Holidays are usually hoppin' news days!

The news does not stop just because it is a holiday and folks want to relax, grill some dogs, and watch the fireworks paint the night sky!

These are the kind of days which bring about mischief, trouble, and unfortunately, oftentimes, tragedy.

I worked Independence Day! The Indians were out of town so I never requested the day off.

But holidays usually buzz by because they are so busy! I love them!

Today we were at the very bare minimum staff wise. All Managers were off. And the only portion of the building occupied was the newsroom and engineering.

It was actually great. No chance for major miscommunication or stuff left to fall through the cracks because there was hardly anyone to communicate with and a handful of folks doing all the work. However, we kicked a little booty!

The work never let up. It felt great to make good tv!

For me, my day consisted of wearing multiple hats (which is not really anything new for an assignment editor). Obviously my main job is to run the desk and everything that entails. However, today, at least while I was in, there were no web folks either so it was my duty to not only update the web with the latest copy stories and pictures but to put on the main video and weather segments from our local news shows. It was great! I have to be honest, that is the bulk of what I did. When you focus on one major task, the others are bound to suffer, but fortunately, I was able to juggle the breaking news, the desk, the information gathering, and the web stuff! It's very gratifying at the end of the day, especially a day such as this, to look back and see what a huge contribution was made!

The Channel 3 Complex is a great place to view the fireworks. However, being alone on the desk, I could not even sneak out to catch any of the show. And we have plenty of visitors on these nights. Employees bring their families down to view the fireworks and usually give the nickel tour before or after the fireworks mania! We had a huge tour in studio actually DURING the 11pm news show. Quite the wild night!

The day was sprinkled with good news such as all of the great parades and memorials and remembrances to honor America.....as well as the annual hot dog eating contests!

And though most of the fireworks shows, at least to our knowledge up til now, went off without a hitch, there was some tragedy that painted the day. Akron was a hotbed for news this Independence Day. They had an overnight fireworks accident injuring a young man. Then they had an awful gas station murder. And back here, we had an early morning fatal fire which appears to be a homicide and a small child struck by a vehicle with the vehicle fleeing the scene...

As you can see, the news does not stop for anyone or anything, even our founding fathers and Uncle Sam...

I hope you and yours had a fun-filled and very safe Independence Day 2008!