Thanks for the birthday wishes, everyone!

The producers are work treated me to a cookie with a picture of me (kinda) on it :)

Since when do they arrest witnesses?

That was my thought when stopping by the police station. Fairly routine beat call for a TV reporter. I check the reports daily. Heard about a shooting (guy shot in the hand with a rifle) and figured I'd need a soundbite on that on.

So I'm talking to a police captain and he mentions they arrested two witnesses. I thought he misspoke. Witnesses? Since when are witnesses hauled off to jail?

They are when they're wanted on outstanding warrants.

Guess I shouldn't be surprised that the kind of people who would witness a shooting would be wanted. Especially a shooting involving a rifle and close range in a home in a rundown neighborhood next to the tracks.

I'm a Guitar Hero! RAWK ON!

Career mode complete on easy and medium. But hard looks too hard. I'm gonna need to practice!

Favorite albums of 2006:

Leigh Nash - Blue on Blue
The Violet Burning - Drop Dead
Mute Math - Mute Math
The Lonely Hearts - Paper Tapes
Gnarls Barkley - St. Elsewhere
Pristina - Stars & Sirens


Hmmm. I'll have to think more and update this later.

It's a stake through the heart of central Nebraska. Four days after freezing rain left inches of ice on everything, it's melting. Tonight that forced the evacuation of the TV station I work for. Thankfully, I work in the news bureau an hour east. My office has power and heat and lights. Can't say the same for the main station. They've been running on generators for days. That's enough power to keep the station on the air, and to power maybe two computers. We've had to anchor the news from our bureau several times, because it's a) the only place with steady power and b) doesn't have giant icicles crashing through the roof.


This is a small icicle, relative to the ten pound chunks that have fallen through the roof of the TV station. A 500 foot tower broadcasts our signal for dozens of counties.


See the coating of ice falling from this street sign? That's a small scale example of what I'm talking about. There are thousands of power poles down. That's hundred of miles of high voltage lines. And it's not like losing power to a square mile of city. Bringing a square mile of rural farm land back on the grid may only bring power back to a handful of people.


The ice storm has left 30,000 rural Nebraskans without power for four days. Sure, it looks amazing, but it's been devastating. That's not 30,000 in one or two towns. That's 30,000 spread out over a dozen counties.

There's ice on everything. Every chain link fence, every power line, every car, mailbox, sidewalk, and tree. It's been in the 40s the last two days, so at least it's melting. But the damage has been done.

Icy fingers reach from my front lawn...

Ice coated each and every blade of grass.

Steve White, fill-in anchorman!

We're in the midst of a huge storm. It's all ice in Grand Island. No snow.

Timber! Just heard another tree limb go down somewhere near by. That's because it's been raining for the better part of the entire day. At 32 degrees, that's a bad thing. Freezing rain on trees and power lines is trouble. West of here, it turns to snow, although they've had the freezing rain and sleet too.

Power's spotty in Grand Island, but my house seems just fine. However, the TV station I work for is about an hour west. Power went off there around 7am. They've been on generator ever since. That gives the station enough to power the master control room, which is the guts of the station. We have just enough to keep our signals on the air (we're Fox and ABC). But that means not enough to power a studio or newsroom.

So I got called in to anchor from Grand Island, where I run our news bureau.We did the news without a teleprompter, without limited ability to play video, and no graphics.

We were able to power up enough to get the weather guy on from the main studio in Kearney, but that was it

Check this site to see pictures our viewers have sent in.

Church has been cancelled tomorrow, so I'm planning to stay inside and stay warm! Hopefully the power stays on. If not, I have candles, flashlights, and blankets ready!

Merry Christmas everyone!

It's been a fun Christmas so far, having spent time with family and friends. I attended church on Christmas Eve, but enough of the real reason for the season.

Time to talk about the fun stuff Santa brought (and gave)!

I got an Onion book. Those are always fun. And some socks. Always handy. A MST3k DVD set has already found its way into the DVD player.

I also got a cool Mute Math t-shirt. It's sweet.

What would we do without DVD box sets? I never got into Lost, but I will now! This show is addictive!

But while all that stuff is fun, the greatest gift is still the one in Bethlehem some 2000 years ago.

Merry Christmas!

This sight has started to go away. The ice is melting, and we don't have snow. So looks like no white Christmas.

Except, for me, every Christmas is a White Christmas!

Icy Day! 32 degrees and rain don't mix well. 

Shark attacks are so 2001.

Five years later, the tragedy of people lost in the snow is all the rage. We had James Kim, the CNET editor who set out in the snow after the family car got stuck. Then we had the climbers lost somewhere around Mt. Hood Oregon.

Tragic situations, yes. Worthy of around the clock updates? Probably not.

However, in an age where every headline ends in an exclamation point or a cliff-hanging question mark, it creates plenty of so-called breaking news for the likes of Nancy Grace.

If only South Dakota was Northern California, and Karen Nelson was 30 not 50 when she was lost in the snow. And if only that happened now, not 10 years ago. Her story would have been there too.

We have CNN teaching us how to make a "desperation trench" in the snow. I kid you not. Look at the first video link in the left hand column on this page.

First, I believe this became a story because of James Kim. He works in media, and that propelled his story into the spotlight, when his family turned up missing. The media avalanche began when it was learned his family had survived, while he had died seeking help in the snow.

Then, faintly a week later some guys turn up missing not far away at Mt. Hood, near Portland, Oregon. The reporters fresh off the Kim story had an easy follow-up. Gotta ride the hot story. That's what they're doing now.

I have a feeling the next person to turn up missing in the snowy Pacific northwest will also make headlines.

If it happens in Montana, probably not news. Geography, and population density determine these things. We had a tragic story in Nebraska a couple of years ago about a couple dying in the snow, lost because they were high on meth. There was no national outcry. There was a 20/20 segment months later, but it never broke through the 24 hour news cycle.

Those of us who live in the often arctic midwest know the rules. Dress in layers, pack an emergency kit in your car, don't abandon a vehicle, etc. And I didn't learn that from Anderson Cooper.