This is so rare I have to put a Lil B video at the end of this post. Thats just a heads up though. Below is a very rare and very old video of Jordan. Respect history and hit that play button.

Michael Jordan’s Airwaves was a tv show that aired locally on WLS-TV in the Chicago area in 1989. Local sports TV guy Jim Rose interviewed Michael Jordan in an “Oprah-style” setup, and even tapped into the audience for some one-on-one questions. This footage is the property of Chicago station WLS-TV.

Source: Eastwestworldwideblog.wordpress.com

After Paul Ryan was booed at an AARP event for threatening to turn Medicare into a voucher program, Biggert refused to debate Foster in an AARP-sponsored debate.

Later, Biggert agreed to a debate with Foster, which was televised by Chicago ABC affiliate WLS-TV, and Biggert had all sorts of trouble debating her Democratic challenger, Bill Foster. Just read this account from the Chicago Tribune, and you’ll understand what I’m referring to:

During the 11th District debate, Biggert at times appeared to struggle with her answers. When told she had the opportunity to ask Foster a question, Biggert took 15 seconds in trying to pose it. After the debate, Biggert told reporters that she had a question in mind but “couldn’t remember what it was.”

Judy Biggert has a debate problem.

Toni and I are excited to be part of the panel for this upcoming event

at the Wilmette Theater, introduced by Linda Yu, WLS TV News

Anchor and hosted by “Make it Better” columnist, Marjie Killeen,

who writes the popular “Sex and the Suburbs” column. We will be

talking about the spirituality of sex. It promises to be an exciting and

informative evening.

Peace, Carol

This meant we were up at 3:45 a.m.! And actually, the moppets must have been so keyed up because the moment I switched on the lights that morning they were awake and ready to leave. We were at the zoo on time, and spent a couple of fun hours roaming around the Xtreme BUGS exhibit while Roz Varon, television personality, interviewed Andre Copeland and Jerrod Coates. The kids, along with a group of others who’d been corraled early in the morning, participated in a cockroach race, caught virtual butterflies, held a millipede and ate bugs. Well, mostly they licked lollipops with scorpions in the middle, and one grandmother did agree to eat live crickets on-air. After that spot she gave me a bit of her snack, and I enjoyed part of a sour cream and onion cricket (not bad – light and crunchy, actually). I had a lollipop too, but ewwww, it was watermelon-flavored. Yuck.

Here’s a video collection of all the spots they aired over the two-hour span between 5-7 a.m. Sorry, I can’t seem to embed it properly so I’m just providing a text link here. It actually looks like they omitted the virtual butterfly-catching segment:

Xtreme BUGS at Brookfield Zoo with Roz Varon

The exhibit is really fun. I was pretty skeptical a few years back when the zoo installed a life-size animatronic dinosaur exhibit at the zoo. I mean, I’m a docent here, and on some days I’m constantly fielding the question “Is the alligator real?”. Sometimes I joke that if you know the answer to that question, you’ve covered a third of the most frequently asked questions at the zoo (the other two are, for the record, “Where are the elephants?” and “How do I get to the dolphin show?”). Anyway, having animals that aren’t real on-site doesn’t help…however, the dinosaurs were hugely popular, and Xtreme BUGS fits the same mold. Although this time, there are real bugs on exhibit in Harry’s Adventure, and they are pretty cool. You can put your head “inside” the water bug tank, watch ants creating tunnels, and learn a lot about the interesting features that insects have evolved in order to survive.

Here are a few behind-the-scenes pictures of the live remote:

See the Madagascar Hissing Cockroach that Coates is putting on her mike? Roz Varon actually said (off-camera), “This is the most disgusting thing I’ve ever done in my life!” I couldn’t help thinking that, as a well-respected local TV personality, surely she’d had to deal with more interesting experiences than this in her work? But then again, I may sometimes underestimate the level of disgust the general public has for insects. I find them, and most creatures under the sun, totally fascinating.

In this photo, you can see the kids surrounding the cockroach racetrack as the camera crew gets ready to film.  An angled mirror shows the actual insects behind the starting gate.

Here, Roz Varon is interviewing Andre Copeland while the kids watch the giant ladybug and the Beetle. Varon seemed very nice. A friend of mine, who has worked in broadcast news in Chicago, calls her a “sweetie.” In fact, he texted this praise to me while we were at the zoo that morning. Guess he’s an early bird…

And here’s a giant bug on a flower. The trees in the background provide a bit of scale.

The live remote ended at 7 a.m., and afterwards I took the kids to breakfast. My son had camp from 9 a.m.-3 p.m., and when he came home, he fell asleep watching Paula Deen on the Food Network (yes, he loves watching cooking shows) and didn’t wake up until 6 a.m. the next morning!

The Brookfield Zoo, my home away from home, is located at 8400 31st St. in Brookfield. Call (708) 688-8000 for information or visit http://www.brookfieldzoo.org. The Xtreme Bugs exhibit costs an extra $5 per adult and $2 per child admission; general admission is $15 for adults, $10.50 for kids, and don’t forget the parking fee. I’m there every other Sunday, so come say hi!

Christopher Myers, Age 10

When I was in my twenties and working at WLS-TV in Chicago, I broke one of the biggest news stories of my career.  The assignment was total luck—I’d been the one available when a ten-year old boy disappeared one summer day in the suburb of  Aroma Park.  The boy’s name was Christopher Myers.  And his mother, Mika Moulton, is the winner of my yellow dress giveaway.

I arrived at Christopher Myers’ house the day after he didn’t come home from riding his bike.  A dozen news vehicles were parked among the cop cars in front and cicadas droned from the trees lining the street.

“They’re not talking,” said one of my colleagues when I asked if anyone had been allowed inside the house.  “Don’t bother knocking.”

But I did bother.  And suddenly, there I was, on the inside–the chosen one–speaking to the mother of a kid who might never be coming back.  I learned that Christopher had been riding near the Kankakee River and the fear was he might have drowned.  I learned he had been seen talking to an unidentified man.  That evening, I led the 6p.m. news with photos of a smiling boy with white blond hair and tearful sound bites from his mother.  Still a dozen years away from becoming a mother myself, I could feel the fear coming off Mika in waves, but I could not really understand.

Mika Moulton, my friend and hero

The rest of the media, left outside in the dark, teased that I’d been chosen because Mika was gay.  And she was, a tall, blond lesbian partnered with a slight, dark haired woman named Patty.

“Who gives a shit why she let me in?” I snarled at a reporter who mentioned it once too often.  “Her son is missing!”  After this, no one said anything again, at least to my face.

I went back to Aroma Park the next day, and the next, sitting with strangers who jumped every time the phone rang in their too-quiet kitchen.   As the clock ticked inevitably forward with no news of a missing boy, Mika’s strength began to ebb.  Patty, wearing the neat blue shirt of the company she worked for, held the house together, making food and flyers with Christopher’s picture on them, and caring for Mika’s 15 year-old daughter and toddler son.  Once, when Mika nearly fainted, I saw Patty grab her in a bear hug so that she didn’t hit the floor.  Although I felt grateful for the exclusive scoop they were giving me—I was the station’s golden girl!—mostly I just wanted to escape that house of pain.

Mika And Patti

They found Christopher’s bike first, two days after his disappearance, in a grove of trees near the river.  Next,  they found a shoe, then his underwear—ohgodno!—and pieces of his shirt.  I reported each update with what I hoped was a professional and impartial delivery, but this child was no longer a stranger to me.  Mika wasn’t either, and as her eyes became more vacant and hopeless with each discovery, my heart began to break.

On the 4th day, as I was on my way home in the news van, my cell phone rang.  It was Patty, calling to tell me of an arrest.

“They picked up a convicted child murderer,” she said.  A convicted child murderer? No. Ohpleasegodno.

In 1995, there was no such thing as a quick Internet search.  But after searching our newsrooms then state-of-the-art database, I unearthed the history of Timothy Buss.  In 1981, Buss had murdered a five-year old girl when he was thirteen in the same community where Christopher lived.  He’d been tried as an adult and sentenced to twenty-five years in prison, then been paroled after only serving twelve.  Timothy Buss been back in the area for just three months.

Stairway To Heaven

Hope that Christopher would be found alive drained quickly away.  First, investigators found blood in the trunk of Timothy Buss’ car.  And then, in a shallow grave about twenty miles away, sheriff’s deputies found the body of Christopher Myers.  The boy had been stabbed over fifty times.  Defensive wounds on his hands proved he’d fought for his life and the autopsy on the small, broken body revealed horrors I cannot write about even now.  Because in three short years Griffin will be ten years old.  Because the other day I let him ride his bike around the block—standing in the quiet street, searching for any sign of him coming around the corner.  When it didn’t happen fast enough I took off running, tearing past magnolias trees and rose bushes, thinking pleasegodkeephimsafe over and over.  And suddenly, there he was, pumping hard on his little blue bike.

“What took you so long?” I demanded.  Griff smiled and reached into his basket; my son had stopped to pick me a lemon.

PleaseGodKeepThemSafe…

Mika and I never lost touch.  She and Patty now live in the Coachella Valley, where they run a foundation called Christopher’s Clubhouse that focuses on educational and safety training for children.  After those awful first months of intense grief, Mika refused to let evil win and turned pain into action.

“This August will be 17 years,” Mika wrote me recently in an email.  “Hard to believe he has been gone so much longer than he was alive.  But I can’t change the past and making a difference for our future is the most important thing for me.”   I can think of no better gift.

Mika And Her Son Cameron

And so, Mika, the yellow dress is yours.  It is the color of remembrance.  It is the color that signifies devotion to a loved one–and it is a color that means we will never forget.  It’s a small consolation for someone who has lost so much, but may you wear it in celebration of Christopher’s life, and as a reminder that he will always be with you in spirit.

Happy Boy

Story:

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The kids at St. John's enjoyed our presentation, thanks in large part to Jen and Nicole for getting us there!

Whitney and I were supposed to take a train to visit St. John’s School in Western Springs yesterday morning. Good thing we didn’t!

April 4, 2012 (CHICAGO) (WLS) — Emergency crews responded to a track fire near Chicago’s Union Station Wednesday morning.
According to ABC7′s Roz Varon, traffic was jammed near Canal and Jackson because of the emergency activity in the 300-block of South Riverside.

No one was injured, but I sure wouldn’t have wanted to put Whitney through all that mess. Not to mention…me.

Jennifer Cristina and Nicole Dotto (two lovely young women I met volunteering in a program for kids in the Chicago Public Schools) offered to pick Whitney and me up right in front of our apartment building. The suburban school we were visiting yesterday had nothing to do with the program we volunteer for, but Jennifer and Nicole took time out of their schedules to help us anyway. They drove us all the way to the suburban school, sat patiently through the presentation, took care of Whitney while I signed books, then drove us back home again.

Traffic was bad on the way back to Chicago. I took Whitney’s harness off so she could relax, then started asking Jennifer and Nicole how they’d found out about Sit Stay Read!, the literacy program we all volunteer for. Turns out neither of them are originally from Chicago. Jennifer left her home in Baton Rouge to live in a bigger city. Nicole is from Southern California and knew she could run her online business selling vintage clothing from anywhere. “I love seeing new places,” she said, doting on Whitney from the back seat. “I visited Chicago and liked it, so I decided to move here.” Volunteering was a great way to meet new people, and Sit Stay Read was a good fit: her hours are flexible enough to allow her to visit schools in the daytime.

Jennifer works as a nanny, and her charge is growing up. “I’m free during the day while she’s in school, and I love kids, and I love dogs,” she shrugged. “And you know, if you ever want to feel needed, all you have to do is volunteer. It’s good for you.”

Jennifer was absolutely right. In a story in the Nonprofit News about a study on the health benefits of volunteering, the executive director of the Saguaro Seminar at Harvard University referred to volunteering as the “new hybrid health club for the 21st century that’s free to join.”

The study finds a significant connection between volunteering and good health. The report shows that volunteers have greater longevity, higher functional ability, lower rates of depression and less incidence of heart disease.

And of course the recipients of the good deeds benefit, too. Whitney and I can vouch for that. Avoiding Union Station yesterday morning added dog years to our lives. Spending time with these two thoughtful and caring young women helped us function better during our presentation at St. John’s, and we avoided challenges at Union Station that might have brought us down. Thank you, Jennifer and Nicole. Your ad lib volunteer efforts yesterday warmed our hearts.

Credit Where It’s Due: Chicago’s Chuck Goudie, WLS-TV, Tells the Truth About #Occupy’s Radical Origins, Bigotry (videos)

Image via Wikipedia

What I Know For Sure

What I know for sure is that a woman with a funny sounding name (Oprah Winfrey, “Oprah” or “O”) stepped on the national talk show scene 25 years ago and begin to leave the footprints of her legacy.  What I know for sure is that Oprah Winfrey, has found her way into the heads, hearts and households of  people all over the world. What I know for sure that if you do not recognize Oprah Winfrey or the numerous brands she has created, you have been hidden under a rock for the last quarter of  a century. What I know for sure is that Oprah has made an impact, impression, and influence on her viewers who checked in five days a week.

What I know for sure is that on Wednesday, May 25, 2011 the final chapter for Oprah as the Queen of Daytime came to a close. What I know for sure is that Oprah used her last hour to tell her viewing audience, THANK YOU for allowing her into their lives. What I know for sure is that Oprah realized that  she was where she was supposed to be everyday as she stood on the stage. What I know for sure is that Oprah realized her calling and she embraced it. What I know for sure is Oprah wants everyone to find their calling and to live it out and move forward. What I know for sure is that Oprah saw that all people want to be validated. You validate people by telling them I see you, I hear you and what you say matters.

What I know for sure is that Oprah shared that she recognizes who God is in her life. What I know for sure, Oprah found that  she had to learn to wait and listen for that voice that is bigger than hers when making decisions and seeking guidance. What I know for sure is that Oprah wonders what are the whispers in your life and what are they saying to you? Lastly what I know for sure is that Oprah has made me glad she shared her calling, her purpose and life with us. ~~YoTrip 

Here is a look back at some numbers that represent Winfrey’s impact on the TV and cultural landscape –

Jan. 2, 1984: Oprah Winfrey debuted as host of “AM Chicago,” a morning talk show produced by WLS-TV. It is the third rated talk show when Winfrey is hired in 1983 to take over hosting duties. Within just a few months, it jumped to first place in the ratings.

Sept. 8, 1986: WLS TV relaunched “AM Chicago” under the name “The Oprah Winfrey Show” and syndicated it nationally through King World Productions.

25: The number of years Winfrey’s talk show stayed on the air. Winfrey quickly laid claim to hosting the no. 1 talk show after knocking Phil Donahue from the top spot within a short time.

40 million: Average number of Americans who tuned in to view Winfrey’s show each week. 212 TV stations in the United States carry Winfrey’s show each week.

150: At the conclusion of the show’s 25-year run, it was broadcast in 150 countries worldwide.

28,000: Since 1986, Winfrey has had 28,000 guests on her show.

62 million: A 90-minute interview between Winfrey and pop icon Michael Jackson aired in February 1993 drew 62 million viewers. It was the highest-rated non-Super Bowl prime time telecast aired up to that point in time.

283: Winfrey gave away approximately 283 different items to members of her studio audience during annual installments of her favorite things episodes. Giveaways occurred in other episodes too. During the 2004 season premiere, for example, every member of the studio audience received a new car.

365: The maximum number of people who could fit in the studio audience for a taping of Winfrey’s show. In some cases, special groups of people filled out the studio audience in connection with a cause or issue Oprah focused on for that particular episode.

70: Books selected by Winfrey for her book club. The selections had an immediate effect of boosting sales for the author and driving the book to the top of many bestseller lists. It is estimated that these 70 selections combined to sell 55 million copies after Winfrey selected them.

$51 million: Winfrey has raised more than $51 million for charitable causes through her show. Notable causes include relief for victims of Hurricane Katrina and providing education for impoverished girls in South Africa.

5: The number of former or current U.S. presidents who have been interviewed on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” during its run. Jimmy Carter, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush all appeared on the show after leaving the Oval Office. Barack Obama became the first sitting president to appear on the show when he was a guest in May 2011.

4: Winfrey’s influence on daytime television is evidenced by the number of shows spun off of her own. Dr. Phil McGraw, Rachael Ray, Nate Berkus and Dr. Mehmet Oz all got their starts for their current talk shows by making regular appearances with Winfrey on her program.

Sources:

“Oprah Winfrey, by the Numbers,” Los Angeles Times, May 22, 2011.

“Oprah Winfrey Biography (1954 -),” Biography.com.

Bob Minzesheimer: “How the Oprah Effect changed publishing,” USA Today, May 22, 2011.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ac/20110523/en_ac/8522841_the_oprah_winfrey_show_by_the_numbers_1

Related articles

• Countdown To Oprah’s Final Show: 25 Fun Facts Over 25 Years Of The Oprah Winfrey Show (q104.radio.com)
• ‘The Oprah Winfrey Show’ Finale Gets Highest Ratings Since 1994 (aoltv.com)
• Watch: Oprah Winfrey Signs Off On The Final Episode Of ‘The Oprah Winfrey Show’ (pinkisthenewblog.com)
• Oprah Winfrey’s Final Show (997now.radio.com)
• Oprah Winfrey focuses on fans during finale (thenewstribune.com)
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Ald. Vi Daley (center), who is not seeking re-election, was just another face in the crowd in the 43rd Ward forum for candidates seeking to replace her. (Photo by Jennifer Schanz)

By Jennifer Schanz

The voting is more than a month away, but Rahm Emanuel won an unofficial balloting of aldermanic candidates Thursday night in a 43rd Ward election forum organized by the Lincoln Park Chamber of Commerce and hosted by DePaul University in its Student Center.

It was not a landslide, however. City council candidates Rafael Vargas and Carmen Olmetti decidedly said Emanuel was their choice while Charles Eastwood, long-time chief of staff for current Ald. Vi Daley, said he favored anyone from this trio—Emanuel, Gery Chico or Miguel del Valle.

Meanwhile, aldermanic candidate Michele Smith, noting she is a Democratic committeeman from the ward, did not make a commitment. Neither did forum participants Bita Buenrostro or Mitch Newman. Another candidate, Tim Egan, did not attend the event because his wife was in labor with twins hours before the start.

The event was moderated by former WLS-TV reporter Andy Shaw, executive director of the Better Government Association (BGA). A respectful overflow of several hundred spectators included current Ald. Daley as well as past ward alderman Martin Oberman. Another forum for the 32nd Ward, which includes parts of Lincoln Park and the DePaul campus, was scheduled for next Thursday.

The lineup at the 43rd Ward aldermanic candidate forum from left: Bita Buenrostro, Charles Eastwood, Mitch Newman, Carmen Olmetti, Michele Smith, Rafael Vargas and (standing) Andy Shaw, moderator. (Photo by Brianna Kelly)

Shaw, a Lincoln Park resident, touched on everything with his prepared questions, including, infrastructure development, zoning issues, taxes and spending, to small business concerns, public parking and mobile food trucks. One of the biggest issues, sure to be on the front burner for Ald. Daley’s successor, will be the future for the property occupied by Children’s Memorial Hospital after it moves to Streeterville.

While Buenrostro earned some crowd approval for her comedic response to the 43rd ward’s budget crisis and her blatant push for the ward’s improved relationship with the media, Smith earned applause for her disapproval of the Lincoln Park Hospital idea and her uncompromising stance on tax increases. “Our city cannot stand a tax increase right now,” the committeewoman said.

TIF reform, education, historic preservation and infrastructure projects like Finkl Steel Children’s Memorial, and Lincoln Park Hospital also were hot topics at the forum, with some sentiment being expressed for more public schools in the ward.

Most, but not all, opposed Chicago Police Supt. Jody Weis’s plan for increasing resources in high crime districts at the expense of lower crime zones such as Lincoln Park. The question of big box corporations like Wal-Mart setting up shop in the ward was met with this response from Newman: “Oy.”

Candidates were also asked to pinpoint the 43rd ward’s two most important issues, to which a common response was budget and crime control.

What can be considered as an overall mellow and reserved political discussion, Thursday’s candidate forum was an opportunity for constituents to meet the ward’s contenders, as they begin to imagine a 43rd ward without an alderman named Daley for the first time in 12 years.

“Democracy at work,” said one attendee exiting the event.

Our featured speakers at the PSA Seminar were Diana Palomar Scott, Vice President of Community Affairs for WLS-TV and Jen Matuska, author of the MommyInstincts.com blog.  Both panelists shared invaluable advice on creating public service messages and media pitches that are compelling enough to deserve a donation of broadcast airtime or blog post.

Among the 50 seminar attendees were two representatives from a children’s charity that receives financial support from an internationally recognized for-profit company.  They were very curious to find out whether their close connection with a profit-seeking firm would limit the charity’s opportunities for getting donated media placements.  The answer was not what you might think!

WestGlen has seen a trend toward nonprofits partnering with for-profits to launch corporate-sponsored PSA campaigns, and many have been tremendously successful.  Almost eighteen percent of WestGlen’s 119 PSA distributions this year have been sponsored by a for-profit (doubled from 2009).  Broadcast stations place a high value on the PSA’s message and target audience, and while PSAs with no corporate logos or mentions tend to get the best results, some stations will overlook a small corporate mention if the message is compelling enough.

Online sources are less strict about corporate branding, with more room for company logos and mentions in web banners, online videos and blog postings.  Of course, preferences can differ for each blogger or website, so be sure to do your homework before sending a pitch.

Diana reported that WLS-TV often receives two to four broadcast PSAs each week, and Jen gets up to 20 email pitches each day from organizations seeking her support.  Given the abundance of requests, how should a nonprofit organization with a message that benefits the public stand out from the crowd?

Diana stressed the need to research a station’s preferences for airing PSAs (including the PSA length, tape format, topics, nonprofit type, amount of lead time required, etc.) as well as the importance of developing a relationship with the PSA contact to ensure your spot gets into rotation.  Jen echoed Diana’s counsel to investigate target bloggers, noting the “About Me” section of her website contains all of the background information required to develop the right pitch. 

Essentially, PSA Seminar participants were given the following takeaway message: Because each media outlet determines its own PSA usage preferences, sending blast messages might leave your pitch hanging in the breeze.   Researching and following up with each media outlet can be time-consuming, but well worth the effort.

“Attention! The family Bissainte is looking for its little boy Boidley. He is wearing a white shirt, blue short pants and is barefoot. Please pray for us and help us find him . . .”

That is the sound of 90.5FM in Petion-Ville, Haiti, as reported by Williams Booth at the The Washington Post. The station has been on the air uninterrupted since the 7.0 earthquake devastated the poverty stricken island nation. In the wake of Mother Nature’s fury, there is naught but the radio. TV is gone, newspapers wrecked, cell service that is nearly nonexistent, and no electricity with which to run them.

Booth reports that right after U.S. Ambassador Kenneth Merten went on the air to announce aid efforts, a man showed up at the station’s guarded doors with a little boy. The man said that he did not know where else to go. Radio, much as it was for those of us in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, is acting as a lifeline.

Far to the North of the beleaguered island, in Chicago, IL, the city’s media are joining forces:

The Chicago broadcasting and print media community is joining the American Red Cross of Greater Chicago and Hewitt Associates in a united effort to help those facing the devastating aftermath of the Haitian earthquake. The CHICAGO HELPS HAITI relief drive will take place Thursday, January 21st from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m. Television and radio stations throughout the Chicago area will air a blitz of public service announcements encouraging people to call 1-877-565-5000 starting at 5:00 a.m. on January 21st to give to the American Red Cross Haitian relief effort. These public service announcements will begin airing early next week and will continue throughout the relief drive event on the 21st. Stations participating include: WBBM-TV, WCIU-TV, WFLD-TV, WGN-AM, WGN-TV, WLS-TV, WMAQ-TV, WPWR-TV, WSNS-TV, WTTW-TV, CLTV, Me-TV. CBS Radio stations, WFMT-FM, The Clear Channel network of stations, WVON, WGN-AM, the Univision stations including WOJO, WPPN,WVIV, WRJO as well as WTMX, WDRV, WILV, WGCI-FM, WLIT-FM, WLUP, WKQX, WKKC, NextMedia radio stations and virtually all radio stations in the area will participate. Crain’s Chicago Business and The Daily Herald will also be supporting these efforts. More media partners are expected to be added in the coming days. [new release via ABC Local Chicago]

The last time that a partnership happened like this in Chicago was in the aftermath of the Asian Tsunami of 2004.

RadioInk reports the efforts of Univision and others:

“The people of Haiti have suffered unimaginable devastation and are in dire need of assistance,” Univision President/CEO Joe Uva said. “We have partnered with the American Red Cross to inform the caring and generous Hispanic community in the U.S. on how they can contribute to the disaster relief effort.”

Univision’s 68 radio stations will be airing PSAs, while its TV outlets will have PSAs along with special reports live from Haiti and Haitian communities in the U.S.

As I well know from my experiences after Hurricane Katrina, one vital form of  “aid” is information. People outside the disaster zone are desperate for news of loved ones. It’s a horrible feeling not knowing if your parents, children, or grandparents are dead. Having been there, I especially appreciate the efforts of Radyo Pa Nou radio in Brooklyn, NY. They’ve been coordinating with radio stations outside of Port Au Prince and using that connection to locate the missing. Calls come in from all over and the names submitted are passed on the receivers in Haiti. If info on the people named can be found, it is then relayed back to Radyo Pa Nou who broadcast it during their daily shows. [Check out this video interview with the station's GM Jeffrey Joseph for more.]

I’d like to close with another reminder not only of the importance of giving to these relief efforts, but also the importance of vetting your charity of choice. CharityNavigator.Org is a vital resource for seeing just how much of your money will get to the Haitian people. I strongly recommend it.

CHICAGO NEWS CONFERENCE WEDNESDAY: MARTIN BLASTS KIRK

ANDY MARTIN PLANS TO PURSUE MARK KIRK IN EAST PEORIA THURSDAY NIGHT; MARTIN SAYS DOWNSTATE COUNTY CHAIRMEN SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF THEMSELVES FOR “HARBORING A DESERTER”

NEWS FROM:
ANDY MARTIN /2010
“The Name You Can Trust”
Republican for U. S. Senator
30 E. Huron Street, Suite 4406
Chicago, IL 60611-4723
(866) 706-2639
http://www.AndyforUSSenator.com
http://www.AndyforUSSenator.blogspot.com
http://www.AndyforUSSenator.wordpress.com

http://www.MarkKirk.us
http://www.IllinoisHighSpeedTrains.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

ATTENTION DAYBOOK/ASSIGNMENT EDITORS

ANNOUNCEMENT OF WEDNESDAY MORNING NEWS CONFERENCE IN CHICAGO

Martin will expose that Kirk’s East Peoria last minute desperation “event” was only announced Monday afternoon (January 11th)

Martin says that Kirk is fleeing a televised confrontation with Martin after Kirk promised WLS-TV he would appear

Martin promises to drop an anti-Kirk “Bunker Buster” in the Channel 7 studio; “He can run, but he can’t hide,” Andy says

Would Mark Kirk qualify as one of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s “girly men” for ducking the Channel 7 debate?

(CHICAGO)(January 13, 2010) Republican U. S. Senate candidate and insurgent “Internet Powerhouse” Andy Martin will hold a Chicago news conference Wednesday morning, January 13th in front of 190 N. State Street to accuse Mark Kirk fleeing the City of Chicago to avoid debating his opponents.

“Illinois, the home of ‘Lincoln-Douglas debates,’ has now become the fly-over residence of ‘Cut and Run Kirk.’ What is the Kirkster afraid of? Little old me?

“Well I have news for Mr. Kirk. Thursday night we are going to drop a Bunker Buster in the WLS-TV studio. Kirk won’t be there to respond. He ought to be.

“But just so Kirk won’t forget he has a primary, and I am his principal opponent, I plan to dog Kirk in East Peoria. We are trying to organize a demonstration at the Embassy Suites Hotel in East Peoria where Kirk is hiding out.

“I am a little surprised that the county chairmen are indulging Kirk’s ‘escape from Chicago.’ The last time I checked the law, harboring a deserter was almost as bad as desertion. Kirk is a deserter. Are the county chairmen going to join hands and form a protective cordon around Kirk when my supporters approach the little critter and try to ask him why he is ‘hiding out’ in East Peoria?

“Kirk agreed to participate in the WLS-TV debate, and then he reneged. And this man wants to lead the Republican Party in November? The Democrats are watching Kirk. ‘See Mark run.’

“On one level, Kirk’s ‘escape’ is sad. Kirk is over his head in statewide politics. He ran a liberal political shop on the North Shore, but he has no business using downstate precinct committeemen as a beard for his cowardice. What a strategy.

“On the other hand, Kirk is an embarrassment to the people that chose him and sought to make him their standard bearer. Did the Chicago Tribune and Sun-Times know what a scardy cat Kirk is? Kirk is embarrassing his supporters by fleeing the city to avoid the televised debate,” Martin will charge at his news conference. “From ‘Lincoln-Douglas’ to ‘Cut and Run Kirk.’ No wonder this state is in such sad shape. The political establishment is rotten to the core.

“I am the only Republican for U. S. Senator who is ‘Illinois Tough.’ I am the only candidate who is ready to lead Republicans against the Democratic Party in November. No one believes I am afraid of the opposition. Quite the opposite. My campaign strikes fear in the heart of the Democrats. Liberals are afraid they will have to face me instead of ‘Cut and Run Kirk.’”

January 13th news conference and media availability details:

WHO:

U. S. Senate candidate and Internet Powerhouse Andy Martin

WHERE:

Sidewalk news conference, in front of 190 N. State Street, entrance to WLS-TV, Chicago

WHEN:

Wednesday, January 13, 2010 11:15 A.M.

WHAT:

Internet Powerhouse and U. S. Senate candidate Andy Martin says Mark Kirk is embarrassing Illinois Republicans by his cowardice in fleeing Chicago to avoid debating his opponents on WLS-TV. Martin promises a “big surprise” in the Channel 7 debate that will shock Republicans and the media chumbolones who support Kirk.

MEDIA CONTACT:

(866) 706-2639; Cell (917) 664-9329 (not always turned on)

WEBSITE:

http://www.AndyforUSSenator.com

E-MAIL:

AndyforUSSenator@aol.com
—————————–

Andy Martin is a legendary Chicago muckraker, author, Internet columnist, radio talk show host, broadcaster and media critic. He has over forty years of broadcasting background in radio and television and is the dean of Illinois media and communications. He is currently promoting his best-selling book, Obama: The Man Behind The Mask and producing the new Internet movie “Obama: The Hawai’i years.” Andy is the Executive Editor and publisher of http://www.ContrarianCommentary.com.

Martin comments on regional, national and world events with more than four decades of experience. He holds a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Illinois College of Law and is a former adjunct professor of law at the City University of New York.

UPDATES:
http://www.twitter.com/AndyMartinUSA
http://www.facebook.com/AndyMartin

Andy’s columns are also posted at ContrarianCommentary.blogspot.com; contrariancommentary.wordpress.com.
[NOTE: We try to correct any typographical errors in this story on our blogs; find our latest edition there.]

MEDIA CONTACT: (866) 706-2639 or CELL (917) 664-9329 (cell not always on)
E-MAIL: AndyMart20@aol.com
© Copyright by Andy Martin 2010.

ANDY MARTIN
“The name you can trust”
Republican for U. S. Senator/2010
Suite 4406, 30 E. Huron Street
Chicago, IL 60611-4723
Toll-free tel. (866) 706-ANDY
Toll-free fax (866) 707-ANDY
Web site: http://www.AndyforUSSenator.com
E-mail: AndyforUSSenator@aol.com

Please donate:

http://www.AndyforUSSenator.com

Blogs:

http://www.AndyforUSSenator.blogspot.com
http://www.AndyforUSSenator.wordpress.com
http://www.IllinoisHighSpeedTrains.com

http://www.MarkKirk.us

January 13, 2009

Dear Friend,

Just a short note with some campaign updates.

You have probably learned by now that Mark Kirk has fled the City of Chicago to avoid debating me on WLS-TV. What is he afraid of? Does Kirk’s behavior constitute “cowardice in the face of the enemy?”

WLS-TV also offered all of the Senate candidates a 5-minute video for the Channel 7 web site. The station has done an excellent job of bringing you the information you need to make an intelligent decision.

In a campaign that is unfortunately very acrimonious and adversarial, I wanted you to see a different side of me, and hopefully share my passion for genuine health care reform as well as my belief in the need for a more conservative foreign policy. So we adopted a softer format for the WLS-TV video. Let me know what you think (the link below has two lines):

http://abclocal.go.com/wls/feature?section=

news/politics/local_elections&id=7211744

Right now we are finalizing our TV budget for the last weeks of the campaign. If you or someone else would like to make a contribution to nominating the strongest candidate for Illinois Republicans, please go to our web site, http://www.AndyforUSSenator.com where you can make an online donation.

Be sure to watch the Channel 7 Republican Senate candidates’ debate Thursday night. You will be surprised by what you learn about Mr. Kirk.

And do see if you can round up some cash so we can round up our TV ad budget. We have a strong message to share with Republican voters. We need your help to broadcast that message.

Best wishes,

ANDY

U. S. Senate candidate Andy Martin says Mark Kirk’s campaign is “in a state of panic”

After agreeing to participate in a debate on Chicago’s Channel 7, Mark Kirk has fled the city and organized a rival event in East Peoria

NEWS FROM:
ANDY MARTIN /2010
“The Name You Can Trust”
Republican for U. S. Senator
30 E. Huron Street, Suite 4406
Chicago, IL 60611-4723
(866) 706-2639
http://www.AndyforUSSenator.com
http://www.AndyforUSSenator.blogspot.com
http://www.AndyforUSSenator.wordpress.com

http://www.MarkKirk.us
http://www.IllinoisHighSpeedTrains.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Mark Kirk flees Chicago, reneges on agreement to debate on WLS-TV

Andy Martin promises a “sizzling” Channel 7 debate, with or without Mark Kirk

Kirk’s “default” is unprecedented in American politics

Martin says his “Bunker Busters” have devastated Kirk’s campaign

Martin’s next Bunker Buster will be produced January 14th, begins airing statewide on the 18th

Andy promises an “explosive” disclosure at the Channel 7 debate

“Andy’s Air Force” will continue to bombard Kirk

(CHICAGO)(January 12, 2010) Republican U. S. Senate candidate and insurgent “Internet Powerhouse” Andy Martin announced Tuesday that Mark Kirk has fled the City of Chicago after agreeing to a televised debate on Channel 7 Thursday, January 14th. Mark Kirk agreed in December to participate in a Republican candidates’ debate, as part of a series of debates of Democratic and Republican Party candidates for U. S. Senator and governor produced by WLS-TV.

Kirk has apparently now withdrawn his agreement and left the City of Chicago. In disgrace.

“What does it say for ‘Gungha Kirk,’ who claims to be winning the Afghan war single-handedly, that he is afraid to debate his opponents?” Martin asks. “It says that Kirk is terrified he is losing the primary and has moved into full panic mode.

“Kirk’s East Peoria event was only announced on Monday. He is using ‘pay-to-play’ to lure county chairman to schedule a bogus ‘meeting’ as a diversionary tactic. The Bunker Busters have broken the morale of Kirk’s campaign. The candidate is afraid to appear. Kirk has not been seen at any function open to the public since returning to Illinois. He only appears at closed, controlled-access meetings. This is the media’s darling? This is the ‘establishment’ candidate? Kirk is not Illinois Tough; I am,” Martin says.

“I did a little quick research,” Martin notes. “There is no record that a statewide candidate for national office in any state has ever failed to debate after agreeing to do so. It’s an unprecedented collapse in American political history. Kirk is in full panic mode. While the effete, elite media sing his praises with citations to Kirk’s imaginary military record, in reality Kirk’s campaign is dying.

“The senate primary is now a two-man race between me and Kirk. I mean no disrespect to the other candidates, but no one takes them seriously as opponents for Kirk, or the Democrats. No one doubts I am ‘Illinois Tough’ and ready to fight to the death for conservative principles. No one doubts that it was my Bunker Busters that broke Kirk’s will to fight. I will do the same to the Democrats.

“The fact that Kirk is not at the debate will only increase the intensity of the attacks. Thursday night’s WLS-TV debate is going to be a historic TV event. Kirk is a coward. A candidate who was genuinely forty points ahead, as the Chicago Tribune’s bogus poll indicated, would not cut and run. He would stand and fight if he had a secure lead.

“The humiliation of defaulting after agreeing to debate is shattering to the Kirk image. And the Kirkster is all image. Obviously, his ‘lead’ has evaporated. Kirk’s campaign is collapsing.

“My attacks on Mr. Kirk have admittedly been unpleasant. I wish I didn’t have to make them. But they were 100% fair and accurate. I have unfortunately had to expose the true nature of Kirk’s two-faced life and career. And there’s more to come. The Bunker Busters will keep rolling as long as money permits. We are out beating the bushes for more cash to run ads. We are looking for TV money. Now people can now see that my claims we are taking down Kirk are not an exaggeration. I took a candidate the Chicago media worships and literally ran him out of the city. That’s an Internet Powerhouse for you.

“Kirk will be hiding out in East Peoria while the debate will go on in Chicago. The little critter is afraid to face me. I have half a mind to send a few Asian carp downriver to chase after him,” Martin says. “The Bunker Busters have brought reality crashing down on Mark Kirk.

“Stunningly, the Democrats are also observing Kirk’s retreat. They smell the blood in the Illinois River. Kirk’s credibility and inevitability is shattered. Kirk’s ‘escape from Chicago’ has confirmed my claim I am going to pull the upset of the decade on February 2nd.”

Kirk’s last-minute announcement, released Monday January 11th:

You’re Invited

A Special Republican Joint Meeting of the Peoria, Tazewell and Woodford County Central Committees

For Precinct Committeemen and Spouses

To Meet Congressman Mark Kirk, Candidate for United States Senate

Thursday, January 14, 2009

7:00 Meet and Greet
7:30 to 8:30 Questions and Answers Program

Embassy Suites Hotel Conference Center, 100 Conference Drive, East Peoria
(Off of Camp Street, right next to the Bob Michel Bridge)

Please come and participate in a presentation with direct questions from Precinct Committeemen to candidate Mark Kirk and listen to his answers first-hand.

The event is free of charge and open to all Precinct Committee members and spouses.

By Jim Kershner
The Spokesman-Review

When KREM-2 anchor Charles Rowe retires on Nov. 30, it will be the end of a TV career that stretches back to the Reagan Administration.

Not his presidential administration; we’re talking about Reagan’s gubernatorial administration in California in 1967.

Rowe has been at KREM-2 for 20 years, plus long stints in L.A. and Chicago, yet before that he served as the state capital reporter at a Sacramento TV station from 1967 to 1969. That’s where Rowe accumulated his store of Reagan anecdotes.

“It was fascinating just watching Reagan operate,” said Rowe. “I remember one weekend, the hippies and anti-war folks were threatening to camp out on the capitol lawn. The gardens there are meticulous, just beautiful. The word was that they would camp out there and destroy the vegetation. I asked Reagan, ‘What are you going to do? Call out the guard or the capitol police?’ He said, ‘Well, Charles, I’ll just turn on the sprinklers.’ And that’s what he did and there were no problems.”

Actually, Rowe, 71, goes back even farther than that in broadcast journalism. This Chadron, Neb., native got his start working weekends in 1958 at a Hot Springs, S.D., radio station. By 1966, he had moved into TV journalism, if that’s the correct term for a one-man news operation in a Quonset hut in Coos Bay, Ore.

“We had to go out and sandbag the place at high tide,” said Rowe.

The switch from radio to TV was difficult for other reasons as well.

“I’ll be honest with you,” said Rowe. “It may seem odd, but I’ve never been that comfortable in front of a camera. I think it has something to do with the fact that I’m basically a shy guy to begin with. I’ve never been one to look for the spotlight, and it was difficult: All of the sudden you’re walking around town and people know you and you don’t know whothey are.”

He went quickly from Coos Bay to Eugene, and then on to Sacramento. His rise after that was, by any measure, dizzying. By 1969, he was anchoring and reporting in Chicago, the third-largest TV market in the country. How did a boy from Chadron handle that?

“Not well,” said Rowe with a chuckle. “I got there in January 1969, it was cold, and the first story I went out on I was drenched with a fire hose in temperatures around zero. And the city wasn’t what I was used to growing up in. Finally the news director and I had a heart-to-heart. He said, ‘Charles you have to go with the flow. This may not be the most livable place you’ve ever been, but it’s time to step up.’ I said, ‘OK, I got the message.’ Then my work ethic kicked in and I started working seven days a week.”

He anchored the news in the mornings and then delivered three five-minute daily newscasts for the ABC Radio Network. Paul Harvey was right down the hallway.

“When he said, ‘Hello, Charles,’ it made my day,” said Rowe.

Five years later, he was anchoring in Los Angeles, the second-largest TV market in the nation. He worked there from 1974 to 1981 (with a brief interlude in Portland). He looks back on the whole time as a whirlwind.

“L.A. had so many high-profile stories, you tend to forget them,” he said.

And he wasn’t just anchoring: Rowe was cast in more than a dozen Hollywood films and TV shows.

“Every time, it was as a news reporter or an anchor,” said Rowe. “KTTV was an independent station and my contract did not forbid me from appearing in TV shows or movies. The network affiliates prevented their anchors from doing so.”

So Rowe got a Screen Actors Guild card and plenty of work. For instance, Rowe appeared in “When Hell Was in Session” in 1979, in “Midnight Lace” in 1981 and something called “Blood Beach” in 1981.

“Oh, you don’t want to forget about ‘Blood Beach,’ “ said Rowe, with a laugh. “It’s a teenybopper horror movie in the sand at Santa Monica. Did I survive? Barely. It was great fun. You can still rent it.”

Does Rowe own a copy?

“No, I never kept any of that stuff,” he said.

Rowe also appeared in a lot of shows you have heard of: “Knot’s Landing,” “Dynasty,” “BJ and the Bear,” “Quincy,” “The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo” and “The Rockford Files.”

Just look for the guy standing there with a microphone.

“The funny thing is, I’m still getting residuals for maybe, $4, for some of this stuff when it runs in foreign countries,” said Rowe. “ ‘The Rockford Files’ is still running somewhere.”

By 1981, he had had enough of L.A. and decided to return to his original line of work: radio. He moved to Lincoln City, Ore., and built a new station from the ground up, KCRF-FM.

“Those years I owned that station was the most fun I’ve ever had,” said Rowe. “It was a middle-of-the-road adult contemporary station, very heavy on local news. We won a lot of awards for news coverage. I’m very proud of that station. I wasn’t making a lot of money but I sure was having a lot of fun.”

So he sold it in 1987 and heard about an opening at KREM-2. He has been there ever since. From his anchor chair, he has presided over most of the momentous stories in the region, including the story he called the most memorable – the B-52 crash at Fairchild Air Force Base – and the two he said vied for “most disgusting” – serial killer Robert Yates and the tragedy at Ruby Ridge.

Now, he said, the time is right to hang it up. In fact, he felt that way last year.

“I was going to do it a year ago, but management asked me if I would stay another year,” said Rowe.

KREM news director Noah Cooper, in a prepared statement, called Rowe “the bedrock of KREM-2 News for 20 years.” Cooper said Rowe “breathed news his entire professional career.”

Rowe’s longtime co-anchor, Nadine Woodward, said the reality of Rowe’s retirement “just hasn’t hit me yet.”

“We’ve gotten along so well on the air many of our viewers actually thought we were married,” wrote Woodward, in an e-mail interview. “Charles is a gracious anchor, never one to steal the spotlight. And he’s always prepared. He preps more for each newscast than any anchor I’ve ever worked with.”

For a man who admittedly gave all of his time to his career, retirement might require an adjustment.

“I don’t have very many hobbies,” said Rowe. “I’ve taken up photography to some degree, so I still have that to conquer. I have a place in Oregon down on the beach. I’ll be spending a little time with that. I look forward to going down there and smelling a little salt air. The deepwater fishing around Depoe Bay, I’ll be spending some time with that.”

He is not married, but he said “I have been with the same lady for 17 years”: Laurine Jue, formerly a KREM-2 anchor and now a spokeswoman for Avista. He plans to continue to make Spokane his base.

He hopes to do some volunteer work at Spokane’s Veteran’s Affairs Medical Center as “a way to serve my country a little bit.” He’s a proud veteran of the Navy – he served aboard destroyers and achieved the rank of E-6 by the time he got out in 1958.

He hopes his farewell from the station will be low-key.

“Saying goodbye, I’ve never been very good at this kind of thing,” said Rowe. “When people have left the news department here, I’ve always just given them a handshake and say, ‘A job well done.’ And I’d appreciate the same thing.”

Sunday, November 18, 2007