Why Swine? and Fires

6:42 am and we're busy this morning.
No time for the new parents in the group to be dragging but we both feel like we got run over by a truck. The good news for me anyway is that my boys are doing a great job eating overnight. They're getting used to the routine and that means I'm getting out the door a little more quickly.
They're also mobile now. The docs say we can take em out with us, though my crazy new parent gene is kicking in wondering if I should expose them to anyone with the swine flu spreading...I know it's crazy...I'm just telling you the thought crossed my mind.
Anyway, we took them out to Cheesecake Factory for a quick bite to eat Tuesday night. They slept...we ate and everyone was happy.

Fires
In Indianola and in Des Moines this morning firefighters were busy. The overnight fire in Des Moines didn't injure anyone and the guy got his cat out too. In Indianola a homeowner told firefighters a grease fire got out of control and destroyed a home. Thankfully, again, everyone got out OK.

Why Swine?
Many of you have emailed asking us why WHO-TV is so maliciously trying to ruin all hog farmers everywhere in the universe with our coordinated and evil plot to make sure the swine flu is spreading.
Of course I am (only slightly) exaggerating the emails we're getting. I can only tell you this. The Centers for Disease Control and the World Health Organization are both still using the term Swine flu, to describe the virus that is spreading.
It, of course, is no more than the name the strain of flu was giving way back when it was discovered.
We saw a case where the same thing happened a few years ago...remember the "Ames" strain of anthrax?
Some people had trouble with that one, thinking ISU was engineering anthrax. Turned out, the strain of anthrax was named Ames because it was discovered in a lab in Ames.
We will continue to remind people when it is appropriate that there is no connection between the flu spreading, and processed meat. I know Secretary Vilsack asked that the flu be called n-1-h-1 virus. Of course it's his job to protect agriculture. The problem is, the CDC and WHO still call the virus swine flu.
So we used the same terms the CDC and WHO are using.
I think if people stopped to think about it, they would realize a broadcast here in central Iowa probably did not influence the Egyptian government's decision to kill tens of thousands of hogs.
I am going to go back to my morning meal of pork tenderloin (no joke) and rice.

I gotta go get ready for the nooner
PWD

Quick Post

It would be a busy day if we were just talking about the Swine Flu. It would be a busy day if we were just talking about the first day same sex couples could marry in Iowa. It would be a busy day if we had record rains over the weekend and had some flooding as a result. Instead, we've got all three of those things happening, It's a REALLY busy day.

So to the News
Flooding
I stepped into the garage this morning and found about two inches of water. our garage is under our house so the water seeps through the cinder block and on to the garage floor before it flows out the driveway and down into the backyard. I was ahead of schedule this morning thanks to a good morning from the boys. the garage put me behind. I had to sweep the water out of the garage, so it could fill up again all day. It's just the way things go until we either seal up the garage or things dry out. It's not as bad as some folks have it. My brother texted me in a panic this morning. They've got water in their basement.

Marriage
Same sex couples lined up to get marriage licenses this morning and I was glad to see there was no widespread harassment or any kind of protests trying to block their way into the recorders office. There are reports from many counties of people bringing in petitions asking the recorder not to issue a marriage license to same sex couples who ask for it.

Flu
Our Noon news producer just returned from vacation in Mexico. We're putting her in a kiln so we can kill any Swine flu virus that came back over the border with her.
No, seriously, we welcomed her back with open arms...full of antibacterial wipes.

Weekend
Friday night the boys reached the point the doctors were finally comfortable letting them out of quarantine (thought with the swine flu on the prowl I'm thinking of buying a pair of bubbles for them). We took them out to Gray's Lake for a walk and gain we ran into a 40 mile an hour wind. We made it one lap before we gave up and went over to Gateway for dinner. It was nice to sit outside and have the boys with us.
Saturday we handed things over to a babysitter (thanks Linda!) and went out to celebrate our friend Jeff White's 40th birthday. We went over to Latin King for dinner (Jeff is a native East-sider) the went to Hugh's Jungle Room for one of Jeff's other favorite pastimes, Karaoke. I did not participate. We weren't out long enough for me to choose the appropriate Sinatra song. I did learn to strike a more appropriate balance of "fun" and restraint. I say I learned that because we still had to be home by eleven to feed to boys, and then had to get up again early Sunday morning to feed them again. Let's just say I'm not catching up on sleep. But it's fun to get the boys out with us. Fun, to see people reacting to them, and accepting the congratulations of people who are clearly impressed with what savvy parents we look like 9 weeks in. At least that's how I think of it.
We have friends who offered to take the boys today so Sally can study. She's almost done with her MBA and needed a day she could concentrate on studying. I'm gonna take a good nap.
I'll see you tomorrow morning.
PWD
PWD

TGIF, and Prom Pics

Good Morning!

To say I'm a little salty this morning is...well it doesn't quite cover it. At least it's Friday.

Sally just called and wanted to know if we could go out to dinner tonight. He idea was to actually take the kids with us. Interesting idea.

They've been on forced isolation for the last nine weeks. The doc said he wanted them inside until they were six weeks past their due date.

We're there.

So it's out into the great wide open for the boys...we're going to have to get used to not being tethered to the house. It will be an adjustment leaving the house with enough stuff to cross the Rockies in a wagon train, but we'll get used to it.

I said we'd post some prom pics so here is the one I am responsible for. The lovely lady on the left is my wife...Sally.

Jeriann's pic looks the same too...she's just shorter...

Brooke is the one who looks entirely different today than she did at her Prom.

Brad boycotted this little exercise. We asked...he wouldn't give us a photo. He says he went to five proms but doesn't have a single picture saved.

I hope you all have a good weekend. Stay dry when it starts to rain.

PWD

Jeriann's birthday...

Happy Birthday Jeriann
Good Morning! I can't resist sweets. They are my downfall. So, this morning for Jeriann's birthday I thought I would bring in something that isn't TOO bad for you because I knew I would be eating more than my fair share. I brought in chocolate cake made with pumpkin instead of oil and egg. It's really good and healthy... I'll share the recipe below. But then Jeriann had to bring in treats, too. Ever had scotch-a-roos? OMG! I can't stop picking at them. Apparently Jeriann's husband Rob made them last night after she went to bed and set them out for her as a birthday gift. I am already starting to loosen by waist band. And I thought I was going to be good today!

On a side note... Today is a reminder to me that life can change in a short amount of time. Three years ago I traveled to Mexico with Jeriann and our friend Elisha to celebrate Jeriann's birthday. I was just married with no children and Jeriann hadn't even met her husband yet.

Sorta Healthy Chocolate Cake
1 box chocolate cake mix
1 can pumpkin
1 1/3 cups of water
Handful of chocolate chips

Mix everything together by hand and bake in a 9x13 greased pan at 375 degrees for about 1/2 hours or until firm.

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More Prom..
If you really want a good laugh.. check out our 13 Fascinating Facts on the WHO website. In a few days it will include prom pictures from each our reporters and anchors. Apparently John Bachman has even submitted his picture.

Noon Update: Just as a teaser for tomorrow's pics...here's one I dug out of our picture album of Sally and I right after we graduated from High School.

It may be the last time I didn't worry about having my shirt off in public. We've got our Prom Photo ready for tomorrow. For the record, I'm the one who needs a new haircut, and my wife is the one who hasn't aged a day since we were in High School.

Etc..
The former Governor of Illinois Rod Blagojavich found out he cannot travel to Costa Rica to be in a new NBC reality show called I am a celebrity, now get me out of here. But this morning he said he might still be a part of the show while remaining in the US. He says he needs the show to make money to support his family. You just can't make this up!

Speaking of reality.. Anoop and Lil' Rounds got the ax last night on American Idol. I am sad about Anoop but if Adam Lambert doesn't win... I am done with the show.

Hope you enjoy the sunshine. See you tomorrow!
Brooke

Presidential Visit, Your Money and Doughnuts...

I woke up this morning with this odd craving for Dunkin Doughnuts.
Brooke says it's because I'm so tired. She says your body craves carbs when you get so tired. I want a box of doughnuts.
I also need a tube of glue....any glue. Does anyone keep glue around anymore?


To the news:

Presidential Visit
President Obama comes to Des Moines on his way to Newton today. I don't care what your politics are, you should swing by the airport and take a look at Air Force One. It's pretty impressive.
He's coming to talk about earth day. To me this is a little like Valentine's Day. Sally and I always laugh at Valentine's Day. Isn't it a lot nicer to get a card, flowers or something thoughtful outside Valentine's Day?


Your Money
Just so you know financial firms including Citi and automakers including GM spent 10 million dollars in the first three months of the year on lobbying. They were lobbying against limits in executive pay and limits on how the money can be used. I am the first person to defend a company being able to operate how it wants to...In this case...I'm now a BIG shareholder and so are you. I think the lobbying should be pretty high on the list of things that get cut.

Relays
Get out to Jordan Creek tonight if you can. They're doing the Pole Vault event again in the main concourse of the Mall. it was pretty cool to watch last year.

Spring Cleaning
At some point this week I'm going to have to get out and clean off my porch. It's the best feature of our home in the summer and I can't wait to get the boys out there. It looks like the weather will be nice enough by the end of the week to sit out there. After a winter sitting in our little house...it will be nice to get some fresh air.

Shawn's a 10 and Prom

Good morning. It's Brooke here. Pat's off getting some sleep this morning. I think the 1 month old twins are starting to take a toll on him. I have never seen him like this. Anyway, I hope he's able to catch a few zzz's before the noon show.

I am not exactly sure WHY we started talking about Prom this morning, but if you noticed we seemed a little distracted after one of the commercial breaks at about 6:45, that's the reason why. Isn't it fun to see all the High School students dressed up in their finest when you go out for dinner on any given Saturday night in April? I always have to laugh because they always seem just a little like a fish out of water. I mean, some 12th graders think dressing up means putting on a "nice" pair of flip flops, so spending the evening in a dress is probably something they aren't used to. And it's usually funny to watch them try to

Proms of the Past
Anyway... we talked this morning about bringing in some old prom pictures for the show. As luck would have it, my friend Heather actually just posted some photos from my Eddyville Prom circa 1991 on Facebook recently. So, here they are. Yes, I am the one on the right. No, I do not look good. Fake orange tan and purple sequins don't look good together. It's bad. Very bad. And now you all know my real hair color isn't blond. Plus, I probably could have dropped a few pounds.

My date was Rob Walker. He was actually already in college and a complete trooper for putting up with this evening of "childish" activities.

Anyway, Pat and Jeriann promised to bring in some pictures.

Anyway, this got us talking about how different the dresses look now compared to 15-20 years ago. So, I took the liberty of posting this picture of my cousin's daughter, Brooke (she's the one in the blue dress). Yes, she was named after me. :) Ok, maybe not. But she posted some picture on Facebook of her prom in Wisconsin last weekend. The dresses are a lot better, but some of the same traditions are the same, which I think is sweet. The hairdos, the corsages and the pictures in the backyard are still part of the whole experience. I guess some things never change.

Shawn 's the Bomb

I loved Shawn Johnson's routine on Dancing with the Stars. It showcased her personality better than any other dance so far. And she got her first 10. Did you catch the part before the routine that showed her at an awards ceremony in Des Moines Friday night, then practicing at 11 pm at a studio right after the event? That girl is amazing. But unfortunately I can't get the song "PYT" out of my head. Seriously, I can't.

I am also trying to think of my next recipe to post. Mark and Tiffany Tauscheck recently had us over for dinner and Tiffany made this really good chicken recipe that came from Greg Edwards of all people. He's the President of the Greater Des Moines Convention and Visitor's Bureau. Anyway, Tiffany works with him and he gave her the recipe when she mentioned she didn't know what to make. Anyway, it was sooo good and Tiff said it was easy. I'll do some digging and get that posted soon.

Happy Tuesday!

Brooke

Anniversaries, Jeriann's Return, and Liberace?

Good Morning!

Monday morning and Brooke and i agree...our job satisfaction went up significantly with the return of our compadre...Jeriann. We enjoyed having Megan here for the eleven weeks JR was off, but as I told a lot of people while she was gone...Jeriann is the straw that stirs the drink around here. She just gets everyone in the right frame of mind for a good start to the morning.
More on her return and some baby pics later but first, the news...

Columbine
I'm struck with every story I watch about the Columbine tragedy...the killer's goal was chaos and pain...there was an initial dose of that, but the overwhelming legacy of this shooting is the power of community, of the individual and his capacity to overcome a tragedy...
Columbine lost the battle but won the war.
The Oklahoma City Anniversary was also Sunday...and don't forget the anniversary of the siege at Waco.

Handshake
The President is back from the summit of the Americas. He shook hands with Hugo Chavez during the summit and Chavez gave the President a book. Is it a big deal or is it nothing more than Chavez being opportunistic about a chance for a photo op with Obama? Does the President of the Unites States owe and courtesy to another head of state, no matter how much the two disagree?

Miss USA
I just happened to turn on the TV, already tuned to WHO, this Sunday and it was the moment Perez Hilton asked Miss California about her thoughts on same sex marriage. Here is her response:


Hilton called Miss California some not so nice names after her response.
I think his comments apply to the Judge in this case not the contestant.
Hilton asked a question, Miss California answered. She has the right to believe what she believes. Anyone is free to disagree with her, anyone is free to advocate for same sex marriage, but isn't that the point of what same sex marriage proponents are asking for? Choice! This is a personal choice!
Miss California didn't say she thinks same sex marriage should be outlawed, she simply said what she believes...and answered the question.

Jeriann Returns
It was easy to get up for work this morning (though I was 20 minutes late and my alarm didn't go off). Jeriann is back and we're glad to have her here. She is a great source of energy for all of us and a very comfortable fit. Hope you saw our promo about the show this weekend. Promotions asked us to come up with something fun so Brooke and I put our heads together and came up with that. We also taped a few funny promos that never made air. We'll try to post those so you can see. Brooke and I had some fun with these...

Weekend
Watched Frost Nixon and Milk this weekend. Loved Frost Nixon and thought it was very balanced. I did not think the "liberal" point of view always came off as sounding informed or intelligent. I walked away feeling sorry for Nixon and wondering what could have been if people in power made different decisions along the way.
Milk was also a great movie. I admit I found myself uncomfortable at first. After a few minutes I was asking myself, would I be uncomfortable if these two actors were opposite sex?
The answer was no. I think that may be the point of the move...getting us to think about why we are uncomfortable...what is it really that stops us from treating anyone of another gender, religion, race or sexual orientation, equally? The history was also interesting.

So I hope you all have a great start to the week.
Comments are always welcome.
See you tomorrow.
PWD

Cael, Keith and Andy and Opening Day

Good Morning...
I'm a jerk...I mean a class A JERK. For the last two mornings I've left my wife with a crying baby and gone to work. The funny part is, the overnight feeding went off without a hitch. The three of us are like the Isisserettes... coordinated and always moving. We finished up feeding and changing in record time. No one threw up and I didn't spill half the bottle on either of the boys. I got them upstairs and wrapped back up in these baby bags with the Velcro. I changed into my work clothes and had my foot on the top step when JT let out a wail!
SO much for my good job getting the boys fed and settled. Unfortunately Mom had to bear the brunt of the screaming this morning. She's a trooper but she also got a cup of Starbucks to get her through.
It may take more than that this afternoon. We're going to for the 2 month check-up today. I think she may cry more than the boys will from the shots.

To the News
Speaking of Crying...
I think cyclone fans will be crying if Cael Sanderson actually leaves Iowa State. Our sports department again proved why they are, without a doubt, the best in town. The report is that Cael interviewed twice at Penn State. if you think about it it's not that crazy. He becomes a head coach at a school where he's the only game in town. In fact he'd have the entire east coast to himself. The part no one around here can figure out is why a guy who, to this point, has been completely loyal to one school would want to move on?

Speaking of our Sports Team
How many of you are going to tune in to KXNO if you're in the car around 2-4pm Monday? This will be, hands down, the smartest sports talk show in Central Iowa. Keith and Andy both make the list of "smartest people I know". Add to that a passion for sports and you have the makings of a great call in show. They already work hard, and long hours. It makes me feel better knowing they're both doing something they love.

Opening Day
I grew up watching baseball in Wrigley Field, I love most everything about it...but for my money baseball is best at Principal Park in the summer. I can't wait to take my boys, grab a beer, eat a hot dog and take in the great product on and off the field. I remember the day I interviewed for this job. I noticed the park from one of the taller buildings in town and remembered the I-Cubs played here. It didn't seal the deal, but it sure didn't hurt. Go Cubs.

Twitter Makes You Stupid
A study at Ohio State showed students who didn't use Facebook or Twitter had better grades than the people who did. The difference was 3.0-3.5 and 3.5-4.0 respectively. My response: Who cares? If you're pulling a 3.0 in college and have time for a social life that includes Facebook Twitter...you're probably going to end up being a more well rounded person than the student who pulls the 4.0 but can't hold a conversation. I'm all for good grades but I think sometimes life gives to the best lessons outside a classroom...and that's what college is about sometimes.

I'm going to go finish my fifth cup of coffee for the day, eat a tuna salad sandwich and do the Noon News. I hope you all have a great weekend!

What are you doing here?, Blogo goes reality, and Twitter IS Evil!

I hope you all get out and enjoy the beautiful weather.

We'll get right to it...

What are You Doing Here?
It's never good when you ask the first person you see in the newsroom..."What are you doing here?" That's exactly what happened when I walked in. Elias Johnson was still here. He'd been at a stand-off in Perry all night and stayed until it was over. That's his job so I'm not going to go overboard in praising but consider that Elias also has a young son at home and a wife the could probably use a hand. His night last night is what I miss about being a reporter and what I totally don't miss at all.
I miss doing breaking news stories that develop time...I don't miss the chaos that kind of schedule causes the people around you.

Blago
Is it ironic that a man so detached from reality is being asked to be the main character in a new reality TV show? NBC is carrying this one. A Proud day for the Peacock network.

Twitter is Evil
No, it actually is bad for you. There's a new study that says Twitter, among other things makes you lose your morality.

Navy SEAL and His Dog
If you missed Nightly News the other night I meant to direct you to this story about a Navy SEAL who's dog was shot and killed. There's a special...very hot place reserved for some people.

I may add more later
PWD

Marriage Take 3, Shawn Rumbas, and Not in the Newscast

Good Morning...
We're getting ready to wrap up a visit from Grandpa Rick this afternoon and we'll be sorry to see him go. Sally's Dad has been a big help, as have all of our visitors. We needed a little bit of a break from the daily grind. Sally put it really well this weekend. We're on mile 14 of a marathon. The crowd is thinning out, the adrenaline of the start of the race is wearing off, it's hard to see the finish line and we're just trying to put one foot in front of the other. So having the help here was a small break for each of us. Thanks Rick!

To the News

Pirates
The news off the coast of Africa isn't good. The capture and hostage situation involving an American Captain put a spotlight on something that's been going on a while. Just this morning, pirates hijacked another ship. We're all focused on the happy ending of the story involving the Marsk Alabama, but the truth is things may get worse before they get better for American Flagged Ships. Sally said she'd heard Matt Lauer say these guys don't even deserve to be called Pirates...like that may glamorize them more than they deserve. It's more like a street gang with a boat.

Marriage Take 3
At the Statehouse today, Republicans will try to attach an amendment to a tax bill defining marriage as between a man and a women. It's the latest effort to get Democrats on the record about the same sex marriage ruling. This way, instead of simply letting them say, "The Courts made me do it", they would be forced to take an up or down vote on the definition of marriage.
Our sources at the capitol say the bill may not even come up for debate today.

Shawn
I missed DWTS last night but got to see a little of Shawn's routine this morning. Any impressions? It was "angelic"????? Part of having Sally's Dad here means we didn't have to do dishes from dinner last night and I didn't have to do the 8:30pm feeding. It meant I got to go to bed early. Sally's last words to me before I went upstairs, "I better not come up there and find you watching Dancing with the Stars".

GM Recall
As if GM didn't have enough problems already. Now they're recalling a million and a half cars.
Here's the recall information if you think you own one of the cars.

Not in the Show
-Found a few things you might be interested in..I'll start with the Auto Industry. Are people mad enough to take out their frustrations with the Big Automakers on the Models at an Auto Show? Yes is the answer. The NY Times has an article about it this morning.

-USA Today has an interesting article about the 10 year anniversary of Columbine. It basically says the things we reported and the things that people took away from the attack are not true. Working off the shooter's diaries, an author looks at some of the "real" reasons these kids decided to shoot up their school. The bottom line, don't blame video games or bullying or the trench coat mafia..these kids were mentally ill.

-The Former Vice President, Al Gore is putting his money behind a Stem Cell research effort. It's not what some of you will assume. These are the kind of stem cells that are generated from "reprogrammed" skin cells and are not harvested from embryonic stem cells.

-and we'll end where we began...our neighbors to the east are apparent;y looking closely at the Iowa Supreme Court's marriage decision. Will Illinois be next?

Have a good one
PWD

Rescue, Masters, and 13 Things

Good Morning...

If you haven't noticed, or heard...We've added a feature on our website that includes 13 interesting things about each of the on-air personalities. I learned a few things about my co-workers. If you'd like to share...we probably don't need 13 but see if you can wow the bloggers with an interesting fact about yourself. The good news is, a lot of you can stay anonymous.

Rescue

Next time you're on a lake somewhere in choppy water, try throwing something from one boat to another...I bet you miss the other boat completely. Think about that when you consider Navy SEAL snipers hit three Somali Pirates holding a US ship Captain on a lifeboat at a range of about 25-30 yards.

By the way, did someone downsize the entire graphics department at NBC news. We were commenting that the graphic they used to simulate the snipers and the rescue looked like someone put two kids toys in a bathtub along with a GI Joe.

Masters

What a fun afternoon...and what a total letdown. No offense to Angel Cabrerra but I can't say he was at the top of my list of guys I want to see win the Masters. It was great to watch Tiger and Phil shoot lights out for 16 holes...but painful to watch them stumble through 17 and 18. What's worse, Kenny Perry would have been a great story. The oldest major championship winner capping off a magical year. Even Chad Campbell would have been a better story. You could see the CBS crew hoping he was going to be the winner. They had cameras on his wife and Perry's whole family. Anyway, it was still fun to watch the tournament. Can't wait for the US Open.

Jeriann

Don't check your watch if you see JR on the news tonight. She is filling in for Ed for the week. She's back with us next week.

I Forgot

I forgot to post pictures of the Pella Tulip Queen and her court from our Noon show last week. Our producer forwarded me the pictures. It's always a pleasure having these ladies in the studio. The Queen's Court Changes every year but the impressive and articulate women who are on it never fail leave a good impression about their town and the people in it. Tulip time is May 7, 8, 9.

Visitors

We changed out visitors Sunday night . Sally's Mom and her friend left town and Sal's Dad came it to see the boys. He'll be here for a couple of days. We had a really nice Easter that included fresh croissant's filled with cherry preserves (yum!) and ended with a Rack of Lamb, twice baked potatoes, asparagus and peach pie! I went to bed a happy guy.

Hope you all had a good weekend

PWD

Marital Satisfaction, Chef Jeriann, and The Cavalry is Here

Good Morning.
I got a good night sleep last night thanks to the wonderful women who invaded my house last night. Sally's Mom is back to see the boys and this time she brought one of her friends with her. Add to that, one of Liz's friends that already lives here in Des Moines and the result is both a house full of people excited to hold a baby, and an opportunity for Sally and I to sneak away this weekend.

I hope no one takes offense or thinks I'm a horrible parent when I say...We're going to take it.

Sally and I talk about "respecting the sleep". When one of the two of us is up...the other should be napping. It's disrespectful to the person who's awake to not take the opportunity to sleep.

I feel the same way about Sally's Mom coming to town. It would be disrespectful for us not to take them up on a little R&R time.

I also think the best way for us to be good parents for our kids is to be good partners for one another. So it's Date night on Saturday night and that's what I'm looking forward to.

-We had one interesting piece of news this morning...yeah it was a slow day.

There's a study out of the University of Denver saying a survey of some 200 married people found out their marital satisfaction went down significantly with the arrival of their first kid. 90% of the people participating said so.

Now the study also points out that your life satisfaction goes down if you're single too...it just goes down slower. So you're pretty much screwed either way.

I happen to disagree. I know a lot of people who would say the same.

-Glad to see Jack Newman bounce back yesterday in his first round at the Masters. He and Zach Johnson both played well. In fact, Jack has a chance to make the cut today if he plays as well as he did on the last six holes. Good luck to both Iowans.

-I'm going to email John Carlson at the Register and add him as a friend. He has a great article about Facebook this morning. It's funny and, happens to be the way I feel about the whole thing. I broke down about a week ago and went on Facebook after a friend of mine browbeat me to death about joining up. The thing that convinced me was that he said you could see pictures of what everyone from High School looked like now. Incentive enough I guess.

I didn't remember that in order to download an iPod application for Facebook, I actually had to start an account. It was just sitting there and people had requested to be my "friend" but I hadn't done anything to the account. I've put a little more information in and have reconnected with a couple people from High School but that may be the extent of my Facebook involvement.

-Kudos to Chef Jeriann for dinner last night. We finally had a crew big enough to eat most of the casserole she made us. It was Gooooood!

Thanks JR we're looking forward to having you back!

PWD

Ammendments, Ed's Back and The Masters

Good Morning!
If you missed the blog yesterday, a question came up. When is Jeriann coming back. She'll be filling in for Ed next week on nights then coming back to us on mornings the following week. We're anxious to have her back.

Amendments
The debate continues over the idea of an amendment to Iowa's State Constitution. I'm not so sure this one will go the way advocates of traditional marriage think it will. There are certainly a lot of people who don't agree with the idea of same sex marriage in Iowa. But I think a good number of those people may also believe their faith has no place in their government. There will be two rallies at the state Capitol building today. One is advocating same sex marriage one is advocating an amendment to the state constitution defining marriage as between a man and woman.
I've thought a lot about this and I've listened to the people on both sides of the argument pronouncing loudly that they know what's best. There's a passage of the Gospel of Matthew that stuck in my mind. I'm sure I'm going to get a debate as to it's meaning but it's chapter 23 verse 14. Reall the whole lesson of CHapter 23 is interesting to me....
For me, it comes down to this. No one can tell me the best way to handle my faith. How we wrestle with questions of morality can be a very private thing for a lot of people..I would put myself in that camp. For someone to say I'm not doing it right, that "I just don't get it" or that I need to do things the way they are more comfortable...it just doesn't seem right.
I will fail on some of these questions, I will have to ask forgiveness in some areas of my life and I will have to forgive other people. I just don't believe anyone is better qualified to do any of those things for me...than I am.

Ed's Back
We reported Ed Podolack will be back in the broadcast booth for the Iowa Hawkeyes this year. As part of that report we reported why Podalack "retired" in the first place. I put quotes around that because he didn't just quit. He quit under pressure after photos surfaced of him at a Tampa bar. We got this email after we aired the story that included the background.

It is awesome that Ed Podolak will be returning as color commentator for U of I. It is great that you are reporting his return. Why do you feel the need to keep rubbing salt in the wound? There is no need to add that he retired after photos were shared on your TV news show. Let's keep his return to broadcasting as a positive and eliminate the negative report each time. We all know what happened before---we just need to know that he is going to be back and is healthy. End of story.

I disagree. I didn't think the photos were that inappropriate but given past transgressions, Podolack didn't have a lot of leeway. I don't know Ed. The only stories I've heard about him tell me he's probably a good guy with a problem. That doesn't give him a free pass...the whole story is that he left after the photos came up. He's coming back from treatment of some kind. I hope he does well, keeps his nose clean and continues to deliver entertaining color commentary on Hawkeye broadcasts.

Masters

I wanted ESPN to show us a little of Jack Newman's round in the par three tournament at the Masters yesterday. It should be fun following his round today. I hope we get to see some of his play. I'm pulling for Zach again. I'm a fan of Tiger Woods, I'd like to see him break Jack's major record in my lifetime, but I think Zach Johnson is a breath of fresh air in the sport. I also think he's playing well. He makes up one more stroke at Bay Hill and Tiger's in a Playoff with Zach.

And while we're on the subject the coverage was a little too syrupy for me yesterday. The Masters is an event unlike any other. It's a beautiful stage, on which, they contest one of the best tournaments of the year. You don't need to put a lot of words with that. The pictures tell the story. I realize the Lords of Augusta put a lot of restrictions on coverage, and that they enjoy hearing over and over again what a spectacular place it is. I just think ESPN can cover the tournament well and still remove their surgically planted lips from the backside of the tournament organizers.

Have a good one

PWD

Fires, Constitutional Ammendment, and Why my Head is Going to Explode

Good Morning...
I am not going to whine about feeding my boys overnight. Like me, it will get old and tired quickly.

I will say this...having a set amount of time to feed two kids in the middle of the night is not a recipe for success. I was late to work this morning and it wasn't because I stayed home to see the end of The Spy Who Loved Me. Was every James Bond Movie in the early 80's that bad?.... I digress.

It starts the morning off on the wrong foot to say the least.

Then there's my actual foot. I walked into the station this morning and noticed, I've finally beaten my pair of black dress shoes into submission. They're officially falling apart.

It's funny but a seemingly unrelated string of events can really add up to make you feel like you're not going to have a very good day. It's 4:30 in the morning. How am I doing so far?

To the News:

Fires

The number of fire deaths in Iowa this year already total half of the fire deaths from the entire calender year 2008. Not good. Again, it's a reminder that working smoke detectors save lives. I need to hang two new ones this week.

Constitutional Amendment

Elias Johnson had a story about a 2010 vote that could bring about a Constitutional Convention in Iowa. The idea here is that opponents of the Supreme Court's Same Sex marriage Ruling want a vote on a Constitutional Amendment defining Marriage as between a man and a woman. What I don't get is how this outcome would be any different. The legislature would pick the delegates to a convention if the voters called for one and right now our Legislature is heavily left leaning.

Anyway, nothing is going to change about this ruling until at least 2012.

On the ruling and the arguments surrounding it. I think I've written here before, the Law and your beliefs have to be separated here. That's the whole idea behind our system. The founder didn't want religion within a country mile of the law, and there's a reason. When we start making decisions about the law based on our personal faith...or the faith beliefs of the majority...the founding ideals of this country aren't served.

If you want to end this debate right now...the Government should get out of the business of marrying people. Then it would be up to each faith to decide it's views on same sex marriage. If you don't believe that particular Faith view...you don't have to be part of that religion.

The point to me is simple. If you offer a license for a government sanctioned status, you have to offer it to everyone. If I can get a fishing license...the government can't deny you the same license cause it doesn't like the way to fish.

National Championship

Good for North Carolina.

My friend Dan Cox must be in heaven. He and his wife just welcomed a new baby girl into the world a few days ago and now his Alma Matter wins the National Championship...again.

I'm not sure anyone in Central Iowa stayed up for the annual exercise in forced emotion called One Shining Moment.

This was a perfect end to one of the most boring tournaments in recent memory. No offense. I love College Basketball, but when the eventual champion wins all of it's games by double digits...that's not the kind of March drama most of us are looking for.

Livable...I think So

We just got word that Forbes.com picked Des Moines as one of the most livable cities in the country. I'd have to agree. Portland Maine and Bethesda Maryland are ahead of us on the Forbes list.

We agree

Cubs Blacked Out...But there's Hope

All I wanted to do was sit and watch the Cub's season opener with my boys. I'd been talking to them about it all week... If these boys don't grow up to be die hard Cub fans...I'll blame it on this day.

Now, any of you who, like me...missed the game, and are shaking your fist at the Gods of Mediacom...save your breath.

They Cable company is not to blame. The idiot Baseball owners who came up with the cockamamie map I've posted below are. Who knows if it's real but it's labeled the Major League Baseball Home Market Map. It labels the country based on which Major League Club can claim an area as it's "Home Market".

Take a look at Iowa.

Las Vegas is nuts too.

But there's hope...I found this article on Yahoo Sports.

So if I'm reading that correctly...there's some hope we'll lift the blackout and common sense will reign. I hope someone will come to their senses and allow ESPN to air the Cubs in this market when the network decided to air their game.

It could happen a lot this year.

Otherwise my boys first enduring image of their Father will be me screaming a string of thinly veiled cuss words at the television when I can't simply sit down and watch my Cubbies.

Patrick: Sasa Frassin, Mother of Pearl...Sweet Grandmother's Spatula...For the Love of all things Holy!!!!

Boys: Mommy, what's wrong with Daddy....

Sally: We don't have that much time before you go to bed...now go get your Father a cool towel for his forehead...

I beg the Gods of baseball...Please don't let that happen.

I'm going to get a cool towel for my forehead and another pair of shoes before the Nooner.

PWD

Where Did Spring Go? Hope Springs Eternal, and Sunday Night

Good Morning..

Maybe I'm a bad parent. I know I'm supposed to be putting Mozart and Chopin on the ipod so my kids can soak up the classics and grow up to be geniuses.

Instead, Sunday night we fired up the Pandora on my iPod. I've got a "James Taylor" channel saved so we listened to just about anything from Van Morrison to America....JT and Simon and Garfunkel. We had a great dinner...steaks with Stoufer's Spinach Souffle...and some fresh asparagus. We rounded it all off with some Bauder's Ice Cream. We gave the boys a bath and then sat with them for a while before I went to bed. Good Stuff.

I hope we keep music on around our house a lot and I hope it's not all "kids" music. No reason the kids can't start of love of Sinatra early.

Where Did Spring Go?

I looked at the buds of our Lilac bush Sunday and though...there's goes a fragrant spring...

The snow didn't stick much at our house. Sorry to those of you who've got something to shovel. I saw a guy in sandals and shorts on Sunday. Just a clarification: Just because it hit 60 degrees a couple of days doesn't mean you can put away your long pants for the remainder of the year.

North Korea

I know it's a serious thing,. I know I should be concerned about North Korea's test of a long range missile...errrrr Satellite launch... this weekend. I know I should be concerned...I'm not. I mean, are we just waiting until the regime spends itself into oblivion? Are we waiting until the North Korean Army is so malnourished that we can just walk across the DMZ and give em some help?

North Korea says it's launch was successful and that's probably all it's ever going to tell it's people. The ridiculous pronouncement was the best indication yet that the entire leadership has gone round the bend.

Hope

Not another campaign from the president...but the beginning of the Summer campaign for the Cubbies. this is the time of year I know we can win it all. No more of this 100 year hype. Time for the Cubbies to get down to business. The start of the season also brought up one of the funnier moments this morning. Megan asked...why don't the Cubs just build a dome? I thought I was actually going to have a stroke on the set. And if I was going to have one, I know at least two of our production crew who were halfway there as the words were coming out of her mouth. Domes baseball won't come to Chicago. At least not to the North side. If it does...I'm done being a Cub fan.

Ok so we'll have highlights of the Cubs game tomorrow morning. If I'm going to stay up to watch with the boys...I need to go get a nap. See you at Noon.

PWD

Not in the Newscast

Good Morning...
We've talked about some of the stories we had in our newscast again this morning so I thought I might add a couple we didn't have to the conversation today.

Kids and Video Games
How do you parents out there deal with this one?
There's an interesting article that basically draws on reader feedback to talk about whether kids should be able to play video games.
As a kid who didn't have the latest and greatest all the time I think I might lean toward yes. There's a Mom on there who talks about limiting the time your kids play games. There's also a Dad who talks about gaming with his kids. I agree with both. I still am the parent right? I can limit the time my kids play on the thing right?
Also there are a lot of "games" out there that can teach. I love Flight Simulators, but had to learn a few things about aerodynamics to get proficient at it. There are all kinds of games that can spark curiosity about a subject. How would I know where Irkutsk is without Risk?

Protesters
So the band of merry protesters in England want to ban Money right?
Sure, that wouldn't be total chaos or anything. My question is...what does that solve? Human nature is such that even without currency, there will be a power struggle that will produce winners and losers. As much as I'd love to play Lord of the Flies with the rest of the Des Moines Metro area I think we're better off with a little currency.
At least the Capitalist system allows people at the bottom to rise to the top.

And by the way, do you see any of the faces of the oppressed in that crowd of protesters? Are these the third world workers struggling to stay alive in a system that oppresses them? No, The oppressed are WORKING.
The best pictures are the guys who look surprised that the police hit them with a baton. I'm sure the fact that a mob of thousands was pushing toward them screaming threats all the while had nothing to do with it. I mean can't these cops see the difference between an angry mob and a real threat?
Our system isn't perfect and I've sure lived my life sipping Margaritas on the Lido Deck of the USS World Economy; but it seems to me that these folks are a lot more interested in punishing people who've succeeded rather than finding ways to lift people who have few advantages to begin with.

Just some thoughts.
PWD

"Public" Comment, Pay up and Why Pat Needs a Shower Curtian

I should have know it when the lights went out.

I should have known it was going to be a rough day.

I was in the show...stuff in my hair and all soapy of course...and the power went out. I'm not often in the shower when the lights go off so it never occurred to me that the hot water goes away too. it was a quick end to the start of my day.

I should have bothered showering because up next was a midnight snack for the twins. It's not their fault. The bottles we bought are...well they're a word I can't use here.

You practically have to wrap the kid in plastic if you want to get through the feeding without covering him in breast milk. Neither of the two boys was into their snack so it took a little longer than it usually does...and then there was the changing. We'll just leave it at...I could have used a shower curtain at this point.

So I got to work and things were looking up. A replacement supply of Styrofoam cups came in so we didn't need a Cage Match to decide who gets to have coffee.

The problem with me is once I get the coffee. I got up to go do our taped radio reports and sure enough...dumped coffee all over my desk.

It's been a good day so far.

To the news:

Kicked Out

I wasn't there so I don't know what happened but I have to ask this: What did the Democratic Leadership think was going to happen when they opened up the House Chamber and ASKED people to comment on a tax hike?

The House is considering a measure that would end the deductability of federal taxes when calculating your state income tax. The idea is to give a tax break to "most Iowans". Almost. As we reported this morning, the statistics House leadership is giving out about this shows 49 percent of Iowans who filed last year would get a tax break under the plan...sounds good until you realize it wouldn't be enough to pay for dinner out out and a movie for a family of four. Not exactly a break. Then you realize the rest of the state is going to be paying more. And when I say paying more...I mean a lot more. Hundreds of dollars at a minimum and thousands for the people earning over $250,000 a year. I don't mind that you want to end the duductability...well I do but I would mind it less if the leadership would use it for something that might actually help the state's economy. A 50 dollar tax break isn't going help to throw a significant amount of money back into the economy.

One more thing on the public comment meeting last night. The House Speaker cited rules of the House saying "no protesting or advocating can be done in the House while the Legislature is in session. "

First, isn't pretty much everything done on the house floor protesting or advocating? Isn't that the point of a public hearing?

And finally, If the crowd of 500 was cheering the idea of ending the detectability would Speaker Murphy have thrown them out?

The error here was the Leadership not seeing this one coming.

Pay Up

The Cigarette tax went up this morning...a lot. I can't now imagine a scenario where smoking sounds like a good idea. Brooke and I were recalling college when a pack of cigarettes were $2. It's $6 now. If the health concerns aren't enough to get you to quit smoking, maybe the money will be motivation.

That's all I've got today.

Hope you have a good one. I'm going to hose off.

PWD