Glenn Beck Foundation Helps OK Relief Efforts

UPDATED: 11AM 6/3/2013:  Emotions ran high on Saturday when eight Cleveland County, OK deputies received checks from Joe Kerry, the head of Glenn Beck’s nonprofit organization Mercury One.

According to The Norman Transcript, five of those deputies’ homes were completely destroyed during the May tornadoes while the other three deputies’ homes sustained damage. As Kerry handed each of them their check and shook each of their hands, he made a decision.

“I’m so moved by what I’m seeing in the room we’re going to double that money that we just gave you,” Kerry said.

The money was collected after Glenn Beck asked audience members to contribute and help raise funds for families impacted by the May 20 tornado, he said. Kerry also gave donations to the sheriff’s office and Shelter Oklahoma Schools, totaling somewhere near $720,000.

Kerry gave a $250,000 donation on behalf of Mercury One to the Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office after hearing about the need for a better mobile command center to aide with the next disaster.

Sheriff Joe Lester also said he had been in contact with the Associated Builders and Contractors in Oklahoma, who said they were going to match Kerry’s donation.

Earlier that day, Kerry had also made a $350,000 donation on behalf of Mercury One to Shelter Oklahoma Schools, a group founded by several state representatives and local businesses.

The group plans to raise money to construct a shelter in every Oklahoma school, starting with those located in areas that are at high risk for tornadic activity.

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Oregon Radio: Veteran Ray Pietz Signs-Off Daily Show

Ray Pietz

Ray Pietz doesn’t see it as retirement. He likes to call it a sequestration.

“I’m actually just not providing some services anymore,” said Pietz, known across the mid-valley as Radio Ray.

Although he still will provide sports coverage, special features, commentary and production Pietz will stepped down from his 14-year stint on the Morning Update show at KGAL on May 31, ending  a 40-year run as an on-the-air personality, according to the Albany Democrat-Herald.

His career wasn’t exactly planned. After leaving the service Pietz, 67 headed west from his home in Buffalo, N.Y. to see California. It was supposed to be a visit.

“I had always meant to return,” Pietz said. “My car broke down in Texas and I had to get a job when I got to California to pay for it.”

While in San Francisco, Pietz heard an ad for the Ron Bailey School of Broadcasting. It seemed a better option than college and “a lot of philosophy courses”.

Pietz took to broadcasting immediately. After graduating he applied for a job in New Jersey hoping to go back home. Pietz gave himself the Radio Ray moniker and started working at KRSB.

In 1977 he was lured to Eugene where he worked for three different stations before moving to Corvallis and starting a 27-year career in the mid-valley with KLOO and eventually KGAL 1580 AM in Lebanon, OR.

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Bill Nye Fires Back At Rush Limbaugh

Bill Nye

Bill Nye the Science Guy is firing back at conservative talk radio host Rush Limbaugh, who last week on his show proclaimed Nye is nothing more than a talking head on television.

"Bill Nye is not a science guy; that's why he's a TV personality," Limbaugh said after Nye appeared on Piers Morgan Live to discuss tornadoes. "Bill Nye is not a scientist. Bill Nye can explain to kids things like surface tension, why you can fill a glass above the rim and it won't fall over if it's just the right amount. He explains things like that, surface tension. He's not a scientist. He knows it, and everybody else knows it. Doesn't matter."

During a candid interview with Mashable, Nye addressed the remarks — unprompted.

"When Rush Limbaugh says I'm not a scientist I'm charmed — I smirk," Nye said. "Rush, I think you got it wrong. But I've got to tell you I don't follow Rush's comments that closely. I don't hang on his every word."

This is the first time Nye has commented publicly on Limbaugh's statement.

"I was very flattered last week, and I meant to tweet about this, but I dropped the ball because of the holiday weekend," Nye added. "I got a Google Alert for it and it was one of those things where I thought I should do something. ... What am I if I'm not a scientist?"

Mashable also spoke with Nye about social media's role in science, the Internet versus flying cars, Carmen Electra, Kickstarter, how to pronounce "GIF" and much more.

Nye will take part in a Reddit "Ask Me Anything" session June 4 at 1 p.m. ET.

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FTN Discusses Obama's Second Term Doldrums

Executive Editor of The New York Times Jill Abramson, The Washington Post's Bob Woodward and David Ignatius, The Daily Beast's Daniel Klaidman and CBS News' John Dickerson look at the controversy surrounding Attorney General Eric Holder, the civil war in Syria, and the other headaches facing President Obama as he continues his second term.

AP Honors The Best in NY News Broadcasting

WNYC radio in New York City and Elmira's WENY-TV have won the top awards in the New York State Associated Press Broadcasters Association's annual news awards competition.

WNYC won eight first-place awards to earn the NYSAPBA's Steve Flanders Award, given to the radio station with the most top finishes in the competition for news stories aired during the previous calendar year.

WENY took first place in six categories to win the grand prize in the television competition. The station also won the award in 2012.

WNYC edged out WRVO-FM in Oswego, which won seven first-place awards. Buffalo's WIVB-TV won five first-place awards.

The awards were presented Saturday night during the NYSAPBA's annual banquet in Saratoga Springs.

Other TV stations winning multiple first-place awards included WKTV in Utica with four and Buffalo's WGRZ-TV and WNBC-TV in New York City with three apiece. The News 12 stations for Long Island, Westchester-Yonkers and the Hudson Valley won a total of six first-place awards.

Other radio stations taking home first-place awards included Buffalo's WBFO and WBEN with six and three, respectively, and WCBS in New York City with two.

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Cedar Rapids Radio: KCFI Goes ‘Retro’ With Live Personalities

Dolly Fortier was sizing up her new broadcast home.

"It's hard to teach an old chick a new trick, but eventually, I get it," she quipped about the technology involved.

That's not why station manager Jim Coloff is hiring her. 

According to wcfcourier.com, he's hiring her for her on-air savvy, and a personality as comfy and homespun as a well-worn couch.

He's taking fifty-something radio station KCFI back to the future with an eclectic mix of oldies and live on-air talent. And Fortier, 76, a 40-year veteran of the local radio industry, is leading the charge, coming out of retirement after four years.

The station is going back to on-air music programming starting with Fortier, who will host a midday show and have a "lunch" session over the noon hour. She's already storing up her trademark bits of trivia to share with listeners.

Dolly Fortier

"I really did miss radio," Fortier said. "When you get desperate enough to buy a house, you now you need something to do," she kidded.

"There is a trend to get back to local radio and local live DJs," Coloff said. "The trend 10, 15 years ago was to automate, get rid of people. But there's a trend that medium-sized and smaller companies are trying to reverse that. Radio owners are investing in talent and facilities to be more live and local, which we've always believed in."

The station has gone back to a home-grown 1950s, '60s and '70s "oldies" format --- home grown in the sense that Jim's father, Tony Coloff, who founded the 11-station family-owned company, is mixing all the music for the station himself and is its on-air "imaging" voice for station promos. The elder Coloff is a longtime former 1960s radio on-air personality with old KLWW in Cedar Rapids and in the Twin Cities.

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'PSA': Stop Caring About Amanda Bynes

It seems that every day there is a new story being reported about Amanda Bynes and one comedy group has had enough. The You-Tube affiliated Official Comedy channel released a PSA urging people to stop caring about the troubled actress.

The video points out how insignificant most of the Amanda stories tend to be in comparison to other things happening around the world. One person says, "Just think, somewhere, right now, at this very moment, scientists are working to cure cancer. And you just retweeted, 'I want @drake to murder my vagina." The PSA also suggests people do something more productive instead like catching up on Breaking Bad or calling back your parents.

To stress their point, the video ends with one of the narrators saying, "We have the power to end this epidemic ... so please, stop caring."

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R.I.P.: Maine Broadcaster Gerald Lewis Was 84

Gerald Lewis

A pioneer in broadcasting in Maine and at WCSH has passed on.

Gerald Lewis, Jerry to those who knew him, died Saturday, Jun 1st in Boston.

He was 84.

Jerry was born in Boston in 1928 but he grew up in Portland. He graduated from Deering High School and went to college at Bowdoin.

He worked through college as a reporter and radio announcer in Bangor but in a spur-of-the-moment decision applied for a job as an announcer at WCSH.

He got the job and carried through as the station switched from radio to TV in 1953.

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TWC’s Mike Bettes Talks About Surviving Tornado

KJRH 2News Tulsa meteorologist George Flickinger talks with The Weather Channel's Mike Bettes after Mike's "tornado hunt" car was thrown some 200 yards by a tornado in Oklahoma.

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OK Tornado Kills 3 Veteran Storm Chasers

                                      The remains of the vehicle in which the 3 storm chasers were killed in OK Friday. 

Three veteran storm chasers were among the 10 people killed following Friday's EF3 tornado in El Reno, Okla.

According to The Weather Channel, renowned researcher and storm chaser Tim Samaras, 55, his son Paul Samaras, 24, and his chase partner Carl Young, 45, passed away after they were overtaken by the multiple-vortex tornado, which appeared to be in the midst of a sharp change in direction.

The Storm Prediction Center issued a statement Sunday, saying it was terribly saddened by Tim Samaras' death.  "Samaras was a respected tornado researcher and friend ... who brought to the field a unique portfolio of expertise in engineering, science, writing and videography," the center's statement said.

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While his father was known for advancing the science of severe meteorology, Paul Samaras was known for his artistic talents and his ability to capture Mother Nature's worst by camera.   These images are some of Paul's favorites.

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Remembering Jean Stapleton

Actress Jean Stapleton, known by millions as Archie Bunker's wife Edith on "All In The Family," died over the weekend at her home in New York at the age of 90.

CBS’ Lee Cowan looks back at her life and career.