I got a shock when I handed over my driver’s license to election officials this morning, only to find out I had already voted.

Except I hadn’t.

My wife did vote by absentee ballot and someone working for the court wrote the information for my wife, next to my name.

That’s when was sent to the corner to enter the World of the Provisional Ballot.

I had to give information dating back to where I was born (I was tempted to write “next to my mother”, but didn’t), when I was born, etc., then seal that in an envelope, and seal that envelope in another envelope before inserting my now, double-sealed ballot in a yellow cardboard box with a slit in the side.

But at least I did get a lot of personal attention and an “I Voted!” sticker.

I just watched a young man die.

A number of reporters and photographers gathered at the Mobile County Sheriff’s office to watch the silent, surveillance video of the last few moments of Gil Collar’s life, the USA student who was shot and killed by a campus police officer.

According to the time code on the video we saw, at 1:23:15, Collar, who was naked, walked up to the front door of the USA Campus Police station.  He pulled on the locked door and then walked out of frame.

At 1:23:38 he is back in frame, pounding at least 6 times on the window on the front of the police station.

At 1:24:01, an officer comes out of the door of the police station, weapon drawn, looking left and right and seeing Collar in front of him.

Collar started chasing after the officer, forcing him to run backward.  Collar drops onto his knees at one point, and quickly moves toward the officer, apparently taunting him.

They run around the front of the police station to a grassy area and that’s where you can see Collar drop to his knees.  Sheriff Sam Cochran, who was narrating some of the video explained that was the point where Collar was hit by one shot.  I did not see any flash accompanying the shot.

A dispatcher who was inside the police station rushes out, sees what it happening and runs back inside.

A second officer arrives.  Collar gets up and starts running again.  He then runs away from the officers, falls to his knees again, tries to get up, then collapses at 1:25:05 on the tape.

A third officer arrives after Collar is down.

You can watch my report by clicking here.

These are some of my favorite pictures from Bayfest 2012 (thanks to a great photographer, Kyle Claude!)

The Southwest Alabama Workforce Development Council sponsored “Worlds of Opportunity” for Mobile County eighth graders at the Mobile Civic Center.  It gave students a chance to choose from a buffet of businesses to see what interested them.  Matt Barrentine and I signed a lot of hard hats!

We get a lot of e-mails addressed to our newsroom, but one in particular caught my eye and tugged at my heart.

It was from the VFW in northwest Florida, looking for some publicity about its “Voice of Democracy” and ‘The Patriot’s Pen” essay programs.

I can honestly say if it hadn’t been for the encouragement of my parents and some kind words from some folks at a local radio station, I might have done something completely different with my life.

My dad was a World War II veteran who served in the 94th Division and was a member of VFW Post 511 in my hometown.  When he heard his Post was sponsoring its “Voice of Democracy” oratory contest for high school students, he encouraged me to enter, so I did.

Part of the competition involved the contestants making a professional recording of our speeches on an afternoon after school.  For that, all of us visited a small radio station on the edge of town.  In my case it was WRYM 840AM.  It was in a tiny brick building set in a swamp.  I remember going down into the basement, sitting in a soundproof booth and watching as an engineer gave me a cue to start talking.  I recorded my short speech in one take as I remember, and when I came out, the engineer asked me if I had ever considered a career in radio.  At that age, I hadn’t considered a career in anything, but it sounded like fun.  He gave us a quick tour of the studios and I was fascinated by the AP Teletype machine, a kind of automated typewriter that banged out the news, letter by letter.  As we were watching, bells started ringing from the machine, and I watched as it printed the news that a long retired baseball player had just died.  I was watching news as it happened.  I was hooked!

Recording the speeches allowed them to be judged on their merit, and while I didn’t win, let’s say I finished in the top 3, enough to receive a Savings Bond and a certificate presented by Senator Thomas Dodd (the father of former Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd), who autographed the certificate for me.  I remember him laughing at how much I was smiling on the way to the front of the auditorium.

Seeing that e-mail today brought back many pleasant memories of my first, big break, thanks to the VFW.

This morning, I asked Sue Sperry of AT&T about the availability of cell phone service and home phone service for U-Verse customers should our part of the Gulf Coast lose power. (I remember after a past storm, cell phone service died about 24 hours after the main power did).

This is some what she sent in reply:

“We should not lose power to cell sites – most are on generators, which have been topped off, and we have a staging area in Mobile where we will have tankers brought in to refuel any sites that get low.

· All sites have additional battery backup as well.

· The issue with wireless service is when everyone is trying to make calls, and the towers can’t handle that amount of traffic. Best bet is to plan in advance where everyone will be, use text messaging because it uses much less bandwith, and limit calls to necessary ones. During the height of the storm, we all need to help keep the system open so that first responders can get through.

· U-verse uses the landline system to connect to the video hub, so U-verse customers will be fine as long as they have power and there isn’t damage to the landline system. HOWEVER high winds can destroy aerial cables, and that can cause a service outage.”

(more…)

Should Isaac come our way, we want to see your pictures and videos! You can e-mail them to reportit@fox10tv.com, and we’ll use them on the air or on the web.

Some things to remember:

• Safety first. Don’t step outside to get a better shot if there’s a chance you could be in danger (don’t laugh; I have to remind myself of this rule, too
• When you take your picture or shoot video, think “landscape” not “portrait”. To make it easier, think of how an HD screen looks. It’s wider than it is tall. Your pictures will look better on TV and the web.
• When it comes to video, record what we call, “natural sound”. Let us hear what you’re hearing.
• Let us know roughly where you are and when you took it. Put it in the note that goes along with video or picture. “Looking south over Mobile Bay” would be a good example.
• If you’re sending video, shoot for no more than 30 seconds at a time if you can. Long video clips may get compressed (and look bad) or may be too large to be sent over wireless networks.
• Don’t move the camera much, and if you do move, move slowly and smoothly.

The FOX10 News Stormtracker Radar Center will be busy this weekend as our team of meterologists keeps an eye on Isaac.

Whether it’s a tropical storm or a hurricane, we’ll make sure you’re in the loop through tweets, Facebook posts, stories on the web and on Fox 10.  I’ve been doing double duty as a photographer, shooting video updates on my iPhone with Jason between newscasts and posting them on Facebook and Twitter.

We all hope the storm just disappears, but if it doesn’t, we’ll be ready to do our part to keep you and your family safe.

Every week is a full one, but next week will overflow!

In addition to everything I do during a normal week, I’ll be back at Spring Hill College for another semester teaching one course in Multimedia Journalism.  My classroom is a hot-tech dream, complete with a touch-screen that controls the DVD, video projector and other electronics.  I’ve been returning to SHC, more or less every year since 1986.  Over the years, at least 13 former students have graduated and become co-workers at FOX 10!

No semester is ever the same as the last.  There is always something new to teach, whether it’s adjusting to the transition from tape to disk or watching local radio news slowly fade away while web news becomes more important.  As always, the bedrock is writing.

As always, I’m trying to become the first adjunct instructor to get tenure.  Then take a sabbatical

I’ll also be leading some in-house training here at FOX10 on writing for the web, which certainly isn’t like writing for print or even TV.

A busy week ahead…

If you’d like a look at London, here’s a street-level view captured a week ago:

And if you like air shows, here’s a look at some of the action from Farnborough on the first day of the trade show, which was not open to the public.  You’ll see lots of planes and a sea of suits.