I just wanted to share with you an email I got from a woman in Virginia Beach.  She emailed 10 On Your Side because she was trying to get in touch with the Virginia Employment Commission’s Fraud Hotline.  The problem, the voicemail was full.  The viewer did get in touch with a local representative, however, It wasn’t until I called the Commissioner’s office that the voicemail was cleared.  I spoke to a really nice woman over the phone in Richmond.  She was really glad I notified her about the problem and she was able to get to the right department and the voicemail was cleared out just minutes after I initally called her.  It was one quick phone call that resolved this problem in just minutes. 

Please check out my latest web report

10 On Your Side Success

let me know what you think

Feel free to email me

Kelly Welsh/ kelly.welsh@wavy.com

10 On Your Side wants you to be safe this holiday season.  The malls and shopping centers are staying open late and that means more people are out shopping.  I interviewed the General Manger of MacArthur Center who gave us some really good suggestions and tips to keep safe.

Enjoy the holiday season, but make safety a priority.

Check out my latest web report/Holiday Shopping Safety

Kelly Welsh/10 On Your Side

This is an email sent to me from Tom McClellon, a Norfolk native, who now lives in India.  He has spent a lot of time at the Taj hotel that came under fire  when terrorists struck ten different locations in the heart of India’s financial district on Thanksgiving.  He watched international news and surfed various webpages- including www.wavy.com and www.myfoxhamptonroads.com during the chaos.  Tom also emailed me pictures of what those areas looked like before the bombing.  He has stayed there in the past and knows the building well. Tom’s text is in red.

this is really bad and still going on..  i’m watching cnn and bbc and txting frinds in mumbai constantly/  we txt alot here in india.  its how we communicate.

all are worried re the lasting effects on internationals.  many international companies are already pulling out of emerging markets due to the economy.  india’s economy has suffered terribly this past year.

if u want to ask any questions//  blog me/  also i know those buildings the taj and oberoi very well and the entire hood of ‘colaba’ (the real name for south mumby) is a stomping ground.  cafe leopold too//  .

u might say they are a terrorist’s dream//  cafe leopold is completely open to the street and always packed..//

the oberoi is built around one central atrium encircled by exposed hallways.. all room doors facing in.  the atrium is the entire height of the hotel.

the taj is open throughout all the floors as well on the room floors from the 2nd floor (usa 3rd fl) to the 6th floor/ sort of like balconies inside/  but open from the center of all the interior hallways/  quite stunning ut when it was built it was compared to a prison (haha)/ the taj is absolutely massive.  the main tower in front is the grand staircase//

i see lots of smoke coming from there from time to time.  it is completely open from ground floor to dome  whyich is known for its sea green ceiling and also for them changing the entire carpets on the staircase to reflect monsoon season or not/  also i used to live in one of those top rooms that burned.  we used to request them cuz they had balconies. now i always stay in room 236 because its near the street and has a small balcony and i can watch teh carriages and all the street mahem at night.  probs stayed there about 10 months total out of my life.   th e last time i was there i rode in the elevator with mick jagger// trivial huh?   buyt cant imagine that area being quiet// its so frenetic/always  also known for the seawall which is where the terrorist came in by small ‘dingy’ raft boats

this was def directed at foreign nationals and i think had to do with thanksgiving / TV viewing.. a greater american audience

and i worry re india as many times the terrorists attack multiple cities

we’ve had more terror deaths here than in afghanistan

so im staying out of shopping malls, hotels and airports for a while-low profile

was out yesterday morning trying to scrape up a TG meal and there were a noticeably fewer xpats/ as we all frequent the same shops/

nice to hear from u

keep in touch

and pray

x

tom

If you were to ask someone who works in the news world “what is it like?” you’d probably get answers such as “hectic”, “busy”, “fun”, etc. I’ll be the first to tell you that this business is chaotic. Without warning, breaking news can flip your day upside down and backwards. Reporters start running around, photographers start grabbing gear, and together they race out the back door and start loading up in a live truck. With all of that being said, the 10 On Your Side unit isn’t quite as hectic, but we, too, have our days.

We (Kelly and I) focus a lot on the phone calls and e-mails that we receive. We spend a lot of time working behind the scenes to gather information, conduct research and help resolve problems. We are constantly on the phones (we receive more phone calls than the better business bureau), on the computer and are never far from our blackberries. I think I speak for both of us when I say that we take great pride in the work that we do to help people who need it.

Recently Kelly and I started web-reporting, editing and posting our stories to the website. I, for one, have never been on camera (okay well maybe once or twice) and was nervous about the camera “adding 10 lbs” (just kidding)!!! Honestly, I just had visions of messing everything up, stumbling my way through the opening (“technically” called the intro) and the ending (again “technically” called the tag) and completely mess up the editing and botching the interviews … that’s a lot of pressure, huh? W-E-L-L … when it came down to it, it wasn’t so bad. I’ve actually enjoyed it (once I got my first one knocked out, that is!!!) Be sure to check us out on the 10 On Your side page. We’ll be there, resolving stories, posting blogs and trying to help all the people that need it.

As always, if you need our help, just give us a call or shoot us an e-mail (e-mail is usually faster). You can reach me directly at jamie.shackelford@wavy.com.

Check back soon. For my next blog, I’ll be posting pictures of some of the fun things that we get to do here at work. Until then, take care…

Check out my latest web report.  I take you behind the scenes of our Newsroom on Election Night 2008.  From Anchors, Reporters, Photographers, Editors, and dozens of people gathering information, it took an entire team, working together, to bring you the very latest on the Presidential and local elections.  It was a very hectic evening.  We worked together as a team to make it all happen.  It was an historical night and I was glad to be here  in the newsroom as events were unfolding.

I wanted to give you a glimpse into what we do behind the scenes on one of the biggest news events of the year.

Let me know what you think.

I can’t even begin to tell you how successful our Shred-It events were this past weekend. I have never seen an event this big. I was working the Southside location with Katie Collett. When I arrived at Farm Fresh at 10:30a (a half an hour before the event started) there was a line wrapping around the side of the building. Quickly the line grew down the side of the Farm Fresh store and around back, past the loading docks. What a remarkable turn out!!! The line stayed this way all day until we began to receive word that our trucks were filling up (this has never happened before). Katie and I were forced to make an executive decision to shut the line down. We had to close off the line at 1pm and start turning people away.  To all of those people who couldn’t shred their documents on Saturday, I apologize and hope you can make it to our next event. After everything was all said and done the southside location raised 2,006 lbs of food for the Foodbank of Southeastern VA.

While I wasn’t at the Peninsula location I was in constant contact with Kelly Welsh who was working with Nicole Livas in Newport News. When Kelly and Nicole first arrived, the weather wasn’t really cooperating. It was rainy and windy and after a quick forecast update from Jeremy Wheeler, I assured them that the weather should clear up within just a little while. Even though they started off slow, the participation was steady. They ended up raising 1807 lbs of food for the Foodbank of the VA Peninsula.

All in all we raised over 3,800 lbs of food for area Foodbanks. Needless to say, I was shocked and awed at the generosity of the residents of Hampton Roads during this time of year when giving is of the utmost importance. Think of all of the families that we helped feed and of all of the people who will now have food on their table this Thanksgiving. It warms my heart to know that so many people care! Our viewers are the best!

I’d like to give great big kudos to Cliff and Batman with Shred-It (worked the southside) and to Theo and Conell with Shred-It (worked the peninsula location). Velente with Farm Fresh was remarkable… he was instrumental in helping direct traffic and even wore a sign (while standing in the pouring rain) letting people know that the southside line was closed. As always I thank Farm Fresh (Susan Mayo and Staff) and Shred-it (Robert Hart) for teaming up with us on this event. Look for our next event in February!

Here’s a few pictures from our events:

The lines in Virginia Beach

Southside Shred It Event

Velente with his sign

10 On Your Side Investigation

Fake Check Cashing Scam

10 On Your Side has warning for you that may save you thousands of dollars. Fake lottery checks are making there way into mail boxes all over Hampton Roads. The claims of winning thousands or millions of dollars may sound very enticing, but be careful. Things aren’t always as they seem.

Please check out my latest Web Report/ Don’t be so quick to cash that check

Please let me know what you think. I’ll be sure to let you know when my next report is posted.
Thanks,
Kelly Welsh

WAVY TV partners with Shred-It 4 times a year (February, May, July and November) to offer free community shreds to the citizens of Hampton Roads. This program has been extremely successful and we constantly get phone calls regarding our next event, etc. So get all of those old documents ready because here’s the information about our next event:

Peninsula location with Nicole Livas

Click here for a map of the location: NewportNewsLocation

Southside Location with Katie Collett

click here for a map of the location: VirginiaBeachLocation

FOR THE NOVEMBER EVENT WE WILL BE PARTNERING UP WITH THE AREA FOODBANKS AND ARE ASKING FOR ALL SHRED-IT PARTICIPANTS TO BRING AT LEAST 2 NON-PERISHABLE FOOD ITEMS FOR A DONATION TO THE FOODBANK.

Please keep in mind that all staples and paper clips can be left in the documents. All metal binding (if any) needs to be removed prior to shredding.

Additional websites you may want to visit:

Shred-It

FoodbankofSoutheasternVirginia

VirginiaPeninsulaFoodbank

Hi everyone… I just wanted to let you guys know about a call I got a few days ago.  Denise Johnson called 10 On Your Side because Child Support Enforcement in Virginia was holding an out of state check and wasn’t supppose to recived the check for several months.  Denise and her family were recently victims of a house fire and really needed that money now.  Once Child Support Enforcement found out about her extenuating circumstances, they released the check.  Denise called yesterday and was very happy that 10 On Your Side was able to step in and help her and her children.

That is the power of 10 On Your Side.  If you need our help, please call us or email.

10 On Your Side Hotline number 673-5310

Email: 10onyourside@wavy.com     

Kelly Welsh

10 On Your Side Producer