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Deer In A Bar (11.8.10)

2011-02-28T16:33:00.002-05:00

I did this story with Tony last year and boy was it a fun one. The title pretty much explains it all.

-T

Woodville Mall Revival? (2.3.11)

2011-02-04T22:32:00.005-05:00

Sorry everyone. I'm trying to update my video blog and I'm kinda jamming a whole bunch of stories at once. So, there's really no rhyme or reason. Just dumping a bunch of stories.

Woodville Mall is Toledo's first indoor mall and it's getting over 10 new businesses thanks to a new manager. We drove out there yesterday to interview her and see what things she has in store for this piece of local history.

Blizzaster 2011

2011-02-04T22:03:00.004-05:00

This past Tuesday we reached Level 3 snow emergency here in Toledo. My shift started at 5:00am and ended at 5:30pm. In between we tossed this here story together.

"Lose The Training Wheels"

2009-08-12T18:09:00.003-04:00

Here's a story I shot and edited today about children with disabilities learning how to ride a bike. The program is called "Lose The Training Wheels" and this is the second year for it in the Toledo area. It's a great feel-good story. Thanks to everyone at Tam-O-Shanter in Sylvania who helped us out!

-T

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Michigan Crime Lab

2009-07-28T18:30:00.002-04:00

I shot this story last week and edited it on Monday. It was a really interesting to visit an actual crime lab and everyone was very nice and informative. Thanks to the good people in Northville, Michigan for helping to make this a good story.

-T

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Punctuation Celebration

2009-07-07T18:18:00.002-04:00

Here's the raw interview of Elsa Knight-Bruno's interview we did yesterday about her new book, "Punctuation Celebration." Elsa taught at Highland Elementary and Central Elemtentary in Sylvania, Ohio for many years. It's a great story about a local teacher's successful new publication!

-T

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Dumpster Diving

2009-05-19T18:18:00.004-04:00

Even wonder what happens to all that food restaurants and food stores throw away? Here's the story I did with Alexis Means.

-T

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Stretching Your Dollar: Generics vs. Name Brands

2009-05-08T18:27:00.002-04:00

Here is Sashem Brey's story as it aired at 6pm on May 8th on 13abc! Hope you enjoy!

-T

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Unemployment Interview with Michael Veh

2009-04-03T17:38:00.003-04:00

Here is an interview I shot today with Lissa Guyton at The Source in downtown Toledo. We talked with Michael Veh who works there and he gave us great information about unemployment and the process of finding a job. I found this interview to be very informative and even those of us who have a job could learn a lot from it.

-T

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Pope Miracle

2009-04-03T10:34:00.003-04:00

I did this emotional and amazing story with Lissa Guyton yesterday. It's about a man who has local ties to Northwest Ohio. He's a Bowling Green State University graduate.

-T

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Stretching Your Dollar: Cell Phones

2009-03-25T18:31:00.003-04:00

Here's the story I did with Sashem Brey today about how you can save money on your cell phone bill. Thanks to Verizon Wireless on Central Avenue for helping us out.

-T

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Coupon Contest

2009-03-23T18:04:00.004-04:00

We shot this story a few weeks ago and I finished editing the whole thing today. Check it out.

-T

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Downtown Toledo Arena Tour

2009-02-03T15:25:00.003-05:00

I know it's been forever since I posted video but Tony and I had the opportunity to view the progress inside the new downtown arena. Joe Zunk, the superintendent of Lathrop, gave us a walking tour of the whole place. This is the raw video from that tour on Friday January 30th, 2009. Thanks to Joe for taking us around. They're making amazing progress and are actually ahead of schedule.

-T

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Train Derailment (6.9.08)

2008-06-17T00:15:00.003-04:00

During the storms of last week a train was blown off its tracks in Genoa, Ohio. Tony Geftos and I were sent to do a story on the damage. We were unable to get close to the train because there were damaged power lines near the crash site and they kept all the media back for our safety. The next day we went back to try and get closer. CSX told us we couldn't walk down the tracks to get video but we ended up making friends with the property owner where all the train cars ended up. Thanks to Chuck for taking me on his four-wheeler to the crash site to get great video.

-T

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Hillary Clinton Visit 2/22/08

2008-03-02T01:43:00.002-05:00

Wow, two presidential candidates visiting in two days. Busy times here in Toledo. Anywho, Tony and I were on Hillary detail at Whitmer High School. Our job was to get reactions of anxious Clinton fans. That was easy. We were at a Clinton rally for crying out loud. We met this one lady who brought her Hillary Clinton doll. Yep. A doll. And not just any doll. This was the "healthcare edition" doll. That means there are probably different Hillary Clinton dolls out there, we thought. And there were. Right in the front row there were two women with two different Hillary dolls. Then I started imagining if I was a really high-profile person. And I had to come out and give a speech to my fans. And I came out and right in the front row I saw two people with dolls of myself. Dolls of myself. I think that might creep me out a tad. Not only would the idea of having a doll of myself creep me out. But seeing these people hold onto these dolls for dear life. That's worrysome. Anyways, they had this little media platform right next to the stage where she was going to speak. So, at the last minute Tony asked me if I was going to get some video from that platform. Sure, I said. So, I stood on that platform for one hour and twenty minutes. Hillary was late because they had to de-ice her plane in Columbus where she was coming from. Holy smokes were my feet on fire. Have you ever stood in one spot for more than twenty minutes? Painful. Anywho, it was pretty awesome once she came out to be in that gym. Everyone went crazy and I ended up being only about twelve feet from her. Watching the secret service do their thing was neat too. There were two different crews of secret service there. First, before she had even arrived at the building, there were two service people guarding the stage where she would speak. They roamed around, moderately checking out the crowd. Once she was at the school but before she came out, the two secret service crews switched and two new people came out. This time these two watched the crowd like hawks, keeping their backs to the stage at all times. They were constantly scanning everybody out there. It was pretty cool to see. Anyways, enjoy the pics and video.

-T

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John McCain Visit 2/21/08

2008-03-02T01:20:00.003-05:00

First I have to say how terrible a blogger I am. I promised to keep blogging on a regular basis and I haven't. I swear I will post regularly from now on. Please believe me.
Here are some pics and video from the John McCain bus visit to Charlie's Restaurant in Perrysburg. For some reason I find myself in situations where I end up being in the right place at the right time. These candidates travel with two buses. One for them and one for the traveling national media. Once both buses are stopped they let all the national media get off, setup, and get into place before they get the candidate off their own bus. That way when you watch World News Tonight it always looks like the media "just happened to be at that very burger joint McCain was visiting." Clever. Anywho, earlier that morning after Greg and I were finished with our live shots we headed down to the Park Inn hotel because by now the article about McCain had leaked and he had to give a national press conference before his Charlie's visit. We met Melissa Andrews and Shane, her photographer, down there at the hotel but then had to go directly to Charlie's to make sure we got him there. So, before I left I snapped some pics of the media platform for the national presser. Good stuff.
Anyways, getting back to the "right place at the right time" reference. Once both buses were parked at Charlie's the national media person got off the bus and yelled "National media!" while he pointed at the yellow rope they were supposed to follow which lead right up to McCain's tour bus door. So, what did I do? I got right in line and scurried along with the rest of them. That put me second in line, right after the photog from CNN. Heehee. Anywho, I got great video of McCain getting off the bus and shaking people's hands. Let me tell you, it's interesting to shoot steady video when you're standing in a blob of other photographers, unable to move, and one of them behind you (obviously a national guy) keeps saying "Behind you! Behind you! Watch your back!" Anyways, enjoy the pics and vid. These days are always fun.

-T

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Anthony Diaz

2007-11-29T21:57:00.000-05:00

I can't even imagine what this man is going through now and will go through for the rest of his life. Anthony Diaz is the only survivor in the recent Lyman Avenue house fire that claimed the lives of three children and one woman. It's very hard to stand in a hospital room and listen to what this poor man went through, realizing he just lost everything he has, physically and emotionally. It really puts things into perspective as far as the things we should be more thankful for and how we shouldn't take anything for granted.

-T

Here is the raw video from today's interview with Lissa and I. It runs a little over 23 minutes.

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Visiting Old Friends

2007-11-27T17:59:00.000-05:00

On Monday, I was invited to speak at an event hosted by UTTV. UTTV is a branch of The University Of Toledo's Communications Department. I wanted to bring some friends along to help describe the business so I brought Sashem Brey and Tony Geftos. The three of us talked about our experiences and answered questions from the students. I graduated from UT in 2001 and was also a member of UTTV. I learned so much while I was in school there and it felt good to come back and discuss how my college experiences better prepared me for what I'm doing now. Thanks again to Tom Osswald, Don Reiber, and David Davis for inviting us.

-T

Here is a brief snippet from the "Nightly Newsreel."

PS - I swear I'll start posting more. Even if it's no big deal. Any post is better than no post, right?

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Cougar Sighting In Toledo

2007-11-03T00:40:00.000-04:00

I know, I'm in big trouble now. It seems like I haven't posted since Perfect Strangers was popular. Balki would be mad at me. Anywho, on Friday, John Mellencamp had a concert here in Toledo but before that, he came downtown to visit with some of Toledo's homeless. He invited everyone down at Tent City to come to his concert, free of charge. Carty was down there too and he presented John with a key to the city.

-T

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Weekly Photos #014

2007-10-05T19:39:00.000-04:00

Okay, I'm sorry it's been so long since my last posting. I promise this isn't a trend. The good news is I have a bajillion (not a real word) new photos to post. I'm telling you, these past few weeks were filled with good photo opportunities. The first bunch of photos is from my sweet SCP-8400. They're just everyday news pics. I can't tell you what each one is from because my memory isn't stellar. Then I'm posting some of the photos I took from the opening of the MGM Grand in Detroit on Tuesday. Tony and I got to go up for the day and record the events. There was a press conference at 11am where the president of MGM Mirage, the president of the MGM Grand Detroit, and the mayor of Detroit all spoke. Then we got a media-only tour of the whole facility. Let me tell you, it was an amazing place. Halfway through the tour we had a chance to do a one-on-one interview with none other than Wolfgang Puck. He was there for the grand opening of his restaurant in the casino. He was such a nice guy and he actually cooked food for Tony and I to eat! Yes, Wolfgang Puck made food and we ate it with him. Probably the only time I'll ever say that in my life. Then after we edited our stories and did our live shots for the 5pm and 6pm, we attended the VIP private party. It was a "black tie affair" as it said on the invite. Yep, our names were on the list. Sweet. It was so fun. We got to walk around the whole casino and eat samples of food from each of the new restaurants. Tony and I agreed that it was the best food we'd ever eaten in our lives. Ever. We even ran into an old work buddy, Katrina Hancock! Kid Rock was hanging out in one of the new clubs. He didn't see us but I'm sure he would've run right over to chat if he had. I mean, who wouldn't want to chat with two cool guys like Tony and me? His loss. Then we went outside around 9:30pmish to get video of the official "lighting of the garden" where they lit up the outside and shot fireworks to commemorate the opening. All in all it was a great time.
Then on Thursday we attended the Toledo Press Club 2007 Touchstone Awards at The Toledo Club. Why you ask? Because Tony and I were nominated for our website, Tony & Todd's Roadside Attractions. We did not win, but we had a good time. We sat with Lee and Diane right in front and got to eat some great food.
It definitely has been a great few weeks. I got to wear a suit twice in one week. Enjoy the pics and don't forget to check out the TnT site too. We shot a few more since my last posting here.

-T

Misc SCP-8400 pics

MGM Grand Detroit Opening Pics

Toledo Press Club Touchstone Awards Pics

Here is the whole interview with Wolfgang Puck from the MGM Grand Detroit Opening.

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Weekly Photos #013 (a week to forget)

2007-09-14T21:13:00.000-04:00

Wow. This was definitely one of those weeks you'd like to wipe from your memory. I'm sure everything I'm about to say will be heavy on the cliche, but I can't help it.
I normally work 9:30am to 6:30pm on Wednesdays as I did this one. But Jag (chief photog) asked if I wanted to stay through the 11pm because one of our other photogs was sick. I said sure. After editing some miscellaneous stuff for the early shows, Tony and I decided to head out to Tiffin for our nightside story. As we headed south on I-75, I asked which way would be the best to get to Tiffin. We eventually decided to take I-75 south and get off on Route 6 heading east. No problem. We got to Route 6 and headed east towards Tiffin. We were behind a semi truck for most of the way. We had been travelling down Route 6 for about twenty minutes. Tony was looking down at his PDA when I realized something wasn't right. It's hard to describe because I hadn't seen anything yet. I just knew something wasn't normal. Then about 100 feet ahead I saw a minivan jolt out across the other lane, roll over twice, slam into the corn stalks on the side of the road, and come to a rest, rightside up, smoke pouring out. It was one of those things your brain couldn't quite process quickly enough. I saw the whole thing happen, but I still didn't believe what I saw. The truck in front of me slowed down and pulled over. I pulled around him, off to the side and jumped out of the Jeep. Tony immediately dialed 911 and I ran towards the minivan. While I crossed the street the man from the other vehicle involved was getting out of his Durango, limping, on his cellphone saying "I was just involved in a bad car accident. It wasn't my fault. It wasn't my fault." He had blood on his leg and on his shirt. He walked around to the back of his vehicle and sat on the bumper, clearly in shock. He eventually slowly sank down to the pavement until he was sitting down in the street. I remember seeing all that in slow motion. As I walked towards the minivan I remember seeing two purses, a baseball hat, CD's, and other items in the grass. Because my brain was still trying to process the whole chain of events, I remember wondering why all this stuff was on the side of the road. I thought it was all litter. I still hadn't realized it came from the minivan. As I approached the minivan, there was the body of a younger woman lying next to it. She was wearing a blue hooded sweatshirt and green pants and was lying in an abnormal fetal position. I crouched down to try to speak to her and ask her if she was okay. I didn't want to touch her or move her in case she had a spinal injury. By now there was another man who had come over to try and talk to her. He tapped her on the foot with his shoe saying "Ma'am, are you okay?" Then there was this moment where we both stood up and stared at her. I stared at her chest and stomach, hoping for any signs of movement. The moment seemed like an eternity but it only lasted a few seconds. Then there was this feeling we both got almost instantly. It's a hard feeling to describe. It's a feeling you get when you know life has left a body. You just know it. We both looked at each other and said, "She's dead, isn't she." The other man turned around and shouted to his friend, "I think she's dead!" I think I had a small internal panic attack because my brain was finally beginning to process what we had witnessed in the last 2 minutes. By now we could hear the comforting sound of sirens in the distance. It's strange because the sound of sirens is usually a scary sound, but in this case I wanted to hear it. I ran back across the street to tell Tony that the woman was already dead. "Are you serious? Oh my God," he said. He had already called 911 and our newsroom to tell Lindsay, our producer, what had happened. When I turned back around to face the minivan again, the man and his friend had found a white sheet in their truck and were putting it over her body. I couldn't believe what had happened. By now, Tony and I realized this was probably going to be our story for the night, but neither of us felt comfortable about it. I certainly didn't want to get my camera out and roll on any of it. As journalists, we go to accidents all the time and some of them involve fatalities. But this was a situation that neither he nor I would ever expect to be in and honestly, I had to push my job responsibilites aside. I remember feeling sick to my stomach. I felt like throwing up. By now most of the emergency crews had arrived and were down by the minivan. We were across the street now, pacing back and forth, talking with the driver of the truck that was in front of us. He was a very nice man who was just as shocked as we were. We were getting confused because there were about seven firefighters and EMS workers towards the back of the minivan near the cornfield. Then one of the other bystanders walked by and said "There's another body behind the minivan!" Oh my God. There was another body that was ejected and we had no idea when we were over there. I remember feeling like we should've known and should've tried to help her too. But how could we have known? Pretty soon Life Flight showed up, hovered over the scene, and landed right down the street. While this was happening one of the state troopers was performing CPR on the lady we had found. They were hoping for any sign of life. Unfortunately, then didn't find any, stopped what they were doing, and covered her back up with the sheet. I remember feeling sick again when I saw that because it confirmed our original fears of her being dead. Paramedics eventually took the second body to Life Flight and took off. The trooper told us the second body had a pulse but was non-responsive. By now I had my camera out and was reluctantly getting shots of what was happening. Usually when we arrive at the scene of an accident, we have a routine we go through as journalists. This time was different however because we felt a strong connection to what was happening and the journalistic "wall" was not there. We were a part of what had happened. We were witnesses. We ran up and tried to help.
We interviewed the truck driver who was in front of us and then interviewed the state trooper. The trooper said neither one of the women was wearing her seatbelt. Tony then interviewed me because I actually saw the minivan flip over and ran to help out. When we left the scene to head back to the station we didn't talk much. We both called our loved ones because that's what you do when you see something like this. It's strange to think that those two women were probably laughing and joking down the street, thirty seconds before they pulled out into traffic. And just like that, the one woman's life is over. Just like that. Unbelievable. The whole night didn't seem real. But it was.

-T

Below is the video of the package Tony and I put together that night. We tried to turn it into a first person perspective.

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And on a happier note, here are the weekly pictures. Hopefully they'll make you smile.

Weekly Photos #012

2007-09-08T00:01:00.000-04:00

This week was very busy. Monday was Labor Day and we did a story on Labor Day travel. That night, a plane crashed near Kelley's Island and all day Tuesday Tony and I were in Marblehead with the rest of Toledo and Cleveland's media waiting for any sign of the pilot of the plane. Sadly, the Coast Guard recovered his body around 8:30pm that night. Wednesday Alexis and I did a story about the Jena 6 which I had never heard of until now. It's a very interesting story. Thursday Sashem and I shot a story we'll air next week so I probably shouldn't say what it was. I then edited Ronnie Dahl's story about the Seneca County marijuana bust. Billau shot the story and I edited it. It's amazing how these guys find the marijuana crops from a helicopter. And then Friday Tony and I were at the Greek Festival downtown for the early shows and then ended up going out to Delta for a "spotted funnel cloud." I always keep my handheld video camera with me and I'm glad I did because on the way to Delta we spotted another funnel cloud north of Spring Meadows. Tony shot video while I drove and we ended up using it for our 11pm story!! All in all another busy week. Enjoy the pics.

-T

PS - make sure to check out the blog this week for some good vids.

Weekly Photos #011

2007-08-25T00:15:00.000-04:00

I don't even know where to start. This whole week was incredibly busy. On Monday I went back to Crawford Street (the street that was hit hardest during last year's floods) and talked to some people regarding the amount of rain we've gotten. Needless to say they were happy the pumps were working and no water had collected in their homes. On Tuesday Alexis and I waited for the jury to come back with a verdict regarding the Wayne Powell case. They did. Guilty on all 11 counts. Let me tell you, there were seven Sheriff's Deputies standing behind this man when Judge Cook read the verdict. That same day I switched stories after the verdict and ended up getting video of Rob Ludeman being voted out of his City Council Presidency and Michael Ashford taking over. Quite a day Tuesday was. On Wednesday Ronnie and I traveled down to Tiffin to cover some of the flooding that took place after this week's terrible rain. We saw homes halfway underwater and a senior center that would've been evacuated had the water risen any higher. On Thursday Bill and I headed downtown to watch the first steps of demolition to make room for the new arena project. They tore down the Subway on Jefferson & Superior. I remember going there for lunch with Lissa when we had to shoot a court story. It's sad to see it go but I have a feeling the new arena will be pretty neat. When Bill and I got back to the station I was getting ready to go to lunch when they asked me if I wanted to go up in a helicopter and fly over Findlay to get more flooding perspective video. I said sure and by 1:30pm Jeff and I were sitting on a runway at Metcalf field in my Jeep, waiting for a helicopter to arrive. I shot some of it with my XDCam and then also brought my personal Sony handheld camcorder with a wide angle lens which ended up being easier to use. We took off from Metcalf and flew down to Bluffton to see more of the flood damage. We then flew back up to Findlay and circled that area to get "Day 2" perspective video. Many people think that after a few days the water will begin to recede but the water level was actually rising from all the outer tributary drainage. It was amazing to fly over these neighborhoods and think of all these families who really have nothing left. Most of these people didn't have flood insurance which makes it that much harder. Whenever there's "high water" in town and we have to drive around it to avoid it, we're just inconvenienced. These poor people's homes are destroyed and they have to start all over. It was very sad. Luckily Flood Aid '07 will help a lot of these people get back on their feet. And finally today, another storm rolled through around 6:20pm and I ended up going to a neighborhood off Alexis Road where a tree had fallen and crushed the front porch of a house. Across the same street part of a tree fell on a power line and the line was sparking and catching the tree on fire. That was pretty interesting to watch and hear. Anywho, enjoy the pics and be sure to check out the six minute video I put together of the helicopter aerials from Thursday.

-T

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Findlay aerials

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Here is some video from Friday's bad weather

Weekly Photos #010

2007-08-17T23:37:00.001-04:00

Wow. Seriously lacking on the 'ol photo count this week. My apologies although the SCP-8400 is doing quite well with the picture takin'. It's like having a camera in my pocket all the time. Wait, what? Anywho, this week was a typical week in the news business. We had stories about house foreclosures, toy recalls, and the TPS report card. I also spotted our old buddy Spider while driving to work. Oh yeah, and Tony and I got to attend the Tractor Pulling Championships today down in Bowling Green. Wow. That was my first tractor pulling event. I will remember it always. The cookies in the media room were outstanding. These places always provide the best cookies for the media. You know, the chocolate chunk ones that are all soft and chewy. I don't get it. Tony also met some new fans down there as well. (see picture)
Enjoy the imagery.

-T

Weekly Photos #009

2007-08-11T00:35:00.001-04:00

I know I know. I'm sorry. It's been two weeks since I've posted my "weekly" photos. Well, I was extremely busy last weekend and it slipped my mind. So I've doubled up last week's photos with this week and it's pretty chock-full of imagery. Last week we did stories about TPS meetings, the Wood County Fair's hot animals and a shooting. Don't worry, the pig in the picture is snoozing. This week we did stories about Southwyck, a double homicide, and the Toledo Food Bank. I'm really ready for snow. I know it's a pain to drive in and all that but this humidity has gotta go. Enjoy the pics.

-T

PS - this week's Tony & Todd's might be the best one yet. Bold statement, I know.

Weekly Photos #008

2007-07-28T01:14:00.000-04:00

This week started off with a bang. Literally. Tony and I were sent out to the "suspicious package" on the railroad bridge. Zack was already at the command post on Miami Street so Tony and I figured we would try and find a spot to actually see the bridge. After climbing over train cars near Kuhlman Drive, we realized we were on CSX property and quickly left. While we were heading to the Jeep, we heard a loud bang. It was just like you see in the movies where all the birds fly off the trees. We both looked at each other and started running towards the bang. Which, in retrospect, might not have been the brightest idea. Anywho, we later learned that the Bomb Squad blew up the suspicious package just to be sure. It was kinda scary for a minute though. Then later in the week Alexis and I went out to the house fire on Detroit Avenue. It actually spread to the house next-door. It all started because a five-year-old was playing with a lighter. We went back later for our live shot and the house had already been demolished by the city. It's sad to think these people woke up that morning in their house and never thought it would be a pile of wood and ash by the end of the day. A busy and humid week.

-T

Weekly Photos #007

2007-07-21T11:45:00.001-04:00

Well, this was another week of strange weather. It started off super hot and humid. Like, that unbearable humid where it feels like you're swallowing air. Yeah, that's humid. And then on Thursday around 5:30pm a "cold" front came through and cooled down the world. Then the weather was perfect. Anywho, this week I did stories on everything from TPS worries to the FedEx situation to an accident on Monroe and Michigan where the car's door was wedged into the SUV's front grill. Everyone was okay though. Jennifer Jarrell and I even went out to Metamora to interview a family regarding Linda Cook, the Sylvania attorney who was indicted for stealing from a client and tampering with records. On Monday, Tony and I got to walk along the "floor" of the Maumee River and interview some fishermen. Good times. Enjoy the pics.

Kumon

2007-07-18T15:04:00.000-04:00

Created by Japanese educator Toru Kumon, The Kumon Method is one of the largest math and language educational systems in the world. Kristian and I spent most of the day at Kumon in Perrysburg learning about this new educational strategy.

-Todd

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Weekly Photos #006

2007-07-14T00:02:00.001-04:00

Man, talk about a headache. This week started off hotter than the dickens and then ended actually kinda chilly. Yeah, I said chilly. And dickens. I love it when my head expands and contracts so quickly. The dashboard thermometer in my work Jeep actually read 101 degrees at one point. Anywho, this was a potpourri of a news week. Everything from a press conference regarding housing foreclosures to senior citizens fishing at Oak Openings. Oh, and "The Jamie Farr" (as we refer to it) started this week. Spent a few live shots out there on the 'ol pool deck. Tony and I went out to the 13th hole to shoot a little something. Go ahead, check your maps. It's the hole in the very very back of the course, furthest away from the clubhouse. I did end up snagging a couple chocolate chip cookies from the media room. They definitely treat the media right at "The Farr". We also shot another TnT episode. If you know what a Flux Capacitor is, you should check it out. If you don't know what one is, check it out anyways. Enjoy the pics.

-T

Weekly Photos #005

2007-07-07T01:01:00.000-04:00

Not much to really discuss this week. It's funny, by the time I get to Friday, I can't remember what I did on Monday. I can't actually remember what I ate for breakfast this morning. Cereal, I'm sure. But what kind...
Does anyone remember Croonchy Stars cereal? Back in the late 80's The Swedish Chef from The Muppets had his own cereal. I miss all those silly cereals we grew up with. Like the much-forgotten Fruit Brute or Yummy Mummy. Those were the brothers of Frankenberry, Count Chocula, and Boo Berry. Bork bork everybody. Bork bork.

-T

Here is some raw video of quite possibly the cutest thing I've ever seen.
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Weekly Photos #004

2007-06-30T01:13:00.000-04:00

This week was pretty eventful. There was the tragic apartment fire in Carey, Ohio, the Krell trial in Monroe, Michigan, a few Carty press conferences about Toledo's growth, and the fire training at the old Rogers High School. All in all a busy week.

-T

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Here is some raw video from the fire training out at the old Rogers High School. Fire chiefs from New York City and Chicago were out there along with our Toledo guys. We also met crews from The Discovery Channel and PBS who were shooting documentaries about the whole thing. The roof, the roof, the roof was on fire.

Weekly Photos #003

2007-06-23T01:16:00.000-04:00

This week was pretty busy. There was the Kroger situation, the brief storm on Thursday, and my favorite, the new Tony & Todd's. It's definitely a must-see. One of our former reporter/assignment editors even stopped by to chuckle about old times. Thanks for the ride to Yark, Joe. So far the photo posting is going well. I may even start to post them more often. We'll see.

-T

Weekly Photos #002

2007-06-16T01:10:00.000-04:00

So, I realized a few things last week when I first tried the whole "weekly photos" bit. First off, my sweet Sanyo SCP-8400 takes some darn good pictures for being a phone. And secondly, captioning every single photo every single week is going to drive me nuts. So, I'll just caption a few of them and see how that goes. Then maybe I'll shift over to no captioning whatsoever. We'll see.

-T

This is the old WTVG building on Huron Street. That was back in the WSPD TV days. I believe I was still in diapers. Not sure.

AP Awards

2007-06-11T19:55:00.001-04:00

The 2007 Ohio Associated Press Awards were this weekend in Columbus and Kristian Brown and I won second place in the Best Feature Reporting category for our "Hip-Hop Math" story. Sweet.

-T

Weekly Photos #001

2007-06-08T21:56:00.000-04:00

I've decided to start posting more photos. Video is good, but photos are good too. Throughout the week as we go from story to story, I'm going to take a bunch of photos with my camera phone and post them at the end of the week. I figure it's a good way to capture behind-the-scenes stuff. This is the first week and since I came up with the idea on Thursday, the photo count might be a wee bit low.

-T

Found this creation on the corner of Monroe and 17th. Good stuff.

Tony's nose was runny at our Toledo Edison live shot.

Never been to Luna Pier until now. It's really nice.

Nice kid on bike with broken arm. Take care of that arm bud.

Chapin and Western house with very large tree inserted in roof.

Fatal motorcycle accident on Cherry and Central. They hit the light pole so hard it broke in half and hit the street.

Hip-Hop Math Remix

2007-06-07T17:38:00.000-04:00

We aired a story awhile back about a group of students from the Paul Laurence Dunbar Academy who are using hip-hop music to learn math. Alex Nesmith and Christine Smith formed Spark The Mind, a non-profit organization to help kids do just that. Well, now they're in the studio finishing up their first album. Thanks to Alex, Christine, and Chris for inviting us into Zeta Recording Studios to see the whole thing unfold.

-T

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Original airdate: 06.05.07 at 5:30pm

Gang Unit

2007-06-07T17:28:00.000-04:00

I know I know, it's been weeks since I've posted. But I'm finally back at it and I promise I will post very frequently from here on out.
I'm posting one of the gang unit ride-along stories Lissa and I did. We shot them over the course of a couple weeks and they aired the end of last month. We had an amazing time learning so much from the unit. Thanks to Capt. Leo Eggert, Sgt. Rick Moreno, Officer Bill Noon, and the entire gang unit who kept us safe and made the whole thing look great.

-T

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Original airdate: 05.23.07 at 11pm

Lasik Surgery

2007-05-19T19:19:00.001-04:00

In case you missed it, I've posted the full package Sashem Brey and I did on Lasik Eye Surgery. I will warn you some of the video may be hard to watch. Eyeballs. I can do heart surgery, but eyeballs. Wow. Thanks to Dr. William Wiley, M.D. and everyone else who helped us out at Toledo Lasik.

-Todd

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Toledo Police Ride-Along

2007-05-14T23:58:00.000-04:00

Even though this was posted on the 13abc Photog Blog, I wanted to post it on my own because I really enjoyed it. Lissa and I learned so much from these guys. Thanks again to Jeremie Barclay and Rick Conti for being great teachers to us.

-Todd

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Update

2007-05-14T23:52:00.000-04:00

In case you're wondering where all the fun stories from Tony and me have gone, they've gone here. We decided to create a separate page to host the hijinks. Please let me know if anything seems fishy.

-T

Hail Yeah

2007-05-02T15:40:00.000-04:00

Man, I love to chase storms. I never considered myself to be one of those types who speeds toward something that can harm me, but I sure enjoyed it yesterday during the storm. Lissa Guyton and I were sent out to make friends with Mother Nature and we definitely came across some nasty stuff. We drove through super hard rain. You know, the rain that makes you use the highest setting on your windshield wipers even though it's useless. We also drove right through the heart of the hail storm. I pulled over and jumped out to get my camera as Lissa was yelling "Does it hurt? Does it hurt? It seems like that would hurt!" "Not too bad," I said. "It's just like someone's dumping marbles on your head." Anywho, here's a picture of a "piece" of hail. I didn't get a lot of video because the tornado sirens went off while I was out there and that meant we had to go find a funnel cloud. Didn't find one though.

-Todd

Mud Hens Opening Day

2007-04-14T13:09:00.000-04:00

Behind the scenes at Opening Day for the Mud Hens. I was operating "Camera 2" which was with Diane and Rob way back in center field. The weather was perfect. A little chilly, but not cold enough for them to lose!! As you can see, I was shooting into the sun so I periodically had to cover my lens hood with my hand. Sweet.

Kudos to Tony Geftos for the incredible still photo shots. Incredible.

Hip-Hop Math

2007-04-12T17:03:00.000-04:00

I've decided to post the story that won Kristian Brown and I a 2006 Telly Award. They have yet to post our names on the website but it'll give you an idea as to what they're about. Sometimes the "everyday stories" turn out to be the best ones. This story aired on September 19, 2006 at 5pm and then again at 11pm.
Please allow a few moments for video to load.

-Todd

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Biltmore Replica

2007-04-12T10:47:00.000-04:00

Here's the Biltmore story the way it aired on Monday, April 9th. This is a great house with so many things to see and I hope the Hoyts can sell it soon.
Please allow a few moments for video to load.

-Todd

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