For instance, a News Channel 11 viewer from Southwest Virginia recently told me no other mayonnaise will do in her household.  It’s Hellmann’s, hands down.

In a survey of the WJHL newsroom Good Friday afternoon, (yes, when the NCAA tournament was hogging all of our air time, and I wasn’t busy watching because WVU played the night before) I found there’s at least one thing most of us won’t compromise on just to save money. 

That comes with one exception.  One manager said, “I’m the cheapest man in the world. I can’t think of anything I wouldn’t buy the generic of....” I should’ve asked his wife.

StarKist Tuna is the only way to go for one of our reporters.  Anything else must be too fishy.

One producer gave me a list as long as her arm.  There’s no skimping on everything from mayo to soup.  Her “must haves” include Kraft Mayonnaise, Heinz Ketchup, A1 Steak Sauce, StarKist Tuna, Cap’n Crunch Cereal, Tyson frozen chicken, Diet Coke, and Campbell’s Soup. 

The tuna of choice for another producer?  StarKist.  But, that’s not all.  She prefers Pepsi and Pepsi only.  You won’t be disappointed if you ask to use her wash room either.  She runs a “Charmin only” household.  NILLA wafers and only name brand cereals are in her pantry.

There must be something about that popular breakfast food.  Another reporter told me “Any kind of generic cereal is banned from (his) diet!!”

My best friend once made fun of me during our college days when I bought something that was named like “buttery butter”.  It was so ridiculous, and cheap, I can’t remember the name.  I’ve opted for fewer generic items these days partly because I’m only slightly as poor as I once was.  But, I’m a big fan of Miracle Whip.  And, Kool-Aid can’t be replaced with anything else.  I could think of more, but you get the idea.

So, all of that to get to this:  HAVE YOUR NAME BRAND KITCHEN STAPLES CHANGED OVER THE YEARS?  I hear Hellmann’s isn’t the same as it used to be in color, texture and taste.  I haven’t noticed a difference in Miracle Whip over the last two decades or so.  And, my newsroom friends say their favorite products are the same, too.  Tell me about your “must haves”, and reflect a little on what it used to be and what it is now.

For instance, a News Channel 11 viewer from Southwest Virginia recently told me no other mayonnaise will do in her household.  It’s Hellmann’s, hands down.

In a survey of the WJHL newsroom Good Friday afternoon, (yes, when the NCAA tournament was hogging all of our air time, and I wasn’t busy watching because WVU played the night before) I found there’s at least one thing most of us won’t compromise on just to save money. 

That comes with one exception.  One manager said, “I’m the cheapest man in the world. I can’t think of anything I wouldn’t buy the generic of....” I should’ve asked his wife.

StarKist Tuna is the only way to go for one of our reporters.  Anything else must be too fishy.

One producer gave me a list as long as her arm.  There’s no skimping on everything from mayo to soup.  Her “must haves” include Kraft Mayonnaise, Heinz Ketchup, A1 Steak Sauce, StarKist Tuna, Cap’n Crunch Cereal, Tyson frozen chicken, Diet Coke, and Campbell’s Soup. 

The tuna of choice for another producer?  StarKist.  But, that’s not all.  She prefers Pepsi and Pepsi only.  You won’t be disappointed if you ask to use her wash room either.  She runs a “Charmin only” household.  NILLA wafers and only name brand cereals are in her pantry.

There must be something about that popular breakfast food.  Another reporter told me “Any kind of generic cereal is banned from (his) diet!!”

My best friend once made fun of me during our college days when I bought something that was named like “buttery butter”.  It was so ridiculous, and cheap, I can’t remember the name.  I’ve opted for fewer generic items these days partly because I’m only slightly as poor as I once was.  But, I’m a big fan of Miracle Whip.  And, Kool-Aid can’t be replaced with anything else.  I could think of more, but you get the idea.

So, all of that to get to this:  HAVE YOUR NAME BRAND KITCHEN STAPLES CHANGED OVER THE YEARS?  I hear Hellmann’s isn’t the same as it used to be in color, texture and taste.  I haven’t noticed a difference in Miracle Whip over the last two decades or so.  And, my newsroom friends say their favorite products are the same, too.  Tell me about your “must haves”, and reflect a little on what it used to be and what it is now.

This weekend, I did two noteworthy things. I received congratulations for winning Virginia Press Association awards; I also spent some early-morning hours rolling newspapers and helping deliver them to the campgrounds around Bristol Motor Speedway.

With all the fans in town during race week, newspaper circulation jumps, and it means a lot more people get involved in distributing the paper. It’s a week of excitement and exhaustion. It also gives those of us in the newsroom an opportunity to see all the things that must happen to get out the news.

As we celebrate the many awards announced this weekend, won by the folks in the newsroom, I think it’s also important to recognize the other people who helped to get us there. If it weren’t for them, there would be no Bristol Herald Courier and there would be no awards.

Late at night, after most of the reporters have gone to sleep, there are folks working down at the production plant on Highway 394, where thousands of newspapers roll off the press each night. They go to the newspaper carriers, who roll and deliver them in the wee hours of the morning.

For example, there’s somebody out there driving newspapers from Blountville, Tenn., to Grundy, Va.—a distance of more than 100 miles—every morning.

When you shiver in your pajamas as you walk out to get your newspaper, it means someone has been out in the frigid pre-dawn hours to put it there.

And then there are the other full-time activities that are necessary for the running of a newspaper. Someone has to sell the advertising that pays our salaries. Someone has to sell newspapers. Someone has to answer the phone and handle customer service calls. Someone has to run this Web site.

For every reporter whose byline appears on the front page, there are dozens of other folks working behind the scenes, and their jobs are just as important as ours.

I had just a small taste of their efforts in the wee hours this weekend—and they were still a step ahead. On both of the nights I helped roll papers, my newspaper actually arrived at my home in Abingdon before I did.

It was a week ago tonight, about this time, that I was sharing dinner with a younger crowd.  Yes, they thought they just might like to share an hour or two with me.  I’m talking about high school juniors and seniors. 
Surprised?  Yes, me too.  It’s been a decade, (okay, a little more), since I was in their shoes thinking just of myself, I’m sure.  But, not these kids.  Chris Holley, Amanda Stanley, Logan White and Brandi Cole are Health Occupation Students of America at David Crockett High School in Washington County, TN. 
How did I get to know them?  Through the Autism Walk they helped spearhead in February.  That was the first sign I was dealing with kids who are thinking more about how to help the world around them than they are of themselves.  I followed the progression of the planning of their walk.  They made more than one appearance on News Channel 11 trying to get YOU, our viewers, to think more about the struggle of others. 
After weeks of coverage of the planning and the event itself, which brought in more than 25 hundred dollars for Autismspeaks.org, I got an invitiation.  Selena, please come to dinner with us.  We want to thank you.  Thank me?  We should be thanking these kids for a lesson in generosity.  So, it was dinner at Cheddars and a gift card. 
Five years covering events in the Tri-Cites, involving children and adults, and a thank you comes from an unlikely source.  It is unexpected.  I’m just doing my job.  I love it.  But, it’s not one you do for thanks.  Doing the right thing doesn’t mean doing it for thanks.  I tried to explain that to them.  It was thrown right back in my face.  “We’re not thanking you to get something in return,” they said. “It’s just the right thing to do.”
I tried to spend the evening picking their brains.  What do you want to do?  Where are you going to school?  You know, asking quesitons like reporters do.  Guess where the conversation led?  “Selena, how can we do something to thank our teacher, Mrs. Lori Grabner?” Yes, it truly was an evening of thinking of others. 
At News Channel 11, we have not run our Educator of the Week segment this school year.  But, I can pass the message on here.
Mrs. Grabner, your students appreciate you so much they’re willing to spend part of their evening speaking of your greatness and your dedication to students.  They’ve been worried about your health.  They credit you for helping them hold it together as they stressed out over their Autism Walk, the first of it’s kind in our region.  They think you deserve more respect than you get.  And, they want it said out loud. 
Mrs. Grabner, you are clearly one of the adults who have guided these impressive students, these young adults, down the right path.  Lucky for me I was able to cross paths with them, too. 

Hi there. My name is Neal Boling. I’m the fairly new News Director at WJHL. A lot of people ask me if that means I call the shots at the station. In a matter of speaking, I do. A newscast director calls the individual shots (directors are the ones who bark: “take camera 2” or “roll video"). They follow the blueprint laid out by a producer in much the same way Steven Spielberg directs a major movie. Compare that to a News Director, who’s in charge of the daily and long-term newsgathering process at a TV station. If you love Jim Bailey and Sara Diamond, you can thank my predecessor for hiring them. If Josh Smith starts laughing uncontrollably on the air, it’s my job to punish him (unless I’m laughing with him). If we don’t cover a story the way Your Tri-Cities News Source is supposed to, it’s up to me to correct the problem.
So why choose tonight for my first blog? Well, as mentioned above. I’m new to the Tri-Cities. My family moved here at the beginning of January from Tampa, Florida. I’ve been a life-long Floridian. But like many natives, I grew restless with the cost of living, the hurricanes, and the crime. I’ve been looking to move my family to a safe place like Tennessee/Virginia for some time now. When the position at WJHL opened, I jumped on it. I’m still finding my way back to my car, but I figured I’ve learned enough that I could contribute to the blogosphere.
It’s also somewhat fitting that my first post would fall on Super Tuesday. Election night always gets my juices flowing. Being from Florida gives me a unique perspective on voting. The 2000 election opened many eyes to election process, and what absolutely must improve to make it a fair process.
We’ve heard reports of strange things happening at Tennessee polls. Tonight at 11pm, we’re going to explore some of these oddities. We have live reports spanning the nation, and the region. We hope you’ll stay awake for the most comprehensive election coverage in the Tri-Cities.
Thanks for reading, thanks for watching, and thanks for welcoming my family to a beautiful place, with wonderful people. 

It would seem the news business, like most other businesses, is entering the 21st century in fits and starts. This weekend a story was posted online under my by-line with the following headline:

BREAKING NEWS: Massive fire engulfs Eastman

6 dead; city on fire

When the story posted, I was spending a leisurely Saturday at home in Abingdon. The baby was asleep and I’d just snuggled down for an afternoon nap when my phone started ringing: “Is Eastman on fire?” First I asked why Eastman would be on fire—and then I remembered a training session on Thursday when the manager of our online division had created the fake story in an effort to teach us how to post stories to the Web.

The truth is there was no fire, but the 45 minutes the story spent online was enough for it to be seen by 1,112 viewers and generate a flood of calls and e-mails to two newsrooms—at both the Bristol Herald Courier and our news partner, WJHL Channel 11. It took unsuspecting weekend staffers by surprise because they didn’t know if Eastman Chemical Company in Kingsport was on fire or not.

Some callers remembered the deadly Oct. 4, 1960, disaster at Eastman, when 16 people were killed and 400 injured in a chemical plant explosion. Others simply lived nearby and were concerned—or were calling from the company to let us know their facility was not, in fact, burning.

“Our fire department is swamped with calls,” wrote Wanda Valentine, spokeswoman for the company, in an e-mail Saturday. “Where did you get this story??”

Christine Riser, General Manager of Tricities.com, had created the story during a training session on Thursday with a future posting date. She believed she had de-activated and deleted the story to prevent it from posting to the site. Somehow, the story went live anyway on Saturday afternoon.

As the reporter whose by-line appeared with the story, of course I’m concerned the fake posting could damage my credibility—and people will have an even harder time believing it the next time Santa Claus helps police apprehend a streaker or a local celebrity gets arrested while trying to rescue a pot-bellied pig.

But in the end I have to just let it roll of my back at what happened and take a lesson from the modern ease of disseminating information worldwide. Sometimes our own technology overwhelms us and takes on a life of its own. The ease and immediacy at which we can put out the news before the competition can also be our own worst enemy. And part of living in the 21st century will be mastering the technological beast we’ve created.

Washington County is trying to make the transition easier. Parents should mark their calenders for two public meetings about the redistricting within the next month. They will be held January 29th at David Crockett High School and February 12th at Daniel Boone. Both will begin a 7 pm. The district also says it will make things easier by being flexible when it comes to parents’ preferences. Director of Schools Grant Rowland says as long as the schools are not overcrowded, the district will address requests for changes on a case-by-case basis.

This story made me wonder what it would be like to be a parent curious if my kids would be uprooted. It can’t be an easy situation. Still, it sounds like Washington County is going to work with parents to make the transition as smooth as possible. For many, even the decision of open enrollment is a tough one. One parent we spoke with has two kids that attend Gray Elementary School (one in Kindergarten, one in Second Grade). Her kids love their current school and so does that parent, still she doesn’t hide her excitement about the possibility of sending her kids to a brand new school. If she had her choice, what would it be? I’m not sure she knows. If you could send your kids to a new school or keep them at their current one, which would you choose?

Rarely do I interview the family of a victim who has died and they tell me they’ve forgiven the person responsible. With this family, I believe even if it wasn’t one of their own arrested, they still would have forgiven the suspect. It’s a testament to the family’s faith. David Brumit’s great uncle Micheal Carter admits at first Brumit’s father was bitter and angry over the situation. However, 20 months later, he has forgiven his ex-wife. Carter says if Brumit’s father can forgive, then why can’t the rest of the family? If anything, this family’s story shows the power of love and faith. This wreck and consequently David Brumit’s death, could have easily torn this family apart. Instead, it has now brought them closer together.

His death forced Photojournalist Shawn Davis and I to approach this story differently tonight.  Often times, we don’t second guess standing on the shoulder of a busy highway to shoot video.  Tonight, we didn’t take any chances.  There’s always the thought that something bad could happen, but Estepp’s death is a reminder that you never can expect anything.

I wonder if his story forces others to change their ways too.