A few heated exchanges, some humorous moments, and a chicken in every backyard. The first televised forum with the candidates for Sacramento mayor provided some interesting viewing on News10. But in my opinion, the best performance of the night, goes to my colleagues in the News10 Engineering Department. Engineers, directors, technical directors, photographers seemed to pull it off without a single glitch. Watching from home, you'd never know that days of planning and hard work that went into that 90 minute production. The News10 production crew laid 2000' of cable inside the Secretary of State's office building, mounted microwave antennas and transmitters on the roof. They hauled in tons of equipment, and built a control room and hardwired a video switcher, 6 cameras, videotape machines and audio board in a small room adjacent to the auditorium. They had to learn all the quirks of the building's unfamiliar lighting grid and public address system, and make those systems behave just as if we were back in the familiar confines of the News10 studios. The debate was highly promoted, and thousands would be tuning in to watch this historic event. Yeah, there was a little pressure. When I walked into the auditorium at the California Museum, three hours before the start of the forum, I was put at ease by the sight of so many of our veteran engineers tweaking and fine tuning this broadcast complex that they wired together in just a few days. The forum ended and the feeling was something between relief and shear elation. All that hard work had paid off. I exchanged smiles and high-fives with the crew and then I walked out to my Jeep parked on 11th street. I heard someone yell "Dale!" But I looked around but didn't see who was calling my name. Turns out, the voice came from five stories above the street. Up on the roof, our engineers were already busy taking down the microwave. And reeling in all the cables. And I think, loving every minute of it. PS. I won't post the names of this fabulous crew, for fear of leaving someone out. And even though I call this blog post The Cable Guys, some of our most experienced engineers are most decidedly not "guys!"

Some SacMetro firefighters jokingly offered to show me which end of the camera to look into, when I arrived for a Good People story shoot in October. Most firefighters have a pretty good sense of humor. Helps to deal with the stress, I guess. They thought it was funny and a little strange that I showed up without a photographer, pulled a MiniDV video camera out of my car, and shot the story myself.
I've shot many stories since that day, and the reaction is always pretty much the same. 'Why is the anchorman shooting his own story?' and what did I do to deserve this punishment?
No punishment. I actually enjoy shooting and editing my own stories. Television newsrooms, even in larger markets, are beginning to rely more and more on "video journalists."
Nowadays, broadcast-quality video cameras are small, light-weight, and easy to use. They allow almost anyone with some basic photography skills to shoot video, even for a newscast. And if I can go out and shoot my own story, and do it well, it frees up a News10 photographer to go to other assignments, with or without a reporter. More news content from the same number of people.
For me, this trend toward video journalism is like coming full circle. I started out in television news in 1979, as a "one-man-band," shooting, writing and editing my own stories. Back then, the equipment was heavy, bulky and the video quality not so good. Today, even the name is lighter and more elegant. "Video journalist" instead of one-man-band. And now I can dump the video into my laptop and edit the story at home. No more all night sessions at the TV station, working on a videotape editing bench the size of a Volkswagen.
Most of my Good People stories are shot a few days before they air on News10. So I have the luxury of taking a little more time to write and edit a package. Most of my stories are edited when I get home after the 11PM newscast, while I'm enjoying my only quiet time of the day.
Cristina and Jennifer have also been shooting video and stories for newscasts lately. We really admire News10 videojournalists like Dan Adams, John Blake and Will Frampton, who shoot, edit and air their own stories every day. Dan admits, the hustle and pressure are not for everyone. And I think it would be difficult for a newsroom to be competitive solely with videojournalists. There will always be stories and breaking news events that require a reporter and a photographer.
News photographers are some of the most interesting people you'll ever meet. They see a lot, and enjoy sort of a fraternity with other men and women who share their craft. I'll miss the conversations, driving with a photographer to and from assignments.
As a "one-man-band" in 1979, I hoisted a 20 pound video camera on one shoulder, slung a 30 pound record deck over the other shoulder, strapped a huge battery belt around my waist, and went to sleep with a police scanner beside the bed. I'm glad I survived it the first time, because I think being a videojournalist will be even more fun, the second time around.

Norm Brock, who I interviewed for my story, could barely stand to watch, as Apollo 11 lifted off the launch pad, on a mission to land the first astronauts on the moon. Norm was a young engineer, working for Douglas Aircraft in southern California.
He was assigned to Project Apollo in the early 1960's, and designed a number of electrical devices that controlled critical systems on the Saturn 5 rocket. One of those devices triggered the staging sequences. If the third stage spacecraft did not successfully separate from the second stage booster, the mission was over. Another one of Norm's devices controlled hydrogen pumps, that allowed the third stage engine to be re-started in space. Again, if Norm's device didn't work, the flight to the moon was finished.
So you can understand the pressure Norm and thousands of other aerospace workers felt, as they watched every Saturn 5 liftoff toward the moon. A number of times during a moon launch, the success of the mission came down to one of Norm's devices. As Norm discussed in our interview, individual engineers were responsible for certain critical systems on Saturn 5. If one of those devices failed, thousands of other engineers would know by name, who was responsible for that failure.
The third stage of the Saturn 5 was built by Douglas Aircraft in Huntington Beach, and then flown to Mather AFB and trucked the short distance to the test stands on Aerojet property. Before Norm and his family moved to the Sacramento area, Norm would fly up from southern Calfornia to work on the spacecraft, as it was being checked out on the test stands. Norm would be here for four or five days at a stretch, and never even get a motel room. There was no time. The Apollo program was on a fast track, and the work often went on around the clock.
Engineers like Norm, who worked on the third stage, had a special affection for the S-IVB. It was a fully functioning spacecraft, unlike the first two stages of the Saturn 5, which were boosters that didn't have to function for any great length in the harsh environment of space. And those booster engines only had to fire one time. The third stage engine had to fire once, for several minutes, to put the Apollo spacecraft in orbit around the earth. Then engine sat idle for several hours, while the spacecraft made a couple of orbits around the earth, giving Mission Control time to do a systems check and give the order to go for the moon. Then the third stage engine had to re-start in space, burn for about eight minutes, and boost the astronauts out of earth orbit and on their way to the moon. Re-starting the engine in space was not easy to do. Too many things can go wrong. And once again, the success came down to one of Norm's electrical devices doing it's job. They never failed.
The third stage testing on the Saturn 5 was just one part, of the huge role Rancho Cordova played in the Apollo program. Aerojet built the engine that was used on the Command Service Module. The CM sat on the top of the Saturn 5, and carried astronauts and the LEM (lunar lander) all the way to the moon and back to earth. It obviously played a huge role in Apollo. Hopefully, we'll re-live that history in a future story on News10. I'm already trying to track down some of that film, and have spoken to engineers willing to share some memories of Aerojet's role in going to the moon.

One last note. About five years ago, an Unidentified Flying Object was spotted in our solar system, heading toward earth. This was no comet or space rock. And it caused some real excitement among astronomers. Powerful telescopes on earth were aimed at this UFO, and finally the mystery was solved. This UFO was actually the third stage from the Apollo 12 mission. For nearly 40 years it's been in a wide orbit around the sun. Most of the other third stages crashed on the moon. Gravity pulled this S-IVB into an orbit around earth, until the sun's gravity yanked it back out into the solar system. It'll re-enter earth orbit some years in the future. And in a few thousand years, it will probably hit the atmosphere and burn up. But hey, before that happens, we should have the technology to bring this relic safely back to earth. And put it where it belongs. At Sunrise and Douglas in Rancho Cordova.

I bet a lot of working parents have days like this. You listen to your voice mail, and every new message seems to mean cramming more work into an already busy schedule. Then you hear the one message that reminds you why it's all worthwhile. It's your kid, breathlessly delivering some nugget of good news that just couldn't wait until you got home for dinner. I save those messages, because they still make you smile, even when you're playing it back for the 20th time. Somehow I got the idea to work a few of those messages into a News10 image promo. I hoped it might ring familiar with a lot of other parents.

Ever since my son Sam learned how to dial a telephone, he's been leaving the most wonderful, straight-from-the-heart messages on my voicemail in the newsroom. The messages are usually those memorable events in a kid's life that make headlines around the dinner table, like getting a prime role in a school play, or an "A" on a math test. And when the excitement of the moment is preserved for history on voicemail, it's as real as it gets. You can't fake this stuff.

I didn't think I could adquately explain my little promo idea to the gang in the News10 Promotions Department. So I pulled a few messages off my voicemail, shot some video around my desk in the newsroom, and taped Sam's "standup" in the backyard. On the home computer, next to the kitchen, I edited a 30 second Father's Day promo. It was meant to be just a demonstration of an idea, not an actual promo. But James, our 11PM producer (and a dad himself) was kind enough to squeeze the promo into a few newscasts, on the week before Father's Day. I hope you enjoy!

Nearly 16 years ago, I was reporting from the scene of "the deadliest shooting rampage in U.S. history." It would be good to never use that phrase again, to report a breaking story. But sadly, this week, it's all over the news.

October 16, 1991. I was an anchor/reporter in Dallas, TX, when a lone gunman crashed his pickup truck into the front window of the Luby's Cafeteria in Killeen, TX at lunchtime. He opened fire with two semi-automatic handguns. 23 people were killed and 20 others wounded before the gunman took his own life.

For days after that rampage, people would stand at the Crime Scene tape that surrounded the parking lot, and stare at the broken windows. Sometimes for hours, they would just stare in silence. You knew without asking, they had lost someone. I would not even think of walking in their direction with a microphone.

Almost a full day after the shootings, while investigators were processing the crime scene, a Luby's employee was found hiding in an industrial dishwasher. He had been too affraid to come out.

The story of one other survivor was more widely reported. Suzanna Hupp was having lunch with her parents in Luby's. They had been married almost 50 years. Both of her parents were killed in the massacre. Long after the shooting, Suzanna agonized over her decision to leave her handgun inside of her car, when she pulled into the Luby's parking lot. She wondered, might she have been able to save the lives of her parents, and many others that day?

Suzanna Hupp later led the successful drive to pass a concealed weapons law in the state of Texas. Four years after the deadly rampage, Texas lawmakers made it legal for citizens to carry a concealed handgun. To qualify for a permit, a person needs to be 21 years old, pass a criminal background check and a firearms training course.

Virginia Tech, of course, is a university campus and not a restaurant in Texas. No one is seriously suggesting that college students should be toting handguns in their backpacks. But like Killeen, the tragedy in Virginia has stirred debate over common sense handgun laws.

There are many well-considered gun laws already on the books. And no doubt the gunman broke a few of them before he ever set foot on the campus of Virginia Tech. As we begin to learn what events led up to this senseless killing spree, I would also hope to be reporting on some solutions that might actually prevent another such tragedy in the future.

I didn't even know high power rocketry was a hobby, until I started reporting on the exploits of JP Aerospace. Now I'm certified to fly motors that can kick a rocket up to 28,000 feet. The FAA allows my more experienced rocket pals to fly close to 100,000 feet. One-third the way to space! We've mentioned the sport a time or two in crosstalk on the news desk.

Understandably, high power rocketry is a highly regulated hobby. You need to be certified to buy the motors, from a licensed vendor, at an FAA sanctioned launch, with a satellite phone standing by, in case Air Traffic Control needs to divert commercial airliners into our designated airspace.

All good regulations, of course. But since 9-11, there's some concern that the sport will be regulated out of existence. New this year, high power rocketeers must obtain a Low Explosives User Permit (LEUP) from the federal government. It turns out, applying for a LEUP is sort of like doing your own taxes. Everyday.

So, for the moment, hundreds of us are grounded, while we navigate the maze of regulations involved in getting a federal permit to blow stuff up. Hey, the whole purpose of rocketry is to make sure things DO NOT EXPLODE! Surely there must have been a better way to do this.

Note to aspiring young TV journalists: If this guy can make it, you've got nothing to worry about!