New Fed Rules, FInal Four and APB For My Wallet

Good Morning!
There's a lot to talk about this morning and not a lot of it has to do with the news. When the second page of the metro section in the paper is a full page paid advertisement that looks like a news article...you know it's a slow news day.

Fed Rules
Billed as the biggest change to regulation of the financial services industry since the Great Depression, the Bush administration rolls out it's plans for the Fed today. The idea here isn't that this is going to change the current economic problems...the new rules are supposed to help stop future problems before they start.

NCAA
The final four is set and it's the first time all of the number one seed have made it. I can;'t wait to see all four of these teams play. I think you're going to get some really good basketball next weekend. That said, who didn't want to see those kids from Davidson win? They just seemed to work harder than everyone they played. They took a VERY good KU team down to the last shot and had a chance to win it. In the end I think you've got the four best teams in the country playing next weekend.

Opening Day
The President threw out the first pitch at the Nationals' new stadium last night to officially kick off the season. That's about the fifth "official" start to the season this year. As always my hopes are at their highest right now...that will last until about 1:20 this afternoon when (if the Cubs start playing) I will begin the long spiral down. No seriously, I think this is the year (there's that optimism again).

Weekend
I spent most of my weekend at a funeral in Dubuque. My Dad's family gathered there to say goodbye to My Uncle Kenny. He married my Dad's sister Ann 58 years ago, served as a medic in the Navy attached to a Marine unit in Korea, served his country again as a postal worker, and raised 9 kids. Ken was, without a doubt, one of my favorite uncles.

The weekend didn't get any better Sunday morning when I went to the gym. I had my wallet in my pants pocket and transferred it to my jacket. It wasn't there by the time I was done.
Either someone went into my jacket and took the wallet, or I dropped it somewhere.
I think someone took it. I scoured every place I could have dropped it and it wasn't anywhere...no one turned it in to the front desk.
What a pain in the keister it is to try to cancel everything and make sure no one is using your credit cards or debit cards. And, of course, the driver license station is closed today so I can't go get a replacement for that.

Anyway we'll hope the week gets better from here. I hope you have a good day. Stay dry.

Overnight Shooting, Courthouse, and Video Blog

Good Morning!
We're starting something new on the Morning Buzz this morning. Jeriann is starting a video blog. She wants to take some of the stuff that comes up in the day to day and see what your take is.




Overnight Shooting

So when did the pizza delivery guy start carrying a gun. I have no idea what it's like to deliver pizzas in this town, so I can't speak with any authority on this, but I would think there aren't too many places you'd need a gun. Then again, tell that to the guy who was held up at gunpoint late last night. The delivery guy being robbed pulled a second gun and shot the guy trying to rob him. The alleged robber is in critical condition at Mercy last time we checked


Courthouse Renovation

Jeriann asked this morning...do we really need to spend 127 million dollars on a Courthouse? Everything I've seen and read says the answer is, yes. This is one of those expenses that no one wants to deal with but it's essential to ensure a smooth and orderly judiciary in the county. Right now the courts are in a 100 year old building that was never designed to handle the challenges of modern court cases. $127 million sounds like a lot this building needs to last another 100 years.

I know the County hasn't always spent money in the way some taxpayers think is responsible. This isn't a case of the County being irresponsible. In fact, it's a case of the county taxpayers waiting way too long to fix a problem. Feel free to weigh in with your opinion but the bottom line is, you can go see for yourself. the County Judge's are giving tours of the courthouse tomorrow morning. The vote is April 29th.

Swimsuit Controversy
An Iowa Ste University Professor helped develop the swimsuit that's helping swimmers break records at the World Championships. Here's a link to an article about the controversy surrounding the new suit by Radio Iowa. Pretty cool!

Wedding RSVP

So Jeriann brought up the question: How do you deal with the people who RSVP yes for your wedding and then don't show up. Things are going to happen, someone's always going to have to miss the reception. The problem? You've already paid for it. This remains a sore spot at our house nine years after my wedding. In an unprecedented move four of my fraternity brothers passed up the chance for free food and booze and missed the reception. The funny part is...they were at the ceremony. Usually it's the other way around. We still don't speak their names. Jeriann says she's going to add to this. we'll also add in a video link for her explanation of the wedding pictures Brooke took.

Unfortunately no Noon show for me again this Friday. I have to go to a family funeral in Dubuque. Maybe I'll talk more about that Monday morning. For now, enjoy the weekend.

PWD

Close Race, Gas Apathy and My Civic Duty

Good Morning!

NBC just released it's latest Presidential poll and it looks like a close race any way you slice it. The two democrats are essentially tied when Dems are asked about preference. Pretty much any combination of candidates is in a close race for the November election.

The side note to this is the undercurrent in the Dems race. Is the Clinton camp trying to undermine Sen Obama if he wins the nomination and takes on Sen McCain? Maureen Dowd writes about that exact scenerio in the NYT.

Census Numbers

Good news bad new but not surprising in the 2007 census numbers for Iowa. The big cities are gaining people, the little rural counties are losing people. Iowa's population overall in up more than two percent.

Here comes the Flood

Here's the info from Dan Winters' Story about the Community Center in Fort Dodge that flooded. The sprinkler system burst and flooded the entire building. What a mess!
P.O. BOX 406
FORT DODGE, IOWA
50501.
or call: (515) 408-0334.

Sleep

Megan Reuther talked about sleep, or lack of it, this morning. We're all feeling a little sleep deprived right now but I don't think it has anything to do with the hours. I'm thinking it's just that time of year. Any of the other bloggers feeling especially run down? A little sunshine and more outdoor activity will help I'm sure. Bottom line on Megan's story: if you're waking up a lot at night, if you feel tired even after you've been sleeping for more than eight hours, or if you're falling asleep in your soup[ at lunch...go see a doctor and get tested.

Opening Day

We're just a couple of days away from the I-Cubs opening their season in Des Moines. Next Thursday at 3:05. Maybe we'll do something with the Morning crew out there. I, for one, am going to at least try to make the game. A hot dog sounds pretty good right now.

Civic Duty

Thanks to all of the bloggers who've responded that I should just pay my fine and shut up. I see your point and in a lot of ways I agree.

Don't get me wrong, I'm still going to fight the fine. I think I'm going to lose, but I think the City should hear from somebody about the process.

I'm actually glad to hear more of you say people should take responsibility for their own stuff than there are people who say I should try to get out of the fine. I'm taking applications for vacation snow blowing duties at the Dix household.

You've also inspired me to a new level of Civic awareness.

Have a good day!

PWD

Iowa City murders, The Governor and the veto and breaking news

Good morning everyone. Pat is having a "power breakfast" with Barry Griswell, so I am getting things started on the blog this morning. He'll chime in a little later in the morning.
OK a lot later. We did go have coffee with Mr Griswell. He was really gracious with his time.

Meanwhile, we have a lot of illness going around here at WHO. Heather our morning show producer has been out for two days leaving one of our associate producers without a day off in a long time. Thanks Wade. And, you may have noticed Pat and I doing traffic this week because Brad is also under the weather. Hopefully their immune systems will recover soon and things behind the scenes will get back to normal. Although I am not sure if normal is ever the word to describe a newsroom...

Breaking News
Megan Reuther was in the newsroom and caught wind of something happening on the police scanner in east Des Moines at around 5:30 this morning. The Des Moines Police tactical unit was being called out to a possible domestic situation. When police got there they realized the guy wasn't holding anyone inside the home, but they went ahead and blocked off the neighborhood and told people living in the area to stay inside. They were planning to halt bus service too just in case the guy was armed. Police were eventually able to get him out of the house and the roads reopened.

Iowa City Murders
The details keep getting more gruesome and sad. We report a lot of bad things happening in this world, but this is about as bad as it gets. Police yesterday revealed that Steve Sueppel likely killed his wife and four kids with a baseball bat. Investigators think he killed his wife first then tried to kill himself and his kids with carbon monoxide by sticking everyone in the van in the garage. When that didn't work, he killed them one by one with the bat in their rooms.

Showdown at the Statehouse
Governor Culver came back from vacation and had some harsh words for the Democrats in the Senate. During a news conference yesterday said he would very likely veto a bill they passed that gives unions more negotiating power. Culver said he told lawmakers to take their time passing this bill and to really weigh the pros and cons but apparently the Governor didn't think they listened to him. Republicans are singing Culver's praises this morning for his actions.

That's it. See you tomorrow. Also, look for Jeriann's video blog to start soon. More details to come!
My folks are coming to town this afternoon to see the new baby. Should be fun to hang out. They're coming in to see the noon show. I'm not sure they've ever watched me do a newscast before...

Brooke and Pat

Iowa City Murders, ISU Out and Fighting City Hall

Good Morning.
Hope you all enjoy the weather Jeriann arranged this morning. It was near 50 when I walked out the door this morning and she told us it's just going to get better today. I think Spring might finally be winning out over winter.

To the News

Iowa City Deaths
As the deaths in Iowa city unfolded yesterday were just kept hearing more and more that made the story even sadder. It would appear a family is dead and I'm not sure we'll ever get a full explanation of why. It will likely have something to do with a scandal that none of the kids had anything to do with. There's a vigil we'll cover in Iowa City today and the autopsies on all of the bodies will be performed today.

Fair Share?
Someone's going to have to explain this one to me. I'm not sure I understand the ins and outs of the bill that would give Unions more power to negotiate more issues and the bargaining table. There are a number of elected officials on School Boards, County Boards and City Councils who seem to think that's going to be a bad idea in the end. They seemed to believe this will drive up property taxes by tacking on either salary or benefit issues to contracts with public workers. Democrats call it fear mongering. Republicans are calling this taxation without representation. The weirdest part of this is that the Governor seemed willing to consider vetoing the bill. We'll see.

Cyclones Fall Short
But How can you take anything but positives out of this weekend's experience in Des Moines. Iowa State probably lost to a better team Monday night but Iowa showed up well for the Cyclones who will probably be hosting another set of first and second round games soon.

Going Green
Are we doing enough to reduce our contribution to garbage, global warming etc? That's the question we've been asking around our house this week. We're not sure but there was an interesting article to get the conversation started in Outdoor Magazine. It's certainly got a liberal slant and I can't say I agree with everything in the article but I think it's an interesting way to frame the debate. Any thoughts?

Fighting City Hall
So the Public works Department slapped me with a $50 fine for not shoveling my walk. I am filing an appeal. See previous blogs for the specifics of the manhunt and special investigation that followed my neighbor's complaint about my walk...
The neighborhood has a theory on who's filing complaints. I'm tempted to go out an introduce myself to everyone who walks by the house and simply say, "Hey just wanted to let you know, if there's every anything I can do for you...knock on the door instead of making a Federal Case out of it." We'll see if I can argue my way out of this one. And again, to be clear, I am not trying to get out of shoveling off my walk. To quote Eddie Murphy from Beverly Hills Cop, "I was on VACATION!"

Have a good day!
PWD

Iraq Milestone, March Madness Monday and Las Vegas

Good Morning!

I've got toothpicks to keep my eyelids up this morning after a long but very fun weekend in Las Vegas. I went out for the first weekend of the NCAA tournament which is also fun. I'm sorry to disappoint some of you...there was no Anchors Gone Wild moment over the weekend. Just a lot of basketball, some good food and some poker tournaments. I'm glad to report I had some success at the games, but as they say...this is for entertainment only.
We did have a brush with relative fame...Kevin Federline turned 30 over the weekend and had a party at Ceasar's Palace. There were about 1000 people standing outside the club waiting to get into the party and some kind of red carpet thingie where a handful of cameras and "reporters" stood around waiting for the stars to show up.
I'm not quite sure who they were waiting for...maybe the guy who starred in the Nationwide Insurance Superbowl commercial with Federline.
I can't find any reports of anyone who's actually famous being at the party but there was this description of KFed's party antics repeated over and over in the tabloids:

During the ensuing profanity-filled speech, Federline reportedly told everyone to enjoy themselves and shared a bit of his own Las Vegas woes."I lost my voice at the craps tables and I lost all my money," he told his fellow party-goers.

Great...so I guess we didn't so much have a brush with fame as we did with a foul-mouthed never famous, loser, ex-husband of a crazy has been pop star. They'll give a red carpet to anybody these days.

Anyway kudos to Allegiant airlines...they run a great operation....and by that I mean they got me there and back safely.

To the News:

Iraq

We debated the merits of the story about the 4,000th casualty of the war this morning before we went on. I think we all agreed it's news but how to put the number in context is more complicated. Now five years into the war and 4,000 dead. Any American death is a tragedy, but when you're talking about a conflict of the size and scale happening in Iraq, isn't that casualty number low? I'm not a military expert but I'd like to hear some talk about this in context.

Waveland Trail

The City of Des Moines looks like it will move forward with plans to extend the Walnut Creek trail. In the interest of full disclosure, this one is in my backyard...literally.

Some of my neighbors say they don't like the idea of a trail running near their homes. Crime, vandalism and other concerns are on their list of reasons. I can't see it. A well maintained trail has the potential to enhance the neighborhood. Frankly I think it's an addition to quality of life for the whole area...I'd like to hear any objections and any reasoning that goes along with it, but i think extending the trails you can bike or jog or walk on in this city would be a great idea.

March Madness

Drake's Heartbreaking loss included...there were some great basketball games this weekend....but now I'm happy to say this city can turn its attention to the Women's games going on at the Wells Fargo Arena. No offense to Drake...I'd love to see them still in the tournament, but this is an important night for Central Iowa if we want to host events like this in the future.

If this game were earlier...I'd be there. I was standing at a restaurant in Las Vegas this weekend and a couple of people were watching the ISU game on ESPN. They both commented what a great atmosphere it looked like on TV.

Hope you have a good Monday!

PWD

It's good to be an Iowa sports fan

Good morning everyone. Yes, Pat is off again today which means you were stuck with me for the entire 2 hours this morning. My colleague is in Sin City during Holy Week. Go ahead and insert joke here. Anyway, hopefully he's getting some sleep. We got an e-mail from him this morning after I got in at 3:15 saying he was STILL up and doing well on one of the poker tables. He's back on Monday and I cannot wait to hear all the good stories.

To the news...

Drake's Big Day
I have read so many stories about Drake this week that I actually had a dream about the team playing in the tournament last night. In case you wondering, they won. Hopefully my dreams are prophetic. We'll find out in a few hours. Drake plays at 11:30. I have a feeling a lot of people will be taking long lunch breaks today. Go Bulldogs!!

Also... just wanted to comment on the post we got yesterday about the Henry Iba Award story I read on Friday.

"Good Morning Brooke-this is the spirit of Henry Iba. If you refer to Keno Davis' award on Thursday morning, please remember it is the Henry Iba award, not the Henry I B A award. I nearly fell over laughing at that one, kind of like you are not Brooke B O U M A. Guess good help really is hard to find!"

Awhhh.. that's so sweet. Thank you.

And if you are reading this Marty Tirrell... you're the best!


Iowa Women
The NCAA Women's tournament starts this weekend and some of the games are being played here in Des Moines at Wells Fargo Arena. This is a big victory for Des Moines to get this because there are thousands of fans coming into town to watch their favorite teams play. Iowa State is one of them and about 4,000 tickets to their first game tomorrow have been sold. That's very telling about the team's following. University of Iowa plays on Sunday in Virginia. Girl Power!!

Wrestling
We are also covering the NCAA Wrestling Tournament in St. Louis. Iowa and Iowa State are hoping to take home the championship this year. Right now Iowa is leading and Iowa State is in third.

All of these Iowa teams make me proud of our state. Not many other states can boast so many great college teams.

Richardson Endorses Obama
Even though Bill Richardson served in Bill Clinton's cabinet and was close to the Clinton family, he decided to endorse Barack Obama. This could be one more sign that the path to the nomination is getting very narrow for Hillary.

It's Easter weekend and I hope all of you who are celebrating have a good time with family and friends. I am headed to Ottumwa to spend time with my family and eat lots of good food. See you Monday morning!

Brooke

Conference Committee, Des Moines Makes the List and March Madness Begins

Good Morning!

I'm headed out of town again this weekend so I'll leave things in Brooke's capable hands until Monday morning. I'm headed to Vegas for the weekend with a friend from Detroit. He's never been to Las Vegas so this should be interesting. If there is any photo evidence I'll post it Monday. It's more likely I'll just give you a watered down version of what happened.

Conference Committee

A 10 member committee of Republicans and Democrats will try to hammer out a compromise on a smoking ban. Bottom line there will be at least one exception for casinos and maybe more. If they can't make anything happen...we've sure spent a lot of time talking about this for nothin.

Also at the statehouse, the new cigarette tax implemented last year raised as much money as they thought it would...$135 million.

New Homes

We made a point of adding in the fact that statistics about new housing construction were national and not local numbers. The bottom line is that new construction numbers are down.

There are some people who think that some of the problems with the economy are self-fulfilling. We all hear so many bad things...we don't spend money because we're being cautious...the economy suffers. There may be some of that in the equation but its hard to deny the strain on the US economy right now. Still we want to distinguish between places like Florida and California where thousands and thousands of families are in foreclosure...and Iowa, where we certainly have seen more than usual, but nothing like the coasts...

Green Good, Green Bad

There's a story about the mercury level in those long lasting light bulbs we've all been told to use and it's not flattering. Apparently the long life light bulbs have a higher mercury content so when we throw them away we may be polluting drinking water... Great. Did someone not think of this before we told the entire nation that they should put these things in? I mean it's a light bulb. There aren't that many ingredients that make it go. How did we miss that one? Anyway after reading the article it sounds like no one played the tape to the end and thought...how do we dispose of all of these light bulbs we're telling people to use?

Des Moines Career Business

I saw the email from Forbes magazine and almost fell off my chair. Des Moines is ranked fourth best city in the nation for business and career. Forbes ranks the top 100 cities in the nation on things like unemployment, education of the workforce, crime, That's not bad.....but my reaction is one that I've criticized other Iowans for having in the past. Sometimes it takes an article like this to let us know we really do live in a great place. I know a lot of people dismiss Iowa but I'm convinced they've never been here. We're starting to see the fruits of a lot of years of work. Other people are recognizing that Des Moines is a great place to be.

March Madness

The governor has bet Iowa Pork against a Corvette windbreaker that Drake is going to win this weekend. the bet is with the governor of Kentucky (where they make Corvettes). Drake is in Tampa and now the question is...how far can they go in the tournament?

How many of you will be watching from your computer at work. Someone estimated the lost productivity this next three or four weeks at 2 billion dollars. It's really only the first two weeks of the tournament. After that the games are at night or on the weekend for the most part.

I'll be one of the millions watching this weekend. Have a good one and I'll see you Monday!

PWD

5th Anniversary, Bottle Bill, and 11lbs 10oz

Good Morning!

Hump Day and though the temperature is in the 50's it's the snow I'm going to start with this morning. At about 5:10 this morning we talked about the snow budget for Nevada Schools. It was set at about $5000, they spent close to $60,000.

Now... I commented that I thought the $5000 might have been a low estimate and that I'd spent $5000 on gas for my own driveway.

Here's the comment that followed shortly after:

just this morning [wednesday], commenting on a blurb that nevada schools spent $60K on snow removal after budgeting only $5K, patrick said he thought he spent $5K on gas for his snow blower this year.i think it is absolutely disgusting even to joke about such an admission of wastefulness.with all the news and concerns about obesity concerns and energy dependence, i think it is time for folks to step up and start setting proper examples and remove your snow like i do--with a shovel and a strong back. or pay your kids to do so.amount i budgeted for snow removal this year: $0.amount i spent: several delightful, healthful hours in contact with nature.amount i received: several hours of great exercise, and untold thousands of liters of cold, crisp air into and out of my lungs.

oh, and congratulations, jeriann.

Not sure where to start with this one so I'll first say, I was, of course, kidding.

Then I started thinking about it and...here's the thing; There's no way I would be able to shovel my driveway and walkway all winter. Ask my neighbors. I have enough trouble doing it with the snowblower!

I mean, you could run out a three year car lease trying to go back and forth on my sidewalk and driveway all winter. Lewis and Clark didn't go this far

As far as exercise is concerned, don't underestimate what it takes to push one of these behemoth things around in the snow. I'm not using one of those sissy self-propelled things...this is manual labor my friend. Ask my wife. It's 92 below zero wind chill and I walk back in and looking like I just ran the Boston Marathon.

I understand the point...and I know a lot of people use their three stage, 1400 megawatt, jet powered snow blowers to get an inch of snow off their ten foot sidewalk in front of the house...I'm not one of those people.

$5000 still sounds low to me...even if the kids from down the street are clearing the snow from all of the Nevada School District Properties..

To the actual News

5th Anniversary

The war is five years old today. The president is expected to make a speech at the Pentagon calling for continued support of the US mission in Iraq. There will also be protests of the war all over the country including here in Des Moines.

Smoking Ban

Pretty soon we're going to have more versions of this that we had sequels to the Rockey Movies. The House and Senate try again with a version passed by the house to exempt anyone who's got a liquor license.

Fed Cut

There's a lot of debate over the wisdom of such a big cut in interest rates. The bottom line on the worries is that things are going to start costing you more. The people who like the cut say it will get money moving in the economy. I think we're going to find out here in very short order.

It might also be a great time to refinance...

Obama Speech

Did any of you see the entire thing? Did it end questions for any Democrats about the Senators ties to Rev Wright?

11lbs 10oz

That's what my brother's bouncing baby boy weighed in at yesterday when he came into the world. Oscar William Dix was born at Mercy Medical Center in Des Moines around eight yesterday.

Usually when you create this big of a group you call it pass protection...The smallest of his sons weighed nine plus pounds at birth...

Mom and baby are doing well, and we're happy to have Oscar around.

Here are a couple of pictures in case you missed the AM show or in case you're related to me and simply live in another state or time zone.

Have a good day,

PWD

Fed Cut, IU and ISU In, and Sally Ride

Good Morning and welcome back to Jeriann. We hope we'll have more pics to share with you from the wedding soon.

See below

To the news

Rate Cut

The Fed is set to make another cut in interest rates today. They could cut a full point. I put some articles in yesterday's blog. They deal with he debate over the state of the economy. After reading a bunch of the analysis, I've concluded no one really knows what's going to happen. It sounds to me like there are a lot of indicators we used to analyze the economy in decades past. Today they're coming at us in different combinations and under different circumstances. I think we're rewriting the rulebook as we go. That, of course is based on no real knowledge of economics( I almost flunked it in college). It's just my observation and opinion after reading some of the news about what's happening in the economy. What do you think?

Check's in the Mail

Did anyone else get a letter from the IRS yesterday. I did. It explains the economic stimulus check we're about to get. I still don't understand, but Megan Reuther helped explain this morning. Her reporting included this calculator you can use to figure out how much the Government is going to send you.

These Women Can Dance

The Iowa and Iowa State women's basketball programs (and Drake, Simpson, UNI...etc) are a credit to sports, but more importantly they're great for basketball fans here in Iowa. Iowa State gets the host duties at Wells Fargo Arena and therefore gets a big in the sub regional there. I hope fans will come out regardless of school affiliation and cheer the Cyclones on. It's good for the city, the state and for The Cyclones.

For reasons passing understanding we said Iowa was going to New Orleans to play. I was mostly wrong, but figured out my error. They're in the New Orleans regional, but actually play in Norfolk, VA. My bad. We wish them both the best.

Sally Ride

I was really please to be offered the chance to go hear former NASA Astronaut Sally Ride speak at the Smart Talk series at the Civic Center last night. If you want to compile a list of America's National Treasures; Sally Ride should be on the list.

She was America's first female astronaut 25 years ago this year. SHe's also a great role model for any young woman who aspires to great things.

Her message was straightforward: We need to do more to encourage young women to follow talents in Math and Science.

Ride said (and I think some would be surprised to hear this) that women don't face the barriers to careers in engineering and science that they used to. She talked about the fact that in early elementary school, boys and girls identify a desire to follow a career in science almost equally. Somewhere in junior high, she said, that desire fades at a far higher rate in young women.

Part of the problem, according to Ride, is that young women don't believe science or math are "normal" fields for a woman to take up.

Ride backed that up by telling a story of a young girl she met at a science camp a few months ago. She said the girl's mother was bursting with pride that her daughter had won a local math competition. She told Ride that her daughter might go on to win the state and maybe even a national competition...she was that smart. Then she followed up her comments with, "I don't know where she gets it, I mean I don't know ANY women who are good at math." The comment hung over the 2000+ people in the auditorium last night and the point was clear. Her mother didn't mean to, but essentially, she was saying math and science weren't what the "normal" women in that little girl's life did.

We have such wonderful resources in this community and across the state to foster a love of science and technology. I hope everyone in the room got the point last night. Boys and girls love of science need to be encouraged through participation in camps at our state Universities, at our Science Center and in our schools.

Ride now runs a company who's aim is encouraging young men and women to follow careers in science.

Hope you all have a good day!

I promised I would share some pictures of Jeriann's wedding. As you will see, we all had a really fun time with Jeriann and Rob on their big day.

Ahw... don't they look so cute?

Brad sings Sinatra with the band

Brad Ehrich, Rachel Parker, Jon Cahill, Elisha Anderson, Jeriann and Brooke. Where's Pat?

Here he is...

Drake's Dancin', Economic Emergency? and JR's Wedding

Good Morning...

It was a great weekend thanks to Jeriann's wedding in Okaboji. I'd never been up there before...man it takes a long time to get there!
We had a great time with the WHO alumni club. Brooke is hoping to put some pictures together for the blog. I'm sending flowers over to her house in the hopes the pictures of me dancing don't make it.

To the news

Drake
The Bulldogs landed just where the experts thought they would...but it took a while. Anyone else get nervous watching the selection show?

Tampa's not the worst place to be this time of year but being a five seed in the NCAA tournament is like swinging a black cat over your head while you walk under a ladder.

Five seeds have ended up being some of the best bets for first round upsets. Drake's made a lot of history this year...lets hope it continues.
Travel to and from Drake's game night be a little expensive. It's going to cost you a lot if you want to fly to Tampa. The thing you have to remember is the number of options you have close by. Sarasota, St Pete, and Orlando are all options. There are worse places to be than Tampa in March.
I've already filled out my bracket sheets. More than any other year I seem to be getting offers from friends to join pools from across the country. I'm happy to join the small office pool here and then watch with interest to see if I was right. I've got a feeling I picked well even though I haven't watched a lot of college basketball beyond Drake this year.

Here's my Final Four:

KU

North Carolina

UCLA

Pitt

Make your picks here or just make fun of mine...

Economic Emergency?
We're still seeing signs that we've only seen the tip of the iceberg when it comes to credit problems in the US. Now how does this effect you? Depends on who you ask. Brad thinks we're headed for another Great Depression. I tried to calm him down this morning with this article from CNN, but he didn't buy it. This NY Times Article also seems to think this may be rock bottom for the economy. Meanwhile we're seeing stories like this one in the Register this morning saying the job crisis in on in Iowa.

Now, all of these things added up may be even better news for Iowa. If the coasts are struggling, the dollar is weak against the Euro, and people can't afford where they live; why wouldn't a lot of these people move to the Midwest and Iowa? It's cheaper to live here, and there are a lot of jobs that pay well. We talked to a couple at Jeriann's wedding this morning considering a move to Des Moines from Chicago. They said they just can't justify the expense of living in such an expensive environment anymore. You'll hear similar stories if you're listening hard enough.

We'll follow the markets today and see how investors feel.

St Patrick's Day
There's a parade at noon downtown. This event may have to worst weather luck of any in the Metro. I can't remember a year when the St Patrick's Day parade has had GOOD weather.

Jeriann's Wedding

How can you expect anything but a great party when Jeriann and her husband Rob are throwing it? Jeriann looked beautiful, The ceremony was unique and very personal, and the reception was just full of good food and a lot of fun people having a good time.

Brad even got up and sang..twice.

We'll look forward to her return tomorrow morning and as I say, Brooke plans on sharing some of the pictures she snapped.

Have a good one!

PWD

Florida's Second CHance, Mice on a Plane and Job shadow

Good Morning!

I woke up this morning and had to really think hard about what day it is. I'm in a little bit of a post vacation fog. Brooke is in a little bit of the same kind of funk. Hopefully we'll both snap out of it at Jeriann's wedding this weekend. We're driving up for the ceremony this weekend...some WHO alumni will be in for the weekend as well so I think we'll have some time to recharge and have some fun. The problem will be catching up on sleep.

To the News:

Florida and Ferraro

A new NBC News Wall Street Journal poll shows Democrats think the race for the nomination is dragging on too long and that it will hurt the party in the long run. Anyone want to weigh in?
The other story the Clinton Campaign is dealing with is former Vice Presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro's comments about Barack Obama. Do you think her statements were racist?

Miracle League

One of my favorite stories of the day yesterday was the creation of the new Miracle League baseball. The Cubs and The Kiwanis Club are teaming up to create a field where disabled kids can play. The specially equipped field will be built on land donated by The Cubs near Principal Park.

Twister Sisters Strike Again

I imagine if the Cyclones win again in Kansas City today there will be a big caravan headed down there for the Big 12 Women's Basketball Tournament Championships this weekend. The Clones beat K-State on a last minute shot yesterday to knock off the #1 seed in the tournament.

We'll probably replay the highlights of yesterday's game at noon if you missed them.

Mouse on a Plane

Seriously, you never know what you're going to hear when you pick up the WHO-TV newsline.

A lady called this morning near tears to tell us her flight had been delayed to Atlanta. Not unusual, except for the cause of the delay.

She told us one of the flight attendants spotted a mouse on the plane and refused to fly with it.

The story gets better from there. We hear the ground crew went out and bought about 12 mouse traps and baited the plane so they could catch the mouse and take off. Maybe the little guy just wanted to see some relatives in Des Moines.

Anyway, the passengers weren't too happy with the airline because all of them were going to miss their connecting flights. I talked to one of the ladies this morning who was headed to Turks and Caicos. I gave her a few restaurant recommendations and tried to be as upbeat about it as I could. I'd be mad too. We'll let you know if the plane actually takes off today.

Job Shadow

We had a guest in from Valley High School this morning and tried to set her straight about a career in TV. Caitlyn McAninch is considering a career in Journalism so we gave her a look behind the curtain here at WHO. Hope she enjoyed the visit and if your kids are in a Journalism Class at Valley they can see some of the video she took behind the scenes here.

Hope you all have a good day.

PWD

UNI Lockdown, Coach of the Year, and Customer Service

Good Morning!

It was a later than normal night last night.

Sally and I were out for the Business Record's 40 under 40 awards at the Plex. I was really pleased to be nominated and recognized with 39 other incredible individuals in this year's class.

UNI

The threats at UNI were credible enough to clock down campus and that alone is news. It looks like the University handled the situation well, and that the students who were on campus felt informed and safe. I think that's the best you can hope for. Thankfully the police were able to catch up with the young man who allegedly made the threat and end the situation before it escalated.

Spitzer

The Governor of New York is expected to resign today. No surprise, but there's still a lot of debate over his wife's appearance at his news conference. Did you get involved in any of those discussions yesterday?

Keno

He's the Sporting News Coach of the Year. It's one more exclamation point on a season full of them. I wish I could find you a link to the full story. It's out on news stands this morning.

Car Wash

Everyone was out yesterday trying to get their car clean. I love getting my car washed...a clean car looks great! More than that, I hate getting all the salt and grime on my pants or coat if you brush up against a dirty car. So here it is, My favorite is a place up on Hickman in Urbandale. It's a self serve between 63rd and that new QT. I think it does the best job for the money ($5). Which car wash can you count on to do a great job for the money?

Customer Service

Jeriann and I both had experiences in the last week or two where we learned a good lesson. We've all seen it...a bad customer service experience can sour your view of a business for a long time.

I've always been that guy. The one who's more likely to tell a manager I'm unhappy. If you don't how are they going to improve service? So many people just walk away and stew.

In both our cases, Jeriann and I brought our complaint to the owner or manager of the business we were dealing with. We did it in a polite way. No one screamed. No one was belligerent and we never threatened anyone. It's hard to keep your head when you feel like someone doesn't appreciate your business, but we both learned again this week, that a polite conversation about your problem is likely the best way to get some resolution.

Have a good day, and as always complaints can be filed with Blog management!

PWD

I-35 Accident, Shuttle, Spitzer and Snow Removal

Good Morning....
I'm still trying to post some pictures from the vacation. I'll do that on yesterday's blog so check back there. The server for blogger wouldn't let me post pics yesterday. Here's a sample of a sunset.

We had a busy morning this morning so we'll get right to it.

Semi-Accident
I walked into the newsroom to hear the police scanners going off and both our producers trying to get information about an accident that had just happened. A simi ran off the road and down an embankment to the middle river, killing the driver. The truck exploded and MAY have damaged the bridge. DOT crews spent much of the morning trying to determine the extent of any damage.

BTW: There's a page on MSNBC where you can track the maintenance history of the bridges you use if you have a long commute over the interstate. Take a look at this.

Spitzer

The details of the New York Governor's involvement in a prostitution sting are still coming out but did anyone else notice what we did this morning? It took six paragraphs for the New York Times to say Spitzer is a Democrat. It hardly was mentioned in the AP copy.

Fair is fair and when people ask me about a left lean in the media, this is the kind of thing they point to. I don't remember but I'd be willing to bet my month's pay that stories concerning Larry Craig called him a Republican within the first three lines. Don't read too much into it, I just thought it was interesting.

Shuttle

Endeavour is off the the international space station after a rare overnight launch. For those of you wondering where the Shuttle might be, you can check online to see if it will pass over Iowa while it's up in space.

Snow

My neighbors ratted me out. While we were on vacation it snowed. I live on a high traffic walkway where a lot of people walk dogs. The snow gets crunched down pretty quickly, and as we were out of town it turned to Ice. Well instead of coming up and knocking on the door, someone went to the City and had them post a sign on our door saying we'd be fined if I didn't clear the walk. I have a couple problems with this, the first of which is that they posted the sign the day before it's supposed to be 50 degrees. I think the sidewalk is going to be fine today. I'll put some salt down, but we live in Iowa. Before you assume the worst about your neighbors...maybe we should just ask them to fix it and give em a chance.

To be clear, I'm not saying I shouldn't have to clear the walk...I'm saying there was a reason it wasn't cleared. I also think it's crazy that the city posted the sign when the snow's going to be gone tomorrow.

I'll be out on the walk today.

PWD

Drake Wins the Valley, Second Chance voting, and Tan Jeriann

Good Morning,
Thanks for the kind, and not so kind comments on the blog while I was gone...Unfortunately for some of you...I'm back.

Big thanks to Dan for filling in...he did a great job as usual, and to Brooke for holding the fort down. It's a lot to have to do the show on your own, the cut-ins for the Today show and then the blog after...Oh, and she's got that kid and a husband at home too.
I think she wanted to kill Jeriann and I both this morning when we walked in...I thought I'd been in the sun long enough to make it show...boy was I wrong. Jeriann makes me look like I didn't even go out of town.
I am glad Pat and Jeriann are back but they are making me look bad. My pasty white complexion really pops next to their tropical tanned skin. Anyway, it is good to have them both back on the set with me.. just isn't the same without them.

I brought some pics back...see below.

To the News:

Drake
Note to the blogger who said Drake shouldn't make the tournament: Win or lose two weeks from now this team belongs and is exciting to watch, period!They're one of the best, if not THE best story in College basketball this year. Comments from some of the coaches who watched the Bulldogs this weekend: I don't want em! They made Illinois State look like University of the Sisters of the Poor...I'm laying a five spot on em to win their first round game for sure when I go to Vegas.

Do over Dems

So now we're going to let Florida and Michigan vote? That's set a great prescient for the 2012 election cycle. Basically, if you don't follow party rules...there's no penalty at all. I'm not sure why a fight over the nomination is such a bad thing all the way to (and through) the convention. I mean the Democrats running for President are getting ALL the headlines. People might actually watch a fight for the nomination come convention week. It might be compelling instead of just a coronation.

Reading List
I caught up on the reading on the bedside table this week. Here's the verdict:

Day of Battle by Rick Atkinson... If you like WWII history there's no one better to tell the story. I loved the book and thought it was better than his first. That one won Atkinson the Pulitzer Prize.
The Nine
Jeffry Toobin is a CNN correspondent who writes about the inner workings of the Supreme Court. It's a page turner if you keep up with politics. There's a lot of good stories about the confirmations hearings and selection process for the last five Justices on the Court. Great read!
I don't read a ton these days but I am just about done with 'The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid' by Bill Bryson. If you grew up in Des Moines this is a must-read. It's about Bill's childhood in Des Moines set in the '50's. A lot of the landmarks and stories he shares will be familiar yet also make you thankful of the evolution of Des Moines from a nice city to a great city.

Vacation Fun

Thanks to my VERY generous Mother-in-law we had a dream vacation down in Turks and Caicos this last week. I posted a few pics here of the view from our room, the pool, sunsets and a fishing trip looking for some Bonefish (that we never found).

I'd recommend the island to anyone who asked. It's still being built up, but it's a fun place the we found to be family friendly and really beautiful.

We got a lot of sun, I snorkeled for the first time (saw three loggerhead turtles on the reef we were swimming around), we had drinks with names like Brown Lady(see picture at top right) and The Purple Geko, and I got to swing a golf club (which is rare in March).

Mostly we just relaxed, and slept a lot, with the sound of the waves on the beach through the screen door(That's the pic just above and right).

Wonderful.

Ron Paul and Momnesia

I didn't know there was an actual term for this, but I always sensed that I have it. Yesterday the Today Show aired a segment about "momnesia" -- a condition that effects mothers of young children. Basically, you struggle with remembering important information or just "go blank" from time to time. (Although I think I probably had this before children in which case I don't what it would be called) This morning my momnesia really kicked in and I apologize to those of you who heard me stumble through parts of the morning show. Momnesia effects women who don't get enough sleep and have too much going on in their lives. To be fair, I would say that my husband has "dadnesia" although he would probably be mad that I suggested it. Ok.. I know.. cry me a river.

Moving right along...

Ron Paul
I knew we would probably get some reaction from loyal Ron Paul supporters this morning -- and there are a lot of you out there. The story we ran this morning was about his campaign possibly coming to an end. On his website last night, Ron Paul spoke to his supporters and said the race for the white house is winding down. He also said that he was going to start planning for the next phase. He never uses the word quit, but he suggests that he will no longer have an active campaign for president... at least not during this election.

Here's my response to a viewer/blogger about our coverage this morning. I'm posting it here in case there are others who think we are intentionally running negative stories about Ron Paul.

Our story about Ron Paul is fair and it is NOT negative. It is also accurate. When we see something on our associated press wire we also cross check it with other sources like the NY Times, MSNBC and other reliable websites.Listen, this story is what it is. This news is coming from the horse's mouth. Ron Paul on his website said, "The presidential campaign will soon wind down."And this morning we reported not that he was dropping out, but that he MAY drop out based on what he said in his video. Every major paper is reporting this. I realize you are a faithful supporter, but please know that we are not reporting this because of some personal feeling about Ron Paul.

Drake
The Bulldogs take on Indiana State at the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament today at noon. Last night Keno Davis won Conference Coach of the Year. No surprise there. Go Bulldogs!

KidsFest
If you have young children and you are just dying to get out of the house this weekend, this is the perfect event. There are all kinds of kids rides and games. And, WHO has a mini news booth where we let the kids be anchors for a few minutes and read off the teleprompter. For a buck you get a tape of it. Pat, Jeriann and I will be there on Sunday from 10 to 12. We would love to meet you if you're out there.

I had a great time at Central College yesterday. I was invited to be a part of a panel of Central graduates who now work in the communication field. Students and professors got to ask us questions and hear us talk about life after college. It's always fun listening to eager students talk about their dreams and aspirations and I am always so inspired to see students who are so well-spoken and driven to get their careers started.

Hope you all have a great weekend. Pat's back on Monday. I personally hope to get outside for a while and shake the winter blues for at least a few hours.

Brooke

Times Square, Warren Buffett and Airbone Lawsuit

Good morning. It's just me today... no Dan or Pat. And I think the flu bug is still going strong here at WHO. Megan Salois has been down and Megan Reuther was sick again this morning trying to shake a cold she's had for what seems like weeks. Hopefully a little sleep helped.

Speaking of colds...

Airborne is paying 25 million dollars to settle a class action lawsuit. Apparently the owners of the natural cold remedy are paying to settle. The suit says the product claims to cure and prevent colds but there is no scientific evidence to back this up. As a result, if you purchased Airborne you are eligible for part of this settlement fund. Here's the link to file a claim.

Pat swears this stuff works and my sister drinks it like water. I sometimes steal it from Pat's desk and I have to say that I have never been sick after taking it. Pure luck? Who knows but I will probably keep using it.

Times Square

There was a small explosion this morning in NYC at Times Square in front of a military recruiting office. No one was hurt but it was at the same spot were protesters have staged anti-war events in the past.

Warren Buffett

He lives just 2 hours to our west and Forbes says he is the richest man in the world. Warren Buffett is such an intriguing man to me. People in Omaha say he lives a relatively simple life despite his fortune. His house is not an over-the-top mansion.. it's valued at $700,000. He's also said to drive an old Lincoln that he's had for years. Maybe he doesn't spend it, but he knows how to make money.

I am off to Pella today to speak at a Communication Forum at Central College. It's my Alma mater and I haven't been back for a long time. I am supposed to talk about the importance of communication in my field which is sort of like talking about the importance of firefighters using water. Should be fun.

See you tomorrow.

Brooke

Clinton Revival, Recycling your waste and Don't eat the snow

Good morning everyone. Yes, Pat is still on vacation. He's probably still enjoying the sunshine and warm temperatures of Turks & Caicos. Dan was with me again on the desk which was very nice. One thing you probably don't know about Dan is that he can do imitations better than anyone I know. His Christopher Walkin is dead on! More cowbell!!!

To the news... and the not-so-news.

Clinton wins Texas and Ohio
All the pundits are saying this is reviving her campaign but Barack Obama is still ahead in the delegate count. It's probably going to go down to Democratic convention this summer when the super delegates decide the candidate. I was watching CNN's coverage of the results last night and one of the pundits seemed to think that Barack Obama would still become the Democratic candidate because those super delegates will not want to break from the popular vote or it could make them look bad. So, it is still an uphill battle for Hillary Clinton.

John McCain is the Republican candidate. Mike Huckabee (finally) dropped out of the race last night after McCain secured all the delegates to make him the winner.

Des Moines is going blue to turn greener
Is this grammatically correct? The city of Des Moines will replace those green recycling bins with big blue ones that are similar to our trash bins. Bill Stowe, the director of the Public Works Department says this should encourage people to recycle more because you have a larger containers and you no longer have to sort. There is also no need for curbside sorting so trucks will use less fuel.

Don't eat the snow
We've all heard don't eat the yellow snow... but apparently you shouldn't eat the white stuff either. Researchers found that snow has lots of bacteria in it. The part of the story that caught my attention was not what researchers found... but that there was research on this in the first place. Someone probably secured grant money for this and then followed strict scientific methods to find this out. Really? Don't we have things like cancer that we can devote the funding and time to instead?

Have a great day!
Brooke

Newton Casino, Another tour in Iraq and Riding the bus

Good morning everyone. Have you ever had one of those mornings when you wake up and can't remember pushing the snooze button on your alarm three times? I usually know that I am delaying getting out of bed but this morning I must have done it in my sleep. So I got a later start to my day and as a result I feel like I have been trying to catch up all morning. It feels like I am 10 minutes behind with everything I am doing.

It was nice to have some sunshine again today but it sounds like we're in for more snow tomorrow morning during the morning commute.

To the news of the day....

Newton Casino
This morning the Jasper County Board of Supervisors will meet to discuss the proposed new casino for Newton. Developers want to built it next to the Speedway and they say it will bring hundreds of new jobs to replace those lost when Maytag pulled out of town last year. Today the Jasper County Gaming Development Corporation says it has enough signatures from people who live in the county to put it to a vote in April. Even if that happens and the county approves it, the Gaming Commission still has to give it a license. So there are still a lot of things that have to happen before a casino is built. Meanwhile, city leaders in Tama, Ottumwa, Fort Dodge and Franklin County want a casino in their towns and they are meeting with The Gaming Commission to find out if it is a possibility.

Frankly, I have to wonder if there is a point at which there are too many casinos. And this is not a judgement on casinos. Are there enough people to support that many casinos in Iowa? If they build more will others lose money? I am sure there is an argument for both sides.

Tour #3
This is a story that makes me sad for all the families effected. The Company B 248th Aviation Support Battalion out of Boone just got word that it will go to Iraq again in June. The soldiers will likely be there for a year. This is the third tour of duty and it just makes you wonder when it is going to stop. Will there be a fourth? I have a brother-in-law who has spent nearly 3 years away from his family since 2003 and I am beyond proud of his dedication and service. He wouldn't want to be home right now or he'd feel like he wasn't doing his part. But I think my sister would tell you that she isn't sure she has the strength to go through this a third time. I guess this is where the community, friends and family have to come in and help support these people left behind.

Riding the Bus
Megan Ruether did a story this morning about DART (Des Moines area regional transit authority) asking other communities in the Des Moines area to pay more in property taxes to fund public transportation. Right now Des Moines taxpayers pay most of the costs. The smaller communities don't use public transportation like Des Moines does, so some of them like Johnston have expressed concern for an increase in property taxes when they don't get all the services Des Moines gets. As part of her story, Megan took the bus from the Hy-Vee in Altoona and said she got dropped off downtown in about 35 minutes. If I worked downtown (and not at 3:00 a.m.) I would definitely consider it.


Enjoy your day and see you back here tomorrow.
Brooke

Slick Roads, Shawn Johnson

Once again, the weather was the story this morning. I don't know if you were anything like me, but the snow sort of took me by surprise. I heard the forecast yesterday and knew it was coming but after the nice weather and then the rain last night I didn't think it was possible. So when I pulled out of the driveway at about 3:00 a.m. and there was a fresh layer and I knew this would be an interesting morning.

Photojournalist Roger Riley heard about an accident on 1-80 during this show this morning so he grabbed the live truck and left. It was at the Redfield exit where a semi jackknifed and blocked westbound traffic. We heard traffic was backed up all the way to Stuart which is about 12 miles from there. What a nightmare.

Dan is filling in for Pat part of this week and I was so glad he was here on a day like today. I love working with Dan.

Shawn gets Silver
Shawn Johnson got second place in the vault this weekend at the Tyson American Cup in New York City over the weekend. She slipped when she landed. She won the other events but ended up getting second overall.


Had a wonderful weekend. The nice weather -- as brief as it was -- helped get me out of the winter blues funk that I have been in for the past month or so. I am definitely hopeful that spring is coming.

Brooke