Dr. Harry Carter is a world-renowned fire protection consultant. He has more than 40 years of fire service experience and serves as an instructor at the National Fire Academy.
Dr. Carter joined us tonight for News 2 Listens to talk about the release of the NIOSH Report draft, and what it means to the City of Charleston Fire Department.
Dr. Carter is often published by Firehouse Magazine and has been critical of Mayor Joe Riley, and Chief Rusty Thomas.
Check out some of his articles about the June 18 fire.
A big day for students in Dorchester County. The Summerville Elks Lodge hosted it’s first ever Student Government Day.
It’s a program that other lodges in the Lowcountry put on with great success.
I went and hung out with the kids today as the prepared for a morning of “on the job” experience.
From the fire station, to the mayor’s office, the students learned the benefits and rigors of public service.
I learned something today that impressed the hey out of me...nationally the Elks give more scholarship money each year than any other entity, save the Federal Government. Last year they awarded more than $17M in scholarship dollars.
I asked the students to tell us a little bit about what they learned...check out the “comments” . They will appear below the video when the students submit them.
Calling it the “right decision”, Charleston Mayor Joe Riley called an impromtu news conference today at noon and said he will release the second phase of the assessment team’s report May 15th.
This morning on the Franko Blog we talked about the mayor’s decision and the outcry from the IAFF.
Riley said today he visited with firefighters and the family liaison to the fallen firefighters, and decided to hold it would cause more pain.
A spokesman for the panel, led by Gordon Routely says it is, and it’s comprehensive, and fact finding...yet we wait.
In an interview with Meryl Conant Monday, Riley said the city commissioned the panel to take into account the findings of other investigations (read the contract). NIOSH won’t release it’s report for at least two more months, and that is not a given.
Dave Statter, an emergency services reporter for WUSA in Washington, D.C. reported on his blog STATter 911, that lawyers urged the mayor to delay the release.
Statter reported, “According to sources familiar with the situation, Mayor Riley made the decision based on advice from an attorney. The attorney is apparently concerned about the potential liability from a report that is expected to be very clear about the problems and issues leading up to the deaths of nine firefighters”.
Meryl Conanat asked Riley if that was true, he said no.
The IAFF is urging people to show up and demand the report be released. Councilman Tim Mallard says he and other councilmen will do the same.
A couple of handfuls plus years ago...I rented the tux, rented the limo, and no...I did not have to rent my date. I found a great girl who was willing to go with me!
Yup...prom. I broke my right hand a few days before the prom...but took off the cast for the picture.
It was here that I embarassed myself by performing a duet of “You’ve Lost that Loving Feeling” with one of my buddies (our dates were SO impressed)...thank God YouTube wasn’t around back then!!
The next day, per tradition at North Royalton High School, we packed up for a day at Ceder Point. It’s one of the best amusement parks in the midwest.
It was there that I rode my first roller coaster! That was also the first time that I held a purse and watched the girls ride a roller coaster! I still hate those things!
I dont’ watch it, so I don’t know a lot about it...but I had to laugh at this.
So Cristian La Fuente is one of the dancers. He “injured” his arm during this week’s competition.
That’s not the funny part...what happened as he was taken way in an ambulance is sheer comedy...to me.
Kevin Frasier, who works for Entertainment Tonight, used to be an anchor at ESPN...and you would think he was talking to Joe Theisman after Lawrence Taylor snapped his leg!
The good news is La Fuente is just fine, and he was back on the show Tuesday night.
The national media has been waiting for Miley Cyrus to screw up...looks like she did.
By now you have probably heard about the “racy” photos in Vanity Fair. Cyrus, who is 15, is photographed wrapped in a sheet with her back exposed.
Needless to say, you can’t watch a newscast without seeing the video.
I have a couple of issues…
One being the idea of “having to explain the photos to your kids”.
Huh? I don’t know too many teens reading Vanity Fair.
If they do ask, I think most parents have a pretty good grasp on how to handle this earth shattering topic...they don’t need advice from us in the media!
Secondly, if this is the worst thing Cyrus does, I think the paparazzi are going to bored. So will those who hungry to take down one of the few young Hollywood stars not getting hauled off to jail or rehab!
She already issued a statement saying that she was embarrassed by the spread, and apologized.
Was it the smartest decision she could have made?
Obviously not. But she’s not nude, and she’s not in handcuffs!
Today’s Matt Lauer kicked off his wildly popular Where in the World is Matt Lauer? series today.
If you didn’t see it, it’s worth watching...trust me!
The clue:
We’ll travel great distances in almost no time and let a fair wind take us to a place where the people look in the prime...but the prime rate won’t bust the bank.
Tomorrow’s Clue:
The people in our second destination are accustomed to being looked down on...we’ll let the winds lead us to them...and we should get there on time...unless we stop for the lights.
You never know what you’re going to hear in the newsroom.
Raymond Owens (5:00 producer) is striding through the newsroom past Meryl’s desk. In the most unassuming voice she asks, “Hey Raymond, know of any place locally where you can donate sperm”?
Needless to say we all started laughing...it’s just not a question you expect to hear from Conant!
The reason for the question...Meryl is working on some stories and one of the things that came up today was the things that people are doing to earn some extra cash.
We have all heard about college girls donating eggs to get money, or people donating blood plasma.
People ask me all the time about my most memorable moment as a journalist. It’s a simple answer...my ride with The Blue Angels.
A couple of years ago I had the privilege of flying with The Blue Angels, more specifically, LtCdr Kevin Davis.
He took me on the ride of a lifetime in his FA-18 Hornet...one year later in Beaufort, Davis died when his Blue Angels jet crashed in Beaufort.
I said at the time, and I still feel this way today...I only spent about two hours with the guy, but his death still cut pretty deep.
In this business I have the honor of meeting some incredible people, but most often is a handshake, and a nice to meet you. With Davis, I put my life in his hands.
That will make you feel a bit closer to someone for obvious reasons.
I am headed to the Air Force Base today to see the new F-22. It will be here for this weekend’s Charleston Air Expo.
I was standing in the check-out line, eavesdropping on a woman standing in front of me with her kids. Her 4-year-old must have been working her for everything in the store (as we all did when we were little), but she wasn’t about to cave.
The boy was so smooth, and I had to laugh when he interjected in the list of demands, “mom, can I buy you a card?”.
Mom said no, and he followed with, “can I get a coke?”.
I lost it, and had to tell his mom how much I admired his attempt...well played buddy!
Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said getting help from the Air Force is like “pulling teeth”.
In particular Gates talked Monday about getting Predator drones to the battlefield.
Given the Air Force community around here, I am interested to find out what you think about Gates’ comments. Are they fair, or is it something that should have been handled in-house?
