Viewers react to our prom photos

Our prom segment in which we showed off our prom photos from the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s has been our most talked about segment so far.

Here’s an email from viewer Laurie Moore.

“LOVED, LOVED, LOVED your prom photos! It brought back such memories of the past fashion faux pas of my mis-spent youth. (I had that Farrah Fawcett flip hairstyle Ben’s date had – I remember when that was look was mandatory for all girls back in the 70s – yikes!”

“Of course, Shaggy’s hairdo always cracks me up. That is just SO past-tense!”

You guys are so awesome – even my husband (who doesn’t usually like morning news shenanigans) laughs out loud during your show. (Laughing WITH you, of course.)

Rock On!
Laurie Moore

… and yes… I put on my prom dress… though it was difficult to breathe in it.

love,
Mahealani
mahea@kitv.com

Breaking News

There’s no doubt waking up in the middle of the night to go to work is difficult and sometimes during my sleepy daze I wonder, “Why am I doing this?” Then I think to myself, it would be nice to work 9 to 5, never work on holidays and stay in a nice air conditioned office.

However, this week reaffirmed why I’m in this business. For the past few days, Dan, Ben and I have been doing a lot of unscripted live news reports on the latest on Kaua’i and we’ve worked very long hours. We’ve heard emotional stories from friends and family of the flood victims, got the latest updates from the Coast Guard, and many people called our newsroom so they could find out what’s going on. It’s during this time that our jobs as journalists are critical.

On a personal note, breaking news sets off that something in your gut. The adrenaline kicks off and you automatically spring into action. This month has been particularly taxing on a lot of people because of the flooding on O’ahu, Air Ambulance Crash, Murder in Downtown, Downed Poles in Nanakuli, and then the Kaua’i Dam Break. It’s these situations that can make or break a news department. I’m particularly thankful for my partner in crime Dan, the weather wizard Ben, Dave our traffic guru, dediated producers Clay and Trisha, our perfectionist photographer Kevin, our tireless production team of Gayle, Brayden, Shawn, Rich, Rosie, Aulani, Theo and Mae, engineer Hank, and the many others who help us out on the morning. This week, our morning shows were not flawless, but I think we really started to come together as a team. It also happens to be my birthday this month… and wow I got one helluva gift.

aloha,
Mahealani
mahea@kitv.com

Wet Wet Wet!

Thought I’d share this photo from Thursday of me and KITV photographer Bert Yoshishige standing in the rain and the floodwater in Kahalu`u. This is the spot where we saw a catfish crossing Kamehameha Highway.

This scene has been repeated by several of our crews covering the torrential rain and flooding in Windward O`ahu. There are a lot of wet raincoats and soggy sneakers in the office, and something you may not see in mainland newsrooms — reporters and photographers running around in slippers (flip-flops if you’re reading this outside Hawai`i).

Photo by Craig T. Kojima