The $700 bag of candy.

It's all gone now.
This is the bag of candy that I stopped to get at the BJ's on Powerline and Commercial.
A bad person grabbed my purse from the front seat of my car while my back was turned. (Stupid me, I didn't lock it for the thirty seconds it took to return a cart to the cart corral.)

In my purse?
My beloved iPad, a cell phone that was less than six months old, prescription sunglasses and less than $5.00 in cash.

Replacing it cost $700.

I'll never be so careless again.

From the WayBack Machine...a blog post from March 29, 2004

This was written a day after Carly and her boyfriend were robbed by gun-toting fools near the University of Memphis campus.  

we've changed our locks

One day after my child was robbed at gunpoint, we've changed our locks. And in spite of my dip into crime stats last night, what happened to us is not a story. Here's what we found out when we questioned crime patterns around the U of M:According to Michael Keidingfield, president of the the Shelby County Crime Commission...a study of all of the crime in the neighborhoods AROUND the U of M found that most common crimes were property related... And that crimes against persons were rare. 

More importantly, he says any recent incidents are "not part of continuing significant issue around campus." 

So...my bad for stating that I wish the U of M neighborhood was safer. 

The bad guy got her license (with our home address), her checkbook (also with our home address), her bank card, her keys and the aforementioned New Kids tape. He also messed with OUR sense of security once we realized Carly's house key was stolen. The strangest thing is that her bank card was used three times in the short hour between the crime and her conversation with First Tennessee. Small amounts, probably gas, at three different convenience stores. Shows that the perps were professionals, not newbies, at bank card theft. 

Whatever. It's a diversion, not a life changing experience, right? 

We'll see. 

The Griz are in the playoffs! I was distracted by the robbery last night and although I waited up until the Jazz lost, it was too late for the blog. Wahoo! May I gently remind you that I used the p-word way back on January 5? I'm just saying, is all.That said, tonight's game with Atlanta was get-the-lipstick-for-the-pig ugly. I know the Grizzlies HAVE NEVER won in Hotlanta but jeez, haven't they beat every other Eastern Conference team? Two overtimes, it took. My favorite Griz continues to be James Posey. Mike Miller is from the home state but he gets hurt too much. And I hope Pau Gasol suffered only a minor injury tonight. 

Let's go to Cleveland! I was there to look at editing systems and newsroom layout. We have spacial (not special) questions about our floor plan. But I also have basketball needs.. 

Bill Applegate, my former boss and mentor, treated me to courtside seats for last Saturday's Cleveland/Jersey game. My first opportunity to see LeBron in person. (His newsworthy website is worth a quick visit) LBJ did not disappoint. In fact, I'm convinced he's truly The Real Deal. He scored a career high 41 points and had the intensity and passion that was amazing to see. I was in awe. Still am. I tried to verbalize it but could not. Nor can I, in writing. There are plenty of places where you can read more about LBJ...you don't need to find that here. 

Cleveland...reminds me of a poor Chicago in many ways. There are too many panhandlers downtown. I gave a way a lot of money because that's just my nature but it made my walks uncomfortable. I like the architecture. All the buildings have character, all the houses look different. I had fun though because I got to spend time with my former GSM Lynda Nichols and my former GM, Bill Applegate. 

I miss them sometimes. Their questions made me better.

Channeling my inner Edna

I work an early shift.  I get up at midnight and at around 12:45am, I'm generally in contact with the morning team to talk about what incredible stories we intend to put our reporters on.  

There isn't an overnight photographer and we generally don't buy stringer video so when there's breaking news, we have to work the phones and dispatchers, although nice people, aren't always willing to part with meaningful information.

There was a fatal shooting at an Exxon station in Hollywood, about seven miles from the station so I decided to check it out on my way to the office.

Just in case, I instructed Amanda to choose a good photo from my Facebook page for the full-screen (in the event of my death).

Even after talking to the cop and snapping a few photos, I wasn't convinced that it was a huge story worth a reporter:  A bad guy went into a convenience store intending to rob the place.  The clerk shot and killed him.  My concern was that there would be no scene left at 5am and our reporter would be live at a gas station with nothing to show.

I was so wrong.
Turns out, a homeless guy who lives BEHIND the gas station saw the bad guys prepping to rob the place.  He alerted the clerk who had seconds to pull out a weapon.  One bad guy died, the other one ran away but didn't get far before he was arrested.  Thank goodness our reporter did a better job of finding the story than I did!
It was while I was driving back to the station that I thought of Edna Buchanan, a very famous Miami Herald reporter who wrote one of my favorite books.
I obviously spent too much time in the corner office and I need to sharpen my news sense!

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.