Good morning!

We’re bracing for the possibility of strong storms tonight in the Tri-Cities.  Rob says the National Weather Service has issued a High Wind Warning for most of the 11 Connects viewing area tonight, and he’s concerned about flooding in the mountains.

That reminds me: check the batteries.  I’ve been a storm-darkened house with flashlights that barely work.  Not fun.

Oh, and we “spring forward” to Daylight savings time at 2 a.m. Sunday.  Another reminder to self: check the smoke detectors after changing all the clocks Saturday night.

Saturday night…. Saturday night…..?

Now I remember!  Saturday night I’ll be emceeing the Ronald McDonald House St. Patrick’s Day Bash at the Millennium Centre in Johnson City.  Last year’s party was a blast, so my wife and I are excited.  A few tickets may be left.  It’s a great way to see old friends and make new ones, and you’ll hear how the RMH is such a blessing to families of sick kids.  The party starts at 6:30 p.m., and you’d better wear green.  Rowena Bailey, the fireball who runs the Ronald McDonald House, WILL pinch you.

Next week is race week in the Tri-Cities region, and 11 Connects will be celebrating the loyal fans of Bristol Motor Speedway.  All week, we’ll be giving away tickets, family 4-packs to the races Saturday AND Sunday.  To win, send us a photo proving you and yours are true die-hard’s.  Contest information here on Tri-Cities.Com.  Follow the link:

http://www2.tricities.com/tri/other/miscellaneous/article/celebrating_the_fan_-_bristol_motor_speedway_ticket_giveaway/42856/

By the way, the early forecast for race week is looking great.  And great seats are still available at the Bristol Motor Speedway.  Get ‘em while you can.

Ugh.  Rainy weekend on the way.  I’ll be working to get all those “inside” jobs done - the ones I said I’d do during the winter but haven’t done so far.  I’d better hurry; spring is just 8 days away.  Wooo hooo!

Take care, and have a great weekend!

Good morning!

Rain, rain, stay away.  I can almost hear the chant from our viewers this morning.  Good news - Rob says most of us will enjoy a mostly dry Wednesday.  The chance of rain is at 30%, and there’s more good news at the tail end of the Storm Team 11 7-day forecast.  Wednesday of next week - oh, and by the way that’s race week at Bristol Motor Speedway - looks great.  After that?  Stay tuned.

The story about the Bluff City Mayor kills me.  Kills me.  Read this article by the Bristol Herald-Courier, and play close attention to the last line:
http://www2.tricities.com/tri/news/local/article/fourth_person_to_serve_and_resign_as_bluff_citys_mayor_in_two_years_steps_d/42742/

Also in the news this morning: the Prius.  Again.  Two days after the news broke of the Toyota accelerating out of control in California, now there’s a report of another pedal-to-the-metal Prius in the New York area.  The police are leaving open the option that it was operator error.

You have to feel for the local folks who make their living selling Toyotas.  In a day and age when selling a car isn’t the easiest job, now this!  I’m also intrigued by how the national news media is covering this story.  The tone of what I’m seeing - especially on TV - is leaning toward “menacing mystery.“  Toyota insists there’s no evidence of an electrical problems, that the current recall should fix the problem. 

Finally, there’s exciting news this morning about the 2010 Bristol Rhythm and Roots Reunion.  Organizers announced the line-up and unveiled their cool new poster yesterday.  More here on TriCities.Com keyword: Roots.

Have a great day.

On my way to the station early this morning, I found myself hoping that Rob would forget, that our morning producer Rick Harker would forget too.

They didn’t.

It’s not that I dread my birthday.  I really don’t mind turning a year older.

It’s just the unknown, the annual question of what Rob will do on the air.

This morning - he totally surprised me.  And he totally helped make my day.

Take a look at the video clip, and thanks for all the happy wishes.

Josh

As if they don’t have enough to worry about.

Today, I’ve heard from several viewers with family in the 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment.

Hundreds of the local National Guard soldiers are in the Hattiesburg, Mississippi area preparing to deploy to the Middle East next week.  They’ve been working for months to get ready for their mission.

This weekend, I’m told, the soldiers will get a final few days of leave before they literally leave for a year overseas.  For that reason, many Tri-Cities families will be packing up and heading south to be with their loved ones who’ve been training for deployment.

But the timing couldn’t be worse.

“I am scared to death,“ a viewer told me on Facebook after hearing of a major snow storm set to hit Friday night Saturday morning.  “It is just going to be me and the 3 kids.“

Another viewer emailed this morning asking Rob for as specific of a forecast as possible.  She was frantic that she might miss even a little time with her husband before he has to leave.

These are families - mostly mom’s with kids - who already are dealing with an immense amount of stress.  Now they have to worry that weather will prevent them from enjoying the last few days of time with their loved ones for many months to come.

11 Connects is hoping to find a 278th family working through the weather worries.  Contact us if you’re willing to be interviewed - or if we can help in any other way.

WJHL 11 Connects
423-434-4504

My email:  jsmith@11connects.com

It’‘s been a while since I’ve filed a “behind the scenes” entry here on the Morning Show blog.  So today, I share with you a personal mess-up moment from this morning’s newscast on 11 Connects that happened behind the scenes but made its way on air.  (HATE it when that happens.)

Around 6:20 this morning, our producer Rick Harker told me through IFB (the little thing in my ear that keeps me in touch with the folks behind the scenes) that we were a bit heavy.  Lucky for Rick, that wasn’t a critique on my weight.  He was referencing the fact that we were a little over on time, running a little late.  In other words - speed up Josh and Rob.

While a story played about new movies opening in theaters, I quickly told Rob about our timing delima.  Being the nice guy that he is, Rob said he could shorten his travel weather forecast which was still about 8 minutes away.

Why I did it - I’ll never know. 

Seconds later when our studio camera operator cued me, I said, “Time for a look at travel weather.“  Translation: I had just cut a huge block of content out of the show.

Silence.

“Is it already time for travel weather?“ Rob said, trying to figure out why I’d just skipped ahead past a commercial break and Kenny Hawkins’ sports report.

“Toss to break,“ our producer Rick pleaded through my IFB.

What did I do?  I burst out laughing, covered my face with my hands, and joined Rob in acknowledging to our viewers that it’s live t-v.

I could almost hear the thud of my news director as he slid out of his chair and hit the floor while watching the news from home.

Oops.

Once upon a time, I - like many in the TV news business - took myself so seriously that this would have slayed me.  Fortunately, I figured out a few years back that it’s just TV.  Gosh.  Some viewers have told me they actually enjoy watching TV news anchors flub up every once in a while.

Hmmm.  May that’s why our ratings are going up.

When the phone rings at 11 Connects and a viewer has a question, we always try to give an answer.

“We’re looking into it,“ I just heard our assignments editor promise after getting yet another in a slew of viewer complaints about the inexplicably rising price of gas.

But the now familiar fact is this: we don’t know, and even people who are supposed to know don’t agree.

According to an article today on the charlotteobserver.com website, the reason for the climbing price for gasoline - as usual - depends on who you ask.  Some say it’s because the economy is still in the tank.  Others say it’s because the economy is on the mend.  Still others say it’s because of the cold spell.  Read the article for yourself here:

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/breaking/story/1163365.html

Some local stations are now selling regular gas in the $2.70 range.  Just a few weeks ago, most were no higher than $2.40.

Even more confusing for our viewers - why gas is one average price in one town and as much as $.20 higher or lower just 30 minutes away. 

We’ve asked, but no one locally seems to have a good and solid answer. 

So today I’m using this blog to appeal for an explanation.  Price can often be based on speculation and perception about present and future realities.  But can’t anyone offer a concrete reason why prices are up and down, most recently up here in the Tri-Cities?

If you do have an answer, you’ve been warned: a big hug from yours truly is coming your way.

I’ll admit it.

As 2009 gasped its final breath, I was snoring in my cozy, warm bed.  With the allure of staying up past midnight long gone, my wife and I tucked the kids in beds and dropped on the pillow like the Time Square ball.  Lights out around 10 p.m, for us, just plain worn out by the holidays.

While I slept, I’m sure most others were awake and celebrating, thrilled to welcome a new year, a new beginning.  Way before the actual start of 2010, a lot of people - friends and co-workers - said they were ready for last year to go away.  Be gone.  Leave, already.

2009 was rough.  For the thousands who lost their jobs and the bosses who had to deliver the bad news, it was a year filled with pain and tears and trauma.  It was the year when bad went to worse economically, when the news from Wall Street really hit home here in the Tri-Cities.

It was the year I got something called the “swine flu” for pete’s sake.

A friend who works for a well-known local business - I won’t say which one - said it best.  “I’m ready to no longer be in crisis mode,“ she told me.  “I just need… we all just need… a fresh start.“

Who knows?  2010 could be worse.  The lay-off’s and furloughs and downsizing could continue, maybe even more painfully than in the previous year. 

For my friend, there was something refreshing about the change of the year, as if the breeze off the turning calendar page would be enough to blow away the stench of a year’s worth of tough breaks.

How about you?  Excited about dawning of 2010?

I could hear the pops and booms in the distance, the sound of my neighbors loosing electricity.

As the snow fell Friday night, my wife made cookies and my kids ran squealing from window to window delighted by the falling snow.  All were snug and festively content in the Smith home.

Except for me.

While they were enjoying being trapped inside during the blast of winter weather, I was frantically searching for batteries for the three flashlights I could find.  All three were out of juice, left on - I suspect - by the little friends who were squealing and peering out the window.

Why hadn’t I gone ahead and gotten those gas logs?  With a heat pump and an electric water heater, a power outage meant we’d have no heat - no water.

I found the kerosene heater, but the kerosene can was empty.  And how do you use that thing anyway?  Why does it make me nervous, just sitting there waiting to be fueled up and lit?

By the time the snow had coated my street, my wife had finished the cookies, my kids were sampling the first batch, and I was sitting with my head in my hands stunned by this sobering fact:  I was not prepared for the unfolding winter storm.

I feel almost guilty in sharing that we never lost power at my house.  Tens of thousands of our neighbors did.  Many, no doubt, realized in a painful way that they weren’t ready either.

Two generations ago, my farmer - grandfather in Johnson County, Tennessee was just fine when the snowstorms came.  He always had food (he grew it and raised it) and he always had fuel (he cut it and stacked it).  Not that many years later, his grandson would be in a world of hurt if the stores shut down for more than a few days.  Kind of pitiful, isn’t it?

So how’s this for an early New Year’s resolution: I’ll never be “not ready” again. 
Nothing “survivalist” or “off the grid” as of yet for me - though I think we all have a new-found respect for those who feel called to live that way.  But I will have batteries for flashlights, some matches and candles, a supply of bottled water, and a back-up heat source that I actually know how to safely use.

Next time the storm rolls in, I plan to be peacefully prepared, enjoying my wife’s cookies right alongside my kids.

If you think your job is tough, try being a weather forecaster in the Tri-Cities.

“It can be challenging because there’s so much in play,“ Rob told me this morning.  “The 11 Connects viewing area is so large, and the terrain is so varied.  Nailing a forecast for snow can be tricky.“

I think he and the Storm Team did nail this one.  I had about 2 inches of snow at my house in Carter County, right in the middle off the 1-3 inch range forecasted. 

There were some surprises with this past weekend’s storm - some “gotcha’s” as Rob calles them.  5 inches of snow piled up in Wise County and other parts of the western mountains.  EVERYONE thought the biggest accumulation would happen in the eastern counties where Tennessee and North Carolina give each other a hug.

Saturday morning, the little people at my house were bummed to see no snow when they woke up.  Just rain.  How fun it was to see their eyes grow wide when the rain turned to snow and the green grass turned white.  “I told you so,“ was the comment I couldn’t help but make to my little “doubters”.

Now comes word that some of the forecast models - the computer generated predictions of weather in the hours and days to come - show cold air and snow returning for Friday and Saturday.  Before that, heavy rain and more gusty winds are in the forecast.  If you’re not already following Rob on Twitter, you can track his weather updates (and humor) at RobWilliamsWJHL .

How does he handle the stress of predicting the weather when everyone and their reindeer is watching?  “I work out with my P90X exercise videos at home.  Believe it or not, it helps.“

Who knew such a little Christmas ornament would generate such a stir?

On Monday, David Pennington came to 11 Connects at Noon bearing gifts for two lucky viewers: 24K plated brass ornaments - THE official commemorative ornaments for Downtown Johnson City in 2009.  David, as I’ve shared before, is a downtown Johnson City developer who’s heading up next year’s Blue Plum Festival.  He’s also helping with the monthly “First Friday” celebrations to which the annual Johnson City Christmas Parade is a new addition this year.

This year’s ornament is very cool - a depiction of the city’s old Southern Railroad Depot.  Johnson City was built along the railroad, you know.  Many of the old train landmarks are either gone or in a sad state of disrepair - but enough of the negativity already!

David graciously agreed to give away a couple of the ornaments to the first two people who emailed me.  No lie - I had about 40 emails within 5 minutes.

Anna Long of Church Hill and Jim Hyland of Blountville were the first two to email.  They really deserve a prize for speed-emailing.  Thanks to all the rest who took the time to email.

Even if you didn’t win, you can get an ornament for a $10 donation from the Johnson City Development Authority or downtown Johnson City merchants.  I’m sure you’ll be able to find one if you come downtown for the Christmas Parade Friday night.

You know you live in the land o’ plenty when the date and time of a Christmas Parade can spark a debate.

“At night?“ a friend recently exclaimed.  “Why in the world are they having the Christmas parade at night?“ she asked when learning about the Johnson City Christmas Parade’s time switch. 

No more will the good times roll on Saturday morning.  This year, the parade will roll through downtown on Friday night, December 4th, at 6:30 p.m.  Marchers and float riders will start around Legion Street, take State of Franklin to the Downtown Loop, then promenade down Main Street toward City Hall - a grand loop of the old town, I suppose.

News of this inspired another friend to giggles.  “I can’t wait!“  By this time she was clapping.  “All the lights will be beautiful.“

Johnson City isn’t alone in taking the parade to prime-time.  This year, Bristol’s Christmas Parade will be on a Thursday night.  (gasp!)  Elizabethton’s made the move to Saturday night a few years back.

What prompted Johnson City parade planners to ask Santa to make a prime-time pre-emptive strike?

“It just makes sense to include the parade with our First Friday events,“ downtown Johnson City guru David Pennington told me this week when he appeared on 11 Connects at Noon.  “Years ago when downtown was in its prime, the parade was at night and Santa visited the King Building.“  Pennington, who’ll chair the 2010 Blue Plum Festival, feels the return to tradition is part of the effort to return the downtown to prominence.  “Seeing Santa at the King is going to be a blast,“ he said.

More on the parade and other First Friday fun at
http://jcfirstfriday.com/

Greeneville’s parade is on Sunday afternoon.  Abingdon actually switched from a night parade to a Saturday morning time this year.

What’s your preference?  Love the night parades - or is it too late and too cold for your taste?

Okay, so it’s not health care reform or the war in Afghanistan.  But sometimes, it’s nice to have a break from the noise of modern controversy.

Lots of Holiday events here on TriCities.Com, by the way.  Keyword: Holiday

When I started in broadcast journalism… oh… about 19 years ago, I wouldn’t have believed you if you told me.

A reporter doing a liveshot with nothing but a laptop and a webcam?

It happened today: Dana Wachter, 11 Connects morning reporter, stood at baggage claim at the Tri-Cities Regional Airport and filed a live report on holiday travel.  Microphone in hand, she’s faced a tiny web camera on a laptop perched on top of a change machine near the airport window.

Missing from this scene: a huge TV live truck, lots of cables, a big camera, and a couple of co-workers helping pull off the live report.

Just Dana and a laptop and a computer program called SKYPE.

Friends of mine have used it for years to talk to people overseas.  With a webcam, it’s like a face to face cyber chat.

Now, it’s the new age of local TV. 

Camera and live truck operators on vacation?  No problem! 

Over the weekend, I tried to upgrade my Blackberry.

A word of warning: don’t do this if you’re tech stupid like me.

Aaaaanyway.

Some really tech-smart people have been visiting the 11 Connects weather center this week upgrading out Live VIPIR 11.  New everything.  Better graphics, better data collection and process.  The best in the region just got a whole lot better.

Again, I’m not a real techie, but this excites me.  I don’t own the latest gadgets, but I’m glad the Storm Team does.  Predicting the weather here in the Southern Appalachians is no easy task.  Even the most experienced weather watchers wrestle with predicting the unpredictable impact of the mountains on coming weather fronts.

In my admittedly biased estimation, Live VIPIR 11 and, more importantly, the 11 Connects weather team already were the gold standard for meteorology in the region.  This upgrade only solidified this.

You’ll notice a few things on the air: crisper graphics, color changes, a couple of different bells and whistles.  The real difference will be seen as weather events moves our way and 11 Connects weather continues to provide the best and most accurate forecasting.

The down side - no Rob will NEVER let me play on the weather computers.  Not even solitaire.

“I want his job!“ a viewer told me on the sidelines of my son’s recent soccer game.

Some of you have commented about Rob’s recent slew of vacation days.  Two days here.  Three days there.

On Facebook, more complaints.

“Wow, that’s an ego boost,“ Rob said when I told him he was missed.  He’s right; a TV anchor’s worst nightmare is that he takes vacation and no one cares.  Usually, that’s a sign of a coming career change.

Rob is reaping the benefits of seniority.  With our company, the longer you stay the more vacation you get.  Also, with lots of programs and 3 meteorologists, he gets a few comp days for filling in when Mallory takes a day off.

Rob’s next vacation day?  “In December.  I’m not sure exactly when,“ Rob just told me.  “Early to mid, but I’m not sure.“

I know.  Not everyone wants one. 

But I’m curious: have you tried to get a flu shot but couldn’t because of availability? 

On Twitter, a viewer I follow in Johnson City told me she’s tried to call the Washington County Tennessee Health Department for an H1N1 appointment but couldn’t event get through on the phone.

Beth Rader, public information officer with the Northeast Regional Health Department, told me they’ve been swamped with calls for flu shot appointments.  She said the vaccine and clinics came so fast they haven’t had time yet to expand their phone service.  Flu clinics were an addition to everything else that’s already going on at the Health Departments in our area.  From nutrition classes to primary health care, it already was one of the busiest places in town. 

That was before we even heard of the swine flu.

Friends and family have told different tales.  Calls to local health departments ended with easy appointments with no hiccups.

What about you?

Some of pundits said Tuesday’s election in Virginia and other states is bad news for President Obama and Democrats in Washington.  What do you think?

Turn on the cable channels and you’ll hear all about it today, the speculation about “the meaning” behind Tuesday’s big win. 

Republicans won big in Virginia and New Jersey, the two state races everyone was talking about.  President Obama campaigned for fellow Democrats in both states.  He won big there just last year and shocked the political world by scoring the first Democratic Presidential win in Virginia since the 1960’s.

Democrats can be consoled by this: exit polling showed more than half of voters said their choice to vote Republican didn’t have a connection to the President’s job performance.  Also, the segment of the population that really helped Obama win the Presidency - young voters and minorities - didn’t feel as motivated to vote in this election.  Maybe they’ll be energized next year with control of Congress on the line.

You know who did feel motivated?  Conservates fired up about core issues like health care and federal deficits.  They showed up and it made a world of difference for the likes of Bill Bollilng and Chris Christie, America’s newest Governor-elects.

Heck, even a 25 year old Republican from Tazewell County who upset the Democratic for a Virginia House of Delegates seat blamed the President.  He said Americans are “fed up”.

What do you think?  Did Tuesday’s election indicate big problems for Democrats ahead of next year’s mid-term campaigns?  Could the perception of voter dissatisfaction have an impact on big upcoming votes on issues like health care and climate?

Let me know what you think by commenting belowing and by joining me on Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/find-friends/?ref=sb#/pages/Josh-Smith/92017555725

This morning on 11 Connects Morning News, I told viewers that Debbie Dobbs would be on the noon news today.  She’s the director of the Johnson City / Washington County Animal Shelter. 

Yesterday, Debbie called and asked that we help get out the word about a proposed animal control ordinance that “would require animals over the age of 6 months be spayed or neutered or owners must obtain a permit to have an unaltered animal.“  I quote here from a letter to the City Commission from Dobbs and the Johnson City animal control board asking for the ordinance to be enacted.

Dobbs insisted to me on the phone and in the letter that, “the ordinance targets offenders and the population that is contributing to the taxpayer burden.“

Before the news was over, a viewer named Geneva Warren from Kingsport emailed and called the station begging us to tell “the other side of the story.“  A member of the Greater Kingsport Kennel Club, Warren is very worried about the proposed ordinance which she says, “has had a terrible effect on legitimate dog owners in other parts of the country.“

Her concern?  That legitimate and loving pet owners who simply don’t want to spay or neuter their pets will be subject to increasingly intrusive and unfair laws and fines.  “We are 100 percent dealing with pet overpopulation through spaying and neutering,“ Warren told me.  “We are against mandatory.  It’s going to affect the responsible people also.“

As always, we’ll tell both sides of the story here on 11 Connects.  And as always, we’d value your opinion.  Join the discussion on my Facebook page or by commenting below.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Josh-Smith/92017555725

Plenty of paint.  New wood.  Different lighting.  Dazzling new backgrounds.

It’s a recipe that came together beautifully, I think, for our new 11 Connects “look” that debuted Thursday morning on WJHL-TV.

Me?  I get to sit on it and enjoy it during newscasts while you watch from home.  But a team of others worked hard and fast to make it happen. 

Maybe you don’t know their names; I wish you did.

Amanda Adams, Neal Boling, Scott Evans (who pulled an all-nighter Wednesday into Thursday) just to name a few.  They’re managers here at 11 Connects who worked to develop and implement the look.  A big thanks to them.

Thanks also to the team from Essex, a fantastic Tri-Cities business that helps businesses with everything from displays to lobby design.  They took most of the ideas and made them into reality.

Let me know what you think about the new studio look.

I knew by the tone of my wife’s voice that something bad had happened.

As we were driving home from an evening out last week, her cell phone rang.  It was her mom, a long-time friend of Ron and Loretta Royce.

After saying goodbye, she told me the news: Ron had died in a plane crash near Roan Mountain that afternoon.  A young man preparing to be a missionary pilot died with him.

I, like so many people around the world, first met Ron Royce decades ago.  His children and I attended the same high school.  Every once in a while, we worshipped together in the same congregation.  He and his family developed friendships with me and my family.  And over the years, I got to know dozens of Ron’s students at Moody Aviation.  Without exception, they loved him.  Not because he was an easy teacher.  In fact, it was the opposite that endeared him to my friends, his students.  His high expectations were for their benefit, and his students knew it.  They were the ones who would need to have the skills to fly planes in some of the most rugged locations on the planet.  They were the ones who needed a teacher to be tough.

Ron, who turned 70 this year, could train pilots to be excellent because he was an excellent pilot.  He was an expert in dealing with the unexpected in the cockpit of a plane.  That’s part of what makes his death in a crash seem so strange. 

The last moments of his life were likely spent in a frantic effort to save the plane and, of greatest importance to Ron I’m sure, saving the life of pilot he was training, a young man with a young family.  Yesterday as I drove around looking at the mountains blazing with autumn color, the thought struck me that Ron also got to spend his last minutes - the ones prior to when trouble happened - enjoying the stunning beauty of the mountains where he made his home, the same mountains over which he trained so many pilots to fly.

I decided to write this for two reasons.

One: to acknowledge publicly what I know personally, that Ron Royce was beloved by friends around the world in whose lives his efforts and influences can be seen and felt and enjoyed every day.  The second reason:  to give a chance for people who knew Ron to share a few words about him in the comments section below.

Like a mutual friend said late last week, “Ron is celebrating, so we should too.“  With a heavy heart, I join in the celebration of his life and in the condolences to his family whom, I know, loved him and miss him very much.

Fall 2009 isn’t even on the books, and the experts are already looking ahead to winter.

Today, NOAA (The National Oceanic Atmospheric Association) put out its long-range forecast for the coming winter season.  You’ll hear all about on the news tonight, and you can, no doubt, read about it all over the web.  But here’s my version of what I heard think I heard them say: expect colder and drier than normal winter.

The Farmer’s Almanac likely says something else.  And then there’s the Wooly Worm.

Does the NOAA forecast mean this won’t be the year we get “the big one” - that huge snow the likes of which we haven’t seen for more than a decade in the Tri-Cities?  Absolutely not, the forecasters said.  Snow storms can still happen, even big ones.  They’re simply predicting a drier and colder pattern over the long-haul.

Got it?

Rob listened in on the phone call.  The 10am update came as “Daytime Tri-Cities” hit the air in the studio, just a few feet away from the weather center.  That means he had Morgan King making German food in one ear and some of the nation’s leading meteorologists in the other.  How weird must that have been?  Rob’s used to it after years of working at WJHL where worlds collide on a daily basis.

His summary on the air afterwards was simple and wise, I think.  Be ready.  Be ready for anything.  This could be the year we get the “Blizzard of ‘09 or 2010”. 

So now is the time to ask yourself: are you ready?  Do you have a back-up heating source?  What if you can’t make it to the grocery store or the pharmacy for a few days?  What if the lights go out?  Do you have batteries to operate a radio?

The little things always become big things when bad weather hits.  Today is the day to get ready for winter, to keep the little things little when the big snow finally falls.

I’m fully aware that for some, the words “excitement” and “symphony” don’t frequently get used in the same sentence.

I used to be the same way.  Marrying a classically trained pianist fixed that.

The Johnson City Symphony always has been good.  Recently, the symphony hired a new music director and conductor.  Rob Seebacher lives in Mobile, Alabama, but he wings into town for practices and performances.  And for media interviews.  I’ve chatted with him on TV a couple times.  The youthful maestro is engaging and genuinely glad to have the gig.  He’s really good at live interviews, too.

But his real skill surfaces on the conductor’s podium.  Saturday night, my family went to “Opening Night With The Masters.“  Seebacher welcome the crowd to the kick-off of the symphony’s 40th season.  He resisted the urge to pontificate, simply saying that many great symphonies have withered away before the big 4-0 because of a lack of support.  He said the crowd in Seeger Chapel as great, but he added that he wanted to see more people there for the next concert.

I’m no music critic, and no one likes to read about a concert they missed, so I"ll limit my comments to this: fantastic music and a fireball of a conductor.  Seebacher’s energy was matched by the skill of the musicians.  Beethoven’s “Emperor Concerto” featuring a stunningly good guest soloist brought the audience to their feet for a roaring ovation.  Afterwards, a friend said, “that was one off the finest live musical performances I’ve ever heard.“

I agree.

I’ll say it again: you don’t have to leave the Tri-Cities to get world-class entertainment.  The next concert is November 14th.  Check it out and buy your season passes at http://www.jcsymphony.com. 

What a night for a homecoming.

Thursday night, the sirens roared.  The marching bands blasted (in a good way).  The lights flashed wildly.  Winds whipped hundreds (no lie) flags all through the heart of downtown.

When the people of Elizabethton and Mountain City found out that the 776th Maintenance Company of the Tennessee National Guard was coming home, they sprang to action.  They didn’t have to, but they did.

The early word was that the troops would arrive around an hour before they finally did, but no one complained.  Who could complain, standing there in that gorgeous October late day sunshine, the breeze blowing cool across your face, to welcome home people who spent the last year in a desert?

Of course, the family and friends of the soldiers were there.  They wouldn’t be anyplace else.  But so were a lot of people who didn’t personally know any of the 101 people riding on the buses that rolled up Intersate 81, onto I-26, then into Elizabethton and Mountain City.  I hope that still happens in towns across America - strangers welcoming strangers who’ve worn the uniform and said yes to the call.

Very soon, hundreds of others will pack up and leave.  The 278th is getting ready for another mass mobilization.  They’ll head to Afghanistan, the old war that’s new again.  Others will soon follow.  As happy as many were Thursday night, others no doubt couldn’t help but feel a bit sad.

Welcome home to the 776th.  What a night for a homecoming.

Will you be uniting with the United Way this year?

Many Tri-Cities charities and non-profit organizations hope you will.  Demand for their services is way up.  I mean way up.  At the same time, contributions to the charities are way down.  Blame the recession, charities leaders have told me.

With demand up and donations down, Tri-Cities United Way agencies are bracing for a battle royal, a campaign to end all campaigns to collect donations and to meet their fundraising goals.  The “thermometer” signs will soon be going up to track each community’s progress.  Chances are your boss will soon come to you asking you to “do your fair share” as the United Way puts it, agreeing to a payroll deduction.

United Way organizers are getting creative, too.  Buy a car in Johnson City during a couple of September weekends and a portion of the profits will be donated to the U.W..  I read on-line that, in Knoxville, a store that sells beds will host a fundraising mattress race.  Sounds fun.

Here at 11 Connects, the United Way has always been a big priority.  Our General Manager Jack Dempsey has led local campaigns, and he’s shared with staffers the need to pledge our individual support.  We’ve also had the chance to get to know the people both operating and benefiting the United Way recipient agencies.  I’ve seen first-hand how some of these charities couldn’t continue to exist without the money donated to and allocated by the United Way.

Still, I have a few really good friends who don’t contribute.  One buddy told me he hasn’t forgotten the ethical problems at the national level of United Way uncovered and reported on in the news several years ago, even though United Way leaders say those problems have been fixed.  Another friend recently told me he’s decided to give all his charitable donations to his local church, believing that’s where the most good can be done.  Another friend admitted recently, since losing her job, she’s donating to her new favorite non-profit: herself and her family.

How about you?  Planning to give to the United Way this year?  Why?  Why not?

“Why aren’t you reporting about all the swine flu at my child’s school?“ the woman asked me this morning on the phone.

Her call, like several others we’ve been getting here at 11 Connects, echoed the sentiment we’ve seen in even more emails and posts on Facebook and Twitter.

Parents are hearing from their kids that swine flu has hit their school, and they’re getting worried that their child will be next.  They don’t know who to call, so they’re calling us. 

We welcome the calls, but they’ve prompted some questions.  How to report this has been the focus of a lot of internal discussion in our newsroom.  Do we update the public on which schools are hardest hit?  How do you track numbers when most doctors aren’t even testing for H1N1 anymore?  School leaders have made it clear they don’t plan to close unless flu hits their staff.  If school districts aren’t making public statements about flu impact on their students and staff, is this something that they feel is positive to publicly discuss?

Another problem is misinformation.  At a recent public meeting about flu, Johnson City Director of Schools Richard Bales said he’s hearing about a lot of flu-related rumors, especially among high-schoolers and often spread through social-networking websites like Facebook.  Some of what the kids are saying to one another and their parents just isn’t true.

Let me know if your school is hard hit.  We’ll do our best to track down the facts and to keep everyone updates as flu season continues in the Tri-Cities Region.

email: jsmith@11connects.com
Twitter: joshsmithwjhl
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/Josh-Smith/92017555725
Phone: 423-434-4502

“Why aren’t you reporting about all the swine flu at my child’s school?“ the woman asked me this morning on the phone.

Her call, like several others we’ve been getting here at 11 Connects, echoed the sentiment we’ve seen in even more emails and posts on Facebook and Twitter.

Parents are hearing from their kids that swine flu has hit their school, and they’re getting worried that their child will be next.  They don’t know who to call, so they’re calling us. 

We welcome the calls, but they’ve prompted some questions.  How to report this has been the focus of a lot of internal discussion in our newsroom.  Do we update the public on which schools are hardest hit?  How do you track numbers when most doctors aren’t even testing for H1N1 anymore?  School leaders have made it clear they don’t plan to close unless flu hits their staff.  If school districts aren’t making public statements about flu impact on their students and staff, is this something that they feel is positive to publicly discuss?

Another problem is misinformation.  At a recent public meeting about flu, Johnson City Director of Schools Richard Bales said he’s hearing about a lot of flu-related rumors, especially among high-schoolers and often spread through social-networking websites like Facebook.  Some of what the kids are saying to one another and their parents just isn’t true.

Let me know if your school is hard hit.  We’ll do our best to track down the facts and to keep everyone updates as flu season continues in the Tri-Cities Region.

email: jsmith@11connects.com
Twitter: joshsmithwjhl
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/Josh-Smith/92017555725
Phone: 423-434-4502

Have you heard about the world’s new nation?  Actually, it’s a cyber-nation.  It’s Facebook nation, and according to FB, it’s the size of the grand ole’ USA.

I guess this means we’re more connected than ever.  Old friends have reunited.  Family that used to see each other so infrequently they couldn’t escape the gnawing guilt now can rest knowing they have each other’s latest information and personal updates.

This also means thousands of us spend free time trading cyber-crops in a place called Farmville and dodging imaginary bullets while fighting Facebook Mafia wars.  This also means I - and I’m being totally honest here - know a lot more information than I really need to know about people whom I barely know.

You’ve heard us talking about Facebook a lot on 11 Connects.  Bosses here at WJHL know that people are getting news in new ways, and the big FB is a big part of that.  Also, we’re getting news tips and story ideas just by logging into the sprawling world-wide social networking site.  At first, I couldn’t get used to it - my news director encouraging me to use Facebook.  During work time, I asked?  Using a work computer, I wondered nervously?  It was almost like Christmas shopping on-line in between CBS Early Show news updates.  Not that I’ve ever done that, of course.

Facebook is now just another journalist’s tool.  Like a notepad and a tape recorder.  Except with this tool, you get to learn when people you know have a sinus infection - or when their kid’s T-ball team won the championship.  Or when the neighbor’s dog won’t stop barking.  Or when your friend finishes cleaning the house.

Hopefully, you’ll be my friend of Facebook.  I promise to try my best to keep it real without being really boring.  Here’s my Facebook fan page link: 

http://www.facebook.com/find-friends/?ref=sb#/pages/Josh-Smith/92017555725

It’s been more than a month since the pain finally left my body.  Still, I get a lot of questions for viewers wondering, “What was it like to have swine flu?“

My answer is usually something like, “It’s just like the other couple of times I’ve had the flu.“  Actually, H1N1 ended up being a little worse in my case.  High fever rapidly dehydrated me, so much so that I passed out in a doctor’s office.  Embarrassing, I know.  When I came to, I was on a stretcher and on my way to the hospital.  A few bags of I.V. fluids and some Tamiflu later and I was feeling grand.  A little weak, but grand in comparison to just the day before.  My kids got it, but they bounced back right away with the help of Tamiflu and plenty of rest.

Despite all the news about it, lots of us still have questions about H1N1.  It’s a pandemic, but what does that mean to me?  Where’s the vaccine?  What about my kids?  Once you get it, can you get it again?

Johnson City Commissioners and staff at city hall are making plans to help the public get answers to their swine flu questions.  On Thursday, September 10, the city will host a “Community Flu Prevention Meeting” at the Municipal and Safety Building, 601 E. Main Street, Johnson City.  Regional health experts will gather to share the latest information about H1N1 and the seasonal flu, and they’ll answer your questions as well. 

I’ve been asked to moderate the session.  Hope to see you there.  If you can’t come, the city plans to air the event live on the Johnson City cable access channel.

For more information, call Becky Hilbert : 423-434-6021 /  comrel@johnsoncitytn.org

At last check, it hadn’t made it into the TV Guide yet.  But trust me, Daytime Tri-Cities on WJHL-TV is now a one-hour long show.

One year after the show’s debut, station management gave the go-ahead for phase 2 of the Daytime dream: the expansion of the one-of-a-kind TV show in our region from half and hour to a full hour.

I dare anyone to try it: be interesting and funny for an hour a day, every day with thousands of people watching at home.  It ain’t easy, to use the King’s English.

But easy is the way the Daytime friends make it look.  Hosts Morgan King and Amy Lynn navigate the sometimes treacherous trail of live T.V. without even breaking a sweat.  Interesting guests just seem to appear, delicious food always seems to simmering in the kitchen, and even when my morning isn’t going so great, this duo always finds a way to make me laugh.

An aside about these on-air “personalities”: they’re the real deal.  No schitck.  What you see on TV is EXACTLY what you get in person.  That’s not always the case with TV people, you know.

Of course, live T.V. is never REALLY easy.  Stuff happens, and it’s usually not the stuff you want.  That’s where the “behind the scenes” team comes in.  A remarkable production team led by a guy named Scott Evans devoted much of the last year to never saying “no” when “no” really was the right answer.  Jon Webb, one of the best of the best when it comes to videography, said yes to the assignment of following Morgan and Amy around the region with a camera.  And finishing out Team Daytime - the sales and administration leaders at WJHL who’ve handled the business end of the show, offering the opportunities to some great local businesses to be a part of a TV program like no others in the Tri-Cities.

Now, Daytime has graduated, and TV land the leap from 30 minutes to 60 minutes is a biggun.  The additional time prompted the addition of a new team member behind the scenes (sometimes on camera, too).  Toby Laek is now the show’s producer, the creative mind that calls the shots.  Toby is smart, savvy, and a few weeks away from getting married, so maybe having another huge thing to focus on is a good thing for him right now.

If you’ve never watched Daytime Tri-Cities, tune in Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m..  If you’re away from the tube at that time, set the VCR or the DVR or the Tivo - whatever you have.  Those who, like me, long for the days when TV and radio were predominantly local will enjoy an hour of fun and friends.

So congratulations to the Daytime Tri-Cities team!  But one question: where DOES Morgan get all those vests?

Sometimes, I hear some interesting comments from my guests on 11 Connects at Noon, but all too often the quotes come during the commercial breaks.

Maybe it’s because they’re not “on”.  The red light on the top of the live TV camera isn’t all lit up, so they’re free to speak from the heart.

Mark Halback, the manager of the Davy Crockett State Park in Limestone came to WJHL to talk about “Crockett Days” this weekend.  It’s the annual celebration of the great American born on the banks of the Nolichucky River (in what’s now Greene County).  Halback and others are determined we never forget the life and spirit of Davy Crockett, a man Halback called “a real hero”.

“We don’t have enough of them these days,“ my guest said, with a regretful shake of his head just after the interview was finished.  He believes Crockett’s story is America’s story, a tale of fierce independence and an almost stubborn refusal to quit.  Halback says when we remember Crockett, we remember the sweat and blood from flawed women and men who overcame their flaws to build something the likes of which the world has never seen.

Yea, he sold me.  I’m planning on going, and I’m taking my kids.  I especially want them to know about the real heroes after whom I hope they pattern their lives.

Hope to see you at Crockett Days this weekend.  Here’s the link to information about the State Park in Limestone.

http://www.tennessee.gov/environment/parks/DavyCrockettSHP/

I’ll be at this event Friday night, sharing a bit about the program and helping sell pizza in the cafeteria.

Here’s a clip posted on the web and a link to video of my interview with some of the organizers and performers of Bluegrass For Books.

Hope to see you Friday at T.A. Dugger Junior High School in Elizabethton.

—————————————————————————————-

It’s been proven time and time again: children who are exposed to reading at an early age learn to read at an earlier age and do better in school.

County music legend Dolly Parton heard this and decided to use her wealth and influence to start the Imagination Library.  The program has spread around the country and even internationally.  In Tennessee, funding comes from the Dollywood Foundation, the Governor’s Books from Birth Foundation, and local communities.

$30 will help provide free books mailed monthly to a child’s home for the period of one year.

The Elizabethton Carter County Imagination Library Board has planned a concert to raise money for its local program.  “Bluegrass For Books” will feature music and refreshments Friday at 7pm at the T.A. Dugger Junior High School Auditorium in Elizabethton.

Tickets are $10.  Refreshments will be sold in the school’s cafeteria. 

Click on the video link to see a segment about “Bluegrass For Books” on News Channel 11 Connects At Noon.

Today I was getting ready for 11 Connects at Noon when the email arrived.

Ed Jones, a long-time WJHL employee, snapped this photo of Main Street in Johnson City.  Paving crews removed layers of old asphalt, uncovering the original brick street and the city’s old trolly tracks. 

Around the newsroom, I heard a chorus of “wow’s” from co-workers who were opening the same email photo file.  Even though we work on Main Street, we hadn’t looked out the front door lately. 

The Johnson City Commission is trying to figure out if there’s enough money and enough bricks to restore the streets to their former glory.  Some believe it would help Johnson City’s struggling downtown revitalization effort by providing something the city’s downtown desperately needs - that certain “something” that makes it unique from all the others.

What do you think?  Worth the expense and effort.  We might use your comments in a future broadcast.

It’s a bittersweet day for Joan and Mike Berry.

They’ll make that now familiar drive from their home in Atlanta to Knoxville, Tennessee - a city stained by sadness for the Berry family.

Just before Christmas in 2004, their beloved daughter finished wrapping Christmas presents in her Knoxville apartment and headed to bed.  By the next morning, she was dead - the victim of a robber who wasn’t just happy to take things.  He took her life by repeatedly stabbing Johnia from the top of her head to the bottom of her feet.

Johnia grew up in Bristol.  She studied at ETSU, and in the years after her death I met dozens of people who knew and loved her.  She was beautiful, but her friends all told me she didn’t know it.  Johnia loved kids, especially the ones hurt by the pains of life.  The packages she spent her last hours wrapping were for the kids in her life she loved the most.

As police searched for her killer, the big circle of Johnia’s family and friends struggled to make sense of it all.  They also battled with the knowledge that, while police had DNA from the killer - blood found on the murder weapon at the scene - Tennessee’s DNA registry was practically non-existent.  It haunted Johnia’s parents that their daughters’ killer was walking the streets despite the fact police had definitive proof of who the killer’s identity.

Instead of crawling in a hole, the Berry’s fought hard to find their daughter’s killer and to change the law in Tennesssee.  Lawmakers listened and enacted “Johnia’s Law” allowing for DNA samples to be taken from suspected violent criminals and providing some funding for a functional DNA registry and crime lab for the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.

Today, the TBI will dedicate its new consolidated TBI facility in Knoxville.  Part of the building - the part where DNA investigations will be conducted - will be named for Johnia. 

Joan and Mike Berry planned to be there today.

A few days ago, Joan called me to ask if we were coming to cover the event.  “Of course,“ I told her, and she thanked us, as always, for not letting our viewers forget out her daughter.  Joan reminded me that she’s already shopping for the annual Johnia Berry Holiday Toy Drive, another way Joan, family, and friends are keeping alive their loved one’s memory.

Murderers can end a life.  But they can’t kill love.  Joan and Mike Berry are living proof of that.

There we sat around the kitchen table: Dad and his two sons silently gazing into a big bowl of blueberries.

We spoke no words.  We hardly moved (which is worth noting since 2 of the 3 of us are age 5 and under).  Every so often, a hand drifted toward the bowl, slowly removed a delicious berry, and popped it into a watering mouth, eyes tracking the berry’s trech inch by inch from bowl to tastebuds. 

There we were: three men, united in their awe of one of God’s most compact marvels.

A blog entry about blueberries?  Really?  Really.

In a day and age when words of praise often are used to described the newest electronic device or a contestant on a TV reality talent show, I believe we should look for chances to remember the tiniest of treasures.  Smooth, crisp skins painted with rich hues of blues and purple encasing a cool dense sweetness with marvelously crunchy seeds.  The sour from the smallest mingles with the sweet from the biggest.  Big blasts of color and flavor - small enough to pinch between your forefinger and thumb.

And the best part: the berries we were lingering over were freshly picked by the people I love the most.  My wife and boys took a trip to Johnson’s Small Fruits in Roan Mountain and picked blueberries last week under a beautiful blue sky.  For my boys, I imagine the fruit of their labor was even more sweet when the sweat was still fresh on the brow.  For me, I savored it all the more knowing they got the experience of working for their food - beyond just jockeying for a parking space at the local grocery store.

I love blueberries plain.  But really - when has a scoop of vanilla ice cream ever hurt?  My wife made a pie.  Since it had no real crust, maybe it was more of a “crisp” with crumbs of brown sugar and oats of other buttery yummy stuff on top.  It didn’t last long enough for us to discuss its official name.

Hope you can enjoy this magnificent fruit of the season.  Maybe you can take a trip to one of the many great “pick and eat” farms around the Tri-Cities Region.  And if you have a favorite blueberry treat recipe, please share.  The more “blueberry” love the better.

This morning, I read a story on air about new research that, on the surface, gets my “no-duh” award of the day.

The findings: kids who are more physically active go to sleep faster.

And someone got grant money for this?

I think most parents figure this out before their kids even learn to walk.  If you doubt me on this, drive by your local playground on any given day around 7 p.m. and talk to the parents just hanging out there with their kids.  Chat with the exhausted-looking adults and work the conversation towards the question, “So why are you here letting your kids run wild?“  A few may be honest and say something like, “Oh, we’re just trying to wear ‘em out so they’ll go to bed.“

In other words, this research isn’t new to moms and dads the world over.

But the research also found this interesting point: the faster kids fall asleep, the longer they sleep and the less risk they run of developing sleep-deprivation related health problems.  Other reseach has found that kids who don’t get enough sleep do poorly in school (again, no-duh) and even run a higher risk for obesity and weight-related problems like diabetes and heart disease.  This, too, makes sense.  Tired kids just want to “vegge” on the couch and munch while playing video games or watching the tube.  It’s a drowsy domino-effect, of sorts.

Recently, President Obama even said in a speech that parents need to include early bedtimes as part of a fresh approach to raising healthy kids.  His words remindeded me of some sage advice I got from a friend before the birth of my first child five years ago.  Here’s what was said,to the best of my recollection (which isn’t so great because I don’t get a lot of sleep).  “Raising kids is pretty simlple,“ my friend said.  “Feed them well, read to them all the time, and put them to bed early.  Do that with a non-stop dose of unconditional love, and they’ll turn out okay.“  Pretty good advice, I think.

So tonight, why not try it?  After dinner, get the kids in the back yard, chase them around like a wild-man (or woman), and throw them in the bed a little early.  See what happens.  You may find that, after a while, they’re feeling better and functioning better.  And that, you’ll agree, is a formula for a happier home.

First came a headache.

A few hours later came the “everything” ache with a fever and an annoyingly drippy nose.

“Honey, I think I’m coming down with something,” was all I felt like telling my wife.

“Go to bed,” or something to that effect is what my wife told me, sending me toward our room with a hug and a glass of ginger ale.

That was just over a week ago.

Yesterday, my doctor told me that my tests came back positive for H1N1, the virus stuck with the unfortunate street name “swine flu.”  After testing positive for Influenza A (of which H1N1 is a sub-set), a nurse did a second flu test, shoving a stick waaaaay up my nostril and swabbing for what seemed like several minutes (it was just a few seconds).  A few days later, my sample cooked the proof at a Tennessee Department of Health lab in Nashville that, yes, I had H1N1.  That’s when my name was added to the steadily growing list of Tennesseeans with the most-talked about virus of 2009.

Hooray.

What happened in between my first symptoms and the confirmation of an H1N1 diagnosis from the doctor was – well – not fun at all.  Details, no doubt, fall somewhere between the “too much information” and “more than you ever want to know” categories. 

I’ve had the flu once before as an adult.  It was 1997, I think.  This felt a lot like that with a few exceptions:

Day 2 of the illness, I felt better.  Day 3 of the illness, I was back in the bed and eventually in the hospital.  Yes – the hospital.  But that was because my blood pressure bottomed out and I passed out at the doctor’s office, probably because of dehydration.  My doctor wasn’t taking any chances, though.

By Day 4, I had a few doses of Tamiflu (the anti-viral drug that’s proven effective against H1N1), and I woke up feeling much better. 

By Day 5, I felt fine – just really weak.

The VERY worst part of it for me came when our two little boys got sick.  Our 2-year-old spiked a fever and couldn’t keep anything down.  But a quick prescription of Tamlifu helped him get back in motion the next day.  As I write this, our 5-year-old is flat on his back, taking Tamiflu, watching lots of episodes of vintage “Tom and Jerry”, and feeling a little better today.  That news today was enough to make this dad smile.
Since finding out that I tested positive for H1N1, I’ve struggled with what to share with people outside the circle of my immediate family.  Trust me; saying, “I had the flu” is one thing.  Saying, “I had the swine flu” feels a bit more, um, weird.  Then I began to realize that I’d likely been contagious while around co-workers, and they certainly had the right to know. 

I work in a newsroom that’s devoted a lot of efforts to understanding and reporting on this much-talked-about strain of Influenza A, so you can image the reaction.  “You need to talk about this on air,” a few co-workers told me.  Sharing would have value, they said.  Talking about it could help viewers who eventually might be exposed and made sick by the H1N1 virus which the World Health Organization has labeled “unstoppable” in its march through the human population.

So this is me talking about it.  Here’s what I’d like everyone to know: swine flu is in the Tri-Cities, and any of us can get it.  I got it without traveling on a plane or doing anything out of the ordinary, and so can you.  I got my flu shot last fall, but it doesn’t do squat to squelch this bug.  I wash my hands a lot; with kids, my hands often need it.  And I eat right, take a multi-vitamin, and try to get enough sleep.  Okay, the sleep part usually doesn’t work thanks to a job that drags me out of bed hours before dawn. 

All this, and I still got the swine flu.

You need to be aware of this so that, if you start to show symptoms, you can see a doctor, get a flu test (that swab waaaay up the nose) and begin a course of Tamiflu.  Don’t rush to the E.R. in a panic.  Try to get into to your primary care doctor.  And try to limit your exposure to other people.

Yes, people can die from the swine flu.  Just today, we learned over another confirmed death in Virginia.  One person has died in Tennessee.  But health professionals constantly remind us that, sadly, thousands die every flu season.  And most medical experts seem to agree that early fears about H1N1 being an especially deadly strain of influenza have turned out to be unfounded.  With good medical care, healthy people with no pre-existing medical problems (like me) should be fine.  People already dealing with medical problems, expecting mothers, and parents with small children need to be more vigilant, but that’s the case during the regular flu season.

I promise not to make my future illnesses the topic of this blog.  I’m well aware that my job is to report the news, not be it.  Hopefully, my encounter with the swine flu will serve as a tool for education.  And most of all, I hope you don’t get it: the swine flu is for the birds.

As the July 4th Holiday approaches, we’re getting swamped with information about community celebrations and events.  To find a festival, parade, or fireworks show near you, go no further than this website.  Here’s the link:

http://www.tricitiesblogs.com/festival/archive/category/Holiday/

But some political fireworks will likely re-ignite as some in the Tri-Cities will take time on July 4th rally for change in government.

We’ve heard from the North East Tennessee Tea Party.  They’re planning a second rally (the first happened back in April) on Saturday from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. at the Old Kiwanis Park, 717 W. Market Street, Johnson City. 

According to a news release: “Our city elected officials to our national elected officials are growing the size and scope of our governments and violating our Constitutional rights.  No more!  We the Peole are taking a stand and reclaiming our freedom and independence.!“

We heard from another group about another rally to be held Saturday, July 4th - also in Johnson City.  It’s called an “Independence Day TEA Party to Unite Citizens of Northeast Tennessee.“  A group called “Citizens for Common Sense of Northeast Tennessee will rally in a parking lot adjacent to Faith Fellowship Church, 810 Guaranda Drive, Johnson City across from Freedom Hall.  A news release sent to the TV station says U.S. Congressman Phil Roe and Lt. Governor Ron Ramsey - both Republicans - will be at the event.

Our reporters who’ve covered similar events in the past say the crowds are predominantly but not exclusively Republican.

Best I can remember, rally’s like these didn’t used to happen around the Tri-Cities on July 4th, a day set aside for family and friends and food and fun. 

It’s another sign that, here in the land of the free and the home of the brave, an increasingly vocal group of Americans feels freedom is in peril, not because of an ominous threat from an overseas power, but because of the powers-that-be in the nation’s Capital.

Do you plan to attend?

Any abuse of one person by another person is sad.  But in some cases, it’s sickening.

You’re probably like me, unable to stomach some of the news stories about adults who hurt little kids.  Today, my blood boiled about a different kind of crime involving a victim who is often defenseless: elder abuse.

Today (Monday, June 15th) is Elder Abuse Awareness Day in Tennessee.    The state’s point person on such matters told the Associated Press that almost 6,000 elderly Tennesseans were abused in 2008.  That number represented a 40% increase in the past six years.

Huh?

While some who break the law are brazen, fearless, and wreckless, I’m convinced that many crooks are cowards.  They hurt others, often the young or the old, out of a subconscious craving to feel better about themselves.  Haunted by feelings of inadequacy and weakness, they seek to be made strong by dominating and controlling someone else - even a child or an elderly person - who is weak.

Please don’t misunderstand.  I’m not making excuses for the cowardly perpetrators.  I’m simply doing my best to explain how this can happen.  Because that’s what we all ask isn’t it? How can this happen?  Who in their right mind would hurt someone’s child or someone’s grandparent?  The answer is: no one in their right mind.  The state of mind is the problem, isn’t it?  The unseen demons that keep us from being as good as I think we were created to be.

A year before he died, I began to question the motives of my late grandfather’s neighbor.  Something just didn’t feel right about the constant acts of kindness, the hovering presence despite the almost constant flow of family through his home.  So when things in his house began to disappear, items that were the neighbor’s “favorites” and offered as a gift of thanks, I began to ask questions.  Then, I put my foot down.  It got ugly.  I got mad.  My grandfather felt I was over-reacting.  The whole thing made me feel sick.

I share my experience to make this point: watch out for the ones you love - especially the ones who may not be able to defend themselves against.  Get in their business.  Ask questions of and about the people who give them care or try to give them care.  And if that someone bucks you, fight back.  Don’t be afraid to look the fool.  Don’t tell yourself you’re “over-reacting” and don’t let someone else tell you that either.  That gut feeling that’s something just isn’t right might just be the nudge that can mean the difference between “golden years” and a time tarnished by pain.

We met one night on-line.

The wife and kids were in bed.  The keyboard strokes led me through the virtual gates into a before unknown world.

Soon, I was engaged, even enthralled as the pictures streamed across my computer screen.  With each touch of the keys, I was drawn in more by my new friend’s offerings.

My new on-line aquaintance? 

Facebook.

Despite the praises of friends who loved it, I’d resisted the urge to join.  That lasted until about a month ago with News Channel 11 launched a major new initiative.  We’ve committed ourselves to exploring and using every available tool to connect with you, so every staff member got a Facebook fan page and a Twitter account.  I believe in that concept, so I surrendered my stubborn reluctance to “social network.“

Why reluctance?  For me, it seemed like more work, more computer-related stuff in addition to email and voicemail and THIS blog.  More things for me to feel guilty about neglecting. 

But within minutes of logging into my Facebook fan page and my Twitter account, I realized why the sites are so popular.  Suddenly, I was in touch with people I’d lost touch with years ago.  Questions like, “Wonder what ever happened to her?“ suddenly were answered.  Professionally, I was connected to viewers, valuable friends of mine despite the fact we’ve never met.

On Twitter, I began getting timely and fascinating (and some not-so-fascinating) updates from people in my community, status reports and creative suggestions for news, information, books, public events, etc..

Today, I have about 760 Facebook fans and about 500 followers on Twitter.  On Facebook, I’ve launched a 1000 fan crusade by Friday (check it out).  Updating the pages and accounts is now one of the highlights of my day, and it’s become useful source for local news stories.

The down side?  Facebook and Twitter fans surely will agree that both sites can open the door for wasted time.  A few days ago, I spent half an hour at my desk clicking through Facebook pages finding old friends from the Elizabethton High School Class of 1990, some of whom I haven’t seen since, well, 1990.  Not “job-related” for sure.  Not the best use of my work time, I admit.  Also, social networking has caused me to neglect other previous interests.  Take, for instance, this blog.  This is my first update in a few weeks.  I used to update it every morning.

A former anchor here at WJHL-TV is now a leading voice in the emerging Tri-Cities social network.  MaryEllen Plubell Miller (http://maryellenmiller.wordpress.com/) (Twitter: http://twitter.com/MarketingMel) sees these sites as the tools for her passion she calls “personal branding”.  She’s one of many here in the hills of Appalachia using social networking sites as a business tool and as a connection to the world, not just a means of finding old friends from high school.

Two days ago, I spoke with a man on the phone who told me he doesn’t own a computer.  He doesn’t want a computer.  He doesn’t blame others who use them and who spend hours on them, but there won’t be one in his house anytime soon.  I share this to make the point (and to issue the warning) that, as with most technology, once you start using it, you won’t go back.  Who washes their clothes on a washboard after using a washing machine?  Once you start using Facebook and Twitter, you’ll find it hard to stop.  At least I have.

Share your thoughts about the love-hate relationship with social networking through your computer. 

Join me on my Facebook fan page:  http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/Josh-Smith/92017555725

Twitter:  http://twitter.com/JoshSmithWJHL

Before my eldest became old enough to enter the realm of youth sports, I admit to being nervous about it.  Sports were never my thing, so I have an almost 4 decade-old fear based in insecurity every time a ball starts flying through the air.  You never really get over that, do you?

Determined that he wouldn’t be such a sports flunky, we enrolled our 4-year-old son in soccer last fall.  He loved it.  This spring, he’s playing t-ball.  And guess what - he loves it.  (Is this my son?)

The “Thunder Heads” coaches are fantastic - very nice and VERY patient.  It takes a special kind of man to help a little guy or girl understand that when you hit the ball off the plastic stick, you need to run to first base - NOT third base where your friend from Sunday School is standing.

So far, the other team parents have been great, rooting on each other’s kids and laughing when their own decides to play “toss the bat” with a new-found buddy in the outfield.

Friends tell me our experience with youth sports isn’t universal, though. 

I’m told some parents and even some coaches can really get out of hand.  Yelling.  Booing.  Harrassing.  I hear its worse when the kids get bigger, but one friend told me the sideline screamers can be found even when very little guys and girls are on the field.

Really?

Have you seen this?  Are you a guilty offender (be honest)?  What is it that makes us so emotionally wrapped up in our kids performance?  How do you handle when you see it?

How is it that I’ve lived in East Tennessee all my life and have NEVER been to the top of Clingman’s Dome?

The highest point in the Great Smokey Mountains National Park provided stunning views last Saturday, definitely worth the long drive.

After getting through insanely crowded downtown Gatlingburg, entering the park was like entering another world.  We stopped at the Sugarlands Visitors Center and got advice from a fantastic park ranger.  We strolled to Cataract Falls which is right behind the visitors center.  Then we hopped back in the car and made the twisting trip to Clingman’s Dome.

The kids loved the tunnels -  2 big ones and 1 little one which actually was just an overpass bridge.

At the top, we parked amidst the tour buses and motorcycles at the base of the paved trail that leads to the Clingman’s Dome Observation tower.  Before we left the car, we got a real treat: a wild turkey waddling through the parking lot, nibbling on the tender spring grass and attracting a flock of camera toting tourists.  Eventually, it hopped on top of a big RV.  The crowds went wild.

After visiting the waterless eco-friendly restrooms (and did that ever spark a discussion with my 5 year old who wanted to know why the toilets didn’t flush), we began the long walk to the top.  With a toddler in a backpack, it felt like a mile.  My wife said it was more like a quarter mile, but I remain unconvinced.  We met people of all ages and apparent physical abilities on the way, and many, like me, were puffing and panting on the way up.  Our exhaustion formed a fellowship of sorts near the top.  “You’re almost there,“ I heard some of the descenders say to the exhausted ascenders.  Everyone was smiling on the way down, except for a Dad whose tweenage boy decided to run the whole way from the top to the bottom.  Somebody got a whoopin’, I bet.

At the top, you’ll find a quirky looking observation tower.  The ramp is the quirky part; it takes a big and looping twist from the ground to the tower.  After the hike, we were more than relieved that steps didn’t stand between us and the magnificent view.

And it was magnificent.  I won’t elaborate.  You have to see it for yourself.

But I will say this.  If you’re afraid of heights, the high railing won’t make that big of a difference.  My son finally had to ask, “Daddy, why are you squeezing me so hard?“

Also, take the camera, but don’t fixate on getting that great shot.  No picture can replicate the feeling of being there… and seeing there.  So just soak it in and enjoy it and let the image get etched into your mind.