ABC 4: Blogs

Brian Carlson: From the Brain of Brian

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 18:42:48 GMT

Quick thoughts.

We've got new HD cameras here at ABC 4. I can't believe how computerized everything is these days. I'm excited to see what these babies can do.

Friday, I was dancing with Nicea Degering on Good Things Utah. I had my backside to the camera the entire time. I don't care how many times I've been on TV, that's a camera angle I'm not used to showing.

We're losing Brandy Vega to other career opportunities. In a way, for me, it's like losing a sister. She's the only other person at ABC 4 who is both infront of the camera, and behind it too.

As a BYU grad, I'm glad the March Madnes monkey is off BYU's back. Go COUGS!

Phony Phone Plan?

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 03:21:00 GMT

TAYLORSVILLE, Utah (ABC 4 News) -An elderly couple in Taylorsville says all they want is their moneyback. And it turns out; the Better Business Bureau says they may have gottenscammed by something called slamming.

It all started when 83-year-oldBetty Munsey picked up the phone to say hello; on the other end, arepresentative from Consumer Telecom, asking Betty about her phone plan. Withinthat conversation, Betty’s son says his mother agreed to have an additionallong distance provider.

“I feel like my mother was tricked, and I’mangry that they took advantage of my mother,” Joe Munsey told ABC4.

You see, Joe Munsey's mom has Alzheimer’sand when a company called Consumer Telecom called 83-year-old Betty to tell herabout their long distance phone plan she agreed.

Consumer Telecom which has anagreement with Qwest started to charge the Munsey monthly phone bill, $10.88 amonth. Joe discovered the charges, Qwest gave him his money back but thenConsumer Telecom started billing him too.

However, that's when the Taylorsville man contacted us. Turns out, ConsumerTelecom have had other complaints: in Nevada and all over the state of Utah. “It sounds like slamming, slamming is whenyour telephone long distance provider is changed without your knowledge, and youmay have said yes,” Jane Driggs CEO of the Better Business Bureau told ABC4.

Driggs recommends people to contactthem, the consumer protection agency along with the FCC.

ABC4 tried to contact the company to no avail along with a representativefrom Qwest. The Media Specialist we spoke to says he tried but was told towrite a letter.

ConsumerTelecom is an independent phone company, and Qwest allows their charges toappear on their bills.

Brent Hunsaker - Questions about recent stories on the Susan Cox Powell case

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 06:54:02 GMT

Recently, a few people have been asking me, “What’s the point?”

“So what if Josh Powell was at a strip bar on the day his wife was reported missing?”

“So what if the picture of the Powell family sitting in the snow in front of a fire may not be a fake?”

“So what if there’s a search around Simpson Springs?”

Here we go …

Bar story: Where Josh Powell may have been on that day both goes to his state of mind and his story – his alibi, if you will. But the testimony of a bartender and a couple patrons – however earnest and well intentioned – does not constitute fact.

Powell family photo: In the grand scheme of things, the picture really doesn’t matter.

But some people were openly speculating that it was “doctored” and others were obviously thinking it, so we sought help to get an answer. After an examination by a graphic artist who, yes, is very well qualified to detect trickery, no trickery was found. That surprised more than a few people.

Two things to keep in mind:

1) The lack of evidence of tampering does not prove the photo is genuine. It proves only that there is no evidence. I am not being cute, only precise.

2) If we had the original, full-sized picture instead of a low-resolution Internet version, our expert could do a much more complete examination – even run a fancy detection program from MIT. I'm told it has something to do with logarithms ...

How about it, Josh?

Search: There is some skepticism about the search planned for April 10. Some wonder what volunteers will find that police detectives did not find in thousands of hours of searching "in the air, on the ground and below the ground" at Simpson Springs.

The simple truth is we don’t know. Organizers feel it’s worth a shot to find out.

Bottom Line: Talking about all this stuff keeps Susan and the mystery of her disappearance in our thoughts and conversations.

That’s the point.

Robert Maxwell: Better Days Ahead!

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 21:56:00 GMT

I might spend some time here enthusing about how spring has sprung, maybe try some poetic waxing on about the crocuses in my neighborhood poking up their tiny heads out of the dull winter soil…

Or I might try to be satirical, professing to know something about the seasonal emergence of the common but striking clusters of Northern Utah croci, aka the “crocus saltlakeus”…

Nah!!

Just please enjoy the photo I snapped on my morning run: a snapshot of better and warmer days ahead.

Facts about St. Patrick's Day....from an Irish Woman

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 16:25:00 GMT

From Newsblues (a news blog)

Today is St. Patrick's Day. Mrs. B wants you to notice the apostrophe. It shows the singular possessive case.

Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland, and his crowning achievement was bringing Christianity to the pagans there. Now here's the jaw-dropping part: Patrick wasn't Irish. He was a Roman, born in Britain in the fourth century to an upper class family. Both his father and grandfather were Christian clergymen at a time in the early days of the church when the clergy were allowed to have wives and families.

And here are some more surprises:

America has a much longer tradition of St. Patrick's Day celebration than Ireland does. The first organized celebration of the day in America happened in Boston back in 1737; the first parade marched through New York in 1762. The first organized celebrations in Ireland weren't held until 1996, when the St. Patrick's Festival started in Dublin.

So what do the Irish do instead? Traditionally, they go to Mass (though more than a million now make time for the festival, too). In addition to being a national holiday, the day is a Catholic holy day, a remembrance of the man who brought Christianity to Ireland more than 1,500 years ago. Many make a pilgrimage to Croagh Patrick, the hill where it's said that Patrick banished the snakes from Ireland through the power of God.

More differences? Don't ask for corned beef and cabbage. Ireland's traditional meal is actually bacon and cabbage. Corned beef was an economical New York replacement that Irish Americans pinched from that city's Jewish community. And don't draw leprechauns on your party invitations, either. They don't have anything to do with St. Patrick. Actually, wearing green doesn't either; the color associated with the saint himself is blue. (KnowledgeNews.com)

Happy St. Paddy's Day. Yes, it's Paddy--the nickname for Patrick. (Patty is the nickname for Patricia.)

Angie Larsen Blog - The best female Ute gear

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 15:13:00 GMT

A few months ago, we promoted the Ultimate Utah Wedding on Good Things Utah. Since I am the resident Ute on the show, the University brought me a couple items of Ute clothing to wear on the air.  Forget the big, baggy sweatshirts of yester-year, this stuff is fashion forward and downright darling.

One t-shirt, in particular has struck the fancy of my fellow Ute fans. Each time I wear the black, blinged out Ute logo tee, (the one the has a crystal encrusted circle around a "U,") I get bombarded with emails asking where I got it. The answer is simple... the University of Utah Bookstore.

So if you want to be the best dressed Ute at all those tailgate parties and games this coming season, now you know where to shop.

And at least when the U of U football team beats BYU next fall, Nicea will have something stylish to wear.  Last year when my team lost and I had to make good on the bet to wear BYU blue, I was stuck parading around in... yep... you guessed it... Nicea's over sized, unshapely sweatshirt.

GO UTES!!!

Kelli O'Hara - My Station Facebook Page

Tue, 16 Mar 2010 01:20:47 GMT

Hi Everyone,

I'm a new reporter and investigator to Salt Lake City. I'd love it if you would friend me on facebook, and send me your story ideas! Or even better, advice!

Thanks,
Kelli

Robert Maxwell: Getting to Know You

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 22:20:00 GMT

‘Twas another fine outing last Sunday at the annual Spring Home Show in Sandy. As always, helping hold down the fort at the ABC4 booth is one of the more enjoyable aspects of my job as a news anchor. Not only can I look around for that supersonic hot tub I might buy one day, it’s great meeting so many ABC4 viewers who have important and pressing questions like:
- is Roland’s hair real (very much so, it’s like a pet to him)
- what is your favorite character on Two and a Half Men (ABC4 weeknights at 6:30p) (Charlie, obviously!)

Seriously, it’s also really good to spend a few minutes chatting with longtime (and future) viewers, getting to know each other and to hear your honest comments. One couple I met likes our early morning news with Don and Angie, how they get straight to the point and actually deliver the days’ news. I couldn’t agree more! Another man asked why ABC4 chooses to air news promotions in the mid afternoon for stories that won’t air til ten. I’m checking on that one. But I believe we would only do that if it’s a special report.

By the way, since I’m not likely to see you in person this week unless we bump into one another at my grocery store or running through my Salt Lake neighborhood, drop me an email with your thoughts. Know they’re always welcome positive or negative. Even if it’s just to chat or share an observation about life in Utah.

Brian Carlson: Bear Tracker

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 19:31:06 GMT

Call me Bear Grylls... or at least Bear Grylls' cameraman.

That's what I felt like this week when I went bear tracking in Utah's backcountry for a story we ran on ABC 4 News at 10.  I tagged along with some of the state's wildlife biologists who were looking for a potential mama bear with a den near the Mount Nebo Loop outside of Nephi.

We snowshoed up and down steep ravines in the Salt creek drainage, and because I shoot much of my own stories, I lugged a heavy camera every step of the way. It wasn't easy. The camera, and backpack with all my equipment made me much heavier than my biologist counterparts. They would glide along the top of the snow, but I just seemed to sink. Sure it made for more of a hike, but the real problem was more about keeping my camera out of the snow. When I sunk, my camera went with me.

As we up steep ravines, I only had one hand to pull me up, over or around a few rocky ridges. My other hand was clinging to my camera. I was extremely thankful for my rock climbing experience so I knew how to safely pull myself up. I thought to myself, "This is what it must be like for the camera crew on Man vs. Wild." It's really a cool feeling.

We found the den, and the bear inside, but no cubs. So mama bear ain't a mama just yet. One of the funniest things about the trek was at the entrance of the den. We had just found it when I asked one of the guys - "Is it safe to go up to the entrance to take a couple of shots?" He said, "Sure, if the bear comes out, just hit her in the nose." I thought he was kidding. He wasn't.  I'll tell ya, that's an eerie sensation to know a wild bear come out a hole, right next to me, at any time and there's nothing to stop her from eating me.

Maybe I'm just a city slicker, but this week, I felt like quite the wildman.

Kids Can Be Cruel, But They Can Also Be Warm, Kind and Inspiring

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 16:43:34 GMT

Last week I was part of an inspiring assembly at Crescent View Middle School. The gathering was part of the 'Power in You' program. The school added its own personal touches - a dance team put on a performance, students took turns introducing inspiring videos and they invited me to come and emcee two of the assemblies and share an inspiring story or two with them.

During the assemblies, I handed out a few Utah Jazz and ABC 4 News gifts to students who answered some easy questions. The last item was a Utah Jazz gym bag. That was the item that everyone seemed to want.

However, instead of asking a question and giving the bag to the student with the right answer, I asked the students if they would help me give the bag away to one of their classmates. The loud room got fairly quiet. Then I said I would like to give it to an 8th grader who was sitting at the top of the auditorium and not in the seats because he is wheelchair bound. It was obvious that many of them knew Chase from the applause. I tossed the bag to the kids in front of me and without hesitation they handed the bag up to the top of the auditorium. I got a little choked up for a few seconds because of the show of support and kindness. Some of them, no doubt, would have loved to the bag themselves, but they got the message and they approved of it.

It was a brief moment, but one I will not soon forget and I hope not one the students at Crescent View Middle won't forget either.