Click here to see a *wonderful* Christmas greeting from your weekend team.

Merry, merry....

Nancy Francis

Posted by at 3:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

There are many important news stories today. But that is not why I hope you'll watch tonight.
It's because of the Toy Drive.

So many agencies and groups need so much help this time of year that I know it can all become a bit overwhelming. And still you give...and give...and give.

So tonight I just want you to see what it has all added up to. I literally get chills when I walk into our studio and see the bags of toys stacked to the ceiling.

In past years I have had the privilege of delivering some of those toys to kids at a Head Start School. Your generosity and their happiness brought tears to my eyes.

So thank you to all of you who donated and all of you who would have if you could have. It is a beautiful reminder of what is good in the world.

On another festive note, my daughter Ali and Russ Lewis' daughter Sydney took part in the West Linn Holiday Parade last Saturday. Syd was a darling angel and Ali was a glorious Christmas tree along with a gaggle of other delightfully decorated Girl Scouts. But it was this picture that made me laugh.

You can see that on our off hours Russ and I are usually on the other side of the camera.
Thanks again for all your help with the Toy Drive and for the flood victims. And as always,
thanks for watching.

Tracy Barry

Posted by at 2:01 PM | Permalink

By Nancy Francis

Last Saturday night, the KGW weekend team was "elfed" by our beloved producer, Scott Collins. To see our sweet moves, click here.

It takes a couple of minutes to load, but it's worth the wait.

Joe Michaels was off Saturday. That's why Keely Chalmers is our "weather elf." By the way, congrats to Keely; she recently became certified as a meteorologist!

Posted by at 3:15 PM | Permalink

Goodbyes are hard for me. Not this time.

He was reliable, safe and always available. But it had become painfully clear lately that we weren't meant to stay together.

We started getting sideways glances from people we passed. Portlanders really didn't approve our relationship. Besides, he was costing way too much money.

So we parted ways. Oh, we might still get together for special occasions, maybe skiing with the whole family, but
other than that I'll be spending a lot more time with a new traveling companion.

By now you are probably wondering who "he" is. "He" is my big, blue SUV, the one I've been driving since 2000.

It's parked until we need it to carry four kids and a dog again.

In my life now is a new Toyota hybrid. I'm in love. I am not a big car person and have never really loved a car.

But this car makes me feel "green." Doing some research here on kgw.com I found out that my new car has an EPA air pollution score of 8 with 10 being the best.

It emits 5.4 tons of co2 a year - one of the best ratings on the road. That still seems like an awful lot. But I don't even want to know
how big my Ford Expedition's carbon footrpint was.

I have seen people driving Expeditions with bumper stickers that say, "I'm contributing to global warming."
I knew I was, too. But I didn't want to be.

At KGW NewsChannel 8 we recently started a station campaign called "Going Green." We do Going Green stories nearly every night. I felt I needed to "Go Green" myself.
After all, if you're "going to talk the talk, you've got to walk the walk."
So, hello hybrid and bye-bye ol' blue SUV.

I still have a long way to go in reducing my carbon footprint. I am so impressed and inspired by one of the bloggers
here on kgw.com who delivers 240 Oregonian newspapers every day on his bike. Now, that's "Going Green."

But getting a hybrid is a start.

Oh, by the way, we did change our Christmas lights to LED.

So here's to a "Green" Christmas - and a Merry one, too.

Laural

Posted by at 5:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

We'll begin our 5 o'clock broadcast tonight -- with an update on our flooding. There are a number of new developments - including FEMA's response, and the latest on the railroad mess that has cut off a main grain supply line for dairy farmers.

Also, you will hear from Gabriel's grandmother tonight. She is flying into town - from Mexico. Gabriel is the 2 year old boy at the center of a custody dispute. His foster parents on the coast want to adopt him, but Oregon officials have ruled he should be returned to Mexico to live with his grandmother.

All parties involved, will begin a mediation process next, but the foster parents have made it clear, that they want nothing LESS than full custody. Our BELO border reporter went to the grandmother's hometown near Mexico City, and you'll see that report tonight on Newschannel 8 at 6.

There are many issues, and unanswered questions in this complicated and emotional case. We'll sort out as much as we can -- on our early evening newscasts, and also during our 11 o'clock news. See you then.

Joe

Posted by at 3:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I celebrate another birthday today, December 6th.

And even though my eyesight is getting worse, my world is suddenly about to become clearer, imagine that!

Yours is, too.
Together, we are entering the world of HDTV.
KGW announced this week that we will become the first commercial Portland television station to go to true High Definition.
The launch date is just over a month away.

Some of our competitors have been broadcasting in widescreen, but that does not offer any better resolution.
H-D is five times the resolution of widescreen TV.
We'll be one of just 60 television stations across the country offering an HD newscast.
Not only will you be able to see our news presentation with greater clarity, you'll be able to see my pores.
Not that you'd want to, I know, but KGW NewsChannel 8 viewers will, like it or not, see much more of me.

I started in television long after the first big switch from black and white to color. I also started after the change from film to video.
But I've been around for many other transitions. I worked in a newsroom without computers. We typed on large print typewriters.
I helped write cue cards to tape under the cameras, which a camera operator then flipped along as we read.
No teleprompters back in the day. And when we did get teleprompters I loaded the scripts myself and ran the prompter with a foot pedal.

Next came the change to computers, then robotic cameras ( no more camera operators in the studio or floor directors).
We've changed from video to digital, and embraced the web, producing webcasts and blogs here.

But this may be the biggest change yet. New makeup. Wow, I have a hard enough time with conventional makeup.
So be patient with us as we try and not scare you too much when we come into your living rooms - not only in living color, but in
stunning HD detail.

Despite all this, I am celebrating another birthday, a New Year and the opportunity to join this new chapter in the history of KGW NewsChannel 8 and Portland TV. Hey, it's not all bad, I get to learn how to airbrush my own makeup.

I feel lucky to have survived in this wonderfully exciting and ever-changing TV business this long.
If along with this new clarity, I could figure out how to see the newspaper without reading glasses...Now that would be a breakthrough.

Laural

Posted by at 12:03 AM | Permalink

I celebrate another birthday tomorrow, December 6th.

And even though my eyesight is getting worse, my world is suddenly about to become clearer, imagine that!

Yours is, too.
Together, we are entering the world of HDTV.
KGW announced this week that we will become the first commercial Portland television station to go to true High Definition.
The launch date is just over a month away.

Some of our competitors have been broadcasting in widescreen, but that does not offer any better resolution.
H-D is five times the resolution of widescreen TV.
We'll be one of just 60 television stations across the country offering an HD newscast.
Not only will you be able to see our news presentation with greater clarity, you'll be able to see my pores.
Not that you'd want to, I know, but KGW NewsChannel 8 viewers will, like it or not, see much more of me.

I started in television long after the first big switch from black and white to color. I also started after the change from film to video.
But I've been around for many other transitions. I worked in a newsroom without computers. We typed on large print typewriters.
I helped write cue cards to tape under the cameras, which a camera operator then flipped along as we read.
No teleprompters back in the day. And when we did get teleprompters I loaded the scripts myself and ran the prompter with a foot pedal.

Next came the change to computers, then robotic cameras ( no more camera operators in the studio or floor directors).
We've changed from video to digital, and embraced the web, producing webcasts and blogs here.

But this may be the biggest change yet. New makeup. Wow, I have a hard enough time with conventional makeup.
So be patient with us as we try and not scare you too much when we come into your living rooms - not only in living color, but in
stunning HD detail.

Despite all this, I am celebrating another birthday, a New Year and the opportunity to join this new chapter in the history of KGW NewsChannel 8 and Portland TV. Hey, it's not all bad, I get to learn how to airbrush my own makeup.

I feel lucky to have survived in this wonderfully exciting and ever-changing TV business this long.
If along with this new clarity, I could figure out how to see the newspaper without reading glasses...Now that would be a breakthrough.

Laural

Posted by at 6:07 PM | Permalink

It is nice to see some blue mixed in with the clouds today. You can imagine what a relief it must be to the folks in the flooded out areas around Oregon and Washington. Power is still out on much of the North Coast, I-5 is still closed near Chehalis and getting in and out of Vernonia is challenging to say the least.

Tonight at five we will show you what it looks like the day after in those areas. You might be curious how we manage to get into areas that are closed to traffic and how the crews report in areas without power and gas. First off, the helicopter doesn't hurt. With a break in the weather we were able to get up in the air today and there is nothing like that view to offer some perspective on how widespread or localized the problems are. On the ground we were able to hook up with a National Guard group going into Vernonia and follow them in. Last night we simply asked if we could drive in as far as we could past the barriers and were given the go-ahead to try. So our live shot was at least beside the Nahalem instead of the road barricade.

The coast has offered some different challenges. Mainly gas. Only one station opened up after getting it's hands on a generator and the lines are LONG! The satellite truck operators are running out of legal hours to work so we are trying to switch out crews by meeting half way. The reporters have been working long hours armed with hip waders. Our problems are of course minor compared to the people losing homes, property and sleep over this. But I thought you might like a little peek at the behind the scenes scrambling. Our producers were just trying to figure out who would really make it to where by 5. To tell you the truth we're not sure yet. So be sure to tune in...We will find out together! Nothing like live T-V.

A little more inside baseball for you here. KGW is going High Definition in January. We've invested ALOT in state of the art equipment to bring you the best pictures possible. If you have an HD-TV you know that the programs actually shot with HD cameras seem to jump off the screen. Not quite 3-D...but very real! We are pretty excited to be leading the way on this in Portland. More details to come!

And as always thanks for watching.

Tracy Barry

Posted by at 2:59 PM | Permalink