alicek's Blog

Be sure to watch the jailhouse interview with James Broadnax, the 19-year-old who admits to shooting two men to death outside a Christian music studio in Garland last week:

http://www.myfoxdfw.com/myfox/pages/ContentDetail?cont
entId=6830893



His attitude is shocking and so, so sad: he says his life to this point has been a waste, and he has nothing to live for; why not shoot two people in the head and steal their car?

There's only difference: three young lives cut short, but only one by choice.

Heather's new baby, Miss Lily Rae West Roberts, arrived today at 12:57 p.m.
She weighed in at a healthy 9 lbs., 9 oz. and is 20.5 inches long.

Mom, baby, big sister Emmy and Dad Jeff are all doing terrific!

Please leave your well wishes here for Heather to read!!!!

Did you guys SEE this video? This guy really defines the word "meltdown"!
There's a question about whether it's staged or not (it IS the internet, after all) but that's an awfully expensive stunt to stage if it's not real.

Take a look!!

http://www.myfoxdfw.com/myfox/pages/ContentDetail?cont
entId=6696338

If you like current country music mixed with a little bit of rock, then there's a great FREE online radio station you should hear.

It's called FreewayRadio.com, and I should tell you that I have somewhat of a personal stake in it (I'm married to the founder/creator).



Just click "Listen Now" and pick a way to listen to it (at work I recommend Windows Media Player - easy and fast)

I did all the graphics, and Tracy from our station did the coding. Isn't it cool?

Ever wonder how the weather team puts together their forecasts? Do the anchors just read the teleprompter or practice before they go on air? Is the web team as glamorous as they seem (ha ha)? Find out the answers to these questions and more tonight during our Behind The Scenes online All-Access show starting at 8:45 right here on myFOXdfw.com.

FOX 4's Steve Noviello takes you behind the cameras to show you how we put together the 9 p.m. newscast. There are a lot more people than just Steve, Heather and Dan that make this all work out -- learn what a producer, writer, editor, photographer, desk assignment editor and floor crew person does.

Also, participate in our live chat and ask your questions -- we'll do our best to answer them LIVE!

If you have any questions I'll try to pre-answer them here----

A new study found that parents spend 30 percent more time with their first-born children than with the rest of the brood.

Now, I wager that the first-borns among us will say that's because they were busy getting instructions on how to feed, care for, and clean up after their younger brethen.

I say that only because I'm the youngest of five kids. :) Yes, I got away with murder. ("I didn't get to do that when I was your age!" was the constant refrain growing up.)

What are your thoughts on birth order and how it plays out in personality? Does it really make a difference? Many first-borns are high achievers and perfectionists, but I suppose it's not always true. Where do you fall in your family, and did it make a difference in how your parents treated you?

Five perfect strangers have helped raise more than $7,000 for a mentally challenged man who was the subject of a FOX 4 story on Tuesday night.

Johnny Bryant, 53, has worked for the last 35 years as a stocker in a Brookshire grocery in Tarrant County. He has very limited capacity-- he does not read well. He stocks shelves by matching the pictures on the cans together. But he is reliable and hardworking and cheerful.

Bryant lost all of the $151,000 in his 401k account after a woman named Cynthia Hardee befriended him and talked him into cashing it out. She spend $73,000 on herself and talked him into wasting the rest.

When jurors convicted Hardee of theft and sentenced her to 5 years in prison, the jury forewoman decided to go one step further. She donated the money she earned from jury duty ($166) and convinced other jurors to do the same. The prosecutor wrote a $250 check. They put the money into a bank account to benefit Bryant, to help replace some of the lost retirement money.

Bryant can never retire-- he must keep working. Let's help him if we can.

Since we aired this story last night, five more people have given money to this fund, bringing the donation total to $7,000!!!! One person donated $3,000! Another gave $1,900. If you can help by giving $10 or $5 the next time you go to the bank, why not?

To find out how to help, visit the story link below: (see video of Johnny Bryant in the sidebar)
http://www.myfoxdfw.com/myfox/pages/ContentDetail?cont
entId=6324863

On my way to work today, I stopped to get my usual junkie hit ---er, Starbucks latte and went to pull into what I thought was an empty parking space.
Instead, here's what I saw:



It's a little hard to see, so here's a closer look:



That's right, two DPD mounted patrol officers and their horses were parked (double parked?) outside the neighborhood opium den. While one officer was inside presumably examining the facilities, the other was outside texting on his Blackberry while astride Old Nelly.

That is, he was texting while he wasn't fending off questions from the local ladies. I swear, mounted cops are CHICK MAGNETS. There were women coming out of the hair salon next door with foil in their roots wanting to pet the pretty horsies. It was the most remarkable thing I've seen in a while.

What I want to know is how they got to the corner of Midway & Northwest Highway on HORSEBACK.

You'd think any sport that relies on gravity would be easy. Take skiing, for example. A motorized lift takes you up the mountain, and gravity takes you down.

And boy, does it.

I just returned from a week in Telluride, Colorado with my hubbie and a large group of assorted family. I was the most uncoordinated one there. My brother has all the athletic ability in the family; I have the talent of sleeping 11 1/2 hours straight if I want to.



Anyway, Telluride is fantastically beautiful, but not easy to reach. Not only did we stay at 9,500 feet, (that's the view from our condo above) but skied the ridge of the mountain  (highest point 12,255-- more photos of that hopefully by tomorrow).

Here's the trail map:
http://tellurideskiresort.com/TellSki/TellSkiAssets/fi
les/main/Telluride0708TrailMap.jpg

Coming down was predictably interesting: full of stops and starts, sloppy turns, and more than a few falls. No yard sales, but still enough to get teased over apres-ski JaegerBombs and other ridiculous drinks that no one consumes during Real Life.

((TMI warning: I'll be nursing a nasty-looking big toe and a pair of unpleasantly yet symetrically-placed hindquarter bruises. That's due to skiing, not the drinking.))

Anyway, the town itself is lovely, and expensive. Here's a look with my husband via the cellphone camera.



There's a much more interesting story about this vacation adventure still to come.