World Class Figure Skaters in the house

Any show connected to Jim Donovan turns into a world class production!

Well, Thursday Jim Donovan invited two world class figure skaters to join him on The Olympic Zone to preview the 2010 Vancouver Olympics Women's Figure Skating long program which proved to be one of the most exciting competitions to date.

Carol Heiss Jenkins and Tonia Kwiatkowski flanked Jim Donovan for a riveting 30 minutes breaking down the skaters, the reality of the American skaters' chances and delving into what it takes to not only skate in the Olympics but pull off a gold medal performance.

Kwiatkowski had a rich skating career placing 2nd in the US Championships and attaining so many other honors and placements during her skating career. She continues skating and is heavily involved in coaching.


Carol Heiss Jenkins' illustrious career brought her an Olympic gold medal in 1960 and an Olympic silver medal in 1956 as well as numerous 1st and 2nd placements in North America, US, and World Competitions. Heiss Jenkins coached Kwiatkowski for many years.


Their insight perfectly spelled out the relationship between coach-skater off and on the ice as these young women have been preparing for what they hope is the 'skate of their life!'


This group of women did not disappoint!


Korea's Yu-Na Kim took home the gold performing her personal best and breaking a record for scoring.

Japan's Mao Asada won the silver.

And Canada's Joannie Rochette showed the world her courage as she skated for the bronze medal just days after the death of her mother.


The young women skating for the USA really came through placing much higher than anyone ever envisioned. Mirai Nagasu finished 5th and Rachael Flatt finished in 8th place.


There is much hope over the next 8 years for women's figure skating in the United States of America!

Men's Figure Skating pumped me up!

Due to the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, all of the NBC affiliates, including us, have been going on late every night.

It varies--1130pm some nights, midnight others, and much later than that if there is a hot button competition which must air in its entirety including the medal ceremony.

Last night was one of those 'later than that' nights.

This 17 days of competition have been just what I have needed to get me out of my 'snowy February in Cleveland' doldrums as well as help me continue to heal from the death of Mom.

And if last night did not do the trick, nothing will!

What a glorious night of competition, among nations of the world, showcasing their best male figure skaters--ever!

Amazing. That is all I can say.

Many look down on male figure skating. I've heard people say, 'why don't they play hockey, the real sport.' Don't get me wrong, I am a huge hockey fan too and can not wait for hopefully a thrilling USA-Canada match up next week....but figure skating is definitely an art, a skill which not many can conquer.

The US had Jeremy Abbott, Johnny Weir, and Evan Lysacek.... to battle the likes of Russia's Evgeni Plushenko and Japan's Daisuke Takahashi.

The short program was enjoyable. And the guys had to leave it all out there for their long program.

An exhilarating night. WOW! Bouncing off the walls for hours after the skating ended it was that good.

And when the dust cleared, American Evan Lysacek took home the Olympic Gold Medal for Men's Figure Skating.

What a great feat for someone who works hard every single practice. How absolutely proud his coach, Frank Carroll, was after the performance.

He was flawless. He DID give a gold medal performance!


Remember, wkyc/nbc (and all of the networks of nbc) is your place to be for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics thru February 28, 2010. Don't miss a competition!

And tune into Jim Donovan and The Olympic Zone Monday thru Friday during the Olympics for previews, wrap ups, and highlights on the local Olympians from Northeast Ohio.

'Skunked again!'

I walked into work, camera in hand, with exhibit A for Lisa and Rita of why, just moments ago, I was on the verge of calling them to say I was going to be a tad late!

Fortunately, the little varmint scampered away allowing me to cruise in with minutes to spare!

This all started when I spotted some amazing pictures as I was leaving for work and figured, great, I'll snap some photos to show for a possible story idea. My neighbor had icicles on his gutters --one of them had to be at least 4 feet long, if not more--over power lines!

I grabbed pictures of the icicles as well as the snow covered fire hydrants for our news planning meeting.

I was all done taking the pictures, turned to get into my car and there he was, only inches away.

The cutest little skunk I had ever seen!!

Now, not only did I not want to scare the bugger so that he gave me a scented gift, but with all of the snow we have had over the last week, this is probably the first day he has been able to get out and gather up some food.

I backed up slowly as he knew I was there but did nothing toxic. He efforted getting out of my way and had the hardest time maneuvering through the snow mounds.

I just let him do his thing and scamper away from me and then I safely entered my car, started the car, and took off when I knew he was far enough away not to cause a big stink!

Sure made for a good personal story, with visual aids, when I arrived at work --as well as a few very good story ideas!!!

Zdrunas Ilgauskas trade

WOW!

What a flurry for what seemed an eternity but in reality, only a few minutes.

Everyone knows we have the best sports department in town so they had been on top of the pending Cleveland Cavaliers trade 'rumors' and then the trade 'near truths' that have been swirling around the last week or so.

Today was the day. It all came together so quickly that Jim Donovan still had the information for our early shows.

I've said it before and will say it forever --Jim Donovan's my hero. What a pro, how he masters his craft. But more importantly, he's one of THE nicest human beings I could ever know, EVER!

He does not need scripts, he does not need anyone to repeat information to him. He knows his stuff and he has a photogenic memory. He reads something once or hears something just once and it's there baby!

It all happened so fast. The sports department was gathering the info the way they do while a handful of us were checking the wires, and believe it or not TWITTER!

The tweets were coming a mile a minute. It was very exciting! Those of us who follow sports folks, the Cavs, the Wizards, etc., kept checking who we follow to see what THEY were saying and if it jived with what we were hearing!

Again, I can just describe it as a flurry!! A blur.

When the smoke cleared after about 10 minutes or so, all the information we were gathering via the telephone, the email, and via tweets all jived and were completely in sync.

The basics: Zdrunas Ilgauskas & a first round draft pick were traded away while the Cleveland Cavs got Antawn Jamison. This trade involved three teams and, so far, 6 players.

Donovan blew everyone away with his breaking news and .......well, hopefully in 30 days, we WILL get Zdrunas Ilgauskas back to our Cleveland Cavaliers!!!

Go to wkyc.com for the latest on this breaking news story as well as what happens over the next month with the team who is our next hope for a championship!!!

The Olympics are in full swing

Last Friday night kicked off two of the most exciting weeks of sports, if not THE most exciting competition to be witnessed by the world.

The 2010 Winter Olympics set in Vancouver unveiled their opening ceremonies and a preview of what's in store in the coming days.

Programming on wkyc and nbc will be affected by the 2010 Winter Olympics so check your local listings and stay tuned to wkyc and wkyc.com for the latest updates.

The Olympics are not only airing on nbc/wkyc but all of the nbc networks such as MSNBC, CNBC, USA.....wkyc will be airing The Olympic Zone at 730pm every night, Monday thru Friday, with Jim Donovan. Donovan will give our customers a preview of the night ahead, results from competition from the day before and earlier that day as well as having former Olympic Gold Medalists on the show as live guests talking about the various sporting events.

The Olympic Zone will highlight all of the local Olympians who are in Vancouver competing in their prospective sporting events as we attend watch parties and fan feedback!

If that's not enough to get your daily Olympic fix, please log onto wkyc.com where there is a special section dedicated to the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. This section will be updated continuously as results stream in to the web center.

Stay with wkyc and wkyc.com as we take you on one of the most exciting, history-making journeys ever!

Weekly Feature: Hidden Gems

Today's Hidden Gem: Dueling Garden Shows

Cleveland is big enough to have two Garden Shows!

Clevelanders usually head out to the area expos at each unique venue and support every show.

The 'Annual Cleveland Home and Garden Show' moved to Euclid this year after 18 years at the I-X Center.

The 67th annual show took place in the end of January at the Great Lakes Expo Center in Euclid. The show, which was a bit smaller than in years past, still had the beautiful gardens, with a German theme, the home improvement booths, vendors selling wonderful wares and unique gadgets, and of course, delicious food!

I always love stepping into the building and immediately being overcome with the beautiful aromas.

WKYC covered this event....

I have to admit, I don't know all the ins and outs about advertising but we did focus a bit more on the garden show at the I-X Center--The Great Big Home and Garden Show.

WKYC and momslikeme.com shared a booth. On-Air and behind the scenes people staffed the booth each day greeting our customers and offering information about the station, our product, our websites and anything else that interested viewers.

The big draw at the I-X Center, besides the beautiful gardens, Ty Pennington and Cheryl Tiegs.

Local landscapers crafted the beautiful gardens, which had a musical theme. Each garden was inspired by a specific song, such as "Cheeseburger in Paradise," "If I had a million dollars," "Fields of Gold".....

There were rows of home improvement stands as well as tasty treats and beautiful hand-crafted creations.

Entering the hall of gardens quite intoxicating. The minute I entered, I was overtaken by the beautiful floral scents from each and every garden. And the music connected to each garden made each one come to life!

Even in the midst of one of the coldest and snowiest winters in Cleveland history, it was fun stealing away for a few hours pretending I was in the tropics or Carolinas seeing masterpiece after masterpiece.

I suggest keeping tabs on all the wonderful conventions which come into Northeast Ohio. The next time one or both of the Garden Shows make a visit, please check one or both of them out and then you too will see why they are this week's Hidden Gem!!

Sprinting to the finish line

Today at 5pm is the deadline for submitting entries for the 2010 Press Club of Cleveland 'Excellence in Journalism' awards.

I felt as if I were back in college. You've all been there. You get your syllabus at the beginning of the class with an outline of what will happen that semester including when the big term paper is due....and wait until the last second to either write it or hand it in or BOTH!

Well, I did not wait until the last minute, exactly. I had everything I was hoping to submit done, in order, tapes dubbed, paperwork filled out....I was just waiting to see what stories the station submitted.

Once we got that info, we all had the green light to submit anything the station may not have entered.

Not gonna tip my hand.....

Suffice it to say, I was sprinting up the street before my shift to hand in my entries.

Fortunately, one of the Press Club officers works a few buildings down. Quite helpful and a mini work-out as well!

Good luck to all who entered this year!

I'm not sure when we may hear if we've even placed, but the awards ceremony is Friday, June 18, 2010.

Up to our ears in snow and iAlerts

We've been up to our ears in snow since late last Friday.

With snow comes iAlerts.

The iAlert system is a dream. It's much easier than the last system we had.

I'm still not sure why a bunch of agencies, schools, churches, etc., still have not subscribed?

It's so easy for an administrator to log on from home, school, their laptop and close their school as soon as they determine to do so.

Quizzical is how we broadcast that there may be a snow event and the folks who use iAlert do not take home their ID and Password?

It's gotten to the point we get so many calls, we can not type in temporary closings this week. It's just impossible. So we've been asking the subscribers to really try and close their organization themselves if at all possible and please sign up so the next snow event, they can do it themselves and be included.

I apologized to one of our newer desk employees for my appearance but told her during snow days, I opt for comfy, warm and able to travel through all types of weather. Usually jeans and a fleece jacket or sweatshirt. I abandon the heels and put on the heavy duty boots or change into comfy crocs where I can run around the newsroom to get everything done!

Also need the comfy, mobile shoes just in case I encounter little varmints such as the one pictured in this entry!!!!

Looks are not a high priority!! But isn't this bugger the cutest thing you've seen!!!!

February Sweeps 2010 kicks off

Amidst the busy week I detailed in my last entry, to top it off, February 2010 Sweeps kicked off today!

News Director Rita Andolsen rallied the troops not only with her inspirational news room speech but 'treating' the news room to delicious masterpieces from The Chocolate Bar!

It's just wrong the amount of rich, decadent chocolate in the newsroom today!


Be sure to tune into wkyc all month long for stories to keep our customers connected to what's truly important to them...and give them information to help with what matters most.

For example, Monica Robins kicked off the month with her masterful piece on Connor-- a little boy who has a rare disorder called Dopa-Responsive Dystonia. No one really knew what Connor had until his mother Cynthia took it upon herself to research his symptoms and track down doctors who would listen to her theories. Not giving up or taking no for an answer, his doctor put Connor on new medication which proved to be 'miraculous' in Connor's recovery.

You won't want to miss a single story in the coming weeks.....stay tuned!

News Desk Nuggets

As we welcome in February, the week proves to be like driving on the Autobahn in Germany --fast and furious!

Today not only kicks off Black History Month but Go Red for Heart Health Month!

We will have stories all month on both topics.

Coming up this Thursday and Friday, wkyc will host a phone bank manned with experts who can answer your questions regarding heart health month, staying healthy, and what signs to look for regarding heart problems. So look out for that as we get closer to the end of the week.

Tuesday is Ground Hog Day. The little bugger will give us a glimpse how long this snow will linger.

And the big news stories which continue this week include the Essa trial ....and it was only a matter of time, but an arrest warrant has been issued for William Calderwood in connection with the West 83rd house explosion. The alleged 'fire bug' too many times is someone in the neighborhood, someone who brings attention to himself or herself at the crime scene, is quite vocal, or is the 'rescuer' at a fire scene. Just like a movie for television drama, that's how this story appears to be playing out.

Stay with wkyc and wkyc.com for the latest developments on all of the above and so much more....as we also continue counting down to the 2010 Vancouver Olympics!