A first time for everything

The title of this post is a bit of a mantra in tyring new things, unless that involves vegetables that double as a fungus.
Over the four years I have now been in media, I have definitely had a rare perspective on a wide variety of topics.
This week I stumbled upon my first murder trial as a reporter. I decided to check the courthouse annex to see if anything else was going on, since my other reporter was covering a particularly vicious case with three pedophiles. I had been in court several times when permitted to photograph defendants in high profile local cases, most recently our Parker trial which garnered enough attention that it will be on 48 Hours Mysteries in the next few weeks or so. This time it was as a reporter, and I must say it is a tedious task that is difficult at times, and boring at others. Quoting the D.A. and the public defender are difficult due to the lack of recorders and the fact that I have forgotten shorthand many years ago.

As a trial goes on, it is necessary to send the jury out for different reasons. Which allows for the judge to start another case. Which brought about a drug dealer with a few crack rocks. Nothing teribly interesting about the case, except for the lengths that attorneys will go to try and get an acquital.

But the moment of the process that stood out for me was during jury selection. Probably about 50 people from around the county, three of which I knew. I have never been through the experience myself, so it was interesting to watch the selection process. But prior to the bellows of "Content" and "Dismissed" by the two lawyers. One of the potential jurors tried his best to avoid being chosen. His clothing choice was a Led Zeppelin T-shirt and a pair of jeans which would wasn't too far out of the ordinary. However when he choose to ride his "heelies" shoes down the aisle like an eleven-year-old at ToysRus during one of the judges recesses, I bust out laughing, which drew attention to the skater, which was probably about 23 years old. I needed that laugh, because much of the down time in that case was spent talking to the grandfather of the victim in my case.
He opened up with family stories, I was surprised at his candor with me which of course was all off the record.
I felt like telling him to brace the family, because I suspected it wasn't going to go the way he wanted, but I didn't... not my place to interfere.
http://www.catwalkchatt.com/pages/full_story/push?article-Mark+White+murder+trial+continues+today+in+Walker+County%20&id=4976444-Mark+White+murder+trial+continues+today+in+Walker+County

The trial lasted a little over a day and a half, however the deliberations would last more than two days. The case hinged on 12 peoples interpretation of self defense. Fortunately I was not on that jury, or we would have been their longer than two days, and maybe wound up hung.


The jury verdict was not guilty on four counts, and hung on two other counts. The rational I still don't understand after interviewing three of the jurors. They went self defense from the start, which I could reason, however I didn't reasonably see where they thought the defendant was in mortal danger. The two murder charges might have been a stretch, but I would have found guilty on the other four charges.

So this week I am back to my usual beats, which are a bit slow at the moment. Time to run around and take photos of Christmas displays around the county.

Summer Vacation 2009

Our summer vacation consisted of several first for Sheila and I. We had a great time of course, and here are a few of the highlights.


Sheila and my mom prepare another summertime feast during our stay.



The cooler than normal seasonal temperatures allowed for us to make some loaded potato soup. Wish I had some now......


First time for me at Miller Park in Milwaukee. It is quite a nice ballpark, I just wish baseball were more to my liking. I used to love the sport, but old Bud Selig has no clue. Such as when to delay or not to delay the start of a playoff series. Go Twinkies!!!!


This was the first time in I don't know how many years, I went to a baseball game with my brother.
Also,the first time for a MLB game with my wife, and my nephew Nathan the real Brewers fan of the bunch.


A view from the rafters. I had to roam around at a sporting event with my camera, it just wouldn't be the same if I didn't.


Nathan stops for a photo op and to sign a few autographs.....


Pretty in Pink on the beautiful grounds of the High Point Inn where we stayed while on the Door County Peninsula. Great place to stay with the old-fashioned Red Putter Mini Golf course next door to us, which we frequented so much that we each won a free game. Actually it wasn't that frequent, we are just that good.


Eagle Point Lighthouse established in 1868.


Some of the locals like to go sailing in mini regatta's to occupy the afternoons.


The Cana Island Lighthouse built a year after, in 1869.


We did a bit of hiking on the bluffs of Cave Point Park on Lake Michigan.


Boil-master Earl Jones gets things going at the Old Post Office Restaurant. We decided to do the traditional "fish boil" the first night we were on the island. Jones fires a quart of kerosene at the base of the pot during the last 8 to 11 minutes while the fish are in the mix. Potatoes and onions spend the full 30 minutes cooking while the old salty dog tells tales of the way things were in old Door County.




The fish was decent, the night was wonderful. We strolled the shoreline following dinner, and watched "Sunniva" which is Scandinavian for "a gift of the Sun" ,as she faded below the horizon.

Some of the traditional elements of Door County weren't all that impressive, like Al Johnson's, a supposed must go which was less than mediocre. If you go take a photo of the goats on the roof like every other tourist, myself included. Then head to Summer Kitchen, which was one of the best place around, and I could have ate there daily while we were there.

A few other really good eateries were Joe Jo's Pizza and Gelato, Wilson's Restaurant and Ice Cream Parlor, and probably the best BBQ pork sandwich on the planet at the Village Cafe on Egg Harbor.


Sheila and her mother Karen try to stay warm with the temps below the seasonal average while at Cave Point Park.


We couldn't pass up "Cheesehead, the Musical!" at the American Folklore Theater which is outdoors at Peninsula State Park, we highly recommend the shows there it was a really good play. If you have seen "New in Town" with Harry Connick Jr. and Renee Zellweger, it is a bit similar just placed in Sheboygan Cheese factory.


One of the concepts of "Cheeseheads" was that the locals kept the cheese factory going by winning the lottery. So we felt compelled to try our hand again. We got the Powerball and another number, which brought our vast winnings to $4.00, which would buy a brick of cheese, not a cheese factory......

Another inspiration of the musical was to take a different path back to Elkhorn, to visit the city of the fictitious play, Sheboygan. Which reminds me of one of our mini golf outings at the Red Putter. Sheila, Ole and I were playing a decent round, when an errant swing from a seemingly inebriated retiree launched a ball from 30 feet away, flying thru the air in our direction, and striking Sheila in the leg. Fortunately no bruise, but the tee-totaler excused herself by saying "You'll have to excuse me, I am from Sheboygan."

Our trip to Sheboygan was not to track her down with a mini golf vendetta, instead we needed a place to eat since we left out so late. We wanted to find some cafe right on the Sheboygan River, so we choose the Mucky Duck Shanty. We had a nice relaxing lunch, then stumbled upon a diversion that reminded me of years ago when my dad would take us to the Canfield Bottling Company, and we would pick out our favorite flavored soda. At the factory you would get quite a discount, and as a youngster it was a very different environment than that of a grocery store. I specifically remember the long aisles of rollers, or maybe that was the intro from Laverne and Shirley. Hmmmmm

Anyway, we happened to find the Old Wisconsin Factory in Sheboygan, and like any good factory it has a store where neighbors and their own employees can buy the products dirt cheap. So we stocked up on some summer sausage, beef snacks, and beef jerky for my nephews, then headed to Elkhorn to share in our good fortune.

We actually like Sheboygan we hope to plan a weekend there during one of our future trips.

After our vacation, we decided to continue with the concept of the path less traveled. On our way back to the humid south, we diverted from our usual lunch stops of Subway, or Arby's. We stopped at the Fair Oaks Farm.
As a lifelong Cheesehead it is with great humility that I tell you I visited a cheese farm in Fair Oaks, Indiana. the farm is a popular destination for adventurous travelers, which has a large barn transformed into a sandwich and ice cream shop. There are outdoor play areas for the kids, along with tours and lots of cheese to sample. Flavors I hadn't even heard of, like butterkase and sweet swiss. If you happen to be on Interstate 65, it is worth your while to stop.

The remainder of our trip back wasn't as pleasant. We normally take about 12 hours on the way home, but the bad weather we ran into around Bowling Green continued the rest of the way home. Extending the trip three hours longer than normal.

Extreme Spring Makeover- Rossville

ABC may have Ty Pennington and crew overhaul dilapidated homes for deserving families. But this past spring my mother came for a visit, to help us on an unrelenting list of projects that have amassed. She came for an undetermined length of time, ready to tackle them one at a time. We are greatful for the help, and we enjoyed the two and a half months she stayed. Learning to like each others TV shows was not as bad as one might think, I hope she got a more thorough look at our lives down here. We took her to some of our favorite restaurants. She was actually here close to our 10 year anniversary of living down here, but we were either to busy or having too much fun to notice. I deeply appreciate the help that she was on several of the projects I had hanging in limbo.

One of the more special days was my plan to take her out for Mothers Day. The Chattanooga Sympony was putting on a big band concert at the Tivoli. I played it off like it was a spontaneous thing when we happened to walk by the marquee, but I had researched it ahead of time and hope she would be as interested as us. How ofter do you get to hear a big band rendition of "Chattanooga Choo Choo" in that very city, only blocks from the real thing.

We had a really great time while my mother was here, I actually hope she can do another extended stay in the years to come.

A Smashing Good Sunday ?

We had intended to visit a few friends to celebrate a young childs birthday on Sunday. After a morning of chores Sheila headed out to our vehicle to load up for departure. Unfortunately, instead of celebrateing the youth of a child, we spent the aftenoon cussing the foolish ignorance of suspected teenagers.
Someone, I am just guessing teenagers due to the stupidity of it all, decided to throw two big rocks through our rear and driver side windows over night. After a few minutes that rivaled the great George Carlin's "seven words you can't say on television", we phoned in the incident, and shortly one of the deputies that I saw at a recent accident scene pulled up. She took the report, and we joked about a few things. Then it was time for clean up, we swept and vacuumed up most of the mess. The glass that is inside the doors will be another issue. Amazingly, nothing was stolen, not the Tom Tom hanging in the window, or the other stuff of less importance.


We had discussed it with neigbors just the day prior, another neighbor had a brick thrown thru their garage window in the middle of the night. So it seems we have some future ward of the state running around commiting mass vandelism. Our car has been squeezed into the garage until it can be repaired tommorrow, hopefully the windows are easy to do. I just hope they catch the little %&*% and we get to grin at him in court like the last creaton that wronged us when we first moved down here.

Tom Tommy Boy

We decided to go to Logan's Roadhouse one of the nights while my brothers family was visiting. He had been getting used to the lay of the land in Ft Oglethorpe during previous days since it is the closest area with a meager bit of stores to shop in. Early that day Sheila gave my brother directions to the Starbucks, so he could get his fix of over-priced liquified Columbian bean. "It's close to the Logan's restaurant we are going to tonight," she mentioned as he headed to his bus. The morning came and went. The kids wanted to visit the Pumpkin Patch park on Signal Mountain, unfortunately I could not attend due to some news story. Sheila decided to stay home. I finished up with work so we would all meet up at Logan's Roadhouse.

Sheila and I headed to the restaurant, she made a reservation for our large motley group of 11. On the way there we called my brother to sycronize times. He seemed to be pretty much on time, and would arrive about 5 to ten minutes after us. He also informed us of his reservation for 11. We decided to take our seats and get our drinks since we were thirsty. We asked if they had two reservations for our party of 11, and they did not.

Ho Hum....

We perused the menu, keeping a keen eye on the door. Suddenly a black bus rode by the window, "Ah they are here," I said to Sheila.

tick...tock.....tick tock

I guess someone needed a diaper change or something.....

Suddenly my phone starts "the Adams Family" song.

"Yes. Are you guys here? We are already seated," Sheila tells my brother.

"We are seated too," he tells her right back.

HMMMM I stand up and look around for a moment.

"I think I am at the wrong restaurant," my brother tells her.

We decided to have our seperate meals, Sheila and I enjoyed the peaceful nature of our meal. While Andy and crew had to contend with a loud redneck, and a kid with a migrane.

The error of my brothers ways boils down to one non-manly miscalculation, he relyed on his Tom Tom gps unit.
His temporary condition of selective hearing, caused him to ignore the directions verbally given to him, not once but twice during the day.
His over reliance on technology has earned him a new nickname.

Holy Shnikees it's Tom-Tommy Boy

What do you mean I have to use a map from the glovebox.

Christmas visit

We had a great time with the family while they were here for our Christmas visit. We had a full house, but we managed to stay entertained with several outings including a trip to the zoo.

The boys rode the carousel.




We saw a few interesting creatures while at our little Chattanooga Zoo.





Did I mention we visited with family....