This week has felt like light years. I think back to Monday, and it does not even seem remotely like Friday should be in the same week. I call this a "fiery" week because it seems like when I was not covering a fire story I was covering some sort of breaking news event.
Monday some kids set a school district playground on fire. You may think it's ridiculous when you first hear the headline. I mean why would we devote a not only a complete story to a school playground fire, but make it our top story for the 10:00 news? Well ,that little fire ended up destroying a school playground. It's going to cost more than $50,000 dollars to replace, and is the second playground arson fire we've had in the past month. None of the kids have been caught. The school district had a hard fought battle to get fully funded, and just won that battle. So when they tell us they're spending close to $300,000 dollars a year on this type of vandalism, I think we have a great responsibility to help get their message out to the community to be vigilant of school playgrounds and city parks during the summer months. It hit home that day too, because another gang tagged another school's tennis courts, and that's going to take money to clean up. So we were able to let more folks know about what's known up here as the "Camper Host" program. That's where school district officials get volunteers visiting Anchorage for the summer to park their motor homes on school or park property. In exchange for those folks watching their assigned area, they get free parking, waster and septic pumps.
Tuesday I found myself covering one of the biggest housing fires Anchorage had ever seen. A really nice downtown condo complex caught fire about 3:30, after fire officials say a plumber using a blow
torch to soder some copper wire set an elevator's wall shaft on fire. This was a true definition of breaking news, because people's lives and health was in danger. And this exploded right in downtown's heart at rush hour's height. We needed to get the community important information on injuries, how to medically deal with all the deep smoke pouring downtown, where to get help, and assure the community a nursing home's residents, in the smoke's path, were OK. When all was said and done there was at least $12 million in damage, 20 units completely destroyed. Miraculously, though, no residents were hurt, although, sadly, many people's pets died. My college, Grace Jang, did a nice job following up the next day. (adn.com coverage).
Since that was breaking news I was on that scene for seven to eight hours. After updating the morning crew and wrapping up business at the station, I got home about 11:30. And then it was time to get ready for Fairbanks. That's right, Wednesday took me up to Fairbanks for Governor Palin's AGIA bill signing. That's significant, because it completely changes the Alaskan laws in place to negotiate getting a natural gas pipeline built. So, at 5:30 in the morning my photographer Ken Fankhouser and I started 
the drive six hours north, with a car full of our portable satellite gear to Fairbanks for the 1:30 bill signing. On the way we were asked to stop off near Talkeetna, AK, where the night before Susitna Valley High School had completely burned to the ground. As Ken gathered some video, I took in the tremendously sad sight my college Andrea Gusty reported on that night. (adn.com coverage.) (frontiersman.com coverage)
Ken and I arrived in Fairbanks around 12:30 and needless to say I was fairly exhausted. But it was fascinating to watch how Governor Palin sent a message out as she signed the bill into law. We finished covering the ceremony about 2:45, and we had to be set up to feed my 5:00 and 6:00 stories back to Anchorage by 4:00. You do not have to be a TV reporter to figure out that's a pretty tight turn around. We worked out of our Fairbanks sister station's newsroom. Fairbanks, AK is one
of the smallest television market's in the country. I was told by some of the staff they are market 205. There are 210 markets total US markets. All of the staff is very young, and it was fun to see so much enthusiasm as they watched us work with all the high tech TV toys we are privileged to be able to use. They simply do not have the money and resources we do. I quickly wrote my five and six o'clock stories. Ken shot me in their studio, and since we had such quick turn around time, I sat with him as he edited the stories on our portable laptop. Ken finished close to our 4:15 feeding deadline. But we had made it. As Ken ran outside, with the laptop in hand, we discovered there was a problem with KTVA receiving our portable satellite signal. So our assignment manager back in Anchorage had to extend the satellite window, (which means paying for more time,) so they could receive the material scheduled to air during the 5:00 and 6:00 news. Our former Chief Photographer Mike McCormic was freelancing for us for the day- and running our portable satellite unit. I knew Ken and him would figure the problem out, and ran back inside to get my 10:00 
story done. We had a 6:15 deadline to get that one shipped back to Anchorage, and the clock was ticking. As I listened to the tape, transcribing different quotes from the AGIA signing ceremony, Ken came back in to tell me the stories had been fed successfully. It was about 4:30. Ken headed out the door, in the poring Fairbanks rain, to shoot video of the governor's picnic. I continued to log my quotes and write my story, and finished just as he walked back in the door at 5:15. We had one hour to shoot me on camera, have me voice my story, and send it back to Anchorage. And somehow we made it. Here's my proud product. (newsminer.com coverage)
Then Ken was off to take Mike to the airport to fly home. Mike had to fly up because the back of our car was filled with all of our equipment. It was so full there was not even enough room to put my briefcase. (That rode beneath my feet for the trip. :) So, since there were only two seats available, as Ken took Mike to get some food, and then to the airport, I hung around their newsroom. By now,
having had just about 3-4 hours of sleep the night prior I was wholeheartedly exhausted. What shocked me about this small little station, with a news staff of just 7, including the news director who also served as the technical director for their live 6:00 news, is they taped their late news. So shortly after Ken and Mike were gone their newsroom was abandoned. So I was left there alone, surfing the web. I called back to check in with Anchorage, to make sure they had received the script I had emailed for my 10:00 story, when I was informed two huge stories were happening. The Maggie the Elephant saga, which has plagued Anchorage for years, appeared to finally have an ending...as our Zoo Board of Director's voted to move 
her our of the state. (adn.com coverage.) On top of that we learned exclusively the state's only locally owned dairy was shutting down after more than 70 years of business. (adn.com coverage.) Yes Wednesday...which started with two huge fires...and ended with those two stories...stick my story in the middle...and you're left with one heck of a news day. Ken came back to get me at around 8:00. After a quick McDonald's stop it was back to Anchorage where we arrived about 2AM.
I was so tired I forgot to set my alarm when I finally got to sleep. I woke up at 2:23 PM. That's a little bit of a problem when your shift starts at 1:30. I called the newsroom. Apologized. Told them I would be there ASAP, and got in about 45 minutes later. I was told I was slated to cover the fall out from th
e Mat-Maid dairy shutdown, and I would be going live at 5, 6 and 10 (adn.com coverage). After my 5:00 live shot, the newsroom got an exclusive tip: at 6:00 something big was going to happen with United Airlines locally here at our airport. Without knowing what I headed with photographer Ron Solstad to the airport. About an hour later I was informed the company was eliminating all their ground employees, and starting in September would only have summer flights in and out of Anchorage. So in about a 24 hour period our 350,000 population city sustained a two pretty hefty economic blows.
Needless to say now you know why I called it a crazy, busy, (fiery) week!
