Thou shall not kill. No exceptions.

I have been doing this TV news thing for a long time and still have plenty to learn but not much prepared me for the past five days.

On Tuesday afternoon, around 2:30p, Steve Kaut asked me if I had heard from Nick Dutcher.  Nick worked on our assignment desk and by now, most people who read this blog know that he was found dead in his home by the police we sent there for a "welfare check."

We found out at 4:30pm that Nick was dead and just before the 5pm news, I gathered as many of the news team as were available and told them.  Four hours later, we were dealing with the shocking news that Nick had been murdered.

Wednesday and Thursday are a blur as my team tried to deal with the shock of losing a sweet, gentle co-worker who was loved by many and the ethical decision-making involved with covering the story. 

I told them I didn't have all the answers about what we should do and that I wanted us all to talk out our next steps.

Marissa Cleaver, Sloane Heller and Najahe Sherman were the faces of our initial stories but many more were involved behind the scenes.  I am grateful for the guidance and advice of my co-workers.

Somewhat surprising has been the offers of help from our competitors.  I am grateful for that support.

These are challenging times for NBC Action News.  We are up to it.  But we're very sad, too.

I've moved on from the initial sorrow and now I'm mad as hell at whoever is responsible.

I love emotion-marketing. Gets me every time.

Since you been gone

I've been out of town so...blogging...not so much.  But I'm soo excited for this holiday weekend. 

I'm the MOC (manager on call, koo koo ka choo) so we aren't leaving town.  However, the challenge will be to convince John that we MUST attend KC Riverfest so I can see Head East Saturday night.

From the news release:

Head East has Missouri roots and has appeared in more than 5,000 concerts over the past 25 years. From St. Louis to Seattle and Dallas to Detroit, Head East has performed in every major city and market in North America. Led by founding member, keyboardist and producer Roger Boyd, Head East is one of the hottest, most exciting live shows touring today.

The "Flat as a Pancake" album was a staple in my college dorm room, my early matrimonial home(s) and I've rocked out to these songs like Dottie used to drink from her water dish.  Sloppy and with enthusiasm!

It's good to be back in KC and I hope you have a wonderful Independence Day.  America is grand!