Sad News

The news we had all thought, but didn't want to hear, came today. The two boys missing since Tuesday were found dead in the Dan River. It was the news I'd feared since first arriving on the scene that day. After officials told us that 3 different tracking dogs at 3 different times tracked the boys scent to the river's edge I knew we'd be hearing this news. I knew we'd be hearing it today. Unfortunately, I've been on these kinds of searches before. I'd covered more than a few drownings in Kentucky at my first television station. And I always remember what one rescue worker told me. "It takes 3 days before the body will resurface." A grim reality that most likely took place today. A grim reality that I had hoped we wouldn't be faced with. A grim reality that the parents, family and friends now have to deal with. My thoughts and prayers are with you all.

Missing

No, not me. But there are two little boys from Stokes County here in North Carolina who've been missing since Tuesday around lunchtime. 3 and 4 year old Jacob and J.W. White left their Danbury home about 11am and haven't been seen since. Brent and I have been in Stokes County turning packages and live shots for noon, five, five-thirty and six o'clock shows since first receiving the news that day.


Here I am yesterday on the Kernersville Rescue Team's boat stuck on some rocks but still shooting video for the story. That was the second time our boat was stuck and we eventually made our way back down the Dan River and I got off just downstream to my awaiting buddy Brent. After over an hour and making it just a quarter of a mile down stream I quickly saw the challenges many searchers were facing. The river on the day the two went missing was about 4 times higher than normal. It's now back down and this poses new challenges for any boat trying to navigate the small river.

This is our 5 O'clock package from today which shows some of the different methods being used to find them. There are plenty of other stories and interviews on the website to keep you up to date on the search. Let's all pray this story somehow has a happy ending. But as the minutes turn to hours and the hours turn to days, it's not looking good for the two little boys who left the house wearing only shorts and a t-shirt.

Hot Enough?

All we've been talking about for the past week has been this heat wave. That's all folks talk about when amongst friends, co-workers, family. So I find it odd that voters in a recent poll on my station's website asking what should be covered next overwelmingly said, "It's hot, we get it."

So, if that's the case if we stopped doing the stories on the heat. Stopped telling viewers what the high temps of the day were. Stopped showing workers in the heat. Stopped doing stories about who has the hottest job. Stopped showing the difference between certain types of thermometers or folks living without air conditioners. Would people then watch more? I don't think so. As much as viewers may say, "too much." I also believe if we ignored this heat wave people would inevitably call and say, "are you crazy, the heat's the story." Or would they?

Do they not want to know that it was so hot yesterday that the pavement buckled on a local interstate? You tell me. I'm genuinely interested in seeing why nearly 80% of our viewers say, "it's hot, we get it."

Meet a Hero

I met a hero yesterday. She saved her father's life last week. And she's only ten.


Meet Jamie Abernathy. We met her yesterday in her dad's hospital room at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center. She's a typical ten year old. A little shy with the camera on her. But otherwise bouncing around the room and smiling at the fact her father is still alive.

James Abernathy was at a friend's house helping with a car. When he poured gas into the carburator (something I've done before more than a few years ago) the car backfired causing the gasoline to ignite, along with his arm and side. Little Jamie was playing nearby and saw what happened. She told her father to "stop, drop and roll." Doctors say at the very least it kept Mr. Abernathy from having SEVERE burns. At best, it saved his life.

You can view the story here.

New Toys

I've recently come across some new toys to add to my blog. At the right you can see where folks are visiting from on the NeoEarth toy. I've also added a poll. For now I'll leave it with the current question but if anyone has an idea for another poll, let me know. Also, I may add a couple of flash games you can play.

Hopefully this will keep some of you busy when you stop in. It's been a slow summer but today's story sounds like a good one. I'll take a couple of pics and blog about it soon, maybe tonight.

10 Years

It's been ten years since Morgan Violi was abducted while playing with friends at her apartment complex. I wrote about this story in February but thought I'd bring it up again since it is something I think about often.

The Bowling Green Daily News published an article Monday about the ten year anniversary of her abduction. I can't help but feel for the family. Not knowing who did this and knowing he is still out there free just tears me up inside.

Daily News (Bowling Green, KY)Killer’s trail staying cold Morgan abduction, 10 years later
BURTON SPEAKMAN, The Daily News, bspeakman@bgdailynews.com/783-3240
Published: July 24, 2006
Today marks the 10th anniversary of the abduction and eventual slaying of 7-year-old Morgan Jade Violi, and investigators are no closer to making an arrest.
Morgan’s family is still seeking answers to who may have killed the girl and what happened in her last few hours.
Her family is hoping that now that 10 years have passed, the person or persons responsible feel guilty and will confess to their role in the crime, said Linda Whitlow, her aunt, and Dewayne Whitlow, her cousin.
Having someone come forward would give the family a lot of closure, Dewayne Whitlow said.
Stacey Violi, Morgan’s mother, said that while she wants someone to come forward about the crime, she doesn’t know if it would bring her any closure.
“It won’t stop it from hurting. It wouldn’t bring my little girl back,” she said. “I would like to know everything about that day.”
They also want someone to be punished for Morgan’s death, Linda Whitlow said.
Although it’s been 10 years since Morgan was taken on July 24, 1996, in front of Colony Apartments off Shive Lane and later killed, sometimes it feels like it just happened yesterday, Violi said in a recent phone conversation with the Daily News.
“That’s the day I lost my faith in the human race,” she said, at times crying. “I never realized there was anyone that evil who could just take her and do that.”
Violi said her anger makes her want retribution.
“Revenge is a double-edged sword, but I’ll suffer every day the rest of my life and I want someone else to suffer for the rest of their life,” she said.
Morgan was playing with a friend that day when she was grabbed by a man and taken way in a maroon van. The original Bowling Green Police Department reports list the driver of the van as a 6-foot 1-inch white male, weighing 180 pounds with brown hair and two to three days of beard growth.
A nationwide search and billboard campaigns led police on false chases. Morgan’s remains were found Oct. 20, 1996, along North Swift Road near White House, Tenn. The spot was close enough to Interstate 65 that traffic noises could still be heard.
The location, which then was sparsely populated and today has numerous houses, is about 40 miles from Bowling Green. The memorial that had been created there to remember Morgan is gone.
A white van was seen near the site where her remains were found, but it was never located. A search for the van, which had custom glass windows, was a large part of the investigation for some time.
The van was found at a truck stop on the Peytonsville Road exit off I-65 in Franklin, Tenn., according to FBI reports. The van had been stolen in Dayton, Ohio.
For several years, Kim Ferrell kept a memorial of a cross and roses dedicated to Morgan by the culvert where her body was dumped – Ferrell’s home then was less than 50 yards away. But that memorial is no longer there and much of the culvert has been covered for new driveways.
Ferrell no longer lives in the house, Violi said.
“I quit going down to that spot two or three years ago; it was just too hard,” Violi said.
Today, Violi and her daughters will go to Morgan’s grave and release 10 purple balloons to commemorate the years she’s been gone. They also will go on her birthday later this year and release 18 for each year she would have been alive.
“The girls and I stick together. They lost their innocence that day, too,” Violi said. “Some people carry scars physically; others carry theirs emotionally.”
It was three or four years before Violi and her daughters could even have pictures of Morgan up in their home, she said.
“I just wonder if the person or persons responsible are able to lay down at night and close their eyes without thinking of Morgan in her last hours and even minutes,” Linda Whitlow said.
Morgan’s case was featured in a segment on the television show Unsolved Mysteries. Violi said she would like to do that again to try to get answers about her daughter’s death.
There are some cases that have been solved after several decades and this case is still being looked at, said David Beyer, media coordinator for the FBI office in Louisville.
“But the more years that pass, the less likely it becomes the person or persons responsible will be caught,” he said.
The FBI still questions anyone being investigated in a similar abduction about the Violi case, Beyer said.
Warren County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Roger Osborne said he was on patrol when the abduction call came in.
“We went up to the first overpass on (Interstate) 65 and watched the vehicles for one matching the description,” he said. “We (law enforcement) had the entire area surrounded.”
It is hard to believe the abductor was able to get out of the area, Osborne said.
Violi said she calls the FBI less often for updates about the case – the FBI would say they’re working on it, but there really aren’t any good leads.
The FBI received more than 2,000 leads in the case within months after Morgan was taken. Tips about the case still come in, Beyer said.
The community has really been there for the family, Violi said. She also credited Whitlow and her daughters for helping her deal with her grief.
People haven’t forgotten about Morgan, Violi said. She hopes her daughter’s story reminds other parents to hold on tighter to their children and keep an eye on them.
There have been two recent reports of what could have been attempted kidnappings – both involved a green van.
In June, two men in a green van approached children in a neighborhood off Plano Road. The men asked the children to help find their lost dog, a tactic often used by child predators, police said.
Then on July 11, a green van was spotted in a neighborhood off Three Springs Road and an occupant was apparently watching a young girl in the front yard.
Parents need to watch their children all the time when they’re outside, Violi said when asked about the recent reports.
“You can teach your children all the right things, but when push comes to shove, a child is no match for an adult,” she said. “Morgan was kicking and screaming, but she was still taken.”
If parents can’t watch their child while they’re outside, the child needs to come in, Violi said. If you see something suspicious, call the police.
“Morgan wasn’t the first child they saw. They came back into an apartment complex with one way in and out,” she said. “It’s better to be safe than sorry.”
— Anyone with information about this case can call the FBI at (270) 583-3941 or the Bowling Green Police Department at 393-4244.

Copyright 2006 News Publishing LLC (Bowling Green, KY)

Hot, Hot, Hot!

Yes, it's hot. Everyone knows it's hot. But we still have to TELL everyone it's hot. So Brent and I headed out to find hot jobs in the western piedmont. And our co-horts Eric White and Danny Spillane headed out to find the same in their neck of the woods.

Inspired by a recent edition of "Dirty Jobs" I figured it wouldn't be too hard to find some roofers sweatin' it out. After a dozen calls Brent had a willing company doing a job in eastern Winston-Salem. We headed that way discussing interesting ways to tell the story. As we arrived things weren't looking good as 4 men leaned casually on a 1973 Dodge pickup. The only man working was on the roof with an oversize broom sweeping up some dust leftover from the FINISHED job. The owner could see our disappointment and said, "oh, you wanted us working?" And turned to one of his employees and shouted, "Carl, get up dar an rip sum dem shingles off, den... put 'em back dowwwwwn." Ummmm, no we can't do that. We'll find another roofer. No staging here.

As we drove back toward another possible site Brent thumbed through the Yellow Pages and struck paydirt. A crew was working in nearby Mocksville on an old country store roof. 30 minutes later we were climbing the ladder with them.

Once we got back to the bureau we started planning out the live shot. As Brent logged what we had shot and started writing the five package, I went to the roof of the Winston-Salem Journal, where our office is located. A few ideas bounced around later and our colleague Wes Barrett would be on the ground shooting us on the roof. The Chief, Keith Hale, rolled in with a prop I had seen used before and he manned the truck to give us three cameras (mine, Wes's, and the mast cam).

The five package focused on some other things we'd shot during the day. Some guys on window washing type scaffolding, and the pool. You can see it here if you click on the video link.

The six package ran as team coverage with Eric going first. You can see our three camera live shot after his runs first. Here's the package.

Photographer of the Year

Copyright Casey Templeton

Some of you may remember this photo from a few weeks ago. President Bush was joking with journalists this day and made fun of this reporter about wearing sunglasses on a cloudy day. Turns out the reporter is "legally blind." Mr. Bush later apologized for his remarks. This photo was captured not by one of the veteran press photographers at the White House. Nope.

I want to introduce you to the current College Photographer of the Year, Casey Templeton. I stumbled across his website while visiting another talented photographer's web site, Mark Hancock. And while Mr. Hancock has been in the biz for years to hone his craft, Casey is still in school! Which brings me to my next thought.

One would think Casey is going to one of the major journalism schools, like Missouri, or my alma mater Western Kentucky University. Although the two did finish 1-2 for most awards at the NPPA yearly contest. No, he's a product of James Madison University. No photography program. Only one photography class! Here's part of a recent interview Casey did with Daniel Berman, a high school student in Seattle.

"They have one class in photojournalism. It's an eight-week course. I took that my sophomore year. It was great because my mentor, Tommy Thompson, taught the class. That was the one photography class I took.They also have an art department at JMU. They have several photo classes with that, but my senior year I took an independent study with an art photography class. We didn't shoot necessarily, we didn't learn much about photography. We did our own projects and talked about them in the class.So, no, there's no photojournalism program. There's not really a photo program. I just did everything but photography in college."

You can read the rest of this interview on Mark Hancock's site here.

So, please visit Casey's website. There are many photos that words just can't describe. My personal favorites are the ones of Lizzie's story.

First Hurricane Forming?

A visit to Dr. Jeff Masters' blog today showed a tropical wave forming off the coast of Africa. While it's early for storms to come out of this early, watch out east coast.

From Dr. Masters' blog:

A new area of concern has developed today off of the coast of Africa, 300 miles south-southwest of the Cape Verde Islands, at about 12N 25W. This large and well-organized tropical wave has developed a surface circulation, and is beginning to show some intense thunderstorms developing near its center. Wind shear is a marginal 10-20 knots over the wave, but is forecast to remain at this level or decrease some over the next two days. Sea surface temperatures are marginal for development, about 26-27 degrees C. There is some African dust to the wave's north, but not as much as we've been seeing in previous weeks. This wave could slowly organize into a tropical depression in the next day or two as it moves west-northwest at 15-20 mph. It's too early to speculate what the long-term track of this system might be. NHC is not impressed with this wave; they have not mentioned it in their 5:30 pm tropical outlook. No doubt the marginal SSTs and moderate wind shear--plus the fact that systems in this vicinity generally do not start developing until early August--are giving them a wait-and-see attitude.

And this impressive satellite view:

It could be an early visit to the coast. Lenslinger, get your rain gear before you come back from vacation.

On Call Duties

After a vacation to a very crowded Surfside Beach, I'm back. As usual, the vacation was too short, the trip home too long, and I really wasn't ready to come back to work. Work was ready for me, however.

At 1am Monday we were awakened by the ring, ring of the bedside phone. No one calls at one in the morning except the station. The voice on the other end pleaded with me to go to a house fire. I tried to explain that not only was I NOT on call, but I was coming off of vacation and didn't have any gear. After I sleeplily, and most likely poorly, explained this the overnight producer then said, "perhaps it's the other Ken who's on call, bye." Ummmm, thanks.

Now, back to that vacation. While I don't recommend anyone go to the beach during the Independence Day Holiday, it is a fun way to watch fireworks. I was blown away by how many people set off their own fireworks. Here are a few pictures of the festivities.


I was surprised I was able to get any of them to turn out. Caroline wasn't in the mood for Daddy to take any more.

Lauren however, was ready for more.

Of course, no trip to the beach is complete without the pool.

Oh yea, I was back at work today. And we've just unveiled our new website. So, now you can watch what I do at work because some of the stories of the day are posted. Here's what I worked on today... you can tell I was on vacation, maybe I was still on it when I shot this one. Better work to come tomorrow.

Police and Media

A recent thread started by SEPhotog over on b-roll.net has me thinking about how certain police departments deal with the media. You see, when it comes to pd's and news crews sometimes the two just don't mesh. The example given on the b-roll message board doesn't give enough information to form an opinion on what exactly happened, but arresting a news crew who's been in the same position for the past NINE hours sounds a little, how should I put it...Overzealous?

Judge for yourself. Basically, a building collapsed Monday night, unfortunately killing one man. This news crew got to the scene at 3:30 am Tuesday. Then, just before their NOON live shot, police decide they need to move back to a different position. Now, this is where I honestly don't know what happened to cause troopers to arrest the reporter and photographer. What I do know is that if the cops were letting the public stay and were telling media to go to a "staging area" the news crew has a legitimate gripe. The two on the scene were promptly taken downtown and served a summons and released from jail.

The problem I have is the wording in the newspaper account that says,

"Reporter Sara Sheffield and photographer Cliff Erwin moved to the public side of a yellow tape that cordoned off the area.

But they declined officers' requests to go to an area specified for media."

An area specified for media. This I have a problem with. You can't just pick and choose who you move out of an area. It's either all or none. I'm not asking for special privileges, just the same access the general public has. Here's the live report just before reporter Sara Sheffield was arrested. Watch the cop over her shoulder step out of frame as she gets into the live shot.

Weigh in with your opinions, I'm sure there are plenty out there.

(UPDATE: Follow this link to see the two arrested.)

On the Road Again

After logging 240 miles yesterday it was time for a little rest for Unit 3. But alas, the news gods were brewing up more fun for yours truly. The rains have finally ended tonight, maybe, but this morning it was another trip to the mountains to find flooding. Brent's back from vacation so we made the trek together today.

First stop, Wilkes County. We had word from the desk that a flash flood warning was in effect for the county and a phone call to dispatchers confirmed a road closed due to the high water. But, after criss-crossing the countryside to find the area, there was nothing to be found. We did, however, find ourselves closing in on Elkin. A small city in the southwest corner of Surry County, Elkin has had it's share of flooding from the Yadkin river. Today was not one of those days.

A call to the Sherriff's office in Alleghany County confirmed what I thought. More road closings in that county so it was on up Highway 21 to find them. By the time we made it into the county seat of Sparta, the rain had subsided... as had the creeks. We did make our way back to that bridge I featured in yesterday's story where the water was about to overtake it. Today it did and we had looky-loos and an Emergency Management official to tell us all about it. Our masterful Satellite Truck Operator, Danny Spillane, made it down the narrow, winding road so we could broadcast our efforts back to everyone at home.

I did want to share a couple of photos of the best little spot to put a mountain house this side of the rockies. The name is The Olde River development. And high atop a knoll sits some of the best homesites I've ever seen with 360 degree views that one could never grow tired of.

This is just one of the streets leading into the gated community.

This little deer was making it's way across the road when we happened upon it.

Just one of the scenic views from out the back door of a future home.

Don't like the views? Try taking a stroll down the road to the New River. A Picnic area and brick grill await you.

Rain, Rain, Go Away

Much of the eastern seaboard has been under the gun, so to speak, with flooding impacting nearly everyone. We've had our fair share here in the piedmont starting Friday night in Asheboro.

I got the call to "go west." The voices rang out on the morning conference call wanted me to "find" the story in the northwest part of our state where rains had been coming down all weekend. So on this Monday morning, I drove. And drove. And drove.


It was a nice drive, however. They don't call 'em the Smoky Mountains for nothing.


After a few calls to local Sheriff's offices, I was able to find a bridge that was supposed to go over the New River. Instead, it looked like it was floating on the New River.


A stream emptying into the New River made for a nice scenic shot.

I caught this scenic view from way atop a ridge looking over the New River. It's not supposed to be that big. All the rain has it quite wider, and muddier, than normal.

I had driven across every bridge and down every low spot along every back road I could find in Alleghany County and a few in Ashe County when just outside Jefferson along Highway 16 I noticed some folks outside their houses cleaning up some washed out driveways. Upon closer inspection I knew I'd found the video I was looking for.


Bad for them, good for me. This small bridge over a creek lost its battle against the mighty rainfall. Residents in the area told me it rained for about 3 hours straight just like a thunderstorm that would normally last a few minutes. One lady told me she hasn't seen the creek swell like that since a big flood in 1973.

So, with an interview and the video I'd been searching for it was back to the bureau to put together 3 vo's and a vosot for the evening news.


Just 230 miles for about 100 seconds of video. So let's see, 2.3 miles per second. Hey, that's about as fast as Superman.

Vosot Patrol

With Brent out of the office (bureau) for a few days, I've got the whole place to myself. That means coming up with enough vosots to keep the assignment desk, producers, news director, etc... happy. Today, I had a couple of ideas and since one of them involved a trip to Mt. Airy (some of you know it as Mayberry) they also had an idea for me to go to Virginia.

I headed out the door to make my way up Highway 52. With Pilot Mountain in my sights and FoxSports Radio on the XM Radio I was setting myself up for a perfect day. Of course, as soon as you think you've got it made something will change all that.





Now, I just had to find this cabbage farmer in Ararat, Virginia. Yep, my assignment was to find this farmer who had a huge cabbage farm and see how the recent heat and drought were affecting (or is it effecting?) him. Oh, I had looked up a few phone numbers before I left and left messages on answering machines, but I knew the best way to find a farmer was to go to his farm.

I found the farm and after driving around it and up and down every dirt road and small lane through fields, I had found the owner and his family. They said they'd be moving the irrigation line after it drained and would be watering in the next hour. That's fine, just enough time for me to head back down the road to Mayberry, er, Mount Airy for a pork chop sandwich at Snappy Lunch.

Now, for those of you who've never heard of, or tried, a pork chop sandwich from Snappy Lunch, let me tell you it is the best -and quite possibly the biggest- sandwich you'll ever put in your mouth. Charles Dowell has been making the fried masterpiece for almost 65 years, yep, 65 years! If you ever do make it to Snappy, get the sandwich all the way... chili, slaw, tomato.... mmm, good!

So, one pork chop sandwich down and it's back on the road to cabbage farm. As I rolled up, they were just putting the finishing touches on the irrigation system. Ed cranked it up and we watched as they sprayed the cabbage with a mist that must've been heavenly given the 95 degrees the rest of us were suffering through. After the interview it was back to Mount Airy where I had another vosot, but it fell through. So, back to the bureau to put together my little vosot.

The assignment desk had other ideas. As I mentioned before, just when you think you've got the easiest day in years, it comes to a sudden and miserable halt. I was needed in High Point to shoot lives for the five and six o'clock shows at a blood drive we just so happened to be sponsoring. Oh, it wasn't hard or anything, just.... uhmmmm, painful. A few dozen lab techs taking blood and generally standing around for a series of live pictures for an hour and a half.

Oh well, beats sitting at a desk all day, huh?

Dirty Jobs and a Space Station

Three nights in a row now the International Space Station has made a pass over our house at a time convenient for my oldest daughter to venture out and watch. The first night ended up being too late and last night it was pretty low on the horizon and didn't last long. But, tonight was perfect. Five minutes going nearly straight overhead.

I get pretty pumped up when someone in my family finds something interesting as much as I. Lenslinger posted today something I can relate with very much. He writes about how he scans a crowd to get in position for a shot of his girls, or can watch for wildlife for hours just to get "that shot." So when Lauren found it exciting to watch a glowing light streak across the sky looking much like an airplane-if you didn't know better-I was all too happy to show her some pictures on the internet of what it looks like up close.

So, on this Father's Day, I'm happy to share some of my love for the ISS, the show "Dirty Jobs," and going to the pool. Three things my daughters shared with me today.

Wildflowers

IMG_1160
Originally uploaded by Bluedog Photog.

Not much going on today, but I did get a chance to snap some shots of some local wildflowers while waiting on an interview. Upon closer inspection I was able to capture some wildlife, as well. Enjoy.

Tropical

IMG_1168
Originally uploaded by Bluedog Photog.

These look like something you'd see on a tropical island.

I spy

IMG_1176
Originally uploaded by Bluedog Photog.

What are you looking at?

Protecting

IMG_1175
Originally uploaded by Bluedog Photog.

This little guy seems to be protecting the flower.

Bee 2

IMG_1186
Originally uploaded by Bluedog Photog.

I like seeing the pollen on his legs.

Bee 1

IMG_1181
Originally uploaded by Bluedog Photog.

One of numerous photos to try and capture the perfect moment.

Yellow and Purple

IMG_1152
Originally uploaded by Bluedog Photog.

Capturing the beauty of a single flower.

Weather Leads

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As I've posted before, weather is the king when it comes to news. Oh sure, it may not be as exciting as an LA car chase, or as sexy as an early morning drug roundup, but everyone is interested in the weather. With hurricane season in full swing already this year it's a sure thing that we'll be hearing and seeing every cheap trick in the book when it comes to covering the storms. Alberto is already making an impact on the Florida Gulf Coast spawning a couple of tornadoes.

We had our own share of nasty weather Sunday. And it couldn't have come at a worse time for our station. If you know anything about the south you know NASCAR rules. And if you know NASCAR you know that the piedmont area of North Carolina NASCAR is KING. So when a tornado warning went up for a county in our viewing area and we broke into the race with the information, Jerry Lewis would've been proud of the answering skills of a few weekend crew members trying to settle the fans.

I noticed the storm getting closer to our house while the girls played on a slip-n-slide in the backyard. So just like any good news geek would do, I sent the girls inside and I went for my sticks and camera. I set up in the garage as it faces west, into the storm. A quick check of the radar showed me some hail would probably accompany this storm. And after shooting about 15 minutes worth of lightning and some rain with wind, I bagged the shots I was looking for. At first the hail was pretty light, only a couple of hailstones here and there. .Then it happened. The tell tell sounds of ping, ping, ping on the cars told me it was here. I popped off shot after shot of the penny sized stuff coming down until I found just the right angle, shooting across the front yard of the next door neighbor's house, the hail looked like popcorn coming out of the green grass.



After getting the video I needed it was time to get it back to the station in time for the end of the race. It would light up the airwaves all evening and into the morning.

As I made my way in to the bureau Monday morning I knew we'd be hunting storm damage for our story. The voice on the other end of the conference call confirmed it, "go find storm damage, we're getting e-mail pics from folks in Yadkin County, find them."

Easier said than done. People love to send the pics but for some reason don't like telling you where or who they are. First stop, a gas station in Yadkinville. After talking with some locals we were directed to Swan Creek Road along the Wilkes County line. No problem, it was still before noon and our story wasn't slated to run until six. But, after a 45 minute drive down every back road along the western side of Yadkin County we'd come up dry. Brent and I were both getting hungry and figured since we were on that side of the county we'd stop in to an Amish place where we found the best sandwiches in the world. Unfortunately, the Shiloh Country Store is closed on Mondays. Strike two. But, since Brent hadn't been exposed to many Amish communities he asked if we could go down the road a little just to see the buggies, etc.

.It was along St. Paul Church Road when we saw the only damage in all of Yadkin County. Tree after tree in this one front yard all split and laying on the ground. After a short hunt and talking with some Amish youngsters next door-who, of course wouldn't go on camera-and we had found the owner of said front yard. She also showed us a barn that lost it's roof, luckily the horses were out in the field when it happened.

.We also went down the road a little ways and shot some nice shots of another barn destroyed by the strong winds. He had sheet metal scattered over an area the size of a couple of football fields. The roofing stopped only when it hit some woods a couple hundred yards away.
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As I write this entry, FOX News' Greta Van Susteren is along the Gulf Coast delivering a live show and spouting off all the cliche's known to reporters far and wide. It looks as though this season could rival last year's hurricane gauntlet as Alberto will be the earliest hurricane to strike the U.S. coast in 40 years. I guess I should start making my hurricane "must haves" pretty soon as a trip to the Carolina coast looks imminent. Funny what makes us news geeks get pumped up ain't it?

Fried Chicken Anyone?

18,000. That's how many chickens were in a chicken house when it went up in flames early Wednesday morning.

The next door neighbor said his dogs woke him up about 1:3am and he saw an orange glow outside his house. He couldn't tell where it was coming from but called 911 and the owner of the chicken farm to come check it out.

We actually smelled the scene before we arrived on it. If you've never smelled 18,000 burnt chickens, wish that you never have to. And the sight of those little chicken bodies extra crispy just kinda makes you wonder why we eat them. For all you vegetarians out there, it's times like these where I can see where you're coming from. Not that I'm changing eating habits anytime soon, I can just see where you're coming from.

The owner tells us it will cost $200,000 to rebuild the burned down building and restock it with some 20,000 chicks. His other 400 foot long building went undamaged as did the rest of his chickens. Sadly, Surry County EMS Director John Shelton told us this happens a couple of times a year just in his county. So, the United States Agriculture Department has laws that say you must have it all cleaned up within 48 hours. That means all those chickens must be buried before everyone goes to bed Thursday night. That's gonna be one long funeral service.

Victims

In this business, you've never seen it all. There's always a day when you have to wonder, why. Why do some people do the things they do? Today, we talked to the owner of a little country store in northern Forsyth County. One of her clerks was severely beaten last Friday while at the store.

The man who did this came into the store, asked if he could wait on a ride, and promptly sat in the rocker supplied for patrons the way many old country stores have. He sat for over an hour, carrying on conversations with other customers and acting quite normal. Then, out of nowhere, as the clerk was stocking some cigarettes behind the counter, he started beating her in the head. She told him she'd give him whatever he wanted if he'd only stop beating her. He didn't. He hit her some more and then tried to open the cash register. When he failed at his attempt to get the cash, he got her up and made her open the drawer.

He made off in an 80's model 2-door sedan, maybe a Mercury Couger. Now, the 61-year-old store clerk is finally out of the hospital recovering from her wounds she sustained in the brutal attack. We can only hope someone knows who did this and will come forward with some information.

Yesterday, we were dispatched to a quiet neighborhood just outside city limits where a number of Sheriff's Deputies and Detectives were on the scene of a rather bizarre incident. It seems an aquaintence of "Amy" came to her house but she didn't want to let him in. So he went around to the back door and used his shotgun to blow it open. (Guess we know why she didn't want him in the house) She escaped out the front door and ran to the neighbor's house. "Amy" and "Roger" locked themselves in the house and waited. "Lyndon" made his way next door and promptly blew that door open, too. Only this time, "Roger" was waiting for him on the other side. As "Lyndon" fire again "Roger" used his own shotgun to put a hole through him "the size of a softball" as the Sheriff put it.

I guess this is a strong argument for guns rights advocates. I know it's a good thing the next door neighbor had a gun or else we probably would've been called out for a different reason. It seems the perp had the idea to burn down the house, too. There was gasoline poured all over the first house he went into. So we probably would've rolled up the scene to find two houses in flames and two innocent dead people inside.

I know some will disagree with what my first thought was when the PIO from the Sheriff's Department told us what had happened. "Good," was the first thing out of my mouth. Not good that someone had died, but good that the one who died wasn't necessarily the victim.

Signs, Signs, Everywhere Signs

Communities far and wide have been battling the sign debate for years. I can see why some cities feel the need to limit sign size. Of course, Las Vegas would be one WITHOUT a sign ordinance. In Winston-Salem, however, the need is here. Have you ever driven down Stratford Road or Peters Creek Parkway? There's no way you can say it's attractive. So, city officials are working on an ordinance that will limit sign size, height and electronics, to name a few.

That was our story today. So we found a restaurant owner along Stratford Road to see what she thought of this proposal on the table. Dori Mulyami, owner of Sakura Japanese Restaurant was more than willing to oblige. She had no qualms telling us that her sign was one of the things that brings customers in. She explained why she thought the new ordinance would be a bad thing. If folks driving along can't see your sign until they're right in front of your building, it's too late and they'll either slam on the brakes to get in or worse, pass by without stopping.

I think city planners are in a tough position here. I can see the advantages of bringing signs down and making them smaller. Cary has a sign ordinance that is a little too strict for what they're trying to accomplish here. On the other hand, being too lax will only mean big, tall, ugly signs will pop up all over the place.

So, no matter what side of the ordinance fence you sit on, it's no question something needs to be done with some of the signs. And while they're at it, let's get rid of all those telephone and electric poles and lines that screw up our beautiful live shots.

Little Did I Know

I never realized I actually had people coming to my little site to check on it daily. Call it humble, call it stupidity, call it whatever you like. I just didn't know. Until today when I made a rare visit to the main studio in High Point. My good friend Danny Spillane asked when I was going to update my blog. Well, Danny I didn't know you cared. But thank you for jarring my mind back into reality and gettin' my ass to work.

May has been one of those months with ratings, youngin's getting out of school, and the old excuse, "I've got other things going on." So, I'll see if I can scramble my brain out of the doldrums and review some of the more interesting things that happened over the last few weeks.

And, thanks again Danny and the other two of you out there checking in on my little blog, I'll do better, I promise.

Vote for Wine

Today we did a preview story on the wine vote in Yadkin County. On the ballot Tuesday will be a vote for legalizing the sale of wine in the county. Funny, because the county now depends on vineyards for some of the economy. I don't have any predictions on how the vote will turn out but our friends at RagApple Lassie are hoping for the best.

I took this shot of Brent through the viewfinder as we prepared for the liveshot in the vineyard.

Everything was sent back to the station via Live 4. Our home away from home.

These are pictures of the little grape buds. These tiny buds are about the size of a pin head. But soon, they'll be the best pinot gris wine this side of Pilot Mountain.

Speaking of Pilot Mountain...

That's Pilot Mountain off in the distance.