The Big K Morning Show
A Conversation With Lynn Hayes- Freeland
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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, ctmobile.com. Five hometown heroes and lifetime achievement awardee, Jim Leland, pirate skipper who's trying into Major League Baseball's Hall of Fame this summer and also into the Pirates Hall of Fame, what a year Jim Leland is having. And today I want to introduce you to a very special woman, Nancy Plavitsky. Ryan's wings, the woman behind this organization, Nancy, appreciate you taking time for us and congratulations. >> Thank you, Larry, and thank you for having me on the show this morning, so an honor to be nominated. Shout out to my son who threw my name in the hat, too, and thought I was worthy of this, so thank you. >> Well, share your story because I think it will resonate with a lot of people and appreciate what you're doing in spite of your own tragedy and emotional trauma that you have done this to help so many other people, so share your story, please. >> Well, I lost my son, Ryan, in 2014 to an overdose and my best friend, Mary Lou, had this vision of starting a nonprofit, and because she also struggled with addiction and her twin daughters struggled with addiction, it was actually her idea to start a nonprofit and Ryan's memory, and she asked me if I would help her with this, and I was a little leery. I knew in order for this to happen and to help others, I'd have to tell my story, tell Ryan's story, and be very honest about it, so once I started telling the story and realizing how many people were silently struggling, whether it be with their own addiction or a family numbers addiction, it was sadly shocking, actually, and so many of us are burying our children, and it has affected so many in our friendship group, so we started Ryan's wings and a group of children graduates of 1982 and 1983 got together and we started Ryan's wings. We kind of navigated through the recovery community with some help from other people that we've met, did the town hall meetings at the high schools in the area, and found that what people really needed was funding to transition from a inpatient rehab to three quarter housing, so we do what we can to raise funding to help these people, they go into a 30-day, 60-day rehab, come out with nothing, either can't go back home or don't want to because they know the cycle will start all over again, so they want to stay on that recovery path, so we help them with rental assistance, clothing, food, whatever they really need to get into that housing, this three quarter housing, and I mean some of our funding also goes to help those who have lost their battle, if families aren't really prepared to bury their children, so we'll help with funeral costs, anything we really can do to help the families in their struggling. And it has grown to six counties, Allegheny Beaver, Butler, Fayette, Washington, and West Moreland, and it's having a big impact, tell us about Ryan, what do you want us to know about your son? Ryan, he was my firstborn, and he was a handful from the minute he could walk. He had a big heart, he had a big smile, he lit up a room, I mean you couldn't stay mad at the kid, you know, he would make you laugh, he would just bring you up when you were down, he just made friends everywhere he went which was evident at his funeral, I mean the heart break I felt bearing my son, but seeing these people that came to his funeral home, the 412 riders, he loved to ride, so this motorcycle club came on their bikes and then did a prayer, a biker's prayer at the funeral home and I just remember being so heartbroken that there was a light, there was this light that entered my heart that day and I thought my God, if I could take this emotion and put it somewhere, you know, and I think that's what fuels me for Ryan's wings. I want to help other people, I want to, that feeling I felt that day of hopelessness and these people that I didn't even know made me feel this light, I want to do that for others and that's why Ryan's wings is just so important to me, I really want to pay it forward and have other people feel that light. And you've been doing that in the face of great personal tragedy, that's why you're one of our hometown heroes this year and ryanswings.org if you want to search and check it out and see if you can help or maybe they can help you, nancy, I appreciate your willingness to share the story and looking forward to next Tuesday night at our event. Oh, thank you so much, it's an honor to be there and I appreciate what you do for the people in our community. It's all about people like you, nancy Plavinsky, ryanswings, one of our hometown heroes on the big K morning show. A man who was reported missing last week, we told you about him yesterday morning has been found safe and it's quite a story and it's good news for a change. We'll have it at 9 30 on the voice of Pittsburgh news radio, kdk a thanks, Paul. And every Tuesday we check in with Lynn Hayes, Freeland, there she is, I can see her on the radio and you can, too, via our video stream at kdk radio.com. Welcome to vice presidential debate day. The first one, I don't know how exciting that is, but I'm going to watch, you know what? I am excited. Yeah, I am excited. I'm trying to see him. Am I centered in the screen or no, you need to move to your, okay, I was going to say right there. I need to move it this way. Okay. All right. Because in one screen, it looked like I was the other one. I was like, okay. That way we're in what they call in the business, a double box. So if you see this on screen, you can see both Lynn. Are you in Atlanta? Oh, we lost you there for a minute. You know what? Here's the thing. I am in limbo, Larry. I'll get back to your comment about the vice presidential debate in just a second. But you know, I was affected by the storms last week. I was affected by a lean. So I'm out of my house right now, I haven't been back since Friday when I went and found out that water had gotten in my house. I'm having a hard time figuring this out. I have my hand. I coordinate. You know what? I did the same thing. I was on with Marty last week and or two weeks ago, and I was over on the south side, and I couldn't center myself, but don't worry about it. It's like, okay. I don't think there's as many people watching our stream as there will be the debate tonight. But back to your issues with the rain, obviously, when we see and it's hard to comprehend the destruction of in some cases, entire little mountain towns wiped off the face of the earth. So what was the situation? Because we did hear of flooding, obviously, in Georgia too. And then the land area, what happened? So I actually live in Decatur, which is outside of Atlanta, but it is considered within the Atlanta metro area, and there is a creek not too far from my house. So I left home that night because they were predicting high winds, there are a lot of trees, there are trees everywhere in Georgia. But I left home that night because I figured if something bad happens, I don't want to be in here by myself. I went to my daughter's house and I kind of watched the activities on my rain camera. So I saw the water rising in the rear of my house, and then I saw the water receding, and I said, okay, that's great. Then it turns out the creek that goes behind my house, in Decatur, goes all the way into Atlanta in an area called Buckhead. When the creek overflowed in Buckhead, it pushed all of the water to our direction, and that water not only refilled my backyard, but looped around and came down the street in all of the front of all of our homes. So at the end of the day, we had about three feet of water in there, and now here's the other issue, and I don't want to make my situation sound horrible, because there are people who literally lost their homes, there are hundreds of people unaccounted for as you look at this storm across several states, but it's been tough getting the adjuster and the water mitigation and getting everyone at the same time, at the same place, to try to figure out how we get started on fixiveness. That was a lot I know. But listen, it just that alone, three feet of water in your basement is, that's a lot, and I know a lot of people around here have dealt with that. Obviously, I was born in Millville, so they used to call us Milldo because of all the flooding that happened over the years. My mom was in that flood in '36, rescued from a second story window, but what I have seen in terms of total destruction because the water itself is bad enough, but these towns and these, it will be year, maybe decades before any full normalcy will return to some of those places. Before they're made whole again, and I told another friend of mine the other day, you know, I'm used to floods, but covering them, I am used to being out there as a news reporter. I had these bright yellow boots that I would always wear, and I'm used to going in and seeing people, you know, the furniture and the rugs and everything outside because you got to drag all that stuff out, but living through it is an altogether different experience in a way I kind of want to be a news reporter again because I feel like I could bring some perspective and probably some empathy in covering stories like this because it is completely different when it happened. We're starting to click on your microphone there. I don't know what, yeah, you can, I can hear you, but it sounded like it was about to click off. Well, the water is now out. I had to contact the water mitigation company and they came and there are one, two, three, four, five, six dehumidifiers upstairs, and then there are four pumps downstairs and they have been running continuously because it was also this horrible smell in there just as an aside. So I think as of yesterday they were pretty confident by today the water would completely be removed and then they go through your house with these different meters and they can tell if the water got into the drywall and they put it on the floor and they go all around to see if the water damage extended and that part doesn't look great for me, but we'll see what they say today. And then once that's all determined, like I know I have to get new duct work, I have to get a new furnace because all of those things were affected in the basement. So it's going to be a process and then everybody keeps saying you got to get this done before you have mold and then they just scare the daylights out of you. I know, you know, water creates those kind of issues on top of everything else so I assume you had the seasons may be changing, but the deals of 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 events where they're offering incredible prices on their massive inventory. That's right, everything is on sale now. 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. So hit 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. After 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 versed for using an 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-plus days with device and eligible carrier and timely redemption required. Card has no cash access and expires in six months. Things down there too in your basement. Not too much, not too much. Nothing that I am upset about not having anymore. I'll be honest, some of the other things though, I did have a side porch and you know, they're little things but they were very sentimental. Like my mother had a set of wicker chairs that she just loved. She had them in her son room at home. I brought them down here and I put them on the side porch. It was just a nice place to sit and relax in the wicker chairs. Yeah, they're gone. They're gone. So it's things like that. But at the end of the day Larry, you know what, they're all just things and we have to keep that in mind. They're things. In fact, no one in my direct neighborhood was injured. We just all lost things. That's a blessing. And as you pointed out, there are hundreds of people unaccounted for still and the fear is a number of those people would have been somehow washed away in the flooding. So our thoughts and prayers with everybody and sorry to hear that you're dealing with it too. Meantime, when we come back, let's talk about, are you going to watch this? I know you're a, you're a political, you love this stuff, but I'm curious what the audience numbers will be for tonight's vice presidential debate, which by the way, it's on CBS television in New York and we are carrying the entire debate live here on Katie K radio courtesy of CBS. This is the big K morning show. We continue our conversation as we do every Tuesday at this time with Lynn Hayes Freeland. We talked to Lynn dealing in Atlanta with remnants of Helene, which has been a devastating storm in the South and will continue to bring you updates. Meanwhile tonight, a lot of eyes will be focused on CBS in New York, Nora O'Donnell, CBS anchor, and also Margaret Brennan from Face The Nation will be asking the questions and how this different Lynn from the Donald Trump Kamala Harris debate is, there'll be no fact checking in the moment, which was a part of the criticism of ABC if you'll recall. Yeah, I, you know, and I don't even know how you get a handle on fact checking, Larry. I remember, I'm not sure, I think it was the original Trump Biden debate. I remember thinking too bad they can't put fact checking at the bottom of the screen, you know, in real time, but that's very hard to do. I understand that to be able to dig in, go down sometimes to rabbit hole to find out whether something's true or not. But I do think it's unfortunate because a lot of people watch the debate and then they don't go any further. So if there was some misinformation presented as there always is, they don't necessarily know because they never did their own fact checking. And I understand that CBS is going to put up a, you know, one of those codes on the screen, QR codes, so that people can do fact checking in the moment. So we'll see if that works, because that would be a new innovation to this. And the other thing that could be fun, the other thing that's different about this debate is there, the things that are the same as there's no audience, there'll be no introduction, no opening speech, no assistance, no tools can be brought in. So it'll be the same that way, but the microphone will not be muted. I don't know if that'll make much of a difference in this one, but we'll see. Yeah, I don't know either, Larry, because looking at the two personalities, I'm not sure that either one would do that kind of intimidating thing to speak over. I'm not sure, but it will be interesting. I like the idea of not muting the microphones because I think it also gives you some insight into who these people are, and do they have self-control, or do they not have self-control? So I kind of like that idea. I love the no audience, the no in-ball of that. You have a limited amount of time, get all that stuff out of the way. And hopefully, with vice presidents, they have to align, obviously, with who they're representing Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, and I don't know how much detail we'll get in terms of platform because we haven't gotten a lot of detail really from either party. Well, you know what? I struggle with that, Larry, because I think this is going to be an election that really comes down to personalities. I don't think that any side has really given you a tremendous amount of detail. But you have some insight as to what they want to do. I don't think it's fair to ask a candidate now exactly what are you going to do over the next four years, and how are you going to do it? Because things change, and they change rapidly, and sometimes it's outside of your control. But I think as a president or as a candidate, you can have a vision of what you'd like to do. You can have a goal of what you'd like to do. So I think that's why I think that personality becomes very, very important in this election because, I mean, we have seen both of them before, but the vice president was just that, the vice president. So we don't know how she will be as the president, and we've seen Donald Trump in office, and we know what he'll do. I wanted to get to your reaction to something Donald Trump said over the weekend. She's a stupid person, a stupid person. Joe Biden became mentally impaired, Kamala was born that way. Lynne? Well, it was offensive, it was insulting, and at best it sounded like a 12 year old. It sounded like something a 12 year old would say. I remember back when I was on the radio every day, I remember saying on the air that I wanted Donald Trump to be more presidential. And man, did I get slammed by the callers for that? But I still feel that way. I feel like a lot of the things he said are not worthy of the officer, the title of president. And I think among many supporters, they would rather him not do that. It doesn't help at this point, put it that way. It seemed like there might be a change after a near death experience July 13th. And he said he was going to utilize that historic moment to unite the country. And then it was about 20 minutes into his speech that next Thursday at the Republican National Convention where it was back to the name calling thing, which I think a lot of people just would rather not have. Well, and that's the other thing though, Larry. I think when you talk to a lot of, well, not you talk to, but you listen to conversations with the Republican party leadership, don't say, well, maybe you shouldn't have said that. Maybe that wasn't the right thing to say or there was something they said the other day, he said the other day and they said, oh, he was, that was just ingest, but they don't take it any further. I feel like there's almost a need for an intervention for those folks to circle around and say, hey, knock it off. This is hurting all of us, but they don't. They just, they're very delicate when it comes to dealing with the former president. Well, we'll see what their vice presidential running mates have to say tonight again. The debate nine o'clock from New York will have a pre you call it a pregame if you want with Rob Pratt team and then we're carrying an uninterrupted here on Katie K radio courtesy of CBS Linda. We'll talk to you. It's five weeks to the election today and we'll talk to you next Tuesday. All right. Very everyone. Lynn Hayes, Freeland until two, it is Marty Griffin, the living legend breathing living legend. Hey, hurricane Hugo, remember that? Oh, yeah. Insane. I was out in the streets. Tonight it happened. Thought we were going to die. The water was that dangerous. Where were you? Then you were right down the road in Carnegie. Oh, no, you were here. Oh, hell yeah. And then we went to Blonox and Etna. And I remember this because here's what a noise the hell out of me about the Trump speak and the Biden speak and the Kamala speak. Why aren't these politicians here? I remember this. There was all the everyone got their panties in the wad because George W Bush wouldn't land there. You're working a flood when you're trying to save lives, when you're trying to eat and drink water and wipe your behind because you have no toilet paper. You don't give a flying rats behind if the president shows up and points at a house that's in a ditch. You just don't care. That's the ignorance of today's political game. So now Trump shows up and says Biden refused to talk to the governor and the governor says I talked to Trump. During time, people are dead, Larry, while these idiots debate who's where and who pointed at the house where the dead bodies of the twins were found when the roofs collapsed. At the end of the day, you show me you give a damn when you write a damn check and send personnel and make a difference and save these lives and drop in water like Elon Musk is doing, like these volunteer helicopter pilots are doing. Like brothers, brother is doing screw these presidents in these candidates who think they're the pope and they're going to show up to heal us. Stay the hell in your mansions and your private jets. Just wait a damn check, man. This crap that I was there up mud on my rough, lowering shoes, I don't give a damn. Do your job and shut up about it. Just saying, Larry. You didn't always mean to know it, as you can probably tell. You're going to watch tonight, aren't you? Hell yeah. Hey, for those who think this doesn't matter, ask Gerald Ford. For those who think this doesn't matter, ask the relatives of LBJ. For those who think this doesn't matter, ask Kamala Harris. For all intents and purposes, she's the president in this day and age. So my point is one of these two guys, whether you like them or not, could be president considering Trump is what, 101 years old? And the fact of the matter is that that could happen. And we could have a vice president and his president again. So it does matter. Well, this will be, for many, the only real window into the personality of each of these. You're only seeing little sound bites. And I got to say something about my boy, a Federman, who I always loved. Did you see his post? Oh, the thing with the man he's passing. You can't ever read it. Gold, brother. You're dropping an F bomb saying F all of you. If you're not standing up for for man, he's a legendary place. He's probably the only United States senator that used that language. Good for him. He's right. These idiots. I'll never eat there again. Good. You don't need it. You're fat anyway. Push. Push away. Who falls? We're going to talk about who really makes a difference in the first hour. Also, I got to tell you, the simple joys in your life. I'm walking to go to the bathroom last night about midnight now. We go to sleep about 10. And Chloe, my daughter, senior at Mount Lebanon, comes running out of her room screaming. I'm thinking, Jesus, what happened? She's crying and jumps up into my arms. She got in the pit. And my thing is that the joy that you feel from your kids, they don't understand how much they can bring you joy by a simple hug, right? Oh, yeah. And how much I would love to have two daughters, 15 minutes from my house. I was going to say, you're going to be able to deal with the fact they'll be so far away. And by the way, that's great that they can both be in my wife's sorority. Listen, listen, for those that don't know, getting into pit is not easy. No, no, no. You got to have a like a four, three average thought about who you know. No, no, although I know everyone as you know, Larry, yeah. And she got in anyway. Get Marty. Hey, no one wants to go to the IP containing branch anymore like I did. Why? PJ, if it's Patrick. Why? Harvard? IP, kitty you, baby. 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 McKia. 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. 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 McKia sent you the sharpest ride, affordable, sexy, sharp. AT&T customers, switching to T-Mobile has never been easier. We'll pay off your existing phone and give you a new one free, all on America's largest 5G network. Visit T-Mobile.com/carrierfreedom to switch today.