Keith Bilbrey Out At WSM Nashville

Sorry to hear about his exit, loved his style on the air.

From The Tennessean newspaper

After 34 years with the company, WSM air personality Keith Bilbrey has been relieved of his duties.
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Keith will no longer be on the air, and will no longer serve as a Grand Ole Opry announcer.

“The station assured him he had done nothing to provoke this, it was that they are doing away with the midday show… it will be strictly voice tracked,” wrote Bilbrey’s wife, Emy-Joe Bellenfant-Bilbrey, in an email to music industry friends and associates.

Florida Woman Calls 911 Three Times About Running Out Of McNuggets

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A Florida woman called 911 three times after she paid for a 10-piece Chicken McNuggets at a McDonald's but the fast-food restaurant ran out of them and refused to give her a refund.

Latreasa L. Goodman, 27, made the calls after she tried to get her money back from a Fort Pierce McDonald's and the cashier told her all sales were final. Police released the 911 tapes.

"This is an emergency. If I would have known they didn't have McNuggets, I wouldn't have given my money, and now she wants to give me a McDouble, but I don't want one," police quoted her as saying. "This is an emergency."

The cashier suggested she choose something else off the menu of equal value to the McNuggets, and offered the restaurant's cheeseburger called the McDouble.

"She's trying to force me to eat something off the menu and I don't want it," Goodman told 911.

The first dispatcher, a woman, asks if there's a manager there, but listens to Goodman's complaints and says she's sending someone.

The second, male dispatcher tells her he's aware of the incident and "we've got an officer coming out there to talk to you."

Police say Goodman was cited on a misuse of 911 charge. A current phone listing for Goodman couldn't be found.

A McDonald's spokesman said Goodman should have been given a refund, and she's being sent a gift card for a free meal.

Stranger Hits Dead Man At His Funeral

Stranger Hits Dead Man:Officials Release Report and Tickets | wltx.com

Laurens County (The Greenville News) - Tammy Fausel said that she and her family were shocked at what happened during her uncle's funeral in Gray Court.

A Candler, N.C., woman danced in front of the service, waved a wand around the casket, opened the lid, laid her hands on the deceased's head and struck the body with a wand, according to an incident report from the Laurens County Sheriff's Office.

Nicole Marie Loretta Leonard, 25, has been charged with disturbing a funeral and public disorderly conduct in Tuesday's incident, according to tickets.

Fausel said she had never before seen the woman and had no idea why she would've been at funeral at Church of God on State 14.

"Everybody was just kind of flabbergasted," she said. "They didn't know what was going on."

The woman took flowers from the top of the casket and threw them at the family before leaving in a burgundy Toyota, according to the report.

Fausel said she called the Sheriff's Office.

A lieutenant intercepted a burgundy Toyota Corolla heading south on Interstate 385, according to the incident report.

When deputies asked the woman why she acted the way she did, the woman said "she felt that it was the right thing to do at the time," according to the report. The woman told deputies she knew no one at the church, according to the report.

Fausel said the deceased's immediate family was in another room at the time of the incident and didn't witness it.

Leonard, of 117 Davis Creek, was released from the Johnson Detention Center Wednesday, according to jail officials and tickets.

More Snow Pictures

A few more of the snow pictures that I took on Monday (Feb 23)

Why Hair Goes Gray

Study Blames a Chain Reaction That Makes Hair Bleach Itself From the Inside Out

By Miranda Hitti
WebMD Health News
Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD

Feb. 25, 2009 -- Scientists may have figured out why hair turns gray, and their finding may open the door to new anti-graying strategies.

New research shows that hair turns gray as a result of a chemical chain reaction that causes hair to bleach itself from the inside out.

The process starts when there is a dip in levels of an enzyme called catalase. That catalase shortfall means that the hydrogen peroxide that naturally occurs in hair can't be broken down. So hydrogen peroxide builds up in the hair, and because other enzymes that would repair hydrogen peroxide's damage are also in short supply, the hair goes gray.

Putting the brakes on that chemical chain reaction "could have great implications in the hair graying scenario in humans," write the researchers, who included Karin Schallreuter, a professor clinical and experimental dermatology at England's University of Bradford.

The study appears online in The FASEB Journal; the FASEB is the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology.

Broadcast Icon Paul Harvey Passes Away Saturday

58-year broadcast veteran, Paul Harvey, has passed away.

Reports are the-90-year old broadcast legend died surrounded by family at a hospital in Phoenix.


One of the most recognized voices and a fixture in American broadcasting for more than 50 years, passed away Saturday in Phoenix.

ABC Radio Networks announced that Paul Harvey was surrounded by his family at a hospital near where he had a winter home. No cause of death was announced according to the Associated Press.

Harvey had not only been aired locally on 1450 WATA over the years, but had been heard nationally since 1951.

"Stand by for news!" reached 24 million listeners at the peak of Harvey's career according to AP, as the broadcast was carried by more than 1,200 radio stations.

"The Rest Of The Story" began hitting the airwaves in 1976.

Harvey's wife Angel, also a Radio Hall of Fame member, passed away in May 2008.

ABC Radio Network's President, James Robinson, released the following statement Saturday:

"Paul Harvey was one of the most gifted and beloved broadcasters in our nation’s history. As he delivered the news each day with his own unique style and commentary, his voice became a trusted friend in American households. His career in radio spanned more than seven decades, during which time countless millions of listeners were both informed and entertained by his “News & Comment” and “Rest of the Story” features. Even after the passing of his loving wife Angel in May 2008, Paul would not slip quietly into retirement as he continued to take the microphone and reach out to his audience. We will miss our dear friend tremendously and are grateful for the many years we were so fortunate to have known him. Our thoughts and prayers are now with his son Paul Jr. and the rest of the Harvey family."

Paul Harvey's son, Paul Harvey Jr., also released a statement Saturday. Harvey Jr. said:

"My father and mother created from thin air what one day became radio and television news. So in the past year, an industry has lost its godparents and today millions have lost a friend."

To Get In The Snow Mood

With our forecast in the High Country calling for snow this weekend I thought this would be the perfect time to share pictures that I took on Monday Feb 23 during our last snow event. You can click on the pics for a larger view.

NC Ski Resorts Want To Limit Lawsuits

From Asheville Citizen-Times reporter Jordan Schrader

Legislation filed at the behest of North Carolina's mountain ski resorts would limit their liability to lawsuits filed by injured skiers.

Under a bill filed Thursday, skiers would assume responsibility for collisions with trees or snowmaking equipment or accidents due to bare spots or terrain variations.

I wrote about this idea last year when Sen. Steve Goss was pushing for it. (Here's a link to the site of a group that posted that story. It's expired on our site.)

This year, Reps. Cullie Tarleton, Bruce Goforth, Phil Frye and Ray Rapp are on board.

Wilkes County's NASCAR track gets new life..for now.

*Winston-Salem Journal*

Published: February 26, 2009

NORTH WILKESBORO

A developer has signed a short-term lease with the owner of North Wilkesboro Speedway and has plans to start a new racing series and reality show there.

Charles Collins, who says that he is a 43-year-old Georgia native and developer, has set up an office at the speedway and has keys for the locks.

During a tour yesterday, Collins said he has a short-term lease with Bruton Smith, the billionaire owner of the speedway.

"Yes, sir, I believe he does," Smith said in a telephone interview. Smith said he didn't know details of Collins' plans, but that the lease is for about three months.

The speedway is still for sale for $12 million to "whoever comes with the money first," Smith said.

Collins says he plans to produce a reality racing show there called Women So U Think U Can Race? He also said he plans to start a racing series for women called the AWESOME Racing Series. AWESOME stands for for All Women Stockcar Oval Motorsports Event.

"We're seeking women that want to go bumper to bumper," he said.

Collins said he hopes to start production of the show at the speedway in March or April and to have ticketed events for the public. He also plans to promote concerts there, he said.

Burned in the past by people who have announced pie-in-the-sky plans to buy and revitalize the North Wilkesboro Speedway but never did, officials in Wilkes County don't know quite what to make of the latest prospect.

Linda Cheek, the president of the Wilkes County Chamber of Commerce and the point person for the county's Blue Ridge National Heritage Area's priority initiative to revamp the speedway, said she doesn't know what to think. She has heard a lot of people talking about Collins but has never spoken to him.

"I don't know if he's for real or not," she said.

Don Alexander, the director of the Wilkes Economic Development Corp., wouldn't answer any questions about Collins but issued a two-sentence statement that was approved by the county attorney.

"Mr. Collins has informed the Wilkes Economic Development Corporation of his plans for the North Wilkesboro Speedway, and has continually updated our office with regard to his efforts and progress," the statement said. "His vision for the North Wilkesboro Speedway, if realized, would be a very major development for Wilkes County, one which would have a significant and positive impact on the economy here."

Collins, who said he has been working on the project for the past year and has been in town for about four months, wouldn't say exactly where he had come from. He wouldn't answer specific questions about his past experience but said that he is a property developer who has built houses and had done some shopping-center renovations.

He talked about needing sponsors for the new efforts.

He said he can understand why people are skeptical about plans for the speedway.

"They had so many people come in and say, ‘We're going to do this,' and ‘I got a dream,'" he said. "I'm a reality man. I work to make it happen. I push to make it happen and don't give up. I'm a seeker for success. I can make it work."

He said he hopes to eventually buy the speedway.

In a 2002 interview, Smith said that the track is worn out and needs to be repaved, and that there are sewer problems there. Yesterday, Smith said that for what Collins is going to do right now, those improvements won't be necessary.

Collins said that the track is still in good shape. He said that the sewer is fine, and they can use portable toilets until eventually bringing in a main sewer line.

"I got big plans for this place, and that's about as far as I'm going to go," Collins said. "We're getting ready to crank this place up."

What does Duke's Nolan Smith and the movie Friday have in common?

To quote the most famous line from the movie Friday "You just got knocked the **** out!". It however was a legal screen.

Colleges Warning Spring Breakers About Mexica

*from Asheville Citzen Times*

The U.S. State Department and universities around the country are warning college students headed for Mexico for some spring-break partying of a surge in drug-related murder and mayhem south of the border.

“We're not necessarily telling students not to go, but we're going to certainly alert them,” said Tom Dougan, vice president for student affairs at the University of Rhode Island. “There have been Americans kidnapped, and if you go, you need to be very aware and very alert to this fact.”

More than 100,000 high school- and college-age Americans travel to Mexican resort areas during spring break each year. Much of the drug violence is happening in border towns, and tourists have generally not been targeted, though there have been killings in the big spring-break resorts of Acapulco and Cancun, well away from the border.

At Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, it's standard operating procedure to advise students to use caution wherever they go during spring break, whether it's home, to the beach, out of the country or on an alternative spring break service-learning activity, Jane Adams-Dunford, WCU's assistant vice chancellor for student affairs, wrote in an e-mail.

WCU's spring break is next week.