blogs.kxly.com

The Free Life - Helping you stress less, live better and enjoy life.

If one of your new year’s resolutions is to kick the smoking habit, there’s a month long contest hosted by Community Health Education & Resources to help you stick to your quit smoking plan. It’s free and you even get a chance to win some cash in the process.

Free Quit Smoking Contest – Spokane

Free smoking-cessation contest, includes classes, support groups, resources and a chance to win $500, begins Saturday through Jan. 31, 9 a.m., at the Holy Family Health and Education Center. To register, call (509) 232-8138 or visit http://www.cherspokane.org/Calendar.aspx?id=198

The Free Life – Helping you stress less, live better and enjoy life.

It’s that time of year again where I find myself mentally chanting, “I will get healthy, I will eat right, I will exercise regularly”; “I will get healthy, I will eat right, I will exercise regularly.” Over and over I go, hoping to convince myself that in 2009 I will stick to my “get fit” plan. Americans spend millions of dollars on exercise equipment and gym memberships as the new year approaches. But sadly, after a month or two that gadget that was suppose to firm up your abs has collected dust, and trips to the gym are a distant memory.

So to help you get healthy in 2009, I’ve compiled a list of free classes in and around Spokane. Most are introductory but at least this way you get to sample what’s out there before throwing away your hard-earned cash. Hopefully you’ll come across something that will keep you dedicated and on track. I wish you luck!

Free Stroller Strides Classes - Spokane

Total fitness program for moms, and their babies. Classes incorporate your baby’s stroller into the workout. FREE WEEK OF CLASSES January 5th through the 9th! Classes will be held at Northtown Mall. For more information visit: www.strollerstrides.net/spokane.

Free “OZ Fitness” 10 Day Pass

If you’re not sure about joining a gym, OZ Fitness offers this 10 Day Pass to get you started. For details click here: http://www.ozfitness.com/individual.php?_p_=132

Free “My Gym: Children’s Fitness Pass” - Spokane

A gym for kids six weeks to thirteen years of age where activities are focused on physical, cognitive and emotional development. Click here for a free guest class: http://www.mygymspokane.com/ or call 509-892-7455.

Free Pole Dancing Class - Spokane

Goddess Arts Academy calls itself the First & ONLY Professional Pole School in the Region. It offers FREE Lessons at The Double Dribble-8108 N. Division-Saturdays at 9 p.m. For more information call: 509-868-2168 or e-mail: Polegoddess@hotmail.com.  

Free Tai Chi Class - Spokane

Northwest Tai Chi For Health offers a complimentary Tai Chi class for those interested in this ancient practice. For more information call 509-499-1264, or stop by the studio to observe or take a complimentary lesson. Their website is: http://www.nwtaichi.com/schedule.htm

Free Yoga Classes – Spokane

Spokane Yoga Shala will host an open house with free classes, including Ashtanga, Vinyasa Flow and Restorative Yoga, Saturday-Sunday, beginning at 9 a.m., 505 E. 24th Ave. For a schedule of classes and information, call (509) 869-4121 or visit http://www.spokaneyogashala.com/workshops/openhouse.php.

Welcome to my little slice of blog. I’ve been waiting for months now to start this thing and the time is finally here – just in time for the new year!

Coming to KXLY in August was a major transition in my life. I was moving from my birthplace of Seattle to Spokane (okay, admittedly not that drastic of a move) and I was shifting my focus from News Radio to Television and Web.

You’ll no doubt hear about my transition to TV through blog posts – because some of it can be quite comical and I wouldn’t deprive you of my bloopers, but what’s important to point out is the web aspect of my job.

After Good Morning Northwest I plop myself down in front of the web desk and create content for KXLY.com. This one aspect of my job has a bigger picture; the jobs of today’s journalists are changing.

You can’t be just a TV reporter or just a radio reporter or just a newspaper reporter anymore – journalists are now expected to make the transition to web and if you’re still resisting it… buh-bye! Why? You’re driving the reasons why – you want your news now and only the news you want to read… that’s why you go online.

I’ve been a blogger for a while now and I find the medium refreshing. It’s less formal, more personal and it opens up the possibility for conversation with you. You want a slice of the news world and rightly so! So bring it! Teach me something and I’ll teach you something.

Point, Click, Learn is where I’ll bring you Cool Clicks, which is a segment I do on Good Morning Northwest. Cool Clicks are websites that teach you something, make you laugh, save you money, entertain you, etc… I’m bursting at the seams with Cool Clicks so you’ll get your fill.

Gadget Guy, Johnny 5 will also make appearances on this blog – hopefully every Friday. I’ll also pass along tech information… not the kind only a computer science major would understand, but the kind of information that will help protect you.

Who knows, maybe I’ll throw in a few restaurant reviews, too.

You can find many of my Cool Clicks archived on our YouTube channel and I’ll start you off with one of them: DealAlerter.com. Maybe your New Year’s resolution is to stop spending so much money or just save your money. Well, the coolest thing about shopping online is that you’ll never pay full price again.

Deal Alerter lets you set your price and then sends you an email when an online retailer is selling it at your price.

     Using my Flip Video camera at the Spokane Arena on Saturday night.  Chiefs win 4-2! The Chiefs were 5 players short, lost temporarily to the Junior World Championships.  They’ll be back.

FLASHBACK. Chiefs return home after winning the Memorial Cup! I was there in the Arena when the boys returned and still have my shirt.

I was also lucky to have my picture taken with the Ed Chynoweth Cup.

Highlights from the Chiefs victory vs. Kitchener for the cup.

      Since Lexy is my only family in Spokane during the holidays, I decided to bring her to work tonight.  She’s such a good dog.  I even brought her favorite rug.

People often feel bad for me and my co-workers because we have to work on Christmas. I don’t complain. I get holidays off every once in awhile, my husband usually has to work, I don’t have family here anyway and I don’t have kids (at least not until next week!). Most of us are in a good mood when we’re working on holidays, so it can be kind of fun. But, there are some jobs I would NOT want to have right now… sorry if those jobs are yours.

1. Snow Plow Driver: Aside from the long hours and the really hard work, people are not too happy with the plow drivers right now. And, they’re expressing their disappointment. We even had one guy arrested yesterday for threatening to shoot the plow drivers. Give ‘em a break, folks! They’d rather be at home with their families, too.

2. Alaska Airlines Customer Service Representative: Alaska has cancelled and delayed dozens of flights over the last week or so. People are stranded at Sea-Tac, others spent a night or two at the airport in Spokane. Thousands of bags are in limbo at Sea-Tac - probably filled with Christmas gifts. I can’t imagine the phone calls they’re getting right now.

3. UPS Driver or Manager: Haven’t received your packages yet? There’s a good chance those packages are stuck in a trailer or a warehouse in Spokane. McKay Allen is doing a story today about the 30,000 (yes: 30,000) packages backlogged at UPS. Customers are NOT happy - and, the management is doing what it can to get those packages moved (despite the next snow storm already rolling in). Fortunately for me, we’re not really celebrating Christmas until Saturday. But, I can’t imagine not having presents for your kids.

4. The lady who sends out this press release: http://www.noradsanta.org/en/media.html It’s from NORAD, announcing it’s annual Santa Tracker. You can follow along with where Santa is on Christmas Eve. Yes, it’s tradition. Yes, we run it on the news every Christmas Eve. No, I don’t know how you could send out press releases about it and maintain your dignity.

The Free Life - Helping you stress less, live better and enjoy life.

 Free Ice Skating at Riverfront Park Ice Palace

If you’ll be doing last minute shopping downtown, you might want to take advantage of free ice skating at Riverfront Park. Christmas Eve (tonight) is the last day.

This is how it works: Purchase your holiday gifts Downtown at participating retailers and receive a free ice skating coupon (skate rental not included) for the Riverfront Park Ice Palace.

For more information: http://www.downtownspokane.com/downtownspokane/sub.aspx?id=1259

They say 1968 was the year that Spokane had the most snow on the ground, but even in ‘68 there wasn’t a single day snowfall that rivals what we have seen this week. From around 7:00 a.m. Wednesday morning when it started, snowfall was uninterrupted in the immediate Spokane area for well over 40 hours. It wasn’t a Currier and Ives snowfall either, it was a steady, relentless, pile it on kind of snowfall that spreads havoc.

Wednesday evening’s commute was a mess. Heavy snow, slick roads, and impatient drivers, made it memorable. Hundreds of slide-offs, collisions, and vehicles stuck everywhere made for an interesting evening. Thursday morning we awakened to find more snow on the ground than Spokane folks have ever seen from a single snow event. It was clear that getting around town would be nigh on to impossible. The authorities told us to stay home, and thankfully most of us did. There were those who ventured. many of the probably wished they had stayed home too. There were vehicles stranded all over town.

Big snow like this brings back memories. Memories have a way of welcoming a bit of embellishment. Take that big snow year of 1968-’69. I’ve been told that snow didn’t melt until July. Actually most of it was gone in march, which is pretty typical, and the rest was gone by mid-April. In fact that snow year ranks 9th when it comes to overall snowy winters. 77.5 inches fell that year, but when and how it piled up knows no equal. Last year we received over 89 inches of total snowfall. That was the second highest snow total for a season. The all-time winner was the winter of 1949-50 at over 93 inches.

Records don’t matter though. If you were in Spokane in the last couple of days, you saw something unusual and historic. I’ll look forward to telling the grand kids about it.

 The Free Life – Helping you stress less, live better and enjoy life.

SPOKANE

Free Developmental Screenings – For infants and toddlers under age 3 living in Spokane County. Screenings include: language, physical strength and coordination, vision, hearing, feeding and behavior. For more information, call the Spokane Regional Health District’s Infant Toddler Network at (509) 324-1651.

      Following an 11 hour day of covering Spokane’s first MAJOR snowfall of the season I came home to find a thick blanket of snow on my driveway. so, I thought it might make for a fun video if I did a time lapse version of my efforts.

     Real time was about 8 1/2 minutes. I was able to squeeze it down to 2 minutes by fast forwarding the video. Enjoy.

      PS: Lexy rarely leaves my side when I’m out doing yard work or in this case, shoveling snow.

Thursday morning… all of it was back and then some!

I answered calls tonight from a couple angry viewers, upset with our snow coverage today. I usually know within the first three seconds of those calls if the person on the other end really wants to know why we’re doing what we’re doing - or, if they just want to complain and hang up. I wish more of them would have stayed on the line and listened to my answer tonight - because I proudly stand by our coverage.

First off, know this: sometimes TV stations overdo it. We can acknowledge that. This, however, is not one of those times. By 11:30 this morning, we knew this was more than just another snowstorm. The roads were terrible - I-90 was closed near Geiger because of a nine car, two semi pile-up. I-90 was also closed in Coeur d’Alene because of a massive pile-up there. Everywhere in between, roads were being shut down and people were slamming into each other as the snow piled up on the streets. Now, many hours later, the snow is still falling. This is what you’d call a big storm. We decided to go wall-to-wall with our coverage just before four o’clock this afternoon. We don’t make that decision lightly. But, when we couldn’t keep up with the accidents and the afternoon commute was starting to look extremely hairy, we knew we didn’t have a choice. I was confident we made the right decision all along, but had that affirmed a couple hours later when we got a press release from Spokane Police saying chains were required for drivers on the South Hill. That’s a big storm, folks - and, a public safety emergency.

I’m not a snow wuss. I grew up in Montana and spent four winters in Wisconsin before moving to Washington, where I’ve spent 10 winters. Our news director is from Michigan - he’s not afraid of snow, either. But, there’s snow and there’s snow. When we get as much as we did today, we have an obligation to our viewers to share the latest information with them.

I know many of you don’t like to miss the national news. I get that. But, when it’s taking people an hour and a half to get across the Maple Street Bridge, we need to report on that. When they shut down all but two of the roads heading north and south, we need to report on that. When we’re nowhere near the end of this thing, we need to report on that.

The Free Life – Helping you stress less, live better and enjoy life.

 Free CPR Classes

The Spokane Fire Department offers free CPR classes throughout the year at various City of Spokane fire stations. Class size is limited to 20 participants so pre-registration is required.

The class offered is the American Heart Associations CPR for Family and Friends. Learn how to give CPR to an adult and if requested, a child or infant.

Classes start at 7:00 pm and are generally finished by 10:00 p.m. Usually offered on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings. For more information call (509) 625-7061 or visit: http://www.spokanefire.org/training/cpr_classes/
 

    My friends on Twitter have been asking me why I keep going live  from the KXLY4 Skydeck during the 5 pm newscast.  First of all, don’t blame the producer, I volunteered.  Second, how can I report to you with authority on the cold weather we’re experiencing if I don’t experience it first hand.  Third, it’s kinda fun.

     Follow me on Twitter, CLICK HERE, my name is SpokaneDave.

Just as we told you, the snow is falling like crazy throughout Eastern Washington right now (and, Western Washington for that matter). I am not looking forward to venturing out into it later today, but I do need to go into work for a few hours and help with our snow coverage. I know a lot of you will be watching us and our competitors closely over the next few days, as the snow sticks around and the temperatures plummet. Some things the news crews do will annoy you - and, they’ll actually annoy me, too!

There are things we have to do during weather coverage like this: we have to give you driving tips (there were 60 crashes yesterday between noon and 5 pm  and it wasn’t even bad out there yet); we have to repeat ourselves (most people don’t watch all day, every day - people tune in and out); we have to tell you what’s happening in areas outside of Spokane (some people call and complain to us about this - but, our viewing area extends from Moses Lake down past Orofino, over into Montana and up into Canada… just because it’s not snowing at your house doesn’t mean other people in our region are not affected!). But, there are things we DON’T have to do… and, while you will see them, I hope you don’t see them on kxly4:

1. We don’t have to kick the snow! It’s a TV news reporter favorite. Some reporters LOVE to show you what the snow looks like by kicking it or shuffling through it. It’s like fingernails on a chalkboard to me - and, I saw a LOT of it yesterday. Show me the snow - but you really don’t have to kick it!

2. We don’t have to call it “white stuff”. That’s a pet peeve of a LOT of TV news people - but, a lot of other people insist on calling it “white stuff.” It’s snow. Call it snow.

3. We don’t need to talk to you like you’re in kindergarten. Yes, we need to warn you - and, we’ll remind you some tips about what to do if you’re trapped in your house or car during a storm like this. We also need to tell people who are new to the area (including some who have never driven in snow) the basics of how to drive in it. But, we don’t need to tell you to scrape your windshield and how to shovel.

4. We don’t need to give you tips that don’t make any sense. I have heard several news/weather reporters over the years say things like, “Might want to put on an extra jacket/blanket/sweater.” Seriously? First of all, if I’m cold, I’ll put an extra blanket on my bed. But, am I really going to put on two jackets? C’mon.

There are many more - and, I’ll be on my soapbox this week reminding our crews of why these things need not to appear on our air. I’m sure I’ll think of more - and, I invite you to add your own!

The Free Life - Helping you stress less, live better and enjoy life.

Spokane “Super Nanny” Auditions

Are your kids out of control? Maybe they’re driving you a little crazy? Well, ABC’s The Super Nanny wants you! Auditions are being held tomorrow(12/13) at the Northtown Mall (4750 North Division, Spokane, WA 99207) in the Discovery Park Food Court from noon to 4:00 p.m.  Auditions are free. For more information call: (323) 904-4680 ext. 1024.

If you plan on heading over to the mall and auditioning with your kids, I’d love to hear your story. Send me a quick e-mail at: taniad@kxly.com.

 Good luck!