Investigating NEPA

This weekend, I am thinking of my friend Drew Speier, the former WBRE anchor who is now the main anchor and news director of a station in Corpus Christi, Texas.   As I write this, he’s likely been up all night, in wall-to-wall coverage of Hurricane Harvey which slammed into the Texas coast.   And his photographers and reporters in the field are running on adrenaline and caffeine getting their first look at the damage as the sun rises.   There is devastation, there have been deaths, and there will be incredible stories of survival, and stories of foolish risks that people take, i.e. hurricane parties, where people were lucky to survive.   I’ve been there, having covered several hurricanes during my time in Tampa, and in New Bern, NC.   And there was a big difference, not in geography but in stage of career.   In North Carolina, most of us covering hurricanes were inexperience, and quite frankly, taking risks that might get us the kinds of stories that we could put on tape

  THANK YOU TOBY FITCH !         Judge Milton "Toby" Fitch   I’m headed to work and thinking of my friend Toby Fitch today.   He is now a Judge in Wilson, NC but when I worked in that area, he was a lawyer, and civil rights activist.   There was a Klan Rally in Wilson, in 1989, and about 30 KKK members showed up.   About 100 counter protesters showed up, and the situation was intense.   In fact, this was the most nervous I ever felt about my safety as a few rocks and bottles flew.  Luckily there were enough police at the scene. Mr. Fitch was the best known of the counter-protesters, and I asked him, why bother showing up; after all the KKK members even then were discredited, and fringe players at best.   He responded that he was offended that the Klan thought his hometown of Wilson, would be a suitable place to spread its message of hate, and recruit new members.  Toby Fitch would not consider staying home at a time like this.