Close to home...

As a television news department our primary mission is to report the news in a fair and objective manner. However, that gets difficult to do when the news is devastating and hits so close to home.

A rowhouse fire erupted on "F" street in Northeast DC on Monday afternoon. Investigators believe the fire was caused by some oily rags being stored next to some propane canisters in one of the homes.

It's believed those rags ignited the propane, setting off an explosion that caused a major inferno.

Four firefighters were trapped in that blaze and are in the hospital. One of firefighters is still in critical condition.

His name is Sgt. Michael Lacore. He is the son of one of our co-workers, Madeline Lacore. Madeline has been with the station for many years and is our Community Relations Senior Producer.

During this time, our thoughts and prayers are with all the brave firefighters, Madeline and her courageous son.

For video and more information on this story, please navigate to:
http://www.wusa9.com/news/columnist/blogs/davestatter.aspx

Anchors Away....

You HAVE to check out this video from KXTV out in Sacramento, California. The video link is courtesy of First Coast News in Jacksonville, Florida.

http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/strange/news-article.aspx?

Courage...

"Courage, it would seem, is nothing less than the power to overcome danger, misfortune, fear, injustice, while continuing to affirm inwardly that life with all its sorrows is good; that everything is meaningful even if in a sense beyond our understanding; and that there is always tomorrow."
Dorothy Thompson, American freelance writer, author of books for children, journalist and anthologist.

I'm sure you're wondering what this has to do with television news. Hey, I'm in TV. I can link anything back to tv news!

In an earlier blog, I wrote about my old college roommate's wife who is battling leukemia. Chip Dicomo and I worked together at WUFT TV in Gainesville, Florida and had the honor of producing and directing the University of Florida homecoming parade during our senior year.

Chip brought his wife to Johns Hopkins in Baltimore for treatment. Trish (Chip's wife) was in remission and then last February, the disease reared it's ugly head again.

Trish has been a fighter throughout the whole process.

The doctors have beat back the leukemia again, but then she had to be operated on for gall bladder issues. She came through that and was ready to go home back to Miramar and even had thoughts of contacting the Memories of Love program to make arrangements for a well-earned vacation.

This past Saturday, Trish had another set back and developed some internal bleeding. She's still too weak to do further surgery and the doctors at the time said it was a matter of hours.

Hours have turned into a couple of days and things are on a "guarded" upswing...still the prognosis isn't good...but you never know.

I went to visit them yesterday to help out in any way I could. The best support I could give was a shoulder for people to cry on or just to take them out of the room for a little while and let them talk.

As I left, I went back into the room to say my goodbyes to Chip.

Opening the door, I saw an image I don't think I'll ever forget. In the past, I've seen Trish as strong and fit. She was always in good condition.

Yet, there she was in bed, tubes tied up into her, no hair and frail looking. Chip and his two sons (15) and now (17) were surrounding Trish offering prayers of support, their eyes red with the tears they were so hard trying to hold back.

I have to say after yesterday, I've never seen a more courageous man than Chip. His family has been through so much.
It makes me remember that I'm still learning how to live life from people like Chip and his wife Trish! I'd invite you to read Chip's blog or just scan through it. It's at: http://trish.dicomo.net/
I would also like to share a picture of Chip and his beautiful wife, Trish in happier times. Pictured with Trish and Chip are my girls, Kaitlyn on the left with Laurel on the right.

An American Fairytale...

Usually, this blog is about television news and newscasts. I'd like to take a moment to write about movie directors.

Alex Pikas, a local film director has a new movie out. The film was screened Thursday evening at the Bethesda Landmark Cinema. The name of the film is, "Copley: An American Fairytale."
It's a supernatural mystery/thriller shot locally in Silver Spring, Maryland.

Starring in the film are David Sullivan ("Primer," "The Astronaut Farmer"), Johnny Alonso ("Dawson's Creek," "One Tree Hill"), and Kevin Jiggetts ("Law & Order: SUV" and"Miracle's Boys").

"Copley" is a visually stunning ghost story with a plot that twists and turns its way through spirits and malevolent happenings.

The best thing about the film is that it takes a page from the master, Alfred Hitchcock and leaves the gore and the profanity out of the film, but remains high on suspense and chills! When the movie debuts in wide distribution, I'll be sure to let you know!

In today's selection of movies, it's rare that you have a film such as this one that will leave you on the edge of your seat without grossing you out.

Click here to watch a clip of the film from Thursday evening's 11pm newscast!

Connect The Dots--

Wednesday was a jam packed day for news.

Out in Hybla Valley, Virginia, a gunman barricaded himself on a Fairfax County Connector bus. At the same time, police were investigating the discovery of a dead body in a near by park. For commuters, this meant major traffic delays for the area known as the Springfield Mixing bowl. For everyone at the television station, it meant full blown coverage of the standoff with special reports and multiple reporters live from the scene.

Cindy Pena was our lead reporter on the event and reported the events with precision and candor.

By 6:30pm, the gunman surrendered to police. When the 11pm newscast aired, police connected the dots and said the two events were related.

Today, we find out that the suspect was convicted of attacking a woman in Culpeper County earlier this month. However, the judge placed him on house arrest until his sentencing.

Any murder is horrible, but I find that crimes of this nature particularly abhorrent. In this case, we have a suspect that was convicted of attacking a woman and instead of being in jail; he's placed on house arrest.

How does that happen??

As I direct the news each evening, I try to "turn myself off" to the events of the day. It doesn’t always work, especially when I hear stories like this and that of Alicia Kozakiewicz. She was the girl who was lured away from her home after developing an online friendship with a “14-year old girl.”
That "friend" turned out to a Herndon, Virginia man who locked her in a cage in his basement, then beat her, tortured her and raped her for four days.

Yesterday, Ms. Kozakiewicz pleaded with Congress to do more to catch internet predators targeting children. While the story is tragic in nature, I congratulate Ms. Kozakiewicz for bringing her story to Congress and the nation. That had to take tremendous courage and valor. To me, Ms. Kozakiewicz is a true champion.

Moving on today, our topic in health is about autism. Some researchers say there are studies that prove by regulating certain foods; it can help the symptoms of an autistic child.

From a personal experience, I know that to be true. I have a nephew that has autism. His parents have been on the forefront with experimental therapy and have routinely regulated his diet.

While my nephew still lives with this challenge, he communicates his needs, expresses his love for his parents and family and has a happy disposition.

Here's a sneak peek at the story from our 5pm promo.

Playing Dead...

Yesterday was an interesting day. It was one of those days where we had a great line up of news and then a bunch of breaking news tore into our rundowns. We did get in one story that I found fascinating.

Playing dead literally saved the life of a 14 year old boy scout. He was at a scout camp in Pennsylvania in Hickory Run State Park. The bear broke into the tent where the boy was sleeping. Remembering his boy scout training, the young boy pretended to be "dead." Talk about courage! The boy is nursing a leg bite and some nasty bruises.

His buddies also get some credit in saving his life! Those quick-thinking scouts banged pans and turned on lights to drive-away the bear. You can bet they've ALL earned themselves a new scout badge. Click here to watch the video from our promo.

As you view the video, you'll see the injuries the boy sustained and realize how fortunate he was!

You'll also see video from the promo we've been airing Tuesday afternoon. The station has been running a contest with the Redskins. The current prize is an autographed jersey from Chris Cooley. The winner will be announced during our 5pm newscast.

Training

One of the most consistent things you'll find at a television station is the training of new employees. It's a constant wheel that must keep moving due to turnover of employees, vacation and illness.

As such, we like all our production assistants to be up to speed in every position. I've mentioned Tom Hunsicker in a past blog. Tom has worked in our sports department as an intern. That was a few semesters ago. After his internship was over, he hung around the sports department and helped them out on his own time. That’s finally paid off for him. He now has a paying job in our production department.

He started running the teleprompter and we're now training him to floor direct during our broadcasts. For those of you that don't know, the floor director is at the side of the cameras directing the anchors from one camera to the next.

Here's a small piece of video to give you an idea of where the floor director is positioned in the studio.

Tom is a marvelous asset to the television station. We’re all fortunate to have someone of Tom’s caliber working with us to bring you the news of the day!

Promotions

On a daily basis, we tape or do live promotions teasing what's coming up on our newscasts. We try to tape them in places that the viewer normally wouldn't see in a newscast. Today, we did the promo in our control room. I've posted pictures of the control room, but now, here's a chance to see video of our control room. Click here to watch the promo.