Being a photog again...if even for a day.

Every now and then I still get to fly in the chopper to shoot spot/breaking news. It's great to get away from the news desk for a few hours--especially lately. Rather than slowly losing my sanity as usual, I'm quickly losing it daily. While my job is far from mundane, it's stressful. I love being the 'go to' person, but it is frustrating and disheartening when I can't get certain things done due to lack of resources.

Anyway, here's some aerials I shot from Chopper 4 Tuesday of a plant explosion at Austin Powders in Vinton County. Eight people were injured, 4 were women and were transported by Med Flight to Columbus Hospitals. Luckily, there were no fatalities.

Austin Powders is a plant that makes explosive powders for mining.

Running the remote camera ball in 4TV.

4TV Pilot Keith Haney.

Disappointed In Our Judicial System

Brent Goode, the man charged with involuntary manslaughter after punching Nick Foss outside of Gaswerks Bar in the Arena District in April 2008, was sentenced Monday to 31 days in jail (which have already been served), 60 days under house arrest and 3 years probation. IF he violates probation he'll serve his full sentence of 4 years in prison. That full sentence was suspended by the Judge & he was given this lighter sentence.

Pictured: Nick Foss

I'll be blunt. I was outraged at this light sentence. I realize Goode punched a man outside of a bar thinking it was only a punch and not meaning to kill. However, you can't just go around punching people because, guess what...it can kill.

Also on Monday, I received this press release from the Delaware County Prosecutor's Office:

Man Sentenced For Punching, Injuring Sheriff K-9

A man found guilty last month of injuring a Delaware County Sheriff K-9 deputy by punching the dog several times in the face causing it to lose tooth was sentenced to

180 days in jail.

Jeffrey L. Metz was charged and convicted on one count failure to comply with order or signal of a police officer – a third degree felony, and one count assaulting a police dog – a fourth degree felony.

On Jan.15, Delaware County Sheriff deputies observed Metz driving over 90 miles per hour on U.S. 42N. When they attempted to pull Metz over, he continued to speed which turned into a high-speed chase. The conditions were snowy causing Metz to spin out and stop in a field.
Metz refused to listen to deputies’ orders to get out of his vehicle. After numerous commands, K-9 deputy Thor was sent in to the car to remove Metz. Metz punched Thor several times in the head and throat area breaking the K-9’s tooth.

Metz was also given five years community control

Do I have to point it out? Tell me you see the issue here.

* punch police dog hard enough to knock out teeth = 6 months in jail/prison.

* punch a human hard enough to kill him = 31 days in jail/prison.

Wha?! I'm flabbergasted.

Now, I'm an animal lover. In fact, I'm a volunteer on the board for Friends of the Shelter here in Columbus. I'm thrilled that Delaware County did not take their police dog being beaten lightly. I'm impressed that it was considered 'one of their own' being punched when Metz punched the police K-9. As far as I'm concerned, the crime is well deserving of the sentence.

What is unnerving is that a young man lost his life and the person responsible walks away a free man from the sentencing hearing. Is Franklin County too lenient? Are local judges purposefully keeping lower tier criminals from going to jail/prison due to the State of Ohio's massive budget shortfall? Perhaps Delaware County has decided to start setting examples for the rest of society scum by beefing up their criminal sentences to attract attention. All of these are viable and probable reasons.

Either way, I'm disappointed.

UPDATE: 3 Arrested After Baby Found Covered In Rat Bites

Currently, three people are in the Ross County jail awaiting court proceedings for child endangerment charges. Todd Trent, 18, Joseph Gunter,33 , and Tina Gunter,29.

I spoke with the Pike County Prosecutor, Rob Junk, about the incident Tuesday morning. Junk says their office & the deputies who found the child are all deeply disturbed by the case. He says the case has had a great impact on community officials and residents, as well. It has tugged at everyone's heart and has left most flabbergasted.

Junk shared that Trent is the live-in boyfriend of the baby girl's mother, who is 17-years-old.
Her name has not been released because she is a minor. The Gunter's are 'friends who were staying in the house during this time period' and mom hasn't been living at the home for a few weeks.

I asked how the Sheriff's Office came to find the child & Junk believes it was an anonymous tip call. When questioned about the child's condition, her mother and grandfather said they recently noticed blood and injuries on the baby's foot, but only recently. Prosecutor says the injuries obviously occurred over a matter of time. The 6-week-old was missing toes and the child was likely crying and screaming in pain for long periods. There is no possible way the 3 suspects in the home would not have heard the baby's cries. Keep in mind, this is a small trailer home.

Trent's sister spoke to NBC 4 in his defense, saying her brother was asleep and never heard the baby girl.

Horrible Local Child Endangering Case

This is absolutely disgusting.

Over the weekend, my coworker heard a MedFlight transfer from Pike County to Nationwide Children's Hospital here in Columbus of an infant suffering from multiple 'rat bites'...yes, as in the rodent.

This morning, the Pike County Sheriff's Office released this press release:

NEWS RELEASE

July 20, 2009

Sheriff Richard Henderson reports that his office is currently investigating the injury of a six week old infant that occurred during the early morning hours of July 19, 2009.

The incident occurred on Red Bridge Road in Western Pike County.The infant was transported to Children’s Hospital in Columbus for treatment where it is listed in stable condition.

Detectives responded to Children’s Hospital where they conferred with Doctors and interviewed family members. After interviews were conducted,
Doctor’s at Children’s determined that the infant’s injuries were consistent
with rodent bites and that the injuries occurred over a lengthy period of time.

The child suffered serious injuries to the left foot and back as well as
numerous bite marks to other parts of the body.

The investigation resulted in the arrest of Todd C. Trent, age 18 of 2209 Red Bridge Road, Peebles, Ohio. Trent was charged with the following charges:

#1. Child Endangering

#2. Obstructing Official Business

#3. Tampering with Evidence

Charges against other individuals may be identified pending further investigation.

Pike County Children’s Services were notified as well as the Pike County
Health Department to assist in this investigation.

Notice the release stated that 'the injuries occurred over a lengthy period of time'! I am completely disgusted that anyone would think it is OK to treat a human OR animal this way. Being 18 is NO excuse.

Your Credit Score Could Be Affected By Thrifty Shopping

I was horried to learn that some credit card companies were found to be tracking customers' purchases made in thrift shops or bargain stores as an example of the creditor having financial trouble. We aired the story this morning on NBC 4 and received the information from a national NBC story.

Here's the jist of the story:
A government probe of credit card companies found some were tracking spending specifically in thrift stores and other discount stores.

Creditors plan to use the information to determine if the card holder is in financial trouble, could be close to financial trouble, or is a credit risk.

If tagged as trouble, the credit card company will put additional limits on available credit and/or increase interest rates. This could negatively affect your credit score.

President Obama signed a new credit card law in May which is stricter on credit card companies and banks, but it doesn't take full effect until February 2010. http://www.reuters.com/article/wtUSInvestingNews/idUSTRE54J5U520090520

In the meantime, Consumer Credit Counselors are advising consumers to use plastic less for the time being (I know...that's much easier said than done).

This news is frightening to me because working class Americans are those who will be most negatively affected. Also, I shop at thrift shops--and I currently have good credit. I can afford to shop elsewhere, but enjoy deals and don't mind wearing others' used items (plus Target's overstock items are sold in Goodwill's, so it's like shopping at Target for half the price!). How dare I be black-marked because of where I shop.

Columbus Ranked In Top 5 Of America's Sports Towns

The many sports fans that live in and around Columbus, Ohio already know that it's one of the best towns for sports. We've got the exciting athletics of Ohio State U., especially football & OSU Men's & Women's basketball, the Columbus Crew (now holding the MLS championship title), the Cleveland Indians AAA ball team Columbus Clippers, OSU football, NHL team Columbus Blue Jackets, named the #1 sporting event experience, arena football team that (we hope) is on temporary hiatus the Columbus Destroyers and...did I forget to mention OSU football?!

Well, Columbus sports fans, those outside of Columbus have noticed our die-hard fanism. Men'sHealth Magazine has ranked Columbus, Ohio 5th in America's Top Sports Towns.

Check out the interactive map online. http://www.menshealth.com/metrogrades/09-july/sports.html

The rankings were based on statistical information of 7 categories:
Team Apparel - % purchased (Columbus ranked #1 in this category)
Season Tickets - % interested in purchasing
Baseball - % attendance at events
Basketball - % attendance at events
Football - % attendance at events
NASCAR - % attending

How other Ohio cities stacked up:
Cleveland ranked 81 overall.
Cincinnati ranked 69 overall.
Toledo ranked 44 overall.


http://www.menshealth.com/cda/article.do?category=metrogrades&channel=health&conitem=8fff6bd750602210VgnVCM10000030281eac____&site=MensHealth#