Michele's Musings

My first blog on FOX-17!
I've had so much positive feedback about the Back Story reports since I started doing them 2 years ago. I've been able to meet so many great people, and have learned things about West Michigan that many of us never knew!
Each week with this blog, I'll be able to bring you more even information that we simply didn't have time for during the news.
And I'll be looking forward to hearing your ideas, so make sure you send them my way.
Thanks--
See you at 10 O'clock!
-Michele DeSelms

Last week, we featured Second Harvest Food Gleaners in our Back Story. The executive director, John Arnold, has been fighting to make West Michigan hunger-free for 25 years. Now, he's fighting a much more personal battle. A special Back Story tonight, about the fight of his life. You won't want to miss it.

I drink a lot of coffee. A LOT of coffee. Specifically, Starbucks coffee. (no offense intended to any other coffee chain or locally owned shop in town-- I just happen to like Starbucks).
Every night when I head back to work from my dinner break, I hit the drive thru window, and get two coffees: one for myself, one for our Executive Producer Chris Pantaleo. (Grande Iced Latte for him, Tall iced non-fat no-whip mocha for me.)
We've never figured out how much money we spend on coffee each month.. and decided it was time to find out. So we launched "Drinko de Mayo". Each day, we write down how much we spend on coffee.. then we'll tally it up at the end of the month. I would have guessed that I spend about 50-dollars... but it's going to be a lot higher than that!
We'll let you know the final totals, and if it changes our coffee drinking habits!
-Michele

Michigan's Film Incentives are working!
Since the state passed the film incentives package, 15 producers have signed up to shoot their movies here! Filmmakers get a tax rebate up to 40-percent, plus an extra 2-percent if they shoot their film in a 'core' city. (Like Grand Rapids).
Here's the thing: right now, only two of those movies are being shot in West Michigan. This side of the state has a lot to offer in terms of scenery. The production scouts who come to town have loved the streets and buildings of downtown, the character of the smaller neighborhoods, and Lake Michigan. But in terms of workers-- Detroit has hundreds of people who are already trained to work as crew members and they're ready to go. We don't. YET. But one production studio is trying to change that! TicTock studios in Holland has teamed up with GRCC to train people in crew work. Here's a link to the website: www.tictockstudios.com
If you're interested, check it out!
And be sure to check back in a few weeks for more information about the Waterfront Film Festival! I've got some great inside scoop that you won't find anywhere else...
Have a great weekend, and let me know what you're up to!
-Michele

I got a sneak peak at the new Indiana Jones movie this morning: Sports Director Brent Ashcroft, Producer Chris Pantaleo and I LOVED IT. No spoilers here-- but if you are a fan of the other films, you'll love it too. (but the bugs, Steven Spielberg. Why the bugs?)
Here's something fun: There was actually a quote in this movie from another movie. And since Chris and I are big movie-quoters, we laughed out loud because it's one of our favorites.
Chris and I can turn almost any conversation into a movie quote. Example: If someone's talking about a baby, we'll say "Always watching. Smiling. Judging. Look at the baby- look at the baby'. (OLD SCHOOL) Or: "baby fish-mouth. baby fish-mouth'. (WHEN HARRY MET SALLY).
And yes-- we know it's annoying to other people. We don't care-- it makes us laugh.
We actually went to Chicago and auditioned for VH1's 'World Series of Pop Culture" because we love movies and television and music. (we didn't make it-- he blames me).
Here are a few more of our favorites:
"You stole fizzy lifting drinks!" (WILLY WONKA)
"Spread me up one of them baloney sandwiches" (COAL MINER'S DAUGHTER)
"I'm sorry I had to fight in the middle of your Blank Panther party" (FORREST GUMP).
" I said grave danger?, you said 'is there any other kind?" (A FEW GOOD MEN)
We have way too many to list here--
Now I want to know YOUR favorites!
Drop me a note and let me know :)
See you at 10!
-Michele

As most of you know, I love American Idol. Loved it since day one. There's just something about watching the contestants evolve from that first audition and watching them through the season that really appeals to me. And I appreciate the vocal talents of so many of the singers.
But once the show is over for the season, there are very few individual artists that I remember. And buy their records? Not very many. Kelly Clarkson, Chris Daughtry, Bo Bice, and Clay Aiken's Christmas CD. That's it. (I've even seen Daughtry twice this year, because he opened for Bon Jovi in Chicago and Las Vegas)
So this season, I have a great respect for Little David Archuleta's beautiful voice, but I can't see myself ever buying anything he puts out. David Cook? A different story- I can't wait for his CD.
I don't know who will win tonight-- and even though I think Cook deserves it, I sort of hope he DOESN'T win, just so he'll have more control over what material he puts on his record. And Archie seems so desperate to win, it will be sad if he doesn't get it!
And speaking of records: In my Back Story tonight, I'm focusing on how many American Idols have 'Gone Country'. There are more than you think, and they're all doing really well in their careers! Make sure you tune in after the season finale of Idol!
See you at 10-
Michele

My son Brandon was in third grade when we moved here in November of 1998.
This past Thursday, he graduated from Rockford High School.. one of 522 students in the Class of 2008.
I know I'm not alone in feeling a mix of pride and nostalgia.. excitement for his future, yet sadness that there's only a few months until he heads off to college. (He's going to Michigan State University).
The ceremony at the DeltaPlex was one in a million:
You know it's going to be an interesting night when the valedictorian starts her speech with "It's not my intention to offend anyone...." !
The rest of the weekend was filled with family and friends and a packed Open House that included classmates, teachers, neighbors and our Fox-17 family.
There are hundreds of you going through this same thing right now-- and I say congratulations to all the parents out there.. and especially to the graduates. Turn the tassel, and remember:
"Wherever you go, go with all your heart". ~Confucius
Brandon, Chas, Tommy, Collin, Chris, Pat

Thursday's helicopter crash on the roof of Spectrum Hospital was one of the biggest breaking news stories we've had in Grand Rapids in quite some time. When something like this happens, the Fox-17 newsroom kicks into high gear-- it's a true team effort to cover a story as big as this.
11:00am is typically a pretty slow time in our newsroom. The morning show crew is wrapped up, the dayside reporters and photographers are out on their assignments, and the afternoon group hasn't come to work yet. I usually get there in the afternoon, but just happened to be there early Thursday, to shoot next week's Back Story.
I was sitting at my desk when I heard the female voice on the police scanner say "helicopter down at Spectrum". I looked up at Chris Koops, our Assignment Desk Manager, who stood up, turned up the volume on the scanner, just as she repeated what we had both just heard. Koops yelled "Tim!" (our News Director Tim Dye) who ran out of his office,and told him to start getting people in to the station, then looked at me and said, "let's get on TV".
I headed to the studio, while our engineers punched up our tower camera that showed the heavy black smoke pouring from the wreckage on top of the hospital. Within minutes, we were on the air, showing the scene as I talked over it, describing what had happened-- but very few details were available.
Koops was scrambling: he had to monitor the scanners, send crews to the scene, and call people at home to get them to the station ASAP. (he's amazing- most of us would lose our minds if we had to do what he does).
Meteorologist Jon Shaner was running hand-written notes into the studio with any information he could get to me. (at one point he said "I'm so glad you're here, otherwise they'd stick me on the anchor desk!")
Exec. producer Chris Pantaleo was the first one at the station (along with his parents, who happen to be visiting from Detroit!). As soon as I heard his voice in my ear, I thought, "okay, Pants is here, things are under control". We were getting more information by the minute, but in these situations, it's tricky to sort out what's been confirmed by officials, and what witnesses are saying. I did a live phone interview with a father who was on the 8th floor when the chopper crashed-- his daughter was being treated there.And that's when I realized that the top floors of the building where the heli-pad is located is DeVos Children's Hospital's Pediatric critical care unit! Can you imagine being a parent of a sick child, and have this added to it?
Theresa Rashid was our first reporter on the scene, and called-in a live report over the phone. That's when we learned that the pilot and the FAA official had survived the crash-- a miracle.
During this time (all in about an hour) the rest of the news crew had been called in: Carl Apple (who was in Ottawa County on a different story and saw the black smoke) was now on the scene... Lisa LaPlante and Dan Krauth were sent downtown as soon as they got in.
It was truly 'all hands on deck', and the newsroom was buzzing. Christian came in (on his day off) -- he and I did another hour of live cut-ins, then everyone re-grouped with a meeting to decide 'who' was doing 'what report' for the 10 o'clock news.
That's when we had a breather, and each person had their own story to tell about that morning: Mike Avery was at the gym, saw the live pictures on a TV monitor, called the station, and all Koops said was "get in here!!" and hung up. The voicemail messages from Koops were pretty funny... and one producer's story about how he broke all kinds of records (and laws!) driving to the station was hilarious. ( as for me-- I'm not exactly known for being on time for work, so the fact that I was already in the station was a huge bonus!)
In all-- the situation that at first looked so devastating, and could have been so tragic, turned out better than anyone could have hoped. Our police and fire crews were so quick to respond, and everything was under control so quickly-- what a test for the city of Grand Rapids!
And a test for us, too, as we were able to cover this from all angles, letting people know what happened, and what they needed to know about getting around downtown.
The story isn't over yet-- and of course we'll bring you all the information at 10:00 and on our morning show.
Just thought you'd want to know what goes on behind the scenes when something like this happens.
-Michele