Monday, May 5, 2008

Sunday, May 4, 2008

Photo of the Day


Does this cloud look like Kentucky?
Post your comments.

Evening Trio: Myanmar cyclone, Tubby Smith, and coal camps

AP: Cyclone kills at least 351 in Myanmar, state-run TV reports

Courier-Journal: Tubby returns to UK -- to receive honorary degree

Kingsport Times-News: Book paints picture of life in Wise County, VA coal camps

BREAKING: Fire Causes Phone, Internet Outage in Perry County, 911 Outage in Knott County (UPDATED)

Two fires knocked out phone and Internet service in Perry County this morning. This outage also caused a 911 outage in nearby Knott County. The 911 service is linked to the Kentucky State Police post in Hazard. Knott County residents who are in an emergency situation must call 785-5074 until the 911 service is restored.

One fire was on a utility pole on the Hazard Bypass and another fire at a house in the Bulan area which caused damage to phone lines there. I will post more details as I get them.

Morning Trio: SW Virginia votes Tuesday; Ronaldo; Resurrection-denying minister

TriCities.com: Southwest VA Voters Soon To Decide Town Races

Yahoo! UK/Ireland Sports: Soccer star Ronaldo dumped by sponsor after scandal

National Post (Canada): Resurrection-denying minister preaches Christianity without Christ

Saturday, May 3, 2008

BREAKING: Microsoft pulls Yahoo offer

MSNBC is reporting:

  • "A spokesman for Microsoft Corp. says the software giant is walking away from its offer to buy out online portal Yahoo Inc. On Friday, Microsoft had indicated a willingness to raise its $31-a-share cash and stock offer by several dollars a share, a person familiar with the company's thinking had said. The original offer, made public Feb. 1, was currently valued at about $42 billion, but each $1 per share increase would boost the value by $1.4 billion. Talks were widely described as sensitive."

So much for the concept of "Micro-hoo." I'm sure Google is grinning from ear to ear right now.

Big Brown wins Kentucky Derby 134...second-place Eight Belles euthanized after post-race injury

Big Brown, one of my three favorites, won the Derby in front of 157,770 people. Eight Belles, the only filly, was second. Sadly, after the race, she broke both of her front ankles and was euthanized. Denis of Cork was third.

Congrats to Big Brown...pray for the owners of Eight Belles.

UPDATE at 7:46pm ET: A few minutes ago, WLEX anchor Kevin Christopher summed up today's events: "One horse won it all...one horse gave it all."

Special Evening Trio: Derby Picks

Instead of the usual Evening Trio, I will have my three Derby picks, in no particular order:

Big Brown
Pyro
Colonel John

What are your Derby picks? Post your choices in the Comments section.

Are the evening newscasts obsolete?

OneNewsNow has a great article about the decline of the evening newscasts. Bernie Goldberg, former reporter for CBS and the author of "Bias," predicts that CBS' Katie Couric "will exit the anchor chair no later than a few days after the presidential election." He also said that one network has not dropped its evening newscasts because Congress would "clobber them" for dropping it.

Click here for the full article. As I mentioned in previous posts, the evening newscasts need to cater to younger viewers and provide more balance in delivering the news in order to survive.

Morning Trio: Boris Johnson, Wellmont, and the Kentucky Derby

BBC: Boris Johnson wins London mayoral race

Kingsport Times-News: Wellmont withdraws Wise County, VA medevac request

AP: Can Big Brown deliver at Kentucky Derby for trainer Dutrow?

Friday, May 2, 2008

Evening Trio

AP: Storms kill 7 in Arkansas, damage homes around Kansas City (Editor's Note: This same storm system is affecting Louisville, site of today's Kentucky Oaks. Undoubtedly, this will affect the outcome of the race.)

Kingsport Times-News: Four facing voter fraud charges in Southwest Virginia town of St. Paul

Chicago Tribune: Higher education, zero tuition (Editor's Note: This article deals with Berea College in Madison County, which does not charge tuition to all qualified students. They are required to participate in an work-study program. My alma mater, Alice Lloyd College, has a similar program. Click here to go to ALC's website.)

Afternoon Trio

Newsmax/AP: `Miracle' Marine Dies; Badly Burned in 2005 Iraq Blast

International Herald-Tribune: Wall Street mood swing: Gloom gives way to (premature?) optimism

AP: Deal reached for Minn. bridge collapse victims

Lexington Herald-Leader: Five Indicted on Mail Fraud Charges

From the Lexington Herald-Leader:

  • "Five Kentuckians -- including the owner of a Whitesburg insurance company and two of its employees -- were indicted Thursday on mail fraud charges. The indictment alleges that the group devised a scheme from 2003 to 2005 to defraud Kentucky Employers' Mutual Insurance in Lexington of workers' compensation insurance premiums by misrepresenting the number of employees and payroll of ZAG Resources Inc."

Those indicted:

  • John and his wife Tena Pennington of Stanton
  • CS&W Insurance Company owner Thomas Childers, who lives in Hazard
  • Karen Lynetta Fox-Burns and Shannon Ranee Hogg of Whitesburg, both employees of CS&W Insurance Co.

According to the Herald-Leader: "The indictment alleges that John Pennington failed to pay federal taxes to the Internal Revenue Service that he withheld from his employees' wages from 2003 to 2007. A court date for the five has not been set."

This appears to be a MAJOR case of fraud...we'll hear more about this case in the weeks and months to come.

Morning Trio

Arutz Sheva: Leaked: Police Question Israeli PM Olmert on Bribery Scandal

BBC: BREAKING: 'Many casualties' in Yemen blast

Albert Mohler's Blog: United Methodists Maintain Standards

Thursday, May 1, 2008

Developing: Hillary's Sunday Town Hall Hosted by Former Clinton Staffer

Hillary Clinton will hold a televised town hall forum during ABC's "This Week" on Sunday morning. The host: George Stephanopoulos. Interestingly, he was involved in Bill Clinton's 1992 election campaign and was later press secretary and policy advisor.

Matt Drudge is reporting that "...it is not clear if ABCNEWS will inform viewers of Stephanopoulos' past employment." Stephanopoulos co-moderated the Democratic debate back in April with "World News" anchor Charles Gibson. There was no disclaimer about Stephanopoulos' connections with the Clintons before, during, or after the debate.

All of the Big Three networks have a history of strong bias toward the Democrats. This scheduled town hall forum proves it.

Evening Trio

ESPN: BREAKING: Mason County, KY native, University of Tennessee college basketball star Chris Lofton quietly faced and beat cancer

AP: 'D.C. madam' kills herself in Fla. coastal town

AP: Bush calls for approval of $770 million in food aid

Afternoon Trio

WKYT: Developing: Student Killed In School Bus Accident

International Christian Concern: London's Largest Megachurch Forced Off Property To Make Way For Megamosque

WYMT: Hazard McDonalds Looking To Break Record

National Day of Prayer

Today is the National Day of Prayer. This year's theme: "Prayer! America's Strength & Shield." The theme is based on Psalm 28:7, which reads in full from the King James Version:

  • The LORD is my strength and shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him.

You can find out more about the National Day of Prayer by going here.

Dr. Ravi Zacharias is the 2008 Honorary Chair of the National Day of Prayer Task Force. He has written this year's "Prayer for Our Nation." Here is the text:

  • Holy Father, in a world where so many are hungry, You have given us food in abundance; In a world where so many are hurting, You offer to bind up our wounds; In a world where so many are lonely, You offer friendship to every heart; In a world longing for peace, You offer hope. Yet, we are so stubborn and resistant. Have mercy upon us, Lord. Our nation is at a crossroads this year; we look to you to be our strength and shield. Please give us the guidance to elect one who will honor you and to respond to the wisdom from above so that our hope may be renewed and our blessings be treasured. In God's holy name.

February 2009 Sweeps Moved to March

The trade publication Broadcasting and Cable is reporting that Nielsen has moved the February 2009 sweeps period to March due to "potential disruptions" with the switchover to all-digital broadcast TV signals.

Couple of things to note: March is the month in which college basketball has its postseason. Since CBS owns the rights to the NCAA men's basketball tourney, that particular tourney is very important to any NCAA TV contract extensions for CBS due to the fact that all TV markets are involved in sweeps-period ratings. Normal ratings periods involve metered markets only.

Another thing: High-school basketball. Since March brings the high-school postseason as well, overall TV viewership could be lower in some areas if there is high attendance in high-school playoff games. This is especially true in Kentucky, where high-school hoops are big.

Your thoughts?

Morning Trio

Albert Mohler's Blog: Grand Theft Decency

AP: Studios not willing to accept contract demands by actors

AP: Unbeaten Big Brown the Derby favorite in 20-horse field