CUFFED ON THE DINNER RUN
 Mike
Wallace was spun against his black Lincoln Town Car, handcuffed
behind his back and shoved into a Taxi and Limousine Commission car
during the heated confrontation on Third Ave. at 79th in Manhattan last
night when
he asked two taxi cops why they were giving his limousine driver a
hard time.
"What are you doing? I'm a reporter,
not a criminal," he shouted. "I'm 86 years old! I'm 86 years
old!" (which we all know to be untrue, because he's actually 107)
The two TLC agents emptied Wallace's
pockets before hauling him off to the 19th Precinct stationhouse, where
he was slapped with a disorderly conduct summons and released.
The bizarre incident unfolded about 8
p.m. when Wallace ran into Luke's Bar and Grill to pick up
an order of meat loaf, mashed potatoes and gravy, said the joint's
owner, Luigi Militello, 46.
The two Taxi and Limousine Commission
officers started questioning Wallace's driver, who was
double-parked.
Witnesses say Wallace was alerted
to the situation, left Luke's and demanded, "What's going
on?"
"One of the officers yelled at him,
'Don't give me any lip!'"
"I'm not giving you any lip,"
he replied, giving them lip.
 "The
cop said, 'Get back into your car, sir,' in a very nasty tone of
voice," said Ernesto Cavalli, manager of the nearby Due
restaurant and a friend of Wallace's.
"I could tell Mr. Wallace was
taken aback by his tone so he asked another question," Cavalli
said. That's when the TLC cop "grabbed him by the sleeve, pushed
him forward against the car and twisted his arms behind his back, all
while yelling, 'I'm going to arrest you!'"
One of the officers even threatened to
arrest some of the restaurant customers who spoke up in defense of Wallace,
who is a regular at both Luke's and Due.
Alan Fromberg, deputy commissioner
for public affairs at the Taxi and Limousine Commission, told CNN
that Wallace allegedly "lunged himself" at a TLC
inspector. (stop laughing, now...stop it)
<<<>>>
KATIE DISGUISED
Taking heed of our concerns for her
safety, NBC's Katie Couric thoroughly confused potential
terrorists yesterday by changing sunglasses every 15 minutes. She
also, apparently, is traveling without her hair dresser.
 
CNN insisted that staff covering
the Olympics undergo extensive courses in hostile-environment
training before leaving for Greece, reports
London's Independent. All were issued several pair of sunglasses.
<<<>>>
YANCY CONFIRMED IN D.C.
 Ending
months of speculation, D.C.'s Fox O&O WTTG-5 yesterday
confirmed that Shawn Yancy is now officially
the new primary co-anchor of the station's 5 and 10 p.m. newscasts.
She replaces Tracey Neale, who
bolted in March and will debut across the street at Gannett's
WUSA-9-CBS in September.
The move seems to clear the way for the
permanent hiring of Gurvir Dhindsa, who joined WTTG
earlier this week as a "temporary" replacement for Yancy
on the early morning shift.
News Director Katherine Green says
Dhindsa's full-time hiring is a "possibility."
<<<>>>
NEW MSNBC ANCHOR
Gorgeous Kristine
Johnson, who worked her way up from associate producer to
primary co-anchor at Lin's duopoly WPRI-12-CBS / WNAC-64-Fox
in Providence, will leave the stations at the end of the November book
to accept an anchor slot at MSNBC, according to an internal memo
circulated yesterday.
<<<>>>
LAID OFF IN LITTLE ROCK
 Cary
Martin, 36, who had been primary co-anchor at Allbritton's
KATV-7-ABC in Little Rock until earlier this year, has been
"laid off," according
to the Arkansas Business Journal.
“I just came back from an eight-day
vacation and found out I had already worked my last day,” said Martin.
“So, it was kind of a surprise, (but) there are no hard feelings.”
He says he'll now focus on Little Rock
Tours, a business he owns with wife Gina.
Martin came to Little Rock in 2000
from Cincinnati's WKRC-12-CBS to replace John Overall.
<<<>>>
Mitch Jacob, former news director
of Meredith's KPHO-5-CBS in Phoenix, has been named ND at
Toledo's WTOL-11-CBS, effective August 23rd. He replaces C.J.
Beutien, who resigned in April.
<<<>>>
 After
almost 10 years on the morning shift, Kim Garris will leave
Harrisburg's WHTM-27-ABC on August 24 "to spend more time
with her family." She says she hopes to pursue her "life long
dream of teaching."
<<<>>>
 Natali
Chisholm is leaving as primary anchor of Amarillo's KFDA-10-CBS
on Aug. 19 to follow
her husband to his new job in Temecula, Calif. An Amarillo native, Chisholm
has been with the station for almost five years.
<<<>>>
Anna Shreeve has been named
VP-general manager of KSTW-11-UPN in Seattle, replacing Gary
Wordlaw, who has been named VP-general manager of Viacom's
WUPL-54-UPN in New Orleans.
<<<>>>
 Good
news...sorta... for financially-plagued Fisher Communications of
Seattle; they lost only $1.4 million in the most recent quarter, compared
to a $4.3 million loss in the same period a year ago. Revenue
rose 8 percent to $40.4 million.
<<<>>>
Ed Spray, 62, who helped create Home
& Garden Television 10 years ago, will retire Dec. 31and
will be replaced by Scripps executive vice president John
Lansing.
<<<>>>
NEW ND AT NWCN
 Indiana
talent agent Rick Gevers reports
in his terrific weekly newsletter that Wayne Lynch has been
named news director of Northwest Cable News, the Belo-owned
news operation in Seattle, Wash.
He replaces Tracy Brogden Miller,
who left the station earlier this year to become the assistant news
director at Belo's KTVK-3 in Phoenix.
Lynch most recently was general
manager of a planned Time-Warner cable operation in Milwaukee
that never came to fruition.
<<<>>>
 Andrea
Underwood, who has worked at WPSD-6-NBC in Paducah, Ky., for
12 years and has been news director for the past 3, has left the station
to take a marketing and public relations job with a local utility.
<<<>>>
Bob Lenertz is out as news
director of Nexstar's KFDX-3-NBC in Wichita Falls, Tex., after
just 5 months.
<<<>>>
Results from Nielsen's new
"People Meters" are
throwing station executives for a loop in Chicago.
<<<>>>
San Diego's Time Warner Cable inserted
a 6-month old news break into the lineup last week, temporarily
confusing viewers.
<<<>>>
The
Cincinnati Enquirer has a tired old story about news choppers
in the Queen City.
<<<>>>
EASY TO BE BREEZY
 With
Regis Philbin on vacation, several "guest hosts" are
getting to sit next to luscious millionaire Kelly Ripa.
New
York Daily News TV critic David Bianculli reports that Bryant
Gumbel was "delightful" on Tuesday. "Survivor"
host Jeff Probst co-hosts today and is also expected to shine.
<<<>>>
OUT OF CONTROL
The
New York Observer's Joe Hagan profiles Fox Jazeera's Sean
Hannity, calling him "almost-cute, beetle-browed, pug-nosed,
God-fearing, flag-loving, (and) contemptuous of liberal media."
"The left is out of control,
reckless and dangerous," says Hannity.
<<<>>>
The News Corp. board of directors has
unanimously endorsed the company's plan to shift headquarters to the
U.S. from Australia, making it easier to attract investors in the
world's largest economy.
<<<>>>
SINCLAIR SUPPORTS BUSH
 As
if we ever wondered about the political leanings of David Smith,
President and CEO of Sinclair Broadcasting, whose staunchly
conservative News Central newscasts regularly support the
policies of the Bush administration....
As if.
Federal
records confirm that MR. DAVID D SMITH - EXECUTIVE SINCLAIR
BROADCAST GROUP - made the maximum allowable $2,000 political
contribution to the George W. Bush re-election campaign.
Sinclair insiders claim News
Central producers have been told to "scale back" sports
segments to allow "more time" for political comment by Mark
Hyman.
<<<>>>
 MRS.
BLUEZETTE'S GRAMMAR CORNER
"A PBS mind in an MTV world." MrsB@newsblues.com
A Tampa station sales person writes to
Mrs. B about the difference between being "sentenced" for a
crime and actually "serving" that sentence:
... I heard a reporter say that if
Ken Lay were convicted on all charges brought against him he would end
up serving 170 years in prison. Holy cow! If he ends up serving that
long, I think the Guinness people will have to completely re-write all
their entries regarding "world's oldest human."
Of course, the reporter should have
said that if convicted, Lay would be SENTENCED to 170 years in prison.
And here's a quotation Mrs. B offers for
you to ponder at the end of this short lesson:
I have never been contained except I
made the prison.
--Mary Evans, actress (1888-1976)
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