No, I don't have pot in the trunk!

I've been pulled over before. But twice in one day??? Twice in 10 minutes?! Unheard of!

On my way to North Texas yesterday for a doctor's appointment I passed several state troopers that had pulled over big rigs on I-20. And when I say several, I mean several!

I was highly annoyed (at myself) when, in Palo Pinto County, I saw flashing lights in my rear view mirror. I was fiddling with the A/C which had just decided to crap out on a 90-degree day and wasn't paying attention to my speed.

Trooper Beverage asked me to get out of my car and talk to him on the shoulder. He told me I was going 74. I get it, that's speeding, but really? 74? He asked where I was headed and then proceeded to ask me about my doctor's visit which made me very uncomfortable, because it was so personal. But he was nice. He then told me he was going to do a cursory check of my vehicle and poked around the outside for a time.

I have a little 15-pound Jack Russell Terrier, and the trooper greeted him. He then came back and asked if I was carrying any suspicious materials in my car, then rattled off a list: "Weapons, bladed, non-bladed, illegal drugs, drug paraphernalia, marijuana in the vehicle, cocaine, anything in the trunk, vicious animals..."

I started giggling and said, "Yes, I have a vicious animal in the car."

We laughed and he told me to be careful and let me go with a warning. I started to crumple up the warning and toss it into my little garbage bag but something told me to put it in the glove box with my insurance.

I don't know about you, but the first thing I do when I get pulled over is drive safely. Within just a few miles I got in the left lane to get around a few big rigs and as I came down a hill I spotted an unmarked car that looked like law enforcement. Of course I immediately slowed down, even though I wasn't really even speeding other than to pass the 18-wheelers. I watched my rear view mirror for a while, saw him enter the highway, and after a while I was certain he was following me and then saw the hidden lights start flashing.

I started laughing. Never, have I ever laughed when pulled over! I told him right away that I had just been stopped and he asked to see the warning ticket. Thank God I saved it! This trooper -- whose name escapes me but he said he's head of DPS in the Denton County headquarters -- told me I was being stopped for lingering in the left-hand lane which is reserved for passing only. Seriously?! He let me stay in the car, but did another check around the vehicle! When he asked me if I had a trunk full of marijuana I couldn't help but to dissolve into giggles.

He said they were working a drug operation along the interstate, although I don't remember exactly how he worded it. He was also a fan of my dog and asked why I didn't have him restrained. Normally I probably would have stammered out an excuse but I was still giggling at the bizarre situation I was in and just told him that Bossier wouldn't like it.

Good job, DPS! I really hope they busted some pot smugglers because they were sure putting a lot of effort into it.

On a more somber note, I spent the rest of my there-and-back trip driving so carefully and defensively, having been reminded these past two weeks about how dangerous and tragic unsafe driving can be.

Rodney Holder

Officer Rodney Holder was a friend. I was a one-year veteran reporter at KTAB when Rodney entered the police academy in 1982. He was one of the young, fresh-faced kids signing up for the job of protecting and serving the community. I was assigned the story of this new academy. My first story was about the young men in the academy and specifically about a young woman who wanted to be an Abilene Police Officer. Sandy Mayberry was a pretty girl going through the rigorous training with Holder and the other hairy-legged men working to earn their commissions. I put the emphasis on the woman for that first report, partly because she was one of the first in the APD, and partly because she was prettier than they were. I had several occasions of dealing with Rodney Holder over the years of covering the police beat. Some cops don't like nosy news reporters very much. Rodney seemed to understand the importance of this job, and he was always gracious and easy to talk to. Rodney Holder seemed to like me. His easy-going smile made it easy to approach him at accident scenes and criminal investigations. I have always understood the importance of his job, and I tried to treat him with the respect he earned with the badge. He seemed happiest at parades where he and the other motorcycle cops led the procession. I knew him well enough to speak when we were both in our jeans and tee-shirts away from the job. It's always a shock when someone you know and respect dies...especially someone so genuine, gracious and committed. The jobs of police officer and a news reporter can be adversarial at times, but neither of us let that happen. I will miss him.

It's Been Real, Abilene!

To set the mood, you should probably be playing "Don't Stop Believing" by Journey in the background.

Ready? Alrighty then...

Most of you don't know me because I work behind the scenes of KTAB, so will you truly care about this blog? Highly unlikely. Either way, I'll start by saying that my name is Hope and I'm from Baltimore (that's a pretty busy city up north somewhere). My family moved to Texas in my teen years, so I lived in the Dallas area for a while (kind of a slower pace of life than Baltimore).

When I graduated, I moved out to Abilene to start my career as a TV producer. I had NO IDEA where this city was until I had an interview here, so I was not expecting very much when I moved here. (It also didn't help that I was a city girl moving out to the country).

In my several months in Abilene, I must say this city has proved me wrong. Who knew Abilene had a mall and a Wal-mart? But the most memorable thing about this city is how nice everyone is. It's not that "well bless your heart" mess that bigger southern cities practice. It's a genuine "I'm nice because I dont' know how else to act."

Everywhere I went, someone would spark up a conversation or want to help me out. I could never go to a store to "grab something real quick" because the cashier would always hold me up to give a personal product review of whatever I was buying. Even when I went to the movies, another moviegoer asked if I wanted something from the concession stand because she was headed that way. Are you serious? In Baltimore, I'd be lucky if that lady gave me eye contact.

So as nice as this place has been to me, I must be moving on to the next city. I'm headed out to start another producing position in Waco. I guess that means I'm moving to a slightly bigger place, but that doesn't mean I could ever forget about Abilene. It wasn't home, but it was still good to me.

The people, the coworkers, the tranquility...couldn't ask for a better place to make my start. Now that I'm leaving, I just want to say thanks for the stay and welcoming me so warmly.

So farewell, all! And who knows....this may not be the last you hear of me ;)

Why Apple?

I really don't understand what the big deal is about Apple. Their products aren't that great and they're way overpriced. Take a look at the new iPad. What's really new about it? The touch screen has been around for 70 years. Yes, its improved a lot and yes you can do a lot more with it, but what's the point. What does multi-touch really do for you? Does it really do anything to improve efficiency. Are you going to work faster because you have multi-touch technology? All the stupid little things that Apple says to sound amazing and innovative (like multi-touch) aren't very useful, While the copy and paste features that's been around forever, was just added to the iPhone operating system. A large reason Apple does so well, is due to their "Fan Boy" base.

All I ask, is that you do a little research before you buy. Companies like Apple thrive off people buying their products without looking at other options. You can get a lot more, for a lot less, if you shop around and research.

Don't Double-Cross the Double-J!

Take a look at this picture. That monster of a building is Cowboys Stadium. I've stood before it, albeit only from the outside. It's intimidating. And it cost $1.3 billion (give or take a few hundred mil) to build.

My question to you is this: would you mess with the guy who had it built? The guy who, as has been explained to stadium tourists, has his own private pod high above the field, so he can watch the game with his brain-trust without being seen by TV cameras? A guy who could, y'know, probably buy and sell you and everyone you've ever met?

That's exactly what an anonymous person recently did, in the form of a cell phone at a bar. And in doing so, that brave(/drunken?) American opened up several cans of ethically-questionable worms.

Let's set the scene: our unnamed friend is hanging at a bar when, lo and behold, Jerry Jones pops up in front of him. He just spent a long, grueling day counting his money, and wants to kick back with an adult beverage or three. More power to 'em. This is America! You should be able to kick back, have a drink, and do an embarrassing karaoke version of Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up" (What, you've never done that? Well... neither have I. And you can't prove otherwise).

But if you're the Double-J, the rules of engagement are different, like it or not. So our friend whips out the video phone and catches Jerry talking a little smack on some easy targets in the football world: former 'Boys coach Bill "The Tuna" Parcells, and Heisman winning quarterback/Focus on the Family spokesman Tim Tebow. The Tebow stuff was mostly fluff, but the Parcells bit had Jones basically admitting that he used the Tuna to barter for a new stadium. And as the above photo demonstrates, that worked, and then some.

Big deal, right? Right! The last time I checked, this is 2010. Something called the internet (which you're reading right now!) rules the information world. And, like it or not, websites exist to disseminate stuff exactly like Jerry's drunken spiel. So our cell phone toting friend tries to sell the video, only to find that it ain't that impressive. So, dude gives it to Deadspin.com, a sports blog notorious for edgy/offensive sports coverage (sample headline: "Target Field's Urinal Problem"). And even now, you can go to Deadspin and watch Jerry Jones say Coach Tuna helped get his team a new stadium, and isn't worth a s---, and that Tebow would never get on the field for Dallas, and yada yada yada. But it's what happens next that makes this whole sordid tale really interesting.

We've established that Mr. Jones has enormous clout, especially in the Dallas/Ft. Worth region. Virtually everyone knows him, and could pick him out of a crowd. Suffice to say, dude's pretty powerful. Now, put yourself in the position of the big, bad DFW news stations. You've got this video. It's out there. Everyone with a computer can watch it. Do you run it on TV? It's a tough question. You have to consider how powerful Jones is. Would running the video hack him off so much that he would have his organization cut your station off? What if you're KTVT, the "Official Station of the Dallas Cowboys"? Not such an easy decision, is it? Of the four major stations in the area, two ran it, two (including KTVT) did not.

One of th stations that ran it, WFAA, has a legendary, tenured, fairly old-fashioned, and extremely outspoken sportscaster. That man is Dale Hansen. And he did NOT like that his station ran the video. So, after some wrangling with station brass, he took to the airwaves and TRASHED his station's management, and the site that posted the video in the first place (which, by the way, is a separate blog in and of itself... Mr. Hansen used the tired line about bloggers being Cheeto-eating nerds in their moms' basements, failing to mention that Deadspin is owned by Gawker Media, just like WFAA is owned by Belo, a company whose aim is to make money. But hey, don't let that get in the way of trashing those low-life bloggers!)

All this got the newsroom (read: me) thinking: would a similar situation play out like this in Abilene? If we got, say, a city councilperson, superintendent, or business owner drunk, then taped them saying outrageous things about their own institution, would we use it? Should we? Would you want to David Robinett get on Bigcountryhomepage Sports and rant about our decision to run it? Would you watch, especially if we said on KRBC News at 6, "Stay tuned, because coming up at 10, our sports guy is gonna tear this station's management a new one" (which, by the way, is more or less what WFAA did).

What would I do? Honestly, I don't know. We don't get many submissions from viewers who record city leaders while they're drunk and giddy-- much less billionaires who own the most valuable sports franchise in the United States. Gulp.

Basketball Days

CBS coverage of the NCAA Basketball tournament preempts KTAB Noontab two days each year. It's strange for the news department. It means two short work days and an easy week here in this third week of March. That's a welcome little break. Some of us haven't taken any time off since the Christmas holidays. Naps are great! On the other hand, we do news. We get paid to do news. We like to do news. It's important for us to do news. It's a little bit frustrating and confusing to be ready to do the news and not to have our usual access to the TV station to put on the news. As I write this, my day has actually been over for almost an hour, but I'm still here...looking for newsworthy information that I would be producing if we had a noon newscast today. I'm also a sports fan, and the first day of this year's tournament had a lot of upsets and big surprises. I guess I'll just go home and watch basketball with many of the rest of you.

How I got on Wheel of Fortune

Category is... Headline:
Wheel of Fortune is holding open auditions this weekend in Dallas and Fort Worth! This blog has all the information you'll need if you're planning on hitting up the Dallas Convention Center on Saturday or Billy Bob's Texas on Sunday. Make sure you click that link, because it has really important information.

So, yes, 10 years ago I was a contestant on Wheel of Fortune. I don't really go around talking about it a lot because it makes for very fun trivia or an upper hand in ice breaker games where you have to say something unique about yourself. BUT, I'm armed with quite a bit of knowledge on the audition process, so I'll go ahead and share.

Be prepared to be blended in among the several thousand other people who will be there. The only people who actually get to audition in a speed-up round are those whose names are drawn via raffle. If you do get selected, they want people who first and foremost are good at the game. Practice playing hangman or find an online version of the game. Secondly, they really want people who will react loudly to winning. Clap, jump, yell, celebrate... But remember, it's not the Price is Right. They also want people with big personalities who aren't shy and won't clam up. Here's how it happened for me:

Category is... People
My college roommate and I had just met each other one month prior to the Best Friends Week Dallas audition at the University of North Texas, and she convinced me that we could sell ourselves as "best friends." I was more than excited about a shot at Big Money Big Money, because the group I was in had ambitiously pledged $100,000 to help build an infectious diseases clinic in Cameroon, and fundraising efforts weren't going so well. So, why not give a game show a shot?

I woke up early and stood in line outside the auditorium, while Best Friend Michelle took her time waking up, then lazily wandered to the center of campus and walked in to the auditorium. Thank God! She met one of the show's big wigs, Lisa Dee, and talked to her about what they were looking for in a contestant. Armed with this insider information, we were sure we had a shot.

Category is... Event
So we were shuffled into the auditorium, a few hundred people at a time, to watch the auditions. Before the lucky auditioners were selected, they asked the audience a few trivia questions and handed out prizes. Michelle and I knew one of the answers, grabbed each other's hand to form a big W, and got it right. We won hats, tshirts, a fanny pack (eek!) and a computer game, which came in handy for practice later. They did not choose us out of the big raffle basket, so we watched the auditions, but were happy that they had noticed us in the audience. While we were watching, we drew a picture of ourselves doing a victory dance with Lisa Dee calling us to tell us we had been selected. We wrote down every single possible piece of contact information, and Michelle ran up at the end to hand Lisa the paper. We felt like SUCH cheaters, but just knew it would pay off!

Category is... Before and After
We waited on pins and needles for the callback. They gave us a window of time, but I don't recall how long after the initial audition that was. Then it happened. The contestant coordinator called and invited us to the callback audition! We practiced our victory dance, played hangman and our new computer game during every piece of free time, and showed up at the final audition. There were about 35 sets of friends there. We were briefed on ALL the strict rules and regulations, then given a test. Both partners had to pass the test in order to move on. This part made me nervous, because Michelle was the one with the personality, but I was the one with the Super Puzzle-Solving Skills. But, she passed. Everyone who passed played a mock game, complete with a little wheel and interviews about who you are, where you're from, and why you're best friends.

We must have done well because a few days later, Michelle's extra-large cell phone rang. We were headed to Dallas for the show.




So, here's the video. You may wonder why I'm alone, and that's definitely not a Dallas background. But this blog is about the audition process, not the twists and turns and drama that came after that :)