blogs.kxly.com

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.

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.

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!

I’ve spent the last hour or so planning our weather coverage for this weekend’s big storm. Yes, folks, by all accounts and forecasts right now, it’s coming - and, it could be a big one! I can hear it already: the chorus of newspaper columnists and longtime Spokane residents chastising us for “blowing the storm out of proportion.” I’ve resisted the urge to respond - but, it appears my willpower has worn down.

It’s easy to sit back and say TV news people go overboard with weather coverage. A lot of the time, I agree! I like to call it a weather hemorrhage when news stations go totally nutso about weather that doesn’t really matter. But, this storm - if it comes in the way it’s forecast - will be a bear. In fact, the guy at the National Weather Service called it a “bomb” (note: he’s a meteorologist with the weather service, not a TV guy…) We have an absolute responsibility to tell you what’s coming, tell you where the snow has fallen and tell you how it will affect you. Yes, it’s obvious that people should slow down on icy roads. But, every year, we respond to DOZENS of crashes from people driving too fast for conditions. Shouldn’t we gently remind them? Yes, it’s winter and we’re going to have snow and cold temperatures. But, every winter, people are caught off guard with homes that aren’t properly insulated and chimneys that haven’t been cleaned before the first fire of the year.

We will do our best - I promise you - to strike that balance between informing you and not making you feel like a pre-schooler by talking down to you. Will we always strike that balance? No. But, we’ll do our best. And, if you have any suggestions about how to better cover the snow that you know we’re going to cover anyway, I’d love to hear your suggestions.

Enjoy the weather hemorrhage!

For long time Spokanites, the name Paul Horton may ring a bell.  He was the wx-guy here at KXLY4 a few years back.  He and I worked together in the Tri Cities at KNDU TV in ‘96 - ‘97 and we both grew up in the Portland, Oregon area.  We’ve kept in touch off and on ever since. 

Paul is now in Phoenix, Arizona at the CBS affiliate.  And he started something recently that I think is really cool.  He’s video blogging.  He calls is Vloggin’ in the Valley.  He takes a small hand-held video camera and takes viewers behind the scenes at the t.v. station and does short segments outdoors. 

(Courtesy: www.sonystyle.com)

I’ve been brainstorming ways to use this concept here at KXLY4.  So, I started bringing my personal Sony Handycam to work  just incase all heck breaks loose and to practice.  

To see an example of the camera in action, check out one of my rundown webcasts.

QUESTION:  What do you, as a loyal viewer and website visitor, want to see from inside the KXLY4 Broadcasting Metroplex?  Granted, I may need to get permission on somethings but otherwise it’s open to discussion. 

My email is DAVEE@KXLY.COM

This was the lovely scene on Mt. Spokane Tuesday morning.  Thanks to Derrick Hansen for e-mailing this today.  This was the first measurable snowfall of the season.  About three to four inches fell on the mountain above 5,000 feet, and there is more on the way.   With a VERY active storm track for the next several days, we can at least think about a Thanksgiving opening at Mt. Spokane Ski and Snowboard Park.

I have no idea if prophesizer is a word, but I’m going to leave it because I like the alliteration. I also what it means. I’ve learned in the last week my son is quite the political enthusiast. I think it’s only fitting that he’ll be born just after a presidential election. What I have to figure out, though, is what his prophesies mean.

Last week, I was on a reporter panel for the gubernatorial debate between Dino Rossi and Gov. Chris Gregoire. Every time Gov. Gregoire answered a question, my baby kicked. Strangely, he did not quick during a single Dino Rossi answer. I really didn’t think much of it until today. Today, I sat on a panel for a 5th district congressional debate between Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers and Dr. Mark Mays. Every time McMorris Rodgers answered a question, my son started kicking up a storm! When Dr. Mays spoke, nothing.

I have no idea what this means politically. Maybe it means my son has a good feeling about Gregoire and McMorris Rodgers and they’re going to win. Maybe he strongly disagrees with their views and he’s kicking me so that I’ll ask a follow up question. Maybe he just prefers women’s voices to men. Either way, I’ll be sure to watch closely election night to see if our baby is the Nostradamus of Washington state politics.

My buddy Susie Puckett sent this BEAUTIFUL double rainbow picture from Sandpoint.  She captured this image after this evening’s thunderstorms moved through.  She says “these pictures do not do this rainbow justice.  It was beautiful!”

If you look closely, you’ll notice that the colors are reversed on the secondary, lighter rainbow (violet on the outside, and red on the inside).  That is because secondary rainbows are caused by a double reflection of the Sun’s rays inside raindrops.  The secondary arc is also a little wider and fainter than the primar rainbow.

Outside of work… friends, family, neighbors and strangers ask me questions about why we in the news do things the way we do. Why do you call it breaking news if the news you’re covering happened hours ago? Why do you go wall to wall with snow coverage when it snows every single year at this time? Why do reporters stand outside buildings in the dark for their live shots? Sometimes I have the answer. Sometimes I don’t. And Sometimes I have the answer but wish I didn’t.

We’ve had our dog Chewy for less than two years, but in that time, I can’t believe how much I’ve fallen in love with him. It may be because he’s the first dog I’ve ever had. It may be the look he gets on his face when he looks at us, as if he knows we saved his life by rescuing him from the shelter. Either way, we have a very special bond. In recent weeks, though, that bond has grown even stronger. I wasn’t sure why - until my boss told me a little bit of dog trivia. Now, I have a new respect for him altogether.

My boss told me last week that dogs (and, pets in general) can sense when you’re pregnant. I was skeptical, for sure, but was keeping an open mind. Then, last weekend, I got the only confirmation I needed. My husband was out of town, so it was just me and the dogs. Chewy had knee surgery early last week, so he’s been sleeping downstairs so he doesn’t have to navigate the stairs (I can’t carry him up the stairs anymore). But, Saturday night, he made his way up three flights of stairs and waited for me to pick him up and put him on the bed. Then, he stayed there all night. He hasn’t slept a full night in our bed in months. That night, he curled up with his head against my stomach. Pretty soon, my unborn son was kicking up a storm. It was the first time they played together - four months before my kid will be born!

I know you think I’m crazy right now, but that’s okay. I found this article to back up the theory. It says some dogs even go so far as to block anyone from getting near the mother-to-be. Chewy hasn’t gone that far. Yet. For now, he’s just extra loving and extra cuddly - and, that’s good enough for me.

I’m a horrible golfer. While I make strides in my game every year, overall, golfing and I still have a long way to go. Lucky for me, I play golf with people who allow multiple mulligans (do-overs, for you non-golfers). As I was watching the hurricane coverage this weekend, I couldn’t help but think: Hurricane Gustav is America’s mulligan.

It’s strange enough to see this major hurricane hit exactly three years after Hurricane Katrina. I can’t imagine anyone in the Gulf Coast region actually looks forward to Labor Day. Still, you could see it as early as Saturday morning: the people in that region learned their lesson from Katrina. The fact that an estimated 95% of people evacuated the city of New Orleans is an amazing feat, especially considering how many people stayed behind last time. But, the people of New Orleans aren’t the only people who needed to learn the tough lessons from Katrina. The people who really had a lesson to learn are the local, state and federal politicians, who helped create the debacle that was Katrina. This is their chance to get it right and, so far, it looks like they’ve put what they learned from that storm into action.

The only problem with a mulligan is that, while it may change the number on your score card, it doesn’t actually change the way you played. So, even if things with Gustav go in a positive direction, you can’t erase the 1,800 deaths from Katrina.

Let me start this by saying: you’ve probably had more rain at your house this summer than what they’ve had at the airport. The showers and thunderstorms have done a fabulous job of avoiding the rain bucket at Spokane International, and now we’re getting into record territory for the number of consecutive dry days.As of today, Wednesday, August 13th, it’s been 53 days since we’ve had measurable rain at the airport in Spokane, which is the 10th longest stretch of dry weather since they started keeping records back in 1881. “Measurable” rain means at least 0.01″ or more. We’ve managed a mere trace on six occasions since our last official rain on June 21st.

Typically, summer is the SLOW season for meteorologists in the Inland Northwest. With one sprawling ridge of high pressure after another, no major heat waves, and only a few thunderstorms, this summer has been slower than usual in terms of weather. But the exciting new addition of our new weather computer has kept me busy for weeks here in the kxly4 HD Weather Center.

Our regular viewers have probably noticed the dramatic improvement in the quality of our weather graphics over the past week. If you’re lucky enough to be watching on a high definition set, or even if you’re on an old SD-TV, the pictures are richer, more beautiful and so realistic, it almost seems that you’re looking out the window. The pretty pictures are only half the story.

The new WSI Weather Producer also provides advanced storm tracking. My improved Doppler radar system allows me to easily isolate and analyze individual thunderstorm cells, and map them down to the very street on which you live. This winter, the radar will provide greater detail in precipitation type, so I can show you exactly where its snowing, where its raining, and where it is a mix of the two.

The new computer will help me to be a better forecaster, especially in the busy season from November through February. Improved model data helps me time and quantify storms with 4 kilometer resolution! That same fine detail will help forecast temperatures for the outlying areas in the kxly4 viewing area.

Prettier pictures in crystal clear high definition, the best storm tracking in the Inland Northwest, and even more accurate forecasts: only on kxly4 HD news.

Heath Ledger, whose performance as as the Joker in the summer blockbuster “The Dark Knight” earned rave reviews, died months before the film hit theaters. He is hardly the first movie star to die before release of a final film.

Here’s a list of others:

AALIYAH: The R&B star died in a 2001 Bahamas plane crash before the release of vampire flick “Queen of the Damned.”

JAMES DEAN: “Rebel Without a Cause” was released one month after Dean, 24, was killed in a 1955 car accident.

CLARK GABLE: Gable died of a heart attack at 59 before the 1960 release of the film “The Misfits.”

RIVER PHOENIX: Died of drug-related heart failure four months before his film, “Silent Tongue,” came out.

JEAN HARLOW: Harlow was just 26 when she died of kidney disease just a month before release of her 1937 film “Saratoga.”

MARILYN MONROE: The sexy star died in 1962 from a drug overdose while still filming “Something’s Got to Give,” which was later redone as “Move Over, Darling.”

SPENCER TRACY: The 67-year-old screen star died of a heart attack after completing “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner.”
 
BRANDON LEE: The son of martial arts film star Bruce Lee died in a mishap on the set of “The Crow” just eight days before filming was to be completed.

BRUCE LEE: The marshal arts star died at 32 from a cerebral edema, one month before the release of his last film, “Enter the Dragon.”

NATALIE WOOD: The “West Side Story” starlet drowned in 1981 just before the completion of the science-fiction thriller “Brainstorm.”

JOHN CANDY: “Saturday Night Live” comedian dropped dead in 1994 while on location filming “Wagon’s East.”

TUPAC SHAKUR: The rapper, 25, was killed in a 1996 drive-by shooting after completing two films, “Gridlock’d” and “Gang Related,” both of which were released the following year.

PHIL HARTMAN: SNL star was shot and killed by his wife, Brynn Hartman, in a 1998 murder-suicide two months before the release of his film “Small Soldiers.”

CHRIS FARLEY: The pudgy SNL funnyman died of a drug overdose in 1997, just a month before the release of his 1997 film “Beverly Hills Ninja”.

GARY COOPER: Screen legend died of cancer in 1961, just a month before the release of his British mystery film “The Naked Edge.”

Everyone has something to be afraid of.

Some people are afraid of the dark or ghosts (or both). Some are afraid of UFOs or confined spaces (or being in a confined space in a UFO). Some don’t like flying while some hate being outside. If you’re like Howard Hughes, then you’re afraid of everything except letting your fingernails and facial hair grow to absurd lengths and using Mason Jars to … nevermind.

Lets face it, if it exists there’s somebody out there that might be afraid of it.

My wife has a few fears. She comes from the land of Bear Bryant, where tornadoes and hurricanes and lightning storms are about as common as, say, Dukes of Hazzard marathons on local public access. But the thing is she’s not scared of any of them. In fact I had to call her in from the yard during our last lightning storm where we had dime-sized hail pummeling our house.

Nope, my wife is afraid of spiders.

Big, hairy, fanged, vicious, man-eating eight-legged spiders.

So the other night we’re cleaning the kitchen after dinner and she notices one of these ferocious beasts hanging on one of the window shades above the sink. Kerry’s rules of engagement for dealing with spiders is pretty black and white.

“THERE’S A SPIDER!! QUICK!! KILL IT!!!”

I told her it was just a spider, it wasn’t a big deal as I reached for a paper towel. Wrong answer.

“HURRY!! KILL IT!!”

So I grabbed Charlotte with the paper towel and dropped her unceremoniously in the sink, turning on the faucet to send her to the sewers which wouldn’t be so bad because, you know, spiders like their water low on phosphates.

It wasn’t until I saw Kerry reach for the switch on the backsplash that I thought maybe I should have put the spider in the left-side sink, the one with the drain, and not the right-side sink, the one with the Pulverize-o-Matic 2000 Garbage Disposal.

After a few seconds of making sure the spider was well and truly pulverized I asked her what the deal was. I mean it was only a harmless little spider. It wasn’t like it was something really scary like ManBearPig or a Tori Spelling reality show marathon on Lifetime.

Being my wife and / or a woman she just did what came naturally. She played upon my own fears.

“I bet you would’ve killed it a lot faster if it was a ZOMBIE SPIDER.”

Damn. I freaking hate zombies.

I’ll remember to move a little bit faster the next time she identifies another eight-legged freak that needs dispatching.