April 20, 2005 -- Say goodbye to NewsChannel 2. After 8 years with that moniker, WESH's newscasts are now "WESH 2 News" -- which includes saying the word "wesh" instead of spelling it out. OK? ...

||| PLAY BALL: WESH did indeed pull off its weather switcheroo on Monday, with Dave Marsh going to the noon and 5:30 shows and Amy Sweezey taking over the 5, 6 and 11 weathercasts. Noon anchor Marc Middleton welcomed Marsh to his earlier gig by saying he now felt like "Babe Ruth" has been added to his team. ...

||| HELP WANTED? There was a funny (albeit awkward) moment on WESH's Sunrise news show Tuesday morning with Al Roker and meteorologist Mike O'Lenick, whose contract is not being renewed. Anyway, Roker was at Universal preparing for a live shot for the Today show, but he spent some time talking on air with Sunrise anchor Marc Middleton. During the segment Roker asked Middleton about O'Lenick, then looked into the camera and said, "Mike O'Lenick is the man!" Camera then goes to O'Lenick, who says, "Thanks, Al. Can I use you as a reference?" Pretty funny stuff. ...

||| POSTCARDS: WKMG anchor Lauren Rowe returned to the Local 6 anchor desk on Tuesday after a two-week trip to Southeast Asia. Anchor Bob Frier said that in a postcard that arrived just a day before Rowe returned, she said the food all tasted like Rahman noodles.

||| THE BIRDS AND THE BEES: WOFL's satellite truck -- damaged last week by a big bird on the Beeline Expressway -- is already back in action. It was spotted in downtown Orlando on Tuesday outside St. James church for Pope coverage.

April 20, 2005 -- Local 6 chief met Tom Sorrells had some high-seas adventure while attending the year's Bahamas Weather Conference in Nassau, according to Mike James' NewsBlues.com. On the final day of the junket, Torrells and Tim Heller from Houston's KTRK were aboard a 35-foot fishing charter that plowed into a reef, shearing off the twin propellers. A young crew member then tossed an anchor overboard ("no ... not that kind of anchor," James writes). All that did was hold the boat in place so it could be pounded against the reef, tearing a hole in the side of the boat.

As it began to sink, the seven passengers and two crew members put on their life jackets. Fortunately, they were able to flag down another charter filled with other weather guessers who helped rescue the group and prevent a new version of "The Real Gilligan's Island" from starting. Along with Sorrells and Heller, other would-be castaways on the boat were John "Lunchbox" Bernier (Chief Met at Richmond's WRIC-8-ABC), Bill Carwile (Deputy Director of FEMA), Bart Hagemeyer (Melbourne NWS) and Craig Fugate and his wife (Emergency Manager from Florida) were all safely returned to shore.

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Bird bird takes on big truck

April 15 -- Fox 35's satellite truck is temporarily out of commission after being hit by a big bird, WOFL insiders say. Yep, a bird. The truck was cruising along the Bee Line Expressway in Brevard County on Wednesday when a big bird flew into the vehicle's path. Because of heavy traffic, there wasn't any way to swerve to avoid a head-on collision. "The windshield caved in and glass went everywhere," one WOFLer said. The truck driver also ended up with a few cuts from the incident. A tow truck had to be called to bring the damaged vehicle back to WOFL's Lake Mary studios, but the station expects the sat truck to be back in service shortly. So what kind of bird can take a satellite truck out of commission? One sly Fox insider says, "Some suspect a peacock."

April 14 -- WFTV sports anchor Dan Hellie scored a scoop Wednesday with a satellite interview with disgruntled Magic player Doug Christie. Speaking from Seattle, where he had surgery on his ankle, Christie blasted the Magic for not supporting him and made it sound like he won't be returning to Orlando. "It's ridiculous that the organization could stand by and let people [the media] attack my integrity. This is the team that traded for me but showed very little commitment toward me," Christie said. Although only a portion of Hellie's 35-minute interview was shown, Christie made it crystal clear that he blames Magic GM John Weisbrod for many of his problems. But he wouldn't come right out and say that though, despite continued prodding by Hellie. That led to a funny exchange at the end of the report when anchor Bob Opsahl joked to Hellie, "So, what are you trying to say?"

||| WHERE ARE THEY NOW? Time to check up on some former Central Florida TV folks ... Former Fox 35 morning meteorologist Doug Kammerer, now at NBC O&O WCAU in Philadelphia, was filling as the weather guy last week on "Early Today." We're told that Kammerer is now on the list of "fill-in" weather guessers you may see on "Early Today" as well as the "Today" show. ... Going way back, former WFTV meteorologist Pete Delkus (who left O-Town back in 1996) is on the move again. The chief met at WCPO in Cincinnati, he's now heading to the Big D to work at WFAA, the Belo-owned flagship in Dallas. Delkus earned a place in Cincinnati TV lore in April 1999 when when he stayed up all night to track, street by street, a tornado that devastated the northeast section of the city. WCOP cites Deklus' storm coverage for helping it climb back to the top of the Nielsens.

April 13 -- Well, it's been a while since I've had an update, and there's a reason for that. Living in the lightning capital of the western hemisphere, it was only a matter of time before I got zapped. We had a strike near (or on) our house recently, knocking out our phone, satellite receivers, one of our computers and assorted other stuff. The computer I use for updating this site had its modem fried. It's working now -- kinda-sorta. So, back to the news....

||| WHAT DID SHE SAY? During Tuesday's Fox 35 News at 10, anchor Shelly Ribando introduced a story about possible cat hunting in Wisconsin by saying, "Cat lovers, this next story will make your fur stand on edge." My fur? Say what? ... That strange intro aside, I have to say that I think Fox 35's news product is continuing to improve. After being almost unwatchable, the station's newscasts really seem to be on the right track -- finally.

||| CH-CH-CHANGES: Saw a recent news promo on WESH in which anchor Wendy Chioji repeatedly refers to the station's news as "WESH 2 News" -- not the current moniker of NewsChannel 2. Might another change at WESH be afoot? ... Speaking of changes, morning meteorologist Amy Sweezy moves to nights on Monday, sending chief met and weather icon Dave Marsh to the noon and 5:30 shows.

||| BUZZ, BUZZ: The Daily Buzz on WB18 has hired Kia Malone to replace Dao Vu. Malone comes to Orlando's own national morning show from Oklahoma City, where she worked at KWTV and KOCO. Vu, you may recall, left for the Weather Channel. Former Fox 35 weekend anchor Maggie Carlo will continue filling in until Kia starts. ... And in case you didn't catch the Orlando Sentinel feature on the Buzz on Sunday, here's a link.

||| DEMO DATA: When the demos for the February sweeps came out, WFTV was happy to report in a news release that Eyewitness News finished No. 1 at 11 p.m. in the 25-54 demo with a 4.4 rating, topping WKMG (4.1) and WESH (3.8). ... Fox 35 is running a promo saying it's the No. 1 choice for news at 10 o'clock -- among young adults. Not sure why it needs that qualifier.

||| WHERE'S KENNY? This may not really be news related, but it's news, nonetheless. South Park will join the WRDQ-Channel 27 program lineup this fall.