Weaver's Blog

 

It's become almost a tradition for me and my family now. We head down to High Rock Lake to see what I think is one of the best Fireworks shows in this part of North Carolina.

In the past 3 years it's been and even better view for us because while everyone pushes and shoves for the best spot to park on the Highway 8 bridge or along other surrounding roads, my friend and coworker Caron Myers has the best seat in the house, and we're always invited.

 

The view is great from the Deck or out in a boat...because of rain this year we stayed on shore.

Caron and her famous NASCAR husband Chocolate Myers started building their lakeside cabin about 3 or so summers ago. It's grown from a lake retreat into a full time home that you'd have to see to believe. (I didn't get any pictures...darn.)

 

But on this day, one of the best things is their proximity to where the fireworks are launched from....in the lot two doors over. To watch the fireworks you have to look almost straight up.

One drawback is falling debris. It's so close that if the wind is blowing just right or not at all pieces of unburned morter shells and still glowing ash will fall on you. Ask my wife, she took a chunk to the leg that drew blood!

I took all these pictures with Caron's digital Canon SLR on a tripod. See all of them on Flickr.

 

 

 

 

As storms built around the Piedmont last night all I could do is sit at home and watch along with you and wonder if this would be the night I would get a late call to hit the road. 

This happens often.  In the winter it's Snow and Ice.  In the Summer it's hurricanes.  But in the Spring it's severe Thunderstorms and the possibility of Tornadoes.

I watched the radar and listened, almost ready to hit the sack when the the Advance and Clemmons Tornado happened.  I didn't have to go there as Fox 8 Photojournalist Kenny Cravens lives in that area and I knew he had it covered.

It was when I saw a radar image near Kernersville around 11:30 that I got the gut feeling that I sometimes get.  I said outloud to my wife, 'That's going to be bad".  It was about 5 minutes later when the station called sending me to I-40 for two tractor trailers overturned.

What I heard on my scanner told me this was a big deal.  Multiple reports of cars overturned.  Buildings with walls collapsed.  Airplanes pushed around the PTIA tarmac.  A truck overturned with an entrapment...that turned out to be deadly.

I drove around West Greensboro all night getting as much video as I could and I even did a live report at 1AM with all the video I could squeeze on the air in 3 minutes.  

But it wasn't until daybreak that the reality of what happened set in.

Large trees toppled like bowing pins.

Tall Pines snapped like toothpicks.

A 200 yard wide swath of woods mowed over like a patch of briers.

The pictures don't do it justice...it's impossible to show everything. 

It's just a miracle that this is where the funnel cloud chose to touchdown.  A few miles in any other direction would have been disaster for this area.

 

Childbirth is a beautiful thing. I remember the days both of my children were born as clear as if it were yesterday. My boys are now 13 and 10 andi seems like they are growing up way too fast.



In the picture above is Felesha and her infant son Joshua. Felesha is 13 years old and was only 12 when she got pregnant. I met Felesha and her 14 year old boyfriend Damian (below) about a week before little Joshua was born but my kids have known Felesha and played on ball teams with Damian for years.

Damian and Felesha made a mistake in the name of having a good time and probably a little arrogance (read - unsafe sex) about life but they have a strong family behind them and they are learning how to be parents while still just barely teenagers.



I was there with my TV Camera when Felesha had the baby and I visited her after she had settled into mommyhood at home.

They seem to be doing well and the baby is a cute, happy little thing.

The 2 part series on Teen Pregnancy can be seen HERE(PART 1) and HERE(PART 2)

See Julie Luck's Blog about the story HERE

If you bought Skybus tickets I hope you used a credit card. 

With a credit card (NOT A BANK DEBIT OR CHECK CARD) you have rights that in most cases allow you to get your money back.

Consumer Guru Clark Howard advises that for any purchase with future delivery like tickets, furniture, valuables that you use a credit card.

You have 60 days from the date of purchase to issue a claim for a chargeback request.  

From Clark Howard's website...."The Fair Credit Billing Act requires that you make a chargeback request in writing no later than 60 days after receiving your statement showing the airline ticket charge. If you made a purchase more than 60 days in advance, and your airline ceases to operate, you may have no claim to a credit. Also, check with your credit card issuer to find out if they will permit these same chargeback rights if you purchase a ticket on an airline which has filed for bankruptcy - some issuers may not protect you should the airline cease operations."

More information HERE

Sometimes I think my job as a TV News Photographer is equivalent to holding tickets to a front row seat to US and World History.   Of course most ot the stuff we shoot is forgotten in days, sometimes minutes but today will be quite the exception, especially if Barack Obama is elected president.

 

My part of the Obama coverage was to work with Chad Tucker for our 5 and 6 o'clock reports from the event.

With our live web stream, one camera had to be wired to our live truck to feed back the video, but that wasn't me.  I was the roaming camera to get other video, not just of Barack but also the reactions of the 2000 people who filled the auditorium.  

I wasn't sure at first this was going to be an easy task ,as the media was relagated to 2 risers set many, many rows back from the stage.  But just about 45 minutes before the program was to began I found out about another location the media could be.

The 'cut' area at stage left was a designated area for the media to get cutaways (side and rear views looking back to the audience) of Mr. Obama during his speech.  So  I made my way to the 'cut' area and I was surprised that more TV folks didn't get shots from this area.  Plenty of Print Photogs but only 3 or 4 TV guys used the cut area.

The oversized American Flag must have been purposely placed because it made a great backdrop for patriotic pictures and video.

The crowd chanted and clapped and whooped and hollered and Obama made his points trying to persude this biased crowd and the many more watching from home to make him a most historic presidential choice.

After the event, pushing well near our deadline for a 5 o'clock live report we gathered with the other local TV stations onstage, behind the now drawn curtain for a little more of a private moment with the Presidential Candidate.  He answered a question or two from each and tried to reassure through our electronic means that he was indeed the best choice for President.

 

Who am I to say?  And I shouldn't and won't. 

  

I was just in the moment thinking about this assignment being a front row seat to a truely historical event in the making.

 

Sometimes we need a little help on our daily assignments and whether that comes from a call to the assignment desk for directions or stopping at a convienence store to get a feel for a neighborhood it's almost a daily occurance for someone to step in with important information to help us get our story.

Today the help we received was a little more ironic, mysterious and maybe a little divine in nature.

Chad Tucker and I were on a late afternoon hunt for a story that was our backup for the day after the players for our first story weren't available until Monday. We drove 50 miles to Danbury looking for the father of the 2 boys who drowned in the Dan River in September of 2006.

The boys' parents are suing DSS for placing the boys with the paternal grandparents who, the suit says, were unable to take care of the boys and that factor and others allowed the boys to wander to the river causing their death.

With no listed phone number we stopped at his house and his parents gave us the information that he was in a nearby town working and they didn't have his cell number. They took our number and said they'd have him call.



As we proceeded to gather information for our story and the afternoon clock ticked away, we knew we didn't have much time to get this story done.

After a quick trip to the courthouse we sat at a convienence store near his house. The people in the store know him and they said he has been working building fences. I looked in the phone book but there are a lot of fence companies so I wasn't going to go down that path.

Almost jokingly Chad and I both wondered aloud about needing a sign from God. About 5 minutes passed and I noticed something that hadn't caught my eye earlier. A fence business sign, with the last name of the man we were looking for. The sign included a cell phone number!



We called and sure enough it was our guy. He came and met us for an interview and then he asked us how we got his number. We told him we got it from the sign and he looked puzzled and we re-explained that it was the one by the store. After a minute he suddenly remembered the sign and we all laughed it off.

But I've got to wonder...why didn't I see the sign sooner and why didn't he remember his own sign?

The Story aired at 5:30

The Lawsuit can be read HERE

It's always cool to do good school stories so when I headed out to Hasty Elementary this morning I was looking forward what I was about to document.

STARBASE NC was coming to the school for the week and they always enter in grand fashion, swooping in in a Blackhawk Helicopter putting the students, teachers and one goofy cameraman in awe.

All of the students of Hasty got an upclose and even inside look at the Army's loudest helicopter while the 5th graders had a lot of learning to do, but it's the fun kind.

Starbase is a federal program run by the NC National Guard that teaches 5th graders about Math and Science principles using real world examples and hands on activities, effectively tricking the kids into learning the principles of aviation.

Later this week the students will fly model rockets that they are building in class. 

So these 5th graders are going to have quite a week.

And the teachers got to play too.  The crew of the blackhawk took the 5th grade teachers on a 30 minute joy ride culminating with a little roller coaster action. (See the Story)

To put a little twist in the story it's noteworthy that the two pilots of the Blackhawk have very interesting stories themselves.

Major Michele Harper is the only female Blackhawk pilot in the North Carolina National Guard.  She has applied to be in NASA's astronaut program and she may have to go to Iraq in the near future.  Oh Yeah, she has a 5 month old baby! 

The other pilot Zane Zanenghi went to Hasty as an elementary student in the 80s and was glad to be back at the school today.  I first met Zane 4 or 5 years ago when he flew the Blackhawk to Southwood Elementary school when STARBASE came to that school.

Zane is also one of the Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center Air Care Pilots.  He was in my AirCare story that aired almost 2 years ago.

But Zane's claim to fame may be ditching the Blackhawk while serving in Iraq in 2005 while he was flying the very same Blackhawk that he flew to Hasty today.  That day the chopper experienced transmission trouble and he had to quickly land the chopper before it became unflyable.

Luckily the Iraqi good guys were nearby and they protected the position until a Chanook CH-47 could airlift the Blackhawk back to to a safe location. (It's kind of llike that new Ford Commercial where the Chinook drops the load in the back of the pickup, except they picked up the Blackhawk and carried it away.)

The story of that ditching was national news for a few days and there's even video of it somewhere(I can't find it).

Like I said, it's cool to do good stories at schools. 

OK, so I just saw the newest surveillance photos for the first time and the guy in the store photo is NOT the guy in the ATM (in the car) photo in my opinion.

The guy in the ATM photo is wearing a greyish jacket, his skin tone looks lighter and he has a broad flat nose.

Now, look at the other picture from in the store...

The only thing that I think is similar is the ball of hair..on the side in the ATM photo, on the back in the store photo.  The basic shape of the face isn't even the same as I see it.  The store photo guy has a narrower face and this guy's nose is a little more pointy and narrow.

But what really strikes me as telling is the jacket of the in the store guy...it's black....like the dark unkown figure in the ATM photo.  I kind of doubt that the guy from the ATM picture would have completely changed from one full coat to another...and lose the hat?  Especially with the dark shadow in the back seat of the ATM picture.

Of course I don't have the behind the scenes details like the time stamps from both of these photos, but it's something to consider as we try to help the cops look for a killer...or two.

 

The weather was the big news today so you might not have seen this one.  Reporter Caron Myers and I did an interview today that has me scratching my head and police in Alamance County high fiving all around.

The guy in the picture is Thomas Earl Newman Jr.  He found himself in an altercation Monday night and he ended up in Duke Hospital with multiple lacerations.  The other guy is in jail for the attack.

Both Burlington Police and Graham Police say the altercation was gang related and that both the attacker and the victim were gang members.  That got our attention and so we headed to Alamance County to see what was up.

While I was getting footage of the area where the fight happened, Caron did the obligatory 'knock and talk' at the address where we were told people involved in the scuffle lived.

What I heard in my earpiece gave me a chill.  It was Newman behind the apartment door....and he was willing to talk on camera.

You can watch the whole thing at this link:  WATCH RAW INTERVIEW, but to sum it up...Newman told us he is a a member of the GKB (Gang Killer Bloods) and a part of a cleanup crew.

The gang specialists in Alamance County tell us that a clean takes care of retaliation efforts.

The cops in Alamance County that saw the interview say it's some of the best interaction with a gang member they've ever seen.(hence the high fives)

Newman said he wouldn't seek revenge personally but that the 'crip' gang member that attacked him with what he called a "crocidile dundee knife", would get his.

 

In case you haven't noticed, and someone's sure to ask after a week or so, our daytime reporter Eric White has moved on to greener pasture.

As a young, single guy with the drive of a race horse and the passion for news of a teenager in love, Eric stuck with us for 4 years but it was inevitable in this business for him to move to a larger market with more news and, I didn't ask him but I'm guessing, more money.

Eric will be working in Nashville, TN at the WTVF Newschannel 5.  That's a great station and Eric will do well there.

I didn't work with Eric everyday or even a majority of the time he was here but the stories we did do together mattered.

 

Eric will be missed.

Here's a sample of the stories Eric and I did together (Video links highlighted)

We went to Yuma Arizona last April to show how the NC National Guard is helping protect our border.

We almost had a heat stroke finding out how hot it gets in race cars.

We showed you how police train to drive SUVs.

We showed you how those police protect school zones.

We won an EMMY for our story about the cover up of the advertising on the Greensboro Colliseum Cupholders when the NCAA tournament came to town.

We showed you how the city of Greensboro was watering their lawn at city hall in the middle of a drought.

There's more but those are the ones that offer the fondest memories.

  

 

It's kind of difficult sometimes to sum up a complicated story in less than 2 minutes on TV so I wanted to expand a bit on the story I produced today.

The Guilford County Department of Social Services is revamping their Foster Kid Program.  They are basically starting from scratch, reassigning caseworkers and implementing cutting edge ideas to help teenage Foster Children adapt to the adult world.

In the past Foster kids have grown up and aged out of the Foster Programs and joined the real world with little or no continuing support from the adults who raised them.  Alot of these young adults have had major trouble transitioning to successful adulthood.

This new program is going to provide mentoring, guidance and many of the personal relationships that are lost when these kids lose their real families.

It's going to take community involvment, however,  to make the program a success but it sounds like a very well laid out plan.

The young man I interiviewed for the story is one of the success stories of having a great case worker and positive interaction from caring adults.  He also spoke of the bad times in his life where he lost focus.  Luckily he found his way and is now in college planning to get a PhD and become a history Professor.

But he has seen his buddies go down the wrong path without proper guidance so he knows this program is a step in the right direction. 

 

 

I watched, I laughed, I liked. No, it may not the best idea to portray the inside baseball of a serious newsroom to your TV Audience, but I didn't see a single part of that show that hasn't happened to me in real life at some point, somewhere.

 

Several years ago here, a new weekend anchor/reporter was brought in, almost fresh off another reality show and other than the boobs, the blonde hair and mini-skirts, he wasn't much different than "Anchorwoman". Just like Lauren Jones, Jeff Varner had to learn news gathering from the ground up.

 

 His first few times in front of the prompter were rough, his news gathering and writing in the field were raw, but his ambition and willingness to learn the craft outshined other reporters who came and went while he was still here. There were certainly some awkward moments just like in this show.

But by the time he left back in April, Jeff was a polished pro, reading his weekend news like a machine, and chasing other offers that were bound to come with his matured style. But on day one, we were all rolling our eyes at the 'Survivor' just like the the CBS19 employees in the first episode of "Anchorwoman".

Another colleague of mine came to mind watching "Anchorwoman". When Caron Myers started here in 2002 she had been out of TV for a while and her TV experience was mostly NASCAR related. She had to learn news gathering 101 from yours truely and when I saw Wilton take Lauren out for her first solo story I had to chuckle. The very first story that I took Caron out on when she started was to High Rock lake.

Caron was in high heels, we had to walk crazy distances to get the shots, and Caron got a taste of what real news gathering was all about.

It was tough at first for Caron but she did exactly what the Photog in "Anchorwoman" said. She listened and watched and learned, though I can remember Caron doing some of the same silly, "newsy" things that Lauren did on here first two stories.

But Caron learned quickly and today not too many reporters in the piedmont can hold a candle to her news gathering prowess.

Caron and Jeff are two anomolies of jumping into this market as rookies, but both also had the required credentials for the job.

I think it's fair that the other Anchor in the show is all worried about integrity, but in real reality this is how most young prospective reporter/anchors get in the business when they finish college.

It's usually just behind the scenes, in really small markets, there aren't ordinarly cameras following your every move and they aren't usually supermodels.

 

That usually trumps being a news anchor.

Today was Garfield's Birthday. Not the cat in the cartoon, but the kitty at the clinic.



Garfield arrived, abandoned actually, at the Guil-Rand Animal Clinic about 6 years ago. He was suffering from a BB Shot wound to his back and suffered nuerological injuries that kept him from being able to stand up without falling over.



Whoever left Garfield at the Clinic never came back for him and Garfield became the new King of the Clinic. It must have been fate because the previous clinic cat "pee'd on everything" and so he went to a new home.



Somehow the birthday party tradition was started and grew bigger everyear, with Garfields favorite humans coming to celebrate with him and while he get's trippy on the catnip and feather toys, the people have pizza, cake, chips, drinks and other snacks.



Garfield did rack up on the toys and treats. And the good news....all of his old toys, cushions and beds get donated to the rescue cats that call the clinic their temporary home.

Watch the Garfield Story HERE

You'll see this video on the Fox 8 News Satuday at 10..... Usually it's our assignment desk calling to let me know that there's a fire for me to roll to.

This time, however, it was my 12 year old step son (the one who wants to grow up and be a TV Photog too) who made the announcement.

He saw the heavy black smoke across the woods and came running in the house, out of breath and trying to spit out the pertinent information. I ran to get a look and I knew I'd better drive first and ask questions later..(I called the station on the way)

The smoke was billowing black before I arrived so I knew the fire department hadn't had time to put much water on it yet. What I didn't know was what was on fire.

I arrived to the scene in just 4 minutes. The fire was closer to my house than the roads I had to use to get there but the flames were at their peak when I arrived.

Another Fox 8 Photojournalist arrived at the same time I did. Joe Avery had just finished his shift and saw the same smoke I did on his way to his house.

Since he was still in work mode and I was just sitting at home enjoying my weekend I let him take the lead, but I popped off these pix for his posterity and because it was a heckuva fire.

 

Preliminary reports are that it's an unnoccupied dwelling and by the looks of it, quite old as well. The tax value on the house and the 6 acres it sits on is listed by Randolph County as only 99-thousand dollars.

It's only about 150 miles up the road to Lynchburg, Virginia so when I heard that Jerry Falwell had passed away yesterday I knew I better be ready to head that way. It wasn't long after that thought passed through my head that I got the call to pack a bag.

Bob Buckley and I met up with our Satellite Truck and our co-workers on the scene just 15 minutes before the start of the 5 o'clock news.

Reporter Leah Beno and photojournalist Brad Ingram had a half hour jump start on us and had a package ready for air at 5 about a local guy changing a marquee to reflect the moment.

 

To help Brad out while he finished up the edit I jumped in, set up and shot the live shot at 5 for Leah and then for Bob at 5:30.

Bob and I also had extra duties besides just turning stories for our station. We were charged with providing our sister stations across the nation with Live reports at 5, 6 and 10 on Tuesday night. (Our 10 PM Story Tuesday)

After doing live shots until 11:05 (the last one was for WTTG) our plan was for Bob and I to get to the hotel and sleep so we could also do the morning lives for our station and our affiliates.

With wakeup time at 3-30 AM we made the most of getting to bed just before midnight and getting up was just as tough as you might think.

We went on the air at 5AM and did 19 Live Shots right up to 9 AM.

After the morning show we found the man who spent time with Jerry Falwell in his last living Moments. Ronald Godwin had breakfast with Rev. Falwell on Tuesday morning.

For the noon news we did a Live Shot with Godwin's thoughts. (That Story Here)

Leah and Brad worked the dayside part of this gig staying in Lynchburg through at leastthe 6 and possibly the 10 tonight.

Major Kudos to our two Satellite operators Danny Spillane and Joe McCloskey for making all the things happen that must happen (including getting other sat trucks off our designated satellite at the last minute) for these liveshots to be coordinated for each TV Station down the line. As of 6 O'Clock Wednesday the live shot count was up to more than 30.

 

And of Course we weren't alone in Lynchburg.

 

TV Stations from across Virginia filed in one after another and all of the Networks were present and accounted for.

This was one network Setup.

The Fox Truck from DC came down.

NBC was set up next to us but there shots were cancelled unexplainably.

CBN made an appearance and we watched some of their coverage. They captured some good elements but it was shot a little sloppy for my tastes.

I will say that the staff, students, members, mourners and everyone we came across while we gathered all of our video and sound were extremely cordial and inviting. That can be tough under such circumstances.