Leap Day Readers

  by Christian Grantham - February 29th, 2008 - 5:00 pm| Charity | 8 comments

News 2’s Christine Maddela reads to 2nd and 4th graders at Glengarry Elementary today.

Driver drowns after crashing into Bellevue pond

  by Heather - February 11th, 2008 - 2:15 pm| BREAKING | no comments

Authorities have recovered a body from a manmade pond in Bellevue after witnesses reported seeing a car drive into it.

The body is believed to be the car’s driver.

An eyewitness reported seeing the car swerve and drive into the pond, located at Devon Valley Road at Old Hickory Boulevard, just before 11:30 a.m. Monday.

The witness said someone was seen on top of the vehicle and then disappeared.

Divers located and cleared the vehicle.

The body was found a short time later.

Watch News 2 at 4 p.m. for complete coverage of this story.

Lusting for WX

  by Christian Grantham - February 7th, 2008 - 9:03 am| Weather | 2 comments

Lisa knows hot.

Curvy, cute as hell and undaunted by hail—that’s Lisa Patton, a steadily moving bright-red front on Middle Tennessee’s erogenous Doppler radar. We’ve always suspected other people shared our obsession with WKRN-Channel 2’s unflappable longtime weathercaster, but we didn’t know how much until we posted an ode to her tropical heat last year on a Scene blog. The heavens opened. “I’ve thought Lisa was the hottest woman on televised news since as far back as I can remember,” wrote one commenter. Gushed another: “That first shot they show of Lisa Patton in the weather newscast, when she’s still sitting at the desk. With her sparkly green eyes. No matter what the thermometer says, it’s hot in [my] household.”
[The Lust List - Nashville Scene - 02-06-08]

And it’s for real. This email just came in and is just a sample of the kind of emails we get about Lisa and the entire weather team.

I could not find the correct spot for comments so I am contacting you.  Lisa Patton and your weather news during the storms are simply amazing.  I stayed with her from late afternoon to 4 Am, I gave out before she did.  I hope youall realize that there are many people in Christian, Trigg and Todd Co. who depend upon you to give us weather news.  The last time I stayed up all night with you was the other devastating storm that wiped out downtown Clarksville. On behalf of a lot of people on the Ky-TN line, you are a literally a life saver and much appreciated.  Again a special thanks to Ms. Patton and to WKRN.

Sincerely, Mary Lee Norfleet, Hopkinsville, KY

Programming Change: no more weekend morning news

  by Christian Grantham - February 4th, 2008 - 10:22 am| WKRN, Programming | 8 comments

Here is a message from WKRN General Manager Gwen Kinsey regarding our weekend morning news shows.

“We have made the decision to stop producing a local newscast in the mornings on the weekend.  The audience available weekend mornings is very modest. Eliminating those telecasts enables us to direct more reporting resources to our weekend evening and Monday through Friday programs, as well as increasing the resources we have to provide on the internet in a 24/7 news day.”

Rep. Donna Rowland’s Bible Theme Park Update

  by Christian Grantham - January 24th, 2008 - 8:37 am| County Government, Property, State Government | 6 comments

WGNS in Murfreesboro passed this along. The proposed Bible Theme Park in the Blackman community takes another step behind the scenes toward becoming a reality.

Dear Friends:

Many of you have asked in passing for any update on the proposed Bible Theme Park.  I promised to keep you informed as new information was provided to me.

I was recently copied on a letter dated 1/17/08 from TDOT to Mr. Bar-Tur.  The letter acknowledged receipt of the concept drawing providing access to the proposed Bible Park USA.  In the letter, TDOT states that, based on the conceptual drawing, it would be able to permit the construction of a roadway across State Route 840 in the vicinity of Manson Pike.

Should you need additional information on the status of this project, if any information is available, the local planning department or county commission may have be of assistance.

Sincerely,
Donna Rowland
[Bible Theme Park UPDATE - WGNS Radio - 01-24-08]

Barack Obama pulls TV ads across Tennessee

  by Christian Grantham - January 21st, 2008 - 3:20 pm| BREAKING, Politics | no comments

Volunteer Voters has the scoop.

According to sources, Barack Obama has canceled all his recently purchased television ads for the Knoxville, Nashville and Memphis media markets. The now canceled buy was for one week estimated at $50,000 in the Nashville market and $200,000 statewide.
[SOURCES: Barack Obama Pulls Tennessee Ads - VolunteerVoters - 01-21-08]

‘The biggest burglary in the history of Metro’

  by Christian Grantham - January 11th, 2008 - 11:26 am| Consumer Alert, County Government, City Government, Crime | one comment

The identification of more than 337,000 Davidson County residents was stolen on Christmas Eve, but to date no one in Metro government has been held accountable. Tune in to News 2 at 5 as Andy Cordan unleashes his anger.

And here is the symbolic sand in the eye to me. The break in happened on December 24th. Today, as I write this, it is January 11th.

I visited the Election commision this morning, and that damn window is still not fixed. A big board still marks the break in point, like an X marks a pirate’s treasure. Is there not a piece of glass in the entire city that could have been located by this time, some 18 days and counting.

To me it represents everything that is wrong with this story and the way it has been handled.
[MESSED UP METRO - That Is Messed Up - 01-11-08]

The news - as told by our viewers

  by Christian Grantham - January 11th, 2008 - 11:14 am| WKRN, New Media | one comment

The Tennessean had a nice blurb on how our WKRN viewers told the story of yesterday’s storm using their cellphone video and pictures. You can see the photos and videos on Nashflix.

As (yet another) round of menacing weather swept through Middle Tennessee Thursday, residents were quick to offer digital pics and videos of flooded driveways and golf ball-size hail.

NashFlix.com, an online aggregator of local multimedia, featured user videos of everything from Dell employees in Nashville gathering in the hall as the intercom boomed “This is not a drill” to a swollen, rushing creek bed in Leiper’s Fork that had been dry 24 hours previously.
[Weird weather videos flood into NashFlix - Tennessean - 01-11-08]

Cool storm video sent in by viewers

  by Christian Grantham - January 10th, 2008 - 4:32 pm| Uncategorized | no comments

As the storms swept through Nashville, many of you submitted photos and videos from your cell phones to WKRN (pix at wkrn.com). You can see many more at NashFlix.com, but here are some of the videos:

This is from Chris Etheridge in Wilson County showing water rushing across his driveway on Hamilton Road.

This video shows a creek bed the sender said was dry 24 hours ago in Leiper’s Fork.

Young Broadcasting to sell KRON-TV

  by Christian Grantham - January 10th, 2008 - 12:20 pm| WKRN | no comments

Good news for WKRN and our parent company.

KRON-TV, a multi-award winning station, is one of the most prestigious broadcasting properties in the country. Until 2006 when it became an affiliate of MyNetwork TV, KRON-TV was the largest independent station in the United States and the only independent VHF station in its market. KRON-TV is a unique station with an important position in the market as the television news source for San Francisco. The station, due to its many hours of local programming, is benefiting from the industry trend towards increased localism.

Young Broadcasting stated that its goal was to conclude an agreement for the sale of KRON-TV before the end of the first quarter. In addition to the station’s considerable assets the buyer will benefit from certain favorable tax attributes.

“When we purchased KRON-TV in 2000 we believed we had acquired a jewel and we still feel that is the case today. KRON-TV is one of the most valuable television stations in the country”, stated Vincent Young, Chairman of Young Broadcasting. “Our decision to sell is based on the high level of interest in the property that we have received. It is purely a strategic economic decision, allowing us to benefit from the proceeds of the sale to further our future corporate initiatives.”
[Young Broadcasting Inc. to Sell KRON-TV in San Francisco - Business Wire - 01-10-08]