WFAA investigator Brett Shipp and Jerry Jones' palace in waiting.
By ED BARK
Whatever Brett Shipp is, he's not chicken-hearted.

WFAA8's star gumshoe no doubt cast a wider net over his hate mail potential Thursday with another investigation of possible grade-fixing at South Oak Cliff High School. This time Shipp also raised the possibility that the Kansas Jayhawks might have to forfeit their recent NCAA basketball championship because one of their star players, Darrell Arthur, apparently received unwarranted passing grades in math while at South Oak Cliff. That could make his athletic scholarship invalid.

A series of February "sweeps" stories by Shipp led to the high school's forfeiture of its 2006 state basketball title after officials determined that another star athlete had his grades laundered so that he could stay on the team.

In Thursday's lead story, Shipp cast Arthur as a likeable, good-hearted kid whom educators had let down.

"Once again," he said, "we've obtained school records which appear to show that some adults in his life may have broken the rules in an effort to win."

The story included an interview with Arthur's former math teacher, Winford Ashmore, who told Shipp, "These people (namely South Oak Cliff's former principal and its current basketball coach) knew what was going on with a lot of this type stuff, but yet they covered up for it."

Ashmore, no longer with the school, produced a 2002 grade book for freshman math that showed Arthur performing way below passing levels before other school officials upgraded him. Later failing grades also apparently were doctored.

WFAA8's new allegations are "being fully investigated" by the DISD, Shipp said. Any subsequent NCAA probe obviously could make this an even bigger scandal.

Shipp also has been making enemies of Dallas Cowboys officials with reports on the high costs of luxury suites being built for the team's new palace in Arlington. But he was otherwise occupied Thursday when the team announced pricing structures for the rest of the stadium's seats.

WFAA8's Craig Civale picked up Shipp's baton and painted a grim picture of longtime season ticket-holders being disenfranchised.

"The new stadium will certainly blow you away, but so will its prices," he said before longtime season ticketer Randy Daniels lamented, "How can it be America's Team when America can't afford to walk in the gate?"

Civale's report emphasized that nearly seven out of eight seats will require additional payments of seat licenses. What he didn't say is that it's a one-time fee that can be paid out over 30 years time.

In Daniels' case, said Civale, four season tickets for $5,800 at Texas Stadium in Irving will balloon to more than $600,000, including license fees, at the new Arlington showplace.

That can't be entirely accurate, at least not under the pricing structure announced Thursday. But WFAA8 seemed intent on sticking it to the Cowboys while rival stations -- and The Dallas Morning News -- emphasized that the cheapest seats, at $59 each with no license fee, would be just $9 more expensive than the current nosebleeds at Texas Stadium.

Fox4 sports anchor Mike Doocy said for starters, "The cost of one of those 50,000 or so seats in the upper or lower bowls might be a pleasant surprise to some Cowboys fans, believe it or not. The average reserved ticket price jumps only about $6 dollars from 84 bucks at Texas Stadium to just over $90 for the new facility."

That doesn't include a license fee in most cases, though, so Doocy in contrast may have tilted too far in the Cowboys' favor.

NBC5, which treats sports as though it's a leper colony, dismissed the whole thing in a skimpy reader by anchor Mike Snyder. CBS11 was only a bit more expansive, although anchor Karen Borta underscored the one-time only aspect of license fees and the 30 years that seat holders will get to pay them if they choose.


NBC5's Ashanti Blaize, Fox4's Paul Adrian, CBS11's Steve Dennis
AND IN OTHER NEWS . . .

***Fox4 investigator Paul Adrian had a thoroughly researched, extended piece on the overall effectiveness of a 2003 Texas law that made it much tougher to sue doctors for malpractice.

The idea was to keep quality doctors in the state rather than watch them flee in the face too many "frivolous lawsuits." Adrian found, however, that doctors really hadn't been fleeing in the first place.

"So did Texas benefit?" he asked after marshaling an armload of statistics and interviewing several experts. "Doctors some, insurance companies a lot. Most Texans probably couldn't say."

Adrian did note, however, that the cost of family health insurance has continued to escalate, from $8,200 a year in 2001 to $11,500 by 2005. Also, the number of uninsured Texans under the age of 65 has increased to 5.5 million, he told viewers. That's 27 percent of the state populace and also the highest percentage of insured in the country, he said.

It was a lot to digest. But tough-to-illustrate stories like these are still worth telling if a station will make room for them. Adrian's attention to detail, in a medium that prizes much flashier fare, clearly is out of style and becoming all but extinct.

***CBS11 sports reporter Steve Dennis does better work than many give him credit for. But on Thursday night, he got off-puttingly palsy walsy with Dallas Cowboys players and his station's bossman during a piece on the team's annual golf outing.

Dennis first figuratively genuflected at the sight of CBS11 president and manager Steve Mauldin, who was playing in the makeshift tournament. Then he asked QB Tony Romo of Mauldin, "Did he call me Stu? Does he know my name?"

Sports anchor Babe Laufenberg played along, drawing off-camera mega-laughs from anchors Doug Dunbar and Karen Borta by telling Dennis, "All right, thank you, Scott."

Dunbar then told Babe, "Appreciate you, Bob." Arrrgh, please stop.

***Yet another in a series of CBS11's "Money Savers" stories found reporter Ginger Allen recycling "The Grocery Game," which charges shoppers $10 every other month for its list of bargain-priced goods. NBC5's Brian Curtis did the "Grocery Game" gambit during a previous ratings sweeps period.

***CBS11 investigator Bennett Cunningham had an interesting piece on faulty elevators and lax inspections. It turns out that some of the most dangerous up-and-downers are in hospitals, where an inspector said they're "notorious for being abused and damaged" by hospital carts and other medical equipment rolling in and out.

***Fox4 and NBC5 both led their newscasts with the story of a 14-year-old girl who evaded a would-be kidnapper on the way home from school and then gave helpful information that aided police in capturing him.

Interestingly, Fox4 made an obviously conscious effort not to show her face on-camera during a story by Lari Barager. But NBC5 reporter Scott Gordon's story both showed the teen's face and identified her by her full name. WFAA8 and CBS11 had nothing on this during their late nighters.

***NBC5's Ashanti Blaize had a story on a distraught but resilient mother whose wheelchair-equipped van was stolen after she saved for years to get it for her 18-year-old son, who has cerebral palsy. He's supposed to graduate from high school in two weeks, but now it won't be nearly as easy to get him to the ceremony.

It's hoped that someone will reach out to her. And that the particularly despicable thief will be caught and punished to the max.

Four nights to go.

Fox4 sports anchor Mike Doocy and Greg "The Hammer" Williams
By ED BARK
Fox4 sports anchor Mike Doocy dropped an intriguing nugget at the close of his Thursday, 9 p.m. segment.

"Greg Williams, who vanished from 'The Ticket' airwaves several months ago, will resurface with us Sunday night at 10," he said.

Williams, also known as "The Hammer," officially resigned from The Ticket's Hardline afternoon drive program on Jan. 10th after being absent from the station since mid-October of last year. He has battled publicized drug problems in the past, and this turned out to be the third strike for him at The Ticket.

"I talked on the phone with Greg the other night and invited him on," Doocy said in an email reply to unclebarky.com. "We hadn't heard from him in awhile, so I thought it might be interesting to have him on the show. Even though he's not on the radio right now, I'm pretty sure he has an opinion or two on the local sports scene."

Williams, previously a recurring guest on Doocy's Sports Sunday show, is still looking for work and has had talks with ESPN 103.3 in Dallas. But nothing has come of that to date, so his guest stint with Doocy will be his first public appearance since leaving The Ticket.

By ED BARK
CBS' eighth season finale of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation ranked as Thursday's biggest draw in total homes, but ABC's Lost found itself tops for the night among 18-to-49-year-olds.

CSI flexed with 287,401 D-FW homes while its followup act, the sixth season-ender of Without A Trace, held on to 263,045 of 'em.

Although it dominated Lost in total homes, Trace ran well behind ABC's magical, mystery tour in the key 18-to-49 demo. Lost had 167,130 viewers in that age group, even outdrawing ABC's preceding and still potent Grey's Anatomy (160,823).

NBC's one-hour season finales of My Name Is Earl and The Office respectively ran fourth and third in total homes. Earl stepped up to second among 18-to-49-year-olds, though, behind only ABC's Ugly Betty. Opposite both Grey's and CSI, The Office ran third in that demo.

In the local news derby, CBS11 took the gold at 10 p.m. with 236,253 total homes. NBC5, which ran a distant third (114,473 homes), lost all hope of catching CBS11 for the runnerup spot in this measurement.

WFAA8 won at 10 p.m. among 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming. With just four days remaining in the May sweeps, it has a hammerlock on both races.

The 6 a.m. race remains highly competitive, though. Fox4's narrow win in total homes puts it in a virtual tie with WFAA8 in the race for first place.

But NBC5 won with 25-to-54-year-olds to pull even with Fox4 for second place overall. WFAA8 remains perilously in first, but could still be overtaken with strong closing numbers by either the Peacock or -- less likely -- Fox4.

NBC5 won in both ratings measurements at 5 p.m. and WFAA8 did likewise at 6 p.m. But those races are over, with WFAA8 comfortably snuggled in first.

Strong work from WFAA8's Shelly Slater, NBC5's Scott Friedman.
By ED BARK
Believe it or not, it's more satisfying to point out the pluses in local TV news reporting than to twit the more than abundant minuses at some stations.

Wednesday's late nighters had ample positives, so let's go to the videotape for some whip-around highlights.

***WFAA8's Shelly Slater had a telling progress -- or more accurately, regress -- report on projected completion of the controversial Trinity Toll Road. Timetables promised during last year's Dallas mayoral race since have fallen well off track, she said. An admitted "schedule slip" has put the project at least 14-to-15 months behind its scheduled 2013 reality.

"Every month (of delay) is worth about $10 million (in taxpayer money)," mayor Tom Leppert said.

An initial projected cost of $1.3 billion has been inflated to between $1.1 billion and $2.1 billion, Slater said. Reports like these take time, and a station's commitment to provide it.

***On fast-paced NBC5, reporter Scott Friedman is the only staffer who seems to occasionally be getting more than the station's standard 90 seconds to tell a story. He's also been anchoring weekends, making him only a part-time player on NBC5's late nighter.

Friedman had what seemed to be a solid and non-sensational story Wednesday on how embattled American Airlines might well be "saving fuel at the expense of safety."

At issue are the recently deployed high-speed tugs that can tow a jumbo jet without its expending any fuel. At night, the planes have their lights off because running them would require burning extra energy, Friedman said.

Last month, during daylight hours, an incoming American Airlines plane barely missed hitting a plane that inadvertently was towed onto a runway path. The pilot in essence managed to hop over the plane after sighting it.

"These big planes can be hard to see at night," D-FW airport spokesman and former local TV reporter Ken Capps acknowledged. "And that could pose a problem." American Airlines, in a statement, said it's studying it.

Friedman appeared to have done his homework, and was given extra time to present a balanced account.

AND IN OTHER NEWS . . .

***WFAA8's Steve Stoler, this time with help from colleague Craig Civale, followed up on an exclusive Tuesday night story about a Catholic priest who abruptly resigned from his McKinney parish after being linked to a now defunct Web site for gay priests.

The site allegedly was a place where men of the cloth could find sexual partners. But supporters from the priest's previous parish in Lancaster supported him on-camera and said he had removed his name from the site back in January 2000 after finding it objectionable.

"And we would certainly take him back if the bishop saw fit," a supporter from the Lancaster parish told Stoler.

The Dallas diocese is investigating the matter, which WFAA8 has handled very responsibly.

***CBS11's Stephanie Lucero easily has done the best reporting on the tragic death of a mother who was beaten to death with a baseball bat by her estranged husband, who's now in jail after threatening to jump off a bridge.

On Wednesday night, she interviewed the deceased's mother and boyfriend, both of whom understandably fear for their safety if Brent Stephens is ever released.

***Fox4 consumer Steve Noviello had another fun and informative time testing the "Deal or Dud" potential of those frequently advertised Debbie Meyer Green Bags.

They purportedly extend the lives of fruits and vegetables. And Noviello, with an assist from a veteran supermarket produce overseer, discovered that they in fact do just that.

As noted before, Noviello should find a way to syndicate this weekly feature. At the very least, Fox4 could throw out a monthly special at 6:30 p.m., where the syndicated rag mag Access Hollywood otherwise fouls the weeknight air.

***WFAA8's Gary Reaves had a nice feel-good story on a troubled-youth mentoring program called UMOJA, which is swahili for "unity." And CBS11's Jack Fink alerted the Texas Department of Transportation (TXDOT) to a money-wasting roadside sprinkler system that sprays an access road/parkway off Central Expwy. on a daily early morning basis, rain or shine. It supposedly will be fixed.

***Finally, CBS sports anchor Babe Laufenberg deftly zinged Cowboys' receiver Terrell Owens and his guest cameo on Wednesday night's Under One Roof sitcom on MY27.

"He played a con man trying to get money from a wealthy man," Laufenberg said of the episode, which attracted a very smallish 26,792 D-FW homes. "Doesn't sound far off from his deals with Jerry Jones."

Babe wasn't quite done. "From Flavor Flav (the show's star), let's go back to Doug E. Fresh and Karen," he said of anchors Doug Dunbar and Karen Borta.

Hey, not bad.

Five nights to go.

By ED BARK
Veteran NBC5 anchor Jane McGarry apparently is intent on exploring new vistas in viewer interaction.

Her latest blog post on the station's Web site originates from "The Make-Up Room," where "usually it's all girls."

"And usually the talk isn't about news," she adds. "It's men, dating, children, food . . . the stuff we're all really interested in." (Yeah, those gnarly current events can be such a downer, particularly when you're in the TV news business.)

Anyway, McGarry has decided to "share" some of the girl talk. And in this latest dispatch, "the subject of the bikini wax came up" amongst the anchor and her colleagues.

"Do you get one or not?" McGarry asks. "I offered that I have before, but I can't see the point because you have to let the hair get along enough to wax again, which means, you'll need to shave! So why wax to begin with?"

But before you know it, "the bikini wax conversation" gave way to an in-depth debate on the merits of shaving vs. waxing vs. laser hair removal.

This is where coltish anchor/reporter Meredith Land came in. According to McGarry, she says that "these days, to younger women like her little sister, good grooming means a complete wax, if you get what I mean."

Well, it can all be quite a puzzlement, McGarry admits. "What if you get complete laser removal and the current trend turns out to be a fad?" she asks. "Are you stuck forever with something akin to a tattoo?"

McGarry ends by imploring readers of her blog to "let me know what you think!"

By the way, your friendly content provider at unclebarky.com is circumcised. Might as well get the ball rolling on that one, too.

By ED BARK
Fox4's potent local 9 p.m. newscast continues to rake in ratings and revenues, particularly on nights when stormy weather and an American Idol lead-in give it extra boosts.

Racking up 238,689 D-FW homes Wednesday, the 9 p.m. edition won its timeslot and had a bit of a bigger haul than WFAA8's dominant 10 p.m. newscast (233,818 homes). Fox 4 also ran first at 9 p.m. in the two key advertiser demographics, 25-to-54-year-olds and 18-to-49-year-olds.

Fox's American Idol, which evicted Syesha Mercado, led all comers with 309,321 total homes and also dominated the night's audience demographics.

On Versus, the Dallas Stars' do or die Stanley Cup playoff win against Detroit averaged 60,890 homes, but peaked at a nice-sized 126,651 homes between 9:15 and 9:30 p.m. That was good enough to outpoint ABC's competing Boston Legal during those 15 minutes.

In the local news derby, WFAA8 won at 10 p.m. in total homes and with 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming. CBS11 ran second across the board, and looks to be in very good shape to get the May sweeps silver over NBC5 in total homes.

A split decision at 6 a.m. had Fox4 finishing first in total homes while WFAA8 prevailed with 25-to-54-year-olds. A strong finishing kick would be enough to give WFAA8 wins in both measurements, but the race is still on with five weekdays remaining.

WFAA8's newscasts again ran the table at 5 and 6 p.m.

Tim Ryan and Megan Henderson were happy together on a recent Good Day. They've been a team since August 2003. Photo: Ed Bark
By ED BARK
Open to change while still happy at Fox4, Good Day co-anchor Megan Henderson says she'll "absolutely" entertain any Fox News Channel offers during a second weekend stint set for early next month.

"I love where I'm at," she said in a telephone interview Wednesday. "But I also know I could grow, and I don't know what that's going to involve one way or the other. I'm keeping an open mind across the board, because I can right now. And that's really the story."

Henderson, who's co-anchored Good Day with Tim Ryan since August 2003, confirmed a Tuesday report by the Web site TV Newser that she'd be returning to New York on June 7-8 to guest-anchor FNC's Fox & Friends Weekend. The item also quoted FNC senior vice president Bill Shine as saying that Henderson "will have a meeting with (FNC chairman) Roger (Ailes) when she's here."

"That's what I'm told," Henderson said of the planned sit-down with Ailes, whom she first met several years ago during a trip to New York with Ryan and Fox4 news director Maria Barrs. FNC has "very high hopes for her (Henderson)," Shine said.

Ailes, who also founded FNC in 1996, is "pretty hands-on in general and very easy to talk to," Henderson said. "But at this point it's just all so preliminary. I'm flattered that they're even looking at me and even talking to me. How could I not be? Of course I'm interested in anything they have to say. Quite frankly, it's an honor. That sounds cheesy to say, but it is."

Henderson, still fighting a cold, missed Tuesday's Good Day but was back on the show Wednesday with a notably impaired speaking voice. With six weekdays left in the May "sweeps," Good Day remains in a tight three-way battle for 6 a.m. ratings supremacy with WFAA8 and NBC5.

FNC previously flew Henderson to New York in early April for guest-anchor appearances on Fox & Friends Weekend.

"I'm looking forward to doing it again," she said. "I had a great time the last time around. It's obviously flattering that they're curious about me. So I'm curious about them."

Still, it's not over 'til it's over at Fox4.

"I love who I work for, so I don't want there to be any question there," Henderson said. "They've been very supportive of me across the board, which I certainly appreciate."

CBS11's Jack Fink, Fox4's Brandon Todd and NBC5's Scott Gordon
By ED BARK
All four late night news providers first hit their "Storm Watch" buttons. That'll always work in a pinch.

Then came a wide variety of nuts-and-bolts stories that filled the allotted times without generating all that much electricity.

There were no big, showy investigations or scoops that might have made rival news directors envious. Still, Tuesday night brought a lot of solidly capable work, with a number of reporters fashioning their own individual stories instead of chasing after the same ones. Here's a smorgasbord:

***CBS11's Joel Thomas looked into the tragic death of a four-month-old girl who apparently had a seizure. She was brought to Cook Children's Medical Center, given a shot and released. The infant then died in her crib after being taken home. Her mother lamented, "I just wish they would have kept her overnight."

Cook's is promising a thorough investigation.

***Fox4's Jason Overstreet had a far happier ending to his story of a boxer dog named Gracie that had been missing for seven months after a yardman inadvertently left a gate open. The distraught owner hired a "pet detective" from Oklahoma, whose efforts were unsuccessful. But news of the missing dog got around as a result of the publicity generated by the search. And finally, after all seemed lost, The Sachse Animal Control center called with news that a boxer had been found. It indeed was Gracie, who had been on the streets all that time. It's speculated that she hung around various construction sites to get fed scraps by workers. Lassie Come Home has nothing on this one.

***NBC5's Scott Gordon told viewers about a family that had been flooded out of their Arlington home a year ago and has been living in two small hotel rooms ever since. One of their daughters is all but incapacitated by serious brain damage suffered at birth due to deprivation of oxygen. Her parents since have been entangled in litigation to get their home repaired. Gordon in turn made this story hit home.

***WFAA8 sports reporter George Riba is ever-resourceful. On Tuesday he told viewers about the first Dallas boxer ever to make the U.S. Olympic team. He's 19-year-old Luis Yanez, whom Riba spotlighted in a feel-good story about a dedicated kid.

***Fox4's Brandon Todd had an interesting story on new high-tech scanner cameras getting a workout by Lewisville police. The cameras, attached to squad car roofs, can read hundreds or even thousands of license plates a day to determine if a vehicle has been reported stolen.

In a similar vein, the station's Shaun Rabb reported on tracking devices attached to students who are getting a last chance to either attend school or reporter to a court-mandated "boot camp." One of the students, attending Bryan Adams, will become his first family member in three generations to graduate from high school. He had been a devoted school-skipper until his daily whereabouts was monitored.

***Jack Fink of CBS11 had a compelling story on a former University Park paramedic-firefighter of the year who had been traumatized by some of what he countered during emergency calls. He told Fink of walking in on a man "decapitating his wife with a pair of scissors."

Diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, he was cleared to answer fire calls but not medical emergencies.

"I talked to them about it, and they fired me for it," he contended. It's now in the hands of attorneys.

All of the above stories were seen only on their respective stations. While not award-winners, each made their minutes count.

AND IN OTHER NEWS . . .

***CBS11's Nerissa Knight looked at comparative drug store pricing in part two of the station's "Money Savers" series. She bought the same 14 items at Walgreens and CVS, only to find an inconsequential 35 cents difference in the total costs. Walgreens ended up being cheaper, but "many say driving out of your way for a deal could cost you more," Knight concluded.

During the course of her travels, she bought an eight-pack of Double A batteries for $7.49 at Walgreens and $7.99 at CVS. Two words: Dollar Tree. You can buy a four-pack of Double A batteries for a buck apiece there.

***No one is more deserving of a career achievement award at WFAA8 than longtime production operations manager Jerry Cadigan. He finally got one Tuesday, namely the William H. Seay award from Belo Corp., which owns the station.

Anchor Gloria Campos commendably congratulated Cadigan during the 10 p.m. newscast as an indispensable behind-the-scenes miracle-worker.

***Long missing in action, "Doocy's Doozy" made its first May sweeps appearance on Fox4's Tuesday 9 p.m. news. Sports anchor Mike Doocy cued viewers to some choice quotes from Dallas Cowboys receiver Terrell Owens, who's making a cameo appearance on MY27's Under One Roof sitcom Wednesday night.

The subject, however, was Owens' comments on Good Day about QB Tony Romo's recent butchering of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" at a Chicago Cubs home game.

"Oh my goodness. I've heard him on plane rides. He just doesn't get it. He really thinks he can sing," Owens said. "And I even told him, 'Like, dude, you are tone deaf.' Terrible. Leave the singing to Jessica (Simpson). He would not even make it in the door on American Idol."

Actually, he would -- as a classically bad auditioner.

Doocy then sling-shotted one back at Owens. "It was bad," he said of Romo's singing. "But T.O. had better hope Romo doesn't criticize his acting, from what I've seen of clips of that show."

Six nights to go.

By ED BARK
Three different winners on three consecutive early mornings. At least the bizarro 6 a.m. news ratings are consistent in that respect.

Fox4 emerged No. 1 Tuesday in both the total homes Nielsens and among 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming. WFAA8 ran the table on Monday and NBC5 did likewise last Friday. CBS11 otherwise can be relied on to finish a rock-steady fourth, which it has throughout the May "sweeps."

At 10 p.m., WFAA8 again won in D-FW homes, with the Peacock edging into second place to keep its faint hopes alive of overtaking CBS11 for the runnerup spot. NBC5 got the gold among 25-to-54-year-olds, though. WFAA8's newscasts won across the board at 5 and 6 p.m. on the 14th weekday of the 20-weekday sweeps, which end next Wednesday.

In prime-time, Fox's American Idol easily carried the 7 p.m. hour among 18-to-49-year-olds, the key advertiser audience for entertainment programming. But Idol's 282,530 homes barely nipped CBS' competing NCIS (263,045 homes), the fave rave series with viewers 55 years of age and older.

ABC's Dancing with the Stars results show, with Marissa Jaret Winokur voted off, controlled the 8 p.m. total homes ratings with 258,174. But it edged Fox's competing Hell's Kitchen by just one-tenth of a rating point in the 18-to-49 demo.

Fox4's 9 p.m. local news then won its time slot with 18-to-49-year-olds while nipping ABC's just canceled Women's Murder Club in total homes.

By ED BARK
Killer kid "Bounce Houses." A high school German textbook with a wee glimpse of potentially mind-warping female nudity.

But here's the good news. An oversized kiester could help prevent diabetes.

It's amazing -- and often depressing -- to contemplate what passes for news in a ratings sweeps month. This time it was mostly WFAA8's turn to go off a couple of deep ends with stories titled "Lesson In Nudity" and "Bounce House Danger."

Early in Monday's 10 p.m. WFAA8 newscast, reporter Jonathan Betz uncovered an advanced German textbook -- Deutsch Aktuell -- that had a picture of a German adult bookstore in the upper right hand corner of one of its pages. A male high school student saw it, and says that he and some of his fellow students started snickering a bit during class.

Then an aggrieved North Texas mom was brought in to declare, "It's shocking."

Betz told viewers that the textbook had been in use since 2005, with more than 3,000 copies being studied in the entire state of Texas. But now the Allen ISD plans to remove the book from its curriculum and Plano's considering doing the same.

Wow, way to crack down. And what a scandal -- in Mayberry maybe. The high school kid shown on camera in Betz's story said he found the whole thing humorous. And he didn't appear to be growing any hair under his fingernails either. But WFAA8 found it simply irresistible to run with something it could title "Lesson In Nudity."

"Bounce House Danger" had a nice sweeps ring to it, too. Anchor John McCaa first baited the hook by telling viewers, "Kids love them. But some parents say they have become death traps for their children."

One parent, actually. And that was a Washington mother who says her three-year-old son was killed while on an inflatable slide.

Veteran WFAA8 medical reporter Janet St. James did the story, noting that there are no safety regulations for inflatables in Texas.

"It's up to the parents' own common sense," said Jerry Hagins of the Texas Department of Insurance.

The last available "Bounce House" statistics, from a 2004 study by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, said that 4,900 injuries and four deaths had been caused by them in that year.

But it's suspected that "scores more injuries go unreported," St. James said.

Look, just about any toy can be branded dangerous these days. That's not to diminish the loss of the aforementioned Washington mother. But "Bounce House Danger" could be put right alongside "Swing Set Savagery" or "Tonka Toy Trauma." Hope that hasn't given 'em any more ideas.

Over on CBS11, anchor Karen Borta maintained a straight face while teasing, "You think your backside is too big? We'll tell you why fat inside your derriere may actually be good for you."

CBS11 titled this tease "Big Bottom Benefit" and deployed the standard-issue tight shots of anonymous, oversized female buttocks movin' on down the road. But the promo almost lasted longer than anchor Doug Dunbar's brief recitation of a Harvard University study that said a big momma's bounce could be a potential diabetes fighter. Or it could prematurely cut your life short -- which didn't figure into this particular story.


CBS11's J.D.Miles, Fox4's Saul Garza, NBC5's Tammy Dombeck
AND IN OTHER NEWS . . .

GOOD WORK -- All four major late night news providers made mention of Hewlett Packard's proposed multi-billion dollar buyout of Plano-based EDS. But only CBS11's J.D. Miles had a full-blown, reporter-driven story. This potentially is a pretty big deal that could have far-reaching consequences for both EDS workers and the North Texas economy. It deserved more than comparatively passing mention on the other stations' most-watched newscasts of the day.

Fox4's weekly "What's Buggin' You?" segment, with Saul Garza presiding, is consistently interesting and informative. On Monday night's 9 p.m. newscast, he looked at what appears to be selective enforcement of alleged code violations by mostly small businesses using people in goody get-ups to attract customers.

A local tax service company received five citations for having a woman dressed as the Statue of Liberty. And a man who looks as though he's having hard times got a pricey ticket for carrying a big red arrow on behalf of a mobile phone company. The man said he worked 40 hours a week at the job, for a wage of $6.00 an hour.

This type of law enforcement seems to be excessive and unneeded. (For that matter, so are all of those garage sale sign sweep-ups that bedevil people trying to make a little extra money.)

At the end of his report, Garza said that some of the codes cited in his story are being revisited and could be revised.

THIS JUST IN: SOME GROCERY STORES ACTUALLY ARE CHEAPER THAN OTHERS -- CBS11's Borta narrated a story on comparison shopping at Tom Thumb, Kroger, Wal Mart and Target to see which was selling 20 selected items at a lower total price.

There's no particular harm in this, even if it's a trusty old sweeps gambit that's been done many times before in this market and countless others. But did CBS11 think it had a scoop in showing SMU marketing professor Dan Howard saying, "When you compare stores, you can save money."

Revelations like these literally are priceless -- and pricelessly funny. In the end, CBS11 found Target to be the cheapest, followed by Wal Mart, Kroger and Tom Thumb. Howard professed himself "somewhat surprised" because, after all, Wal Mart says its prices are "always lowest."

CBS11 is promoting companion comparison shopping stories on Tuesday's and Wednesday's late nighters.

TAMMY'S TRIMMER -- NBC5 used early morning traffic reporter Tammy Dombeck as a prop for a heavily promoted story on her "slimming secrets."

"Gridlock buster Tammy Dombeck's been flooded with emails lately," anchor Jane McGarry contended. "People want to know what she's been doing."

Redoubtable Meredith Land then stepped into the breech, just as she did on Friday night for NBC5's lead story on a poisonous snake "invasion" of North Texas that turned out to be restricted to a family's backyard.

Land revealed that Dombeck's "sleeker, slimmer" look is the result of a "Fit Formula" in which a tailor designs bigger jackets to fit her "hourglass" top half while stitching the lower half tighter to conform to her "tiny" waist. In olden times girdles were used.

Anyway, Dombeck is a sweet, nice person who's only trying to keep her early morning job after colleague Rebecca Miller got gassed earlier this spring.

On the other hand, what's good for the goose also is good for NBC's male ganders. So since the Peacock has put this issue in play, what about news anchor Mike Snyder and sports anchor Newy Scruggs? With WFAA8 sports guy Dale Hansen keeping his weight off, Snyder and Scruggs easily rank as D-FW's tubbiest duo.

So what about a "Fit Formula" followup built around their expansive waistlines? What can be done about it? Is there possibly a way to make Mike look svelter when he stands and delivers those stories on snake invasions? But don't hold your breath or suck in your gut. Weight loss stories are always women's work on the local TV news front, while the guys can get away with looking like pork sausages.

Seven nights to go.

By ED BARK
NBC's two-hour return of American Gladiators bombed Monday night. But so -- surprisingly -- did a new episode of Fox's House.

Gladiators averaged just 77,939 D-FW homes in running a distant fourth from 8 to 10 p.m. It managed a third-place finish among advertiser-craved 18-to-49-year-olds, with Fox's duo of Bones and House falling far out of the money into fourth place. Nationally, though, both Fox dramas did fine.

ABC's Dancing with the Stars performance show as usual controlled Monday's 7 to 8:30 p.m. slot, drawing 258,174 D-FW homes and also edging CBS' comedy lineup in the 18-to-49 demo. But CBS' CSI: Miami had the night's biggest haul with 289,836 total homes.

Over on the Versus cable network, the Dallas Stars' dispiriting home loss to Detroit averaged 56,019 homes, peaking at 77,939 to match Gladiators' overall audience for two 15-minute intervals.

In the local news derby, CBS11 capitalized in a big way on the CSI: Miami lead-in. Its 253,302 total homes bested the usual frontrunning WFAA8 (241,124 homes) and likely drove a stake through NBC5's chances to overtake CBS11 for the May sweeps runnerup spot. The Peacock drew just 126,651 homes Monday.

CBS11 also won at 10 p.m. among 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming. NBC5 again ran far back in third, but still likely has enough gas to end up second for the sweeps in that key demo.

WFAA8 comfortably topped the topsy turvy 6 a.m. Nielsens in both ratings measurements after running well back in third place on Friday. The Peacock, a two-time winner on Friday, fell back to third behind runnerup Fox4. Any of the three stations could still win at this hour, although WFAA8 has the pole position.

WFAA8's newscasts ran the table at 5 and 6 p.m., where the station remains ahead of the pack.

By ED BARK
D-FW's up-and-down early morning news race remained so Friday.

This time the Peacock picked itself up from a pair of third place finishes on the previous day. NBC5 edged Fox4 for first place in the total homes Nielsens while the two stations tied for the top spot among 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.

WFAA8, which still has paper-thin leads after 12 of the May sweeps' 20 weekdays, drooped to a relatively distant third place in both ratings measurements.

The ABC station again topped the 10 p.m. total homes Nielsens, with CBS11 finishing second to solidify its hold on the runnerup spot over NBC5. The Peacock won among 25-to-54-year-olds, but has no realistic hopes of catching WFAA8 in that key demographic.

WFAA8 ran the table in the 6 p.m. local news competition and also took first at 5 p.m. in total homes. Fox4 won by an unusually comfortable margin at 5 p.m. among 25-to-54-year-olds.

Saturday night's Dallas Stars-Detroit Red Wings Stanley Cup playoffs faceoff on Versus managed just 31,663 D-FW homes.

On Sunday, ABC's Desperate Housewives drew the biggest audience with 207,026 homes. The following season finale of ABC's Brothers & Sisters had 153,443 homes, the same as Fox4's competing 9 p.m. local newscast. But among advertiser-craved 18-to-49-year-olds both were outdrawn at that hour by CBS' live Survivor: Micronesia reunion show.

By ED BARK
Desperately seeking a second place finish ahead of CBS11 in the 10 p.m. total homes Nielsens, NBC5 went deep into its already dog-eared, "ooh scary" playbook Friday night.

A ready-made Saturday Night Live sketch emerged, although anchor Mike Snyder and reporter Meredith Land of course played it deadly serious with the station's lead story on marauding Texas coral snakes.

"They are poisonous, slimy and invading North Texas," Snyder proclaimed after viewers had choked down another edition of Dateline NBC. "See where snakes are slithering."

Snyder, sporting his traditional sweeps pinstripes, had only begun to tease. Erect and grave-faced as the newscast commenced, he manfully bellied up to this malarky: "Slithering in the grass and making their way into homes, a Dallas neighborhood is on edge tonight as deadly snakes invade their area. Good evening, I'm Mike Snyder."

Co-anchor Jane McGarry, serving herself sunny side up in a bright yellow jacket, otherwise agreed with Big Mike that "deadly snakes are popping up in a Dallas neighborhood."

Viewers then sighted Land, standing live in the dark in a backyard to spoon-feed what Snyder termed "one family's frightening snake story."

The "usually reclusive" reptiles have "been spotted in the grass near homes," Land said. "Herpetologists say pick one up and you are dancing with death."

Yes, she actually said that.

In reality, the potentially venomous Texas corals haven't yet mounted a full-blown snakes-on-the-plains offensive yet. But the innocent Wilkins family told Land of spotting four of them in the last six months. Not only that, a snake handler was called in to haul one of 'em off.

That's more than good enough for NBC5. Land and her cameraman cannily zeroed in on the family dog and the Wilkins' children, all of whom play in the family's backyard.

"If you have four active kids, it is no doubt" -- pause for effect -- "scary," the intrepid reporter said near the end of NBC5's latest sweeps sting operation.

Rival stations somehow completely missed this one. But NBC5 trumpeted it as the most important story of the day in the nation's fifth-largest television market.

Alas, the maligned coral snakes of Texas, depicted as a sinister gang of thugs, don't have the wherewithal to file a defamation of character suit against the Peacock. Then again, how many viewers bit on this one, either for laughs or out of concern for their safety? As wacky cowboy Burton Gilliam says in those long-running car dealer ads, "We don't care how you git here, folks. Just git here!"


WFAA8's Cynthia Izaguirre, Fox4's Emily Lopez, WFAA8's Craig Civale
NOT MAKING THE GRADE -- WFAA8 early morning anchor Cynthia Izaguirre, making her first late night sweeps appearance, had a lengthy and very good report on yet another shortcoming in the Dallas Independent School District.

Her story said that 75 percent of DISD high school graduates enrolled in Dallas community colleges are unable to read beyond the eighth grade level. A developmental reading course is therefore required.

"How did I even receive a high school diploma?" one student wondered.

Izaguirre said that the state TAKS test (Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills), which all students must pass, is faulted by many for not being demanding enough.

"Most teachers will tell you TAKS worksheets are shoved down their throats," she said. "We tried to get some teachers to talk on camera, but they declined for fear of getting in trouble."

Teachers sometimes are paid bonuses for getting their students through the TAKS test, one critic said. So that's the overriding priority, with "rigorous instruction" in essential disciplines suffering as a result.

DISD superintendent Michael Hinojosa, who's spent ample time in front of WFAA8 cameras in recent months, told Izaguirre that "it's not just a Dallas issue. It's a national issue. It's a state issue. Of course I'm upset. But we don't need to blame people. We need to fix it."

He's been saying that a lot lately.

ANNIE OAKLEY WANNA BE -- On Fox4's 9 p.m. news, reporter Emily Lopez capped off her report on an increased demand for concealed handgun permits by squeezing off a round herself at a target practice facility. Her story otherwise had its sights set on a grandma who wants to pack heat for the first time.

"Anybody you talk to, they're just frightened," she told Lopez. "Too much crime." Maybe she's been watching NBC5 too much. The station returned to business as usual Friday night with a big helping of "Crime Alert" stories -- plus those snakes, of course.

TART DART REPORT -- WFAA8's Craig Civale reported on a return of bus service to the Turner Courts apartments neighborhood, where some drivers had been assaulted in recent months. DART had responded by steering clear of the apartments, with its buses instead stopping several blocks away. But the community strongly and successfully lobbied to have their service returned, complete with beefed-up security.

"Now the folks who use these buses rather than the punks who abuse 'em have the last word," Civale told viewers. That's telling it like it is -- and justifiably so in this case.

THE REAL WORLD -- NBC5's Brian Curtis and a chef from the trendy Scene and Fuse restaurants marveled their way through a North Texas 99 cents store, where actual edibles are available. After buying 17 items for $15.40, upper-crust cook Blaine Staniford whipped up a gourmet "Meal For a Steal."

Curtis sampled the "colorful tuscan-style pasta" and pronounced it "really fantastic."

"It doesn't taste like it came from the dollar store, that's for sure," he added.

Note to Curtis: many real people actually live this way when not fleeing from invading snakes.

WEDDING BELL NEWS -- Three of the four stations had reporters in nearby Crawford on the eve of presidential daughter Jenna Bush's private outdoor wedding. WFAA8 sat it out Friday night and didn't even bother mentioning the impending nuptials.

That's a puzzling "Who cares?" shrug at a story that seemed tailor-made for whimsical "Why Guy" Mike Castellucci.

Fox4, NBC5 and CBS11 respectively sent Natalie Solis, Brett Johnson and Katherine Blake to Crawford. No one turned up anything earthshaking, but WFAA8 should have joined them in at least planting its flag.

MOUSE PROMOTED TO KERNEL -- WFAA8 patiently waited until the second half of Friday's newscast to report on a moviegoer who discovered a small, live rodent in the bottom of her hot buttered popcorn bag. David Schechter interviewed the woman, who asked that her face and identity be concealed. She feels the offending AMC Grand theater in Dallas should make a charitable donation -- to what, she didn't say -- instead of compensating her with just two free movie tickets.

WFAA8 had the exclusive on this one, but imagine what NBC5 might have done with it -- and maybe still might. It's easy to envision anchor Snyder proclaiming at the top of a newscast, "North Texas moviegoers are braced for the worst tonight as a gang of razor-toothed, disease-spreading rats prepares to invade their popcorn bags."

BLOOPER REEL -- It just wasn't a great night for NBC5. Snyder made a curtain call later in the newscast by telling viewers that D-FW motorists now are paying an average of $3.56 for a gallon of gas. But NBC5's accompanying graphic said the average price is $3.55.

Snyder then said, "That's still a dime cheaper than the national average of three dollars, 67 cents." No, it's either 11 cents or 12 cents cheaper.

JANE NEEDS A DRINK -- NBC5 sports anchor Newy Scruggs lately is bantering a bit more, usually with McGarry.

After noting that McGarry's beloved Texas Rangers amazingly had won again, Scruggs told her, "You've been on the wagon. They're playing well."

"I need to be on the wagon," she replied.

"That's another story for another day," Snyder added.

"Never mind. It's Friday night," McGarry said before chuckling all the way to a commercial break.

Eight nights to go.

WFAA8's Chris Hawes, NBC5's Grant Stinchfield, CBS11's Jay Gormley
By ED BARK
A supposedly irate Dallas pizzeria owner has been griping lately about the local media's drum-beating of bad economic news.

NBC5 took her bait Thursday night, resulting in an oddly edible semi-apologia by reporter Grant Stinchfield.

"All the negativity has the owner of Sali's pizzeria outraged," he said, referring to a counter-offensive launched by plucky Sarah Saxon. "She's going on the record telling NBC5 and every other media outlet to quit it with all the economic doom and glom."

Stinchfield put her on-camera and then buttressed her bitching with supportive words from Southern Methodist University professor Michael Davis.

"Sadly for us, even one of SMU's top economists is backing Sarah Saxon up," Stinchfield said. Sadly for us?

Cameras then panned over a largely empty Sali's, giving the strong impression that business isn't so hot. But at the same time Stinchfield told viewers, "Sarah wanted us to know her restaurant's doing great. But she'd appreciate it if we'd stop scaring customers from spending money."

He again had it both ways with his live closer.

"Look," Stinchfield said plaintively, "the reality is we really do try to report the news you're interested in. And no matter what you may think, we're not talking about making up these numbers relating to the economy or anything else. With that said, Sarah's point is well-taken."

NBC5 seemed to scrimp a bit on lousy economic news Thursday, although anchor Jane McGarry did note that gas prices had jumped again.

Instead the station hit viewers with a rapid-fire burst of scary crime and tragedy news about a man who'd been beaten and carjacked, a ring of purse snatchers, a child hit by an SUV and two big drug busts. Pick your poison.

Meanwhile, CBS11 tore a page from deposed former news director Regent Ducas' run 'n' gun playbook, opening its 10 p.m. newscast with what anchor Karen Borta pitched as "a fiery rescue you will only see tonight on CBS11 news."

Reporter Jay Gormley again served as dutiful point man, priming viewers for a police video shot last month in Sansom Park. Cops were chasing four teenagers when the car they were in crashed into a building and began burning under the hood.

After first drawing their guns, police could be seen smashing side windows with batons and ordering the boys to get out of the car and get on the ground.

"The boy in the red shirt has a broken leg," Gormley narrated. "Minutes later, when the teens are a safe distance from the burning car, you can hear the boy with the broken leg screaming in pain."

Ooh boy. Can't wait for that. For the record, it was plain to see that the boy with the broken leg in fact wore red pants and a black shirt. But you could in fact see and hear him scream in pain.

Some marijuana and "several stolen purses" were found in the car, Gormley noted before thoughtfully informing viewers, "To watch the entire chase, fire and rescue, go to our Web site."

It's a shame to see a reporter with a decent reputation squander it so wantonly in recent weeks. At least that's the view from here.

In stark contrast, WFAA8 began with "The Suspect Within," an intriguing, behind-the-scenes tale of a rural fireman who's long been suspected of starting a series of fires.

Chris Hawes reported in-depth on the fireman's continued career path, lately as a member of College Mound's volunteer fire department. Seven fires have broke out since he arrived. And the fireman, Eric Campbell, finally has been indicted by a grand jury on charges of arson. He's set to enter a plea next month, Hawes said, emphasizing that "he has not yet had his day in court. And until that happens, he is, like all defendants, presumed innocent."

Reporting stories like these isn't nearly as simple as popping in a police video. But they're worth a viewer's time and a station's investment.

AND IN OTHER NEWS . . .

MORE GOOD WORK -- CBS11's Stephanie Lucero had an interesting story on how homeowner insurance rates often can be tied to their nearest fire department's response time ratings and overall excellence, as judged by ISO (Insurance Service Organization) exams. The better the rating, the lower insurance premiums are likely to be.

WFAA8's Brett Shipp offered another installment in his periodic investigation of the Texas Railroad Commission's diligence in ordering repairs of faulty gas pipe connections that can and have led to home explosions and deaths. Especially telling: the high percentage of campaign contributions that each of the three commission members have received from the oil and gas industry. All of them said it has absolutely no bearing on their decision-making, but you be the judge.

SOMETIMES THEY JUST PUNT -- Fox4 has had both standout and non-descript 9 p.m. newscasts during the May sweeps ratings period. Thursday brought one of the latter. I watched, listened and really didn't find anything that jumped out for better or worse. Except maybe for a sighting of veteran medical reporter John Hammarley who made his first sweeps appearance and seems to be rarely included on the 9 p.m. editions anymore.

Hammarley had an involving report on a young woman, now 20, who's been suffering much of her life from a rare, usually fatal genetic disorder called Batten disease. No one doubts Hammarley's compassion on stories such as these. But he probably shouldn't have closed his story by hugging its subject on-camera. That should have been a private moment between the two of them.

BLOOPER REEL -- Seasoned WFAA8 sports reporter George Riba, reporting live from Detroit on the Dallas Stars' loss to the Red Wings, committed an uncharacteristic, unforced error.

"Well, we heard things in the (Stars') locker room like Detroit is a very good football team," he said. "Well, we already knew that. But we also heard that this team is a little fatigued from that four-overtime win on Sunday night."

Extensive coverage of the Stars, so uncommon on D-FW newscasts until recently, is probably enough to leave football on the brain of any sports anchor or reporter. But no, George, the Detroit Lions long have been one of the NFL's biggest stinkers. The Red Wings, though, indeed are very good with the puck.

PETE 'N' DALE'S PLAYHOUSE: EXTENDED EDITION -- Boy there was no stoppin' 'em Thursday night, beginning with weatherman Pete Delkus' segue out of a brief story on that ever-expanding sinkhole in Daisetta, TX.

Anchor John McCaa noted that it's now gotten deep enough to accommodate "five Big Tex statues stacked on top of each other."

"Five big Tex statues. Two Dale Hansens," big Pete riposted.

After his weathercast, Delkus went deep into the email bag to read an elongated one from a viewer who's concerned about "the constant banter between Mr. Hansen and Mr. Delkus. It's borderline juvenile and I must say it continues to paint Mr. Hansen in a jealous, envious, petty demeanor toward Mr. Delkus."

Furthermore, "Mr. Hansen seems not to be able to stop his childish and boorish behavior until he has had the last slam. One example: Mr. Hansen makes fun of Mr. Delkus's hair. It's clear that Mr. Delkus has great hair. It's obvious to everyone that Mr. Hansen's jealous of his hair, his good looks and overall charm."

One out of three," Hansen rejoined. "You do have great hair."

It looks like these guys are intent on exhausting their repertoires before their big joint appearance on May 17th at the fifth in a series of Uncle Barky Shows (see banner ad above). It's free, it's for charity -- Stratos restaurant again will make a very generous donation -- and it looks like your congenial host can simply act like Marcel Marceau after perhaps getting a single question in.

Nine nights to go.

Picture book swing or rusty gate on a broken hinge? Photos: Ed Bark
By ED BARK
FRISCO -- At first -- and especially in the second inning -- The Ticket radio's "Great Game" proved to be anything but.

A 10-to-5 score built in large part on a total of 12 walks, four wild pitches and two hit batters seemed to promise a long, redundant Thursday night for Team Musers, Team Hardline and the 4,000 or so fans at Dr. Pepper Ballpark.

Hardline pitcher Corby Davidson led the parade with a second inning stint that featured six walks, three wild pitches and two plunks before he trudged off without recording a single out.

But then came the unexpected. Pitchers started finding the plate, particularly game MVP Dan McDowell of the Musers. Fielders started catching the ball, particularly centerfielder Donovan "Donny Do" Lewis of the Hardliners. The seven-inning game accelerated, and the pre-game prophecy of the Musers' George "Jub-Jub" Dunham came to pass.

"We're bad," he said. "But they're really bad."

All in all, though, not bad. Team Musers won, 13 to 10, in a game that ended up with more total hits (16) than errors (11). And six walks in the final five innings is miserly when compared to a dozen in the first two.

The first such "Great Game" benefited the Frisco Roughriders charitable foundation and featured all of the station's prominent on-air personalities except Norm Hitzges.

But Big Norm did the over-the-air announcing, assisted by Dallas Mavericks play-by-play man and Ticket alum Mark Followill.

Followill had the line of the night. "This ain't like a Maverick broadcast," he said. "I can rip people now."

MVP McDowell ended up pitching two scoreless innings and walking just one batter. Lewis, one of his two broadcast buddies on The Ticket's afternoon BaD radio show, paced the losing Team Hardline by making five putouts in centerfield, recording the game's first two runs batted in and reaching base three of four times.

Bob Sturm, the B in BaD radio, had the historic first of many stolen bases in the inaugural game. He also scored its first run, giving Team Hardline a lead it held until that disastrous 10-run second inning. So put BaD radio's trio in this game's Hall of Fame, even though the teams were named for the more prominent morning and afternoon drive shows.

McDowell was characteristically humble during a post-game interview.

"It's a team game," he said. "I wish I could give it to the team. But I can't. It's mine."

Your friendly correspondent left the park with Hitzges' crumpled official score sheets in hand.

Let the record show that Norm finally wearied of the task after Lewis walked in the top of the seventh during Hardline's last at bat. He didn't bother to record catcher Michael Gruber's climactic groundball to shortstop, which was turned into a forceout at second base. Gruber then was tossed out at second himself after an errant throw got past the first baseman.

The crowd roared, perhaps partly in relief, while Team Musers members triumphantly threw their gloves in the air. Stoic Mike Rhyner, self-appointed captain of the Hardliners, looked embittered in defeat. Then again, his grim game face is pretty much his only face. So let's not jump to conclusions.

Here's a picture book look at a storied night in Ticket history. Or something like that.


Future stars of the game Dan McDowell and Donovan Lewis.


"Skin" and Gordon Keith get ready for game action.


Bob Sturm gets a grip in hopes of becoming a Topps card.


A pensive George Dunham knows what lies ahead.


It might be, it could be, it is -- congenial slugger Rich Phillips.


Hardliner Mike Rhyner has a gut feeling this ain't gonna be easy.


Opening night pitcher Craig "Junior" Miller signs a new contract.


Rangers fave Rusty Greer prepares to manage Hardliners to defeat.


Play ball! Junior Miller aims toward home in first inning.

By ED BARK
Sent to Siberia, a k a Versus, the Dallas Stars' opening night Stanley Cup playoff series loss to Detroit played dismally in the Nielsens as well.

Also afflicted with an early 6:30 p.m. start time, the game averaged just 29,227 D-FW homes on the still little-known cable network. That might make it a veritable ratings beast for Versus, but nearly four times as many homes were tuned to last Sunday's marathon Stars win over San Jose on Fox Sports Southwest.

Thursday night otherwise belonged to the broadcast networks' two big dogs, with ABC's Grey's Anatomy and CBS' CSI: Crime Scene Investigation tying at 8 p.m. in total homes (263,045 apiece). ABC's docs again won easily, though, among advertiser-craved 18-to-49-year-olds.

At 9 p.m., ABC's Lost also dominated the 18-to-49-demo, but fell to a close second in total homes behind CBS' Without A Trace. NBC's ER continued to struggle, running fourth in both measuring sticks.

In the local news derby, Fox4 began what could be another of its second-half sweeps rallies. It won for the first time in the 20-day period in both total homes and with 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.

NBC5, which started fast, again faded to a relatively distant third place behind WFAA8, which still has slim leads in both measurements with 11 of 20 days in the books.

WFAA8 edged CBS11 for first place in the 10 p.m. total homes Nielsens while rolling to a much easier win with 25-to-54-year-olds. CBS11 retains a paper-thin lead over NBC5 in the battle for second place in total homes.

WFAA8 ran the table at 5 and 6 p.m. Its lopsided victory among 25-to-54-year-olds in the earlier hour served to shoo away the Peacock, which had been pressing WFAA8 a bit for first place in that demographic.

The latest daily 5 p.m. returns, however, found NBC5 way back in fourth place, with less than one-third audience drawn by frontrunning WFAA8.

CBS11's Katherine Blake and WFAA8's Jason Whitely
By ED BARK
No one took note at the time, including the reporter on the scene and your dogged chronicler of D-FW's late night newscasts.

But yes, that was a gunshot going off behind her as CBS11's Katherine Blake did a live standup outside a Fort Worth apartment complex Tuesday night.

Blake revisited the scene on Wednesday's 10 p.m. newscast after her station teased, "Gunfire rings out on live TV." She had been reporting on the theft of a broken-hearted elderly widow's wedding rings when a single popping sound could be heard behind her as a tow truck drove by.

It turned out that its operator was being fired on by a handgun-wielding apartment-dweller whose illegally parked car was being towed. On Wednesday, Blake interviewed the tow truck driver, who showed her some pings in his four-wheeler's chassis.

Blake then told viewers, "The bullets were flying right in our direction while we were doing a live report on another story."

Although obviously a very rare occurrence, the incident underscores the possible perils of reporting live for live's sake on stories that otherwise often were completed hours ago.

News directors and station consultants prefer the "immediacy" and/or "urgency" of reporters standing in the late night dark rather than simply introducing their stories from the safety of the newsroom. But do viewers really care? Or does a joke from last fall's premiere episode of Fox's Back to You make a lot more sense under these circumstances.

Sent back to a courthouse where nothing had happened since his earlier dispatch, the sitcom's featured street reporter, Gary Crezyzewski, deadpanned, "It adds action and urgency for me to stand out in the cold in front of a dark, empty building."

A lot worse could have happened to Blake during her superfluous standup Tuesday night. And that's no laughing matter.