This holiday season reached for the one butter that never disappoints Kerry Gold. made with milk from grass fed cows on Irish family farms, it's rich, creamy, and perfect for baking. whether browning butter for cookies or crafting the flakiest pie crust, Kerry Gold's high butterfat content makes all the difference in flavor and texture. Holiday treats will taste extraordinary. From the Mighty 990 Broadcast Center, you're waking up in Starnes Country with Todd Starnes.
And good morning, everybody. Welcome to Stearns Country. I'm Todd Stearns. Great to have you with us. It is 53 degrees outside, and I don't want anybody complaining.
Do not contact Laura Huckabee with your complaints because it's going to get very cold very soon.
So enjoy the weather while you can. We'll have an update from Laura Huckabee in just a few moments. Also, Commander Chuck will be along in just a few moments to talk about the traffic conditions out there. Not too terribly bad, but I'll tell you this: they're running radar on Poplar and Germantown.
So keep it under 40, everybody.
Well, we have a lot of news. Of course, last night, President Trump addressing the nation in what was shockingly a speech that was not 90 minutes long. It was 19 minutes long, ladies and gentlemen. And we'll talk more about that a little bit later on in the program. Also, Randy Hutchison from the Better Business Bureau, every Thursday, Randy drops by for a quick visit, and we look forward to talking.
Talking with him at the bottom of the hour. But right now, we are honored to have a K-WAM exclusive, Dr. Marie Fagans, joins us. This is the first time in studio, Dr. Fagins.
Welcome to K-Wham.
Well, thank you. Thank you. It's good to be here. And I noticed one of the, you know, I just literally got a text message from Ben Dieter, who is a big fan of yours. And I couldn't help but notice, but in the campaign ad that dropped yesterday, I think the entire city sent me a text note yesterday.
I see Ben Dieter and Marie Fagin's campaign ad.
Well, hello, Ben. I think, you know, a lot has happened, you know, obviously over the past year, and a lot of coverage has taken place. And Ben was certainly instrumental in that.
Well, we miss Ben. He's working in Washington, D.C., press secretary for Congressman John Rose. But I know he just sent me a note that he's listening this morning.
So who knows, he might even call in this morning. Dr. Fagins, you made a major announcement yesterday, and I think the entire city is talking about this. There's a lot of buzz around the fact that you are now running officially. To be the next mayor of Shelby County.
And my first question is: why in the world do you want that job? You know, it was probably one of the questions I asked as well. I am deeply. Connected to my faith. And so a lot went into the decision.
Certainly did not wake up and say, you know, I can't wait to be the mayor. And I don't mean that in a condescending way, but being very intentional about thinking about this, right? We're talking about people and how we impact a county for the next 10 to 20 years with decisions that will be made and those that wouldn't be made. And so, you know, I think leadership is leadership, and I'm prepared to lead in any arena. I've thought about what people have shared with me across the 901 since I've entered here, you know, in 2024.
And I believe that this moment calls for a leader of my caliber. We covered the controversy at the school board, and I think it opened up a lot of people's eyes to a lot of the problems facing the city of Memphis and Shelby County, a lot of concerns that people have about how money is being spent. And I mean, the list goes on and on and on. What lessons did you learn out of that you believe will be helpful if you become the next mayor of Shelby County? Yeah, I think there are a few things.
One, you know, I am. I'm still firm on making decisions using data. And so, you know, nothing to walk back in terms of decision making. What I would say is that I would do a lot more of the communication, take that on myself. And, you know, it is important to have a great team around you, but it's also important to be the leader of the communication in terms of someone who respects transparency.
So that's one. Two, I believe there was just a lot of information that was being communicated in general that people had not naturally heard, that I presumed had been shared as someone who just makes decisions in that way. Three, when you bring a community along, I think this is what you get, and that was intentional for me. I don't believe that we can make decisions without speaking with, sitting with the folks who are impacted by it. But also, I came into a system that was already broken with a commitment and an intention, you know, to do some great work.
And so, really clear about what I was walking into. But I have always been one to run to the fire, right, and believe that I can do something to affect change in a positive way. And I still believe that today. I think a lot of people. were struck by The ugliness that was directed at you and just the meanness and the nastiness.
And look, I've been in politics for a long time. They've called us every name under the book, you know. And you've been in the look, when you're in a leadership position, you get a lot of that. But did it surprise you, the level of vitriol that was being directed? You're coming into this city doing a great job trying to help the kids learn how to read and write and actually show up in school.
And they're coming at you like a bunch of mean girls. You know, I have never been involved in anything like this in my life. And so, you know, even through high school, middle school, when you expect for, you know, engagements and interactions like that to take place. And so I can't say that I'm surprised by anything because I've seen a lot. But I do know that I just don't get in the mud, right?
And so it's important to me to be a model for the very people that, you know, I've been working with for so long. But it's also always important for me to demonstrate good character. I think sitting through that was something, you know, different. It was something that I've processed on the other side. As you know, I've always sought to try to understand and get to the root of a thing, and I don't know that I've gotten there just yet.
What would you say are the top three issues? You've sat down, you've done your homework, you've researched, you've made your decision. You've mentioned it was a thought-out decision here. What do you think are the three major issues facing Shelby County? You know, I don't think that they're separate, and I know that that's how we speak on them, but I don't think that they're separate.
I think when we talk about crime, when we think about public safety, we think about health care access or the lack thereof, when we think about transportation and strengthening families, I think it's all connected to the very thing that I'm positioned in, and that's education. If we strengthen our community in terms of skill set, in terms of folks who really can see a path forward, then we do reduce crime, we do create safer spaces. And so, if I had to just do three, then it's public safety, it's education and workforce, and then we're talking about housing stability and health care. Of the most diverse listening audiences, I think, in all of the radio here in Memphis.
So we have a lot of listeners in Whitehaven and Fraser. We also have a lot in Germantown and Collierville. And to a person, people that are calling into this station are so thankful for the work of the Memphis Safe Task Force. I know Mayor Lee Harris is rapidly opposed to the task force being here. And yet, when you look at the announcement coming out from the mayor's office just a few days ago, crime is now at a three-year low.
If you were county mayor, would you welcome the Memphis Safe Task Force? And do you see that as being helpful to reducing crime here in the Mid-South?
So, you know, I support safety, you know, period. As I think about what that looks like, I think we can hold two truths at the same time. There are people who believe that the resources here are helpful in making us feel safer. And there are those who believe that they are targeted. And hey, this is not sustainable and we need to do something different.
I think, as County Mayor, my responsibility is to figure out the prevention pieces first. That would prevent us from. Being in crisis situations and emergency measures like this, I believe that when we make the investments in people in these areas that I mentioned earlier, then we don't have to have a task force or someone who is sending additional resources in. But I think the increased visibility is what people like. I believe that if you have conversations in some spaces, then you can get to the root of it.
I have not had the opportunity just yet to hear from the community, but I would welcome what would look like safety for us. But that's here. I believe that local government is responsible for that first and foremost. As a taxpayer for me, and we're going to have you on as many times as you want to get up in the early in the morning and come on KYN because there's a lot of ground to cover. And I think we're really at a pivotal point in Memphis and Shelby County.
Do we want to thrive and grow, or are we willing to go back to just business as usual? And you do not strike me as a business as usual kind of person. You know, I think status quo is how we got here, right? Just our um Commitment to complacency and just an unwillingness to work together. You know, safety is not partisan.
Education is not partisan. There are no two sides to healthcare access, to what safety is, right? And so, if we're just willing to get to the table, have some real conversations, hash out some solutions, and then more importantly, Todd, implement and execute, right? We get stuck in good ideas and we never make and take the steps necessary. And so, you know, business as usual, I don't think will work moving forward.
Now, just ripping the band-aid off in some areas I think would be a little too aggressive, but there's an opportunity to strike a delicate balance. We have a lot of people weighing in on our Facebook live page. And Kay asked a very interesting question: Dr. Fagins, how would you bring the community together, the city and the suburbs, to make a stronger Shelby County? You know, great question.
And hello, Kay, if you're listening in, I think that, you know, I had a conversation with municipal mayors just maybe a week or so ago, a very refreshing. Refreshing from their perspective, for sure, and certainly from mine. What I shared with them is: I see this as an opportunity to be the connector for the county. This is not being a Memphis 2.0 mayor. I'm pretty clear on what this role is.
And it's about being a leader who understands that the county sets the table. And then all of the municipals in the cities come to it. We have real conversations about what we need. Collierville knows what Collierville needs. Germantown knows its people and its pain points.
I think Shelby County Mayor and my role in that regard would be to bring us together in terms of going together to Nashville and D.C., bringing resources to the city and excuse me, and the county, going to D.C. together as a joint legislative team. And so it's having an agenda that reflects the overall needs of Shelby County, but the nuanced needs and perspectives of the municipalities. I want to get another question to hear. This is Colby writing in.
He says: unlike the current mayor, will you work together with the new sheriff to tackle infrastructure issues at the jail and other county buildings? Absolutely. You know, relationships are foundational in any regard, but certainly with the share of. And the Sheriff's Department. And so establishing that foundational relationship.
I already have a good relationship with both Sheriff Bonner and certainly Deputy Chief Buckner, who is just in second in charge. But any sheriff, I have reached out to a few candidates to have conversations just to see their perspectives and really, Todd, to see, what are your intentions? Do you have some real plans in order to how we both address immediate conditions in the jail and we think about a realistic next step in terms of an approach? I got to give Richard credit for the question I'm about to ask because this I was about to ask this question, but Doge, you know, it's worked, has been so effective on the federal level, going in and just finding all of the wasteful spending in government. Would you consider going in and doing a Doge style committee here locally in Shelby County, just open up the books and like the slush funds that the county commissioners have, it drives me nuts as a taxpayer knowing that our money is being used for things that we may not necessarily need to be using it for?
You know, I don't know if it would be comparable to Doge, but I I am a believer in efficiency and transparency, and I do believe that taxpayers deserve to know how our money is being spent. Certainly, part of my previous role was doing just the same. How are we using the funding that we have? What is it being allocated to? And more importantly, Todd, what are the outcomes attached to these investments?
And so, certainly taking a hard look. I've done so with the current budget. I do believe there are some opportunities, right, you know, to use funds that we have to go after more funding as well, but certainly be very clear with taxpayers what we're doing with it. Michael, right again, tell her to run as an independent. You know, first of all, I just loved what you did with our school district.
I loved it. And people would always ask me, is she a Republican? I said, I have no idea. I do not know her politics. And I appreciated that about you because you kept it out of what you did.
And I have great respect for that. You're running as a Democrat. What is it about the Democrat Party? What are the precepts about the Democrat Party that you embrace? You know, if I believe that.
You know, we could just do this without having to choose quote unquote aside. That's exactly what I would do because, as you mentioned, as an educator, my responsibility was just to human beings to advocate for what's best for children and families and a community attached to it. And that's Todd exactly the perspective that I'll take on here. But I did pitch and petition as a Democrat. That's how I'll run.
We're in a blue city. But my values, I believe, are just values that people have. I am moderate in terms of thinking of how we do things. I believe in accountability. I believe in transparency.
And I believe in just going about this in a collaborative way.
So you're more of a John DeBerry Democrat as opposed to a Jasmine Crockett Democrat. You know, I don't know about the two. I just really know that how I've led just all throughout my life is sitting with people, having those real conversations, and then seeing how we can go together to do what's great. We got to take a quick break. Can you stick around for a few more minutes?
I have to ask you some non-political questions. Also, Ben Dieter has been texting out the wan zoo here. He says, listening to the show, tell Dr. Fagins I'm her biggest fan and tell her I'll move back to Memphis if she wins.
Well, come on back, Ben. We have work to do. All right. 901-260-5926 is our telephone number. And exclusive this morning on the Mighty 990.
Dr. Marie Fagins in studio. We'll be right back. Yeah. All right, welcome back, everybody.
This is Stern's Country, and our very special guest for this half hour, which is quickly going by, is Dr. Marie Fagins, who is running for county mayor. Made it official last night. MarieFagins.com is the website address, mariefagins.com. You know, Dr.
Fagins, when you look at all of the growth in Middle Tennessee and Nashville, Davidson County, the skyscrapers going up all over the place, and yet here we are watching an exodus of our population. How do we get the young people to stay in Shelby County, how do we get them to start their families here, buy homes here? And when can we start to see that kind of growth? What's the plan? You know, economic growth, social mobility, part of the platform, and certainly thank you for mentioning the website.
There are 48,000 18 to 26-year-olds who have never voted in a mayoral primary. And so we certainly have work to do and a huge opportunity to get our youngest leaders involved. I think it's speaking their languages, having conversations with them, which is what I've been doing. You know, seeing this as a place, not that they just call home because they were born and reared here, but as a place that they can live and thrive. And so, can they have a family here?
Yes, but can I go and have fun? Which is a major part of it as well. And I think the opportunity to do that is with sharp investments. What kind of a county are you going to be inheriting in your mind? Are we looking at a lot of dumpster fires burning here?
You know, I think there are a lot of opportunities. There are a lot of challenges. We're talking about regional one. We're talking about a jail that needs to be, you know, thought out. We are certainly talking about schools and schools that need to be built, schools that need to have decisions made, certainly an education system, public education system across the board that needs to be strengthened.
If we don't get education together, we'll be having the same conversation in the next 10 years. And so, yes, inheriting a lot of opportunities to do some great work. This is what bothers me. When we've got over 70% of the kids can't read at grade level, that tells me that as taxpayers, we're not getting our money's worth out of that education system, and it's not working. And we have got to get that fixed.
Immediately. When we look and think about literacy and numeracy, we pretty much know how the job force is going to look. We know what's going to happen in crime. This is just data. It's not opinion.
And so, yes, if we do not immediately do something unique and new with the education system, we'll continue to. To have these same issues. That breaks my heart to know that we got kids walking around Memphis that can't read because that's the key right there. You know, if you've got a child that can read, they've got a chance at living that American dream. And we're not preparing these kids.
Correct. If you have a child who can read on grade level, that means they can comprehend, they can fill out job applications, they can start their own business and be resourceful. They will certainly find something safe to do and make better decisions. And so, yes, the root of all of this is certainly a better quality education. We have Republicans in Memphis.
You may be surprised to know this. This is the bluest part of Tennessee. And there has not been a lot of cooperation, I think, especially with the current county mayor and our delegation. And that delegation does include Republicans, Mark White on education, a very important role as chair of that committee. State Senator Brent Taylor, John Gillespie, just some of the folks in our delegation.
Will you work with those guys? And have you had any conversations with them yet? I will continue to work with them as I did as superintendent. I think that, like I shared earlier, relationships are important. They're foundational.
This is not partisanship, right? The issues that we have and the opportunities that we have in front of us require us to work together. And so I think that's absolutely the only way. And I'm prepared to continue to do so. All right.
I have some non-political questions. We're going to get you back on. And what we'll do, I think what we need to do is just take one issue per visit because there's so much to talk about. But Christmas is right around the corner. A lot of people don't know you, right?
I mean, they just see you on TV on the news. But what does Marie Fagans do for Christmas? What does that look like? You know, Christmas is family. Christmas is, you know, the Christmas tree has been up for quite some time here.
I leave mine up all year, by the way. Do you really? I do. You're one of those people. And I don't change it, you know, decorations for different holidays.
I just leave it up. I think that, you know, what the holidays and Christmas bring for all of us is such a warm spirit. I really like how we treat each other. I wish I could just bottle that up and take it. Throughout the year, and so Christmas for me is family.
You know, I don't like to get out and do all the shopping. I do a lot of online ordering pretty much last minute as though Christmas doesn't fall on the same day every year.
Okay, I like you again now.
Okay, this is good. This is good. Let me ask you, you know, you're a person of faith. Absolutely. Will that play a big role in what you do and how you operate if you're elected mayor?
Yeah. Yeah, so I think it's about the pause for me. It's about seeking uh you know thought and and and just alignment that is outside of just my my flesh and what I want to do. You know, what is the natural best step uh in terms of what would would help people in general and what does that look like. And I'm a a a faith warrior.
I love it. Dr. Marie Fagans, thank you for joining us here on K-Wham this morning. The privilege is mine. I look forward to it.
All right, MarieFagins.com. We've already had two people say, How can I volunteer? Please sign up. MarieFagins.com. There you go.
MarieFagins.com. That music means we have to scoot out of here. Coming up, Randy Hutchison from the Better Business Bureau. We're going to be taking your calls as well. You heard from Marie Fagans.
Does she get your vote? 901-260-5926. This is Starn's Country of the Body 990. All right, it is 53 degrees right here at East Memphis at the K-Wam Broncast Studios. Welcome back to Starnes Country and the principal Toyota Memphis studio.
I'm Todd Starnes, mixing things up a little bit today with our special guest, Dr. Marie Fagans. And again, you can go to her website if you'd like more information on her campaign platform, MarieFagans.com. We have our next guest. He's not running for anything except maybe the golf course, running to the golf course, our good friend Randy Hutchison from the Better Business Bureau.
Randy, Merry Christmas to you.
Well, I hope to be running there this weekend. Didn't get to last weekend, but cold. As long as the weather stays the way it is, this is pretty good getting outside weather. Let's talk about scammers. You know, a lot of people out Christmas shopping.
Traffic in Germantown yesterday, I was cussing like a Methodist in traffic. It was insane. But all that to say, a lot of opportunities for scammers to get out there and cause big problems.
Well, and what we're going to talk about is scammers impersonating well-known retailers. It happens throughout the year. But this time of year, as you indicated, more people are out shopping, they're harried, and they just are more susceptible to a convincing scam. FTC data from 2023, the 2024-2025 numbers aren't out yet, but in 2023, The FTC said the most impersonated a retailer was uh Best Buys Geek Squad. And I can tell you that I get emails periodically saying confirm uh the payment or confirm some uh deal or order or uh engagement with uh uh geek squad that I've never done, but some people will click on the links and somehow be convinced to uh provide money or information.
Uh Amazon was second. In 2023.
Now, I wouldn't be surprised if Amazon hasn't moved up to number one. Amazon has, I saw the other day, a stat has about. Three hundred plus million active users a year, so virtually everybody. Uh Buy something on Amazon, and therefore, if they get some message from Amazon, it ends up phony. They may not know it's phony in the beginning, but Amazon initiated in 2024.
Uh Uh more than took down more than fifty five thousand phishing websites and more than twelve thousand phone numbers that they identified were being used to impersonate Amazon. And then an outfit called Guardio, which is a cybersecurity company. says scammers are also aggressively impersonating ATNT, Apple in the App Store, Lowe's, Verizon, Costco, Walmart, Kroger. Guardio has seen a nearly thirty times increase in shopping related scam and spam text messages. and a 500% jump in malicious email domains.
And they say the crooks are exploiting artificial intelligence to make phony messages and websites more believable. And interesting, one of the more disturbing trends that they're seeing are phony ads about closing company businesses, retailers going out of business sales. And people get a message and says some outfit is going out of business and we're having a great sale. It just ends up being Phony. Guardio says the psychology behind the holiday scams is simple.
Distraction plus urgency equals vulnerability. People juggling gift lists, managing budgets, tracking multiple deliveries, making dozens of quick buying decisions daily during the holidays allow their usual skepticism to take a back seat. They let their guard down.
So we just had Dr. Fagins in studio, and she was talking she's one of these Christmas, last-minute Christmas shoppers, and she does a lot of this stuff online.
So what advice does Amazon have for all of us who do a lot of shopping online to avoid these impersonation scams? This is advice specifically from Amazon to their users, but many of the tips apply to any of the retailers that I talked about. But Amazon says if you receive a message about the purchase of a product or service, don't respond to the message or click on any link in it. Log into your Amazon account or use the mobile app to confirm the message is legitimate. Know that Amazon won't ask for payment over the phone or through email, only in their mobile app, on their website.
or in a physical store, be wary of false urgency trying to get you to do something in a hurry. And as I say, a lot of scams rely on people's emotions getting out in front of their common sense. Don't be pressured at buying a gift card. A lot of the scams we see, ultimately when they ask for money, it's in the form of a gift card. No legitimate sale or transaction will require you to pay with a gift card.
And the same holds true for peer-to-peer payment apps. prepaid debit cards, wire transfers, cryptocurrency. And then if you get a call or an email or a text you think might be a scam, Amazon and the Better Business Bureau have partnered to provide consumers a searchable scam tracker service that you can come into our scam tracker service online and research suspicious communications reported by others and see if the call or the message or the text you got really is a scam. All right, Randy Hutchison with the Better Business Bureau here in Shelby County in the Mid-South. Randy, if people have questions that they want to reach out to you guys, how can they do that?
The easiest way to check out a business. File a complaint about a business, file a review about a business anywhere in the country, find out if a business is a better business beer accredited business is to come to bbb.org, bbb.org, or call 759-1300. All right. Have you got all your Christmas shopping done? Pretty much.
I just have my son to buy for, and pretty much. That's not bad.
Well, that's not bad. That's good stuff. Randy, always good seeing you. I hope you and your family have a really merry Christmas. You too.
All right, Randy Hutchison from the Better Business Bureau here in the studio. By the way, our telephone number, 901-260-5926. That's 901-260-5926. Coming up. A basket brawl at two local high schools.
We're going to tell you all about that. We're also going to be taking your calls about Dr. Fagin's. You heard a little bit about her as she introduced herself to the K-WAM audience. What do you like about Dr.
Fagins? Give us a call. And also, a chance for you to win a Christmas prize package from the Mighty 990. You got to answer this question. We've been talking about a major national department store chain, and they put out a massive Christmas fantasy book.
Featuring high-dollar Christmas presents, including a half a million-dollar photo sprint. Can you name that highfalutin department store? Give us a call if you can, 901-260-5926. This is Stern's Country, the principal Toyota Memphis Studio. All right, welcome back to Starnes Country.
I'm Todd Starns. We're broadcasting from the principal tier to Memphis Studio.
So there's been a lot of chatter in the live show blog over on Facebook today. I want to address a couple of things. And again, we have so many new listeners, and this is a grassroots radio station. We're the only locally owned, locally run. Talk radio station in the Mid-South, and we take great pride in that because it's not about us, it's about you, and it's about bringing all of the people that want to be elected officials to the table so we can talk about the big issues.
Now, Today is just the first step in that. We're going to be interviewing a lot of other candidates. It's going to be a pretty long election cycle. And we're going to be the way we do it here is that we are not a Republican radio station. Yes, I am a conservative.
Yes, I am a card-carrying Republican, a proud member of the Republican Party. But it's because of my conservative beliefs that I believe that we should have a platform to debate and talk about the issues. And the reason why is I believe that the conservative ideas are always going to win the argument at the end of the day. And I'm not afraid of having those conversations. And I think it's important, especially in a deep blue city.
that we talk to people, we have those conversations so that maybe, just maybe, we can change hearts and minds. And that's a lot of what we, that's really a lot of what we do here on this radio station. That being said, I want to let you know that if you are a, if you are a candidate running for office and you are a declared candidate, then you have an invitation to come on the Mighty 990. And we put the contact information there in the live show blog so you can see all of that for yourself. But we will have those conversations.
And it's just the first step. And I'm just telling you, I have great respect for Dr. Fagins. She's been through hell. I mean, what she went through on that school board is insane.
And I understand if you're a little gun shy, especially talking and going on a conservative talk radio station. I get that, but she agreed to do it. And she'll be back, I can promise you that. And we're going to have more conversations. We're going to drill down on some of the specific issues.
And I hope you know that we're going to keep asking your questions. We didn't have a lot of time. I wasn't able to get to all the questions, but we're going to focus on singular issues moving forward with a lot of these candidates.
So you've got the initial, I just wanted you guys to meet Marie Fagan so you kind of get a sense of who she is, where she's coming from, and what she wants to do if she's elected county mayor. By the way, I want to give a shout out to Derek Mills. We're going to have him on the show Monday. We, on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, we're doing something very cool here at the Mighty 990. We have put together a three-hour Christmas special, and you're going to hear from some wonderful folks.
We have music from the Bellevue Baptist Church singing Christmas Tree. Our very own Aiden Pett. Who you just heard delivering her entertainment report, just an incredible vocalist. He'll be with us. Congressman Tim Burgett is going to drop by, and he is going to break down his 15-minute Christmas party, which was the hit of Washington, D.C.
Franklin Graham is going to join us, as well as the New York Times best-selling author Karen Kingsbury. It's just going to be a lot of fun. And Derek Mills is our sponsor. He is the title sponsor for our Christmas shows here on the Mighty 990 in KWAM. And we just really appreciate him.
We love people who love Christmas here on the Mighty 990.
So thank you very much, Derek Mills. And he'll be with us on Monday, and we'll have a much more in-depth conversation. Also, want to say congratulations to all of the winners of our Christmas contest. I know prizes are being delivered. Prizes are being picked up.
We have had such a wonderful time meeting so many of our great listeners. You guys, may I just say, just as an aside here, Yeah. We got a pretty good looking audience, Dylan. I don't want to be that vain, but we have a very intellectual audience here on K-Wham, but they look pretty darn good, too. I'd say that's pretty accurate.
Easy on the eyes. Easy on the eyes. Easy on the eyes, is it? By the way, Congressman Steve Cohen, yesterday making some national news. The congressman's very upset.
Over ICE arresting people. Cut number five, please. We don't know exactly what street crime is. But we know when we say we're going to go in with ICE and take out the people that committed the most serious offenses, the worst of the worst. And we mentioned crime as homicide.
We mentioned rape. We mentioned pedophiles. Yeah. We know who those people are. But they're arresting people simply for the offense of being in the country illegally.
It's not right, but it's not necessarily something that should cause deportation when they are not committing crimes and they are contributing to the economy.
So that's a concern we have. Could somebody get this guy a chicken leg? I think he may be famished. Maybe he's somewhat delusional because he's hungry. He's got the hangries.
Look, here's the deal: the reason we call them illegals, Congressman, is because they are here illegally, which means they are breaking the law. They are committing a crime. Crying. Jeez Alou.
So, anyway, we'll talk more about Congressman Cohen on the national show coming up at 11 o'clock. All right, this story involving two local high schools is just insane. It is a basketball game. There's a basketball game. Fox 13 got the exclusive video.
This was a game between Hamilton High School. and uh Fairleigh High School. And this basketball game this week, a fight broke out, and it was both teams were fighting. And you also had the coaches. On the teams fighting each other, according to Memphis Police.
Police officers say a mom filed a complaint saying that her son. Was at the game and was punched in the face by a coach for Fairleigh High School. Uh, the video is insane. I mean, it's an all-out brawl right there on the basketball court. They had police or at least security there.
And it took him a while to break everybody up. But I'm telling you, fists were flying all over the place here. Police said that the woman told them the game, it had been a home game for Hamilton High. At some point, players and coaches started fighting over the score. MPD said that's when one of the coaches came over to her son and punched him in the face.
Now, I'm sure there's more to the story, but the video, they've got video evidence. It may take a little while because there were so many people fighting. I mean, it was a good old-fashioned Donnie Brooke Dylan, so. By the way, not another g another Bad night for the Memphis Tigers. Man, and I had so much hopes for that game.
I saw overtime. Number 13 Vanderbilt and we just blew it. I mean, you do.
So here's the deal. I know Hardaway's catching it right now from the fans on social media. I get that. But the reality here is this could pay off dividends down the road because we're playing a very tough schedule. I mean, we're one of the top it's one of the toughest, toughest non-conference schedules in the NCAA.
Yeah, so I mean if we can catch a win, just one on a ranked team, I mean that'll just put us back in good graces with the fans, I think. But uh we have to definitely win our conference games and we have to win out. By the way, we are going to be giving away some tickets to the AutoZone Liberty Bowl. Proud to be a media sponsor for yet another year. I think we've been media sponsors all five years that I've owned the radio station, and we're just huge, huge fans of the Liberty Bowl, of the great work they're doing over there.
And Harold, we love Harold. We'll get him on the show, but you're going to have a chance to win. Take us to go see the AutoZone Liberty Bowl. It's going to be a great game, and I know a lot of Navy fans. I think all of Billington's going to be there for the game.
That's what I'm thinking.
So we'll have to see how that plays out. But it really is one of the crown jewels. And I know there's a lot of conversation, a lot of controversy right now with the football playoff. It can't get to be as big as what we do for basketball. We can't have March Madness, but I think that's where they want to take this thing.
I can see that. You know, for us, the ball game here, the Liberty Ball, it's special because, you know, people come from out of town and we have a huge, you know, parade and And business is booming for the Liberty Bowl.
So it's really fun to have the bowl games, but. People are starting to care a little bit less and less about the ball games, which is unfortunate. It is because they do a great job down at the AutoZone Liberty Bowl, and a terrific job, actually. You want to know who's going to win? You got Cincinnati, you got Navy.
Yeah. Cincinnati's going to win. Why do you say that? Because the elephant at the Memphis Zoo. Yesterday, picked the winner.
Oh, boy. I didn't even realize this was a thing. I didn't either.
So they got the elephant down there, and he's got like a little bookie. He ought to have a bookie hat on, but he doesn't. And the elephant reaches into a box and he pulled out the Cincinnati Bearcats. Wow.
Okay. Wow.
Well, I'm sure it'll be a great game either way. I mean, both teams are pretty good. Navy's obviously had a great season, so It'll be close, that's for sure. I want to give a shout out to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.
One of their sweet patients, 10-year-old Bailey, was on hand to help the zookeepers. That had to have been a lot of fun. Can I tell that reminds me of a story? When I was working at Fox News Channel, we were at Tampa for the RNC. And they wanted me to broadcast, do a live stand-up at Busch Gardens for the morning show, Dylan.
In front of the elephant. Encampment there. They have lots of elephants. And the plan was to actually have me doing a live report. On top of one of the elephants.
Really? Honest to goodness. Yeah. And they were going about it, and they had it all set up, and the elephant looked at me and I was like, Oh, hell no. Yeah, we're not doing, no, no, we're not doing it, and just walked away.
And so that, so I'm glad he walked away and didn't get angry. I was freaking out because I'm not good with animals. Yeah. You know, I don't. I don't like cats.
I don't like the, you know, I, you know, hedgehogs or whatever. I'm not a big fan. Potty. You need you a guinea pig in the Starns household. No guinea pigs.
What about that drunk raccoon from Virginia? He's a friend. That could be good. I could have done a report with that thing. You should have.
All right, live from the bathroom of the liquor store. Just passed out. Raccoon. Oh, that music means we got to scoot out of here. Have a great day, everybody.
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