12/31 Tom Hauser is in as Deputy Mayor again today

Summary

Garage Logic – December 31, 2025

Episode Overview

This New Year’s Eve episode of Garage Logic sees Tom Hauser reprising his role as "Deputy Mayor" alongside host Joe Soucheray (“The Mayor”), John Hight, Johnny Hight, and Chris Reivers. On the last day of 2025, the crew blends classic GL banter, storytelling, biting commentary about Minnesota's political scene, and the state’s notable fraud controversies. The show weaves together personal anecdotes, pointed discussion of media responsibility, reflections on social media's impact, and lighthearted humor—keeping with the podcast’s trademark “common sense” tone.

---

Main Themes & Key Discussion Points

1. New Year’s Eve Reflections and Hauser’s Near-Death Bag Boy Story

• Opening Banter: The hosts riff on the year’s close, sharing personal high notes and some ribbing about caffeine and Mountain Dew.
• Tom Hauser’s Story: Hauser brings classic GL storytelling, recounting a harrowing New Year’s Eve as a 16-year-old delivery van driver for Byerly’s in 1977.
• Takeaways: Surviving a van spinout in bad weather, the preservation of wedding meals, and a humorous look at the changing roles in grocery stores.

Notable Quotes:

• Tom Hauser (03:12): “I think I’m going to take the mantra of the city of St. Paul with my driveway going forward. BLEEP it. That stuff will melt.”
• Tom Hauser (07:16–07:38): “I’m swirling around doing these 360s...I finally just had no...I thought this was it. I thought 16 is as far as I’m gonna go. I just closed my eyes, held onto the wheel, and then the next thing you know is...I opened my eyes and I’m in the median facing the other way. Cars zipping by.”

Timestamps:

• Hauser’s near-death bag boy delivery story: [03:18] – [13:06]

---

2. Minnesota Childcare Fraud and Media Accountability

• The Topic: Hauser’s presence reignites debate over Minnesota’s years-running childcare fraud scandals and viral “fraud videos.”
• Media Critique: The team discusses public frustrations with media coverage vs. social media virality, clarifying what responsible journalism entails and dissecting how misinformation snowballs online.
• Political Frustration: Soucheray and listeners’ emails vent about the state government’s handling of fraud and recent deficits. Hauser clarifies the complexities of legally substantiating fraud and covering stories credibly.
• Systemic Problems: Discussion expands to how citizens consume news (“political silos”), how viral clickbait distorts public perception, and the real limitations of journalists.

Notable Quotes:

• Tom Hauser (22:36): “A lot of that is just up to the news consumer. Everybody chooses their own political media silo...They don’t get—you're not gonna get both sides. We still present both sides, or three sides, if there are three sides. And these podcasters don’t have to do that.”
• Tom Hauser (25:45): “People think the media has way more power than we actually do. People write to me all the time: ‘Why are you not demanding that the governor resign?’ Well, that’s not what journalists do.”
• Joe Soucheray (29:12): “But it is factual that the state went from an $18 billion surplus to a $6.5 billion deficit?”
• Tom Hauser (29:54): “And it happens day after day after day from people who just don’t take the time to read. They’ve tuned out the dreaded mainstream media because they want to stay in their political silo and that’s all they want to hear.”

Timestamps:

• Defining media’s role and viewer frustration: [17:16] – [32:02]

---

3. News Highlights and Social Media Absurdities

A. Childcare Funding Crisis:

• State and federal investigation escalates; funding freeze for Minnesota expands nationally, affecting tens of thousands of families.
• Recent prosecution in the Feeding Our Future fraud case. ([35:44]–[39:59])

B. Social Media & Crime:

• Discussion of an 18-year-old charged for assaulting a homeless woman at Mall of America “for a TikTok video.” ([38:59]–[40:36])
• Commentary on the rise and consequences of social media-driven stunts:
  • “I don’t think we’re dealing with another...win for social media.” – Tom Hauser ([40:39])

C. Lighthearted News & Banter:

• Absurd news: naked masked meat market robber in Florida ([50:16]), Detroit man’s accidental self-shooting ([52:11]), and reflection on odd TV/radio station holiday broadcasting practices ([58:06]).
• Nostalgic Minnesota and media moments—restaurant jingles, TV auditions, legendary newsroom outtakes.

---

4. Stepping Strong & Marathon Fundraising

• Hauser’s Personal Note: Tom is preparing to run his 31st Boston Marathon on his 65th birthday, raising money for the Stepping Strong Foundation, which supports trauma and limb-saving education in honor of Boston Marathon bombing survivors ([66:17]–[68:01]).
• Link to Donate: Will be provided via GL’s web page and Tom’s social media.

Notable Quote:

• Tom Hauser (67:59): “They have raised more than $17 million to teach first responders the best practices for saving limbs...It’s an honor to do that.”

---

5. Community Call-Out: Missing Local Child

• Awareness Raised: The show highlights the ongoing case of missing 12-year-old Kimora Jones of St. Paul, urging listeners to stay alert and help as possible. ([69:22])

---

Memorable Moments & Humor

• GL’s Trademark Riffs: Ribbing about driveway snow removal, “Mountain Dew drinking bleep hole,” and “chicken cacciatore going everywhere” during Tom’s van story.
• Running Jokes: Rookie’s propensity for paperwork snafus, overdraft champion awards for bank endorsers, old car buying stories, and playful tangents about restaurant jingles.
• Media Self-Effacement: The crew openly mocks their own industry, live radio/tv mishaps, and the changing face of media.

---

Key Timestamps

| Time | Segment | |-----------|----------------------------------------------| | 03:18 | Hauser’s Byerly’s van story | | 17:16 | Media coverage, fraud cases, viral videos | | 35:44 | News headlines: childcare fraud & prosecution| | 38:59 | Social media-driven assault at MOA | | 50:16 | Florida “naked meat robber” | | 52:11 | Detroit accidental shooter | | 66:17 | Stepping Strong marathon fundraising | | 69:22 | Missing child alert: Kimora Jones |

---

Representative Notable Quotes

• “Everybody chooses their own political media silo... We still present both sides, or three sides, if there are three sides. And these YouTube, these podcasters don’t have to do that.” — Tom Hauser [22:36]
• “But it is factual that the state went from an $18 billion surplus to a $6.5 billion deficit?” — Joe Soucheray [29:12]
• “It’s an honor to do that. But that is what Stepping Strong’s all about.” — Tom Hauser [68:28]

---

Conclusion

This New Year’s Eve Garage Logic keeps to its roots: common sense, heartfelt storytelling, and sharp takes on Minnesota’s news and politics. With Hauser adding journalistic gravitas and personal humor, the crew unpacks the year’s big stories, the frustration and limits of modern journalism, and the quirks of Midwest life. The episode closes with community concern for a missing child and Hauser’s upcoming marathon run—a fitting blend of vigilance, reflection, and the glue of small-town spirit.

---

Links Mentioned

• Stepping Strong Foundation: [Link forthcoming on GL’s website & Tom Hauser’s socials]
• Missing Child Info — Kimora Jones: Search local St. Paul news.

---

Transcript

[Mishke]

Hey, Garage Logic fans. Mishke here, slipping in ever so briefly to mention that I have a podcast that comes out every Wednesday and every Friday, twice a week now. The show is pretty much about everything you care about and are interested in and need in your life and want to know more about. I tailored the darn thing specifically to your liking. I tailored it to your loves, to your true passions. That took a long time. I'm spent, you know what I'm saying? Absolutely wasted.

[Joe Soucheray]

Here we go. Josh Arnold, investment consultants, brings you this episode of the Garage Logic podcast. Call Josh today at 952-925-5608 for a free 48 minute consultation. Hail the Flashlight King.

[Chris Reivers]

And now, from the mayor's office above the boathouse on the east shore of.

[Tom Hauser]

Spoon Lake, it's Garage Logic, with Chris.

[Chris Reivers]

Reavers manning technology corner, Kenny Olson from the crabby coffee shop, John Hight in.

[Tom Hauser]

The newsroom, and of course, the RO Here is your Flashlight King fireworks commissioner.

[Chris Reivers]

And the keeper of common sense, your mayor, Joe Susher.

[Joe Soucheray]

Hi, Tom.

[Tom Hauser]

Hey there.

[John Hight]

How are you?

[Joe Soucheray]

Good.

[Tom Hauser]

It's Tom Hauser.

[Joe Soucheray]

Yes.

[Tom Hauser]

In for. Oh, look at. Look at you.

[Joe Soucheray]

You're a Mountain Dew drinking bleep hole, as Joe would say.

[Johnny Hight]

Right?

[Tom Hauser]

Now, look at the service here because you know, who doesn't need some caffeine on New Year's Eve.

[Johnny Hight]

You need the juice, baby. You need the juice.

[Tom Hauser]

Are you saying you can't tell that I'm on the juice?

[Johnny Hight]

I don't want to get too technical, if you know what I mean.

[Tom Hauser]

Well, how are you guys on this last day of 2025? To which many people would say, Good riddance.

[Johnny Hight]

2025 was all right. I got a new grandbaby this year, Just got baptized this Saturday. That's one good thing about 2025, but.

[Tom Hauser]

You know, I'm talking about all the political shenaniga.

[Johnny Hight]

Well, he's not running for office.

[Joe Soucheray]

Like what, Tom?

[Tom Hauser]

Like everything. It never stops anymore.

[Johnny Hight]

Well, my grandson would be a good candidate because he no longer has original sin.

[Tom Hauser]

Who's that?

[Johnny Hight]

My grandbaby.

[Tom Hauser]

Oh, yes, absolutely.

[Johnny Hight]

He's got the slate wiped clean so he could run for office.

[Tom Hauser]

Has he been baptized?

[Johnny Hight]

Just Saturday.

[Tom Hauser]

Oh, well, then he's good to go. He's in.

[Johnny Hight]

Yeah.

[Joe Soucheray]

Gabe, I'm way ahead of you. I've started the Trey mention counter on this particular episode of the Garage Logic podcast, so I'm way ahead of you.

[Tom Hauser]

Well, what are we up to?

[Joe Soucheray]

We're at four right now. That's pretty good, Trey. That's five.

[Johnny Hight]

Okay, got it. Thank you.

[Tom Hauser]

He has every right to be proud.

[Johnny Hight]

Got it.

[Tom Hauser]

You know, as I was driving, it's already been a long day for me. I'm driving in. Second day in a row we get this nuisance snowfall coming down so early this morning it was like 34 degrees, and then it started raining and then sleeting, and then it turned to snow. So it's a bit of a. I.

[Joe Soucheray]

Think I'm going to take the mantra of the city of St. Paul with my driveway going forward. BLEEP it. That stuff will melt. That's going to be my.

[Tom Hauser]

But you'll also end up with the potholes that they often have in St. Paul.

[Joe Soucheray]

Yeah, but that's the City of Jordan's problem. I don't have to worry about that.

[Tom Hauser]

No, I'm talking about in your driveway.

[Joe Soucheray]

Well, that's true.

[Tom Hauser]

You end up with potholes in your driveway. Well, it was, I think, New year's Eve of 1977, and I realize I'm dating myself, which is often what I did in high school. Rimshot just dated myself. I was a bag boy, what they called him now. What do they call bag boys now? Grocery bagger, I guess, because it can be male or female. Back when I did it in the 70s at Byerly's, it was. It was all guys. And then the women were all the cashiers. They got to handle the money. The guys were not allowed to earn the money.

[Johnny Hight]

And they had to do this. It wasn't like beep, beep.

[Tom Hauser]

No, they were.

[Johnny Hight]

They were punching it in, right?

[Tom Hauser]

Yes. They had to have manual dexterity to do this. It was not just, you know, scanning something. Anyway. I don't know why, but in my store manager's infinite wisdom, and maybe the regular person just wasn't available. I don't remember all the details, but they sent me out in the delivery van, this Byerly's Econoline van that had refrigeration unit on the top, no windows in the back. It was like, you know what? The Econoline.

[Johnny Hight]

Yes.

[Tom Hauser]

Yeah.

[Joe Soucheray]

Did it have free candy on the side of it?

[Johnny Hight]

Yeah, right. It's a backwards Y.

[Tom Hauser]

But it was without the windows other than, of course, a windshield and the driver side and passenger side. And so they sent me out to deliver. And the exact number somewhere in the 40 to 45 prepared meals from the Byerlys Deli at the one on France Avenue in Edina. And I was delivering them to somewhere in South Minneapolis. I can't remember where, because, as you'll learn soon, I never did get to the Destination.

[Johnny Hight]

And that's when the fraud started. Yes, it started in 77 in a pirately winnerless van.

[Tom Hauser]

So I'm driving down Crosstown 62 by the airport. And keep in mind, in 1977, I was 16 years old. I think I'd had my driver's license for eight months, and they got me driving this van. I mean, it wasn't like. It wasn't like I was driving a, you know, 18 Wheeler, an F15 fighter. I was driving a van.

[John Hight]

Sure.

[Tom Hauser]

Just to deliver, you know, 40 to 45 meals to what I believe was a wedding reception. Again, I don't know, because I never got there. But I'm driving on Crosstown 62. Would have had to have been going eastbound because I was coming from the Byerlys in Edina. And it was weather a lot like today, where there was just light snow, Probably a little heavier than today, but.

[Joe Soucheray]

Just more of a pain in the butt kind of a snow.

[Tom Hauser]

Yeah, but it was slick outside. And I'm in this top heavy van with a really narrow wheelbase, and I'm driving along and all of a sudden this thing just started fishtailing.

[Johnny Hight]

Love that.

[Tom Hauser]

And I'm going, what is happening? And keep in mind, I've got all of eight months of experience behind the wheel, not including, you know, the permit year, and probably the year before that.

[Johnny Hight]

When we started driving anyway, this was the farm.

[Tom Hauser]

It was the 70s. Anything goes. So I did what I think is right. I just kind of held onto the wheel, and I didn't want to overcorrect. I knew enough not to do that. I knew not to slam on the brakes, but I had no control over this vehicle. So I'm just trying to hold it steady, take my foot off the gas. And then the next thing you know, the van just starts doing 360s. Oh, I'm in this van. New year's Eve, I think.

[Joe Soucheray]

Chicken cacciatore going everywhere.

[Johnny Hight]

Yeah, exactly. So the death spiral, the vierlies death spiral.

[Tom Hauser]

That's gonna be the best part of the story. I still have my, like, my bag boy apron. And then I got a jacket on over that.

[Joe Soucheray]

Because your name tag.

[Tom Hauser]

Yeah, I still have a tom H. And so I'm swirling around doing these three 60s on crosstown 62 over by the airport south Minneapolis. And I finally just had no. I thought this was it. I thought, 16 is as far as I'm gonna go. I just closed my eyes, held onto the wheel, and then the next thing you know is. And I'm going. And then it just came To a stop. And I opened my eyes and I'm in the median facing the other way. Cars zipping by. Neither. Well, not really zipping because you couldn't go very fast. But several people pulled over. And again, the days before cell phone. And yes, there was Gabe. You probably don't know there was a day before cell phones.

[Johnny Hight]

He doesn't know that day.

[Tom Hauser]

There was a time when you couldn't.

[Joe Soucheray]

Just, oh well, call, I'll call the boss or whatever.

[Tom Hauser]

I don't know who it was that called my boss, but somebody did. Maybe it was the state troopers to rescue me, but I'll never forget my store manager. His name was Tom. I will not reveal his last name. I don't know if Tom is still with us or not, but Tom comes in his sedan like a, like a Buick LeSabre or something, right? A big tank, Sherman tank, a 1970s style vehicle. He pulls over and all of the meals were preserved because they were in these cooler type of things in the back that were all latched shut like the airlines. Yeah, because I didn't. Luckily I wasn't tumbling.

[Johnny Hight]

Right.

[Tom Hauser]

The car was just doing 360 with the van and then I, you know, go clunking down into the median. I don't know how it didn't tip over, given what this van looked like. But we then offloaded all of the meals and into his vehicle. And yeah, now that I think about, I must have gone with him. I don't really recall you probably. We went on and finished the delivery to this wedding. But it was one of those days. And there hasn't been a lot of them in my 60 plus years. But I thought, this is the end of the line. This is the end of the spiral over this vehicle. I'm on the highway, heavy New Year's Eve traffic. It was like three in the afternoon and somehow I survived it today. I'm thinking that the whole way here, just changing lanes.

[Johnny Hight]

You've got a little more experience right now.

[Joe Soucheray]

A little more.

[Tom Hauser]

And not in a big top heavy van. And I'm in a four wheel drive vehicle.

[Joe Soucheray]

Much like when John will do a news story and the mayor will get severely upset with details missing in a particular story. Like what kind of car was it, what happened? Rookie's gonna get very, very upset with you if you don't describe what meal you were actually delivering to the wedding.

[Tom Hauser]

I don't remember what meal it was.

[Joe Soucheray]

See, that's just.

[Johnny Hight]

Hopefully it wasn't dinner because if you're at a wedding, you don't want that to chance.

[Tom Hauser]

Let's keep in mind this was nearly 50 years ago.

[Johnny Hight]

Okay.

[Tom Hauser]

I know. You know, given my youthful appearance, you find it hard to believe.

[Joe Soucheray]

What was the wedding selection? What was the. What was the. The menu available for a wedding party at the Lunds and Byerly's and Ed.

[Tom Hauser]

It was not Luns and Byerly's. They were.

[Joe Soucheray]

Oh, it was just lies.

[Tom Hauser]

They were competitors back then.

[Joe Soucheray]

Oh, that's true. Okay, that's true.

[Tom Hauser]

Before they merged, it was just. It was just Byerly.

[Joe Soucheray]

Just Byerly's. I'm sorry.

[Tom Hauser]

And so, you know, you go with.

[Joe Soucheray]

The chicken or you go with the fish.

[Tom Hauser]

I'm gonna guess it was a combination of chicken and probably some kind of a pasta.

[Johnny Hight]

Rice pilaf.

[Tom Hauser]

Just kind of a Rice pilaf. Just kind of a chicken.

[John Hight]

But.

[Tom Hauser]

But it did get. We were like the post office, you know, we did. No, you know, through rain or sleet.

[Johnny Hight]

Or snow or whatever.

[Tom Hauser]

Yeah. Or a 16 year old delivery driver doing 360s out on Crosstown. The. The food did make it to its.

[Johnny Hight]

And they never let them drive again.

[Tom Hauser]

No, they let me. I drove because we did. You know, this is back before. You know. What is it? Instacart and the Uber.

[Johnny Hight]

Oh, yeah. You were on your own.

[Tom Hauser]

We would. We would occasionally. Well, sometimes if a bagger. Not me ever. But sometimes they would screw up an order in parcel pickup and we'd give somebody the wrong groceries or we'd forget to give them a couple bags. Then we would have to go and drive them down.

[Johnny Hight]

I had gray cart 14. I had gray cart 14.

[Joe Soucheray]

Walk us through. Manager Tom. Not Mr. Hauser, but manager Tom. Assessing the damage, the carnage of the meal, but going. You know what? Our margins are slim right now. Giving it the. Yeah, it'll be fine.

[Johnny Hight]

I think we're gonna be okay. A little cold catching Tory never hurt anybody. Help me load this Buick.

[Tom Hauser]

Keep in mind, the food. The food was intact.

[Joe Soucheray]

Yep.

[Tom Hauser]

There was no damage to the van. And the delivery driver. That would be me.

[Johnny Hight]

Escape death. Survived Escape death.

[Tom Hauser]

Imagine there may not be a buyer lease.

[Joe Soucheray]

And you said 40 meals.

[Tom Hauser]

Had my family sued over my.

[Johnny Hight]

It would be done. It would be apple bombs.

[Joe Soucheray]

And you said 40. Was it 40 meals?

[Tom Hauser]

You said about 40 to 45. Is whatever.

[Joe Soucheray]

Okay.

[Tom Hauser]

It was a small, smaller wedding is what. Is what I recall.

[Joe Soucheray]

Gotcha. You know, easily could fit into a saber.

[Tom Hauser]

It's always oh, yeah. Because we had him in his trunk. We had him in the back seat. And I remember. And we'll walk up, we're walking from the median across the stripped out across the highway. And the state patrol has it kind of cordoned off so we can get the food off of there. And it was. But the reason I bring that story up, the weather conditions today very much.

[Joe Soucheray]

Were you delivering food today too, or.

[Tom Hauser]

No, I've been. This is my second job.

[Joe Soucheray]

I know. I knew you were working at another spot.

[Johnny Hight]

Instacart. You're working over at cco. You're working here, you're working downstairs Delivery.

[Tom Hauser]

And I'm on vacation, I might add.

[Johnny Hight]

Oh, see.

[Joe Soucheray]

Well, we thank you for coming in anyway. We always love you.

[Tom Hauser]

It's always fun just to come in and shoot the breeze with you guys, especially on New Year's Eve. Yeah. So what fun. We're gonna take a break and when we come back, we'll find other things to talk about.

[Joe Soucheray]

Let's talk about North American Banking Company. They have been at it since 1998, when way back then, they made a promise to deliver a better banking experience for their customers. Where you get to know your banker, but they also know you. And you do get that feeling anytime that you walk into any one of their six Twin Cities locations, whether it's 50th in France, Woodbury, Hastings, Shoreview, Maple Grove, also in Roseville, by the way. And they offer the same updated online and mobile banking options as those other big national banks. But the key difference is you're going to get the unparalleled service of a community bank. See it for yourself. Check them out online. Today it's nabankco.com to learn more. Once again, it's banking done differently. And they are also locally owned and operated. Here's why that's important. That means loan decisions are made right here in the Twin Cities. They are not sent out of state. So this helps all of you business owners solve problems quickly and also expand your business with confidence. Once again, nabankco.com to learn more, North American banking company member FDIC is an equal housing lender. Reivers here once again for my guy, Mr. MoneyTalk, Josh Arnold. Does thinking about retirement make you uncomfortable? Well, sometimes the anxiety from wondering if you've saved enough can be overwhelming. But what if I told you that you could ease those tensions in just 48 minutes? Well, Mr. MoneyTalk is going to be able to sit down with you and get you on the right track for your financial future. Josh has navigated it all when it comes to uncertain market and economic conditions. And he'll always provide straight talk, never sugarcoated advice on how to reach the finish line with your retirement goals. Don't let your financial worries give you an ulcer or keep you from calling Josh right now. His 48 minute no obligation consultation could be just what you need to feel better about your future. Call Josh today at 952-925-5608 and set up your free, yes, free 48 minute no obligation consultation. That's 952-925-5608.

[Josh Arnold]

Investment services offered by Josh Arnold Investment Consultant, LLC. A security investment advisor. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. All investments involve risk. All comments and opinions are Josh Arnold's and do not constitute investment advice.

[Chris Reivers]

Chris Reivers is a paid endorser.

[Joe Soucheray]

Here's a guy that's about to sell a car. Matthew Mikulski.

[Johnny Hight]

You know it's funny Reeves and the company. I was just looking at their website for the Valley Group and they really have some good stuff. Valley, Buick, gmc, Apple Valley. And Jim Paul's been a big fan of garagelogic Sports Talk for the year so we appreciate his loyalty to the shows. But their website's pretty good. I know you can I never wanted to make my own car, but you can check out and make your own car here. Whatever you want to order, but it's best to go there, kick some tires.

[Joe Soucheray]

I have been a customer. I've bought two different vehicles from the Valley group of GM dealers. You are not going to get better service than with Jim Paul and the Valley Group of GM dealers. You're just not.

[Johnny Hight]

And aside from this one, Jim Paul has really good ads over the years where he's just you walk in there, you're kicking some tires. It's a really low key, low pressure dealership and it's family run so that's really good. So if you're looking for a great vehicle and you're sick of your 2008 Volkswagen Jetta that has front wheel drive.

[Joe Soucheray]

And you need stuck on university.

[Johnny Hight]

I didn't today but I did take the same route. They do have a great selection of brand new and pre owned vehicles. And don't forget service if you're going to go there and kick some tires, get your oil changed, poke around the lot, somebody will help you and it will be absolutely no pressure at all. So the website we are the Valley. What is it? ValleyCardealers.com oh just go to Valleycallerdealers.com that'll cover you everywhere.

[Joe Soucheray]

Yep.

[Johnny Hight]

All right, that sounds good.

[Joe Soucheray]

Thanks Jim.

[Johnny Hight]

And make sure you tell Jim that the rookie sent you a way better endorser than Royce. No script, if you couldn't tell.

[Joe Soucheray]

So you. You stirred him up, Tom, on Monday, in my absence.

[Tom Hauser]

I did. But before we get to that, can I play you some actual audio of when the last time Rookie went in and bought a car?

[Joe Soucheray]

Yeah, please.

[Tom Hauser]

You know, you have to have it insured before you. Before you go off. If I play it into the microphone to hear this. Right.

[Joe Soucheray]

Better to not be any cuss words TV guy.

[Johnny Hight]

No.

[Tom Hauser]

Okay, there. This was. This is actually.

[Johnny Hight]

I remember that.

[Tom Hauser]

Actual audio. I was over there when they're doing the checklist because you can't take it off the lot. No State law. So this is kind of what that. What that sounded like.

[Josh Arnold (continued)]

Coverage.

[John Hight]

Yes.

[Josh Arnold (continued)]

Fire, probably.

[John Hight]

Property destruction?

[Tom Hauser]

Yes.

[John Hight]

Personal injury? I hope not. But accidents do happen. They frequently do. With you.

[Tom Hauser]

That was actual audio.

[Johnny Hight]

And that was after getting very far. Usually it's. Mr. Mikulski, we're having trouble with your paperwork coming through.

[Joe Soucheray]

We're gonna need you to circle back.

[Johnny Hight]

Yeah, right, Right. We're having trouble with your paperwork.

[Tom Hauser]

Personal injury, probably.

[Joe Soucheray]

Probably.

[Tom Hauser]

Most likely fire damage. Likely. Yep. Anyway, a little. That's Rookie. That's when he goes to buy a car.

[Johnny Hight]

That's what it is for me.

[Tom Hauser]

So you got to be prepared. So you were saying I stirred up who?

[Joe Soucheray]

Well, no, I was just assessing the email reaction from your appearance on the show because you and I chatted you, not knowing that I wasn't gonna be here on Monday. So you and I just kind of chatted about the layout, how it was going to work, and I said, yeah, I'm just taking Monday off, but I'll be back for the rest of the week. Whatever. But I found your take interesting about the fraud video and everything else, because I knew that's the thing that's always different, is because we've been in the middle of this for years, and Jay doing his piece, which gave us one of the best quotes of all time, when he interviewed the one lady and she said, they hear at night, you know, which was one of the best home run lines. And I guess for me, I don't really have an opinion one way or the other, because it's always a different set of eyeballs that are getting exposed to this, whether it's from a national landscape or in this case, I mean, this guy got views worldwide.

[Tom Hauser]

Well, and he does, because it's. The way he goes about it is designed clearly as Clickbait.

[Chris Reivers]

Right.

[Tom Hauser]

I mean, it's.

[Joe Soucheray]

But the one thing I did not know. Let me preface this. Johnny pointed something out before the show That I was not aware of at all until about what, John, about an hour and a half ago. When you pointed this out that this guy did a video also in Ukraine.

[Tom Hauser]

Yes.

[Joe Soucheray]

Years ago. I had no idea that this was, that this guy had done that same thing.

[Josh Arnold]

So I was.

[Tom Hauser]

A report that was later widely discredited.

[Joe Soucheray]

Yeah, yeah.

[Tom Hauser]

So, you know, and it's. If you listen to the video and you. They see Somalis coming at him. Well, what he assumed were Somalis, he goes, oh, watch out for these Somalis. They're violent. I mean, it was like he was.

[Johnny Hight]

Talking about him total baiting.

[Tom Hauser]

And it's just, that's not what, that's not what we do as responsible journalists. And then he, in another part, they're going, yeah, Governor Walz did all this and they're interviewing some guy and he goes, oh, walls did this? And they go, yeah. Should he be in jail? Yeah, he should be in jail or whatever. I mean, that is not. That is.

[Johnny Hight]

There's no integrity. No integrity there.

[Tom Hauser]

There's zero integrity. And it' sthere's already been pushback about what times was he visiting these places? Were they open? But my biggest problem with all of it is that people are treating this as if it's brand new. Jay Coles did this a year ago in January. There were people being investigated 10 years ago for abusing the CCAP system in Minnesota, the childcare assistance program. This is not new. So people are writing in to us saying, why haven't you covered this? When my response is why haven't you watched this when we have covered it?

[Joe Soucheray]

Is that a product?

[Tom Hauser]

The legislature even did a hearing about it last February.

[Joe Soucheray]

So I did my show with Mike Fradaloni yesterday and one of the things that we brought up was the average 18 to, let's just say 30 year old. They are not consuming news the conventional way, whether that's good or bad. They're getting their news from social media, from unconventional methods, which is also what's leading to a guy like this getting 120 million views or whatever the number is now on his TikTok social media platform. And I guess for me the comeback is, well, isn't it the job then? And please correct any part of this that's wrong. Isn't the job then of the journalist to find unconventional ways to put out that same information? Or is that not the job of the modern day journalist?

[Tom Hauser]

Well, what do you mean by unconventional? Calling doing kind of an agenda driven.

[Joe Soucheray]

No, not agenda driven. I'm saying social media. I'm saying because people aren't as you know. I mean, not everyone is sitting down watching a six o' clock newscast, a ten o' clock newscast, is it? Then we've got to cast a wider net with social media, with things like that.

[Tom Hauser]

A lot of that is just up to the news consumer. Everybody chooses their own political media silo. You're gonna have people who are gonna watch Fox News and nothing but Fox News. They're gonna watch Gutfield at night and everything they hear there is gospel. Or they're going to listen to Donald Trump and everything Donald Trump says is gospel. Or on the left, you're going to have people watching msnbc. Well, MSNBC is a better example than cnn. CNN has a lot of conservative voices on as well, Scott Jennings being the best known among them. Whereas MSNBC doesn't always go that far to try to find conservative voices. Although there is some evidence they might be trying to change a little bit. But everybody gets into their little political silo and that's all they get. They don't get. You're not gonna get both sides. We still present both sides, or three sides, if there are three sides. And these YouTube, these podcasters don't have to do that. I mean, the political podcasters, they're not.

[Johnny Hight]

Sitting out at the news director or sitting at the table. What are we gonna do today?

[Tom Hauser]

Jay Cole's stories were heavily vetted by our attorneys. And a year ago, and even now there is still. There is not evidence necessarily of fraud yet in these childcare. Jay's story was about all the safety violations, and the safety violations were because there were kids there and they were not properly vetting employees and different things. But they're still trying to sort out how much of it is fraud. Since there was no evidence yet, our attorneys wouldn't. Wouldn't let us say there's fraud. Because then you open yourself up to all kinds of lawsuits if there is not in fact fraud. And generally it helps to have prosecutors who have the subpoena power in the ability, you know, to arrest people and do the investigatory work to determine if there is fraud. And they will tell you right now on their priority list. Well, now it's moving up to the top because of this viral video. But it wasn't one of their top priorities until now. Again, CCAP has been under investigation for years. It did not start last weekend with Nick Shirley.

[Joe Soucheray]

Sure. No, and I get that, totally. But what would you say, John and I were having this discussion before you guys got here. What would you say to somebody like me that gets entirely frustrated with an administration. I'm just gonna point to walls that goes on a social media rampage yesterday bragging about how much now they're attacking fraud in the state where I'm saying, wait a minute, Tim, you've been at the helm since the inception of all of this. You can't now attempt.

[Tom Hauser]

Actually probably going on a little before him.

[Joe Soucheray]

Well, Garofalo said that yesterday. He said he was first tipped off. What'd he say, 2010? I guess my point being you don't get to gaslight the public now and claim that you're really tamping down on this when it' swe've had Marion Rarick said this administration was tipped off and they did nothing to attempt to stop it.

[Tom Hauser]

Well, I don't think that's true. I think she's been, you know, to say they did nothing, you can argue with the results. But to say they did nothing I think is probably a little much. At least going by what they claim that they're doing spot checks on these places. In fact, some of these places highlighted in the video, they said within the last six weeks they've had auditors there. You can't go to every single one every single day. And again, I'm not defending what has happened with the fraud. I'm talking about the coverage of it. We have covered it. People think the media has way more power than we actually do. People write to me all the time. Why are you not demanding that the governor resigned? Well, that's not what journalists do.

[Joe Soucheray]

That's not your job.

[Tom Hauser]

We cover the stories and if you don't like them, vote them out of office. I want to say to these people, what have you done to try to elect somebody that you do like? Have you donated money to them? Have you volunteered for them? Have you done anything to try to get Tim Walls or any other Democrat you don't like from being elected again? And in most cases, no, they just like to sit around their keyboard and start writing this nonsense that anonymously.

[Johnny Hight]

Anonymously.

[Tom Hauser]

So often the people who email and then you try to email them back, they give us a fake email address.

[Joe Soucheray]

But don't you think that that's deeply rooted in the overriding frustration from the Minnesota taxpayer? Cuz that's where I think it's rooted mostly when we're talking billions and billions. And as Joe Thompson said, we might tip of the iceberg here.

[Tom Hauser]

But again, that's Joe Thompson though, Tom. I know it's Joe Thompson. Has Joe Thompson provided that evidence yet? Have you read the Quotes from Tom Heffelfinger, the former U.S. attorney.

[Joe Soucheray]

No, I did not. Educate me.

[Tom Hauser]

Who was appointed by a Republican. He said that generally their rules of engagement were you don't speculate about amounts in an ongoing investigation when you don't have the evidence yet. And even Joe Thompson said in that news conference, he said, well, cuz somebody asked him, well, do you have, have you substantiated this? And he said, well, we've looked at all the numbers and we see a lot of red flags. I mean, that just isn't enough. I mean, the proven amount of fraud in a court of law is still well under a billion dollars. So to get to 9 billion is going to be a remarkable achievement. I'm not saying it might not happen ultimately, but it's nowhere near 9 billion. But because he said that and now it's been repeated over and over again, it's become fact. It's like the money, the report out of that conservative, I can't remember the name of it now, that conservative publication that said the money was funding Al Shabaab, that has been widely discredited, even by Joe Thompson himself. He said, no, we have not seen evidence. It's going to Al Shabaab. These people were just trying to enrich themselves. They were not trying to fund terrorism. But because that was reported once, it's now taken on a life of its own and it's become fact.

[Joe Soucheray]

But it is factual that the state went from an $18 billion surplus to a $6.5 billion deficit?

[Tom Hauser]

Yes.

[Joe Soucheray]

Okay. I guess that's the frustration angle is what I'm kind of working in here. I think that that's where most of this vitriol that probably you and others experience, that's, I think, where most of this is coming from. Because you feel helpless as a taxpayer. You can vote whoever you want to all the. But if nothing changes, you just feel helpless is, I guess, the point I'm trying to make.

[Tom Hauser]

Yeah, I mean there might be, but don't, if you're feeling up, don't blame the media. I mean, we report on all of this stuff. I mean, these are interesting stories to report. Why would we ignore them? And when people accuse us of you know, being, you know, waterboys for Tim Walls, it's just nonsense. I mean, it's absolute nonsense.

[Joe Soucheray]

Right.

[Tom Hauser]

And it happens day after day after day from people who just don't take the time to read. They've tuned out the dreaded mainstream media because they want to stay in their political silo and that's all they want to hear. And anything that's counter to that NER they think is nonsense. And they think we're just trying to stick up for Tim Walls. All I'm sticking up for is legitimate, objective journalism.

[Johnny Hight]

I would say. I wouldn't even use that phrase, water boys for walls. I would say more like grocery baggers.

[Tom Hauser]

Grocery baggers for walls.

[Johnny Hight]

Just because you have a little more experience that way. Something like that.

[Joe Soucheray]

Well, and if Walls orders lunch from Byerly's Hauser and getting that crap to him anyway.

[Tom Hauser]

It'Ll never make it. But. No, but this issue obviously isn't going away. But as I mentioned on the show the other day, the federal government now, they're shutting off all these payments for childcare only to Minnesota. Even though in their statement where they're saying they're doing this, they say fraud is rampant across the country. We're only shutting it off to Minnesota.

[John Hight]

They did expand that this morning, Tom.

[Tom Hauser]

In a statement going to other states.

[John Hight]

Yep. They said they're going to the entire country.

[Tom Hauser]

But their initial statement was correct. We're cutting it off to Minnesota. And as I have pointed out, the U.S. government Accountability Office did a report last year, April of 24, that did a study of federal fraud from 2018-22. And they estimate that annual fraud is somewhere between $220 billion and $513 billion annually in the federal government. That's over that one five year period. You're starting to talk about a trillion dollars. This is the federal government. It's not just Minnesota. That is not to minimize Minnesota's part in this, but it is not just a Minnesota problem.

[Joe Soucheray]

All right, that's.

[Tom Hauser]

So that's. We can generate a few more emails out of that, but we'll lighten things up when we come back.

[Joe Soucheray]

Let's talk about. Are you guys all dehydrated? I sure am.

[Johnny Hight]

I need some water.

[Joe Soucheray]

We need some ice for those drinks we're going to make. Ton Hofferman water and Kinetico are here for you. You talk about that ice. You know what? I'm thinking about getting Rook A personalized Not. No, I'm not going Lewis Black on it. A personalized ice maker.

[Johnny Hight]

I have one.

[Joe Soucheray]

Do you really?

[Johnny Hight]

I got one from Sophia a couple of years ago. Has changed my life, Slick. You'll never buy ice again. And you know what?

[Tom Hauser]

Can you get vodka flavored?

[Johnny Hight]

I don't know.

[Joe Soucheray]

I have a personalized drinking water system. I could hook it right up to that.

[Johnny Hight]

Right, you could hook it right up to that. Or you can just. Just pour it in a thing and fill it up. Nothing's more convenient than having your own ice made at home. But it's gotta be good water.

[Joe Soucheray]

It does. And Hoffman Water and Kinetico are here to make that difference in your quality of water. So here's the deal. You've gotta get on that schedule here in the new year for that free water analysis. 612-895-2440 or visit our website online at hoffermanwater.com either way, you get on that schedule, they'll come out, they'll give you that free water analysis. They'll give you this thing that's called a water score. And then based upon that score, they will give you recommendations on how they can upgrade the quality of your water. They have done that for me. They will do that with you. See it for yourself. Hoffermanwater.com it will upgrade your showers, your cooking, your laundry. Everything gets better with hofferman Water and 612-895-2440 or visit hoffermanwater.com they have been proudly serving the state of Minnesota for over 50 years. Do me a favor and mention that you heard about them on the garagelogic podc.

[Chris Reivers]

I have new information from Precision Door. Right now is a special special. $500 off the purchase of a new door and that includes the operator, the motor, the engine, that'll raise and lower it. That's $500 off the purchase of a door, an operator combination. And don't forget that noisy door tune up special for $149. With these new doors, there's models for every budget. Just think what that would do. It would increase the esthetics, it would save some energy, provide better security and not break down in the dead of winter. You don't want to go out there and have that baby not work in the dead of February. And if you do like your current door, get that noisy door tune up special. But right now on a new door, single door, double door, 500 bucks off the purchase of a door and operator combination. That is fantastic. Book online at precision doormn. That's one word. Precision doormn.com or call 612-263-6985 to schedule your free on site new door estimate or book a noisy door tune up special with precision do.

[Johnny Hight]

Here's a man that doesn't come in on New Year's Eve week. It's Joe Sushir. And here's Johnny Height, brought to you.

[John Hight]

By well, rook, that's brought to you by North American Baking Company as The news always is and we appreciate it.

[Johnny Hight]

I hear you say it every time, John.

[John Hight]

It's the news story we just just hinted at moments ago, Johnny, the Department.

[Joe Soucheray]

Of Take a quick second. You're chopping up on me here. Let me do this.

[Johnny Hight]

What do you say? Brought to him by the North American Banking Company.

[Joe Soucheray]

All right, let's try that.

[John Hight]

Hello?

[Joe Soucheray]

Yeah, hi.

[Tom Hauser]

How are you?

[Johnny Hight]

Sounding great.

[John Hight]

Is this on?

[Johnny Hight]

Yes, go ahead. C3PO.

[Tom Hauser]

Is this thing working?

[John Hight]

Rigor Rigger. Rigor Radial. Okay. In the News the Department of Health and Human Services has clarified that the Trump administration is freezing federal child care funding in all states, with Minnesota as the catalyst. Late yesterday, officials said that funding is being frozen nationwide as they request proof that the money is being used legally and for its intended purposes. This funding freeze is expected to cut child care assistance to families in about half. In Minnesota, child care assistance is funded roughly equally by the state and federal government and the funds are distributed to counties which then disperse them to child care centers to cover tuition for lower income families. The families apply for the use of the funds, according to Claire Sanford, government relations chair and board member for the Minnesota Child Care Association. She said the child care assistance funding follows the family, not a provider, and families have to go through a really arduous verification process and submit a ton of documentation that is verified by the state or the county in order to be deemed eligible for child care assistance, according to Sanford. Sanford, representing licensed Centers statewide, said 30,000 Minnesota families rely on the funding every month. U.S. department of Health and Human Services allocated 185 million doll million to Minnesota for child care assistance in 2025, according to a spokesperson for Health and Human Services in the federal government. That money includes the child care assistance for 30,000 families, but it's part of a larger Child Care Development Block grant. Federal judge has signed off on a government request for Amy bach to pay $5.2 million back in restitution and according to a new filing in the case, the founder of the now defunct nonprofit Feeding Our Future was convicted on all counts after a lengthy trial in the along with co defendant Saleem, said the former owner of Safari Restaurant. In total, prosecutors say those associated with Feeding Our Future defrauded the federal child nutrition program of about $250 million and new defendants have been charged as recently as late last month as the founder and former executive director of the nonprofit. Investigators described Bach as the ringleader underfeeding Our future. Sponsorship sites would submit fraudulent meal counts and get reimbursement for them from the Minnesota Department of Education. Bach was also convicted of accept kickback payments or bribes and funneling money to her boyfriend at the time, Empress Watson. Federal prosecutors identified millions of dollars in several bank accounts associated with Bach, as well as more than 13 grand in cash found in her home as being subject to forfeiture. A final forfeiture order could return the money to taxpayers after Bach is sentenced. A sentencing date has not yet been set. A story that's a couple weeks old, I had not seen this. Actually found it on a national website. An 18 year old Minnesota man charged with punching a homeless woman in the face at the Mall of America committed the assault for a tick tock video, according to Bloomington police. Investigators allege that Cleave Brown. Okay, you can't name your kid Cleave Brown. No, Cleveland, you know.

[Johnny Hight]

Yeah.

[John Hight]

Cleave Brown approached the 46 year old victim while she was at a water fountain. Did you just get it?

[Joe Soucheray]

Yep.

[Johnny Hight]

Yep.

[John Hight]

Mall of America security video recorded Brown punching a woman in the back of the head, causing her to fall to the ground. A Bloomington Police Department report noted the security officials identified the woman as being possibly mentally disabled. Brown and a group of unknown males fled the mall after the attack, but were tracked to a 2020 Jeep Grand Cherokee and detained. The report says Cleave later told mall security that they did what they did for a TikTok video. Brown explained to police that he quoted tends to vlog and that's why he was wearing a portable microphone on his person when he was arrested. He's been charged with felony assault and disorderly conduct and misdemeanor for the December 16th mall incident. He's from St. Paul. He was also arrested on outstanding warrants, charging him with trespass and fleeing police in a different case. Brown also has a pending case for theft and obstruction.

[Joe Soucheray]

So wait a minute, wait a minute. When this guy did this horrific act, he. A live microphone Adam as well.

[John Hight]

Live microphone on.

[Johnny Hight]

Ready to go right to Tic Tac.

[John Hight]

I. I went and I found the video of. What's the Bloomington booker?

[Johnny Hight]

Oh, the chief Booker. Great guy.

[John Hight]

The chief. Yeah.

[Joe Soucheray]

Hodges.

[John Hight]

He. He started this talking about it by saying, let me point out that this person actually had warrants out for his arrest when he did this. So.

[Tom Hauser]

Wow.

[John Hight]

He's already got warrants out and he decided to make a tick tock video punching a person.

[Johnny Hight]

Idiot.

[John Hight]

I don't think we're dealing with another.

[Tom Hauser]

Win for social media.

[Johnny Hight]

Yeah, right.

[John Hight]

Yeah.

[Joe Soucheray]

He was also mad, by the way, Tom. He was also mad that you guys didn't cover the feeding or Future story.

[Tom Hauser]

Oh, I'm guessing he was emailed anonymously. By the way, Johnny, before you go on, I. I did. I did find an email I got at KSTP Television about. About my GL appearance. This is from one of your listeners.

[Chris Reivers]

Oh, good.

[Tom Hauser]

He said, Mr. Hauser, enjoyed hearing you on GL yesterday. I appreciate your sanity regarding the reporting on the fraud. Seems to me there's nothing gained by being a provocateur on YouTube or whatever platform when the plain facts are already outrageous. He makes a very good point there. Then he goes on to give me a good story idea as well. Good, but. So there were people who do actually appreciate. Appreciate sanity, even though I understand not everybody is going to appreciate that, because.

[Joe Soucheray]

I think John can attest to that comment that you just made.

[John Hight]

I. You know, I. Tom, I get emails saying, I appreciate your view on the show since it's the only one that seems to make sense.

[Joe Soucheray]

Oh, see, that's just me. You don't need to be. That's what they say.

[Tom Hauser]

I can understand. Hey, John, facts are facts, right?

[John Hight]

Yesterday, up here in my neck of the woods, if you stepped out of your house, you noticed a very strong odor of gas. You know, Kamplin fire.

[Tom Hauser]

I thought you were going to stop. If you're up on my neck of the woods, there's a very strong odor. Order. If you pause too long because I was thinking people were accusing you, but no good.

[John Hight]

Chaplain Fire Department said no gas leaks were found in the area, but CenterPoint Energy did continue to monitor the area for a while. In later updates, authorities said that emergency services were standing down and returning to normal operations, with the incident being handed over to local utility companies. I'm assuming they got this all straightened out, because I get the little alerts from the county, and I have received none since they said they were standing down last night. And this morning, everything smelled.

[Joe Soucheray]

Rook was kind enough to actually run up to your place, Johnny, and he actually captured video. And what happened was it was the same thing as when, like, you're doing the newscast in the summertime and it hits one o'. Clock. Rook handed over this cell phone video. I see he's walking up John's driveway.

[Johnny Hight]

Yeah, you should shovel a little bit better. I had a tap dance here. Right here.

[Tom Hauser]

So the only.

[Johnny Hight]

The only natural gas that was going up the last step.

[Tom Hauser]

That's the only natural gas in the area now where John lives.

[John Hight]

We'll come back with a little bit of national and international news right after we hear from Mr. Rebers.

[Joe Soucheray]

Thank you, Johnny. We are nuts. And we are nuts. Mn dot com. How's it over?

[Johnny Hight]

It ain't over. Just because Christmas has come and gone. You can still be nuts.

[Joe Soucheray]

You're still gathering.

[Tom Hauser]

Yes.

[Joe Soucheray]

You're still being festive.

[Johnny Hight]

Chocolate covered almonds.

[Joe Soucheray]

Just.

[Johnny Hight]

Why even talk about anything else?

[Joe Soucheray]

Is there anything better than a midweek holiday celebration? Because you're gonna party all the way through.

[Johnny Hight]

We're stretching it all the way out to Sunday.

[John Hight]

You know what I'm finding, Chris?

[Joe Soucheray]

What?

[John Hight]

I keep going from different flavors to different flavors because I'll eat, you know, two jars of the original.

[Joe Soucheray]

What's your jam now?

[John Hight]

Right now I'm eating the original toffee peanuts again. For a long time I was on the maple bourbon toffee almonds. But now I'm on the peanuts again. I'll switch again to something else. I'm sure in the case, John might.

[Johnny Hight]

Be a candidate for my strange addiction.

[Joe Soucheray]

Wasabi savory snack mix. I gotta be honest, I didn't think I would like it.

[Josh Arnold]

I love them.

[Joe Soucheray]

It's really good.

[Johnny Hight]

Love biting into that wasabi.

[Joe Soucheray]

It's really, really good. You mentioned Byerly's, Lund's and Byerly's Tom Houser features. We are nuts. Along with Kowalski's markets, all of your fratelloni's, hardware and garden stores locations, Cub Foods, Coburn's markets and also Kwik Trip. It's a wonderful family run operation. You gotta stop by and grab some snacks.

[Tom Hauser]

Do they need me to deliver? I can deliver.

[Joe Soucheray]

They would, but they'd like the merchand to get there.

[Johnny Hight]

That's the only problem.

[Tom Hauser]

It might just take a detour. It'll get there.

[Joe Soucheray]

It's a wonderful family run operation making handmade small batch snacks right here in the great state of Minnesota. And you know what? If you're not able to make it to any one of those locations, order them online [e-mail] as Rookie mentioned, the maple bourbon toffee almonds and also the cashews are my personal favorite. But again, visit weearnutsmn.com thank you to a wonderful 2025 with the entire family and the entire crew at wearenut and wearenutsmn.com.

[I]

Hey folks, it's Patrick Ricey and fruitcake is back on the menu. Baby. Let me ask you something. Would you be happy if the only dessert you got this holiday season was fruitcake? Well, no. Neither would I. That's what it's like when you've got one insurance agent with just one company. You don't have Any options. That's why I work with the Canopy Group. They're an insurance agency that's unique because they offer 16 carefully selected companies for your home and auto insurance. 16? And behind the scenes they've got 50 licensed elves. Okay, they're agents, but this time of year, let's call them elves. Making sure you always have the best coverage at the best price. So this holiday season, don't settle for fruitcake. Get options. Visit the Canopy Group and see what they can do for you. The canopygroup.com job.

[John Hight]

There's no spot here, is there? So I should just talk?

[Joe Soucheray]

Just correct.

[Johnny Hight]

It's a New Year's Eve.

[Joe Soucheray]

It's a New Year's Eve ch.

[John Hight]

Oh, that's nice. I taught him everything he knows, really. Recent in national and international news. As the future of the Russia Ukraine war hangs in the balance of a precarious peace deal, it's business as usual for Vladimir Putin. The Russian president has ordered the expansion of a buffer zone along the Russia Ukraine border in 2026. According to Moscow's top general. The Kremlin has long said the zone in Ukraine Sumy and Kharkiv was to protect Russian civilians on the border from enemy rains raids. Excuse me. Yet the stretch is widely seen as nothing more than a land grab with the peace plan drawn up by Kyiv and Washington saying Russia must withdraw from the border regions to help rebuild the war torn nation. Meanwhile, Russian state media claims claiming victory over Ukraine after the meeting.

[Joe Soucheray]

Yep.

[John Hight]

No agreement of like the ball has.

[Joe Soucheray]

Dropped 20, 25 in a nutshell. Hi John.

[Tom Hauser]

While we're waiting for that to come.

[Joe Soucheray]

Back, we're losing a little bit, I think. You know what it was you mentioned Russia and of course they intercepted your Internet connection.

[Tom Hauser]

The same ones who rigged the election.

[John Hight]

It's true. Tv?

[Tom Hauser]

I don't know. But it does beg the question what good does a buffer zone do with long range missiles in play?

[Johnny Hight]

It's non factor.

[John Hight]

How big of a buffer zone?

[Tom Hauser]

It's a non factor. How big of a buffer zone do you need?

[Joe Soucheray]

Are you measuring? I'm outside of the zone. I'm outside.

[Johnny Hight]

Good. Circle of friendship.

[John Hight]

I'm good. Circle of friendship. I like that. More fallout. This is continuing and I just find it very interesting to the Kennedy center for the Arts debacle. God, the Cookers jazz supergroup that's performed together for about 17 years announced they are not playing tonight at the Jazz New Year's Eve. The band pointing to the political relevance of jazz in the civil rights movement and its history as a music Dedicated to freedom and some other groups started canceling. Doug Veron and Dancers, a dance group based in New York, was supposed to have a two week run. They said in an Instagram post late Monday they would pull out of performances slated for there. The Pulitzer Prize winning musician Rihanna Giddens. Wonderful musicians. I have a little crush on Rihanna.

[Johnny Hight]

Rihanna.

[John Hight]

Rihanna Giddens. Yeah. Oh, canceled her show.

[Joe Soucheray]

Not the pop star.

[Chris Reivers]

Okay.

[Joe Soucheray]

Yeah. Right.

[John Hight]

No, no, yeah, it was canceled. Her show was canceled there. She canceled it. The rock band, as we talked about, I think a long time ago, Locut, Connie immediately is one of the first to cancel. Isa Rae and the producers of Hamilton. Hamilton was supposed to be there for several weeks. Canceled scheduled engagements coming up in March. All musicians Ben Full, Ben Folds and Renee Fleming stepped down from advisory roles at the Kennedy Center. Some of this follow musician, jazz drummer and vibraphotus Chuck Red canceling his Christmas Eve performance last week. That's what started all the talk. On top of that, viewership for the Dec. 23 broadcast of the Kennedy Center Honors on CBS, which Trump had predicted would soar above where it used to be. Those ratings were down 35% compared to the show last year. The renaming breaks the law. Apparently. Congress passing the law in 1964, naming the center as a living memorial to John F. Kennedy. The law says any changes to the building's name would need congressional approval. The law explicitly prohibits the board of trustees from making the center into a memorial to anyone else and from putting another person's name on the building's exterior.

[Tom Hauser]

Any word whether Lee Greenwood is still willing to play?

[Johnny Hight]

He's proud to be an American.

[John Hight]

We'll see a lot of probably Lee, Kid Rock and Ted Nugent this year at the Kennedy Center.

[Tom Hauser]

Am I pretty good acts? But I know what you're saying. Yeah.

[Johnny Hight]

Am I way off or do you recall did we have Low Cut Connie on at the Minnesota State Fair in their early years?

[John Hight]

We did not. But we used to play a song by them as a bump.

[Tom Hauser]

Okay.

[Johnny Hight]

Maybe that's what I'm thinking all the time. Okay. Thank you.

[John Hight]

A very good very.

[Johnny Hight]

What a great name for a group.

[Joe Soucheray]

No, you're thinking of the.

[Tom Hauser]

Thinking of his old girlfriend.

[Joe Soucheray]

Well, I was just saying you're thinking of a photo that Kenny had of Connie's Low Cut.

[Johnny Hight]

That's what it was.

[Joe Soucheray]

That's what you're thinking.

[Johnny Hight]

Posted on his wall in the old Maplewood Studios.

[John Hight]

A Florida man arrested for allegedly committing an armed robbery at a meat market market wearing nothing but a mask.

[Johnny Hight]

Where's my Tenderloin.

[Tom Hauser]

Well, I think it's right there.

[Johnny Hight]

Yeah.

[John Hight]

According to the Lake City Police Department, officers responded to a call reporting armed robbery at BJ's Meat Market in Lake City.

[Johnny Hight]

You gotta name it something else, will you, Bud?

[John Hight]

Employee showed police the surveillance video and told police the man entered the store completely naked except for a mask covering his face.

[Tom Hauser]

He wasn't naked.

[John Hight]

He also had a piece of cloth wrapped around an object in his hand that they believed was some sort of weapon. He broke into the cash box, took more than $1,000. And as soon as I read that sentence, I thought, where did he put it?

[Johnny Hight]

Wait, was it closed at this time? I missed that.

[John Hight]

No, it was open.

[Tom Hauser]

Oh, it was open. Okay.

[John Hight]

To a police. A man entered this way. No, it was open.

[Johnny Hight]

So they just backed away from the cash.

[Tom Hauser]

You don't even need a gun.

[Johnny Hight]

You don't need that weapon over there.

[John Hight]

The county Sheriff's office set up a rim perimeter and arrested Kobe Watkins, age 25. Police said they found evidence they believed connected to the CR nearby. Which would probably have to be the money in the gun, I would assume.

[Tom Hauser]

And maybe the mask.

[John Hight]

Right, and the mask. Yeah. Watkins taken to a local hospital for a medical evaluation, then booked into the Columbia County Detention Center. He is facing charges of armed robbery, exposure of sexual organs, grand theft and criminal mischief.

[Tom Hauser]

And you know, police do not get enough credit, I think in general for the great work they do do, but when you got to take someone like that into custody, I, I, that's when.

[Joe Soucheray]

You pull seniority ring. Get that intern in there.

[Johnny Hight]

You're fresh out.

[Tom Hauser]

Do we have one of those police explorers with us? Get him in.

[Johnny Hight]

Don't worry. Go to the trunk. We got the, we got the official naked blanket that he can sit on instead of blanket.

[John Hight]

Yes, very.

[Joe Soucheray]

I don't, I don't think the back of that squad car is a very pleasant smelling.

[Johnny Hight]

You can't get it clean enough.

[John Hight]

Very weird story from Detroit. I'm sorry. It involves death and destruction, but just the strangeness of it all puts it right into the kicker file. A man is dead after he allegedly accidentally shot himself while driving on Detroit's west side and then caused some other problems. It happened at about 6pm this past Monday near the intersection of Joy Road and Roselawn Street. Police think the driver mistakenly shot himself, lost control of the vehicle. Vehicle and ran over a pedestrian before crashing.

[Chris Reivers]

Oh.

[John Hight]

The driver died at the scene. The pedestrian has been hospitalized. He should survive, according to police. No further details were revealed at the time and the investigation is ongoing.

[Johnny Hight]

What a badass you are. If you shoot yourself in Detroit. That's. That's a tough.

[Tom Hauser]

Was it accidentally or on purpose?

[John Hight]

Accidentally, said the police said.

[Tom Hauser]

While he was. Was he. While he was driving?

[Joe Soucheray]

The.

[John Hight]

The report actually said. Says mistakenly shot himself. Whatever that.

[Joe Soucheray]

Oh. So it was in his waistband, and he went to, you know, shift gears, so to speak.

[Tom Hauser]

So it was not the naked. The naked robber then?

[John Hight]

Because he wouldn't.

[Joe Soucheray]

He would have had a waistband.

[Johnny Hight]

He had an automatic. He had an automatic.

[John Hight]

I don't know why that's funny, Rook, but that's really funny.

[Johnny Hight]

And you see, I had the ar. The automatic like this instead of the manual shift down here.

[Joe Soucheray]

Right.

[Johnny Hight]

Three in a tree, four on the floor.

[Joe Soucheray]

Right.

[Johnny Hight]

So sorry.

[John Hight]

And a team of American scientists have some good news for us. They say they have cured lab mice who suffer from Alzheimer's disease.

[Joe Soucheray]

Now, of course, they kept losing their keys, Right.

[Johnny Hight]

You just got to eat a lot of cheese.

[Tom Hauser]

They find them in the refrigerator.

[Chris Reivers]

Right.

[John Hight]

They, of course, have a lot more to do of this. To study this, the researchers achieved the feat by administering the rodents with the powerful compound PSC3A20, which they announced in a new paper in the journal Cell Reports. Medicine. Scientists from Ohio's Case Western Reserve University Hospitals and the Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical center undertook the study. Andrew Piper is the study's principal investigator and a neuroscience professor. He said the key takeaway is a message of hope. The effects of Alzheimer's disease may not be inevitably permanent. The damaged brain can, under some conditions, repair itself and regain function. The research is part of a growing wave of promising lab studies that point to a tantalizing future where Alzheimer's and other neurological issues could be a thing of the past. Besides this research, others have scored remarkable lab results using different compounds and treatments in the treatment of dementia.

[Johnny Hight]

Reivers has always Reivers. Royce has always said, if you forget where you put your keys, that's okay. If you forget what your keys are for, or that's bad.

[John Hight]

Yes.

[Tom Hauser]

Thank you. We're going to take a break. When we come back, I got two more quick news stories, so we'll get to. We'll be back.

[Joe Soucheray]

I'm ready.

[Johnny Hight]

Here we go.

[Tom Hauser]

Are we back already?

[Joe Soucheray]

Oh, yeah. Same tv. We don't got long breaks here. Hey, I do want to give another quick shout out to our friends at North American Banking Company for not only all of the love you guys have shown us in 2025, but again, signing up for the entirety of 2026.

[Tom Hauser]

Really?

[Joe Soucheray]

Yes.

[Johnny Hight]

Bilski really gets it. Bilski's been a good guy, great St. Paul family that I've known for decades, and I would trust him with all my finances.

[Joe Soucheray]

So, six Twin Cities locations to serve you. Roseville, 50th in France, Woodbury, Hastings, Shoreview and Maple Grove. The home of yours truly with banking. They probably regret that.

[Johnny Hight]

I'd like to commend Chris R. For being the overdraft champion of 2024.

[Joe Soucheray]

I got a shirt. I got a shirt. I kept the lights on over there. I really have looked.

[Johnny Hight]

Me at the Hubbard Credit Union. I kept the lights on for a year.

[Joe Soucheray]

Why do you think all these banks love doing business with the Garagelogic podcast Moneymaker. So once again, nabankco.com to learn more. They are the absolute best. And thank you, Mr. Bilsky and everybody associated with North American banking company Tom.

[Tom Hauser]

& Reavers is actually a double threat because he's also the record holder for the lowest average daily balance.

[Joe Soucheray]

100%.

[Tom Hauser]

Yes. Which? The.

[Joe Soucheray]

Overdraft. How is this even open? How is this.

[Tom Hauser]

Account? Are we even covering our cost by having a computer have to monitor this.

[Joe Soucheray]

Account? The only endorsee where it's costing me money.

[Tom Hauser]

Right. Is the electricity we use in our supercomputer. Monitoring this account isn't even covering this cost. A couple of quick news items. You guys are all football fans.

[Johnny Hight]

Right?

[Tom Hauser]

Sure. I'm worried that the New England Patriots might run out of.

[Joe Soucheray]

Players. Oh, my.

[Tom Hauser]

Gosh. Coming up this weekend. You've heard about Stefan Diggs already. I don't know whether he's going to play or not, but he was facing a felony charge of strangulation and a misdemeanor charge of assault from an alleged incident December 2nd. And now, just breaking a little bit ago, just in the last hour, New England Patriots defensive tackle Christian Barmore facing a misdemeanor charge of assault and battery on a household family member stemming from an August 8th incident. Incident that is now just coming to light as of December 16th. And something to do with a woman he'd been living with in a relationship with. And some assault allegations there as well. Just as New England is battling for the number one seed, a responsibility the Vikings are not burdened.

[Johnny Hight]

With. Right. That's something I'm not worried about for doing, battling that number one.

[Tom Hauser]

Seed. So that was just one news item. And then here's one. And I know Johnny will appreciate that this. Can somebody look up where this TV station is.

[Johnny Hight]

Located?

[Tom Hauser]

Firewall. Hold on. It's. I think it's W V U A W V U A channel 23. As a friendly reminder, they posted this late yesterday. WVUA 23 News will not broadcast news from December 31 through January 4 as we take the time to celebrate the new year. Rest up and get ready for a big 2026. Happy New Year to everyone and let's have a great.

[Joe Soucheray]

26. Can I take a stab at that, please? Is that akin to a radio station saying, you know what, we're just gonna play rem, End of the World as we know it for the next six days. We're basically firing the entire staff and we're gonna try this again about a week from.

[Johnny Hight]

Now. Tuscaloosa.

[Tom Hauser]

Alabama. Oh, it is, it's.

[Johnny Hight]

Alabama. Tuscaloosa.

[Tom Hauser]

County. Or the stations that we're just going to do Christmas music for. The non stop.

[Johnny Hight]

36. We're going to voice track. You can sit there in your.

[Tom Hauser]

Underwear at home or the Yule log, which is a. We, we do.

[Johnny Hight]

That. We do.

[Tom Hauser]

That. But, but you know, we, we break for news. We do. And we do News on Channel 5.

[Joe Soucheray]

All365. Not to, not to point the finger at other stations in this particular market, but I'm only bringing this up because this is a station that I used to work, not associated with Hubbard Broadcasting whatsoever. This was maybe a month or so ago and my youngest son and I, we were going to a large retailer to get a knee brace for him. And we heard that brand new. Is it Max McGee? What's his name? John Max McGowan. Is that his name? The big pop star that's all over the place right now and he has a very huge hit song, I don't know. And this station we were listening to was playing the song and we were just chit chatting, me and my 14 year old. And the last 30 seconds of it apparently got stuck, as we'd say, in the cart. And it was on repeat, just the final 30 seconds for about four straight.

[Johnny Hight]

Hours. Oh.

[Joe Soucheray]

No. To the point where either no one was there that noticed it. And this is the ultimately human station, whatever BS mantra they're going with nowadays, even though they're the king of the voice track nation. And it played it on loop for about four straight hours before somebody finally it.

[Tom Hauser]

Was. Did no one alert the authorities to this was.

[Joe Soucheray]

Happening? No, because I do know somebody that works with. They said they desperately tried to stop it, but they just. The automation just took over and.

[Johnny Hight]

They couldn't hit stop, do.

[Joe Soucheray]

Anything. They tried to hit.

[Johnny Hight]

Save. Tried to hit.

[Joe Soucheray]

Save. Here's the.

[Johnny Hight]

Deal. For clarification purposes, Max McGee was the well known Green Bay.

[Joe Soucheray]

Packer. That's.

[Johnny Hight]

Right. Max McNown is an American songwriter.

[Tom Hauser]

Performer. Max McGee. Not much of a singer as I.

[Johnny Hight]

Recall. Correct. Yeah, he.

[Tom Hauser]

Wouldn'T. He did like to go out late at.

[Joe Soucheray]

Night. Is he the one, one that fell off the ladder? Is that Max.

[John Hight]

McGee?

[Joe Soucheray]

Yes.

[John Hight]

Yeah. Off his.

[Joe Soucheray]

Roof. That's.

[John Hight]

Right. Also the one who. It was the end of his career. The first super bowl ever. End of his career. The night before he went out and got hammered thinking he wasn't going to play. Boyd Dollar, who was a Packer receiver, got hurt early in super bowl number one. Max came in hung over his hell, caught a touchdown pass and you know, had a great.

[Tom Hauser]

Game. He did. That is legendary. That's what made Max McGee a bigger legend than he already.

[Johnny Hight]

Was.

[Tom Hauser]

Yep.

[Johnny Hight]

Wow. He became a major partner in the developing the popular Chi Chi's chain of Mexican.

[Joe Soucheray]

Restaurants. Yes, that's.

[Tom Hauser]

Right. Which is now making a comeback. I have not been.

[Joe Soucheray]

Yet. Oh, fried ice.

[Tom Hauser]

Cream. Have you been to the new.

[Joe Soucheray]

One? I haven't been to the new one yet, but I loved the fried ice cream at Chichi's back in the.

[John Hight]

Day. It's the old, old Rojo, right.

[Tom Hauser]

Tom, in St. Louis park in West End. And they're going to open a couple of other locations, but as far as I know, that's the only one that has opened up so.

[Johnny Hight]

Far. A really clearly a not believable name for a restaurant. When they call. Called them the Incredible Chi.

[Tom Hauser]

Cheese. Who? Who.

[Johnny Hight]

Called? That's what.

[Joe Soucheray]

They'Re. That's the.

[Johnny Hight]

Original. The Incredible Chi.

[Joe Soucheray]

Cheese. See, you know like, whoa. When you don't think you need a piece of information, ask Rook about a jingle from the 1980s and he's got you. He has got you.

[Johnny Hight]

Served. The Incredible Chi Cheese. What a name for a.

[Joe Soucheray]

Restaurant. Chi Cheese.

[Tom Hauser]

Right. I just saw it. You remember who you remember? You remember Nancy Nelson? Certainly did a lot of acting and commercials. I saw one of her on TC Media now. One of her. Remember the Embers.

[Joe Soucheray]

Commercials. Oh, remember the Embers. I even remember.

[Tom Hauser]

That. It was from.

[Johnny Hight]

1971. Remember the.

[Tom Hauser]

Embers? And they would. Their big deal was they would broil the burgers, dry them or.

[Johnny Hight]

Something. Yes, Hamburger.

[Joe Soucheray]

Royale. Speaking of TC Media now, is that where we find your Fox 9 auditions.

[Johnny Hight]

Tape? Yes, for Channel 9 Fun Club in about 1989 or.

[Tom Hauser]

1990. Is it on.

[Johnny Hight]

There? I don't know if it's on Speedy.

[Joe Soucheray]

Now. Didn't somebody send it to.

[Johnny Hight]

Us? Well, Griff found.

[Joe Soucheray]

It. That's right. Griff Found.

[Johnny Hight]

It. He's the archiver, Glenn Griffin, great guy. And he sent it to me and said, hey, I found this. And I look at it, I open it up and it's me auditioning for, you know, the After School Fun Guy on Channel.

[Joe Soucheray]

Nine. It was basically Twin Cities live before Twin Cities left, but for.

[Johnny Hight]

Kids. They stole it.

[Joe Soucheray]

From. They told 100%. They stole your.

[Tom Hauser]

Idea. Yes. Well, you know what, you know what Tom Osmond found after Stan Turner passed and Stan and I, he was a mentor of mine years ago. My only instructor in broadcast news at St. Thomas many years ago. In fact, I gave one of the eulogies at his funeral a month or two ago. But Tom kind of inherited all of Stan's old film and tapes. And he's slowly cataloging them with the help of Glenn Sherman, and they're putting these together. But among the things he found, and he was working on cleaning up the color quality and everything. One of the stories that I did for Stan Turner's class back in the fall of 1983, and he has sent me still pictures from it, but he is not. He is not. He's got so many other things he's trying to clean up and get it to me, but I'm. I don't even know if I want to see.

[Johnny Hight]

It. You don't want to see it. It's just going to be cringe.

[Tom Hauser]

Word. But I always wondered whether Stan ever held on to those things because those were the first attempts I ever.

[Joe Soucheray]

Did. Who, who has the archive of the. The drug bust video from back in the.

[Johnny Hight]

Day? Oh, that's one. Jeff Crilly's doing a stand up out there. And the, the cops had a. The cops had a bust. Yeah. And it was. The thing was just waving in the.

[Joe Soucheray]

Wind. Floppy.

[Tom Hauser]

Device. What's going on.

[Joe Soucheray]

Here? Was it Bloomington? What city were they.

[Tom Hauser]

In? I don't remember. I think it was. Wasn't it.

[Joe Soucheray]

Minneapolis? It might have been, but that cop, the boys specifically waited until he saw the red light on that.

[Tom Hauser]

Camera. No, they're not looking at a red light. Somebody is on a phone watching on tv. Somebody's.

[Joe Soucheray]

Calling. Oh, it was a live.

[Tom Hauser]

Shot. It was a live.

[Joe Soucheray]

Shot. Okay.

[Tom Hauser]

This. Whoa. It would not have made it on the.

[Joe Soucheray]

Air. God, that makes it even better. King.

[Tom Hauser]

Kong. And you could, you could tell as soon as, as soon as Jeff Crilly started talking, they come out with these sex toys. One of them dangling in the wind.

[Joe Soucheray]

Accomplished. Trent Sword.

[Johnny Hight]

19. Totally knew what was going on. And little known tonight at.

[Josh Arnold]

10.

[Tom Hauser]

A little known piece of trivia I replaced Jeff Crilly when he left and went to.

[Joe Soucheray]

Dallas. Is that why he got.

[Tom Hauser]

Fired? Ended up. No.

[Joe Soucheray]

He. No, I'm kidding. I'm.

[Tom Hauser]

Joking. No, he voluntarily went to Dallas and then I replaced Jeff Crowley. Okay, so that happened just before my time. But it was legendary down in the newsroom. One of our editors, Joe Guillon, used.

[Johnny Hight]

To. With the big.

[Tom Hauser]

Ball. Yes. The big ball of tape that would have all of them from the sides of our tapes. He would. Every now and then, there'd be a command performance. We'd get a new person in. Hey, you got to show them the deal. The deal with the.

[Johnny Hight]

Thing. Make sure your timing is on.

[Joe Soucheray]

Here. Oh, my goodness.

[Tom Hauser]

Gracious. It was a very good television production. And then finally, one thing I'm sure you're all asking yourselves, gee, Tom, what does Stepping Strong stand.

[Johnny Hight]

For? You got to go that.

[Joe Soucheray]

Way. You're as bad as sushi at the.

[Tom Hauser]

Cameron.

[Johnny Hight]

Describe. What is Stepping.

[Tom Hauser]

Strong? This is the organization that I'm raising money for to run the Boston marathon on my 65th birthday coming up this.

[Johnny Hight]

April.

[Tom Hauser]

Congratulations. It won't be your first. No, it'll be my 31st. But I'm raising money for Stepping Strong, which is a great organization that was founded after the Boston Marathon bombing by Stephen and Audrey, their daughter. Stephen and Audrey Rennie, their daughter nearly had both of her legs blown off in the explosion. But the first responders, and hats off to all of them wherever they are, saved. Between the first responders on the scene and the emergency room person personnel saved both of her.

[Johnny Hight]

Legs. Oh, my.

[Tom Hauser]

Gosh. They were so impressed by what happened, they formed this organization called Stepping Strong. And they raised money by having runners in the Boston Marathon raise money. I'm raising $10,000. It'll be the fourth time I've run for them. So by the time I'm done, I will have raised a little over 40,000. But they have raised more than $17 million to teach first respond. First responders the best practices for saving limbs. Whether it's in an incident like that, you know, which is rare, but. Or if you have a car accident and you have a problem with a potential severed limb, or the military, you know, an IED that they step on or whatever, they're trying to teach first responders all around the country and around the world the best practices for being able to save limbs, whether it's an arm, a leg, what have you. And they just do some great.

[Joe Soucheray]

Work. So we'll provide a link for the jail.

[Tom Hauser]

Page. I will. I will send you the Link. It's also on my. It's on my Facebook page and also on my Instagram page. But if any of your viewers follow me there, they can, they can find it. But it's a great organization and I do not take for granted the fact that I have the ability to run 38 marathons. There's a lot of people who.

[Johnny Hight]

Cannot.

[Tom Hauser]

Right. So it's an honor to do that. But that is what. Stepping.

[Joe Soucheray]

Strong. Very cool. Yeah, we'll put a link on the GL page.

[Tom Hauser]

Today. I appreciate it. That'd be.

[Joe Soucheray]

Great. Thanks for coming in.

[Johnny Hight]

Tom. Say, before we go though, I don't want to go out on a serious note, but I do want to give this some publicity. As far as there's a missing young lady in her name is Kimora Jones in St. Paul. And you know, the gal that's missing in Texas gets GMA all the time. There's a gal that's missing and so I hope you find her. But there's a local gal and we're looking for her. She is this an Amber, 12 years old? Well, she's been missing for a while. She was last seen December 21st. She was in the St. Paul's School District. And I know people that taught her and hopefully we will keep. I don't know what to tell you to keep an eye out for, but she's a young African American gal. She has long pink braids in her hair and she may be in need of medical attention. But she's a 12 year.

[Tom Hauser]

Old. Where was she last? Last.

[Johnny Hight]

Seen? She was last seen. Let me think here. Now, she's been missing since December 21st. I don't have any info on where she was.

[Tom Hauser]

Last. In what city are we talking.

[Johnny Hight]

About? St. Paul. She was in St. Paul. So Kimora Jones, just if you google her name, you might be able to find her and see a picture of her. Maybe you might see her around St.

[Tom Hauser]

Paul. So there you.

[Joe Soucheray]

Go, Tommy. Thanks for coming in, man. Always appreciate.

[John Hight]

You. It's good to be.

[Tom Hauser]

Here. I hope I don't overwhelm your.

[Joe Soucheray]

Ego. Oh, no, you're fine. Hey, we're used to it every time Joe Rips Trump. We're about, you know, two or three days into responding to.

[Johnny Hight]

Emails. I hope you fill his email up with stepping strong.

[Tom Hauser]

Donations. Let's do.

[Mishke]

That. Let's do.

[Tom Hauser]

That. That'd be.

[Joe Soucheray]

Awesome. Please do us a favor and subscribe to us on our YouTube channel where you can watch the show each and every single day starting at around noon. And you can also see full segments, video shorts, behind the scenes footage, it's all there for you. Just search Garagelogic on YouTube along with all of our social media channels, which includes Facebook, Instagram and X. And also sign up for the Daily Logician. That's an email that comes right to your inbox each and every single day. And it includes the most recent episode of the podcast. Find out more and sign up [e-mail]. It is time once again that we check in with our guy, Mr. Money Talk. Josh Arnold is with us once again right here in garagelogic. And now is the time for you to do the same. So do not delay, do exactly what I did and pick up that phone and dial 952-92-55608. That number once again is 952-925-5608. When you call that number, you're going to get Josh and he is.

[Johnny Hight]

There for you for.

[Joe Soucheray]

That. Free, yes, I use the word free. 48 minute financial consultation with absolutely zero obligations. And he will always give you the straight talk, he will never give you the sugar coated advice. And he is on the line with us once again right here in garagelogic. And Josh, your final report for the calendar year of 2025. The prediction markets are.

[Josh Arnold (continued)]

Out. For 2026 the prediction markets are out. The prediction markets are growing and more companies are adding, adding that feature. We'll say to their, I'll say to their, to their stable. In some ways, you know, the prediction markets have helped companies grow. In particular, Robin Hood, one of the top performing stocks in 2025, added predictions, more markets to it line up and that helped increase their, their revenues and also kept, I'll say kept customers in involved. On the other hand, Coinbase, which is one of the larger crypto trademark traders, put predictions markets on their platform. They did not do so well and I would say that Coinbase, which more or less tracks the crypto marketplace, had a very negative year as opposed to Robinhood, which allows you to trade crypto as well as trade stocks, bonds, mutual funds, set up retirement accounts, do options and it's primarily geared to younger investors. That stock soared. Both stocks of course are going to be pretty, pretty volatile, Robinhood, I'll say Robinhood especially. But they've had a platform that has definitely produced the prediction markets. Well, they're going to face some difficulty, we'll say with some regulation and results being taxed or non tax. But they have created a lot more competition, we'll say for online gambling, online sports betting as well as even the, I will say the Betting.

[Tom Hauser]

Markets.

[Josh Arnold (continued)]

Both the regional casinos and the nationally based casino casinos, primarily prediction markets, are unregulated. And on those prediction markets it's not just betting on the outcome of sporting events, it's also betting on the outcomes of elections, betting on the outcomes of who's going to be the next Fed Sheet, betting on whether or not the government shut down down again at the end of January. The Senate can't get 60.

[Joe Soucheray]

Votes.

[Josh Arnold (continued)]

To pass the continuing resolution. Well, all kinds of things can be bet on the prediction markets and the platform. We'll say the platform vendors, whether it's Coinbase, Robinhood Interactive Brokers, DraftKings, FanDuel also getting involved or JP Morgan are going to take a cut of the, of the action, so to speak. I don't think prediction markets are going to go away but those prediction markets are going to to we'll say get a lot more, we'll say surveillance and regulation in, in the coming year and years. I don't think however that the prediction markets saw that 2025 would be as good a year in the S and P as it as it was we are in or completing the third year of the bull market and the S and P had a pretty significant advance up 16%. Again not a straight line. We did have several point pullback but none of major significance into 2026. I think the markets could well be a lot more volatile and we could have one or two steeper drops than the what I would say would be the normal normal or the average 5 to 10% pullbacks that you have every year. Typically every year there are 3 to 4, 5 to 10% pullbacks in the market right now. Santa Claus, I'll say Santa Claus. Santa Claus has not necessarily left the building but Santa Claus has not been around for the last four days as the S&P has dropped now four days in a row. Some of this I believe is result of profit taking and also result of very light volumes as many traders will say pack their bags for a long 10 day vacation period starting last Wednesday and probably concluding this coming weekend. So look for we'll say a little more volatility next Monday January 5th. But don't expect much in the way of upside momentum today at the end of the year with very very light trading ahead of the new year. 1. You know one theme that I do believe is going to remain remain constant next year and that investments around artificial intelligence, you might be surprised as I was this is not a stock that I would follow but one of the best Dow and S P stocks this year was Caterpillar. Who would have thought that Caterpillar got a very big boost on the need for equipment. I'll say construction equipment for the build out of data centers and also for Caterpillar's power unit that is that competes with General Electric Verona for power equipment sales and data. Data centers definitely need power and they need energy. In addition to meeting all of the other components within the building, so to speak to store and move data and data is is now has been will continue to be a big part of the Internet and one big winner that I see happening in this front going forward is still my favorite fruit company Apple and I'll get more into that in 2026. How you do a good New Year's Drive safe. And if you're making any predictions on who's going to win football games in the next few days, well, content yourself with FanDuel and DraftKings and skip the prediction.

[Joe Soucheray]

Market. And that's why we come to you for the straight talk and we never get the sugar coated advice. Mr. Money Talk. Hey, you heard him gl ers. Now is the time for you to pick up the phone and make the call for that free 48 minute financial consultation again with absolutely zero obligation. And you do that just like I did throughout the entire calendar year by dialing 952-925-5608, where you always get straight talk and never ever sugarcoated advice. Josh, as always, thank you so much for the time and the chat. Enjoy your new New Year. Have a fantastic holiday tomorrow. We'll talk to you again Friday. But all the best to you in.

[Josh Arnold (continued)]

2026. Same to you.

[Josh Arnold]

Chris. Be good Investment Services offered by Josh Arnold Investment Consultant, llc, A security investment advisor. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. All investments involve risk. All comments and opinions are Josh Arnold's and do not constitute investment.

[Chris Reivers]

Advice. Chris Reivers is a paid.