blogs.kxly.com

Thanks to Vickie for sending this photo.  She writes “my brother moved from Georgia to an apple orchard near Pomeroy, WA.   He said he loves the sunsets here.”  I hope he loves the winters too.  Spokane is a LONG ways from Georgia.  Welcome.

For all of you NASCAR and IRL lovers out there cruising through downtown Spokane comes this friendly reminder from the Spokane Police Department:

The City of Spokane is announcing its red-light safety cameras will begin taking photos of red-light runners at several intersections beginning tomorrow morning, October 1st at 8:00am. During the 30-day warning period, the photo enforcement cameras will capture still images and video of red-light running violations. A warning notice will be issued to the vehicle’s owner. There is no fine for this warning notice. At the completion of the warning period, November 1st, citations will be issued.

The photo enforcement cameras are located at the following intersections:

Browne St. southbound at Sprague Ave.

Hamilton St. northbound at Mission Ave.

Division St. north and southbound at Francis Ave.

“The warning period will give our residents an opportunity to familiarize themselves with the public safety goals of our red-light program before the actual citations begin,” said Sgt. Eric Olsen. “This is a public safety program and our goal is to stop red-light runners and prevent collisions resulting from red-light runners.”

Cameras operate 24-hours a day and capture images of every vehicle running a red light at the intersection. Warning signs alerting drivers to the red-light cameras have been installed prior to the warning period. After the warning period is complete, drivers who run red lights at the designated intersections will be issued a violation. American Traffic Solutions, Inc. (ATS) administers the program with each violation reviewed and approved by the Spokane Police Department prior to being issued.

For more information on Spokane’s Red Light Photo Enforcement Program call (509) 625-4181, email at photored@spokanepolice.org, or visit the Spokane Police Department’s website at spokanepolice.org.

Wow, what a month! 

Hundreds of miles logged and thousands of dollars raised for Cancer Patient Care.  My deepest and most sincere thanks to the community for supporting and raising awareness for the services provided for low-income cancer patients and their families here in the Inland Northwest. 

So far, we’ve raised nearly $5,000.  We’re still collecting donations and you can still buy one of our spiffy t-shirts which includes a Livestrong wristband courtesy of the Lance Armstrong Foundation.  

Check this LINK for information on donating.  You can also email Executive Director, Cliff Evans.

For my part, I did “30 triathlons in 30 days”, which included the Palouse Sprint triathlon in Moscow, Idaho on Sept. 6th and a Half Ironman in Grand Coulee on Sept. 13th.

Total distance covered:

~ 15 1/2 miles of swimming

~446 miles of cycling

~103 miles of running

Grand total: 564.5 miles

There ‘were’ times when I ‘hit the wall’ and needed a little ‘extra’ to drag myself out of bed but in the end, I finished all 30.  And to those that committed to doing 30 minutes of exercise a day for 30 days, thank you!  I’m very proud of your efforts.

This morning I was honored to have members of the Spokane Police Department join me at the Northside Oz Fitness for my final effort.  

I’d like to say a special thank you to: Officer Jennifer DeRuwe, Corp. Tracie Meidl, Capt. Steve Braun and Kiley Friesen.

(Capt. Braun, Dave, Cancer Patient Care’s Cliff Evans)

(Corp. Meidl, Jenn DeRuwe, Dave, Chief Kirkpatrick, Cliff Evans, Capt. Braun)

(Dave, Chief Kirkpatrick)

In politics, “caveat emptor” - let the buyer beware - is always good advice. Historically in our country, the courts have been wary to intrude into the world of political discourse, warning instead that voters must educate themselves, lest they be misled or deceived.

In St. Louis County, Missouri and in the city of St. Louis, a couple of loyal Barack Obama supporters have decided that they will bring charges against anyone who, in their judgment, says anything false or misleading against their favorite candidate. City Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce and St. Louis County Circuit Attorney Bob McCulloch are threatening to bring libel charges against those who speak out falsely against Barack Obama.

They promise no such action if the target of falsehoods happens to be Obama’s opponent, John McCain.

Missouri is a battleground state. The stakes are high and the race is close. As of last Friday, John McCain led by a single percentage point in the “Show Me” state, 47 - 46 over Obama. With a razor thin contest underway, both campaigns, and a number of independent “527” organizations are spending plenty of money in Missouri trying to persuade voters.

Last week, an anti-McCain campaign ad aired by a left-wing organization called Democracy for America showed grotesque photos of John McCain following the removal of skin cancer lesions on his face several years ago. The ad strongly suggested that McCain is not healthy, and could die in office.

Neither Jennifer Joyce or Bob McCulloch uttered a peep. But when an ad placed by the National Rifle Association claimed Barack Obama will ban some kinds of guns and tax others, Joyce and McCulloch threatened to call out the sheriff and make some arrests.

It seems that in this election year, free speech isn’t so free in some parts of Missouri where a police state mentality casts an ominous shadow.

~10 Ways to increase your daughter’s self-esteem:  (continue reading)

~So just how healthy are you? It’s all written in your hands: (continue reading)

~Tracking the location of your lost or stolen laptop: (continue reading)

Last week I passed over the 10-year mark covering the news online in Spokane.

It was back in September of 1998 that two friends of mine – Gonzaga Associate Professor Dan Garrity and Gonzaga Adjunct Professor Tamara McGregor – offered me a job working at “a Spokane-area TV station on the South Hill.”

The job was nightside assignment desk, which meant not having to use an alarm clock in the morning and it also meant getting a foot in the door to television news, something that had a much faster pace than print journalism (As a former Marine I’ve always been a wee bit of an adrenaline junkie).

Getting that job also opened up another opportunity when Tamara asked if I knew anything about the Internet.

I’d been involved a little bit with the web when our university newspaper launched its first news website, and I’d helped build The Star newspaper’s first website in Grand Coulee, so I knew just about enough to be dangerous. At the time the “Spokane-area TV station on the South Hill” didn’t have anyone posting stuff to the website so I gave it a shot.

Pretty soon it became a regular thing as the idea of posting content to the website became a secondary platform for content distribution. Back then online news was a lark, added value that was updated only after our newscasts had aired, so as to not give away information to the competition.

But things started to change around the turn of the millennium. The first major change was was getting offered a full-time position to do nothing but write copy for the web. I took that as a sign the web was no longer a lark.

The second major change came with the arrest of Spokane Serial Killer Robert Yates. One day after his arrest Tamara asked me, “Can we put these court documents online?”

The documents are irrelevant; what’s relevant is the thought process … that’s the key that unlocked a whole new door. That was the moment that in my mind things changed for Spokane news as about that time online news began to take precedence.

More and more frequently you could find news stories being broken on all of the media websites in Spokane. Local TV stations were no longer waiting until 5 p.m. to get the news out; websites were being used to advance the story hours ahead of the newscasts.

The era of the “Exclusive” has given way to “As we first reported online”. The “Just the facts” Journalist (With a Capital J) is giving way to the multi-platform content developer who anchors or reports the news and then blogs about everything they couldn’t add in their on-air story. We now break news online and provide context to the story on-air.

Looking back now there’s only two things that really haven’t changed in 10 years of online journalism here in Spokane.

First, after 10 years people still call it New Media.

Second, a lot of people both inside and outside of the industry continue to treat it like a fad.

There was no clear winner in last Friday night’s presidential debate. I know McCain staffers flooded the media with claims that their candidate performed best. Barack Obama’s handlers claimed that their guy was best but there was no knock-out punch thrown, and no one was long on the ropes.

That doesn’t mean that there were no substantial differences between these two men. Philosophy and ideology aside, there was one major, stark difference that cannot be denied no matter which candidate you favor.

One spoke from experience. The other spoke only in the theoretical.

Experience is the sum of one’s involvement in any cause, career, venture or enterprise. It is the combination of choices, good and bad, made over time. It is about the lessons learned from judgments that proved wrong. It is about the rewards discovered from convictions that were right, even when vastly unpopular. It is about a unique vision that is formed only from having been in the game, on the field, where reality is unpredictable. Experience is acquired when risks are taken, and where there is a willingness to lose, if need be, to defend what one thinks is right. The truly experienced have the wounds and the rewards to show for their cumulative effort.

In the first debate last Friday, we saw two very different men. Both were bright, and both were dedicated to the positions they took. Each had earned the right to be standing at those lecterns. Each had won the respect and the trust of millions of Americans.

Just one of these men spoke from a perspective that comes only when a person has lived the life, and walked the pathways of the landscapes he seeks to lead. The other offered only the viewpoint of a theoretician. Never on any battlefield or in any arena, had the ethereal notions he proposed been tested. John McCain’s experience was overwhelmingly visible. Equally visible was that Barrack Obama had none.

Whether you favor one or the other in this presidential contest, it cannot be denied that only McCain brings the invaluable commodity needed most in these times of great peril. Only John McCain speaks from experience. In the debate, this was abundantly clear.

       Anchors on the morning show get away with inserting our opinions here and there. I know, it’s totally against the code of ethics for a journalist. But we do it and somehow it’s okay… well, for most people it is. I’m sure someone at home gets irrate when I make a comment about that Cheeto that allegedly looks like Jesus on a cross being nothing more than a Cheeto. Anyhow, like I said the morning show format allows us to interject our thoughts in what we call “Talker Stories”, stories that will get you talking… hence, the name.

       However, when I saw this “Talker Story” pop up on ABC’s website, I thought… I’m not touching this one. It provides too much room for error, too much room for something stupid to fly out my mouth. If you choose to look at it as a simple pledge of love between a father and daughter, that’s one thing.  It’s beautiful.  However, I’m thinking it’s not that simple. 

      One thing I will say is that I’m not surprised dad’ are a huge fan of this idea. I laughed at the end when the father says “it’s not the path I took but… “. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not laughing at the idea of remaining pure. I think that’s great.   More people should do it.  I’m just saying I don’t know if that pledge needs to involve a dad. A pledge between girl and God will do. I think dads are just getting in on the pledge so that they can provide themselves peace of mind.

    A quick good morning and thank you to so many for helping support Cancer Patient Care. 

     I just finished up a pair of live interviews this morning, one with KXLY 920 News with Rick and Teresa Lukens and the other on Good Morning Northwest with Mike & Kalae. 

     Here’s Day 1 when Kjerstin Ramsing interviewed me live from Oz Fitness  (Click here to watch the video)

     Over the course of just 30 days we’ve raised nearly $5,000 dollars for low-income cancer patients and their families in the Inland Northwest and logged thousands of miles in the pool, on the bike and on the road.  My most sincere appreciation to all of you.  But it’s not too late to help (see below to donate).

     My good friend Lori, who lives on the West side, donated money for Cancer Patient Care and committed to cycling 15 miles a day for 30 days and sent me pictures of her bike’s odometer to prove she’s been on the bike. 

(You can just make out 340 from Sept. 1)

(And here’s 800 this morning)

    Great job Lori!  And thank you to so many others for making a donation toward our challenge.  You can still donate by going to Cancer Patient Care’s website here. 

     Here’s something I want to share with you. Yesterday I received a check for $250 from a family who lost a daughter to breast cancer.    I’d like to thank them publicly but they want to remain anonymous.   Just goes to show you how important this cause is to support. Thank you, too!

    And in mid-October we’ll be having an auction for an autographed photo of Lance Armstrong, thanks to the Lance Armstrong Foundation.  Details when we get closer to the auction date.

    I’ll have more updates on my final triathlon later today.  Have a great day!