Now THAT'S A Fire!!

Big Fire in Elyria, OH overnight. An old warehouse about a block long caught on fire.

Very long night. I'll blog about this when I wake up in a few hours..

Follow the link and click on play icons. I got the ground video and the explosions..

I OWN THIS STREET!!!

Homicide. Another person shot on Cleveland's east side and I was sent to cover it. It was at East 90th and Harris and happened sometime around 3 a.m. on Thursday. I was sent around 7 a.m., after our morning show was over. I figured it was just another routine homicide, if you can classify homicides as routine.

When I turned on to E.90th and drove approximately 100 feet, a woman came running up the middle of the street waving her arms and yelling at me. "Ain't no m.....f...... news cameras going to come down my street and take pictures!!", she screamed. "I own this mf'ing street. I ain't letting you do shit here. I won't even let the mf'ing cops down here. They killed my n.....!!"

I cracked the window a little and asked, "The police killed your friend?"

"No, you dumb ass cracker!! Some n's did and I'm gonna get those mf'ing n's !! And I ain't letting you do take any mf'ing pictures...!!"

She then stood in front of my live van and crossed her arms. I shrugged and picked the phone off of my belt and started to call the desk to inform them of my predicament. That's when the loudmouth started up again.

"Go ahead and call the mf'ing cops, white boy! I won't let the cops down my street! I own this street!!"

Just as she was saying this, and the timing couldn't have been better, the Cleveland Police evidence van turned the corner behind her and started to come up the street, followed by two detective cars. I smiled and pointed for her to turn around.

The cops pulled up behind her and hit their radio horn notifying the lady to move. And I know this might be a shock but...she moved.

I let the police van pass and then I drove down the street a little and called the desk to let them know of the hostile enviroment that I was in. They told me to wait for the reporter to show up before shooting anything. Fine with me, I'll wait.

So when Bill, my reporter, showed up I let him know of what was going on with the owner of the street and the hostile environment, he told me he'd watch my back. I felt so much better.

We walked up the street and I began rolling as soon as I got the camera out of the van, just in case there needed to be a record of our untimely demise. And true to form, loudmouth came running down the street again, right at me screaming all about her n and those mf'ers that shot her n. She also reiterated her stance of the fact that she wasn't going to allow any cameras to take any pictures on her street. She actually did the old, "I'm going to stand in front of the camera lens and wherever you go I'm going to stand in front of you" routine. The detectives just laughed and rolled their eyes.

The tirade continued for another ten minutes but not before her friends came and pulled her out of my way. One of them actually made sense, telling her, "Let him do his job. They'll help catch the n that did it.."

Needless to say the yelling continued from the porch of her house but it was laced with the previous n-words, mf'ers and other sundry curse words.

Made for an interesting morning. I haven't had one that tense for a while.

Water Spouts!!

It's been very slow the past few weeks. The mildly cold spring/summer we've been having has put a slight damper on overnight news. The shootings that usually are numerous have slowed down to a trickle. Its good news for the police but it makes for a slow night for me.

This morning though we had a weather system move through and it brought about a rare event over Lake Erie. Water Spouts. They are more common in the fall but this cold air system that came in brought about these water spouts. I spotted one at Huntington Beach out in Bay Village, OH after driving along the lake shore for twenty minutes.

They didn't seem to reach the water but it was interesting to see them form, start to stretch down and then dissipate.

You can see the pics and the video here.

What's With All The Touching?

I'm currently watching the pre-show to the last leg of the triple crown. The cameras are following Big Brown live, to what I can assume is a walk to the racing paddock. Of course there is security all around this horse and I can say I understand that. What I can't seem to understand is why these security officials feel like they can put their hands upon the camera and try to push it out of the way. I'm speaking of Big Brown's exercise trainer and some woman official (at least it looks like a woman) in a sports jacket and sunglasses. The camera is the network camera that is showing the race. You'd at least think that the official would know that the camera is there for the network. The camera wasn't even that close to the darn horse! The cameraman wasn't rushing the people or the horse. Wow...that walking backwards is surely threatening.

The cameras just followed the jockeys from their room to the spot where the traditional jockey photos are taken. Nobody even blinked about the camera being close to them.

And then a couple of nights ago, during the Celtics-Lakers NBA Finals game, Paul Pierce goes down with a supposed knee injury. After Pierce is put into a wheelchair, the camera, which is a network camera once again, follows Pierce being wheeled through the tunnel and back to the locker room. While Pierce is being wheeled back, a guy puts his hand up and tries to block the camera's view.

What kind of bullshit is this?

The cameras are there because of the desire to showcase the talents of the athletes love of money that TV broadcasts bring in. If you don't want the cameras to be there, then fine. Enjoy not getting all that revenue that these TV cameras and the networks provide. Go back to the days of life without TV revenue and the limelight that the cameras provide to the moneymaking athletes.

Nothing pisses me off more than seeing someone try and push a camera away from where they have the right to be. Especially when they're providing the coverage for the event.

Fuel Tank Rescue In Auburn Township

Breaking news !! Three men injured while cleaning inside a large fuel tank in Auburn Twp., OH. Reports are that it's a man and his two sons that were inside the tank. The father and his sons may have been overcome by fumes that were remaining inside the tank.

The father was rescued, alert and conscious. When I left the scene, one son was still inside the tank awaiting rescue. One son was removed in a conscious condition.

This happened about eight miles from my house.

UPDATE: One of the sons died. He was a junior in high school.

TV People Just Ain't Right

Went to get coffee the other day at work and when I opened the cabinet for some sugar I noticed this mug had been altered. If you can't read it, it's a mug warning about dangerous train tracks. Someone has a "news" sense of humor.

Poets and Pirates Tour, Part II

Ok, it's the morning after the concert and I'll put down my thoughts. I thought that the first main act, Gary Allen, was wonderful. He's not a major act yet but he did put on a high energy show nonetheless.

Leeann Rimes was next and like I said before, I didn't know many of her songs so, I'm not an expert on her music but she has a great voice. However, her energy on stage is lacking. She really has only one move which is to shake her shoulders. I was not all that impressed with her performance. Probably why she's second on this tour.

Third out was the Red Rocker, Sammy Hagar. Hagar put a great performance right from the start. He interacts with the audience, serving them a couple of drinks, having major fun with the show and playing incredible guitar. His backup band was just as good. He played a couple of Van Halen hits but it reminded me that he had a great career going before Van Halen. One song that I'd forgot about was "Heavy Metal". He has fun with life it seems. His act showed it. His voice can easily carry any stadium and it was the best vocal performance of the night.

Keith Urban was next. All I have to say is that he should have been the headliner. His show was stunning. His crew had a couple of minor feedback problems in the early going but if you could get by that, then it was full on fun from there on. I'd go see him again...anytime. His guitar playing borders on legendary. If you ever have the chance to see him in concert, GO!

And lastly was Kenny Chesney. I'd like to say his performance was great, and I'm sure it was. But if it wasn't for the two fat cows in huge cowboy hats that decided to stand up through the first part of Kenny's show, I'd probably have enjoyed it more. As it was, my wife was cold and the fact that we could hardly see the show, we left after seven songs. He seemed to put on a good show but if I had my druthers, I'd have ended the show after Keith Urban.

Poets and Pirates Tour

Spending the day and night at a concert in downtown Cleveland. It's Kenny Chesney's tour. It features Gary Allen, LeeAnn Rimes, Sammy Hagar, Keith Urban as well.

The tickets were free through our station and I'm so glad they offered tickets to us.

Right now, Gary Allen is on stage. He's fantastic and the concert should only get better. I'm not a huge fan of LeeAnn Rimes but I'm sure she puts on a great show. My wife is excited to see Keith Urban. Wonder why???
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Frustration

This morning the generator in my live truck has died twice. Once at the most inconvenient time.....right in the middle of a live picture.

Hope it gets fixed quickly....yet again.
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Test

Testing to see if my Blackberry is working properly again.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

The $.23 Pizza...Would You Wait?

Today is the day that the Papa John's Pizza chain apologized to Northeastern and Northwestern Ohio for mocking LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers for complaining about deliberate fouls on James. The pizza chain in the Washington D.C. area printed t-shirts with the words "23 CRYBABY" on them, which didn't go down well here in Cleveland. Plus the Wizards had their butts handed to them by the Cavs which made the shirts seem even more childish.

Papa John's decided that to make up for it, they'd offer $.23 cent pizzas to all northern Ohio residents that wanted to have a pizza. People are lined up all around the pizza shops waiting up to four hours for a large pizza with one topping. Lines are stretching around buildings, through parking lots and up to a block in length. People have even been arrested for cutting in line and causing disturbances.

We were live at a Papa John's store this morning before the chaos ensued.

They seemed to have their ducks in a row. They had lots of pizza boxes folded and ready to go. Even bringing in rental trucks to hold the folded boxes.



Had their dough made and started prepping the pizzas in anticipation for the onslaught of customers.


Got their sauce...literally hundreds of gallons ready for the day.


Plus they made us a few pizzas to take back to the station. Nothing like pepperoni pizza at eight in the morning.


The phones were ringing off the hook starting at 5:30 a.m. with people wanting to get their slice of the pie...literally. Stores weren't to open until 10 a.m. but people just didn't seem to grasp that concept. We had one guy even walk into the store and want his pizza at 6 a.m. He was quickly turned away.

Stores are starting to run out of pizza and ingredients. Some stores have closed already.

I'm waiting for the riots to start.

Clearance Issues

I was sent out as soon as I stepped into the building this morning. It's been pretty slow the past few weeks so I've been looking for something to happen overnight. My assignment desk guy Russ, called and told me he thought he'd heard of a shooting. He sent me out to the RTA rapid station at Superior and Euclid avenues in East Cleveland.

I left the station and headed off to the scene. I took the quickest way that I knew of to get there. I wasn't driving my usual Unit 2 live truck. It was out with generator issues so I grabbed our newest truck which has the highest mast clearance of twelve feet. I really didn't think anything of it until I got close to where the RTA tracks cut through neighborhoods. They're elevated and I need to pass under the tracks. The small underpasses are old tunnels or small bridges that aren't built for taller vehicles.

My first route took me under the tracks at an underpass that was said to be twelve foot clearance. My truck is twelve foot tall so, I had to turn around. At least this underpass was marked. I wasn't so fortunate at my detour route. I came to the next underpass and it wasn't marked. Plus the streetlights and the lights in the underpass were out, making it very suspect to say the least. No sign to tell me what the clearance was so, I turned around yet again.

I tried four other underpasses and they all were the identical of each other. Not marked and dark. I had to go close to a mile and a half out of my way to get to the scene. But I decided that ripping a mast out of a live truck was not the way to start a Monday off. And waking up on a Tuesday, jobless isn't a much better prospect. I'm sure that I did the right thing by not trying my luck on one of those underpasses. If it meant going five miles out of my way, I'd still do it.

X-Ray Results

Well, I had my x-rays last night and I've got a Grade 2 ankle sprain. I guess it could have been worse. I have a partial tear of a ligament and pooled blood on the inside of my foot.

I'm heading back to work tomorrow but walking is very painful. I guess the kids can't go out bike riding anymore. It's too dangerous to my health.

Robots Are Going To Kill Me

Currently I am lying on an air matress in the Carnegie Science Center, in Pittsburgh. I'm here for my son's boy scout sleep over. To my immediate right is an orange industrial robot that has been programmed to shoot a basketball at a hoop.

Every once in a while the robot spins around and extends it's two pronged appendage in all sorts of directions as if it's "looking around" to see what is near it.

I'm sure that it's not happy that it has been retired to a life of free throws when it used to do heavy lifting or precise work that engineers took months to program.

The dance it does is really a facade. It's plotting to kill someone while they're sleeping, in revenge for it's demotion.

I hope I make it through the night.
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Well, I Really Did It..

Well, I really did it..

We went out about an hour ago to take/teach the kids bike riding. Their bikes needed air in the tires after a winter not being ridden. We took the training wheels off today.

We(the family and I) went to the local gas station to get air for the tires (.75 cents...ain't that a bitch!!??), so I get the first bike out and set it to the side. I go back to the van to get the second bike out.

Unknown to me, the first bike must have rolled back behind me (training wheels weren't off yet) and when I stepped back, there was a bike in my way.

I stumbled backwards, holding the second bike out to balance myself as I was geting my right foot tangled in the first bike. I awkwardly danced back about three more feet and caught my left foot in a crack between a concrete and blacktop section. I felt a stretch and a pop and then I saw the sky. My wife came out and was aghast.

Now I'm in agony, my left ankle is swelled up to the size of a beefsteak tomato(e) and I've just downed two tylenol with codeine.

Ice and Tylenol 3, elevation for the foot, ibuprofen and muscle relaxers. What more could a guy ask for?

Oh yeah....rear view mirrors.

Well, It's Gone

My Xbox 360 did finally die again. After a couple weeks of good use after I did the Towel Trick to get it running again after the 3 RROD reared it's ugly head.

I sent the 360 off to Texas this morning. Hope I get it or another one back quickly enough.

I'm going to start to get the shakes and sweats....360 withdrawl.

Damn, it's a tough monkey to shake.

What Will I Chase Down Tomorrow Night?

Probably, and this is just a guess, I'll be chasing down the 10th vacant house fire since last Monday. Seems that on Cleveland's east side near the Broadway/Union area, there is an arsonist that is torching vacant homes. Some people need a hobby, huh?

I wish that I didn't have to run out and cover these but it's the unknown factor that makes us run and check the fires out. One never knows when or if the firefighters will find a body in the burning building or worse yet and God forbid, something happen to a firefighter.

Hopefully they'll catch the idiot that is setting these homes on fire.

Yep...

APRIL FOOLS..see..?

In a surprsing announcement, Barak Obama will announce at 11:00 a.m. EST press conference, that he will forgo his bid to become President of the United States and become Hillary Clinton's running mate.

"I've decided that such an ongoing war of words between the Clinton campaign and mine is fruitless and damaging to the Democratic Party", Barak Obama said.

Staffers were stunned by his willingness to become Hillary Clinton's VP running mate...

To Kenny.

Hey!! Send me your e-mail address. I've seemed to have lost it in the transition from PC to Mac.

Thanks!!

Back From The Dead...For Now

A couple of weeks ago I was playing Baseball on my Xbox360 with my oldest son. The screen froze and I reset the console. Bad things then happened with my 360 mocking me with glee as the three red rings of death (3RROD) appeared. Now I'm sure that this has happened to some of you and you've cursed and thrown things. I couldn't as my seven year-old was at my side. So, I did what any normal male, the age of 39, would do. I wept silently when no one was around.

I bit the bullet and called Microsoft to get the 360 fixed. Long story short, it's going to cost me $99 to fix. Why, because I'm not the original owner of the 360. I got around it so it's not going to cost me, but I'm not going into detail about that (boring and not really necessary).

I look up on the internet on the 3RROD causes and stumble upon The Towel Trick. It's simple, I thought. "Hey..I CAN DO THAT!!!" It involves removing the HD (if you have one), plugging the 360 in and turning it on. Then wrap the 360 in 2 to 3 cotton bath towels, thus making it heat up. Let it slowly cook itself for about 20-25 minutes.

After that span of time, you unwrap and turn it off. Let the 360 cool for around a half-hour. Then, after that time has expired, plug in everything and hold your breath while you press the power button.

And I'll be darned...



IT WORKS!! Albeit a temporary fix, you can get it to work for you and you can play for a while, while waiting for the Microsoft box to arrive so you can send it back and get it repaired.

Some people have reporter it working for about 45 minutes then the 3RROD appears again up to fourteen days of usage, and beyond.