Our newsroom broke a couple of good stories this week. I played a role in both of them. In one story, Art Madrid, the Mayor of La Mesa, was found passed out and intoxicated on the street. In the other, the I team's Steve Atkinson reported the Red Cross paid for blocks of unused hotel rooms during the fires. At air time for the Red Cross story, I still hadn't gotten the dollars involved but it is considerable.


Both tips came by way of calls to my office. The hotel heads-up came from a brave and ethical individual in the industry who risked her career by coming to us. The mayor's story from a long-time source who has never burned me. This is how we do this stuff. Often it's a source who lives in my well-worn rolodex or it's a complete stranger.

In the Madrid story we were able to run down many of the angles in a relatively short period of time. The Red Cross story was one long intense week of putting all the elements together. The biggest worry for me was the size of the losses the National Red Cross experienced. Who cares about a couple rooms? But I was able to develop some wider contacts in the local hotel industry and was pretty comfortable that this was no minor screw-up.



I was uncomfortable with the drunken mayor story from the get-go and not because we didn't have a legitimate story with strong proof. The story had to go. And judging from the ongoing coverage from around the community, it was an important story. My problem is I personally like Art Madrid. I don't think the guy has a mean bone in his body. I was privy to some information on what happened to the mayor the night he ended up drunk before the story aired. I am not making excuses for the inexcusable but there are times in your life when bad things happen. And it's not easy to walk away.



On the other hand, when the primary source of the Red Cross story contacted me, there was no hesitation. I was pretty stoked. If you can't get excited over a story like this, get out of the business, that's my motto. The local Red Cross was not part of the main story, it all dealt with the big boys back in D.C. But the locals were nervous nellies and weren't willing to talk to our reporter until after our planned air date. The locals did provide me information on staffing during the fires that really helped put the pieces of this puzzle together. I found out later the office here was freaking because they were not exactly sure what information we had developed.



I told San Diego Red Cross the truth, apparently they didn't believe me. Here is a link to the Red Cross response to the story--the national media is starting to pick up on the story.

jwblog@10news.com

Tonight’s I team report from Elizabeth Sanchez is about beauty. Or more accurately, about spending money to be enhance your face, your arms, your back, your legs, to look younger, thinner or whatever you wish. It’s the age of narcissism and what better way to cash in than opening a clinic in Southern California (North County) promising restored beauty, pain free.


(The Promise)

But is it worth the thousands they charge and who are they anyway? That was our mission on this investigation. Let me begin by explaining investigations often deal with “after the fact” circumstances. You already have X number of victims and you want to warn other potential targets. Or the crooks have come and gone but the scam is worth telling viewers or online readers about because of copyscats. That means we already have victims to help us in understanding what is going on. Whenever the I-Team is working on this sort of story, our promotions people want interviews with victims for the television spots they create. It helps set the issue quickly; it is useful in creating interest in a very short period of time-fifteen or twenty seconds. When our reporters and producers tell the story, we have time to develop all the elements but these spots are short, must be to the point and hopefully interest our viewers to tune in. It's an art form in itself. And having done this sort of reporting for some time, I certainly understand the need to show those affected by the misdeeds of others.


But the truth is, I really LOVE the stories where you head the bad guys off at the pass. You bust them before they rustle the cattle and run off to Mexico. That's why tonights is about -- a warning BEFORE many use this BEAUTY clinic which opened late last year and we begin looking into in mid-January.









(A Doctor Doesn't Believe)



The tip came from the East coast, from someone very familiar with the clinic's track record in New York and Florida. No names but let’s just say they know some of the bosses very well, very well indeed.

It certainly got me curious, so Elizabeth, producer Kristen Castillo and I began to do some reseach. We didn’t have to dig very deep before we hit pay dirt.Our team found New York State enforcement agencies were not particularly happy with the clinic’s training, sales practices and services offered in that state. If they had these kind of problems in New York, what's to say they would behave themselves here? I am of the belief the culture of a business goes with it. Our team felt we had something that we needed to investigate and report on, even if we had no local victims. We did find some unhappy customers and a former employee but they were out of New York so we did satellite interviews with them. We also found a lawsuit where the clinics were alleged to have stolen some “before” and “after” photos from another beauty clinic. They used Oprah’s name in their sales pitch but not with her permission. That's not good. I also came across stories from the CBS and FOX affiliates in New York City where they both “crashed” the clinics. “Crashed" or "crashing” is a term we use to describe attempting to interview a subject without telling him or her in advance. It is a strategy you use because your subject is NOT going to want to talk to you. How do we decide who to crash? It's from our research, from a evaluation of the type of people who run the enterprise and a gut feeling. Even if I hadn’t seen the other television reporter’s stories in New York, I would probably have determined the only way we get something out of these people is to “crash” the North County location. This proved to be the right decision because neither the doctors, owners nor the attorneys involved with the North County clinic have called us back even after we “crashed” their place and called them several times.



(Crashing the clinic)

The "crash" had two elements. The first part was sending in Ms. Castillo and myself to gauge their staff’s competence, the sales pitch and the layout of the clinic. We developed some information after this first visit which we looked into. Several days later, it was time for Elizabeth and crew to “crash” the clinic, this time with the camera’s rolling and our confidence pretty high that these guys needed a story told about them. And we have that story for you tonight. Right after the Oscars.


So hang around, it’s worth watching.

jwblog@10news.com

Tonight's I team story is a hard hitter. And it was an extremely difficult story to produce. You won't see the sweat and tears that Reporter Steve Atkinson and producer Felicia Kit shed but trust me, this was one tough assignment.
It evolves around a screw up by San Diego Transit Safety Office. The DMV was sending out warnings of drivers with issues. The bus company’s management was supposed to clear the problems before allowing the drivers behind the wheel. They didn't. SDT was breaking the law by letting certain drivers drive.



I won't give away the entire plot but it began with a phone call from a bus driver, who was later fired. It would entail our I team filing California Open Records Act Requests with the state and San Diego Transit. Producer Kit must have made a million calls to the DMV to figure out the regulations and all the nuisances. We all talked a great deal about how to be fair in the story but still tell it like it is.



Things got ugly early on when we went to SDT with what we found. They think 10News and the I Team have it in for them.



That's how the bus company's CEO Paul Jablonski expressed it. Nothing is further from the truth. While I didn't sit in on his interview, I did review the tapes when the team returned to the station. I was surprised by his animosity towards our reporter. And Mr. Jablonski's answers were flip and made a bad situation worse. Judge for yourself tonight when the story runs at 11 p.m.



I suspect his attitude has something to do with a story our former I team reporter Marti Emerald did on the number and type of complaints bus riders have in regards to the drivers. We spent a great deal of time crunching complaint information the company supplied us. This only happened after we received numerous complaints from customers of San Diego Transit.




This was still an issue when we showed up for our latest story.

The CEO commented, off camera, words to the effect that our first story didn't amount to a hill of beans. I would guess his assumption is the current story isn't worth much either.



But for the I team that was then, this is now.



We approach each story with a fresh perspective. It's a major commitment of time, money and energy to produce these stories. My experience has been if you don't go in with your eyes wide open and prepared to weigh all the elements, you aren't going to do a very thorough or professional job. I think we have in tonight's story; we certainly grappled with it enough.




One final note, when we went to SDT we wanted to talk to the safety officer who was the transit employee responsible for the errors we uncovered. But they wouldn't allow us to interview Bundy Sarmiento. It looks like the suits on the top floor decided to have the CEO take the heat. . Not a good idea. Reporter Atkinson knew more about some of the relevant DMV codes than Mr. Jablonski did. I think the bus company may want to rethink this policy in the future. Either prep the boss better or get someone out front who knows the subject.


jwblog@10news.com

Dear Blog Reader,

I have departed from the usual rant to allow Debbie from Seattle tell of her encounter with our 10News I team. It's a swell letter, full of praise and insights. Debbie not only survived working with us, she seemed to enjoy it.
The truth is, her efforts benefited many who will never know but you will.
Read on.

"Last night I had the unusual experience of watching myself on the evening news. It was fun to see myself and the kids on TV, and it was also very emotional.

First of all I feel incredibly proud. Because of the article I wrote and my work with 10News in San Diego, Advantage has destroyed all of their old and/or unsafe car seats. They've also instituted a new policy to inspect car seats after every use, to provide product manuals, and have pledged to remove car seats from use after just two years of service (the recommended maximum lifespan of a car seat is five years). What a fantastic response! It remains to be seen whether this is lip service or a real commitment, but if they follow thru, it's a huge improvement and every parent who rents a car seat from them in the future is better off." Read more from this blog post here.

Debbie Welcomes Readers From The Consumerist Blog

"We got a great write up today on Consumerist. Consumerist is a popular blog focused on helping consumers share complaints (and good experiences) that would normally be silenced or shared among just a few close friends." Read more from this blog post here.

Why go to the News? Why Not a Letter of Complaint?

"Several people have asked me why I chose to work with local news instead of choosing another, less public route, to resolve our concerns over Advantage Rent-A-Car's child safety seats. My reasons are as much personal as pragmatic. While I'm not particularly thrilled with the idea of airing someone else's dirty laundry in public, I'm pleased with the end result: Advantage's San Diego office has destroyed their dilapidated and hazardous car seats and they've instituted a strong corporate policy governing car seats across all of their 150+ offices." Read more from this blog post here.

From The Consumerist Blog:

When mother Debbie rented a car from Advantage Rent-A-Car she was surprised to have to paw through rows of shoddy, dirty, car seats, some missing parts, to find one that worked. When she complained to the manager, he insisted that the car seats were thoroughly cleaned and inspected after each use. Her blog post about the issue caught the eye of the local news station, who did an investigative report on the matter. Read more from this blog post here.

Pretty neat blog, don't you think? Thanks to Debbie for such an insightful look at the process she went through. It's people like Debbie who help the I-Team do the kind of stories that can make a difference.

jwblog@10news.com

If you saw the movie, forget about it. This story is real world with poisonous reptiles at the center of it. AND there is one other thing our story has in common with that awful movie and that's snakes on a plane.



Tonight's investigative story from Kerstin Lindquist was an interesting undertaking. Photojournalist Michael Gonzalez has great video to work with, as you will see when the story airs at 11 p.m. Tuesday night. We suspected there is an underground of poisonous reptile fans who collect these creatures. Do you remember the gentleman that got busted in El Cajon with a garage full of nasty reptiles? How many times on a zoo trip do you find yourself looking at these sorts of creatures and shuddering just a bit?



I think this is part of the fascination of these animals and why they're collected. But imagine making a pet out of a viper or poisonous Gila Monster? This has to be the X games of hobbies, anyone collecting them knows the critters have a capacity to kill or maim. But the story is about more than collecting, it is about the law. These animals are illegal to import. In developing the story, we found the animal's population is growing in the San Diego region and not from local birthrate. Snake selling is a booming industry because there is money to be made in them thar rattlesnakes.

(Handlers place snake through special tube for shipping)

Our I-team found four different sources for the animals and they'll happily ship your new pet via commercial airline. Visa or Master Charge? Our story reveals which airline ships the most snakes and the "hot" issue surronding their importation. Reptile fans and experts are wrestling like pythons over whether the laws banning the import of deadly reptiles work. And is the ban worthwhile?

(Handlers prepare snakes for shipping)

Kerstin and I did some wrestling of our own, trying to decide if we should order some of the poisonous snakes to demonstrate how easy it was. I will admit we were tempted. Imagine the visuals when the snakes arrive at the 10News studios and the staff goes berserk. We spent time researching the laws, talked with experts at the federal, state and local level to see what we could and could not do. We even asked the San Diego Zoo if we could ship our order directly to them. They wanted no part of it. So we went back to the source of all things wise in our busines; Journalism 101 which says “you can’t break the law to get a news story.” Which is not to say we don't push the boundries at times but not this time. You’ll want to see the way reporter Lindquist still is able to tell a good story with some intriguing details she has dug up.













By the way, a second story is set to air in our 6 a.m. newscast on Wednesday morning. This one looks at the economic advantages of using venomous reptiles for cancer research. It’s a fascinating story, worth watching.

jwblog@10news.com

The U.S. Consulate recently issued a warning to Americans traveling into Baja. For good reason, it’s gone insane south of the border. I have included a link so you can see what the State Department says about current conditions. It is not the run-of-the-mill insanity we have seen come and go for years. This time it’s for real. And that’s why the I-Team sent a crew into Baja to bring back the story about what life is like in what amounts to a war zone. Watch the story Reporter Steve Atkinson and photojournalist Michael Gonzalez have bought back for 10News at 11p.m. Thursday night.

For political reasons, people on both sides of the border dance around what is really happening now. Here is the straight scoop: For years corruption has spread its cancer through the region and along the border to Texas. As you may know, it goes up and down the entire food chain -- from high-ranking politicians to low-level cops. They have their hands out, looking for a pay-off. Now the cancer is pervasive and is resistant to efforts to eradicate it. What I am hearing from American law enforcement sources is encouraging and scary. The people of Baja have a new governor; Tijuana has a new mayor and a new police chief. These men are, I’m told, straight shooters. I hope the new players are honest and intent on cleaning this mess up. And I hope the governor, mayor or police chief don’t get taken out like other reformers have.



It’s a lethal cocktail. Start with the narco gangs fighting for power since the reduced control of the Arrellano-Felix cartel, then mix in a government apparently fed up with the violence and mayhem and what you get is the violence you see playing out. Add to this the growing number of thugs who have discovered the lucrative kidnapping trade and what you have are scary levels of violence. Some tourism officials claim things are getting better, saying safety has been beefed up but I think the jury is still out. I understand why they are making these claims, it’s their job. But I’m just not buying the claims, not now anyway.



The people being hurt are the average citizens, the innocent victims of gunfire, those who depend on tourist dollars or just someone who wants to live in a place that is safe and sane. Then there are the San Diegans who love Baja. They are victims too.



In my job I have had a chance to see the good and bad of Baja. The good is something special—a unique place blessed with spectacular landscapes and wonderful, caring people. The bad is just unbelievable at times.

And what you have now is a classic example of Good vs. Evil, played out everyday in the streets of Tijuana, Rosarito Beach and places in between.



Stay tuned, this story is still unfolding. And be sure to watch Reporter Atkinson’s story tonight, it’s excellent.

jwblog@10news.com

You'll find Reporter Lauren Reynolds' story that breaks on 10News Sunday night at 11 p.m.an interesting account of how a rental car lot isusing outdated, broken car seats and rents them out to customers. Not a good thing. It’s a story we got tipped to by a visitor to San Diego. She has a child and was upset about the condition of the carseats she rented and how the rental lot addressed her concerns. I will say the company did pay attention after the I team got involved. Watch the story and check out what happens. Once we did get involved, the company acted responsibly and apparently is changing its policy in regards to the type and condition of car seats they rent with their vehicles. Good for them.

Here was a story where we needed hidden camera video. The seats were stored in an area of the company's sales location off of Interstate 5. We wanted to see for ourselves if the woman's claims were accurate. And we wanted to document with the camera everything we could. If we had gone in with a regular camera and requested permission to videotape their car-seat storage area, take a guess what would have happened --the same thing they told Lauren when she did show up at their offices with a regular news crew. “Sorry, corporate policy is we can’t talk to you or allow…etc.etc…etc..” Most managers in business are told to turn us away. We understand that they have to protect the people they work for. But we have a job to do, and that is to expose problems like those we found in this investigation. That's why I gave the go-ahead to producer Felicia Kit and our hidden-camera photojournalist to verify the consumer's complaints.



I also signed off on renting a car from the lot as well, renting some of the car seats so we could have the CHP look them over. The hidden camera video was important in this story to document and help us tell the story for the viewers. But trust me on this, we are very careful about how we use hidden-camera video. You will note in our story we don't videotape any customers or workers. They aren’t the issue here, the seats are.

The laws in California are pretty strict about hidden-camera video. Not so in other states. That's why network investigative teams do much more hidden camera work. They'll do it in states where the law is more liberal, like Texas. These magazine shows (Dateline, Primetime, 20/20) can get away with much more than we would even think of doing. So when you watch the latest I team story, you might want to see how we used the hidden-camera video.

It will give you an idea about one of our most valuable and misunderstood tools.

jwblog@10news.com