l_williams's Blog

      The town of Guadalupe has hired a well known law firm to stop Maricopa County Supervisors from allowing  Sheriff Arpaio to cancel his contract with the city of Guadalupe.

    The Sheriff requested the move after his crime sweeps were met with criticism and resistance by the town's Mayor who has since resigned. Guadalupe has not been able to secure an agency to police the town, so they need the Sheriff to stay.  

     I'd hate to see an innocent person get hurt for lack of a police presence in that town----what do you think? SHOULD THE SHERIFF STAY OR GO?

As the National Guard goes in to rescue the people who refused to evacuate from the wrath of Hurricane Ike--- over 100 thousand of them--- I'm thinking the U-S government should charge them for the rescue in some regard.  Bill them!  

These people  were told  to get of there because Ike was going to turn their world upside down at best.  At worse, the storm was going to kill them. Yet they stayed, and now hundreds of National guardspeople are risking their lives to save them.

There oughta' be a law ----If you do not evacuate an unsafe area in the path of destruction, you will be charged for subsequent rescue operations.  Will that work?

I couldn't find the flashlight, didn't know where the candles were, and was really scared when Thursday's storm came whipping through my Phoenix neighborhood.

The storm became so wickedly violent after midnight, I thought of waking my kids and leaving the house!! Instead I paced around peering out the window occasionally in disbelief, thinking about the pine tree in my back yard that surely would come crashing down at any minute. It didn't, but I've learned to be more prepared.

When the lights went out I wasn't ready--- WERE YOU??? 

He we go again! 

In L.A., the city council approved a ban on new fast food restaurants in one part of the city.   Now San Jose is following suit---looking into placing a moratorium on new fast Food places.  The proposal would also ban new fast food restaurants within 1,000 feet of schools.

WHAAAAT????     

This all goes back to to this country's obesity problem---particularly in our kids.                                                  
                                                   

Off the top of my head I can think of several other things we could be doing to combat this epidemic besides banning fast food restaurants from certain areas!

What do you think??

My "Only On Fox" story tonight is about a 43 year old Phoenix man who went out to investigate someone suspicious on his front driveway. The father of six was viciously attacked and run over by thieves who were stealing his wife's car.

He died. Lessons learned? Police want us all to just let people steal our stuff. Call police and wait for officers. Don't go after the bad guys, or you could end up hurt or even worse like the man in my story.

Instinct is a hard thing to overcome when someone is stealing from you. My question---how do you do that?

    Hi guys.... hope your'e surviving the Summer months okay!  

    Tomorrow night (Sunday) I did a story for the 9 Pm news, and I wanted to know what you think of the premise.

     This valley company says in this tough economy, they are seeing more bald clients coming in to have hair replacement because they need hair to get a job, or keep a job, or compete better at their job!

      I thought it was ludicrous, but after interviewing some clients of this company which does hair transplants, and talking to a sales rep, I'm thinking they may have a point.

      What do you think... Do you need hair to compete in a tough economy? Once you get it will your job outlook and finances improve?

          We aired this story on our 9 oc'lock news last night.  I thought people would be really hard on this woman--- blaming her for the predicament she's in....she's selling stuff to try to keep her house!

         Some have written to say mean things about her. One woman wrote to offer the lady money.  Still another liked the hutch and wanted to buy it! 

          What do you think?   

      http://www.myfoxphoenix.com/myfox/pages/Co
ntentDetail?contentId=6535811

      Hi you guys----as stated in my bio, I do find real estate a fascinating business.  Right now I'm trying to do some stories about this "mess of of a market" we're in. 

     Anyone willing to tell me their story--- are you facing foreclosure? Caught in the sub-prime crunch? Did you find a great deal on a foreclosure? Have you found a unique way to ride out this storm?  Are you divorcing, but have to live in the house with your "ex" because it won't sell?  

     There are tons of scenarios out there, and I am trying to tell real stories, instead of just reporting the stats of the people affected.

     Interested? Call me at my desk...(602) 262-0173!  Thanks so much, and if you don't want to give your name or show your face, I've figured out a way to get around that too!!

Linda W.

      We meet several times a day to go over stories and story ideas for upcoming newscasts, and some of those meetings like the one yesterday (Saturday)  are downright wrenching because the news is so stunning.  I'm referring to the Tempe mom accused of killing her 14 year old son, the young Phoenix father accused of killing his infant son... sadly the list goes on.

      The challenge is how do we give you this bad news? If we present it all together, it sounds like the end of the world.  We often debate the placement or as ---we call it "stacking" of stories. There is no way to soften the blow of a truly bad news day.

      I just wanted your thoughts on how we present bad news, and I also wanted you to know that we just don't sling it uncaringly into the universe for your consumption. We struggle with it too...

    I expected the malls to be packed this weekend....as packed as the paper was with ads trying to entice  people to this "special sale"  here and that  "doorbuster event" over  there.

     But reports from friends are that it's strangely quiet at the malls this weekend. Reports from Arrowhead, Metrocenter and Arizona Mills are that it was slower than usual.

     Are we headed for a slow holiday season, or is everyone chilling after Turkey Day?  What did you see this weekend on the shopping front? Are we burned out on the holidays before they've truly begun?

       As we all shake our heads (again) over yet another  horrific case of child abuse/murder that left a 12 year old Phoenix girl dead, I have to think about the people who came across this family at some time in the last six months or even years and knew in their hearts or in their gut that something was horribly wrong here...yet for many reasons, no one spoke up.  

      My children find my willingness to confront and speak up, downright embarassing, especially when I'll confront a stranger because he's loudly  dropping "F-bombs" in the middle of a crowded store....oh yes I did!  I simply said "watch your mouth...there are kids around." The man made a face, but stopped his bad language.

       I know that's a grossly minor comparison to the beating death of a 12-year old girl allegedly at the hands of her father's girlfriend. Here's my point---it's time for us to speak up when something doesn't look or feel right. Sometimes the lengths to which you have to "get involved" is a phone call.  

      The little girl's name was Trenay Duchane. It's too late for her now, but in her memory can we all speak up the next time we sense anyone, especially a child is in trouble?          

      Last night I was talking to a friend about the S-U-V that crashed into the canal with the woman and two children inside.  None of them survived. I was telling my friend that I run through scenarios in my mind and play out what I would do in certain emergencies. What would I do in the middle of the night if I awakened and smelled smoke? What exactly would I do if I drove into one of this city's many canals with my two kids in the car? I think about which kid swims better, about opening the sunroof immediately before the water shorted out the electric system. My co-worker looked at me like I was crazy. Am I a "normal" parent, or does my chaos-driven profession make me more sensitive to the possiblity of bad things happening to people? Am I crazy?? (Be gentle---LOL!))