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A Tornado’s Damage

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A trip to Macon County, Tennessee, last week really opened my eyes to the destruction Mother Nature can bring.  At a world level we’ve seen it before with the Tsunami’s, in the U.S. we’ve seen Hurricane Katrina, and locally we’ve seen floods, but I’ve never seen anything destroy so much so quickly.  The victims of last week’s tornados in Middle Tennessee say the storm lasted just 25 seconds.  In 25 seconds their lives went from normal to chaotic.  We met people who lost everything they owned. One woman lost her house one year to the day her children died.  When we left Macon County the storm had killed 14 people, many just children.  The survivors seemed remarkably strong considering.  Every person we talked to said they were just happy to be alive.  They know many of their neighbors weren’t as lucky.

Posted by Nate Morabito

Neal Boling assumes command of News Channel 11. A blog of his first election night.

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. 

Posted by Neal Boling