Monks & Merrill

Hour 1 - 25 years later... Feds warn terrorist groups continue to encourage attacks against America. Laura Ingle, former KFI Reporter, now with NewsNation, was sent to NYC, and she joins the show to recount what she remembers and her experience flying into New York just 3 days after the attack. KFI's Heather Brooker joins to talk about remembering the heroes and survivors of 9/11. Paul Veneto, "Paulie's Push", joins the show to honor the hero flight attendants. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hour 2 - Palisades voters hate Bass AND Raman - so who do they vote for? Raman vs Bass - Raman pushes Bass to take on more televised deabtes. Fontana Mayor Acquanetta Warren vs Democratic Socialist Joz Sida. Feds allege a Skid Row petition signature scheme. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hour 3 - A generation has grown up knowing 9/11 only through other people's accounts. What are our schools teaching them about it? 75% of Torrance Unified Schools have NO air conditioning and parents are angry. What happened to the state program to provide it? Gov. Newsom signed a package of bills to protect kids, the first, regulating chatbots. Also signed by Newsom, social media protection laws for minors. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hour 1 - Hurricane Marie's waves damaged homes and coastal defenses across Los Angeles and Orange counties, and climate scientist Daniel Swain warns winter could bring worse coastal flooding. After the coastal damage, there's another warning in this summer's temperatures: August tied Earth's hottest month on record, and the contiguous United States recorded its hottest summer. A new working paper links California's later school starts to more sleep, better mental health and higher test scores. We ask study coauthor Osea Giuntella, associate professor of economics at the University of Pittsburgh, how convincing the evidence is and whether the benefits account for the disruption to working families. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hour 2 - Virginia mother Karyann Parkinson received a misdemeanor conviction after allowing her five-year old son, Sam, to walk roughly half a mile through their gated neighborhood to collect goose feathers near a pond. Rancho Pales Verdes wants California to create landslide insurance molded on the California Earthquake Authority or FAIR Plan. Owners at a 499-unit Torrance condo complex face a special assessment exceeding $49,000 a piece, according to ABC7. Residents have sued and are pursuing a board recall. Irvine tops WalletHub's Southern California housing-market rankings, followed by Ontario and Murrieta, according to the Register's analysis. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hour 3 - Los Angeles' new film-industry committee held its first meeting Wednesday, promising to address permitting obstacles and duplicate fees. The Boyle Heights warehouse cleanup is finished, but the fight over responsibility is escalating. Two bills awaiting Governor Newsom's action would establish emergency financial protections and increase certain penalties following the Lineage warehouse fire. Nithya Raman faced questions Wednesday about why she promoted union endorsements with press conferences while acknowledging DSA-LA's support differently. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hour 1 - Barrio Athletics held its weekend run after moving from Leimert Park to Elysian Park following objections about marketplace disruption and racially charged backlash. Barrio Athletics founder Henry Gallardo joins us after the club’s relocated weekend run. Powerful surf and high tides associated with Marie battered Southern California’s coast, prompting evacuations, damaging homes and shutting down a major rail connection. UCLA Climate Scientist Daniel Swain joins the show. Southern California’s oppressive humidity has people comparing notes about how miserable they feel, and climate scientist Daniel Swain says the moisture levels are exceptionally high even by historical standards. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hour 2 - Chino resident Michael Sherman says his front-yard food garden has generated $1,250 in fines and the threat of another $500 penalty. Michael Sherman joins us to explain how his Chino food garden became a prolonged enforcement dispute. A chemical release in La Habra on Tuesday prompted shelter-in-place instructions, nearby evacuations and street closures before firefighters brought the situation under control. Mark Cuban says he would condition startup investments on companies being outside California if Proposition 40 passes. His warning illustrates the investment risk critics describe, while supporters argue the tax would protect healthcare services facing funding cuts. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hour 3 - California Labor Federation President Lorena Gonzalez joins the show and says she supports Proposition 40, the proposed billionaire wealth tax, as a way to protect healthcare services and jobs from federal funding cuts. Her organization faces opposition from business interests and some fellow unions, along with competing ballot measures that could obstruct implementation. Another labor-backed proposal is advancing at Los Angeles City Hall. The council voted Tuesday to move forward with scheduling protections and paid rights training for fast-food workers. Mayor Karen Bass’s office says she is leaving the LAHSA Commission today, citing time constraints while pursuing a separate city homelessness system. Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton proposes eliminating the DMV as a standalone department and cutting annual vehicle registration to $73. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hour 1 - Inland temperatures soar as dangerous waves and high tides batter the Long Beach coast, forcing evacuations. Plus, L.A. prepares for major freeway and road closures during the 2028 Olympics, a mayoral candidate promises to ride Metro and reshape the transit board, and the cleanup continues at the burned-out Boyle Heights warehouse See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hour 2 - A proposed no-camping zone at the new Sixth Street Bridge park sparks a neighborhood debate as resident Tom Traflet joins Michael Monks and Chris Merrill to explain the push behind the petition. Plus, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass is facing off with the House DOGE subcommittee over LAHSA funding, with a potential subpoena fight looming. And we take a break from City Hall drama to celebrate a special occasion — our very own board operator, Jesse Blackburn, is getting hitched! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hour 3 - A man is arrested after allegedly attacking employees at a Los Angeles animal shelter, raising new concerns about safety for those working to protect animals. Nina Jackel, founder of Lady Freethinker, joins Michael Monks and Chris Merrill to expose how online animal cruelty can be disguised as innocent or heartwarming rescue content. Plus, homes in Jurupa Valley are going for $115,000 or less, while thousands of Angelenos are living out of their cars as L.A.’s housing crisis continues. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hour 1- Monks is out on this episode of Monks and Merrill and Lou Penrose is in. Happy Labor Day! We are covering the latest on the MacArthur Park safety. Is it actually safer now? PLUS a massive street takeover was shut down. Will it work for future takeovers? We break it down on KFIAM-640. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hour 2- Monks and Merrill ft Chris Merrill and Lou Penrose on this Labor Day. Three adults were arrested for allowing their kids to go wild on pocket bikes. It raised the question, should parents buy their children powered transportations like dirt bikes? We have thoughts. PLUS the latest with catalytic converters and gas prices. It's all on KFIAM-640 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hour 3- Monks and Merrill with Lou Penrose today. Did you know schools are restricting AI usage for 2026-2027. PLUS data centers are becoming a political problem. AND New Mexico becoming New America? It's all on KFIAM-640. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's MORE Monks & Merrill! It is EXPENSIVE to get divorced! Is Gen Z's retirement plan prediction markets? Are kids still thinking about college? Waymo is causing Uber drivers to ask for protection against automation. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's the Weekend! That's EXACTLY when you need MORE Monks & Merrill! Four decades after the devastating Cerritos plane crash, AOPA Air Safety Institute’s Mike Ginter joins us to remember the victims and discuss the lessons learned from the tragedy. Monks and Merrill cover the $26,000 HOA fee in San Clemente that shocked residents. We talked to Esq. Managing Partner at LS Law, Kirk Pearson about the latest. Dr. Karen Lincoln of UC Irvine joins us to discuss the disturbing Ladera Ranch childhood cancer mystery—and a 20-year-old handwritten warning that has resurfaced. Monks & Merrill digs into the debate as San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie unveils a plan focused on accountability after hundreds of millions of dollars spent on homelessness. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hour 1 - Hurricane Marie brings dangerous beach conditions to Southern California just in time for Labor Day weekend. Plus, the Leimert Park 5K is moved after backlash from the Black community, sparking a deeper conversation about race, community and public space. And Heather Brooker joins the show to preview the highly anticipated $1 billion Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, set to open September 22 in Exposition Park. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hour 2 - A tragic crash at Trader Joe’s raises fresh questions about the growing pattern of senior-driver vehicle intrusions. Meanwhile, a showdown is brewing between the Kansas City mayor and L.A. transit activists, as road diets and proposed changes to Sunset Boulevard and the Valley fuel a heated debate over how Southern California should move people around. Plus, we head to the Channel Islands, where two distinct ecological flashpoints are putting the region’s unique environment in the spotlight. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hour 3 - Mayor Karen Bass faces a federal homelessness probe as questions grow about L.A.’s approach to the crisis ahead of the 2028 Olympics. We also examine the tension between LA28 security plans and the city’s unhoused population, break down a controversial Beverly Hills alley murder case raising questions of self-defense versus vigilantism, and explore California’s ultra-luxury lifestyle—from superyachts to a staggering $96 million Sonoma ranch. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.