Director's Cut Blog with Frank Macek

Channel 3 is teaming up with Kent State students and volunteers who are paying it forward Friday afternoon, joining their local firefighters to help shovel out fire hydrants covered in snow. About a dozen people joined the shovel challenge, traveling to different neighborhoods and looking for fire hydrants buried under several feet of snow. In cases of emergency, firefighters may find them frozen and unusable, which can delay their response times. Like the Ice Bucket Challenge, we are inviting you to the #ShovelChallenge and post your videos on your social media sites to challenge your friends to do their part and help firefighters clean away the hydrants before the next major snowstorm in northeast Ohio. #ShovelChallenge Tweets

Russ Mitchell WKYC's Russ Mitchell has been named 2013's winner of the Robert G. McGruder Award for Diversity by the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Kent State University. The award recognizes the accomplishments of media professionals who encourage diversity in the field of journalism. Mitchell, who serves as managing editor for WKYC's evening news and lead anchor during the 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. newscasts, will be honored at an awards luncheon and lecture on Tuesday, April 2. The luncheon is by invitation only. This year marks 10 years of honoring diversity excellence with the Robert G. McGruder Award for Diversity, and the lecture and luncheon has become one of Kent State's most successful diversity events. Also being recognized at the luncheon is the Akron Beacon Journal's Betty Lin-Fisher as winner of 2013's Diversity in Media Distinguished Leadership Award. Later that day, Mitchell will serve as keynote speaker at the McGruder Lec...