blogs.kxly.com

The babies were MUCH more interested in eating their candy than posing for the camera.  From left: Chicken Gabby, Bunny Dani, and Little Mermaid Sophie.

It was a GREAT night for trick-or-treaters across the Inland Northwest.  The rain stopped and the blanket of clouds kept evening temperatures in the 40s and 50s.  There were throngs of neighborhood kids canvassing my street in search of candy.  I counted more than 70 trick-or-treaters knocking on my door, which is the most I’ve had in years.

University of Kentucky President Lee Todd will personally apologize to the family of Barack Obama after an effigy of the candidate was found hanging from a tree on campus. Todd says he is personally offended and deeply embarrassed by the incident while Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear says it was not political speech, but “simply hate.”

A faculty member spotted the effigy with a noose around its neck, hanging from a high tree branch Thursday morning. He described it as life-sized with a Barack Obama Halloween mask, a suit jacket and sweat pants. The Secret Service is investigating, but not commenting on the situation, but a spokesman says the agency is very proactive about addressing these matters.

Meanwhile the Secret Service has visited a California home where a mannequin of Sarah Palin hangs from a noose. So far no one is apologizing for this effigy. West Hollywood Mayor Jeffrey Prang has urged resident Chad Morrisette to remove the mannequins, and Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich is calling for an investigation into whether the effigy constitutes a hate crime, but the Secret Service says this incident seems to be a harmless, though unusual, Halloween display. It is not treating it as a threat.

So why the different treatments?

One reason is that so-called “hate crimes” do not involve gender. Did you know that? Because Sarah Palin is a white woman, notwithstanding that she is a candidate for the Vice Presidency of the United States, this kind of ugliness will go largely unpunished. Yet the effigy of Barack Obama is afforded a higher level of seriousness, both by the law, and by the Secret Service.

The disparity points out both the absurdity of the social engineering concept known as “hate crime”, and also illustrates a double standard when it comes to the impact of equal acts of stupidity and tastelessness when one incident involves a woman, and another involves race.

No one can justify either of these nasty displays under any rationale, but it makes you wonder about the obvious oddities in our treatment of same or similar offensive conduct.

Nice.  Thanks to kxly4 Sports Director Dennis Patchin for this Pic of the Night.  WHATEVER!  I’m far from a real blonde.  Send your weather pictures to krisc@kxly.com.  Send ALL complaints to dennisp@kxly.com.  He also LOVES to receive chain e-mail.

CONTACT: Judy Marte, Program Coordinator, 328-8400

Volunteers Needed for Fall Leaf Raking Blitz

Low-income elderly and adults with disabilities to receive assistance Volunteer assistance is needed for the annual Leaf Raking Blitz on Saturday, November 1st throughout Spokane County. Volunteers will join together to rake and bag fallen leaves in the yards of over 80 low-income elders and low-income adults with disabilities served by the Volunteer Chore Services Program of Catholic Charities Spokane. 

Volunteers will meet at 8:30 a.m. at O’Malley Hall (the basement of St. Aloysius Church) at 330 E. Boone, Spokane.  They are encouraged to bring work gloves and rakes. Lunch will be provided at Noon at O’Malley Hall.

Volunteer Chore Services is a partnership between caring volunteers and individuals in need, sponsored by Catholic Charities Spokane. Free chore services assist low-income elders and low-income adults with disabilities so they may remain in their own homes with safety, dignity, and a connection to their community.

Volunteers reach out with light housekeeping, laundry, yard work, snow shoveling, transportation, essential shopping, minor home repairs, and more. Volunteer Chore Services are available in all thirteen counties of Eastern Washington.

In 2007, 2,859 VCS volunteers donated 100,000 hours of service.

Most face makeup has trace amounts of lead in it. Some kits even have a warning on them. KVAL News wanted to know if that meant the makeup would make kids sick.

But, parents, you can breath a sigh of relief. Doctors said cross lead off your list of Halloween worries.   (Continue Reading)

If you haven’t stopped at this spot on the Old Spiral Highway between Lewiston, Idaho and Clarkston, Washington, it is worth the trip.  When I was growing up in Idaho Falls, I used to travel this road on the way to drop-off or pick-up my brothers and sister at the University of Idaho in Moscow.  It was my favorite part of that long trip.  Wendall Dennis’ fantastic picture takes me back.  Wendall, from Culdesac, Idaho, writes: “the time is mid-October: the scene is Lewiston, Idaho and Clarkston, WA, at the confluence of the Snake and Clearwater Rivers: the perspective is from the Lewiston Grade, and the Old Spiral Highway.”  Thanks for the photo Wendall! 

The layoffs continue in the world of mass media. Today, there’s word of massive cuts in an area hit particularly hard: magazines. Conde Nast publications announced major cuts today, affecting several of its high-profile magazines. Other publishing companies have made drastic cuts this year, eliminating staff and reducing publications. I can see why it’s happening; all this content is available online and fewer people are subscribing to or buying magazines. Still, I can’t help but be a little depressed to see an industry I value in big trouble.

I am a magazine freak. I have been for years. I remember devouring magazines all the way back to editions of Highlights in my doctor’s office (who can forget Goofus and Gallant?) I remember distinctly the cover of the very first Seventeen magazine I ever had in my possession. It was the September issue, 1990. It’s appropriate that it was a September issue; that’s the fall fashion issue and, typically, the biggest and best of the year for many magazines. I remember the picture on the cover and what the model was wearing - and, I remember reading every page. All through high school, I read and saved magazines. When I packed up for college, I left behind a closet in which the entire top shelf was full of piles of magazines. Maybe I was a borderline hoarder Really, though, I just love magazines and I never knew which ones I wanted to revisit.

Through the years, my taste in magazines has changed. But, I’ve always carried several subscriptions. My husband is a magazine guy, too. Between the two of us, we get the following magazines in our mailbox every month: Newsweek, Vanity Fair, Women’s Health, Instyle (my favorite), Elle, Shape (which doesn’t do me much good, now that I’m 8 months pregnant!), EPSN, Maxim, Golf, GQ… I think that’s all. In addition, I buy a lot of magazines every month. As I planned our wedding, I bought a lot of bridal magazines (even though they’re all ads - and, all the same). As soon as I got pregnant, I started buying pregnancy magazines by the armload (even though, again, they’re all ads - and all the same!). I guess if every American was like me, the magazine industry wouldn’t be suffering!

I can’t say exactly what I love so much about magazines, but I’m sorry to see the industry faring as poorly as it is. There’s not much publishing companies can do. Companies worldwide are in trouble and they’re cutting back on advertising. It’s the same problem that’s now plaguing TV stations like ours. I hope they see things swing back in their favor, though with increasing competition online, I don’t see how that’s going to happen. It’s too bad I threw away all those old copies of Seventeen. I may need the reading material in the future.

Group Health 2008-09 Flu Shot Clinics Schedule - Follow this link

I’ve just discovered I’m suffering with something more powerful than election fatigue: Joe the Plumber fatigue. I understood the novelty of the guy at first - and, really thought he was a good poster-child for “everyman”. But, news yesterday that he’s hired a publicist, writing a book and working on a record deal pushed me over the edge. Your 15 minutes of fame are up, Joe. Time to head home to Ohio.

With the exception, maybe, of guests on Dr. Phil, no one likes to see their family business aired in public. However, I was expecting this. The Spokesman-Review published a story today about what has been a very tough week here at KXLY. More than a dozen of our co-workers were laid off this week; the economic crisis is to blame.

The paper names two of the on-air people who lost their jobs, but does not mention the others who worked behind the scenes in news and in other departments. The people who are no longer here were hard workers and friends. We miss them dearly already. Even though you may not know all their names, they had a profound impact on KXLY. It’s sad to see them go.

The layoffs bring home what we’ve been reporting for weeks. Times are tough and every industry is affected. We did a story this week about a doctor’s office laying off employees because they’re seeing fewer patients; people don’t want to pay their co-pays. Wheat farmers are in constant flux this year, when the price of wheat is more volitale than the stock market. 600 car dealers nationwide have shut down their dealerships. No one is immune; certainly not the media.

Tuesday was not only a tough day at KXLY, it was bad for media companies nationwide. Time, Inc. laid off 600 people. Christian Science Monitor announced it will no longer publish a print edition. We’re hearing of other TV stations across the country making similar cuts to the ones made here. It’s a distressing time, to say the least. Many say this signals the death of mainstream journalism. I don’t see it that way. I see it as an economic bump in the road and media companies have to adjust. What we do is absolutely still vital and we will bounce back from this, as we have from other bumps in the road.

We’ve heard from a couple viewers so far, expressing sympathy for us that we had to make these cuts. I appreciate that. I also appreciate the kind words from our competitors. In recent days, I’ve heard from my colleagues at the other two Spokane TV stations and from someone at the Spokesman-Review. They understand what we’re going through; they understand they could be next. I hope people realize we are still committed to quality journalism, especially about the state of the economy and how it affects you. After all, we understand what you’re going through.