Of course, they got their act together as soon as I started this blog

Wouldn't you know -- last night, WXYZ all of a sudden went "pro"!   The top story (which took up half the broadcast) was about Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, who is in epically deep shit at the moment.   Yesterday, the Michigan Supreme Court denied his appeal to keep secret the details of his paying $9 million -- that's right, dollars nine million -- of city money to two Detroit cops who had information that could cost him his job if it got out.  This in a town that is second only to New Orleans in how poor and just generally beat it is.

So Kwame -- the "hip hop mayor" -- pays these guys $9 million dollars of CITY MONEY to keep quiet about fact that he lied under oath and otherwise tried to cover up an affair he was having with a woman on his staff.   Lest you think maybe this is just a Clinton-style witch hunt, it isn't. First of all, there are no republicans in Detroit.  Second, Kwame Kilpatrick is so completely corrupt it is funny.  This is not a question of a capable public servant who had a lapse in judgment.  If Kwame Kilpatrick did something that wasn't crooked, that would be news.

So he buys these guys' silence.  But the story gets out anyhow.  Then the two cops testified about what they knew, and the deal came to light, and of course the city had to subpoena the documents because Kwame refused to release them.  This brings us to yesterday.  The Michigan Supreme Court said the documents were a matter of public record, and ordered them released, and now we have proof of just how bad this guy is.  The city prosecutor deposed two members of the city council yesterday, and they're investigating charges of perjury, obstruction of justice, and various improprieties against the mayor.  Lots of calls for him to resign.

But the credible job done on this important story did not mean that Cheryl Chodun wasn't out in the freezing cold at 11:10 last night, in her white knit hat and parka, "reporting live" from a downtown Detroit intersection (??); or that Glenda Lewis wasn't "live outside the Manoogian Mansion" (Kwame's big house, for now) in the snow and darkness.

True to form, right after this came the car story -- "a strike at American Axle is forcing layoffs in SE Michigan" -- and of course, snow -- the snow just passed -- the Alberta clipper (midwestern for "snow from Canada") forming out in Montana that will reach us Friday.

Top Story: Ice on the Roads in February!

Last night the weather was the top story.  It basically snowed all day yesterday, we ended up with about 6 inches of snow in SE Michigan.

First:  WXYZ always has their reporters out in some godforsaken place at 11 o'clock at night, to give "live" reports from some location where nothing is happening.   Usually this is because it happened hours ago.  Why these people have to go and stand out in the cold, in the middle of the night, for something that isn't happening anymore, is one of the great mysteries of Detroit news.

Second:  For whatever reason, the reporters are always standing outside -- you never see them indoors, ever!  They're never IN city hall or IN the court house or IN the hospital -- it's always "Live OUTSIDE of Wayne County Courthouse," or in front of a house that burned down during the afternoon,  or at some intersection where a child was run over by an SUV.  Point is, whatever happened is long over with, but the WXYZ reporters are still out there.

Third:  All top stories must have something to do with cars (traffic tie-ups, construction on "The Lodge," bad driving conditions, big accidents, or huge auto industry layoffs), arson, murder, or violent crime.  IF IT BLEEDS, IT LEADS  -- that is THE rule of journalism here for sure.  An armed robbery at a 7/11 in Hamtramck is always gonna be the lead story, no matter how many millions of dollars Kwame Kilpatrick steals from the city.

So anyway, last night's Top Story:  Cheryl Chodun, one of WXYZ's 2 female reporters who is ALWAYS outside at night, standing in front of a cyclone fence over the highway:  "It was kind of hit or miss on the major freeways tonight, you'd just be going along -- and then there'd be an icy spot."

Then a male reporter talking about damaged power lines -- to give you the idea that crews had to shut off the power to repair, they make the screen go black for 5 seconds.

Bad stationary-cam shot of a freeway in the dark, with flashing lights to one side -- "Looks like somebody slid off there or got themselves turned around."

Then finally, good news!  "Wayne County's supply of salt is holding up at a hefty 130 tons" -- woo hoo!

(Not that they use it:  One interesting thing about Detroit is they don't plough the roads here till there's at least 6 inches of snow.  I don't know if this is a budget thing or what, but it's insane.  In Cook County (Chicago), they get 6 *flakes* of snow and the ploughs are out.  There's a very good historical reason for that which I won't go into right now -- Point is, SE Michigan REALLY needs to get its snow removal act together.  What is up with not ploughing??  New Jersey has way better salt/sand/plough procedures than this place, and gets like 1/10th the freakin weather!)