Death, violence, and deep voices .. that pretty much sums it up ..

Some days the news business brings joy .. and other days it's all about the crime.

Want my job? Consider this:

In just one hour's time .. I interviewed a local minister about a program to get guns off the streets of Akron, got video and interviews surrounding two masked gunmen who got busted by a motivated drive-thru patron, and then saw the body of a local man in the snow of a Triplett Boulevard backyard.

Meanwhile, I was monitoring police scanner traffic of two separate-yet-violent school attacks. A teacher apparently got hit in the face by a student at one Akron High School, while across town, students were in a melee at another Akron High School to the point of being pepper-sprayed. That was followed by the officer asking dispatch to "please send a supervisor out here to the school." That's usually a sign that things have gotten out of hand.

Was there a full moon today or something?

While we froze to get the video, the body didn't make the cut tonight at 6 because there's too much uncertainty surrounding the circumstances of the death. Also, with heavy snow up north and Brady Quinn's finger, we're running out of room on the newscasts.

Meanwhile, I also needed to get some man-on-the-street (MOS) interviews for Tom Beres as part of his weekly "Between The Lines" political show that airs on Sundays on Channel 3. He wanted to include Akron viewers weighing in on a former Akron Councilman who is trying to recall Mayor Plusquellic. Wouldn't you know it .. we got two interviews (one for and one against) and then the camera died in the cold weather outside the post office.

Back at the office it seems my phone was a magnet for my sources. Seems everyone who tips me off to things was calling me at once today.

Thanks for all the tips guys .. but I can't be in 12 places at once.

Oh . .and my email stopped working two hours ago so I don't know how many "reasons to vote against Issue 8" emails will still trickle in ... seems a great many of you like to forward them around town.

Ahhhh the joys of being a news reporter ... guns, bodies, violence and deep throat tips ... and snow of course. Always lots of snow.