After retiring from my television broadcaster career at KPIC, I am now working full time for my production company and a sports website, DouglasCountySportsOnline.com. The website is something I've been working on for many years and the time seemed right to launch it coinciding with the start of the fall football season.

I've brought Brent Newton on board to serve as the lead sportscaster for internet radio broadcasts at the site, while I take care of the video work and daily operations. Brent was the News & Sports Director at Brooke Communications from 1997-2002 where he was the voice of the Roseburg Indians.

You can read the official press release below:

New Website Highlights Local Sports

Local sports coverage in Douglas County is growing thanks to a new website that launched Monday.

DouglasCountySportsOnline.com is a comprehensive online destination for local athletics. Sports fans can tune in to live internet radio broadcasts featuring local teams brought to you by experienced radio broadcasters. Other site features include exclusive highlights and feature videos right from the website, produced by television sports professionals.

One of the regular video specials is the Thurman Bell Show, a sit-down chat with Roseburg High School's legendary head football coach.

"We also have written features including Athlete Spotlight, where we highlight local athletes and their accomplishments, both on and off the field," DCSO Founder Jason Hink said. "DC Greats is another special feature where we take a look at former figures in the local sports scene and tell fans what they're up to today."

Douglas County Sports Online boasts the most comprehensive directory of team schedules for each sport and every varsity team. From the largest school to the smallest, users can view team schedules from football to swimming and everything in between. All 16 high schools are represented, as well as Umpqua Community College, spring semi-pro football and summer legion baseball.

"The site has league standings for every conference that local teams compete in," DCSO Lead Sportscaster Brent Newton said. "The best thing is everything can be accessed 24 hours a day, seven days a week."

The website went live August 25. The first internet radio broadcast will be a live stream from Phoenix High School, with the Pirates hosting the Douglas Trojans in the football season opener for both schools. Former local sportscaster Brent Newton will have the call. Hink is also a local sports veteran, having worked eight years at KPIC Television.

"We hatched this idea because we saw a lack of local sports coverage in the area," Hink said. "By going online, we're able to marry traditional media with the internet to enhance the local sports experience."

As of Friday, July 18, 2008, I will no longer be at KPIC Television in Roseburg, Oregon. I have decided to move on and I have exciting opportunities I am pursuing in the near future in media and entertainment. Stay tuned to this blog as I hope to keep you posted on what I'm doing.

I have enjoyed an exciting eight years at KPIC, working most of those years as a news and sports anchor and reporter. Only News Director Dan Bain remains from the original team that I worked with beginning in June 2000. The other reporters at the time included seasoned veteran Tami Sanders, who had previously won two Emmy awards for her work in Salt Lake City; video reporter Lee Carter; tenacious Mary Brandenberger, who eventually worked at KVAL in Eugene and several other stations before returning to her native Arizona; and Bain, who has anchored the evening news at KPIC since 1992.

It was tough in the beginning, having come from a radio background and knowing nothing about the visual aspect of journalism. Over the past eight years I've honed my skills in reporting and anchoring, video production, and control room duties where I eventually directed newscasts behind the scenes. It has been quite a rollercoaster ride and I never stopped learning.

I left the airwaves in April 2007 to concentrate on other aspects of the broadcast industry. I spent six months working as an Account Executive, promoting the station to potential clients, many of whom eventually purchased advertising on our station. For the final four months I worked in the Commercial Production Department, learning even more video production skills and techniques. These skills taught me a lot about cinema-style production and will be valuable in my future endeavors.


My final team photo, with Dan Bain, Melva Mackey, myself, & Sara Desautel in 2006

I'd like to thank the countless news journalists who made KPIC a stop on their career journey and shared with me their insights and knowledge. In addition to those mentioned above, there were several others that I had a great time working with and getting to know: Jill Ryan, Jeanny Lee, Melva Mackey, Brook Roberts, Brandi Smith, Sophie Soong, Scott Littlejohn, Meghan Kalkstein, Sara Desautel, Megan Sweeney and Lindsey Kovacevich. I am sure there are others that escape my mind at the moment, but I learned from everyone and I consider all of these people friends. If those of you mentioned ever visit my page, shoot me an email and let me know what you're up to.

But now on to other things. I hope to tell you about what I'm working on now in the next month or so. I hope you'll stick around and check back soon!

You know the feeling. You've just sat down in front of your computer and whittled away for 10 minutes at an email for a friend or coworker. You finally finish it. You take a quick peek over it again to omit glaring mistakes and you hit the 'send' button.

Then ... the hour glass.

And it never goes away.

For whatever reason, the email never makes it to its destination. All that work for nothing. I've learned to copy my text while typing a lengthy message just in case I lose it in such a misfired transfer. But what is the reason for these lost emails?

According to new research conducted by computer science students and staff at the University of Washington, so called "black holes" exist on the net that virtually gobble up emails. UW graduate student Ethan Katz-Bassett conducted the the study with his advisor. His team looks for black holes and posts a map with hot spots around the world. They hope this will help Internet service providers improve their networks.

I found this interesting and you might too. The entire article is published at LiveScience.com and you can find it here.

This is a video clip of the preview story on the Class 2A Yoncalla Eagles of Oregon's Mountain View Conference in high school football. The story originally aired on KPIC Television in September 2007.




How many DVDs do you own?

This is a video clip of the preview story on the Class 2A North Douglas Warrirs of Oregon's Mountain View Conference in high school football. The story originally aired on KPIC Television in September 2007.




How many DVDs do you own?

This is a video clip of the preview story on the Class 2A Glendale Pirates of Oregon's Mountain View Conference in high school football. The story originally aired on KPIC Television in September 2007.




How many DVDs do you own?