I was out of town visiting family when the 6,400 acre wildfire broke out in Spicewood. Normally, a drive I take to work a couple days a week is filled with the great scenery on Highway 71. The jaw drop that occurred when I came back and saw the destruction a wildfire left in its place had me telling my news team on a conference call that parts of Spicewood looked like a scene out of a Tim Burton movie.

The Spicewood fire undoubtedly was overshadowed by the fire that occurred in Bastrop. The Hill Country, however, is my territory and beat. Any chance I get to go out there, I do. I’ve made it my goal to make sure KXAN reports and gives coverage to the fire victims there.

The fire ravaged 6,400 acres and the cause still has not been disclosed. I have no doubt rebuilding will take months and regrowth of trees and vegetation will take even longer. What is great is that the community is coming together to help. Every time I am out on a story, I hear about volunteers giving their time and energy to help clean up. On Sunday, the Cazalas family worked along with colleagues and neighbors to clean up their two acre property. They have nothing left except what is in a wheelbarrow. Sitting under a tree, the wheelbarrow is filled with charred jewelry, pots, pans and one melted Christmas ornament.

It is nice to see neighbors helping neighbors. And, I think this is what will help with rebuilding. Nothing is more comforting in times of disaster or despair than to have friends around who are supporting and caring for you. On Sunday, I pulled on to a property leveled by fire and was quickly met by a man wanting to know who I was and why I was on the property. He said, “We look out for each other here.” I explained to him what I was doing in the neighborhood and he quickly told me how he has taken watch because he does not want his neighbor’s property looted. I know he took me for someone out to do wrong. But, I simply took a few steps back and listened to him. After asking him how he was doing, how rebuilding was going, what would he like me to know as a reporter, his attitude became friendly. I didn’t end up interviewing that man even though I wanted a story. It meant more to let him know, I am here listening and I wanted to know what he had to say and how he was doing following the fire whether a camera was rolling or not.

There is no doubt Spicewood residents have a long road ahead. Still, with the support system they have in place, that road will eventually lead to new homes. I also want to add that the bonds between neighbors that are being made will stand the test of time and that is something flames can’t destroy.

5/1/11 A Date to Remember

Ten years ago this September, I was sitting in my high school mass media class. I was a senior at the time. I already knew I was on my way to becoming a reporter. A little after class started my principal at Hinsdale South High School took to the intercom and announced to the school that a plane had hit the one of the Twin Towers in NYC.  About 30 minutes later, we got the announcement that another plane had hit the other tower and both had collapsed. We were not allowed to turn on the televisions in the classroom and were instructed to go about our day. No one knew at the time it was terrorism or that Osama Bin Laden was behind it.

I can remember almost every detail of that day.  I was wearing a black skirt and blue sweater.   I remember gathering around the television when I got home with my parents and watching the airplanes slam into the towers.  I remember thinking how it looked like a video game and that it couldn’t be real.

I went for a drive that night to the local Walgreens and I remember hearing fighter jets fly overhead. For the first time, I was scared. I kept thinking, you hear fighter jets fly over in war torn countries, NOT in suburban Burr Ridge, Illinois.  Falling asleep that night was impossible.

It has been nearly a decade since that horrific day.  I first learned of Osama’s death on Facebook. My email was literally pinging, alerting me to comment after comment. Ironically, I was sitting in the live truck wearing a black skirt and blue sweater.  I know that just like 9/11, I will remember exactly where I was when this news broke.  I hustled back to the station from Elgin where there was a brush fire and hit 6th street for reaction. There was a man who had an American flag draped around his shoulders….he told me he just couldn’t stay home.

Marching down MLK Blvd, I met a former Naval Officer.  He was carrying a flag and in partial uniform.  He nearly broke down when I interviewed him.  At the same time, a car full of fraternity guys rolled up in a pickup truck and were honking and screaming, “America!”

All that I kept thinking in my own head was that Americans persevered.  We never forgot 9/11 and we never gave up on finding Osama. He may have run and hid for a decade, but in the end, we got him. I think there is a huge message coming out of America tonight and that is if you commit such a heinous act and terrorize and kill innocent people, we will hunt you down and never ever give up.   The events that unfolded after 9/11 have cost American lives and left behind heartache. I commend all of our military men and women who have sacrificed for our country, spent time away from loved ones while deployed and those who gave their lives so that this day of justice could come for our country.

I know I will always remember where I was on 5/1/11.

Where were you when you heard and will you remember?

 

X the TEXT

It is 7 a.m. and we are at the McDonald’s off Braker Lane in north Austin.  By we, I mean our KXAN photographer Thomas, me and two members of our marketing team.

We have our X the Text thumb bands…I am sporting a pink one…naturally!

So far, we have had at least 20 people come up and snag a band.  They also took the pledge to no longer text and drive.   But, before we were handing out these thumb bands, there were four teens in Fredericksburg that put a stop to texting behind the city in their town.  Ashlyn Beckmann, Victoria Burke, Jena Ottmers and Alexis Schmidt, all juniors at Fredericksburg High School, turned a school health project into a law.  It happened this past February.

The teens took their project to the city council members and five votes later it became law that texting while behind the wheel within Frederickburg city limits is illegal.  But, there is more to this. The teens also made it illegal to text while stopped at a stoplight or at a stop sign.  They girls feel this is just as dangerous as driving and texting.  Now, if you get caught sending that text, you will get a ticket and face a $200 fine!

So far, only one warning has been issued in Fredericksburg.  The girls are taking this as good news and believe people are stopping texting and their law is actually saving lives.

Will you X the Text?

If you want to take the pledge, come see us at the McDonalds on Braker until 10 a.m. today (4/29) or the McDonalds off East Ben White Blvd.

Then, at noon today, we will be at the McDonalds off Martin Luther King Blvd near The Drag.

To find out more about X the Txt click here.

If there is one thing that gets me excited, it is Air Force Jets and helicopters. It has nothing to do with the movie Top Gun, but more that I have a personal connection to an AF pilot and previously covered Moody Air Force base while working at my previous station.  So, when I got word months ago that the Bluebonnet Air Show was coming to town, I immediately decided that I must cover it!

A lot of people would think an air show in Burnet wouldn’t bring in big planes, but it was AWESOME!  Look at the shot of the engines on the back of the A-10s.  I can remember trying to fall asleep in Valdosta, Georgia, and hearing these Warthogs go rumbling through the air.  The screeching noise is something you cannot forget.

The DC-3 Bluebonnet Belle also made a cameo.  This airplane has a great deal of history.  Do you know that the DC-3 was the only aircraft to serve with all major WWII combatants?  Paratroopers would pack inside and jump into enemy territory.  The Highland Lakes Squadron purchased her in 2002.  She was in shabby shape and needed work before she hit the runway.  Now, she rolls down the runway in Burnet like she owns the place.

For the queasy folks who couldn’t stomach the twists and turns stunt pilots were doing mid-air, there were restored military vehicles at the show too.  I couldn’t resist sitting in this old Jeep!  Inside, there were  old school helmets, gloves and even a push-button clutch.  Isn’t it amazing that Jeeps, although they have been around for decades, still retain their shape and same round headlights?  The Jeep’s style has evolved, but, not by much.

 

No, the Blue Angels weren’t there and no, I didn’t get special reporter perks and get to fly in a plane. I did, however, get to jump into a standard issue flight suit and sat in the cockpit of a fighter jet.  The most surprising part to me was how small it was. I am not complaining about leg room on a commercial flight ever again.  And, because I am a total child, I had to touch all of the buttons, especially the red ones.  No worries, the cockpit was actually just that…a cockpit that had been cut out of a fighter jet.  There was no danger by touching the buttons.

Do you prefer journalista or reporterista?

 

Everywhere I turn these days, it seems journalism is becoming the hottest fashion trend.   Of course, for those of us in the industry, we already knew journalism was cutting edge and it was only a matter of time before the catwalks of Milan, Paris and New York City caught on.

It was not shocking to find out that the most fashion forward woman is also entering the broadcast journalism field. Who is this woman? None other than Barbie!!!  This year Mattel rolled out its 125th career Barbie and she finally found her way to the anchor desk and delivers the savvy BNews.

The best part is, Barbie is in tune with the broadcast times and carries her own little P2 camera just like me! Sure, she might not be able to MPJ in her pink skirt suit…wait, I will take her with me and show her how a city girl makes it in the Texas Hill Country.  I have shot in a pencil skirt and even hopped a fence with a tripod and all.   And, since she showed up under the Christmas tree last year, we could drive to work together. Michael Fabac, want to offer Barbie a contract?

For those who subscribe to the words of Ron Burgundy “It is anchorman, NOT anchorlady,” don’t worry, you haven’t been edited out.

Maybe you are more into home decor. Picture this: You just got your jog on and take a shower. But, you need a little extra OOMPH to get you into reporting and coffee just isn’t getting it done.  Well, it is time to take a look in the mirror to remind you who is making headlines.

This press conference mirror  may only be 11 inches wide x 15 inches tall, but it will leave you feeling a lot bigger inside.  Maybe you don’t want to star in your own little press conference and celebrity gossip has you wanting to dodge papparazzi. Yeah, celebrity gossip isn’t hard news, but reporters are like doctors, we have different specialties.  Don’t worry, they make a mirror for that too.

If you happen to be married to someone in the industry or maybe you are a husband/wife anchor team, why not put these mirrors up side-by-side in the bathroom?

I dedicate this blog to Leila Rahimi…a true reporterista

The bluebonnets are (kind of) blooming in the Texas Hill Country

Driving to and from stories in Burnet, Llano and Fredericksburg comes with an extra bonus this time of year because bluebonnets and other wildflowers are in bloom.  These colorful flowers are sprouting up  along normally mundane stretches of highway.

There are also nice sprinkles of pink winecups and yellow coreopsis flowers dotting the roadsides as well.  But, we are early in wildflower season and there aren’t a lot of these flowers. It is more like patches here and there.

Last year, the Hill Country saw a bumper crop of bluebonnets. The wetter weather allowed the bluebonnet pods to grow in abundance at the right time.  A few months back, agriculture extension agent Wade Hibler showed me around Burnet and expressed his concern that few pods were found due to drought.  Nothing was sprouting when it should have been and he even seeded the area with store bought product.

The spotty presence of bluebonnets has many in the Hill Country asking, will we have a good crop this year?  Will this impact tourism?

These are all great questions and the answer will come in time.  Bluebonnets and other wildflowers usually reach their peak in the last week of April and different flowers sprout up in mid-May. So, we have roughly one month to see if we come close to what we had last year.

 

The flowers were definitely beautiful last year and the local economy did benefit.   I can remember people hopping out of there cars along the highway to take pictures.  I have not seen one person yet.

Here are two pictures of what is growing so far in Burnet County.

Partying with Perez

CONGRATULATIONS! You and One Guest have won tickets to Samsung Focus Presents Perez Hilton’s “One Night in Austin” during SXSW!

10,000 SXSWers got this message for the celeb gossip blogger’s party at the W Hotel. When I got it, I screamed and called everyone in my phone log that new of my obsession.  Admittedly, I read Perez like I ready the morning paper. At the time, I didn’t know 10,000 were sent out. I felt special. Next up, get in line to get a wristband, all while knowing that this doesn’t guarantee admission.

Just to get a wristband!?!

Jetting over before my nightside shift Saturday, I scored two wristbands.  I later found out that only 1,000 people would get in the door. Prepare for a stampede of crazy thoughts in my head. Would I make it in after getting off work at 11 p.m.? Would the party be packed? Would my Perez dreams be dashed?

Grabbing my change of clothes, I transformed from TV reporter to a SXSWer after my last live shot.  There was no parking near the party. As my friend and I drove around, I could see there was a mob of people at the door waiting to get in. Would we make it?

Well, we did. By the time we parked and got up to the door, they security guard said, “Girls, you made it.”  It is like he knew this was the biggest deal of my day. Walking up the steps to the W Hotel, there was the welcoming sign displayed in lights:

PEREZ HILTON

I was like a tourist taking snapshots of everything inside. Thank goodness for camera phones and flipcams!  We did go inside the auditorium and heard a few sets of music and danced (if you can call my moves dancing).

I will say that the highlight of my night was being within arm’s reach of Perez. I wanted to scream out his name and get a picture, but I thought ‘keep your composure’ and was  just be happy to be there. So, I just took far away shots of him that turned out horrid due to lighting. But, oh well. I had my moment.   He had on a funky red top hat, black shirt and multi-colored pants that looked like they were plastered with ads.

A lot of people do not understand the hype surrounding Perez.A lot of people looked at me wondering why I was excited about a blogger? I get that Perez isn’t breaking hard news.  He does have the skinny on every celebrity scandal and has his finger on the pulse of pop culture.  Some people go home and their secret indulgence is a great cocktail or some television show, for me, it is the salacious gossip of Perez Hilton.  You could call it my secret shame.

I also applaud Perez for seeing a multimedia opportunity that no one else did and taking it. He blew the celebrity world up and changed the way magazines like People distribute their news.  He made himself an industry and the empire is still growing. So, laugh and chuckle at my indulgence and going to ‘some’ blogger’s party. Perez isn’t just a blogger, he is an entrepreneur  and there will undoubtedly be much more to come from this man!

 

 

 

Rarely ever in my go, go, go world of MPJing do I ever get to stop off at a store mid work day.  That changed on Monday in Fredericksburg. There, amid all the cute stores was the Lone Star Candy Bar.  If you know me, you know I can get tricked into a van for candy. I had to go in and I was nothing short of an MPJ in a candy shop!   Inside, wall-to-wall candy. They had everything from the old classics like candy cigarettes to homemade fudge.

Very rarely in any city do you find a full blown candy bar. It got me thinking about my favorite candies as a kid. And, here they are and very rarely do you find these at your local HEB or convenient store.

1) LIPSTICK CANDIES

2) CANDY CIGARETTES

3) SUGAR DADDIES

4) MARSHMELLOW CONES

5) CHERRY RING POPS

There are also some favorites that did not make the top 5 like Fruit Stripe gum and Saucer Candies.  I want to know from viewers what candies defined your childhood?  Are some of your favorites no longer made or can you not find them?

Finally, I leave you with one more picture from the candyland I found in the heart of the Hill Country.

National Day of the Deployed

Over the past month, I have twice covered the story of a Iraq war veteran walking across the United States to raise awareness and money for struggling military families.  I am not here to talk more about that angle, but about Troy Yocum’s goal to have a free day of shipping on care packages to deployed troops.  He is asking government officials to sign a baseball bat in support that will be presented to Congress.  He has even nabbed celebrities like Jay Leno and Diane Sawyer to pen their names.

Having a loved one deployed twice (once to Iraq, then to Afghanistan) over the past year, I have become a care package guru. I know firsthand how care packages are not only a soldier’s lifeline to home, but they keep military wives, fiances, girlfriends, siblings, parents, etc, connected to their loved one. I know that for $12.95, the post office offers flat rate shipping on boxes. Anything you can fit inside, despite weight, ships to APO addresses for just $12.95.   The boxes are also free. The issue comes in when you are at the post office once a week for four straight months.  That adds up to roughly $200 and does not include the price you paid for what is in the box.

What Troy is asking Congress to do, is to take one day out of the year and make shipping on care packages to deployed soldiers free.

Again, I cannot reiterate how important and meaningful these packages are to both the giver and receiver.  During the deployments I went through, I received one call a week that was about five minutes long from my loved one. It was hard. When days went by without hearing this person’s voice or knowing if they were dead or alive, it was painstaking. I would google their name and pray it didn’t pop up in a news feed.  To take my mind off of the uncertainty, I turned to care packages.

I love to cook and making my loved one breakfast was my favorite thing to do. But, with an ocean separating us, that was not possible and eggs and bacon don’t ship like homemade cookies. So, I got creative and sent Breakfast Floss. It was three flavored boxes of floss (one waffle, one bacon and one coffee) on a cardboard plate. Weird? Yes, but thoughtful, and they loved it.  It got the point across that I was thinking of making breakfast for them and reminded them of home.

As for Thanksgiving, they received a pseudo feast in a box. Think: just add water Stove Top Stuffing cups, Hormel Turkey dinners and a greeting card shaped like a piece of pumpkin pie. It may seem simple and you may ask why send it? Just ask the man who received it. To him, it was one day less he wasn’t stuck eating whatever was sent over from the kitchen out to the pilots in the dusty desert. Instead of wondering if his loved ones saved a place for him at the dinner table, he knew time was taken to include him and and that we were thinking about him when he was away. To him, it was home in a box.

~This blog is dedicated to the brave men and women also known as the Jolly Green Giants~

“Welcome Aboard Flight 7454 with non-stop service to Antarctica Chicago.”

You know you are headed for travel trouble when this is the first thing out of your flight attendant’s mouth.  His funny joke was followed up seconds later with the pilot warning us passengers to buckle up, bumpy skies are ahead.

If you know me, you know I do not fly well.  I had to return to Chicago for a personal matter and had to deal with whatever the weather dealt.  So, I said a prayer, buckled up and for the first time read the safety pamphlet. The flight was mostly smooth, perhaps the scariest part was not having any visibility until we were 70 seconds away from landing at O’Hare.  Hitting the runway was more like taking to a  slip and slide.

Landing was not the worst part. Fast forward three hours and Chicago looked like a snow globe an overzealous child shook.  In all the decades I called Chicago home, I have never seen snow or weather like this “Blizzard of 2011.” Within hours, snow accumulated in record numbers. Making matters worse were 50 mph wind gusts stirring up the powder into the sky.  Those who chose to walk in Downtown Chicago were practically blown over. A man was killed when the wind blew him into Lake Michigan.  People driving on Lake Shore Drive were stranded and at the mercy of rescuers on snowmobiles. Those cars and some people were still stuck 24 hours later.

Snow clearing is now underway, car ars are being towed off of Lake Shore Drive and the airports should be re-opening. But, this blizzard is not over yet.  The temperature is plunging here and we are going to be -30 degrees overnight.  I am bundling up in sweats to sleep…tomorrow though…the trek into the city should be fun and challenging.

Will I make it in?

TO BE CONT’D…………BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR.