Florida Damage

These are pictures from Navarre Beach, Florida. In case you don't know, Navarre Beach is east of Pensacola. This is damage there from Hurricane Katrina. My wife's parents live in Navarre Beach and so that's why I'm showing these pictures. Of course, Louisiana and Mississippi got it much worse than Florida but just wanted to show that even in Florida there was damage. The in-laws house survived Ivan and Dennis with damage to their garage and decks, but they are saying that Katrina washed out their driveway, covered the garage and patio with sand and flooded their house. They didn't get flooding upstairs with either Ivan or Dennis but did with this hurricane even though they were hundreds of miles away. So, can you imagine the power of this storm that the storm surge and waves were that high to reach their house which is 20 feet above sea level?

Local Damage

These are pictures of some of the only damage from Katrina that we had here in the Sand Mtn. Bureau. The huge stained glass window at the First United Methodist Church in Arab was blown out by strong winds last night. For some reason, the window was blown outside of the church, not into the sanctuary. We here were really blessed as we were spared the worst of Hurricane Katrina.

Buckethead

This is my brother Danny. We call him Buckethead. He reads my blog and so I promised him I would put his picture up here. By the way, I am whooping his butt in our fantasy baseball league, and plan on doing so in our fantasy football leagues this fall. Go Buckethead!!!

What's Up For This Friday?

Put up pictures of football action and fans on the last post, so it's only fair to show some cheerleaders this time around. I'm looking at the schedule for this Friday for our high school games and trying to decide what games to go to. Just found out that the Buckhorn at Fort Payne game is the Ch. 19 game of the week so right now it looks like we will be covering the Fyffe at Sylvania game, and then the Pisgah at Plainview game. That should be 2 good games, plus it gets Carson and me to Plainview for their world famous hamburgers. Hand pattied, grilled to perfection, covered with sauted onions. Man, oh man, making my mouth water just thinking about it.
Still watching the coverage on Katrina and wondering what it will do to our area here in N.E. Alabama. Our thoughts and prayers go out to all of those being affected by this huge hurricane.

Football Friday

Well, week 1 of high school football is in the bag and what a week it was. Yes, Fyffe loves them some Channel 19. Great thing about going to Fyffe is that the P.A. guy always announces that we are there and thanks us for coming. It may not sound like much but we know that Fyffe loves us anyway. Unfortunately, both games we covered tonight didn't have much action while we were there. Fyffe scored 2 touchdowns after we left to win 14-12. Fort Payne scored 20 before we got back to Albertville, then put up a field goal and a touchdown while we were shooting and Albertville got nothing. Doesn't make for the most exciting highlights. The bottom picture is Fort Payne's Justin Bailey coming down with a big catch at the 2 yard line to lead to a Wildcat TD. Well, this one is done, time now to get ready for next week. Coming soon, the schedule for next weeks Sand Mtn. games.

I'm About To Football All Over Myself

Yep, it's that time of the year again. Football Friday. High school football kicks off tonight and with that comes our Football Friday show. Tonight your hardworking Sand Mtn. crew will head to Fyffe where they take on Addison, and then back to Albertville for their game with Fort Payne. I always get excited when football season finally rolls around; the bright lights of the stadiums, the hamburgers at Plainview, the first cool breeze of Fall. Which, by the way, that cool breeze comes much later now than my memory tells me it used to come when I was in high school. Seems like everybody wore sweaters and coats for Homecoming back then, now it is still shorts weather. Anyway, getting ready to head out soon to the Food Basket for Carson and my official first game of the year supper. Tune in at 10pm for the highlights.

Remember This Guy?

Anyone remember this guy? I kinda hate to put him right after Hayward Bissell since as far as I know this guy has never killed anyone. This is former Sand Mtn. Bureau Chief Trace Trylko. Trace was the bureau chief from 1997 until January of 2001 before moving to Orlando. On this particular day, we were doing a story on two guys who came up with a new product. It is the living memorial, put up beside headstones in cemetaries with an audio track telling visitors about the deceased person's life. As Carson would say, they used to let us do stories about all kinds of things not just hard news. Anyway, Trace was a great guy, very personable and well liked. Maybe just a little eccentric but who among us isnt. Go Trylko!!

Hayward Bissell

For our first edition of Sand Mtn. Archives, I picked the story of this man, Hayward Bissell. In case you have forgotten or didn't know, Bissell killed his girlfriend in Georgia, cut off her leg and hand, cut out her heart and windpipe and then buckled her back into the passenger seat and drove into DeKalb County. He then caused a wreck and ran over the driver of the car, continued down the road where he got out at a home and killed the owner's 2 dogs and stabbed the owner. He was finally stopped in Hammondville where police found the girlfriend's body in the front seat and body parts in the back of the car. He told deputies he was in the CIA and killed the girlfriend because they told him to. Hayward Bissell was eventually turned over to Georgia authorities where he will spend the rest of his life in a mental facility for the criminally insane. By the way, a former reporter for Fort Payne's Times Journal newspaper wrote a book about Bissell's crime spree called "Blood Highway". Your humble blog photog here has a section about him in the book because I was the first media person on the scene and the first to meet Hayward in the back of a patrol car. The book is available at Amazon.com and is a good read.

Just Filling Time

Truth be known, there isn't much going on right now. So, from the archives comes this photo of the Sand Mtn. bureau from Skycam 19. I took this a couple of years ago while Skycam was landing here at the office. That grassy area to the left of the building is the unofficial Skycam helipad. Plans are for that land and the land across from us to be sold as commercial property but so far our helipad is vacant. By the way, I'll think I'll start going through some old tapes and pull out a Sand Mtn. archive story of the week from time to time. Right now, just holding our breath until Football Friday starts.

Price of Gas Shouldn't Be This High

Now, I know the price of gas is really high but this is just crazy. Last Friday, a man attempted to drive off with $52 worth of gas from this Fort Payne gas station without paying for it. The owner tried to stop the car. He held on to the car as it drove off, only to fall off and then be ran over. He later died at the hospital. Everyone knows that gas is high, and the price has really increased the incidents of gas drive-offs across our area. But this has now cost a man his life. What can of person can do this, and then just keep driving. I'm sure they knew it had to be bad when they drove over the owner. So now this person, and I almost hate to use that word on this piece of garbage, will probably face a capital murder charge since this occurred during a crime. Is $52 worth of gas really worth 2 lives? As you can see from the pictures, the owner of the store was well-liked and people have been putting cards on the store windows since this happened. Sometimes I just can't understand people.

Balloon Ride

As promised, here are pictures from todays hot air balloon ride. And all I can say is, "Wow!". If you ever get the chance to ride in one go for it. You do have to be there early because the best time for flying is right sunrise. The winds are pretty calm and the weather is usually nice. Fyffe is having its UFO festival, which stands for Unforgettable Family Outing. Balloon rides all weekend with lots of other family fun. But, what a ride in the balloon. So smooth you hardly feel like you are moving at all. We went as high as 2,400 feet and rode for just over an hour. What a way to start the day.

Sorry About Today

I didn't have a whole lot to talk about today so no new interesting posts. But come back Friday and I promise to make it better. Friday is UFO Days in Fyffe, Alabama. In case you dont remeber, Fyffe gained a little national attention in the '80's with some UFO sightings. So now they are starting a festival called UFO Days, but it has more to do with family fun and nothing really about aliens. But, Carson and I are getting up early Friday to go on a hot air balloon ride. I've never been in one before so I'm looking forward to it. I promise to post some great shots of balloons and views from the air. Should be fun.

Thats What I Get

Yesterday I griped about the miles I had to drive. Well, today is what I get for griping. Carson called in sick, so they called me in to work in Huntsville. Which is an hour drive from the bureau. When I get there I find out I have to go to Moulton to cover a story. Moulton? I don't know how to get to Moulton. Go to Decatur and turn right, they say. So another hour later I'm in Moulton. Thats in Lawrence county for those of you, like me, who don't know. Which then, of course, means another hour drive back to H'ville. Then later tonight another hour drive home. Good thing gas prices are so low.

More on The Cow

Just an update on the cow in the septic tank story. Albertville animal control officer Kevin Hooks came by the office on Monday and said they he had family members from all across the country calling saying they saw him on TV with a cow. Seems that after I sent the video to the station last week, they put it up on the satellite feed. TV stations all across the country picked up on the cow story and ran it. Even Fox News ran it on Saturday morning. Just goes to show how something as simple as a cow in Albertville can quickly become national news. Who knew anyone would care?

Live on The Scene Photos

Here are a few pictures I took this morning in Bridgeport. 48's satellite truck parked next to the Sand Mtn. Jeep. Heather Quiggle of the competition. Carson trying to stay cool in the back of the truck. And a photo of me working while everyone else is under the air conditioning. Oh, the life of a photographer.

Another Murder

Seems this is becoming the theme of the blog lately, but got called in this morning on yet another murder in Jackson County. This time in Bridgeport, which is in the extreme northern part of the county almost into Tennessee. This one turned out to be a domestic incident, with the husband charged with the murder of his wife. By the way, Bridgeport is about an hour and a half from the bureau office in Albertville. So that makes my drive so far today to Geraldine to meet Carson, on to Ider, down to Stevenson and then to Bridgeport. Then after that story we went back to Ider, on to Hammondville and Valley Head, then to Fort Payne to do a follow-up on the storm damage there yesterday. Then through Rainsville and back to Albertville. Live shots at 4:30, 5 and 6pm. Time for some basketball.

I was on the way home again when the station called me out for wind damage in Fort Payne. They had a bad storm come up and this is the result. The visitors bleachers at Fort Payne high school were folded in half and blown over by either a downburst or a small tornado. Blew them over the fence and onto the track and football field. Both the varsity and JV football teams were out practicing when the storm blew up, but they were able to get inside before it hit. It is now a little less than two weeks until high school football season opens up and Fort Payne has a lot of work to do to get new bleachers in place. The weird thing about this storm was it was very local. Most of Fort Payne didn't even get any rain from this. It just blew in from over Lookout Mtn. and hit right at the school. Also, the outfield fence at the baseball field next door was blown down by the wind. Thanks go out to the Ch. 19 viewers out there who called this story in.

Sand Mtn. Basketball

We would like to introduce you to the newest member of the Sand Mtn. bureau, a basketball goal. Since we have 2 15 minutes breaks each day and an hour lunch, we decided to do something a little more athletic with our time rather than just reading the works of Sheakspeare or doing calculus problems for fun. So now we will practice our jumpshots and layups during our company mandated breaktimes. Just look at that air Carson gets on the layup. And that oh-so-sweet touch that the Crossville Flash(that's me) has on his jumpshot. You can expect a much leaner, fitter Sand Mtn. bureau team from now on; it should cut down on our time getting to stories and cut out those nasty doctor visits.

More Cow Photos

Love this picture of the cow's head sticking up out of the ground.

Cow In A Septic Tank

Sometimes in this job you think you have seen everything. Then something like this comes along. I'm on my way home on Friday(and why does it always happen on Friday) when the station calls about a cow that got loose in Albertville and fell into a septic tank. Yes, I asked "Did you say cow? In a septic tank?". So off I go to find the cow. In a septic tank. Sure enough, the cow found its way out of the pasture and travelling across a yard fell through the cap and into a septic tank. Albertville's animal control officer and a neighbor were out there trying to get the cow out. Finally, with the help of a police officer they were able to pull the cow out with a rope. You might think this is the end of a strange story. But now they had to figure out how to get the rope from around the cow's neck. And needless to say, the cow isn't very happy after spending the afternoon stuck in a half full septic tank. After 20 minutes of chasing and being chased by the cow, they finally were able to cut the rope and wrangle the poor, tired cow back into the pasture. And I, your intrepid photographer, get to add one more item to my list of things I thought I would never see.

View Inside the Bureau

I thought I would give everyone a quick look inside the Sand Mountain Bureau office. Top left is the Football Friday Lockeroom. Not much to look at now, but in a few weeks with the bright lights on, it will be transformed. Top right is Carson hard at work at his desk writing up the news of the day. Bottom left is the edit bay, my primary work area. As you can tell, I'm a neat freak. Lots of pictures of the family and toys to play with. And of course the giant Snoopy Pez dispenser. Bottom right is the front of the bureau, which is hidden from the main road and not easily seen. Well, there you go. I'm sure you feel like you have been there now. Since Patsy, our Sand Mtn. sales lady wasnt here today, I didnt show her office. Maybe we'll get her on next time.

First day of school here in DeKalb County, and that means getting up early. Early enough to see the sun come up this morning. The sun was that early morning bright red, and shining through the fog made it especially pretty this morning. I like being able to see the sun rise, except for the fact I'm kind of a night owl. Usually dont get into bed before midnight so that makes seeing these beautiful sunrises kinda painful. But gotta get Forrest off to school so I'll be seeing a lot of these for the next 9 or 10 months.

It's That Time of Year

Yes, it's almost football season again. So I had to pass this along that someone sent me. It combines my love of the Peanuts comic strip, especially Snoopy, with my utter dislike of Tennessee. As you may or may not know, I'm a fan of the University of Alabama so football season is pretty big stuff. As a good friend and great American Chris Gary once said, " I'm about to football all over myself.". I know how he feels. Anyway, thought this picture was pretty funny so I thought I would share it. Sorry to all you Volunteer fans. Not really. Roll Tide!!

Its Monday morning and I'm back at work and right back into it. Got called out to a house fire in Boaz this morning. Seems the two kids in the house decided to play with Mom's cigarette lighter on their bed and set the mattress on fire. That set the house on fire. It was an older home and didn't take long to get in the attic. The house was a total loss.

A Rant on Cartoons

I dont know how many of you spend much time watching PBS in the daytime, but with two kids I'm just about getting my fill this week. Arthur, George Shrinks, Dragontales, the list goes on and on. What ever happened to good cartoons like when we were kids? Does anybody remember The Electric Company? Yes, PBS still carries Sesame Street and Mr. Rogers, but the rest of this is mindless drivel. Does this mean I'm getting old? Maybe, but I still think our cartoons were better. How about Roger Ramjet? Anybody remember him? Or Mighty Mouse, and Underdog? Tennessee Tuxedo? Klondike Kat? And the best of them all, Looney Tunes. Sure, you can still watch Looney Tunes if you have the Toon channel, but I think Bugs and the bunch are American icons, and we should have the Constitutional right to watch them for free. And dear Lord, please dont get me started on Saturday morning cartoons. Nothing on that doesnt have a complete line of toys for sale at Wal-Mart. Whatever happened to Captain Kangeroo and Mr. Green Jeans(although I will allow they weren't cartoons but you get the drift)? And turning Fat Albert into a movie? Please. Cant somebody please help me????????

Quiet On The Home Front

For a blog thats supposed to be about news photography, things can get slow when you are on vacation. So today you get a picture of Forrest and me on a camping trip. Yes, its only camping at Lake Guntersville State Park but for a kid its as good as being out in the woods miles from anywhere. I just like this picture of us, shows a dad and his son doing things together. I know that this is one of those pictures I'll look back on one day and smile remembering how much fun we had.

As promised, here is the picture of Skylink at the Albertville bureau. Skylink operator Brian Covington was on his way to Guntersville for the Tools for Schools drive when he stopped by for a visit. "Big Red", as we call Skylink, has been very busy for the past month. Two trips to the Cape for a shuttle launch, plus other news trips have kept them on the road quite a bit. Brian told us he had only been home for about three nights in the last three weeks. By the way, if you would like to keep up with Brian's travels, he has started a blog. You can find it at http://www.whnt.com/Global/Link.asp?L=160944. He also rates the motel rooms he stays in which is quite funny.
Anyway, here on the home front not much going on. Spent yesterday playing horsie with the kids, doing a little housework and working out this buying a house deal. By the way, the house is in Rainsville for those who wondered. How will a Crossville boy do living in Bear country I'm not sure yet. It will be hard to swap in my Black and Gold for Too Much Blue. Well, gotta go. Forrest really wants to play cowboy and guess who's the horse?