Unreal About Ft. Hood

Good morning. How’s it going? It’s Friday, so we have that going for us!

It’s been a busy morning in the newsroom. We’ve been working to see if there are any local connections to the chaos and madness at Fort Hood, TX. How tragic.. Fortunately, at this point, it appears members of the National Guard in Ohio and Indiana who have ties to the base in Texas were not impacted, at least not directly. Not sure about Kentucky. We’re trying to find out the latest from the Bluegrass State.

Beyond that I’ve been planning ahead for a busy weekend. You won’t believe this, but I’m going to do a little high school football play-by-play tonight. Never done it before.. so it should be somewhat comical. A friend asked if I would help out Kenton County’s local cable channel (20 on Insight Digital Cable), and I said sure. I’ve watched a lot of football, but I can’t say I know too much about specific plays. In other words, I’m not an “NFL Madden” freak! But I’ve been doing some research on both teams – Simon Kenton and Louisville Butler – so I hope I don’t sound like a complete nincompoop.

So that’s tonight. Then tomorrow night I’ll be in Maysville helping emcee an event that supports members of the military and their families.

So, a busy weekend on tap, but a good one. I sure hope you and your family have a great weekend, too.

(Oh yeah. Sorry for not posting the last couple days. I was shooting a story and then logging sots. It’ll air next week at 11. It’s about social networking and the impact it can have on families. I think it’s a really interesting subject since so many people feel compelled to share intimate information on a variety of websites. Just figured you might like to know.)

Adios for now.

Election News & Notes

Good morning and happy election day. Since things are pretty busy in the newsroom I figure it’s a good morning to post some quick notes..

*We caught up with both Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory at his polling place in the West End this morning and his challenger, Brad Wenstrup.

*We did multiple live shots this morning giving voters a heads-up that 200 of Hamilton County’s 880 polling places have been moved, relocated or shuttered. The goal was/is to combine smaller polling sites into larger, more efficient precincts.

*Voter turnout in Southwest Ohio is expected to be decent even though it’s an off-year election. Hamilton County officials expect a 35% – 40% turnout.

*A couple other big stories.. One, a Cincinnati Police Officer flipped his cruiser during a pursuit overnight. It happened around midnight on I-71S. Fortunately, the officer, Kevin Jones, is going to be okay. Unfortunately, the suspect managed to get away.

Also, this morning at about 8:45 we received word that a man was in police custody after there were reports that someone had a gun at Aiken High School in College Hill. We scrambled a news crew to the scene and will have the latest on News 5 at Noon. No reports of anyone injured by gunfire, but that’s about all I know as I type this post. More on this story throughout the day.

That’s what I know right now. Hope you have a great Tuesday. Go vote (if you live in Ohio!)

By the way, no post tomorrow (Wed.).. I’ll be working on a sweeps piece. Just FYI.

Good Monday Morning!

Howdy and thanks for stopping by our Breakfast blogs. Hope you and your family enjoyed trick-or-treating on Saturday night. Jesse and I dressed our boy as a lion, complete with a little face paint. He was too funny because everytime we tried to get him to roar like a lion he’d just bury his head in my chest; therefore, my jacket ended up with most of his face paint on it! Definitely a weekend filled with great memories.

It was weird to not watch the Bengals yesterday. If only they were not on a bye week perhaps I wouldn’t ache so much! Instead of settling down in front of the tube I spent about 3 hours raking leaves and doing other yard work. Man, what a pain – but our lawn does look pretty nice right now..

I’ll leave you with this link to the homepage for CBS’ “60 Minutes”: http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/60minutes/main3415.shtml

If you didn’t see the news program last night I’d like to recommend a couple stories both of which are currently posted on the show’s homepage – 1) “Yakuza” and 2) “An Inside Look at H1N1 Vaccine Production.” Both stories, I think, are very interesting and worthwhile (esp. the one about H1N1).

That’s all I know for now.

Adios and have a great start to your work week.

Snapping Cables & 14K For Blue-White Game

Hi all. Another quick post this morning. I’m working on a story, so my time gets a little squeezed.

Hope everything is going well in your world. We’re focused on developing stories in the News 5 newsroom including the obvious shortage of the H1-N1 flu vaccine and the pending “second” verdict in the Mark Blankenburg trial. Weird to think he has a twin brother accused of similar crimes. Ugh. Here’s a link to our web coverage if you’d like to find out more: http://www.wlwt.com/news/21426402/detail.html

Here are some more stories of interest. I actually talked about them during the Digital Hub segment this morning on News 5 Today at 5 a.m.

First: http://www.wlwt.com/video/21449175/index.html

This story is about the chaos that happened on the Bay Bridge in California when a 5,000 lb. cable snapped on Tuesday.

Another story to check out is on the New York Times website. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/28/education/28community.html?em

It’s a story for anyone thinking about going back to school.  The headline reads “New Meaning For Night Class At 2-Year Colleges.”

It’s a fascinating look at how technical schools and community colleges are doing all the can to accommodate a flood of new students, many of whom are working full-time jobs while going to class.

Good stuff.. Equally good is the fact that UK basketball had its Blue-White scrimmage last night. 14,000 people in Rupp Arena for a practice. I can’t wait until the ‘Cats tip it off for real! 

Adios for now. Have a great day.

Defiance

Hi all. Hope your Tuesday is going well. I’m working on a couple projects at work, so my posts during the next few days might be a bit sporadic.

During my post on Monday I neglected to mention that Jesse and I rented a dvd called “Defiance” on Friday night. It’s about a family of brothers, the Bielskis, who helped save the lives of 1,200 Jewish people during WWII by camping out in a Nazi-infested forest. While I’m sure it was embellished somewhat for the big screen it’s still an amazing story. It was especially poignant for Jesse who teaches a holocaust unit to her high school English classes. If you’re like me and had never heard the story of the Bielski brothers you owe it to yourself to a) watch the movie and b) read the following article from the New York Times’ archives: http://www.nytimes.com/2000/05/28/nyregion/heroes-among-us.html?pagewanted=1

Just a really incredible story of survival.

And now for something completely different.. Don’t know if you saw it or not but there was a nice feature story about my colleague, News 5 Sports Director Ken Broo, in the paper this weekend. Here’s a link: http://nky.cincinnati.com/article/AB/20091026/ENT/910260345

So with that I’m out. Hope y’all have a great day. I’ll see you back here (hopefully) tomorrow.

Cool Bengals & An Even Cooler Treehouse!

Good Monday morning. I know, I know.. it’s Monday. But at least the sun is shining brightly over the Queen City. Just more of the same after a beautiful Sunday.

How ’bout dem Bengals? I hope you had a chance to watch Cincy put the smack-down on Chicago. I can only wonder what the heck happened one week ago when Houston came to Paul Brown Stadium. Talk about a tale of two different teams. Yesterday, the Bengals looked incredible. One week ago, not so much. I’m really hopeful that the game against the Bears showed the real Carson Palmer. His passes were razor sharp (unlike games earlier this season). If he’s shaken the rust off I think the Bengals have the potential to be really, really good this year. A bye week next week and then they take on the Ravens at home. Who-dey!

The weekend was nice. Jesse and I took our son and my niece and nephew to the Children’s Museum at the Museum Center. It’s incredible! We all had a blast, playing in the water display and tromping around the amazing treehouse. I can’t believe how big the museum is. It goes on and on, and there’s a ton of interactive stuff. Our crew had a great – and exhausting!! – time.

A bit of a slow news cycle this morning. Of course we’re watching all the latest developments on the H1-N1 front. It sounded alarming when the President declared it a national health emergency, but I don’t believe there’s any reason for heightened anxiety. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the declaration “will give hospitals and other medical facilities more flexibility when it comes to coping with a possible surge of infected patients.” Here’s a link if you’d like to read more:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/10/24/MNFP1AAB4V.DTL&tsp=1

Not much else to report at the moment. It’s early on a Monday, and I’m still trying to kick my own motor into high gear.. Kind of stuck at about 25 miles per hour right now!

Adios. See you back here tomorrow.

Trying To Stay Dry On A Friday

Hey everybody. It’s Friday. Sounds good to me. Sorry for the super short post.. Just been busy trying to tie up a lot of loose ends. I’m sure you know how that goes.

What a crummy old day in the Queen City. Lots and lots of rain. But again, it’s Friday. Not sure what to do this weekend. Maybe a trip to the Museum Center with our son and his cousins.. Or something like that that’d be perfect for a soggy Saturday.

Wow. Our newsroom just received the following alert from Butler County. “Due to the overwhelming response to the H1N1 clinic at the Butler County Fairgrounds we will not be able to accept any more people for clinic today.” We received this notice at approx. 10:45 – just 45 minutes after the clinic opened. Goes to show just how many people are scrambling to get vaccinated. I hate that they had to stand in line in the rain this morning. But the dedicated effort is very impressive.

Be sure to watch News 5 all weekend. We’ll have the latest on H1-N1 and all the other news that’s fit to broadcast! 

Adios for now.

Digging On & Digging Up The News

Hello. It’s Thursday afternoon, and I only have a couple minutes before I need to venture off to the radio booth (to do headlines for 55-KRC AM).

A typically busy morning in the newsroom. We’ve been hustling to find out the latest about James House III, the man accused of stabbing and killing 93-year-old Ida Martin in Roselawn on Tuesday. Turns out (according to court docs) he tried to kill 2 people 10 years ago and had been living in a mental facility near Ms. Martin’s home until this summer. And now she’s dead, and he’s in jail on $1 million bond. How very sad and awfully frustrating.

We’re also digging up all we can on H1N1. We often hear anecdotal information about suspected H1N1 cases in various parts of the tri-state. Our job is to delineate between what’s fact and fiction. Not an easy job, mind you, but we’re doing the very best we can to make sure our viewers stay informed and have the very latest information.

That’s about all I have time for today. Be sure to tune in tomorrow morning when we announced the 2 latest winners in our Most Awesome Pet contest!

Adios for now.

401K Plans On The Rebound

Good Wednesday morning (or early afternoon!).. Man, what a bright day it is in the Queen City. The sun is shining and the thermometer is heading in the right direction – up. I can’t wait to head home. I think I’ll take my son for a wagon ride this afternoon.

Couple links to pass along. During this morning’s Digital Hub segment (at 5 a.m.) I mentioned a story about a coyote that got stuck in a car’s front grill and ended up traveling 600 miles. When the exhaust fumes finally cleared the coyote survived! Remarkable story. You can see it now by clicking this link:

http://www.wlwt.com/video/21345969/index.html

Another story worth noting is for anyone who has a 401K at work. It might not be a bad idea to actually open your statements because – according to this article on the Wall Street Journal’s website – 401k’s are bouncing back. Let’s hope the positive trend continues. 

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703816204574485161754476316.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_MIDDLENexttoWhatsNewsThird

That’s what I know for now. See you back here tomorrow.

Thank The Good Lord For John Hiatt On A Day Like This

Hi on this Tuesday. Noticed an interesting story this morning on Yahoo.com. It’s about “energy zappers,” especially at work. I’m guilty of about all of ‘em.. Take a look for yourself by following this link:

http://health.yahoo.com/featured/50/out-of-energy/

Of equal interest, at least to me, is the following article from the New York Times online about the guy behind Pandora, a popular web-based music service. As someone who knows virtually zero about music theory, etc., I find it interesting to learn about a man who’s making a living – and keeping lots of people entertained – by breaking down how music works. Fascinating.

Here’s the link to the story if you have a minute (or abut 10!):

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/18/magazine/18Pandora-t.html?_r=1&em

A busy morning in and around the Queen City. For the second morning in a row there’s a been a deadly fire. This morning’s fire happened on Russell Street in Covington in an historic house. Very, very sad that a woman died. No word on her identity but we do know her husband had to be rescued. What an awful situation.

Equally tough for me to process is news that a 5-year-old Warren County boy has died after contracting H1-N1. Not sure what the exact cause of death will be, but officials say he died from respiratory complications. My heart goes out to the boy’s parents. Ugh.. I cannot even begin to imagine.

Okay.. I hate to leave you with two heavy stories, so I’m going to print the lyrics of a song by John Hiatt. It’s called “Thank God The Tiki Bar Is Open.” I recommend checking it our if you’re into gruff, high-quality singer-songwriters.. Got all that?

Thank god the tiki bar is open

Thank god the tiki torch still shines

Thank god the tiki bar is open

Come on in and open up your mind

 

I was out on a leave of absence

From any resemblance to reality

I felt like a rocket launched to the great blue yonder

From the boys down at Kennedy 

 

I was driving by his majesty’s court hotel

Where the sign said praise his name

I was tired and alone I couldn’t see too well

But I don’t think that he was to blame 

 

Thank god the tiki bar is open

Thank god the tiki torch still shines

Thank god the tiki bar is open

Come on in and open up your mind 

 

There’s a full moon over Daytona Beach

There’s a full moon in my mind

And my suntan dream is still out of reach

And the strip malls are robbing me blind 

 

Well his name was Mr. Dale Earnhardt

And he drove the black number three

Now the king is gone but he’ll not be forgotten

Nor his like will we ever see 

 

Thank god the tiki bar is open

Thank god the tiki torch still shines

Thank god the tiki bar is open

Come on in and open up your mind 

 

I know a drink ain’t no solution

I ain’t had one in seventeen years

But if that tiki bar was closed tonight

Well i might just disappear 

 

Thank god the tiki bar is open

Thank god the tiki torch still shines

Thank god the tiki bar is open

Come on in and open up your mind 

 

Thank god the tiki bar is open

Thank god the tiki torch still shines

Thank god the tiki bar is open

Come on in and open up your mind