New Referral: Claire Addison My Prevo!

The Prevo family has now been able to send some pictures of their baby Claire! Claire was born on the 13th of July in Vietnam...she was a premature, but you can see she's grown quickly and is doing well!

The Prevo's hope to have Miss Claire home by Christmas!

Isn't she gorgeous?!

Stripper Terror!

OMG, this is so funny because it reminds me of my college days. My friend was turning 20 or 21, and we thought it would be funny to get her a stripper. It was a total surprise...there were about 30 of us all in this cramped apartment in Lawrence.

A cute, young cop stopped some of us in the parking lot, and one of my friends started saying stuff like, "I'm sorry we've been so bad officer!"...things like that...problem was that it ended up being a real cop who wanted someone to move their car. Embarassing...

But then, a fireman showed up at our door...and yes, his hose was out of control. Gross.

First of all, he only had one move. Secondly, he didn't wear any padding in the cre-otch, so everything was visible. Thirdly, he told us (while dancing) that he was a used sales car salesman during the day and stripping was his side job because it was SO fun.

It was horrible. I wish I could tell you more, but for the sake of decency, I won't. All I can say is the girls were running away from him and covering their faces. It was traumatic, and by the end of the hour, I wanted my money back.

Funny thing is, I'd do just about anything to have all my girlfriends together again, even though that was pretty tragic! This brings back memories!!

WHAT IS NEWS?!

Uh oh, it's late, and I've been thinking...call it a Jerry Maguire diatribe.

But I've been reading a lot of what people are writing in the local blogosphere about news, and I'm here to write something that's been weighing heavily on my mind.

We've all been subjected to some pretty bad news during our lifetime, but it doesn't have to always be that way.

One blogger questioned why my station did a story on speeding in neighborhoods when there were "fires/murders/suicides" going on. Huh?

First of all, in most cases fires/murders/suicides have little to do with the masses. That being said, there are always exceptions. But, for the most part, they have little to do with a wide audience. A jealous husband who murders his wife in Polk County has little to do with how you're going to live your life on the south side of Springfield. An abandoned warehouse fire in downtown Springfield has little to do with you if you live in Dallas County...and a suicide has little to do with you unless you know the person who died.

Again, all of these cases can be argued. And I promise you, no matter what, they will be covered by news organizations...STILL, is it really NEWS?

Let me tell you how most academics and journalists define news.

News can be summarized in 3 words: relevance, usefulness, and interest. The role of journalism is supposed to maintain civilization and democracy.

Within the broad standards of relevance, usefulness, and interest are more specific elements to determining what makes news. Most journalists will agree, they are as follows:

1. impact (how many people are affected)
2. conflict (recurring theme of storytelling, struggles between people, nations, or natural forces)
3. novelty (newsworthy just because it's bizarre--Springfield house sells on ebay for $1025)
4. prominence (names make news, period)
5. proximity (people concerned with what happens where they live)
6. timeliness (news is supposed to be new)

So, long story short: speeding in neighborhoods is more newsworthy than most fires/murders/suicides. Think about all the kids you've seen in the news who were hit and killed by speeding cars. Shouldn't someone try to protect our children?

And as far as the eBay story (that's the story of a Springfield house selling on eBay for $1025)...it's a novelty story. And, in the follow up, we did a story on the legalities of eBay--which also has a lot of impact with people in the Ozarks...more so than most fires/murders/suicides.

That being said, I'll have to cover a fire/murder/suicide in the future...and sooner than later.

By the way, if anyone has any suggestions on how to cure insomnia, that would be great.

A New Referral!!

The Prevo Family has announced some exciting news!

They just got their referral for Claire Addison My Prevo.
She was born July 13th in Vietnam.

She was premature and weighed about 4 1/2 pounds, but she is completely healthy.

Now, she weighs about 6 1/2 pounds and is great.

The Prevo's have officially accepted her referral today,

so hopefully Miss Claire will be in the Ozarks by Christmas!!

Yea!!

I'll try to have a picture on here soon...

if you want to send the couple warm wishes, you may do so here!

Livin' 'Neath the Law with Jack McBrayer

If you watch 30 Rock, you'll enjoy this clip from "Kenneth": Note, he may drop and F-Bomb.

Emmy Nominations are in!

The Emmy nominations were released on-line at 10pm Thursday night. Most of the nominations went to journalists working in St. Louis or Kansas City, but there were a few nods locally. They are as follows:

Newscast evenings, Markets 50+
Cara Connelly, Michelle Sherwood, Jeff Benscoter, Brian Vandenberg, KY3

General Assignment Within a 24-Hour Period
Dave Catanese, KY3
Ice Storm

Education/Schools
Angie Weidinger, KOLR
Tommie's Story

News Excellence
KY3

Congratulations and Good Luck!

A First in Korea: Domestic Adoptions Beat International

For the first time in Korean history, domestic adoptions have surpassed international adoptions.

Nearly 60 percent of all adoptions during the first half of this year were domestic, meaning that the children were placed in homes within Korea. The breakdown is 729 out of 1,223 Korean babies, to be exact. (That's far higher than the average 41 to 42 percent the country's seen in the last five years.)

Experts say the increase is largely attributed to a new law that encourages domestic adoptions over international. Korean society has been exposed to more adoption campaigns (the government has been making efforts to shake off the country's reputation as a "baby exporting' nation.) Korean couples living there are also getting tax incentives to adopt.

Overall, the Overseas Korean Foundation estimates nearly 157,145 children have been placed internationally during the last 50 years. Citizens of the U.S., France, Sweden, and Denmark have adopted the most Korean children.

Korean baseball: Can anyone explain this?!

glumbert.com - Hold your feet! Korean baseball gets strange

New Buzz About This Comedy Short Featuring Bill Murray!

The guys who put this together are Pete Karinen and Brian Sacca. They were just on ABC news for the comedy short...

It's about fact checkers who take their job way too seriously. Sort of reminded me of news for a brief second...

Your taxes don't always go to the state!

I don't know why this is amazing news, but I was pretty floored to see how many businesses keep the taxes you pay them.

For example, when you buy something at a business, you pay sales tax. The business collects that money. Some businesses don't pay the state.

Another example. You work for Company A. The Company withholds a certain amount of taxes that are supposed to go the state. Company A fails to pay the state.

The Department of Revenue says there are more than a thousand businesses doing this--I found more than 450 in Southwest Missouri who are delinquent...and we're not talking chump change. The DoR says these businesses don't just owe a buck here or there...the spokesperson says it's typically a lot of dough.

One restaurant in Springfield owner told me he owed the state $20,000 in taxes...he just got behind with the ice storm. He says that he'll be paid up by the end of the week.

Still, here's a basic breakdown of our sales tax: 3% goes to the general fund. 1% goes to education, the rest goes to things like conservation and highways.

How much has the state failed to collect from businesses, you ask? The DoR says $30 TO $50 million dollars!!

Anyway, I did the story last night on KSPR, but you can see who's not squared up with the state by clicking on the DoR's website youself. Kind of interesting stuff. I popped in one a business owner to ask him why he's on the list. He was a good sport, I'm surprised he didn't kick me out of his shop.

So, next time I go to a business, do I have to pay sales tax? I don't want them to pocket my money!

I Survived...my first night at KSPR!

It was great. Did you guys watch it?! I was very excited for us because it took a lot of work Sunday morning/afternoon/evening to get everything up and running...plus, being in a new newsroom altogether was pretty crazy.

We have a long way to go, but I was super excited that things went on smoothly, and we had a clean show. Now let's do it again tomorrow...

If you want to see my first story on KSPR. Click here. I think you might find it interesting...it's about why Springfield police can't solve certain crimes.

KSPR.com is now online!

We are now up and running!! Check us out. I think our website is the best in the market...it's very clean, but I'm partial. What do you think? http://www.kspr.com/

Be sure to watch us on Sunday night at 10pm!

Just Try It: Korean BBQ Beef (Awesome version)

I swear, everytime I make this, people go insane. I wish I could take credit for it, but a little, old Korean lady gave the recipe to me years ago.

It's basically the recipe for bulgogi (bull-go-gee)--a Korean favorite. I just call it Korean BBQ to avoid any kind of awkwardness.

1 1/2 pounds beef tenderloin

4 T soy sauce

3 T sugar

5 T green onion or leek

1 T minced garlic

2 T sesame oil

2 T toasted, crushed sesame seed (optional)

2 T rice wine or cooking sherry (optional)

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Slice the tenderloin in tiny shreds. (You can freeze it for a while and then it cuts better.) Mix thoroughly with all the ingredients listed above. Let marinate for a while (up to a day if you'd like, but sometimes I've done it for 30 minutes.)

Broil the beef mixture over a charcoal fire or pan fry quickly until browned.

**Also, you don't have to use beef tenderloin, but if you use a tougher meat, tenderize it with a mallet or something.** You can also go to the Korean market on Glenstone or Campbell and ask for "kalbi"--basically short ribs. That way you don't have to do any cutting.

4 days and counting...

I started my first day at "the new KSPR" today.

It was awesome!

I think a lot of people will like the changes that we're going to bring to the market. I'm not sure if I can talk about them yet, but we've set up some really cool agreements with other community leaders/magazines/professionals...

Anyway, the launch date is 9-9-07.

You'll see us on-air for the first time at 10pm.

Watch it or else!!

The station's got a lot of young, agressive reporters.

At the same time, we bring a lot of seasoned journalists to the table, too...starting with Joe and Christine...then behind the scenes with our news director, Brad Belote (formerly my executive producer at KY3) and Ron Davis...former print reporter, former editor of 417 magazine, the creator of the chatter blog, etc...

Anyway, aside from everything being new in my life, I went to the park during Labor Day.

It was, in a way, a first...

we rode our bikes to Aunt Martha's Pancake House,

ate,

and then took off for Nathaniel Greene Park.

When we got there, we played catch and fed the ducks.

We saw some weird looking ducks!

One tried to chase me, and it was scary.

Then, I almost killed Jim on the way back home because the bike ride no longer seemed like a good idea.

It was hot.

I had a headache.

It felt like we were 20 miles from home...and it was all uphill.

My head and my butt were really sore by the time we made it back to the Phelps Grove Park area, where we live...

and it wasn't pretty.

Larry Craig resigns, but his interview lives on