Is that irony when the weather radar is knocked out by a storm?

The lonesome WHO-HD radar tower.

Sorry for the delay in updating the site. Amy and I actually took a vacation. You may be subject to some of our travels to Napa Valley, San Francisco and AT&T Park.

We begin with the storm that no one knew was coming.

Early Monday morning, severe weather rolled through central into east-central Iowa.

One of the first things damaged was WHO-HD’s doppler radar located on a tower in Alleman, Iowa. Chief Meteorologist Ed Wilson posted this picture on his Twitter account Monday afternoon of the remaining tower section.

WHO-HD radar damaged. (WHOTV.com)

Here’s another photo from the story that WHO did on the damage in Story County.

The station will use National Weather Service Radar until repairs are made. The pieces of the radar did some damage to a nearby farm, but no one was hurt by the debris. Here’s a link to the story that aired in the 5p newscast of Channel 13.

Rival station KCCI did a story on the radar’s damage. You can watch it here.

Sarah Thompsen, WBAY photo

The storm continued east into Tama County doing widespread damage, especially the town of Garwin. One farm damaged was that of Wartburg Comm Arts alum Sarah Thomsen’s parents. Some may remember her at Miss Tama County, but now she’s your 4p News Anchor at WBAY-TV in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

Her mother was interviewed by Ch. 13. Sarah’s sister, Susan, was a reporter at KIMT-TV in Mason City a few years back. You can watch the story here.

Want to help in Alabama? Don’t send clothes

The devastation in Alabama is widespread and scarring. We here in Iowa know what a tornado can do and what people try to do to help.

A friend of mine who’s worked in disaster services wanted me to pass this along. Even though 2 of his 3 daughters went to Luther, at least one made the good sound choice for her post-HS education.

Anyway… our friend Greg Berry, formerly of KIMT in Mason City is now in Alabama working at the CBS station in Birmingham. He’s said you can’t full comprehend what’s happened there from the twisters. This is from a guy who’s dealt with the Parkersburg tornado and the southern Minnesota storms of last year.

Here’s the advice as passed to me:

Want to help Alabama? Don’t send clothes
Clothing could be second disaster – Disaster News Network
Through original reporting, Disaster News Network (DNN) tells the story of response to disasters and suggests appropriate ways the public can help survivors.

We give a lot in Iowa, we can give to our friends to the south.

IBNA Membership Drive

Hello readers.

Many of you are working in a radio or television newsroom right now as you read this. Thanks for your support. Now I’m asking for your support again. I am a board member of the Iowa Broadcast News Association. We are currently looking to improve our membership roles.

Historically, stations will pay one fee and all members of a newsroom are covered. We are now asking each individual journalist to join as some stations have cut this item from the budget. Membership is only $15 and you can take that with you when you head to your next job.

The following is a letter being sent out across the state. Please take time to consider joining IBNA (it is for journalists, PR pros, students and others interested in our mission. Visit this site for more factual IBNA information)

We are holding the 2011 convention at the Stoney Creek Inn just off 86th street in Johnston. The big day is April 30. The convention begins at 8:30 and will close with our dinner and awards that night. Bob Franken is our keynote this year. There’s also a big gathering planned for Friday night at the State Historical Building in Des Moines to honor Jack Shelley.

We hope you can join us.

Dear Iowa Broadcasters, the IBNA wants you.

Your dedication to the advancement of broadcast journalism in Iowa is vital to our state, not to mention our industry.

We are in a trying time in our industry. Journalism is under attack with claims of political bias, budget constrains and demanding bosses wanting more with less. While our ownership groups have profits in mind, we have good stories, responsible reporting and keeping our jobs as motivators.

None of these pressures can give us an excuse to take our craft any less serious. The Iowa Broadcast News Association wants to make sure members have the tools necessary to perform your job the best you can.

IBNA is committed to you and your efforts

This means IBNA has to understand what you’re doing and needing. The board of directors serves as your connection to what the organization does, and what we can do, to best help the profession of journalism.

We ask for your support in membership

We will continue to fulfill our mission to improve electronic media news gathering and presentation for our stations and the public we serve. IBNA also provides free legal assistance over issues of open and public records and court proceedings.

Each year, Iowa’s best journalists are honored during our annual convention and awards presentation. What better way to understand the state by meeting those who work here with you in neighboring towns and competing stations. Convention sessions are driven to cover relevant topics in all our newsrooms.

The organization also has a strong interest in philanthropy and educating future journalists. We offer scholarships to the best and brightest students who are entering this field.

IBNA members also receive quarterly publications including trade news, educational opportunities and job listings.

What else does membership get you? If that doesn’t sound good enough, how about some cool member cards that double as press credentials?
Membership fees are minimal and cover costs of operation. No one is making a profit.

There’s strength in numbers

That’s where you come in to this conversation. Consider joining IBNA today to continue working on your future.
We thank you for your membership support in the past and want to make sure you sign up for another year. Just $15 keeps you active in IBNA. Tell your friends, co-workers and competitors. We want to see you all in Johnston in April 30th and beyond.

Sign up today by visiting this website: http://ibna.org/membership.html

Thank you for your time,
IBNA Membership Committee

Matt Breen, KTIV – Sioux City
Bob Fisher, KGLO – Mason City
Amy Fleming, KIMT – Mason City
Jonathon Gregg, Communications Research Institute – Oskaloosa
Beth Malicki, KCRG – Cedar Rapids
Gary Metivier, KWQC – Davenport
Paul Yeager, Iowa Public Television – Johnston

And the Emmy goes to…

Several Iowa media outlets were nominated for an Emmy award this weekend.

Most of Iowa is included in the Upper Midwest region based in Minneapolis.

I’ll start with my friends here at Iowa Public Television and their nominees.

• Documentary – Historical Iowa’s Radio Homemakers: Up a Country Lane, IPTV (Deb Herbold, Producer, Rick Fuller, David Feingold, Brian Vandell)
• Public/Current/Community Affairs – Single Story/Feature/Segment, Honor Flight Carries Heroes From Rural America (Andrew Batt, Steve Carns)
• Public/Current/Community Affairs-Program/Special/Series The Iowa Journal, IPTV (Nancy Crowfoot, Nancy Heather Brown, Judy Blank and Paul Yeager)
• Community/Public Service (PSA) – Single Spot, By the Numbers: Fiscal Year End Appeal, IPTV (Theresa Knight)
• Editor – Program (Non-News), Brian Vandell, IPTV
• Writer – Program (Non-News), Debra Herbold, IPTV

The others are listed for the state of Iowa. This includes KGAN and KCRG in Cedar Rapids, KWWL in Waterloo and KCCI and WHO in Des Moines, plus KTIV in Sioux City. Communication Research Institute is based in Oskaloosa.

• Newscast – Daytime – Markets 21-140 CBS 2 This Morning KGAN-TV
• Newscast – Daytime – Markets 141+ Siouxland’s News Channel 4 KTIV-TV
• Newscast – Evening – Markets 21-140 CBS 2 News KGAN-TV
• Newscast – Evening – Markets 21-140 KWWL News At Five KWWL-TV
• Newscast – Evening – Markets 141+ Siouxland’s News Channel 4, KTIV
• Newscast – Weekend Markets 21-140 CBS 2 News, KGAN
• Newscast – Weekend – Markets 141+ 232 Memorial KTIV
• General Assignment Report – No Time Limit, Honor Flight, KCCI
• General Assignment Report – No Time Limit Left for Dead, KGAN
• Breaking News – River Rescue, KCCI
• Continuing Coverage – Within 24 Hours Ed Thomas, KCCI
• Feature/Human Interest – Series- Hope for Haiti, KCCI (Eric Hanson)
• Business/Consumer: Single Story/Feature/Segment- Sky High, KGAN
• Politics/Government: Single Story/Feature/Segment- Up in Smoke, KGAN
• Sports – Single Story/Feature/Segment- Jory’s Fight off the Field, KGAN
• Sports – Program Series (Outside of news)- Harrison Barnes: Eye of the Storm, KCCI
• Sports – One-Time Special Pigskin Preview- KIMT
• Weather – Weathercast Mark Schnackenberg- KWWL
• Weather – Continuing Coverage Severe Weather- Blizzard Coverage KCRG
• Weather – Continuing Coverage Severe Weather- Blizzard of ’09, KCCI
• Children (12 & Under) – Program/Special/Series KIDS SHOW (Episode #10)- Communication Research Institute
• Teen (13 and up) – Program/Special/Series Teen- Eyes on the Road, KCRG
• Health/Science/Environmental: Single Story/Feature/Segment- Princess Jenna, KCRG
• Historic/Cultural/Nostalgic – Single Story/Feature/Segment- Waterloo Cemetery, KCRG
• Military – Single Story/Feature/Segment, War Wounds- KCRG
• Military – Program/Special/Series, Life after War- WHO-TV
• Military – Program/Special/Series, Poisoned Patriots- KGAN
• Magazine-Program/Special/Series, 13 Cares- WHO
• Promotion: Sports-Single Spot, Football Friday- WHO
• Promotion: Sports-Single Spot, RVTV- WHO
• Station Excellence – Markets 21-140- KCRG
• Director – Newscast Megan Osborn- KCCI
• Editor – News – No Time Limit, Nick Moron- KGAN
• Promotion: News Promo – Campaign, Your Eastern Iowa Campaign- KWWL
• Writer – News, Megan Osborn- KCCI
• On-Camera Talent – Anchor – News, Tiffany O’Donnell- KGAN
• Photographer – News – No Time Limit- KCCI
• Photographer – Sports – Within 24 Hours (Single Camera Only)- Matt Nelson, KCRG
• Photographer – Sports – No Time Limit (Single Camera Only)- Matt Nelson, KCRG
• Community/Cable/Public Access – Newscast Edited- CRI Weekly News, Communication Research Institute

The full list is visible here.
The awards are handed out in September.

June 5th, 2000

KWQC - TV6 Logo

I was looking at the calendar Friday when I realized that the date June 5th had meaning for me.

It will mark 10 years since I started work at KWQC-TV6 in Davenport.

That’s nothing monumental, but got me thinking about all the stuff that has happened, to me, in that decade.

I got married, had two kids, moved to Des Moines Ankeny, went to work at WHO-TV and went to work at IPTV.

Those are just the highlights of my life.

The world lived through Gore beating Bush, 9-11, War in Afghanistan, War In Iraq, Katrina, Obama elected, War in Afghanistan.

I’ve made countless friends, contacts and fans (not sure why) and had the privilege of telling hundreds of stories from countless locations.

Davenport was not my first stop, but my second full-time TV news gig. I worked two years at KIMT-TV3 in Mason City before getting the weekend anchor job in the Quad Cities.

Me sitting at the anchor desk. Thanks to Dave Van Meter for the photo.

Really it was Heidi Plummer, who, I still believe to this day helped me get the job at KWQC. Heidi was the receptionist at the station that day in the spring of 2000 when I dropped off my resume and tape for news director Doug Retherford.

I was visiting Amy, who was living in Moline at the time, and saw the KWQC opening for a weekend anchor. I got to 805 Brady Street close to 5p that day. I had a couple of other tapes to mail that day as I was at the end of my contract in Mason City. For the life of me, I can’t remember where those other jobs were.

I asked Heidi where the closest post office was. She said, “it isn’t that far, but you won’t make it there before it closes, so I’ll mail your items for you.”

I never know if she did mail my other tapes. I got a call from Doug, had the interview, got the job and moved to the QC.

Brian Krans of the Argus, Chris Minor of WQAD and I trying to get then Congressman Lane Evans to talk after leaving the Rock Island County Courthouse.

Time moved quickly as I experienced my first Bix 7, John Deere Classic (it was at the new course for the first time that year), Mississippi Valley Fair, Highlight Zone, Festival of Trees Parade and Whitey’s. And, in the same city as my girlfriend for the first time in two years.

Doug hired me. Betty Vesey was the EP. Andea Davidson ran the desk. Jake Peterson produced the morning show, Stacey Palzkill the 5, Ellen Ant the 6/10.

I went on my first story with Randy Biery. Also in photog land, Mike Ortiz, Hank Strunk, Bob Palmer, Jess Hull, Jon Millman and Drew Jones.

Matt Davis, Elizabeth Goodsitt, Eugene Kennedy, Dawn Smith, Fran Riley and the legend Ed Lewis were my reporter pals.

Thom Cornelis, Dan Pearson and Ryan Nolan were in sports with Terry Swails, Erik Maitland, Theresa Bryant and Kris Oetzmann in weather.

Alison Baumbach edited tapes and Dave Van Meter was the weekend director.

Gary Metivier, Sharon Derycke, Mike Mickle, Marcia Lense, Paula Sands and Charles King were our anchors.

A lot of great people at a great station in a great community.

Thank you to all for a great set of memories that started ten years ago.