ashima Kia sent you the sharpest rides, affordable, sexy, sharp. You're investing billions to light up our network. T-Mobile is America's largest 5G network. Plus, right now, you can switch, keep your phone, and we'll pay it off up to $800. See how you can save on every plan verse for Amazon AT&T at T-Mobile.com/KeepAndSwitch. Up to four lines via virtual prepaid card, a left 15 days qualifying unlocked device credit service, ported 90 post days with device ineligible carrier and timely redemption required. Card has no cash access and expires in six months. Good morning. No doubt, you have heard a lot of talk, and I don't know if you saw the 60-minute story on Sunday about people dealing with the last big hurricane storm being denied. Some of the coverage, they believe they were, you know, have a right, too. That's one part of the story. But overall, I guess our question is, are our insurance rates rising here because of what's going on there or anywhere around the country? Well, that's part of the answer to the question. So as we have different weather events all over the United States, the whole premise of insurance is to spread the risk, right? So we all get to share in the same pot that's out there. But the bigger answer to the question is really what's going on in general with the economy and with supply and demand. So if we look at the supplies and the cost of how supplies are going up, that is really actually having a dramatic effect on insurance costs. And I would imagine that you're hearing it from, you know, all of us, right? We are. I've actually been in the insurance business for over 30 years. And if you go back about 30 years ago, we did experience something very similar to this, although it wasn't as hard hitting on people who had home and auto as it is now in 2024. And unfortunately, we're kind of expecting more of the same as we moved into 2025. But if we look at really simple things like the way we build vehicles now, with all the sensors that are on vehicles that has dramatically increased the cost of insurance because of the cost of replacing their parts. And also vehicles are actually totaled a lot quicker now than what they've been in the passion. You can have a fender bender and it didn't cost you a lot of money. Now a fender bender could actually total a vehicle. Really? Now that may surprise a lot of people. Yes, I'm sure it does and it's actually surprised us as we've learned more about it. But all the wonderful sensors now that they have in the vehicles that help us drive a little bit better or see around our vehicles a little bit better, the backup sensors, the front cameras, the back cameras, those are all connected in a vehicle. And so when a sensor gets damaged, a lot of times all the sensors have to be replaced. And then everything has to be recalibrated using computer systems. So there's more involved than your original mechanic that you take your vehicle into it. They pound out the dents and off you go. It's not like that anymore. No, Lisa, Paul Rasmussen here. I had to have my car sent back to the dealer for recalibration after an accident and just the cost of transporting it back and forth. And then the cost at the dealer added another thousand dollars to the repair bill. Oh, yes. And we're also seeing rental costs too. That's the other side. If you have to rent a vehicle, rental vehicles are on the increase as well. And also the length of time that people have to keep a rental vehicle. Because like you said, it had to go back to the dealer. There was added time involved. So where before you might be renting a vehicle for four or five days now, some people are running vehicles for 30 days because that adds to the cost as well. It's taking so long to get those repairs done for sundry of reasons, including many of those places are short handed too. So all right, we know the cost of insurance is going up. And I know they spend a lot of money with these actuarials that do all the numbers game and trying to figure this all out. If you are in an accident or have a claim for homeowners, what do you recommend the people do? So right from the get go, you're starting on the right foot. Sure. So right from the very beginning, the first, the first and best thing to do is get in touch with your insurance. We are there to help you through the claim process, working with the companies, answer questions for you, making sure that things go along smoothly. The other thing I would recommend is as you're moving into a claim, if you think it's taking too long, it probably is. So if you haven't been contacted by an adjuster, then you need to contact your agent and say, hey, I haven't heard from anybody and it's been three days or it's been four days. Now right now, as we're talking about this, this is not the best time, adjusters are going to be a premium. They're going to be extremely busy and most of them are going to be down south. So that's going to affect us up here as they're going through those claims. Lisa, I'm curious to know how many customers that you have are switching policies to try and find a lower rate. How much of that is going on? What is a good workaround for someone who can't afford an increase? Yeah. So how much are we doing that every single day? We're doing a lot of that and we are an independent agent. So we have multiple companies that we can work with. But some tips and tricks and the whole thing is really just looking at first of all, if you're looking at your auto insurance, what are your deductibles, right? So what are the deductibles that you're carrying for if you have a collision or if it's for a windshield, can you feel comfortable in increasing those deductibles because that does reduce your premium? The other thing really is if you have youthful operators, if they're good students, there's credits for that. If you combine your home and auto together with one company, there's credits for that. Good driving is, I can't even stress that enough, really is just. And then the other thing is paying on time. Companies are taking a very hard stance on late pays. So if you are consistently a late payer, that can actually affect your insurance cost as well. A lot to go over and cover, but we appreciate your time this morning, Lisa. Thank you. Absolutely. Thank you very much for having me. You got it. Lisa Goth with the Charles Leach and Churren's agency on The Big Game Morning Show and coming up next, we're going to check in with the details from Acculator on where we stand with this rain and where we're going, heading into the first weekend in October. Sure from what was Hurricane Helene in the area and it hasn't rained like this in a 24 hour period since August 2nd. So let's get the details, what's going on meteorologist Joe Lundberg. Good morning. Hello there. Good morning, Larry. So we had a really steady rain yesterday for a long extended period of time, Joe, as you know. It wasn't heavy, but it was it was actually kind of welcome. And we've had almost an inch of rain yesterday. And again, that was the most in August 2nd in this region. And then looks like we have some leftover moisture today and this is all still the remnants of Helene. Correct? Yeah. It's basically the surface low and the upper level low that brought it westward through the Tennessee Valley are kind of co-located right now. And that's what's bringing us this moisture. I think we're on the western or northwestern fringe of it this morning. So bits of lane and drizzle this morning, that goes away. And then if the clouds break for some sun this afternoon, I kind of think they do get a little unstable. We could pop up a shower at some point this afternoon in advance of a cold front that will come through the area late tonight, first thing tomorrow. But it looks decent rolling into our first weekend in October. Oh, it's going to be fantastic effect. Once we get past early tomorrow, I think we're in for an extended run of dry weather. And I, you know, that's not something we need. I mean, I know we don't want the what they had down in the Carolinas and Tennessee and stuff like that. But we need rain here, but I think the pattern starting later tomorrow through the weekend and probably deep in the next week is bone dry across theory with nothing but high pressure. Great for outdoor activities, but not good for the aquifers. We need more rain. All right, Joe. We're looking at another disturbance that's creeping up from the Atlantic toward the islands. What's the latest? Well, there's Kirk out there now, the tropical storm that's likely to become a hurricane. It's not a major hurricane, but that's good destined for the central Atlantic. Don't have to worry about that. When there's another wave behind it, a good candidate for development in the coming days, that probably is going to be a central Atlantic storm as well. Then we're keeping our eyes on the northwest Caribbean in the Bay of Campeche eventually something's going to come out of there. The timing looks to be later rather than earlier, which would mean later this weekend, early next week. That probably a Florida concern. They don't need it, but they can probably withstand the blow, you know, that would hopefully be nothing like a helene as opposed to the areas to the north, but they just can't use another drop of rain whatsoever or any gust of wind. I think it would stay away from most of Georgia and the Carolinas in Tennessee. Thank God. All right, Joe. Appreciate the update. Thank you, sir. You're welcome. Meteorologist Joe Lundberg at Acumenters headquarters on the big K morning show who starts a 10 city tour in Pittsburgh next Tuesday at PPG Paints Arena. So a week from today, you'll be able to see Stevie Wonder on us and we'll do that again in the next hour. So a week from tonight is our hometown heroes event. All this week we're introducing you to our five hometown heroes and our lifetime achievement awardee, of course, pirates now Hall of Fame manager, Jim Leland is a great story. And he's, he's someone who really you could see, Paul, he put his heart and soul into what he did all those years in baseball. I was happy he ended up getting a world series championship. Unfortunately, it was with the Marlins, but Jim's special guy. Really a deserving guy for. Yeah. And how about this? We're going to have. So we have Craig Patrick, who we honored during COVID so we couldn't gather in person. He's going to come. And then we have Kevin Colbert, Steelers former GM. He's going to join us. So we'll have pirates, penguins, Steelers represented in the room too. Now you had one of the heroes on yesterday. And I'm wondering when the next one will be. I don't die today. All this week. Oh, Nancy, Ryan's wings, a woman who's dealt with tragedy and turned that into helping so many other families. Nancy Plovetsky. Yeah. So looking forward to our conversation and coming up, Johnny baseball is going to join us. Oh, John Perrado. Yeah. Talk about Pete Rose passing and should he or shouldn't he be inducted into the Hall of Fame even now, post unbelievable career, his stats and all that stuff are amazing. So we'll talk to Johnny baseball about that. The seasons may be changing, but the deals and the sharpest rides are unbeatable as ever. Hey, what's going on? It's your girl Tasha McKeea. And I need you to join the sharpest rides for their fall into savings event where they're offering incredible prices on their massive inventory. That's right. Dancing is on sale now, shot from sleek sedans to rugged SUVs and sporty convertibles. The sharpest rides has the perfect ride to match your fall adventures, plus with their exclusive financing options, getting behind the wheel of your dream car has never been easier. Log on and shop online at the sharpestrides.com right from the palm of your hands or check other massive inventory in person at the sharpest rides located 2250 South Sea Home Street in Inglewood. Either way, you will fall into savings. Don't miss out. Head on over to the sharpestrides.com today and explore the deals that make every season better. And tell them that your girl Tasha McKeea sent you the sharpest ride, affordable, sexy, sharp. AT&T customers switching to T-Mobile has never been easier. We'll pay off your adjusting phone and give you a new one free, all on America's largest 5G network. Visit t-mobile.com/carrierfreedom to switch today.