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

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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

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Originally uploaded by Bluedog Photog.

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

Yellow and Purple

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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.