Your Chance To Win Free Tickets to Indians Home Opener

The Indians home opener is set for Monday, April 12th at Progressive Field again the Texas Rangers.

Don't miss your chance to take in the action in person.

Tell us why you should be there by e-mailing us your stories and Indians spirit pictures to: openingday@wkyc.com

If we pick you, slider will deliver a pair of tickets to your home the week of April 5th.

Deadline to enter is next Wednesday, March 31st at 11:59:59 p.m...and we'll choose five lucky winners to join us at the game.

Make sure to follow us on Facebook and Twitter for other swell prizes, too.

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WKYC and U.S. Marshals Take Wireless Justice A Step Further

It's no secret that if you are a wanted fugitive trying to evade capture, the last thing you want to see is your face on a wanted poster. The U.S. Marshals Service has made its name on the belief that no guilty man shall go free, and in the Northern District of Ohio that is exactly the goal of the Marshals Violent Fugitive Task Force.

U.S. Marshal Pete Elliott currently partners with WKYC Channel 3 News, The Cleveland Plain Dealer, and Clear Channel Media to seek wanted criminals in its Fugitive of the Week program. To date, almost 88% of those profiled have been caught. His new idea is to bring mug shots of the most wanted criminals in your area directly to your cell phone.

Now, that surveillance becomes even more wide-spread with the advent of weekly Fugitive Alert information on local cell phones with WKYC Channel 3 in Cleveland.

"This is just one more way that we can educate the community and potentially save lives," U.S. Marshal Peter Elliott states. "Our Task Force takes great pride in bringing criminals to justice. The community has responded to the Fugitive of the Week program and we know getting this information to even more people will be a valuable asset to law enforcement. At the end of the day, it's making the streets a safer place for everyone."

"This is a great new tool for our local law enforcement officers in Ohio who will have quick easy access right on their cell phones on those that are our most wanted fugitives" It's not being done anywhere else". State President Nick Dimarco of the Ohio Fraternal Order of Police.

Each Monday, a Fugitive of the Week alert will automatically be sent out to the cell phones of all viewers who have signed up for the service announcement. Those interested may go to wkyc.com and register to receive free text messages or e-mails of wanted fugitives. And, as always, anyone with information regarding the whereabouts of a known fugitive is encouraged to contact the U.S. Marshals Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force at: 1-866-4-WANTED. Callers may remain anonymous, and those who have taken the time and courage to relay their information have been compensated with thousands of dollars of reward money.

The Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force - Cleveland Division is composed of the following federal, state and local agencies: U.S. Marshals Service, Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Cleveland Police Department, Cuyahoga County Sheriff's Office, Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority Police Department, Euclid Police Department, Lakewood Police Department, Linndale Village Police Department, Ohio Adult Parole Authority, Westlake Police Department, Department of Health and Human Services - Office of Inspector General, Department of Housing and Urban Development - Office of Inspector General, Social Security Administration - Office of Inspector General, U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service and the U.S. Secret Service.

Click to sign up for Fugitive of the Week text alerts

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Channel 3 To Offer Phone Bank To Help Those In Need on Wednesday, 3/24/10

Millions of dollars in state benefits go unused each year, from health care to heating and cool, and food assistance.

Channel 3 is teaming up to get you the help you need.

Our Ohio Benefit Bank phone lines will be open Wednesday, March 24th, from 10 a.m. until 8 p.m.

Specific phone numbers to call will be posted on wkyc.com during the day Wednesday on Channel 3 News.

To learn more about the program, click on the following video.

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Help For Those Experiencing Problems Viewing Our Website, WKYC.COM

Some internet Gremlins kept a lot of folks from seeing our website, wkyc.com over the weekend.

However, those issues are mostly fixed now.

But if you are still having problems, please send us an e-mail with a detailed description and include the name of your internet service provider (ISP).

Send it to our engineering techies at channel3@wkyc.com and we'll do everything we can to help you with a fix.

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WKYC Announces Appointment of New General Sales Manager

WKYC Vice President/General Manager Brooke Spectorsky has announced Leslie Pastel as the new General Sales Manager of WKYC-HD.

In a note the station staff on Monday, Brooke highlights "Leslie has been with the station for over 5 years starting off as a talented Account Executive and then promoted to National Sales Manager two years ago where she has done a superb job."

Leslie has been handling many of the duties of General Sales Manager since the departure of  former GSM Tom Humpage who left the station last year to become General Manager at a Maine television station.

Congratulations to Leslie. We look forward to her leadership during an improving, but still difficult economic time for local television stations.

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News From the Network: NBC Renews "Days of Our Lives" For Its 45th Season

NBC has picked up hit daytime drama "Days of our Lives" for its 45th season, keeping the long-running show on the network through the 2010-11 television season, it was announced Monday by Marc Graboff, Chairman, NBC Entertainment and Universal Media Studios.

"'Days of our Lives' continues to be a favorite of the daytime audience and we are thrilled to keep it going through its 45th season," said Graboff. "'Days' has shown year-to-year increases in key female demographics and remains both relevant and fresh creatively."

Bruce Evans, Senior Vice President, Drama Programming, NBC Entertainment, added, "The producers, cast and crew have worked tirelessly to make 'Days' the ratings success it is today. Today's renewal is a true testament to all of their hard work. We could not be more delighted for them and for the multiple generations of fiercely loyal 'Days of our Lives' fans."

The acclaimed daytime drama will celebrate its 45th anniversary on Monday, November 8.

"Days of our Lives" (Monday-Friday, 1-2 p.m. on WKYC-TV) first premiered as a half-hour drama in 1965 and expanded to an hour 10 years later. Today, it remains a consistent favorite among viewers of daytime television serials and is currently tied for #2 for the season among all daytime dramas in women 18-49 and women 18-34.

Through 25 weeks of the 2009-10 season, "Days" is averaging 3.3 million viewers, its highest average at this point in the season in three years and a 10 percent increase over its audience of one year ago, according to Nielsen Media Research. "Days" is also delivering year-to-year gains among women 18-49 and women 25-54.

In its 44-plus years, "Days of our Lives" has garnered numerous Emmy Awards and nominations, as well as multiple Soap Opera Digest and People's Choice Awards. "Days of our Lives" is set in the fictitious Midwestern town of Salem. The core families are the Bradys, the Hortons and the DiMeras, and the multi-layered storylines involve elements of romance, adventure, mystery, comedy and drama.

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Time Warner Cable Problem Was Signal-to-box Issues Wednesday Night

Special to the Director's Cut
By Kim Wendel

CLEVELAND -- If you're a Time Warner Cable of Northeast Ohio customer, about 480,000 of you probably saw nothing on Channels 2-20 Wednesday night.

The TWC trouble center spokesman said the problem affected customers in Cuyahoga, Medina, Lake, Lorain and Ashtabula counties from about 7:30 p.m. until about 11:40 p.m.

He said the problem had to do with the signals going through the cable boxes attached to some televisions.

As of Thursday afternoon, TWC in Northeast Ohio said the problem has been corrected. The only outage right now are for an unknown number of customers in the Mansfield area.

Anyone still having problems can call for help at (877) 772-2253.

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From the Wires: Trump Is Reviving 'Apprentice' With Regular Folks

NEW YORK -- Donald Trump isn't firing "The Celebrity Apprentice," but he's bringing back the regular edition of the show with 14 ordinary candidates plagued by the sour job market.

NBC and Trump said Wednesday they want to put America back to work. His revived ordinary-folks "Apprentice" will recruit competitors who have lost their jobs, are stuck with jobs they don't like, or have finished college with no offers in sight.

Trump says the winner will land a position with him, while the rest will get advice on how to find their dream jobs elsewhere.

"The Apprentice" first aired in 2004 and is expected to return in its refreshed edition this fall on NBC.

The current season of "The Celebrity Apprentice" had its premiere Sunday and is expected back for another run in spring 2011.

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Promo: Spring Is Almost Here!

Please enjoy another cool Channel 3 promo featuring Hollie and Betsy reminding us spring is right around the corner. Funny, shortly after we started airing these spots, it warmed up. Are these ladies good forecasters or what!

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3D Television Has Arrived in Northeast Ohio

Special to the Director's Cut Blog
By Michael O'Mara

FAIRLAWN -- Ready or not, 3D television has arrived. The hhgregg store is now selling the 55-inch Samsung 3D HD plasma television.

Shopping for a new high definition television just got much more complicated. That's because the world of 3D has just arrived in the home electronics department.

In Fairlawn, the sales staff at the hhgregg store is ready to explain the many features on the new 55 inch Samsung 3D plasma television.

The new set will go from 2D to 3d at the push of a button on the remote control. Special 3D glasses from Samsung will be required to view the video.

Electronics specialist Laura Miller said, "If you're into movies, action sports, things that you really want to see to their fullest content that will leap off the screen, then you will love 3D television."

Electronics manufacturers have noticed the huge box office success of 3D movies like Avatar, Up, and Alice in Wonderland.

Samsung has led the way at hhgregg stores.

Panasonic is joining the battle at Best Buy stores later this month. And this summer, electronics giant Sony will be ready to ship 3D televisions to stores around the world.

Sony believes the new technology will account for 10 percent of their television business. Industry experts believe that Sony is also planning to modify their PS3 video game consoles to work with their new 3D tv sets.

Major league sports may be ready to move toward 3D coverage of live action. The NFL tried a 3D experiment in 2008 and many team owners said they were excited about the technology.

At hhgregg, Miller said, "Just think about sporting events that are in real time. That guy passes the ball and it will be caught in 3D. It may seem like it's coming right to your couch."

Kevin Kaufman was looking for a new television in the hhgregg store and said, "That would be wild. If NASCAR goes 3D, now your talking!"

Most consumers don't seem willing to pay the higher price for 3D until the content catches up to the technology.

Gail Potts and her husband, Ronny, were looking at high definition televisions and shrugged their shoulders at the big 3D set on the shelf.
Ronny said, "Well, right now I just want regular. There aren't any programs in 3D."

Gail nodded her head in agreement and said, "You're paying almost an extra $2,000 for 3D. So no, I'll take the regular. Thanks."

Best Buy is expected to sell the Panasonic three-dimensional tv home entertainment system as a bundle to consumers.

For a price tag of $2,899.99 customers will get a 50-inch plasma 3D Viera set for $2,499.95, a $399.95 disc player based on the Blu-Ray standard and $149.95 viewing glasses.

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Behind the Scenes: The Tamale Truck Arrives Just In Time

A special treat for WKYC Wednesday evening following the 7 p.m. broadcast - the Tamale truck pull up!

Good food for all if you ever see the Tamale truck in your neck of the woods. Thanks guys! Betsy Kling gives us a quick look.

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WKYC and Gannett Offer Promotional Support To Help Military Members and Veterans

WKYC and parent company Gannett are offering promotional support to ClearChoice Dental Implant Centers, the No. 1 dental implant provider in the U.S., to help current members of the military and military veterans who have developed dental problems related to their service.

With ClearChoice's Star Spangled Smile program, 18 military members and veterans across the country in need of dental restoration will receive at no cost to them a complete set of dental implants and new teeth.

These full mouth restorations collectively are valued at more than $1 million. Individuals can nominate deserving veterans for the program by submitting essays to the Star Spangled website (http://www.starspangled.com/).

Seven Gannett TV stations -- WXIA-TV at Atlanta, WKYC-TV at Cleveland, KUSA-TV at Denver, KPNX-TV at Phoenix, KSDK-TV at St. Louis, KXTV at Sacramento, and WUSA-TV at Washington, DC -- are participating, as are two Gannett newspapers, USA TODAY and The Arizona Republic.

"We are proud to offer this promotional support to ClearChoice as it gives back to our service men and women in this very unique and important way," said Dave Lougee, president of Gannett Broadcasting. "Through these broadcast and print properties, we hope to reach as many people as possible so they can nominate our veterans for this program."

In April, the participating Gannett TV stations and newspapers will encourage people to nominate veterans for the program through a series of ads. During May and June, the veterans will undergo the dental procedures and in July those same Gannett TV stations and newspapers will promote the winners with "reveal ads" and promotions showing how the procedures have changed the participants' looks.

"ClearChoice is happy to help these fine men and women regain their smiles," Larry Deutsch, vice president of marketing at ClearChoice and ClearChoice partner, said. "They have put their lives on the line for our freedom. To give back the little we can do at every one of our centers makes all of us at ClearChoice very proud. ClearChoice wants to thank Gannett, USA TODAY and Gannett Broadcasting for their effort on this project."

ClearChoice (http://www.clearchoice.com/) is America's largest provider of Dental Implant treatment. ClearChoice is like a hospital for dental implants, staffed by oral surgeons, prosthodontists and master dental implant lab technicians. In each multi-million dollar center, patients will find 3-D CAT scan technology and on-site labs where the teeth are custom made.

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Notes From The Newsroom: 3/5/10

By Frank Macek

It's time for another edition of "Notes from the Newsroom" as we blog from the WKYC Digital Broadcast Center about what's going on behind the scenes at Channel 3.

February sweeps finished up on Wednesday, March 3rd, with some very exciting results for WKYC. In the key demographic of Adults 25-54 (most used by advertisers), WKYC ranked #1 at 5 a.m., 6 p.m., 7 p.m. and 11 p.m weekdays and weekend mornings from 9 am until 10:30 a.m.

As you can guess, our Olympics coverage dominated Prime Time ratings for the entire two weeks between February 12th and February 28th. And, our "Olympic Zone" show hosted by WKYC's Jim Donovan was also well received at 7:30 p.m.

The new "Tonight Show with Jay Leno" is off to a very strong start on NBC at 11:35 p.m. For the first four nights this week, Jay has averaged a 3.7 rating in Adults 25-54 with a 13.4 share locally, according to Nielsen. Jay has beat Letterman every night.

An old friend stopped by to say hello Thursday evening at the WKYC Digital Broadcast Center. Former anchor & reporter Kristen Anderson is back in town for a visit. Kristin is looking fabulous and misses all her longtime friends, co-workers and Channel 3 fans. Kristin is now teaching and working on her advanced education at Philadelphia University. She was in town working on some interviews for school. Her husband, Jon Anderson - the former Channel 3 News Today morning anchor - is morning news anchor for Good Day Philadelphia at that market's Fox affiliate.

Have you seen our newest set? We first told you about this before the Olympics... It's called the "Channel 3 Cafe" where Hollie and Mark can interview guests, cook up Hollie's "Dish of the Week" and just hang out as part of our morning show in Studio A, across from the main anchor desk. If you haven't seen it, we've included a couple photos below.

Don't forget if you haven't joined us on Facebook yet, please become of friend of Channel 3 News and Channel 3 Weather. We have special on-line ncontent just for our Facebook friends including your chance to be our Facebook Friend of the Day, daily behind the scenes promos, sneak peeks at NBC shows, a daily programming guide of what's on Channel 3 and much more.

• Click to become a Facebook Friend of Channel 3 News
• Click to become a Facebook Friend of Channel 3 Weather
• Click to become a Twitter Follower of Channel 3 News
• Click to become a Twitter Follower of Channel 3 Weather

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Blast from the Past: The Action 3 News Basketball Team

This Action 3 News classic photo has recently shown up and was taken around 1975 when Doug Adair was the main news anchor at our station.

All of the folks in the picture have moved on in their broadcasting careers - except one.

See if you can guess who is still at Channel 3 today. Send your guesses to fmacek@wkyc.com

Click on either photo for a larger view.

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Promo: Channel 3 News - "We Keep You Connected" Campaign

Here are some of the newest promos running on Channel 3 as part of our latest campaign that started during the Olympics.

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Retailers Salivate As 3D TV Possibilities Come To Life

Special to the Director's Cut Blog
By Mike Snider, USA TODAY

The race is on to get new 3D TVs into stores - and homes.

Panasonic plans to have its first 3D HDTVs in stores next week. (Model and pricing information have not yet been released.) Samsung's first 3D models - 46-inch and 55-inch flat panels starting at $2,340 - are available for pre-order on Amazon.com and Sears.com for shipment as early as this week.

Mitsubishi today brings to market $129 XpanD 3D glasses that will turn many of its existing televisions into 3D sets. The TVs include models sold during the past two years that were marked "3D-ready."

3D TVs from Sony and other competitors are close behind.

"Our belief is that the American consumer has experienced 3D and thinks it is pretty cool," says Bob Perry, Panasonic senior vice president. "There is a great opportunity to create a different (3D) experience in homes and in theaters."

3D Blu-ray movie discs and broadcasts are still a few months away, so TV makers are turning to video games, such as Ubisoft's Avatar, to show off 3D content.

"This is really an easy plug-and-play system the consumer can use to enjoy 3D now and then be ready when these 3D movie releases come out," says Mitsubishi's Frank DeMartin.

Game publishers have "more 3D games in the pipeline," he says, "and movies is the second wave."

Some current Blu-ray disc players can be upgraded to play 3D discs, but new models are hitting stores now from Panasonic, Sony and others.

Sony has 3D TVs due this summer, too. Customers who have seen demonstrations in Sony Style stores "either say they flat-out really like it or that they didn't expect to like it so much," says Sony's Chris Fawcett.

3D television programming is also on the way. In June, satellite provider DirecTV plans to launch three 3D channels. ESPN has its own channel announced for June 11. Also in the works later this year: a joint 3D channel from Discovery, IMAX and Sony.

"There won't be an overwhelming amount of 3D content available early in the cycle, but there will be more than there was (high-definition content) in the early days of HDTV," says Ross Rubin of The NPD Group.

An NPD survey released last month found that while one-third of consumers were somewhat interested in 3D TV, more than 60% were worried about the cost.

"One of the industrywide concerns is whether consumers will be so quick to upgrade (high-definition) TVs that they may have only recently purchased," Rubin says. "While retailers are cautious about 3D, they're excited about its potential to drive people to the stores to experience it."

A projection from research firm DisplaySearch that consumers worldwide could buy more than 1 million 3D TVs in 2010 is "fairly conservative," Panasonic's Perry says. "We believe a significant proportion of consumers are going to buy a 3D TV and future-proof themselves."

Los Angeles-area retailer Tom Campbell of Linder's Furniture/Home Theater agrees. The chain plans to sell the first Mitsubishi 3D-ready HDTV bundle today in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., with XpanD 3D glasses, video game system and the Avatar game (starting at $1,899 for a 60-inch set).

"People want it," he says. "It is beyond their expectations, and we tell them about how they are going to be able to watch sports and movies soon."

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Behind the Scenes: Happy Birthday To Our Evening Weather Goddess

A birthday surprise...and boy was she surprised...check out this funny clip as it unfolded this afternoon in the WKYC studios. Happy Birthday Betsy!

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WKYC Earns 8th Place in Viewers Among All NBC Stations During the Olympics

WKYC-TV in Cleveland placed eighth, giving Gannett NBC-affiliated stations four of the Top 10 stations with adults 25-54.

KUSA-TV, our sister station in Denver, was the No. 1-rated local NBC station with the key advertising demographic of adults 25-54 for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. KUSA also out-performed the national average rating by 75% with adults 25-54.

Two other Gannett NBC television stations joined KUSA in placing among the Top 5 highest rated local television stations: KSDK-TV in St. Louis ranked third and KARE-TV in Minneapolis-St. Paul was fourth.

"NBC provided two weeks of extraordinary Olympic broadcasts," said Dave Lougee, president of Gannett Broadcasting. "Overall, it was a huge success for our viewers, our advertisers and our stations."

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Behind The Scenes: Law & Order, Back At 10 p.m. on NBC

Special to the Director's Cut Blog
by Chris Tye

NEW YORK, NY -- Law & Order is one season away from being the longest running drama in TV history.

But before they take down "Bonanza" as the title holder, they're returning home to 10 p.m.

"I'm thrilled. I think it's always been a 10 p.m. show," says actress Alana De La Garza. "We deal with heavy issues, and being on at 8 p.m. (in some time zones) is not appropriate in some cases."

Law & Order returned to its original 10 p.m. time slot Monday.

The shuffle occurs as Jay Leno returns to "The Tonight Show," vacating the 10 p.m. slot he occupied since the spring with the failed "The Jay Leno Show."

When Channel 3 visited the set of the New York-based "Law & Order" last month, you quickly realize all isn't what it seems.

The actor who plays District Attorney Michael Cutter has to lose his British accent every time he opens his mouth.

"One word that has been particularly tough is 'circulatory,'" said actor Linus Roache. "As a Brit, I have to learn to slow down the pronunciation."

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Behind the Scenes: Who's the Real Cardboard Cut-Out?

Jay Leno returns tonight to NBC and WKYC as the host of the "Tonight Show" at 11:35 p.m.

To promote his show, Jay stopped by the WKYC Digital Broadcast Center today, or did he?

I'm not really sure by these pictures.. Can you tell who the cardboard cut-out is? AJ, Producer Carrie Young or Jay himself?

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