93-3-3-WMR Audio on Demand presents the Preston and Steve show podcast.

And now, Preston and Steve's news updates with Kathy Romano.

It is October 9th of Wednesday. Good morning, Kathy.

Good morning in the news this morning. Large parts of Central and Northern California

were expected to be without electricity today as the state's largest utility plan to cut power as a safety precaution. The utility, Pacific gas and electric said that around 800,000 customers could be affected in stages from the doorstep of Silicon Valley to the foothills of the Sierra.

Extreme winds are expected on Wednesday and Thursday. Peak wildfire

season has arrived in California with a combination of high winds and low humidity creating conditions

for potentially catastrophic fires. Pacific gas and electric says it is proactively shutting off power

to prevent its equipment from sparking a blaze. I've never heard of this. No, I've never heard of this where they actually kill the power in anticipation of the possibilitying a blaze. I never heard of this. No, I've never heard of this,

where they actually kill the power in anticipation of the possibility of a blaze? For 800,000 customers. Like, that's a decent chunk. I'm reading a book right now about how fire prevention has changed a lot in California over the last few years because they've had these devastating awful wildfires. Seems every time you turn around. Yeah, so the attempt now is to do everything they can to prevent it, but also to set fires deliberately, to do these prescribed burns. They'd stop doing that for the longest time. And so all that underbrush built up and that's what they've been having to deal with. But I think they're just, Kathy, they're just trying anything that they can because the ones have been so devastating have been incredibly devastating.

The company has been found responsible for dozens of wildfires in recent years, including the state's deadliest and inferno in and around the town of Paradise last November that killed 86 people.

Over the summer, the utility turned off power to less populated areas in northern California.

But this by far is the most extensive shutoff the company has carried out, affecting large parts of the San Francisco Bay Area. That's wild. More than half of the counties in California, 34 and 58, are expected to be affected by the power cut, according to PG&E, one of the country's largest utilities. You remember the story that was associated with. I think it was Caitlin Jenner's house. She paid to have a trench dug around it. No. Yeah, I don't remember that. She was up on her, I guess, the place is up on a, like a hill. Yeah. And it worked, but the fire was all around her. Lego is testing a new recycling program. The Lego Group announced a pilot program Tuesday that lets you send used pieces to be donated to children's nonprofits in the United States. You put Lego bricks, sets, or elements that you don't want anymore in a cardboard box.

Bring out a free shipping label from the Lego replay website.

At the Give Back Box facility, they'll be sorted, inspected, and cleaned. Lego replay is a collaboration with Give Back Box, Teach for America, and Boys and Girls Club of Boston. I'm sure there are many parents pulling them out of their feet this morning would like to send them to them to live. Yeah, man. I've thrown away tons of Legos just because, you know, you buy these sets and then they get made and then they, you know. Then they fall apart and they're very specific little pieces for certain sets and you don't use them again we did have a we're like okay we're going to donate these to somebody and we just never get around to doing it who do you give them to you know what lego give them the chuck demico well and you know what lego says that most times not, people are donating them to, like, other people are giving them to other people because they don't want to throw them out. Yeah. And that they get passed down. And so this is just a way for them to, like, clean them and reuse them. Not everybody knows Chuck DeMico. No, I was talking to you. Oh, okay. Yeah. But I'm saying, you know, if you don't have a friend there in Hamilton, New Jersey, send them to Chuckton Peak up.

Yeah, but if you don't have a friend to give him to, okay. Yeah. But I'm saying, you know, if you don't have a friend there in Hamilton, New Jersey, send them to Chuck to Mika. Yeah, but if you don't have a friend to give him to,

then you toss them away. And so I'm, but I'm, we're done with, I don't have them anymore. We're past Lago. Talk to Miko. I gave him all the chock. But now I think this is a great idea. Yeah. Many of the donated Lego bricks will end up with the Teach for America to be given to thousands

of classrooms across the country. Others will go to the Boys and Girls Club of Boston for after-school

programs. The first shipments are expected to reach the nonprofits next month and the pilot program

will end in spring of 2020. The Lego group will consider expanding it then. In 2015,

Lego announced that it would invest $150 million over 15 years to make its pieces and packaging better for the environment.

Any chance they can teach kids to play with half-empty paint cans because I have a whole bunch of

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